Premium Essay

Social Psychology: Applied vs Basic

In:

Submitted By MIrvin88
Words 1974
Pages 8
Psychology Subfields: Social Psychology
Social Psychology Basic vs. Applied Research
Beau L. Miller
Valley Forge Christian College
Dr. Kenneth Damstrom
PSY223 A Introduction to Psychology
October 22, 2010

Abstract In my paper I’ll try to distingush between applied vs. basic social psychology research through the acute social crisis of our time. Many people are turning to social science for the solution of our social problems. Society seems to be saying, in effect,
"Scientific methodology in the natural sciences and their accompanying technologies has brought us to the brink of extinction; let it save us through the social sciences and their technologies." The great foundations, governmental agencies, business organizations, and the universities are repsonding to this demand by directing increasing amounts of money and personnel to activities dealing with human relations, intergroup relations, and social "problems" in general. Social Psychology Applied vs. Basic Research

In a time where social work and social psychology are often seen as similar to the uneducated, I want to use this research paper to look into the differences of how psychologists are using their research. I’ll try to use this paper to address both basic questions regarding human behavior and applied issues of social concern. In (Kelman, 1968)described the tension between the rigor and vigor within science in general and within social psychology. In presenting the different styles of research, I’ll attempt to show strengths and limitations of each approach and argue that both are needed for social scientists to achieve a complete and systematic understanding of social behavior. Few if any researchers have been able to incorporate both rigor and vigor into their work when using the various methods of applied social psychology frameworks in testing theories.
I hope to

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Study Guide Unit 1

...biases are minimized Psychology—scientific study of behavior that is tested through scientific research Dualism Free Association Dream Analysis Heredity—all traits and properties that are passed along biologically from parent to child Physiological—having to do with an organism’s physical processes Introspection Psychiatry You should know the definition/major characteristics of the three Historical Approaches and the six Contemporary Approaches: Functionalism—psychologist who studied the function of consciousness structuralism—psychologist who studied the basic elements that make up conscious mental experiences inheritable traits—heredity influences a person’s abilities, character, and behavior Humanism—psychologist who believes that each person has freedom in directing his or her future and achieving personal growth psychoanalysis—studies how unconscious motives and conflicts determine human behavior, feelings, and thoughts cognitive—organism’s thinking and understanding behaviorism—analyzes how organisms learn or modify their behavior based on their response to events in the environment biological—impact of biology on behavior sociocultural—studying the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning You should know the major contributors to each field and their belief structure: William Wundt—structuralism BF Skinner--behaviorism Carl Rogers—humanistic psychology Ivan Pavlov--behaviorism ...

Words: 403 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Intro to Psychology

...Introduction to Psychology Chapter 1 The Origins of Psychology A. What is Psychology? * Psychology is the science of human and animal behavior; the study of the organism in all of its variety and complexity as it response to the flux and flow of the physical and social events that make up the environment. * Psychology is more than common sense * Why is psychology scientific? * Because it is based on empiricism * The notion that all knowledge can be acquired through observation, not on reasoning, tradition or common sense * Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior * Mind * The contents of subjective experience * Sensations, thoughts, and emotions * Behavior * Observable actions * Thought and feelings * Activities of cells B.     Roots of Modern Psychology * In the late 1800's both physiologists and philosophers were investigating the mind * Philosophy - "why" * Physiology - "how" * Philosophy - ideas of about the acquisition of knowledge * Physiology - progress in understanding the nervous system, senses, etc. * Both came together to create the idea of applying the methods of science to the study of human behavior C.     The First Schools: Psychology Emerges as a Science * Wilhelm Wundt * Established psychology as an independent science * First psychology lab, in Germany (1879) * Defined psychology as the...

Words: 850 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Carl Jung Research Paper

...actions, or who feel they have the power to do something about a situation, are said to have an internal locus of control. The social learning theory explains that your environment does have an effect on our personality. If you are talking about someone’s personality you also have to include the environment they have been in. Rotter also saw the personality and the behavior always changing. Rotter believed if you could change the thoughts and someone’s environment that you could also change the person’s behavior. Rotter looked at people in a optimistic way. In Rotter’s social learning theory there were four...

Words: 1430 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Little

...PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE This course aims at preparing students for a professional journey in the growing field of psychology by creating interest and developing an understanding of basic concepts of the discipline. Its major concerns include fostering capability to meet the challenges of self-discovery and effective participation in responding to the needs of society. With a vision to create a balance between society and the individual, the course intends to enable students in developing abilities needed for meeting the challenges and needs of the real world effectively. Along with it, students would also be encouraged to build a relationship with oneself, requisite for self discovery. To this end, the course emphasizes on building the conceptual foundations and acquiring psychological skills through classroom teaching/learning consisting of reflective as well as creative engagement in exercises, projects and hands on experiences. The teaching-learning of the programme would be organized through lectures, group discussions, experiential exercises, group projects, presentations, workshops and seminars. Students would be encouraged to connect to real life issues and participate in the programs and practices in the different social context. To this end practicum is incorporated as an important component in most of the papers with hands on training in the use of various research methods such as: laboratory experiments, field experiments, observation, testing, survey, interview, case...

Words: 8279 - Pages: 34

Premium Essay

Pure Research

...What is Pure Research? - The term basic research refers to study and research that is meant to increase our scientific knowledge base. This type of research is often purely theoretical with the intent of increasing our understanding of certain phenomena or behavior but does not seek to solve or treat these problems. (By Kendra Cherry, Psychology Expert) - Pure research is research done simply to find out something by examining anything. For instance, in some pure scientific research scientists discover what properties various materials possess. It is not for the sake of applying those properties to anything in particular, but simply to find out what properties there are. Pure mathematics is for the sake of seeing what happens, not to solve a problem. The fun of pure research is that you are not looking for anything in particular. Instead, anything and everything you find may be joined with anything else just to see where that combination would lead, if anywhere. (Richard F. Taflinger, PhD) - Basic research (also called pure research, fundamental research, and discovery research) is a systematic study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the fundamental aspects of phenomena. Basic research is executed without thought of a practical end goal, without specific applications or products in mind. (Wikipedia) Examples of Pure Research - Psychological studies of decision making that led to important finding in the fields of education, medicine...

Words: 362 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Modern Psychology

...Rationalism vs. empiricism (science)- evolutionary theories Group 2: Behaviorism-Lab setup/ experiments- political- social economic aspects-1890- 1913 John B. Watson  - neo- behaviorism  Group 3: Cognitive Revolution- political - social -economic aspects-"mind back in psych"- 50s, 60s, 70s Group 4: Modern Psych; applied practice/science - how psych maintains to be a science - applying psych to life settings - do we still follow same premise psychology was founded on? Economics and Psychology: From Imperialistic to Inspired Economics, by Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/362_01.pdf The Psyche as Behavior ARTURO, C. A. (2013). The Psyche as Behavior. Revista Colombiana De Psicología, 22(2), 377-387. http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93598506&site=ehost-live Behaviorism Moore, J. J. (2011). BEHAVIORISM. Psychological Record, 61(3), 449-465. http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=65033133&site=ehost-live Topics: * Behaviorism * Lab setup/ experiments * Political – social - economic aspects * 1890- 1913 * John B. Watson * Neo- behaviorism Section 1: Brief Discussion on the history of behaviorism. What is behaviorism? How was it seen as a stepping stone for psychology as a whole/ as a science? Section 2: Discussion on the first lab setup for psychology: when...

Words: 892 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Origin of Baptist

...3 days ago by an anonymous user Personality psychology Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and its variation between individuals. Its areas of focus include: Construction of a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes Investigation of individual psychological differences Investigation of human nature and psychological similarities between individuals "Personality" is a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, emotions, motivations, and behaviors in various situations. The word "personality" originates from the Latin persona, which means mask. In the theatre of the ancient Latin-speaking world, the mask was not used as a plot device to disguise the identity of a character, but instead was a convention employed to represent or typify that character. Personality also refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings, social adjustments, and behaviors consistently exhibited over time that strongly influences one's expectations, self-perceptions, values, and attitudes. It also predicts human reactions to other people, problems, and stress.[1][2] There is still no universal consensus on the definition of "personality" in psychology. Gordon Allport (1937) described two major ways to study personality: the nomothetic and the idiographic. Nomothetic psychology seeks general laws that can be applied to many different people, such as the principle...

Words: 12161 - Pages: 49

Premium Essay

Psychosocial Development

...graduating from school, reaching your dreams, getting married, getting a job, becoming a parent, retirement, and one’s own death. One of the important things that a person needs to develop is his personality. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, personality is the set of qualities and behaviors that makes a person different from other people. From the definition, lots of questions arise. Some examples are “What makes them different from the other?”, “Why are they behaving like that?”, and “Who am I?” In order to answer those questions, Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development will help to understand the complexity of human personality. Erikson’s ‘psychosocial’ term is derived from two words – ‘psychological’ means mind and ‘social’ means external relationships (Chapman, 2013). According to Ramkumar (2002), Erik Erikson did most of his works during the 1930s to the 1950s as a psychologist. He was fascinated in child analysis. He was the student of Sigmund Freud and he was inspired by his works. From the article of Chapman (2013), Erikson’s psychosocial theory was drawn and was extended from the ideas of Sigmund Freud and his daughter, Anna Freud and the concepts within psychosexual theory of human development. Freud concepts are not however fundamental to Erikson’s theory which stands up well in its own right. Freud focused on the nature of human which includes the concepts of genitals, and sex which attract a lot of attention and criticisms. Compared to Freud,...

Words: 6736 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

Developmental Psy Paper

...Developmental psychology is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging and the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. 3 major contexts to consider when analysing child psychology are: social context, cultural context, and socioeconomic context. Developmental psychology includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly-focused approach.Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Developmental psychology complements...

Words: 1041 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Educ Notes

... EXAM: Part A:  Kohlberg  Piaget  Humanism  David Geary Part B:  Humanism, Behaviourism, Constructivism  Vygotsky  Personal Perspectives & Intelligence  Piaget & Problem solving  Special needs students  Gender o Male vs Female o Cognition & Behavioural differences  Direct instruction & Discovery Learning Teaching Students with Additional Learning Needs Special Children  Have special needs and require assistance at some stage in our schooling  The notion of ‘fairness’ is not giving our students the same, but rather giving them what they need to learn and succeed.  A look at the importance of resilience o Resilience is the ability to rebound, develop and thrive in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, hardship or even significant sources of stress. o How does resilience develop?  Who are we talking about when we discuss children with special needs? o Those students with learning needs that are so diverse they need individual consideration and support. o A continuum of support in the classroom. Definition of Disability  Social Model o socially created problem o not an attribute of an individual, but rather a complex collection of conditions o management of the problem requires social attention o collective responsibility of society at large o human rights issue of major concern o in the educational setting we ask what can we do in the classroom to give these students access to the curriculum  Medical/Deficit Model ...

Words: 3176 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Lecture#1

...Introduction to Psychology PSYC 2510.06 A Prof. Richard Lalonde with Dr. Heather Jordan Welcome – Bienvenue à Glendon Intro to Psych – Textbook  • Please report any errors  in this 4th ed to me via e‐ mail Introduction to Psychology • Textbook  – the cool stuff – https://login.nelsonbrain.com/course/MTPQ‐ 8LJP‐505M Breken Finnie or David Groth? • Moodle – http://www.glendon.yorku.ca/eclass/ • Course syllabus What Moodle will be used for? • Posting class notes in pdf format (after class) • Dr. Jordan’s Practice Questions & Study Skills • Class announcements (infrequently) • Checking your scores on exams • Some links of interest 1 Course Evaluation • Four non‐cumulative exams – 20% (lowest mark) & 30% (highest mark) by term Weekly lectures • Selected topic from textbook • Additional, related material and concepts – demos, videos, discussions, … • 2 bonus points for research participation • no opportunities for extra assignments • Exam questions:  from textbook & lectures  including info from lectures not found in the  text, as well as material covered in the text but  not covered in lectures • If you miss a class, borrow notes from a  classmate Course Objectives • To gain a working knowledge of the scope of  the discipline of Psychology and a foundation  for future studies within the field.  • Required course for students who intend to  pursue additional courses in Psychology.  • Students must pass the course with a grade of  ...

Words: 1079 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Ggdfgd

...of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, and Research Institute of Psychology & Health, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Downloaded By: [University Library Utrecht] At: 08:58 19 September 2008 b By using a full panel design in a representative sample of Finnish dentists (N 02555), the present study aimed to test longitudinally the motivational and health impairment processes as proposed in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The second aim was to investigate whether home resources and home demands have an additional influence on both processes over time. The hypotheses were tested with cross-lagged analyses based on two waves over a 3-year period. The results supported both the motivational process and the health impairment process. Job resources influenced future work engagement, which, in turn, predicted organizational commitment, whereas job demands predicted burnout over time, which, in turn, predicted future depression. In addition, job resources had a weak negative impact on burnout. Home demands and home resources did not influence the motivational or health impairment process over time. The results support the central role of work characteristics for health and well-being. By integrating both human thriving and ill-health in the same model, the JD-R model may help to bridge the gap between ‘‘negative’’ and ‘‘positive’’ psychology. Keywords: Job Demands-Resources model; work engagement;...

Words: 8887 - Pages: 36

Premium Essay

Explain A Complicated Procedure To A 4-Year-Old Child

...It is good to introduce the concept of social learning. One cannot be able to understand a teenage girl or create an effective setting if he or she does not commit to studying that individual. Here, it is good to take care of the possible external social influences that motivate the girl at this age. Like the boys, girls also suffer role confusion because of the interaction they are exposed to. To produce the best setting of learning, one must at least have an understanding of motivational hierarchy. Possibility of a girl to succeed depends on the belief she has on herself. Self regulated learning here entails motivation, goals and self control. Remember, experiences of girls to those of boys differ. The physical changes in boys and girls are different. The best approach to use for this girl is modeling. Modeling should be incorporated with other social activities to enhance activeness. This instills a deep level of understanding, promotes critical thinking, enhances positive peer interactions, and promotes critical thinking and it also boosts esteem. Cognitive evaluation can also be employed to determine the individual abilities. The more a girl is made to discover herself, the more...

Words: 1642 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Different Schools of Psychology to the Advancement of the Field of Psychology

...Different schools of Psychology to the advancement of the field of Psychology Psychology began or has its roots in philosophy, the mother of all sciences. Aristotle in his works speaks rather remotely on different aspects of psychology. Among some of Aristotle’s major and famous works namely metaphysics, De Anime; he speaks of the soul which in profound consideration could come to the conclusion that it sounds synonymous with our modern understanding of ‘mind’. Thus psychology was a part of philosophy from the very beginning through it stands independently now. Further long before Aristotle existed; philosophers like Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclites and Parmenides spoke on the same subject even though it was not that much elaborated. Here we cannot forget the contribution made by Plato. He very clearly explains in his dialogues further on this matter. Psychology originated very simply as a result of the development of the metaphysical approach of the people of different times. In sociology it is an acceptable fact that the prevailing circumstances and state of a particular social milieu make a great impact on a particular matter. This impact varies from place to place time to time depending on the social characteristics. By inferences the aforementioned is the reason why there are different schools in psychology. When we analyses it stands to reason that all psychologists were trying to deal with the same matter. They have seen the same problems or the issues with regard to ‘mind’...

Words: 4796 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Habits

...once weekly instead of 3-5 times weekly which was typical for traditional psychoanalysts. Psychodynamic therapies depend on a theory of inner conflicts which surface in behaviour or emotions. Generally, one conflict is subconscious. ------------------------------------------------- Overview In general, psychodynamics, also known as dynamic psychology, is the study of the interrelationship of various parts of the mind, personality, or psyche as they relate to mental, emotional, or motivational forces especially at the unconscious level.[4][5][6] The mental forces involved in psychodynamics are often divided into two parts:[7] (a) interaction of emotional forces: the interaction of the emotional and motivational forces that affect behavior and mental states, especially on a subconscious level; (b) inner forces affecting behavior: the study of the emotional and motivational forces that affect behavior and states of mind;. Freud proposed that psychological energy was constant (hence, emotional changes consisted only in displacements) and that it tended to rest (point attractor) through discharge (catharsis). In mate selection psychology, psychodynamics is defined as the study of the forces, motives, and energy generated by the deepest of human needs. In general,...

Words: 7233 - Pages: 29