Laughter the therapeutic qualities
Laughter, as it is said, is the best medicine. Comedy is the cure for many ailments. Comedy truly does make the world go around. Who does not enjoy the therapeutic qualities of laughter? There is something to be said for people and things that can make us laugh. Comedy takes situations that we deal with on a daily basis and turns around and makes them funny. What is considered funny does of course vary according to trends, with technology becoming increasingly important. It is little wonder that such developments have become the source of much amusement. Classic comedy, however, such as Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx remain both funny and popular in modern society. Comedy comes in many shapes and sizes from silent to musical and from slapstick to stylish. Although TV is a popular medium for comedy, comedy clubs have also captured the imagination of audiences, worldwide. The career of many a budding comedian has taken off thanks to the opportunity to perform on the comedy club circuit. Big names such as Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy of Saturday Night Live fame, all started out in comedy clubs. Stand-up comedians and stars of one person shows like Ellen Degeneres also appeal to contemporary audiences. Human weakness is the basis of most types of humor. A decent comedian will enable us to laugh at ourselves and our common experiences through cracking jokes about
Essay: Piaget's theory of studying.
Piaget's interest lay chiefly in the build-up of a basic framework of thought about knowledge. His whole psychological theory of development rested upon the principle of continuous interaction between the child and the world around him. Using the results from his studies of school children and his own children, Piaget proposed that the mind develops as a whole, but that within that whole children develop through a series of four mental stages. Each of the stages are qualitatively different from one another, and progressively more advanced. In addition, each stage produces a distinct way of thinking about oneself and the world, that is different for each stage Piaget observed among his children, that as infants they all manipulated objects as a way in which to gain knowledge about them. By touching, looking, and sucking on objects, they were able to learn about them. He called this the sensorimotor stage of intellectual development, lasting from birth to two years old, because intelligence at that time is measured largely by the infant's deliberate motor actions, and the immediate sensory feedback they receive from those actions. Piaget characterized the years from two to seven, as belonging to the period of preoperational thought. Children can now think about absent objects, and often make up new symbols or objects to represent others, such as a stick of wood being
existentialisme
Introduction L'existentialisme peut être expliqué par la théorie sartrienne: " l'existence précède l'essence ", c'est-à-dire qu'on surgit d'abord dans le monde, puis on existe et finalement on se définit par nos actions dont nous sommes pleinement responsables. Mais ce n'est pas le seul philosophe existentialiste, " l'existentialisme " est une étiquette qu'on avait même attribuée à Albert Camus (voir son roman L'Étranger). En fait, l'origine étymologique du mot existentialisme vient d'existence, en allemand on utilise le mot (Dasein), qui est également le terme désignant la théorie d'Heidegger, qui signifie " être-là ". Jean-Paul Sartre, ayant importé l'existentialisme et la phénoménologie allemande en France, a répandu cette philosophie très à la mode durant les années 1940 qui était devenue non seulement un mode de vie mais qui était aussi définie par un endroit précis : Saint-Germain-des-Prés à Paris. La phénoménologie comme source de l'existentialisme Sartre empruntera beaucoup à la méthode phénoménologique. C'est Raymond Aron qui, de par sa connaissance des philosophes allemands, a suggéré à Sartre de s'intéresser à la phénoménologie. C'est d'abord une méthode qui vient de Husserl. Science des phénomènes, elle décrit la façon dont les choses se donnent à la conscience. La description des choses permet de découvrir
Human Altruism
Examine the usefulness of cross-cultural research in determining the causes of human altruism Ernest Leung The word "culture" as defined by the BBC English Dictionary, means either a collective of ideas, customs and art produced by a particular society, or a particular society or civilization in its entirety. The same dictionary defined "altruism" as the "unselfish concern for other people's happiness and welfare". For centuries altruism was thought to be an innate virtue of human beings; Chinese philosophers saw it as one of a few characteristics that distinguished men from beasts. The theme of altruistic acts is prevalent throughout religious texts and teachings of various cultures, and stories such as the parable of the "Good Samaritan" are known by many across the world. With the advent of Darwinism this view was refuted by most biologists, and indeed some radical philosophers of the last century had attempted to portray altruism as the result of religious indoctrination, and a thing that is in essence practiced against human nature, or put in simpler terms, hypocritical. Psychologists in the past few decades have however shed some new light onto this seemingly unnatural form of human behaviour, and they now suggest that, instead of being against human nature, altruism is an in fact an integral part of it. In the past few decades, human altruistic behaviour has
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Zack Lindahl, IB1b Narcissism - An essay on self-love and Narcissistic Personality Disorder Introduction It was the psychologist Paul Näcke who first coined the term narcissism. The name comes from an ancient mythological figure called Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection. He eventually wasted away in front of a lake, staring at his reflection in the water. He became a flower, namely the narcissus. Almost all healthy people are at least slightly narcissistic, as those who do not have some self-love usually suffer from some sort of inferiority complex, which is socially as unhealthy as narcissism. For some, narcissism develops into an unhealthy emotional disorder called NPD, narcissistic personality disorder. The term NPD first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. This pathological narcissism can, opposed to healthy narcissism, cause severe distress and functional impairment. Pathological narcissism, that is the core of NPD, develops in adolescents and adulthood is a behavior and pattern of thought that makes the person with NPD to be obsessive about itself at the exclusion of others. The person pursues personal gratification above all else and usually have great personal ambition, lack of empathy, insensitivity and they also often dominate others socially to further their own goals. This kind of thinking pattern
Julius Ceasar
Jasmin Van Malderen Mr. Cost P.6 English 2 Honors /17/09 An Answer to our Prayers We don't want all these decades of work to go to waste. This world is crumbling. And our answer? Brutus. Brutus will save us. He will bring back the thriving world before we had all these issues we have today. In William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, a heroic tragedy, Brutus is a strong, brave, and honorable man that has all the perfect traits for being a leader. Not only does he have all these admirable qualities, but he can also make important decisions regarding the people. He will bring our soldiers home from war, help end immigration, and has ideas that will benefit our economy and make this world a better place for people to live in. Brutus will withdraw from the War in Iraq for the benefit of the people. Although Brutus is headstrong and brave and might personally want to stay in the war, his people will come first in his decision and he will withdraw. He will try to get the soldiers out of Iraq and quickly and safely as possible. As someone once said, "The search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has ended. Nothing was found," and another said, "We should begin the discussions now as to how we can bring our troops home." Brutus agrees with both of these statements and he wants to make a decision that will benefit the most people. It was said that the goal from our
EE PSYCHOLOGY
The Importance of Positive Reinforcement in Animal Training Extended Essay Psychology HL May 2009 Erika Pärn Candidate code: 1292019 Tikkurilan Lukio Word Count: 4009 ? Abstract The research question of this essay is that to what extent is positive reinforcement effective in animal training? Animal training has for a long time been known for its simple concepts on conditioning animal responses through the use of reinforcement and punishment. However with the recent fascination and exploration of animal intelligence we may be able to adapt better means of reaching cooperation with animals. Concentration of this essay is specifically the use of positive reinforcement as an enhancement in the relationship between the trainee and trainer. The idea being explored in this essay is the notion of positive reinforcement and its impact. In attempt to understand positive reinforcement and its effects on the trainee. Positive reinforcement can be seen as the most effective of reinforcements. It can be defined as immediate consequence after a given behavior that increases the likelihood of being repeated when the similar situation is encountered. The notion of animal intelligence has continued to marvel mans imagination for centuries. The innovation of higher cognitive capabilities in non-human animals has proved to be a very successful field of study in recent times. Novel
Describe and evaluate the experiment as a research methodology.
Describe and evaluate the experiment as a research methodology. The experimental method is one of the most common psychological enquiries used by psychologists. In the experiment a theory generates different hypothesis, or predictions, that are tested by collecting data. It is the only method that investigated the concept of 'cause and effect' by manipulating the independent variable (IV) which affects the dependant variable (DV). However, to enable the experiment to work, all other variables have to be controlled; otherwise confounding variables may occur. A controlled experiment can be replicated, which is a great advantage in psychology, to test previous results. Some disadvantages are the ethics concerned, which can make it difficult to perform the experiment properly. To analyze this method properly we have to look at other methods such as natural experiments, naturalistic observation or correlational studies. The experimental method depends on the manipulation of the independent variable while all others are kept constant, to investigate a causal relationship. The hypothesis predicts this, and data is collected to see if the independent variable (the cause) affected the dependant variable (the effect). For example in a study where Piliavin et al (1969) investigated how people reacted to a person collapsing on a subway in NY. The IV was the appearance of the victim (a
Personalida, temperamento y carcter
Julián Riveros Décimo A Febrero 27, 2008 PERSONALIDAD, TEMEPERAMENTO Y CARÁCTER La personalidad es la que está formada por una serie de características que utilizamos para describirnos y estas se encuentran integradas a cada uno de nosotros mediante lo que llamamos el yo como una unidad coherente. Entre estas características se encuentra lo que en psicología se denominan rasgos, como por ejemplo la agresividad, la sumisión, la sociabilidad, la sensibilidad entre otros. También hay conjuntos de rasgos algunos como extroversión o introversión, y otros aspectos que las personas utilizan para describirse uno mismo. Como sus deseos, motivaciones, emociones, sentimientos y mecanismos para afrontar la vida. Es decir, la personalidad es la forma en que pensamos, sentimos, nos comportamos e interpretamos la realidad. Durante el siguiente ensayo se va a explicar lo que es la personalidad, el temperamento y el carácter en el ser humano con más detalle. La personalidad de las personas es única, dentro de cada persona se forman pautas de pensamiento, percepciones y comportamientos diferentes para cada ser humano. El pensamiento de cada individuo, la emoción y el comportamiento por sí solos no constituyen la personalidad; ésta se encuentra oculta tras aquellos elementos. La personalidad también implica previsibilidad sobre cómo actuará y cómo reaccionará una
Multicultural Competency. Prepare a 700- to 1,050-word paper based on your assessment, in which you apply these multicultural guidelines and standards to your personal life and workplace. Answer the following questions: o What biases, percepti
Multicultural Competency Ashley Hambright PSYCH/535 Dr. Danine Dean December 5, 2010 Multicultural Competency An individual who has the capability of comprehending and valuing a sufficient amount of another culture while possessing the ability to communicate and work with people from that culture, are culturally competent. The American Psychological Association created a group of culture specific and multicultural guidelines. These guidelines supply a scaffold for psychologists for the successful dispersion of services to the diverse client populace. Focusing on guideline number one, "Psychologists are encouraged to recognize that, as cultural beings, they may hold attitudes and beliefs that can detrimentally influence their perceptions of and interactions with individuals who are ethnically and racially different from themselves (APA, 2003, para. 38). It is imperative that a psychologist's recognize and acknowledge that their personal opinions, beliefs, and attitudes can have impact on the effectiveness of their client relations. This is of the upmost importance because involuntarily, a psychologist's personal view of an individual can lead to negative judgments based on the group in which the psychologist's has classified the individual. The second guideline affirms "Psychologists are encouraged to recognize the importance of multicultural sensitivity/responsiveness