Compare two theories each of two of the following phenomena: a) Out-of-the-body experiences b) Near-death-experiences c) Déjà vu - Do such experiences provide a serious challenge to materialism?
Compare TWO theories Each of TWO of the following phenomena: a) Out-of-the-body experiences b) Near-death-experiences c) Déjà vu. Do such experiences provide a serious challenge to materialism? Introduction What does it mean to say that the world around us is 'real'? Is it because we make complex judgements with our minds about the physical aspects and their relations that everything seems real? Perhaps our minds aren't even here. Perhaps we're just a physical exterior whose mind and soul is floating around endlessly in time and space. By observing theories put forward for the déjà vu and out-of-the-body experience (phenomena which occur to the present day), I will hope to show that, far from being 'spiritual' and 'parapsychological', these phenomena can be better understood by observing psychological mechanisms that are testable. This will allow me to demonstrate the extent to which phenomena such as these, can seriously challenge the ideas of those that place faith in the doctrine that nothing but matter exists, denying the independent existence of spirit. Out-of-the-body experience (OBE) An OBE is marked out by the perception that a person's locus of awareness has separated from their physical body. Factors leading to it are, relaxation and reduced sensory input, though drugs such as LSD are said to induce similar out-of-body feelings. Loss of input control Susan
Discuss the view that psychoanalytic ideas are of little relevance to the modern day. study of psychology
Psychoanalysis, it can be argued, is one of the most revolutionary theories in psychology. However, since its inception, psychoanalysis has been subject to as much criticism as it has acclaim, if not more. Sigmund Freud pioneered this field of psychology, earning himself the unofficial title of 'Father of Psychoanalysis' (Glassman and Hadad, 2004). As a result, it has become unavoidable to use his name almost synonymously with that of his collection of theories. Freud's psychoanalytic approach was the first major theory to study personality and assign structure to it. It established the relatively unexplored concept of different levels of consciousness, in which the 'unconscious mind' is perceived as an origin for certain behaviours previously ignored or dismissed as too complicated (Skinner, 1956). Freud introduced the processes of 'free association', and dream interpretation as diagnostic tools in psychology, all of which are widely recognised. Even concepts and terminology used by Freud, such as repression, denial and the Oedipus complex have become a natural part of commonly used language (Emslie, 1979). How is it, then, that so much criticism of it has taken place, and yet many psychologists have rejected it completely? In order to attempt to answer this question, it is essential to examine the theory and criticisms of it, compare it to theories that have emerged from it,
What does it mean for items to be thematically linked?
What does it mean for items to be thematically linked? Is there any evidence that adults make use of thematic links between items when performing cognitive tasks? It has been suggested that people tend to use a variety of specific strategies when performing a range of cognitive tasks. Cognitive tasks may require the thinker to use a number of different types of strategies whilst performing the following types of mental activities such as thinking, reasoning, categorisation, induction, conceptual combination, metaphor and analogies. In addition to this point the thinker may depend on or select one of many different strategies in order to achieve the cognitive task at hand. Two examples of the different types of strategies used by adults when performing cognitive tasks such as categorisation might include comparison or integration. It has been suggested by some that people tend to compare for similarity amongst taxonomically related items, where as they integrate knowledge about the items when they are thematically linked (Wisniewski & Bassok, 1999). Since the brain is responsible for processing both thematic and taxonomic categories then it might depend on the problem (variations in stimuli and task instructions) being faced by the thinker as to what strategy the brain selects to solve the problem. Many cognitive theorists are interested in the mental processes involved in
Cognitive Theories in Psychology
FIELDSEND COGNITIVE THEORIES IN PSYCHOLOGY * Therapies based on the cognitive model attempt to show people that their distorted/irrational thoughts are the main contributors to their disorder. By changing faulty thinking, disorders can be treated. * Bandura's approach to therapy uses modelling. As well as changing behaviour, models aim to change thoughts and perceptions. Modelling is useful in the treatment of phobias and is also effective in assertiveness and social skills training. One reason for this is the development of self -efficiency. * Ellis sees emotional difficulties as a result of 'irrational beliefs'. People have the capacity for rational understanding, but are also capable of deluding themselves and thinking irrationally. Rational-emotive therapy (RET) aims to help people find flaws in their thinking by creating a dispute belief system. * When irrational beliefs have been identified, they are substituted by more realistic ones. RET is an active, direct and argumentative approach, which has been questioned by those who stress empathy's importance in therapy. However it seems to be effective for certain disorders. * Beck's cognitive restructuring therapy also sees disorders as stemming from irrational beliefs. The therapy is specifically designed to treat depression, and is effective in this. In a less confrontational way than RET, it identifies
What are the advantages and limitations of a cognitive neuropsychology approach to development disorders?
What are the advantages and limitations of a cognitive neuropsychology approach to development disorders? Cognitive psychology is interested in the mental processes which are responsible for basic cognitive activities (producing language, people and object recognition, information storage). It also has an interest in higher level cognitive processes. Cognition in this way is most commonly investigated by studying individuals with normal cognition. An alternative way of studying cognition is to look at individuals who have disorders of cognition, either developmental or acquired. It is this way of studying cognition that has become known as cognitive neuropsychology. Cognitive neuropsychology, evolved when the fields of cognitive psychology and neuropsychology realised that patients with brain lesions were valuable in the study of and testing of, theories of normal cognition. Adult cognitive neuropsychology models are based on acquired disorders that occur within pre-existing systems. An acquired disorder is one that has caused impaired cognition in an area which had previously been normal. In contrast to this, cognitive neuropsychology applied to children is concerned with constructing models where functional lesions are found within developing systems. A developmental disorder of cognition applies when an individual has not been able to acquire a cognitive ability to a
Historical and cultural conditions that gave rise to the cognitive perspective.
The cognitive perspective DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS Historical and cultural conditions that gave rise to the cognitive perspective CHALLENGES TO BEHAVIOUR -the mind was becoming more and more important (e.g.INSIGHT LEARNING-Kohler and his "Sultan the Ape" ›the work was difficult to ignore) -the existence and importance of mental processes had to be acknowledge›not ignore them any more IMPACT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR -break with traditional theories (behaviourism,psychodynamic) -more emphasis on free will (room for cognitive decision making) CULTURAL VARIATION IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE -the language for describing the mind was available -the mind was viewed as an information processor 2.CONTRIBUTION OF THE COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF BEHAVIOUR, AND ITS CURRENT STANDING EXPERIMENTAL TESTING OF HYPOTHESES For this we can give as an example, the experiment of CRAIK and TULVING (1975). The aim was to find out which different forms of processing of verbal information might affect recall. The method was that the participants were presented with lists of words, a device which presents items for a very brief period of time after which each word was presented the participants were asked one of four different questions: a)is it in capital letters...?›structural processing b)does it rhyme
'Discuss top-down and bottom-up processing in relation to social cognitive processes, with reference to empirical studies'.
'Discuss top-down and bottom-up processing in relation to social cognitive processes, with reference to empirical studies'. Social cognition is concerned with the mental representations and processes involved in social judgements and social behaviour. Bottom-up and top-down processing will be discussed in relation to the social cognitive processes; perception, encoding and storage, reference will be made to the role of schemas, heuristics and the effect of priming. Top-down explanations of processing rely on previous experiences and expectations, and highlight the importance of the context. In contrast, bottom-up explanations suggest social judgements and behaviours are directly influenced by sensory imput (Hogg & Vaughn, 1998). The basic foundations of top-down and bottom-up processing have been adopted by many theorists and have been empirically demonstrated in the areas of; logical reasoning, person perception, person memory, judgement tendencies and linguistic communication. Research into the two processing modes has concentrated on three major components; how people process in quick and effortless fashion (top-down processing), how they process when willing and able to engage in extensive thought (bottom-up processing), and finally, what conditions encourage each type of processing. Cognitive processes are staged. Observed stimulus events must be perceived, then encoded
Processing Speed in the 1st Year of Life.
Processing Speed in the 1st Year of Life Background In earlier studies, it has been suggested that individual differences in processing speed has its roots in infancy. In addition, in those studies it was suggested that pre-term infants were significantly slower with processing and memory skills than full-term infants. The study that was done in this paper was to prove whether infants of pre-term and full-term pregnancies had any effect on their processing speed and memory abilities. Several aspects of attention were also tested. In this particular study, the pre-terms were compared to the full-terms on many levels. Hypothesis The hypothesis of the students performing this study was that infants of pre-term pregnancies would be dramatically slower than those of full-term pregnancies, just as found in the earlier studies. Methods The subjects tested in this study consisted of 153 full-terms (75 female, 78 male), 144 of them returned at 7 months (72 female, 72 male), and 126 of them returned at 12 months (61 female, 65 male). The amounts of pre-terms were as follows, 50 infants at 5 months (26 female, 24 male), 59 infants at 7 months (28 female, 31 male), and 56 at 12 months (25 female, 31 male). The pre-terms and full-terms all had similar demographic backgrounds: gender, birth order, parental education, and ethnicity. All the infants were tested in a three-sided
The ability of the cerebral hemispheres to carry out an asymmetrical task was investigated in left and right-handed males and females.
Abstract The ability of the cerebral hemispheres to carry out an asymmetrical task was investigated in left and right-handed males and females. Subjects balanced a dowel rod on the right and on the left index finger while spelling aloud words and remaining silent. Analysis of the data received did not reveal any large differences between the control and the concurrent activity of speaking whilst balancing. If anything the mean times on a whole were slightly greater while performing the concurrent activity. These results suggest that the lateralisation of function of the left and right hemispheres of the brain do not have a great interference with each other. Introduction Humans evolved so that each hemisphere controls the contralateral side of the body. The two hemispheres, although seem to be mirror images of each other physically, do not function exactly the same as one another. In order for both of the hemispheres to work at the same time and function normally the brain performs an asymmetrical task called lateralisation of function. In most humans the left hemisphere of the brain controls most of the functioning of the right side and is also involved with the specialisation of language. Whereas the right hemisphere which controls more of the left side of the body is involved with spatial organisation. Therefore damage to the left hemisphere is usually related to
Summarise two different psychological approaches to identity. How has each been used to further our understanding of this concept?
Part 1 - Essay Summarise two different psychological approaches to identity. How has each been used to further our understanding of this concept? Identity is a topic in psychology studied by many theorists. The term identity is used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations. A commonly used psychological method of studying identity is the 'I am' method. This is a simple, everyday exercise and has been used by psychologists since the discipline began. The Twenty Statements test is one which was used by the founders of psychology to help them study identity. It basically asks people to write down twenty statements to the question 'who am i?'. Erik Erikson believed that identity is developed in a series of stages. The eight stages which he described occur over a person's lifetime and he developed this theory from naturalistic observations, clinical work and his own experiences. He believes that each stage is all about becoming competent in an area of life. If a stage is handled well, it provides the foundation for the next stage. If handled poorly, then the individual will feel a sense of inadequacy. The development of ego identity is one of the main elements of Erikson's theory. Ego identity is Erikson's term for a secure feeling of who and what one is (Phoenix, 2007, p55). He says that this is achieved