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  • Essay / The importance of recognizing the equality of cultures: the ineffectiveness of Western psychology in the African world

    Table of contentsIntroductionBehaviorismHumanismAfrican understanding of Western theoriesEthical limitations of the application of theoryConclusionReferencesIntroductionWe live in a world of many points of view, perspectives and beliefs that differ from person to person. We behave differently and express our opinions in very different ways. People around the world tend to have different norms and customs that they consider normal. Because of these sometimes limited ideas of normal, many people ignore the perspectives of other communities and fail to understand differences. The study of the mind has presented several theories that explain why behavior and perception differ in different communities, they also provide ways to observe and evaluate these differences. Again, these theories also tend to be partial as they arise from narrow viewpoints and have also been formulated focusing on a particular group. The African perspective was neglected, however, and as a result, one-sided Western ideas were probably seen as capable of governing the African way of life. By limiting itself to behaviorism and humanism, this text aims to highlight the contributions, contradictions and impacts of these theories on the development of African psychology and the African way of life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayBehaviorismIt is a psychological theory that originated in the United States of America. Influenced primarily by I Pavlov, JB Watson, its known founder, and B.F. Skinner, behaviorism flourished in the 1910s and 1920s. This school believed that the study of mental processes was of great uselessness since they could not be neither observed nor measured. He emphasized that the science of psychology should focus on observable behavior with respect to certain stimuli while ignoring the logical factor of human psychology, thus attaining the name behaviorism. J Watson believed that patterns of behavior develop over the course of a person's life through the experience they undergo, meaning that even the simplest habitual actions and reactions are learned and are not something with which we were born. He also argued that a person's behavior could be altered or "programmed" by subjecting the person to specific controlled conditions, to such an extent that even the subject's abilities and talents are ignored. Behaviorism relied on experiments and subjects, with human beings being the best choice for human psychology, but due to behaviorists' disinterest in mental processes, they turned to animal subjects. This deviation was thought to be a step that would allow them to fully focus on the behavior of subjects they could easily manipulate or those who would not be able to reason about the behavior they displayed. However, these theories were still considered applicable to human beings, which are our primary focus. Ivan Pavlov, who had a great influence on some of Watson's work, introduced "classical conditioning" which went into detail in terms of explaining the relationship between stimuli. and behavior. We react differently to different objects and situations we encounter, and for most of them we have already adapted from early in our lives and tend to seem more natural. THEPavlov's conditioning methods claimed or rather proved that other stimuli not inducing any specific (neutral) behavior could be designed to provoke the same reaction that an earlier "natural stimulus" could induce. It worked by introducing the neutral stimulus and the behavior-inducing stimulus at the same time or in a sequence that intertwined the stimuli and made them appear to be working together. An example can be taken from the popular shark horror film "JAWS", in which they played a melody every time the 'antagonist' shark attacked and therefore just hearing the melody alone implied that the shark was about to attack and that alone caused terror. The best part is that the new reaction to the “natural stimulus” will never be forgotten, unless it is used for another type of conditioning contrary to the first. This method is not only limited to adding a single neutral stimulus, but you can also have a chain of stimuli that generate a similar reaction by pairing the controlled stimulus with a neutral stimulus. This is called high-order conditioning. BF Skinner gave rise to operant conditioning which assesses the role that reinforcement plays in inducing behavior. A behavior can become a habit or be repeated if it results in some form of reward or positive results. However, behavior that elicits a neutral or negative response, such as punishment, is less likely to be repeated. It is a way in which people can learn to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable behavior in a given environment.HumanismIt is a school of psychology that emerged in the 1950s, also in the United States of America. The rise of the concept was led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Both men strongly disagreed with suggestions suggesting that human beings have no control over their destiny and this ultimately became part of the theory's foundation. They paid more attention to emotions, creativity and autonomy, which could also prevent people from being seen as "victims governed by their environment." The school believed that people redefine situations and experiences in their own way, which would produce unique behavior. emphasis was placed on the fact that all human beings have free will. Human beings are believed to have greater mental capacity than other species, making them capable of deciding the type of behavior they choose to display. From a humanist perspective, self-esteem is more important and has a greater influence than things that happen outside of our field of perception. However, self-esteem (self-concept) is also influenced by the type of support the person received. During the development of a personal perspective, the type of support you receive from those around you will somehow influence your level of interaction and trust in society. Although the education aspects were important, the school discouraged stereotyping of human behavior and believed that there would be distinct ways in which people would deal with and respond to challenges due to the difference in goals and objectives. personal wishes, such as educational and relationship goals. Among Western theories, behaviorism and humanistic psychology were born in America to address and resolve challenges related to the environment and the way the people who live there perceive reality. As Western concepts, theories cannot fully understand the values ​​of African culture and lifestyles, 4-1.