BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

NOTES

FOR BMS 1.0

By

LUKENDO JOSEPHINE

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BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Psychology
Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes. It is considered to be a science because psychologists attempt
to understand people through a careful, controlled observation thereby
relying on scientific methods.

Behavior
This refers to all of a person’s overt actions that others can directly
observe. In other words, behaviors are directly observable and
measurable.

Mental Process
Refers to private psychological activities which include thinking,
perceiving, feelings, emotions, and motives that others can not directly
observe.

Social Psychology
Can be defined as the scientific study of the way in which the thoughts,
feelings and behaviors of an individual are influenced by the behavior or
characteristics of other people. It can also be defined as a branch of
psychology that studies individuals as they interact with others. It also
studies how other factors can affect an individual’s social behavior.

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Goals of psychology
The goals of psychology include the following:
1. Describe
2. Predict
3. Explain and understand
4. Control or influence
Describe.
In some cases, psychologists to describe psychological phenomena more
accurately and completely. For instance, information gathered in a
survey on the frequency of sexual behavior among college students
without the protection of a condom would reveal whether they are at
high risk for the spread of STDs such HIV?AIDs.
Explain and understand.
This deals with behavior and mental processes that can be understood
when we can explain why they happen. Explanations are usually
tentative and are also referred to as theories.
Theories are tentative explanations of facts and relationships in sciences
and are subjected to revision.
Why are people more aggressive when they are uncomfortable?
Why are by standers often unwilling to help in an emergency?
Understanding behavior is therefore met when we can explain why an
event occurs. Understanding usually means that we can state when the
causes of a behavior; for example research on the last question by

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bystander apathy has shown that people often fail to help when other no
other possible helpers are nearly, why? Because a diffusion of
responsibility ‘occurs’ so that no open person feels required to pitch in,
generally, the larger the number of potential helps present, the less likely
it is that help will be given now we can explain a perplexing problem.
Prediction
Can we predict when act will occur?
Prediction is the 3rd goal of psychology. Prediction is the ability to
accurately forecast behavior. For example psychologists use tests to
predict such things as success in school, work or a career.
Notice that the explanation for by stander apathy makes a prediction
about the chances of getting help. Anyone who has been stranded by car
trouble on busy highway will recognize the accuracy of this prediction.
Control
What conditions influence or affect behavior?
This is psychology’s fourth and misunderstood goal because it sounds
like a threat to personal freedom. However, control simply means
altering conditions that influence behavior in predictable way.
For example:-If a psychology suggests changes in a classroom that help
children learn better, the psychologist has exerted control. If the
counselor helps a person overcome a crippling fear of heights, control is
involved.

In summary, psychology’s goals are natural outgrowth of or desire, to

understand behavior.
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AREAS IN PSYCHOLOGY
Clinical Psychology
A branch of psychology concerned with the study, diagnosis, and
treatment of abnormal behavior. It is the oldest as well as the most well-
known branch of psychology. Clinical psychologists are trained to
diagnose and treat problems ranging from the everyday crises of life
such as grief due to the death of a loved one, to more extreme
conditions, such as a loss of touch with reality. Some clinic
psychologists also conduct research, investigating issues that range from
indentifying the early signs of psychology disturbance and studying the
relationship between how family members communicate with one
another to the understanding of a wide variety of psychological
disorders.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies the psychology in action at the
workplace, including productivity, job satisfaction and decision-making
Health Psychology
The branch of psychology that explores the relationship of psychological
factors and physical ailment or disease e.g. health psychologists are
interested in how the long – term stress (psychological factor) can affect
physical health. They are also concerned with identifying ways of
promoting behaviors related to good health. They are also concerned

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with identifying ways of promotion behaviors related to good health
(such as exercise or discouraging unhealthy behaviors (such as smoking,
drinking etc)
Consumer Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies and explains our buying and our
effects of advertising a buying behavior mainly dealt with the likes and
dislikes and preferences of people.
Environmental Psychology
A branch of psychology, that focuses upon the relationship between
people and their physical environment. It is one of the newly emerging
and in-demand areas of psychology. Environmental psychologists have
made significant progress in understanding how our physical
environment affects the way we behave toward others our emotions and
how much stress we experience in a particular setting.

Sport Psychology
The branch of psychology that studies the psychological variables that
have an impact upon the sportspersons’ performance e.g. how stress can
affect sport performance, how morale can be boosted the role of self-
concept and esteem the impact of crowd behavior etc.

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Forensic Psychology
The branch of psychology that investigates legal issues and
psychological variables involved in criminal behavior e.g. what factors
determine criminal tendencies, how criminals be reformed deciding what
criteria indicate that a person is legally insane and whether larger and
smaller juries make fairer decisions.
Counseling Psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses
research and applied work in several broad domains counseling process
and outcome; supervision and training career development and
counseling and prevention and health. Some unifying themes among
counseling psychologist include a focus on assets and strengths person
environment interactions development brief interactions and a focus on
intact personalities.

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BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE THEORIES

Behavioural change theories are attempts to explain why behaviors'

change. These theories cite environmental, personal, and behavioral
characteristics as the major factors in behavioral determination.
In recent years, there has been increased interest in the application of
these theories in the areas of health, education, criminology, energy and
international development with the hope that understanding behavioral
change will improve the services offered in these areas.
Some scholars have recently introduced a distinction between models of
behavior and theories of change. Whereas models of behavior are more
diagnostic and geared towards understanding the psychological factors
that explain or predict a specific behavior, theories of change are more
process-oriented and generally aimed at changing a given behavior.
Thus, from this perspective, understanding and changing behavior are
two separate but complementary lines of scientific investigation.
General theories

Each behavioral change theory or model focuses on different factors in

attempting to explain behavior change. Of the many that exist, the most
prevalent are learning theories, social cognitive theory, theories of
reasoned action and planned behavior,

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is an individual's impression of their own ability to perform

a demanding or challenging task such as facing an exam or undergoing
surgery. This impression is based upon factors like the individual's prior

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success in the task or in related tasks, the individual's physiological
state, and outside sources of persuasion.

Self-efficacy is thought to be predictive of the amount of effort an

individual will expend in initiating and maintaining a behavioral change,
so although self-efficacy is not a behavioral change theory per se, it is an
important element of many of the theories

Learning theories and behaviour analytic theories of change

From behaviorists such as B. F. Skinner come the learning theories,

which state that complex behavior is learned gradually through the
modification of simpler behaviors. Imitation and reinforcement play
important roles in these theories, which state that individuals learn by
duplicating behaviors they observe in others and that rewards are
essential to ensuring the repetition of desirable behavior.

As each simple behavior is established through imitation and subsequent

reinforcement

Social learning and social cognitive theory

According to the social learning theory (more recently expanded as

social cognitive theory, behavioral change is determined by
environmental, personal, and behavioral elements. Each factor affects
each of the others. For example, in congruence with the principles of
self-efficacy, an individual's thoughts affect their behavior and an
individual's characteristics elicit certain responses from the social
environment. Likewise, an individual's environment affects the
development of personal characteristics as well as the person's behavior,
and an individual's behavior may change their environment as well as
the way the individual thinks or feels. Social learning theory focuses on
the reciprocal interactions between these factors, which are hypothesized
to determine behavioral change.

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Theory of reasoned action

The theory of reasoned action assumes that individuals consider a

behavior's consequences before performing the particular behavior. As a
result, intention is an important factor in determining behavior and
behavioral change. According to Icek Ajzen, intentions develop from an
individual's perception of a behavior as positive or negative together
with the individual's impression of the way their society perceives the
same behavior. Thus, personal attitude and social pressure shape
intention, which is essential to performance of a behavior and
consequently behavioral change.

Theory of planned behavior

In 1985, Ajzen expanded upon the theory of reasoned action,

formulating the theory of planned behavior, which also emphasizes the
role of intention in behavior performance but is intended to cover cases
in which a person is not in control of all factors affecting the actual
performance of a behavior. As a result, the new theory states that the
incidence of actual behavior performance is proportional to the amount
of control an individual possesses over the behavior and the strength of
the individual's intention in performing the behavior. In his article,
Further hypothesizes that self-efficacy is important in determining the
strength of the individual's intention to perform a behavior.

5 STEPS TO CHANGING ANY BEHAVIOR

From quitting smoking to eating healthier to exercising regularly to
getting more organized, most of us have a list of behaviors we'd like to
begin (or end) that resist our attempts to do so
Even though many patients are able to succeed in making desired
changes in the short term, most of them revert to their original behaviors
in the long term. What, then, are effective ways to alter behavior on a
permanent basis?

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The psychology that underlies the changing of behaviors is complex.
Two researchers named Prochaska and DiClemente developed a way of
describing it they called the Stages of Change Model. Though originally
developed in the context of smoking cessation, it's five stages actually
describe the process by which all behaviors change.

THE STAGES

1. Precontemplation. In this stage, we've either literally never

thought about needing to change a particular behavior or we've
never thought about it seriously. Often we receive ideas about
things we might need to change from others—family, friends,
doctors—but react negatively by reflex. After all, we're usually
quite happy with our current stable of habits (if we weren't, we
wouldn't have them in the first place). However, if we can find our
way to react more openly to these messages, we might find some
value in them. Remember, they aren't sent with the intent to harm.
2. Contemplation. Here we've begun to actively think about the need
to change a behavior, to fully wrap our minds around the idea. This
stage can last anywhere from a moment—to an entire lifetime.
What exactly causes us to move from this stage to the next is
always, in my view, the change of an idea ("exercise is important")
into a deeply held belief ("I need to exercise"), as discussed in an
earlier post, Cigarette Smoking Is Caused By A Delusion. What
exactly causes this change, however, is different for everyone and
largely unpredictable. What we think will produce this change isn't
often what does. For example, it may not be the high cholesterol
that gets the overweight man to begin exercising but rather his
inability to keep up with his wife when they go shopping. This is
the stage in which obstacles to change tend to rear their ugly heads.
If you get stuck here, as many often do, seek another way to think
about the value of the change you're contemplating. Remember, it's
all about finding and activating a motivating belief.
3. Determination. In this stage, we begin preparing ourselves
mentally and often physically for action. The smoker may throw

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 out all her cigarettes. The couch potato may join a gym. We pick
quit days. We schedule start days. This mustering of a
determination is the culmination of the decision to change and
fuels the engine that drives you to your goal. I firmly believe that
human beings possess the ability to manifest an unlimited amount
of determination when properly motivated by a deeply held belief.
4. Action. And then we start. We wake up and take a power walk. Or
go to the gym. Or stop smoking. Wisdom—in the form of behavior
—finally manifests.
5. Maintenance. This is continuing abstinence from smoking.
Continuing to get to the gym every day. Continuing to control your
intake of calories. Because initiating a new behavior usually seems
like the hardest part of the process of change, we often fail to
adequately prepare for the final phase of Maintenance. Yet without
a doubt, maintaining a new behavior is the most challenging part of
any behavior change. One of the reasons we so often fail at
Maintenance is because we mistakenly believe the strategies we
used to initiate the change will be equally as effective in helping us
continue the change. But they won't. Where changing a strongly
entrenched habit requires changing our belief about that habit that
penetrates deeply into our lives, continually manifesting that
wisdom (and therefore that habit) requires that we maintain a high
life-condition. If our mood is low, the wisdom to behave
differently seems to disappear and we go back to eating more and
exercising less (this isn't, of course, equally true for all behaviors,
especially for addictive behaviors we've long ago abandoned). In a

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 high life-condition, however, that changed belief will continue to
manifest as action. When you're feeling good, getting yourself to
exercise, for example, is easier because the belief that you should
exercise remains powerfully stirred up and therefore motivating.

ONE STAGE LEADS TO ANOTHER

The true power of this model really becomes apparent when we

recognize these stages are sequential and conditional. In a medical
practice, first identify the stage in which a patient sits with respect to the
behavior you want them to change. A smoker who's never seriously
considered giving up tobacco would be in the stage of Precontemplation
—and if expected them to jump from that stage over Contemplation and
Determination directly to Action, they'd almost certainly fail to change
and frustrate us both. If, however, you focus on ways to move them
from one stage to the next, you can "ripen" them at a pace with which
they're comfortable. As an example, often give patients in the stage of
Precontemplation a simple assignment: ask them to think about how the
change you want them to make would improve their lives. That doesn't
seem like such a difficult step, but if they do it, you've just moved them
into Contemplation! That may seem like insignificant progress, but it's
actually 1/5 of the work that needs to be done. Finally, and most
importantly, you can use this model on yourself. By recognizing which
of the five stages of change you find yourself in at any one time with
respect to any one behavior you're trying to change, you can maintain
realistic expectations and minimize your frustration. Focus on reaching
the next stage rather than on the end goal, which may seem too far away
and therefore discourage you from even starting on the path towards it.

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RELAPSE

The final stage of any process leading to behavior change is one

extremely difficult to avoid: relapse. Though it may sometimes be
inevitable, if you train yourself to view relapse as only one more stage in
the process of change rather than as a failure, you're much more likely to
be able to quickly return to your desired behavior. Alternatively, when
you allow yourself to view relapse as a complete failure, that assessment
typically becomes self-fulfilling. Just because you fell off the diet wagon
during a holiday doesn't mean you're doomed to return permanently to
poor eating habits—unless you think you are and allow yourself to
become discouraged, in which case you will. Long term weight gain or
loss, it turns out, isn't correlated to calorie intake on any one day but
rather to calorie intake over a period of time, which essentially means if
you overeat here or there on a few days only, it won't actually affect
your long-term ability to lose weight.

The same is true, in fact, with any behavior you want to change. Never
let a few days, or even weeks, of falling back into bad habits discourage
you from fighting to reestablish the good habits you want. Always
remember: none of us was born with any habits at all. They were all
learned, and can all, therefore, be unlearned. The question is: how badly
do you really want to change?

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PERSONALITY THEORIES
Personality theories provide a way of organizing the many facts you
know about yourself and explain differences between individuals.

What is personality?
Personality is defined as the enduring personal characteristics of
individuals. It is the sum total of the typical ways of thinking, acting,
and feeling that makes each person unique or different from all other
individuals. In addition, personality arises from within the individual and
remains fairly consistent throughout life. Personality is the some total of
ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others.
Personalities is the sum total of individual’s psychological traits,
characteristics, motives, habits, attitudes, beliefs and outlooks.

Goals of STUDYING personality THEORIES

1. To organize the characteristic of personality
2. To explain the variations in personality
3. To describe normal / health and abnormal personalities

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONALIY

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality

The theory regards human personality as significantly influenced by two
basic forces i.e. sex and aggression constantly seeking expression in
individuals.
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He worked to discover how the unconscious mind and motives of sex
and how aggression influence our behavior. Freud thought of personality
as an ice bag with the tip showing above water.
1. The part of personality that we are aware of in every day life as the
conscious mind and is the tip of the ice
2. Below this is the preconscious mind that contains information that
we have learnt but not thinking about right now.
3. Beneath the pre- conscious lies the unconscious mind that contains
materials not readily available to us e.g. our fears and unpleasant
memories are repressed into the unconscious mind.
The theory consist of three major concepts i.e. ID, EGO & SUPER
EGO
The ID
All the in born biological urges are collectively known as ID. The
individual various reflexes and two forces mentioned earlier.
- The sex impulses or the life instinct (eros) concerns survival. The
need for food, water and sleep are paramount.
- The aggression impulse or the death instinct (Thanatos) is
manifested in aggression behavior towards self as well as others.
The id therefore, allows the pleasure principles which require immediate
satisfaction regardless of the circumstances.

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The EGO
A the growing infant learn to reach to the outer environment the
expression of the id becomes the executive problem solving dimension
of personality operating in the service of the id.
The ego follows the reality principle meaning it requires suspension of
the pleasure according to the circumstances of the environment.
The Super-EGO
This consists of societal and parental values that have been instilled in
the person. Throughout life the ego is confronted with another force in a
personality that develops through contact with other people especially
teachers.
The child acquires values and standards of behaviors known as the super
ego. The super ego has got two main dimensions of the conscience and
the ego ideal.

1. The conscience: this discourages expression of behaviors

regardless of whether it is undesirable by parents and elders or
develops under the influence of threats and punishments.
2. The ego ideal: this arises from encouragement, praise and other
rewards given to a child whether he/she behaves in a certain way
or striving to achieve certain goals that parent’s desire. The super
ego is idealistic rather than realistic.

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According to Freud an individual’s personality is the result of the
interaction of these three forces.

Freud Psycho-Sexual Stages of Personality Development

Freud theorized that from birth to adolescence children go through five
stages of development called the psycho- sexual stages. He considered
these stages crucial in the development of a healthy personality. The
child’s experiences during these stages form a foundation for the
development of many personality traits that continue into adulthood.
Freud psycho- sexual stages include the oral stage, anal, phallic, latency
and the genetical stage.

The oral stage (0-1 year)

The child’s first concern is to obtain food and this initial period is called
the oral stage. If food is really available the child develops trust and an
optimistic outlook. If the child oral needs are not met, feelings of
uncertainty and pessimism are likely to be the outcome and they persist
throughout the adult personality.
It is the stage I which id gratification is focused on the mouth. If the
infants’ oral needs are over satisfied, he/she may be fixated and becomes
an oral receptive personality characterized by excessive eating, smoking
and chewing.
If the infant’s oral pleasures are frustrated, he/she may grow up a fixated
oral aggressive personality; i.e. being verbally hostile.
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The anal stage (1-3 yrs)
This occurs when parents are handling toilet training of their children.
Pleasures at this stage are focused around the anus. Freud believed that
the first part of the stage (1-2 yrs) is characterized by pleasures from
expulsion of faeces but that may cause their parents to punish them.
If they delay gratification until they are on the toilet, children can gain
approval of their parents and this second part is characterized by
pleasure in retention.
Fixation in the first subset results in adult personality characterized by
messiness, disorderly and fixation in the later subset results in excessive
compulsiveness e.g. excessive neatness, cleanness over conformity and
exaggerated self control i.e. anal retentive personality.

Phallic stage (3-6 yrs)

During this stage genital becomes the primary source of pleasure. Freud
believed that a shift to genital pleasure bring about the intense
unconscious conflict that Freud called it the OEDIPUS COMLEX in
boys and ELECTRACOMPLEX in girls.
The young boy has sexual feelings for his mother and is jealousy of the
father. He experiences castration anxiety because he is afraid his father
may castrate him. To solve this conflict, the boy identifies with the
father and suppresses his sexual feelings towards the mother. The young
girl in the phallic stage through the Electra complex in which she feels

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inferior to boys because she lacks a penis. She blames her mother for her
condition and loves her father. The penis envy eventually is resolved by
suppressing her feelings towards the father and identifying with the
mother. According to Freud, if the Electra and Oedipus complex were
not resolved, the person would have difficulty in relating to members of
the opposite sex, have egocentric selfishness, homosexually, prostitution
and gender identity problems may result.
Latency stage (6-11 yrs)
This stage is characterized by apparent absence of sexual desires that has
been strongly repressed during the resolution of the Oedipus and
Electra- complex. Instead the energy is submitted and converted into
interest in doing school work and participating in games. To pass
successfully in this stage, the child must develop a certain degree of
competence.
The genital stage (11 yrs onwards)
At puberty, the child’s heterosexual interests appear. The person begins
to focus on others instead of self, seeking to combine self concerns with
other people especially the opposite sex.
Freud’s theory was however criticized because of his pessimistic view of
human kind and string emphasis on sexuality.

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JUNG’S ANALYTICAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY
Carl Jung called his theory analytical psychology. This is because he
thought that to an individual, personal unconscious consist of repressed
thought and memories, there was also a collective an-conscious shared
by all human kind.
Stored in the collective unconscious are universal human experiences
repeated over centuries. The collective unconscious shapes our
experience. Jung called these unconscious universal ideas arch types.
The psyche type includes all thoughts and feelings conscious and
unconscious of an individual.
According to Jung the ego is the conscious mind, the part of the mind
that is concerned with thinking, emotions, memory and perception. Jung
urged that libido energy can be directed externally to become
extraversion or it can be directed inward which will become
introversion.
Introverted person tends to be shy and withdrawn where as the extravert
is sociable and outgoing. For each person one of these attitudes becomes
dominant and controls the ego and the other non dominant becomes
included in the personal unconsciousness.

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Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Erik Erikson described development that occurs throughout the lifespan.
Stage Basic Important Outcome
conflict events
Infancy Trust vs Feeding - Children develop a
(birth to 8 Mistrust sense of trust when
months) caregivers provide
reliability, care and
affection. A lack of
this will lead to
mistrust.
Early Autonomy Toilet - Children need to
childhood vs shame training develop a sense of
( 2 to 3 and doubt personal control over
years) physical skills and a
sense of
independence.
- Success leads to
feelings of
autonomy, failure
results in feelings of
shame and doubt.
Preschool (3 Initiative vs Exploration - Children need to
to 5 yrs) guilt begin asserting

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 control and power
over the
environment.
- Success in this stage
leads to a sense of
purpose. Children
who try to exert too
much power
experience
disapproval,
resulting in a sense
of guilt.
School age Industry vs School - Children need to
(6 to 11 yrs) inferiority cope with new social
and academic
demands.
- Success leads to a
sense of competence,
while failure results
in feelings of
infertility.
Adolescenc Identity vs Social - Teens need to cope
e (12 to 18 Role relationship with new social and
yrs) confusion academic demands.

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 Success leads to an
ability to stay true to
yourself, while
failure leads to role
confusion and a
weak sense of self.
Young Intimacy vs Relationships - Young adults need
Adulthood isolation to form intimate,
(19 to 40 loving relationships
yrs) with other people.
Success leads to
strong relationships,
while failure results
in loneliness and
isolation.
Middle Generatively Work and - Adults need to create
Adulthood vs Parenthood or nature things that
(40 to 65 stagnation will outlast them,
yrs) often by having
children or creating a
positive change that
benefits other
people. Success
leads to feelings of

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 usefulness and
accomplishment,
while failure results
in shallow
involvement in the
world.
Maturity (65 Ego, Reflection on - Older adults need to
yrs to Integrity, Life look back on life and
Death) life feel a sense of
fulfillment. Success
at this stage leads to
feelings of wisdom,
while failure results
in regret, bitterness,
and despair.

Determinants of Personality
1. Heredity: this refers to those factors that were determined at
conception. Physical structure, facial attractiveness, gender,
temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and
biological rhythms are characteristics that are generally considered
to be either completely or substantially influenced by who your
parents were, that is by their biological, physiological and inherent
psychological makeup.

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 2. Environment: the environmental factors that exert pressures on
our personality formation are the culture in which we are raised,
our early conditioning, the norms among our family, friends and
social groups, and other influences that we experience. The
environment to which we are exposed plays a substantial role in
shaping our personalities.
3. Situation: this influences the effects of heredity and environment
on personality. An individual’s personality although generally
stable and consistent, does change in different situations. The
varying demand of different situation calls forth different aspects
of one’s personality.

Other related theories, READ MORE ABOUT PERSONALIY

1. Alfred Adler’s individual psychology
2. Honey’s cultural psychology
3. Trait theories
4. Humanistic theories
5. Social learning theories
MENTAL DEFENCES (DEFENCE MECHANISM)
Defence mechanisms are techniques used to remain psychologically
stable or in balance.
We use defence mechanisms to reduce threat to ourselves and to feel
like a decent person.

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Usually, defence mechanisms are not fully conscious because when we
are threatened, it makes us anxious. Anxiety brings desire to get back to
balance. Thus we use defence mechanisms to establish and once in
balance the problem seems to be “one”. This is often the illusion. But the
real world is still there, and eventually we must cope with our problems.
The more we use; we are losing control of the situation. Use them to
protect ourselves.

Repression
Repression is the process of pushing a painful event or though out of the
consciousness. E.g. if we hate a relative and do not want to think about
him or her, we force these feeling and impulses to remain out of
consciousness (repress them) OR if someone cheated you and there is
nothing that can be don about it, you repress the feelings and instead you
focus something else and repress the incident as if it did not happen.
“I hate my aunt”
“What was I thinking about?”

Projection; (to point figures)

Projection is the process of attributing our thoughts to some one else. A
person’s real feelings are thrown at another person.

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It is the process of mentally giving to someone else our thoughts or
feelings e.g. if a person is fired from a job for poor performance, he
might claim that it is the supervisor who is incompetent.

In this way, the responsibility is shifted to someone else.

“What do you mean, I am upset”
I am not upset, you are upset.
Rationalization
Rationalization refers to the process of explaining a way problem, that
we do not have accept the blame.
Rationalization can be used to our benefit to get id of something we
can’t do anything about any way e.g. if someone you loved very much
chucks you, you could rationalize by thinking of a defect that he/she has.
You tick yourself into believing that you did not want the other person
any way.
“I did not a promotion”
“Well, I didn’t the job any way”.

Regression (to go backwards)

Regression is the process of going backward in behavior and thought to
a period when were taken care of as a child (childish behavior).
With regression, we defend ourselves by moving backward and
behaving like children.

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This defense is a reaction to the extreme frustration of having been an
adult and take responsibility.

Regression is sometimes seen in sports events when the player lies down
on the ground and a temper tantrum, just as a child would … is
expressed in a childish way (Crying) I should have gotten a promotion.

Denial (to not a admit)

Denial is a process of refusing to admit that there is a problem. The real
problem becomes cancelled.
Faced with a major decision, we simply deny that the problem exists.
With denial, we do not let the problem come into consciousness
anytime.

NB: With repression, we are at least partly aware of the problem and
then push it out of the consciousness to the unconsciousness.
See more in the blue book pamphlet
1. Displacement
2. Sublimation
3. Reaction formation
4. Projection
5. Withdraw

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It involves removing oneself from events, stimuli, interactions under the
fear of being reminded of painful thoughts and feelings
1. Identification
2. Introjections
Withdraw is a more severe form of defence

NB: Sigmund Freud’s emphasis on unconscious motivations and ego

defence mechanisms has been particularly valuable for psychotherapists
in gaining insight into the mental health or illnesses of their clients.

Kaluger No. 155 KAR =Human development – the span of life

PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT
Personality measures should be valid and reliable. Validity means that
yo actually measure what you intend to measure. Impersonality
assessment means you measure the subject’s personality rather than
temporally characteristics shown in the same results. Personality
assessment includes interviews, observation and tests.

Interviews
This are classified as either unstructured or structured. In an unstructured
interview no specific questions must be asked but rather the
conversation develops in whatever direction seems appropriate.

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In structures interviews a set of standard questions is designed to provide
the information necessary to assess personality they obviously depend
on the skills of the interview and the co-operation and honesty of the
person being interviewed.

Observation
This includes watching a person’s behavior in every day situation over a
period of time. The idea is naturalistic observation where the person is
observed in a normal environment. The observer record the subject’s
behavior and then attempts to determine motivation and develops a
personality description of the individual observed. The success in
observation depends upon the skills of the subject. The observer must
interpret correctly the behavior shown by the subjects.

Objective personality test

This are scored according to standardized instructions. One of the best
known personality test is the Minnesota miltiphatic personality
inventory (MMPI) designed by hatherrway and McKinley to identify
personality disorders. It contains 550 items ensured true or false.
It contains statements such as I believe am plotted against the subject’s
responses are compared to scores produced by the normal individuals
and can be used to identify a variety of personal disorders.

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Projective personality test
These present simple ambiguous stimuli that will allow subjects to
respond with projections of their own personality. The best known is the
Rorschach inkblots (five black and five colored). The subject is asked to
go through the cards and discuss feel what is seen.
However, because of the subjective nature of this kind of test
interpretation validity and reliability of the projective tests are low.
Another one is the Thematic Apperception Test which uses pictures of
people in the every day settings rather than abstract inkblots. Subjects
are shown pictures one at a time, and are required to make up stories
about the people portrayed in the pictures. It is assume that subjects will
project their own thought and feelings into the stories. However, the
TAT can be influenced by temporary conditions such as hunger, lack of
sleep, and frustration.

Other projective tests include:

1. Word association test. E.g. girl – beautiful.
2. Sentence completion tests
3. Pictures drawing tests (house, picture, tree)
PERCEPTION
Perception according to Gregory and Ricky 1998, preception is defined
as the set of processes by which the individual becomes aware of and

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interprets information about the environment. Perception is not a single
process; it consists of several distinct processes including receiving
information in many guises, from spoken word and visual
Image to movement and form. The perceptual process helps the
perceiver to assimilate the variety types of incoming information for the
purpose of interpreting.

Steven,(1996,pp132),argue that perception is a processes by which

individuals organize and interpret their sensory impression in order to
give meaning to their environment and Hellrugrel had the view that
perception is a selection and organization of environmental stimuli to
provide meaningful experiences for the perceiver. It involves searching
for, obtaining and processing information in the mind. It represents the
psychological process whereby people take information from the
environment and make sense of their world. It therefore means we can
perceive the object effectively from its reality. For instance, soccer fans
saw the same thing but can interpret it differently. Since perception is a
process, it has a framework as illustrated below.

The perceptual framework

Object (Another person, an event, activity)
The focal point perception
Awareness (Stimulus makes the individual aware of the object through
the use of 5 senses; sight, touch, smell, taste, and hear)

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Recognition (the object is recognized for what it is)

Interpretation (The meaning of the object is then interpreted)

Response (this includes change in behavior and attitude)

Adopted from; Gregory & Rick 1998 pp57, O.B,, Boston Houghton
Maffin Publisher

Factors That Influence Perception (X-Tics)

Individuals can look at the same object and perceived it differently. A
number of factors operate to shape and sometime distort the perception.
Perception is influenced by the characteristics of the object (what is
being perceived is the target), characteristics of the person (the
perceiver) and the situation.
Characteristics and factors that affect perception
X-tics of the person X-tics of the object
Salience Contract

Intensity

Attitude Movement

Personality repetition

Self concept Novelty

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 Situational X-tics
Selection
Stereotyping
Halo effect
Projection
Characteristics of the object
Characteristics in the object that are being observed can affect what is
being observed, such characteristics include:

Contrast:
An outstanding object from its surrounding is more noticeable. Loud
people are more likely to be noticed in a group more than quite people,
soldiers avoid contrasting by camouflage and concealment, chameleon
or a manage interviewing 20 women and one man will remember the
man easily because of his contrast with the environment.
Intensity:

The more intense the external factor or object (colour, depth, and
sound/loudness), the more likely it is to be perceived for instance, we
tend to listen carefully to a person who is yelling or whispering because
the intensity of the utterance is un usual.

Movement:

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An object in motion is likely to be perceived more than a stationed
object, we become aware of its surrounding for example a student
moving out of a class.

Repetition:

Repetition can also increase on awareness. Everybody could recall the

advert of Vicks Kingo, x-mas jingle bell during end of year festival. We
can remember a repeated request by a subordinate more easily than if he
or she had it once.

Novelty

An object novelty can stimulate our perception e.g. people waering un

usual cloths, books with strange covers, athlete and people with strange
names can attract our attention e.g. HIV, a former student of KIU we are
likely to remember people whose behaviors are un expected.

Managers therefore have to spend a great deal of time and energy in

shaping how people use their organizations, products and services e.g.
BB soda, Alvaro.

Characteristics of the person

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When an individual looks at the target or object and attempts to interpret
what he or she sees, the rules predation is heavily influenced by personal
characters of the individual perceiver as follows:

Salience

This is the individuals telling how important the target or object is to

him/her. The more salient the object is to you (perceiver), the more
attention you are likely to pay to it. For instance, an article in newspaper
say sports for sportsmen, politics for politicians an article about your
University.

Disposition

A short term emotional response triggered by various environmental

stimuli for instance, a manager blamed for poor or low performance that
is in a lousy mood it realizes with short time that a subordinate has
errors in his/her will perceive this to be poor performance and will not
have any tolerance for that.

Attitude

These are long lasting teaching about things. Attitude influence our
perceptions in dramatic ways for instance, our attitudes towards big
classes as lectures varies.

Self concept

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This is a person’s perception of himself/herself. A person who has a
good self consept tends to see things in a positive and enriching light. A
negative self concept on the other hand can give a personal perception’s
unfavorable or limiting cast.

Personality

This is a set of distinctive traits and features that makes that person
unique. Different personality traits can cause differences in the way
individual recognize and interpret their surroundings. An extrovert for
instance, may eagerly respond to a conversation while an introvert in
contrast may be less interested in what people are talking about.

Situational characteristics

This is context to which we see object or events as important elements in

the surrounding environment being influenced by perceptions. This
means that the same person in different situations. The major situational
process includes;

Organization

This refers to our tendency to order on perception so that they fit logical,
consistent systems of meaning. As we organize we often filter out

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stimuli that do not match with our view of reality. A manager who
believes a particular subordinate is hardworking, conscientious and
loyal. One day the manager notice the works goofing off, because this
perception does not fit in to the managers’ image of the worker he may
choose to see the behavior as well earned after hand work. This helps the
employees to develop attitudes towards many features of working place
like pay, benefits, their supervision, their co-workers, working
conditions, promotion opportunities for organizational purposes.

Stereotyping

This is the process of categorizing people into groups on the basis of

certain presumed traits or qualities, first we identify the categories by
which we sort people (e.g. sex, race, region), we associate attributes we
have decided of for instance, all secretaries are women. These affect us
during recruitment.

The halo effect

This influences our perception when we rely on a single characteristic

override an assessment of individual and other characteristics.

Projection,

This occurs when we see ourselves in another way or others. If we are

aggressive, power hungry, we may rationalize these traits by telling on
self that everyone else is the same and that to get ahead we must take of

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ourselves. It makes us become timid and fail to help a colleague who
asks for a help for example, an immediate subordinate. The idea of you
wants to take over.

MEMORY
Memory is the act of preserving what has been acquired for later use. It
is the retention of information beyond the present. The term memory
also refers to the metal storage of information whether for a brief period
or for many years.

Memory Storage.
The mental operations by which our sensory experiences are converted
into knowledge are called information processing. In the information
processing model, information can be processed through input, storage
and retrieve. At each process, a variety of control mechanism operates.
(such as attention storage and retrieval)

Stages of memory storage.

The raw sensory information that is selected is then encoded in a form of
sound visual image, meaning that can be used in the next stages of
memory. The influential stage theory of memory assumes that humans
have three stages of memories that meet the need to store information
for different length of time.

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 1. Sensory register
Remember though that information lasts only for an instant in sensory
registers, much like sitting by the window on a speeding train as images
rapidly move through your field of vision. These fleeting images are
called iconic if they are visual and echoic if they are auditory
information comes to us initially through our sensory register is very
brief, designed to hold an exact image of each sensory experience until it
can fully be processed e.g. visual information fades very quickly
probably 1/1of a second and for auditory information a vivid image of
what we hear is retained for about the same length. The raw-image data
remains in the sensory system even though information has been
processed. The sensory register contains unprocessed information which
can be transferred to the next stage i.e. short term memory.

2. Short term memory.

You have just read three paragraphs about king George of England have
started to answer questions about the material; your ability to retain this
material involves short term memory, a very important part of our
memory system. Information comes into short memory through either
sensory and perceptual processes or through long term memory, the
short term memory has been describe as a work bench because so much
activity involved in processing information goes on here. If the image is

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to be remembered it must be transferred to short term memory which is a
stage of temporary storage. Information is lost from STM In less than
half a minute unless it is renewed. Information can be renewed in STM
by a mental repetition or rehearsal. The aim is to keep material available
until it can be used or stored in an integrated fashion. Chunking that is
the organizing items into meaningful or manageable units , telephone
numbers social security numbers, license plates are common examples
of how chunking can help to remember lists of numbers in every day
life. An interesting aspect of memory is that we remember information
experienced first and last better than what we experience in the middle.
The superior recall at the beginning of a list of items is called primacy
effect, while excellent memory of the end of the list is called the recency
effect. Together the combination is called the serial position effect.

3. Long term memory.

In this third phase, information is retained for intervals ranging from 30
seconds to the full life of time of the organism. Storage of information
at this level is relatively permanent. Besides the time factor long term
memory differs from short term memory in two ways.

First it is presumed to have unlimited capacity unlike STM. To transfer

information to long term memory a more elaborate system is needed.

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The process is called encoding. It involves the preparation of
information in a useful way so that it can be remembered.

Information can be processed and integrated in exiting memories. The

greater the degree of elaboration given to the item or incoming
information the more the likely it is that it will be remembered. Like in
stm, information can reach long term memory if it is rehearsed. John
Anderson (1983, 1985) believes that there is a distinction between
declarative knowledge, information that can be verbally communicated
and procedural knowledge which consists of skills about which it is
difficult if not possible to communicate verbally. Declarative knowledge
has been called knowing that, procedural knowledge has been called
knowing how. Examples of procedural knowledge are driving a car and
reading.

Declarative knowledge has been studied more extensively than

procedural knowledge. A common distinction is declarative knowledge
is made in between episodic memory and semantic memory.

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Diagram showing the stage model of memory

Disorders of memory (amnesia)

Major disorders of memory deserve our attention and these include
anterograde, amnesia retrograde amnesia, psycho-genic amnesia and
dementia among others

a) Anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is a disorder of memory characterized by inability
to consciously retrieve new information in long term memory. This
occurs as a result of injury to brain either after surgery or after an
accident. New information is lost as soon as one losses consciousness.

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The key biological structure that is damaged in anterograde amnesia is
the hippocampus which is believed to govern the transfer of memories
from STM to
LTM.
Anterograde amnesia can be caused by brain tumors; severe nutritional
deficiencies. In addition, hard blows to the head can also cause
anterograde amnesia. However persons with anterograde amnesia
perform badly on long term declarative memory tasks but perform well
as normal individuals on procedural memory tasks.

b) Retrograde amnesia
This is a memory disorder characterized by an inability to retrieve old
long term memories generally for a specific period of time extending
back from the beginning of the disorder.

Retrograde amnesia can be caused by seizures, brain damage of various

sorts, or highly stressful events. However it generally occurs along with
anterograde amnesia, because both anterograde and retrograde amnesia
are experienced by individuals with Korsak off’s syndrome caused by
excessive abuse of alcohol, because of their extreme degree of memory
in confabulation i.e. when they cannot remember something that is
needed to complete a statement they make.

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 c) Psycho-genic amnesia
Some people suddenly lose their memory only to recover it month or
even years later.
Such persons are victims of psycho-genic amnesia. This is a sudden
disruption of memory that seems to take place in response to unbearable
space. Such a stress seems to split one’s memory (dissociate) from
conscious awareness.
FORGETTING (how we lose memory)
Forgetting is the inability to recall, recognize or relearn at improved rate.
This condition may be due to a storage failure in which the memory
trace was never satisfactory created or consolidated. It may due to
retrieval failure in which memory trace is adequate cue evoking it is
lacking.

There are four main theories that explaining forgetting:

1. Interference theory
2. Decay theory
3. Repression theory
4. Consolidation theory

Interference theory
Here information is lost from memory because it is disturbed or
displaced by other information either by retro or proactive interference.

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 a. Retroactive Interference:
This is when later memories interfere with recall of something learned
earlier. When testing this form of interference in an experiment, both the
experimental and control groups learned task A in the first session. The
control group rests in the second session while the experimental group
learns task B.

Finally both groups are called upon to call task A. According to

retroactive interference the experimental group that learnt task B will
show a poorer performance on task B.

This can be shown below.

1st session 2nd session Recall Performance
Experimenta Task A Task B Task A Performance
l group poorer
Control Task A Rests Task A Performance
group better
b) Proactive Interference.
When earlier memories interfere with the recall of material learnt later it
is called proactive interference. To test this experimental group learn
task A and the control group rests. They both learn task B in the second
session. The experimental group performs poorer on the memory test of
task B due to proactive interference.

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 1st session 2nd session Recall Performance
Experimenta Task A Task B Task B Poor
l group
Control Rests Task B Task B Better
group

This theory assumes that learning leaves a trace on the brain and that
memory trace if not actively used fades with time.

Decay theorists
Stress that they have a limited capacity for processing information and
that rehearsal prevents decay by keeping the material available until it
can be used, and when rehearsal stops then decay succeeds.

Repression theory (motivated forgetting)

Sigmud Freud suggested that we forgot some information because it is
threatening to us in some way. Freud believed that the conscious mind
often dealt with unpleasant or dangerous information by an act of
repression and this is normally referred to as motivated forgetting.
Memories for highly stressful events such as auto accidents are pushed
in the unconscious mind.

Consolidation theory.

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Another view of forgetting that postulates storage failure focus on the
sudden destruction of a new trace in its formative stage. In
consolidation theory it is suggested that memory trace needs time to be
firmly fixed certain conditions occurring soon after an experience can
eradicate the before it becomes permanent.
Any event which destructs normal brain functioning can also destruct
memory, certain drugs alcohol and excessive anesthesia inhibit brain
functioning and can also result into loss of recent memories by
interfering with consolidation of the memory trace.

READ:
How can memory be improved? Or explain how retrieval can be
possible suggested reading:
1. J.B (1986). Cognitive psychology St. Paul MN: West
2. Hunt. M. (1982) the universe within. New York: Simon and
Schuster 1982
3. Loftuse E (1980) Memory, reading MA

LEARNING

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Unit 11 – Learning and Adaptation – The Role of Experience

Reflect for a moment on how much of your behavior is learned: telling

time, getting dressed, and driving, reading, using money and so on.
Beyond such skills, learning affects our emotional reactions,
perceptions, and physiological responses. Through experience, we learn
to think, act, and feel in ways that contribute richly to our individual
identity.

What is learning?

Learning is a process by which experience produces a relatively

enduring change in an organism`s behavior or capabilities.

The term capabilities highlight a distinction made by many theorists:

“knowing how” versus “doing.” For example, experience may provide
us with immediate knowledge (e.g. the boys learned how to apply a
chokehold when they watched a wrestling match on TV), But in science
we must measure learning by actual changes in performance E.g., later
that day they began applying. Chokeholds to each other.

Therefore, the best definition of learning is that: learning is a relatively

permanent change in behavior, and the frequency of its occurrence; this
change is not automatic and results from practice or experience.

Learning is distinguished from behavioral changes a rising from such

processes as maturation and illness, but does apply to more skills, such

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as driving a car, to intellectual skills, such as reading, and to attitudes
values, such as prejudice.

MAJOR FORMS OF LEARNING

How do we learn.

Three main explanations of learning are:

 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Cognitive approaches to learning.

Basic Terminology

Stimulus: A physical energy source that has an effect on a sense organ,

thus producing a response.

Response: the action, behavior, or reaction triggered by a stimulus.

Environment: external factors, variable, conditions influences, or

circumstance affecting one’s development or behavior.

Variable: a behavior, factor, setting, or event that can change/ vary in

amount or kind.

Reflex: an automatic, unlearned response resulting from a specific

stimulus.

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Un conditioned stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that elicits a response
naturally.

Un conditioned Response (UCR): A natural, reflexive, reliable,

response of the UCS.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A primary neutral stimulus which, when

paired with the UCS, starts evoking a response.

Conditioned response (CR): After conditioning, the CS begins to elicit

a new, learned response.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Life is full of interesting associations. Do you ever hear songs on the

radio or find yourself in places that instantly make you feel good
because they are connected to special times you have had?

 Why are children scared of darkness?

 Why some children jump with joy at the sight of a cat and some
start screaming in fright?
 Why does one coming from office start feeling relaxed at the
very sight of his home?
 Why does one start feeling bad at the through of going to a
dentist?
 Why does one starts feeling hungry at the sight of one’s favorite
fast food joint?

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Classical conditioning provides answers to all these questions

Classical conditioning forms an association between two stimuli. For

example, a song and a pleasant event, such that one stimulus (the song)
comes to elicit a response (feeling happy) that originally was elicited
only by other stimulus (the pleasant place)

As such, classical conditioning is when a stimulus acquires the ability to

cause a response that was previously caused by another stimulus. This
learning process essentially allows us to predict what is going to happen.

Historical Background

In 1879 Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist and pioneer of classical

conditioning, began his research work on the digestive process, primary
that of dogs. The focal point of his investigation was the salivation reflex
in dogs. It was already known that dogs would salivate if food powder
were led into their mouths, as it was a reflex. ‘The dogs would salivate
every time the food powder was presented. Pavlov observed that after
some time, the dogs at times salivated just before food was put into their
mouths. They also salivated at the slight of the food, and even at the
slight of the lab assistant who brought food for them. This is where the
concept of classical conditioning emerged.

Pavlov`s standard procedure involved a quiet, distract free laboratory,

which gave the experimenter full control over events experienced by a
lightly restrained dog. From time to time the dog was given access to
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food; and each presentation was accompanied (usually slightly
preceded) by the occurrence of a neutral event, such as a flashing light.
After several training trials (pairings of light and food), the dog would
salivate at the flash of light, before any food had appeared. Salivation at
the presentation of food is called an unconditioned response (UR), since
it occurs automatically (unconditional). The food is an unconditioned
stimulus (Us). The animal’s tendency to salivate when the light flashes
is conditional on the light having been paired with food, so this is
referred to as a conditioned response (CR) and the event that evokes it as
a conditioned stimulus (CS).the whole training procedure was labeled
conditioning. As other forms of training, introduced later, have also been
described as conditioning, Pavlov`s version became known as classical
conditioning.

Types of Stimulus and Response

Remember that astimulus is an observable environment event that has a

potential to exert control over a behavioral response. A response is an
over behavior by a learner. Put it in a simpler way, a stimulus is
anything that can directly influence behavior and the stimulus produces
a response.

In classical conditioning, there are 2 types of stimulus and 2 types of

response. They are unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus,
unconditioned response, and conditioned response as explained below:

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 Classical conditioning

Stimulus Response

Unconditioned response (UCR)

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
This is the unlearned or inborn reaction
This is a stimulus that can produce the
to the unconditioned stimulus.
response without any learning e,g Meat
Example: Salivation

Conditioned response (CR)

Conditioned stimulus (CS)
When a response is produced by the
Acquired the ability to produce response
conditioned stimulus, referred to as the
because it was paired (associated with
conditioned response. Example:
the unconditioned stimulus)
Salivation.

Look at the diagram below to help us understand the meaning of those

stimulus and responses as well as the step in the process of classical
conditioning.

Step 1 before conditioning

Before conditioning, the bell is a neutral stimulus. Neutral stimulus (Ns)

is a stimulus that before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the
response of interest (Feldman, 2005).

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However, an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) can produce an
unconditioned response (UCR).

Step 2 – during conditioning procedure

During the conditioning procedure, the neutral stimulus (NS) is

presented. It is immediately followed by unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
to produce unconditioned response (UCR)

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Step 3 test of conditioning

After the classical conditioning procedures, the neutral stimulus (NS)

becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS). It alone can produce salivation. At
the point, the production of salivation is known as the conditioned
response (CR).

The importance of classical conditioning

If classical conditioning were simply a procedure that allows a reflex

response previously solely by a particular US (such as food) to come
under the control of another stimulus (such as the presentation of a
light), then perhaps there would be no reason to regard it as
fundamentally important to our understanding of learning. But three
features of our analysis give us reason to believe that is fundamentally
important:

It is fundamental to learning about the relationship among environment

events. Sensory preconditioning tells us that when neutral stimulus co-
occurs, an association forms between them. Simply moving through the
environment will expose the human/ animal to sequences of events that
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go together, and the associations that form among them will constitute
an important piece of knowledge.

Classical conditioning is important because it allows exploration of the

nature of associative learning. As such so many theories have been
developed on learning.

Principles of Classical Conditioning

1. Acquisition
2. Extinction
3. Spontaneous recovery
4. Stimulus generalization
5. Stimulus discrimination
6. Higher order conditioning

1) Acquisition: the stage when the stimulus in question generates a

conditioned response; this is the stage of initial learning when
responses are established and then gradually strengthened as a
result of repeated pairing and presentation.

2) Extinction: the unlearning of the conditioned response by

weakening it, leading to its disappearance; for example using the
same principles as those for learning the response. The state when
the conditioned stimulus i.e. boll, buzzer. Gong e.t.c does not

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 accompany the unconditioned stimulus e.g. food. The response
gradually diminishes, extinguishes, or declines, as the UCS
repeatedly does not appear with the CS.

3) Spontaneous Recovery: does the response disappear permanently,

once extinction, the dog salivated again on hearing the bell/ buzzer.
Consider the case of someone who left but the very sight of
someone else who is smoking makes him feel like smoking. The
same may happen with a child whose fear than they initially were;
similar to their extinction takes place sooner and easily.

4) Generalization: stimulus similar to the original CS may happen

elicit same response as to the CS or UCS e.g. a buzzer responded
to as a bell. Pavlovian experiments showed that the dogs also
salivated on the tones that were similar to the original ones.
Consider the case of Albert`s fear of all white – furry objects.

5) Discrimination: the process whereby the organism learns to

restrict its response to one specific stimulus; differentiating
between similar stimuli. Pavlov`s dogs salivated only at the tones,
which were similar in nature. Consider the case of a child who is
scared of the neighbor`s dog alone (that barks every time the child
passes by), and not all dogs.

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6) Higher order conditioning: a process when a already conditioned
stimulus is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus, and
ultimately the neutral stimulus begins to evoke the same response
as to the original stimulus. Consider the case of a child who was
scared of the neighbor`s dog, became scared of all dogs, and
finally started screaming at the mere name of a dog.

Applications of classical conditioning in everyday life

Negative emotional response: fears, phobias fear of reptiles, dark

places and school phobia.

Positive emotional response: feelings of relaxation, and

happiness….thinking of going on a holiday.

Advertising: associating model with the product.

Psychotherapy; systematic desensitization, aversive therapy.

Conditioned Drug response: vomiting inducing drugs were

repeatedly paired with the sound of a tone; eventually the mere sound
of that name of cough syrup, or who faint at the name of a clinic.
Smoking, coffee, and tea people who are additicted to caffeine and
nicotine start feeling relaxed and stimulated even before the intake.

Over eating: most obese people start feeling hungry at the sight of a
restaurant or at the smell of food.
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 Applying classical conditioning in counseling

The key element in classical conditioning is association. Therefore,

counselors are encouraged to associate variety of positive and
pleasant events with learning and counseling activities. For example,
a counselor may:

 Use of attractive learning aids.

 Decorate the counseling rooms with appropriate pictures.
 Encourage clients and smile at them when they come for
counseling.
 Inform the clients clearly and specifically the format of tests,
and assignments.
 Make the clients understand the procedures of counseling.
 Give ample time for clients to prepare for and complete the
learning tasks.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which the consequences of

behavior lead to changes in the probability that the behavior will occur.
Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a
consequence. Consequences have to be immediate or clearly linked to
the behavior.

For example, you might tell your friends that you will buy dinner for
them since they helped you move, or a parent might explain that the
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child can’t go to summer camp because of her bad grades. With very
young children, who don’t have verbal skills, and animals, you can’t
explain the connection between the consequences and the behaviour. For
the animal, the consequence has to be immediate.

Types of Reinforcement and Punishment

Reinforcement is a consequence that increases the probability that a

behavior will occur. On the other hand, punishment is a consequence
that decreases the probability a behavior will occur. Put it another way,
reinforcement will strengthen a behavior while s punishment will
weaken a behavior. There are 2 forms of reinforcement and punishment
as shown in the diagram below

Reinforcement Punishment

Positive Negative Positive Negative

Reinforcement Reinforcement Punishment Punishment

Both types of reinforcement are used to Both types of punishment are used to
increase the likelihood that a preceding decrease the likelihood that a preceding
behaviour will be repeated behaviour will be repeated.

Take note when something is added or represented, the process of

learning is called positive and when something is removed or taken

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 away, the process of learning is called negative. The table helps us to
understand these forms of reinforcement and punishment.

Form of Description Example

consequence
Positive Receiving something A student is praised for asking
reinforcement pleasant will increase question.
behavior occurrence. Subsequently, the student asks more
questions.
Negative Removing something A son who is tired of hearing his
reinforcement unpleasant will increase father’s nagging will does the home
behavior occurrence. work. He does the home work to
remove the nagging (santrock,
2008)
Positive Removing something un If a teacher frowned when his
punishment pleasant will decrease student asked question, the student
behavior occurrences. would be less likely to ask question
again.
Negative Removing something A misbehaving student is removed
punishment pleasant will decrease from the class.
behavior occurrences.

Schedule of reinforcements

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Reinforcements are more effective when they are given as soon as
possible after a student performs the target behavior. In continuous
reinforcement like this, a person learns very rapidly but when the
reinforcement stops, the behavior decreases rapidly too. Therefore, the
schedule of the reinforcement was developed. The schedule will
determine when a behavior will be reinforced.

There are 4 types of schedule of reinforcement, they are;

1. Fixed –ratio schedule

2. Variable –ratio schedule fixed

3. Fixed –interval schedule, and

4. Variable –interval schedule.

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Processes of observational Learning

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There are 4 processes involved in observational .These include;
Attention

Retention

Production

Motivation

1. Attention; Before people can imitate model’s behavior, they must

pay attention to what the model is doing or saying. For example, seeing
a teacher writing from the same perspective as the student see their own
makes observational learning easier.

2. Retention; To produce a model’s action, students must be able to

store the model’s action in the memory for future retrieval. Students’
retention will be improved when a teacher gives vivid, logical, and clear
demonstrations.

3. Production; To attending and remembering, students must be

physically cable of reproducing the model’s action. Here, the students
need a lot of practice, feedback, and coaching before they can reproduce
the model’s action.

4. Motivation; The students must be motivated to demonstrate the

model’s action.

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Reinforcement can be used to encourage observational learning. For
example, a teacher may want to use direct reinforcement such as saying
“Good work!” Alternatively, a teacher may want to use vicarious
reinforcement. In this case, a student may simply see other students
being reinforced for a particular behavior and then he increases his own
production of that behavior.

Applying observational learning in counseling

Observational learning focuses on how people learn by observing and

imitating others. To motivate learning using approach, a counselor may;

 `Use high-achieving and successful peers as models.

 Model positive behaviors him/ herself.
 Use vicarious reinforcement that is make sure clients see that
positive behaviors will lead to positive consequences.
 Demonstrate and teach good behavior.

Application of observational learning in Real life situations

Observational learning can be and has been used successful for;

 Overcoming fears in children

 Assertiveness training
 Treating fear of medical treatment and surgery
 Leaning sports and athletics
 Learning new skills, like swimming

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  Classroom situation: good performers and high achievers are
rewarded so that they act as models for other children.

The following are also learned through observation of others

performing the same act:

Learning gender roles

Adopting new fashions

Starting smoking

Drug abuse

Drinking alcohol

Violence and aggression learnt and displayed by the community.

Other ways of learning

a) Motor learning
b) Problem solving
a) Motor learning: - it involves the practice application of the learned
phenomena. There are various tasks/ activities in which motor
skills are of primary importance as compared to the ones requiring
verbally learned material; e.g. learning the skills like playing
football, tennis, cricket etc.; or the training of technicians whose
motor skills need to be highly efficient. In learning motor skills

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 two things are important; quickness of movements and the results
that are achieved through it.
b) Problem solving: - problem solving tasks usually involves trial and
error and primarily includes verbal processes. While doing the
problem – solving task; individual learns many responses that can
be helpful for him in different situations.

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG'S STAGES OF MORAL

DEVELOPMENT

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Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development constitute an
adaptation of a psychological theory originally conceived by the Swiss
psychologist Jean Piaget. Kohlberg began work on this topic while a
psychology graduate student at the University of Chicago[1] in 1958, and
expanded and developed this theory throughout his life.

The theory holds that moral reasoning, the basis for ethical behavior, has
six identifiable developmental stages, each more adequate at responding
to moral dilemmas than its predecessor.[2] Kohlberg determined that the
process of moral development was principally concerned with justice,
and that it continued throughout the individual's lifetime, The six stages
of moral development are grouped into three levels: pre-conventional
morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality.

There have been critiques of the theory from several perspectives.

Arguments include that it emphasizes justice to the exclusion of other
moral values, such as caring;[10] that there is such an overlap between
stages that they should more properly be regarded as separate domains;
or that evaluations of the reasons for moral choices are mostly post hoc
rationalizations (by both decision makers and psychologists studying
them) of essentially intuitive decisions.[11]

Kohlberg's scale is about how people justify behaviors and his stages are
not a method of ranking how moral someone's behavior is. There should,
however, be a correlation between how someone scores on the scale and
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how they behave, and the general hypothesis is that moral behaviour is
more responsible, consistent and predictable from people at higher
levels.

Kohlberg's six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of
two stages each: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional.
it is extremely rare to regress in stages—to lose the use of higher stage
abilities. Stages cannot be skipped; each provides a new and necessary
perspective, more comprehensive and differentiated than its
predecessors but integrated with them.

Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)
1. Obedience and punishment orientation
(How can I avoid punishment?)
2. Self-interest orientation
(What's in it for me?)
(Paying for a benefit)
Level 2 (Conventional)
3. Interpersonal accord and conformity
(Social norms)
(The good boy/girl attitude)
4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation
(Law and order morality)
Level 3 (Post-Conventional)

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 5. Social contract orientation
6. Universal ethical principles
(Principled conscience)

The understanding gained in each stage is retained in later stages, but

may be regarded by those in later stages as simplistic, lacking in
sufficient attention to detail.

Pre-conventional

The pre-conventional level of moral reasoning is especially common in

children, although adults can also exhibit this level of reasoning.
Reasoners at this level judge the morality of an action by its direct
consequences. The pre-conventional level consists of the first and
second stages of moral development and is solely concerned with the
self in an egocentric manner. A child with pre-conventional morality has
not yet adopted or internalized society's conventions regarding what is
right or wrong but instead focuses largely on external consequences that
certain actions may bring.

In Stage one (obedience and punishment driven), individuals focus on

the direct consequences of their actions on themselves. For example, an
action is perceived as morally wrong because the perpetrator is
punished. "The last time I did that I got spanked, so I will not do it
again." The worse the punishment for the act is, the more "bad" the act is

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perceived to be. This can give rise to an inference that even innocent
victims are guilty in proportion to their suffering. It is "egocentric,"
lacking recognition that others' points of view are different from one's
own. There is "deference to superior power or prestige."

An example of obedience and punishment driven morality would be a

child refusing to do something because it is wrong and that the
consequences could result in punishment. For example, a child's
classmate tries to dare the child to skip school. The child would apply
obedience and punishment driven morality by refusing to skip school
because he would get punished.

Stage two (self-interest driven) expresses the "what's in it for me"

position, in which right behavior is defined by whatever the individual
believes to be in their best interest but understood in a narrow way
which does not consider one's reputation or relationships to groups of
people. Stage two reasoning shows a limited interest in the needs of
others, but only to a point where it might further the individual's own
interests. As a result, concern for others is not based on loyalty or
intrinsic respect, but rather a "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch
yours" mentality. The lack of a societal perspective in the pre-
conventional level is quite different from the social contract (stage five),
as all actions at this stage have the purpose of serving the individual's

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own needs or interests. For the stage two theorist, the world's
perspective is often seen as morally relative.

An example of self-interest driven is when a child is asked by his parents

to do a chore. The child asks, "what's in it for me?" The parents offer the
child an incentive by giving a child an allowance to pay them for their
chores. The child is motivated by self-interest to do chores.

Conventional

The conventional level of moral reasoning is typical of adolescents and

adults. To reason in a conventional way is to judge the morality of
actions by comparing them to society's views and expectations. The
conventional level consists of the third and fourth stages of moral
development. Conventional morality is characterized by an acceptance
of society's conventions concerning right and wrong. At this level an
individual obeys rules and follows society's norms even when there are
no consequences for obedience or disobedience. Adherence to rules and
conventions is somewhat rigid, however, and a rule's appropriateness or
fairness is seldom questioned.

In Stage three (good intentions as determined by social consensus), the

self enters society by conforming to social standards. Individuals are
receptive to approval or disapproval from others as it reflects society's
views. They try to be a "good boy" or "good girl" to live up to these

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expectations, having learned that being regarded as good benefits the
self. Stage three reasoning may judge the morality of an action by
evaluating its consequences in terms of a person's relationships, which
now begin to include things like respect, gratitude, and the "golden rule".
"I want to be liked and thought well of; apparently, not being naughty
makes people like me." Conforming to the rules for one's social role is
not yet fully understood. The intentions of actors play a more significant
role in reasoning at this stage; one may feel more forgiving if one thinks
that "they mean well".

In Stage four (authority and social order obedience driven), it is

important to obey laws, dictums, and social conventions because of their
importance in maintaining a functioning society. Moral reasoning in
stage four is thus beyond the need for individual approval exhibited in
stage three. A central ideal or ideals often prescribe what is right and
wrong. If one person violates a law, perhaps everyone would—thus
there is an obligation and a duty to uphold laws and rules. When
someone does violate a law, it is morally wrong; culpability is thus a
significant factor in this stage as it separates the bad domains from the
good ones. Most active members of society remain at stage four, where
morality is still predominantly dictated by an outside force.

Post-Conventional

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The post-conventional level, also known as the principled level, is
marked by a growing realization that individuals are separate entities
from society, and that the individual’s own perspective may take
precedence over society’s view; individuals may disobey rules
inconsistent with their own principles. Post-conventional moralists live
by their own ethical principles—principles that typically include such
basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice. People who exhibit post-
conventional morality view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms
—ideally rules can maintain the general social order and protect human
rights. Rules are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without
question. Because post-conventional individuals elevate their own moral
evaluation of a situation over social conventions, their behavior,
especially at stage six, can be confused with that of those at the pre-
conventional level.

Some theorists have speculated that many people may never reach this
level of abstract moral reasoning.

In Stage five (social contract driven), the world is viewed as holding

different opinions, rights, and values. Such perspectives should be
mutually respected as unique to each person or community. Laws are
regarded as social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Those that do not
promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet
“the greatest good for the greatest number of people". [8] This is achieved

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through majority decision and inevitable compromise. Democratic
government is ostensibly based on stage five reasoning.

In Stage six (universal ethical principles driven), moral reasoning is

based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles. Laws are
valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a commitment to
justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. Legal rights
are unnecessary, as social contracts are not essential for deontic moral
action. Decisions are not reached hypothetically in a conditional way but
rather categorically in an absolute way, as in the philosophy of
Immanuel Kant. This involves an individual imagining what they would
do in another’s shoes, if they believed what that other person imagines to
be true. The resulting consensus is the action taken. In this way action is
never a means but always an end in itself; the individual acts because it
is right, and not because it avoids punishment, is in their best interest,
expected, legal, or previously agreed upon. Although Kohlberg insisted
that stage six exists, he found it difficult to identify individuals who
consistently operated at that level.

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ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR/ PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS /
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

When an individual is not able to adjust to daily life, he or she has an

abnormal disorder.

The milder types of abnormal behaviour are called anxiety disorders and
the more severe abnormalities include depression and schizophrenia.

Psychologists are trying to discover the causes of abnormal behaviour so

they can effectively treat them.

Abnormality is viewed differently from the medical, psychological,

biological and anthropological perspectives. For instance if we defined
behaviour as a disease (mental illness) or as biochemical imbalance,
therapy would be very different than if we defined as inappropriate
learned response.

Price and Lynn (1986) suggested subjective distress of the individual,

behaviour that is psychological or socially disabling and behaviour that
violates social norms as criteria for abnormal behaviour.

Sue et-al (1986) proposed personal discomfort, inefficiency in coping

with daily demands and bizarre behavior in a specific culture as criteria.

A general definition of abnormal behaviour would be;

 Behaviour that contributes to maladaptiveness in an individual.

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  Behaviour considered deviant by the culture.
 Behaviour that leads to personal psychological distress.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE TREATENT OF ARBNORAL

BEHAVIOURS

Four major approaches to abnormal behavior have been reviewed and

are used to study abnormality and describe how behaviors are classified.

The psychodynamic approach

This stems from Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality. This approach

suggest that abnormal behaviuor is the result of a person’s inner
conflicts. Thus the outward abnormal behavior is simply the symptom of
some internal problem. The cure is to find the source of anxiety and
solve conflicts.

The biological approach / EDIAL ODEL

This approach suggests that abnormal behavior is caused by biological

factors. According to this model when the brain biochemical balance is
upset, the person behaves abnormally. This approach was favored by
psychiatrists who are trained to treat disease. Therefore medical means
such as drugs or surgery are used to treat abnormal behavior.

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The social learning approach.

Many psychologists find it more constructive to view mental

abnormalities not as a disease but as learned social maladjustments.
According to this approach, the standards of normality are simply social
standards of society. Abnormal behavior is therefore result of
individual’s learning inappropriate role expectations. Thus the cure is
merely relearning the correct, socially acceptable behaviour.

The cognitive approach

This emphasizes inefficient thinking and problem solving as causes of

abnormal behaviour. The individual is not able to adequately meet the
daily demands. The cognitive model is closely related to the
psychodynamic and learning approaches.

CLASSIFICATION OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR/

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER

The DSM (IV) (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) classifies abnormal

behaviour on five axes or dimensions.

Axis I primary diagnosis which concerns the major clinical problem

and symptoms.

Axis II Records longstanding personality problems, mental

retardation E.g childhood disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders,
somatoform disorders, sexual disorders.
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Axis III Any physical problems that might be related to the disorder
in axis I. E.g malaria, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy.

Axis IV The environmental sources of to which the individual is

exposed.

Axis V Global assessment of functioning or general adaptation

functioning. How individual functioned in the past.

Anxiety Disorders.

These are disorders characterized by anxiety, feelings of apprehension

and fear. The person may generally have no clear or the real cause of
the anxiety. The anxious person may develop ritualistic behaviors that
serve to reduce the anxiety temporarily. Originally Freud used the term
‘Neurosis’ to describe abnormal behaviour caused by anxiety disorders
may include the following; Panic disorder with agoraphobia, phobias,
obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Panic Disorder.

This is identified by occurrence of panic attacks, specific periods of

intense anxiety characterized by shortness of breath, dizziness faintness,
nausea, numbness, chills, hot flashes or a fear of dying. Panic attacks
may last from a few minutes up to an hour or more. ‘

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Phobias

Phobias are acute excessive fears of specific situations or objects, fears

which have no convincing basis in reality. The most common phobias
are fear of being closed in (Claustrophobia) fear of heights (acrophobia),
fear of crowds (ocholophobia), fear of animals (zoophobia) and fear of
the dark (nyctophobia). When a phobic person encounters the object of
typically he or she experiences panic nausea and acute anxiety. Phobias
are normally learned responses for specific stimulus.

Social phobias are excessive irrational fear of being embarrassed when

interacting with other people. They include fear of assertiveness
behavior, fear of criticism, fear of mistakes and fear of public speaking.
The disorder is more common in males than in females.

Simple phobias: There is an excessive irrational fear of specific objects /

stimuli e.g dogs, snakes, blood and heights.

Obsessive compulsive disorder:

An individual with this disorder may have repetitive thoughts

(obsessions) or constant urges to indulge in meaningless rituals
(compulsions) which they find uncontrollable, irrational and
inconvenient. The obsessions and compulsions cause significant distress,
interfere with the individual’s normal functioning and are inconvenient.

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Generalized anxiety:

An individual with generalized anxiety disorder live a state pf constant

tension.

Anxiety is generally free-floating in other wards it is not attached to any

specific situation or objective constantly apprehensive and anxious.

GAD presents with symptoms such as trembling, muscle tension,

restlessness and fatigue. Autonomic hyperactivity symptoms e.g
shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, seating dry mouth, nausea, chills
and frequent urination and general irritability.

Anxiety disorder represents the mild end of the continuum of

maladjustment. But they can be treated effectively with cognitive
behavioral therapy.

MOOD DISORDERS (AFFECTIVE DISORDERS)

The two major mood disorders are

(i) Major depression

(ii) Bipolar disorder.

Depression

Depression can vary widely in severity; mild and severe form. In a mild
form it usually lasts briefly and is followed by recovery.

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A more serious problem is dysthymia in which the person has a
depressed mood much of the time for at least two years. Symptoms
include loss of appetite or over eating. Insomnia or hypersomnia, low
self-esteem, poor concentration and feelings of hopelessness
worthlessness, excessive guilt and sometimes, suicidal ideations.

Bipolar disorder. (Manic depression)

Characterized by unpredictable extreme mood swings from excitement

to melancholy.

Bipolar disorders.

Mania depression

During the manic phase, the patient may become hyper excited, talkative
boastful uninhibited, destructive and suddenly without warning the
patient becomes so gloomy and experiences profound feelings of
worthlessness and behaves exactly the same way as an individual with a
major depressive episode.

PERSONALITY DISORDERS

Personality problems are problems in the basic personality structure of

the individual. Personality disorders often begin in adolescence and
continue throughout a lifetime.

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Personality disorders are a class of psychological conditions that are
characterized by a pattern of long term behavior that deviates from
societal expectations, and create serious problems in relationships and
society.
People with personality disorders tend to be inflexible, rigid and
manipulative. Although most feel that their behaviors are justified and
perfectly fine, they often have a tunnel-vision view of the world and
have problems connecting with others in socially acceptable ways.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)
has identified a list of personality disorders and classified them in three
groups or clusters based on nature of the symptoms:
Class A
Odd or eccentric disorders
Paranoid personality disorder
Characterized by suspiciousness and a deep mistrust of people, paranoid
personalities often think of others as manipulative, cunning or dishonest.
This kind of a person may appear guarded, secretive, and excessively
critical.
Schizoid personality disorder
People with schizoid personalities are emotionally distant and tend to
prefer to be alone. They are generally immersed in their own thoughts
and have little interest in bonding and intimacy with others.

Schizotypal personality disorder

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This disorder is characterized by odd and unusual “magical” beliefs.
These individuals may have an eccentric way of behaving or dressing.
They also tend to display outlandish beliefs such as believing that they
can see the future or travel to other dimensions.
People with this condition often have difficulty connecting with others
and establishing long term relationships. Overtime, they may develop a
fear of social gatherings.

Class B
Dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders
Antisocial/psychopath personality disorder
Individuals with this disorder are known to be manipulative,
irresponsible, and have a history of legal difficulties. They show little
respect for the rights of others and feel no remorse for their actions.
They also leave a trail of unfulfilled promises and broken hearts.
Antisocial personalities are also at high risk for drug abuse (e.g.,
alcoholism; meth) since many are “rush” seekers. While they seldom
suffer from depression or anxiety, they often use drugs to relieve
boredom and irritability.
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personalities are impulsive and have extreme views of people
as either “all good” or “bad”.

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These people are unstable in relationships and have a strong fear of
abandonment. They may form an intense personal attachment with
someone they barely know and end it without any apparent reason. They
might also engage in a “pull” and “push” behavior that usually ends with
their partner leaving permanently.
Self-mutilation, suicidal gestures or attention-seeking destructive
behaviors are not uncommon. Borderline personalities are three times
more likely to be female.

Histrionic personality disorder

People with this condition engage in persistent attention-seeking
behaviors that include inappropriate sexual behavior and exaggerated
emotions. They can be oversensitive about themselves and constantly
seek reassurance or approval from others.
Excessive need to be the center of attention, low tolerance for
frustration, blaming others for failures is also characteristics of the
histrionic personality.
Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personalities have a blown up perception of themselves and
an excessive desire for attention and admiration. Individuals with this
disorder have a false sense of entitlement and little respect for other
people's feelings. They are oversensitive to criticism and often blame
others for their failures.

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Prone to outbursts of anger and irritability, the narcissistic personality
tends to be manipulative in interpersonal relationships. But deep beneath
the surface lays a vulnerable self-esteem, susceptible to depression and
feelings of inferiority.

Class C
Anxious or fearful disorders
Avoidant personality disorder
This disorder is described by chronic social withdrawal, feelings of
inferiority, over-sensitivity and social withdrawal.
People with avoidant personality disorder are constantly fearful of
rejection and ridicule. They form relationships only with people that
they trust. The pain of rejection is so strong that these individuals prefer
to isolate rather than risk disappointment.
Dependent personality disorder
Individuals with this condition have an abnormal desire to be nurtured
that leads to submissive and clinging behavior. Dependent personalities
have difficulty making their own decisions and seek others to take over
most important areas in their lives.
They will often go to great length to obtain nurturance from others, have
separation anxiety when alone and desperately seek another partner
when a close relationship ends.

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Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD)
Not to be confused with OCD. People with OCPD are perceived as strict
and demanding by others. They have a persistent preoccupation with
perfectionism, orderliness, and efficiency, at the expense of
interpersonal relationships. They also show an excessive devotion to
work, productivity and exhibit rigidness and stubbornness.
People with OCPD usually have a negative view of life and often
become withdrawn and depressed.

SEXUAL DISORDERS

Some sexual disorders are quite serious while others are more common
problems of adjustment. Praphilias (which are sexual deviations
characterized by the need for un usual behaviour for sexual arousal
which interfere with normal sexual activities Para means deviant and
phillia means attractions.

People who have a paraphilia tend to repetitive urges and fantasies that
involve object, humiliation, children and non-consenting partners.

Eight specific paraphillias are identified by the DSM IV and these are;

A, Exhibitonism: is exposing ones genitals in order to achieve sexual

gratification.
B, Fetishism. Is when a person prefers to become sexually exited by
objects (fetishes)

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C, Frouteurism involves obtaining of sexual arousal from touching and
robbing against a non-consenting person.
D, Pedophilia – Sexual activities with young children.
E, Sexual sadism-is inflicting suffering on humiliation on ones partner to
achieve sexual arousal.
F, Sexual Masochism - Achieving sexual arousal by receiving pain from
ones partner.
G, Transvecticfetishism.Obtaining sexual gratification from cross
dressing.
H, Voyeurism. A person derives sexual pleasure from looking at people
who are naked or engaging in sexual activities without their knowledge.

SCHIZOPHRENIA:

Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks,

feels and acts. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty
distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary; may
be unresponsive or withdrawn; and may have difficulty expressing
normal emotions in social situations.

Contrary to public perception, schizophrenia is not split personality or

multiple personality. The vast majority of people with schizophrenia
are not violent and do not pose a danger to others. Schizophrenia

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is not caused by childhood experiences, poor parenting or lack of
willpower, nor are the symptoms identical for each person.

What are the Early Warning Signs of Schizophrenia?

The signs of schizophrenia are different for everyone. Symptoms may

develop slowly over months or years, or may appear very abruptly. The
disease may come and go in cycles of relapse and remission.

Behaviors that are early warning signs of schizophrenia include:

 Hearing or seeing something that isn’t there

 A constant feeling of being watched
 Peculiar or nonsensical way of speaking or writing
 Strange body positioning
 Feeling indifferent to very important situations
 Deterioration of academic or work performance
 A change in personal hygiene and appearance
 A change in personality
 Increasing withdrawal from social situations
 Irrational, angry or fearful response to loved ones
 Inability to sleep or concentrate
 Inappropriate or bizarre behavior
 Extreme preoccupation with religion or the occult

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Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the world population. In the United
States one in a hundred people, about 2.5 million, have this disease. It
knows no racial, cultural or economic boundaries. Symptoms usually
appear between the ages of 13 and 25, but often appear earlier in males
than females.

If you or a loved one experience several of these symptoms for more

than two weeks, seek help immediately.

What are the Different Types of Schizophrenia?

 Paranoid schizophrenia -- a person feels extremely suspicious,

persecuted, or grandiose, or experiences a combination of these
emotions.
 Disorganized schizophrenia -- a person is often incoherent in
speech and thought, but may not have delusions.
 Catatonic schizophrenia -- a person is withdrawn, mute, negative
and often assumes very unusual body positions.
 Residual schizophrenia -- a person is no longer experiencing
delusions or hallucinations, but has no motivation or interest in
life.
 Schizoaffective disorder--a person has symptoms of both
schizophrenia and a major mood disorder such as depression.

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No cure for schizophrenia has been discovered, but with proper
treatment, many people with this illness can lead productive and
fulfilling lives.

THE SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

A medical or mental health professional may use the following terms

when discussing the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Positive symptoms are disturbances that are “added” to the person’s

personality.

 Delusions -- false ideas--individuals may believe that someone is

spying on him or her, or that they are someone famous.
 Hallucinations –seeing, feeling, tasting, hearing or smelling
something that doesn’t really exist. The most common experience
is hearing imaginary voices that give commands or comments to
the individual.
 Disordered thinking and speech -- moving from one topic to
another, in a nonsensical fashion. Individuals may make up their
own words or sounds.

Negative symptoms are capabilities that are “lost” from the person’s

personality.

 Social withdrawal

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  Extreme apathy
 Lack of drive or initiative
 Emotional unresponsiveness

CAUSES SCHIZOPHRENIA

The cause of schizophrenia is still unclear. Some theories about the

cause of this disease include: genetics (heredity), biology (the imbalance
in the brain’s chemistry); and/or possible viral infections and immune
disorders.

Genetics (Heredity). Scientists recognize that the disorder tends to run

in families and that a person inherits a tendency to develop the disease.
Schizophrenia may also be triggered by environmental events, such as
viral infections or highly stressful situations or a combination of both.

Similar to some other genetically-related illnesses, schizophrenia

appears when the body undergoes hormonal and physical changes, like
those that occur during puberty in the teen and young adult years.

Chemistry. Genetics help to determine how the brain uses certain

chemicals. People with schizophrenia have a chemical imbalance of
brain chemicals (serotonin and dopamine) which are neurotransmitters.
These neurotransmitters allow nerve cells in the brain to send messages
to each other. The imbalance of these chemicals affects the way a
person’s brain reacts to stimuli--which explains why a person with
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schizophrenia may be overwhelmed by sensory information (loud music
or bright lights) which other people can easily handle. This problem in
processing different sounds, sights, smells and tastes can also lead to
hallucinations or delusions.

How is Schizophrenia Treated?

If you suspect someone you know is experiencing symptoms of

schizophrenia, encourage them to see a medical or mental health
professional immediately. Early treatment--even as early as the first
episode--can mean a better long-term outcome.

Recovery and Rehabilitation

While no cure for schizophrenia exists, many people with this illness can
lead productive and fulfilling lives with the proper treatment. Recovery
is possible through a variety of services, including medication and
rehabilitation programs. Rehabilitation can help a person recover the
confidence and skills needed to live a productive and independent life in
the community. Types of services that help a person with schizophrenia
include:

 Case management helps people access services, financial

assistance, treatment and other resources.
 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Programs are programs that help
people regain skills such as: employment, cooking, cleaning,
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 budgeting, shopping, socializing, problem solving, and stress
management.
 Self-help groups provide on-going support and information to
persons with serious mental illness by individuals who experience
mental illness themselves.
 Drop-in centers are places where individuals with mental illness
can socialize and/or receive informal support and services on an
as-needed basis.
 Housing programs offer a range of support and supervision from
24 hour supervised living to drop-in support as needed.
 Employment programs assist individuals in finding employment
and/or gaining the skills necessary to re-enter the workforce.
 Therapy/Counseling includes different forms of “talk”therapy,
both individual and group, that can help both the patient and family
members to better understand the illness and share their concerns.
 Crisis Services include 24 hour hotlines, after hours counseling,
residential placement and in-patient hospitalization.

Antipsychotic Medication

The new generation of antipsychotic medications can help people with

schizophrenia to live fulfilling lives. They help to reduce the
biochemical imbalances that cause schizophrenia and decrease the
likelihood of relapse. Like all medications, however, anti-psychotic

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medications should be taken only under the supervision of a mental
health professional.

There are two major types of antipsychotic medication:

 Conventional antipsychotics effectively control the “positive”

symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and confusion of
schizophrenia.
 New Generation (also called atypical) antipsychotics treat both
the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, often with
fewer side effects.

Side effects are common with antipsychotic drugs. They range from

mild side effects such as dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation,
drowsiness and dizziness which usually disappear after a few weeks to
more serious side effects such as trouble with muscle control, pacing,
tremors and facial ticks. The newer generation of drugs have fewer side
effects. However, it is important to talk with your mental health
professional before making any changes in medication since many side
effects can be controlled.

THE TYPES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

There are eight kinds of schizophrenia. The key characteristics of each

type are set out in bullet points.

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Paranoid schizophrenia

 Common form of schizophrenia. 

 Prominent hallucinations and/or delusions
 May develop at a later age than other types of schizophrenia. 
 Speech and emotions may be unaffected.

Hebephrenic schizophrenia

 Behaviour is disorganised and without purpose. 

 Thoughts are disorganised, other people may find it difficult to
understand you. 
 Pranks, giggling, health complaints, grimacing and mannerisms are
common. 
 Delusions and hallucinations are fleeting.
 Usually develops between 15-25.

Catatonic schizophrenia

 Rarer than other types.

 Unusual movements, often switching between extremes of over-
activity and stillness. 
 You may not talk at all.

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Undifferentiated schizophrenia

Your illness meets the general criteria for a diagnosis and may have
some characteristics of paranoid, hebephrenic or catatonic
schizophrenia, but does not obviously fit one of these types.

Residual schizophrenia

You may be diagnosed with this if you have a history of psychosis but
only have negative symptoms.

Simple schizophrenia

 Rarely diagnosed in the UK. 

 Negative symptoms are prominent early and get worse quickly. 
 Positive symptoms are rare.

Other, including ‘cenesthopathic’ schizophrenia

 Schizophrenia which has traits not covered by other categories. 

 For example, in cenesthopathic schizophrenia, people experience
unusual bodily sensations. 
 Unspecified schizophrenia
 Symptoms meet the general conditions for a diagnosis, but do not
fit in to any of the above categories.

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Signs and symptoms

There are five types of symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia:

delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior,
and the so-called “negative” symptoms. However, the signs and
symptoms of schizophrenia vary dramatically from person to person,
both in pattern and severity. Not every person with schizophrenia will
have all symptoms, and the symptoms of schizophrenia may also change
over time.

Delusions

A delusion is a firmly-held idea that a person has despite clear and

obvious evidence that it isn’t true. Delusions are extremely common in
schizophrenia, occurring in more than 90% of those who have the
disorder. Often, these delusions involve illogical or bizarre ideas or
fantasies. Common schizophrenic delusions include:

Delusions of persecution – Belief that others, often a vague “they,” are

out to get him or her. These persecutory delusions often involve bizarre
ideas and plots (e.g. “Martians are trying to poison me with radioactive
particles delivered through my tap water”).

Delusions of reference – A neutral environmental event is believed to

have a special and personal meaning. For example, a person with

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schizophrenia might believe a billboard or a person on TV is sending a
message meant specifically for them.

Delusions of grandeur – Belief that one is a famous or important figure,

such as Jesus Christ or Napoleon. Alternately, delusions of grandeur
may involve the belief that one has unusual powers that no one else has
(e.g. the ability to fly).

Delusions of control – Belief that one’s thoughts or actions are being

controlled by outside, alien forces. Common delusions of control include
thought broadcasting (“My private thoughts are being transmitted to
others”), thought insertion (“Someone is planting thoughts in my head”),
and thought withdrawal (“The CIA is robbing me of my thoughts”).

Hallucinations

Hallucinations are sounds or other sensations experienced as real when

they exist only in the person's mind. While hallucinations can involve
any of the five senses, auditory hallucinations (e.g. hearing voices or
some other sound) are most common in schizophrenia. Visual
hallucinations are also relatively common. Research suggests that
auditory hallucinations occur when people misinterpret their own inner
self-talk as coming from an outside source.

Schizophrenic hallucinations are usually meaningful to the person

experiencing them. Many times, the voices are those of someone they
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know. Most commonly, the voices are critical, vulgar, or abusive.
Hallucinations also tend to be worse when the person is alone.

Disorganized speech

Fragmented thinking is characteristic of schizophrenia. Externally, it can

be observed in the way a person speaks. People with schizophrenia tend
to have trouble concentrating and maintaining a train of thought. They
may respond to queries with an unrelated answer, start sentences with
one topic and end somewhere completely different, speak incoherently,
or say illogical things.

Common signs of disorganized speech in schizophrenia include:

Loose associations – Rapidly shifting from topic to topic, with no

connection between one thought and the next.

Neologisms – Made-up words or phrases that only have meaning to the

patient.

Perseveration – Repetition of words and statements; saying the same

thing over and over.

Clang – Meaningless use of rhyming words (“I said the bread and read
the shed and fed Ned at the head").

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Disorganized behavior

Schizophrenia disrupts goal-directed activity, causing impairments in a

person’s ability to take care of him or herself, work, and interact with
others. Disorganized behavior appears as:

 A decline in overall daily functioning

 Unpredictable or inappropriate emotional responses
 Behaviors that appear bizarre and have no purpose
 Lack of inhibition and impulse control

Negative symptoms (absence of normal behaviors)

The so-called “negative” symptoms of schizophrenia refer to the absence

of normal behaviors found in healthy individuals. Common negative
symptoms of schizophrenia include:

Lack of emotional expression – Inexpressive face, including a flat

voice, lack of eye contact, and blank or restricted facial expressions.

Lack of interest or enthusiasm – Problems with motivation; lack of

self-care.

Seeming lack of interest in the world – Apparent unawareness of the

environment; social withdrawal.

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Speech difficulties and abnormalities – Inability to carry a
conversation; short and sometimes disconnected replies to questions;
speaking in monotone.

DEPRESSION

Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable,

or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another
for short periods. Depression is expressed differently according to one’s
age, sex, and culture. For example, a teenager is unlikely to exhibit the
same signs of Depression as an elderly person would. Because of the
overwhelming variables associated with this illness, there is no set list of
stages one can expect to experience; it is unique to each individual.

Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that
affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself,
and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the
same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a
condition that can be wished away. People with a depressive disease
cannot merely “pull themselves together” and get better. Without
treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate
treatment, however, can help most people with Depression.

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“Depression is an episodic illness. Episodes can last for weeks or
months or years, and are interspersed with more or less symptom-free
periods

The major signs and Symptoms of Depression

For major depression, you may experience a sad or depressed mood, or

an inability to feel pleasure, plus five or more of the following
symptoms, for at least a two-week period

 Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, or hopelessness

 Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities, including sex
 Difficulty concentrating and complaints of poor memory
 Insomnia or oversleeping
 Appetite changes, which may include weight gain or loss
 Fatigue, lack of energy
 Thoughts of suicide or death
 Slow speech; slow movements
 Overeating
 Oversleeping
 Fatigue
 Extreme sensitivity to rejection
 Moods that worsen or improve in direct response to events

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  Regular -- or "typical" -- depression, on the other hand, tends to be
marked by pervasive sadness and a pattern of loss of appetite and
difficulty fall or staying asleep.

Major Depressive Disorder

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, major depressive

disorder is characterized by a combination of symptoms that interfere
with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-
pleasurable activities.

There are times you may feel sad, lonely, or hopeless for a few days. But
major depression -- clinical depression -- lasts longer and is disabling. It
can prevent you from functioning normally. An episode of clinical
depression may occur only once in a person's lifetime. More often,
though, it recurs throughout a person's life.

In addition, with major depression, one of the symptoms must be either

depressed mood or loss of interest. The symptoms should be present
daily or for most of the day or nearly daily for at least two weeks. Also,
the depressive symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or
impairment in functioning. The symptoms cannot be due to the direct
effects of a substance -- drug abuse, medications -- or a medical
condition, such as hypothyroidism, nor occur within two months of the
loss of a loved one.

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Types of Depression
Chronic Depression or Dysthymia

Chronic depression, or dysthymia, is characterized by a long-term (two

years or more) depressed mood. There are also symptoms present that
are associated with major depression but not enough for a diagnosis of
major depression. Chronic depression is less severe than major
depression and typically does not disable the person. If you have
dysthymia or chronic depression, you may also experience one or more
episodes of major depression during your lifetime.

Bipolar Depression or Manic Depression

Bipolar disorder -- sometimes referred to as manic depression -- is a
complex mood disorder that alternates between periods of clinical
depression and times of extreme elation or mania. There are two
subtypes of bipolar disorder: bipolar I and bipolar II.

With bipolar I disorder, patients have a history of at least one manic

episode with or without major depressive episodes.

With bipolar II disorder, patients have a history of at least one episode of

major depression and at least one hypomanic (mildly elated) episode.

A relapse seemed all too possible.

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Main Causes of Depression

There are a number of factors that may increase the chance of

depression, among which they includes the following:

 Abuse. Past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse can cause

depression later in life.
 Certain medications. Some drugs, such as Accutane (used to treat
acne), the antiviral drug interferon-alpha, and corticosteroids, can
increase your risk of depression.
 Conflict. Depression in someone who has the biological
vulnerability to develop depression may result from personal
conflicts or disputes with family members or friends.
 Death or a loss. Sadness or grief from the death or loss of a loved
one, though natural, may increase the risk of depression.
 Genetics. A family history of depression may increase the risk. It's
thought that depression is a complex trait that may be inherited
across generations, although the genetics of psychiatric disorders
are not as simple or straightforward as in purely genetic diseases
such as Huntington's chorea or cystic fibrosis.  

 Major events. Even good events such as starting a new job,

graduating, or getting married can lead to depression. So can
moving, losing a job or income, getting divorced, or retiring.

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  Other personal problems. Problems such as social isolation due
to other mental illnesses or being cast out of a family or social
group can lead to depression.
 Serious illnesses. Sometimes depression co-exists with a major
illness or is a reaction to the illness.
 Substance abuse. Nearly 30% of people with substance abuse
problems also have major or clinical depression.
 Life events

Research suggests that continuing difficulties – long-term

unemployment, living in an abusive or uncaring relationship, long-
term isolation or loneliness, prolonged exposure to stress at work –
are more likely to cause depression than recent life stresses.
However, recent events (such as losing a job) or a combination of
events can ‘trigger' depression in people who are already at risk
because of past bad experiences or personal factors.

OTHER CAUSES OF DEPRESSION INCLUDES;

Personal factors

 Family history – Depression can run in families and some people

will be at an increased genetic risk. However, this doesn't mean
that a person will automatically experience depression if a parent

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 or close relative has had the illness. Life circumstances and other
personal factors are still likely to have an important influence.
 Personality – Some people may be more at risk of depression
because of their personality, particularly if they have a tendency to
worry a lot, have low self-esteem, are perfectionists, are sensitive
to personal criticism, or are self-critical and negative.
 Serious medical illness – Having a medical illness can trigger
depression in two ways. Serious illnesses can bring about
depression directly, or can contribute to depression through
associated stress and worry, especially if it involves long-term
management of the illness and/or chronic pain.
 Drug and alcohol use – Drug and alcohol use can both lead to and
result from depression. Many people with depression also have
drug and alcohol problems. Over 500,000 Australians will
experience depression and a substance use disorder at the same
time, at some point in their lives.

 Truthfully, there is not a specific list of stages of Depression. You

see, likewise, there is no single cause of Depression. Early life
experience, genetic predisposition, lifestyle factors, and certain
personality traits all play a part in causing Depression. Something
that causes Depression in one person may have no effect on
another; thus, the difficulty in outlining the stages of depression.

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  However, we can list the specific types of Depression and a list of
general symptoms associated with Depression. But, first before I
go any further, I need to say that if you are experiencing symptoms
associated with Depression or believe you are experiencing
symptoms associated with Depression, you need to seek medical
attention.

 Depression can be treated and avoiding medical attention can and

will cause unnecessary suffering. Depression is a physical illness,
which should be taken seriously and be treated as soon as the first
symptoms arise.

Types of Depression
1. Major Depression: This type of clinical Depression is
characterized by a severe lack of interest in the things that
were once enjoyed, or nonstop feelings of sadness.

2. Bipolar disorder or manic depressive illness: Also called

Manic Depression, bipolar disorder is a type of depression
that has either subtle or extreme “high” periods alternating
with “low” periods of Depression.

3. Dysthymic disorder: This type of Depression is

characterized by ongoing yet mild symptoms of Depression.

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 4. Cyclothymiacs disorder: is a relatively mild form of bipolar
II disorder characterized by mood swings that may appear to
be almost within the normal range of emotions. These mood
swings range from mild depression, or dysthymia, to mania
of low intensity, or hypomania.

5. Postnatal depression (PND) or Postpartum depression: is a

complex mix of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes
that occur in a mother after giving birth. It is a serious
condition, affecting 10% of new mothers. Symptoms range
from mild to severe Depression and may appear within days
of delivery or gradually, perhaps up to a year later.
Symptoms may last from a few weeks to a year

6. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): This type of depression

occurs seasonally and is caused by lack of sunlight. What are
the Symptoms of Depression?

 “Depression creates mental and physical symptoms in our thinking,

feeling and bodily experience, as well as our behavior. These symptoms
can vary from one person to another. Symptoms may change throughout
the day, but are usually worse after waking up in the morning.

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MOTIVATION
Motivation refers to the state within a person that drives behavior
towards a goal, satisfying our physiological and psychological needs. It
is a process that initiates, directs and sustains behavior, and it has three
aspects which include;
1. The driving state within the organism for instance, set emotions by
biological needs, environmental stimuli or mental process such as
thoughts and memories.
2. The behavior directly by the driving state.
3. The goal towards which the behavior is directed to.
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
They include:
1. The instinct theory
2. The driving reduction theory
3. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory
4. The opponent process theory
5. The arousal theory
The instinct theory:
The instinct theory is an inborn, unlearnt, fixed personal behavior that is
characteristic of the entire species. An instinct does not improve with

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practice. For instance, nobody teaches birds to fly, as William James
attributes humans as well as animal behavior to instinct.

The drive reduction theory:

according to this theory, human beings have certain biological needs that
are to be met in order to survive, and this gives rise to an internal state of
tension or a arousal called the drive, and we are motivated to reduce it,
for instance, when we are in need for food, we are motivated to look for
it.
The drive theory is derived from the biological theory of homeostasis i.e.
the tendency of the body to maintain an internally balance state, in order
to ensure physical survive. The reduction theory can not however fully
account to a broad range of human motivation.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in 1970 proposed a theory of
needs to account for the range of human motivation. The theory arranges
needs in order of urgency, ranging from physical needs of security
needs, love and belonging needs to extreme needs involving desire for
respect, confidence and finally to self actualization, meaning doing what
you are best suited and realizing ones’ own potential to the maximum.

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Diagram showing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

The needs at one level must be at least partially satisfied before those at
the next level become important determinants of action. When food and
safety are difficult to obtain, the satisfaction of these needs will
dominate the person’s actions and higher motives will have little
significance.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

An interpretation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, represented as a
pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom.

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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by
Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper.
A theory of Human motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea
to include his observations of humans’ innate curiosity. His theories
parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of
which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. Maslow use
the terms physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem and self
actualization needs to describe the pattern that human motivations
generally move through.

Hierarchy

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a

pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the
bottom, and the need for self-actualization at the top. While the pyramid
has become the de facto way to represent the hierarchy, Maslow himself
never used a pyramid to describe these levels in any of his writings on
the subject.

The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what
Maslow called deficiency needs or d-needs. Esteem, friendship and love,
security, and physical needs. With the exception of the most
fundamental (physiological) needs, if these deficiency needs are not met,

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the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious
and tense. Maslow’s theory suggests that the most basic level of needs
must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus upon
motivation). The secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined
the term Meta-motivation to describe the motivation of people who go
beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment.
Meta-motivated people are driven by b-needs (being needs), instead of
deficiency needs (d-needs).

Physiological needs: this are obvious, they are the literal requirements
for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body
simply cannot continue to function. Physiological needs are the most
proponents of all the other needs. Therefore, the human that lacks food,
love, esteem or safety would consider the greatest of his/her needs to be
food.
Air, water and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all
animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary
protection from the elements. The intensity of the human sexual instinct
is shape more by sexual competition than maintaining a birth rate
adequate to survival of the species.

Safety needs: with all the physical needs relatively satisfied, the
individual’s safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the

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absence of physical safety due to war, natural disaster, or in case of a
family violence, childhood abuse, etc. people experience post traumatic
stress disorder and trans-generational trauma transfer. In the absence of
economic crisis and lack of work opportunities these safety needs
manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security,
grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral
authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability,
accommodations, and the like. This level is more likely to be found in
children because they have a greater need to feel safe.

Safety and security needs include;

1. Personal security
2. Financial security
3. Health and well being
4. Safety net against accidents or illness and their adverse impacts.

Love and belonging

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layers of
human needs are interpersonal and involve feelings of belongingness.
The need is especially strong in childhood and can over ride the need for
safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiency
with respect of Maslow’s hierarchy. de to hospitalism, neglect,

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shunning, ostracism etc, can impact individuals’ ability to form and
maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as;
1. Friendship
2. Intimacy
3. Family

Human need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it

comes from a large social group , such as clubs, culture, religion,
organizations, sports or gangs intimates partners, mentors, close
colleagues. They need to love and be loved both sexually and non-
sexually by others. In the absence of these elements, many people
become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression.
This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and
security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an
anorexic, for instance, you may ignore the need to eat and the security of
health for a feeling of control and belonging.

Esteem
All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self
respect. Esteem presents the normal human desires to be accepted and
valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition
and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of
contribution, to feel self valued, be it in a profession or hobby.

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Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority
complex. People with low self esteem need respect from others. They
may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. However, that
many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view
of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally,
but must first accept them internally. Psychological imbalances such as
depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both
levels.

Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem.

Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher
one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for
self-respect the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and
attention. The higher one is the need for self-respect, the need for
strength, competence, mastery, self confidence, independence and
freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more on inner
competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can
lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.

Self – actualization
What a man can be, he must be. This forms the basis of the perceived
need for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person’s
full potential is and realizing that potential. Maslow describes this desire

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as the desire to become more and more what one is to become
everything that one is capable of becoming. This is a broad definition of
the need for self actualization, but when applied to individuals the need
is specific. For instance, one individual may have the strong desire to
become an ideal parent, in another it may be expressed athletically, and
in another it may be express in painting, pictures or inventions. As
mentioned before, in order to reach a clear understanding of this level of
need one must first not only achieve the previous needs, physiological,
safety, love and esteem but master these needs.

Self transcendence
Viktor Frankl later added self-transcendence to create his own version of
Maslow’s hierarchy. Cloninger later incorporated self-transcendence as
a spiritual dimension of personality in the temperament and character
inventory.

The opponent process theory

In this you consider a frightened activity such as parachute jumping. It is
claimed that, there is tremendous or great relief and excitement
following the sky diving experience that needs a person to repeat the
experiment that needs activity to represent the feeling of excitement.
According to opponent process theory, the initial emotion gradually
weakness with the repletion of the activity. The opposing emotion

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becomes stronger and eventually provides the motivation for the
activity. In this therefore, there is shift from negative state of fear to
positive excitement.

The arousal theory

Arousal is a state of alertness involving mental and physical activation.
It states that, we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal, if
arousal is less than the optimal level and we do something to stimulate
it. If exceeds the optimal level, we seek to reduce the arousal. The
biological needs such as needs for water increases our arousal. We also
get aroused when we encounter new stimuli or when the strength of the
stimuli is greatly increased, as in the cases of loud noise, bright light and
bad smell. Therefore, an individual can however at high or low levels of
arousal, but she or he is motivated to achieve a comfortable optimal
level of arousal by acting in ways that increase or decrease stimulation.

EMOTION
Emotions are the feeling of the state, involving physical arousal
cognitive of the situation and out ward expression of the state. Much of
our motivation to act is flounced b our emotional state. We normally
describe emotions in terms of the feeling state, for instance, lonely,
happy, angry, or afraid. Therefore, behaviorists state emotional
according to three states namely;

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 1. Physiological state
2. Behavioral state
3. Cognitive state
Physiological state
This is the physiological arousal that accompanied an emotion without
the physical component, for instance, if you come face to face with a
lion, the perception of the stimuli lion causes muscles, skin and internal
organs to under go changes i.e. faster heart rate, dilated ppils and
increased perspective. The emotion of fear is simply your awareness of
these changes. In other wards the physiological component involves
different patterns in the nervous system that will cause alteration or
changing of the heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration or sweating.

Behavioral state
This is the outward expression of the emotions our facial expressions,
gestures and body poster as well as tone of voice convey the emotions
we feel. Some of these facial expressions are in born and all the same
across cultures, but some of the emotions are influenced by our cultures.

The cognitive component state

The way we perceive or interpret stimuliin situation determines the
specific emotions emotive we feel. For instance, if you busy reading
your books and someone taps you, and you perceive it as a slap, then

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you will become angry and react in an angry manner. Therefore, the
way we cognitively appraise or interpret stimuli determines the
emotional state will be manifested.
Other related readings on emotion
James Lange’s theory
Cannon bard theory

PSYCHO-SOCIAL PROBLEMS
This refers to the problems that affect the psychological well being of
people within a society. Such problems normally carry psychological
implications and affect mental health in general. In particular we are
assessing problems like Alcoholism, HIV/AIDS, crowding aggression,
war and displacement, natural disaster and death. We are trying to
discuss the available social support and how community interventions
can be applied.

Types of psycho-social problem

1. Alcoholism and problem drinking
Alcohol is a chemical compound known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol
on alcohol and physically addicted to it and experiences health and
social problems from its consumption.
This results in progressively deteriorating series of changes known as
classic alcoholism. Classic alcoholism is in four stages and they include:

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 1. Pre-alcoholic stage: during this stage, drinking begins to serve the
important function of releasing tension. As drinking continues,
tolerance for alcohol increases, so the amount that must be
consumed to provide the same release of tension also increases.
2. Pro dromal stage: the drinking level is excessive during this
stage. Blackouts and memory loses begin to occur and drinking
behavior shift from sipping to gulping. Guilt, anxiety and promises
to stop drinking also common during this period.
3. Crucial stage: during this stage, deterioration occurs in self
esteem and general social functioning including loss of friends.
Once the individual begins to drink, the drinking is uncontrollable.
The individual begins to rationalize drinking as acceptable.
Excessive drinking generally leads to neglect of nutrition.
4. The chronic stage: here there is constant drinking with little or no
control of either starting or continuing to drink.
Effects of alcohol
Lists down some of the effects of alcoholism

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCERNS FOR TERMINAL ILLNESS

Sign and symptoms of terminal illness

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 1. Change in self image. For instance, hair breakage, loss of weight,
and body weakness.
2. Loss of independence. For instance, bathing, washing, and
walking, depending on others in decision making.
3. Financial dependence. E.g. loss of employment, family breakdown,
4. Loss of property.
As Doctor, counselor, Nurse how would you address the psycho-social
concerns of the terminal illness of patients?
Wheel ridding, spiritual counseling, drug adherence, comforting them,
and family support.

Stages of terminal illness

1. Denial is the initial reaction for those who are dying.
2. Anger, this sometimes follow denial, these happened when the
patient become overwhelm with anxiety as information is accepted
into the sub- conscious mind.
3. Bargaining, patients engage in bargaining in an effort to survive.
4. Depression,
5. Acceptance, this is where the patients accept that death is
inevitable and then strives to understand the meaning of his/her
life.

The psycho-social effects of death (bereavement and grieving)

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Bereavement is the loss through death. The person who has lost some
one is bereaved; grieving on the other hand is the feeling part of the state
of bereavement. The process of grief normally follows bereavement and
this is displayed in the psychological, physiological and behavioral
responses of the bereaved.
Research has systematically observed measured changes in emotional
thought patterns and our behavior during grief. The first most frequent
response grievement is shock; this happens regardless of whether or not
death was anticipated. It is a sense of unbelief which makes everything
unreal.

The process of grieving often moves from shock to searching and during
this stage there is emotional desire to keep looking and in touch with the
deceased, the bereaved will hold the dear items, places and people who
remind him/her of the dead person. This is followed by resentment as the
bereaved always find someone to blame for the loss e.g. doctors, God, or
self that brings anger which is later followed by depression and
loneliness which take the form of crying, fatigue, sleep disturbances,
loss of concentrations and interest in life.
Like any other severe stressors, grief frequently leads to hormonal
changes and disturbances in the immune system. This will lead to
greater susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. The strongest

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effect of grief seems to occur on the cordial vascular system. It may lead
to sudden cardiac death or congenital heart failure.
Socially the grieved may give up favorite activities and avoid
socialization. The person may experience difficult concentrating,
feelings of anger, irritability smoking etc. such behaviors represents an
attempt to defend self from the painful grieve and depress.

Crisis Intervention
It is always important for those around the grieving to evaluate and
understand which stages the grieved is, such an understanding helps us
to be able to take the person through the emotions that accompany that
particular stage. The most important thing is to listen and appreciate
what the grieved is going through.
We have to give time to slowly go through the grieving process until
when they learn to say goodbye to the deceased. Never wish a person
nor force them to suppress their feelings or pretend that they are not
hurt.

AGGRESSION
This is the behavior directed against another person that is intended to
cause harm or pain towards another. Aggression may be distinguished
into kinds namely.
a. Hostile aggression
b. Instrumental aggression

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Hostile aggression is generally provoked by pain and is emotional in
nature. It occurs when the person is emotionally aroused and the aim is
to do harm or revenge. Such an impulse is likely to lead to deadly
behavior especially when the person is furious and has access to a
weapon.
Instrumental aggression is not usually caused by emotions. It is normally
aims at gaining some desired rewards such as money but not to harm.
This kind of aggression is controlled by rewards and punishment.

THEORIES OF AGGRESSION
In developing theories of aggression, we look at the internal forces to
aggression, or we look at the external factors that pull the individual to
aggress. Instinct and biological theories take the former or past while
frustration aggression and social learning take the later view.
The instinct theory
This is among the oldest and most controversial theories of aggression
are those that state that aggression is an instinct. This implies that
behavior is inherited rather than learnt. And that the behavior pattern is
common to all members of the species. Freud argued that the drive to
violence arouses from within people and that humans cannot be
eliminated.
The instinct to aggression is common to many animal species and the
critics of the theory say that if humans are instinctively aggressive, then

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we would expect to find a great deal of similarity in the style and
amount of aggression displayed by people.

Biological theory
These theories locate the seat of aggression inside the individual. These
theories differ from the instinct theory because they attempt to identify
specific biological mechanisms that excite people to aggressive nature.
Properties of one biological approach have attempted to locate specific
parts of the brain that trigger or cause aggression. Certain neural centres
give rise to violent behavior when they are stimulated.
The second line of research has focused on the relationship between
aggression and hormones where males are more aggressive than the
females because of hormonal differences. Other researchers argue that
the gender differences in aggression are due to learning and socialization
rather than differences in hormones.
Brain damage, tumors and epilepsy have all been related to aggression
and alcohol is also a frequent partner. People who are intoxicated or
under the influence commit the majority of murders, stabbings and
physical child abuse among others.

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Frustration theory
This theory prostrates that aggression is a consequence of frustration and
that frustration always leads to aggression. According to this theory, the
instigation to aggression should increase as the strength of frustration
increases.
Social learning theory
This is the basic principle of operant conditioning, and is straight when
applied to aggression. The possibility that aggressive behavior will occur
is due to the reward system. Studies show that when aggression brings
people food, material goods for social approval is more likely to re-
occur. Observational learning emphasizes that besides learning
aggressive behavior by directly observing others, we learnt it by
watching violent shows, videos and movies.

Reducing Aggression
Many techniques have been proposed to reduce aggression and there are
six strategies studied by psychologists among which they include;
1. Venting: this involves expressing impulses in an attempt to reduce
subsequent aggression. Aggressive venting impulses are referred to
as catharsis. The Norton of catharsis seems consistent with
common sense. People often say they need to let off steam.
Venting can be expressed verbally or through fantasy i.e. by
writing aggressive stories.

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 2. Punishment: this is defined as delivery of aversive stimulus after
undesirable behavior. It is one of the most common needs that
society, individuals, uses to control instrumental rather than hostile
aggression. Punishment may be particularly tricky as a method of
controlling aggression because it is sometimes a kind of
aggression, and to be effective punishment should be relatively
strong, applied quickly and consistent to others.
3. Creating responses incompatible or mismatch with aggression
4. Providing social restraints
5. Counseling.

FAMILY
A family is a social unit or household consisting of one or two parents,
children and close relatives compare to other species. It is a smallest unit
in society and different families’ merge or come together to form a
society. Human beings develop slowly and require years of support and
instructions before they are ready to be independent, this gradual process
to mutuality that humans undertake may explain why human beings
organize themselves into families like social system, therefore, a human
beings is born in need of social support and grows up not only to like it
but also seeks and work for it.
According to anthropologists, the ability to walk upright on two legs
without arms enhanced the evolution of the human family as a social

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unit. Once human beings had their arms free, it become easier for them
to co-operate and share especially caring and providing for the young.
The family pattern in which a man and a woman assumed special
responsibility for their children emerged as a social group. Male and
female worked together to protect the young against starvation and other
changes. As males and females supplemented the efforts of the other, the
survival of the young was enhanced, during this early time the females
were mainly gatherers and males were hunters, today the family still
serves similar functions as it did when it originated.

Family socialization (parenting)

When discussing family socialization, we are focusing on the family
members’ interaction patterns. The pattern of socialization is seen in the
way parents interact with their children.
Overprotective parents
This normally have very loving and close relationship with a child and
does almost everything for his/her determines who the child should play
with and fights his or her battles. As a result the child perceives himself
as helpless and immature. He may be submissive, passive and
dependant, he may learn to be responsible and may find it difficult to
cope with problems of everyday life.
Permissive parents
These give the child few rules and rarely punish misbehavior. The child
is given great respect and autonomy but often too much independence at
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too early an age. Parents fear hurting him by imposing their own
attitudes on him. His jealousy for the young brother or sister is
understood and his aggression is tolerated.
Authoritarian parents
This type gives strict rules to their children adolescent with little
discussion of the reasons for the rules. It is because I say so approach.
That rules authoritarian parents are openly critical of their children and
frequently give those instructions on how to behave and are forced by
punishing a child who does not obey.
Authoritative parents
These shows an authority figure to their children but provides good
explanation for the rules and freely discusses the rules with children in
allowing the children freely state their opinions about the rules and
sometimes being persuaded to alter the rules by logical argument from
them. Authoritative parents give children a greater sense of involvement
in their own rules; emphasize reinforcement of appropriate behavior and
affectionate warmth over punishment at all. In short it shows that their
children are loved and respected but proved amount of authority that a
child needs.

AFRICAN TRADITIONAL HEALING

This is an art of healing which has existed in Africa since time
memorial, and it is normally handed down from generation to
generation. African traditional healing is carried out by African
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traditional healers. One has to undergo rigorous or thorough initiation
ceremonies and training to become a traditional healers, for instance, in
Nigeria it would take one 5-7 years to be a trained healer.
In Africa, 80% of the population is served by the traditional healers
regarding all types of health problems. They treat both physical and
emotional disorders. And the world health organization acknowledged it
and has stated that, African traditional healers too have specialists, some
specialize in pregnancy, psychotic, or mental illness, financial cases like
poverty, poor memory, premature death and many others according to
one’s capabilities and the type of the client.
There are basically three types of traditional healers among which they
include;
1. The herbalists
2. The spiritualists
3. Those who use the power of herbs and the spirit

METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS
Methods used by all these type of traditionalists include careful
listening, observation looking through a person and knowing what
happened in the past, forecasting that is looking into the future and
predicting events. This happens often when they are in a state of trance
or extra ordinary state of consciousness, and when traditional healers are
involving spirits or when they are saying traditional prayers.

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Traditional healers believe that the origin of a sickness whether it being
psychological or physical is considered to be one or a combination of the
following; punishment from the gods for evil deeds, a wicked eye look,
a curse, witchcraft, an offense against the gods, native customs, charms,
break of taboos disruption of social relationship, angry ancestors,
possession of the devil (Madu 1989).

On the other hand client expectations were passive and dependant. They
expected readymade solutions to their problems in form of drug
concoctions, injections, operations and sacrifice to the gods. The clients
expected to receive something concrete that will help them and cure
their illness.

FORMS OF THERAPY USED BY TRADITIONAL HEALERS

Basher, 1975, Madu 1989, Ohaeri 1989 and Buguma 1996, made
research and the following were some of the methods of therapy that
they used;

1. Offering sacrifice to the gods: animals like goats, sheep, cows and
birds like chicken were slaughtered, then the blood in sometimes
spilled on the client and the animal is burnt to ashes as a sacrifice
to particular gods to call them so as to heal the patient, and
sometimes the animals are cooked and served to a group of people
claiming to be serving the gods that are being represented by those
many people.

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 2. Use of herbs: concoctions from leaves and roots which may be
administered in form of liquid power or cream. These herbs are
given to the patients to take with him or her home and given
instructions, depending on what the patients’ problem is.
3. Extraction and exorcism
4. Total withdrawal
5. Incantations
6. Family therapy
Discuss the difference between African traditional therapy and
modern medicine

ATTITUDE
It is influenced by values and is acquired from the same sources as
values, friends, teachers, parents, and role models. Attitudes focus on
specific people or objects, where as values have a more generic sense as
to what people stable than attitudes. Attitude is used in a generic sense,
as to what people perceive, feel and express their views about a
situation, object or other people. Attitude can not be seen but behavior
can be seen as an expression of attitude.
Attitude is the evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects,
people or events.

Component of attitudes
1. Cognitive component is the opinion or belief segment of an
attitude.

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2. Affective component is the emotional or feeling segment of an
attitude.
3. Behavioral component is an intention to behave in a certain way
towards someone or something.
1. Cognitive component, this is related to value statement. It consists
of belief, ideas, values and other information that an individual
may possess or has faith in.
2. Affective component is related to person’s feelings about another
person, which may be positive, negative or neutral.
3. Behavioral component, this is related to impact of various
situations or objects that lead to individuals’ behavior based on
cognitive and affective components.

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REFERENCES
1. Introduction to psychology by Benjamin Lahey
2. J.B. (1986) cognitive psychology. St. Paul, MN: West
3. Hunt M. (1982) the universe within New York: simon and
Schuster 1982
4. Loftuse E. (1980) Memory, reading, MA.

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GUIDING QUESTIONS

1(a) Using relevant examples, describe the goals of psychology

(b) Explain the relevant of psychology to you as a doctor, pharmacist nurse

2(a) What is behavioural change?

(b) Briefly describe the following theories of behavioural change

(i) Social cognitive change

(ii)Learning theory by B.F Skinner

3. Assess five steps to changing any behaviour.

4 (a) Explain the relationship between the Id, ego and super ego clearly showing

the role of each concept to out personality.

5. With reference to Sigmund Freud theory, clearly explain the stages of human

growth and development.

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6 (a) Describe the following theories of learning and adaptation.

(i) Operant conditioning

(ii) Classical conditioning

(b) Explain the following concepts.

(i) Unconditional stimulus

(ii)Unconditional response

(iii) Conditioned stimulus

(iv) Conditioned response

7. State and explain any five defense mechanisms and show their relevance to our

personality

8 (a) What is personality assessment?

(b) Assess any five types of personality assessment.

9 (a) What is perception?

(b) Explain any five factors influencing perception.

10 (a) What is memory?

(b) Assess the stages of memory.

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 11. Using relevant examples, defferiate between positive and negative

reinforcement.

12. Explain the criteria taken to define psychology abnormality

13. Assess any five anxiety disorders.

14 (a) Explain the sign, symptoms and cause of depression.

(b) Explain the following mood disorders.

(i). Major depression

(ii). Bipolar depression

15 (a) What are personality disorders?

(b) Briefly explain the following personality disorders below.

(i). Paranoid P.D

(ii). Borderline P.D

(iii). Obsessive compulsive

(iv). Dependent P.D

16. Explain the signs, symptoms and types of schizophrenia

17. (a) Assess the stages of terminal illness and show your support at every stage

(b) Briefly explain the psychological concerns of the terminally ill

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18. Explain the stages of grief and psychosocial effects of death

19. (a) Deferetiate between hostile aggression and instrumental aggression

20. Discuss the different parenting styles and clearly show the relevance of each

parenting style to our personality.

21. Defferetiate between African traditional healing and western medicine.

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