...CHAPTER 4 WUNDT AND GERMAN PSYCHOLOGY The book which I here present to the public is an attempt to mark out a new domain of science. —Wilhelm Wundt, 1874 PREVIEW AND CHAPTER OBJECTIVES Chapters 2 and 3 describe the context out of which modern psychology emerged in the nineteenth century. Philosophers, interested in the same fundamental questions about the human mind and behavior that occupy psychologists today, began to speculate about the need to examine these issues scientifically. At least one nineteenth-century British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, even proposed the development of a scientific psychology. Meanwhile, physiologists and physicians in Europe made great strides in furthering our understanding of the physiology of the nervous system and, in particular, of the brain. This chapter examines how this experimental physiology combined with philosophical inquiry to create a new experimental psychology in Germany in the late nineteenth century. The chapter opens with a brief discussion of some aspects of German education that made it attractive to American students, and then continues with a look at how Gustav Fechner’s psychophysics provided a standardized set of methods for studying sensory thresholds. The creation of the ‘‘New Psychology’’ and its first laboratory by Leipzig’s Wilhelm Wundt forms the focus of the middle of the chapter. The chapter ends with consideration of three other important German psychologists, Hermann Ebbinghaus, G. E. Muller, and Oswald...
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...Personality Analysis: Dispositional and Learning Theories Your Name Here PSY/405 Date Here Instructors Name Here Personality Analysis: Dispositional and Learning Theories Historically, behavioral scientists longed for a method by which they could gain a better understanding of the progression of human behavioral development. A group of such scientists believed that neglecting the study of the individual and focusing only on groups and behavioral generalities did a disservice to the individuality of every person (Feist & Feist, 2009). Gordon Allport was at the forefront of these scientists and emphasized the uniqueness of the individual (Feist & Feist, 2009). Allport and his dispositional theory, believed that people may display like characteristics, stubbornness, for example, but that two individuals displaying stubbornness are displaying differences of the same trait since, in the end, no two people are alike (Feist & Feist, 2009), and believed that using a person’s personal writings – letters, journals, or diaries – could provide a unique view of such individual uniqueness (Barenbaum, 1997). Individuality means just that – that each person is unique, distinctive, and unlike any other. Personalities are distinctive, belief systems are individual, and thought process unique. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory observed we are each singular moral agents, capable of influencing our lives within the constructs of social mechanisms (Bandura, 2001)...
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...Personality Analysis: Dispositional and Learning Theories PSY/405 August 30, 2012 Instructor Stacy Page Personality Analysis: Dispositional and Learning Theories The revision and analysis of personalities provides a restored knowledge for human behaviors and the progression in which individuals understand. Theorists had endeavored for a long time realizing further theoretical methodology. Gordon Allport researched the personalities of people for the reason that that methodology provide further meaning or characterization to individual distinctiveness and give emphasis to the distinctiveness of the person (Feist & Feist, 2009). Depicting a person with universal personality merely categorize individuals as a crowd or group. Nevertheless, Allport alleged to exactly distinguish an individual is through the means of being familiar with the individuals as personal. Individuality shows each individual be distinct and unique, no one person is alike in a way; for the reason that individuals have distinctive personalities and the capabilities to understand is atypical as well. Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory observed the behavior in which individuals understand. Observational learning tolerates individuals to find out lacking actions or responsibilities (Feist & Feist, 2009). Principally people do find out through own encounters although learn as well from looking at different job and achievements of other people. Generally ...
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...Personality: Theories Chapter: Personality Theories 429 Personality: Theories What Is "Personality"? Psychologists' Usage of Personality Elements of Personality Techniques of Study Theories of Personality Trait Theories Psychoanalytic Theory Central elements of Psychoanalysis Psychoanalytic Personality Structure Instincts in Psychoanalysis Other Psychodynamic Theorists (Social-) Learning Theories Dollard/Miller's Stimulus-Response Theory B. F. Skinner and Personality as Behavior Bandura and Social Learning Self-Growth Theories Carl Rogers and Person-Centered Theory Maslow's Holistic Theory A Modern Theory of Personality: Big Five USING PSYCHOLOGY: What Determines Your Personality -Heredity? Environment? USING PSYCHOLOGY: What Determines Your Personality -Heredity and Environment REVIEW ACTIVITIES INTERESTED IN MORE? Personality: Theories WHAT'S THE ANSWER? "I'm really jealous of my sister. Here I am about to graduate, and I only made it into the Student Association this year. Sis's a freshman -- a frosh -- and she's already been elected." "Wilma, I know what you mean. My older brother was the same way. You know what your sister and my brother have in common? They've both got a lot of personality. Your sister kind of just radiates charm -- even for a first-year student! And Kirk's the same way: Everywhere he goes, people smile with him. He gushes at the right time, gets serious when he needs to, and always has a good word for everybody. He's just got a PSYCHOLOGY: ...
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... |PSY/405 Version 2 | | |Theories of Personality | Copyright © 2010, 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course surveys the field of personality from a scientific perspective, examining the general approaches to understanding personality. The key theorists and concepts associated with each perspective are highlighted, along with the strengths and limitations of the different approaches. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. |Week One: Introduction to Personality ...
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... |PSY/405 Version 2 | | |Theories of Personality | Copyright © 2010, 2009, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description This course surveys the field of personality from a scientific perspective, examining the general approaches to understanding personality. The key theorists and concepts associated with each perspective are highlighted, along with the strengths and limitations of the different approaches. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. All electronic materials are available on the student website. |Week One: Introduction to Personality...
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...Personality Theory Analysis Jolie Gerding Theories of Personality PSY/405 August 10, 2015 Patti Tolar Personality Theory Analysis The personality theories that will be analyzed in this paper are dispositional theories and learning theories. The role that the personality has in affecting situational behavior will be addressed. In addition it will examine and discuss the personality characteristics attributed to both dispositional and learning theories. Finally this paper will explain the interpersonal relational aspects associated with both dispositional theories and learning theories. Personality and Situational Behavior The psychology of personality seeks to understand the whole person and the dimensions of difference which allow them to be distinguished from other individuals psychologically. To do this, personality psychologists look at the different aspects that development, cognitive, social and biological experiences lend to the make-up of the individual’s personality (Funder, 2001). Walter Mischel conducted a variety of experiments regarding personality and how situational experiences affect an individual’s behavior. Mischel believed that behavior was, in large part, a function of the current situation that a person is experiencing (Feist, Feist, & Roberts, 2013). Believing “that the relative influence of situation variables and personal qualities can be determined by observing the uniformity or diversity of people’s responses” (Feist, Feist, &...
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...to fill psychological literature and study with widespread research and theory. Personality is the continuous presentation of attributes and distinctions that contribute to variety in human thought and behavior (Feist & Feist, 2009). To enable more precise understandings of such differences and distinctions, psychological theorists develop explanations and parameters from various contexts. Psychoanalytic, humanistic and/or existential, dispositional, and learning theories help psychologists account for why and how people develop such individual and specific characteristics. They study these characteristics and the significant affects that the characteristics have on human development, as well as, the whole of human nature. Personality Defined According to Feist,& Feist (2009) personality is a global concept referring to a relatively permanent pattern of traits, dispositions, or characteristics that give some degree of consistency to a person’s behavior. Feist & Feist (2009) also wrote "Although no single definition is acceptable to all personality theorists, we can say that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person's behavior."(Feist and Feist, 2009) There are many different theories of personality which can be grouped into one of four classes: traits, psychoanalytic, social learning, and humanistic personality. At the begining an individual needs to understand...
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...Personality theory analysis Danielle williams psy/405 07/01/2014 Sharon Friedman Personality theory analysis Over a vast period of time many different phycologist have pondered the makings of the human personality. Not only did phycologist have to consider what makes up the human personality; these same brilliant minds came up with several various approaches to the human personality. Each one of the following positions or theories all touch basis on different developments of a person’s personality. Whether it is the dispositional approach that theorist state are key traits in development that make an individual unique to him or her, or the humanist/existential approach which focuses more on the evidence for the stability of genetically influenced personality, more specifically evolution and how it applies to the issues of ambition and leadership. Here we will describe the differences between dispositional personality and humanistic. In this essay we will discuss the role of personality in affecting situational behavior. Following this, examine the personality characteristics attributed to each theory in our approach. Finally, we will explain the interpersonal relational aspects associated with the theories selected. . A number of different theories have emerged to explain different aspects of personality. Some theories focus on explaining how personality develops while others are concerned with individual differences in personality. In the following we will review...
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...Personality Theory Analysis: Dispositional and Existential Theories Personality Theory Analysis: Dispositional and Existential Theories Introduction The human temperament may be a complicated and complex aspect of human development and evolution. It’s the part of us that makes us who we are. Since the very start, people at large have been making an attempt to grasp each other, and it is with theoretical rationalization that we come virtually close to doing this. Personality theories, overall, are tries created by psychologists and philosophers throughout time to put understanding into something so superficially non-understandable as the huge expanse of the human temperament. Philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle presented this particular question “Who are we?” ; psychoanalyst Freud, Skinner, and Pavlov continued the seek the answers; and many more have additional their takes on- What is so unique about the human mind – what influences the event of the human personality? Here we are going to discuss Dispositional Personality Theories and Existential Personality Theories; we will also discuss their differences and similarities, and their views on situational behavior, temperament features, and social relationships. Existential temperament Theories After the war Angst, came the birth of Existential theory, with a loss of assurance reason and progress (Wyatt, 2010). This led to a craving to come back to reliance on the “inner self”; as a result of after all the sole...
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...Earliest theories of personality were dispositional theories - personality made up of various behavioral tendencies, dispositions, or temperaments. Traits present specific ideas about a person’s disposition (the way a person is likely to behave across situations as well as over time). Human behavior and personality traits are placed on a range or organized into a hierarchy. The personality characteristics credited by the dispositional theory are constant such that changes in the environment and occurrence of unexpected do not trigger any modification. The innate traits have been prevalent and present in the individual for long such that at any given situation, they are always in a position to react effectively. As a result, individual’s personality has been equated to dispositional traits as the person has been consistently portraying these traits ever since the early years. Explain how dispositional theories influence interpersonal relationships. People, have been said to be a work source greatest resource, despite this age old comment some individuals within managerial positions have a tendency to forget this. The influence of dispositional theory on interpersonal relationships can clearly be seen within the work place, especially in avenues such as the perception shared between workers and managers, a workers social identity and finally with trust and cooperation. The importance of dispositional characteristics is “reinforced by ‘Followers’ personality...
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...plays a noteworthy role in this perspective because it provides one with the opportunity for making choices when it comes to his or her performance and the outcome of his individuality. This suggests that personality is so incredible that one can change based exclusively on the will of an individual instead of relying on any societal standards. This point of view strongly supports individual growth and helps one to attain self- fulfillment. At the same time, the humanistic/existential theory believes one should live his life as authentically as he should or can, but is merely probable if one is aware of the duty that comes from living. This is a person center view because it acknowledges the complete person and how he sees himself if in the world they live, which allow for further growth. “The humanistic/existential theory does not consider that any unconscious forces, indentified by traits, control humanity, or some inherited factors,” (Feist & Feist, 2009, p. 36). The dispositional theory considers other aspects contributing to the development of personality. * What factors do you think have contributed to Rodriguez’s success? Was he merely “in the right place at the right time,” or are there circumstances about him that contribute to his success? To answer a question one would need to ponder the difference in the person who just settles versus the person keeps at it repeatedly even though things may not feel comfortable at that particular moment. Most would believe...
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...Personality Theory Analysis Jesica Peterson PSY405 August 10, 2015 Patti Tolar Personality Theory Analysis There is no one single definition of personality; however, there are many different theories on how they develop. The description of personality given by Feist, Feist, and Roberts is that “personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior” (p.4). Many different theorists have taken their own approach to this description and developed different theories as to why and how personality develops in each individual. Throughout this paper the two theories that will be discussed are Dispositional and Humanistic theories of personality. Dispositional Theory of Personality Dispositional theories of personality hold the assumption that each individual possess stable, long-lasting dispositions in order to portray specific behaviors (Westmont College, 2002). The dispositions that each person has appear in various and diverse situations. The display of disposition can help predict behaviors in future situations (Westmont College, 2002). Each individual has a different set of dispositions that imply uniqueness in that individual (Feist, Feist, & Roberts, 2013). Gordon Allport was a theorist who was best known for his trait theory of personality (Cherry, n/d). He developed his theory by searching through the dictionary for words that seemed to describe personality...
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...PSY 490 Week 4 Quiz Click Link for the Answer: http://workbank247.com/q/psy-490-week-4-quiz/27203 http://workbank247.com/q/psy-490-week-4-quiz/27203 1) Ivan Pavlov pioneered the theory of | A. Social Learning Theory | | B. classical conditioning | | C. operant conditioning | | D. Cognitive Psychology | | | | 2) Philosophers who believe that truth can emerge from the careful use of reason are known as | A. Rationalists | | B. Nativists | | C. Dualists | | D. Empiricists | | | | 3) The most commonly used statistic in Psychology is | A. mean | | B. criteria | | C. mode | | D. range | | | | 4) In a topographical representation of the motor cortex, the homunculus is the largest area devoted to | A. the face | | B. the hands | | C. arms and legs | | D. the tongue | | | | 5) What theorist presents a hierarchy of needs and motivations? | A. Carl Jung | | B. Sigmund Freud | | C. Abraham Maslow | | D. B.F. Skinner | | | | 6) Consider the biological theories of aging. Which of the following best represent components of that theory? | A. Attachment Theory | | B. The Nun Theory | | C. Cellular Dial Theory | | D. Hormonal Stress Theory | | | | 7) In operant conditioning, which of the following is accurate? | A. Any response that is followed by reward tends to become extinct. | | B. Any response that is followed by punishment is likely to not be repeated. | | C. Any response...
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...learnt situations. Huberman (1999-2010), “you know, the mayor has said it several times before that while we cannot change the past, we can learn from the past” (Learning Quotes, para. 4). Dispositional versus Learning Although Allport’s theory did not generate a lot of research it, has the capability as he focuses his research on psychologically healthy adults. He receives a moderate rating in generating research because his hypothesis leads to research in only religion, values, and prejudice. Trait and factor theories, however, rate high as Eysenck’s, McCrae’s, and Costa’s theories all generated significant amounts of research. Skinners’ learning theory rates high because his theories generate large quantities of research just as Bandura’s does whom also receives a high rating. The cognitive social learning theories of Rotter and Mischel rate extremely high as their theories generate quantity and quality research. Falsifiability receives a low rating as most of his insights go beyond sciences abilities in determining if other explanations may be equally appropriate. Trait and factor theories receive a moderate rating on falsifiability. Eysenck’s research has not been duplicated by outside researchers, and Costa and McCrae’s research is falsified. Again, Skinner and Bandura’s learning theories rate high on falsifiability as well because a majority of their ideas can be...
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