All Blog Posts (7)

Hi. I plan on taking both the GRE general test and the GRE Psych Exam within the next couple of months. I am still in middle of school and busy doing other things such as research, lab and other community services. I don't have very much time to study. Would there be anyone who would have any interest in discussing the topics for the exam. Get back to me with an offer or any suggestions. Thanks Continue

Jean Piaget's conclusions from his work with children continue to exert the most lasting influence on cognitive developmental theory. This approach sees cognitive development as essential to moral, ethical and self-concepts. To Piaget, humans develop through attempting to understand and to adapt to their environments. Adaptation involves: ■ Assimilation: The process of adding new material/information to an existing schema ■ Accommodation: The process of altering or revising an existing sch… Continue

ATTACHMENT THEORY Psychoanalytic theory defines attachment in terms of the satisfaction of oral needs, while learning theorists add the aspect of reinforcement. Harry Harlow's research with monkeys and their need for contact comfort played an important role in the early development of attachment theory. John Bowlby's idea of critical periods explains the biological predisposition humans have that increases the likelihood of forming attachments. An infant is programmed to cry and smile, whil… Continue

■ Humanism o Philosophical movement that emphasizes worth of the individual and the centrality of human values o Attends to matters of ethics and personal worth o Gives credit to the human spirit o Emphasis on creative, spontaneous, and active nature of humans o Optimistic o Human capacity to overcome hardship and despair ■ Non-Deterministic o Beliefs that it is oversimplification to view people as controlled by fixed physical laws. o Encouragement of therapy that considers individual initiati… Continue

Alfred Adler Adlerian Concepts ■ Basic Mistake- faulty, self defeating perceptions attitudes and beliefs, personal myths ■ Fictional Finalism- imagined central goal that gives direction to behavior and unity ■ Holism- study of humans as integrated beings ■ Insight- special form of self awareness ■ Style of Life- individual’s ways of thinking feeling and acting ■ Complexes o Inferiority complex- normal feelings of incompetence exaggerated, feeling its impossible and hopeless to reac… Continue

Carl Jung Key Ideas ■ View of Man o Man’s behavior is conditioned not only by his individual/racial history (causality) but also by aims and aspirations (teleology- explanation of behavior based on future goals) ■ Collective Unconscious o Shared by all but modified by personal experience ■ Personal Conscious o Unique life experiences and perceptions ■ Theory of Personality o Psyche ■ Conscious/unconscious o Personal Conscious ■ Only understood through dreams and analysis and makes itsel… Continue

Psychoanalysis- Freud Key Ideas ■ Deterministic- problems are rooted in the first six years of life and trapped in unconscious motivations ■ Reality Principle- maximize gratification minimize punishment ■ Biological Drives- sex and instincts ■ Parts of Personality- Id/Ego/Superego ■ Id- Pleasure principle, “Demanding Child,” deterministic, unconscious, satisfy basic survival ■ Ego- Reality principle, “Traffic Cop,” mediator between Id and Superego ■ Superego- Moral Principle, “The Judge,” str… Continue