Psychology and Positive Reinforcement

Final Project
John Doe
May 1, 2012
PS124

For this project if I had to design a study investigating the relationship between alcohol and violence, I would use the experimental method. The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determine if changes in one variable cause changes in another variable. This method relies on controlled methods, random assignment and manipulation of variables to test a hypothesis (Cherry, n.d.). The reason for this method is so I can put the test subjects in a controlled environment and monitor the affects of the alcohol and see if the alcohol consumed by the test subject allows them to display forms of violence. By using another method with the experimental method to get more results out of this study, I would also use survey research. Survey research is one of the most important areas of measurement in applied social research. The broad area of survey research encompasses any measurement procedures that involve asking questions of respondents. A "survey" can be anything that forms a short paper-and-pencil feedback form to an intensive one-on-one in-depth interview (Trochim, 2006). I would combine these methods to determine the outcome of the study and support my investigation of the relationship between alcohol and violence. For example, I would get four test subjects that would consist of two groups, two men and two women. I would have all subjects fill out a form that displays likes and dislikes and what makes them happy/ unhappy. I would then have one subject from each group would consume alcohol but all the drinks would be the color red each subject will be by themselves for the first hour in different rooms. After that hour they would be placed in room together and exam how the gamma-aminobutyric acid displays the affects of using their dislikes on their behavior after the consumption of alcohol.
The strengths of this study would be finding the chemical in alcohol and what chemical inside of the human body that triggers the violent display. Also strengths for this method would be compilation of verifiable data and ethical compliance. But with all strengths you do have weaknesses; those weaknesses for these methods would be not having accurate reports for these methods and distortion of unreliable case studies. Also you may have test subjects that do not reflect the general population and him or her in fact have their own social issues that may reflect violence from the outcome of alcohol. The ethical consideration for this research would be no children, women that are pregnant, separation of a person with a criminal background and non-criminal background, test subjects are only to consume a certain amount of alcohol by their size and weight, and the test subjects are only to be tested in a controlled environment.
The difference between negative and positive reinforcement is that negative reinforcement; is when a certain stimulus/item is removed after a particular behavior is exhibited. The likelihood of the particular behavior occurring again in the future is increased because of removing/avoiding the negative stimuli (Stangor, Chapter 7, 2010). For example: My son has choirs to do every day after school and does not like to do them. He does his choirs because if he does not he would not be able to play his video game. Positive reinforcement: is a very powerful and effective tool to help shape and change behavior. Positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating item to the person after the desired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior more likely to happen in the future (Stangor, Chapter 7, 2010). For example: My daughter studied very hard on her spelling test and receive an A for passing it, for receiving that A on her test I gave her ten dollars for studying and doing a great job on her test. Using negative reinforcement on my son not doing his choirs helps him understand that you will not get anything in return for not doing your job after school. Using positive reinforcement for maintaining a positive path you will be rewarded for your accomplishments. The ethical standards are displaying a positive for doing something positive and a negative result for a negative behavior. For example, you cannot throw a rock at a car window and expect to get ice cream in return. That would be rewarding a person for doing a negative action. Also you cannot reward a person for cheating on a test by copying off of someone, excepting credit for someone else’s work instead of your own. When displaying these reinforcement methods it helps to create modifications of the behavior that’s displayed by the children from my example. When using these methods it creates a pattern for learning responsibility. Learning responsibilities helps form other positives paths to encourage a person to be more motivated and become successful.
The theory that best fits my psychological thought would be the behavior theory and also the developmental theory. The behavior theory also known as behaviorism is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. The developmental theory: Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning (Trochim, 2006). The way I see psychology I believe that it starts with these theories first. Understanding human behavior and the development of behavior helps me better understand the mentality of people. Psychology is a very broad field that deals with all aspects of life, from a social stand point, economical stand point and environmental stand point. Psychology helps us understand why we do the things that we do, for example culture of honor. A term that is defined by responding to insults with aggression or catharsis observing or engaging in less harmful aggressive actions that will reduce the tendency to aggress later in a more harmful way (Stangor, Chapter 14, 2010).
These psychological theories of behaviorism cannot be studied without developmental theories to help understand these patterns and create determination to why we do things. Give us a better understanding, in other words casual attribution; determining the causes of people behavior (Stangor, Chapter 13, 2010). Our social cognition is set to predict behaviors, but how can we predict behaviors if we do not develop ways to understand it. Basically prejudging or stereotyping these behaviors. It is nothing in psychology that would have me to believe that the research that is provided is not true. Everything that I have studied, I either have done or seen done; our attitude another behavior that we exhibit and in my opinion would be the core to behaviorism. It displays any feelings that we have towards people, work ethic, environment, and our social representation.
First I would have to define the disorder by observing the dysfunctional pattern of thought, emotion, and behavior. Next I would exercise the bio-psycho-social model of the illness; to help me understand the disorder. Using the DSM-IV-TR, I would look for any psychological history and use of the Axis IV check for social or environmental problems, such as homelessness, divorce, school problems, or other stressors present. Also I would use Axis I and V to determine if this person is suffering from mood, anxiety, or learning disorders; is this person at risk of hurting him or herself and others (Stangor, Chapter 13, 2010).
The disorder I have discovered that my client has is anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder is a psychological disturbance marked by irrational fears, often of everyday objects and situations. The treatment I would use to help my client would be antianxiety medications; drugs that help relive the fear of anxiety. Also I would use biomedical therapies; treatments that are designed to reduce psychological disorder by influencing the action of the central nerves system. This method would involved the use of medication but also include direct brain intervention with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT0, psychosurgery, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (Stangor, Chapter 13, 2010). These methods of therapy would help my client be more at ease with their disorder.
The ethical obligations of the psychological professionals would be that. Psychiatrists are physicians with specialized knowledge of mental illness and its treatment. Psychiatrists share the same ethical ideals as all physicians and are committed to compassion, fidelity, beneficence, trustworthiness, fairness, integrity, scientific and clinical excellence, social responsibility, and respect for persons. Psychiatrists endeavor to embody these principles in their diverse roles as diagnosticians, treating physicians, therapists, teachers, scientists, consultants, and colleagues ("Principles of Ethics and Professionalism in Psychiatry", n.d.).

Stangor, C. (2010). Introduction to Psychology. Retrieved from http://kucourses.com/re/DotNextLaunch.asp?
Principles of ethics and professionalism in psychiatry. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/group/psylawseminar/Ethics.htm Cherry, K. (n.d.). Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychology101/u/psychology-theories.htm#s3 Trochim, W. M.K. (2006). Research Methods knowledge base. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survey.php