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Social media's impact on teenage mental health is a crucial area where developmental psychology and contemporary technology converge. Teenagers can explore their identities and engage in social interaction on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, but these platforms also bring in complexity that can negatively affect mental health. Studies highlight how frequent use of social media can exacerbate problems including low self-esteem and anxiety, which are frequently caused by comparisons with idealized online identities and exposure to cyberbullying. These relationships are consistent with social psychology theories that highlight how social factors shape people's behavior and mental health consequences.                A critical assessment of this influence demands preventative actions to minimize possible risks while maximizing social media's advantages. In order to help teenagers develop resilience-building skills and digital literacy, educat...

     Behaviorism's core ideas of positive and negative reinforcement explain how actions get stronger or weaker depending on the results they produce. Presenting a rewarding stimulus right after a desired activity increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again in the future. This technique is known as positive reinforcement. When a child receives praise (a pleasant stimulus) for finishing their schoolwork, for example, it reinforces the intended behavior of doing homework.      On the other hand, negative reinforcement involves removing or avoiding an unpleasant stimulus only when a desired behavior occurs, increasing the likelihood of that behavior. An example may be a student who increases their study time (desired behavior) in order to prevent the unpleasant outcome of failing a test (removal of the unpleasant stimulus). By stressing the influence of consequences on behavior, these concepts go beyond the principles of classical conditioning....

     The psychological disorder known as "learned helplessness" was first thoroughly examined by Martin Seligman and associates. It describes a state that is usually acquired by frequent exposure to unpredictable and unpleasant situations, when a person feels they have no control over their surroundings and that their efforts are pointless. This idea is especially important since it clarifies the psychological processes that cause depression and other mental illnesses. The concepts of learned helplessness state that people who, in spite of their best efforts, consistently fail or have unfavorable results may grow to feel helpless. This condition can impact motivation, emotional stability, and problem-solving skills, among other areas of their lives.      Critically, learned helplessness challenges traditional views of behaviorism by highlighting the role of cognitive processes and internal attributions. In contrast to the emphasis on external stimuli a...

     Classical conditioning is a foundational concept in psychology that explores how associations between stimuli can shape behavior. At its core, classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. This process, famously studied by Ivan Pavlov with his experiments on dogs, demonstrates how organisms can learn to anticipate events based on the regularity of their occurrence.      Classical conditioning highlights the power of associative learning in shaping our emotional and behavioral responses. For instance, the association of a bell (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus) led Pavlov's dogs to salivate (conditioned response) upon hearing the bell alone. This phenomenon extends beyond Pavlov's experiments to explain various learned fears and phobias in humans. A person bitten by a dog may subsequently develop a fear of all dogs due to the association formed between dogs ...

Addiction treatment can benefit significantly from the application of behavioral extinction, a concept rooted in behaviorist psychology. Behavioral extinction involves reducing the frequency of a conditioned response by breaking the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. In the context of addiction, this means diminishing the power of environmental cues and contexts that trigger cravings and addictive behaviors. For instance, if an individual has developed an addiction to alcohol that is strongly associated with social settings like bars or parties, behavioral extinction techniques aim to weaken the connection between these settings and the urge to drink. One common method of applying behavioral extinction in addiction treatment is through exposure therapy. In this approach, individuals are gradually and repeatedly exposed to the conditioned cues that trigger their cravings without the subsequent reinforcement of the addictive behavior. For example...

          Avoidant attachment behavior is defined as someone uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. Often times these types of people are not good with criticism, dealing or coping with their emotions, and the need to be independent. When someone deals with this kind of behavior, it can often get in the way of being close to another person or having an intimate relationship with a partner. Having an avoidant attachment behavior can include not being able to communicate thoroughly with another person or being inconsistent with what they say or do. This can lead to many issues when trying to go about your daily life because it will create walls that are often hard for the other person to break down. Being able to identify that one has an avoidant attachment style can be a sign that the person is willing to change and continue self-growth.      To grow past this kind of behavior, it is important to use self-recognition and allow others to help ...

Behaviorist psychology provides a powerful framework for understanding how viewers of horror movies are conditioned to react to scary scenes. Classical conditioning, a concept introduced by Ivan Pavlov, involves learning through association. In the context of horror movies, viewers are repeatedly exposed to specific stimuli, such as eerie music, dim lighting, or sudden silence, which are consistently followed by frightening events. Over time, these neutral stimuli become conditioned cues that elicit fear and anxiety on their own. For instance, when the ominous score starts to play, viewers have learned to brace themselves for a scare, even if nothing immediately happens. This anticipatory anxiety is a direct result of classical conditioning, where the once neutral stimuli now provoke a conditioned fear response. Operational conditioning, as proposed by B.F. Skinner, further explains how viewers' fear responses are shaped and reinforced. In horror movies, the immediate fright caused...

 💬   A basic idea in behavioral psychology, negative reinforcement works on the idea that eliminating or avoiding an unpleasant input increases the chance of a behavior. This method is reaffirming a behavior by stopping something unpleasant or avoiding a bad result. If a  child cleans their room to deter their parent from nagging, for example, the act of cleaning the room is reinforced by the removal of the nagging. In the context of conditioning, negative reinforcement is a powerful tool in shaping behavior through operant conditioning. Operant conditioning relies on consequences to modify behavior, where behaviors that are followed by favorable outcomes are more likely to be repeated. Negative reinforcement exemplifies this by demonstrating that behaviors leading to the removal of aversive stimuli become more frequent. This process of conditioning can be observed in many facets of daily life, including personal routines where people perform activities to reduce pain or...

Psychedelics, once relegated to the fringes of both scientific inquiry and societal acceptance, are now emerging as powerful tools in understanding and enhancing brain plasticity. Brain plasticity, the ability of the brain to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, is fundamental to behavioral learning. Recent research suggests that psychedelics can significantly influence this plasticity, potentially leading to new approaches in treating various psychiatric disorders and enhancing cognitive functions.  One of the key studies illuminating this potential is a clinical trial conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The trial investigated the effects of psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, on patients with major depressive disorder. The results were groundbreaking: not only did patients report significant reductions in depressive symptoms, but neuroimaging revealed increased connectivity between brain regions that...

     Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a form of therapy commonly used to treat children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Children with developmental disabilities often face social or behavioral challenges in a variety of different settings. This treatment uses positive reinforcement in order to help those children develop skills that they’re not learning naturally. This treatment also works to reduce certain behaviors. Applied behavior analysis is one of the first and most common treatment methods recommended for autistic children.      Although this treatment is still commonly being used, parents and autism advocates have shared their valid ethical concerns with this practice. ABA therapy rewards autistic children to hide their pain and discomfort, as well as rewards them for portraying neurotypical behavior. ABA therapy does not include improving the child’s emotional and mental health and instead treats the individual like they ...

       Reinforcement is the act of increasing specific behaviors by adding or taking away stimuli. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, however both help to increase a specific behavior. In positive reinforcement, a desirable stimulus is added to increase a behavior. By introducing motivating or pleasant stimuli after the performance of a behavior, it is likely that the behavior will continue. An example of positive reinforcement is giving a dog a treat after correctly following a command. Positive reinforcement is not only seen in animals but people too. Parents who reward their children with money or candy for completing their chores or receiving good grades are using positive reinforcement. The reward can be used to further encourage that behavior, or change an unwanted behavior.      Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an undesirable stimulus after the wanted behavior is performed. One of the best examples of negative reinf...

       In both classical and operant conditioning, extinction is a process of reducing or eliminating a learned behavior by stopping the reinforcements that have previously maintained it. Classical extinction occurs when a conditioned stimulus is presented by itself without an unconditioned stimulus until the conditioned response decreases overtime until it no longer exists. Classical extinction can be identified in many day to day life scenarios but varies for each individual. For example, if an individual is afraid of dogs due to a negative experience such as being attacked by their neighbor's large and aggressive dog, their conditioned response of fear will slowly become extinct by exposing them to positive experiences with friendly dogs.      Additionally, operant extinction is the slow elimination of a behavior once the reinforcer is taken away. It is likely that when a behavior is no longer being reinforced it may become extinct. Mental health pr...

  Positive reinforcement is an effective method for influencing behavior and supporting growth in individuals, including children, employees, and pets. Positive reinforcements, such as praise, incentives, or privileges, reinforce and encourage desired behaviors to be repeated. This strategy is critical because it not only promotes confidence and morale, but it also fosters a supportive environment in which employees feel valued for their work. As a result, individuals experience a sense of success and are motivated to strive for ongoing progress. Positive reinforcement promotes self-esteem and resilience by focusing on strengths and accomplishments rather than flaws or failures. It provides clear expectations and fosters a positive loop of behavior in which people are more inclined to engage in beneficial acts for themselves and their surroundings. Furthermore, positive reinforcement helps to build a positive workplace culture and improve relationships. Recognizing and rewarding in...

  Phobias are a focus in behavioral analysis because they emerge as acute and unreasonable anxieties about particular items, events, or activities. Behavioral analysis examines phobias through the lens of learning theory, concentrating on how these anxieties arise and endure. Classical conditioning is important because people can identify neutral cues with fear reactions as a result of negative experiences or traumatic events. For example, someone who is bitten by a dog may develop a phobia of dogs as a result of the fear association created during the episode. 🏡🏃"I'm out of here!!!"🐛 Operant conditioning helps to maintain phobias by reinforcing avoidance actions. Individuals suffering from phobias frequently engage in avoidance tactics to decrease discomfort, inadvertently intensifying their fear response over time. Behavioral analysts examine these patterns to better understand the behavioral mechanisms that underpin phobias, with the goal of developing successful tr...

  Positive reinforcement can be a good thing in classrooms because it can encourage good behaviors from students, and it can help students with academic achievements. With positive reinforcement, it involves with rewarding students when doing well on assignments or doing well on tests, and this can have a positive impact on them and can also improve students' self-esteem, and motivate them to do better in their classes. However, if there is a negative reinforcement in the classroom, then this can have a bad impact on students and can cause low self-esteem and not doing well on tests or assignments, and thus doing poorly in academics. Overall, positive reinforcement should be seen as a good tool because it can benefit students to do well in class and can improve them. Brightwheel. (2024, January 9). How to use positive reinforcement in the classroom . https://mybrightwheel.com/blog/positive-reinforcement-in-the-classroom

  Avoidance behavior can give children anxiety and this can make problems worse and it can also affect them in a negative way. When a child avoids a certain situation that can make them anxious or put them in an uncomfortable situation or even if the child avoids a certain activities, this can make the child to feel uneasy about it, and this will only limit their ability to overcome their fears, and this is what the article is talking about. It is also important that for parents to help their children to face any fears that they may have, and helping them will reduce the anxiety. NACDAdmin. (2021, February 24). Anxiety in our children: The role of avoidance behavior - NACD international: The National Association for Child Development . NACD International | The National Association for Child Development. https://www.nacd.org/anxiety-in-our-children-the-role-of-avoidance-behavior/

  There are a lot of people who have phobias, and some can even prevent them from doing normal things in their lives, and there are people who have phobias who will do their best to avoid that fear. It can make the person very anxious and uncomfortable, and it will make the person to avoid it at all costs. This can also have a negative impact on their lives. A phobia is an irrational fear, and it is an intense fear of something, and most of these phobias can be none life-threatening. There are common phobias that most people would have including tight spaces, heights, and needles. It is also important to understand the differences when it comes to fear, and some can be classified as a normal fear and not irrational fear. Taking steps to overcome phobias is very important, and some way to overcome it is to try to face that fear but take the process slowly, and it is also important to know how to calm, down quickly. However, it is also good to seek therapy, such as exposure therapy, ...

In modern psychology, the incorporation of technology into cognitive functions and memory poses a double-edged problem. Information is now readily accessible because to cellphones and the internet, which has changed how people encode, store, and retrieve information. This phenomenon is consistent with cognitive theories that investigate how conventional memory techniques are supplemented or altered by external aids. Technology improves connectivity and the speed at which information can be retrieved, but there are worries about how it may affect cognitive abilities including memory retention, critical thinking, and attention span. Research investigated the "Google effect," show how easily accessible information may lessen the requirement for internalizing knowledge, which could have an impact on a person's capacity for deeper comprehension and retention. Also, the continuous exposure to digital stimuli makes it difficult to sustain attention and process information deeply...

  For my last post I wanted to talk about punishment and how I as a new father can utilize this effective learning tool as my children grow. I like the conditioned suppression theory and how instead if trying to target eliminating a specific behavior, we can instead change the emotions behind the negative behavior, so our children know to associate that behavior with something negative. For example, if my child knows to have a meltdown in a restaurant when she doesn’t get what she wants, if I am able to change her emotional response to this action, she will inherently stop said behavior. These punishments on my end must be consistent however, if I only choose to call out her behavior when I am in public and embarrassed, she will not correctly correlate the emotional response I am working to change to that behavior. These noncontingent responses will have an adverse effect on her, if my responses to her behaviors fluctuate between not caring and laying down the hammer, she will ne...

  Negative reinforcement in the context of parenting and household refers to the process where removing or avoiding a punishing stimulus increases the chances of a wanted behavior being repeated. This idea is fixed in behaviorism which suggests that behaviors that lead to the end of unpleasant experiences are reinforced, thereby becoming more frequent over time.  An example of incorrectly used negative reinforcement is when you cook for your child and the child throws a tantrum and you take the food away which causes the child to throw tantrums every time they don't like something you or someone else gives them because they learned it from when you took the food away. Using Negative Reinforcement at home can be a great tool for fixing behavior problems.PsychCentral talks about how negative reinforcement has more in common with positive reinforcement than punishment. An example of punishment is when you tell your child to clean their room but they don't so you tell them about a...

       There are many different types of phobias that people can experience and struggle from. Oftentimes these people can struggle to treat and ultimately get over these irrational fears. One of the most common ways to “get over” a phobia is through systematic desensitization. Simply put this involves firstly relaxing your muscles, then identifying your hierarchy of fears, and lastly slowly exposing yourself to your fear in stages so you can become desensitized to the fear.      When it comes to panic disorders, systematic desensitization has been proven to be a useful technique. Intensely focusing on one’s breathing by taking deep slow breaths instead of shallow rapid breathing can be an excellent first step to lowering the effect of a panic attack. By doing this before introducing the item or situation that causes irrational fearful feeling, the individual is less likely to have a full blown panic attack. After calming oneself down, the phobia may b...

          Many teachers use positive reinforcement in their classrooms whether they realize it or not. This reinforcement is categorized as using pleasant stimuli to encourage desirable behavior. Positive reinforcement can be divided into classical and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, behavior is generally seen as involuntary and inflexible whereas operant is voluntary and flexible. When it comes to sequences, classical follows a stimulus-stimulus -response or SSR and operant follows a stimulus-response-stimulus or SRS sequence.      Using positive reinforcement in the classroom specifically can motivate students, improve behavior, and better academic performance among other things. PositiveAction breaks positive reinforcement in the classroom into three different techniques; social reinforcement, privilege based reinforcement, and tangible reinforcement. I feel as though social reinforcement is the most effective. For example, soc...

        Slang is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people." In today's day and age, slang has taken a turn away from the general understanding. In my teenage years, words like "hype," "bae," "yeet," "slaps," and "fleek" were popular terms that slowly went out of style. Most of the terms originated from the platform "Vine," a short video-style social media, similar to TikTok. As an adult with a fourteen-year-old sister, the slang of teenagers has taken another direction, one that fits the standard of social standards of 2024. A post from Bark states, "teen slang evolves way more quickly when we were growing up," and phrases come as quickly as they go. A few examples are listed below. Ate that — Means you succe...

     Self-control involves many types of controlling responses. The controlling responses I will be talking about in this post include physical restraint, doing something else, self-reinforcement and self-punishment. Controlling responses help alter how often or how little a controlled response occurs. In this blog post, we will be exploring how to use these controlling responses in order to lessen smoking behaviors.      When it comes to physical restraint, you will manipulate the environment in order to prevent smoking from occurring. Some ways you can do this is leave your money at home so you won’t buy any cigarettes, or leaving your car at your friend's home so you have no transportation to get cigarettes. My mother personally used the physical restraint controlling response and it helped her quit smoking. By doing something else, you can help decrease your smoking behavior as well. Instead of smoking, you can do something else by sucking on a loll...

     Theory of mind allows individuals to differentiate between one’s own mental states and another’s mental states. Self-awareness is a key aspect of theory of mind. With theory of mind, you know someone may know information that you don’t, and vice versa. One key aspect of autism is that one may have difficulty understanding another person’s mind, which directly relates to theory of mind. 3-4 year olds that don’t have autism tend to understand that the brain has multiple mental states, such as dreaming, thinking, and keeping secrets, however only some knew of its physical functions. Children with autism were the opposite, and knew the physical functions, but disregarded the mental functions.      Children with autism also have issues distinguishing against appearance and reality, while children without autism don’t. There are also many more differences involved with theory of mind and children with autism versus children who don’t have autism. The biggest...

       Punishment is aimed to weaken a behavior, while reinforcement is aimed to strengthen a behavior. Many parents use one of the four types of contingencies in order to weaken and strengthen specific behaviors in the children. The four types of contingencies include positive punishment, negative punishment, positive reinforcement, and negative reinforcement. Positive punishment refers to presenting a stimulus which leads to a decrease in a response. Negative punishment refers to removing a stimulus which leads to a decrease in a response. Positive reinforcement refers to presenting a stimulus in order to increase a response, while negative reinforcement is removing a stimulus to increase a response      Punishment can be used by a guardian in order to weaken a response in their child. A common form of negative punishment used by parents is known as time-out. By sending a child somewhere else when they act out for a period of time is an example of a ...

         We can see the decline in social skills and knowledge as we look at the outcomes of technology being introduced to the world. Yes, there are many useful tactics and abilities technology provides us with. On the other hand, we can see how engulfed everyone is by the devices in their hand and everywhere else. The people who make up the generation I grew up in, being born in 2003, technology was introduced to us by the time we already had a "normal" childhood. I surround the word normal with parenthesis because children who are growing up in recent years are more worried about getting the newest forms of technology, rather than focusing on learning and taking the steps to grow up.      If you look around the next time you go out, I can bet that 7/10 of those people will be so invested in their phones, they will not know what is going on around them. People are missing so many opportunities to thrive, be successful, and create relationships w...