Applying Psychology to my life.

Applying Psychology to my life.

Applying Psychology to my life.

When I think of psychology I think of therapists and psychological disorders. Psychology
is much more and applies to everyone’s life differently. I didn’t think psychology would have
such an impact on my everyday life when dealing with different relationships around me. When
applying psychology to my everyday life the concepts that stand out to me the most are; positive
and negative reinforcement and punishment, motivation and emotion, personality and stress and
coping strategies. These topics of psychology are the ones that I apply on a day to day basics to
my everyday life.
Positive and negative reinforcement and punishment are some things I can apply when
interacting with my kids daily. Positive reinforcement is when a response is followed by a reward
or positive event (Coon, Mitterer & Martinez, 2019). My middle child Nicko dislikes reading, he
is very capable of reading and good when he focuses. It’s a daily struggle to get him to focus and
read for 30-45 minutes and summarize his reading into a decent 5-6 sentence paragraph. On the
other hand, he loves playing soccer. A way to get him to focus more on reading is implementing
the two. The more he reads without the daily fight he gives and having me to constantly be on his
back about reading, I can reward him by allowing him to play soccer with his friends before
dinner. Once he sees the positive outcome he will want to focus more on his reading, so he can
enjoy his friends. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of a negative condition to

strengthen a positive outcome (Coon, Mitterer & Martinez, 2019). This could also help when it
comes to interacting with Nicko. Once Nicko realizes he must read and write with out the daily
fight and constant reminder, he will want to get it over with, so he doesn’t have the constant 10-
15 mins of me instructing him to read. Punishment can be good and bad when it comes to any
child. If I take everything away from Nicko that he enjoys why would he want to try? I believe it
must be a give and take. He needs punishment, but I also feel the punishment shouldn’t be so
discomforting that he gives up any hope for the better. If I can sit him down so he can fully
understand his punishment the likelihood of him doing it again decreases.
I believe motivation and emotion can be applied daily, not only with my kids but with
myself. Also, motivation is important when dealing with different kinds of behavior. The more I
can motivate myself when it comes to my kids, work and school the better off I will feel. A
simple pep talk goes a long way. Motivational notes like “you can do it”, “one step at a time” or
“you got this” can be a great boost of energy to keep going. Motivating my kids, the day of a big
exam in school or the day of a sports game will not only be rewarding to them, but a sense of
support and relief. A simple phrase letting them know “reach for the stars”, “you got this” and
“I’m so proud of you” can be all the motivation they need to help them excel in their exam or
sports game. Motivation and emotion tend to go hand and hand. The more motivation my kids
and I have the happier we tend to be. If we are all happy the better, we will achieve.
Personality is the pattern of feelings, thoughts and behaviors displayed by a person over
time. We all have different personality traits and qualities that make us who we are. I tend to be a
very bubbly, caring, lovable, outgoing, giving individual. Sometimes having these personality
traits aren’t easy when dealing with individuals who are reserved and self-centered. Working in
the medical field I come across individuals with different personality daily.