Forrest Norman IV's Archive

Third Force

1 Commentby   |  04.23.13  |  Student Posts

I greatly admire Not only third Force Psychology’s humanistic views and it’s perspectives on our futures but it’s catchy name as well. The third Force psychology’s perspectives on humanistic development is completely right in my opinion, and their view on human desires are accurate as well. When I first became a Psychology major I was attracted to Howard’s theory of Unconditional Positive regard as not only a proper parenting technique, but as the attitude which a therapist must have with a client, not a cold detached analyzation. By giving others the benefit of the doubt we open the doors of the heart that might close defensively in fear of others. However I feel that for all its perks, Humanistic Psychology lacks decisive and effective techniques to complement its bold and enlightening views.

Behavior Unchained

0 Commentsby   |  04.10.13  |  Student Posts

Behavioral techniques are effective and longstanding techniques whose orgins have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. A huge mistaken assumption people tend to make is that because the dicipline of psychology is only a hundred years old is that it is an undefined psuedo science. In fact it it is thanks primarily to the work of the behavorialists who quantitatively measured behavior that we were able to bring psychology into the modern age. Behaviorilisim has strong history in all cultures as it is common knowledge that positive and negitive reinforcement with the proper stimuli reinforces and eliminates positive and negitive behaviors respectively. Overall Behavoral Psychology is a branch of Psychology that we Psycholigists can not do without.

Nature V.S. Nurture

2 Commentsby   |  03.05.13  |  Student Posts

From the purely psychological point of view, nature plays a crucial role in our mental development which cannot be over looked or overstated. It is undeniable traits and genes inherited have an effect on us it is an undeniable scientific fact. And to an extent evolutionary psychologists are right in the belief in the primal and breed instincts that drive us towards survival and propagation.
However I do not believe in evolutionary Psychology or take its views and beliefs as my own. I do this not because it “disproves” or undermines God, or because it lowers us to little more than animals that is not the case or the question and to hold these beliefs is to be affected by bias. I do not support evolutionary Psychology because it almost completely ignores or dismisses the Nurture side of psychology. Our ability to learn and infer from the environment is a crucial and un-ignorable part of our psyche and in my opinion developed through personal experiences plays a greater role in our development than biology. Even monkeys are proven to develop and learn new behaviors and social reactions simply through the personal experiences of the individual or group and learn to interact with the world in a different way. As psychologists and scientists we are required to analyze information and reach a conclusion biased off information and findings not on bias and superstition. Though our opinions may guide our research and direct our lives, we must not dismiss sound logic in favor of a side that is simply more to our liking.

Greek Culture

1 Commentby   |  01.31.13  |  Student Posts

Of all the societies and cultures that influenced the world, none
have been more influential in Europe and the Middle East than the Greeks. The
Greeks sculpted the entire ancient world, while other great empires such as Egypt
and Mesopotamia crumbled and were forgotten Greek culture survived, integrating
itself into its surroundings to survive thoroughly to the modern day.

The Greeks were the first to question and attempt to answer the
mysteries of the world around them, what did it mean to be righteous, why do we
exist, why is the world in the form it is? Without any scientific or spiritual epiphany,
using only pure reason and the power of the mind the Greeks probed into the
deepest and most enormous questions that we still struggle over today.

Greek culture was also especially organized, stressing duty to community
and the importance of the whole while still maintaining individuality and free
thought. It was one’s civic duty to strengthen one’s nation through one’s own talents
and passion leading to an organized society.

It was for these reasons and more that such men as Alexander the
Great, and such empires as Rome, saw fit to incorporate Greek culture into
itself rather than reject it, such to a point that the Roman Pantheon mirrored
the Greek almost to a tee. Throughout history Greek culture has proved itself a
major shaper of the world we live in today.

 

 

What is good?

0 Commentsby   |  01.20.13  |  Student Posts

There is a really good reason why the word good is so popular in our world, it is exceptionally vague in meaning and can be interpreted in as many ways as there are stars in the sky. when we are asked how our day was we say “good”, when we are asked how we enjoy our meal we say “it’s good”, when we fall down a flight of stairs and come out unscathed we say “I’m good”. Good can mean anything and it’s true meaning is only revealed by the context of it’s use. So when we are forced to ask what is the good life, we are forced to evaluate what it is we want out of life. There are billions of people and hundreds of thousands of organizations that give a quick and simple answer to what it means to live a good life, but when it comes down to the bare bones of what the good life is,  the fact of what is a meaningful and fulfilling life is, is established and judged by the person who lives their life. We only answer to ourselves and our God above on weather our lives are meaningful and what it constitutes a good life, accepting responsibility for the choices we make and reaping the rewards that come.

Forrest Norman IV's Comment Archive

  1. Forrest Norman IV on Raymond Lowe - Blog #6
    11:04 am, 04.24.13

    Good job! your post is detailed, covers it’s beliefs and perminance and it’s impact on cultures of the past and today. Encourging other people to foster and encourge thier “mindset” is an important and impacting facet of third force psychology that you covered very well.

  2. Forrest Norman IV on Third Force Psychology
    11:01 am, 04.24.13

    I’m glad to hear you enjoy third force psychology, however what you describe sounds more behavioristic. Pushing a person I a certain direction through coercion is undeniably behavioral techniques not third force. To solidify your claims to liking this psychological viewpoint, i would suggest you talk about things you like about it in your post, and cite real examples where it impacts your life.

  3. Forrest Norman IV on Blog 4: Behaviorism
    4:53 pm, 04.03.13

    Your post though informing lacks personal insight that makes it powerful. What does the use of behavorial psychology mean to you? Because it is effective should we embrace it’s views and perspectives on the human Psyche? Why does pairing work so well? These are things that incite the mind and inflame the soul!

  4. Forrest Norman IV on Behaviorism
    4:48 pm, 04.03.13

    Bahavorial tecniques may not have the best and most realistic understanding of our actions however their results speak for themselves. Behavorial tecniques are practical quick and have lasting results which make them popular tool for any psycholigist.

  5. Forrest Norman IV on Blog Post #3
    9:17 pm, 03.06.13

    The genes we have inherited from our far distant ancestors and even the ones from our parrents give us a proven dispisition to certian traits and biologial advantages over people born without them. The existantence of people who are born with tallent is testiment to this fact that some people are born with a wiring that allows a faster aquisition of skills, a superior biological development and a better usage of thier physical abilities.Our biologies do play a large role in our progression as human beings.

  6. Forrest Norman IV on Blog 3: Evolutionary Psychology
    9:10 pm, 03.06.13

    Just because you don’t know why, it dosen’t make it any less valuable. People didn’t know how gravity worked one thousand years ago but it still kept them from jumping off cliffs. Remember in class sometimes it dosen’t matter how something came to pass as long as it can be delt with in the present and future.

  7. Forrest Norman IV on Blog Post #2
    10:44 pm, 02.01.13

    Hey Page! Didn’t know you were in this class! Ironic that our honor roll would be a Psychology major as well. Anyways I think your focus on one man, Peter Abelard, though it is in depth and how his life is insightful to his ideas, limits the breadth of your focus. I feel you should have used his life as an example the further your point or to demonstrate the end result of the beliefs he propagated. Otherwise it was very solid.

  8. Forrest Norman IV on Blog 2: Averroes, Middle-Eastern Philosophers
    10:38 pm, 02.01.13

    I liked how you included the impact of Islam on the intellectual world and show that there were martyrs on both sides of the ancient world in the pursuit of knowledge. I also liked your personal story and thought that there were too few people who included facts about themselves. I personally feel like-wise as beings that possess a mind heart and body that we should seek to strengthen our bodies and minds not just our souls.

  9. Forrest Norman IV on Blog 1: The Good Life
    2:08 pm, 01.20.13

    I like that you were able to consider the fact that others might share different views of waht it means to live a good life. Many of the posti i see involve a set standard of living that says there is only one way to live a good life, which i feel only served to divide others and create conflict. I also like it that you were able to identify clearly what makes you happy in life and i pray that you can stay true to it in the years to come.

  10. Forrest Norman IV on Blog 1: The Good Life
    2:02 pm, 01.20.13

    I personally think your standards for the good life are way too high. Having unlimited knowledge, power and freedom is not necessary in order to live a full and happy life, just like you don’t have to be a grand master in chess in order to win a game. Not to sound trite, but the expression, “true happiness comes from within” speaks a lot to the value of contentment and the importance in enjoying the small and fleeting moments of happiness that occur every day.