Applied Learning Psychology is an interesting field of study because the theories and concepts that you learn can often be observed in the world around you. This assignment allows you to consider material you have covered in the content of this module and apply those concepts to your own life. In Section 1, you will identify and define ideas. In this module, as you reviewed your course materials, you likely discovered many interesting new ideas in psychology. · Identify three different concepts, ideas, or research findings that were interesting or useful to you. · Explain or describe each concept, theory or research finding in detail, in your own words. · A good response here would be at least 150 words. Be sure to use proper spelling and grammar in your response. Write your response in the space below. Response: The three concepts or theories that I am most interested in are the Psychodynamic Theory, the Cognitive Perspective, and the Gestalt Theory. My first interest, the psychodynamic theory, was developed by neurologist Sigman Freud. Freud believed that unconscious and conscious forces drive human behavior to try and solve conflicts with personal needs and society's demands. His theory views a person as being pushed or pulled, and emphasizes early childhood as a time in which a persons personality is formed. The theory goes on to explain that a persons personality is formed by the events that motivate behavior in early childhood, therefore proving that all behavior is motivated. Freud proposed this theory by studying which parts of the personality consisted of the Id (instincts and pleasure), the superego (obedience to parents and society), and the ego (mediates between Id and superego according to it's demands). Freud felt that if he could help people understand how their personalities were developed and to understand the unconscious and conscious mind, they could actually experience an emotional release, therefore finding relief from psychological disturbances and distress. Behaviorist and Humanist also support Freud's psychodynamic theory of personalities. My second interest, Gestalt psychology, was developed by psychologist Max Wertheimer et al., and is a theory of visual perception. Gestalt psychology has also been referred to as gestalt theory and the Max Wertheimer theory. The idea of the gestalt theory is that the mind can understand experiences as a whole and not just as a collection of different experiences. It has also been explained as the whole of anything is greater than its parts. This is why the theory is appropriately named gestalt, because gestalt is a German word that means unified whole. Wertheimer believes that the human mind has the capability to accumulate and maintain many different perceptions in a chaotic world. Wertheimer's theory has been become known as “ The laws of Max Wertheimer" and also as “ Gestalt laws of grouping.” Gestalt psyc.

1. Applied Learning
Psychology is an interesting field of study because the theories
and concepts that you learn can often be observed in the world
around you. This assignment allows you to consider material
you have covered in the content of this module and apply those
concepts to your own life.
In Section 1, you will identify and define ideas. In this module,
as you reviewed your course materials, you likely discovered
many interesting new ideas in psychology.
· Identify three different concepts, ideas, or research findings
that were interesting or useful to you.
· Explain or describe each concept, theory or research finding in
detail, in your own words.
· A good response here would be at least 150 words. Be sure to
use proper spelling and grammar in your response. Write your
response in the space below.
Response:
The three concepts or theories that I am most interested in are
the Psychodynamic Theory, the Cognitive Perspective, and the
Gestalt Theory. My first interest, the psychodynamic theory,
was developed by neurologist Sigman Freud. Freud believed
that unconscious and conscious forces drive human behavior to
try and solve conflicts with personal needs and society's
demands. His theory views a person as being pushed or pulled,
and emphasizes early childhood as a time in which a persons
personality is formed. The theory goes on to explain that a
persons personality is formed by the events that motivate
behavior in early childhood, therefore proving that all behavior
is motivated. Freud proposed this theory by studying which

2. parts of the personality consisted of the Id (instincts and
pleasure), the superego (obedience to parents and society), and
the ego (mediates between Id and superego according to it's
demands). Freud felt that if he could help people understand
how their personalities were developed and to understand the
unconscious and conscious mind, they could actually experience
an emotional release, therefore finding relief from
psychological disturbances and distress. Behaviorist and
Humanist also support Freud's psychodynamic theory of
personalities.
My second interest, Gestalt psychology, was developed by
psychologist Max Wertheimer et al., and is a theory of visual
perception. Gestalt psychology has also been referred to as
gestalt theory and the Max Wertheimer theory. The idea of the
gestalt theory is that the mind can understand experiences as a
whole and not just as a collection of different experiences. It
has also been explained as the whole of anything is greater than
its parts. This is why the theory is appropriately named gestalt,
because gestalt is a German word that means unified whole.
Wertheimer believes that the human mind has the capability to
accumulate and maintain many different perceptions in a chaotic
world. Wertheimer's theory has been become known as “ The
laws of Max Wertheimer" and also as “ Gestalt laws of
grouping.” Gestalt psychologist base their research on
principles that are organized into five categories known as
proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and connectedness.
These principles exist because of the observation of the human
minds disposition to see patterns in the way things are arranged
in relation to each other.
Lastly, my third interest is the cognitive perspective. The
cognitive perspective is when psychologist study perception,
memory, language, thinking, and decision making among many
other processes involving the mind. This perspective was
developed by the cognitive scientist Noam Chomsky. The
cognitive perspective has been said to be the dominant approach
in psychology by many psychologist because of it's focus on the

3. process of the mind. The cognitive perspective idea is to
understand the mental process, and the theory is that thoughts
are seen as results and causes of outward actions. Basically,
people are human, therefore they learn, think, and react
according to outward stimuli. Although learning and thinking
instigate certain behaviors as a result of outside stimuli,
Chomsky's theory focuses more on the internal processes rather
than the external behavior. Other psychologist and research
scientist argue that this theory does not take into account the
individual differences in human behavior. For example, two
people can be told the same story but perceive it and react to it
in very different ways. However, case studies of individual
behaviors does focus on the thoughts peculiar to an individual.
The case study not only focuses on the peculiar or quirky
thoughts of an individual, it also asses the automatic responses
from the unconscious mind such as, walking, talking, and
eating. These case studies also support the gestalt theory
In Section 2, you will make anapplication to your personal life.
· After identifying the interesting concepts, ideas, or research
findings above, provide anoriginal example of how one of them
is relevant in your personal or family life.
· A good response here would be at least 150 words. Be sure to
use proper spelling and grammar in your response. Write your
response in the space below.
Response:
I feel the cognitive theory is most applicable to my personal
life. When discussing issues or just common daily events with
my husband it amazes me how differently we perceive the same
things. In most areas of my life I like to think that I am a very
logical thinker. For example, my husband and I have an ongoing
debate about light and darkness coexisting. I say it is
impossible for the two to coexist. My example for this is, If
you turn a light on in a dark room the light over takes the
darkness, therefore proving that they can not coexist in one
place. His argument is there are dark shadows that are produced

4. as a result of the light therefore causing darkness in a lighted
room. I'm not sure if we will ever agree on this subject. Another
way I feel this theory is relative to my life is that I have been
married to two alcoholics. They both drink differently for very
different reasons, but both say it's like medicine. One drinks
only beer and and a few a day because he says it helps him
think clearly, and the ex husband drinks shots of whiskey
everyday because he says it helps him cope. Although they both
work hard and have productive lives, I am curious and
fascinated at how their minds work and process their lives that
they both feel they need the alcohol to manage their day. I
personally have been focusing on how I process my thoughts
and emotions in reacting to their drinking. I think, how should I
respond or should I respond at all to their behaviors, what
works best in managing their behaviors as well as my own.
This is something that has been a top priority since I have
started school and has actually helped my husband ans I a lot.
In Section 3, make anapplication to your work life.
· From the interesting concepts, ideas or research findings
identified in Section 1 provide anoriginal example of how one
of them is relevant in your work life. Or, can you think of an
example of how this issue plays out in your own current or
future career?
· A good response here would be at least 150 words. Be sure to
use proper spelling and grammar in your response. Write your
response in the space below.
Response:
I am a certified dance instructor and have been teaching since I
was 14. Over the past several years I have been focusing on how
differently each child learns as well as trying to be more
creative in explaining things. It has taken me many years to see
and understand that just because someone wants to learn
something doesn't mean they will learn it quickly and easily.
When I have difficulty understanding someones explanation I

5. usually ask them to explain it to me on an elementary level. I
have started to apply this to my teaching and it helps a lot. I no
longer assume that everyone learns like I do and that this should
be easy because it was easy for me. This cognitive theory in
focusing on the processes of the mind is also helping me with
my grandchildren. I have one who is autistic and one who has
Asperger's. Trying to pay more attention to how each one
reacts to different things and what their individual processes are
really helps in dealing with outburst. The reason I bring up my
grandchildren is because since I have started focusing on how to
help and interact with them, it has rolled over into my teaching.
I have two student who are also autistic. One is older and is
high functioning and the other is very young and very low
functioning. I have learned over the past few months how to
interact with each of them on individual levels in order to get
some progress from them. It has been extremely gratifying an
educational.
Grading Rubric
Assignment 3 Grading Criteria
Maximum Points
Described in at least 150 words three different concepts, ideas
or research findings from the content covered in this module.
50
Described in at least 150 words how one concept, idea, or
research from this module can be applied to personal life.
25
Described in at least 150 words how one concept, idea, or
research from this module can be applied to work life.
25
Used correct spelling and grammar.
10
Total:
110