Jessica A. Aybar
Unit 3 Discussion Board
Psych 205

“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. These are listed as the inalienable right of men, by the constitution of the United States of America. As we have seen previously, people’s actions are motivated by two things: to eliminate any displeasure or pain; and to obtain pleasure and happiness. Bearing this thought in mind, it makes perfect sense to have a branch in psychology, the study of mind and behavior; devoted to the research and advancement of what motivates, inspires individuals, communities and societies and makes them thrive.
Positive Psychology is defined as the field of psychology that focuses on researching and developing ways to enhance the positive ways of thinking and acting in order to enhance people’s lives, health and overall well-being.
In the year 2000, the magazine American Psychologist published an article on this field: “The study of positive emotion, positive character, and positive institutions” (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Since then, this branch of psychology has evolved and there has been considerable advance in this field.
It is based on three main ideas: Positive Emotions, Positive Characters and Positive Institutions.
These are to be applied to the past, present and future, so as to have positive emotions in regards, to one’s past, positive character to build a positive present, and positive institutions to serve as guidelines for our future.
It also bases itself on six main virtues which can be found all across different cultures: Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence.

So far, research has come to the conclusion that although there is no magic formula for happiness, with the help of positive psychology, an individual who is willing and applies positive principle to his/her life, experiences higher levels of happiness and decreased depression levels as well.

I believe that the study, research and advance in this field will help us grasp a better understanding of mental illnesses and depression, and can help improve the quality of people’s lives.


References:

http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/images/apaarticle.pdf

http://www.apa.org/apags/profdev/pospsyc.html

http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

As you have learned in your readings this week, neurotransmitters have a vital impact on both our minds and bodies. In your discussion board response, please respond to the following items:
1. Describe neurotransmitters in terms of what they are, their general function within the body, and their impact on behavior.
2. Discuss the connection between neurons and neurotransmitters.
3. Pick two neurotransmitters and discuss their general functions in our bodies. Also discuss each neurotransmitter’s connection with disease or disorders. Does a neurotransmitter problem cause the disease, or does the disease cause a neurotransmitter problem? In other words, what might be the relationship between transmitter function or effectiveness and a particular disease or disorder?



References:
-http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Neurotransmitters.html - image
-http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Neurotransmitters - definition2
-http://allpsych.com/psychology101/neurotransmitters.html - definition1

Jessica A. Aybar
Psych 205
Unit 2 Discussion Board


Neurotransmitters:

Neurotransmitters are biochemical substances in charge of transporting information to and from one neuron to another through a process called synapse.1 To fully understand neurotransmitters, we must first understand neurons.
Neurons are nerve cell thart process and transmit information to other cells in the body; which explains why neurontransmitters not functioning properly has such a big impact on behaviour.
Information enters the neuron thru the dentrites, goes thru the neuron's Cell Body and passes along the Axon. It then travels thru the Axon and reaches the Terminal Buttons. Here the information is passed along to other cells, muscles or glands.
The information is passed, to and from a cell from the Terminal Buttons of one cell (where information leaves the cell) to the Dendrites of another cell (where information enters the cell); however, these do not touch.
The process in which they exit and enter from one cell to another is called Synapse, and here is where neurotransmitters come into play, as they are the ones in charge of carrying the information from one cell to the other.
Neurotransmitters are stored in the synaptic knobs and they are released once the information that entered the cell reaches the Axon. Here it is carried across the space between the Terminal Buttons, and the Dendrites, who receive the information and continue the chain.2

There are many kinds of neurotransmitters, but there are some key ones when it comes to behaviors and illnesses.
Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter involved in voluntary movement, learning, memory and sleep. It is belivie

Compare and contrast three of the following different perspectives (specific theories) of early psychology described in your text or on the internet. These theories include: Structuralism, Functionalism, Gestalt Psychology, Behaviorism, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Physiological, Evolutionary, Cognitive, Cultural and Diversity, and Environmental, Population, and Conservation.


Use chapter 1 of your text, the AIU Library, and the Internet for research.

As with all assignments in which you are referring to someone else's writing, cite any sources used and format them according to the requirements of the APA style guide. This formatting includes, but is not limited to, the following guidelines:

Margins - set to one inch

Font - 12 pt. Times New Roman, no bold, or underline

Title - center above the paper, 12 pt. font (Level A Heading), no bold, underline, or italics

Pagination - every page; consists of a header containing a short title for the paper and page number placed in the upper right corner of the page

Line Spacing - double space all work including the References Page.

Point-of-View - third person, objective; limit perspective to research; no personal opinion or narrative In-text citations - must conform to APA requirements

References list - must conform to APA requirements

(For information on the APA style, review the AIU Library Citation Center and either search the Find Article and Books databases, or click Find Web Resources, click General Studies, and then click the plus sign next to Psychology).

For information on Macintosh Word shortcuts, click here.

Please submit your assignment.



Instructor Comments:
Here are a couple of web sites with information on the history of psychology, Gang. Hope you find them of benefit! ;-)



http://psychology.okstate.edu/museum/history/



http://psych.hanover.edu/APS/teaching.html#history

Jessica Aybar
Psychology 206
Unit 1 Discussion Board Assignment

Reinforcement is defined as a way of stimulating an individual as to increase the probability of inciting a particular response or behavior. (Heffner, 2004)
There are different ways to elicit a particular behavior such as positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, and also there are ways to decrease the probability of a certain response or behavior, such as positive punishment and negative punishment.
Positive reinforcement is when, in order to entice and stimulate a particular behavior, we reward it or add a positive gain from practicing this behavior.
Negative reinforcement is when, in order to promote and increase the likelihood of particular response or behavior, we eliminate a negative burden from the individual. An example of this could be of a child who is forced to clean up the dirt he sets in when he comes inside the house with muddy shoes. By doing this, the child will understand that once he stops tracking mud inside the house, he will no longer have to clean up after.
Punishment can be defined as a stimulus to eliminate a negative behavior.
Positive punishment can be explained as the addition of a negative consequence in order to decrease the probability of arousing the negative behavior. An example of this can be adding extra chores to a child who has been neglecting his regular duties.
Negative punishment can be explained as the removal of a positive stimulus as a consequence of a negative behavior. An example of this can be a child who loses his privileges to play videogames for a week because he has not completed his homework.
Many times we reinforce negative behavior without knowing it. Some example of this can be:
• Allowing a child to keep going outside to play, even though the child continually stays out past the designated curfew. By doing this, we create the impression that it is ok for the child to continue to arrive later than the designated time, and the child will persist on this behavior.
• John arrives to work late every day. Since his boss overlooks this consistently, he is most likely to continue arriving late, because he can get away with it. One of the consequences to this is that by overlooking the fact that John arrives late to work, his boss is giving him special treatment, and this could affect John’s performance at work, allowing him to slack off. Also, his co-workers will see that it is acceptable to arrive late, and might also engage in this bad habit.
Some ways we can avoid reinforcing a negative behavior can be
Using a negative reinforcer:
• Anna does not like cleaning her room. In order to avoid reinforcing this behavior, instead of allowing her to continually leave a messy room, she is constantly informed by her mother that she needs to clean her room. Once she does clean her room, the negative reinforcer is removed, thus making it more likely for Anna to leave her room organized on a regular basis.
Using a positive punishment:
• Jake does poorly in class, and when he informs his parents they give him negative feedback and inform him they are disappointed. By receiving critique from his parents, he is more inclined to work harder to maintain their expectations.

Scientific study has proven that the most effective way to increase a behavior is to use positive reinforcement, because this allows both parties to concentrate on the positive aspects. (Heffner, 2004)
Both children and adults avoid negative stimulation, and gravitate towards positive things, which attract our attention because we find them gratifying. Keeping this in consideration, if we are rewarded for positive behavior, we are more inclined to continue to behave this way and repeat these reactions.

Works Cited
Heffner, D. C. (2004, May 26). http://allpsych.com/. Retrieved October 5th, 2008, from All Psych Online: http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html

Define and discuss positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Give examples of two of these. Occasionally, people unknowingly reinforce undesirable behaviors. Give an example of this, discussing the consequences that resulted. Finally. discuss how one can avoid rewarding the wrong behaviors.


Links:

http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/behsys/operant.html

http://www.dushkin.com/connectext/psy/ch06/posneg.mhtml

http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/Wasserman/Glossary/reinforcement.html

http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement