Understanding Autonomy, Independence, and Adaptive Skills
Autonomy: The ability to perform basic activities of daily living independently.
Unit: Individuals who, due to physical, mental, or intellectual limitations, require assistance and/or aids to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Types include physical dependence, social dependence, economic dependence, and mental dependence.
Independence: A disposition of mood and outlook on life that allows individuals to perform physical acts of daily living as, when, and with whom they choose.
Self-determination:
Read MoreUnderstanding Socialization, Culture, and Freud’s Personality Theory
Socialization
Socialization is the process by which we become fully functional members of society. We are born with almost no instincts, but we possess the capability for learning.
Primary Socialization
From birth, we are cared for and begin to observe and imitate our surroundings. Over time, we adopt behaviors through a system of rewards and punishments. This phase concludes as we mature and our sphere of relationships expands, typically around the time we enter primary school.
Secondary Socialization
We
Read MoreUnderstanding Violence: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis
Violence: A Historical and Conceptual Overview
Violence has been a part of history since the earliest recorded times, as exemplified by the biblical story of Cain and Abel.
Historical Periods of Violence (Guthman, 1991)
- Up to Medieval Times: Violence lacked a negative connotation.
- Medieval Period: Violence was viewed negatively, seen as corrupting purity and harmony with God, a sin against the Church, and a violation of feudal order.
- Renaissance: Violence became instrumental, used as a means of acquiring
Mental Disorders: Psychosis and Neurosis
Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Mental health is defined as full mental and social well-being. Other authors have defined it as the ability to have a job, a family, not having trouble with the law, and enjoying the leisure opportunities of life.
Conversely, a mental disorder is the loss of psychosocial well-being, coupled with a deterioration in the workplace or academic (school, college) environment and changes in usual social activities or life in relationship with others (family, friends).
In
Read MorePsychological Testing: Standardization and Reliability
Psychology
Standardization
Standardization: a rule or process of applying a test to a representative sample of respondents for the purpose of setting standards.
- A standardized test has well-defined procedures for clear administration.
- It must have control, and your score includes normative data.
Reliability
Reliability determines the usefulness of the instrument as a measuring tool.
It is the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with the same test at different times or with different
Read MoreLorenz and Harlow: Animal Studies on Attachment
Lorenz (1952)
Lorenz’s research suggests that organisms have a biological propensity to form attachments to a single subject.
Lorenz conducted an experiment in which goslings were hatched either with their mother or in an incubator. Once the goslings had hatched, they proceeded to follow the first moving object that they saw between 13 and 16 hours after hatching; in this case, Lorenz.
It supports the view that having a biological basis for an attachment is adaptive as it promotes survival.
This would
Read More