Prompted Post #6: Evaluating Sources; The Negative Side of Postive Psychology

Positive Psychology is used to make normal life more fulfilling. It uses
research and intervention techniques to understand the positive, adaptive, creative and emotionally fulfilling aspects of human behavior. Its goal is to ultimately study how looking at the bright side of things and staying positive can lead to a happier and more fulfilled life; sounds great, doesn't it? Well not everyone agrees that this is the best way to go about things. An article by Barbara S. Held  called "The Negative Side to Positive Psychology" from the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, argues the reasons she believes there's a dark side to Positive Psychology.

Point 1) The Negative Side Effects
Barbara believes that "our professional culture is saturated with the view that we must think positive thoughts, we must cultivate positive emotions and attitudes, and we must play to our strengths to be happy, healthy, and wise." She believes that these thoughts are clouding our judgment, and that we are ultimately lying to ourselves. The reason for this is that this method of psychology is like a "one size fits all" when really it is not for everyone. Some people may not be able to get over their sadness, no matter how hard they try, and they will think something is wrong with them for it. Also she believes that this is a way of ignoring your problems so they can just get worse.

Point 2) The Negativity of Positive Psychologists
In this section she talks about how negativity is a normal part of human life and functioning. She says that it is impossible to be completely positive all the time because negativity is in our human nature. Therefore Barbara comes to the conclusion that Positive Psychologists are negative about being negative; they think its a horrible thing to be negative. When really we need to use pessimism at necessary times  in our life. Psychologists have done research on this and came to the conclusion that you need to have the correct balance of positive and negative thoughts to live a healthier life. Also that positive emotions can sometimes be a negative rather then a positive.

Point 3) The Wisdom of William James
William James devoted 2 lectures to positive psychology and healthy mindedness. He says that healthy minds are blind to evil and deny negative things with positive illusions. He has come to realize that he has found virtue in negative events and has learned from them. He could accept it for what it was without masking it with positivity. Life lessons come with negative things so its in your best interest to not try and sugar coat it with positive thoughts.

I think that Barbara makes a very solid argument. There were times in my life when I couldn't help but look at an event and see the negativity in it. I would think something was wrong with me because I couldn't just pretend like it didn't happen. But from being able to see the situation as a negative one, I was able to accept it and move on with my life. I think it is good to have a good balance of positive and negative thoughts because it is exhausting to be completely positive all the time. I think that there are necessary times for both and that it is just part of human nature. However i do disagree on the fact that Positive Psychology is a bad thing; I think that it is good to look at things through a positive light and to be able to see the best in everything. I just think that you shouldn't take it took far, and you should only use the necessary amount to positivity, but to still be able to accept the bad things that happen in life.




Sources:
Held, Barbara S. "The Negative Side of Positive Psychology." Journal of Humanistic Psychology 44.1 (2004): 9-46. Print.

"Positive Psychology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Prompted Post #7: Contemplating Controversy; Nature vs. Nurture

      In psychology, there are many age-old debates that stretches back to the very first founding fathers of the science. One of the original and most controversial topics in psychology is the long debate over Nature v. Nurture. It is the topic of how humans were developed. Were are our traits inherited through our genes, or were they learned and acquired from the environment?

The supporters of the Nature side argue that everything from our personality traits, to our physical traits, illnesses, and IQ are strictly innate. That everything we are has been passed down through our genes. They say that humans are strictly formed on a 'biological clock' and 'pre-programmed' to develop in a certain manner. The examples that the nature side uses to argue their case are the stores of identical twins who were separated at birth, grew up in different environments, and were surprised  at what they found when they were reunited. They had the exact same personality traits, interests, and IQ; they both developed into pretty much the same person, even though they had been raised in different environments.

However, the Nurture side says this simply a coincidence, and argue they must have grew up in similar environments, which for this example, turns out to be true as well. The way that the Nurture side looks at development, is that everything is learned from the environment around us. They say we learn through 'schemas' or representations of how we should act, based on the schema of a male or female. This then shapes how we think, dress, and act. Mostly everything that forms us is through social influences, and how we were raised by our parents. Our behavior and attitudes are learned from conditioning and what we learn is right from wrong. Peer pressure is a great example that the nurture side loves to use. They say that influence from those around you is the biggest factor of how a child develops. It starts from parental influence, and moves to friend influences in the teenage years, and this ultimately shapes the type of person that you become.

I believe that both arguments are very plausible. I can clearly see where each side is coming from and why they believe what they do. However, the nature-nurture debate will never be truly resolved, as both sides continue come out with new evidence that supports their case. There really is not a right answer when it comes to this debate, it strictly comes down to personal opinion.

Source:

     McLeod, Saul. "Nature Nurture in Psychology." Simply Psychology. SimplyPsychlogy, 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.

Free Post #6: Psychology Careers

Psychology does not have a very good reputation. Many people out there believe that everything you learn in psychology is just common sense, and that a degree in psychology is completely useless. While a psychology degree will not land you an super high paying job, there are still many well paying career paths and options available for psych majors

1. Psychiatrist

Average Salary: $167,610 per year
Educational Requirements:  After earning a bachelor's degree, to be a psychiatrist, you must complete to medical school and a four-year residency in a hospital or clinic. After these requirements are met, psychiatrists can help patients with psychological issues and are able to prescribe them medication.

 2. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist

 Average Salary: $97,820 per year
 Educational Requirements: With a masters degree, an I-O psychologists can earn an average or $55,000. However, with a doctoral degree, I-Oers can conduct research and make significantly more money then those working in the field.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology is  psychology of the business work. The field work includes selection, appraisal, and training of employees in the work place. The research consists of studying these things and how they effect the workers.

3. Neuropsychologist

Average Salary: $90,460 per year
Educational Requirements: A doctorate degree in neuropsychology or clinical neuropsychology is required, and the degree needs to have a specialty in cognitive or neuroscience.

This field entitles performing cognitive tests, run brain scans, assess people suffering from brain injury, and study how drugs impact the nervous system. This can be done in hospitals and clinics.

4. Engineering Psychologist 

Average Salary: $79,818 per year 
Educational Requirements: Entry-level positions require a master's degree, but a doctoral degree will lead to higher paying jobs.

Engineering psychology is an applied sub-field that focuses on improving and adapting technology equipment, and work environments to enhance human behavior and capabilities.

 5. Clinical Psychologist

 Average Salary: $72,540 per year
 Educational Requirements:  A doctoral degree is required to be a clinical psychologist in most states.

Clinical psychologists are trained in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness.



I think that all in all, there are some very good jobs in the psychology profession. Most of them require a doctoral degree but there are still some great options to make a great living. I'm leaning the most towards a criminal psychologist or the industrial and organizational one. I think any choice would be a good one though.

sources:
Cherry, Kendra. "Highest Paying Psychology Careers." About.com Psychology. About.com, 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

Free Post #5: Criminal Minds vs. Real Criminal Psychologists

Criminal minds is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. It is about a behavioral analysis unit in the FBI who hunts down the biggest and baddest pathological criminals before they can strike again. They 'profile' criminals and determine the specific traits they possess based on their analysis of every little detail of a crime scene. The team then narrows down their search to a pool of suspects who possess certain traits, based on the crime committed.

As I started to watch several episodes of this show a couple of days ago, I realized that I would love to have a job like the characters in the show. That's when I started to wonder if their actually was a job out there like this and if there was, how accurate the show was to the real life thing?

After I did some research on the topic, I came to some interesting conclusions. It turns out that the real life profession the show is trying to portray are 'Criminal Psychologists.' But not all criminal psychologists are like the characters in the show. There are a vast number of jobs for criminal psychologists; everything from investigating online fraud, to interviewing past criminals, to working in a court, to doing actual criminal profiling just like in the show.

However, when comparing the 'profilers' in the show to the 'profilers' in real life, there are some differences.  The show portrays the criminal psychologists to have a more active role in the investigation then they actually do, like showing them help arrest the suspect after a intense, wild chase. This is done in an artistic manner to make the show more suspenseful. In real life the psychologists aren't there for the apprehension of the suspect, they leave that to the real law enforcement. All they do is examine the crime scene, determine what type of person they are looking for, help to narrow down the suspects and to locate them.  Another difference is that the cases in real life are usually take weeks or months to solve, and they are never as easy to piece together as the show makes it seem.

Although criminal profiling is a really exciting path to take for a criminal psychologist, there are only a handful of jobs out there. The profilers are employed by the FBI and only investigate serial killer cases, so there is no need to have a ton of profilers. They are better off sending the rest of the criminal psychologists to other needy areas where they would be of better use.

The life of a Criminal Psychologist may not be as glamorous or exciting as the show makes it seem, but it is still an interesting career none the less. I think its really cool that there are actual people out there in the real world who do the same thing as the characters in the show. Even though its unlikely to happen, being a criminal profiler will always be one of my dream jobs. Doing this research also opened my eyes up to the other jobs and opportunities in criminal psychology. It will definitely be a possibility for me to pursue a career in this field, in the future.


Sources:
Rosevear, Paul D. "Https://kucampus.kaplan.edu/documentstore/kudocs/pressroom/real.pdf." America Online. Classes, USA Inc., 2006. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Renee. "Criminal Minds Recap 10/2/13 – “The Inspired”." HaveUHeard. HaveUHeard, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

Prompted Post #5: Defining Ethics

In every field or organization, it is important to establish a set of guidelines for the behavior expected of the employees. These guidelines are most often know as a code of ethics. Ethics describe the behavior that is expected as well as the mindset that every person involved should have. It is a way of molding its employees so everyone follows the same principles for the same reason, and acts accordingly in their job.

In Psychology, the ethical code is called the "Five General Principles of Ethics for Psychologists." They were created by the American Psychological Association (APA). The ethical code is non-enforceable so it won't limit psychologists, but it was created to “guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of the profession” (p. 3).  They were created so that psychologists could strive to reach ethical standards.

The Five Principles of Ethics:

1) Principle A: Beneficence and Non maleficence, "strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm." In other words, try not to hurt the people they work with.

2) Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility, encourages psychologists to do what is needed, to follow all direction and protocol, and to make responsible judgements and actions when necessary.

3) Principle C: Integrity, "promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness." and to take responsibility when responsible.

4) Principle D: Justice,  encourages Psychologists to be fair in all of their judgements, decisions and actions.

5) Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity, which entitles not forcing them to partake in anything they don't agree too, to not violate any of their rights, and no not harm them in any manner.


These codes correspond to my own ethics in many ways. I try to follow similar principles in my daily life. Three ways that I apply and practice these ethics in college are:

1. I follow Principle A when I help my friends with their homework and studying. I want to benefit those people around me so I try to help them out the best that I can. While striving to benefit my friends, I also strive to not harm them. I do this by always supporting them and being as friendly as possible.

2. I follow Principle B of responsibility the most out of them all. Being in college takes a ton of responsibility. I need to always make sure I am keeping up on my homework, going to class, studying enough for exams, going to work, getting enough sleep, and not spending too much money. I have a ton of responsibility I must attend to and must make judgements on what is more important at a given time.

3. The 3rd principle I follow is Principle C, Integrity. I do this by always being honest and truthful to those around me, especially those people in authority. I have the honestly to take my own exams, to not cheat, to do my own homework and to not steal at work. I use integrity quite a lot because it is an important trait for a person to have.

By following these ethical principles in college, I believe that they will prepare me for using these ethical principles in the future, as a psychologist.

Sources: 
 American Psychological Association. (2010). American Psychological Association ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. 12 February 2014.

 Mayer, John D. "The American Psychological Association's Guidelines on Media Presentations." Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, Inc., 2010. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

Free Post #4: Psychological Persuasion Techniques Used in Sales

Psychology truly is everywhere. It is a big part of our lives and we are influenced by it every day. Stores, businesses, and charities use the psychological persuasion techniques to persuade us to buy their products or comply to their requests.

I learned this in my Social Psychology class last semester, and it was my favorite unit that we studied because it occurs all the time in business and sales. What I learned has definitely impacted me ever since. It is amazing to realize how often we are influenced by these techniques and tricks. I learned there are 3 main types of persuasion techniques that really do work if you aren't paying attention or realize its happening. They are Low Balling, Foot in the Door, and Door in the Face.

This cartoon is an example of two of the persuasion techniques, Door in the Face and Low Balling. When the salesman gives the opening price of $4500, he gets turned down immediately. This offer resulted in the 'door in the face' which is supposed to happen with door in the face technique. You first give a high offer which most likely would be turned down. You then come back with a lower offer, which in this case was $4000. The target feels bad about turning you down the first offer, so he agrees to the 2nd, lower price. 

However, it turns out that the 2nd offer was low balled at $4000. The salesman gave a price of $4000 which seems reasonable in order to get the target to agree and commit to buying the product. Once the target is committed to the product, he cant go back. All the salesman has to do is talk about the extra charges or costs which will get the price back to the original one that the salesmen wanted. Low balling is a method that tricks you into thinking your getting a product for a super low price, but there ends up being extra fees and costs that raises the price above the agreed upon cost.

The above cartoon is an example of the foot in the door persuasion technique. The orange cartoon wants $2 dollars. The first time he asks the purple cartoon, it does not go so well, so he decides to use a new approach. The orange cartoon first asks the purple cartoon what time its. This is a very small request that the orange cartoon can easily get the purple one to comply too. By doing this the orange cartoon gets his 'foot in the door.' This means that once someone complies to a small request, they get sucked in and are more likely to comply to a second, larger request. Next, the orange cartoon asks for a large request of $2. The purple cartoon then feels like since he agreed to the first request he should agree to the 2nd one as well.

These techniques are used on customers all the time. Social Psychologists have studied these and found they are extremely effective. They are something that everyone needs to be aware of when they are shopping. Don't get sucked in and tricked by these persuasion techniques. They are only meant to get you to spend more, unnecessary money. 

Citation:

 Ly, Vinh. "Low Ball – The Mouse Trap Offer." Vinhly. WordPress, 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.

 Ly, Vinh. "Foot-in-the-door – Start Small for Big Results." Vinhly. WordPress, 29 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.

Prompted Post #4: Observing Community

      The campus organization that I got involved with was the Michigan State Psychology Club. The community is a bunch of students who are interested in and love learning about the various fields of psychology. Most of them happen to be psychology majors, but there were a good amount of students who weren't. It doesn't matter who you are or what you study; the club is open to anybody! There are general members who attend, as well as executive board members who plan out the meetings, lead them, and arrange for guest speakers to come. The sponsor or the head of this club is one of the psychology departments advisers at MSU. 

         From attending one of the meetings this year I can tell that the community is a bunch of passionate students who want to learn about psychology. They all are so intrigued by the subject that they are willing to meet and learn more separate from their classes. They are all interested in how people interact, and want to learn about the possible fields so they can either choose one for their own career path, or just to be informed.

    The beliefs of the group is to learn about people for the good of people. They want to know how the world works a lot with the people in it. They believe in excelling as students, getting a head from the rest of their class, learning, and forming connections with psychologists and professors. They also believe in doing good for others. The group does some volunteering and fundraisers to benefit the community.

    The group values psychology along with the theories and topics within it. They value learning as well as their interest in psychology. They value the opportunities they have here at MSU as well as discussing interesting topics.

   The methods of communication with in this group consisted if a leader conducting the meeting. Then, for most meetings, a guest speaker comes up and discusses their area or field of psychology. They discuss what they do and the certain things that go on, as well as information about that field. Then they start a discussion with all the members about certain topics and theories in psychology, and the members are able to ask questions and discuss their point of view on things. The meeting was a good combination of listening and learning from one speaker, to then discussing and debating as an entire group.

 It was a really good experience to participate and sit in at on of these Psychology Club meeting. I was very interested the entire time and I will definitely come back and attend several more meetings for my remaining years of college.