Marbaniang, Domenic

Stanley Milgram, Yale University psychologist, began a series of social psychology experiments in July 1961. He discussed his experimental findings in an article published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology in 1963, and later in greater depth in his 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. Objective Milgram wanted to understand how many officers under the Nazi regime could follow brutal orders from authorities without showing resistance though it was evident that their obedience to such orders caused pain to others. Milgram wanted to research how far people could go into obeying orders from an authority that caused pain to others. The Experiment 40 men were recruited for the lab experiment for $4.00 per hour of their time. The recruits were introduced to a shock generator developed by Milgram. The shock generator had on it switches that could generate shocks at increasing levels: starting at 30 volts and increasing in 15-volt increments all the way up to ...

Psychologists have always pondered on the psychology of evil and the corruptibility of humans. For instance, the Stanford Prison Experiments and studies conducted by Philip Zimbardo [1] show that certain psychological mechanisms that are part of certain cultural or political systems (e.g. racialism, Nazism, casteism, etc) can act as justifying frameworks of inhumane behavior. Zimbardo himself observes that at one point during the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which volunteers had been arrested in a realistic show style and put into prison cells where they were subjected to dehumanization and deindividuation, he arrived at a point where he had confused reality with this false world created for just an experiment. He writes: I was sitting there all alone, waiting anxiously for the intruders to break in, when who should happen along but a colleague and former Yale graduate student roommate, Gordon Bower. Gordon had heard we were doing an experiment, and he came to see what was going on....

by Domenic Marbaniang (2003) The word “psychology” is a combination of two Greek words psyche meaning “soul”, “spirit”, or “mind” and logos meaning “science” or “study of”. The science of psychology tries to investigate every area of human experience and behavior. Psychology of religion tries to understand the cause-effect relationships of religious experiences and religious consciousness so as to be able to predict behaviors. It aims to study the religious consciousness with investigations in religious behavior patterns. The major systems of psychology are: structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and Gestalt School of Psychology. Obviously, each system has its own way of understanding religious consciousness. Psychological Definitions of Religion About a century ago, James Henry Leuba was able to select forty-eight definitions of religion to which he added two of his own to include in his famous Psychological Study of Religion (1912) . Various psychologists have ...

Imagination is the faculty of forming mental images or concepts. There are three kinds of imagination: Productive Imagination. Also, referred to by Kant as transcendental imagination, whose function is to synthesize, by means of the a priori categories, the manifold experience. It is spontaneous and a priori. By the help of this faculty one is able to experience the world of senses in a meaningful way. Reproductive Imagination. It is the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images. (Random Dictionary) Creative Imagination. It is the power of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems. (Random Dictionary)

Notes: 1. Sensory Memory (SM) : Remembrance of a sensation lasting from a split of second to some 10 seconds. It is like a spark that is intense and strong but evaporates. 2. Short-term Memory (STM): Stores limited information for a limited amount of time. The older data will give way to the newer to accomodate space. 3. Long-term Memory (LTM): Stores unlimited information for unlimited amount of time. Must be retrieved by means of memory bookmarks, clues. But, thanks for the mind's ability to self-organize; the search isn't very difficult, given the proper clues. LTM is like the Library STM is like the Desk SM is like the Page I'm reading Illustration: I remember the taste of the candy while eating : Sensory Memory . It is so real; that's one reason why SM has more appeal than LTM. Joke: "A philosopher gives up his philosophy over a tooth-ache". I remember the taste for some time after: Short-term Memory. I recall the taste, but indefinitely: Long-term Memory...

From Lectures on Psychology An important field of psychological research is the biology of behavior, also variously called physiological psychology, psychobiology, or biopsychology, whatever. The theological problem is that the Bible doesn't accept that moral choices are physiologically determined. Determinism may form the basis of animal behavior, but not of man who is held morally responsible for his actions. Though, materialists may disagree, the argument connects to the factor of difference, namely the spirituality of man. The inner conflict of Romans 7 is the conflict between the physiological determinant and the soul's incapability due to sin to obey God's law, an external factor not belonging to the cause-effect system of the flesh. Therefore, as long as we were in the flesh, the passions did what they would. However, the introduction of the Law posed the conflict because the soul finds itself in the bondage of the flesh, so knowledge conflicts with determinist anim...