Psychology Project

Essay

Lying on a bed.  Talking to some guy who says he's a "professional".  Pouring all you emotions into him.   This is how most people imagine psychology.  The everyday person may think that a psychologist is a person that you go and talk to for a period of time every Tuesday every other week, but psychologists are also people who put time into researching our brain and how we think or feel, to come up with theories about how people live or communicate.  When we tested some common theories all of the statements and outcomes that the original psychologist discovered were true.  Different psychologists may research only one or two topics from the six major parts of psychology.  Psychologists that can discover astonishing theories such as the ones we researched, should be greatly celebrated for how much research and knowledge they have given us.

Two well know psychologists are Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg.  Kohlberg had high interest theories in moral development and Erikson had important theories in social development.  The six major parts of psychology are cognitive, behavioral, development, social, humanist, and personality.  Behavioral theories show how you act with others and how you may feel inside.  Development theories show how you can grow in maturity and conformity through out your life.  Social theories show how you communicate with others in a group or community.  Humanist theories describe basic traits that every human has.   Personality theories describe your emotions and how you are feeling.  Many psychologists have researched these topics and have found so much research you can’t even believe.

We decided to test three major theories, two that were discovered by Kohlberg or Erikson.  The first is called the bystander effect.  The bystander effect shows how people would see or here something bad going on, but they are two afraid or worried something might happen.  The show What Would You Do is all about showing circumstances applying the bystander effect.  Our second theory is called Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development.  For this theory someone would get a scenario describing someone doing something that is wrong, but for the good of someone else.   At the end, the reader asks the listener if the person should have done the wrong act, even though it would help someone else.  Our last theory was Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development.  This theory shows that the older someone might gets, the more likely you are to think about what others think or say about you.  We found that many of these tests ended up exactly how the original psychologists described.

Based upon these theories, we designed three tests to prove or disprove the original research.  Our findings in the theory of moral development and theory of psychosocial development supported the research we found on what Erikson and Kohlberg found.  The test for the bystander effect somewhat supported the research we found, because normally the natural instinct for a person when they see something bad happening is to stay away and not get in the middle.  Though in our tests about a fourth of the bystanders stood up for the victim.  Overall, our tests supported the original research we found.

Psychologists aren't therapists, they are more like scientists who study your mind to find how different people think and feel.  When the two of us tested three common theories, our results supported original research on the theory.  Different types of psychologists could research maybe one or two parts from the six major sections of psychology.  Psychologists who found major theories, like the ones we researched, are just one occupation that gives so much knowledge to the world and should be thanked immensely for the research they have given us.

 Goals

- To use a new type of technology for my next project

- To get at least a 85% on my essay for my next project

Self Reflection

On this project I think that I did better than my last project.  I think that I had a better choice for my technical part and I think that I worked really well with Kati.  Also, I think that my essay was clearer and thought out more.  Finally, I think that the two of us created a really good project.