Applied Psychology continued...
In an article of Psychology Today, Christopher Peterson Ph.D., an old professor from “ University of Michigan, where he was professor of psychology and organizational studies and former director of clinical training.” and author of The Good life, he defines positive psychology as, “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living. It is a call for psychological science and practice to be as concerned with strength as with weakness; as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst; and as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling as with healing pathology.” My definition of social justice is the famous golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I believe that positive psychology could be key to achieving that. In some way, you treat others the way you think you deserve to be treated. Nowadays, things are stressful, life is hard and happiness seems unachieveable. Positive psychology being described as “scientific study of what makes life worth living…” could very well help with people’s outlook on life. There are problems everywhere, big or small, are still worrisome. They disencourage us to continue, keep trying, trying harder. Positive psychology, however, could be a way of bringing all of that lost motivation back. Positive outlook on life would result in more positive people, I believe energy travels around whom you surround yourself with. More positive energy being spread will be good for the whole world.
In an interview, Professor Dan Dolderman studied positive and environmental psychology and now teaches a psych 101, is asked about his field of study and how students can help the environment. Cynthia Yao, who interviews Dolderman, he says that psychology is more of inside of us while environmental psychology is outside in our surroundings. Much like social psychology. He is asked “what are some barriers when it comes you environmental issues?” he refers to the question as demoralizing, and that environmental behaviors aren't very hard to change, however people focus too much on the issue. Giving people just “a couple of little things holding them back from achieving change of stopping the change from spreading through a population.” says Dolderman. Control barriers, says, Dolderman, are what overwhelm people from issues such as climate change, global warming, deforestation, animal cruelty, etc. The issue is presented as huge, and the options to fix it are so microscale. Regarding deforestation some options are personal lifestyle changes, turning your lights off a little more, going vegan. The people concerned about the issue then become discouraged in how such a huge issue doesn't seem to change regard of how long they turn off their lights or the year they began began a vegan diet. When they become discouraged they stop contributing to fixing the issue.
In a presentation by Roma G. Branch, a Regis University grad environmental psychology graduate-level student. Our performance as human beings when we go about our lives is influenced by everything around us, much like social psychology, such as noise, weather, crowding, air pollution, personal space and urban environments. There are theories regarding just how that happens. They all vary depending on the theory though. The theories suggest that as human beings we adapt to stimulation. There are two types adaptive and maladaptive, they depend on the result each give. Adaptive is often characterized by a kind of behavior that allows an individual to change an unconstructive or disruptive behavior to something more constructive. Maladaptive behavior is defined as behavior that interferes with an individual’s activities of daily living or ability to adjust to and participate in particular settings.
The importance of psychology to humanity is quite a lot. For example, it is understanding ourselves. It can be quite dangerous, for example, this year when we were learning about the different psychological disorders, I remember almost diagnosing myself with an anxiety disorder. However, it is knowledge that could be rather useful. You unravel humanity and the reasons behind things. I learned how you can condition, people or animals, I even conditioned my turtle, now everytime I watch Star Wars and you hear Chewbacca growl she assumes it is time for a snack. Humanity has learned so much about everyone by studying the brain. Disorders, fears, the way it functions and the reasoning behind why it does the way it does and just exactly how it does so. It is so amazing and powerful, learning about something makes you care more about it, I think. As there is more learned about this very powerful muscle, we learn how to care for and treat it properly. Psychology is basically the study of who we are, why we are that way, also what we can become and how we can do so. Psychology has led to the discovery of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. “Today, we know a whole lot more about these diseases than we did in the past, scientist have even been able to produce medicines that may help victims of these diseases.” Written by Emmanuel Amarh Ashitey in an article on New Guinea, he also talks about the everyday use of psychology in this large island. Here he states how psychology has helped by increasing the knowledge and awareness of different neurological diseases. In this article he also writes about everything else psychology is used for, learning, telling time, attempting to measure intelligence, the usage of application of skill, how psychology is applied to various areas of the human life,how everything a person does is connected to this subject.
The major takeaways I received from this AP psychology course was the knowledge I gathered from coming to class, taking notes, and doing the online assignments. Along with those online assignments like learnerator, tweet and forum, I became a bit more organized and better at time management. I learned to cope with stress and how the brain works. I also understood its basic functions and different theories. Explored the dark side of the mind and how it controls us. Exploring it made me realize just how much it interests me. This is something I would like to major in or minor in college. Thanks to this class I also realized what type of notes work best for me, and ways to study that work better for me. I am not sure if I would’ve done so without taking this class. Also, my creativity was put at play. During the sensation box project I had an idea of what I wanted the box to look like. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it happen, honestly. I spent one whole night just contemplating a box. The next day I gathered all of the newspaper in my block and got to work. Although I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off, I did try and it came out quite well.