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Ask Doctor Bob Questions about psychology Week of September 1, 2003 Q. What happens when we learn to actually understand it all? A. Maybe your head explodes? This is a philosophical question. But Abraham Maslow believed this was one of the end states of "self actualization," the process of fulfilling our potential. According to Maslow, people who had become self actualized showed some common personality characteristics, including a deep understanding and acceptance of people, a sense of humor, and a willingness to work to improve other people's lives. Maslow's theory said that if given a chance, people were actually rather nice once they had reached the pinnacles of development. Be sure to drop me a card when you get there.
Q. How does this course relate to my major (Nursing)? A. Three answers. First, like many courses, an introduction to
psychology course is not only about teaching the theories and discoveries
of psychology, but also to expose you to a way of thinking. Social science
shows a way of thinking about difficult problems, and these skills generalize
to all sorts of problems. Second, I would hope that nurses (and any other
profession that has to deal with people) would benefit from understanding
how people actually think and behave, instead of inaccurate beliefs and
wishful thinking. Third, introduction to psychology is a prerequisite
for another course that is required for a nursing degree: child development,
which requires an understanding of basic psychological principles and
methods.
Q. What future job could come from this course? A. An AA or AS degree in social sciences is supposed to send you
along to a four year school to continue your studies. A bachelors degree
in psychology (BA or BS) means that you have good thinking skills, good
communication skills, and a basic understanding of how people act: good
for business, social services, or just about any career you might contemplate.
If you want to actually use a psychology degree for a career, you must
consider graduate school, usually for a doctorate of some sort. While
most people think psychology degrees are only good for teaching, research,
or clinical practice, we are finding more and more people with psychology
degrees are going on into a wide variety of careers. See your academic
advisor, the career counseling center, or see me some time to learn more.
Q. Is anything in psychology proven to be wholly true or is it all based on opinion? A. Opinion?! Perish the thought! Psychology is a science, which means that anybody can set up the old experiments, run them again, and see the same evidence. There are many things we've found that can be considered "wholly true." Just to take one example, psychologists know a lot about influencing people's opinions. The whole field of advertising is based on psychological principles.
Q. Why are people so complex? A. I believe it's because there are so many influences on our behavior. We all come from different backgrounds, and we're raised with different beliefs. These beliefs influence our decisions and our actions. In many cases we're not even aware of the causes of our own decisions, making it harder to influence people. We also have limited abilities to focus and concentrate, and different people pay attention to different things, which means two people in the same situation may draw different conclusions. And those are just a start!
Q. What part of the brain decides right from wrong, and what makes different people see right and wrong differently? A. We haven't pin-pointed which part of the brain serves as your conscience, but I'm willing to gamble it's in the frontal lobe, behind your forehead. That's because this area is responsible for being able to inhibit your desires, and is necessary for you to follow social rules. People with damage to their frontal lobes often have trouble following social rules. Different people see right and wrong differently because of their background and culture. Different cultures have different rules, and we see our culture's rules as right, and breaking those rules as wrong.
Submit your own question: email me at dushayr@morrisville.edu See earlier "Ask Dr. Bob" pages:
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