Module 2 Case Personality, Behaviorism and Behavioral Patterns

Case Personality and Behavioral Patterns
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Case Personality and Behavioral Patterns
Introduction
The issue of school violence is one of the major topics when it comes to psychology. Just like biosocial therapists, psychologists are interested in the interaction between individual characteristics and the social environment which end up producing a violent event. However, psychologists do not focus on the biological basis of crime but rather on how the mental process influence individual propensities for violence. Their interests lie in the association between intelligence, learning, aggressive behavior and personality. This paper is going to review in depth some of the major psychological perspectives and how they relate to school violence. These views will include behavioral theory, psychoanalytic perspective, and cognitive theory. Later on, potential treatment options that can be used in prevent further instances of school violence will be addressed.
Behaviorism
This perspective maintains that someone behavior – including violent behavior – is a product of his or her interactions with the social environment or the previous learning experiences ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.11133/j.tpr.2013.63.3.020", "ISBN" : "00332933", "ISSN" : "00332933", "PMID" : "89562035", "abstract" : "Three views of behaviorism are examined in an effort to clarify its meaning. The views are composites of what readers might hear or read in the professional literature of psychology. View 1 is un--self-consciously critical of behaviorism and might represent the view taken by a contemporary cognitive psychologist. View 2 appears to support behaviorism but actually represents only a methodological behaviorism and an epistemological dualism. View 3 represents a radical, thoroughgoing behaviorism. The radical behaviorism of View 3 regards any differences between Views 1 and 2 as superficial--both are mediational and mentalistic and therefore objectionable. In contrast to Views 1 and 2, radical behaviorism emphasizes the functional analysis of verbal behavior, which leads to a thoroughgoing, behavioral conception of knowledge and explanatory practices in psychology.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Moore", "given" : "Jay", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "The Psychological Record", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "3", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2013" ] ] }, "page" : "681-692", "title" : "Three Views of Behaviorism", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "63" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=cc035e8b-b768-4ae0-81dd-1605650f7c62", "/documents/?uuid=d4fb15da-e82c-415a-87ad-b3cedb7c78a4" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Jay Moore, 2013)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Jay Moore, 2013)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Jay Moore, 2013)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Jay Moore, 2013). Behaviorists rarely focus on mental processes since they believe that they are too difficult to measure and observe objectively. Also, behaviorism is deeply involved in the controversy over the impact of video game and television violence on children.
According to Dr. Bean, a violent disposition is not congenital in nature, but rather it is learned as a result of day-to-day experiences. These experiences might include, observing the glorification of violence by the media or observing family or friends being rewarded for violent behavior. Studies made on family life have shown that aggressive children tend to mimic the violent actions of their parents. It was also found out that people living in violent neighborhoods with time learn to model the aggressive tendencies of their neighbors which they may extend to the school environment.
Behavioral Psychologists such as Dr. Bean go further to say that there are four factors that aid in producing violence: 1) aggressive techniques and skills acquired by observing others; 2) a stressful stimulus or event like a challenge, assault, or threat that heightens arousal; 3) a value system that allows for violent acts within particular social contexts; 4) a belief that violence or aggression will be rewarded, by reducing frustrations, providing material goods, earning the praise of other students for example in a school setup or enhancing one’s self-esteem ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "ISBN" : "ISSN-0033-2933", "ISSN" : "00332933", "PMID" : "65033133", "abstract" : "Early forms of psychology assumed that mental life was the appropriate subject matter for psychology, and introspection was an appropriate method to engage that subject matter. In 1913, John B. Watson proposed an alternative: classical S--R behaviorism. According to Watson, behavior was a subject matter in its own right, to be studied by the observational methods common to all sciences. Unfortunately, by around 1930, Watson's behaviorism had proved inadequate. Many researchers and theorists then adopted a view in which various organismic entities were inferred to mediate the relation between S and R: mediational S-O-R neobehaviorism. This general view has remained influential, although the details of the various versions have differed over the years. The behavior analysis of B. F. Skinner took an entirely different approach. Particularly important was the study of verbal behavior. Although behaviorism is often conventionally defined as an approach that seeks to explain behavior without directly appealing to mental or cognitive processes, this definition needs considerable clarification, especially as it pertains to Skinner's behavior analysis and his view of behaviorism as a philosophy of science.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Moore", "given" : "J.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Psychological Record", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issue" : "3", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "449-465", "title" : "Behaviorism", "type" : "article-journal", "volume" : "61" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=fe5b1a85-31f4-452d-8538-8e7a1e05a9a8", "/documents/?uuid=fa2fc1ca-1269-4448-957f-14e593a4e629" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(J. Moore, 2011)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(J. Moore, 2011)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(J. Moore, 2011)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(J. Moore, 2011). Consequently, the social learning theories of deviance were developed which are the most influential and significant of all criminological theories.
Cognitive Development Theory
Cognitive theorists such as Dr. Cogent are interested in how people’s perception of their social environment and how they learn to solve problems. This theory suggests that reasoning abilities develop in a logical and orderly fashion. It goes on to say that during the first stage of development also known as the sensorimotor stage, the children’s response to their social environment is of a much simpler fashion as they focus their attention on developing their motor skills and also on interesting objects ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.260", "ISSN" : "18770428", "abstract" : "Problems associated with the emergence of new cognitive structures are primarily addressed by studies on cognitive development. However, another side of cognitive development is mostly disregarded. Similar to the process of dissimilation in biological organisms and dissipation in the open systems described in physics, adequate cognitive adaptation to the environment requires not only development of new schemas, but also exclusion of some non-adaptive components. This paper aims to attract attention to this issue. Two possible ways of excluding the \"wrong\" components are discussed. Because these components are either useless or they function as impediments to the organism's ability to respond to the demands of the environment, their exclusion can be described in terms of either extinction or as an active process of dissimilation. Cognitive dissimilation is specifically discussed with regard to the problem of blocking the activation of the impedimental component. The relationships between cognitive dissimilation and the processes of assimilation and accommodation conceptualized in Piaget's theory of cognitive development are emphasized as another issue requiring further investigation. ?? 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Dodonov", "given" : "Yury S.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Dodonova", "given" : "Yulia A.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2011" ] ] }, "page" : "1345-1349", "title" : "Basic processes of cognitive development: Missing component in Piaget's theory", "type" : "paper-conference", "volume" : "30" }, "uris" : [ "/documents/?uuid=4aa3028b-10a4-4b19-be01-9bdcbd508554", "/documents/?uuid=738f4134-63cd-48df-9f6e-49ee3fb385c8" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(Dodonov & Dodonova, 2011)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(Dodonov & Dodonova, 2011)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(Dodonov & Dodonova, 2011)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" }(Dodonov & Dodonova, 2011). During the final stage of development also known as the formal operations stage, children have grown to be mature adults who are capable of abstract thought and complex reasoning.
According to Dr. Cognet, all people pass through the six different stages of moral development. During the first stage, people solely obey the law due to fear of punishment. However, during the sixth stage people abide by the law as it is an assumed obligation and also they believe in the universal principles equity, respect, and justice for others. In a research done by Kohlberg, it was found out that violent youth was lower in moral development compared to non-violent youth. Since these discoveries, it was also discovered that those who obey the law so as to avoid punishment are more likely to commit acts of violence than those who sympathize and recognize with the rights of others. Also, higher levels of moral reasoning are associated with generosity, non-violence, and altruism ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "DOI" : "10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.07.006", "ISBN" : "0885-2014", "ISSN" : "08852014", "PMID" : "26052181", "abstract" : "We examine the contributions of dynamic systems theory to the field of cognitive development, focusing on modeling using dynamic neural fields. After introducing central concepts of dynamic field theory (DFT), we probe empirical predictions and findings around two examples-the DFT of infant perseverative reaching that explains Piaget's A-not-B error and the DFT of spatial memory that explain changes in spatial cognition in early development. Review of the literature around these examples reveals that computational modeling is having an impact on empirical research in cognitive development; however, this impact does not extend to neural and clinical research. Moreover, there is a tendency for researchers to interpret models narrowly, anchoring them to specific tasks. We conclude on an optimistic note, encouraging both theoreticians and experimentalists to work toward a more theory-driven future. ?? 2012 Elsevier Inc.", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Spencer", "given" : "John P.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Austin", "given" :...