Most people are familiar with Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalytic theory, but many other theorists have made significant contributions to the growing field of psychology. For this assignment, research one person in the history of psychology with whom you were not previously familiar. write about this person. Include their contributions to the field of psychology. Provide at least one reference as a source of your information.
APA format
must be 500 words
===
Walter Mischel was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to the field of psychology, particularly in the areas of personality, social cognition, and self-control. He was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1930 and passed away in 2018 in New York City.
One of Mischel’s most well-known contributions to psychology was his work on self-control and delay of gratification. In a series of studies conducted at Stanford University in the 1960s, Mischel and his colleagues presented young children with the classic “marshmallow test,” in which they were offered a choice between receiving one treat immediately or two treats if they could wait 15 minutes. The results of these studies showed that the children who were able to delay gratification and wait for the larger reward tended to have better outcomes in areas such as academic achievement, social competence, and physical health later in life.
This research has since been extended and refined by other psychologists and has led to a growing body of literature on the importance of self-control in a variety of areas, including addiction, mental health, and financial decision-making. Mischel’s work on self-control has also influenced the development of interventions and programs aimed at helping individuals increase their ability to delay gratification and improve their long-term outcomes.
In addition to his work on self-control, Mischel made significant contributions to the understanding of personality and social cognition. He was a proponent of the social cognitive approach to personality, which emphasizes the role of situational factors and the individual’s cognitive processing of information in shaping their behavior and thoughts. Mischel’s research on personality and social cognition has helped to shed light on how people perceive and respond to different social and environmental cues, and has had important implications for the fields of social and clinical psychology.
Mischel’s contributions to psychology have been widely recognized by his peers. He received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association and the National Medal of Science from the National Science Foundation.
Walter Mischel was a highly influential psychologist who made significant contributions to the field of psychology through his work on self-control, personality, and social cognition. His research has helped to deepen our understanding of these important areas and has had important implications for the development of interventions and programs aimed at improving people’s lives.
References:
Mischel, W., & Ayduk, O. (2004). Willpower in a cognitive-affective processing system: The dynamics of delay of gratification. Handbook of Self-Regulation: Research, Theory, and Applications, 113-131.
Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and Assessment. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
