The Study of Human Behavior

The Study of Human Behavior

Answer 1

To find out the relationship between alcohol consumption and violence, experimental study would be appropriate design because the subject matter of sociology, human being has consciousness, feelings and emotion. To study human behavior with accuracy is not possible. When a human population is involved, experimental research becomes concerned if behavior can be predicted or studied with validity. Rationalizing human behavior through the process of experimentation, when a researcher is conducting the experiment in a laboratory and creating an artificial condition does not account for the process of thought, making outcomes of that process fallible (Eisenberg, 1996).

Ethical issues may emerge during the process of experimentation. To avoid the Hawthorne Effect, researchers will sometimes be forced to carry out the experiment without the consent of the subject matter. The morality of carrying out such experiments can be questioned. Some experiments may defy ethical and human rights.

From my personal view, experiment is still the best method to be considered when conducting sociological study because of its accuracy compare to other methods. To overcome the limitations of experimental method, researchers can think of other ways, for example combining their experimental method with other qualitative methods such as case study, ethnography, observational research and interviews. These methods can be used as preconditions for experimentation or conducted simultaneously to add validity to the study.

Answer 2

Behaviorists such as B. F. Skinner believe that responses to our behaviors can reinforce and weaken our desire to repeat the behavior. Positive and negative reinforcements are types of responses to our behavior. The responses and/or consequences can be looked at as positive or negative.

Positive reinforcement generally make the behavior increase if the behavior is followed by an addition of something to our environment such as a treat, toy, or attention it is positive reinforcement. When I was in grade school my parents expressed to me how important grades were. To further reinforce their point they would pay me money for good grades. They would pay me the most money for A and less for a Bs and nothing for a C, D, or F. I was able to learn very quick and got mostly A's until I was in the 8th grade.

In the eight grade I went from straight A's to barely passing. I then made an agreement with my dad to up the anti so to speak, for good grades on my report card. So to get the positive reinforcement for something that I wanted I acted negatively in order to receive the reward causing the reinforcement to backfire. As a result of the negative behavior I received negative reinforcement for being caught doing something bad. I was then grounded and lost my positive reinforcement. Which caused me not to cheat so I would not receive the negative reinforcement.

People use behavior modification to train their dogs with positive and negative reinforcements. There are many forms of positive reinforcement that can be used for training dogs social interaction by giving attention to ...