Investigate what communication skills are used in this job

Investigate what communication skills are used in this job

COMM 1000

Psychology is a rapidly-growing profession and to be successful in this profession, certain qualities are required such as the following:

Communication Skills: a good psychologist should have excellent and oral communication skills and can efficiently communicate with different groups of people.

Compassion: a good psychologist has to be very compassionate and emphasize with a patient’s issues. The psychologist should make patients feel comfortable.

Emotional stability: the psychologist is able to handle the stress and emotional disorder his or her patients have.

Ethics:  This is one of the most important aspects of psychology. A great psychologist has a strong ethic code and keeps patient’s information, confidential. The psychologist also understands his or her job can significantly impact people’s lives. It is noted that psychologists use the word ethics to refer both to the mandatory floor or minimum standards adopted by the profession (i.e., remedial ethics) as well as to voluntary efforts to live out moral ideals (Knapp & VandeeCreek, 2006).

Every aspect of psychology treatment has been impacted by technology. Psychologists take advantage of this “digital revolution”, using phones, text-messaging, instant messenger and Skype. My personal example is about my own psychologist, who has monthly sessions with me through Skype. My psychologist is in Argentina and the online communication with webcam, is the closest to face-to-face sessions.

Despite of the convenient use of technology, psychologists need to address the importance technology can have upon the ethical practice of psychology. A 1997 "American Psychological Association (APA) Statement on Services by Telephone, Teleconferencing, and Internet" by the APA Ethics Committee briefly acknowledges that the APA "...Ethics Code is not specific with regard to telephone therapy, or teleconferencing, or any electronically provided services as such, and has no rules prohibiting such services." Psychologists are told that after reviewing these services, they "...must then consider the relevant ethical standards and other requirements, such as licensure boards." No further guidance has been forthcoming from APA, although in 2002, references to "electronic transmission" were added. (APA, 2002).

I consider myself knowledgeable of new technology. In fact, I do almost everything through my computer and now on my Droid cell phone. Also, communicating with people around the world for free with Skype, brings a great deal of possibilities and freedom for me and my future patients; we do not have to be in the same city or even the same country, to have private sessions.

·         Knapp, S. J., & VandeCreek, L. D. (2006). Remedial and Positive Ethics. In S. J. Knapp, L. D. VandeCreek (Eds.) , Practical ethics for psychologists: A positive approach (pp. 3-14). Washington, DC US: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/11331-001

·         Drude, K. (2005). Ethics and Malpractice. Retrieved from http://kspope.com/ethics/email.php

Information Resources in Forensic Psychology

Some good books in Forensic Psychology

Theoretical Approaches to Social Psychology

I chose to analyze the case example of a high school or college campus shooting because these situations, seem to be happening very often.  Since there are no more explanations about the example scene, I am going to assume the guy who executed the shooting was an antisocial and lonely person.  In order  to understand why this guy started a shooting, I will use the cognitive and sociocultural theories.

According to Taylor, Peplau, and Sears (2006), “the cognitive approach emphasizes that a person’s behavior depends on the way he or she perceives the social situation” (p.8). Also behavior also is shaped by the social environment the individual perceives.  The cognitive theory believes people classifies people and objects in categories and emphasizes on current perceptions, rather than past perceptions. With that being said, it could be the guy responsible for the college shooting perceived and categorized people as cruel or fake. He might have had a few unpleasant experiences with some of his classmates. But because he was most likely bullied or ignore, he perceived the entire college community as bullies.

Sociocultural theory emphasizes the impact culture and socialization have on an individual. According to  Taylor, Peplau, and Sears (2006), “the sociocultural perspective is useful in understanding behavior within a particular social or cultural context” (p. 11). Perhaps this guy who feels bullied by his classmates comes from a collectivist culture and does not quite understand how individualism culture works. He might perceive people ignores him because everybody is concentrated in their own goals and individual needs. In contrast, collectivist cultures value its members who fit at ease with the group. Because the guy who started the shooting did not feel a sense for belonging within his college community, he decided to show everybody how frustrated he was.

COMMUNICATION AND IDENTITY

Communication and Identity

COMM 1001

Communication and Identity

Communication with others is the main key for self- identity development.
Our self-concept and identity progresses as we interact with others. We see ourselves based on how we think other see us.

Our self- identity develops through interaction with others. This stage begins with the development of self-awareness, the ability to understand our existence and the knowledge that we are an independent individual. According to scholars, the “looking glass self” theory, explains “our self- concept is reflected back to us though our interactions with others and the broader society in which we live (Mead 1934; Cooley 1964).

The self is also influenced by the “self-fulfilling prophecy’, the tendency to live up to the expectations created by us” (Dobkin & Pace, 2006). Self- fulfilling prophecies are a very powerful way to influence an individual’s self-concept because they can have a positive or a negative impact on the person.

My score for SPCC test was an average of 90. The lowest scores where the large group and stranger talks; the highest scores where the friends and small groups talks. As much as I wanted to score myself with 100 in each category, I had to admit I am not prepared to give a talk to a large group of strangers. As stated in the SPCC test, “Higher SPCC scores indicate higher self-perceived communication competence with basic communication contexts (public, meeting, group, dyad) and receivers (strangers, acquaintance, friend).” ( McCroskey, J. C., & McCroskey, L. L. (1988). I consider myself a strongly perceptive person, understanding the world and the people surrounding me. Because I have this ability, I can accommodate myself in any talk group, and perceiving individual characteristics.

Biologically, humans are divided into male and female based on genitalia and physical characteristics. However, the gender identity is based on our conception of male and females. For instance, “women who see themselves as feminine often perceive the social world as based on support and social connections and use conversation as a way to share feelings and achieve intimacy” (Dobkin & Pace). This idea applies to the way I communicate online and face-to face; forums, blogs and websites dedicated to women’s health concerns, give the impression that I can safely ask and express my concerns.

In addition, the “social identity theory” states the identification with social groups is important for an individual’s self-concept. When I communicate in an online classroom, I emphasize my level of education or personal experiences related to the class. In a face-to-face environment, I talk about subjects that could also be related to others in the room.

Cultural identity is also one important element in building the self-concept. Each culture has a different view of the world around us. I am from Argentina, an Italian and Spaniard descendent. Although I can relate to American society with no difficulty, I find it more comfortable to communicate face-to-face with Hispanic people, and online with Americans.

In conclusion, the self-concept progresses as we interact with others. In addition, we can play an important role in shaping our identity and self-esteem. With time, we begin to understand ourselves based on other people’s responses.

Resources

·         McCroskey, J. C., & McCroskey, L. L. (1988). Self-report as an approach to measuring communication competence. Communication Research Reports, 5, 108-113. 

·         Dobkin, B. A., & Pace, R. C. (2006). Communication in a changing world (2McGraw-Hill)

SCHIZOPHRENIA

Schizophrenia

PSYC 1001

Walden University

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a type psychotic disorder that starts in the early teens and it is one of the most devastating mental disorders. Some of the theories that explain causes for schizophrenia are, genetics, neurotransmitters, and brain abnormalities.

Genetics certainly play a primarily rile in the development of schizophrenia. Studies have shown the relation between genes and the chance to develop the disease; generic similarity increase the chance to suffer from schizophrenia. According to American Psychiatric Association (2000), “The first-degree biological relatives of individuals with Schizophrenia have a risk for Schizophrenia that is about 10 times greater than that of the general population. Concordance rates for Schizophrenia are higher in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

Although  unclear, neurotransmitters also contribute to schizophrenia because, researchers believe dopamine imbalance is related to some forms of schizophrenia. This hypothesis is based on the use of amphetamines, that increase the amount of dopamine in the brain.

The third cause for schizophrenia is brain abnormalities. Researchers have found certain characteristics in the brain of patients with schizophrenia. According to American Psychiatric Association (2000), “the most widely studied and most consistently replicated finding continues to be enlargement of the lateral ventricles. Many studies have also demonstrated decreased brain tissue as evidenced by widened cortical sulci and decreased volumes of gray and white matter” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). However, brain abnormality might not be the cause, but the result of the disease itself.

After learning about different causes for schizophrenia, I thought about a number of treatments for patients. If a patient has somebody in their family suffering from any type of psychotic disorder, a genetic test could show the genetic predisposition for schizophrenia for an individual.

Drugs to block and reduce dopamine activity in the brain, such as Haldol and Thorazine, can help reducing hallucinations and delusions. These drugs are very effective since they almost eliminate these two symptoms.

Unfortunately, Haldol and Thorazine cannot eliminate the rest of the disturbances in perception, emotion and language. I would suggest therapy to help the patient with perception and to concentrate on one stimuli at the time. In addition, therapy could help the patient to differentiate between imaginary voices and people, from real ones.

Treatment for schizophrenia can be rather difficult to apply, because there are different subtypes of this disease. Additionally, some of the symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, can also be applied to several psychotic disorders.

Resources

·         American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.
http://dsm.psychiatryonline.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/book.aspx?bookid=22

MEMORY

Memory

PSYC 1001

Walden University

 The general concept of memory is a faithful storage of exact recordings of experiences.  However, studies have shown memory is fallible and can lead to biases and errors in events.

In the first memory game I played, I had to look at 20 objects for two minutes and write down how many I actually remembered. As much as I tried to  remember all objects, I only wrote 10  down.  Huffman (2007) states” the levels of processing model suggests that memory relies on how deeply we process initial information. During shallow processing, we’re only aware of basic incoming sensory information” (Huffman, 2007).

In the second memory task, I have to look at 20 objects. But this time, I have to connect the objects with a story, using what scientists call elaborative encoding that “lets you connect new information to memories that you already have, and that helps you remember the new information” (Exploratorium, 1998).   I told a story to myself with these objects and  I remembered 16 of them. A technique that helped me remember the objects in the memory task, was  chunking the objects in units of three.

The third memory task instructed me to put the objects in ten places in my house, in order  to connect them to each other. For example, I went to the bathroom and I imagined I tower of toilette paper and a poster of my favorite body lotion. I always forget my grocery store list and I can never remember what I needed until I come back home. After trying this exercise, I was able to remember all objects with no difficulty. This memory exercise is very useful to study for exams because I tend to have a hard time remembering concepts and specific words.  In fact, the only way former teachers taught me to study, was to memorize the words and concepts instead of connecting them to stories to use them as a hint.

Before trying the three memory exercises, I believed memory was as simple as remembering events for a long time. In addition, I did not understand the reason why I forgot concepts and words at the time of an exam, if I studied for three days.

In conclusion, the three memory tasks show information has to be transferred to short-term memory, otherwise it is assumed to be lost. The information sent and stored to long-term memory can be retrieved and sent back to short-term memory for use.

References

·         Huffman, K. (2007). Psychology in Action (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

·         Playing Games With Memory. (1998). Retrieved from http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/dont_forget/index.html