UNIT ONE

THE ESSENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT

IS DEVELOPED
INTRODUCTION

 To provide you with a reasonable answer to this complex

question, this introductory chapter will take a general look at the field of
psychology and psychologists. We will trace the origin of the word
“psychology”, explore the beginning of psychology as a science, examine
early and contemporary approaches to psychology and describe research
methods in psychology and identify some of psychology’s careers and
areas of specialization.

Dear colleague, this unit heavily emphasizes the above points indicated
as a prerequisite to know the essence of psychology. Hence, give
attention to the points.

Objectives
At the end of this unit you will be able to:
 Discuss how psychology has evolved as a science of behavior and
mental processes.
 explain the meaning, approaches and functions of psychology and
 Use psychological theories and methods to explain behavior and
mental processes.

Section-1: The Roots of Psychology and its Emergence as a

Science

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In this section you will learn mainly about the meaning and origin of the
word “psychology”, goals and the emergence of psychology as a science.

Objectives
After studying this section, you will be able to:
 define the term psychology and how it developed
 describe the goals of psychology
 Explain the emergence of psychology as a science.

1.1 Meaning and Origin of the Word ‘Psychology’

The word ‘psychology’ is of Greek origin: ‘psyche’ can be freely translated

as ‘mind’ or ‘soul’, and ‘logos’ indicates ‘study’ or ‘line of teaching’; thus
we have ‘ study of the mind’. This definition exemplifies what psychology
was essentially about up to the end of the nineteenth century. The word
psychology is symbolized by the Greek letter psi (φ).

1.2 Definition of Psychology

? What is psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

 What is science?
 What is the meaning of behavior?
 What is mind and mental processes?
There are three aspects to the above definition: science, behavior, and
mental processes. Let’s examine behavior first. Behavior is everything we
do that can be directly observed-two people kissing, a baby crying,
sneezing are examples. Mental processes are the thoughts, feelings and
motives that each of us experiences privately, but which can not be
observed directly.

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As science, psychology uses systematic methods to study behavior and
mental processes. Psychology’s methods are not casual. They are
carefully planned and conducted.

1.3 Goals of Psychology

What are the goals of psychology?
?
 The study of psychology, like other sciences, has four basic goals:

Describe – The first goal of psychology is to observe behavior and

describe, often in minute detail, what was observed as objectively as
possible. It addresses the question, “How do people think, feel, and
act in various situations?”

Explain –While descriptions come from observable data, psychologists

must go beyond what is obvious and explain their observations. In
other words, “why did the subject do what he or she did? Why did this
behavior occur? Which factors influenced this outcome?” are treated
under explanation.

Predict – Once we know what happens, and why it happens, we can

begin to speculate what will happen in the future. There’s an old
saying, which very often holds true: "the best predictor of future
behavior is past behavior."

Control – Once we know what happens, why it happens and what is

likely to happen in the future, we can exert control over it. In other
words, if we know you choose abusive partners because your father
was abusive, we can assume you will choose another abusive partner,
and can therefore intervene to change this negative behavior. Not only
do psychologists attempt to control behavior, they want to do so in a
positive manner, they want to improve a person’s life, not make it

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 worse. This is not always the case, but it should always be the
intention.

Compare and contrast the goals of psychology with the goals of

science?

1.4 The Emergence of Psychology as a Science

1.4.1. The Beginning
When did psychology emerge as a science?
?

Pre- Scientific Psychology

Rene Descartes (1596-1650), the French philosopher, had an important
influence on the development of psychology as a discipline distinct from
philosophy. Before Descartes, human beings tended to be viewed by
philosophers as unique, mysterious products of God’s will, whose mental
life was beyond rational explanation. Influenced by scientific discoveries
of the time in the field of medicine, Descartes adopted analytical stance.
He attempted to view a human beings as a machine which could be
studied and whose workings could be understood and explained. In his
theory of interactive dualism, he made a distinction between the mind
(thinking, remembering, knowing) and the body (physiological processes).
The interaction of mind and body, he believed, took place in the brain
and the seat of the mind was narrowed down to the pineal gland, a
structure in the brain which serves to initiate hormonal activity.

Do you agree or disagree with the explanation of Descartes?

?
The 17th century also saw the birth of the British Empiricist Movement,
led by a group of philosophers, the most notable of whom were John
Lock and Thomas Hobbes. The empiricists attempted to make sense of
the human mind through the use of systematic and objective methods of
study, rather than through reasoning or intuition. Mental life, they

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contended, was composed of ‘ideas’ which arose from sensory experience
and entered the mind by means of perception. In contrast to Descartes,
who believed that some ideas are present at birth, the empiricists saw
the development of the mind as arising from experiences of and
interaction with the environment.

In the early part of the 19 th century there was a strong upsurge of

philosophical opinion which contended that the s0tudy of human mental
activity was worthy of attention in its own right outside of the discipline
of philosophy. This move was greatly advanced by the work of a group of
German physiologists – Weber who used weights to study muscle sense,
Helmholz (1982) who made an outstanding contribution to the study of
vision and hearing and Fechner (1985) who investigated visual
discrimination and perception. The findings of these early physiologists
greatly influenced psychology as we know it today.

Scientific Psychology
Psychology as a scientific discipline has a short history. Although it dates
back to the time of Plato and Aristotle as a branch of philosophy, it was
in 1879 that Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychological laboratory in
Leipzig, Germany. It is generally agreed that this event heralded the
beginning psychology as a scientific discipline in its own right. Prior to
this, Psychology had generally been regarded as a branch of philosophy.
Hence, credit for the establishment of psychology as a science usually
goes to Wilhelm Von Wundt (1932-1920) considered by many as the
“father of psychology.”

During the first decades of psychology’s existence as a formal discipline,

psychologists came to hold quite different views about the nature of the
mind and the best ways to study it. About the same time fundamental
questions were raised about what should be studied in Psychology:
Should Psychology be the study of the mind, should it study Behavior, or

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should both mind and Behavior be included? Different influential
psychologists of the time held quite different views on the nature of mind
and the proper subject matter for psychology. Schools of thought formed
around these leaders as their students adopted their ideas. These
schools of thought are known as the schools of Psychology. Schools,
in this context, can best be thought of as groups of psychologist who
held common beliefs about both the subject matter of psychology and
what methods of study should be used. Most schools developed in revolt
against traditional methods and beliefs at the time. However, they did
not always replace earlier schools, but sometimes existed alongside
them. Understanding these schools can help us make sense of the
multitude of ideas and methods which currently characterize psychology.
Hence, a brief description of these schools is given below.

1.4.2. The Early Schools of Psychology

The early history of the new discipline was marked by the emergence of
competing approaches each of which were supported and defended by
charismatic leaders, who often were trained in both philosophy and
physiology . These approaches were known as schools of psychology, and
included:
- Structuralism - Gestalt psychology, and
- Functionalism - Psychoanalysis
- Behaviorism

How are these schools different from one another?

?
What did each contribute to the field of study?

a. Structuralism

Inspired by the pioneering work of Fechner and other scientists, Wilhelm

Wundt and his collaborators founded the school of structuralism. Wundt

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believed that psychology should concern itself with the elementary
processes of conscious experience. The structure of consciousness and
immediate mental experience, he contended, could be broken down into
basic elements and compounds in the same way that, in chemistry; one
can describe the structure of water or air.
The goal of the structuralists was to find out the units, or elements,
which make up the mind. They thought that as in chemistry, the first
step in the study of the mind should be the description of the basic or
elementary units of sensation(sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touch
which arise from stimulation of the sense organs) image(experiences not
actually present), and feelings (love, fear, joy and so on) which compose
the mind.

In an effort to study the elements of consciousness in what they believed

was an analytical and objective way, structuralists devised a technique
known as introspection. This simply means that people were asked to
consider and report on their own mental processes as they experienced a
particular object or event. This was to be done in a pre specified and
systematic way and required much training. For example, to be
introspective about a flower, the reporter would be asked to describe the
sensations of experiencing it in terms of its shape, size, color, texture,
and so on.

The method of introspection proved difficult and inadequate, largely

because of conflicting findings between introspectionists in different
laboratories. Reaching agreement on the basic elements of a particular
mental experience proved an impossible task and (predictably, perhaps)
reporting on mental activity in humans was not quite so straight forward
as observing what happens in a test tube when two chemicals are
combined.

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Another prominent member of structuralists school, Edward Bradford
Titchner, developed and extended Wundt’s idea and later introduced
them to the USA.. Structuralism declined in the early 1920s.

b. Functionalism
 Whilst the structuralists emphasized the structure of the mental
activity, the functionalists were concerned with the purposes,
functions, of the mental processes.
 Functionalism was influenced by biology and many of the concepts
‘borrowed’ from that discipline continue to influence psychology
today.
 The work and ideas of Charles Darwin had a monumental impact on
the emergence of functional psychology. His theory of evolution
provided an account of the way living organisms change and develop
over time through a process of natural selection.
 According to Darwin, living organisms have characteristics such as
extreme strength, speed of movement, and temperament, which are
variable even within the same species. Organisms whose
characteristics were best suited to their environment survived and
reproduced, while organisms whose characteristics were less
adaptable died out. Survivors would transmit to the next generation
those characteristics which enable them to survive.
 In this way a particular species might change quite extensively over
several generations and, in some cases an entirely new species could
evolve.
 William James (1842 -1910) was the leading figure in functional
psychology. Influenced greatly by Darwin, he held that the function of
consciousness was to enable humans to behave in ways which would
aid survival through adaptation to the environment.

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 Functionalists were interested in the fact that mind and Behavior are
adaptive- they enable an individual to adjust to a changing
environment. Where these adaptive behaviours were repeated
frequently they became habits. Habits, James believed, provided
stability and predictability in society.
 In addition to the study of the functions of consciousness and the role
of habits, he turned his attention to emotions, and to the concept of
self.
 As with the structuralists, the main method of study was
introspection, although functionalists although encouraged the use of
experimentation. The emphasis on the importance of observing
similarities and differences between varying species greatly influenced
the development of comparative psychology.

c. Gestalt psychology
 The leading proponents of Gestalt view were Max Wertheimer (1880-
1943), Kurt Koffka ( 1876- 1941) and Wolfgang Kohler (1887 -1967).
 Gestalt psychologists opposed the atomist approach of the
structuralists and later the behaviorists. They argued that people
perceive the world in ‘wholes’. “ The whole is greater than the sum of
its parts exemplifies this view.
 These psychologists argued that the mind is not made up of a
combination of elements. The German word gestalt refers to form,
whole, configuration or pattern.
 Accordingly, the Gestaltists maintained that the mind should be
thought of as resulting from the whole pattern of sensory activity and
the relationships and organizations within this pattern.
 In brief, the Gestaltists acknowledged consciousness; they just
refused to look at it in little pieces.

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 Their goal was to understand the phenomenon of conscious
experience in holistic terms and their subject matter was subjective
experience with emphasis on perception, memory and thinking.
 The tendency of the Gestalt psychologists to rely on subjective
observations and reports of conscious experience, rather than
carefully controlled behavioral methods, attracted criticism from the
behaviorists.
 Nonetheless the influence of gestalt psychology is great in some areas
of contemporary psychology, for example in the study of perception
and problem solving.

d. Behaviorism
 This school of psychology came into being with John B.
Watson( 1878-1958). Other proponents include E. Thorndike and B.F.
Skinner.
 In his 1913 an influential paper, “Psychology as the behaviorist views
it”, Watson attacked the structuralist emphasis on consciousness and
mental experience and also condemned the use of introspection as a
method which claimed to be reliable and objective.
 Psychology, he believed, should be about the study of observable
behavior that all could agree upon. He contended that psychologists
should “… never use the terms consciousness, mental states,
introspective verify, imagery, and the like.”
 Behaviorists did not reject the existence of mind and consciousness
as critics have sometimes suggested. Rather they viewed these
concepts as impossible to observe and contributing little to a scientific
approach in psychology.
 Though Watson’s view of the nature of human beings was considered
by critics to be mechanistic and oversimplified, his focus on the study
of observable behavior allowed him to formulate clear hypotheses

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 which could be tested by experimentation. This shift in emphasis
towards the use of more objective and systematic methods was one of
his greatest contributions to psychology.

e. Psychoanalysis
 Psychoanalysis, which developed from the work and theories of
Sigmund Freud (1856- 1939), proposed an account of human mental
activity which relied heavily on the notion of an unconscious mind.
 Freud originated his theory in response to patients whose symptoms,
although real, were not based on physiological malfunctioning. Hence,
in the course of treating psychiatric patients over many years, Freud
became convinced that many of the nervous symptoms displayed by
patients could not be explained purely from a physiological point of
view. Nor could the rational and systematic laws of science be applied
to irrational and self-defeating behaviors such as phobias and
conversion hysterias (physical complaints that have no apparent
physiological cause).
 Just as people have conscious motives or wishes, Freud argues, they
also have powerful unconscious motives that underlie their conscious
intentions.
 Freud considered the relation between conscious awareness and
unconscious mental forces analogues to the visible tip of an ice berg
and the vast, submerged hulk that lies out of sight beneath the water.
 Freud argued that conscious awareness is merely the tip of the
mental iceberg. Beneath the visible tip, he said, lies the unconscious
part of the mind, containing hidden wishes, passions, guilty secrets,
unspeakable yearnings, and conflicts between desire and duty. We are
not aware of our unconscious urges and thoughts as we go casually
about our daily business, yet they make themselves known- in
dreams, slips of the tongue, apparent accidents, and even jokes.

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 Before Freud’s time, most people believed their own and other’s
actions were directed by their conscious wishes and beliefs. In
contrast, Freud emphasized that these conscious desires themselves
may reflect unconscious conflicts and compromises.
 The methods used by psychoanalysts flow from their aims. They seek
to interpret meanings, that is, infer underlying wishes, fears, and
patterns of thought, from an individual’s conscious, verbalized,
thought and behavior. Based on this goal, a psychoanalyst observes a
patient’s dreams, fantasies, posture, and subtle behavior toward the
therapist. Thus, psychoanalysis lends itself to the case study method.
 In classical psychoanalysis, therapy involves Transference, the
client’s projection and displacement of thoughts and feelings on to the
analyst; Free association, where the client says what ever comes into
mind, no matter how trivial or irrelevant it may seem; and dream
analysis, which involves the analyst interpreting the content of the
client’s dreams.
 Though the psychoanalytic process may sound quite straightforward,
it is usually difficult and time consuming.
 In conclusion, the discourse made by the structural, Gestalt, and
functional schools of psychology have become part of the general store
of psychological knowledge; but the schools as such, have vanished.
 Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis on the other hand are still, in
modified forms among the current psychological perspectives.

Section-2: Theory, Methods and Sub-fields of Psychology

Psychology today is so rich in theories that it is capable of explaining

every single behavior in many ways. Not only has psychology become
diverse in its approaches, but has also developed into a profession that
renders practical services people in different walks of life. What are its
diverse perspectives for explaining behavior? How should these

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perspectives be used to facilitate a better understanding of human
behavior? What are the different fields of specialization in which
psychologists are trained to offer more practical services to people?

In this section, we will discuss these and other related questions. Read
carefully and attempt the activities and self- check exercise.

Objectives
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
 identify the six modern psychological perspectives
 compare and contrast these perspectives
 describe methods of psychology
 identify the application of the different academic and professional
branches of psychology.

2.1. Theoretical Perspectives of Psychology

a. The Physiological Perspective

 Psychologists who subscribe to this approach look to biology as a
means of describing and explaining psychological functioning.
 This perspective holds that an understanding of the brain and the
nervous system is central in the understanding of behavior,
thought and emotion. That is, our behavior, even what we think
and feel, is assumed to be linked to our physiological make up
 Some of the labels attached to researchers who take this approach,
albeit in different ways, are biopsychologist, neuropsychologist,
psychobiologist, and physiological psychologist.
 Physiological psychologists are interested in a wide range of
phenomena and issues. Research has developed rapidly over
recent years into the functions of the nervous system (particularly

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 the brain) and the hormonal system, and into how these two
systems interact and influence behavior and mental activity.

b. The Behaviorist Perspective

 Behaviorists or learning theorists focus on the influence of the
environment. They choose not to be concerned with the internal
mechanisms which occur inside the organism. Put more simply,
according to this approach, learning and experience make the kind
of person you become.
 The behaviorist approach to psychological functioning is rooted in
the works of Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson and Hull all of whom
studied learning in the form of conditioning.
 Behaviorism had a profound influence on the course of psychology
during the first half of the twentieth century.

c. The Cognitive Perspective

 This approach contrasts sharply with that of both the
psychoanalysts and the behaviorists.
 Cognitive psychologists believe that the event s occurring within a
person must be studied if behavior is to be fully understood.
 These internal events, often referred to as mediators, since they
occur between the stimulus and the behavior, include perception,
thinking processes such as problem solving, memory and
language.
 What cognitive psychologists have in common is an approach
which stresses the importance of studying the mental processes
which affect our behavior and enable us to make sense of the
world around us.
 Clearly the processes that cognitive psychologists study are not
directly observable; one can not lift off the top of an individual’s
head and observe memory at work! However, it is recognized that

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 insights into mental processes may be inferred from an individual’s
behavior, provided that such inferences are supported by objective,
empirical data. Therefore, the experimental method, with its
emphasis on objectivity control, and replicability, is often used.
 One of this perspective’s most important contributions has been to
show how people’s thoughts and explanations affect their actions,
feelings and choices.
 The cognitive approach is one of the strongest forces in
psychology today, and it has inspired an explosion of research on
the intricate workings of the mind.

d. The Socio-Cultural Perspective

 The socio-cultural perspective focuses on social and cultural
forces outside the individual. It emphasizes that culture,
ethnicity, and gender are essential to understanding behavior,
thought and emotion.
 Most of us underestimate the impact of other people, group
affiliations, and cultural rules on our actions. We are like fish
that are unaware that they live in water; so obvious is water in
their lives.
 Socio-cultural psychologists study the water- the social and
cultural environment that people “swim” in everyday.
 Within this perspective, social psychologists focus on social
rules and roles, how groups affect attitudes and behavior, why
people obey authority, and how other people- spouses, lovers,
friends, bosses, parents and strangers, affect each of us.
 Cultural psychologists examine how cultural rules and values-
both explicit and unspoken- affect people’s development,
behavior and feelings.

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e. The Psychodynamic Perspective
 This approach focuses largely on the role of motivation and past
experience in the development of personality and hence, behavior.
 It has arisen from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Freud’s
pioneering approach was the impetus of many similar theories,
which share many of the same assumptions about human beings
but which differ in conceptual details. Hence, many of Freud’s
original ideas have been adapted and modified by subsequent
psychodynamic theorists known as post-Freudians or Neo-
Freudians. Some of these post Freudians include Carl Jung, Adler,
Anna Freud, Melanie Klien and others.
 However, almost all of them emphasize the unconscious aspects of
the mind, conflict between biological instincts and society’s
demands, and early family experiences.

f. The Humanistic Perspective

 For many years psychology was dominated by two great

schools: the psychoanalysts and the behaviorists.
 Towards the middle of the 20th century, a third great force
appeared which offered a view of human beings as a free and
generous individual with the potential for growth and
fulfillment. This 3rd force gave rise to the humanistic approach.
 Humanistic psychologists ( such has Carl Rogers and Abraham
Maslow) believe that psychology should be concerned with the
subjective, conscious experience of the individual.
 They emphasize the uniqueness of human beings and their
freedom to choose their own destiny.
 They regard the use of scientific methods as inappropriate for
the study of human beings.

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  A major aim of psychology, they believe, should be to help
people maximize their potential for psychological growth.
 The humanistic view is optimistic. Humans are seen as striving
to achieve their potential- to achieve the maximum personal
growth within individual limitations.
 This has had its greatest influence in psychotherapy and in the
human-potential and self-help movements.
 In summary, although all the differences among the
perspectives mentioned are real, not all psychologists feel that
they must wear allegiance to one approach or another.
 Many perhaps most, are eclectic, applying in their research or
practice what they believe to be the best features of diverse
schools of thought.

2.2. Research Methods in Psychology

Psychology is not an absolute science and is often referred to as a 'Social
Science' or a 'Soft Science.' This is because it deals with human
thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and as we are all aware, humans are
not always predictable and reliable. Instead, we interact with our
environment in ways that alter how we behave, how we think, and how
we feel.

Nevertheless, research plays an extremely important role in psychology.

Research helps us understand what makes people think, feel, and act in
certain ways; allows us to categorize psychological disorders in order to
understand the symptoms and impact on the individual and society;
helps us to understand how intimate relationships, development,
schools, family, peers, and religion affect us as individuals and as a
society; and helps us to develop effective treatments to improve the
quality of life of individuals and groups.

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In this sense, psychological research is typically used for the following:

 Study development and external factors and the role they play
on individuals' mental health

 Study people with specific psychological disorders, symptoms,

or characteristics

 Develop tests to measure specific psychological phenomenon

 Develop treatment approaches to improve individuals' mental

health

In the following sections, you will learn about how research is conducted
and the different types of research methods used to gather information

Naturalistic Observation

 In naturalistic observation, psychologists observe behavior, in

real world settings and make no effort to manipulate or control
the situation.

 It often involves counting behaviors, such as number of

aggressive acts, number of smiles, etc.

 Psychologists conduct naturalistic observations at football

games, day care centers, kindergartens, college dormitories,
shopping malls, restaurants, and other places people live in and
frequent.

Case Study

 A case study is an in-depth look at a single individual. It refers

to following a single case, typically over an extended period of
time.

 It is used mainly by clinical psychologists when, for either

practical or ethical reasons, the unique aspects of an
individual’s life can not be duplicated.

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  A case study provides information about one person’s fears,
hopes, fantasies, traumatic experiences, upbringing, family
relationships, health, or anything that helps the psychologist
understand the person’s mind and behavior.

 A case study can involve naturalistic observations, and include

psychological testing, interviews and the application of a
treatment. A case study can gather extensive information, both
qualitative and quantitative and it can be helpful in better
understanding rare cases or very specific interventions.

 In case study, usually only one case is involved, severely

limiting the generalization to the rest of the population. It can
also be very time consuming and can involve other problems
specific to the techniques used, including researcher bias.

Survey

 Everyone has probably heard of this and some of you may

have been involved in research involving surveys. They are
often used in the news, especially to gather viewer opinions
such as during a race for president.

 Psychologists use surveys to find out about people’s

experience and attitudes by asking a large sample of
participants questions about their attitudes and behaviors.

 The two most frequently used tools of survey researchers are

questionnaires, which participants fill out by themselves,
and interviews in which researchers ask questions using a
standard format.

 In surveys it is possible to gather large amounts of

information in a relatively short time, especially now with
many surveys being conducted on the internet.

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  However, survey data is based solely on subjects’ responses
which can be inaccurate due to outright lying,
misunderstanding of the question, placebo effect, and even
the manner in which the question is asked.

Correlational Studies

 Correlation means relationship, so the purpose of a

correlational study is to determine if a relationship exists,
what direction the relationship is, and how strong it is.

 This is a useful strategy because the more strongly events

are correlated (related or associated), the more effectively we
can predict one from the other.

 However, based on results from correlational research one

cannot make any assumptions of cause and effect (explain
how third variable can be involved, or how the variables can
influence each other).

Experimental Methods

 An experiment is a carefully regulated procedure in which

one or more of the factors believed to influence the behavior
being studied are manipulated and all others are held
constant.

 If the behavior under study changes when the factor is

manipulated, we say that the manipulated factor causes the
behavior to change.

 Every experiment has two types of variables:

o Independent Variable (IV) – the variable that is

manipulated by the experimenter (input variable)

o Dependent Variable (DV) – the outcome variable

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 (results of the experiment)

By defining our variables that we will use to test our theory we derive at
our Hypothesis which is a testable form of a theory.

As an example of this, let’s say that we have a theory that people who
drive sports cars are more aggressive during interactions with others.
Our independent variable would be the type of car you drive (sports,
sedan, SUV, etc.). Our dependent variables, the outcome of our research,
would be aggression. We would need to further define aggression so that
it is something we can test such as speeding or cutting other people off
in traffic. We now have the basics of our very simple experiment and can
write our Hypothesis: People who drive sports cars drive over the speed
limit more frequently than people who drive other types of cars.

Research Biases in an Experiment

Now we’ve got a hypothesis which is the first step in doing an

experiment. Before we can continue, however, we need to be aware of
some aspects of research that can contaminate our results. In other
words, what could get in the way of our results in this study being
accurate? These aspects are called research biases, and there are
basically three main biases we need to be concerned with.

Selection Bias – occurs when differences between groups are present at

the beginning of the experiment.

Placebo Effect – involves the influencing of performance due to

the subject’s belief about the results. In other words, if I believe
the new medication will help me feel better, I may feel better even
if the new medication is only a sugar pill. This demonstrates the
power of the mind to change a person’s perceptions of reality.

Experimenter Bias – The same way a person’s belief’s can

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 influence his or her perception, so can the belief of the
experimenter. If I’m doing an experiment, and really believe my
treatment works, or I really want the treatment to work because
it will mean big bucks for me, I might behave in a manner that
will influence the subject.

Controlling for Biases

After carefully reviewing our study and determining what might affect
our results that are not part of the experiment, we need to control for
these biases. To control for selection bias, most experiments use what’s
called Random Assignment, which means assigning the subjects to
each group based on chance rather than human decision. To control for
the placebo effect, subjects are often not informed of the purpose of the
experiment. This is called a Blind study, because the subjects are blind
to the expected results. To control for experimenter biases, we can utilize
a Double-Blind study, which means that both the experimenter and the
subjects are blind to the purpose and anticipated results of the study.

What we’ve focused on what is called Experimental Methods, the true

experiment. It involves randomized assignment of subjects, standardized
instructions, and at least one IV and one DV. There are several other
types of research that are not as rigorous, but that you need to be aware
of.

2.3 Psychology as a Profession: Practice

As psychology evolved as a science, its fields of specialization multiplied,

and its educational and training requirements became formalized. The
fields of specialization in psychology can be divided into the following two
broad categories:
 Academic field of specialization, and
 Professional field of specialization.

22
Each field of specialization is further divided into sub- fields, which, in
turn, contain sub- sub fields. So young psychologists have hundreds of
potential areas of specialization from which to choose. For example, a
psychologist specializing in the field of sensation and perception might be
interested in the sub-field of vision, with special interest in tents he sub-
sub field of color vision.
2.3.1. Academic Fields of Specialization

Most of the Modules of this course will deal with the academic field of
specialization in psychology as practiced usually by psychologists
working at colleges or universities. In fact, colleges and universities are
the main employment settings for psychologists.

Many academic psychologists prefer to conduct basic research, aimed at

finding answers to psychological questions out of intellectual curiosity.
Many others prefer to conduct applied research aimed at using research
findings to prove the quality of life or to solve practical problems. Basic
research and applied research, however, are not mutually exclusive.
Many psychologists conduct both kinds of research, and findings from
basic research can often be applied for solving practical problems. For
example, basic research on learned taste aversions in rats has led to
applications in preventing cancer patients from becoming nauseated by
food, which might make them stop eating and become emaciated (thin
and weak).While the cancer patients use different drugs or chemicals
before or after eating specific food, the drugs taken produce negative or
unpleasant feeling that led to dislike the food they eat. Aversion therapy
is a method of treating habits or types of behavior that are not desirable
by causing the patient to connect them with unpleasant feelings.

The following are examples of the fields of academic specializations:

Experimental psychology: this is the largest field of academic

specialization. Experimental psychologists restrict themselves chiefly to

23
laboratory research on basic psychological processes, including
perception, learning, memory, thinking, language, motivation, and
emotion. Though this field is called experimental psychology, it is not the
only field that uses experiments. Psychologists in almost all fields of
psychology use experiments in doing their research.

Biopsychology: psychologists in the field of biopsychology study the

biological basis of behavior and mental process. the subject matter of
this field will partly be discussed in module 2 in relation to biological
foundations of behavior.

Comparative psychology: this is a field that studies similarities and

differences in the physiology, behaviors, and abilities of animals
including human beings. Comparative psychologists study motives
related to eating, drinking, aggression, courtship mating and parenting.

Developmental psychology: this field studies the factors responsible for

physical, cognitive, and social changes across the life span.

Personality psychology: this field is concerned with differences in

behavior among individuals. This field seeks answers to such questions
as: are our personalities determined more by nature or by nurture? And
to what extent do people behave consistently from one situation to
another? Personality psychologists also devise tests for assessing
personality, such as the famous Rorschach “inkblot test.”

Social psychology: it studies the effects people have on one another,

factors affecting interpersonal attraction, the problems of “groupthink” in
making important decisions, and the reasons why people are often all too
willing to harm other human beings.

2.3.2. Professional Fields of Specialization

24
Professional psychologists commonly work in settings outside of college
or university classrooms and laboratories. The following are examples of
these fields of specialization:

Clinical and counseling psychology: two of the largest fields of

professional psychology are clinical psychology and counseling
psychology, which deal with the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and
treatment of psychological disorders. Clinical psychology and counseling
psychology are so similar that even practitioners of both fields find it
difficult to specify the features that distinguish one from the other.

There is a tendency, however, for counseling psychologists to deal with

problems of everyday living related to career planning, academic
performance, and marriage and family. In contrast, a clinical
psychologist typically treats more severe disorder, including phobias,
alcoholism, drug abuse, and severe depression.

Psychiatry: clinical psychology and counseling psychology are distinct

different from the medical field of psychiatry. A psychiatrist is not a
psychologist, but a physician who has served a residency in psychiatry,
which takes medical approach to the treatment of psychological
disorders. Because psychiatrists are physicians, they may prescribe
drugs or other biomedical treatments.

School psychology: psychologists who specialize in school psychology

evaluate students for proper class placement, set up programs to
improve student academic performance and school behavior, and provide
counseling (often in cooperation with parents and teachers) to students
who are having social or academic problems. School psychologists work
in elementary schools, and high schools.

25
Educational psychology: the allied field of educational psychology tries
to improve the educational process, including curriculum, teaching, and
administration of academic programs. Educational psychologists are
usually faculty members of colleges or universities.

Industrial/organizational psychology: psychologists who practice

industrial/ organizational psychology work to increase productivity in
businesses, industries, and government agencies. They do so by
improving working conditions, methods for hiring and training employee,
and management techniques of administrators.

Forensic psychology: psychologists who practice forensic psychology

participate in the legal system. They study the validity of eyewitness
testimony, the jury deliberation process, and the best ways to select
jurors. Some forensic psychologists train police officers to handle
domestic disputes, negotiate with hostage takers, and cope with job-
related stress.

The above are examples of well- established fields of specialization in the

area of professional psychology. However, there are also some emerging
fields of professional psychology such as sport psychology, health
psychology, and environmental psychology.

Summary
Once psychology has emerged as a science with five schools of thinking,
it laid the foundation for development of a more diversified and complete
psychology. As a result psychology today has alternative theories and
methods, and wider applications.

Contemporary Perspectives

There are in general five psychological perspectives today. The

psychoanalytic perspective, founded by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the

26
influence of the biological motives of sex and aggression. Later
psychoanalysts, called neo-Freudians, down play the influence of
biological motives in interpersonal relationship. The strict behavioral
perspective, championed by B.F Skinner, rejects the study of mental
experiences in favor of the study of observable behavior. But cognitive
behaviorists accept the study of mental experiences as long as they are
carefully tied to observable behavior. The humanistic perspective,
founded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, arose as a “third force” in
opposition to both psychoanalysis and behaviorism. It favors the study of
subjective mental experience and the belief that human beings are not
merely puppets controlled by unconscious drives and environmental
stimuli. The cognitive perspective, influenced by the work of Jean piaget
Herbert Simon, views the brain as active processor of information. The
bio psychological perspective, exemplified by the work of Wilder Penfield
and Roger Sperry, favors the study of the biological basis of behavior and
mental experiences.

Psychology as a Profession

During its century of existence, psychology has seen the emergence of a

wide variety of academic and professional fields of specialization. The
academic fields of specialization are chiefly concerned with basic
research, which aims to add to our fund of knowledge about behavior
and mental processes. The major academic fields of specialization
include experimental psychology, biopsychology, and comparative
psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, and
social psychology. The professional fields of specialization are chiefly
concerned with applied research, which tries to improve the quality of
life. Among the major fields of professional psychology are clinical
psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, educational
psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, engineering
psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, and environmental
psychology.

27
Goal of Scientific Research

In conducting research, psychologists pursue the goals of description,

explanation, control and prediction. Scientific descriptions are systematic
and rely on operational definitions. Scientific predictions are
probabilistic, not certain. Scientists exert control over events by
manipulating the factors that cause them. And scientific explanations
state the causes of events.

Methods of Psychological Research

Psychologist use descriptive, correlation and experimental research

methods. Descriptive research methods pursue the goal of description
through naturalistic observation, case studies, surveys, and archival
research. Co relational research pursues the goal of prediction by
uncovering relationships between variables. In using co relational
research, psychologists avoid confusing correlation with causation.
Experimental research pursues the goals of control and explanation by
manipulating the independent variable and measuring its effect on a
dependent variable. The researcher assigns subjects to the experimental
group and control group and gives the experimental condition to the
experimental group. The control group is used only for comparative
purposes.

28
  Self-Test Exercise Unit One
Part one: Match items listed in column B with those given in column A

A B
1. Functionalism A. Early childhood experiences that
2. Gestalt psychology are stored in the unconscious
3. Structuralism mind will affect our behavior
4. Psychoanalysis throughout life.
5. Behaviorism B. Emphasized the importance of
the unconscious causes of
behavior
C. How the conscious mind helps
the individual adapt the
environment.
D. Claimed that we perceive and
think about wholes rather than
combination of separate elements.
E. Identify the components of the
conscious mind
F. Detect stimuli from the body or
surrounding

29
Part two: complete the table below by providing the appropriate information in
columns 2 (limitations) and 3 (contributions to modern psychology)
Schools of psychology Limitations Contributions to modern
psychology
Structuralism
Functionalism
Behaviorism
Gestalt psychology
School of psychoanalysis

Part three: complete the table by putting (√) sign for areas of
specialization, (either academic or professional
specialization)

No Sub-fields of specialization Academic Professional

specialization specialization
1 Experimental psychology
2 Counseling psychology
3 Developmental psychology
4 Clinical psychology
5 Comparative psychology
6 Biopsychology
7 Sport psychology
8 Health psychology
9 Social psychology
10 Personality psychology

30
 UNIT TWO
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

INTRODUCTION

 Although intimately related, sensation and perception play two

complimentary but different roles in how we interpret our world.
Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through
touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This information is sent to our
brains in raw form where perception comes into play. Perception is the
way we interpret these sensations and therefore make sense of
everything around us.

This chapter will describe various theories related to these two concepts
and explain the important role they play in the field of psychology.
Through this chapter, you will gain a better idea of how our senses work
and how this information is organized and interpreted.

Objectives
At the end of this unit, you are expected to understand:
 the meaning of sensation and perception.
 the differences and similarities of sensation and perception
 the factors affecting sensation and perception
 the principles of sensation and perception

31
2.1 Sensation

Sensation is the process by which our senses gather information and

send it to the brain. A large amount of information is being sensed at any
one time such as room temperature, brightness of the lights, someone
talking, a distant train, or the smell of perfume. With all this information
coming into our senses, the majority of our world never gets recognized.
We don't notice radio waves, x-rays, or the microscopic parasites
crawling on our skin. We don't sense all the odors around us or taste
every individual spice in our gourmet dinner. We only sense those things
we are able too since we don't have the sense of smell like a bloodhound
or the sense of sight like a hawk; our thresholds are different from these
animals and often even from each other.

2.1.1 Sensory Thresholds

How much intense must a sound be for you to detect it?

?
How much changes in light intensity must occur for you to notice it?

Absolute Threshold

The absolute threshold is the point where something becomes noticeable

to our senses. It is the softest sound we can hear or the slightest touch
we can feel. Anything less than this goes unnoticed. The absolute
threshold is therefore the point at which a stimuli goes from
undetectable to detectable states to our senses.

Difference Threshold

Once a stimulus becomes detectable to us, how do we recognize if this

stimulus changes. When we notice the sound of the radio in the other
room, how do we notice when it becomes louder. It's conceivable that
someone could be turning it up so slightly that the difference is

32
undetectable. The difference threshold is the amount of change needed
for us to recognize that a change has occurred. This change is referred to
as the Just Noticeable Difference.

This difference is not absolute, however. Imagine holding a five pound

weight and one pound was added. Most of us would notice this
difference. But what if we were holding a fifty pound weight? Would we
notice if another pound were added? The reason many of us would not is
because the change required to detect a difference has to represent a
percentage. In the first scenario, one pound would increase the weight by
20%, in the second, that same weight would add only an additional 2%.
This theory, named after its original observer, is referred to as Weber's
Law.

Signal Detection Theory

Have you ever been in a crowded room with lots of people talking?
Situations like that can make it difficult to focus on any particular
stimulus, like the conversation we are having with a friend. We are often
faced with the daunting task of focusing our attention on certain things
while at the same time attempting to ignore the flood of information
entering our senses. When we do this, we are making a determination as
to what is important to sense and what is background noise. This
concept is referred to as signal detection because we attempt to detect
what we want to focus on and ignore or minimize everything else.

2.1.2 Sensory Adaptation

Given that each of your senses is constantly bombarded by

? stimulation, why do you notice only certain stimuli?

The last concept refers to stimuli which has become redundant or

remains unchanged for an extended period of time. Have you ever

33
wondered why we notice certain smells or sounds right away and then
after a while they fade into the background? Once we adapt to the
perfume or the ticking of the clock, we stop recognizing it. This process of
becoming less sensitive to unchanging stimulus is referred to as sensory
adaptation, after all, if it doesn't change, why do we need to constantly
sense it?

Sensory Deprivation and Sensory Overload

 Human brain requires a minimum amount of sensory
stimulation in order to function normally.
 This need may help explain why people who live alone often
keep the radio or television set running continuously and why
prolonged solitary confinement is used as a form of
punishment or even torture.
 If too little stimulation (sensory deprivation) can be bad for
you, so can too much sensory overload, as it can lead to fatigue
and mental confusion.

Activity -1
1. Indicate the three conditions under which you may not be able to
sense a stimulus.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What does sensing involve?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2.2 Perception

? What is Perception?

34
As mentioned in the introduction, perception refers to interpretation of
what we take in through our senses. The way we perceive our
environment is what makes us different from other animals and different
from each other. In this section, we will discuss the various theories on
how our sensation are organized and interpreted, and therefore, how we
make sense of what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell.

2.2.1 Visual Perception: Constructing the Visual World

 In the brain, sensory signals that give rise to vision, hearing,

taste, smell, and touch are combined from moment to moment to
produce a unified model of the world. This is a process of
perception. Perception consists of three basic processes:
a) Selection
b) Organization
c) Interpretation
1) Selection: the first step in perception is selection in which we
select the stimuli to which we will attend. In almost any situation
there is an excess of sensory information, but the brain manages to
sort out the important messages from the senses and discards the
rest- a process known as selective attention.
 There are, in general, environmental, psychological and
physiological factors that influence the process of selective
attention.

How Environment Affects attention?

?
A) Environmental/stimulus factors: generally, the focus of
attention is attracted to objects or events that possess
unusual characteristics or that provide strong stimulation to

35
 the sense organs. Some of these qualities of objects/ events
(stimuli) are the following.
 Intensity: the more intense the stimulus the more it will
be attended. A bright color will attract us more than a
dull one.
 Size: we tend to notice larger compared to smaller ones.
 Contrast: what contrasts with the surrounding
environment attracts attention easily. For example a
banana in a banana in a bowel of oranges.
 Repetition: a fleeting stimulus will not catch our
attention as easily as one, which is repeated.
 Movement: something, which moves, is more likely to
attract attention than something stationary.
 Novelty: a sudden or unexpected stimulus is likely to
catch our attention more easily than the one we have
been expecting or that we have encountered.

B) Psychological factors: the focus of attention is also affected by

certain characteristics of individuals. We will mention some of them.
 Motivation: what we choose to hear or perceive is
determined largely by your current level of satisfaction or
deprivation. For example when you are hungry, you are
much more likely to notice TV commercials for doughnuts,
hamburger, or pizza than those for cars or detergent. In a
similar way you will find that when you are lonely, your
perceptions will be so affected that it will seem that everyone
is part of a happy couple except you.
 Personality and interest: for example, in a football game,
an ex-player may give attention to the football game; his
wife, a singer, may give attention to the music in the

36
 stadium; and a friend, a commentator, may give attention to
the way the referee is handling crisis situations in the play.

C) Physiological factors- one of the major physiological factors in

selection is the presence of specialized cells in the
brain called feature detectors (or feature analyzers)
that respond only to certain sensory information.

2.2.2 Gestalt Principles of Grouping

The German word "Gestalt roughly translates to "whole" or "form," and

the Gestalt psychologist's sincerely believed that the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts. In order to interpret what we receive through
our senses, they theorized that we attempt to organize this information
into certain groups. This allows us to interpret the information
completely without unneeded repetition. For example, when you see one
dot, you perceive it as such, but when you see five dots together, you
group them together by saying a "row of dots." Without this tendency to
group our perceptions, that same row would be seen as "dot, dot, dot,
dot, dot," taking both longer to process and reducing our perceptive
ability. The Gestalt principles of grouping include four types: similarity,
proximity, continuity, and closure.

 Gestalt psychologists said ‘the whole is more than the sum of its
parts”. This simply means that what is perceived has its own new
properties, properties that emerge from the organization, which
takes place.

Figure -1 Figure -2 Figure -3 Figure- 4

37
Similarity refers to our tendency to group things together based upon
how similar to each other they are. In the first figure above, we tend to
see two rows of red dots and two rows of black dots. The dots are
grouped according to similar color. In the next figure, we tend to perceive
three columns of two lines each rather than six different lines. The lines
are grouped together because of how close they are to each other, or their
proximity to one another. Continuity refers to our tendency to see
patterns and therefore perceive things as belonging together if they form
some type of continuous pattern. In the third figure, although merely a
series of dots, it begins to look like an "X" as we perceive the upper left
side as continuing all the way to the lower right and the lower left all the
way to the upper right. Finally, in the fourth figure, we demonstrate
closure, or our tendency to complete familiar objects that have gaps in
them. Even at first glance, we perceive a circle and a square.

2.2.3 Form Perception

 Refers to the way sensations are organized into meaningful shapes

and patterns.
 Gestalt Psychologists first studied form perception systematically in
Germany in the early 20th century. Gestalt Psychologists were
concerned with meaningful patterns or wholes.

The meaningful shapes or patterns or ideas that are made

 perhaps out of meaningless and discrete or pieces and bits of

sensation refer to form perception.

 They argued that perceptions are more than the sum of their sensory
parts. They proposed six major perceptual rules the brain follows
automatically and unconsciously as it organizes sensory input into
meaningful wholes:

38
 1. Figure and ground: According to this principle, dividing
visual displays into figure and ground is a fundamental way
in which we organize visual perceptions. The figure stands
out from the rest of the environment. For example, while
reading this material your eyes are receiving sensations of
black lines and white paper, but your brain organizes these
sensations and perceives letters and words against a
backdrop of white pages- the letters are the figure and the
pages are the ground.
2. Proximity/Nearness: states that objects or stimuli that are
near each other in place or time tend to be grouped together
even though they are dissimilar.
3. Similarity: objects that are alike in some way (for example in
color shape or size) tend to be perceived as belonging
together.
4. Closure: the brain tends to fill in gaps in order to perceive
complete forms. That is we tend to perceive a complete object
even though parts of it may be obscured or missing.
Someone listening to a conversation over a very bad
telephone connection may hear only bits and pieces of what
the other person is saying, but he will fill in the gaps and
perceive these sounds as whole words and sentences.
5. Good Continuation/ Continuity: States that lines, patterns
or objects tend to be seen as continuing in one direction even
if interrupted by another object.

2.2.4 Movement Perception

In our daily life, we perceive movements and use the information we get
for various things. For instance we move out of the way for oncoming
cars or we avoid collusion with hurrying people. Occasionally our

39
perceptual processes are fouled by objects that look as if they are moving
when they are not moving. So, there are two kinds of movements:

I- Real movement- the perception of real movement is the result of

an actual change in the object’s position in space. Basically, there
are two ways in which we perceive real movement: 1- an image
moves across the retina, and 2- the eyes move in the head, to
follow the path of the moving object.
II- Apparent movement- occurs when an object is static but we
perceive it as moving. There are 3 major types of apparent
movement.
1- Phi-phenomena/ stroboscopic movement- a
succession of still pictures projected fast on a screen gives a
false impression of movement. When lights or images are
flashed quickly and the brain perceives them as moving.
2- Auto-kinetic movement- a movement, which is
self generated. It is caused by the slight movement of the eye’s
focal point. For example, if a person stares at or fixates on a
small stationary spot of light in a completely dark room, the
spot will eventually appear to move.
3- Induced movement/ Movement aftereffect-
occurs when a moving object creates apparent movement on a
relatively static object. For example the moon on a cloudy,
windy night appears to be racing through the sky opposite to
the direction of the clouds, though the moon is essentially
stationary in the sky and only appears to be moving due to the
movement of the clouds.

2.2.5 Perceiving Distance

We determine distance using two different cues: monocular and

binocular. Monocular cues are those cues which can be seen using only

40
one eye. They include size; texture, overlap, shading, height, and clarity.

Size refers to the fact that larger images are perceived as closer to us,
especially if the two images are of the same object. The texture of objects
tend to become smoother as the object gets farther away, suggesting that
more detailed textured objects are closer. Due to overlap, those objects
covering part of another object is perceived as closer. The shading or
shadows of objects can give a clue to their distance, allowing closer
objects to cast longer shadows which will overlap objects which are
farther away. Objects which are closer to the bottom of our visual field
are seen as closer to us due to our perception of the horizon, where
higher (height) means farther away. Similar to texture, objects tend to
get blurry as they get farther away; therefore, clearer or crisper images
tend to be perceived as closer (clarity).

Binocular cues refer to those cues in which both eyes are needed to
perceive depth. There are two important binocular cues; convergence and
retinal disparity. Convergence refers to the fact that the closer an object,
the more inward our eyes need to turn in order to focus. The farther our
eyes converge, the closer an object appears to be. Since our eyes see two
images which are then sent to our brains for interpretation, the distance
between these two images, or their retinal disparity, provides another
cue regarding the distance of the object.

2.2.6 Maintaining Perceptual Constancy

Imagine if every time an object changed we had to completely reprocess

it. The next time you walk toward a building, you would have to re-
evaluate the size of the building with each step, because we all know as
we get closer, everything gets bigger. The building which once stood only
several inches is now somehow more than 50 feet tall.

Luckily, this doesn't happen. Due to our ability to maintain constancy in

41
our perceptions, we see that building as the same height no matter what
distance it is. Perceptual constancy refers to our ability to see things
differently without having to reinterpret the object's properties. There are
typically three constancies discussed, including size, shape, brightness.

Size constancy refers to our ability to see objects as maintaining the

same size even when our distance from them makes things appear larger
or smaller. This holds true for all of our senses. As we walk away from
our radio, the song appears to get softer. We understand, and perceive it
as being just as loud as before. The difference being our distance from
what we are sensing.

Everybody has seen a plate shaped in the form of a circle. When we see
that same plate from an angle, however, it looks more like an ellipse.
Shape constancy allows us to perceive that plate as still being a circle
even though the angle from which we view it appears to distort the
shape.

Brightness constancy refers to our ability to recognize that color

remains the same regardless of how it looks under different levels of
light. That deep blue shirt you wore to the beach suddenly looks black
when you walk indoors. Without color constancy, we would be constantly
re-interpreting color and would be amazed at the miraculous conversion
our clothes undertake.

Perceptual illusion (visual illusion)

It occurs when two objects produce the same retinal image but are
perceived as different images. It is an inappropriate interpretation of the
physical reality. Some of the most common types of illusions include.
 Visual Illusion: occurs when two objects produce almost the
same retinal image but are perceived as different images.
1. Ponzo illusion
2. Horizontal-vertical illusion

42
 3. Muller-Lyer illusion
4. Moon illusion

Fig-2
Fig-1 The figure often products an
The ponzon illusion are the Fig-3 the Muller –Lyer illusion. Most people
illusory judgment of length.
horizontal lines the same see the vertical line even though as
Which line is longer, the
length being longer even though they are the
horizontal or the vertical line?
same length. The shorter lines give an
Actually, they are the same length
illusion of depth, as in the two books on
the right.

The above illusion intentionally manipulate the cues that we use in

visual perception in create a false or illusory perception. They are
instructive, therefore, in showing us more about the process of
perception and for showing us in yet another way that what we see is
not always the same as the visual information that enters the eyes.
For examples, are the two horizontal lines in figure 1 (the Ponzo
illusion) the same size? (They are even though the upper line look
longer). How about the two lines in figure 2 (the horizontal vertical
illusion) most people see the vertical line as longer, even though they
are the same length. Consider the Muller-Lyer illusion the two vertical
lines on the left of fig. 3 are of the different because of the context
they are in ordinarily the short lines at the end of the longer lines
would be cues to depth, as in the two booklets show on the right
side of fig. 3 we see the vertical line as longer when the cues suggest
that it is farther away.

The moon illusion is based partly on the same principle when the
moon is over head, not only does it appear closer due to its vertical

43
position, but we have no distance cues, so depth cues do not accurately
influence our perception of the moon’s size.

Interpretation
 This final stage of perception is called interpretation. After selectively
sorting out incoming sensory information and organizing it into
patterns, the brain uses this information to explain and make
judgments about the external world.
 Like selection, the process of interpretation is also influenced by
several factors. The following can be examples.
 Beliefs: What we hold to be true about the world can affect
the interpretation of ambiguous sensory signals.
 Emotions: Our emotions or moods also influence our
interpretations of sensory information.
 Expectations: Previous experiences often affect how we
perceive the world. The tendency to perceive what to expect
is called perceptual set. Human beings follow the selection,
organization and interpretation stages of perceptual
processes in their understanding of environmental stimuli.
Keeping these stages, some people use their extrasensory
organs for sensation and perception. This phenomenon of
using sensory or other body parts for perception of
something with out the presence of sensory stimuli is called
extrasensory perception.

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

 Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, skin we rely on these organs for our
experience of the external world.
 Some people, however, claim they can send and receive messages
about the world without relying on the usual sensory channels, by
using Extrasensory Perception (ESP).
 Reported ESP experiences fall into four general categories:

44
  Telepathy is a direct communication from one mind to another
without the usual visual, auditory and other sensory signals.
 Clairvoyance is the perception of an event or fact without
normal sensory input.
 Precognition is the perception of an event that has not yet
happened.
 Psycho kinesis is the ability to affect the physical world purely
through thought. Persons with such abilities claim to move or
affect objects with out touching them.
 Normal perception depends on the ability to detect changes in energy
in the physical world. Claims for most forms of ESP, however,
challenge everything we currently now know to be true about the way
the world and the universe operate.
Have you ever heard such phenomena? What specific type? Do you
? believe it is true? Do you think psychologists and scientists believe
in ESP? Why?

 Self –Check Exercise unit two

Part I- compare and contrast

1. Form perception and depth perception
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Perceptual constancy and perceptual illusion
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

45
Part II- Look at the following figures and then indicate what they
represent. Indicate also the law of perceptual organization that
is at work in each of them.
Fig. A Fig. B

- What do you see? _______ - what do you see? _____

- Which law works here? _______ - Which law works here? ______

UNIT THREE
LEARNING

 In this unit, you will study the foundations of learning and

explore the nature of learning. The contents of this unit are presented in
two sections. In the first section, you will explore the nature of learning
and in the second you will focus on the theories of learning and their
applications.

Objectives
After you have studied this unit, you will be able to
 identify the characteristics of learning
 discuss some of the theories designed to explain the
characteristics of learning and

46
  use these theories to explain the different types of learned
behavior.
 describe what learning is and what it is not
 distinguish learning from other related concepts and activities
such as instinct, maturation and growth.

Section 1: The Nature of Learning

Learning is involved in everything we think and do. Quite literally we

learn all our lives. As babies, we learn to recognize the faces around us.
Then we learn to speak and play. We learn knowledge, we learn emotions
of love, hate, or fear… Generally, human skills, appreciations and
reasoning, hope, aspirations, and attitudes are generally the outcomes of
learning.

1.1 What is Learning

There are many definitions of learning. But the most widely accepted
definition is the one given below.

Learning, we may define it as any relatively permanent

 change in behavior occurring as a result of experience or

practice

Let us elaborate on this definition

First, learning is marked by a change. That is, after learning, learners are
capable of doing something that they have not been able to do before the
leaning experience. In fact, the change could be smaller or bigger in
intensity, gradual or fast in rate or speed, desirable or undesirable in
type or goal…..

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Second, the change is a change in behavior. Behavior, for our present
purpose, may mean both covert mental activities including attitude and
knowledge and overt activities like skills or actions or performances, or
simply responses.

Third, the change in behavior coming as a result of learning is relatively

permanent. That is, it is neither transitory temporary) nor fixed once and
for all. Apart from learning, other events may modify behavior, such as
fatigue, illness and drugs. Obviously these events and their effects come
and go quickly as learning stays until forgetting occurs over time or until
new learning displaces old learning. Thus, temporary states may modify
behavior, but with learning, the modification is relatively permanent.
However, the duration of the modification that results from either
learning or temporary body states cannot be given exactly. It is just like
asking “how long is long or how short is short?” A person who takes a
drink at a party and who becomes highly sociable for the duration of the
effects of the alcohol is not considered to have learned social behavior.
The transitory change in behaviors explained in terms of the temporary
removal of inhibitions that ordinarily interfere with social life is not a
learned behavior rather it is temporary change of behavior that does not
qualify learning.

Fourth, the relatively, permanent change in behavior must come from

experience or practice than other factors such as growth, maturation,
injury…. For example, a child who is talking and walking at an
appropriate age can be considered to develop these behaviors solely as a
result of learning. It is as well the result of growth and maturation.

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Furthermore, changes due to sensitization and habituation must not be
accepted as examples of learning. Though both are examples of behavior
modification or change that result from experience, both are short lived.

Sensitization is the process whereby an organism is made more

responsible to certain aspects of this environment. An organism that may
not ordinarily respond to a certain sound may respond after receiving a
shock. The shock has, therefore, sensitized the organism. Habituation is
the process whereby and organism becomes less responsive to the
environment. For example, there is a tendency which is referred to as
orienting reflex and is exemplified when a dog turns in a direction of a
sound that suddenly occurs. After attending to the sound for some time,
however, the dog will eventually ignore it (assuming that it poses no
threat or danger) and go about its other business. We say, in this case,
the dog’s response to sound has habituated.

Section -2: Theories and Application of Learning

This section makes a further attempt to discuss the nature of learning,

types and mechanisms of learning. It will introduce you to the different
definitions, types, methods, principles and applications of learning.
Beginning with the simple forms of learning, which even animals can
make, you will proceed to the more complex form of learning that is
typically human. In doing so, you will consider three principles and
theories with their possible implications and applications, classical
conditioning, operant conditioning and cognitive learning.

Objectives
When you have completed this section, you will be able to:
 describe the major principles and procedures of classical or
operant conditioning;

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  list down the limitation of classical conditioning
 describe the principles, procedures and applications of
operant conditioning
 list down the limitation of operant conditioning
 compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning
 compare and contrast conditioning and cognitive learning.

2.1 Classical Conditioning

 Classical conditioning was the first kind of learning to be studied

systematically.
 At the turn of the 19th century the Great Russian physiologist was
studying salivation in dogs as part of a research program on
digestion.
 One of his procedures was to make a surgical opening in a dog’s
cheek and insert a tube that conducts saliva away from the animals
salivary gland so that the saliva could be measured.
 To stimulate the reflexive flow of saliva, Pavlov placed meat powder or
other food in the dog’s mouth.
 During the salivation studies, one of Pavlov’s students noticed
something that most people would have overlooked or dismissed as
trivial.
 After a dog had been brought to the laboratory a number of times, it
started to salivate before the food was placed in its mouth. The sight
or smell of the food, the dish in which the food was kept, even the
sight of the person who delivered the food each day or the sound of
the person’s footsteps were enough to start the dog’s mouth watering.
 At first, Pavlov treated the dog's salivation as just an annoying
secretion. But, he quickly realized that his student had stumbled onto
an important phenomenon, one that Pavlov came to believe was the
basis of a great deal of learning in human beings and other animals.

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 He called that phenomenon a conditional reflex- conditional because it
depended on environmental conditions.
 Later, an error in the translation of his writings transformed
conditional into conditioned, the word most commonly used today.
 Pavlov soon devoted what he had been doing and turned to the study
of conditioned reflexes, to which he devoted the last three decades of
his life. Why were his dogs salivating to things other than food?
 At first Pavlov speculated about what his dogs might be thinking and
feeling to make them salivate before getting their food. Eventually,
however, he decided that speculating about his dog’s mental abilities
was pointless.
 Instead, he focused on analyzing the environment in which the
conditioned reflex arose. The original salivary reflex, according to
Pavlov, consisted of an unconditioned stimulus (US), food, and
unconditioned response (UR), salivation.
 By unconditioned stimulus, Pavlov meant an event or thing that
elicits a response automatically or reflexively. By an unconditional
response, he meant the response that is automatically produced.
 Learning occurs, said Pavlov, when a neutral stimulus is regularly
paired with an unconditioned stimulus. The neutral stimulus then
becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), which elicits a learned or a
conditioned response (CR) that is usually similar to the original,
unlearned one.
 In Pavlov’s laboratory, the sight of the food dish, which had not
previously elicited salivation, became a CS for salivation. The
procedure by which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned
stimulus became known as Classical Conditioning, also called
Respondent conditioning.
 Since Pavlov’s day, many automatic involuntary responses besides
salivation have been classically conditioned- for example, heartbeat,

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 stomach secretions, blood pressure, reflexive movements, blinking,
and muscle contractions.
 The optimal interval between the presentation of the neutral stimulus
and the presentation of the US depends on the kind of response
involved; in the laboratory, the interval is often less than a second.
 In general for classical conditioning to be most effective, the stimulus
to be conditioned should precede the unconditioned stimulus rather
than follow it or occur simultaneously with it. The diagram below
summarizes the steps involved in classical conditioning.

Steps in Classical conditioning

Before Conditioning

Neutral Stimulus (CS?) No Response/ Irrelevant Response

(Bell)
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) UR (Salivation)
(Meat)
During Conditioning
NS (CS?) (Bell)
+
US (Meat) UR (Salivation)
After Conditioning
CS (Bell) CR (Salivation).

Factors that Affect Classical conditioning

Several factors influence the extent to which classical conditioning will
occur. These include the inter stimulus interval, the individual’s learning
history and the organism’s preparedness to learn.
1. Interstimulus interval: This is the duration of time between the
presentation of the CS and the US. For most motor and skeletal
responses, the optimal interval between the CS and the US is very

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 brief. The temporal relationship between the CS and US- i.e. which
stimulus comes first- is also crucial. Maximal conditioning occurs
when the onset of the CS(Bell) precedes the US(meat), known as
forward conditioning. Less effective than forward conditioning is
simultaneous conditioning, in which the CS(Bell) and US(meat) are
presented at the same time. A third pattern, backward conditioning, is
the least effective of all. Here, the CS is presented after the US has
occurred.
2. The individual’s learning history: An extinguished response tends
to be easier to learn the second time around because the stimulus
was once associated with the response. Sometimes previous
conditioning can also hinder learning. Consider a dog that has been
conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell. The researcher now
wants to condition the dog to associate the food with an additional
stimulus, a flash of light. The dog will probably have difficulty
learning this new association. This phenomenon is known as
blocking. It is failure of a stimulus to elicit a CR when it is combined
with another stimulus that is already effective in eliciting the
response.
3. Preparedness to learn: An organism's preparation for learning affects
the learning processes. A dog's readiness to expect a food immediately
after the ringing of bell increases the probability of learning the
association of a bell sound and the food.

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Principles of Classical Conditioning
 Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery: Extinction in classical
conditioning refers to a condition by which a CR is weakened by
presentation of the CS without the US. Without the continued
association with the US the CS loses its power to illicit CR. In
other words, if after conditioning, the CS is repeatedly presented
without the US, the CR eventually disappears, and extinction is
said to have occurred. Pavlov rang the bell repeatedly in a single
session and did not give the dog any food. Eventually, the dog
stopped salivating.
 Extinction is not always the end of the CR. After extinction a CR
may suddenly reappear even without further conditioning trials.
This is referred to as Spontaneous Recovery. The day after Pavlov
extinguished the conditioned salivation at the sound of a bell, he
took the dog to the laboratory and rang the bell, still not giving the
dog meat powder. The dog salivated, indicating that an
extinguished response can spontaneously recur. The
spontaneous recovery of CR is short lived however, will rapidly
extinguish again without renewed pairings of the CS and US.
 Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination: After a stimulus
becomes a conditioned stimulus for some response, other, similar
stimuli may produce a similar reaction- a phenomenon known as
stimulus generalization. It occurs when an organism produces a
CR to other stimuli that have not been paired with the original US.
For instance, in Watson and Rayner’s experiment, the pairing of
the rat and the loud noise produced a fear in little Albert not only
of the rat but also of other furry or hairy objects, including the
rabbit, the dog, the fur coat, and other similar objects. As one
might guess, the more a stimulus resembles the original CS, the
more likely stimulus generalization will take place.

54
  The capacity for stimulus generalization is highly adaptive. A child
who associates feelings of comfort and relief with the neighborhood
police officer will seek out other officers when she needs help
because they, too, evoke feelings of relief. Generalization is not
always adaptive however. A major component of adaptive learning
is knowing when to generalize and when to be more specific or
discriminating. Maladaptive patterns in humans often involve
inappropriate generalization from one set of circumstances to
others, as when a person who has been frequently criticized by a
parent responds negatively to all authority figures.
 Most of the time, however, people do not generalize quite so
broadly. Instead like other animals, they discriminate between
stimuli. Stimulus discrimination is the opposite of stimulus
generalization. Pavlov’s dog did not salivate in response to just any
sound.
 Higher Order Conditioning: Sometimes a neutral stimulus can
become a CS by being paired with an already established CS, a
procedure known as higher order conditioning.
Activity-2

Describe the following terms in your own words

1. Classical conditioning _______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. Neutral stimulus____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Neutral response ____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

55
4. Unconditioned stimulus/Natural stimulus ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Unconditioned response/Natural response ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6. Conditioned stimulus _______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
7. Conditioned response _______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
8. Higher-order conditioning ___________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
9. Stimulus generalization _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

10. Stimulus discrimination ___________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
11. Extinction _________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
12. Spontaneous recovery ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

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2.2. Operant Conditioning

 An emphasis on environmental consequences is at the heart of

Operant Conditioning (also called Instrumental Conditioning), the
second type of conditioning studied by Behaviourists.
 In operant conditioning, the organism's response operates or
produces effects on the environment. These effects, in turn, influence,
whether the response will occur again.
 Operant conditioning has been studied since the start of the 20 th
century, although it was not called that until later. Edward Thorndike
set the stage by observing cats as they tried to escape from a complex
“puzzle box” to reach a scrap of fish located just outside the box.
 In this study a hungry cat was placed in a small cage, or “puzzle box”
with food available just outside. The cat could escape to obtain the
food by performing a simple response, such as pulling a wire or
depressing a lever. After each escape, the cat was rewarded with a
small amount of food and then returned to the cage for another trial.
 Thorndike monitored how long it took the cat get out of the box on
each trial- over a long series of trials. If the cat could "think",
Thorndike reasoned, there would be a sudden drop in the time
required to escape when the cat recognized the solution to the
problem.
 Instead of a sudden drop, Thorndike observed a very gradual, uneven
decline in the time it took the cats to escape from his puzzle boxes.
The decline in solution time showed that the cats were learning but,
Thorndike concluded that their learning did not depend on thinking
and understanding.
 Instead he attributed this learning to a principle called the law of
effect. According to the law of effect, if a response in the presence of
a stimulus leads to satisfying effects, the association between the
stimulus and the response is strengthened.

57
 This general principle was elaborated and extended to more complex
forms of behavior by B.F Skinner. He moved beyond Thorndike by
arguing that this principle governs complex human learning as well as
simple animal learning.
 Skinner argued that to understand behavior we should focus on the
external causes of an action and the action’s consequences. To
explain behavior, he said, we should look outside the individual, not
inside.
 In Skinner’s analysis, a response (“operant”) can lead to three
types of consequences: such as a) A neutral consequence b) A
reinforcement c) punishment
a) A neutral Consequence that does not alter the response.
b) A reinforcement that strengthens the response or makes it more
likely to recur. A reinforcer is any event that increases the
probability that the behavior that precedes it will be repeated.
There are two basic types of reinforcers or reinforcing stimuli:
primary and secondary reinforcers.
o Primary reinforcers: Food, water. Light, stroking of the skin,
and a comfortable air temperature are naturally reinforcing
because they satisfy biological needs. They are, therefore,
known as primary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers, in general,
have the ability to reinforce without prior learning.
o Secondary Reinforcers: Behaviours can be controlled by
secondary reinforcers. They reinforce behavior because of their
prior association with primary reinforcing stimuli. Money,
praise, applause, good grades, awards, and gold stars are
common secondary reinforcers.
 Both primary and secondary reinforcers can be positive or negative.
Positive reinforcement is the process whereby presentation of a
stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur again.

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 Negative reinforcement is the process whereby termination of an
aversive stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur. The basic
principle of negative reinforcement is that eliminating something
aversive can itself be a reinforser or a reward. For example, if
someone nags you all the time to study, but stops nagging when you
comply, your studying is likely to increase- because you will then
avoid the nagging.
 This can be an example of what is called escape learning. In escape
learning animals learn to make a response that terminates/stops a
noxious, painful or unpleasant stimulus. Another kind of learning,
which is similar, but not the same as escape learning is Avoidance
Learning, which refers to learning to avoid a painful, noxious
stimulus prior to exposure.

Schedules of reinforcement
 When a response is first acquired, learning is usually most rapid if the
response is reinforced each time it occurs. This procedure is called
continuous reinforcement.
 However, once a response has become reliable, it will be more
resistant to extinction if it is rewarded on an intermittent (partial)
schedule of reinforcement, which involves reinforcing only some
responses, not all of them. There are four types of intermittent
schedules.
1. Fixed-ratio schedules: A fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement
occurs after a fixed number of responses. They produce very
rate of responding. Employers to increase productivity often use
fixed ratio schedules. An interesting feature of a fixed ratio
schedule is that performance sometimes drops off just after
reinforcement.
2. Variable-Ratio Schedule: A variable ratio schedule of
reinforcement occurs after some average number of responses,

59
 but the number varies from reinforcement to reinforcement. A
variable ratio schedule of produces extremely high steady rates
of responding. The responses are more resistant to extinction
than when a fixed ratio schedule is used.
3. Fixed Interval Schedule: A fixed interval schedule of
reinforcement occurs only if a fixed amount of time has passed
since the previous reinforcer.
4. Variable Interval Schedule: A variable interval schedule of
reinforcement occurs only if a variable amount of time has
passed since the previous reinforcer.
 A basic principle of operant conditioning is that if you want a
response to persist after it has been learned, you should reinforce it
intermittently, not continuously. Because the change from continuous
reinforcement to none at all will be so large that the animal or person
will soon stop responding. But if you have been giving the
reinforcement only every so often, the change will not be dramatic and
the animal/ person will keep responding for a while.

c) Punishment- is a stimulus that weakens the response or makes it

less likely to recur. Punishers can be any aversive (unpleasant) stimuli
that weaken responses or make them unlikely to recur. Like reinforcers,
punishers can also be primary or secondary.
 Pain and extreme heat or cold are inherently punishing and are
therefore known as primary punishers.
 Criticism, demerits, catcalls, scolding, fines, and bad grades are
common secondary punishers.
 The positive-negative distinction can also be applied to puishment.
Something unpleasant may occur following some behaviour (positive
punishment), or something pleasant may be removed (negative
punishment).

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The Pros and Cons of Punishment
When Punishment works:
 Immediacy – When punishment follows immediately after the
behavior to be punished.
 Consistency- when punishment is inconsistent the behaviour
being punished is intermittently reinforced and therefore
becomes resistant to extinction.
 Intensity- In general terms severe punishments are more
effective than mild ones. But, there are studies that indicate
that even less intense punishments are effective provided that
they are applied immediately and consistently.

When punishment fails

1. People often administer punishment inappropriately or mindlessly.
They swing in a blind rag or shout things they do not mean applying.
Punishment is so broad that it covers all sorts of irrelevant behaviors.
2. The recipient of punishment often responds with anxiety, fear or
rage. Through a process of classical conditioning, these emotional
side effects may then generalize to the entire situation in which the
punishment occurs- the place, the person delivering the punishment,
and the circumstances. These negative emotional reactions can create
more problems than the punishment solves. For instance,a teenager
who has been severely punished may strike back or run away. Being
physically punished in childhood is a risk factor for depression, low
self-esteem, violent behavior and many other problems.
3. The effectiveness of punishment is often temporary, depending heavily
on the presence of the punishing person or circumstances
4. Most behavior is hard to punish immediately.
5. Punishment conveys little information. An action intended to punish
may instead be reinforcing because it brings attention.

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Shaping
 For a response to be reinforced, it must first occur. But, suppose
you to train a child to use a knife and a fork properly. Such
behaviors, and most others in every day life, have almost no
probability of appearing spontaneously.
 The operant solution for this is shaping. Shaping is an operant
conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a
desired response are reinforced.
 In shaping you start by reinforcing a tendency in the right
direction. Then you gradually require responses that are more and
more similar to the final desired response. The responses that you
reinforce on the way to the final one are called successive
approximations.

Principles of Operant Conditioning

 Extinction: In operant conditioning, extinction refers to the gradual
weakening of and disappearance of a response tendency because the
response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.
 Spontaneous Recovery: Just as in a classical conditioning, animals
and people whose operant behaviors have been extinguished may
recover them. This is called spontaneous recovery.
 Stimulus Generalization: Stimulus generalization describes the
phenomenon whereby an animal or a person has learned a response
to one stimulus and then applies it to other similar stimuli.
 Stimulus Discrimination: The tendency for a response to occur in
the presence of a stimulus but not in the presence of other, similar
stimuli that differ from it on some dimension.
Do you agree with the notion that punishing children whenever
? they do wrong would improve their behavior?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

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2.3 Cognitive Learning Theories

Both classical and operant conditioning have traditionally been explained

by the principle of contiguity i.e. the close association of events in time
and space. Contiguity has been used to explain the association of a
conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus in classical
conditioning and the association of a behavior and its consequences in
operant conditioning.

Cognitive learning may take three forms:

1. Observational learning
2. Latent learning
3. Insight learning (gestalt learning or perceptual learning)

 For half a century, most American learning theories held that learning
could be explained by specifying the behavioral “ABCs” – antecedents
(events preceding behavior), behaviors, and consequences.
 In the 1940s, two social scientists proposed a modification they called
social learning theory. Most human learning, they argued, is acquired
by observing other people in social context, rather than through
standard conditioning procedures.
 By 1960s and 1970s, social learning theory was in full bloom, and a
new element had been added: the human capacity for higher level of
cognitive processes.
 Its proponents agreed with behaviorists that human beings, along
with the rat and the rabbit, are subject to the laws of operant and
classical conditioning. But, they added that human beings, unlike the
rat and the rabbit, are full of attitudes, beliefs and expectations that
affect the way they acquire information, make decisions, reason, and
solve problems.

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 These mental processes affect what individuals will do at any given
moment and also, more generally the personality traits they develop.

1. Learning by Observing
 Refers to learning by watching what others do and what happens to
them for doing it).
 Behaviorists have always acknowledged the importance of
observational learning, which they call vicarious conditioning, and
have tried to explain it in stimulus response terms.
 But social cognitive theorists believe that in human beings,
observational learning cannot be fully understood without taking into
account the thought processes of the learner.
 They emphasize the knowledge that results when a person sees a
model- behaving in certain ways and experiencing the consequences.
 Many years ago, Albert Bandura and his colleagues showed just how
important observational learning is, especially for children who are
learning the rules of social behavior.
What are the implications of the finding on children
?
watching violence shown on TV?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. Latent Learning
 ‘Latent’ means hidden, and thus latent learning is learning that
occurs but is not evident in behavior until later, when conditions for
its appearance are favorable.
 It is said to occur without reinforcement of particular responses and
seems to involve changes in the way information is processed.

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 In a classic experiment, Tolman and C.H Honzic(1930) placed three
groups of rats in mazes and observed their behavior each day for more
than two weeks.
 The rats in Group 1 always found food at the end of the maze. Group
2 never found food. Group 3 found no food for ten days but then
received food on the eleventh. The Group 1 rats quickly learned to
head straight the end of the maze without going blind alleys, whereas
Group 2 rats did not learn to go to the end. But, the group of three
rats were different. For ten days they appeared to follow no particular
route. Then, on the eleventh day they quickly learned to run to the
end of the maze. By the next day, they were doing, as well as group
one, which had been rewarded from the beginning.
 Group three rats had demonstrated latent learning, learning that is
not immediately expressed. A great deal of human learning also
remains latent until circumstances allow or require it to be expressed.

3. Insight Learning
 It is cognitive process whereby we reorganize our perception of a
problem. It doesn’t depend on conditioning of particular behaviors
for its occurrence. Sometimes, for example, people even wake from
sleep with the solution to a problem that they had not been able to
solve during the day.
 In a typical insight situation a problem is posed, a period follows
during where no apparent progress is made, then the solution
comes suddenly. What has been learned in insight learning can
also be applied easily to other similar situations.
 Human beings who solve a problem insightfully usually experience
a good feeling called an 'aha' experience.

Summary

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In unit 2 of this module you examined the environmental foundation of
mind and behavior. Describing environmental foundations in terms of
learning, an attempt was made to examine the nature of learning and the
theories and applications of learning.

Learning is a relatively permanent change in knowledge, attitude and

behavior as a result of practice or experience.

Learning differs from instinct reflex, growth and maturation because the
latter are biological in nature. Learning, on the other, is external in that
it represents the interaction of an individual with his environment.
Learning involves arousal or motivation, performance and reinforcement
to result in behavioral changes.

Some of the ways in which learning occurs include trial-and-error,

observation or imitation, and instruction, training, advice, or tutoring.
These three methods of learning are used in the different types of
learning. Conditioning, for example, is based on trial and-error while
cognitive learning involves observation and instruction.

There major groups of theories exist regarding learning

 The classical conditioning model,
 The operant conditioning mode, and
 The cognitive learning theories

According to Pavlov's classical conditioning model, or respondent

learning, learning is the process of controlling reflexes. Classical
conditioning is a form of learning in which the originally neutral stimulus
inherits the characteristics of the two stimuli. Pavlov’s classical
conditioning model assumes that all of our behaviors are reactions we
make to the environment acting as-stimulus-response learning.

66
The popular Harvard University professor B.F. Skinner argued that
Pavlov’s model explains only the situation of elicited responses. However,
humans can show behaviors without specific stimuli preceding them.
These groups of response are known as emitted responses. According to
Skinner, responses that are reinforced are likely to occur again. Behavior
for Skinner is acquired, as a means of getting certain desired end states.
He introduced concepts like positive and negative reinforcement,
punishment, and extinction as mechanisms of shaping human
behaviors, Skinner’s model is in general described as response-stimulus
learning.

Both skinner and Pavlov’s learning show the formation of associations

between response and stimuli. Other psychologists disagree with this
rather simplistic view. Cognitive theorists are cases in this point. They
say that learning is a more complex mental process and less observable
activities. They have identified three such types of learning-insight
learning, latent learning, and observational or social learning. In all these
types of learning, the most important factors are thinking and problem
solving but not learning association.

 Self –Test Exercise unit three

Answer the following questions in the spaces provided.
1. Compare and contrast
1.1 Stimulus generalization and discrimination
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
1.2 Conditioning and extinction
___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
1.3 Extinction and spontaneous recovery

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 _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning models
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. Compare and contrast conditioning and cognitive learning ___________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
UNIT FOUR
MEMORY
INTRODUCTION

 Dear student what comes to your mind about memory? What is

the meaning of memory? What is the function of memory in your
studying?

Intelligent life does not exist without memory. Imagine what life could
mean to a person who is unable to recall things that are already seen,
tested, heard before. If you don’t have a memory, you cannot remember
whatever information you acquire that makes your life disorganized,
confused and meaningless.

Your memory provides the function that your life to have continuity in
place and time, adapt to the new situations by using previous skills and
information, enriches your emotional life by recoiling your positive and
negative life experiences.

Objectives
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
 define memory
 comprehended the nature of memory including its meaning
and types

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  explain the process that are at work in memory functions, and
 explain the factors underlying the persistence, and loss of
memory.

Memory is the retention of information/what is learned earlier over time.

It is the way in which we record the past for later use in the present.
Memory is a blanket label for a large number of processes that form the
bridges between our past and our present. To learn about the nature of
memory, it is useful to separate the process from the structure.

4.1 Memory Processes

? How do you form the memory of events you sense?

Memory process is the mental activities we perform to put information

into memory, to keep it there, and to make use of it later. This involves
three basic steps:
a) Encoding: Taken from computer science, the term encoding
refers to the form (i.e. the code) in which an item of
information is to be placed in memory. It is the process by
which information is initially recorded in a form usable to
memory. In encoding we transform a sensory input into a
form or a memory code that can be further processed.
b) Storage: To be remembered the encoded experience must
leave some record in the nervous system (the memory trace);
it must be squirreled away and held in some more or less
enduring form for later use. This is what memory specialists
mean when they speak of placing information in storage. It is
the location in memory system in which material is saved.
Storage is the persistence of information in memory.

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 c) Retrieval: is the point at which one tries to remember to
dredge up a particular memory trace from among all the
others we have stored. In retrieval, material in memory
storage is located, brought into awareness and used.
? Try to explain the three memory processes with examples?

Failure to remember can result from problems during any of the three
phases of the memory process. If, fore example, you encode a new item of
information only as a sound pattern, there would be no memory trace of
its meaning. If both the sound and the meaning were encoded and held
for the length of the retention interval, the item might have been misfiled
in memory. If so, the item might be impossible to retrieve even though it
is still stored in memory.

Memory is the process by which information is encoded

(phase1), stored (phase 2) and later retrieved (phase 3).

4.2 Structure/Stages/Forms of Memory

 Memory structure is the nature of memory storage itself- how

information is represented in memory and how long it lasts
and how it is organized.
 Although people usually refer to memory as a single faculty, the
term memory actually covers a complex collection of abilities and
processes.
 The cognitive perspective has dominated psychology’s view of
memory for the past years although in recent years it has become

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 integrated with understanding of the neuro-psychology of
memory. Many cognitive psychologists relate the mind to an
information processor, along the lines of a digital computer that
takes items of information in; processes them in steps or stages,
and then produces an output.
 Consider how the computer works; First, it takes in information
(for instance via keystrokes) and translates the information into
an electronic language, then the computer permanently stores the
information on a disc, and finally it retrieves the information (file)
stored on a disc on to a working memory (which also receives new
information from the keyboard) and the information is put on to
the screen as part of the working memory.
 Models of memory based on this idea are Information processing
theories. Like the computer, we also store vast amounts of
information in our memory store house. From this storehouse, we
can retrieve some information onto a limited capacity working
memory, which also receives information from our current
experience. Part of this working memory is displayed on the
mental “screen” we call consciousness. A number of such models
of memory have been proposed. One of the most important and
influential of these is the one developed by Richard Atkinson and
Richard Shiffrin(1968). According to Atkinson and Shiffrin,
memory has three structures:

1. Sensory Memory/Sensory Register: It is the entry way to memory. It

is the first information storage area. Sensory memory acts as a
holding bin, retaining information until we can select items for
attention from the stream of stimuli bombarding our senses.

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It gives us a brief time to decide whether information is extraneous or
important. Sensory memory includes a number of separate subsystems,
as many as there are senses. It can hold virtually all the information
reaching our senses for a brief time.

For instance, visual images (Iconic memory) remain in the visual system
for a maximum of one second. Auditory images (Echoic memory) remain
in the auditory system for a slightly longer time, by most estimates up to
two second or so.

The information stored sensory in memory is a fairly accurate

representation of the environmental information but unprocessed.
Most information briefly held in the sensory memory simply decays from
the register. However, some of the information that has got attention and
recognition pass on short-term memory for further processing.

2. Short-term Memory: is part of our memory that holds the contents

of our attention. Unlike sensory memories, short-term memories are
not brief replicas of the environmental message. Instead, they consist
the by-products or end results of perceptual analysis. STM is
important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading, speaking,
and problem solving. There are various terms used to refer to this
stage of memory, including working memory, immediate memory,
active memory, and primary memory.

Why do we call STM as a working memory?

?

Short term memory is distinguished by four characteristics:

 It is active- information remains in STM only so long as the
person is consciously processing, examining, or manipulating it.

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 People use STM as a “workspace” to process new information and
to call up relevant information from LTM.
 Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is readily available for
use. In this respect, the difference between STM and LTM is the
difference between pulling a file from the top of a desk versus
searching for it in a file drawer, or between searching for
information in an open computer file versus file stored on the hard
drive.
 Preserves the temporal sequence of information- STM usually
helps us to maintain the information in sequential manner for
a temporary period of time. It keeps the information fresh until it goes to
further analysis and stored in LTM in meaningful way.
 Limited capacity- Years ago, George Miller (1956) estimated the
capacity of STM to be “the magic number seven plus or minus 2”.
That is, on the average, people can hold about seven pieces of
information in STM at a time; with a normal range from five to nine
items. Some researchers have questioned whether Miller’s magical
number is so magical after all. Everyone agrees, however, that the
number of items that short-term memory can handle at any one
time is small.

According to most models of memory, we overcome this problem, by

grouping small groups of information into larger units or chunks.
Chunking is the grouping or “packing” of information into higher order
units that can be remembered as single units. Chunking expands
working memory by making large amounts of information more
manageable. The real capacity of short-term memory, therefore, is not a
few bits of information but a few chunks. A chunk may be a word, a
phrase, a sentence, or even a visual image, and it depends on previous
experience.

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STM memory holds information (sounds, visual images, words, and
sentences and so on) received from SM for up to about 30 seconds by
most estimates. It is possible to prolong STM indefinitely by rehearsal-
the conscious repetition of information. Material in STM is easily
displaced unless we do something to keep it there.

3. Long Term Memory

It is a memory system used for the relatively permanent storage of

meaningful information. The capacity of LTM seems to have no practical
limits. The vast amount of information stored in LTM enables us to learn,
get around in the environment, and build a sense of identity and
personal history. LTM stores information for indefinite periods. It may
last for days, months, years, or even a lifetime.

Activity-3
Attempt to describe each type of information, its capacity and
characteristics in the following tables.

Type of memory Type of information Capacity Characteristics Duration

1. Sensory
memory
2. Short term
memory
3. Long –term
memory

The LTM is assumed to be composed of different sub systems:

 Declarative/ explicit memory- the conscious recollection of
information such as specific facts or events that can be verbally
communicated. It is further subdivided into semantic and
episodic memories.
 Semantic memory- factual knowledge like the meaning of words,
concepts and our ability to do math. They are internal

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 representations of the world, independent of any particular
context.
 Episodic memory- memories for events and situations from
personal experience. They are internal representations of
personally experienced events.
 Non-declarative/ implicit memory- refers to a variety of
phenomena of memory in which behaviour is affected by prior
experience without that experience being consciously recollected.
One of the most important kinds of implicit memory is procedural
memory. It is the “how to” knowledge of procedures or skills:
Knowing how to comb your hair, use a pencil, or swim.

Activity-4
1. Regarding the importance of human memory
1.1 What do you think will happen to you if you are without memory
of any kind? ______________________________________________________
1.2 What do you think the usefulness of memory?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
1.3 Do you think that animals have memory?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. How many types of memory do we have?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2.1 Classify memory using

2.1.1. Time spent in memory information?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2.1.2. Type of information we have?

___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

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3. List out the different sub systems of long term memory and their
characteristics?
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Serial Position Effect

 The three-box model of memory is often invoked to explain
interesting phenomenon called the serial position effect. If you
are shown a list of items and are then asked immediately to recall
them, your retention of any particular item will depend on its
position in the list. That is, recall will be best for items at the
beginning of the list (the primacy effect) and at the end of the list
(the recency effect). When retention of all the items is plotted, the
result will be a U-shaped curve.
 A serial position effect occurs when you are introduced to a lot
of people at a party and find you can recall the names of the first
few people you met and the last, but almost no one in between.
 According to the three-box model, the first few items on a list are
remembered well because short-term memory was relatively
“empty” when they entered, so these items did not have to
compete with others to make it into long term memory. They were
thoroughly processed, so they remain memorable.
 The last few items are remembered for a different reason: At the
time of recall, they are still sitting in STM. The items in the middle
of the list, however, are not so well retained because by the time
they get into short-term memory, it is already crowded. As a
result many of these items drop out of short-term memory before
they can be stored in long-term memory.
What account for the serial-position effect?
?

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Forgetting

Dear students why do human beings forget information? In what way

and how do we forgot that information? Is forgetting bad or good for us?

From the store house of information, most of us forget the names of

individuals, names of places and other information’s. In our daily living,
we encounter so much information. if we attempt to encode, store and
recall all the information we face daily, we are in trouble. Hence, we are
selective in storing and forgetting information. Sometimes we are
motivated to forgot something and recall what we want to remember.
Psychologists call this phenomenon as motivated forgetting?
 Psychologists generally use the term forgetting to refer to the
apparent loss of information already encoded and stored in the
long-term memory.
 The first attempts to study forgetting were made by German
psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885/1913). Using himself as
his only subject, he memorized lists of three letter non-sense
syllables- meaningless sets of two consonants with a vowel in
between, such as FIW and BOZ.
 By measuring how easy it was to relearn a given list of words after
varying periods of time from initial learning had passed., he found
that forgetting occurred systematically.
 The most rapid forgetting occurs in the first hours, and
particularly in the first hour. After nine hours, the rate of
forgetting slows and declines little, even after the passage of many
days.
 Ebbinghaus’s research had an important influence on subsequent
research, and his basic conclusions had been upheld. There is
almost always a strong initial decline in memory, followed by a
more gradual drop over time.

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  Furthermore, relearning of previously mastered material is almost
always faster than starting from a scratch, whether the material is
academic information or a motor skill such as serving a tennis
ball.
 Psychologists have proposed five mechanisms to account for
forgetting: decay, replacement of old memories by new ones,
interference, motivated forgetting, and cue dependent forgetting.

Activity-5
1. Do you think lost memories can be recovered? How
_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2. How can we improve our memories?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

1. The Decay Theory

 The decay theory holds that memory traces or engram fade
with time if they are not “accessed” now and then. This
explanation assumes that when new material is learned a
memory trace or engram- an actual physical change in the
brain- occurs.
 In decay, the trace simply fades away with nothing left
behind, because of the passage of time. We have already
seen that decay occurs in sensory memory and that it occurs
in short term memory as well, unless we rehearse the
material. However, the mere passage of time does not
account so well for forgetting in long-term memory. People
commonly forget things that happened only yesterday while
remembering events from many years ago.

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  Although there is evidence that decay does occur, it does not
seem to be the complete explanation for forgetting. Memory
specialists have proposed an additional mechanism:
Interference.

? Is time a factor in forgetting?

2. Interference
 Interference theory holds that forgetting occurs because similar
items of information interfere with one another in either storage or
retrieval. The information may get into memory, but it becomes
confused with other information.
 There are two kinds of interference that influence forgetting:
proactive and retroactive. In Proactive Interference,
information learned earlier interferes with recall of newer material.
If new information interferes with the ability to remember old
information the interference is called Retroactive Interference.

3. New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory

 This theory holds that new information entering memory can wipe
out old information, just as recording on an audio or videotape will
obliterate/wipe out the original material. This theory is mostly
associated with the STM, where the capacity for information is
limited to seven plus or minus chunks. It cannot be associated
with the LTM because of its virtually unlimited capacity.

4. Motivated Forgetting
 Sigmund Freud maintained that people forget because they block
from consciousness those memories that are two threatening or
painful to live with, and he called this self-protective process
Repression.

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  To day many psychologists prefer to use a more general term,
motivated forgetting.

5. Cue Dependent Forgetting

 Often when we need to remember, we rely on retrieval cues, items
of information that can help us find the specific information we’re
looking for.
 When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we have lost the call
number for an entry in the mind’s library. In long-term memory,
this type of memory failure may be the most common type of all.
 Cues that were present when you learned a new fact or had an
experience are apt to be especially useful later as retrieval aids.
 That may explain why remembering is often easier when you are in
the same physical environment as you were when an event
occurred: Cues in the present context match from the past. Cues
present during the initial stage of learning help us to recall the
content of the specific learning materials in an easy manner.
 Your mental or physical state may also act as a retrieval cue,
evoking a state dependent memory. For example if you are
intoxicated when something happens, you may remember it better
when you once again have had a few drinks than when you are
sober.
 Like wise, if your emotional arousal is specially high or low at the
time of an event, you may remember that event best when you are
once again in the same emotional state.

? What environmental factors are important in loosing

information from memory?

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Improving Memory

 Someday in the near future, drugs may be available to help

people with memory deficiencies to increase normal memory
performance. For the time being, however, those of us who hope
to improve our memories must rely on mental strategies.
 Some simple mnemonics can be useful, but complicated ones are
often more bothersome than they are worth. A better approach is
to follow some general guidelines.
 Pay Attention: It seems obvious, but often we fail to remember
because we never encoded the information in the first place.
When you do have something to remember, you will do better if
you encode it.
 Encode information in more than one way: The more elaborate
the encoding of information, the more memorable it will be
 Add meaning: The more meaningful the material, the more likely
it is to link up with information already in long-term memory.
 Take your time: If possible, minimize interference by using
study breaks for rest or recreation. Sleep is the ultimate way to
reduce interference.
 Over learn: Studying information even after you think you
already know it- is one of the best ways to ensure that you’ll
remember it.
 Monitor your learning: By testing yourself frequently, r
ehearsing thoroughly, and reviewing periodically, you will have a
better idea of how you are doing.

Summary

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An important dimension of humans’ intelligent life (or mind and
behavior) that normally follows sensation and perception is memory a
warehouse of our past life events.

Memory has different forms and hence it is classified into different types.
 Sensory short-term and long-term memory
 Procedural and declarative memory
 Episodic and semantic memory, and
 Explicit and implicit memory

Whatever from it may take, memory is a time-stages process of acquiring,

storing and retrieving information. Different factors affect the success of
memory formation in each stage e.g. attention, rehearsal, organization
and retrieval clues.

The difference between the amount of acquired information and the

information that is retrieved is called forgetting. Forgetting occurs not
only because of absence of the acquired information. It may also occur
because of distortion of the acquired information disremembering.
There are different methods of improving our memory: paying attention,
encoding information in more than one way, add meaning to the new
information, minimize interferences, over learning and monitoring of
your learning.

 Self- Test Exercise Unit Four

Part one: Matching

A B
1. Encoding A. Working memory
2. Retrieval B. Memory code
3. Sensory register C. Loss of information

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4. Short-term memory D. Permanent storage
5. Long-term memory E. Sensory memory
6. Forgetting F. Remember
7. Semantic memory G. Meanings of words
H. Decoding
Part two: Give Short Answers

1. Why we call short-term memory as a working memory?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. What is Chunking?
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3. List out the factors that help us to memorize new information?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

UNIT FIVE
MOTIVATION
INTRODUCTION

 A number of factors and process may affect knowing and memory.

But the most important ones are forces within the individual himself/her
self. These forces are motivation and emotion.

Every behavior is intended to serve certain purpose. And these underling

purposes of behavior represent motivation.

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This section attempts to discuss motivation along with the different
theories. It also examines motivational conflict as common problems of
human beings.

Objectives
At the end of this section, you are expected to:-
 define motivation
 comprehend the nature of motivation
 compare and contrast theories of motivation
 explain Sources of individual differences in motivation
 identify the limitations of each theories of motivation.

5.1 The Nature of Motivation

 The word motivation comes from a Latin root meaning “to

move” and the psychology of motivation is indeed the study of
what moves us, why we do what we do.
 In other words, motivation refers to the forces that initiate and
direct behavior, and the variables that determine the intensity
and persistence of that behavior. It is concerned with factors
that direct and energize the behavior of humans and other
organisms.
 When we are hungry, for example, we initiate food seeking. This
initiation can be prompted from within the individual or the
external environment- we might be hungry because of low blood
sugar level (internal) or because we just saw a delicious dessert
(external). Motivation also directs our behavior. When we are
hungry we seek food rather than read a newspaper. Motivation
also determines the intensity and persistence of our behavior.
Intensity has to do with the strength of the behavior. For
instance you might be a little hungry and if food is readily

84
 available, you would eat, but if there is no food in the
immediate vicinity, you would probably engage in some other
behavior. On the other hand, if you are extremely hungry, you
will most likely engage intensively in food seeking behavior,
doing what ever it took to obtain it. How motivated we are, still
influences our persistence. Sometimes we will persist in
obtaining a goal for a long time, while at other times; we’ll give
up after a brief time.

? What are the behavioral functions of motivation?

 An important characteristic of motives is that we never observe

them directly. Psychologists often measure motivation by observing
what individuals do (initiation), how they make choices (direction),
noting the strength of their behavior (Intensity) and how long they
engage in them (persistence).

“Motivation for human beings is like a fuel for a car?” Do

?
agree or disagree, why?

5.2 Some Theories of Motivation

a) Drive Theories- Push theory of motivation

 According to drive theories, when we experience a drive, we are
motivated to pursue actions that will lead to drive reduction. A drive
is an internal state of tension that motivates (pushes) an organism to
engage in activities that should reduce this tension.
 In general drive theories state the following: When an internal driving
state is aroused, the individual is pushed to engage in behavior which
will lead to goal that reduces the intensity of the driving state. In

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 human beings, at least, reaching the appropriate goal, which reduces
the drive state, is pleasurable and satisfying.
 According to drive theories motivation is said to consist of
1. a driving state
2. the goal directed behaviour initiated by the driving state.
3. the attainment of an appropriate goal and
4. the reduction of the driving state and subjective satisfaction
and relief when the goal is reached. After a time the driving
state builds up again to push behaviour toward the appropriate
goal. This sequence of events is sometimes called the
motivational cycle.
? What underlines a motivational cycle in motivation?

b) Incentive Theories- Pull theory of motivation

 This theory suggests that motivation is not primarily a matter of being
pushed from within by various urges; rather, it is more a question of
being pulled from without by expectations of attaining desired
outcomes (incentives).
 Incentive theories appear to explain why many people engage in
complex effortful or even painful behaviours such as working many
hours on their jobs, or studying long into the night.
 Incentive theory has been applied to many aspects of human
motivation. Perhaps, though, it has found its most important practical
use with respect to work motivation- the tendency to expend energy
and effort on one’s job.
What are the main causes for motivation for drive and incentive
?
theories of motivation?

c) Opponent Process Theory

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  The opponent process theory takes a hedonistic view of motivation.
Basic to this theory is the observation that many emotional-
motivational states are followed by opposing, or opposite states.
 Opponent process theory of motivation seeks to explain the
motivation behind such phenomena as drug addiction and the
psychological and emotional reactions that occur as a result of
extremes of physical danger, as in skydiving.
 According to this theory, stimuli that first produce increases in
arousal later produce an opposite calming reaction in the nervous
system, where as stimuli that first produce decreases in arousal
later produce an increase in arousal. Moreover, with each exposure
to a stimulus, the original response to the stimulus remains fairly
stable or perhaps even declines, while the opponent process- the
reaction to the original response- tends to grow in strength.
 In sum, opponent process theory helps explain why people hold
strong motivation for behaviour that on the surface has few
benefits. It is frequently the opponent process not the initial
reaction, which maintains the motivation to carry out such
behaviour.
Does opponent process theory explain all human behavior?
?
Why and why not?

d) Arousal theories/ optimal level theories/just right theories

 Arousal theories seek to explain behavior in which the goal is the

maintenance of or an increase in excitement. These theories say
that there is a certain optimal, or best level of arousal that is
pleasurable.
 According to arousal theory, each of us tries to maintain a certain
level of stimulation activity. As with the drive reduction model, if

87
 our stimulation and activity levels become too high, we try to
reduce them. But the arousal model also suggests something quite
different from the drive reduction model: If the levels of stimulation
and activity are too low, we will try to increase them by seeking
stimulation.
 Arousal theory has significant applications to a variety of fields.
For example, students who are highly anxious while taking tests
on complex material may perform well below their ability because
of their high level of arousal.

d) Maslow’s Hierarchy: Motivational Needs

 Abraham Maslow, a prominent humanistic theorist, proposes
that human motives are organized into a hierarchy of needs, a
systematic arrangement of needs according to priority, which
assumes that basic needs must be met before less basic needs are
aroused.
 Maslow’s model considers different motivational needs to be
ordered in a hierarchy, and it suggests that before more
sophisticated, higher order needs can be met, certain primary
needs must be satisfied.
 The model can be conceptualized as a pyramid in which the more
basic needs are at the bottom and the higher levels needs are at
the top.
 The most basic needs are those described as primary drives:
needs for water, food, sleep, sex and the like. In order to move up
the hierarchy, the person must have these basic physiological
needs met.
 Safety needs come next in the hierarchy; Maslow suggests that
people need a safe, secure environment in order to function
actively. Safety needs reflect concern about long-term survival.

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 Safety and security needs motivate adults to seek a stable job, to
buy insurance, and to put money in their savings accounts.
 Physiological and safety needs compose the lower order needs.
Only when the basic lower order needs are met can a person
consider fulfilling higher order needs, consisting of love and
belongingness, esteem and self-actualization.
 Love and belongingness needs include the need to obtain and
give affection and to be a contributing member of some group or
society. After these need are fulfilled the person strives for
esteem.
 In Maslow’s thinking esteem relates to the need to develop a
sense of self worth by knowing that others are aware of ones
competence and value. People with esteem needs become
concerned about their achievement, the recognition, respect and
status that they earn.
 Once these four sets of needs are fulfilled- no easy task- the
person is ready to strive for the higher level need, self-
actualization.
 Self- actualization is a state of self-fulfillment in which people
realize their highest potential. The important thing in self-
actualization is that people feel at ease with themselves and
satisfied that they are using their talents to the fullest.
 In a sense, reaching self-actualization produces a decline in the
striving and yearning for greater fulfillment that marks most
people’s lives and instead provides a sense of satisfaction with
the current state of affairs.

? Give examples for each needs Maslow?

89
5.3 Classification of Motives
 Motives can be divided into three major categories:

1. Primary / Biological /Physiological Motives

 Theses motives are, to a large extent, rooted in the physiological
state of the body.
 Primary motives are innate in nature and must be met for survival.
 The most important primary motives include hunger, pain
avoidance, a need for oxygen, sleep, elimination of wastes, and
regulation of body temperature.
 Many biological motives are triggered, in part, by departures from
balanced physiological conditions of the body. The body tends to
maintain a state of equilibrium called homeostasis in many of its
internal physiological processes.

2. Stimulus Motives: Motives to know and to be effective

 These are motives to
o seek variety in stimulation,
o process information about the world around us,
o explore and to be effective in mastering challenges from the
environment.
 The purpose of stimulus motives seems to be to provide the
nervous system with useful information and stimulation.
 The stimulus motives cause the individual to seek out sensory
stimulation through interaction with the environment. They
include activity, curiosity, exploration, manipulation, and physical
contact.
 Because these motives are so persistent and seem to exist to one
degree or another in everyone they are often considered innate,
part of the human species heritage. In a sense, these motives are

90
 behind our greatest human accomplishments and also,
unfortunately, our greatest failure.

3. Social Motives
 Social motives are the complex motive states, or needs that are the
sources of many human actions.
 They are called social because they are learned in social groups,
especially in the family as children grow up and because they
usually involve other people.
 These human motives can be looked upon as general states that
lead to many particular behaviors. Not only do they help to
determine much of what a person does, they persist never fully
satisfied, over the years. No sooner is one goal reached than the
motive is directed toward another one.
 Thus, social motives are general persisting characteristics of a
person, and since they are learned, their strength differs greatly
from one individual to another.
 Consequently, social motives are important components of
personality.
 Many social motives have been proposed. Some of these include
needs for achievement, affiliation, power, approval, status,
security, and aggression.

Activity-6
Part one: Dear students try to match the following concepts with the
major theories of motivation.

A B
1. Drives A. Drive theories

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2. Good outcomes expectation B. Incentive theories
for doing something C. opponent process theory
3. Stimulation and level of D. arousal theories
excitement E. safety needs
4. Opposite effect of initial stimuli F. Physiological need
on our behavior G. Esteem need
5. Saving and insurance H. Love need
6. Water and food I. Self-activation
7. Recognition as status J. Abraham Maslow
8. Affection K. Sigmund Freud
9. Sense of good self and
Self-worth
10. Motivational needs

Part two: Give at least three examples for each type of motives

1. Primary/biological motives
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. Stimulus motives
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. Social motives
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5.4 Frustration

? What is frustration, student?

 The term frustration refers to the blocking of any goal directed

behavior. If motives are frustrated, or blocked, emotional feelings
and behavior often result. People who cannot achieve their

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 important goals feel depressed, fearful, anxious, guilty, or angry.
Often they are simply unable to derive ordinary pleasure from
leaving.

? What are the factors that induce frustration in people?

5.4.1 Sources of Frustration

 Environmental forces: Environmental factors can frustrate the

satisfaction of motives by making it difficult or impossible for a
person to attain a goal.
 Personal inadequacies: Setting unattainable goals can be
important sources of frustration. People are often frustrated
because they aspire to goals- have a level of aspiration- beyond
their capacity to perform.
 Conflict of motives: Conflict exists whenever a person has
incompatible or opposing goals. The frustration comes from being
unable to satisfy all the goals. Whatever goal the person decides to
satisfy, there will be frustration, most likely preceded by turmoil,
doubt, and vacillation.
 Of the three general sources of frustration described above the one
that often produces the most persistent and deep-seated
frustration in many individuals is motivational conflict. There are
about four basic kinds of motivational conflicts.

1. Approach- Approach Conflict

Dear student, do you come across choosing one from the two
? positive alternatives in your life?
 Occurs when one is simultaneously/ equally attracted to
two or more desirable goals/ outcomes.

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  Generally, such conflicts cause little distress and are
easily resolved. The reason is that although we must
choose one alternative now, we can often obtain the other
at a later time.
Example: The parents of Almaz asked her to decide either to
go to college to study her favorite field of study or like to
marry her be loved boyfriend.

2. Avoidance- Avoidance Conflict:

 This conflict occurs when we are motivated to avoid each of
two (or more) equally unattractive choices, but must choose
one.
 Avoidance- avoidance conflicts tend to involve a great deal of
vacillation and hesitation. Moving closer to one of the
unattractive choices increases our discomfort and leads us to
retreat. This retreat brings us closer to the other unattractive
alternative, and we retreat in the opposite direction.
Example: For his unethical behavior, Abebe is asked by his
boss to choose either his salary is cut or demoted for his
current position.

3. Approach avoidance conflict

 This kind of conflict occurs when a person is motivated to
both approach and avoid the same goal.
 In these kinds of conflicts both attraction and repulsion are
typically strongest when you are nearest the goal.
 The closer you are to something appealing, the stronger your
desire to approach it; the closer you are to something
unpleasant, the stronger your desire to flee.

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  As with avoidance-avoidance conflicts, vacillation is common
in these conflicts. Often however the negative valence is not
repellent enough to stop the approach behaviour.
 In such cases people reach the goal but much more slowly
and hesitantly than they would have without the negative
valence; until the goal is reached there is frustration.
 Even after the goal is reached, an individual may feel uneasy
because of the negative valence attached to it.
 Wherever a person is frustrated by not reaching it at all,
emotional reactions such as fear, anger, and resentment
commonly accompany approach avoidance conflicts.
Example: Aster didn't like studying at all, but she is supposed
to take a test that requires hard work. she wants to pass the
test with good results.

4. Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts

 Such conflicts are the ones we most often face in life. These
involve situations in which several options exist, with each
one containing both positive and negative elements.
 Not surprisingly these are the hardest to resolve and the most
stressful.

Activity-7
Match the following

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 A B
1. Approach – Approach conflict
2. Avoidance – Avoidance conflict
3. Approach- avoidance conflict
4. Multiple approach- avoidance
Conflicts
A. highly stressful and difficult
to solve (positive and negative
in each choices)
B. High vacillation and hesitation
(Selection from the two evils)
C. Little distress and worry
(Selection from the two positive
Things)
D. strong attraction and repulsion
E. No making of choices

 Self- Check Exercise Unit Five

Part –I Matching

A B
1. Motivation A. An energy that pushes a person to
do something
2. Drive Theories B. Just right theories
3. Social motives C. Push theory of motivation
4. Incentive theories D. motivational needs
5. Optimal level theories E. Pull theory of motivation
6. Abrham Maslow F. Status/ approval
7. Conflict of motives G. Sources of frustration
G. Primary motives

Part – II
1. Discuss the effect of motivation on human behavior

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 _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2.If you have to classify motives in to two, what are the possible ways of
making these classifications?
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. How can you motivate a person for an activity?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

4. Which one of all the theories is the best?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

5. Elaborate on the definition of frustration given in the text with

examples ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6. How do you help a person who is frustrated because of conflict of
motives? ___________________________________________________________

UNIT SIX
EMOTION AND STRESS

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Section-1: Emotion

This section specifically analyzes the emotional aspect of mental life. It

attempts to answer questions like the following
 What are emotions?
 What are the important dimensions of emotions?
 What theories do we have to explain the nature of human
emotions?

Objectives
You are expected to be able to do the following after the end of this
section
 distinguish emotion from motivation, instinct, and reason.
 identify the components of emotion
 understand the meaning of happiness, emotional stress.

1.1 The Meaning of Emotion

What are emotions? What does it mean when you say Mr. X is
?
emotional? Are emotions referring only to feelings?
 Defining an emotion is not an easy task. It almost seems as if there
are as many definitions of emotions as there are writers on the
subject. There is general agreement among scientists who have
studied emotions, however, that they involve three major
components:

1. Physiological components- This refers to internal bodily changes

associated with emotions. Examples include shifts in heart rate, blood
pressure, breathing digestion etc.

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2. Subjective Experience – This involves the personal experience we
label as emotions. It is what it feels like to be angry, sad, happy or
elated.
3. Emotional Expression – This refers to outward signs of internal
bodily reactions. That is, the ways in which emotions are expressed in
language, facial expression and gestures etc.
 Emotions are personal. No one can truly share our subjective
experiences. Yet we are able to recognize the presence of various
emotions in others, and we are able to communicate our own feelings
to them as well. This occurs because of the presence of nonverbal
cues-out-ward, observable signs of others’ internal emotional states.
 Several decades of research on nonverbal cues suggests that this kind
of communication occurs through several basic channels or paths
simultaneously. The most revealing of these consists of facial
expressions, eye-contact, body movements and posture, and touching.

Facial Expressions

 One of the main ways of showing emotions is through facial

expression. It is possible to learn much about others’ current
moods and feelings from their facial expressions. That is, moods
and feelings are often reflected in the face and can be read there
from specific expressions. Facial expression is a valuable source of
feedback to a speaker and can indicate that others are interested
and listening
 It appears that there are six different emotions, which are clearly
represented on the face. These are anger, fear, sadness, disgust,
happiness and surprise. Of course, this in no was implies that we
are capable of showing only six different facial expressions.
 Until recently, it was widely assumed that basic facial expressions
such as those for happiness, anger, or disgust are universal: they

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 are recognized as indicating specific emotions by persons all over
the world.
 However, a recent review of the evidence on this issue (Russel,
1994) suggests that the interpretation of facial expressions may be
strongly influenced by cultural factors and that recognition of them
may not be as universal as was previously assumed.

Eye contact
 We do often learn much about others feelings from their eyes. Fore
example, we interpret a high level of gazing from another as a sign
of liking or friendliness. In contrast, if others avoid eye contact
with us, we may conclude that they are unfriendly, don’t like us, or
are shy.
 While a high level of eye contact from others is usually interpreted
as a sign of liking or positive feelings, there is one important
exception to this general rule. If another person gazes at us
continuously and maintains such contact regardless of any actions
we perform, she/he can be said to be staring. Staring is often
interpreted as a sign of anger or hostility.

Body Language
 Our current mood or emotion is often reflected in the gesture,
posture, position, and movement of our body. Together, such non-
verbal behaviors are termed as Body Language.
 Gestures tell us a great deal about the emotional state of the other
person. For example a nervous interviewee may wring the hands,
fidget the fingers by fiddling with objects or hair, wriggle or curl the
toes- such involuntary gestures expressed because the true feeling
leak out at the edges. Embarrassment is shown by a hand over the
mouth, anger by clenched hands, and shame by covering the eyes.

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  When we like someone we tend to use more open gestures than
when we do not. Open gestures are those which do not create
barriers between us and others. Thus crossed arms and crossed
legs signal that we are unsure/uneasy/ defensive/ do not like the
other person, and are called closed gestures.
 In addition, body posture, the way in which we sit or stand is a
good indicator of the way we feel. For example a drooping body
posture can show that a person is very depressed, while a taut,
upright position might show extreme anxiety.

Touching
 The amount and type of touch which is acceptable varies according
to sex and society. But, in general growing evidence indicates that
when one person touches another in a manner that is considered
acceptable in the current context, positive reactions generally
result.

Emotion is a motivated state that is marked by physiological

 arousal, expressive behavior, and mental experience and that

varies in its intensity and pleasantness or unpleasantness

Activity-8

1. Have you heard of lie detectors? What are they? How do they work?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Do you think that lie detectors tell the truth? Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Give examples of body movements and facial expressions each
showing a positive feeling and negative feeling.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

?
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 How do you know how your fellow student feels? And how do
they know how you feel?

1.2 Some Theories of Emotion

James – Lange Theories (William James and Carl Lange)

 This theory suggests that subjective emotional experiences are
actually the result of physiological changes within our bodies (internal
changes in the autonomic nervous system or movements of the body.
You feel frightened for instance, when making a public speech
because you notice that your heart is racing, your mouth is dry and
soon.

Cannon – Bard Theory (Walter Cannon and Philip Bard)

 This theory suggests that various emotion provoking events induce

simultaneously the subjective experiences we label as emotions and
the physiological reactions that accompany them.
 In contrast with the James – Lange theory, this theory holds that
bodily reactions and the felt emotion are independent of each other in
the sense that bodily reactions are not the basis of the felt emotion.

Schachter –Singer Theory

(Stanley Schachter & Jerome Singer)
 According to this view, emotion-provoking events produce increased
arousal. In response to feelings of arousal, we search the external
environment in order to identify the causes of such feelings. The
causes we then select play a key role in determining the label we place
on our arousal, and so in determining the emotion we experience.

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 If we feel aroused after a near-miss in traffic, we’ll probably label our
emotion as ‘fear’ or perhaps “ anger” If, instead we feel aroused in the
presence of an attractive person, we may label our arousal as
“attraction” or “love”
 In short, this theory holds that the emotion we feel is due to our
interpretation of an aroused or “stirred up “bodily state.

Lazarus Theory
Lazarus Theory states that a thought must come before any emotion or
physiological arousal.  In other words, you must first think about your
situation before you can experience an emotion.
 
Example:  You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear
footsteps behind you and you think it may be a mugger so you begin to
tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens and at the
same time experience fear.
 
 

Facial Feedback Theory

 
According to the facial feedback theory, emotion is the experience of
changes in our facial muscles.  In other words, when we smile, we then
experience pleasure, or happiness.  When we frown, we then experience
sadness.  It is the changes in our facial muscles that cue our brains and
provide the basis of our emotions.  Just as there are an unlimited
number of muscle configurations in our face, so to are there a seemingly
unlimited number of emotions.
Example:  You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear
footsteps behind you and your eyes widen, your teeth clench and your

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brain interprets these facial changes as the expression of fear.  Therefore
you experience the emotion of fear.
  

? Which do you think you are going to experience first in the

following case?

Events in the environment trigger a psychological state or an

 emotion, which in turn give rise to physiological responses.

How do you know how your fellow student feels? And how do
? they know how you feel?

Activity-9
Compare and contrast the James- Longe and Cannon-Bard theories of
emotion
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Section: 2 Stress and coping

Dear student, this section is aimed to elaborate what is stress and how
individual cope from stress. Have a good reading time.

Objective:
At the end of this section you will be able to:
 define stress
 list types of stressors
 describe mechanisms of coping from stress

2.1 Stress and Coping

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 Stress is an internal state, which can be caused by physical demands
on the body (disease conditions, exercise, extremes of temperature,
and the like) or by environmental and social situations, which are
evaluated as potentially harmful, uncontrollable or exceeding our
resources for coping.
 It refers to a challenge to a person’s capacity to adapt to inner and
outer demands, which may be physiologically arousing and
emotionally taxing and call for cognitive or behavioral response.
 In other words, stress can be defined as any circumstances that
threaten or are perceived to threaten our well being and that there by
tax our coping abilities.
 The threat may be to our immediate physical safety, our long-range
security, our self-esteem, our reputation, our peace of mind, or many
other things that we value.
 The experience of feeling threatened depends on what events we
notice and how we choose to appraise and interpret them. Events
that are stressful for one person may be routine for another.
 Generally, the major factors that influence our subjective appraisals
of potentially stressful events are familiarity with the challenge, the
controllability of the events, and the predictability of the events.
 The less familiar you are with a potentially stressful event, the more
threatened you are likely to feel. In short, familiarity with a challenge
can make yesterday’s crisis today’s routine. Similarly, events are
usually less stressful when we see them as being under our control.
We also prefer predictable stress over surprise packages.

2.1.1. Major types of stressors

What are stressors?
?

105
 Stress is unavoidable part of life. Events that often lead to stress are
called stressors. Although they are not entirely independent, the four
principal types of stressors are:-

1. Life changes
2. pressure
3. conflict of motives
4. frustration

1. Life changes/Life events

 Life changes are any noticeable alternations in one’s living
circumstances that require readjustment. One of the most
significant sources of stress is change. Virtually any event
that requires someone to make a readjustment can be a
stressor. According to researchers, changes in personal
relationships, changes at work, so on can be stressful even
when the changes are welcomed.
2. Pressure
 Pressure involves expectations or demands that one behave in
a certain way. Pressure can be divided into subtypes. You are
under pressure to perform when you are expected to execute
tasks and responsibilities quickly, efficiently, and successfully.
Pressures to conform to other’s expectations are also common
in our lives. E.g. Military cadets are expected to adhere to their
commanders.

2.1.2 Coping with Stress

?
106
 How people cope with stress?

 Coping consists of all things people do to control, tolerate or

reduce the effects of life is stressors-perceived threats, existing
problems, or emotional losses. It is not single strategy that
applies to all circumstances The techniques people use change
over time and circumstance, depending on the nature of the
stressor and the particular situation.
 Researchers often distinguish three types of coping strategies:

1. Efforts to Change the Situation

 Efforts to cope by changing the situation typically involve problem
solving. The individual may try to remove the stressor, plan ways of
resolving the situation, or seek advice or assistance from others in
changing the situation.
 People high in problem solving ability and who have a problem solving
orientation (a tendency to define potential problems as challenging
and to confront them directly) tend to report less stress and fewer
psychological symptoms than other subjects.

2. Efforts to alter one’s cognition about the situation

 Coping by changing one’s cognition or appraisal of the situation often
involves reframing an event mentally to make it seem less
threatening.
 This can be done through turning problems to challenges, loses to
unexpected gains, considering experiences as lessons, making social
comparisons.
3. Efforts to alter the unpleasant emotional consequences of
the stress.
 A third way people cope with stressful situations is by trying to relive
the associated emotional state.

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 This can be done through relaxation, body massage, and physical
exercise

Activity-10
1. Write the four principal types of stressors?
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Elaborate the three types of coping strategies?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

Summary
Emotion concept that is some how similar but at the same time different
from motives, instinct, and reflexes. Emotion is better experienced than
defined as a concept. There is no agreement in defining what it is. The
general agreement is that it has physiological, cognitive and behavioral
components. Different theories have emerged capitalizing on each of
these dimensions: James- Lange theory, cannon-Bard theory
(Physiological theories), facial- feedback theory (behavioral theories), and
Schachter- Singer theory. As the case is in all other psychological
theories, there is no one that is best. Each of them helps to
understanding some aspect of emotion. Complete understanding of
emotions necessitates these theories in combination.

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  Self- Check Exercise Unit Six
Part –I
1. Are cognitions essential to emotion? Why? What about physiological
arousal and behaviors?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

2. When do verbal and non-verbal expressions contradict?

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

Matching
Part –II Match column A with column B
A B
1. Polygraph A. Frustration
2. Body language B. Facial expression
3. Life change C. Marriage
4. Expressive behavior D. Lie detector
5. Stressor E. Movement of our body
F. Emotion

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 UNIT Seven
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING CASES

 A young woman who showed great academic promise in high

school begins to have difficulty with her studies in college. She feels
lonely and becomes increasingly depressed and withdrawn.

A middle-age business man fed up with his stressful job and the
demands of his suburban life-style, packs a small bag and flees to the
mountains determined to life in isolation.

How many of these people have a psychological disorder and need

psychotherapist help? These are some of the questions addressed in this
unit. We begin by exploring the nature (definition and causes) of
psychological disorders first and then their types next.

Objectives
At the end of this unit, you are expected to:
 know the criteria used for defining what psychological disorders
are
 explain the causes of psychological disorders
 identify the different types, characteristic features and symptoms
of psychological disorders
 use different theories to explain the nature of abnormality

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7.1 Definition and Causes of Psychological Disorders
Overview
Dear student, try to examine and gives the reasons that can justify that
the two cases mentioned above have psychological problems, what
makes people to behave way and the criteria used to give the judgments.

7.1.1 Definition of Psychological Disorders

People who exhibit abnormal patterns of feelings, thinking and behavior

most likely suffer from some kind of psychological disorders.

By the way what are the criteria used for determining that person
?
has a psychological problem /disorder?

We generally have three main criteria: abnormality, maladaptiveness,

and personal distress.
1. Abnormality

Does a behavior deviate from the behavior of the “typical” person,

?
the norm?

Abnormal behavior deviates from the behavior of the ‘typical’ person the
norm. A society’s norm can be qualitative and quantative. When someone
behaves in culturally unacceptable ways and the behaviors he/she
exhibit violates the norm, standards, rules and regulations of the society,
this person is most likely to have a psychological problem. Only
abnormal behavior can not be sufficient for the diagnosis of psychological
problem. Hence, we need to consider the context in which a person’s
behavior happens.

The context in which ‘abnormal’ behavior occurs must be

 considered before deciding that it is symptomatic of psychological
disorders.

111
2 Maldaptiveness

Does a person’s behavior seriously disrupt the social,

? academic, or life of an individual?

Maladaptive behavior in one way or another creates a social, personal

and occupational problem on those who exhibit the behaviors. These
behaviors seriously disrupt the day-to-day activities of individuals that
can increase the problem more.

3 Personal Distress

Does a person’s behavior cause personal distress including

?
feelings of anxiety, depression, hopelessness and self-defeating
thoughts?

Our subjective feelings of anxiety, stress, tension and other unpleasant

emotions determine whether we have a psychological disorder. These
negative emotional state arise either by the problem itself or by events
happen that on us. But, the criterion of personal distress, just like other
criteria, is not sufficient for the presence of psychological disorder. This
is because of some people like feeling distressed by their own behavior.
Hence, behavior that is abnormal, maladaptive, or personally distressing
might indicate that a person has a psychological disorder.

7.2 Perspectives on Psychological Disorders Causes

8.2.1 The Biological Perspective

Do you think that psychological disorders can be caused by

? biological factors?

Current researchers believe that abnormalities in the working of

chemicals in the brain, called neurotransmitters, may contribute to

112
many psychological disorders. For example, over activity of the
neurotransmitter dopamine, perhaps caused by an overabundance of
certain dopamine receptors in the brain, has been linked to the bizarre
symptoms of schizophrenia.

7.2.2 Psychological Perspectives

? Do you think that psychological factors cause behavior disorders?

In this part, we will examine three psychological perspectives: the

psychoanalytic perspective, the learning, and the cognitive behavioral
perspectives.

A. Psychoanalytic perspective
 Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic approach,
believed that the human mind consists of three interacting forces:
the id (a pool of biological urges), the ego (which mediates between
the id and reality), and the superego (which represent society’s
moral standards).

Abnormal behavior, in Freud’s view, is caused by the ego’s

inability to manage the conflict between the opposing demands of

 the id and the superego. Especially important is the individuals’

failure to manage the conflicting of id’s sexual impulses during
childhood, and society’s sexual morality to resolve the earlier
childhood emotional conflicts that determine how to behave and
think later.
B. Learning perspective
 Most mental and emotional disorders, in contrast to the
psychoanalytic perspective, arise from inadequate or inappropriate
learning. People acquire abnormal behaviors through the various
kinds of learning

113
C. Cognitive perspective
 Our quality of internal dialogue whether we accept or not ourselves
build ourselves up or tear ourselves down has profound effect on
our mental health. The main theme of this perspective is that self-
defeating thoughts lead to the development of negative emotions
and self-destructive behaviors. People's ways thinking about events
inn their life determines their emotional and behavioral patterns.
Most of the time our thinking patterns in one way or another
affects our emotional and behavioral well being in either positive or
negative ways. Hence, if there is a disturbance in on our thinking,
it may manifest in our display of emotions and behaviors. Our
environmental and cultural experiences in our life plays a major
role in the formation of our thinking style.

What are the main themes of psychoanalytic, learning and

?
cognitive perspective?
?
7.2.3. Classification of Psychological Disorder

Classifying psychological disorders involves identifying sets of symptoms

? to occur together. Each set of symptom forms a syndrome.
that tend
Thus, when we talk about anxiety, mania or depression, we are talking
about syndromes that clinicians have classified on the basis of their
observations.

For the sake of limited space and convenience, we are just listing out the
types of psychological disorder only here.
A. Anxiety disorders
Types: 1) Panic disorder
2) Phobic disorders
3) Generalized anxiety disorder
4) Obsessive compulsive disorder
B. Somatoform disorders
1) Hypochondriasis
2) Conversion disorder

114
C. Dissociative disorder
1) psychogenic amnesia
2) Psychogenic fugue
D. Personality disorders
1) Antisocial personality disorder
2) Narcissistic personality disorder
3) Borderline personality disorder
E. Mood disorders
1) Depressive disorders
2) Bipolar disorders
2.1 Manic-depression
F. Schizophrenia
1) Disorganized type
2) Catatonic type
3) Persecutory type
4) Undifferentiated type

Summary
Abnormality manifests itself in one’s emotions, thinking and behaviors.
The above major psychological disorders in one way or another way
express its symptoms in the patients’ emotions, thinking and behavior.
The assignment of the names of the disorders is based on the typical
disorder’s emotional, behavioral and mental symptoms.

 Self-Check Exercise Unit Eight

1. Explain with examples how the three criteria of defining

psychological problems are used. Show also the problems of each
criterion along with possible solutions.
2. Compare and contrast the three psychological perspectives
discussed in this section.

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  Answers Key - Unit One
The Essence of Psychology
Part One: Matching
1. C
2. D
3. E
4. B
5. A

Part Two
Schools Limitations
Structuralism Human mind, knowledge or
consciousness is so complex that
it can’t be understood fully by
studying elementary sensations
Functionalism It does not suggest specific ways
in which human mind functions
and effects behavior
Behaviorism It totally neglects the importance
of studying human mind, heredity
etc
Gestalt It neglects the importance of
psychology studying behavior, the effect of
sensation
Psychoanalysis It minimizes the role of the
conscious mind in affecting
behavior. Everything is reduced to
the unconscious mind
Contribution to modern psychology
It introduced a method of introspection
and experimental study in psychology,
It has helped psychologists to begin to
apply psychology to solving practical
problems
It introduced the need for objectivity in
psychological research. It also helped
in designing theories of learning
It emphasized how human mind
actively processes information, and
perceives the reality
It brought to psychology a theory
explaining the role of the unconscious
mind and methods of studying it and a
technique for helping people that have
problems.

Part Three
Academic Professional
No Sub-fields of Specialization
Specialization Specialization
1 Experimental psychology 
2 Counseling psychology 
3 Developmental psychology 
4 Clinical psychology 
5 Comparative psychology 
6 Biopsychology 
7 Sport psychology 
8 Health psychology 
9 Social psychology 
10 Personality psychology 

116
 Answers Key - Unit Two

Sensation and Perception

Activity-1
1. You may not be able to detect a stimulus
a. If the intensity of a stimulus is lower than the absolutes threshold.
b. if the change in intensity of stimulation is lower than the difference
threshold , and
c. if the stimulation is unchanging or sensory adaptation.
2. Sensing dominantly involves detecting the physical energy (i.e. the
stimulus) that is acting on the body.
Self- Check
Part -I
1. Form perception is about perception of two dimensional or flat
objects and depth- perception is about perception of three-
dimensional figures having width, length and height.
2. perceptual constancy suggests that the size, colour, and shape
of objects remain unchanged despite changes in the distance,
location, and perspective of the observer, Perceptual illusion
suggests, however, an exception to this phenomena, that the
size, color and shape of objects may change corresponding with
changes in distance, location and perspective observers.
Part -II
About the figures
- Fig A is a triangle, not just a set of broken dots
- The law that works is the law of closure
- Fig B is a set of three pairs of parallel lines, not just six vertical
lines.
- The law that works is the law of proximity.

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 Answers Key- Unit Three

Learning
Activity-2
You may refer to the module text on operant conditioning for stimulus
generalization, stimulus discrimination, extinction, and spontaneous
recovery.

1. Compare and Contrast

1.1 Stimulus generalization implies learning similarities between

stimuli and stimulus discrimination implies learning
differences between stimuli.
1.2 Conditioning and extinction: conditioning is a process of
converting a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus
while extinction is converting the conditioned stimulus back to
a neutral stimulus
1.3 Extinction is something like forgetting and spontaneous
recovery is something like remembering

2. Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical
 The founder is Pavlov
 Sometimes called respondent learning
 It implies stimulus learning
 Response is containment on the stimulus
 Response are elicited
Operant
 The founder is B.F skinner
 Sometimes called instrumental
learning
 It implies response learning
 Stimulus is contingent on the response
responses are emitted

3. Conditioning and Cognitive Learning

Conditioning
 Learning associations between events
 Reinforcement is directly involved
 Learning is simple
 Is common even in animals
Cognitive Learning
 Learning concepts, principles
 Reinforcement is indirect
 Learning is complex
 Is dominantly a human learning

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  Answers Key- Unit Four

Memory
Activity-3
Type of memory Type of information Capacity Characteristics Duration
1.sensory First (original) information, High Acts as holding bin for a brief
memory un processed information capacity seconds (2
seconds)
2.short term Attended and recognized Low capacity - activeness For a
memory Information from sensory -accessible longer
memory - sequential seconds (30
arrangement of seconds)
information
- limited capacity
3.long –term Permanent information No limit in -it is associated with For a long
memory capacity meaningful words, period of
concepts, events time
- days
- months
-years
-lifetime
(indefinite
periods)
Activity-4
1. Regarding the importance of memory
1.1 If you are without memory, then you are going to have no past,
no experience, no learning, no behavior, or simply no
personality. Whatever you experience, you experience it in
isolation from other experiences and as new. Hence, you
don’t benefit from it for your subsequent life.
1.2 Memory serves many purpose. First and foremost, it provides
continuity to your life, behavior and personality. Moreover,
your memory helps you adapt to situation by letting you use
the past learning. Your memory still adds emotion to your life
by helping you to relate good and bad moments of the past.
1.3 Animals have the capacity to process information that enable
them to recall and adapt in their environments. Hence, if they
have the capacity to recall the previous information we can say
they can memorize information.

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2. Regarding types of memory, there are three major types of memory
namely sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory.
More over, LTM has different subtypes such as declarative/ explicit
memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, and nondeclarative
/implicit memory.

2.1 Regarding classification of memory

2.1.1 We can classify memory into three using the time spent
for memory formation: sensory, short-term and long
term memory

2.1.2 Using the type of information to be memorized, we may

classify it into procedural and declarative memory;
declarative memory being further divided into episodic
and semantic memory.
3. You can refer the different subtypes of LTM and their
characteristics on page 72.
Activity-5
1. Recovering lost memories
Memory impairment takes different forms. It may be a normal daily
experience or it may be more serious occurring because of brain
changes. If it occurs as a result of brain changes, it is more likely to
be irreversible. In normal forgetting, on t he other hand, the situation is
less rigidly determined, and the questions can be raised as to whether,
and to what extent, lost memories can be recovered. Imagine that you
ask a friend to list everything she did last Sunday afternoon, and she
could not say anything about meeting an old friend on the street,
which in fact she did. Can you conclude then that the event never
happened but that she has lost her memory of it? What if you ask her
whether she did meet a friend and she now responds affirmatively?

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Would this not suggest that your friends memory only appeared to be
lost?
With respect to the question of recovering lost memories, the logic of
the situation is there fore simple: if the information stored about a fact
has been radically changed, or erased altogether, as in brain changes,
then there is no way it can be recovered, and no way it can be stored.
If on the other hand, retrieval fails because of inadequate retrieval
cues, then it is quite possible that the provision of more effective cues
could enable a person to recover a lost memory.

2. Improving your memory

A century ago, William James (1890/1981) criticized those who claimed
that memory ability could be improved by practice. To James, memory
was a fixed, inherited ability and not subject to improvement.
Regardless of the extent to which memory ability is fixed and inherited,
we can certainly make better use of the ability we have by improving
our study habits and by using mnemonic devices. Let us see separately
how these two strategies work out.

Study habits

Given two students with equal memory ability, the one with better
study habits will probably perform better in school. To practice good
study habit, you would begin by setting up a schedule in which you
would do the bulk of your studying when you are most alert and
most motivated. You should also study in a quiet, comfortable place,
free of distractions.

As for particular study techniques, you might consider the SQZR

method (Robinsn, 1970). SQZR stands for Survey Question, Read,
Recite, and Review. This method has proved helpful to students in
college.

You might also apply other principles. First, take advantage of over
learning; studying the material until you feel you know all of it and then

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going over it several more times. Also, use distributed practice instead
of massed practice.

Mnemonic devices
These are techniques for organization information to be memorized to
make it easier to remember. Below are some of the mnemonic devices.

i. Method of loci: a method in which items to be recalled are

associated with landmarks in familiar place and then recalled
during a mental walk from one land marks to another. For
example, in using the method of loci to recall a shopping list,
you would pair each item on the list with a familiar place. You
would then take a mental tour, retrieving items as you go.
ii. Acronym- involves forming a term from the first letters of a
series of words that are to be recalled.
iii. Page word method – a method that involves associating terms
to be recalled with objects that rhyme with the numbers 1,2,3
and so on, to make the items easier to recall.
Part one: matching
1. B 2. F 3. E 4. A 5. D 6. C 7. G
Part two: short-answer
1. Short –term memory is active easily accessible, preserves temporal
sequence of information and limited capacity.
2. It is the clustering or packing of related information into higher
order units that can be remembered as single unit
3. Memory improvement can be enhanced via:
 Paying attention
 Addition of meaning
 Encoding information more than once
 Over learning/practice
 Monitoring of learning activities

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 Answers Key- Unit FIVE

Motivation
Activity-6
Part- I Matching
1. A 2. B 3. D. 4. C 5. E 6. F 7. G 8. H 9. J 10. K
Part- II Short Answer
1.
- Hunger
- Pain for avoidance
- Sleep and oxygen
2.
- Curiosity ( interest to know 5th )
- Exploration of the environment
- Manipulation of the environment
3.
- Academic achievement
- The need for power/ status
- Need for approval by other

Activity-7
1. C 2. B 3. D 4. A
Self-check Exercise
Part- I
1. A 2. C 3. F 4. E 5. B 6.D 7. G
Part – II
1. Motivation as an underlying factor or human behavior
affects behavior in many ways. First, it initiates a behavior. Second, it

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 gives direction to behavior. Third, it strengthens a behavior. And,
fourth, it sustains a behavior in action. Hence, motivation is
everything about human behavior: an originator, a director and
energizer of a behavior. Understanding its motivational patterns.
2. All human motives may be classified into any one of the
following types.
 Internal and external motives, or
 Learned and unlearned (or primary and secondary motives), or
 Conscious and unconscious motives, or
 intrinsic and extrinsic motives, or
 Tension-reduction and arousal motives.
3. We can motivate a person for and activity first and
foremost by helping him/her visualize and drive meaning and purpose
in the activity. Then the person is helped to be performed. Goal
setting are the establishment of a particular level of performance to
achieve in the future. Goals increase motivation and improve
performance by providing incentives. The goals help person to focus
his/her attention increase his/her to develop strategies for reaching
them. Management by objectives, in which employees participate in
setting goals, has been especially effective in increasing productivity.
4. There is no one best theory of motivation. Each of them
can help us understand some aspects of our behavior. Because
human behavior is complex, we need to use all the theories combined
to fully understand this complexity.
5. Frustration is a state of psychological disturbance
because of:
 Inability to reach one’s goal-blockage of a goal directed
behavior-as in the case of a student who works hard to get a
highly valued college diploma but get academic dismissal for
lack of ability.

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  Pursuing a goal originally perceived as a substitute for the
valued one later discovered it is- not diversion from a goal –as
in a student who has a strong material need but stays long in a
colleges for getting his first, second and terminal degrees hoping
higher degrees bring better paying jobs.
 Losing an already achieved goal quite early –as in a loss of
property because of theft, destruction by fire of accidents or loss
of and intimate love partner before consuming the emotional
investment.
6. There are a number of things, to be done for helping a
person frustrated with conflict of motives. Some of these include the
following
 Helping the person understand the source and extent of the
problem
 Helping the person to capitalize on the positive aspect of the
achieved goal
 Helping the person down play the importance of the rejected
goal
 Helping the person look for substitute mechanisms for reducing
the negative side –effects of the achieved goal
 Helping the person accept the inevitable
 Helping the person learn to look forward and stop backward
 Helping the person to see the unsuccessful past not as a failure
but as a lesson or as on opportunity for knowing what decisions
could not work out.

Answers Key - Unit Six

Emotion and Stress
Activity-8

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1. Lie detectors are machines that try to measure physiological changes
in an individual under some kind of stimulations e.g. they register
sympathetic like changes of increase in heart rate, dilation of the
pupils, increase in blood pressure. They are used to detect lies in a
sense that the person is asked questions relating to the event he/she
is suspected of lying.

2. Lie detector may prove effective in less sophisticated and

inexperienced individuals as they are innocent in controlling their
body at the time the test is made. They are less likely to be relaxed
and more nervous, perhaps believing that the machine has a magical
power to read ones lies. Lie detector is, however, a liar itself if the
subject under investigation is skillful and experienced in controlling
his body, such as, appearing relaxed during the test. The lie detector
is, under this circumstance, getting no sympathetic changes to
register.

3. Examples of body movements and facial expressions showing positive

and negative feelings
 Body movement
- Positive felling splendid and relaxed movements that take
much space in talking and walking
- Negative feeling – violent movements and restlessness that
forcibly capture others’ attention.
 Facial expressions
- Positive feeling- smiling, and laughing to others when talking.
- Negative feeling- bad face, non smiling and non laughing and
failure to took in to others when talking.

Activity-9

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James- Lange and Cannon- Bard theories of emotions are similar in
that they both capitalize on the occurrences of physiological changes in
emotional experiences. But, they differ in terms of the following issues.
1. James- Lange theory argues that the physiological changes
occur before our subjective awareness of them. The Cannon-
Bard theory, on the other hand, holds that physiological changes
are internal and unknown to the person and hence they may
occur together with our subjective feelings but can’t precede
them at all.
James – Lange theory argues, that there are different kinds of
physiological arousal for positive and negative emotions. But, Cannon-
Bard theory suggests that the same kind of arousal underlies all kinds
of feelings; the difference being that of meaning giving.

Activity-10
1. a. Life changes
b. Pressure
c. Frustration
d. conflict of motives
2. Efforts to change the situation
Efforts to alter one’s cognition about the situation
- Efforts to alter the unpleasant emotional consequences of the
stress.

Self-Check
1. The essence of human emotion lies in the fact that it is three things in
one. It is a physiological change taking a cognitive meaning that
eventually translates into an action. If it is only a physiological
change, it is likely to be similar so such physiological processes as
digestions, respiration or circulation with little psychological effect,
If it is purely mental, emotion becomes similar to knowledge , ability
or aptitude no feeling of love, hate, fear…. If it is purely

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 behavioral, it turns out to resemble the different kinds of skills we
perform practically. So the fact that emotion is three things in one
makes us distinct from biological animals, intelligent computers,
and skillful robots that perform perfect operations. What is
lacking in each of these three is an emotion that is
characteristically human; that is an integration of body, mind and
behavior. So, emotion is an emotion because all the three
dimensions are equally important.

2 Verbal and non-verbal expressions contradict any time a person is

insincere.

Part-II Matching

1. D 2. E 3. C 4. B 5. A

 Answers Key-Unit Seven

Abnormal Psychology

1. Criteria of psychological disorders

A. Deviation from the norm
Problem: the same behavior can be taken for having different
meanings
Solution: consider the context while we judge behaviors
B. Maladaptiveness: a behavior is maladaptive if it interfere as
a person’s academic, social and occupational life.
Problem: some strange behaviors can be taken as abnormal
behaviors even if the person is healthy.
Solution: consider the situation of the person along with the
criterion of maladaptiveness

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 C. Personal distress: the behavior produces anxiety, worry,
depression for the individual
Problem: many healthy people’s different disturbances can
be considered as maladaptive and abnormal
Solution: combination of personal distress along with the
other two
2. The three major perspectives basically try to explain the etiologies
of psychological disorders. But the biological perspective searches
for biological factors, the psychological perspective looks for
psychological factors, and the psychoanalytic perspective looks for
early childhood unconscious emotional conflicts.

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References:

Benjamin B. Lahey , (2004), Psychology : an Introduction (8th ed.) McGraw-

Hill Company New York
Daron, A, Robert (1995).Psychology. Prince Hall of India : New Delhi.
Davidhoff, L. Lindan( 1998). Introduction to Psychology. (Ord Ed).
New York McGraw- Hill company.
Huffman, K, Mark Vemoy and Barban Williams (1987) Psychology in
Action John Willy and Sons New York.
Kalat, W. James, (1986) Introduction to Psychology Wadsworth Inc.
California.
Monis, G.Charles, (1990) Psychology. An Introduction (7th Ed.) Prince-
Hall. New Jersey.
Myers, G David (1995) Psychology, USA., Worth Publishers.
Note: In addition to the above listed reference books, students can refer to any
introductory book on psychology
Papalia, E. Diane and Sally Wendkos Olds. (1985) Psychology. McGraw-
Hill Book Company: New York.
Rathus, A Spencer, (1984) Psychology (2nd ed). New Yirk: Holt, Rinehant
and Wilson.
Weiten, Wayne (1989) Psychology. Themes and Variations. Brooks/
Cole Publishing Company. California.

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