Examination texts for psychologists

Play

Play is an activity performed for amusement. Although people engage in play mainly to enjoy themselves, play also contributes to the physical and mental health of individuals. For example, many students increase their physical fitness by swimming or hiking. Many people also improve their intellectual skills by playing word games or solving puzzles.

Play activities fall into one of three general groups – 1) motor play, 2)intellectual play, or 3)sensory play. Motor play is physical exercise, such as skating or playing volleyball. Intellectual play primarily involves mental activity, as in playing chess. Sensory play includes spectator activities, such as attending sports events.

Play takes countless forms. A person may bounce a ball in a game of basketball with several people. Play activity may or may not be planned ahead of time. It can take place anywhere, from in an individual’s mind to areas designed specifically for play.

Some play activities are popular with both children and adults. Other activities appeal primarily to people of certain age groups. Children often take part in play that requires a great deal of imagination, such as playing with dolls or dressing up and pretending to be adults. For a child, playing is a form of self-expression and a significant part of social development. Children begin to play long before they can communicate effectively with words. Through playing they express their ideas.

Children learn to interact with one another by sharing toys or playing games that stress personal cooperation, such as tag or hide-and-seek. When they are older, they develop teamwork skills by playing competitive sports like volleyball.

For an adult, playing is a way of relaxing during leisure time. Play activities help relieve pressures caused by the tensions of daily life.

Dolls

Doll is a child’s toy made to look like a human being. Boys and girls throughout te world enjoy playing with dolls. Many grown-ups collect antique and costume dolls as a hobby and learn about the people of other times and places through these dolls.

Dolls fulfill many needs of children. They serve as playmates and objects for children’s affection. Dolls can also provide an outlet for a child’s hurt feelings, anger, and other emotions. For example, youngsters upset by a scolding might scold their dolls in turn. How children play with dolls may reveal their inner needs, fears, and desires. For this reason, psychologists use dolls to help them identify and treat many problems of children.

Playing with dolls enables children to rehearse the roles they hope to perform after they grow up, such as a parent or a doctor.

Recreation

Recreation is an activity that people voluntarily pursue for personal enjoyment or satisfaction, usually during their free time. Recreation takes a wide variety of forms and occurs in many different places, depending on the choice of the individual. Some recreation is passive, such as watching television. Many people enjoy extremely active forms of recreation, such as jogging or participating in sports. Individuals may engage in recreation in their homes or they may travel long distances for a recreational activity.

Recreation has become an important element in modern life. Improvements in working conditions and transportation have given many people more money, time, and mobility for recreation. Popular facilities include cinemas, bowling lanes, resorts, golf courses, tennis centres, and theme parks.

Recreation provides pleasure for millions of people, but it may also make an important contribution to an individual’s mental and physical health.

The most popular single kind of recreation is watching television. People in Ukraine watch an average of more than 30 hours of television each week.

Hobbies are an important form of recreation for millions of people. Many families engage in gardening. Stamp collection is a very popular hobby as well. Games such as bridge and chess have always been a common type of recreation.

Many people concentrate on outdoor forms of recreation. The ten most popular types of recreation in Ukraine are watching sports events and picnicking, travel and fishing, taking nature walks, automobile driving for pleasure, swimming, participating in sports and games, visiting fairs, carnivals, aquariums and zoos, walking or jogging.

For many people, attending cultural events is a favourite form of recreation. Such people may attend museum exhibits, theatre performances, or concerts. Millions of people find recreation in helping others through volunteer work. They donate their time to such activities as visiting shut-institute or leading youth groups.

Aggression

Aggression is hostile behaviour that may take the form of physical attack against people or their possessions, or verbal abuse.

People become aggressive for various reasons. Aggression may be an automatic response to such experiences as pain or danger. In other cases, it is a deliberate action with a definite purpose. For example, some people behave hostilely to gain such rewards as power, money, prestige, or pleasure. Other aggressive behaviour is intended to cause physical or psychological injury.

Psychologists disagree about what causes aggression. Many theories are based on the "frustration – aggression" hypothesis, which states that aggression is a natural reaction to frustration. Other theories focus on social learning, the process by which individuals learn the behaviour expected of them by society. According to these theories, people learn to be aggressive by witnessing aggression, such as family arguments and violent television programs. Social learning theories also emphasize sex roles (common beliefs how each sex should behave) and whether a culture values aggression. Still other theories claim aggression results from instincts, genetic abnormalities, or brain damage.