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Aggression in Jamaica

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hand gun and bloodIn many areas of Jamaica, interpersonal aggression and societal violence are commonplace. Such is the state of affairs that Jamaica has earned the unfavourable reputation of being one of the most violent countries in the world (Hickling, 2008). The staggering statistics attest to this fact. In the year 2000, Jamaica ranked third in the world in murders per capita and in 2005, the annual rate of homicide was more than three times the global average (World Bank, 2007, cited in Smith & Green, 2007). Continue reading →

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What is Biopsychology?

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Happiness by the spoonful?

Biopsychology is the study of how emotions, thoughts and behavior are affected by the brain, the nervous system and neurotransmitters in human and non-human animals. The field goes by a number of alternative names including biological psychology, behavioral neuroscience, psychobiology or physiological psychology and can be viewed as a combination of neuroscience and basic psychology.  Continue reading →

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What is Comparative Psychology?

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It’s like looking in a mirror

Comparative Psychology is the branch of Psychology which deals with the scientific study of animal behavior and it places emphasis on cross-species comparisons, including human-to-animal comparisons. This method evaluates the similarities and differences across species to better understand the developmental and evolutionary relationships between them. It can also be used to compare contemporary and ancient species. It has been suggested that the term “Comparative Psychology” be discarded as it is not descriptive of the field. However, as a suitable replacement has not been put forward, the term remains in popular use today. Continue reading →

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What is Abnormal Psychology?

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E = mc^2

Abnormal Psychology is the scientific study of aberrant patterns of thought, emotion and behavior. As might be expected, much significance is placed on the definition of abnormal as our viewpoint on what constitutes acceptable behavior is continuously changing within and across cultures. It is also important to realize that being classified as abnormal is not necessarily bad. For example, a genius rises well above the expected or “normal” range in terms of intelligence. Continue reading →

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What is Social Psychology?

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We are connected!

Social Psychology is the study of individuals in the social context. It uses scientific methods to understand how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings.

It is interesting that the definition of Social Psychology specifically refers to the influences of the imagined or implied presence of other human beings. This highlights the fact that we are vulnerable to social influences even in the absence of other people. We might experience this phenomenon when we are listening to the radio, watching television, surfing the internet or even internalizing social norms. Continue reading →

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What is Aggression?

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aggressive womanAggression may be defined as harmful behavior which violates social conventions and which may include deliberate intent to harm or injure another person or object (Bandura, 1973, cited in Suris et al., 2004; Berkowitz, 1993, cited in Suris et al., 2004). In many cases it escalates into violence.

Aggression has also been viewed as a heterogeneous concept encompassing a wide variety of behaviours (Conner, 2004). Researchers have attempted to create more homogenous categories in this behavioural domain by identifying subtypes of aggression based on statistical techniques such as factor analysis. Two common subtypes supported by extensive research are overt and covert aggression (Conner, 2004). As the name suggests, overt aggression involves outward or open confrontational acts of aggression, such as physical fighting, verbal threats and bullying. On the other hand, covert aggression is more hidden and surreptitious; examples include stealing, truancy and arson. Continue reading →

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