6 Things Learned from Psychology & their Examples from my Personal Life

1. Psychological Research & Importance of Mathematics, Statistics & Computer Science  

Example from my Personal Life: For my final year project which is about prediction of diseases based on symptoms, I was recommended by my Psychology teacher to refer to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). It was interesting and insightful for me to discover about DSM-5 which is a diagnostic and statistical tool published by APA (American Psychiatric Association). Being a student of Computer Science, I found that Statistics and Maths are very much involved in almost all aspects and areas of Psychological research.

In my professional career, when I was working as an Android Developer and was researching Mind Games and Puzzles online. I came across Brain Training Games by Lumos Labs, and their Human Cognition Project. From these observations and discoveries I learned and concluded that Computer Science, Statistics and Mathematics are quite valuable and efficient tools to study Psychology!

2. Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

Example from my Personal Life: I have an eight-year old daughter whom I play and interact with on a daily basis. Now according to Erikson’s theory she is going through the Inferiority versus Industry phase. She watches YouTube videos on cooking and about making different food recipes. It is interesting to discover for me that she is keen not just to learn how to cook but also to apply his learning in practice as well. She makes Indian parathas, omelette and garlic bread with a great passion. And as a father, I encourage her learning and want her to be industrious and skilled in her area of choice.  

3. Kohlerberg’s Theory of Moral Development

Example from my Personal Life: In my circle of friends and acquaintances, I have people from various walks of life and different religions.For me, It has always been an interesting phenomena to observe that people differ on morality sharply, though moral values are more or less the same in almost every religion. During my stay in London, UK I found a lot of Muslims consuming alcohol and liquor and claim that it is permissible in Islam for them to drink in moderation. I also experienced racism and religious extremism among different communities. According to Kolberg’s theory, we as adults tend to break the rules and follow our personal instincts to judge what is good and what is bad for us. And it is also very true that a lot of us can never reach the final and ultimate level of universal morality.  

4. Jean Piaget’s Theory and Stages of Cognitive Development

Example from my Personal Life: My 8 year old daughter has surprisingly acquired very good skills in solving math problems. I can still recall those days when I used to be very anxious for her future intellectual and analytical abilities when she was only 6 years of age. Upon my observation, she is now more logical and able to initiate conversations with more maturity than earlier. She is indeed going through Jean Piaget’s Concrete Operational phase and her thought process is very logical.    

5. Thorndike's Law of Effect

Example from my Personal Life: We as human beings always desire to live in our comfort zones and opt to pursue actions that reward us. Though, many times we tend to ignore the hidden consequences of our fruitful actions leading towards rewards. I have seen cigarette smokers getting addicted to smoking because they feel more relaxed and calm while performing their daily chores. Similarly, foodies who are passionate about fast food are addicted to burgers and french fries but ignore their health consequences later in their lives. Thorndike’s law of Effect is quite right in stating that actions leading towards reward are often repeated and those ending up in punishment or penalty are avoided.

6. Three Step Memory Theory & Importance of Rehearsal in Learning

Example from my Personal Life: Whenever I study, memorize and try to learn different concepts and skills I often encode and store information for convenient retrieval for the future. I like drawing Mind Maps when I am at work while gathering information from the software clients. I am good at playing Table Tennis and Chess but very often I have to rehearse and brush up my skills to play after a long gap.