Journal Essays

Journal Essays Journal Essay Journal Essay As far as disciplines are concerned in such a vast scientific world that people circulate in, when psychology was conceived and eventually became a separate field of concentration, it has become perhaps one of the most popular courses and career any individual would want to venture in. The main concerns however are left for aficionados to speculate that the study of human behavior, its scientific explorations on the human mind and its mental processes is also a very complex and quite difficult arena (Papalia et al, 2002). There are theories and theorists that abound to posit on the description, explanation or understanding and prediction (and if possible, modification or control) of behavior among human organisms. Despite the modern breakthroughs, there lies a tension between what has been known and what are still unknown on the creature called man (Bernstein, 1991).This paper is anchored on the understanding that psychology actually pertains to the human psyche which is the equivalent of the soul and/or spirit where insights, knowledge and understanding reside. Where this is the central issue, spirituality similarly is attracted to the human mind where the attention that much of the Christian doctrine is also supposed to attend to or has been prepared to change. The observations made by Jean Piaget are translated to their applicability to counseling, to culture and to the biblical worldview. The author therefore attempts to present a prà ©cis on the premise and/or presupposition of Piaget and what this theorist wanted to convey towards the development of personhood specifically in the cognitive domains or aspects of the human individualPiaget’s Cognitive Stages of DevelopmentIntroductionMany of the theories today get their ideas from theorists of the earlier years and mushroom them to the world of science attracting their own followers. Piaget is considered a pioneer however in his field. His presuppositions mainly point to the person’s acting or operating on his/her environment which enables the development to put into motion or enable the person to develop in his cognition.To put into more detail, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and gains an understanding of his or her world through the interaction and influence of genetic and learning factors. Jean Piaget, who was both a biologist and psychologist, developed one of the most influential theories of cognitive development. Piaget’s work led to the current view that children are actively involved in their own cognitive development. By active involvement, Piaget meant that children are constantly striving to understand what they encounter, and in such encounters they form their own guesses or hypotheses about how the world works (Atkinson 1993).Piaget’s cognitive stages refer to four different stages – sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages – each of which is more advanced than the preceding stage because it involves new reasoning and thinking abilities (Papalia et al, 2002). Although Piaget believed that all people go through the same four cognitive stages, he acknowledged that they may go through the stages at different rates. Piaget’s hypothesis that cognitive development occurs in stages was one of his unique contributions to developmental psychology (Atkinson 1993).The cognitive changes that occur in various stages of development are influenced by the individual’s adaptation which can come in the form of either or both assimilation or accommodation. Assimilation is the easier process of the two where the brain or the mind is concerned, according to Piaget. Assimilation is fitting in the new material coming from the environment by transforming the data in the individual’s internal senses. As this happens, the individual hardly feels any difficulty concerning the change that is occurring. Contrariwise, though both occur in a child or individual together, accommodation usually happens when the person or child’s present explanation of the way things work is inadequate or insufficient and the child or individual must change his/her way of explaining these things hence, must accomm odate that which is the newer theory (Atherton 2005).Implications to CounselingOperating on assumptions held by Piaget, there are many considerations that may come up when Piaget and his theory is to be applied to a counseling setting. His proposition of the nature of assimilation and accommodation helps the counselor see the basic issues that surround a person in specific stages as Piaget had described in the four cognitive developmental stages (Piaget, 1936; Bernstein et al, 1991). Supposing the concerned individual happens to be a child who might be approximately three years of age and hence as hypothesized would be within the preoperational stage, the counselor would find it hard to convince the child of cause and effect with particular temper problems if the counselor lacks full understanding of the stage as presupposed by Piaget considering that the child tends to stay egocentric and incapable of seeing other persons’ viewpoint (Piaget, 2000).Implications to CulturePeop le who adopt the Piagetian approach would tend to think that their world would be based on what they contributed to it rather than a set of made-up guidelines or rules. Since Piaget theorized that people or children act on their environment (Piaget and Inhelder, 1948) and not mere absorbers of it (Morgan, 1977), then, it would follow that people should not just expect that an absolute set of truth or values applied to various parts of living is expected (Piaget, 1936). It means that people tend to be reflective on a relative truth or rules, ones that they themselves constructed rather than what are already made for them to follow.Culture in a sense becomes evolving, because it depends on how people construct their world and as people become active participants of what happens to this world, it is understood then that the culture that follows will be constantly changing.Implications to a Biblical WorldviewThe Bible holds that there is such a thing as absolute truth applied to rules t hat govern people’s thinking, behavior and consequent kind of culture. The world becomes a better place when people who live in it are governed by God’s rules; whose minds are renewed by God through His word. This expressed best in the letter of Paul to the Romans: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (12: 2, NKJV).In addition the best reference for the reality and need of absolute truth is found in another passage of the Bible where Paul addressing his letter to Timothy clearly reiterated this idea. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV). This means that man cannot contribute to what God has made already and only needs to submit or actively obey with what God’s word has definitely spoken because His Word is perfect and complete and enough for man and his existence.

French Media and Communication Vocabulary

French Media and Communication Vocabulary Media is all around us and frequently comes up in both casual and professional conversation. Learning French vocabulary for communication and media will help you share ideas in French and understand other French speakers. News les actualità ©s: newslactualità ©: current affairsles mà ©dias: the media TV and Radio le cà ¢ble: cable TVla chaà ®ne: channella chaà ®ne publique: public service stationun(e) envoyà ©(e) spà ©cial(e): special reporterune à ©mission: programle journal: news bulletinle lecteur de DVD: DVD playerle magnà ©tophone: tape recorderle magnà ©toscope: VCRla publicità ©: advertisementla radio: radiole reporter: reporterla retransmission: broadcastla tà ©là ©: TVla tà ©là ©vision: television Print Media le journal: newspaperle/la journaliste: reporterle kiosque: newsstandle magazine: magazinela petite annonce: classified adla revue: scholarly or informational publication, journal Computer le courriel, email, mà ©l:  emaille fournisseur daccà ¨s Internet: ISP (internet service provider)lInternet: internetle Minitel: public access information system created by France Tà ©là ©comle navigateur: (internet) browserun ordinateur: computer Letter Writing une adresse: addressla boà ®te aux lettres: mailboxla carte postale: postcardle courrier: (snail) maille destinataire: recipient, To:une enveloppe: envelopelexpà ©diteur: sender, From:la lettre: letterle paquet, le colis: packagela poste: post officele timbre: stamp On the Phone While there are specialized vocabulary words related to using the phone, there are also a number of useful phrases that are commonly used when talking on the phone. la cabine tà ©là ©phonique: telephone boothle fax: fax (machine)la messagerie vocale: voice maille mobile: cell phonela pià ¨ce (de monnaie): coinle rà ©pondeur: answering machinela tà ©là ©carte: phonecardle tà ©là ©phone: telephone Communication Verbs appeler: to calldire: to sayà ©couter la radio: to listen to the radioà ©crire: to writeenvoyer (par la poste): to mail, sendenvoyer par email: to emailenvoyer par fax, faxer: to faxlire: to readtà ©là ©phoner : to call