Table of contents

Contents page number

Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
1. Overview of psychology----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
1.1 Notable research methods in psychology--------------------------------------------------1
1.2. Major theoretical perspectives in psychology--------------------------------------------1
1.3 Specialties in psychology---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
2. Sensation and perception--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
2.1 Major processes in perception---------------------------------------------------------------3
2.2 Perceptual organizational processes-------------------------------------------------------4
2.3 Paranormal perceptions---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
3. Learning----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
3.1 Classical and operant conditioning and cognitive learning-----------------------------4
3.2 Effectiveness of punishment-----------------------------------------------------------------5
4. Memory------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6
4.1 Memory stages and models-------------------------------------------------------------------6
4.2 Memory improvement techniques----------------------------------------------------------7
5. Motivations and emotions-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. 1 Motivation theories---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
5.2 Motives, achievements and power----------------------------------------------------------8
5.3 Emotional processes--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
6. Personality-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
6.1 Personality assessment methods------------------------------------------------------------8
6.2 The impacts of heredity and environment on behavior---------------------------------9
6.3 Personality theories---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
7. Psychological disorders and treatment methods---------------------------------------------10
7.1 Abnormal behavior criteria-----------------------------------------------------------------10
7.2 Models of abnormal behavior--------------------------------------------------------------11
7.3 Categories of psychological disorders----------------------------------------------------11
7.4Symptoms and causes of psychological disorders---------------------------------------12
7.5 Therapies--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
7.6 Therapeutic methods------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13
7.7 Psychotherapy and psychotropic medication -------------------------------------------14
7.8 The relationship between stress and illness---------------------------------------------14
8. Heath lifestyle risks-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14
9. Effective coping skills------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15
Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
References---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15
 Over view of general concepts in psychology 2021

INTRODUCTION
This paper contains a general overview about what psychology is and in what areas it focuses
on. It tries to express the general concepts in psychology such as research methods, subfields,
perspectives and study area of psychology. The paper includes ideas and concepts almost from
all the first eight units included in general psychology module. This ideas and concepts are
developed by using different reference materials. It also tries to explore some of the ideas
which psychology is interested on such as memory, personality, behavior, emotion and
psychological disorders.

 Psychology is the study of human behavior and the underlying mental processes
1) The notable research methods in Psychology

As a scientific study, psychology employs different research methods Based on the desire of the
researcher what do to achieve and its objectives and goals. There are three basic research methods
used by psychologists in their systematic study of human behavior. They are stated as follows.
 Descriptive research - in this type of research, the researchers simply record what they
have systematically observed. This research method includes
 Naturalistic observation: It is the Systematic study of behavior in natural settings.
 Case study: is a descriptive technique in which a small number of persons are studied in
detail. It is Generalizing from the Unique.
 Survey: is a descriptive research method used to collect data from a very large group of
people. Here researchers obtain a very limited sample of the behavior of large numbers
of persons, usually through their responses to questionnaires. It is specializing from the
general.
 Co-relational research: is a research method that measures the relationship between two or
more variables and helps to determine whether or not these variables are related in any way.
It is often highly efficient and can yield a large amount of interesting data in a relatively short
time. Co -relational studies are often done to investigate the effects of personality variables
on behavior. It is not concerned with causation.
 Experimental Research: it is a research method that allows researchers to study the cause
and effect relationship between variables. Experiments involve at least one independent
variable and one dependent variable. They also include two supportive groups, these are
experiment group (a group which is the focus of the issue) and control group (a group
assigned for making comparison). Simply it is Knowledge through Systematic Intervention.

Major theoretical perspectives of Psychology (Q.2)

In explaining human behavior there are different ways to employ. And also different perspectives
are there to raise fundamental questions such as how human mind works, what peoples do and
why they do, and seek proper answer for them.

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 Psychodynamic perspective: Focuses on personality and on the role of hidden, often
unconscious processes on behavior. It emphasizes the influence of unconscious mental
behavior on everyday behavior, the role of childhood experiences in shaping adult
personality and the role of intrapersonal conflict in determining human behavior.
 Behavioral Perspective: It emphasizes the role learning experiences play in shaping the
behavior of an organism. This perspective is sometimes called the "black box" approach in
psychology because behaviorists are only interested in the effects of the environment on
behavior, but not in the process inside the environment.
 Humanistic Perspective: emphasizes the uniqueness of human beings and focus on human
value, mental and cognitive processes and subjective experiences. According to this
perspective, human behavior is not determined either by unconscious dynamics or the
environment. The goal of humanistic psychology was helping people to express themselves
creatively and achieve their full potential or self-actualization.
 Cognitive Perspective: emphasizes what goes on in people's heads and shows how people's
thoughts and explanations affect their actions, feelings, and choices.
 Biological Perspective: Focuses on the biological events and processes that underlie
behavior and study how bodily events or functioning of the body affects behavior, feelings,
and thoughts. It intends to show the interaction between biology and behavior.
 Socio-cultural Perspective: It focuses on all aspects of social behavior and on the impact of
cultural factors on human behavior. This perspective holds that our behavior always occurs in
some cultural contexts.
Specialties in Psychology (Q.3)
Nowadays psychology is becoming a diverse subject and options in it are becoming wider than ever.
This gives several and diversified options of fields and specialties for the students who want to
study psychology. The following are some of the sub-fields of psychology.

 Developmental psychology: - It studies about the changes in behavior and mental

processes that occur from birth through old age and try to understand the causes and
effects of those changes.
 Cross-cultural Psychology: - examines the role of culture in understanding behavior,
thought, and emotion.
 Educational Psychology: - Focuses on the application of psychological principles and
theories in improving the educational process. Study how people learn, and they design the
methods and materials used to educate people of all ages.
 Health Psychology: - studies about the two way relationship between health and behavior.
 Clinical Psychology: - it studies about examining the causes of mental illness and
application of psychological principles to treat these mental disorders.

Sensation and perception (Q.4)

Sensation and perception are two interrelated but highly different terms and concepts. At first a
sense is a system that translates information from outside the nervous system into neural activity.
Everything we learn is detected by sense organs and transmitted to our brains by sensory nerves.
Therefore Sensation is the process whereby stimulation of receptor cells in the eyes, ears, nose,

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mouth, and surface of the skin sends nerve impulses to the brain. It is also the process that detects
the stimulus from one‘s body or from the environment. Humans depend primarily on vision,
hearing, and the skin senses to gain information about the world. All of these senses detect
incoming stimulus energy; encode it in the form of neural Activity, and transfer this coded
information to the brain.
 Example- hearing sounds and seeing colors are largely sensational processes.

Perception is the process by which we recognize what is represented by the information provided
by our sense organs. This process gives unity and coherence to this input. Perception is a rapid,
automatic, unconscious process; it is not a deliberate one in which we puzzle out the meaning of
what we see. Unlike sensation, perception is a meaning making process. Means it is a process that
organizes sensations into meaningful patterns. We can also say that it is a process whereby the
brain interprets sensations by giving them meaning and order. Perception is not a passive process
of simply absorbing and decoding incoming sensations.
 Example- forming a melody after hearing sounds and recognizing the shapes and
patterns after seeing colors are largely perceptual processes.

Generally sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight,
sound and smell. Whereas Perception is the way we interpret these sensations and therefore make
sense of everything around us.

Major processes in sensation (Q.5)

In order to know what the actual meaning of sensation and how sensation works we have to
nurture through certain processes. These processes also serve as sensory laws.

 Sensory threshold: is the minimum point of intensity a sound can be detected. There are
two laws of sensory threshold: The law of absolute threshold and the law of difference
threshold.

 The absolute threshold: it is the smallest amount of stimulation (light, sound, pressure or
other physical energy) we can detect. It is affected by both by intensity and the physical and
psychological state of the individual.

 The difference threshold (JND): it is the smallest difference between stimuli that we can
detect. It’s about detecting changes in the intensity of a stimulus. For example, you would
have to increase the intensity of the sound from your tape recorder a certain amount before
you could detect a change in its volume.
 Sensory Adaptation: It is a tendency of our sensory receptors to have decreasing
responsiveness to unchanging stimulus. Sensory Adaptation also lets us detect potentially
important change in our environment while ignoring unchanging aspects of it. For instance
someone decided to take a shower and immediately after he/she starts to wash he/she
might shiver because of the coldness of water but after a while his/her body will adapt that
coldness and even feel that the water is hot.

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Perceptual organizational processes (Q.6)
To explain phenomena such as these and to understand the way our perceptual systems organize
more naturalistic scenes, psychologists have focused on two basic processes: figure-ground
organization and grouping.
 Figure-ground perception: - is the perception of objects and forms of everyday experience
as standing out from a background. This means it is important to identify our focus from the
general (background).The ability to distinguish an object from its general background is
basic to all form perception. Form perception is an active, rather than a passive, process.
Hence, there can be a shift in perception of figure and ground such that the figure may
become the ground and vice versa. Factors that determine your attention equally determine
what should become the figure and what should become the ground.
 Grouping: - To distinguish figure from ground, our perceptual system must first identify
stimulus elements in the environment. We tend to group certain elements describe how
perceptual together more or less automatically. There are a number of proposed principles
that systems group stimuli into a world of shapes and objects. Some of the most enduring of
these principles are the following:
 Proximity, Similarity, Continuity, Closure, Common fate and so on.
Paranormal perceptions (Q.7)
Paranormal perception is the power to perceive thing that are not present to the five senses,
whereby a person perceives information, in the form of vision, about future events before they
happen or about things or events at remote location. Paranormal events are purported
phenomena described in the popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge,
whose existence within this context is described as beyond normal experience or scientific
explanation. Those who argue for the existence of paranormal explicitly base their argument on
anecdote, testimony, and suspicion rather than empirical evidence.

Here it is very important to differentiate paranormal perception from illusion. Illusion refers to
errors in interpreting sensory information. Illusions occur in misperception of things either in size,
distance, shape, brightness, area and so on. For example the moon looks bigger at the horizon than
at its highest point in the sky.

Classical conditioning, operant conditioning and cognitive learning (Q.8)

Although the effects of learning are diverse, many psychologists believe that learning occurs in
several basic forms: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

Classical conditioning
It is a form of learning in which two stimulus events become associated in such a way that the
occurrence of one event reliably predicts the occurrence of the other. classical conditioning involves
learning about the conditions that predict that a significant event will occur. Classical conditioning is
the basis for many learned fears, including stage fright, and also helps explain how we acquire

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aversions to certain foods or beverages. Classical conditioning involves what are known as
conditioned reflexes. In short Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus
comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that
response.

Operant conditioning theory

It is a form of learning in which organisms learn associations between behaviors and stimuli that
precede them or follow them. It is learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or
weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences. Operant conditioning tells
about the relations between environmental stimuli and our own behavior; it is also called
instrumental learning. 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.
Unlike classical conditioning, operant conditioning applies to voluntary responses, which an
organism performs deliberately to produce a desirable outcome.

Cognitive learning
It is the mental process of gaining knowledge and understanding through the senses, experience and
thought. Cognitive learning is a style of learning that focuses on more effective use of the brain and is an
immersive and active process that engages senses in a constructive and long-lasting way. Cognitive
learning may take two forms: Latent learning and Insight learning. Latent learning is learning that
occurs but is not evident in behavior until later, when conditions for its appearance are favorable.
On other hand Insight learning is a cognitive process whereby we reorganize our perception of a
problem.

The effectiveness of Punishment in bringing desired behavior (Q.9)

Behavioral techniques can make undesirable behaviors less likely. Punishment is one of these
behavioral techniques that weakens the response or makes it less likely to recur and reduces the
frequency of behavior. The effectiveness of punishment is often depends on the presence of the
punishing circumstances. Sometimes, the only way to eliminate a dangerous or disruptive behavior
is through, an operant use of punishment for whom it might be appropriate and beneficial. But
before going into action we have to consider whether other methods fail or not and whether or not
the action is punishable and so on. And even then, punishment is best used only long enough to
eliminate undesirable behavior and in combination with other behavioral methods designed to
reinforce more appropriate behavior.
Punishment refers to a decrease in the frequency of a response that is regularly and reliably
followed by an aversive stimulus. If an aversive stimulus follows a response and decreases the
frequency of that response, we call it a punisher. It is not good to administer punishment
inappropriately or mindlessly, because however Punishment modifies behavior, it also poses several
problems, if we are not careful in doing so. The following are some of the problems that are posed
by punishment

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 It suppresses behavior without erasing it and it teaches only what not to do, not what
should be done to obtain reinforcement.
 The recipient of punishment often responds with anxiety, fear or rage. 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.

Stages and Models of Memory (Q.10)

Stages of Memory
Stage of memory is the nature of memory storage itself- how information is represented in memory
and how long it lasts and how it is organized. Memory has three stages/structures:

1) Sensory Memory: This stage of memory stores the unprocessed informations which we
collect without classifying them as important or not. It retains those informations until we select
our attention area (focus). It is the entry way to memory or the first information storage area.
2) Short-term Memory: it is the part of memory system that stores limited amounts of
information for a limited amount of time. They consist of the by-products or end results of
perceptual analysis. Short term memory is distinguished by certain characteristics such as, it is
active, and it has limited capacity and more.
3. Long Term Memory: is a memory system used for the relatively permanent storage of
meaningful information

Models of memory
As we can notice in our day to day life, some stimuli will not even stay for a minute in our memory
while others stay even for a life time. Different memory models try to explain about this situation in
their own way.

 Information Processing: This model insists that in order for the information to become last
for a long time in memory it must pass through three stages of mental processing: sensory
memory, short-term memory and long-term memory.
 Levels of Processing: according to this model the way we encode information when we
first detect (receive) it, is the crux of matter in our memory.
 Parallel Distributed Processing: according to this model the new experiences are not only
a source of new facts but also they are integrated with existing knowledge and guide in
understanding of our world.
 Transfer-Appropriate Processing: focuses on how well the processes involved during
retrieval match the way in which the information was originally encoded.
 Multiple Memory Systems: This approach suggests that the brain contains several relatively
separate memory systems, each of which resides in a different area and each of which
serves somewhat different purposes.

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Memory improvement techniques (Q.11)
Most of the time we forget things and sometimes forgetting those things will cost us a lot. In order
to avoid this problem we can apply or follow different methods and guidelines. Some of this
methods or guide lines are:

Look for meaningful acronyms: The more meaningful the material, the more likely it is to
link up with information already in long-term memory.
Read intensively with all your ability: Read actively, not passively
Pay Attention: encoding the information in the first place.
Encode information: elaborately (in more than one way)
Test or Monitor your learning: testing ourselves frequently, rehearsing thoroughly, and
reviewing periodically
Take your time: Allocate our time to allow for distributed practice. If possible, minimize
interference by using study breaks for rest or recreation.
Over learn: Studying information even after we think we already know it.
Use mnemonics: Using short poem or a special word which will help us to remember.

Motivation theories (Q.12)

The sources of motivation are different according to the different theories of motivation. Some of
these theories are instinct, drive-reduction, arousal, incentive, cognitive, and humanistic.

 Instinct approaches to motivation: It is focused on the biologically determined and innate

patterns of both humans and animals behavior. According to this instinct theory, in humans, the
instinct to reproduce is responsible for sexual behavior, and the instinct for territorial protection
may be related to aggressive behavior.
 Drive-reduction approaches to motivation: This approach involved the concepts of needs and
drives (tension related to need). When an organism has a need, it leads to a psychological
tension to fulfill the need and then reduce the tension. Drive reduction theory proposes just this
connection between internal psychological states and outward behavior. Biological needs
produce unpleasant states of arousal, which people then seek to reduce.
 Arousal approaches: Arousal approaches seek to explain behavior in which the goal is to
maintain or increase excitement. According to arousal approaches to motivation, each person
tries to maintain a certain level of stimulation and activity. As with the drive-reduction model,
this approach suggests that if our stimulation and activity levels become too high, we try to
reduce them. But, in contrast to the drive-reduction perspective, the arousal approach also
suggests that if levels of stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to increase them by
seeking stimulation.
 Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind motivation: Cognitive approaches to motivation
suggest that motivation is a result of people‘s thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and goals. They
draw a key difference between intrinsic (doing activity for enjoyment) and extrinsic (doing
something for concrete reward). Behavior is “pulled” by expectations of desired outcomes
rather than “pushed” from within by biologically based drives.

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 Humanistic approaches to motivation: This approach is based on the work of Abraham
Maslow. Maslow suggested that human behavior is influenced by a hierarchy of five classes of
needs. These classes are: Physiological needs, Safety needs, Love and belongingness needs,
Esteem needs & Self-actualization needs. Needs exist in a hierarchy; higher-level needs cannot
be activated until lower-level needs are satisfied.

Specific motives (Q.13)

The word motive refers to a reason or purpose for behavior. Motives can explain the links between
stimuli and responses that, in some cases, might seem unrelated. There are many specific motives.
Among these:
 Achievement motive: is the desire to meet standards of excellence or to outperform others. It
is measured by the Thematic Apperception Test and by the content of verbal materials.
Individuals high in achievement spend a lot of time thinking about how to do things
successfully. Some research findings indicate that the higher the level of achievement
motivation in a given society, the greater its economic success.
 Power motive: it is a desire to have impact on other peoples, to affect their behavior or
emotions. Peoples high in need for power, have a recurrent preference that impacts others.
 Intimacy motive: it is a recurrent preference of readiness for experiences of warm, close, and
communicative interaction with other persons. The intimacy motive serves to energize, direct,
and select behavior in certain situations .peoples high in need for intimacy can be understood
as having a relationship motive: a recurrent preference for experiences of warm, close, and
communicative interactions with others.

Emotional processes (Q.14)

Emotional processing is the ability of people to process stress and other extreme events and move
past them. When people are unable to process those emotions, they develop phobias and other
mental issues. Emotional processing allows specific and intense feelings to dissipate over time.
Emotional processing happens when an individual experiences an emotionally distressing event and
is able to cope with those experiences over time to the extent that new experiences can occur
(whether stressful or not) without a return to the previous distress. Basically, every person has
experiences that cause fear, extreme sadness, anxiety and depression, but those experiences are
temporary for the majority of the population.

Some people relive those experiences and return to the distressing feelings over and over again.
They are not able to process, or reduce, the emotions associated with those events. These
individuals then experience relapse (if a substance was used to cope), night terrors, phobia and
other extreme reactions.
Personality assessment methods (Q.15)
Psychologists describe and asses people’s personalities by using different assessment methods. The
following are some of them.
 Life outcomes (such as level of education, income, or marital status).

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 Situational tests (laboratory measurements of behavioral, emotional, and physiological
reactions to conflict, frustration, and the like).
 Observer ratings (judgments about a person made by family or friends); and
 Self-reports (responses to interviews and personality tests).
From the above methods, observer ratings and situational tests allow direct assessment of many
aspects of behavior; including how often, how effectively, and how consistently various actions
occur. Interviews provide a way to gather information about personality from the person’s own
point of view. The data gathered through these methods are used for many purposes, including
diagnosing psychological disorders, predicting dangerousness and selecting new employees.

The Impacts of heredity and environment on personality (Q.16)

As we can notice in our day to day life there is a variation in personality characteristics among
individuals. The sources of these variations can be either biological (especially inheritance) or
environmental factors. Research in behavioral genetics suggests that personality is the joint product
of genetically influenced behavioral tendencies and the environmental conditions each child
encounters.

Sometimes the variation in personality characteristics among individuals can be a result of

inherited differences in their nervous system, especially in their brain. For example people who
inherit a nervous system that normally operates below their optimum arousal level will always be
on the lookout for excitement, change, and social contact in order to increase their arousal. As a
result, these people will be extraverted. In contrast, people whose nervous system is normally over
aroused will tend to avoid excitement, change, and social contact in order to reduce arousal to their
optimum level. In short, they will be introverted. Another example which can clearly shows the
influence of inheritance in personality is that all new born babies are not essentially alike.

The next important factor is environmental, that is a factor which affects personality a lot. The way
and the place we grow have a profound effect in our personality. For example there may be siblings
who rose in different culture and area, most of the time their behavior is affected and directed by
those cultures and the way the society live. Our interaction to the society will have chance to
determine our personality. For example a one who is easily interacting and communicate with the
society will most probably be extravert.
Personality theories (Q.17)
There are different theories of personality which try to explain the characteristic behavior of human
beings. The following are some of those personality theories.
The psychoanalytic theory of personality
This theory states that personality is formed within ourselves, arising from basic natural needs,
drives and characteristics. It’s formulated by Sigmund Freud. According to him personality has

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three parts which function differently and develop at different time. Also the way they interact
with one another determines personality of individual. These parts are:
1. ID: it is the unconscious and amoral part of personality that exists at birth by including all of
basic biological needs. If these needs are active a person will feel both physical and
psychological tension. When psychological drives are high it is hard for the person and the
goal of the person is to fulfill the need (to apply pleasure principle) without any
consideration of the consequence.
2. Ego: it is mostly conscious and is far more rational and logical than the ID. This part of
personality is based on reality. Example: a person could fulfill its needs by applying pleasure
principle but only in a way that will not lead to negative consequences.
3. Superego: is called center of personality and includes learning rules, customs and
expectations of the society by child. Has two parts: Ego ideal and Conscience, measuring of
ideal and acceptable behaviors a person learned from parents and society & Judging persons
behavior (making a person pride or guilt) respectively.
The trait theory of personality
It is a description of personality as a combination of stable internal characteristics that people
display consistently over time and across situations. It is based on five trait dimensions. These are:
Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. It is based on three
basic assumptions that; Personality traits are relatively stable and predictable over time, Personality
traits are relatively stable across situations, and Peoples differ in how much of a particular
personality trait they posses.
Humanistic theory of personality
This theory of personality emphasizes people‘s inherent goodness and their tendency to move
toward higher levels of functioning. According to this theory, the core of personality is conscious,
self-motivated ability to change and improve, along with people‘s unique creative impulses. Human
beings are always in self-actualization process, and the key for this self actualization is self concept,
which is the development of an image of oneself based on what we are told by others and how the
scene of self is reflected in the words and action of important people in one’s life. components of
the self-concept are the real self (one‘s actual perception of self-actualization) and the ideal self
(the perception of what one would like to be). If there is a big gap between these two halves of
selves then ideal self will be attainable, unless the ideal self will be impossible. Factors such as
unconditional positive regard are motives to reach into our goal.

Abnormal behavior criteria (Q.18)

There are several criteria for judging whether people’s thinking, emotions, or behaviors are
abnormal. Each criterion has value but also some flaws.
 Infrequency: If we define normality as what most people do, an obvious criterion for
abnormality is statistical infrequency. By this criterion, the few people who believe that
space aliens are stealing their thoughts would be judged abnormal, and the many people
who worry about crime or terrorism would not.

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 Norm violation: According to this norm violation criterion, when people behave in way that
deviates from social norms, they may be described as abnormal.
 Personal distress: Experiencing distress is the criterion that people often use in deciding
that their psychological problems are severe enough to require treatment.
 Deviance: behaviors which deviate from the norms of the society are often treated as
abnormal behaviors.
 Maladaptive situation: when peoples act in a way we can’t adapt.

Models of abnormal behavior (Q.19)

Models of abnormality are general hypotheses as to the nature of psychological abnormalities. We
will see four of these models. They all attempt to explain the causes and treatments for all
psychological illnesses, and all from a different approach.
Biological model: The biological model of abnormality is based on the assumptions that if the
brain, neuroanatomy and related biochemicals are all physical entities and work together to
mediate psychological processes. The main cures for psychological illness under this model are
electroconvulsive therapy, drugs and surgery.
Behavioral model: The behavioral model to abnormality assumes that all maladaptive behavior is
essentially acquired through one's environment. The priority is changing the behavior over
identifying the cause of the dysfunctional behavior. The main solutions to psychological illness
under this model are aversion therapy and systematic desensitization. This model seems to have
been quite successful, where phobias and compulsive disorders are concerned.
Cognitive model: The cognitive model of abnormality focuses on the cognitive distortions in the
thought processes and the cognitive deficiencies, particularly the absence of sufficient thinking and
planning. It is hoped that if the patient's feelings and emotions towards something are influenced to
change, it will induce external behavioral change. One of the main treatments is rational emotive
therapy, which is based on the principle that an activating emotional event will cause a change in
thoughts toward that situation.
Psychodynamic model: The psychodynamic model is based on the principles that psychological
illnesses come about from repressed emotions and thoughts from experiences in the past, and as a
result of this repression, alternative behavior replaces what is being repressed. The main cure for
illnesses under this model is free association where the patient is free to speak. This model can be
successful, especially where the patient feels comfortable to speak freely and about issues that are
relevant to a cure.

Categories of psychological disorders (Q.20)

Psychological disorders, also referred to as mental disorder, are abnormalities of the mind that
result in persistent behavior patterns that can seriously affect day to day function and life.
Classifying these patterns helps to identify the features, causes, and most effective methods of
treating various psychological disorders.

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 Mood Disorders: Mood disorders are characterized by a serious change in mood from
depressed to elevated feelings causing disruption to life activities. Depressive disorder is
characterized by overall feelings of desperation and inactivity. Feeling extremely sad, empty
or depressed and being excessively happy are some of the characteristics of mood disorder.
The disorders in this category include Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder.
 Anxiety Disorders: are the most common of mental disorders, but they are treatable and a
number of effective treatments are available. The disorders in this category include Panic
Disorder, Agoraphobia (fear of open place), and Specific Phobia.
 Schizophrenia: It is perhaps the most severe and puzzling disorder of all.
 Personality Disorders: A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you
have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. Personality
Disorders are characterized by an enduring pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving which
is significantly different from the person's culture and results in negative consequences.
Symptoms and causes of psychological disorders (Q.21)

There are different types of psychological or mental disorder. The causes and symptoms of these
disorders vary from one another.
Causes
Causes of psychological disorders are various, complex, not easy to identify. But in general we can
divide them as biological causes and psychological causes.
 Biological causes: includes causes related to, working of chemicals in the brain, genetics,
underdevelopment in brain areas. Example: biological factors for mood disorders include,
imbalances in the brain’s neurotransmitter systems, malfunctioning of the endocrine system,
disruption of biological rhythms and the role of genetics. On other hand biological factors
implicated in schizophrenia are Genetic factors, neurotransmitter problems and
abnormalities in brain structure and functioning,
 Psychological and Social Factors: Includes causes related to psychology such as;
inappropriate learning, the inability of ego to resolve the conflict between ID and super ego,
the quality of our internal dialogue, negative thinking, personality traits and family
interactions
Example: psychological causes for mood disorder are way people think about their stressors,
negative beliefs about themselves

Symptoms
Each type of psychological disorder has its own symptoms as of the causes. For example: Symptoms
of depression disorder are Deep sadness, feelings of worthlessness, changes in eating and sleeping
habits, loss of interest and pleasure. On other hand Symptoms of bipolar disorder are Alternating
extremes of mood, from deep depression to mania, and back. Symptoms of schizophrenia are
problems in thinking, perception, attention, emotion, movement, motivation, and daily functioning.

Therapies (Q.22)

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Psychotherapy is the treatment of psychological disorders through talking and other psychological
methods. There are different of therapy with a common goal to help the client reduce negative
symptoms, gain insight into why these symptoms occurred and work through those issues, and
reduce the emergence of the symptoms in the future. Among them the main therapies are:

 Cognitive therapy: A treatment in which the therapist helps clients to notice and change
negative thoughts associated with anxiety and depression.
 Behavior Therapy: uses learning principles to reduce clients’ undesirable patterns of
thought and behavior and to strengthen more desirable alternatives. Common techniques
for Modifying behavioral treatments include systematic desensitization, flooding and other
exposure techniques, modeling, social skills training, and assertiveness training.
 Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: help clients gain insight into unconscious conflicts and
impulses and then to explore how those factors have created disorders. Exploration of the
unconscious is aided by the use of free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of
transference. Some variations on psychoanalysis focus less on the id, the unconscious, and
the past and more on helping clients harness the ego to solve problems in the present.

Therapeutic methods (Q.23)

There are different therapeutic methods which we can apply to treat psychological illnesses. Among
these:
 Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: help clients change the way they think, as well as the way
they behave. Among the specific cognitive-behavior therapy methods are rational-emotive
behavior therapy, cognitive restructuring, stress inoculation training, and cognitive therapy.
 Positive reinforcement: A therapy method that uses rewards to strengthen desirable
behaviors.
 Punishment: A therapy method that weakens undesirable behavior by following it with an
unpleasant stimulus.
 Aversion conditioning: is a method that uses classical conditioning to create a negative
response to a particular stimulus.
 Client-centered therapy: A therapy that allows the client to decide what to talk about,
without direction, judgment, or interpretation from the therapist.
 Gestalt therapy: is an active treatment designed to help clients get in touch with genuine
feelings and disown foreign ones.
 Electroconvulsive therapy: a method of treating severe depression.

Effectiveness of psychotherapy and psychotropic medications (Q.24)

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Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy includes a group of therapies used to treat a broad range of
psychological disorders. Psychotherapy produces effects that are often comparable to or better
than the effects produced by drug medications for a spectrum of mental disorders without the
potential for harmful side effects commonly associated with drugs. According to some research
findings psychotherapy is not only effective but also produces long term health improvements and
helps to reduce the overall need for health services. Also it is generally as effective as conventional
medications used to treat mental and behavioral disorders such as depression, especially when long
term follow up and consumer satisfaction are considered. This doesn’t mean that it is fully effective,
because there are various conditions which make psychotherapy effective or less effective. Among
these; the relationship between the client and the therapist plays a significant role in the
effectiveness of the therapy. For instance better communication and obedience of the client will
affect in a positive manner.

Psychotropic medication: The success rates of being treated with psychotropic medications can
often be quite high. Psychotropic medications are especially effective with biologically based
disorders such as schizophrenia. Medications have shown to have the following positive effects
when treating mental illness: stops or reduces psychotic symptoms, reduces depression, can
produce calming and relaxing states and can control acute pain. But this is not to say that there
aren’t significant risks associated with the use of psychotropic medications. Medications often
produce unpleasant and even dangerous side effects including, psychosis, hallucinations,
depersonalization, suicidal ideation, stroke and sudden death. Due to these and many other risks
and unpleasant side effects of psychotropic medications, it is important to consider alternative
forms of treatment for mental health issues.

Relationship between stress and illness (Q.25)

Stress is the negative emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological process that occurs as
individuals try to deal with stressors. It is not a specific event, but an ever-changing process in which
the nature and intensity of our responses depend not only on what stressors occur, but also on how
we think about them, the coping skills we have, and the resources we perceive to be available. For
humans, many stressors have both physical and psychological components.

Stress can have harmful physical and psychological consequences, including heart disease, diabetes,
anxiety, and depression. Many Researches indicate that people under stress are more likely than
less stressed people to develop infectious diseases and to experience flare-ups of latent viruses
responsible for oral herpes (cold sores) or genital herpes. When a person is under stress, some of
the hormones released from the adrenal gland reduce the effectiveness of the cells of the immune
system in combating foreign invaders such as viruses.

Health lifestyle risks (Q.26)

There are a variety of life styles in the world which are related to people’s behavior, life philosophy,
perception of things and more other considerations. Life styles like doing physical exercise, taking
balanced diet and other can upgrade and positively affect our health status. While lifestyles or
health related habits including; smoking, alcohol, poor diet leading to obesity or malnutrition, lack

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of physical exercise, sexual behavior and problems resulting from drug taking can have a major
impact on a person’s health and are too much risky. For example some peoples take smoking
cigarette or using drugs or also diabetic diet as a component of their life style. It is clear that the
effect of smoking cigarette, using drugs or taking too much diabetic diet on health. As such different
lifestyles have negative impact on health and can lead into series diseases.

The most effective coping skills (Q.27)

Coping is defined as the cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific demands that people
perceive as taxing their resources. The impact of stressors can be reduced by the use of effective
coping methods. Most of these methods can be classified as focusing either on problems or on
emotions.
Problem-focused coping involves efforts to alter or eliminate a source of stress. It includes
Confronting, Seeking social support and Planful problem solving. On other hand emotion-focused
techniques are aimed at regulating the negative emotional consequences of the stressor. This
method includes; Self-controlling, Distancing, Positive reappraisal, Accepting responsibility and
Escape/avoidance. The stress-reducing effects of social support have been documented for a wide
range of stressors, including cancer, heart disease, military combat, natural disasters, arthritis, AIDS,
loss of loved ones and even ethnic discrimination.

Conclusion
In this paper different ideas and concepts are mentioned shortly. For example those includes
research methods of psychology, major perspectives in psychology, different psychological
disorders and their treatments, personality, paranormal perceptions, learning, coping skills and
many others. Each concept is very wide to express and to be comprehended but as of the aim of
this paper it is tried to create a general guideline for what concerns psychology importantly.
Because it takes a lot of time and huge volume to fully incorporate a concrete idea about all.

Reference
o Ministry of science and higher education (MoSHE) (2019). General
psychology(Psych1011) Module. Addis Ababa: Author.
o Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewart & Roy, (2008). Psychology (8 th edition). Florida; USA
o (1994). Encyclopedia of psychology (2nd edition). New York: USA
o Oxford English dictionary (for definitions).
o Robert A. Baron. (1997). psychology (4th edition).
o G. Neil Martin, Neil R. Carlson & William Buskist. (2010). Psychology (4 th) edition.

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