Reference no: EM133350871

Question 1: *Fromm's concept of the syndrome of decay included three personality disorders: (1)necrophilia, or love of death; (2) malignant narcissism, or extreme self-interest; and (3) incestuous symbiosis, or a passionate devotion to one's mother or a mother substitute. Fromm identified Adolf Hitler as the most conspicuous example of a person with the syndrome of decay. If Fromm's conception is valid, we would see the syndrome of decay traits in contemporary personalities. Search for recent examples of well-known people with the syndrome of decay, including serial killers or heads of state who manifest the love of death or any other well-known people who meet the criteria of one of the 3 above. You should pay special attention to malignant narcissism and incestuous symbiosis. If you need to go back further in history that is okay, but also try to think of current examples too.

Question 2: *Eysenck's methods of measuring personality limited the number bipolar personality types to only three-extraversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability, and psychoticism/superego function. In your reading this week, his research looked at the link of personality and the following; disease, learning styles, and optimal level of functioning. Based on the definitions of the three types, choose one you think you are either high or low on and how this could relate to either disease, learning style or optimal level of functioning for yourself.

Question 3: * This video tests a toddler's impulsivity. In your reading on temperament, long term research reported toddlers who have impulsive temperaments are more likely to perform worse academically and have lower SAT scores. But if you read further in the chapter, it also discusses the genetic codes for personality and it still seems to exist at a 50% genetic and 50% environmental cause. Even if you have a genetically predetermined temperament towards impulsivity this would also mean that with environmental influences you could look almost like someone born without a predisposition towards impulsiveness; when the environmental conditions are the exact opposite. Do you think you would have eaten the marshmallow or not? If you have any children, what do you think they would do? How does this information relate to this week and the notion that you can predict behavior if you know personality? By knowing this information would you try to then influence the environment for a child who tested as impulsive or not and could that change their personality?

Question 4: * Perhaps the most widely known debate in the history of American psychology took place during the mid-1950s and early 1960s between Skinner and Carl Rogers. The two men had fundamental philosophical differences regarding the issue of freedom and control, an issue that remains unresolved. Because the argument over people's ability to exercise some control over their actions is still unsettled, it can be fun to participate in an informal debate on the issue of environmental control versus individual freedom. Although no solution is likely to come from such a debate, the exercise should be stimulating and informative. It may help you develop a richer understanding of Skinner's position that ultimately all control of behavior resides outside the individual. Discuss about this.

Question 5: * The concepts of chance encounters and fortuitous events are fascinating ones. Regardless of how carefully people plan their life, a chance encounter or fortuitous event may substantially alter your life's course. Talk about ways in which chance changed your life. Married students may be able to describe unplanned and unexpected events that led to their meeting a future spouse or to an unpredictable event that changed a nonromantic relationship into a romantic one. Similarly, other students may be able to reveal ways in which chance influenced a choice of curriculum or career. After you describe these chance encounters and fortuitous events, guess how your lives would be different if the encounter or event had not happened. Would a married person have met someone similar to his or her present spouse and have lived a life not unlike the present one? Bandura believes that chance encounters and fortuitous events enter the reciprocal determinism paradigm at the point of environment (E). After that, the unplanned event may become overwhelmed by person (P) and behavior (B), or it may markedly change both P and B, thus completely changing a person's life. Evaluate the lasting significance of your chance encounter or fortuitous event.

Question 6: * Students are usually quite interested in Rotter's notion of locus of control. The entire Internal-External Scale is printed in Rotter's "Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement" (1996). You should remember that it measures generalized expectancies and does not apply well to specific situations. You should also realize that extreme scores in either direction are not necessarily desirable. People who score in the direction of internal locus of control (but not too far) should have a general belief that they can exercise some personal control over their life. Here is a free version of the test. What is your score and what does that mean about your personality? How do you think the score might change or not depending on current situations?