APPLYING PSYCHOLOGY TO MY LIFE

PSY1012

January 30, 2021

APPLYING PSYCHOLOGY TO MY LIFE

Social changes in life-span development

    There are numerous social changes in ones span of life. There is nine stages lifespan from
prenatal development to death and dying. Starting with prenatal development which is
conception to birth and is divided into three periods: germinal, embryonic, and fetal period.
(Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/lifespandevelopment2/chapter/prenatal-
development/). During this time of the fetus communicate through kicks and wiggles with their
mother. Once the mother has given birth that’s when we arrive to infancy age group is birth to 2
years of age. During this time in life they make friend but their stronger bonds are with parents
and or caregivers from remembering faces and disgusting strangers. Next we have early
childhood where the child is 3 to 7. (Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/lifespandevelopment2/chapter/physical-development-during-
early-childhood/). During this time the child can now understand communication and in the later
years can respond in complete sentences. In school they make friends and also learn about bullies
and the type children they want to be around. They tend to learn more about stress. After this we
have adolescences and age range is 10 to 20. Now most kids are starting puberty where their
bodies are producing more hormones and they are trying to be socially excepted. These are the
most  vital years they become more independent. Also romantic relationship and sexual
preference is formed during this time. So social status is a very big deal and to make it simple
they are trying to find their way in the world. Next is early, middle, and late adulthood the age
group for this is early 20’s to mid 70’s. During these years you find careers and some start
families also and know what type of person you want to be. With that being said in your there’s
still social status from wanting others to view you a certain or to feel like you’re not getting old.
Lastly we death and dying and in this the ones affected are loved ones and friends. My opinion
of this is I remember the early childhood to early adulthood which I’m currently in. Growing up
at ages 7 to 17 I always wanted to fit in and to seem cool to my peers so I had to have things
everyone else thought was cool from cell phone, new shoes or even a car. When my parents
didn’t buy me what I wanted it would make me act distant from them but they just wanted me to
be a leader and not follow everyone else.

Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment

    Positive and negative reinforcement doesn’t mean bad and good, positive means your adding
something while negative means your taking something away.(Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/waymaker-psychology/chapter/operant-conditioning/).
Positive reinforcements is when you praised them for doing something desired in hope that they
would repeat the behavior in the future. An example of this is if your dog sits on command you
would reward him with a treat so in the future the dog would be more susceptible to doing this
again because the would remember when it hears sit it will be rewarded for doing so. On the
other hand negative reinforcement is when you remove a less desired trait in hopes of it not
repeating itself in the future. For example say a husband cleans the kitchen before his wife
returns home so they don’t get into an argument. Also negative reinforcement should not be
thought of as a punishment, you are decreasing a behavior.(Kelley Prince M.A., BCBA(2013).
The Difference between Positive/Negative Reinforcement and Positive/Negative Punishment,
Retrieved from https://bcotb.com/the-difference-between-positivenegative-reinforcement-and-
positivenegative-punishment/). Often when you hear the word punishment it doesn’t always
mean harmful consequences. With punishment it is when consequences immediately follows a
less desired behavior which in return will happen less in the future. An examples of this will be if
a child was to not to do their chores now the child the gets their phone taken away. I remember
growing up my parents would use positive and negative reinforcements and somethings
punishment. The positive reinforcement was for every grade I got over a 85% on my report card
I would get $20. For the negative reinforcement I would cut the grass so my dad would yell at
me. For punishment if I allow my grades to fall my parents will take my gaming console.

Motivation and Emotion

    Motivation is a force that energizes, activates and directs behavior. (Sarah Mae Sincero
(2012). Motivation and Emotion, Retrieved from http://explorable.com/motivation-and-emotion).
When comes to motivation to simply put it’s something to either drive to do go or to drive you to
do something bad. When it comes to emotion it is conscious and subjective experience that is
characterized by mental states, biological reactions and psychological or physiological
expressions. (Sarah Mae Sincero (2012). Motivation and Emotion, Retrieved from
http://explorable.com/motivation-and-emotion). There is always a misinterpretation that
emotions and feelings are the same but feeling often tailor you emotions. I’ll give an personal
example “I felt like someone disrespected me by touching my food so the emotion I chose to
react with was anger.

Personality

    Personality refers to a person’s distinctive patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

(Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/personality). Personality has been
said to be the consistent differences that exist between people. So really what I’m getting is that
your personality is based upon the way society sees you. When it comes to personality there’s a
vast and widespread of theories out there far to many to name so I’ll tell you the one I agree
with. It had to be Alfred Adler unlike Sigmund Freud Adler didn’t feel sexual motives weren’t
the only reason for someone personality conflict. But that a coping strategy called compensation,
which he felt was an important influence on behavior. Growing my personality was always
different in my surroundings because I would be as outgoing in certain setting from how I react
around people I know instead of strangers.

WC:995

References:

1.    https://courses.lumenlearning.com/lifespandevelopment2/

2.    https://courses.lumenlearning.com/waymaker-psychology/

3.    Kelley Prince M.A., BCBA(2013). The Difference between Positive/Negative

Reinforcement and Positive/Negative Punishment, Retrieved from https://bcotb.com/the-
difference-between-positivenegative-reinforcement-and-positivenegative-punishment/

4.    Sarah Mae Sincero (2012). Motivation and Emotion, Retrieved from

http://explorable.com/motivation-and-emotion

5.    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/personality

6.    Philip S. Holzman, Esther and Sidney R. Rabb Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Harvard
University.(1999) Personality, Retrieved from  https://www.britannica.com/topic/personality