Using Marvel's Civil War leaders to explain Psychology
Captain America vs. Iron Man: Freedom, Security, Psychology is an introduction to psychology using Marvel’s Civil War and its 2 protagonists as its background. For anyone who is beginning a psychology class, this book will provide a good look at many theories, including those of Freud, Erikson and Jung. It also has an essay on management styles. It is also good for anyone wanting to brush up on Psychology 101.
However, for those who are looking for a more philosophical set of arguments, this is not the book you are looking for. The academics who have essays included in this collection couch their terms in possibilities not absolutes. They render no opinion on the conflicts generated, but just state where the conflicts may evolve from.
Alex Langley has the most thought provoking essay called “A Shield by Any Other Name: The Power of the Prosocial Role Model in a Mask.” Langley uses the essay to expose observational learning – the idea that people learn behaviors by watching others. He cites the Bobo doll experiment where in one class, an adult works a Bobo doll over with language and punches and the kids follow suit. In another classroom, the adult doesn’t berate or beat up Bobo, and the children follow suit. Of course, Langley uses Captain America to show the positive side of observational learning, who even in death “symbols of that person persist in the form of… actions that others might take in… one’s honor or name" (p.126).
With a forward by Stan Lee, Captain America vs. Iron Man is unauthorized and lacking in the pow of the comics, but may still be useful for people who have never had a psychology class.
However, for those who are looking for a more philosophical set of arguments, this is not the book you are looking for. The academics who have essays included in this collection couch their terms in possibilities not absolutes. They render no opinion on the conflicts generated, but just state where the conflicts may evolve from.
Alex Langley has the most thought provoking essay called “A Shield by Any Other Name: The Power of the Prosocial Role Model in a Mask.” Langley uses the essay to expose observational learning – the idea that people learn behaviors by watching others. He cites the Bobo doll experiment where in one class, an adult works a Bobo doll over with language and punches and the kids follow suit. In another classroom, the adult doesn’t berate or beat up Bobo, and the children follow suit. Of course, Langley uses Captain America to show the positive side of observational learning, who even in death “symbols of that person persist in the form of… actions that others might take in… one’s honor or name" (p.126).
With a forward by Stan Lee, Captain America vs. Iron Man is unauthorized and lacking in the pow of the comics, but may still be useful for people who have never had a psychology class.