Contemporary Approaches Of Psychology And How They Interpret Drug Use

Founded by John B Watson in 1915 the behaviourist approach studies observed behavioural responses of humans and animals. The behaviourist approach believes we learn to behave in response to our environment, either by stimulus-response association, or as a result of reinforcement.

In 1913 Watson gave a lecture called “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It”. It was in this speech that Watson proposed the idea of an objective psychology of behavior called “behaviorism”. John saw psychology as the study of people’s actions and their ability to predict and control their actions. This became known as the behaviorist’s theory. During the next few years, different ideas about behaviorism was studied. (Muskingum.edu) Behaviorism came to be widely accepted among psychologists and the general public, becoming a popular field of study in the 1920’s through the 1960’s. It was a huge contradiction to the views of the eugenics movement, which claimed that heredity was the primary force determining a person’s potential and behavior. Behaviorism, with its promise of the possibility of change, and even improvement. (A science Odyssey, published by

Watson is known as the father of behaviorism. He was born on January 9, 1878 in Greenville, South Carolina. He attended Furman University at 16 and graduated with a master’s degree. Watson then attended the University of Chicago where he became interested in the field of psychology. Watson received his doctorate 1903 and later became an associate professor of psychology at John Hopkins University. John B Watson established behaviorism when he delivered his lectured entitled “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It” at Colombia University. Watson’s most famous experiment was the “Little Albert” experiment. In the experiment Watson conditioned a child to fear a white rat. He did so by pairing a white rat with a loud noise. Watson was asked to retire from Hopkins because of an affair he was having with his assistant. After leaving John Hopkins University Watson began working for an advertising agency where he used his knowledge of behaviorism to improve the effects of

Many ideas were shared between Watson, Tolman, and Skinner who all played a role in the forming of behaviorism. They did, however, differ on some of their beliefs as well as their methods of study. At this time, methods of studying psychology as well as psychology in general were in the developing stages. Watson was largely credited with the foundation of behaviorism, however, he was by no means the only one to make contributions. There has been some debate as to whether Watson’s contributions were enough to make him the “founder of behaviorism.” It is important to examine contributions from several of the early

In the 1920’s, there were behaviorally inclined psychologists who did not agree with the radicalism of Watson's formulation. Many were willing to fully accept the methodology, but they did not agree to reduce the behavior to the strict formula of “Stimulus-Response.” A group of American psychologists made up of professionals such as Edward Tolman and Clark Leonard Hull developed the current of neo-behaviorism. This movement is based on the basic principles of behaviorism (environmentalism, mechanism, conditioning, non-introspective or mentalist approach) used intermediate variables such as purposes, cognitions, impulses and habits, to be able to analyze, predict and control behavior.

The behaviourist perspective is a scientific approach within psychology which claims that we are blank slates at birth and all human behaviour is learnt.Behaviourism was developed by John Watson in America in the early 1900s, (Cullis, T1999). Behaviourists focus on external conditions, learning and experience

My second concept concerns drug use and its effect. Psychoactive drugs can be legal or illegal. Psychoactive drugs are substances that alter people's moods, perceptions, mental functions and behaviors. I interviewed a 25 year old woman who described the reality of the addiction of illegal drugs. She said, "I have been doing drugs off and on since 2008 and recently quit in May of this year." I asked her, "What type of drugs did you use?" She replied, "Meth." methamphetamine (MA) My next question was, "Do you drink? “She answered no." She quickly said, "I came from a good family," letting me know she is at fault and not her family. I asked her, "Did you finish high school?” She said, “Yes," she also mentioned working a job and having an apartment.

John Watson is known as the creator of behaviorism. Behaviorism is a branch of psychology that focuses on a person’s behavior that’s caused by external factors. Behavior, according to Behaviorism, “can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness” (Behaviorism. In learning Theories). In 1920 John Watson conducted what can be considered his greatest experiment. In 1920 john Watson along with Rosaline Rayner began their study of “Little Albert”. Little Albert, as Watson called him, was a healthy child that he attempted to condition. This experiment was conducted over the course of four months. Watson utilized classical conditioning to make little Albert fear a white rat. This was revolutionary. A human being

John B Watson created the theory of Behaviorism. (Culatta, 2015) Behaviorism has a major impact on my learning style. The instructor dictated how I will learn with the assignments that are given to me. By the instructor grading the paper, I am writing, as an A through F, positive or negative, will change by behavior to adapt to the circumstances of the class and what the instructor wants

In the most famous behaviorism experiment done by Watson and Rayner (1920) showed that the overall theory of behaviorism is in fact true. The subject of the experiment was Little Albert, a 9 month old little boy. He was tested and observed on his reactions to different stimuli. Little Albert was presented with a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey and other objects. In the beginning Watson and Rayner noted that the little boy showed no fear or emotion when presented with

In this paper I will be comparing and contrasting the Psychoanalytic formulations of addiction and the Cognitive models of addiction. According to Dennis L. Thombs, “people tend to get psychoanalysis and psychotherapy mixed up. Psychotherapy is a more general term describing professional services aimed at helping individuals or groups overcome emotional, behavioral or relationship problem” (119). According to Thombs and Osborn, “Cognitive refers to the covert mental process that are described by a number of diverse terms, including thinking, self-talk, internal dialogue, expectations , beliefs, schemas and so much more” (160). I believe these two factors play a major part in an individual’s life that has an addiction.

On Intervention Canada, Aimee a 26 year old from Ottawa Ontario, has been diagnosed with addiction to Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a prescription painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine. The drugs come in a patch form which is boiled down until there is nothing left. Her addiction consists of a shot of the drug every six hours which she does with a hypodermic needle that gives her a sense of “high” or euphoria. She has been doing it for the last two years because she feels desperate and upset about her life and this drug gives her the feeling of relaxation. The purpose of this paper is to apply theories of drug use discussed in class to a real case of addiction as depicted in the Intervention video. The three theories related to Aimee’s

John Watson was an American psychologist, who is better known as the father of behaviorism, for he improved the way we view psychology and allows us to see it in the way a behaviorist would. Behaviorism became the leading approach in psychology due to him and his contributions to the study. While attending The University of Chicago John studied psychology and came up with many of his behaviorism theories. His inspirations were Ivan Pavlov and Vladimir Bekhterev, much of his thought process was based off of Pavlov’s animal studies.

     John B. Watson was an early psychologist that didn't agree with many other psychologist's ideas about learning only relating to consciousness and thought processes. As the founder of behaviorism, Watson studied learning in a behavioral perspective, an approach that emphasizes the relationship between outwardly observable behaviors and environmental events, rather than mental processes.

There is not only one theory that why people become addictive to drugs, however there is always a combinations of many factors. Here are the major two theories as to why this social problem of drug abuse exists in the society. Firstly, The genetic theory (Schukit. P.no 452.“ Theories On Drug Abuse”) is related to biological aspects. Genetic factor plays a pivotal role in the physiological drive of an individual. Genetic theory means transmission of genes to children by their parents. An individual may become addictive to the substance if any of his ancestor was also addicted to that same substance. Secondly, Self-esteem theory (Howar B. Kaplan,Phd. Pno157. “Theories On Drug Abuse”), this theory is based upon self-esteem motives. The key variables of self-esteem theory are drug availability, feelings of inferiority or superiority, social pressure/acceptability, coping mechanism, immediate gratification and life style. People falls under the theory of self-esteem become dependents of illicit substances like hallucinogens, barbiturates, amphetamines, marijuana and alcohol. These substances are observed as an alternative action to self-rejecting attitudes.