Custom «Psychology 101» Essay Paper Sample

The purpose of this essay paper is to answer the following two psychology questions: Summarize and describe the following three research methods (experimental, correlation and descriptive) and secondly describe the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAP) and discuss how stress suppresses the immune system.

There are three main research methods used in psychology and each of them plays a different role although there are some similarities. In response to the first question, in the experimental research method, the aim of the researcher to determine if there exists a casual relationship between two variables and in order to accomplish this, he/she divides the two participants into two groups; either the control group or the experimental group. It is however important to note that the control group does not participate in the experiment but rather act as the "foundation" of the experiment. When it comes to correlation research method, the purpose of the researcher is to search for any existing relationship between the variables. Some of the methods they use to accomplish this are compiling research from previous studies, surveys using the different survey methods and finally observation. The third research method is the descriptive research method; this research method uses the already existing information or data to determine the future of a certain project. For instance during the just concluded FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Octopus Paul was used to conduct "opinion poll" to determine which team will win the trophy. The same case happens in nations that practice democracy where opinion polls are conducted to determine which candidate people are most likely to vote for in the election. For example the recent opinion polls conducted in Kenya, results showed that most people are likely to vote for the current Prime Minister, Honorable Raila Odinga as the next president in 2012.

The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAP) is a syndrome that shows how the human body behaves when it is subjected to conditions that might cause stress. There three stages three stages that the body goes through during this time are they are; the alarm reaction stage, the resistance or adaptation stage and finally the exhaustion stage. When a person is subjected to stress these are the stages that the body goes through; however it is during the last stage (exhaustion stage) that the stress suppresses the immune system because there is a decrease in the adrenaline and sugar levels in the system that had been released during the resistance / adaptation stage.