PSYCHOLOGY
-Psychology is the science of mind and behaviour.
-It’s the bridge between philosophy(thoughts and ideas) and physiology.
-”The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best.”_Paul Valery
-That division of science which takes human behaviour; the sayings and doings, both learned and unlearned as its subject matter.
-Psychology helps to measure the probability that am aim is attainable.
-Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes , rather than their manifestation in behaviour.
-Psychiatric diagnoses are not objective, but only exist in the minds of the observer.
1. The four temperaments of personality.
-According to Aristotle, there are four sources of happiness; Logical, sensual, material and ethical.
-The Galen four temperaments are
l Sanguine-warm-hearted, cheerful, optimistic and confident.
l Phlegmatic-Slow, quiet, shy, rational and consistent.
l Choleric-Fiery, energetic and passionate.
l Melancholic-Artistic, sad, fearful, poetic and depressed.
2. Concepts become forced when they resist one another (STRUCTURALISM).
-Experiences and sensations combine to form ideas.
-Similar ideas can coexist and combine; Dissimilar ideas resist one another and become forces of conflict; one idea is forces to be favoured over another; the favoured idea strays into the consciousness; the unfavoured idea leaves consciousness and it becomes an unconscious idea.
-A gentle request or commanding order, combines with the highly concentrated mind of a subject to induce a state of ‘lucid sleep’. In this state, the subject becomes more susceptible to the power of suggestion.
3. Be that self which one truly is; the opposite of despair (EXISTENTIALISM)
-”The main purpose of philosophy is to increase happiness through analyzing and understanding oneself”_Socrates.
-Despair evaporates when we stop denying who we really are and attempt to uncover and accept our true nature.
-We can find peace and inner harmony by finding the courage to be our true self rather than wanting to be someone else.
4. Personality is composed of nature and nurture (BIO PSYCHOLOGY)
-External influences can make an impression but nothing can efface the deeper marks of an individual.
-Personality is composed of element from two different sources; nature and nurture.
-Nature is that which is inborn and inherited. It sets the limits to how far we can develop our talents.
-Nurture is that which is experience from birth onwards. We can improve our skills and abilities through learning and training.
-Nature and nurture both play part in our development but nature is the determining factor.
5. A Peculiar destruction of the internal connections of the psycho (MEDICAL PSYCHIATRY)
-In the course of normal speaking, the will is continuously directed to bringing the course of ideas and the articulatory movements into harmony into each other.
-”The exact description of consciousness is the sole aim of experimental psychology.”_WILHEM WINDT
-Consciousness does not appear to itself chopped up in bits, it is nothing jointed, it flows.
-Consciousness is not a thing but a process, which is constantly evolving.
-JAMES LANGE’S THEORY OF EMOTION states that emotions arise from your conscious mind’s perception of physiological condition.
*You feel happy because you are conscious that you are smiling; it is not that you feel happy first and then smile.
-If someone shows physiological signs of fear or distress for no apparent reason,they may be caused by a subconscious idea, that therapy reveals to be related to an earlier traumatic incident. This may in severe cases lead to a dissociation, the existence of two separate consciousness.
6. Adolescence is a new birth. (HUMAN DEVELOPMENT)
-Human nature is determined by nature, it is a repetition of our ancestral record.
-A child has animal lie dispositions and goes through several growth changes; at adolescence, the evolutionary momentum subsides, this is the time for individual change.
-During this wild, lawless time the teenagers are increasingly sensitive, reckless, self conscious and prone to depression.
-The child then emerges as an adult, a more civilized, higher order being.
7. 24 hrs after learning something, we forget two-thirds of it (MEMORY STUDIES)
-Forgetting is most prone within the first nine hours.
-Repeated learning sessions over a long interval of time improves memory retention on any subject.
-Items toward the beginning and the end of a series are the most easily remembered.
-Items forgotten can be relearned faster than new ones learned at the time.
-Material that is studied beyond mastery is remembered longer.
8. The sight of tasty food makes a hungry man’s mouth watery. (CLASSICAL CONDITIONING/BEHAVIOURISM)
-An unconditioned stimulus can provoke an unconditioned response. If an unconditioned stimulus is accompanied by a neutral stimulus, a conditioned response begins to develop. After repeated episodes of the conditioned stimulus alone, will provoke a conditioned response.
-”Facts are the air of science. Without them a man of science can never rise.”_IVAN PAVLOV
-THE LAW OF EFFECT states that a response to a situation that results in a satisfying outcome is more likely to to happen again in the future; the converse is also true.
-The intellect, character and skill possessed by any man are the products of a certain original tendencies and training that they have received.
-The fundamental human emotions are fear, rage and love.
-The feelings can be attached to objects through stimulus-response conditioning.
-People can be conditioned to release emotional responses to objects.
-A movement, not behaviour is learned from stimulus - response association.Related movements combine to form an act; repetition does not reinforce the association but leads to the formation of acts which combine to form behaviour.
-Freewill is an illusion; selection by consequences controls all our behaviour.
-The ideal of behaviorism is to eliminate coercion, to apply controls by changing the environment.
-A person’s behaviour is controlled by his genetic and environmental histories.
-Behaviour depends on the paths that neural excitation takes; people cannot feel two emotions at the same time. If one is relaxed, they cannot feel anxious.
-It is possible to learn an emotional response to a particular stimulus.
9. The unconscious is the true psychical reality (PSYCHOANALYSIS)
-The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.
-The unconscious is the part of the mind that defines and explains the workings behind our ability to think and our experience.
-The conscious is effectively the puppet in the hands on the unconscious. It is merely the surface of a complex psychic realm.
- A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes , but to get into accord with them; they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world.
-Rather that being guided by forces outside of ourselves such as gods and fate, we are controlled by the inner working s of our brains; especially the unconscious.
-By understanding the unconscious, we free ourselves from its domination.
-The memory of shared knowledge is held in the collective unconscious which is part of each and every person.
-The ‘shoulds’ are the basis of our bargain with fate; if we obey they, we believe we can magically control external realities, though in reality they lead to deep unhappiness and neurosis.
-Traditional notions of happiness are impossible to attain; living is about finding a way to tolerate the conflicts; it is not about finding nirvana.
-Existence is driven by the will to live; which is constantly being opposed by an equally forceful death drive.
-The unconscious is the discourse of the ‘other’; the other is everything that lies beyond the boundaries of ourselves.
-We define and redefine ourselves through the existence of the other. We understand the world through the language (discourse) of the other and use that language for our innermost thoughts.
10. The neurotic carries a feeling of inferiority with him constantly. (INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY)
-Self esteem is the ratio of goals satisfied to goals unmet; and can be raised by lowering expectations as well as through achievement.
-The way we see ourselves is based on how we imagine others view us.
-To feel both good and necessary about ourselves we need both achievements and respect from others.
-Comparison shapes self esteem. We feel better when we feel more successful than other and worse when we feel less successful than others.
-Every child feels inferior because stronger and smarter people surround them. Inferiority motivates them to do and achieve things; In a balanced psyche, success relieves inferiority and confidence develops.
11. Truth can only be tolerated only if you discover it yourself. (GESTALT THERAPY)
-People believe that their view of the world is the objective truth; But human experience is covered by the personal lenses through which we view it.
-Since it is our perception that shapes our experiences, it is possible to change our inner realities and ultimately our external realities.
-We must discard the given values of society and family and discover our own true values.
-It is vitally to remember that the complexity of the human experience - with its tragedies and traumas, inspirations and passions, and its nearly infinite range of possibilities - is coded by the individual lenses through which we view it.
-We do not automatically adsorb all the sounds, pictures and feelings of the world, we scan and select just a few.
-We should strive to be homeostatic - the ability to maintain emotional stability regardless of the environment.
-THE GESTALT PRAYER SAYS: I do my thing and you do your thing, am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am me, and if by any chance we find each other it is beautiful, if not, it cannot be helped.
-Leave to cultivate awareness and focus that awareness on the feeling of the present moment.
12. Man’s main task is to give birth to himself. (HUMANISTIC PSYCHOANALYSIS)
-The true religion consists of facing life’s challenges with purpose, meaning through accepting responsibility and making choices.
-We must find ourselves in order to find self actualization.
-The purpose of our lives is to define ourselves through embracing our personal uniqueness, discovering our own ideas and abilities and embracing that which differentiates each of us from other people.
-Creating requires the courage to let go of uncertainties.
-In terms of personal love, the main tenets are responsibility, respect and knowledge - an objective knowledge of what other people truly want and need.
-Love is only possible through respecting the separateness and uniqueness of ourselves and of another.
-Love is not an emotion; it is an interpersonal creative capacity that one must actively develop as part of one’s personality.
-THE FOUR NON - PRODUCTIVE PERSONALITY TYPES ARE;
u Receptive types- Have no choice but to accept their role and never fight for change or betterment.
u Exploitative types - Are aggressive and self centered and typically involves themselves in actions of coercion and plagiarism.
u Hoarding types - Fights to retain what they have and always seeking to acquire more.
u Marketing types - ‘Sell’ everything especially their own image.
13. The good life is a process not a state of being. (PERSONAL - CENTRED THERAPY)
-People must not be seen as a collection of symptoms but first and foremost as people.
-In order to enjoy a good life we need to; be fully open to experiences , live of the present moment, trust ourselves, take responsibility for our choices and treat ourselves and others with unconditional positive regard.
-What I will be in the moment and what I will be grows out of the moment and cannot be predicted.
-Self and personality emerge from experience rather than experience being translated to fit preconceived self structure.
-We aught to strive to avoid being defensive; the tendency to unconsciously apply strategies to prevent a troubling stimulus from entering our consciousness.
14. What a person can be, he must be. (HUMANIST PSYCHOLOGY)
-There is only one motivating force behind all our behaviour and experiences: the striving for perfection.
-Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes; Physiological (air, drink, food, sleep, warmth, exercise), safety (security, employment, money, health), love and belonging(acceptance, friendship, intimacy, relationships), self esteem(achievement, respect, recognition), cognitive(knowing and understanding), aesthetic(order, beauty, symmetry), self actualization(fulfilling personal potential), self transcendence(helping others, connecting with something outside ourselves)
-All of us must discover our potential, and seek experiences that will allow us fulfil it.
15. Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning. (LOGOTHERAPY, EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY)
-The four ultimate concerns of life: death, freedom, existential isolation and meaninglessness.
-We accept all forms of experiences equally rather than shunning or denying those that we judge to be uncomfortable or unpleasant.
-A full life encompasses pleasure, engagement(flow) and meaning.
-Humans have two psychological strengths that allow us to bear painful and devastating experiences and move forward; the capacity for decision and freedom of attitude.
-People are unhappy because of how they think of happiness.
-Depression is as a result of unrealistic negative views about the world.
-Experiences do not cause any specific emotional reactions, instead it is the individual’s belief system that produces the reaction.
-The best years of our lives are the ones in which we decide our problems are our own - we realize that we cannot own destiny.
Can i get a pdf form of this article?
ReplyDeleteI found your discussion on personal-centred therapy particularly discerning. I wonder, Could this concept be adapted for humanistic psychology?
ReplyDeleteAm doing more research and reading more on the topic generally though am also working on publishing on specific topics such as humanistic psychology...stay tuned on the page for more.
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