Explaining Humans: Winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2020

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Humanism rejected the assumptions of the behaviorist perspective which is characterized as deterministic, focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behavior and heavily dependent on animal research. Dr Pang becomes the youngest author to win the Prize. She is also sixth woman to scoop the Prize in as many years, following last year’s winner Caroline Criado Perez ( Invisible Women, 2019), Sarah-Jayne Blakemore ( Inventing Ourselves, 2018), Cordelia Fine ( Testosterone Rex, 2017), Andrea Wulf ( The Invention of Nature, 2016) and Gaia Vince ( Adventures in the Anthropocene, 2015). The panel of five judges praised the scientist and writer for her original and unique perspective on our experience as humans through the prism of scientific understanding.

Pang’s book dissects four categories of routine human experiences: Decisions and the route we take to make them; Conflict and how we can avoid it; Relationships and how we establish them; Etiquette and how we conform to it. She provides a unique look at who we are and why we conform to social norms and shares an inspiring guide on how to lead a more connected, happier life. For example, if a student is bullied at school, they may learn to associate the school with fear. It could also explain why some students show a particular dislike of certain subjects that continue throughout their academic career. This could happen if a teacher humiliates or punishes a student in class. Addiction

He first presented the dogs with the sound of a bell; they did not salivate so this was a neutral stimulus. Then he presented them with food, they salivated.

phobias– classical conditioning is seen as the mechanism by which – we acquire many of these irrational fears.It offered a new set of values for approaching an understanding of human nature and the human condition. Based on behaviorism, behavior therapy aims to replace maladaptive behaviors with more constructive ones through techniques like systematic desensitization, aversion therapy, and token economies. Systematic desensitization helps phobia patients gradually confront feared objects. The findings also suggested that humans use simple strategies to solve problems, which was one of the assumptions of the computer program. Another interesting result is that the model can better remember previous outcomes of a problem but perform poorly in planning future actions. Cognitive Approach: Strengths and Weaknesses Between 1920 and 1930, Watson was a prominent author, but behaviorism was a small (19%) slice of psychology. Larger clusters were mental testing and Gestalt psychology.