Josh Staples

Unit 3 Report

1. What is the difference between how reinforcement and punishment influence behavior?

Reinforcement is either adding something desirable or taking something undesirable

away, so according to this, there is good that comes out of reinforcement when someone
behaves accordingly. Punishment is meant to be negative by either adding something
undesirable or taking away something desirable. If someone acts with bad behavior,
punishment is going to happen. (Lecture Notes, 10/24/17)

2. Why was the Little Albert study important?

The Little Albert study was a focus on how Little Albert could be classically conditioned
to be afraid of white rats. We could see that although he was not afraid of rats at the
beginning, a loud noise was used to condition Albert to then become afraid of rats every
time he touched them. They later brought in other white animals and that triggered Little
Albert to start crying and be afraid of them. (King, 2016, pg. 173)

3. What is the need to belong and how is it a source of motivation?

The need to belong is a state in which we feel accepted in society and by the people we
are around. These social bonds boost our survival. (Lecture Notes, 10/26/17). No one
wants to be left out of a group. It motivates us to be better and feel good about ourselves.

4. Describe two psychological or sociocultural causes of hunger or eating behaviors.

Two psychological causes of hunger or eating behaviors are: 1. Parents say that we need
to finish whats on our plate, causing us to eat more if more is on the plate, knowing that
we will be done eating once its gone. And 2. Subtle cues can influence how much we
consume of a certain food. This includes portion sizes and how much we eat and what we
consider to be better, either lots of small snacks or a large plate. (King, 2016, pg. 331)

5. Consider Freuds psychoanalytic theory. How are the preconscious and the unconscious
different?

The preconscious is the part of the mind that we can access memories such as facts or
general knowledge. The unconscious is repressed, and makes us have sexual and
aggressive drives. The unconscious is usually revealed through jokes or slips of the
tongue which makes it different than the preconscious. (Lecture Notes, 11/3/17)
Part II Question 1

It has been discussed a lot about whether Freuds psychoanalytic theory of personality is

still relevant today. I would say that, according to the statement that my friend made, Freuds

theory is still relevant to us in todays world. I wouldnt say that Freud was just plain wrong and

outdated.

Freud brought a lot to the table when talking about the Psychoanalytic Theory. He was

able to focus a lot on the development of children as they grew up, he talked about the

unconscious processes, and he also was able to come up with a therapy that we still use today

where one can go and sit on the couch and just start speaking about what was on their minds.

(Lecture Notes, 11/14) Just that last comment shows that his theory does play a big part in our

world today because we still see that practice being performed.

There were a few things that were weak about Freuds theory. There was a lot of

emphasis on sexuality, too much about children, there are still people who are trying to find

evidence of the id/superego/ego in a scientific way. I would tell my friend that although there are

weaknesses and there are things that may be irrelevant to us today, they are still important. The

things that Freud worked on in his career, was a base of what was to come. As more

psychologists studied these findings, they started adding upon the things Freud found and began

to make them more relevant to us. Anna Freud was one of his daughters and based off the

id/superego/ego theory, she was able to come up with strategies of Defense Mechanisms.

Another psychologist, Carl Jung, was able to dig deeper into some of Freuds other thoughts

about topics such as the unconscious and how it works. (King, 2016, pgs. 363-369)
Freud was one of the first to start studying personality and it was difficult to find evidence of the

things he studied about, but all in all, he has influenced many others to discover more about

Personality and how it is affected, even though his thoughts may be wrong.

Part III Question 2

I would consider myself a pretty chill guy, kind, fun, trusting, hard-working, etc. But

there are times where a few traits may be altered and I could act out of character as my Shadow

Side were coming out.

One of the most common situations that I have noticed about myself and has changed the

way I act are when I am really stressed out. That pretty chill guy that is fun and kind, can change

when I am stressed. As I get stressed, all I think about is what is going on in my life and thinking

about all the crap that I have to get done and just dealing with work and school and other things

really adds up and can make me be a grump, not so fun, and sometimes angry. I feel that I would

be going from these factors of personality straight to the Neuroticism, where I feel negative

emotion and feeling down.

I am a poor loser at most things. I like that Conscientiousness Stage where I have that

desire to win. You could ask anyone of my friends and they would probably say that about me.

A situation in where that competitiveness comes out and Im not that loving guy is when I am

playing basketball. I get so intense that I start saying things to people that I dont normally say or

just like to cause problems with other teams that I am playing against because I will do anything

to win.

While writing this summary, I have noticed that it is easier to see the negative from the

good. I can see that I have many personalities and by just a flip of the switch, I can be acting
totally contrary to who I believe I am. I feel that each of us has a lot of personalities and they are

both good and bad and there are many triggers that can affect how we react in certain situations

as I have seen in my own life experiences.