Psychological Prospective Essay
Psychological Prospective Essay
Psychological Prospective Essay Amanda Lummus Psychology 1101 June 20, 2013
Psychological Prospective Essay
2
Human behavior has been studied by Psychologist throughout the years. Although they cannot agree upon what makes a person who they are, a few different theories have been developed. Among these theories are the evolutionary theory, the behavioral theory, the biological theory and the cognitive theory. The evolutionary theory focuses on our traits being passed down through the survival of genes. The behavioral theory is based upon our traits being learned by observation and our environment. The biological theory says that our traits are derived from heredity. Lastly, the cognitive theory states that our traits are a learned and come from our experiences. Of these theories, I feel that the cognitive theory and the behavioral theory are very similar because how we think about things can often be influenced by our environment. However, I lean more toward the cognitive theory. I believe that many of our traits are learned as a child from the adults around us. Many times the way we think and believe is taught to us by our parents, family members, a pastor, or a grade school teacher. Children are very influential and want to be like the people they love. As children we are taught that when we misbehave there will be consequences. By paying these consequences we learn not to repeat the bad behavior or we will pay the consequences again. An example from my childhood of cognitive learning would be when I went to the store with my mother and asked her to buy me some candy. She told me no, so when she was not looking, I put the candy bar in my pocket. When she realized what I had done, she took me back to the store and made me tell the store clerk what I had done. Not only did this embarrass me, but it also taught me a lesson. Although I knew stealing was wrong, it did not stop me from doing it because I did not know what
Psychological Prospective Essay Amanda Lummus Psychology 1101 June 20, 2013
Psychological Prospective Essay
2
Human behavior has been studied by Psychologist throughout the years. Although they cannot agree upon what makes a person who they are, a few different theories have been developed. Among these theories are the evolutionary theory, the behavioral theory, the biological theory and the cognitive theory. The evolutionary theory focuses on our traits being passed down through the survival of genes. The behavioral theory is based upon our traits being learned by observation and our environment. The biological theory says that our traits are derived from heredity. Lastly, the cognitive theory states that our traits are a learned and come from our experiences. Of these theories, I feel that the cognitive theory and the behavioral theory are very similar because how we think about things can often be influenced by our environment. However, I lean more toward the cognitive theory. I believe that many of our traits are learned as a child from the adults around us. Many times the way we think and believe is taught to us by our parents, family members, a pastor, or a grade school teacher. Children are very influential and want to be like the people they love. As children we are taught that when we misbehave there will be consequences. By paying these consequences we learn not to repeat the bad behavior or we will pay the consequences again. An example from my childhood of cognitive learning would be when I went to the store with my mother and asked her to buy me some candy. She told me no, so when she was not looking, I put the candy bar in my pocket. When she realized what I had done, she took me back to the store and made me tell the store clerk what I had done. Not only did this embarrass me, but it also taught me a lesson. Although I knew stealing was wrong, it did not stop me from doing it because I did not know what