From the Paper
"Coercive persuasion and thought reform share many similarities, mainly the goal of altering behavior and attitude through coercive influences often based in groups. Schein, Lifton, and Professor Ofshe's through his Sociology 156 class all give different emphasis regarding the subject. Schien the apparent "father" of the study, analyses coercive persuasion in a three-stage model, Lifton focused on eight key elements that contributed to the totalistic qualities of the methodology, while Ofshe elaborated on the role of coercive persuasion in police interrogations. All theorists seem to agree with Schein's three-stage process, with the additions of their further findings. The result is a elaborate theory of coercive persuasion that gives insight into the results on the individual formed through confined/assertive and nonconfined/nonassertive programs, belief internalization, and the effects of the methods, graded on adherence to the leader and doctrine."

Tags:coercive, persuasion

Abstract
The paper shows that both "The Perils of Obedience" by Stanley Milgram and the "Stanford Prison Experiment" by Philip Zimbardo essentially demonstrate the potential for "evil" in ordinary citizens when placed in situations where stark authority is pitted against the individual's own moral imperatives (Milgram) or when deindividuated potential perpetrators are given total power over powerless victims (Zimbardo). The paper shows that although the experiments differed vastly in design and methodology, the point of both experiments was to observe how far an individual would go in inflicting increasing pain on a victim.

From the Paper
"There were several common ethical issues thrown up by both experiments. As Zimbardo says, "The line between Good and Evil lies in the center of every human heart "not in some abstract moral, celestial space" " (Sonoma State University Web site) Similarly, Milgram observes, "Conservative philosophers argue that the very fabric of society is threatened by disobedience, while humanists stress the primacy of the individual conscience." (Vanguard University Web site) Therefore, the same issue of ethics as in "the individual conscience" is at the heart of both experiments on human psychology."

Tags:human, psychology, guards, sadistic

Abstract
During the early part of the 20th century, the distinction between learned and inherited behavior seemed much clearer than it does today. The view that any type of behavior was either learned or simply developed without learning seemed straightforward. This paper explains that studies based on these expectations led investigators to conclude that rat-killing behavior among cats is learned rather than instinctive, that human fears are all acquired, or that intelligence is completely the result of experience. Learning theorists were maintaining, at this point, that most behavior is learned and that biological factors are of little or no importance. The behaviorist position that human behavior could be explained entirely in terms of reflexes, stimulus-response associations, and the effects of reinforcers upon them, entirely excluding ?mental? terms such as desires, goals and so forth, was advanced by J. B. Watson in his 1914 book, "Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology." This paper provides a discussion of Watson?s life, followed by an examination of behavioral psychology and an assessment of its impact on modern psychoanalysis in the conclusion. Also includes a graphic.

From the Paper
"John B. Watson was an American psychologist who was responsible for codifying and publicizing behaviorism. From Watson's perspective, behaviorism was an approach to psychology that was restricted to the objective, experimental study of the relations between environmental events and human behavior. Watsonian behaviorism became the dominant psychology in the United States during the 1920s and '30s. Watson received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago (1903), where he then taught. In 1908 he became professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., and immediately established a laboratory for research in comparative, or animal, psychology. About this time he articulated his first statements on behaviorist psychology, and in the epoch-making article "Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It" (1913) he asserted that psychology is the science of human behavior, which, like animal behavior, should be studied under exacting laboratory conditions."

Tags:conditioning, erikson, operant, response, skinner, stimulus

Abstract
One of the most fruitful methods for studying the comparative influences of nature and nurture has been to study twins. In the groundbreaking 1979 Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart, researches attempted to answer many of these questions. Twins, because of their identical genetic make-up, present a unique situation for viewing these sorts of results. The paper shows that this study found that genetics do play a much larger role in defining our characteristics than we might have previously suspected. It discusses the study's findings that intelligence, in particular, was affected by genes to a high degree, a fact that many found surprising.

From the Paper
"In biology, we could test which traits are the result of the "genotype" and which are the results of "phenotype" by employing such a study. It is easy to do this with physical characteristics, but what might such a study say about the way personalities develops, or other elements, such as intelligence or violent propensities?"

Tags:tabula, rasa, IQ, genotype, phenotype

Abstract
The paper describes world renowned psychologist, B.F Skinner's Operant Conditioning Theory - the primary focus of this form of learning being on the relationship of reinforcement to the change in overt behavior. The paper provides a biography of Skinner and shows how his ideas affected the psychological world.

From the Paper
"We, as human beings, are distinguished by the fact that our vocal responses can be easily conditioned as operants. Because the behavior must be reinforced through the mediation of other people, who do many different things, there are many kinds of verbal operants (http://www.bfskinner.org/Operant.asp). Language is composed of the reinforcing practices of a given culture. These practices are responsible for the majority of the extraordinary achievements of humans. Other species acquire behavior from each other through imitation and from modeling or showing each other what to do."

Tags:Walden, II, Beyond, Freedom, and, Dignity, Skinner, Box, reinforcer

Abstract
This paper considers how an experimental test may be designed and implemented. The author designs a two-stage study, explains the various controls used and includes recognition of the limitations of such as study. The author uses the example of the hypothesis that left handed persons have lower levels of emotional control than right handed people.

Abstract
This paper examines how a new means of assessing vision known as the Contrast Sensitivity Function (CSF) has emerged and how it is vital to calculate the sensitivity of the visual system for humans and other animals as it presents information regarding individual visual function capabilities. It looks at how a programme called Gabori attack was used to test the contrast sensitivity function of 8 participants. The experiment was performed to test the accuracy of the programme and to find if there was any significant differences in spatial frequencies for individuals and between individuals.

Outline
Abstract, Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References

From the Paper
"Contrast sensitivity testing adds to and extends the measurement of visual function provided by simple acuity tests. Contrast sensitivity measurements offer information about an individual's ability to see low contrast targets over an extensive range of target size and orientation. Modern vision research has undoubtedly demonstrated that the capacity to detect and identify spatial form varies widely as a function of target size, contrast, and spatial orientation (Campbell & Atkinson, 1978)."

Tags:attack, function, gabori, psychology

Abstract
Studies of divided attention have shown that the degree to which one task interferes with another will depend in part on the stimulus and response characteristics of the two tasks. This paper proposes a study in which participants will at average recall a significantly higher number of words when performing a dissimilar task (listening and doing manual work) as compared with performing a similar task (reading a prose passage).
Outline
Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Design
Participants
Apparatus
Procedure
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Appendices

From the Paper
"A study on task similarity by Allport et al. (1972) was done using participants who heard a list of words presented through headphones into one ear. The participant's task was to simply shadow these words. Simultaneously, participants were also presented with a second list. No immediate response was required to the second list but later on memory was tested for these items. Allport et.al. used three conditions. In one condition, the memory items consisting of words were presented into the other ear, so that participants were hearing and shadowing a list of words in one ear while simultaneously hearing the memory list in the other ear. In the second and third conditions, the memory items were presented visually by a different list of words and pictures respectively on a screen. Allport et al. suggested that the first condition (hear words + hear words) involves very similar tasks, and the second and third condition (hear words + see words/pictures) involves less similar tasks. "

Tags:cognitive, empirical, freud, memory

Abstract
This paper argues in favor of a combination of quantitative and qualitative data when evaluating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programs. Qualitative research methods are presented in the essay, including self-report questionnaires and rating scales, observational measures and interviewing. This is followed by a discussion on quantitative methods, which include meta-analysis and control groups. The qualitative methods focus mainly on the research methods of CBT in clinical practice, while the quantitative methods investigate the research methods of CBT in theory. Various approaches to evaluating CBT and issues arising from these methods are examined in the paper in order to encourage therapists to evaluate CBT program with extreme care.

Outline:
Single-case Experimental Designs (SCEDs
Qualitative Evaluation
Self-Report Questionnaires and Rating Scales
Observational Measures
Time Sampling
Self-Observation
Interviewing
Quantitative Evaluation
Meta-Analysis
Control Groups
Conclusions
References
Table 1
Questionnaires Frequently used in CBT
Table 2
Types of Control Group Used in CBT Outcome Studies.

From the Paper
"In a many Counselling and Psychotherapy studies, research is often conducted through qualitative evaluation (attempts to assess what kind of change has occurred), rather than with quantitative methods, (deciding how much change has occurred). Conversely, CBT has, until quite recently, been dominated by the latter consideration (Ward, et al., 2000). At various points in this essay I will argue for a combination of quantitative and qualitative data as the sensible basis of evaluation for example with single-case experimental designs. Qualitative research methods discussed in this essay are: self-report questionnaires and rating scales, observational measures and interviewing, this is followed by a discussion on quantitative methods, which will include meta-analysis and control groups. The qualitative methods dealt with in this essay will focus mainly on the research methods of CBT in clinical practise, while the quantitative methods will investigate primarily the research methods of CBT in theory. Various methods of evaluating CBT and issues arising from these methods will be handled in this essay to emphasize the need for therapists to choose methods of evaluating CBT programmes with extreme care."

Tags:cognitive, behavioral, therapy, CBT, clinical, practice, theory, measures

Abstract
This paper is a research study to assess whether Stroop interference does indeed occur and whether automatic processing does indeed cause reaction times to congruent conditions to be quicker, substantiating Stroop's (1935) findings. The original Stroop test is a psychological test of a person's mental energy, vitality and flexibility and over the years it has been revised and adapted, yet the basic principles remain constant.

Outline
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Materials/Apparatus
Procedure
Results
The Stroop Effect
The Gender Effect
Discussion and Conclusion

From the Paper
"It is suggested that "cognitive processes become automatic as a result of frequent practice" (Schneider and Shiffrin, 1977) for example reading, writing, bike riding, swimming and driving. Hasher and Zacks (1979), and Posner (1978) defined automatic processes as being attention free, unconscious, and involuntary and the Stroop effect is usually taken as an indication for the automaticity of the reading process, at least in the sense of "automatic" as processing without monitoring. In other words a word that reads the same as the colour in which it is written, should be easier to process than a word in a conflicting colour. Much research into the Stroop effect has ultimately coincided with this view. (Stroop, 1935; Macleod, 1991)"

Tags:cognitive, mental, energy, vitality, flexibility