PSYC 321 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Reticular Formation, Gestalt Psychology, Behavior Settings
Document Summary
Chapter 1 theories of environment and behavior historical influences. Perspectives include geographical determinism, ecological biology, behaviorism, and gestalt psychology. Extreme environmental challenge leads to the destruction of a civilization, whereas too little challenge leads to stagnation of the culture. Nomadic culture often emphasize independence and resourcefulness, result from the fact that people who live and work together in organized non-mobile communities require more structured organization and therefore stress the importance of obedience and compliance. Ecological theories: concerned with biological and sociological interdependence between organisms and their environment; seen as integral to it. Behaviorism: to the failure of personality theories to account fully for human behavior. Performance is maximized at intermediate levels of arousal but falls off as arousal is either increased or decreased, referred as an inverted u relationship-->yerkes=dodson law, Changes vary curvilinearly with temperature increases have been shown among women"s apparel workers. Personal space invasions lead to increases in arousal and decrements.
