Significant live event
The purpose of this 3 – 5 page paper is to gain a better understanding of how you developed into the person you are. You will gain insight by examining an experience
from your past. Specifically, you will: a. Write a detailed desсrіption of a significant life event that has shaped how you think about other people or yourself.
Describe your thoughts, feelings and behavior, and explain why this experience was so important. b. Analyze the experience using material provided in your textbook
related to the psychology’s current perspectives (neuroscience, evolutionary, behavioral genetics, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and socio-cultural), which are
summarized on page 7 of the textbook and expanded in modules later in the book. Specifically, identify which perspective best explains why this experience was so
influential in your life. Support your choice. More than one perspective may be chosen. To earn full points, you should try to address all of the terms on the attached
list for your chosen perspective/s. For example: Take a concept from one perspective, such as punishment or reinforcement from behaviorism, and search your experience
for an example. Do the same for all other concepts. Weave these concepts into a discussion/analysis of your experience to demonstrate you understand what they mean.
***IMPORTANT*** The application of the perspective(s) is worth over half of the points of the paper (50 points out of 90 points total). That means that the analysis of
the perspective application should be over half of your paper. If you only mention which perspective you think fits or write a short paragraph, the assignment will
receive a failing grade. This is why the term list has been provided for you. It should guide your writing and give you ideas of what to talk about. Be sure to choose
a topic that fits well with at least one of the perspectives. If it doesn′t…choose another topic. The goal of this paper is to prove that you understand the
perspective/s well enough to analyze a real life situation through its ′lens′. Several students have asked how to analyze the experience for the essay using the
perspectives of psychology. The perspectives are briefly discussed in module one and expanded later in the book. Below are some of the concepts and ideas you can use
to analyze your experience. For example, as part of psychodynamic theories you could discuss a mental conflict (you could even mention id, ego and superego) or that
your experience was a childhood conflict (you don′t have to discuss the various psychosexual stages of development). In addition, most experiences have aspects that are
reinforcing or punishing (behavioral perspective) which results in developing a schema (cognitive perspective) such as a self-schema or schema about male-female roles,
parenting roles, dating roles and so forth. The handout briefly describes a schema. In other words, use the terms listed in the handout as part of your analysis by
finding examples and discussing their significance. You have permission to underline ideas and concepts in your paper that relate to the various perspectives.
Sometimes students are attempting to connect to a perspective but it′s not obvious. The more concepts you use, the better your grade. The better you discuss a concept,
the better your grade. I recommend writing one part of the paper at a time (there are two parts): Part 1) Begin by writing about an experience from your past that you
feel was important. Who determines if the experience was important – you do. If you describe it in detail and honestly, it′ll be obvious that it′s important. Your
experience is strictly confidential – no one will read your paper except me, unless you′ve murdered someone and discuss it in your paper, then I would (obviously) have
to report it. The point I′m trying to make is that you shouldn′t worry that I can′t handle the content of your paper. You′d be surprised what students have written; if it
′s important to you, I′m more than willing to read it. You can finish this part of the paper now; it′s never too early. If you do, you can think about how each module
relates to the story. Part 2) Read the handout below (see below my signature) and the book to find terms of each perspective that apply to your experience and discuss
how they relate. Write the second part of the paper by incorporating the terms into a discussion. Your goal is to show me that you can apply what you′re learning to
your own life. You don′t need to define the terms and concepts; instead, use them as if you know what they mean, but be sure to use the terms and underline them. If you
have questions, contact me. Professor Grisham Perspectives Psychodynamic perspective -unconscious drives (unacceptable thoughts, feeling, wishes such as sex and
aggression as part of psychoanalytic theory) -anxiety and defense mechanisms p. 457 -mental conflicts, childhood conflicts, pgs. 455-6 Behaviorism -Rejects mind and
consciousness (psychology must be objective, environment directs behavior) -How? Through reinforcements/punishments and associations (connections) -Cues in the
environment also guide behavior -Thus, classical conditioning and operant conditioning Cognitive psychology -Information processing (mental processes) -We learn,
remember, solve problems, and make decisions -Acquire, store, retrieve information -New experiences are filtered by current schemas. Think of a schema as a package of
interconnected information about virtually anything. You have a schema for a bicycle (two wheels, chain, seat, spokes, handle bars, can ride it, tires), baseball
(infielders, outfielders, 4 bases, ground balls, homeruns, bats, cleats, RBIs, ground rule double, ghost runners), self-schema (good student, hard worker, shy,
aggressive, funny, male or female, etc.), activities, places, and the list goes on and on. Neuroscience – Genes, hormones, nerve cells -Chemicals, neurotransmitters –
Biological psychologist -Mind-body interaction Evolutionary Psychology -Natural selection -Human mental abilities selected allow us to adapt -Survive, reproduce, past
on genes -Gender differences in sexuality (goals and strategies), pp. 197-198 Socio-cultural: -Cultural context, cultural variations -For example, differences in
beliefs, attitudes, norms, roles, values Behavioral Genetics: -Nature versus nurture for a variety of psychological characteristics -Intelligence, personality, sexual
orientation, depression -See table xv in the preface