Theoretical Perspectives

Theoretical Perspectives

Laura E. Quezada

Grand Canyon University: PSY 530-O101

May 21, 2013

While navigating through The Social Psychology Network, I encountered a plethora of information. I first noticed the partner sites. The Research Randomizer caught my attention. I do not know what it was about those words, it just sounded intriguing. So off I went, on a mission to explore this site. I found it very useful and similar to a program I have installed in my laptop. It does exactly what it states. It randomizes research. All the researchers' names get inputted into the program, and instead of waiting for a volunteer, or calling on someone, it does the job for you. I love it.

Socialpsychology.org also provides you with a link that promotes research on how people think, feel, or behave called Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). This site entails several articles about men, women, and adolescent's mannerisms and their perspectives. It also includes updates such as annual meetings, news center, forums, and allows you to search for any member who is apart of SPSP (SPSP.org).

Throughout the Social Psychology Network website, I saw a tab that read "Professional Profiles". Through this tab, I am able to get a quick over view of several thousand social psychologist and what they specialize in, for example, Dr. Darren Langdrige who specializes in phenomenological perspective. What phenomenological perspective highlights a person's subjective view and how they interpret a social situation they might be in (Homburg, C. 2013). A situation may bring about different emotions, thoughts and behaviors from different people. W. I. Thomas (1928) mentioned in our notes that a person might construct a view rather than discover, thus giving humans different reactions to the same social situation they have encountered. Dr. Langdrige academic affiliations, currently employed at The Open University located in the United Kingdom where he is the senior lecturer in Social Psychology (Langdrige, D. 20017). He graduated from The University of Sheffield with a Ph.D. in Psychology. His research consist of mainly two parts construction of 'the family' and 'the construction of sexual identities" (Langdrige, D. 2007). Dr. Langdrige has his own practice where he engages his patients in phenomenology where he aids then in constructing and reconstructing their own identities (Langdrige, D. 2007).

The next perspective discussed is brought to us by Dr. Glenn E. Weisfeld who received his Ph. D. in Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago in 1978. He is a professor of Psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He currently specializes in evolutionary and ethological theoretical perspectives (Weisfeld, G. 2009). Evolutionary perspective explains social behavior might be due to genetic or biological causes. This perspective has been used with in relation to human and social behavior in some of the following areas, aggression, helping behavior and jealousy (Homburg, C 2013). His primary interests include close relationships, evolution and genetics, and nonverbal behavior to mention a few. Dr. Weisfeld mentions his theoretical interests include how to adapt of value of humor, pride and shame and all aspects of adolescent behavior (2009). He studied relationships among adolescent peers, marriage in different cultures in different countries, and kin recognition because of olfaction, which is the sense of smell (Weisfeld, G. 2009).

Social cognition perspective studies m any social behaviors which can be rationalized by what human beings pay attention to and how they translate, use, gather and store information. This perspective remains the most dominant theoretical in contemporary psychology. Dr. Eric Igou received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg in 2000. He has worked the following universities starting with, University of Mannheim, The New School University (fellowship), New York University (fellowship), and Tilburg University (tenured), and now he is currently employed at the University of Limerick since 2008, located in Ireland (University of Limerick).

Dr. Igou research in composed of decision making from a social cognitive perspective. He is is most interested "in the influence of affect on judgments and decisions" (University of Limerick). Dr. Igou focuses on how information is processed and interpreted as well as influence by contextual information in the real world. He provides us with an example of how some human beings might believe life is not as meaningful as others make it seem (University of Limerick).

Behavioral/Social learning perspective entitles that social behavior is imitated merely by observation of the person's environments, as well as receiving