Psychology Wiki

Who needs therapy?

2010-06-01T23:52:00.001-07:00

Everyone goes through stressful periods in his or her life. When such periods occur a person may manage on their own or be helped by those close to them.

There are however times when:
• you want to speak of things without others knowing,
• you want an objective view of your current difficulties,
• your difficulties occur on an ongoing or regular basis,
• you or those close to you can’t help, or
• you are aware that your difficulties require professional help.
It is time to consider therapy.

What is Therapy?

2010-06-01T23:44:00.001-07:00

This is not an easy question to answer simply, but here goes…

People hold different ideas about therapy in their minds. Some imagine therapy involves lying on a couch and having a therapist offer the occasional “Hmmmmm…..”. Other people wonder whether therapy is similar to what happens in the movies. There are of course many different ways of practicing psychology and offering therapy. The commonest involves coming to see a therapist and talking about things that are worrying you or discussing how your week has been. This leads to you and the therapist thinking about your reactions to daily events, your interactions with others, your thoughts and feelings about various matters. Depending on what emerges, the therapist may explore other ways of being in the world or challenge some of your reactions or patterns of behaviour.

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Why not LiveTV4Ever.com

2010-05-29T09:57:00.001-07:00

Well the useless people at LiveTV4Ever was at it again. After a buffering low quality terrible stream of the Super14 Finals they obviously lost or rather deliberately disconnected, the stream to prevent any paying customer from viewing the final presentations and jubilations.

I have never seen such a useless and amateurish service as that of LiveTV4Ever.com.

DO NOT WAISTE YOUR MONEY - Rather get cable tv and pay the price than to have your sporting pleasure in the hands of a bunch of non-caring school-kids!

Should you subscribe to LiveTV4Ever

2010-05-29T06:06:00.001-07:00

Well the answer is in my point of view: NO don't!

I personally can not say they are a total scam. When they have a feed (and the emphasis on on the word when) then, yes it is good quality.

But then why my statement that you should not subscribe. Well it is easy.

Firstly, I subscribed to the 6 months feed and it went smooth. Came end of the month, they just simply subtracted more money, and again, and again. After sending 17 messages they responded but refused any reimbursements and just ignored any alternative requests. No response and just no answers. That is Fraud! Nothing but Fraud.

Secondly, If there is a sporting event, don't count seeing it. Too often the feeds are messed up and in stead of seeing your all important final game, whatever the sport may be, you will be seeing some backyard underrated and totally unrelated sporting event. Imagine tuning in and seeing some fishing event when you were all geared up for a nice fast game of rugby!

Thirdly, feeds just don't display. And that is so true for feeds for important games. Up to now I never had the previlage to view any important final. Having no option, you will have to watch low quality free stream sites with a bunch of over enthusiastic swearing people clogging up the bandwith with rubbish and swearing chats!

But, you may say, they do have a online support system AND support e-mail. Surely that helps. No ways. They ignore it! I have spend hours waiting for so-called support and have send hunderds (litteraly) messages begging for support and some kind of answer. None is forth-comming and none will be forth comming.

So in short, they seem initially to be a nice bunch of people but don't expect service nor delivery for what you paid! So, go and pay and enjoy! That is, if you have money to throw away!

What is Operant Conditioning (Psychology)

2010-05-25T00:04:00.001-07:00

"Operant conditioning was pioneered by Skinner. Learning is the result of an association being formed between behaviour and its consequences; the Law of Effect states that behaviour which has a positive consequence will be learned. For example, if lever pressing delivers food to a hungry rat, food is positive reinforcement and lever pressing is likely to be repeated. Behaviour that results in the removal of something aversive, e.g. pressing a lever stops an electrical shock, is negatively reinforced, and so is also likely to be repeated. Behaviour leading to aversive outcome, or the removal of something pleasant, is punishment. Skinner believed punishment to be an unethical and ineffective way of changing behaviour. Behaviour can be shaped, i.e. moved towards the desired outcome, by reinforcing successive approximations of what is required. Skinner sees learning as following processes similar to those in evolution, but over the individual's lifetime, in that learning produces an organism better adapted to the environment.

Studies using a Skinner box have established these principles in animals. They apply equally to humans, and have been used successfully in behaviour modification programmes, e.g. reducing disruptive classroom behaviour, using reinforcers such as praise and plastic tokens, later exchanged for what the individual finds reinforcing.

While effective in changing behaviour, this approach has been criticised for ignoring the role of internal cognitive processes in behaviour change, and for its use of experiments divorced from the natural environment.

Read more on http://www.mycyprusit-client.com/DSE212-ExamTerms-operant-conditioning.ashx

Improve your Body Image Workshops

2010-05-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

The body is a map which expresses our feeling states, our thoughts and beliefs. It ultimately links us to our sense of self. It connects us and disconnects us. A disturbed body image carries a history that cuts critically into our sense of being connected to our selves and to others.

This one day (Saturday) workshop aims to explore our personal body image that defends us from connectivity and to loosen the armour through discussion, movement and creative expression.

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Attachment Theory explained in short

2010-05-05T11:39:00.001-07:00

Lorenz took a walk with his ducks imprinting the living fear into Bowlby who "attached" himself to a tree whilst Ainsworthy, observing the chaos, classified it as insecure not noting the terrified monkey of Harlow seeking comfort from the surrounding fencing.
Main & Goldwyn passed by, gave a dismissive look and continued being preoccupied with their discussion of Baumrinds authoritative classifications of parenting styles!

Familiar with these terms and names? They are essential for both DSE212 and ED209 or other psychology subjects, especially level 2.

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ED209 Parenting & Attachment Summary Notes

2010-05-04T12:35:00.001-07:00

With a focus on parenting, and its implications for children's development throughout childhood and into later life, Chapter 1 of Book 2 (ED209) is a comprehensive account of what the Attachment Theory of Bowlby is all about.

The chapter explains the main theoretical background of Bowlby's attachment theory which later triggered the Strange Situation experiment developed by Ainsworth. This technique facilitated research into secure and insecure attachment and infance and its effects on development. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) can be used to investigate the continuing effects of early attachment type through to adulthood.

A broad overview of the effect of parental behaviour on the development of children is provided in light of the ideas on parenting style as theorised by Baumrind as well as research into adolescence.

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Attachment Theory Classifications

2010-05-03T12:05:00.001-07:00

Ainsworth (1969) classified children in three types being secure, insecure-avoident and insecure-resistent whilst Main & Solomon (1990) later also identified a fourth group namely disorganised.

Subsequent studies conducted by Vontra et al. (1995) established a link between mother groups (sensitive, controlling and unresponsive) and the relevant child classification of Ainsworth.

Goldberg et al (1994) also used the Strange Situation to investigate the experiences of emotion on each of these classifications with their findings supporting Ainsworth's general observation.

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Reciprocal Altruism - what is that?

2010-04-30T06:52:00.001-07:00

Some behaviours benefit others, with whom we have no genes in common, at some cost to ourselves. On the surface, this is difficult for evolutionary psychology to explain since evolutionary principles relate to the processes which lead to the likelihood of an individual surviving long enough to reproduce, and so pass on their genes to the next generation. However, Trivers has argued that this kind of altruistic behaviour may indirectly promote the survival of the individual because someone whi is helped may return this favour on a future occassion, i.e. reciprocal altuism.

This behaivour leaves open the possibility of cheating, i.e. accepting help but not offering help in return. Reciprocal altruism depends on the ability to detect non-reciprocation, and so could have played a critical role in the development of theory of mind, necessary for this skill.

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Defining Stereotype

2010-04-30T06:26:00.001-07:00

A stereotype is a mental representation of a person which emphasises their group membership rather than individual characteristics. They are the consequence of cognitive processes which lead us to make overgeneralisations. This relates to schema theory, which suggests that we interpret new information in the light of our previous knowledge and experience. Stereotypes tend to be largely automatic, i.e. working below the level of conscious awareness, and may be instantly activated by physical characteristics, e.g. a skinhead may have assumed to be aggressive

Stereotypes tend to be self-confirming; we pick out information about a person which conforms to our stereotype, and not which challenges it, e.g. the Darley & Gross Hannah study found that participants who saw a video in which Hannah was portrayed as having high socioeconomic status judged her to have higher academic ability than those who saw a "low socioeconomic status" video. Information about academic ability was interpreted according to expectations based on socioeconomic stereotypes.

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Self-serving bias in psychology

2010-04-30T05:42:00.001-07:00

The self-serving bias suggest that in attributing causes to behaviour, we attribute success to internal causes (e.g. I did well in the exam because I worked hard), and failure to external causes (e.g. family problems meant I didn't have enough time to revise). A content analysis by Lau & Russell of newspaper articles reporting baseball and football players' and managers' explanations of success and failure support this idea. However, though his study has high ecological validity, it may have been biased by the researchers' subjectivity.

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Self Actualization Flash Card

2010-04-30T04:56:00.001-07:00

In humanistic psychology, self-actualization is a term in Maslow's theory of motivation. It refers to the drive towards self-fulfilment, to develop one's potential, and "to become everything that one is capable of becomming" (Maslow).

It is the higher level in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. While the lower levels - physiological, safety, love and belonging, and esteem - are deficiency needs which can be satisfied, Maslow called self-actualization a being need, whose expression is an end in itself. It is also a key concept in the work of Carl Rogers, and is relevant to his person-centered counseling.
How this need is expressed depends on the individual; for example this
could be artistic or athletic expression, or just being a good mother. Both Maslow
and Rogers believed that if the conditions are right,
self-actualization will occur spontaneously, though it is not clear
that this is necessarily the case.

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What is Personal Constructs?

2010-04-30T04:36:00.001-07:00

Within Kelly's personal construct theory, which is an approach
to understanding conscious experience, personal constructs are ways in
which people make sense of their world. Constructs are bipolar, e.g. friendly - cold; or interesting - boring, and personal in that different people use different constructs.

An individual's pattern of constructs is uncovered using a repertory grid, which can also show the relationships
between the constructs used. A client is asked to think of specific
people who play a role in their personal life, e.g. father, boss, best
friend; these are known as elements. Different combinations of
three of these elements are then selected, and the client is asked to
say how any two are alike and the third is different. This is repeated
as long as the client is able to produce different constructs. Finally,
each element is given a numerical value for each construct. Where
similar values are given to elements across different constructs, it
suggests that these different constructs are being used in similar ways.

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What is Defence Mechanisms in Psychology

2010-04-30T01:33:00.000-07:00

Defence mechanisms are part of our everyday life, and are not necessarily pathological, e.g. we may "forget" a dentist's appointment. There is some experimental evidence to support the idea of defence mechanisms, e.g. Myers & Brewin found that repressive copers were likely to have had troubled childhood relationships.

The idea that we use unconscious ways of coping with conflict is central to psychoanalytic theory, and is important in the therapy of psychoanalysis. Defences are seen as rooted in the individual's character and their past, and personality is believed to be in part related to the defence mechanisms a person typically uses.

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Psychodynamics - A short definition

2010-04-30T01:31:00.000-07:00

In Freud's theories, psychodynamics refers to internal psychic conflict between different aspects of the self, and the defences used to deal with it. The self has three aspects:

the id, which is concerned with biological needs and seeking pleasure;
the ego; which works on the reality principle, and is concerned with integrating the different parts of the self;
the superego or conscience, based on the introjection of the moral attitudes of others, particularly the father. This conflict is unconscious.

DSE212 - Exploring Psychology

2010-04-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

The DSE212 course is a daunting task especially taking in concideration that is the first subject for many students embarking on a degree in Psychology at the Open University. I am updating relevant course content extracts and summaries as well as the all important exam terms on my Wiki. For more information, have a look at http://www.mycyprusit-client.com/DSE212.ashx

New Psychology Wiki for Students

2010-04-30T00:38:00.001-07:00

Studying psychology is not easy. There is a lot of work, a lot of names, terminology, experiments, theories and you name it to remember. To make it easier for myself, and hopefully others studying psychology, a new wiki was erected. Have a look at http://www.mycyprusit-client.com/