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Essay on Dispositional Optimism

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Behaviorism is an essential part of our daily lives since it reflects how we learn and deal with varying circumstances. Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner (2011) states that behaviorism restricts psychologists to focus purely on observable behavior; it rejects the emphasis of the conscious and unconscious mind (p. 16). Ivan Pavlov, who was a Russian physiologist, discovered this concept when he researched the role that saliva played on digestion. In his experiment, he gave the dogs’ meat powder to see how they would salivate to it. After a while, he noticed that the dogs’ salivated even before he gave them food; if the dogs’ saw the white lab coat, put in the harness, hear the sound of a buzzer, or the ringing of a bell. He then …show more content…

F. Skinner furthered the behaviorist perspective and came across a new different type of learning: operant conditioning, this new type of learning tells us that we learn best through the consequences of our behaviors (p. 277).

Dispositional optimism is my choice of behavior for this assignment because it mirrors my personal perspective, motivating me to investigate further on why I engage in this action frequently, and the possible outcomes of this behavior. Dispositional optimism by definition is a general expectation that more good things than bad will occur. Optimistic behavior can give people positive insights, therefore making life struggles easier to bear. This paper will focus on my research findings and my own experiences in regards to optimistic behavior. Nothing precedes my optimistic behavior. There are no patterns that I have noticed with its occurrence, it occurs sporadically. Nevertheless, I have noticed that this behavior normally occurs when I feel like I have no choice but to be optimistic. Sometimes, I feel like I am obligated to be the optimistic person in the group.

I really cannot pin point when this behavior started. I guess it all began when I saw my biological parents fighting violently. I recall them screaming at each other fiercely, one of them stepped on my toes, my father following my mother yelling at her, my mother yelling back at my father, and out of nowhere there was a “boom,” and that was it. With all the commotion

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