Cognitive therapy is an approach to psychotherapy that uses thought patterns to change moods and behaviors. Pioneers in the development of cognitive behavior therapy include Albert Ellis (1929-), who developed rational-emotive therapy (RET) in the 1950s, and Aaron Beck (1921-), whose cognitive therapy has been widely used for depression and anxiety. Cognitive behavior therapy has become increasing…
Historically, the cognitive development of children has been studied in a variety of ways. The oldest is through intelligence tests, such as the widely used Stanford Binet Intelligence Quotient, or IQ, test first adopted for use in the United States by psychologist Lewis Terman (1877-1956) in 1916 from a French model pioneered in 1905. IQ scoring is based on the concept of "mental age,�…
Cognition depends on the ability to imagine or represent objects and events that are not physically present at a given moment. Cognitive functions include attention, perception, thinking, judging, decision making, problem solving, memory, and linguistic ability. One of the most basic cognitive functions is the ability to conceptualize, or group individual items together as instances of a single co…
First proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957, the theory of cognitive dissonance is based on the principle that people prefer their cognitions, or beliefs, to be consistent with each other and with their own behavior. Inconsistency, or dissonance, among their own ideas makes people uneasy enough to alter these ideas so that they will agree with each other. For example, smokers forced to deal with the …
The cognitive psychologist studies human perceptions and the ways in which cognitive processes operate to produce responses. Cognitive processes (which may involve language, symbols, or imagery) include perceiving, recognizing, remembering, imagining, conceptualizing, judging, reasoning, and processing information for planning, problem-solving, and other applications. Some cognitive psychologists …
Psychologist Aaron Beck developed the cognitive therapy concept in the 1960s. The treatment is based on the principle that maladaptive behavior (ineffective, self-defeating behavior) is triggered by inappropriate or irrational thinking patterns, called automatic thoughts. Instead of reacting to the reality of a situation, an individual automatically reacts to his or her own distorted viewpoint of …
Psychiatrist and author Robert Coles pioneered the use of oral history as a method of studying children. His Robert Coles (AP/Wide World Photos, Inc. Reproduced with permission.) five-volume series of books called Children in Crisis, published from 1967-1978, won a Pulitzer Prize in recognition of its wide-ranging examination of children throughout the world and how they cope with war, pove…
Color vision is a function of the brain's ability to interpret the complex way in which light is reflected off every object in nature. What the human eye sees as color is not a quality of an object itself, nor a quality of the light reflected off the object; it is actually an effect of the stimulation of different parts of the brain's visual system by the varying wavelengths of light…
A coma may be induced by a severe neurological injury—either temporary or permanent—or by other physical trauma. A comatose individual cannot be aroused by even the most intense stimuli, although he or she may show some automatic movements in response to pain. Comas often occur just before death in the course of many diseases. The affected brain cells may be either near the surface (…
Combat neurosis describes any personality disturbance that represents a response to the stress of war. It is closely related to post-traumatic stress disorder, and is often characterized under that term. Symptoms of the disturbance may appear during the battle itself, or may appear days, weeks, months, or even years later. An estimated ten percent of all personnel who fought in World War II experi…
Language employs symbols—words, gestures, or spoken sounds—to represent objects and ideas. Communication of language begins with spoken sounds combined with gestures, relying on two different types of skills. Children first acquire the skills to receive communications, that is, listening to and understanding what they hear (supported by accompanying gestures). Next, they will begin e…
Studies of animal behavior have taken two main directions in the twentieth century. The type of research most often practiced in the United States has been animal research, involving the study of animals in laboratories and emphasizing the effects of environment on behavior. European research, by comparison, has been more closely associated with the area of inquiry known as ethology, which concent…
Defendants in a criminal trial must have the ability (i.e., the competence) to understand the charges, to consult with an attorney, and to have a rational grasp of the courtroom proceedings. This requirement is a longstanding and fundamental principle of criminal law. Its purpose is to ensure that defendants can participate meaningfully in their own defense. The requirement refers to the defendant…
Psychologists have long been in disagreement as to whether competition is a learned or a genetic component of human behavior. Perhaps what first comes to mind when thinking of competition is athletics. It would be a mistake, however, not to recognize the effect competition has in the areas of academics, work, and many other areas of contemporary life. This is especially true in the United States, …
A concept is a generalization that helps to organize information into categories. For example, the concept "square" is used to describe those things that have four equal sides and four right angles. Thus, the concept categorize things whose properties meet the set requirements. The way young children learn concepts has been studied in experimental situations using so-called artificia…
Reflexive behaviors occur when an animal encounters a stimulus that naturally leads to a reflex. For example, a loud noise generates a fright response. If an initially neutral stimulus is paired with the noise, that neutral or conditioned stimulus produces a fright response. In classical conditioning, the response to the conditioned stimulus is called a conditioned response. Conditioned responses …
In Ivan Pavlov's experimentations with classical conditioning, a sound was paired with the placement of meat powder in a dog's mouth, and the powder naturally induced salivation. After the powder and the sound had co-occurred a few times, the dog salivated when the sound occurred, even when the meat powder was not administered. Although most research in classical conditioning has inv…
Psychology has often been defined as the study of behavior. As such, psychologists have developed a diverse array of methods for studying both human and animal activity. Two of the most commonly used techniques are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. They have been used to study the process of learning, one of the key areas of interest to psychologists in the early days of psychology.…
Along with anxiety and depression, conduct disorder is one of the most frequently diagnosed childhood psychological disorders. Depending on the population, rates of the disorder range from 6-16% in males and 2-9% in females and are expected to increase as antisocial behavior increases. Symptoms of conduct disorder include aggression, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, Depending on th…
"Conflict" from the Latin root "to strike together" can be defined as any situation where incompatible activities, feelings, or intentions occur together. Conflict may take place within one person, between two or more people who know each other, or between large groups of people who do not know each other. It may involve actual confrontation between persons, or merely s…
Conformity describes the adaptation of behavior that occurs in response to unspoken group pressure. It differs from compliance, which is adaptation of behavior resulting from overt pressure. Individuals conform to or comply with group behavior in an attempt to "fit in" or to follow the norms of the social group. In most cases, conforming to social norms is so natural that people aren…
Sigmund Freud viewed the conscience as one of two components of the superego, the other being the ego-ideal. In this scheme, the conscience prevents people from doing things that are morally wrong, and the ego-ideal motivates people to do things that are considered morally right. This theory suggests that the conscience is developed by parents, who convey their beliefs to their children. They in t…
Wilhelm Wundt's investigations of consciousness, begun in 1879, were central to the development of psychology as a field of study. Wundt's approach, called structuralism, sought to determine the structure of consciousness by recording the verbal descriptions provided by laboratory subjects to various stimuli, a method that became known as introspection. The next major approach to the…
Consumer psychology seeks to explain human, or consumer behavior, in two basic ways: what the consumer wants and what the consumer needs. The logical explanation for fulfilling the needs is a simple one. If a person lives in New York, that person needs a winter coat to survive the cold outside. But why the person buys a particular style or color hinges on the more complex issues of why a particula…
Contrast, or contrast effect, is the effect a visual stimulus has on another. When one stimulus is present, it affects the other. As can be seen in this illustration, two gray boxes of equal intensity are surrounded by, in one case, a white field, and in the other, a black field. The perceived shade of gray is affected by the contrasting field. Psychologists also study the contrast threshold, the …
Scientists often study how a particular condition or factor influences an outcome. In such an experiment, in which there are two groups of subjects, the group that is exposed to the condition or factor is called the experimental group. The other group, which provides a basis for comparison, is called the control group. For example, in a hypothetical study of the influence of the presence of loud m…
The term convergent thinking was coined J. P. Guilford, a psychologist well-known for his research on creativity. Guilford posited that a prime component of creativity is divergent thinking, the capacity to arrive at unique and original solutions and the tendency to consider problems in terms of multiple solutions rather than just one. Convergent thinking, which narrows all options to one solution…
This condition was first described by Sigmund Freud as conversion hysteria because it involved the conversion of a repressed emotional problem to a physiological form. Today, conversion reaction is classified as a somatoform disorder in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV ). Conversion reaction is a very rare condition, accoun…
Psychologists are often interested in deciding whether two behaviors tend to occur together. One means of making this assessment involves using correlations. Sometimes two measurements are associated so that when the value of one increases, so does the other— a positive correlation. On the other hand, one value may increase systematically as the other decreases—a negative correlation…
While the counseling psychologist may diagnose, assess, and treat adjustment difficulties, they often address problems which are more moderate than those encountered by the clinical psychologist. Clients of counseling psychologists are people who need help coping with the stresses of everyday life, and the focus is on strengthening their existing resources rather than overcoming disorders or defic…