Discussion Paper 1

Do you think there is a best perspective in Psychology that can explain

all our Affect, Behaviors, and Cognitions (ABCs)?

Each perspective represents only a portion of the wider spectrum that encompasses human nature and
mind. This limited point of view tells us that there is no definite perspective that can accurately and
thoroughly explain all our ABCs. Thus, when a perspective fails to account for certain factors and
influences of human behavior, the other perspectives provide a complementary view on the topic.When
analyzing certain human behavior, we can approach the same topic by utilizing different perspectives to
holistically understand how we think, feel, and behave. For instance in the case of depressive action
and behavior, some cases are attributed to the development of the brain, biological factors and the
evolutionary nature of humans while others are influenced by the person’s childhood experiences,
environment variables and sociocultural norms.  Instead of choosing a certain perspective, it is better to
gather the observations from individual perspectives to assess the whole.

Which perspective do you find yourself leaning to and why? Elaborate.

Biopsychological perspective examines our ABCs as a consequence of the physiology and biological
processes in our bodies. By studying the influences of neural mechanisms and heredity, it provides an
empirical explanation on thought, feelings, and behaviors of humans. Rigorous scientific methods are
involved in studying the interaction of our brain, nerves, and glands and its influence on our ABCs.
Since the genetics, hormonal levels, and brain chemicals are quantifiable, biopsychological research
yields reliable results which are helpful in analyzing human behavior and providing treatment for
psychological disorders.

Discussion Paper 2

How much do you think is your behavior influenced by all the components of the nervous
system? How did this change your initial idea about feelings, behaviors, and thoughts?

I usually attribute feelings, behaviors,thoughts, and other psychological processes to the external
factors that nurture and shape them like human experiences, environmental influences and social
norms rather than the biological mechanism of the body. This is because the nervous system, as the
body’s command center, is often associated with the process of the other body system such as
movement, digestion, breathing, and hormonal development. However, specific activities and
components in our nervous system stimulates certain behavior and emotions. As signaling units of the
brain, the neurons communicate with our neurotransmitters to control and influence our behavioral and
cognitive processes.  For instance, when experiencing stressful events, the sympathetic division of the
autonomic nervous system triggers our fight or flight response. Neurotransmitters such as dopamine,
epinephrine and norepinephrine are released in response to the stress. This only shows how our
nervous system plays a key role in our feelings, behavior, and thoughts.
What do you think would happen to your ABCs if there are any changes (i.e. damages, lesions,
etc.) to your brain? How would it affect yourself as a whole? 

Damaged nerve cells will no longer be able to send information the normal way throughout the body. 
Any potential changes such as damages, lesions, and trauma  will inevitably result in alteration in our
ABCs. Because the brain functions are localized, determining which compromised psychological
processes depends on the affected part of the brain. Localization of the brain functions indicates that
certain aspects of human behavior are influenced by the different areas of the brain. Brain damage and
trauma have physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects which can result in complex long-
term problems and hinder the person’s ability to live an independent life. Since the brain does not
function normally anymore, this can affect the personality, relationship, and sense of self.

Which of your sensory abilities do you rely on most during a typical day and why? Describe
briefly.

During a typical day, I rely mostly on my sense of sight to collect information about my surroundings
because it is not prone to sensory adaptation and habituation.  Due to the brain’s tendency to focus on
the changes in the environment, constant and unchanging stimulation will be ignored. When the
sensory receptors are exposed to constant stimuli, their sensitivity to the stimuli decreases until they
stop sending signals to the brain. Unlike other sensory organs, the eyes are constantly in rapid
saccadic movements. These quick ballistic movements will suddenly change the point of fixation of our
vision which prevents the adaptation of our eyes to the stimuli. Another reason is the brain's ability to
perceive the brightness, color, and saturation of light. Our perception of light information allows us to
detect subtle changes in our environment.  

Are certain senses more important than others depending on the social context or setting?
Explain.

Depending on the social setting, certain senses play an important role in our body. In the context of
communication with others, hearing is an important channel for verbal information while sight perceives
the non-verbal cues. To have a effective conversation with others, we rely on the information we
perceive based on their body language, speech, and other sounds they make such as laughs and
sobs.Though the sense of touch and smell are not prominent in conversations, these sense are key
players for our food and nutrition. Since both taste and smell are chemical senses, we are able to
identify whether the food is safe for consumption based on the odor and the aftertaste. Touch is
responsible in experiencing pain and pleasure. For instance, when we accidentally grab a hot kettle,
our skin detects hot temperature and helps us avoid the potentially painful situation.

We can get a glimpse in the emotions and experiences through the acoustic information we perceive
via speech and other sounds, such as laugh, giggles, and sobs. By making eye contact and assessing
their body language, our sense of sight provides useful insight in order to have an effective
communication.

As an omnivore, humans have larger range of food options.

Discussion paper 3

How did entering UP change your perspective about intelligence?

Before entering UP, I define intelligence to be more than our performance on cognitive tests.
Depending on the particular context, intelligence and cognitive abilities operates differently. For me, it
not limited to our intellectual potential and general intelligence but rather it have multiple facets. My
perspective in intelligence was shaped by the core ideology of my previous high school which is heavily
influenced by Gardner’s theory on multiple intelligence. Though I still believe in the contextualization of
our cognitive process, my perspective on human intelligence has broaden especially when taking
elective in psychology. From the neuropsychological perspective,the brain areas and fundamental
cognitive functions have association with our intellectual abilities.

Think about the problems that you have had in the past. How do you usually try to solve them?
Feel free to share a specific example of a problem if you are comfortable.

I usually rely on heuristic techniques to make quick decisions that are sufficient to solve my problems.
During my high school days, my USB drive was corrupted and I need to recover the files that are
important for a report in my class. Since this happened during lunch break, I had about an hour to solve
this problem before my first class in the afternoon. With the given time constrains, I turned to Google to
find possible ways to save the data from my USB drive. One solution I found was using the command
prompt on my laptop. Another problem that I used heuristic methods was when I arrived at home late
due to the preparations for a school event. From taking a tricycle to walking from my stop to my house,
I instinctively rely on my fear of possible danger and had the pepper spray ready on my hand.

Discussion Paper 4

How do nature and nurture impact our development throughout our lifespan? Do you find
yourself leaning towards one of them when trying to explain your ABCs? Elaborate.

The interaction of our heredity and upbringing accounts for the development of our personality and
behavioral tendencies. In the development of aggressive behavior, the high levels of testosterone and
low levels of serotonin influence one’s impulse control and enables aggressive responses. However,
genetic makeup is not the only variable that impact our development. The exposure to drugs and crime,
poverty, and early abuse influence one’s behavioral control. Aggression can also be a product of a
person’s negative experiences while growing up.

Though both the nature and nurture contributes to our physiological and psychological characteristics, I
lean on nurture in explaining my ABCs. Growing up in a middle-class household without any siblings, I
had the opportunity and the privilege to development in a healthy environment and have positive
experiences. Thus, I attributed the development of my ABCs on parent’s upbringing efforts.

deficiency of Monoamine oxidase A or MAOA gene prevents the breakdown of serotonin. The
excessive serotonin level results to less control on one’s impulse and causes aggressive behavior.
his may
help explain why violent criminals tend to be young, male, and muscular. They typically
have high levels of testosterone and low levels of serotonin, another important chemical
found in the brain (Alexander et al., 1986; Brown & Linnoila, 1990; Coccaro & Kavoussi,
1996; Dabbs et al.,

Both our genotype and the environmental factors to which we are exposed to throughout life
contribute to shaping our brain functions.

Throughout our lifespan, both the nature and nurture contributes to our unique physiological and
psychological characteristics.

Nature accounts the biological foundations such as genetic makeup and hereditary factors for one’s
cognitive attributes, personality and physical. Nurture, on the other hand, involves the influences of
environmental factors on one’s development.

Think about a big challenge that you had when you were in elementary, high school, and now in
college. How similar or different are these challenges? What did you notice looking back at how
you tried to solve these challenges?

The big challenge I had when I was in elementary was becoming a top student. I remember spending
my free time doing worksheets. Adjusting to new environment and having doubts on my career choice
were the biggest hurdles I had in both high school and college. Transferring to a new school led me to
socialize more than usual. Similarly, I had time coping up in college because it is my first time living
away from home. It was also this time that I had doubts on whether or not I choose my course to
conform to the ideals of others which led me in shifting to another course after several considerations.
Looking back to these problems, I notice that I tend to push my limit and do things on my own first
before considering the opinions of others which is driven my sense of independence.

go out of my comfort zone which is driven my excellence. I rarely

. Though
Going out of my comfort zone

nd find someone whom I share the same interest.

Adjusting to the new environment and deciding for my course were the biggest hurdles I had in
highschool.
Now that I am in college, I struggle in learning in a virtual settings from home.

Elemntary more excelling being the best

Highschool and college- confrominity adjucting,

Discussion Paper 5 (social psychology)

Think about your group of friends, organizations, or even partners. What factors led you in
choosing them as your friends, organization, or partner? If you met them under different
circumstances, would you have befriended them/joined them/selected them?

Having similarity in attitude, beliefs, and interest are the primary variables that influences my choices in
peers and organizations. Due to being an only child, I rarely have interactions with other children. Thus,
I am comfortable socializing with people who are quiet and share the same attitude. However, not all of
my close peers are are introverts just like me. Some of them are extroverts whom I share a common
recreational interest such as watching anime and playing instruments. The organizations I joined
upholds the same religious values and creative interest. This may be influenced by my bringing in a
Christian household and my need for creative outlet. Though the impression of having similar qualities.
Given the different circumstance, the qualities that attract me to make connection with them have
change. Unless there is another similar characteristics, gravitating to interact with them would be
impossible.

that gravitates meunless there is another similitarities in our personalities, hobbies, and views in life. It
is because

gravitating to interact with them would not be possible

Unless there are other characterstics that enables for interaction,characteristics, attraction for
socialization will not spar

characteristics that attracts for connections have change. Without these characteristics, I would not
havesince the qualities that enables me to associate with them have change. Without these
characteristics, I would not be able to have a

Since I grew up in a Christian household, I joined mostly religious organizations in high school and
colleges.Though I usually associate myself to people with similar beliefs,my close friends does not
share the same sentiments with me. This is duesince I tend to chose my peers
Choose a topic in social psychology. Since the pandemic has discouraged face-to-face activity,
how is our understanding of the topic no longer applicable, or different from usual? How is it
the same?

Due to reduce face-to-face interaction during the pandemic , physical proximity became an invalid
factor for social interaction. Our willingness in involving in mutual association dramatically shifted to
engaging in stigmatization of potential carriers. Enhance prejudice and discrimination against the
people with Asian descent, overseas workers, and medical personnel were evident. Since anyone can
pose a threat, hostility and prejudice of the dormant group is not only subjected to the minority but also
towards the fellow members of their social group. As a bystander response, the inaction and apparent
indifference among people continue to increase. Being a potential source of the virus became the basis
in becoming a target of the micro-aggression. However, the accessibility of social media allowed
proactive efforts such as community pantry and educational discussions to address the ongoing social
stigma against front liners and to help the most vulnerable sector within the community.

criteria
Factor

fight against discrimdue to the proactice ren

Social media become our means of interacting with people. Beca

We become di
The Compled

r. The experiences of Asians, long stereotyped as “foreign” (at least in Western nations), have shifted from simply
being reduced to a model minority to becoming the target of escalating micro-aggressions and even outright
hostility

toward Asian descent, those with international travel history, and frontline health workers
r. The experiences of Asians, long stereotyped as “foreign” (at least in Western nations), have shifted from simply
being reduced to a model minority to becoming the target of escalating micro-aggressions and even outright
hostility

COVID-19 awakened dormant group-based prejudices

Though prejudice and discriminations still occurred during pre-pandemic, people who were
expose to the virus were perceived negatively within th

The COVID-19 pandemic has been instrumental in creating a dramatic shift from people's need
to live in mutual association toward a desire to stigmatize distinctive others. Pandemic seems
to be causing othering. Stated simply, stigmatization is a social process set to exclude those
who are perceived to be a potential source of disease and may pose threat to the effective social
living in the society. Based on the secondary evidence collected from news published online or
in print, the present article delves into stigma associated with the COVID-19 pandemic among
different social groups in the Indian society and the mounting cases of prejudice based on race,
class, and religion. It also presents insights into the varied manifestations, and the deleterious
consequences of COVID-19 inspired othering brought to its potential targets in India.

With the reduce face-to-face interaction due to the pandemic,Social interaction has changed

People tend to form relationships with people who are in physi

cal proximity to them

Describe theories of how prejudice is learned

and how it can be overcome.
• Social cognitive theory views prejudice as an attitude acquired
through direct instruction, modeling, and other social influences.
• Conflict between groups increases prejudice and discrimination
according to realistic conflict theory.
• Social identity theory sees a person’s formation of a social sense
of self within a particular group as being due to three things:
social categorization (which may involve the use of reference
groups), social identity (the person’s sense of belonging to a par
ticular social group), and social comparison (in which people
compare themselves to others to improve their own self-esteem).
• Stereotype vulnerability refers to the effect that a person’s
knowledge of the stereotypes that exist against his or her social
group can have on that person’s behavior.
• People who are aware of stereotypes may unintentionally come
to behave in a way that makes the stereotype real in a self
fulfilling prophecy