Briefly explain noncontingent reinforcement. Do you have any superstitious behavior? What is it and how do you think it was conditioned? How do you think the reinforcement schedules discussed in your research may have maintained the superstition?

Personality

Bullet 1 U2D

Explain the role of the shadow in Jung’s thinking about the personality. The shadow, and many other of Jung’s archetypes, can be found in pop culture. Think about some of your favorite fantasy or superhero movies and books. What is the best example you can come up with of a movie or book that depicts the hero struggling with his or her shadow? Describe their struggle. How did the hero resolve their struggle with the shadow? Can the shadow ever be beneficial to personality development? Explain your reasoning and find support for your viewpoint in the assigned articles.

Bullet 2       U3D

Briefly explain Erikson’s approach to personality. Then, choose one stage and fully explain how an individual might get “stuck” in the crisis of that stage. What must an individual master in this stage to become “unstuck” or use the crisis of the stage as an opportunity to reach their potential? Give an example.

Read an article on emerging adulthood, what do find the most compelling argument for adding this as a stage of development? What would be your best argument against adding this as a new stage of development? If you had the power to make the decision to add it or not, which would you choose?

Bullet 3   U6D

You may not be old enough to remember the Maybelline Make-up commercial that stated: “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline,” when determining if the model’s beauty was natural or created by the make-up (Noonan 2014). This seemingly innocent commercial brings up the question of whether we are a product of our nature or our nurture. This commercial asked if she was born beautiful or made beautiful. This same question can be applied to many things.

Address these questions:

Is a person born a genius or made a genius through education and hard work? We call a talented musician “gifted.” Does that mean the individual was born with a natural gift for music (nature) or did they just work harder than other people to be that good (nurture)? Explain your reasoning. Would it make a difference in your answer if that musician were nine years old or thirty years old? In what way?

This is all part of the decades old debate over whether we are born with certain innate personality characteristics and abilities (our genes), or whether we learn and are impacted by our experiences to be the person we become (environment).

Do they work independently – or do they work together? Explain your choice and find a source to support your view on this.

Probably one of the most famous answers to this age-old question comes from neuropsychologist Donald Hebb. When a reporter allegedly asked Hebb which was more important – nature or nurture, he replied, “Which contributes more to the area of a rectangle, its length or its width”(as cited in Meaney, 2004. p. 2)?

Finally, discuss what you think Dr. Hebb meant by that reply.

Meaney, M. J. (2004). The nature of nurture: Maternal effects and chromatin remodeling. In J. T. Cacioppo & G. G. Berntson (Eds.), Essays in social neuroscience (p. 1–14). MIT Press.

Noonan, K. (2014, June 24). Maybe it’s Maybelline 1991 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDO-2qce1oI

Bullet 4 UD7

Your friend insists on wearing their “lucky” socks for the team playoffs since every time they wear them the team wins. Such behavior is called superstitious behavior because it appears as if the person believes their ritual, and not accident or coincidence, is responsible for producing the reinforcer – the team winning. Your friend forgot that the first three times they wore those socks the team lost. Superstitious behavior results from noncontingent reinforcement.

Briefly explain noncontingent reinforcement. Do you have any superstitious behavior? What is it and how do you think it was conditioned? How do you think the reinforcement schedules discussed in your research may have maintained the superstition? Find an article on superstitions in college students, Any behaviors related to reducing anxiety and fear? Do you have a superstition like this, or something you do each time before you take a quiz or submit a paper? What is your superstitious practice? If you do not have one, explain your reasoning for not having this behavior. What does this superstitious behavior say about your personality?