Understanding Learning, Memory, and Personality Development
Learning and Memory
Learning: is a modification of relatively permanent behavior that occurs as a result of practice.
Learning by Observing:
- Acquisition: The model is observed or conduct is repeated.
- Retention: Retain the behavior.
- Execution: The behavior is performed.
- Reinforcement: Reinforcing and maintaining the behavior.
Memory:
- Perception: Sensing something impressive, which may be unintentional.
- Consolidation: Retaining information and ordering.
- Storage: The information is saved and becomes part of
Fundamental Learning Processes: Habituation to Conditioning
Non-Associative Learning Mechanisms
Non-associative learning occurs in all species and is essential for an organism to adapt to its environment. It helps organize and direct behavior effectively by adjusting responses to stimuli. Unlike associative learning, it doesn’t involve learning associations between events but results directly from experience with a single stimulus.
Habituation
Habituation is the decreased response to a moderate, repetitive stimulus. It helps organisms ignore irrelevant stimuli.
Read MoreMemory: How We Acquire, Store, and Retrieve Information
Understanding Human Memory
Memory is the ability to acquire, store, and retrieve information. The main function of memory is to provide human beings with a knowledge base that allows us to understand the events that we live through. The first investigations on the subject were made by Frederic Hermann Ebbinghaus and George Miller. Bartlett’s Neuropsychology is the area of psychology that deals with brain-behavior relations. The neuropsychology of memory gives us new knowledge: memory has different
Read MoreUnderstanding Alcoholism: Factors, Treatment, and Recovery
Alcoholism
Alcoholism occurs when a person shows signs of physical addiction to alcohol (e.g., tolerance and withdrawal) and continues to drink despite problems with physical health, mental health, social responsibilities, family, or work.
Predisposing Factors
- Being under peer pressure
- Having depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, or schizophrenia
- Having easy access to alcohol
- Having low self-esteem or problems with interpersonal relationships
- Maintaining a stressful lifestyle
- Living in a culture
Understanding Bad Faith, Socialization, and Deviance
Bad Faith
Bad faith is presented as something that is supposedly necessary. A person denies that there is a choice behind the situation, claiming they have no other option. However, there is always a choice. When someone acts in “bad faith,” they don’t believe they are deceiving themselves, but they always have options. For example, saying “I can’t come to sociology class” is not accurate. The truth is, one chooses to prioritize something else over attending that class. Using “can’t” is often an
Read MorePositivist Theories in Criminology: Lombroso, Eysenck, Trasler
Positivism’s Appeal in Criminology
Positivism insists that societal consensus exists; therefore, deviant behavior results from inadequate socialization and requires therapeutic correction. The challenge lies in how to achieve this. The proposed solution differentiates between those capable of free choice (having internalized societal norms through socialization) and a deviant minority whose behavior is seen not as a chosen lifestyle, but as determined by factors beyond their control.