The Study of Human Behavior in Given Situations - 1613 Words

Psychology is a social science study that covers diverse subject topics and carries out different forms of research in order to understand the development and function of human beings. It is a scientific study that focuses on peoples mind and its functions especially those affecting behavior in a particular context. Psychology is divided into different branches, and each branch addresses its own form of content in relation to mental processes and behavior. Social psychology is one of the psychology branches. This subdiscipline focuses on individuals and their thoughts. Experts in this field of study focus on why an individual acts as well as reacts the way he/she does. It studies the interaction between people, but the focus is on one†¦show more content†¦The study is significant because of its information content. History of Social Psychology Social psychology is not a new venture in science. It has been there ever since the late 1890s. Then, psychologists were concerned about it because they wanted to know the different aspects of human nature. The early influencers of this subject are Aristotle, Plato, Hegel, Lazarus and Steinthal. This aspect of psychology started being differentiated when Aristotle believed that people were naturally sociable, which is related to the individual centered approach. On the other hand, Plato alleged that the society controlled people and it also encouraged social responsibility mostly through social context, which is concerned with the socio-centered approach. Hegel then brought in the concept that society has obligatory associations with the development of the social mind. This aspect is the rationale behind the notion of group mind, which is crucial in the study of social psychology. In 1860s, Steinthal and Lazarus wrote about the influences of Anglo-European, which led to the emergence of volkerpsychologie, a concept that focuses on the collective mind. The notions that personality develops due to cultural and community influences were exposed. This idea revealed that there is a relation between social thought and behavior leading toShow MoreRelatedZimbardo Research Paper1029 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Zimbardo Research Paper Leslie Massey PSYCH/620 01/22/2015 Professor Sharon McNelly Zimbardo Research Paper The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study conducted in 1971 by Dr. Phillip Zimbardo. According to Dr. Steve Taylor (2007), â€Å"It’s probably the best known psychological study of all time.† (Classic Studies in Psychology, 2007). Zimbardo stated that the point was to see what would happen if he put â€Å"really good people in a bad place† (Dr. Zimbardo, 2007). He did this duringRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment Addressed The Psychology Of Behavior Essay820 Words   |  4 PagesGeneral topic that the article is addressing The Stanford Prison Experiment addressed the psychology of behavior. The experiment specifically addressed the influences of behavior in regards to imprisonment. I recently saw a documentary about the Stanford Prison Experiment and I was shocked that subjects were subjected to such cruelty. The subjects were young intelligent students who likely had never encountered such abuse. Sadly, in the 1970s experiment rules and regulations were severely lackingRead MoreInvestigating The Nature Of Obedience1678 Words   |  7 Pagesordinary people in Germany could obey the immoral commands of the Nazi government and provided the study exploring the mechanisms of human obedience to authorities. Though Milgram’s experiment has provoked a huge amount of criticism, the analysis of internal and external validity, ethical issues, and the contribution of the experiment to modern science reveals the significance of the findings of the study. The experiment was designed to find out to which extent ordinary people are willing to cause painRead MoreThe Lucifer Effect By Philip Zimbardo Essay1043 Words   |  5 PagesThe Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo, presents a significant question regarding the essence of human nature: How is it possible for typical, ordinary or even good natured people to become capable of perpetrating evil? While striving to understand unexpected, or abnormal behaviors, we tend to put our main focus on internal determinants such as genes, character, and personality, simultaneously ignoring external, situational factors that could be the central, critical catalyst for an apparent behavioralRead MoreDispositional, Evolutionary And Evolutionary Theory1283 Words   |  6 Pagesdispositional and evolutionary and biological personality theories their bearing on human behavior. Furthermore, the Big Five personality test and what technique is used to study personality. Difference Facets relating Dispositional, and Evolutionary Theory The premises of dispositional theories fluctuate from those of other theorists because they present the basis of study for personality; Dispositional theorists believe that behavior is significant and adaptive. People don’t merely adapt to their environmentsRead More The Behaviorist and Cognitive Approaches to Psychology Essay1173 Words   |  5 Pagesdogs were given food and after several repetitions of this action, the dogs began to salivate whenever they heard the bell, even when there was not any food there. This approach rejected the idea of the conscious mind. Albert Ellis Aaron T Beck developed the present form of the Cognitive approach to psychology in the 1950’s. This development emerged from a growing dissatisfaction with the narrowness of the behaviorist approach as it neglects complex human activities suchRead MoreInvestigating The Nature Of Obedience1683 Words   |  7 Pagescould obey the immoral commands of the Nazi government and conducted the experiment exploring the mechanisms of human obedience to authorities. Though Milgram’s experiment has provoked a huge amount of criticism, the analysis of internal and external validity, ethical issues, and the contribution of the experiment to modern science reveals the significance of the findings of the study. The experiment was designed to find out to which extent ordinary people are ready to hurt other innocent membersRead MorePatterns and Anomalies in the Construction of Knowldege 1389 Words   |  6 Pagesis a quality or a tendency that forms a consistent arrangement. An anomaly is a deviation from the qualities or tendencies that form a consistent arrangement. In other words an anomaly is a deviation from a pattern. Based on these two definitions given of a pattern and an anomaly, I will be discussing the extent to which I agree with the claim â€Å"All knowledge depends on the recognition of patterns and anomalies† with reference to two areas of knowledge. In doing this I will be looking at the circumstancesRead MorePsychology1731 Words   |  7 PagesStructuralism- the first school of thought headed by Wilhelm Wundt, a German, and later by E.B. Titchener started in 1879 when experimental psychology was gaining more incentive. The structuralists, as they called themselves, t hought of psychology as the study of conscious experience. They started components experience. They started that all complex substances could be analyzed through their component elements. They held that elementary mental states such as sensations, images and feelings form the structureRead MoreBehaviorism s Theory Of Psychology983 Words   |  4 Pages1970). However, behaviorism holds the subject matter of human psychology it focus on the behavior or activities of the human being. Etymology The word behaviorism originates from the Middle French word behavior, meaning the observable activity in human and animal. This term was coined in 1913 by the United States psychologist John B. Watson. Many of the concepts of analysis of behavior can be traced back to Pavlov. Pavlov focused on the behavior of animals. History of Behaviorism The history of