Introduction to Psychology: Perspectives, Conditioning, and Careers

This assignment provides an introduction to psychology, covering its definition, scope, and various modern perspectives, including cognitive, behaviorism, social, evolutionary, comparative, clinical, and developmental perspectives. It emphasizes the scientific nature of psychology, supported by research methods, observation, experiments, and the role of nature. The essay further explores different career specializations within psychology, such as cognitive, social, organizational, clinical, educational, and developmental psychology, with a focus on organizational psychology as a relatable career choice. Finally, it discusses two fundamental learning theories: classical and operant conditioning, comparing their approaches and providing examples of how behavior is shaped through these mechanisms, both positively and negatively, in personal experiences. The paper concludes by highlighting the relevance of these theories in understanding human behavior and learning.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY 1
Introduction to Psychology
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY 2
Question One
Psychology involves studying the human mind and also its roles, particularly, those
functions which impact behavior in a certain way. Psychology seeks to define mental and
behavioral processes of people. It also involves applying knowledge to different human activity
spheres which include the challenges faced by persons in their normal lives (Kalat, 2013).
Psychological theories and practices incorporate the understanding of the functions of the brain
and other aspects such as cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology. Generally, this subject
attempts to explore social relationships, behavior, and consciousness. It is described in the
context of human behavior and experiences through empirical psychology. Additionally, there
are seven modern perspectives of psychology which will be explored in this paper such as
cognitive, behaviorism, social, evolutionary, comparative, clinical, and developmental.
To start with the cognitive perspective, it emphasized on psychology as a scientific
method of investigation and rejected introspection as a technique. Particularly, it emphasized on
the science based on individual thinking, learning, and ability to remember (Plotnik &
Kouyoumdjian, 2013). Second, behaviorism emphasized on the observable action stimulus and
response such as glandular secretions and muscular movements. It proposed that behavior can be
studied using science without remedy of the internal mental consciousness. Third, social
perspective emphasized the individual thoughts, behaviors, and emotions which can be impacted
by imaginations and implied the presence of other people. Fourth, evolutionary perspective
emphasized on the theoretical concept of technology by explaining various psychological and
mental characteristics such as language, perception, and memory as developed adaptations. For
instance, the characteristics may be seen as sexual selection or rather functional natural creations.

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Fifth, comparative perspective proposed that studying human behavior contributes to a broad and
deep understanding of the human psychology. Researchers such as George Romanes and Charles
Darwin participated in the research of this perspective of psychology. Sixth, clinical psychology
emphasized on the treatment and evaluation of psychiatric mayhem, abnormal behavior, and
mental diseases where it viewed hospitals as collaborative settings where professionals such as
psychiatrists and physician work as a team (Nolen-Hoeksema, Fredrickson, Loftus & Lutz,
2014). Finally, the developmental perspective proposed on a person’s growth and changes
through their lifespan. It also seeks to synthesize and examines reasons why and how individuals
experience changes in life.
This paper outlines four pieces of evidence showing that psychological explanation of
behavior is scientific and that it does not rely on common-sense. First, through research method,
it is evident that psychology studies mental and behavioral processes. Through observation of the
behavioral and mental processes, it is evident that they have developed and changed as explained
through theories such as the Charles Darwin theory of evolution (Stangor & Walinga, 2014).
Through experiments, experts from the radio and television provide opinions on the behavioral
and mental processes. Finally, through nature psychology is a science considering its outline of
knowledge.
To summarize, psychology is a broad topic which conveys various modern perspectives
which focuses on psychological concerns based on human behavior and thoughts. Also, through
evidence of research methods, observation, nature, and experiments psychology is seen as a
science rather than common-sense. As human behavior is changing with time, the psychological
perspectives are also evolving and growing.

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Question Two
Psychology involves studying both behaviors and mental functions. Professionally, most
people view psychology as philosophy, science, and also an art. However, the significant goal of
psychology is to explore, explain, control, and predict behavior and mental functions. Also,
psychology is a career subject which individuals may choose to major. Therefore, it is important
for people to understand various specializations in psychology. These areas of psychology
include cognitive, social, organizational, neuroscience, clinical, educational, development and
among others (Lindsay & Norman, 2013). Based on the various areas of psychology, individuals
should devote time to the best discipline to take as the major. For those who love to help people
in solving problems, interviewing, analyzing, listening, and collecting data should consider
psychology as a career.
In exploring various careers in psychology, clinicians focus on administering
psychological tests and scores where they must work under the supervision of a licensed
psychologist. Professionals in developmental psychology explore the individual changes and
they specialize in handling children, adolescents, or infants (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,
2014). The educational area of psychology is based on the teaching of psychology in schools. It
addresses the educational and students issues where professionals focus on improving the
students’ outcomes. Additionally, psychologists in the forensic field of psychology deal with
concerns connected to psychology and law. Forensic psychologists embrace the psychological
skills to legal concerns. Organizational field of psychology involves adopting principles in
psychology at the workplace (McDougall, 2015). Finally, the health field of psychology requires

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individuals to specialize in psychological, biological, and social aspects which impacts illnesses
and health.
The career option which relates to me best is the organizational psychology due to
various reasons. This area of psychology requires people to adopt social, biological, and
psychological principles to conduct research at the workplace to address productivity and
behavior concerns (Larsen, Buss, Wismeijer, Song & van, 2017). The first reason why this
option is relatable is as it focuses on improving efficiency and productivity of employees as well
as facilitating their well-being. Second, organizational psychology aims to address problems in
the real world. Additionally, as a psychologist, I wish to study topics which are concerned with
attitudes of employees, behaviors, leadership, and organizational processes. Therefore,
psychologists in this area concerning organizational psychology focus on areas such as the
human factors, human-computer association, and ergo metrics.
To summarize, various psychology fields emerge with time. Therefore, individuals are
obliged to choose careers based on their interests in the universities and colleges. Each
psychological option has a specific area of study which focuses on various topics. Moreover,
psychologist just needs to specialize in a single area as a career (Zentall & Galef, 2013). In case
an individual selects a specific area, they will require additional graduate learning in the same
field. The option that relates to me best is the organizational psychology as outlined in this paper.
Human factors are incorporated in this area and topics such as ergo metrics, product design, and
human errors are studied. Individuals working in human factors aim to improve individual
interactions with the machines and products within and outside the workplace. In addition,

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human factors assist in designing products to reduce injury rates as accuracy and safety are
greatly enhances in the workplace.
Question Three
3 a. Some thinkers have sought to study how behaviors are learned. Two behavioral
scientists, B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov, engineered concepts of operant and classical
conditioning, respectively. The prime aim of developing these theories is to help individuals
comprehend how they learn.
Operant conditioning is a theory of learning which is referred to as a process which aims
to adjust behavior using either positive or negative reinforcement. Classical conditioning is a
theory of learning which involves associative learning (Lachman, Lachman & Butterfield, 2015).
Associative learning explores the events in the surrounding and it explores all dimensions of
human psychology. Generally, operant conditioning involves reinforcement through rewards and
punishment while the classical conditioning involves association of the stimulus and responses.
Classical and operant conditioning are vital theories in learning since they are central to
the behaviors in psychology. However, how behavior is acquired in classical conditioning is
different as in operant conditioning. For instance, using examples of the voluntary and
involuntary responses, the main difference is that classical conditioning associates the
involuntary stimulus and responses while the operant is all about incorporating voluntary
responses (Landy & Conte, 2016). Second, classical conditioning was first outlined by Ivan
Pavlov who used a dog as an example in his experiment to prove that behavior is a learned
response. On the other hand, operant conditioning was first described by B. F. Skinner who

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY 7
conducted an experiment using animals in a skinners box as the example to show that through
observation behavior can be reinforced (Smith, Mackie & Claypool, 2014). Lastly, classical
conditioning focuses on the placement of a neutral signal after a reflex while operant
conditioning focuses of applying punishment or reinforcement after a certain behavior.
To summarize, classical and operant conditioning are essential theories of learning as
they are acquired from the behavioral psychology and they can fit in different learning conditions
as outlined in this paper.
3 b Considering that operant conditioning focuses on the positive and negative behavior
reinforcement, and classical conditioning focuses on association, I will provide examples of
situations where my behavior changed through operant and classical conditioning. In the
examples provided my behavior changed positively and others negatively.
In my case, there are various situations where classical and operant conditioning applies.
To start, there are two situations where I acquired behavior through classical conditioning. In the
first example, I saw a person crying due to the pain of an injection and therefore, I also started
crying before I was injected. The crying behavior was acquired through classical conditioning.
The second example, I was bullied by a student in school and I started hating school. The hating
behavior was acquired through classical conditioning. On the other hand, I have changed
behavior through operant conditions in various situations. In the first example, I was considered
to explain a presentation in the classroom where afterward I was complimented and applauded
for good performance. Therefore, I was encouraged to participate in class presentations in the
future. The second example, during my holidays I was working in a certain organization. My

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boss offered me privileges which raised criticism from other colleagues. As a consequence, the
criticisms motivated the boss to stand in line and be sincere through operant conditioning.
To summarize, in my personal life, I have had various situations where my behavior
changed through classical and operant conditioning. In some situations I acquired positive and
others negative behaviors as seen in the examples provided in this paper.

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References
Kalat, J. W. (2013). Introduction to psychology. Cengage Learning.
Lachman, R., Lachman, J. L., & Butterfield, E. C. (2015). Cognitive psychology and information
processing: An introduction. Psychology Press.
Landy, F. J., & Conte, J. M. (2016). Work in the 21st century, Binder ready version: An
introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Larsen, R. J., Buss, D. M., Wismeijer, A., Song, J., & van den Berg, S. M. (2017). Personality
psychology: Domains of knowledge about human nature. McGraw Hill Education.
Lindsay, P. H., & Norman, D. A. (2013). Human information processing: An introduction to
psychology. Academic press.
McDougall, W. (2015). An introduction to social psychology. Psychology Press.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Fredrickson, B., Loftus, G. R., & Lutz, C. (2014). Introduction to
psychology. Cengage Learning.
Plotnik, R., & Kouyoumdjian, H. (2013). Introduction to psychology. Cengage Learning.
Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Positive psychology: An introduction. In Flow
and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 279-298). Springer Netherlands.
Smith, E. R., Mackie, D. M., & Claypool, H. M. (2014). Social psychology. Psychology Press.
Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to psychology. BCcampus, BC Open Textbook
Project.

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Zentall, T. R., & Galef Jr, B. G. (Eds.). (2013). Social learning: Psychological and biological
perspectives. Psychology Press.