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Portfolio Presentation

This portfolio is your final presentation. Depending on class size, delivery of presentations will take
place throughout Weeks Two, Three, and Four.
Create an original 20- to 30-minute capstone portfolio presentation that demonstrates your core
content knowledge. Presentation modalities may include, but are not limited to,
Microsoft PowerPoint presentations of 12 to15 slides, videos, and so forth.
Complete the following in your presentation:

Demonstrate an understanding of relevant theories.

Include examples to support major points.

Explain which theories you like and why you like them.

Explain which theories you dislike and why you dislike them.

Explain how you arrived at your conclusions.

Explain how these theories will influence the future of psychology.

Explain if there is a new method that you can apply to or research in psychology.

Explain how the information in this presentation affects your worldview.

Explain how you used critical or creative thinking in the creation of the presentation.

Present the Portfolio Presentation.

For Local Campus students, these are 20- to 30-minute oral presentations accompanied by
Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

For Online and Directed Study students, these are Microsoft PowerPoint presentations with
notes

Message expanded.Message readInfo about the Portfolio


posted by Radha Shankar , Sep 28, 2015, 8:01 PM
This is a powerpoint presentation (individual assignment) due during week 2, not at the end of class.
It is to be submitted to your assignments section, not presented to the class.
Here are some notes for this assignment:
For "relevant theories", please select a few of the major theorists in psychology. There are obviously
many you can choose from and a great deal of info you could include about each. Please just select
about 3-4 and discuss them succinctly to demonstrate the breadth of your knowledge gained over
the years. This could be some of the major theorists in psychology such as Freud, Skinner, etc.
For the "new method" bullet point, please share an idea that you think would be worth researching in
psychology. It doesn't have to be anything groundbreaking; just an interesting idea that you think
would be worth studying in this field.

Introduction:
Psychological theories are the grounds of psychology from which we gain an
understanding of the various aspects within this discipline. The many psychological
theories help to enlighten the connection that exists among body and mind. It is the
psychological theories that psychologists and therapists draw knowledge from in
order to effectively and correctly help individuals with mental illnesses overcome
their issues. Or at the very least function.

THEORIES

Behavioral theories- An individuals reaction or motivation to external or even internal stimuli is


called behaviorism (Goodwin, 2008). For example, if an individual is in pain,
their mood automatically changes and their reactions to everyday issues
may be affected. In addition, depending on the level of pain being
experienced, the individual may even cry-out. Behavioral theories main
argument is that behaviors are learned through conditioning. John B. Watson
and B.F. Skinner were founders and advocates of behavioral learning theory.
The issue with this school of thought is that it proposes that only observable
behaviors should be studied, since internal states such as cognitions,
emotions and moods are too subjective (Goodwin, 2008). Today this theory
is till used in therapy and clinical sessions to help patients deal with
problems and learn new skills and new behaviors.

Cognitive Theories ( key points of this theory are attention, organization, memory and
recall).

Cognitive psychology is defined as a branch of psychology concerned with


mental processes It looks at how we process information we receive, and
how the treatment of this information leads to our responses (Goodwin,
2005). Cognitive psychology is one of a number of branches of psychology;
partly derived from behavioral psychology. It is a branch of psychology that
tries to incorporate into a whole the distinct knowledge from the subfields of
perception, learning, memory, intelligence, and thinking. Cognitive
psychology is the process of a behavior rather than just the response to
stimuli. This means that behaviors hold the keys to important bridges in
information between mental applications and the resulting behaviors
(Goodwin, 2005).

Developmental theories-Jean Piaget is most celebrated for his immense influence


which led to better understanding of childhood development (Berk, 2010).
Piaget believed if children were unable to adapt to their environment both
physically and mentally, they would not thrive. Piaget proposed four stages
of cognitive development. Starting at birth is the sensorimotor stage which
last until the age of two. Children at this stage are only aware of themselves
and what their immediate needs they also call this egocentric. Next comes
the preoperational stage which starts at two years old and lasts until about
seven years of age. During this stage children begin to recognize objects
people as well as more of the world around them. The third stage is the
concrete operational stage about seven to twelve. At this stage children
begin to become more socially independent from their parents and care
givers, not to mention they also begin to problem solve. The last is the
formal operational stage which start young adult and lasts until adulthood. At
this stage, children can solve and think in a more complex manner (Berk,
2010). Piaget showed how people are influenced by the world around them
and are adaptable and must do so to survive in the environments that are
surrounding them (Berk, 2010).

Personality theories-There are four different types of personality theories, the


first is called psychodynamic. Psychodynamic theories involve the idea that
personalities stem from psychological makeup. The second theory of
personality is humanistic. The humanistic theory suggests that people strive
for success, and growth. The third is the trait theory. This theory states that
personality traits are what make up a person, and depending on the level of

each trait they possess, their personality will differ. Trait theory is the fact
that traits are permanent in the person, and will not change much over life.
The fourth is the cognitive-social learning theory. This theory suggests
people's personalities revolve around past experiences, what they have
learned, what others have experienced, and their surrounding environment.
In this theory people have certain expectations, and guides for their behavior
(Goodwin, 2005).

How information I have learned affects me:

Most of the theories in behaviorism have problems even though they did lay
the groundwork for other theories. I do like B.F. Skinners operant
conditioning because I have always believed in changing behavior through
positive or negative reinforcement. An example is a teacher awards points to
those students who are the most calm and well-behaved. Students
eventually realize that when they voluntarily become quieter and better
behaved, that they earn more points. Cognitive theories I like best because
they mostly view the mind as a computer that can be programmed or
reprogrammed through a learning experience. My favorite is Piagets
cognitive stages of development. He opened the door in the educational
experience and how we view it. Humanist theories are okay if used in
conjunction with cognitive theories. Maslows hierarchy of needs gives a
wonderful description of a developmental goal for most people. Personality
theories address the complexity of humans. Even though Freud has been
controversial I like his basic understanding that opened up a new avenue in
psychology through psychoanalysis. The future of psychology lies in
explaining how mind, the brain, other biological systems of the body, and
human environments interact to produce behavior. Research in all these
theories will have a positive impact on psychologys future. All of the theories

have affected my view because many explain why we act and react the way
we do including me. It has given me a better understanding of my own view
of myself.
----This final class has summed everything up and made everything come
together as a whole on just what type of impact psychology has had on our
world. I used critical and creative thinking in this slide show by introducing all
the aspects and types of theories on psychology.

Conclusion:

When deciding how to present this portfolio the main issue was which theories I felt were most
important to me. I remembered first learning about certain theories and these are the ones
presented here. I have attempted to show the scientist I felt had the most influence in each of the
categories. Research into genetics and neuropsychology will be the future of psychology. Also I
believe there will be more sub-categories in the future as psychology expands into other areas
beyond education, business, and clinical.

References:

Goodwin, C. J. (2005). A history of modern psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Berk, Laura,E. (2010). Development Through the Life Span (5th ed.). Retrieved from The
University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

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