Key theoretical concepts

Discuss the nature and history of psychology and key theoretical concepts?

The provided literature, “It is often stated that boys are better at maths and that girls are better at language. It is observed that fewer women than men work as scientists and engineers” focuses on the general psychological perception that the men and women in the societies across the world think differently. The literature suggests that the men in the societies are more capable of handling a number of difficult situations and issues which requires technical thinking, reasoning and analytical abilities. The literature also suggests that the women in the societies are not capable of thinking innovatively and applying their analytical abilities to resolve various real time issues and scenarios (Mowday, 2013). This was suggested by the statement included in the literature that boys are better at maths than the girls. Similarly the literature also suggests that the women in the societies across the globe are better at languages than the men. This statement included in the literature suggests that the men in the societies are not capable of utilising and implementing their skills in languages. In this report we will review this literature and understand the opinions and facts behind the various statements included in the literature under review (Smith, 2014).

This literature review focuses on the literature provided which is related to the psychological state of the human kind in various societies across the globe in the current time. The literature review also focuses on the description of the concepts of psychology and applied psychology. The concept of psychology can be defined as the concept which allows the human mind and behaviour to be studied by the humans to understand and analyse the various factors responsible for influencing the thinking process and decision making process of the humans (Neisser, 2014). The concept of psychology allows us to define and derive theories based on the findings regarding the thinking process and decision making process of the humans which could replicate the results of the processing of information through the mind of the humans depending on their behaviour and characteristic traits. The history of psychology dates back to the ancient civilisations across the entire globe (Ross, 2011). The early civilisations across the world were focused on the philosophical study of the concept of psychology which was gradually upgraded to the experimental study of the concept of psychology by the civilisations in the latter time. The concept of psychology allowed the development and usage of the concept of applied psychology. The concept of applied psychology is the study which allows us to implement and use various theories of psychology in various situations in the real world. The concept of applied psychology allows the individuals in various societies across the world to simulate and solve various real time issues and problems in the real world. The applications of these theories and principles derived and developed in the concept of psychology allow the humans to dig deeper into the opportunities and possible solutions of a number of unresolved issues in the real world (James, 2011).

Critical analysis

There are a number of key theoretical concepts and major empirical findings in the domain of psychology. This section of the literature review focuses on the various concepts in the domain of psychology and applied psychology, which in turn allows us to correlate them with the literature under review. Some of the categories of the theories in psychology are cognitive theories, humanist theories, learning theories, behavioural theories, developmental theories, social psychology theories and personality theories (Moore, 2012). Among all of these theories in the field of psychology, social psychology is the one which can be correlated with the literature under review. Social psychology is the field which focuses on various activities and events in the society in terms of the behaviour showed by the individuals living in various parts of the societies. The concept of social psychology is related to the processes utilised by the individuals and groups of individuals living in the current societies for perceiving, behaving and communicating in the surroundings in the corresponding societies (Nestor, 2014). There are a number of effects and concepts included in the study of social psychology, which allows us to determine and analyse the actual reasons behind the processes utilised by the individuals and group of individuals in their day to day life in the societies. The current literature under review can be considered to be based on the perception of the individuals and group of individuals regarding the differences in the capabilities of men and women in the societies in the countries. The social psychology can define this perception of the individuals and groups of individuals as one of the conventional ways of perception of the people in various societies across the entire world.  The literature under study can also be analysed on the basis of behavioural psychology which allows us to define the perception of the individuals and groups of individuals across the world regarding the differences in capabilities and preferences of the women and men in the societies across the world. The literature under study mentions that the men are generally better at maths, whereas the women are generally better at language. This fact can be considered to be a biased fact that the women in the societies are capable of handling easy tasks only. This can be analysed on the basis of behavioural and social psychology. The literature can be supported by the analysis under the humanist psychology concepts again which in turn allows us to understand the factors behind the perception of the differences in the capabilities and preferences of the males and females in the societies across the globe. These theoretical concepts of psychology also allows these perceptions and literatures to be correlated to a number of pressing issues in the current societies across the world (Maslow, 2013).

The previous section allowed us to understand the correlation between the literature under study and various theories in the field of psychology. We analysed the literature on the basis of a number of concepts associated with the humanist, behavioural and social psychology theories. This section of the report allows us to take a different critical approach for the analysis of the literature under study (Fiske, 2010). We can also consider the perception of the individuals and groups of individuals regarding the preferences and capabilities of the women in the field of languages in comparison of the expertise of the men in the field of maths in a different way. The literature may be focusing and suggesting the ease of studying and working in the field of language in comparison to maths. This review of the literature allows us to identify and analyse the intention of the literature to insult the field of language by focusing on the significance and importance of the field of maths. Another statement included in the literature focuses on the higher number of males having the jobs of scientists and researchers in comparison to the females can be considered to be a result of workplace biasing. This review can allow us to understand the differences in perceptions of the individuals and groups of individuals across the globe regarding the preferences of males and females regarding their career options and goals. This could also be considered as a result of the presence of inequalities between the employees and individuals across the workplaces in the corresponding industries across the world. Thus the literature under the review could be perceived in a number of ways based on a number of theories of psychology along with a number of factors in the societies across the globe, which in turn allows the individuals and groups of the individuals to look at the literature under study in different ways. This also allows us to identify the intention, objective and focus of the literature in a number of ways based on various theories of psychology (Howell, 2012).

Conclusion

The entire report was focused on the analysis of the literature provided to us. This literature included statements which defined the perceptions of the people around the world regarding the preferences and capabilities of men and women across the globe. This literature suggested that the women are more capable at languages in comparison to maths which generally the men are capable at (Koffka, 2013). This difference between the capabilities and preferences between the males and females around the world is defined in terms of various theories of psychology such as the humanist, behavioural and social psychology. The critical review of the literature allowed us to view the literature from a different direction as well which allowed us to determine the intention of the literature to assume that language is a relatively easier field to study and work in relation to maths. The literature also focuses on a statement that more males in the entire world have the jobs of scientists and researchers in comparison to the females. This statement included in the literature is also considered as the way which allows the individuals and groups of individuals to perceive something in the societies on the basis of a number of notions and biases (Heider, 2013).

References

Fiske, S. T., Gilbert, D. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

Heider, F. (2013). The psychology of interpersonal relations. Psychology Press.

Howell, D. (2012). Statistical methods for psychology. Cengage Learning.

James, W. (2011). The Principles of Psychology (Volume 2 of 2). Digireads. com Publishing.

Koffka, K. (2013). Principles of Gestalt psychology. Routledge.

Maslow, A. H. (2013). Toward a psychology of being. Start Publishing LLC.

Moore, B. C. (Ed.). (2012). An introduction to the psychology of hearing. Brill.

Mowday, R. T., Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. (2013). Employee—organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Academic Press.

Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive Psychology: Classic Edition. Psychology Press.

Nestor, P. G., & Schutt, R. K. (2014). Research methods in psychology: Investigating behavior. Sage Publications.

Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (2011). The person and the situation: Perspectives of social psychology. Pinter & Martin Publishers.

Smith, E. R., Mackie, D. M., & Claypool, H. M. (2014). Social psychology. Psychology Press.