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Thursday, February 8, 2018

Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Psychology


The following short excerpt discusses Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology refers to a psychological school of thought originating in Berlin, Germany. The theoretical body of knowledge concentrated greatly on the perception side of psychological enquiry, mostly attempting to explain the world in visual terms, as compared to alternative approaches in the field. Consequently, Gestalt means “shape” in German. Likewise, Gestalt theorists saw the mind holistically and believed in heuristics – rules of thumb, according to which comprehension is organized. Interestingly, such Prägnanz explains much of optical illusions, such as two lines of identical length appearing diverse because of surrounding effects. Also, they consist of the following perceptual laws: proximity, symmetry, common fate, continuity, similarity and closure.

By the same token, Gestalt psychologists detailed the world according to basic shapes and configuration. According to this theory, all objects in the visual world may be decomposed into these basic shapes, and conversely, the assortment of these figures generate all the objects one sees in the visual world. Alternatively, Gestalt theorists also contributed to the therapeutical approaches used in psychology, specifying a particular approach to relaxation and mediation. While the teachings of Gestalt theorists certainly has found some support in the literature, other therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) remain preferred by practicians and clinical psychologists in today’s world. Therefore, the present abridged draft represents a concise introduction to the fascinating field of Gestalt psychology.

Gestalt psychology: An artist’s impression, science fictional scenario. All objects in the visual world may be decomposed into basic shapes… The sphere is a basic geometrical (round) form.  Photo: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Frustration & Cognition

Frustration & Cognition


The purpose of this essay is to discuss the interrelation of frustration in response to environmental challenges and psychology. The present paper similarly attempts to briefly explore the mechanism involved in reaction to stimuli, a discussion naturally involving classical conditioning. Frustration is commonplace in everyday life, particularly in response to stressors and daily hassles. However, individuals differ greatly in their response to stress provoking situations, and in their ability to cope and deal with frustration.

From a social psychology theory perspective, ability to deal with frustration takes form in childhood. For instance, in response to a challenging task, some children may remain calm, while others become frustrated. Clearly, most people have heard the encouraging phrase: “Keep at it!”, but perseverance, while certainly valuable, does not always come easy.

Further, social psychologists note that in order to be interesting and stimulating a task must be difficult so as not to be too easy and boring, but not too difficult so as not to be too challenging and frustrating. Moreover, according to social psychology theory, frustrated need s may lead to aggression, and thus unresolved frustrated states may even predispose one to lash out and respond agressively, which in turn is likely to generate even more frustration in the long run. The same might be said about giving up, perpetuating a negative vicious circle.

Frustration. Illustration by Elena

Further, reactions to stimuli may likewise be learned and conditioned. To illustrate, classical conditioning refers to Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. Ivan pavlov was a Russian physiologist, he discovered that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell. He won the Nobel prize for his discoveries in physiology. Moreover, in the experiment, dogs would salivate (unconditioned response) when presented with food (unconditioned stimulus), then the food would be presented with food paired with the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus). After several pairings, the dogs would salivate upon hearing the bell without the food (conditioned response).

Therefore, classical conditioning is intense and may be even used to install fear of harmless and cute animals, such as white furry rabbits, as was the case with little Albert. Little Albert was a child whom an experimenter conditioned to fear white rabbits by pairing presentation of the animals together with very loud sounds (the experiment was carried out decades before ethics committees gained the power they have today in most civilized societies, luckily; the experimenter’s reputation was further tarnished by an affair with his graduate student, who also contributed to the experiment). Eventually, the fear was transferred to all white animals, and even white fur, such as fur coats and stuffed toys. Fortunately, little Albert’s mother removed him from the experiments, and with the conditioning discontinued, the effects may even have been reversed with subsequent therapy. In fact, rumour has it that Albert eventually retired to a raise farm of chinchillas!

What is more, from a neuroscience perspective, the amygdala is the brain structure most often associated with emotionally salient memories with a negative valence. Thus, emotions deemed negative, such as anxiety and fear, are commonly linked with the amygdala in the literature. The implication of these discoveries are great for disorders described in the DSM-5, such as GDA (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and phobias. Surprisingly, phobias, such as conscious but persistent, irrational fear of snakes, are treated by a process known as desensitization, discussed in abnormal psychology. In the therapeutical approach, a fear-provoking stimulus is presented gradually, until the incumbent of the phobia stops being afraid.

From an abnormal psychology, perspective, phobias represent irrational fears. individuals with phobias understand that the fears are irrational, but remain anxious nonetheless. In turn, anxiety is unconfirmed fear, while fear is a normal, rational reaction to dangerous and threatening stimuli and events in the environment. Indeed, fearing venomous snakes is warranted. Conversely, in desensitization, a stimulus is presented in a safe environment gradually, in incremental steps. Overtime, under the supervision of a trusted, well-intentioned therapist, a person learns that the stimulus is harmless. Obviously, as stated elsewhere on the present online psychology essay database, balance is key to most life undertakings.

Thus, the essay above discusses frustration and reaction to stimuli, looking at psychological theory, including classical conditioning. Thus, the purpose of the present paper was to examine the interaction of frustration with environmental demands from a theoretical, psychological perspective.

Cyberpsychology

Cyberpsychology


Psychology is perhaps the most evident social discipline to turn to regarding virtual worlds. After all, a lot in the online gaming communities has to with the mind and imagination. Still, most psychologists agree that these digital societies may aid individuals to gain valuable socio-cognitive skills, while use of games in education, training and simulation remains widespread. As a brief aside, Gestalt (a Berlin school of thought) psychologists were the first to notice certain rules governing the psyche, which they called the laws of perception.

Websites such as Second Life may be said to truly be named for what they stand for. Indeed, Second Life represents a sort of alternate world, with its own structure, groups, opportunities, self-images, and most likely, caveats. Cyberpsychologists would look at something like the aforementioned. Cyberpsychology is interested in the mind and behavior as they are expressed in cyberspace.

Fantasy World. What is depicted? Even before computerized tests, imagery was used in psychology in projective tests. In such psychological assessments, the responder is asked to tell a story based on an image, or to describe the object in the picture. The Rorschach or inkblot test is one such example. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Interestingly, alongside Disney animators’ heuristics for animation (Johnston & Thomas, 1981), there appear to be similar rules of thumb when it comes to video game design. Naturally, the worlds of animation and video gaming are very close, both can be 2d and 3d, use avatars and graphics. Consequently, Pinelle et al. (2008) outline the following items that should contribute to a successful (thus entertaining, challenging, stimulating and not too difficult, repetitive or tedious) computer, video or console game: consistency, customizability, predictability, proper views, opportunities skipping non-playable content, input mappings, controls, game status, training and help, in addition to visual representations. Nonetheless, the authors warn that their proposed principles may apply to only certain categories of games.

References:

  • Johnston, O. & Thomas, F. (1981). Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. Abbeville Press.
  • Pinelle, D., Wong, N. & Stach, T. (2008). Heuristic evaluation for games: Usability principles for video game design. CHI 2008 Proceedings – Game Zone, April 5-10: Florence, Italy.

Cyberpsychology: Virtual Reality and Video Games

Cyberpsychology: Virtual Reality and Video Games


Although research was well underway back in the 1960s, the world Wide Web emerged in the 1990s. Despite persisting arguments in the literature, Namsu (2010), a PhD in Radio-TV-Film, seems to attest that Internet use correlates positively with offline social interaction. So despite worries that online socializing might replace face-to-face interaction, according to this rationale it may even be contributing to increase one’s social circles through networking on the Web, beneficial to maintaining old relationships and building new ones. The author describes the technology as new medium of communication.

Cybernetics, artificial intelligence, telematics was used in Europe to refer to the study of information technologies (IT) or the enhanced NCIT (New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT), literally a short form for tele-informatics; (cyborgs, robots, androids and other sentient machines featured in movies and television series Star Trek, Star Wars, Terminator, Robocop and Artificial Intelligence.

Loup noir. Credit image: Elena

Neuromancer, which some consider the epitome of cyberpunk is a novel the plot of which takes place in cyberspace. Some authors (Prieto & Sanz, unspecified) even call the Internet the seventh continent (the number of continents varies according to definitions, Eurasia being at times divided into Europe and Asia, and North and South America being combined into one). The association between psychology and technology is visible in computational psychology, as well as other instances such as the use of animation in therapy, as elucidated by Mason (2009).

With the advent of computers not only efficiency during working hours has increased, but likewise leisure time was diversified. Individuals now could spend hours at a time playing a video game that virtually transported them into an online, multiuser, shared, and in a way implicitly agreed on, reality, such as the one in World of Warcraft. The phenomenon is so widespread, that it was even used to gently poke fun at Penny, the bubbly blonde living near two brilliant but socially awkward physicists, all of whom are protagonists of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Raven. Credit image: Elena

Of course, long before Internet, or even single user, computer games were a popular, quasi-omnipresent cultural characteristic, individuals already engaged in playful activities for enjoyment. Therefore, an example going back to Antiquity is the game of chess. Rumor has it that, initially, the game represented a quarrel aimed at dividing the sky among supernatural beings. Today, while the origins are largely overshadowed by tournaments, world champions, rules and strategy (and three dimensional chess as featured on many televised ventures), it continues to be a hobby for many, while also now being available in highly computerized versions. Amazingly, international chess geniuses have even been able to win against the best chess-playing machines, although depending on the levels and settings, it may me difficult, or virtually impossible, for an average player.

Regardless, what seems clear is that most games require some degree of imagination. Conversely, fantasy is so engrained in games, that perhaps it is even natural to assert that all games are permeated with the fantasy component and thus, fantasy (as in fantasy art and literature) games fall outside discernible boundaries.

Ethnopsychiatrie. A photorealistic humanoid character. Avatars, virtual hosts and interactive robotic partners are just some of the possibilities gained with advances in computer science and electronics. Credit image: Copyright Elena

The above (preceding paragraph) information is looked at in great detail by Prieto & Sanz, scholars who label the Internet the seventh continent (the number of continents varies according to definitions, at times Eurasia being divided into Europe and Asia, and North and South America being combined into one). The virtual reality has produced its own culture, with specific works like Neuromancer, which some consider the epitome of the cyberpunk literary genre, a novel the plot of which takes place in cyberspace. Finally, the association between psychology and technology is visible in computational psychology, as well as other instances, such as the use of animation in therapy, as elucidated by Mason (2009).

References:

  • Mason, R. (2009). Dare to dream: The use of animation in occupational therapy.
  • Mental Health Occupational Therapy, 14 (3): 111-5.Namsu, P. (2010). Integration of Internet use with public spaces: College students’ use of the wireless Internet and offline socializing. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 4(2), article 4.
  • Prieto, J. M. & Sanz, P. (Unknown). Cyberpsychology. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Department of Individual Differences and Work Psychology

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen. All rights reserved.

Organizational Behaviour

Organizational Behaviour


The topic of discussion of the present essay consists of describing organizational behaviour (OB). Indeed, psychology and business intersect in a branch known as industrial psychology, also sometimes attributed the appellation organizational psychology. Further, organizational behavior is an introductory level course often taken by business students as a requirement for a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) or Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree. While psychology students may choose to specialize in industrial psychology research, OB is usually a mandatory course for commerce undergraduates.

Behaviour in organizations includes many elements, from business communication, to organizational socialization, employee relations and satisfaction with one’s work environment. Alternatively, to look at the topic from the perspective of another social science, namely sociology, every person juggles several roles as both part of one’s job duties, as well as, one’s personal life. Sociologists call these social roles or functions. For example, a person may be a sister, a history major, a swimsuit model, a friend and also a fashionista. Moreover, role related exhaustion or role strain, may occur when role demands exceed one’s capacities. On an organizational level, eventual occupational burnout may occur in extreme cases.

Working toward a common goal. Photo by Elena

Naturally, organizational behaviour theory has a lot to say on teamwork and other attributes inherent to relations in the workplace. Certainly, education and experience are useful in the modern job market; however, today’s employers likewise highly value soft skills, such as teamwork. Indeed, the ability to work in a team is among the most sought after qualities on job postings. In fact, some Scandinavian countries, even emphasize team work and the ability to work with others above education. But what constitutes team work? Psychologists say that a team is different from a group, in that a team means a group of two or more individuals working towards a common goal. Thus, the above conversation aims at presenting some of the key descriptors of organizational behaviour theory or behaviour in organizations.