Social Group Analysis Project

Introduction

The social group observed is police leaders and the association that they have with other ordinary police officers. Clearly this a relationship between superiors and juniors in this area and as expected, very formal language is used during communication as the leaders relay whatever is expected from those under them. This group also observes high level discipline meaning they only uphold virtuous values and there's no room for any undesirable vices.

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On observing the interaction taking place between police leaders and the junior police officers, the concepts taught can be easily noted. They clearly play a major role in how different individuals interact in their day to day activities. One of the concepts that can be seen when observing their interaction is the concept of sensation and perception. Sensation can be termed as more of an input from the world around us by the body through sensory receptors while on the other hand perception is the interpretation that the brain makes when these sensations from the outside world are felt. However different people have different perceptions and this is based on their emotions, what the individual has been through, their memories and even their expectations. For example in this case, when the junior officers are not in the presence of their seniors, they tend to act differently as compared to when they have senior officers around (Hogan, 2000). This is because they perceive the latter environment in a different perception from the former surrounding. The perception that one makes is as a result of the brain interpreting the sensory input and organizing it. If an individual is used to a certain situation, they will have a different perception compared to one who is experiencing the situation for the first time. On observing this social group, they can be seen to have different perceptions even when it involves the same situation (Hogan, 2000).

Biological foundation of behavior is a concept whereby the one's behavior is influenced by the chemical and physical changes in their body. This therefore means that there's a clearly defined relationship between our behavior and the internal scientific functioning of the body. This displays a major similarity with sensation and perception. For example, when an alarm clock's sound is heard the brain uses pas experiences to conclude that it's time to wake up and your brain coordinates the consecutive process that follows to stop the alarm (Hogan, 2000).

In this Social Group, the junior officers have been subjected to various situations before and have learnt what they are expected to do in these situations. Whenever the junior officers are in the presence of their seniors they are expected to salute in show of respect and when this becomes a routine, the brain becomes accustomed to the expected reaction and it comes as an automatic reaction whenever they are in that situation (Gottfredson & Deary, 2004).

Thinking, intelligence and languages is a concept that involves the activity that goes on in ones brain as they try to organize and understand the information or when they are communicating the information to other people around them. Mental imagery is mostly involved whereby the brain has representations which represent occurrences and have quality close to that of a picture. It helps individuals visualize situations as they try to understand or as they try to explain their thoughts to other people. Concepts are the different divisions used in categorizing events by the brain (Gottfredson & Deary, 2004).

Language is the method of communication used to relay information and can be in very many diverse forms ranging from spoken language to sign-language whereby gestures are used. Intelligence helps an individual to obtain useful knowledge by being exposed and experiencing a certain environment or situation. From the social group I studies, the process of gaining intelligence can be spotted as the junior police acquire skills and lessons from senior police and the difference can be seen in how they get better in a particular activity since they have been exposed to it for a while. The senior leaders pass information using a language which can be verbal, written or by gesturing it and the information is effectively passed and understood. On further observation of the social group, personal growth can be seen in those juniors who fall under the leaders as they learn and empower themselves using information delivered. When the juniors are subjected to certain conditions or rules, they conform to them with time and the psychological process involved is clearly depicted in all these subsequent actions.

Human development as a concept is essential as it explain the changes that individuals undergo as they move through different stages if life and develop into more complex beings. Human development can happen on minimal basis or in huge changes which can be viewed when the comparison is made over a long time. For the police officers social group, one can see that the leaders have grown from being juniors at one time and have continuously learnt and gained experience to the point where the current juniors look up to them (Bartels et al., 2002). This is indicative of a case of human development whereby they have evolved from being simple to a complex position which comes with leadership capabilities and ability to lead others in the right path.

When the junior officers learn from their leading seniors, they also develop their personalities as they are subject to various situations and lessons that better them and make them more sophisticated as compared to their starting level. Generally this results in personality development and gives them a sense of achievement which is essential in making progress in other future activities that they are involved in.

Motivation and emotion concept defines motivation as wave that directs one towards doing and achieving something. Emotion is an experience that is based on various states of the mind and psychological experiences and is characterized by physiological reactions. Motivation is essential especially when there is a certain achievable by challenging goal. Proper motivation goes a long way especially when accompanied by the right emotion. In this case where the social group involves senior and junior police officers, motivation is crucial especially when it comes from the superiors. Motivation come as an alternative type of support and gives the junior officers the morale to achieve certain goals and even in the long run they may get to where their seniors are. Emotions can get in the way of achieving the desired result especially if they are negative emotions since they tend to be demoralizing and that way very less in achieved. Motivation has positive results when done appropriately since it has effects of great magnitude on the psychological functions of an individual (Bartels et al., 2002).

When observed closely, it is clear that all these concepts work in relation to each other and the effects of once concept have a dependency or end up affecting another concept and how it works. This results in an endless loop formed by these concepts. It's important to master these concepts in our day-to-day life since they come into play as we try to learn new things. Having adequate mastery of these concepts and how they work makes it easier for us to develop ourselves as we learn and implement ways to better our craft (Brink, 2008).

Ignorance about these concepts can also have adverse effects whereby one may find it hard to interact with others, learn from others or even co-exist in an environment with others since the individual would be lacking in the essential concepts that help make this a success. Subsequently, there would be less development or successes in a certain activity all because one has not mastered how these principles exist and correlate. Understanding how these concepts work also means that you understand how people act or react when subjected to various situations and help you know what to do and what not to do (Brink, 2008).

Conclusion

Completing the group analysis project has helped me understand and made me aware of how important social groups are in an individual's psychological functioning. Different social groups have a different basis which is what they are based on and most of the times it involves a popular belief or activity or duty that brings these people together to form this group. It is very easy to learn and exchange ideas with people who you share a common identity with and mastering the concepts discussed make this experience even easier. They help build oneself thus achieving overall development which could range from personal growth to personality development and much more. When all these concepts work in conjunction with each other over a long time, they make you more eligible and qualified for advanced and more complex situations and enable you to figure out better solutions to problems (Bartels et al., 2002).

References

Hogan, John D (2000). "Developmental psychology: History of the field." In Alan E. Kazdin. Encyclopedia of Psychology. Volume 3. Pp.9-13.Bartels, M. Rietveld, M. Van Baal, G. &Boomsma, D.I. (2002). Genetic and environmental influences on the development of intelligence. Behavior Genetic, 32(4), 237-238.

Gottfredson, L. S. & Deary, I. J. (2004). Intelligence predicts health and longevity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(1), 1-4.

T. L. Brink. (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach, "Unit One: the definition and history of Psychology." Pp 9.