Psychology and Perspectives Essay

Human beings are given the unique capacity to view things not just the way they are but also on the pre-programmed processes we use in describing a situation. These perspectives can come from many different external influences and by internal factors involving our personal and historical development. On these reason we can employ psychology to study why and how we view things and how these factors influence our perspectives. There are many psychological perspectives presented in the field to distinguish our differences from other people. However, though we have been guided by these explanations on how we react mentally and physically over a situation, these perspectives, though they are limited, complement each other to form a unified explanation on our views. Their questions present different answers which can describe the paradigms of human existence and process, based on the different aspects of their functions and influences. This paper will discuss several psychological perspectives and their relationship to our daily routine of looking at things differently from others. View point and summaries of related topics will be discussed applied with the neuroscience, evolutionary, psychodynamic, behavioral, behavior genetics and cognitive perspectives. These perspectives are best to explain the differences people have on viewing a situation. Neuroscience Perspective First, the neuroscience perspective looks at the internal viewing functions of a person. This involves the processes of the brain in conceiving a situation and the underlying influences that affect a person’s behavior. It describes how the body and mind control our emotions, memories, and sensory processes to react on a given situation. In The Girl with a Boy’s Brain by Carlin Flora, neuroscience perspective is used in determining a person’s tendencies and irregularities by identifying brain processes and disorders.   Kiriana Cowansage has had obsessions and successes in many areas of her life. However, though her brain is above the average intellectual norm, she often gets lost in her own neighborhood. She is then diagnosed to have Asperger’s Syndrome, a mental disorder highly functional in the autism family. This condition is found usually on boys due to their innate tendency to systematize. Kiriana is said to be weak in relating with other people and in situations she is in. Often times she gets confused by unfamiliar events and get lost helplessly in it due to her faulty sensory processing systems. Kiriana’s behaviors are apparently affected by her condition and needs attention on how inner processes to solve her problem. This inner view to explain a person’s behavior and practices is described in neuroscience perspectives. Evolutionary perspective Evolutionary perspective relates our ancestral environment to be affective of our behaviors at present. The historical development of people and their retained and their passed characteristics are considered to be factors that affect their emotions and tendencies. Evolutionary psychology taps on the affective structures of human ancestral environments on the establishment of emotions, personalities, cognitive processes, and mental disorders (Nesse, p6). In a Psyched for Success article publsihed in October 2003, evolutionary perspective is used in describing the causes and implications of depression. There they raised the question of whether depression is simply a disorder or a sign of emotional fatigue. The article states that, in centuries past, aspects of human life have been internalized and passed through generations to our present life. These aspects of the past are still being used but are insufficient or inappropriate because of our more complicated present. Depression is said to signal this mismatch between our old ways and our new situations (2003). Since life today are relatively harder, people cannot cope completely with new and unfamiliar events presented to them thus causes stress and signals a people to step back and reassess the situation and their reaction. Psychodynamic perspective Psychodynamic perspective asserts that inner conflicts of the past affect a person’s behaviors and emotions at the present. It is based primarily on Freud’s concept of the unconscious where all repressed feelings are stored and affect our views unnoticeably. People who have abusive and violent experiences in the past are more likely to have repressed emotions stored in their unconcious and these defines who they are in the present. The article In the Name of Love describes adult relationships to be greatly affected by people’s relationships during childhood. Johnson and Marano’s report relates the attachment theory of infancy, the characteristic of a child to rely and depend on an immediate relative, a mother usually. This attachment is then carried as children grow old and establish their own relationships with other people (Johnson and Marano, 1994). Partners rely on each other’s affection and availability. When people are in fear or anxiety, they will certainly ask for support from their partners. Children and adult relationships are underlined by the common need of a person for attachment and security. Behavioral perspective Most of the time there are environmental stimuli that automatically or force us to make a reaction. Behavioral perspective describes this immediate factors as affective to one’s behavior. Psychotherapy utilizes this perspective to describe a person’s behavior through various stimulus and on many occasions it is used to erase or establish a behavior in a person. In an article by Tim Bower and Robert Epstein, behavioral perspective can detect psychological disorders on patients and consequently affect a therapist’s own personality. Due to the reinforced and repeated exposure to the cases and situations of patients they treat, therapist have a tendency to absorb behaviors and manifest it in their own lives. In a certain instance, psychologist’s who experienced having a patient suicide felt guilt and self-incrimination which could lead to other unprofessional behaviors. Also, the distress caused by their patients’ faulty disclosures have affected their lives with their own families the same with how their family relationships affect their professional responsibilities. Also, mental health workers are at greater risk of substance abuse due to their treatment of patient’s with the same behavior (Epstain and Bower, 1997). Genetic behavior perspective The genetic behavior perspective relates to the innate causes of behaviors. The hereditary influences that people often are affected in their responses to stimuli are regarded with much research and attention to prove. The concept of being born and not made can be found on this perspective as what the article Bruce Avolio explained. In Are Leaders Born or Made?, he stated that genetic codes also contain behavioral preferences and tools for people be what they are â€Å"meant† to be. Leaders are equipped with high energy, desire to affect others, determination and intelligence. Scientist have spent time and effort in proving that these qualities are innate and   are gifts to chosen individuals tasked become leaders. However, these characteristics are later found with the possibility of being learned and instilled to us by our parents at the early stages of life (Avolio, 1999). Also, in the article, My Genes Made Me Do It, Peele and DeGrandpre genetic codes programmed with certain behaviors are being used as excuse for tolerating certain actions (Peele and DeGrandpre , 1995). Often times, people are fooled with wrong theories on genetic behaviors and on this note researchers are focused on specific areas of life which can really be passed genetically. Also, if our personality is already determined during the early stages of conceiving, people tend to withdraw efforts on changing their behaviors. This perception is considered to have monumental consequences on how we view ourselves and on personal development. These psychological perspectives – neuroscience, evolutionary, genetic behavior, behavioral, and psychodynamic – are established to have various views on how human beings behave and relate to others. Though these perspectives raises differing questions and answers, they all relate a person’s process and structure for behavior. The study on these perspectives not only open various doors for psychological exploration but also give different means on how to describe personalities and offer treatments on the disorders which haunt people over the course of their life by identifying the internal and external etiologies of their abnormalities. Also, these only prove that wherever human perspectives are present, psychological approaches can be utilized to determine the wide range of causes and influences of these views.