Despite
a commonly held belief that the study of psychology began with Sigmund
Freud, interests in human behavior had much earlier beginnings,
probably with the ancient Greek story of Psyche.
Psyche,
also the Greek name for the soul, became purified by sufferings and
misfortunes and was thus prepared for the enjoyment of true and pure
happiness.
The
interest in early stories of human interaction has now evolved over
many centuries to where people want to learn more about themselves and
also about the behavior of everyone in their environment and beyond.
Those
who need to understand others' behavior include teachers (of their
students), managers (of the people working for them), husbands and
wives (of their spouses) and parents (of their children).
The
better we understand how and why people behave as they do, the more
we're able to function happily. For instance, when
teachers study educational psychology, they're discovering what and
how we learn at every stage from childhood through adolescence to
adulthood.
Their
studies include how we perceive, think, understand and reason
(cognition), how we experience the world through our senses
(sensation), and what moves us to act (motivation).
When
using the Internet to gather information about psychology, it's
important to look for several things: (1) websites that were created
(and are maintained) by professionals (2) they have current
information, and (3) the sources of information are identified.
The
American Psychological Association (APA) publishes a regularly updated
Web page on Psychology
in Daily Life with information on topics like Controlling Anger,
Managing Stress, Workplace Violence, Shyness, and Family.
Of
current interest, following the events in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq,
is an article on "How Psychology Can Help Explain the Iraqi
Prisoner Abuse." The APA notes: "Americans
were shocked by the photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners,
and now many want to know why 'seemingly normal' people could behave
so sadistically. Psychologists who study torture
say that most of us could behave this way under similar
circumstances."
The
article refers to an earlier experiment conducted at Stanford
University that had college students taking part in a prison study
where the activity had a striking similarity to the Abu
Ghraib situation.
They
ask and answer a number of very interesting questions, like "What
percentage of people can be expected to become abusive and sadistic
when power is placed in their hands?" and "How can ordinary
people commit brutal, humiliating acts like what we saw from the Abu
Ghraib pictures?"
After
examining a number of other questions on the relationship between
"captive" and "captor," the study deals with what
is perhaps the most important issue of "How do we prevent these
atrocities from occurring again?"
Teachers
and those interested in knowing more about the psychology of learning
will find an extensive list of topics with links at the SOSIG page on Educational
Psychology.
The
page has subsections devoted to academic achievement, Classroom
Dynamics and Student Adjustment and Attitudes, Teaching Methods,
Gifted and Talented Students, and Special and Remedial Education.
For
those interested in learning more about people with learning
disabilities, Julian Behrman has developed numerous links
to websites with information about Dyslexia, Autism, Attention Deficit
Disorder and other learning problems.
Both
management and employees have wanted to understand more about human
behaviour in the workplace. A recent interest in
stress has prompted a great deal of research in stress management.
The
University of Florida's "Stress Virtual Library" keeps track
of online information and evaluates it. Their index
of topics has a link to a "Stress
Management" page featuring a number of useful articles.
Research
related to both employment and personal relationships involves
understanding the differences in our values and how those differences
relate to both our fitness for certain types of work and how we get along
with others, not only in the work place but at home.
Some
of the material concerning value systems on the Internet still tends
to be complicated and academic. One page clearly describes and
illustrates what's involved in some of the value
conflicts we experience.
Much
of what concerns us about people's different values has been related
to personality differences. One of two brothers in
a family, for instance, loved to take things apart. He
spent hours dismantling everything from watches to washing machines.
His interest in discovering what "made things tick"
led him to a career as an engineering physicist.
His
brother, on the other hand, had no interest in the working of
machines. He spent much of his time enjoying art,
literature, music and nature. His interests led to a career in
teaching literature and writing. The brothers had
very little to share when young because of their personality
differences.
The
Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG) in the UK has a page
devoted to "Personality
Scales and Inventories" for those who have an interest in
looking at the factors that account for our differences in
personality.
The
Social
Psychology Network has a broad range of material related to
Prejudice, Discrimination and Diversity; The Psychology of Gender;
Cultural Links; Social Influence; Self and Social Identity; Group
Behavior; Violence, Conflict Resolution and Peace; and Prosocial
Behavior.
Each
of the topics has a massive list of links to pages dealing with a
particular aspect of social behavior. The section
on Interpersonal Relations, for instance, includes articles on Romance
and Attraction, Web Personals, Sexuality and Sex Research, Divorce,
Family Relations, Human-Animal Relations and Non-Verbal Communication.
SOSIG
has also compiled a resource directory for those wanting to explore a
comprehensive range of psychological topics. Each
of their main topics is linked to a page with resources in several
categories including Editor's Choices of links, Databases, Books,
Companies, Educational Materials, Journals, Organizations, Papers,
Articles, Reference Materials and Resource Guides.
For
those who want to understand the psychology of cyberspace, Dr. John
Suler of Rider University has created a very informative website
to "explore the psychological dimensions of environments created
by computers and online networks" and how people react and behave
within cyberspace.
The
realm of psychology spans far beyond what we can express
with words. The Center
for Nonverbal Studies has created an online dictionary that
defines some of the most common nonverbal cues humans give, such as
swallowing or getting sweaty palms in times of
stress, giving the "cold shoulder," and how we style our
hair.
Most
of the entries also give biological or evolutionary interpretations of
the behavior, as well as examples of usage in literature and the
media. Some entries go a step further to provide
references for scientific papers on individual cues. While
the site's design is rather Spartan, its contents will enlighten you
about some of the silent behavior we use to convey our inner thoughts.
Two
websites with directories of every imaginable topic related to
psychology are the Google Directory
of Psychology and the DMOZ Open
Directory Project.
Both
directories have links to informative websites on topics from
Alternative to Transpersonal psychology and include such popular
topics as Behavior Analysis, Child Psychology, Creativity, Gender and
Sexuality, Intelligence, Personality, and Psychological Disorders.
If
you always wanted a university education in psychology and missed out
because you didn't have the time, couldn't afford it or majored in
something else, you can now take advantage of the free "Open
Course Software" from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT).
MIT
is a leading university in the US that has now developed "a free
and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners
around the world. OCW supports MIT's mission to
advance knowledge and education, and serve the world in the 21st
century. It is true to MIT's values of excellence,
innovation, and leadership."
The
program is offered as "Brain
and Cognitive Sciences.” It doesn't require
registration. The free course materials are all
available on site. They can be downloaded and
studied offline.
