Question

you identified a habit you wish you did not have. How did you acquired the habit and any possible attempts to stop the habit. Then explored how to extinguish this habit using the principles of operant conditioning.

In this assignment you will assess the acquisition and maintenance of your habit using the following four psychological perspectives:
• Humanistic
• Psychodynamic
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive

You will be expected to describe why you developed this habit, what purpose having this habit serves in your life, and how you will break this habit – according to each perspective. You will need to use at least 3 concepts from each perspective to support your answer.

Here's an example of an answer for this assignment. Please note that this example is not fully developed; it is intended to provide you with an overall direction for this assignment.

Example
Identified habit: Nervous laughter in inappropriate times

Why this habit developed and how is it reinforced:
Behavioral (from LP4 Assignment): behavior was positively reinforced with gaining attention from the mother whenever nervous laughter was displayed.
Humanistic: esteem needs are not being met, feeling insignificant around other people, attempt to fulfill belonging needs.
Psychodynamic: unconscious need for attention, superego's reaction when uncomfortable with conversation, defense mechanism.
Neuroscience: family trait (heritability), mother and sister exhibit same behavior.
Cognitive: interpret nervous laughter as exhibiting happy/fun personality traits instead of annoying, interpret the attention gained from nervous laughter as showing acceptance with others.

Answer 1

Smoking cigarettes

Humanist: With reference to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the need for self-esteem is an important stage of human development.  Low self- esteem is linked to the human desire to be accepted. By smoking cigarettes as a teenager, I felt more accepted by my peers.

Psychodynamic: This can be linked to the oral stage of psychosexual development. I was weaned off breastmilk when I was 3 months old. according to Freud, if a nursing child’s appetite were denied during any libidinal development stage, the anxiety would persist into adulthood. This oral fixation can manifest in oral gratification into adulthood where the need for oral gratification is sought through smoking cigarettes.

Neuroscience: My father was a chain smoker until his late 40s. 5 out of his 8 siblings smoked as well. On my mother's side, all of her siblings still smoke cigarettes.