Identifying Perspectives in Psychology Ap Psychology

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Practice

Identifying Perspectives in Psychology AP PSYCHOLOGY

Part 1 (20 points)

In this course, you have learned about different perspectives in psychology and how perspectives might vary for psychologists from different disciplines. For example, if you are examining why someone forgot his mother's name, someone from the psychoanalytic perspective might say it was because he had unresolved anger toward his mother. Someone from the behavioral perspective might say it was because he never received positive reinforcement for saying her name, but instead was punished if he said it.

For each case study below, provide an explanation from the viewpoint of the following five perspectives to explain or describe the behaviors:

• Neurobiological

• Humanistic

• Psychodynamic

• Behavioral

• Cognitive

Devote a paragraph to each perspective.

Part 1 is worth a total of 20 points: 10 points for each case study (2 points possible for each perspective).

Case Study #1: Mrs. B has been teaching English for the past 12 years. Until this year, she always planned interesting and creative lessons for students with a variety of different activities. This year, the quality of her lessons gradually deteriorated. She began to doubt her ability to motivate students, believing her students found her "boring." In an evaluation, the school principal mentioned that her classes appeared "poorly organized." During the past year she has undergone a variety of life changes, including the death of her 82-year-old father and the departure of her only child for college out of state. She confided in a close friend that she has been feeling overwhelmed and lonely.

Neurobiological: The loss of Mrs. B’s father and departure of her only other family member might have caused Mrs. B to produce chemicals in her brain that cause feelings of loneliness and depression. With all of these negative emotions traveling through her brain, Mrs. B would not be able to concentrate on planning creative and interesting lessons. This would therefore result in her becoming more unorganized and her producing lessons that are not up to her usual standard.

Humanistic: With her father and child around, Mrs. B did not feel lonely and instead felt that there were people who cared about her. However, the death of her father and departure of her child has now resulted in an overwhelming feeling of loneliness because she feels that no one cares or loves her anymore. This feeling could cause her to become insecure and start thinking her students did not like her as well.

Psychodynamic: After her child leaving and her father passing, Mrs. B could have unconsciously created a sense of isolation. She was with her father for her whole life and was with her child ever since birth as well. When two important figures in her life leave her she is filled with an unconscious feeling of loneliness and isolation. These unconscious feelings going on in the brain affected her emotionally and therefore caused her work to be affected as well.

Behavioral: The tragedy of her father’s death and her only child leaving soon after caused Mrs. B to be emotionally upset, and therefore her actions and life were affected as well. This sudden change in her life also caused Mrs. B to doubt herself and her ability to create interesting lessons for her students. Her motivation to strive and do well at her job disappeared with these two events and her work performance faltered because of that. Her response to the fate of her father and her child caused her