Essentials of Psychology Case Study Project
Case Study 1: The Woman Who Dreams of Stress
- Arlene is worried that her recent dream experiences indicate that something is wrong with her. If you were Arlene’s friend and wanted to reassure her, how would you help her to understand the normal experience of sleep and dreams?
As Arlene’s friend, I would make sure that she understands that stresses are part of life and it is important to learn how to address them. Now that she has been in this tough condition I would comfort her by explaining that dreaming about events that stress us is a common experience, which does not necessarily mean that there is a problem with her. Also, I would make her understand that various research has proved that dreams and nightmares are impacted by our daily experiences. She is currently experiencing difficulties with the new machine and huge lumps of work, which are making her anxious and stressed during the day, which can be the cause of the bad dreams. She is a lady and studies have revealed to us that out of 150000 dreams that an average person dreams by the age of seventy, 10 percent of women dream of failure. I would advise her to get organized and instead of thinking of the work as a whole to set up small goals, in her limit, and work towards meeting them and not of the whole giant.
- Which theory of dreaming seems to best explain Arlene’s disturbing dreams and why?
A theory that can be deemed to explain Arlene’s disturbing dream is the activation-synthesis theory. The latter theory was proposed by psychiatrist J. Allan Hobson, stating that dream scenario is related to dreamer’s concern during the day. In my perspective, this theory suits best Arlene’s case as her dream is based on daily experiences. This makes Arlene spend much of the time awake stressed and concerned with her huge workload. Now due to the daily stress experiences, her brain forms scenarios about her anxiety at work the moments she gets to sleep.
- How might meditation help Arlene?
Mediation is useful as keeps the individual relaxed. Additionally, mediation has been one of the helpful tools that help individuals develop new insights on a problem that has been long-running over the mind. Based on the current state, mediation would help Arlene come up with new approaches that can help her face the new huge workload with ease. It would also help her eliminate the fear about the new software that she struggles with getting to understand its functionality. Meditating regularly would be one of the most essential strategies that would help Arlene keep in a relaxed state of mind, this helps her keep pace with the work and sleep when the time to sleep comes.
- If you were Arlene’s health care provider, how would you advise her to overcome her insomnia?
Various ways have been formulated to help overcome insomnia. One of the promising strategies that I would encourage Arlene to do if I were her health care provider, is to ensure that she embarks on serious exercise on daily basis and avoid naps, this would be helpful since Arlene has become tired. When individuals get tired, it is always easy for them to fall asleep and very indeed sleep peacefully. More importantly, Arlene should ensure that she has a set bedtime, this will enable her body to develop an internal timer that would be guiding her sleep every night. Also, I would tell her to avoid caffeinated beverages such as coffee and the caffeinated energy drinks she has been taking.
- What are some effects on Arlene of her high caffeine intake? What would happen if she just suddenly stopped drinking coffee and energy drinks? How would you advise her to modify her caffeine use?
High caffeine has some adverse effects on the body. Commonly they cause above-stated insomnia and anxiety. Generally, caffeine is an addictive substance, and its withdrawal is associated with headaches and depression. I would, therefore, advise her to slowly cut off the consumption of caffeine bit by bit, or choose to use herbal tea as a substitute for a hot beverage before she sleeps.
Case Study 2: John Buckingham, the New Guy on the Job
- What does the behavior of John’s co-workers toward John suggest about their attributions for his initial manner of dress?
Based on how John’s co-workers react to him, I believe this is a show of Fundamental Attribution Error. This is a situation where people base their arguments on a single characteristic of an individual, for instance, John’s clothing style. In this context, the official definition can be attributed to the tendency to over-state other people’s behavior. Also, the dispositional cause would help minimize the importance of ‘foreign’ situational cause, that John’s co-workers saw him dressed in a suit thus becoming uptight around him. It is because of the same clothing that he receives different treatment. However, with time when he starts to dress on the jeans and western t-shirts just like them, they become more relaxed and get much open to him.
- Describe the kinds of biases that might have affected John’s co-workers as they formed impressions of him on his first day. Could they have been using a faulty schema to understand him? Is there evidence of the halo effect?
The co-workers portray bias and judge John on faulty schema based on the dressing. His dressing code was indeed better and more professional than that of the co-workers, which makes them put him in a bad schema giving him an attribute of being less approachable. Also, there is evidence of the halo effect, which is evident as the workers base their opinions and expectations on John’s clothing.
- Explain why John changed his manner of the dress so soon after starting his new job. What processes were likely involved in his decision to do so?
Upon arrival at the new job, he notices that he is the only odd one out. The only option left was to change his dressing code so that he can fit in the new job environment. People in the new job do not put on suites, which made them not talk to him. Therefore, he had to change the norms and social conditions in the new office, soon changing his appearance, which made his co-workers treat him like others in the office. With time John becomes accepted only by choosing to change his dressing code.
- John’s co-workers seemed very hesitant to “warm-up” to John. How would you explain to John their initial reluctance to like him very much?
In this context, I would explain to John that the co-workers were first reluctant to welcome him because they held a stereotype. The latter was based on his first-day experience and dressing. Co-workers see john as a strict businessman based on the suit, instead of seeing him as a unique individual with personal characteristics. They stereotyped him as severe and over top, clothed this design and comparing him with the jeans and the cowboy they wore.
- If you were the human resource director for this company, what strategies could you employ to prevent experiences like John’s? How would you justify the implementation of these strategies to the company president?
It is always not a good experience when you visit a place for the first time and every individual feels uncomfortable with you. Thus to avoid this experience it is essential to put good strategies, some of which include holding an orientation meeting each time a new face is brought to the office. The meeting would be in form of conversation to encourage the new staff to share information about themselves with the current staff. This makes both staff familiar as this platform provides the workers with an opportunity to ask questions, encouraging communication. For the implementation, I would justify by explaining to the company’s president the achievements of this strategy. I will explain how this procedure is useful in reducing stereotypes even without a proper introduction.
Resources: Feldman, R. (2019). Psychology and Your Life with P.O.W.E.R Learning
Feldman, R. (2019). Psychology and Your Life with P.O.W.E.R Learning. [VitalSource
Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/978126099861
