Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Psychology and Sociology

Understanding Learning

Learning is the process through which new skills, abilities, knowledge, behaviors, or values are acquired as a result of study, experience, training, and observation.

Importance of Learning

This process can be analyzed from different perspectives. Learning is crucial as it enables individuals to acquire skills and knowledge, shaping their understanding of the world and influencing their future actions and goals.

Effects of Learning

A more direct way to verify the effects that learning to read has on the brain is studied by imaging the brains of children who are learning to read.

Modes of Learning

From a practical perspective, learning can be classified according to the aspects it encompasses. These may include:

• Cognitive aspects

The Superego: The Moral Compass of Personality

The superego represents the judicial branch or moral component of personality. It embodies societal standards and cultural values that individuals internalize. Internalization means integrating external values into one's own personality. The superego comprises two subsystems: the ego ideal and conscience.

Ego Ideal and Conscience

The ego ideal encompasses goals, objectives, and all positively valued behaviors deemed morally acceptable. Conscience, conversely, refers to everything negatively evaluated or rejected.

The superego operates both unconsciously and consciously, potentially causing anxiety and guilt.

The superego dictates what *not* to do, often without providing explanations. This is similar... Continue reading "Understanding the Id, Ego, and Superego in Psychology" »

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological Needs

These fundamental needs include air, water, food, sleep, rest, elimination of waste, avoidance of pain, and sexuality. They are individual and somatic (bodily), making them distinct from other needs. They are also relatively independent of one another and are the first needs that humans strive to satisfy.

Safety Needs

Once physiological needs are met, the focus shifts to safety, protection, and stability. This involves addressing fears and anxieties. Children, with less control over their environment, are particularly vulnerable and require a safe and supportive environment to develop confidence and protect them from negative experiences.

Love and Belonging Needs (Social Needs)

After physiological... Continue reading "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Personal Identity Development" »

Direct Observation in Social Research

Introduction

Direct observation is a crucial data collection technique in social research, providing insights into the socio-cultural realities of communities and social groups. It involves observing and recording behaviors and events within a specific context.

What is Direct Observation?

Direct observation involves one or more researchers watching and recording events as they unfold in a natural setting. From a social research perspective, it's a method of gathering information using the senses to perceive and document social realities and behaviors within the context where they naturally occur (physical and cultural-social environment).

Two key characteristics of effective direct observation are:

• Intentional:

Psychological Therapies

Definition:

It is a working relationship between a therapist and a client to develop more satisfying ways of being in the world.

Treatment Techniques:

1. Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud

   • Concept of Pathology: Instinctual conflicts that are beyond the reach of consciousness.
   • Objectives: To reveal the meaning of the unconscious.

   • Techniques:

     1. Free Association:

        The patient informs the therapist of their thoughts and memories that come to mind, regardless of their perceived importance. This facilitates the surfacing of repressed memories and desires for conscious acceptance.

     2. Interpretation of Dreams:

        Repressed desires during wakefulness are manifested in dreams in a disguised form.

     3. Transference:

        The patient transfers to the therapist hostility,

Understanding Conflict

A conflict is a situation of confrontation between people who have different ideas regarding a particular issue. A conflict differs from a dilemma. A conflict involves a disagreement between individuals or groups, while a dilemma involves a difficult personal decision.

Common Causes of Labor Disputes

• Causes arising in relations between individuals, groups, or organizations:
  • Unclear distribution of work
  • Differences in income or desires
  • Differences in values and beliefs
  • Personal confrontations
• Causes related to decision-making:
  • Need to make a difficult decision

Types of Conflict

By Number of People Affected

• Individual: Conflict between two people.
• Collective: Conflict between a group of employees and the company.

By Subject Matter

• Legal:

Generating Research Ideas

• Observation or personal experience
• Reformulation of ideas or beliefs based on new information or knowledge
• Knowledge derived from previous research
• Failure in applying known techniques for problem-solving
• Unexpected findings
• Follow-up to previous studies
• Adaptation or update of existing concepts
• Relating problems across different disciplines
• Need to define new objects of study

Critical Analysis in Research

When conducting critical analysis, consider the following:

• Assessing the type of design used in the study (e.g., qualitative, case-control, cohort, cross-sectional)
• Characteristics of included participants (e.g., race, geography, general medical history, comorbidities)
• Adherence to protocols
• Monitoring procedures
• Bias (e.g., studies

Challenges in Interviewing Marginalized Groups

A clear case involves particularly marginalized groups: criminals, prostitutes, drug addicts, people with stigmatized diseases, people experiencing homelessness, etc. Even when the researcher has some notion about certain places where they can locate some of these potential respondents, they must not forget the high degree of volatility or mobility of these groups. If we can establish a good relationship with any of them, we may be on the right track. Through their influence, we can get new elements for our sample. This is known as the "snowball effect." The first interviewees give us information that will permit the location of other individuals likely to swell our "sample." And these, in turn,... Continue reading "In-Depth Interviews: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Best Practices" »

Evolutionary Psychology and Adolescent Development

Evolutionary psychology deals with the psychological changes that occur during life and analyzes how the human being passes through several stages to adulthood.

Objectives of Adolescence

1. Develop cognitive and emotional characteristics (abstract thought and self-awareness).
2. Build a personal identity.
3. Acquire social skills.

Youth Culture Characteristics

1. New forms of communication.
2. Individualization.
3. Body image assessment.
4. Cult of image.
5. Sensitivity.
6. Consumerism.
7. Nomadism.

Features of Formal Thought

1. Openness to the world.
2. Logical thinking.
3. Possibility of hypothetico-deductive thinking.
4. Egocentric thinking.

Beliefs and Irrational Thoughts

Beliefs are useful illusions that allow us to manage our experiences. Irrational... Continue reading "Understanding Adolescent Psychology: Key Stages & Characteristics" »

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, meaning the fragmentation of cognitive and emotional capacities, was described by Breuler in 1911. It typically emerges in late adolescence or early adulthood, affecting individuals of both sexes.

Symptoms

• Social Isolation: Difficulty with interpersonal relationships, often leading to withdrawal.
• Thought Disruption: Fragmented and distorted thinking, often perceived as absurd by others.
• Disturbed Perceptions: Experiences of hallucinations, which can be auditory, visual, or kinesthetic.
• Inappropriate Emotions and Behavior: Living in an unrealistic world, experiencing detachment from one's body and personality, and exhibiting apathetic emotional responses.

Eating Disorders

Anorexia and bulimia are common eating disorders.... Continue reading "Mental Health and Well-being: Understanding and Addressing Challenges" »