Analytical summary

Sleep and Dreams

"Sleep and dreams" is the 14th module in Robert S. Feldman's course book "Understanding Psychology". You can get very useful information about sleep and dreams in this module. For instance, we get to know more about different stages of sleep, sleep disturbances, theories of dreams.

Firstly, author sets out four stages of sleep and explains that every of them are necessary for us. The writer broadly describes REM stage. Furthermore, we can deepen one’s knowledge about the importance of sleep and how much sleep is absolutely required.

Secondly, we are introduced with mysterious subject– dreams and meaning of them. Moreover, author represents three major theories, which are very important for the meaning of dreaming. Also, we can read about sleep disturbances. Besides, Robert S. Feldman supplies various tasks and questions for recap. So, we have a possibility to remember all information perfectly.  

In conclusion, the writer gives various and exciting information about sleep and dreams. This knowledge has importance for us – future psychologists.

Psychology of success

Success in general refers to the state or condition of meeting a desirable or intended objective. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success are heavily dependent on context of use, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. There a lot of ways of thinking about success and explaining it. 

Sometimes success seems to be casual. There are such people who are lucky whatever they do. We call them lucky beggars, because they are successful without any attempts and they always avoid troubles.  

But on the other hand, having in mind that people can develop their thoughts and actions seeking for positive goals, so success is no accident. It is a skill, which that can be learned by anyone, at any stage of the game. 

Most of all I personally liked the opinion of psychologists C. Dwerk, which she developed in his book “Mindset: the New Psychology of Success. The main idea she introduces is that people either exercise a growth mindset or a fixed mindset and this determine the success. 
Those with a fixed mindset believe their talents and abilities cannot be improved through any means. They feel that they are born with a certain amount of talent and typically do not wish to challenge their abilities because of possible failure. Challenges are frequently viewed with negativity, instead of as a personal growth opportunity. So success in this way is casual and doesn’ depend on person.  

People that practice a growth mindset believe intelligence, talents, and abilities can be developed over time. They believe abilities, such as athleticism and mathematical capabilities, can be improved through hard work and persistence. Often, people of the growth mindset do not fear failure; instead, they choose to see failure as an opportunity for personal growth. So this group of people believe that they can reach success themselves if they want and develop their personal skills. 

Summing up what was said about success, it can be various attitudes about success. Success lays in the psychology of human-if you think positive and try to reach your goals, you won't just stumble upon success in the dark. 

Psychology of Kleptomania

Kleptomania is defined by a number of features including a consistent tendency to steal items not needed for personal use or monetary value. It was first officially recognized in the US as a mental disorder in the 1960s. Kleptomania is distinguished from shoplifting or ordinary theft, as shoplifters and thieves generally steal in order to get money, while people with kleptomania generally steal things of little or no value, such as pens, paper clips, tape, small toys, or packets of sugar or sachets of honey. 

There are several symptoms of this disorder. Firstly, such people have an irresistible inclination to steal. Also this includes feeling of increased tension before the theft, feeling of pleasure, gratification or relief at the time of the theft. 

Kleptomania is rare overall, but females more often than males have this disorder. This disorder usually begins during childhood and usually lasts until late adulthood. In some cases, it may never stop and lasts throughout the person's life, so it is very difficult to document the real number of people having kleptomania, especially because of the fact that people with kleptomania often have another psychiatric disorder, often a mood disorder such as depression and anxiety or eating disorders. There is indirect evidence linking it with abnormalities in the brain chemical serotonin. 

There are several ways of treatment of kleptomania. Psychological counselling or therapy is usually aimed at dealing with underlying psychological problems that may be contributing to kleptomania. It may also include behaviour modification therapy, family therapy or even drugs, which raise serotonin level in the brain, for example, fluoxetine (Prozac, most commonly used). 

In conclusion, taking into the consideration what was said about kleptomania, it is serious psychiatric disorder which requires psychological treatment. Of course It can be difficult to understand if the person stole something just for money or it is mental disorder. 

Analytical summary

"Understanding Psychology" is the book written by the professor  Robert S. Feldman. The basic information about psychology as a science is introduced in the  first chapter of this book- "Introduction to psychology”, which consists of three modules.

The main idea of the  first module is the description of psychology as a science, for example,  giving its advantages and disadvantages. The author mentions the main fields of this science   such as social, educational and business,  represents some areas of the work of psychologists.

The second module is the overview of the history of psychology involving  the origins of this science, the most famous psychologists and their contribution. In addition to this, the author represents diversity of the psychological perspectives in modern psychology. 

The last module of the chapter mentioned above is most relevant  issues and controversies in psychology. The question,  how culture, ethnicity and race could influence behavior, is also taken into the consideration. Finally, the author takes a look to the future of this science and gives his atttidude.

In conclusion, these three modules are not just the core of the main information about the psychology as the science,  but also they intoduce  a lot of examples, key issues. This is very useful for understanding the subject, having in mind that psychology and the need of it will develop in the future. 

Psychology in my life and future

Mostly the most frequent question at the beginning of my studies in the University of Mykolas Romeris can be in short expressed as: Why Psychology? I also asked myself this before choosing this subject to study.

Already at school I noticed that it was interesting and also difficult to understand the behaviour of people, to predict their thouhts, to interpret their actions, to realize the feelings, especially then they  needed my help or support.  So because of this  I decided to develop my personal skills: communication, understanding, interests concerning behaviour of people.   This was the beginning of my way to psychology as science.

I realized that if I wanted to give qualified help to people, to know reasoned answers to the questhions conserning human beings and their behaviour, I needed to get some intelligence and get professional views and skills about this subject. The best way to do this was the studies of  psychology.

That's why I am planning to connect my future with psychology. I would like to have a job in the field of this science and to be educated psychologist.