Analysis of Dostoevsky's Themes and Arguments

This sample essay on Destoyeski reveals arguments and important aspects of this topic. Read this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs and the conclusion below.

After returning from a shopping trip with his mother, little Tommy reported, “I goed to the store and eated candy. ” Why might a behaviorist such as B. F. Skinner have had some difficulty explaining Tommy’s incorrect grammatical construction? What sort of theory could explain the errors? What would that explanation be? B. F Skinner was an American Psychologist who invented the operant conditioning chamber.

The chamber he set up had rats in it and a lever, once the rats pulled the lever they were given a piece of food.

After this happened the rate of bar pressing would increase dramatically and remain high until the rat was no longer hungry. He was a firm believer of the idea that human free will was actually an illusion and any human action was the result of the consequences of that same action.

If the consequences were bad, there was a high chance that the action would not be repeated; however if the consequences were good, the actions that lead to it would be reinforced.

He called this the principle of reinforcement. B. F. Skinner’s operant conditioning theory would lead him to believe Tommy’s parents spoke the way Tommy did after leaving the store, and his parents had no consequences for Tommy speaking in such a way but instead of giving him positive reinforcement for the incorrect grammar.

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The fact That Tommy has a learning disability which causes him to absorb words used around him, instead of absorbing both the vocabulary and the grammatical rules. Tommy’s grammatical errors show that language is acquired through osmosis, and that there is more to it than just memorization.

Abraham Maslow Biography Summary

Skinner’s way of operant conditioning mainly focused on cause and effect; by doing something good you are rewarded and by doing something bad you are punished. Even though tommy’s parents don’t reward him it would seem to Skinner that his grammatical errors were positively reinforced making it difficult for Skinner to provide an explanation for Tommy’s grammatical errors. Myers, D. G (2013). Psychology: 10th Edition in Modules. Worth Publishers, Inc. 4. Abraham Maslow suggested that “a person who is lacking food, love, and self-esteem would most likely hunger for food more strongly than anything else.”

Conversely, the novelist Dostoyevsky wrote, “without a firm idea of himself and the purpose of his life, man cannot live even if surrounded with bread. ” What evidence from the field of psychology might support each statement? Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who is best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is represented by a pyramid with four different levels, the bottom of the hierarchy are the “Basic needs or Physiological needs” of a human being: food, water, sleep and sex.

The next level is “Safety Needs: Security, Order, and Stability”. These two steps are important to the physical survival of the person. Once individuals have basic nutrition, shelter and safety, they attempt to accomplish more. The third level of need is “Love and Belonging”, which are psychological needs; when individuals have taken care of themselves physically, they are ready to share themselves with others, such as with family and friends. The fourth level is achieved when individuals feel comfortable with what they have accomplished.

This is the “Esteem” level, the need to be competent and recognized, such as through status and level of success (Myers, 2013, p. 420 ). Maslow suggested that a person lacking food, love, and self-esteem would most likely hunger for food the most. Yet on the other hand the novelist Destoyeski viewed this issue in an entirely different matter. He wrote that without a firm idea of himself and the purpose of his life, man cannot live even if surrounded with bread.

My opinion is that if a person does not know who they really are or what they are doing with their life then what is there to live for, therefore food wouldn’t matter without everything else to follow. Destoyeski quote, I believe that everyone has a place and a purpose in life, yet if a person doesn’t know where they stand or their purpose in life who are they? And this is why I believe that knowing yourself, your standards, and goals is more important critically speaking because without those, all you would have in your life is food.

I believe both Maslow and Destoyeski are right in their own ways, since Maslow just focuses on the basics showing a person will go for food before they go for self-esteem, and Destoyeski looks at the bigger picture and seeing that if you have nothing to live for then you would have no reason to care about food. Fyodor Dostoevsky – Russian Author – Biography. (n. d. ). The European Graduate School – Media and Communication – Graduate & Postgraduate Studies Program. Retrieved April 28, 2013, from http://www. egs. edu/library/fyodor-dostoevsky/biography/ Myers, D. G (2013).

Psychology: 10th Edition in Modules. Worth Publishers, Inc. 5. Andy, a high school sophomore, lacks self-discipline, fails to plan ahead, and is excessively anxious. He is quickly frustrated by challenging tasks and frequently becomes overly critical of others. Use the psychoanalytic, humanistic, and social-cognitive perspectives to give three contrasting explanations of Andy’s behavior. Since we do not know Andy’s past, he could have been bullied in school when he was younger or possibly beaten by his parents as a child, which could have created trauma causing him to act out.

Because he is acting out, the idea is acting on its pleasure principle and allowing Andy to release his built up frustration and stress. The humanistic side of things is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid that breaks down a person’s basic needs for self-fulfillment. Andy Pushes towards finding where he belongs and he strives to build up his self-esteem. Rogers thought we could reach our full potential by receiving unconditional positive regard. This included caring for someone no matter what they are going through, openness, acceptance, and empathy.

His parents probably did not give him unconditional positive regard contributing to how he feels now. The social cognitive side is close to the cognitive-behavioral viewpoint. Andy’s friends, family, and along with his environment influence, his actions and behavior which contributes to how he views himself is influenced by his surroundings. If Andy’s parents used a particular style of parenting such as permissive parenting style, it could have been a contributing factor causing Andy’s lack of self-esteem and self-discipline to include Andy failing to plan ahead.

The common anxiousness Andy feels would be caused by the negative self-image he created of himself. Since Andy is so critical on himself it would also make him very judgmental of others as well or possibly even resorting to suicidal thoughts. Myers, D. G (2013). Psychology: 10th Edition in Modules. Worth Publishers, Inc. 6. Geraldo, a second-year college student, is so fearful of medical procedures that he has avoided routine dental checkups for over three years. He has recently decided to seek help in overcoming his fear.

Compare and contrast (what are the similarities and differences) the methods that would be used by (a) a behavior therapist and (b) a psychoanalytic therapist Psychoanalytic and Behavioral are the two main types of psychotherapy which are techniques employed to improve psychological functioning and promote adjustment to life for every patient. The two types of therapies are generally to help gain a greater control over and improvement of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

The two therapies are grouped together as insight therapies. Although their goals are similar, their approach is very different from each other. The difference between behavior therapy and psychoanalytic therapy is that psychoanalytic therapy is used to bring the patient’s unconscious and underlying conflicts to consciousness. This process helps the patient to discover their reason for their abnormal behaviors or fears of certain situations or even fear of certain objects or places.

Once the patient has the insight on their underlying conflicts or fears, the conflicts or fears can be resolved and the patient can change to a better behavior. There are five methods that are used in psychoanalytic therapy: free association, dream analysis, analyzing resistance, analyzing transference, and interpretation. Behavior therapy which is similar to psychoanalytic therapy but instead it uses learning principles to help prevent and eliminate maladaptive behaviors and create a more healthy way of thinking. Behavior therapy focuses on the problem behavior instead of the underlying cause.

The methods used in this particular therapy are: classical conditioning techniques, including systematic desensitization and aversion therapy; operant conditioning techniques, including shaping, reinforcement, and observational learning techniques, to include modeling therapy. Psychoanalytic therapy and behavioral therapy both push to better a person’s thinking and outlook on life. Both types of therapy’s work in different ways to resolve the conflict.

Psychoanalytic works by bringing the underlying conflict out and behavior therapy works on the conflict that is currently at the surface not focusing on the underlying factors more or less teaching the patient ways to defeat the conflict should it come out. Myers, D. G (2013). Psychology: 10th Edition in Modules. Worth Publishers, Inc. McLeod, S. (n. d. ).

Psychoanalysis. Simply Psychology – Articles for Students. Retrieved April 28, 2013, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/psychoa Behavioral Therapy. (n. d. ). Spectrum Behavioral Health. Retrieved April 29, 2013, from http://www. spectrum-behavioral. com/WhitePapers/behavioralthera