Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ministry of Science and Higher Education General Psychology (Psyc 1011) Contributors Koye Kassa, Bahir Dar University Chapter One, Chapter Five, and Chapter Six Belay Tefera, Addis Ababa University Chapter Two Aemero Asmamaw, University of Gondar Chapter Three, Chapter Four, and Chapter Seven Habtamu Disasa, Dilla University Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, and Chapter Eleven Revised and Edited by Belay Tefera, Addis Ababa University September, 2019 i TABLE OF CONTENTS Module Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5 Module Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................................... 7 ESSENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 7 1.1. Definition of Psychology and Related Concepts ............................................................................. 7 1.2. Goals of Psychology ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.3. Historical Background and Major Perspectives in Psychology ....................................................... 9 1.3.1. Early schools of psychology ................................................................................................. 10 1.3.2. Modern schools of psychology ............................................................................................. 13 1.4. Branches/Sub Fields of Psychology .............................................................................................. 15 1.5. Research Methods in Psychology .................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER TWO.................................................................................................................................... 22 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION ....................................................................................................... 22 2.1.The meanings of sensation and perception ..................................................................................... 23 2.2.The sensory laws: Sensory thresholds and sensory adaption. ......................................................... 24 2.3.Perception ....................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.1.Selectivity of perception: Attention ....................................................................................... 27 2.3.2.From perception .................................................................................................................... 30 2.3.3.Depth perception ................................................................................................................... 33 2.3.4.Perceptual Constancies .......................................................................................................... 36 2.3.5.Perceptual Illusion ................................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER Three ................................................................................................................................... 39 LEARNING AND THEORIES OF LEARNING .................................................................................. 39 3.1. Definition, Characteristics and Principles of Learning .................................................................. 40 3.1.1. Definitions of learning .......................................................................................................... 40 3.1.2. Characteristics of learning .................................................................................................... 40 3.1.3. Principles of learning ............................................................................................................ 41 3.2. Factors Influencing Learning ......................................................................................................... 42 3.3. Theories of Learning and their Applications ................................................................................. 43 3.3.1. Behavioral Theory of Learning ............................................................................................ 43 3.3.2. Social Learning Theory (observational learning) theory ...................................................... 52 3.3.3. Cognitive Learning Theory .................................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................................. 56 MEMORY AND FORGETTING .......................................................................................................... 56 5.1 Memory .......................................................................................................................................... 57 5.1.1 Meaning and Processes of Memory ....................................................................................... 58 5.1.2 Stages/Structure of Memory .................................................................................................. 59 5.1.3 Factors Affecting Memory .................................................................................................... 63 5.2 Forgetting ....................................................................................................................................... 64 ii 5.2.1 Meaning and Concepts of Forgetting .................................................................................... 64 5.2.2. Theories of Forgetting .......................................................................................................... 65 5.3. Improving Memory ....................................................................................................................... 67 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................................... 69 MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS ....................................................................................................... 69 5.1. Motivation ..................................................................................................................................... 69 5.1.1. Definition and types of motivation ....................................................................................... 69 5.1.2. Approaches to motivation (theories of motivation) .............................................................. 70 5.1.3. Conflict of motives and frustration ....................................................................................... 74 5.2. Emotions........................................................................................................................................ 75 5.2.1. Definition of emotion ........................................................................................................... 75 5.2.2. Theories of emotion .............................................................................................................. 76 CHAPTER SIX ...................................................................................................................................... 79 PERSONALITY..................................................................................................................................... 79 6.1. Meaning of Personality ................................................................................................................. 79 6.2. Theories of Personality .................................................................................................................. 80 6.2.1. The psychoanalytic theory of personality ............................................................................. 80 6.2.2. The trait theory of personality .............................................................................................. 83 6.2.3. Humanistic theory of personality ......................................................................................... 84 CHAPTER SEVEN ................................................................................................................................ 88 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND TREATMENT TECHNIQUES ........................................... 88 7.1 Nature of Psychological Disorders ................................................................................................. 89 7.2. Causes of Psychological Disorders (Based on Perspectives) ......................................................... 90 7.2.1 The Biological Perspective .................................................................................................... 90 7.2.2 Psychological Perspectives .................................................................................................... 90 7.3. Types of Psychological Disorders ................................................................................................. 91 7.4 Treatment Techniques .................................................................................................................... 96 CHAPTER EIGHT ................................................................................................................................. 99 INTRODUCTION TO LIFE SKILLS .................................................................................................... 99 8.1. Nature and Definition of Life skills ............................................................................................. 100 8.3. Components of Life Skills ........................................................................................................... 100 8.2. Goals of Life Skills ...................................................................................................................... 102 CHAPTER NINE ................................................................................................................................. 106 INTRA-PERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS................................................................... 106 9.1. Self-Concept and Self-Awareness ............................................................................................... 107 9.2. Self-esteem and self-confidence .................................................................................................. 108 9.3. Self-Control ................................................................................................................................. 110 9.4. Anger Management ..................................................................................................................... 111 9.5. Emotional Intelligence and Managing Emotion .......................................................................... 112 9.6. Stress, Coping with Stress and Resilience ................................................................................... 113 9.7. Critical and Creative Thinking .................................................................................................... 116 9.8. Problem Solving and Decision Making ....................................................................................... 118 iii CHAPTER TEN ................................................................................................................................... 121 ACADEMIC SKILLS .......................................................................................................................... 121 10.1. Time Management ..................................................................................................................... 121 10.2. Note-taking and Study Skills ..................................................................................................... 123 10.3. Test-Taking Skill ....................................................................................................................... 125 10.4. Test Anxiety and Overcoming Test Anxiety ............................................................................. 127 10.5. Goal Setting ............................................................................................................................... 129 10.6. Career Development Skill.......................................................................................................... 130 CHAPTER ELEVEN ........................................................................................................................... 132 SOCIAL SKILLS ................................................................................................................................. 132 11.1. Understanding cultural Diversity ............................................................................................... 133 11.2. Gender and Social Inclusion ...................................................................................................... 135 11.3. Interpersonal Communication Skills ......................................................................................... 136 11.4. Social Influences ....................................................................................................................... 137 11.5. Peer Pressure ............................................................................................................................. 137 11.6. Assertiveness ............................................................................................................................. 140 11.7. Conflict and Conflict Resolution ............................................................................................... 141 11.8. Team Work ................................................................................................................................ 143 11.9. Overcoming Risky Behavior ..................................................................................................... 144 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 146 iv Module Introduction You might have heard or used the term psychology before you start reading this module. Psychology is a science of human cognitive processes and behaviors. This module focuses on acquainting you with this science of mind and behavior. Chapter one introduces the field of psychology as a study of mind and behavior. The second chapter discusses the first step in building mind and behavior called sensation and perception. Points discussed in chapter three are definition, principles and characteristics of learning, factors influencing learning, theories of learning and their applications, behavioral theory of learning, social learning theory and cognitive learning theory. Chapter four of the module teaches you about memory, meaning and process of memory, stages of memory, factors affecting memory, forgetting, meaning and concepts of forgetting, theories of forgetting and improving memory. In the fifth chapter concepts of motivation, definition and types of motivation, theories of motivation and their applications, conflict of motives and frustration, emotions, definition of emotion, components of emotion and theories of emotion and their applications. In chapter six, concept of personality and its theories particularly psychoanalytic, trait and humanistic theories are discussed. Psychological disorders and treatment techniques nature of psychological disorders such as causes of psychological disorders, types of psychological disorders and treatment techniques are discussed in chapter seven. Chapters eight, nine, ten and eleven deal with life skills. In chapter eight, nature and definition, goals and components are discussed. Self-concept and self-awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence, self-control, emotional intelligence and managing emotion, resilience and coping with stress, anger management, critical and creative thinking and problem solving and decision making are discussed in chapter nine. In chapter ten, academic skills: time management, note-taking and study skills, test-taking skill, test anxiety and overcoming test, anxiety goal setting and career development skill are presented. Chapter eleven educates you about social skills understanding intercultural diversity and diversity management, gender 5 and social inclusion, interpersonal communication skills, social influences and peer pressure, assertiveness, conflict and conflict resolution, team work and overcoming risky behavior Module Objectives Up on the completion of this course, students will be able to:  Describe basic psychological concepts;  Compare and contrast the major theoretical perspectives in psychology;  Discuss different aspects of human development;  Compare and contrast different learning theories;  Summarize motivational and emotional processes;  Demonstrate social and interpersonal skills in everyday life;  Set an adaptive goal and plan for future;  Apply knowledge of psychology in their life; and  Develop their life skills. 6 CHAPTER ONE ESSENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY Chapter Overview This chapter tries to acquaint students with the concept of psychology. The specific contents addressed in the chapter are definition of psychology and related concepts, goals of psychology, historical background and major perspectives in psychology, branches/subfields of psychology, and research methods in psychology. Learning Appetizers A psychologist once asked a group of university freshmen to tell him who they think a psychologist is. Some say „someone who reads the palm of an individual and tells the behavior of a person‟, others said „someone who is a fortune teller‟, the rest said, „a person who can understand what someone is thinking about at a certain time.‟ What about you? You just explore these views as you proceed through the discussions in this chapter. Learning Outcomes At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:  Define psychology  Show historical roots of psychology as a science  Point out the goals of psychology  Identify early schools and modern perspectives of psychology  Discuss the basis of differences among perspectives of psychology  Identify subfields of psychology  Differentiate the major research methods in psychology  Explore the major steps of scientific research in psychology 1.1. Definition of Psychology and Related Concepts Brainstorming Questions      What comes to your mind when you hear about the word psychology? Have you ever heard about, read or listened to anything related to psychology? What was its content about? Did you appreciate it? Why? What do you expect from the course in psychology? 7 The word "psychology" is derived from two Greek words 'psyche' and ‗logos‟. Psyche refers to mind, soul or sprit while logos means study, knowledge or discourse. Therefore, by combining the two Greek words the term "psychology" epistemologically refers to the study of the mind, soul, or sprit and it is often represented by the Greek letter ᴪ (psi) which is read as ("sy"). Psychologists define psychology differently based on their intentions, research findings, and background experiences. Nowadays, most of them agree on the following scientific definition of psychology.  Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and the underlying mental In the above definition, there are three aspects; science, behavior and mental processes:  Science: psychology uses scientific methods to study behavior and mental processes in both humans and animals. This means psychologists do not study behavior with commonsense rather they follow scientific procedures and use empirical data to study behavior and mental processes.  Behavior: refers to all of our outward or overt actions and reactions, such as talking, facial expressions, movement, etc. There is also covert behavior which is hidden, nonobservable and generally considered as a mental process  Mental processes: refer to all the internal, covert activities of our minds, such as thinking, feeling, remembering, etc. Reflection  Dear student, how did you compare the definition of psychology above with your previous conception? 1.2. Goals of Psychology Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, why do you think is psychology important? What do you think a psychologist is doing when studying behavior and mental processes? Have you listed some? Fine, let us see the goals together below. As a science, psychology has four goals; description, explanation, prediction, and control. Description: Description involves observing the behavior and noticing everything about it. It is a search for answers for questions like ‗What is happening?‘ ‗Where does it happen?‘ ‗To whom does it happen?‘ And ‗under what circumstances does it seem to happen?. For 8 example, a teacher might notice that a young freshman girl in his/her general psychology classroom is behaving oddly. She is not turning to her homework, her results are slipping badly, and she seems to have a very negative attitude toward the course. Explanation: Why is it happening? Explanation is about trying to find reasons for the observed behavior. This helps in the process of forming theories of behavior (A theory is a general explanation of a set of observations or facts). For instance in the above example, to find out why the girl is doing all those things, the teacher would most likely ask her parents about her home background, her friends and the like and may come to an understanding that this girl was behaving the way she did because she was given attention (in a way reward) by other people when she used to behave oddly Prediction: prediction is about determining what will happen in the future. In the above example, the case of the freshman girl, the psychologist or counselor would predict (based on previous research into similar situations) that this girl may never be able to reach her full learning potential. Control: How can it be changed? Control or modify or change the behavior from undesirable one (such as failing in school) to a desirable one (such as academic success). In the example above, certain learning strategies can be used to help the girl so that she will be successful in her academic endeavor. Control can also be used in the sense that a psychologist tries to check out the effects of certain undesirable factors in examining the relationship between two or more behaviors. For example, in studying the relationship between intelligence and academic performance in freshman courses, a psychologist needs to control the effect of socio-economic status of the family. Reflection  Dear student, can you please reflect on the relationship and difference between the four goals of psychology? 1.3. Historical Background and Major Perspectives in Psychology Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, can you imagine how long has psychology been around and where did it begin? [[ Have you tried? Very good, 9 Psychology is a relatively new field in the realm of the sciences, only about 125 years old. It began as a science of its own in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, with the establishment of a psychology laboratory in the University of Leipzig by Wilhelm Wundt. Wundt developed the technique of objective introspection to scientifically examine mental experiences. With such newer orientation to the study of human subjective experiences that were previously under the field of philosophy alone, psychology then begun as an independent field of study and with Wundt as its founder or "father of modern psychology.‖ Once psychology begun to use the scientific method, it then went through successive developments in which different schools of thought emerged at different times. These schools of thought can be categorized as old and modern as described below. 1.3.1. Early schools of psychology Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, what do you think is a school of thought? Do you think we have schools of thought in psychology? If yes, like what, for example? A school of thought is a system of thinking about a certain issue, say, for example, about human behavior or mind. You may, for example, think that human behavior is all the result of inheritance, or you, may, instead, say it is all the result of interaction with the environment. The first system of thinking takes a biological approach and the later takes an environmental approach. But, what is common in both is there is a tendency to give general, systematized approach of explaining phenomena. Surly, psychology, as a discipline, is embedded in different systems of thought from its inception. These systems of thought were very broad in the early years of psychology and, therefore, we call them ‗schools of thought‘. There are five such early schools of psychology. Structuralism- structuralism views psychology as a study of structure of mind. It is an expansion of Wundt‘s ideas by his student named Edward Titchener (1867-1927). Titchener is the founder of structuralism. The goal of structuralists was to find out the units or elements, which make up the mind such as; sensations, images, and feelings. The best-known method used by them was introspection ―looking inward into our consciousness‖. It is a procedure aimed at analyzing the mental experience into three basic mental elements: images, feelings, and sensations. 10 Analyzing mental structure alone was found to serve little purpose in helping humans deal with the environment. Hence, a new school of thought emerged to study this functional value of human mind-functionalism. Functionalism- functionalism views psychology as a study of function of the mind. The founder of this school of thought is William James (1848-1910), who was the first American psychologist and the author of the first psychology textbook. Unlike Wundt and Titchener, James focused on how the mind allows people to function in the real world; how people work, play, and adapt to their surroundings, a viewpoint he called functionalism. He developed many research methods other than introspection including questionnaires, mental tests and objective descriptions of behavior. Generally, according to functionalists, psychological processes are adaptive. They allow humans to survive and to adapt successfully to their surroundings. Examining human mind in terms of its structural elements and functions were, however, found to be simplistic to understand the complex human being. It was believed that human mind is more than the sum of sensations as well as adaptive functions. Hence, a new school of thought was emerged to examine mind in a holistic manner-Gestalt Psychology. Gestalt psychology: Gestalt psychology views psychology as a study of the whole mind. Max Wertheimer and his colleagues founded this school of thought in Germany in the 20th century. Gestalt psychologists argued that the mind is not made up of combinations of elements. The German word "gestalt" refers to form, whole, configuration or pattern. According to them, the mind should be thought of as a result of the whole pattern of sensory activity and the relationships and organizations within their pattern. In brief, the gestalt psychologists acknowledge consciousness. They held that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Means mind is greater than its parts (images, sensations, and feelings). Generally what is common to all the three schools of though is the fact that they all try to examine the human mind; which is an internal, no-visible, and hidden experience of human beings. Although it could be useful to understand this experience, it was believed that this subjective, private experience can‘t be observable, measurable, and hence can‘t be studied scientifically. Hence, for psychology to become scientific, it needs to get rid of dealing with subjectivity in all its forms and rather focus on studying behavior. This has led to the birth of a new paradigm of thought about psychology called behaviorism. 11 Behaviorism: behaviorists view psychology as a study of observable and measurable behaviors. John B. Watson is the founder of behaviorism. Other proponents include E. Thorndike and F. Skinner. For Watson, psychology was the study of observable and measurable behavior and nothing more about hidden mental processes. According to Watson, we cannot define consciousness any better than we can define the soul; we cannot locate it or measure it and, therefore, it cannot be the object of scientific study. As to Watson, behaviorism had three other important characteristics in addition to its focus on behavior; conditioned response as the elements or building blocks of behavior, learned rather than unlearned behaviors, and focus on animal behavior. He believed that all behaviors are learned but not inherited and learners are passive and reactive (they are not initiating their learning but they respond when the environment stimulates them). All the four schools of thought discussed so far were focusing on human mind and behavior as conscious experiences. But, an opposition to this assertion came from a physician in Vienna who, after working with so many patients, realized that human functioning was basically explained by more powerful forces which were not accessible to our consciousness. Hence, this lead to the formulation of a new school of thought in psychology called Psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis: psychology studies about the components of the unconscious part of the human mind. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is the founder of this school of thought. He was the most controversial and most popular in the study of behavior and mental processes. As a physician, Sigmund Freud became convinced that some of the physical illnesses of his patients didn‘t have medical or bodily causes; but non-physical or emotional causes. He called these kinds of illnesses as ‗hysteria‘ or conversion reaction to indicate the conversion of emotional problems into bodily problems. He also underscored that that conflicts and emotional traumas that had occurred in early childhood can be too threatening to be remembered consciously and therefore they become hidden or unconscious and then will remain to affect later behavior. Freud argued that conscious awareness is the tip of the mental iceberg beneath the visible tip lays the unconscious part of the mind. The unconscious which is the subject matter of psychoanalysis contains hidden wishes, passions, guilty secrets, unspeakable yearnings, and conflict between desire and duty. We are not aware of our unconscious urges and thoughts 12 and they make themselves known in dreams, slip of the tongue, apparent accidents and even jokes. He used clinical case studies (hypnosis and Dream analysis) as a method. Reflection  Dear student, can you briefly discuss how the old schools of psychology differ in terms of their object of study, their goal, and method of analysis, please? Before concluding this section, how do you think the above five early schools of psychology generally differ one from the other? These schools basically differ in terms of three issues: object, goal, and methods of study:  In their object of study, i.e. what they studied (conscious mind, unconscious mind, and overt behavior).  In their goal (analyze the components of the mind or observing the effect of the environment on behavior).  In their method (Introspection, observation, clinical case studies, etc...). So, in the light of these three issues, now you compare and contrast the five schools of early psychology. 1.3.2. Modern schools of psychology The early schools of thought have generally laid the foundation for further developments in psychology as a science. They opened a door for taking multiple perspectives in explaining human behavior and mental processes. Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, what lessons do you think were generally learned from the early schools of psychology in better understanding human behavior? Note that an important lesson learned from early psychological thoughts is that there are different ways of explaining the same behavior. Hence, modern psychologists tend to examine human behavior through several views. The views that predominate today are psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, biological, and sociocultural perspectives. These views reflect different questions about human behavior, different assumptions about 13 how the mind works, and different kinds of explanations why people do and what they do. The schools are presented below. Psychodynamic perspective - It has its origins in Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, but many other psychodynamic theories exist. This perspective emphasizes the unconscious dynamics within the individual such as inner forces, conflicts or instinctual energy. The psychodynamic approach emphasizes:  The influence of unconscious mental behavior on everyday behavior  The role of childhood experiences in shaping adult personality  The role of intrapersonal conflict in determining human behavior Psychodynamic perspective tries to dig below the surface of a person's behavior to get into unconscious motives; psychodynamists think of themselves as archaeologists of the mind. Behavioral Perspective- It emphasizes the role learning experiences play in shaping the behavior of an organism. It is concerned with how the environment affects the person‘s actions. Behaviorists focus on environmental conditions (e.g. rewards, and punishments) that maintain or discourage specific behaviors. The behavioral perspective is sometimes called the "black box" approach in psychology because it treats the mind as less useful in understanding human behavior and focus on what goes in to and out of the box, but not on the processes that take place inside This means, behaviorists are only interested in the effects of the environment (input) on behavior (output) but not in the process inside the box. Humanistic Perspective-According to this perspective, human behavior is not determined either by unconscious dynamics or the environment. Rather it emphasizes the uniqueness of human beings and focuses on human values and subjective experiences. This perspective places greater importance on the individual‘s free will. The goal of humanistic psychology was helping people to express themselves creatively and achieve their full potential or selfactualization (developing the human potential to its fullest). Cognitive Perspective- it emphasizes what goes on in people's heads; how people reason, remember, understand language, solve problems, explain experiences and form beliefs. This perspective is concerned about the mental processes. The most important contribution of this perspective has been to show how people's thoughts and explanations affect their actions, feelings, and choices. Techniques used to explore behavior from a cognitive perspective include electrical recording of brain activity, electrical stimulation and radioactive tracing of metabolic activity in the nervous system. 14 Biological Perspective- it focuses on studying how bodily events or functioning of the body affects behavior, feelings, and thoughts. It holds that the brain and the various brain chemicals affect psychological processes such as learning, performance, perception of reality, the experience of emotions, etc. This perspective underscores that biology and behavior interact in a complex way; biology affecting behavior and behavior in turn affecting biology. It also emphasizes the idea that we are physical beings who evolved over a long time and that genetic heritage can predispose us to behaving in a certain way. In a manner that our eyebrows evolved to protect our eyes, we may have evolved certain kinds of behavior patterns to protect our bodies and ensure the survival of our species. Socio-cultural Perspective- It focuses on the social and cultural factors that affects human behavior. As a fish cannot leave without water, human behavior cannot be understood without sociocultural context (the social and cultural environment) that people "Swim" in every day. For instance, social psychologists examine how group membership affects attitudes and behaviors, why authority and other people (like spouse, lovers, friends, bosses, parents, and strangers) affect each of us. Cultural psychologists also examine how cultural rules and values (both explicit and unspoken) affect people's development, behavior, and feelings. This perspective holds that humans are both the products and the producers of culture, and our behavior always occurs in some cultural contexts. Reflection  Dear student, can you make a comparison among modern perspectives of psychology?  Do you think these modern perspectives are unrelated to the early schools of thought? Dear student can guess and list out areas of concern for psychologists? 1.4. Branches/Sub Fields of Psychology Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, can you tell where psychologists are employed to work after graduation? Have you tried? Very good! Let us see some fields of psychology together. The areas where psychologists join to work depend all on the type of field of study they pursue in a university. Accordingly, psychology has become a very diverse field today that there are different branches (or sub fields) which psychologists can pursue to study. Below are some of the branches of psychology. 15 Developmental psychology – It studies the physical, cognitive and psychological changes across the life span. It attempts to examine the major developmental milestones that occur at different stages of development. Personality Psychology – it focuses on the relatively enduring traits and characteristics of individuals. Personality psychologists study topics such as self-concept, aggression, moral development, etc. Social Psychology –deals with people‘s social interactions, relationships, social perception, and attitudes. Cross-cultural Psychology - examines the role of culture in understanding behavior, thought, and emotion. It compares the nature of psychological processes in different cultures, with a special interest in whether or not psychological phenomena are universal or culture-specific. Industrial psychology – applies psychological principles in industries and organizations to increase the productivity of that organization. Forensic psychology - applies psychological principles to improve the legal system (police, testimony, etc..). Educational Psychology - concerned with the application of psychological principles and theories in improving the educational process including curriculum, teaching, and administration of academic programs. Health Psychology - applies psychological principles to the prevention and treatment of physical illness and diseases. Clinical Psychology:-is a field that applies psychological principles to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders. Counseling Psychology: - is a field having the same concern as clinical psychology but helps individuals with less severe problems than those treated by clinical psychologists. Reflections  Dear student, based on the above lists of subfields of psychology, prepare a brief report on how psychology is practically applied in the fields of health, education, medicine, business, law and other areas. 1.5. Research Methods in Psychology A. Definition of terms Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, can you please describe what science, and the scientific method in particular, is focused on? 16 Before getting into research methods, it is important to start with discussion of scientific method. At the beginning of this chapter, we said that psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. This means, in psychology, researchers want to see only what is there, not what their biases might want them to see. Researchers do this by using the scientific method (a system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data). Hence, before discussing the types of research methods; we try to see the following terms.  Scientific method - a process of testing ideas through systematic observations, experimentations, and statistical analysis.  Theory - is an integrated set of principles about observed facts that is intended to describe and explain some aspects of experience.  Hypotheses - is a tentative proposition about the relationship between two or more variables or phenomena. E.g. Males have high self - confidence in making decisions than females. B. Major types of research methods Brainstorming question  Dear student, do you think that psychologists are doing exactly the same thing to achieve the different goals? Although all psychologists pursue the same scientific method, there is, however, diversity in what psychologists do to achieve the different objectives and goals. Hence, there are three major types of research methods: descriptive, correlational and experimental research methods. Descriptive research - in this type of research, the researcher simply records what she/he has systematically observed. Descriptive research methods include naturalistic observation, case studies, and surveys. i. Naturalistic observation: is a descriptive research method in which subjects are observed in their natural environment to get a real (not artificial) picture of how behavior occurs. Limitations of naturalistic observation are observer effect (animals or people who know they are being watched may behave artificially) and observer bias (the researcher may not observe systematically or he/she may observe behaviors he/she wants to observe and ignores others). ii. Case study: is a descriptive technique in which an individual is studied in great detail. Its advantage is that it provides tremendous amount of data about a single case or individual. 17 The disadvantage of case study is that the researchers can‘t apply the results to other similar people, which means what researchers find in one case can‘t necessarily apply or generalize to others. iii. Survey: is a descriptive research method used to collect data from a very large group of people. It is useful to get information on private (covert) behaviors and it addresses hundreds of people with the same questions at the same time. Its disadvantage is that it needs a careful selection of a representative sample of the actual population. Correlational research - is a research method that measures the relationship between two or more variables. A variable is anything that can change or vary –scores on a test, the temperature in a room, gender, and so on. For example, a researcher might be curious to know whether or not cigarette smoking is connected to life expectancy. Though correlation tells researchers if there is a relationship between variables, how strong the relationship is, and in what direction the relationship goes, it doesn‘t prove causation (which means it doesn‘t show the cause and effect relationship). This means, for example, that if there is a relationship between smoking and lung cancer, this doesn‘t mean that smoking causes lung cancer. Experimental Research: it is a research method that allows researchers to study the cause and effect relationship between variables. In experimental research, a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated and all other factors are held constant. Experiments involve at least one independent variable and one dependent variable. The independent variable is the manipulated, influential, experimental factor. The dependent variable is the factor (behavior) that is measured in an experiment. It can change as the independent variable is manipulated. For example, a researcher may need to know whether or not class size has an effect on students‘ academic performance and hypothesizes as ―do students in small class size have better academic performance than students in large class size?‖ In this question, the researcher has two variables: class size, which is the independent variable to be manipulated and students‟ performance which is the dependent variable to be measured while class size is changed. Experiments also involve randomly assigned experimental groups and control groups. An experimental group is a group whose experience is manipulated. In our example, the 18 experimental group is students who are assigned in small class sizes. A control group is a comparison that is treated in every way like the experimental group except for the manipulated factor (class size). The control group serves as a baseline against which the effects of the manipulated condition can be compared. In this example, the control group is the group of students who are assigned in large class sizes. Although experimental research is useful to discover causes of behaviors, such research must be done cautiously because expectations and biases on the part of both the researcher and participants can affect the results. C. Steps of scientific research Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, can you think of the procedures to be followed to conduct scientific research, please? Did you try? Fantastic! In scientific research, there are at least five major steps to be followed. Step one - Defining the Problem - noticing something attention catching in the surrounding for which one would like to have an explanation. For example, you may notice that children seem to get a little more aggressive with each other after watching practically violent children‘s cartoon videos. You wonder if the violence in the cartoon video could be creating aggressive behavior on the children. Hence, you may raise a research problem focusing on the effect of aggressive videos on children‘s behavior. Step two - Formulating the Hypothesis - after having an observation on surroundings (perceiving the problem), you might form an educated guess about the explanation for your observations, putting it into the form of a statement that can be tested in some way. For our example above, you might formulate a hypothesis ―children who watch violent cartoons will become more aggressive than those who watch non-violent cartoons‖. Step three - Testing the Hypothesis - at this step, the researcher employs appropriate research methods and collects ample data (information) to accept or reject the proposed statement. For instance, in the above example, the data will be gathered from children who watch aggressive videos and from those who do not watch aggressive videos and make comparisons between the behaviors of the two groups to determine whether watching aggressive video makes children more aggressive. . 19 Step four - Drawing Conclusions - this is the step in which the researcher attempts to make generalizations or draw implications from tested relationship Step five - Reporting Results - at this point, the researcher would want to write up exactly what she/he did, why she/he did, and what she/he found. So that, others can learn from what she/he has already accomplished, or failed to accomplish. This allows others to predict and modify behavior based on the findings. Reflection  Dear student can explain the three major types of research methods in psychology, and the ethical procedures to be followed, please? Summary [  Psychology is a science of behavior and mental process.  Psychologists aim at describing, explaining, predicting and controlling behaviors.  Though Psychology as a scientific field began in 1879 in Germany, it has gone through different phases.  The perspectives of psychology are generally classified as early and modern. Early psychology was considered schools of ―isms‖ which include structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, and, in fact, Gestalt psychology and psychoanalysis. Modern perspectives of psychology have emerged from these early psychological thoughts. These modern perspectives that are used to describe and explain behavior and mind are …..(please list).  The knowledge of Psychology can be applied in different contexts such as health, education, business, law, and the like.  Psychologists study behavior using three major types of research methods; descriptive, correlational, and experimental.  In employing the different types of research methods, psychologists are expected to follow five basic steps in conducting research.  Discussion Questions 1. Compare and contrast the five early schools of thought in psychology. 2. Compare and contrast the modern psychological perspectives. 3. Please reflect on the relationship between the goals of psychology and the three types of research methods using examples. 4. Mention the steps of conducting research in psychology. 20 5. A psychologist is interested in exploring the effect of tutorial support on students‘ academic performance and assign students into two groups. Students in group one get the tutorial support and those in group two do not. In this example, what is the a) Dependent variable b) Independent variable c) Control group d) Experimental group 21 CHAPTER TWO SENSATION AND PERCEPTION Chapter Overview Before anything else, psychological life begins with the activity of knowing what is happening around. Sensation and perception are the first important dimensions of this intelligent life. That is, they are starting points for all of your other psychological processes. They supply the data you use for learning and remembering, thinking and problem solving, communicating with others, and experiencing emotions and for being aware of yourself. Without access to the environment through sensation and perception, you would be like a person in a coma devoid of any thoughts or feelings. This chapter discusses the nature of sensation and perception as the first forms of human‘s intelligent life. It attempts to discuss the meaning and relationship of sensation and perception, the principles explaining how they work, and other related topics. Learner Appetizer Once upon a time, there were couples in a village. They had a horse. One day they started a journey both of them sitting on the horse. When people see that, they get upset and criticized the couples as unkind to animals. Then, the husband sat on the horse leaving his wife walking on foot. Looking at this, people started to criticize the husband as selfish and disrespectful of his wife. Following the critics, the husband left the horse for his wife and walked on foot. People started laughing at the husband and labeled him as foolish. Finally, both the husband and his wife started walking on foot leaving the horse free. As usual, people started joking at the couples and considered them as stupid guys because they left the horse free.  Dear student, what do you understand from this short story?  Do people have same perception about what is right and wrong? In which scenario of the above story people‘s critics is right? How? Learning Outcomes At the end of this chapter, you are expected to understand the:  meaning of sensation and perception  difference and similarities of sensation and perception  factors affecting sensation and perception 22  principles of sensation and perception, and  reasons for sensory and perceptual differences amount individuals. 2.1.The meanings of sensation and perception Psychologists have traditionally differentiated between sensation and perception Brainstorming questions  Have you heard of sayings like „you watch but you don‟t see‟; „you hear but you don‟t listen‟, „you touch but you don‟t grasp…‟ What do these statements suggest to you? Which one do you think refers to sensation and which one refers to perception?  Sensation is the process whereby stimulation of receptor cells in the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and surface of the skin sends nerve impulses to the brain. Sensations are closely tied to what is happening in the sensory systems themselves. Color, brightness, the pitch of tone or a bitter taste are examples of sensations. The starting of point of sensations is a stimulus. A form of energy (such as light waves or sound waves) that can affect sensory organs (such as the eye or the ear). Sensation is therefore the process that detects the stimulus from one‘s body or from the environment. How different is sensation from perception? In real life, you seldom experience simple sensations. Instead of simple sensations, perceptual processes are constantly at work to modify sensory input into what are actually experiences. Perception is the process that organizes sensations into meaningful patterns. It is the process whereby the brain interprets sensations, giving them order and meaning. Thus, hearing sounds and seeing colors is largely a sensory process, but forming a melody and detecting patterns and shapes is largely a perceptual process. Why do we say “largely” in the above expression? We say largely because in everyday life, it is almost impossible to separate sensation from perception. As soon as the brain receives sensations, it automatically interprets or perceives them, and without sensations of some kind perception could not occur. Can you mention examples showing the difference between sensation and perception? 23 Consider, for example, the black marks and letters in this page. Visual sensation lets you detect the black marks. Visual perception lets you organize the black marks into letters and works. For a real life example of the difference between sensation and perception consider a case study presented by neurologist Oliver Sacks (1985) one of his patients suffered from brain damage that caused him to develop prospagnosia, the inability to recognize human faces. The patient could recognize people by sound of their voices, but he could not recognize them by light. His disorder was so severe that he sometimes patted tire hydrants, thinking they were children‘s heads. He would even grab his wife‘s head mistaking it for a hat yet he was not nearsighted; he could easily see a pin on the floor. Thus he had people‘s facial features, but he could not organize them into recognizable face (visual perceptions). Reflection Dear student, now show with examples how sensation is similar and different from perception. 2.2.The sensory laws: Sensory thresholds and sensory adaption. There are certain sensory laws that explain how sensation works. Sensory threshold and sensory adaptation are the two general laws of sensation. Brainstorming questions How much intense must a sound be for you to detect it? How much changes in light intensity must occur for you to notice it?  perception?  Sensory threshold is the minimum point of intensity a sound can be detected. There are two laws of sensory threshold: The law of absolute threshold and the law of difference threshold. The absolute threshold The minimum amount of stimulation a person can detect is called the absolute threshold, or Limen, for example, a cup of coffee would require a certain amount of sugar before you could detect a sweet taste. Because the absolute threshold for a particular sensory experience varies, psychologists operationally define the absolute threshold as the minimum level of stimulation that can be detected 50 percent of the time when a stimulus is presented over and over again. Thus, if you were presented with a low intensity sound 30 times and detected it 15 times, that level of intensity would be your absolute threshold for that stimulus. 24 The absolute threshold is also affected by factors other than the intensity of the stimulus; Researchers assume that the detection of a stimulus depends on both its intensity and the physical and psychological state of the individual. One of the most important psychological factors is the response bias-how ready the person is to report the presence of a particular stimulus. Imagine that you are waking down a street at night. Your predisposition to detect a sound depends, in part, on your estimate of the probability of being mugged, so you would be more likely to perceive the sound of footsteps on a neighborhood you believe to be dangerous than in a neighbor-hood you believe to be safe. The difference threshold In addition to detecting the presence of a stimulus, you also detect changes in the intensity of a stimulus. The minimum amount of change that can be detected is called difference threshold. For example, a cup of coffee would require a certain amount of additional sugar before you could detect an increase in its sweetness. Similarly, you would have to increase the intensity of the sound from your tape recorder a certain amount before you could detect a change in its volume. Like the absolute threshold, the difference threshold for a particular sensory experience varies from person to person and from occasion to occasion. Therefore, psychologists formally define the difference threshold as the minimum change in stimulation that can be detected 50 percent of the time by a given person. This difference in threshold is called the just noticeable difference (jnd). The amount of change in intensity of stimulation needed to produce a jnd is a constant fraction of the original stimulus. This became known as Weber‘s law. For example, because the jnd for weight is about 2% and you held a 50 ounce for weight you would notice a change only if there was at least one ounce change in it. But a person holding a 100 ounce weight would require the addition or subtraction of at least 2 ounce to notice a change. Research findings indicate the weber‘s law holds better for stimuli of moderate intensity than stimuli of extremely how or hi9gh intensity. Sensory Adaptation Brainstorming questions Given that each of your senses is constantly bombarded by stimulation, why do you notice only certain stimuli? 25 One possible reason is that if a stimulus remains constant in intensity, you will gradually stop noticing it. For example, after diving into a swimming pool, you might shiver. Yet a few minutes later you might invite someone to join you saying, ―The water is fine‖ on entering a friend‘s dormitory room, you might be struck by the repugnant stench of month-old garbage. Yet a few minutes later you might not notice the odor at all, this tendency of our sensory receptors to have decreasing responsiveness to unchanging stimulus is called sensory adaptation. Sensory adaptation lets you detect potentially important change in your environment while ignoring unchanging aspects of it. For example, when vibrations repeatedly stimulate your skin, you stop noticing them. Thus, if you were having a bumpy train ride that made your seat vibrate against your bottom, you would initially notice the vibrations, but it would serve little purpose for you to continue noticing them. Likewise, once you have determined that the swimming pool water is cold or that your friend‘s room smells, it would serve little purpose to continue noticing those stimuli-especially when more important change might be taking place elsewhere in your surroundings. Of course, you will not adapt completely to extremely intense sensations, such as severe pain or freezing cold. This is adaptive, because to ignore such stimuli might be harmful or even fatal. Reflection Dear student, reflect on the following questions? 1. Indicate the three conditions under which you may not be able to sense a stimulus. 2. Consider the concepts ―Sensitization‖ and ―habituation‖ discussed in Section 1, Unit 2, and Module 2, to which of the three sensory laws do they relate? Why? 3. Indicate the conditions under which sensory difference occur among people. 4. Give at least 5 major differences and similarities between sensation and perception. 5. What does sensing involve? 6. Compare and contrast ―Limen‖ and ―jnd‖ with examples 7. How does sensory adaptation occurs 2.3.Perception 26 You have seen earlier that perception is a meaning making process. Now you study more about this meaning making process of the human intelligent life. It helps you understand the major characteristics of the perceptual process: selectivity of perception, from perception, depth perception, perceptual constancy, and perceptual illusion. 2.3.1.Selectivity of perception: Attention Note that at any given time, your sense organ is bombarded by many stimuli. Yet you perceive a few of them. Were you aware of, for example, the noise in your room until you read this sentence? You may not. Yet input from the environment was coming into your ears all the time. In fact you may be attending to one of such incoming in put ignoring the other noises. Such selective perception is called attention. Attention is therefore the term given to the perceptual process that selects certain inputs for inclusion in your conscious experience, or awareness, at any given time, ignoring others. What does this selectivity of perception imply? Brainstorming questions What does this selectivity of perception imply? The selectivity of perception implies, among other things, that our field of experience is divided into what is known as ―Focus‖ and ―Margin.‖ Events or stimuli that you perceive clearly are the focus of your experience and other items or stimuli that you perceive dimly or vaguely are in the margin of your attention. You may be aware of items in the marginal field but only vaguely or partially To illustrate focus and margin consider that your perceptual field is a football game. While you are dimly aware of the tangle of players and the activity of the blockers during the play, it is the ball carrier and his movement that stands out clearly to you your attention is mainly focused on him. But at the same time, sensory inputs are coming in from your cold feet, from your stomach as a result of the last uncomfortable food you ate, and from the fellow behind you whi is smoking a cigar. The crowd is also shouting. While the play is going on, you are probable not aware of any of these sensory inputs. Only when the play is finished or time is called that you perceive how cold your feet are, and how noisy the crowd is. The fact that you perceive how cold your feet are, and how noise the crowd is when the play is finished or time is called illustrates another characteristics of attention, that it is constantly shifting. Attention shifts constantly. What is in the focus of your attention one moment may be in margin; and what is in the margin may become in your focus. 27 Brainstorming questions What factors do you think determine your attention? Why do you pay, in the above example, attention to the ball carrier ignoring others and why, at the end of the game, your attention shifted to the cold feeling you are experiencing in your feet? What aspects of the environment get your attention at a given time? Paying attention is in general a function of two factors: factors external to the perceiver and factors internal to the perceiver. External factors refer to factors that are generally found in the objects or stimuli to be perceived. Some of the external characteristics of objects that determine whether you are going to attend them or not are size and intensity, repetition, novelty (or newness), and movement. Other things being constant, bigger and brighter stimuli are more likely to capture your attention than smaller and dimmer objects. That is why announcements and notice are written in big and block letters. In the same way, people who dress bright colored clothes tend to capture your attention. Repetition is the second factor. You are more likely to attend to stimuli that repeatedly or frequently occur in your perceptual field. A misspelled word is more likely to be detected if it occurs many times in a paragraph than when it occurs only once or twice. You are going to notice a person if he continuously follows you as compared to a person you meet only once or twice. That is, by the way, why slogans, advertisings, and announcement are repeated continuously to audiences and spectators. In a word, repetition is attention getting. However, no matter how big or bright a stimulus is, or else no matter how frequently it may occur, you may not give it attention as if it occurs in the same way all the time. This is basically because you are likely to adapt to it and then stop responding to it. This is called sensory adaptation or habituation. It is the tendency to ignore a stimulus that occurs continuously in the same way. Hence, the third factor of attention is novelty-the extent to which a stimulus creates a contrast with the rest objects in the environment. Novel or new objects create a sharp contrast with the environment and hence tend to capture your attention. Remember here why you are given a special attention as a guest, why first-born children get more attention from parents etc. The last but not the least external factor in attention getting is movement. Moving objects tend to get your attention more than non-moving or stagnant objects. Your eyes are involuntarily attracted to movement the way butterflies are attracted to light. This is because 28 moving objects are instinctually felt dangerous or threatening and you are reflexively responding to them to defend yourself. Moreover, moving objects bring with them changes in stimulation or newness in their presentation. In general, stimuli in the environment that, are bigger and brighter, or more frequently occurring. Or newer or moving are likely to get your attention. Paying attention is not, however, determined only by these characteristics of objects. Even when a stimulus is bigger, brighter, new frequent, or moving, you may not give it attention if you are not psychologically ready to attend to it. Hence, attention giving also depends on your psychological states as an observer. What are some of the internal psychological states of the observer that affect as to which stimulus on pays attention to or ignore? Psychologists have identified two important psychological factors: Set or expectancy and motives or needs. Set refers to the idea that you may be ―ready‖ and ―Primed for‖ certain kinds of sensory input. Set, or expectancy, therefore, varies from person to person. It is important not only in the selection of sensory input for inclusion in the focus of your attention. It is also important in organizing the selected sensory input. To illustrate the role of set in attention, consider the husband who is expecting an important phone call. He will hear the telephone ring in the night while his wife does not. The wife, on the other hand, may more likely to hear the baby crying than the telephone ringing. Of course, if the wife is expecting an important cell, the reverse may be true. What other examples, do you think, illustrate the role of set or expectancy in perception? Motives and needs are the second psychological factors influencing you as an observer. There are differences between you and your friend in what you select to perceive as a result of differences in your motives and needs. You and your friend attend to and organize the sensory input in ways that match your respective needs. People who are hungry, thirst, or sexually aroused are likely to pay attention to events in the environment, which will satisfy these needs. 29 Reflection Dear student, reflect on the following questions? 1. You just give examples showing how motives and needs in the example mentioned previously about perceptions of a football game affect your attention. 2. Assume that you are in your room with your friend listening to music. But your friend is rather listening to people talking outside. Why do you think you and your friend differed while you both were in the same place? 3. Look at the symbol 13 in the following two raw of symbols: a raw of letters and a raw of numbers. - A 13 C D E F G - 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 4.1 What does the symbol 13 refer to in the first row? 4.2 What does the same symbol refer to in the second row? 4.3 Why did you give a different meaning to the same symbol in the two rows? 4. Which factor of attention getting is/are explaining these phenomena? 2.3.2.From perception Visual sensations, as discussed under sensation, provide the raw materials that are to be organized into meaningful patterns, shapes, forms, and concepts or ideas or form perception. The meaningful shapes or patterns or ideas that are made perhaps out of meaningless and discrete or pieces and bites of sensations refer to form perception. To perceive forms (meaningful shapes or patterns), you need to distinguish a figure (an object) from its ground (or its surrounding). Let us look at this idea further. Figure-Ground Perception Figure-ground perception is the perception of objects and forms of everyday experience as standing out from a background. Pictures (figure) hang on a wall (ground), words (figure) are seen on a page (ground), and melody (figure) stands out from the repetitive chords in the 30 musical background (ground), the pictures, words, and the melody are perceived as the figure, while the wall, the page, and the chords are the ground. The ability to distinguish an object from its general background is basic to all form perception. And gestalt psychologists stress that form perception in an active, rather than a passive, process like selectivity of perception. Hence, there can be a shift in you perception of figure and ground such that the figure may become the ground and vice versa. Factors that determine your attention equally determine what should become the figure and what should become the ground. By the way, what helps you in general to separate the figure from the general around in your visual perception? This will take you to the second feature of form perception called contours. Contours in Form Perception You are able to separate forms from the general ground only because you can perceive contours. Contours are formed whenever a marked difference occurs in the brightness or color of the background. If you, for instance, look at a piece of paper that varies continuously in brightness from white at one border to black at the opposite border, you will perceive no contour. The paper will appear uniform, and if you are asked to say where the sheet stops being light and starts to become dark, you can only guess. On the other hand, if the change is marked rather than gradual-suppose several shades are skipped-you will see the paper as divided in to two parts. In perceiving the division at the place where the brightness gradient changes abruptly, you have perceived a contour. In general, contours give shape to the objects in our visual world because they mark one object off from another or they mark an object off from the general ground. When contours are disrupted visually, as in camouflage, objects are difficult to distinguish from the background. Reflection Dear student, reflect on the following questions? 1. Consider a reptile named chameleon. Explain why this reptile changes its color accordingly to the environment it is found using the idea of contours in form perception. 2. Why are soldiers dressed in green uniforms in almost all countries? 3. What will happen if you write with a charcoal on a blackboard? 4. What will again happen if you write with a pen or with white ink on a white piece of paper? 5. Do you advice a black man to dress a white cloth or a black cloth? Why? 6. What is the implication of all the above questions? 31 Organization in form Perception When several objects are present in the visual field, we tend to perceive them as organized into patterns or groupings. The Gestalt psychologists studied such organization intensively in the early part of this century. They emphasized that organized perceptual experience has properties, which cannot be predicated from a simple analysis of the components. In other words, Gestalt psychologist said ―the whole is more than the sum of its parts.‖ This simply means that what is perceived has its own new properties, properties that emerge from the organization, which takes place. Organization in perception partially explains our perception of complex patterns as unitary forms, or objects. We see objects as objects only because grouping processes operate in perception. Without them, the various objects and patterns we perceive-a face on a television screen, a car a tree, a book-would not ―hang together‖ as objects or patterns., they would merely be so many disconnected sensations-dots, lines or blotches, for example. What are some of the laws of perceptual organization? One organizing principle is proximity, or nearness. The laws of proximity says that items which are close together in space or time tend to be perceived as belonging together or forming an organized group. Another organizing principle of perception is similarity. Most people see one triangle formed by the dots with its apex at the top and another triangle formed by the rings with its apex at the bottom. They perceive triangle because similar items such as, the rings and the dots, tend to be organized together. Otherwise, they would see a hexagon or a six-pointed star, where all the dots are the same. Grouping according to similarity, however, does not always occur. A figure is more easily seen as a six-pointed star than as one figure composed of dots and another figure made up of rings. In this case, similarity is competing with the organizing principle of symmetry, or good figure. Neither the circle nor the dots by themselves from a symmetrical pattern. The law of good figure says that there is a tendency to organize things to make a balanced or symmetrical figure that includes all the parts. In this case, such a balanced figure can be 32 achieved only by using all the dots and rings to perceive a six pointed star the law of good figure wins out over the law of similarity because the rings by themselves or the dots by themselves do not form symmetrical goods figures. Still another principle or organization is continuation, the tendency to perceive a line that starts in one way as continuing in the same way. For example, a line that starts out as a curve is seen as continuing on smoothly curved course. A straight line is seen as continuing on a straight course or, if it does change direction as forming an angle rather than a curve. We see the dots as several curved and straight lines. Even though the curved and straight lines cross and have dots in common, it is only with an effort that we can perceive a straight line suddenly becoming a curved line at one of these functions. Finally, the law of closure makes our perceived world or form more complete than the sensory stimulation that is presented. The law of closure refers to perceptual processes that organize the perceived world by filling in gaps in stimulation Reflection Dear student, reflect on the following questions? 1. Try to give a pictorial representation of the laws of perceptual organization. 2. Compare and contrast these laws of organization 2.3.3.Depth perception If we live in a two-dimensional world, form perception would be sufficient. But because we live in a three-dimensional world, we have evolved depth perception-the ability to judge the distance of objects. Given that images on the retina are two dimensional, how can we perceive depth? That is, how can we determine the distance of objects (the distal stimulus) from the pattern of stimulation on our retinas (the proximal stimulus)? Depth perception depends on the use binocular cues and monocular cues there are two kinds of binocular cues: retinal disparity and convergence. The two kinds of binocular cues require the interaction of both eyes. Retinal disparity is, the degree of difference between the image of an object that are focused on the two retinas. The closer the object, the greater is the retinal disparity. To demonstrate retinal disparity for yourself, point a forefinger vertically between 33 your eyes. Look at the finger with one eye closed. Then look at it with the other closed. You will notice that the background shifts as you view the scene with different views of the same stimulus. The ―view master‖ device you might have used as a child creates the impression of visual depth by presenting slightly different image to the eyes at the same time mimicking retinal disparity. Retinal disparity is greater when an object is near you than when it is farther away from you. Certain cells in visual cortex detect the degree of retinal disparity, which the brain uses to estimate the distance of an object focused on the retinas. The second binocular cue to depth is convergence, the degree to which the eyes turn inward to focus on an object. As you can confirm for yourself, the closer the objects are the greater the convergence of the eyes. Hold a forefinger vertically in front of your face and move it toward your nose. You should notice an increase in ocular muscle tension as your finger approaches your nose. Neurons in the cerebral cortex translate the amount of muscle tension into an estimate of the distance of your finger. Not that convergence is associated with important everyday activities. For example, drinking alcohol impairs depth perception by disrupting the normal convergence of the eyes and using a computer terminal for hours induce eye fatigue caused by continues convergence. Binocular cues require two eyes, whereas monocular cues require only one. This means that even people who have lost sight in one eye may still have good depth perception. One monocular is accommodation, which is the change in the shape of the lens that lets you focus the image of an object on the retina. Neuron in the rectum assume that the greater the accommodation of the lens, the closer the object. But prolonged accommodation can alter your depth perception. For example, if you stare at a near object for a long time and then look at a more distant object, the more distant object will look farther away than it is. This is attributable to the brain‘s overcompensation for the continuous accommodation of the lens while it was focused on the near object. A second monocular cue is motion parallax, the tendency to perceive ourselves as passing objects faster when they are closer to us than when they are farther away. You will notice this when you drive on a rural road. You perceive yourself passing nearby telephone poles faster than you are passing a farmhouse. 34 The remaining monocular cues are called pictorial cues because artists use them to create depth in their drawings and paintings. Leonardo da Vinci formalized pictorial cues 500 year ago in teaching his art students how to use them to make their paintings look more realistic. He noted that an object that overlaps another object will appear closer, a cue called interposition. Because your psychology professor overlaps the blackboard, you know that she or he is closer to you than the blackboard is. Comparing the relative size of objects also provides a cue to their distance. If two people are about the same height and one casts a smaller image on your retina. You will perceive that person as farther away. You probably have noticed that parallel objects, such as railroad tracks, seem to get closer as the further away (and farther apart as they get closer). The pictorial cue, linear perspective, may even have practical application. During world War II, naval aviation cadets flying at night sometimes crashed into airplanes ahead of them, apparently because of failure to judge the distance of those plans. Taking advantage of linear perspective solved this problem. Two taillights set a standard distance apart replaced the traditional single taillight. As a result, when pilots noticed that the taillights of an airplane appeared to move farther apart, they realized that they were getting closer to it. An object‘s elevation provides another cue to its distance. Objects that are higher in your visual field seem to be farther away. If you paint a picture, you create depth by placing more distant objects higher on the Canvas. Shading patterns provide cues to distance because areas that are in shadow tend to recede, while areas that are in light tend to stand out. Painters use shading to make balls, balloons, and organs appear round. Aerial perspective depends on the clarity of objects. Closer objects seem clearer than more distant ones. A distant mountain will look hazier than a near one. The final monocular cue, the texture gradient, affects depth perception because the nearer an object, the more details we can make out and the farther an object, the more details we can make out, and the farther an object, the fewer details we can make out. When you look across a field, you can see every blade of grass near you, but only an expanse of green far away from you. Even 7 month old infants respond to the texture gradient cue. When presented with drawings that use the texture gradient to make some objects appear to be in the foreground and others in the background, infants will reach for an object in the foreground. 35 2.3.4.Perceptual Constancies The image of a given object focused on your retina may vary in size, shape, and brightness. Yet you will continue to perceive the object as stable in size, shape, and brightness because of perceptual constancy. This is adaptive, because it provides you with a more visually stable world, making it easier for you to function in it, as an object gets farther away from you, it produces a smaller image on your retina. If you know the actual size of an object, size constancy makes you interpret a change in its retinal size as a change in its distance rather than a change in its size. When you see a car a block away, it does not seem smaller than one that is half a block away, even though the more distant car produces a smaller image on your retina. Size constancy can be disrupted by alcohol. In one study, young adults drank alcohol and were then asked to estimate the size of an object. They tended to underestimate its size. Disruption of size constancy might be one way that alcohol intoxication promotes automobile accidents. Shape constancy assures that an object of known shape will appear to maintain its normal shape regardless of the angle from which you view it. Close this book and hold it at various orientations relative to your line of sight. Unless you look directly at the cover when it is on a plane perpendicular to your line of vision, it will never cast a rectangular image on your retinas, yet you will continue to perceive it as rectangular. Shape constancy occurs because your brain compensates for the slant of an object relative to your line of sight. Though the amount of light reflected from a given object can vary, we perceive the object as having a constant brightness, this is called brightness constancy. A white shirt appears equally bright in dim light or bright light. But brightness constancy is relative to other objects. If you look at a white shirt in dim light in the presence on nonwhite objects in the same light in the presence on nonwhite objects in the same light, it will maintain its brightness. But if you look at the white shirt by itself, perhaps by viewing a large area of it though a hollow tube, it will appear dully in dim light and brighter in sunlight. 2.3.5.Perceptual Illusion In Edgar Allen Poe‘s ―The sphinx,‖ a man looks out of his window and is horrified by what he perceives to be a monstrous animal on a distant mountain. He learns only later that the ―monster‖ was actually an insect on his window. Because he perceived the animal as far 36 away, he assumed it was relatively large. And because he never had seen such a creature, he assumed that it was a monster. This shows how the misapplication of a visual cue, in this case perceived size constancy, can produce a visual illusion. Visual illusions provide clues to the processes involved in normal visual perception. For example, from ancient times to modern times, people have been mystified by the moon illusion illustrated in Figure in which the moon appears larger when it is at the horizon than when it is overhead. This is an illusion because the moon is the same distance from us at the horizon as when it is overhead. Thus, the retinal image it produces is the same size when it is at the horizon as when it is overhead. Perhaps Franz Muller-Lyer, developed the most widely studied illusion. Note in Fig 2/5 (A) that the vertical line at the bottom appears longer than the one at the top. But if you take a ruler and measure the lines, you will find that they are equal in length. Figs 5.33 (B to D ) are variants of the Muller-Lyer illusion. Though no explanation has achieved universal acceptance, a favored one relies on size constancy and the resemblance of the figure on the right to the inside corner of a room and the resemblance of the figure on the left to the outside corner of a building. Given that the lines project images of equal length on the retina, the lines that appear farther away will be perceived as longer. Because an inside corner of a room appears farther away than an outside corner of a building, the line on the right appears farther and, therefore, longer than the line on the left. In general, perception is the act of knowing through sensation. But, some people appear to have an ability to know other people, objects, and events without any sensory contact an experience called extra sensory perception (ESP) or paranormal ability. Have you ever heard or experienced such phenomena? What specific type? Do you believe it is true? Do you think psychologists and scientists believe in ESP? Why? Summary The act of knowing involves the complementary processes of sensation and perception. As discussed earlier, sensation is normally our first encounter (with the reality) in which receptor cells in the sensory organs recode the physical energy or stimulations in to a neural message a phenomenon called transduction. 37 Psychologists have long studied sensation and discovered the intensity of a stimulation receptor cells can detect (absolute threshold), the intensity of changes in stimulation required for receptors to notice it (difference threshold), and the conditions under which receptor cells may respond to one kind of stimulation ignoring others of a similar intensity (sensory adaptions). Following the discussion on sensation, you dealt with perception as a next process of meaning making from the otherwise meaningless sensory input. Further extending the selective nature of perception, this section examined the characteristics, determinates and principles of perception both in two dimensional (form perception and three-dimensional (depth perception) world along with other common characteristics of perception: i.e., perceptual illusion. In trying to make sense out of the surrounding, humans respond, in general, to certain stimulation ignoring others (selectivity of perceptions). Such selective perception divides the surrounding into a focus and a margin with the possibility that what is in the focus may shift into the margin and vice versa. Items of the surrounding which get into the focus are more likely to be: i. Bigger in size and brighter in intensity, ii. Frequently occurring to the senses, iii. Novel enough to creating contrast with the one in the perceptual field and iv. Moving rather than stagnating. The psychological states of the perceiver (i.e. set or expectancy and needs) are also crucial in the selection process together with these stimulus characteristics. The focus stands out very clearly (or becomes a figure) from the margin/background (or the figure) because there is a sharp contrast between the two (i.e., there are contours). This figure- ground perception is called form perception because of contours. Organizing perception into a figure and a ground may take the law of closure, proximity, similarity, symmetry or continuation. Form perception applies only for a two-dimensional world. But we are living in a three dimensional world where by perception of distance is a matter of necessity. Such perception involves recognizing how distant objects are from the pattern of stimulation on our retinas. 38 Perception of depth depends on binocular cues (or information from both eyes). While binocular cues rely inertial disparity and convergence, monocular cues involve accommodation. Motion parallax, and such pictorial cues as interposition, aerial perspective, linear perspective, texture gradient, elevation, and shading patterns. In any case, this world is stable and known because our perception of it remains constant despite changes in the observer‘s location, distance and perspective. In fact, there are some exceptions to this in which perceptual illusions may occur, providing otherwise. CHAPTER Three LEARNING AND THEORIES OF LEARNING Chapter Overview In the previous chapter, you have learnt about personality and theories of personality. In this unit however, you will study the foundations of learning and explore the nature of learning. The contents of this unit are presented in two sections. In the first section, you will explore the nature of learning and in the second you will focus on the theories of learning and their applications. Learner Appetizer Discuss over the following facts.  Almost all human behavior is learned. Imagine if you suddenly lost all you had ever learned. What could you do? You would be unable to read, write, or speak. You couldn‟t feed yourself, find your way home, and drive a car, play a game, or “party.”  Needless to say, you would be totally incapacitated.  Learning is involved in almost every phenomenon psychologists study and occurs in many different ways. Every individual uses learning techniques and processes and directive unique thoughts and memories to perform day-to-day functions. Learning Outcomes After you have studied this chapter, you will be able to:  Explain the general meaning, types, and factors of learning  Identify the characteristics of learning  Describe some of the theories designed to explain the characteristics of learning  Differentiate the viewpoints of different theories of learning. 39  Discuss the applications of theories of learning  State techniques used to motivate and reinforce behavior. 3.1. Definition, Characteristics and Principles of Learning 3.1.1. Definitions of learning Brainstorming questions   What is the meaning of learning to you? What are the elements of learning? There are many definitions of learning. However, the most widely accepted definition is the one given below. Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience or practice. The above definition emphasizes four attributes of learning:  Learning is a change in behavior  This change in behavior is relatively permanent  It does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation and use of intoxicant.  This permanent change in behavior is not because of biological factors (like hormonal changes) that bring permanent changes in behavior; but because of experience, or practice  The learning is not directly observable but manifests in the activities of the individual. Reflection  Dear student, how do you get the definition of learning in line with your previous conception? 3.1.2. Characteristics of learning Brainstorming question  What are the characteristics of learning? Teachers and school administrative personnel need to have a good understanding of the general characteristics of learning in order to apply them in school learning situation. If learning is a change in behavior as a result of experience, and then instruction must include a careful and systematic creation of those experiences that promote learning. This process can 40 be quite complex because, among other things, an individual's background strongly influences the way that person learns. Yoakman and Simpson (???) have described the following major important characteristics of learning: 1. Learning is continuous modification of behavior throughout life 2. Learning is pervasive, it reaches into all aspects of human life. 3. Learning involves the whole person, socially, emotionally & intellectually. 4. Learning is often a change in the organization of experiences. 5. Learning is responsive to incentives 6. Learning is an active process 7. Learning is purposeful 8. Learning depends on maturation, motivation and practice. 9. Learning is multifaceted Reflection  What did you recognize about the characteristics of learning? 3.1.3. Principles of learning Brainstorming question  What does it take for learning to take place effectively? There are important principles that help explaining how learning occurs effectively. Some of these most important principles of learning are as follows:  Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to learn.  Students learn best and retain information longer when they have meaningful practice and exercise  Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling, and that learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling.  Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase.  Things most recently learned are best remembered.  The principle of intensity implies that a student will learn more from the real thing than from a substitute.  Individuals must have some abilities and skills that may help them to learn. 41  Things freely learned are best learned - the greater the freedom enjoyed by individuals, the higher the intellectual and moral advancement. Reflection  Do you feel that the principles make a difference in learning? If so, how? 3.2. Factors Influencing Learning Brainstorming question  Dear student, what do you think are the factors the affect your learning? Some of the factors that affect learning are the following. 1. Motivation: The learner‘s motivation matters the effectiveness of learning. The stronger and clearer the motives for learning, the greater are the effort to learn. When the motives of learning are high, the learner becomes enthusiastic. 2. Maturation: Neuro-muscular coordination is important for learning a given task. Example, The child has to be mature before she/he is able to learn. 3. Health condition of the learner: The learner should be in a good health status to learn. Example- Sensory defects, malnutrition, toxic conditions of the body, loss of sleep and fatigue hinder effective learning. 4. Psychological wellbeing of the learner: individual‘s psychological states like worries, fears, feelings of loneliness and inferiority hinders learning. Whereas self-respect, selfreliance, and self-confidence are necessary for effective learning. 5. Good working conditions – absence or presence of fresh air, light, comfortable surroundings, moderate temperature, absence of distractions like noise and learning aids determine learning effectiveness. 6. Background experiences: having background experiences affect effectiveness of learning. All related facts and understandings from a previously learned course should be brought to new learning. 7. Length of the working period: Learning periods should neither be too short nor too long. Long learning time sets fatigue and reduces effectiveness in learning. Short learning time doesn‘t allow adequate practice needed to master a learning task. 8. Massed and distributed learning: Learning that spreads across time with reasonable time gaps brings better results compared with crammed learning that occurs at once or within short span of time. 42 Reflection  Do learning materials, teaching styles, teaching methods, and medium of instruction affects learning like the factors listed above? 3.3. Theories of Learning and their Applications Brainstorming Question  What is theory and how it is related with learning? Here in this section, you will learn about theories of learning with their possible implications and applications. The theories discussed in the section are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational and cognitive learning theories. 3.3.1. Behavioral Theory of Learning Behavioral theory of learning believes that learning occurs as a result of stimulus-response associations. Behavioral theories emphasize observable behaviors, seek laws to govern all organisms, and provide explanations which focus on consequences. Behaviorists also differ among themselves with respect to their views about the role of reinforcement in learning. There are two major behavioral theories of learning. They are known as classical and operant Conditioning. 3.3.1.1. Classical conditioning theory Brainstorming Question   What do you expect/ feel when there is thunder? “What does a child expect when he sees the mother coming back home? How do you respond to an unfamiliar person? What about meeting a person whom you mate? Each of the responses in these questions seem to illustrate the nature of what is called classical conditioning that you are to explore know now. Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of making involuntary emotional or physiological responses to stimuli that normally elicit no response; for example, s fear, increased heartbeat, salivation or sweating at the sight of a hyena. Through the process of classical conditioning, humans and animals can be trained to act involuntarily to a stimulus that previously had no effect - or a very different effect - on them. The stimulus comes to 43 elicit, modify the behavior of the learners in such a way as the responses originally connected with a particular stimulus comes to be aroused by a different stimulus. Classical conditioning involves what are known as conditioned reflexes. An example of this is a ‗knee-jerk‘ reflex. This reflex isn‘t controlled by the brain, but by the spinal cord, and it is straight forward response to the stimulus. Another example of a reflex is the production of saliva in a response to food when you are hungry, and it was this response which Pavlov first investigated when he discovered classical conditioning. Therefore, in short Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response. Basics of Classical Condition To demonstrate classical conditioning, we must first identify stimuli and responses. In addition, you must be well familiarized with the following basic terms of classical condition: Neutral stimulus: A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without having been learned. Unconditioned response (UCR): A response that is natural and needs no training (e.g., salivation at the smell of food). Conditioned stimulus (CS): A once neutral stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned response (CR): A response that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus (e.g., salivation at the ringing of a bell) Hence, the theory of classical conditioning represents a process in which a neutral stimulus, by pairing with a natural stimulus, acquires all the characteristics of natural stimulus. It is also sometimes called substitution learning because it involves substituting a neutral stimulus in place of natural stimulus. The theory states that the responses originally made to unconditioned stimulus becomes associated with the conditioned stimulus and what is learned is a conditioned stimulus - conditioned response bond of some kind. To make this explanation clear, let us consider Pavlov‘s experiment. 44 Stage 1. Before training Conditioned Stimulus (CS) (e.g. bell) No response Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) (e.g. meat) unconditioned Response (e.g. Salivation) Stage 2. During training CS UCR UCS Stage3. After training CS CR (The conditioned stimulus now produces a conditioned response.) Figure. Pavlov‟s classical conditioning experiment In the above experiment the food was an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - stimulus that automatically produces an emotional or physiological response - because no prior training or ―conditioning ― was needed to establish the natural connection between food and salvation. The salivation was an unconditioned response (UCR) - naturally occurring emotional or physiological response again because it occurred automatically, no conditioning required. Using these three elements- the food, the salivation, and the bell sound - Pavlov demonstrated that a dog could be conditioned to salivate after hearing the bell sound. He did this by contiguous pairing of the sound with food. At the beginning of the experiment, he sounded the bell and then quickly fed the dog. After Pavlov repeated this several times, the dog began to salivate after hearing the sound but before receiving the food. Now the sound had become a conditioned stimulus (CS) - stimulus that evokes an emotional or physiological response after conditioning - that could bring forth salivation by itself. The response of salivating after the tone was now a conditioned response (CR) - learned response to a previously neutral stimulus. Principles of Classical Condition The basic principles of classical conditioning include the role of stimulus generalization, stimulus discriminations, extinction and spontaneous recovery. A. Stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination Stimulus generalization is a process in which, after a stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus begin to 45 produce the same responses. For example, a dog conditioned to salivate to a dinner bell (CS) might also salivate to a door bell, a telephone bell. Stimulus discrimination is the process of distinguishing two similar stimuli; the ability to differentiate between stimuli. Example, the dog salivates only in response to the dinner bell instead of the doorbell or the telephone bell. B. Extinction and spontaneous recovery In Pavlov‘s procedure, if a CS is repeatedly presented without presenting the UCS (meat), the CR will diminish and eventually stop occurring. This process is called extinction. A dog that has learned to salivate to a dinner bell (CS) will eventually stop doing so unless presentations of the dinner bell are periodically followed by presentations of the UCS (meat). But extinction only inhibits the CR, it does not eliminate it. Spontaneous recovery is the reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest and with no further conditioning. For example, suppose you produce extinction of the CR of salivation by no longer presenting the dog with meat after ringing the dinner bell. If you rang the dinner bell a few days later, the dog would again respond by salivating. In spontaneous recovery, however, the CR is weaker and extinguishes faster than it did originally. Reflection  Suppose a one-year old child is playing with a toy near an electrical out-let. He sticks part of the toy into the outlet. He gets shocked, becomes frightened, and begins to cry. For several days after that experience, he shows fear when his mother gives him the toy and he refuses to play with it. What are the UCS? UCR? CS? CR? Show in diagram there association into three stages of processes? a) UCS___________________________________ b) UCR___________________________________ c) CS____________________________________ d) CR___________________________________  Could you please explain of something you learned through classical conditioning? [[ 3.3.1.2. Operant/Instrumental conditioning Brainstorming Questions  Why do you think a child cries when feeling hungry?Or why do you think a child learns to become aggressive?  What is the role of reward and punishment in learning?? What are the types and schedule of reinforcement? [ 46 Operant conditioning is learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences. When we say that a response has been strengthened or weakened, we mean that it has been made more or less likely to recur regularly. An emphasis on environmental consequences is at the heart of Operant Conditioning (also called Instrumental Conditioning). In operant conditioning, the organism's response operates or produces effects on the environment. These effects, in turn, influence, whether the response will occur again. Unlike classical conditioning, in which the original behaviors are the natural, biological responses to the presence of a stimulus such as food, water, or pain, operant conditioning applies to voluntary responses, which an organism performs deliberately to produce a desirable outcome. The term operant emphasizes this point: The organism operates on its environment to produce a desirable result. Operant conditioning is at work when we learn that toiling industriously can bring about praise or that studying hard results in good grades. Besides, B.F Skinner, the very renowned proponent of operant conditioning, argued that to understand behavior we should focus on the external causes of an action and the action‘s consequences. To explain behavior, he said, we should look outside the individual, not inside. In Skinner‘s analysis, a response (―operant‖) can lead to three types of consequences: such as a) A neutral consequence b) A reinforcement or c) punishment. A neutral Consequence that does not alter the response. A reinforcement that strengthens the response or makes it more likely to recur. A reinforcer is any event that increases the probability that the behavior that precedes it will be repeated. There are two basic types of reinforcers or reinforcing stimuli: primary and secondary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers: Food, water, light, stroking of the skin, and a comfortable air temperature are naturally reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs. They are, therefore, known as primary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers, in general, have the ability to strengthen a behavior without prior learning. Secondary Reinforcers: Behaviors can be controlled by secondary reinforcers. They reinforce behavior because of their prior association with primary reinforcing stimuli. Money, praise, applause, good grades, awards, and gold stars are common secondary reinforcers. 47 Both primary and secondary reinforcers can be positive or negative. Positive reinforcement is the process whereby presentation of a stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur again. Negative reinforcement is the process whereby termination of an aversive stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur. The basic principle of negative reinforcement is that eliminating something aversive can itself be a reinforcer or a reward. For example, if someone nags you all the time to study, but stops nagging when you comply, your studying is likely to increase- because you will then avoid the nagging. This can be an example of what is called escape learning. In escape learning animals learn to make a response that terminates/stops a noxious, painful or unpleasant stimulus. Another kind of learning, which is similar, but not the same as escape learning is Avoidance Learning, which refers to learning to avoid a painful, noxious stimulus prior to exposure. Schedules of reinforcement When a response is first acquired, learning is usually most rapid if the response is reinforced each time it occurs. This procedure is called continuous reinforcement. However, once a response has become reliable, it will be more resistant to extinction if it is rewarded on an intermittent (partial) schedule of reinforcement, which involves reinforcing only some responses, not all of them. There are four types of intermittent schedules. 1. Fixed-ratio schedules: A fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses. They produce high rate of responding. Employers often use fixed ratio schedules to increase productivity. An interesting feature of a fixed ratio schedule is that performance sometimes drops off just after reinforcement. 2. Variable-Ratio Schedule: A variable ratio schedule of reinforcement occurs after some average number of responses, but the number varies from reinforcement to reinforcement. A variable ratio schedule of produces extremely high steady rates of responding. The responses are more resistant to extinction than when a fixed ratio schedule is used. 3. Fixed Interval Schedule: A fixed interval schedule of reinforcement occurs only if a fixed amount of time has passed since the previous reinforcer. 4. Variable Interval Schedule: A variable interval schedule of reinforcement occurs only if a variable amount of time has passed since the previous reinforcer. A basic principle of operant conditioning is that if you want a response to persist after it has been learned, you should reinforce it intermittently, not continuously. Because the change from continuous reinforcement to none at all will be so large that the animal or person will 48 soon stop responding. But if you have been giving the reinforcement only every so often, the change will not be dramatic and the animal/ person will keep responding for a while. c) Punishment- is a stimulus that weakens the response or makes it less likely to recur. Punishers can be any aversive (unpleasant) stimuli that weaken responses or make them unlikely to recur. Like reinforcers, punishers can also be primary or secondary. Pain and extreme heat or cold are inherently punishing and are therefore known as primary punishers. Criticism, demerits, catcalls, scolding, fines, and bad grades are common secondary punishers. The positive-negative distinction can also be applied to punishment. Something unpleasant may occur following some behavior (positive punishment), or something pleasant may be removed (negative punishment). The Pros and Cons of Punishment Immediacy, consistency and intensity matter are important for effectiveness of punishment. Immediacy – When punishment follows immediately after the behavior to be punished. Consistency- when punishment is inconsistent the behavior being punished is intermittently reinforced and therefore becomes resistant to extinction. Intensity- In general terms severe punishments are more effective than mild ones. However, there are studies that indicate that even less intense punishments are effective provided that they are applied immediately and consistently. However, when punishment fails: 49 1. People often administer punishment inappropriately or mindlessly. They swing in a blind rag or shout things they do not mean applying. Punishment is so broad that it covers all sorts of irrelevant behaviors. 2. The recipient of punishment often responds with anxiety, fear or rage. Through a process of classical conditioning, these emotional side effects may then generalize to the entire situation in which the punishment occurs- the place, the person delivering the punishment, and the circumstances. These negative emotional reactions can create more problems than the punishment solves. For instance, a teenager who has been severely punished may strike back or run away. Being physically punished in childhood is a risk factor for depression, low self-esteem, violent behavior and many other problems. 3. The effectiveness of punishment is often temporary, depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person or circumstances 4. Most behavior is hard to punish immediately. 5. Punishment conveys little information. An action intended to punish may instead be reinforcing because it brings attention. Shaping For a response to be reinforced, it must first occur. But, suppose you to train a child to use a knife and a fork properly. Such behaviors, and most others in everyday life, have almost no probability of appearing spontaneously. The operant solution for this is shaping. Shaping is an operant conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced. In shaping you start by reinforcing a tendency in the right direction. Then you gradually require responses that are more and more similar to the final desired response. The responses that you reinforce on the way to the final one are called successive approximations. Brainstorming Question  What implications do you think operant conditioning has in classroom learning? Application of the theory of operant conditioning: 1. Conditioning study behavior: Teaching is the arrangement of contingencies of reinforcement, which expedite learning. For effective teaching, teachers should arrange 50 effective contingencies of reinforcement. Example: For Self-learning of a student teacher should reinforce student behavior through variety of incentives such as prize, medal, smile, praise, affectionate patting on the back or by giving higher marks. 2. Conditioning and classroom behavior: During a learning process, children can acquire unpleasant experiences. This unpleasantness becomes conditioned to the teacher, subject and the classroom and learners begin to dislike the subject and the teacher. 3. Managing Problem Behavior: Operant conditioning is a behavior therapy technique that shape students behavior. To do this, teachers should admit positive contingencies like praise, encouragement etc. for learning. One should not admit negative contingencies. Example punishment (student will run away from the dull and dreary classes – escape stimulation. 4. Dealing with anxieties through conditioning: Through conditioning, fear, anxieties, prejudices, attitudes, and perceptual meaning develops. Examples of anxieties that are acquired through conditioning are signals on the road, siren blown during wartime, child receiving painful injection from a doctor. Anxiety is a generalized fear response. To break the habits of fear, a teacher can use desensitization techniques. That is, a teacher can initially provide very weak form of conditioned stimulus. Gradually the strength of stimulus should be increased. 5. Conditioning group behavior: Conditioning can make an entire group learn and complete change in behavior with reinforcement. It breaks undesired and unsocial behavior too. Example: Putting questions or telling lie to teachers will make teachers annoyed. In such circumstances students learn to keep mum in the class. Asking questions, active participation in class discussion will make the teacher feel happy – interaction will increase and teaching learning process becomes more effective. 6. Conditioning and Cognitive Processes: Reinforcement is given in different form, for the progress of knowledge and in the feedback form. When response is correct, positive reinforcement is given. Example: A student who stands first in the class in the month of January is rewarded in the month of December. To overcome this Program instruction is used. In this subject matter is broken down into steps. Organizing in logical sequence helps in learning. Each step is built upon the preceding step. Progress is seen in the process of learning. Immediate reinforcement is given at each step. 51 7. Shaping Complex Behavior: Complex behavior exists in the form of a chain of small behavior. Control is required for such kind of behavior. This extended form of learning is shaping technique. 3.3.2. Social Learning Theory (observational learning) theory Brainstorming Question  Who is the person that you admire the most? Why do you aspire to become like him/her? What do you do to become one? What do you feel if you manage to become like your model?. According to psychologist Albert Bandura, a major part of human learning consists of observational learning, which is learning by watching the behavior of another person, or model. Because of its reliance on observation of others—a social phenomenon—the perspective taken by Bandura is often referred to as a social cognitive approach to learning (Bandura, 1999, 2004). Bandura identifies three forms of reinforcement that can encourage observational learning. First, of course, the observer may reproduce the behaviors of the model and receive direct reinforcement. The reinforcement need not be direct - it may be vicarious reinforcement as well. As mentioned earlier, the observer may simply see others reinforced for a particular behavior and then increase his or her production of that behavior. The final form of reinforcement is self-reinforcement, or controlling your reinforcers. This sort of reinforcement is important for both students and teachers. We want our students to improve not because it leads to external rewards but because the students value and enjoy their growing competence. But social cognitive theorists believe that in human beings, observational learning cannot be fully understood without taking into account the thought processes of the learner. They emphasize the knowledge that results when a person sees a model- behaving in certain ways and experiencing the consequences. Many years ago, Albert Bandura and his colleagues showed just how important observational learning is, especially for children who are learning the rules of social behavior. Bandura mentions four conditions that are necessary before an individual can successfully model the behavior of someone else: 1. Attention: the person must first pay attention to the model. 52 2. Retention: the observer must be able to remember the behavior that has been observed. One way of increasing this is using the technique of rehearsal. 3. Motor reproduction: the third condition is the ability to replicate the behavior that the model has just demonstrated. This means that the observer has to be able to replicate the action, which could be a problem with a learner who is not ready developmentally to replicate the action. For example, little children have difficulty doing complex physical motion. 4. Motivation: the final necessary ingredient for modeling to occur is motivation; learners must want to demonstrate what they have learned. Remember that since these four conditions vary among individuals, different people will reproduce the same behavior differently. Educational Implications of Social Learning Theory  What implications do you think social learning theory has in classroom learning? Social learning theory has numerous implications for classroom use. 1. Students often learn a great deal simply by observing other people. 2. Describing the consequences of behavior can effectively increase the appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate ones. This can involve discussing with learners about the rewards and consequences of various behaviors. 3. Modeling provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new behaviors. Instead of using shaping, which is operant conditioning; modeling can provide a faster, more efficient means for teaching new behavior. To promote effective modeling a teacher must make sure that the four essential conditions exist; attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. 4. Teachers and parents must model appropriate behaviors and take care that they do not model inappropriate behaviors. 5. Teachers should expose students to a variety of other models. This technique is especially important to break down traditional stereotypes. 6. Students must believe that they are capable of accomplishing school tasks. Thus it is very important to develop a sense of self-efficacy for students. Teachers can promote such selfefficacy by having students receive confidence-building messages, watch others be successful, and experience success on their own. 7.Teachers should help students set realistic expectations for their academic accomplishments. In general, in my class, that means making sure that expectations are not set too low. I want to realistically challenge my students. However, sometimes the task is beyond a student's ability, example would be the cancer group. 53 8. Self-regulation techniques provide an effective method for improving student behavior. Reflection  Does explain how the social learning theory can be applicable in a classroom setting with examples. 3.3.3. Cognitive Learning Theory Both classical and operant conditionings have traditionally been explained by the principle of contiguity i.e. the close association of events in time and space. Contiguity has been used to explain the association of a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning and the association of a behavior and its consequences in operant conditioning. Cognitive learning may take two forms: 1. Latent learning 2. Insight learning (gestalt learning or perceptual learning) For half a century, most American learning theories held that learning could be explained by specifying the behavioral ―ABCs‖ – Antecedents (events preceding behavior), Behaviors, and Consequences. In the 1940s, two social scientists proposed a modification they called social learning theory. Most human learning, they argued, is acquired by observing other people in social context, rather than through standard conditioning procedures. By 1960s and 1970s, social learning theory was full bloom, and a new element had been added: the human capacity for higher level of cognitive processing. Its proponents agreed with behaviorists that human beings, along with the rat and the rabbit, are subject to the laws of operant and classical conditioning. But, they opposed that human beings, unlike the rat and the rabbit, are full of attitudes, beliefs and expectations that affect the way they acquire information, make decisions, reason, and solve problems. These mental processes affect what individuals will do at any given moment and also, more generally the personality traits they develop. Latent Learning „Latent‘ means hidden and thus latent learning is learning that occurs but is not evident in behavior until later, when conditions for its appearance are favorable. It is said to occur without reinforcement of particular responses and seems to involve changes in the way information is processed. In a classic experiment, Tolman and Honzic (1930) placed three groups of rats in mazes and observed their behavior each day for more than two weeks. 54 The rats in Group 1 always found food at the end of the maze. Group 2 never found food. Group 3 found no food for ten days but then received food on the eleventh. The Group 1 rats quickly learned to head straight the end of the maze without going blind alleys, whereas Group 2 rats did not learn to go to the end. But, Group 3 rats were different. For ten days they appeared to follow no particular route. Then, on the eleventh day they quickly learned to run to the end of the maze. By the next day, they were doing, as well as group one, which had been rewarded from the beginning. Group three rats had demonstrated latent learning, learning that is not immediately expressed. A great deal of human learning also remains latent until circumstances allow or require it to be expressed. Insight Learning It is a cognitive process whereby we reorganize our perception of a problem. It doesn‘t depend on conditioning of particular behaviors for its occurrence. Sometimes, for example, people even wake up from sleep with a solution to a problem that they had not been able to solve during the day. In a typical insight situation where a problem is posed, a period follows during which no apparent progress is made, and then the solution comes suddenly. What has been learned in insight learning can also be applied easily to other similar situations. Human beings who solve a problem insightfully usually experience a good feeling called an 'aha' experience. Reflection  Explain the educational implications of each of the theories of learning. Summary  Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience or practice.  Learning is characterized by different issues like modification of behavior, pervasive, active processes, purposeful, active processes, multifaceted, and the like.  Learning has important principles that are categorized in to 8 different and valuable principles. 55  Factors that affect learning of individuals include motivation, intelligence, maturation, physical condition of the learner, good working conditions, psychological well being, background experience and length of the working period.  In this unit, you have learned the viewpoints of different theories of learning that have been attempted to explain the behavioral changes are acquired through learning experiences.  Classical Conditioning/Ivan Pavlov/:-Emphasis on experiences especially the association between stimulus and response  Operant Conditioning/B.F. Skinner/:- Emphasis on experiences, especially reinforcement and punishment as determinants of learning and behavior  Social Cognitive theories Social Cognitive/Albert Bandura/: Emphasis on interaction of behavior, environment, and person (cognitive) factors as determinants of learning  Cognitive theories: Include learning theories like latent and insight learning theories. CHAPTER FOUR MEMORY AND FORGETTING Chapter Overview The previous chapter (learning) and this chapter (memory) are closely related. The two terms often describe roughly the same processes. The term learning is often used to refer to processes involved in the initial acquisition or encoding of information, whereas the term memory more often refers to later storage and retrieval of information. After all, information is learned so that it can be retrieved later, and retrieval cannot occur unless information was learned. Thus, psychologists often refer to the learning/memory process as a means of incorporating all facets of encoding, storage, and retrieval. In this regard, this chapter will mainly focus in two sections. In the first part, you will learn about memory and in the subsequent part you will focus on forgetting, theories of forgetting, and on how to improve memory. Learner Appetizer Comment on the following points in groups before you start learning the lesson of the chapter.  Better by far that you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad. 56  With a suitable reminder, you will find that you remember some events quite distinctly, even after a long delay. Other memories, however, are lost or distorted.  Think back to your childhood and recall your earliest memory. Describe this memory in your own words.  Memory is not like a tape recorder or a video camera: Memories change as they are stored and retrieved.  Do you remember what you had for breakfast this morning? The last friend you instant messaged? Or what happened on September 11, 2001? Of course you do. But how is it possible for us to so easily travel back in time? Let‟s begin with a look at basic memory systems. An interesting series of events must occur before we can say “I remember.” Learning Outcomes At the end of this unit, you will be able to:  Define memory and forgetting.  Describe the stages and memory structures proposed by theory of memory.  Explain the processes that are at work in memory functions.  Identify how learned materials are organized in the long term memory.  State the factors underlying on the persistence, and loss of memory.  Explain different theories of forgetting. Brain storming Question    What comes to your mind about memory? What is the meaning of memory? What is the function of memory in your studying? Intelligent life does not exist without memory. Imagine what life could mean to a person who is unable to recall things that are already seen, tested, heard before. If you don‘t have a memory, you cannot remember whatever information you acquire that makes your life disorganized, confused and meaningless. Your memory provides the function that your life to have continuity in place and time, adapt to the new situations by using previous skills and information, enriches your emotional life by recoiling your positive and negative life experiences. 5.1 Memory 57 Brain storming Questions    What is memory? Are there different kinds of memory? What are the biological bases of memory? 5.1.1 Meaning and Processes of Memory Memory is the retention of information/what is learned earlier over time. It is the way in which we record the past for later use in the present. Memory is a blanket label for a large number of processes that form the bridges between our past and our present. To learn about the nature of memory, it is useful to separate the process from the structure. Processes of Memory Brainstorming Question  How do you form the memory of events you sense? Memory processes are the mental activities we perform to put information into memory, to keep it there, and to make use of it later. This involves three basic steps: a) Encoding: Taken from computer science, the term encoding refers to the form (i.e. the code) in which an item of information is to be placed in memory. It is the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to memory. In encoding we transform a sensory input into a form or a memory code that can be further processed. b) Storage: To be remembered the encoded experience must leave some record in the nervous system (the memory trace); it must be squirreled away and held in some more or less enduring form for later use. This is what memory specialists mean when they speak of placing information in storage. It is the location in memory system in which material is saved. Storage is the persistence of information in memory. 58 c) Retrieval: is the point at which one tries to remember to dredge up a particular memory trace from among all the others we have stored. In retrieval, material in memory storage is located, brought into awareness and used. Failure to remember can result from problems during any of the three phases of the memory process (see Figure). If, for example, you encode a new item of information only as a sound pattern, there would be no memory trace of its meaning. If both the sound and the meaning were encoded and held for the length of the retention interval, the item might have been misfiled in memory. If so, the item might be impossible to retrieve even though it is still stored in memory. Memory is the process by which information is encoded (phase1), stored (phase 2) and later retrieved (phase 3). Reflection   How do you define memory? What is/are the a) memory processes proposed by stage model of memory? 5.1.2 Stages/Structure of Memory Memory structure is the nature of memory storage itself- how information is represented in memory and how long it lasts and how it is organized. Although people usually refer to memory as a single faculty, the term memory actually covers a complex collection of abilities and processes. The cognitive perspective has dominated psychology‘s view of memory for the past years although, in recent years, it has become integrated with understanding of the neuropsychology of memory. Many cognitive psychologists relate the mind to an information processor, along the lines of a digital computer that takes items of information in; processes them in steps or stages, and then produces an output. Consider how the computer works; First, it takes in information (for instance via keystrokes) and translates the information into an electronic language, then the computer permanently stores the information on a disc, and finally it retrieves the information (file) stored on a disc on to a working memory (which also receives new information from the keyboard) and the information is put on to the screen as part of the working memory. 59 Models of memory based on this idea are Information processing theories. Like computer, we also store vast amounts of information in our memory storehouse. From this storehouse, we can retrieve some information onto a limited capacity of working memory, which also receives information from our current experience. Part of this working memory is displayed on the mental ―screen‖ we call consciousness. A number of such models of memory have been proposed. One of the most important and influential of these is the one developed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968). According to Atkinson and Shiffrin, memory has three structures: 1) Sensory Memory/Sensory Register: It is the entry way to memory. It is the first information storage area. Sensory memory acts as a holding bin, retaining information until we can select items for attention from the stream of stimuli bombarding our senses. It gives us a brief time to decide whether information is extraneous or important. Sensory memory includes a number of separate subsystems, as many as there are senses. It can hold virtually all the information reaching our senses for a brief time. For instance, visual images (Iconic memory) remain in the visual system for a maximum of one second. Auditory images (Echoic memory) remain in the auditory system for a slightly longer time, by most estimates up to two second or so. The information stored sensory in memory is a fairly accurate representation of the environmental information but unprocessed. Most information briefly held in the sensory memory simply decays from the register. However, some of the information that has got attention and recognition pass on short-term memory for further processing. 2) Short-term Memory: is part of our memory that holds the contents of our attention. Unlike sensory memories, short-term memories are not brief replicas of the environmental message. Instead, they consist of the by-products or end results of perceptual analysis. STM is important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading, speaking, and problem solving. There are various terms used to refer to this stage of memory, including working memory, immediate memory, active memory, and primary memory. Brainstorming Question  Why do we call STM as a working memory? Short term memory is distinguished by four characteristics: 60 It is active- information remains in STM only so long as the person is consciously processing, examining, or manipulating it. People use STM as a ―workspace‖ to process new information and to call up relevant information from LTM. Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is readily available for use. In this respect, the difference between STM and LTM is the difference between pulling a file from the top of a desk versus searching for it in a file drawer, or between searching for information in an open computer file versus file stored on the hard drive. Preserves the temporal sequence of information- STM usually helps us to maintain the information in sequential manner for a temporary period of time. It keeps the information fresh until it goes to further analysis and stored in LTM in meaningful way. Limited capacity- Years ago, George Miller (1956) estimated the capacity of STM to be ―the magic number seven plus or minus 2‖. That is, on the average, people can hold about seven pieces of information in STM at a time; with a normal range from five to nine items. Some researchers have questioned whether Miller‘s magical number is so magical after all. Everyone agrees, however, that the number of items that short-term memory can handle at any one time is small. According to most models of memory, we overcome this problem, by grouping small groups of information into larger units or chunks. Chunking is the grouping or ―packing‖ of information into higher order units that can be remembered as single units. Chunking expands working memory by making large amounts of information more manageable. The real capacity of short-term memory, therefore, is not a few bits of information but a few chunks. A chunk may be a word, a phrase, a sentence, or even a visual image, and it depends on previous experience. STM memory holds information (sounds, visual images, words, and sentences and so on) received from SM for up to about 30 seconds by most estimates. It is possible to prolong STM indefinitely by rehearsal- the conscious repetition of information. Material in STM is easily displaced unless we do something to keep it there. 3. Long Term Memory It is a memory system used for the relatively permanent storage of meaningful information. The capacity of LTM seems to have no practical limits. The vast amount of information 61 stored in LTM enables us to learn, get around in the environment, and build a sense of identity and personal history. LTM stores information for indefinite periods. It may last for days, months, years, or even a lifetime. Reflection  Attempt to describe each type of information, its capacity and characteristics in the following tables. Type of memory Type of Capacity Characteristics Duration information 1. Sensory Memory 2. Short- term Memory 3. Long –term Memory The LTM is assumed to be composed of different sub systems: Declarative/ explicit memory- the conscious recollection of information such as specific facts or events that can be verbally communicated. It is further subdivided into semantic and episodic memories. Semantic memory- factual knowledge like the meaning of words, concepts and our ability to do math. They are internal representations of the world, independent of any particular context. Episodic memory- memories for events and situations from personal experience. They are internal representations of personally experienced events. Non-declarative/ implicit memory- refers to a variety of phenomena of memory in which behavior is affected by prior experience without that experience being consciously recollected. One of the most important kinds of implicit memory is procedural memory. It is the ―how to‖ knowledge of procedures or skills: Knowing how to comb your hair, use a pencil, or swim. Serial Position Effect The three-box model of memory is often invoked to explain interesting phenomenon called the serial position effect. If you are shown a list of items and are then asked immediately to recall them, your retention of any particular item will depend on its position in the list. That is, recall will be best for items at the beginning of the list (the primacy effect) and at the end of the list (the recency effect). When retention of all the items is plotted, the result will be a U-shaped curve. 62 A serial position effect occurs when you are introduced to a lot of people at a party and find you can recall the names of the first few people you met and the last, but almost no one in between. According to the three-box model, the first few items on a list are remembered well because short-term memory was relatively ―empty‖ when they entered, so these items did not have to compete with others to make it into long term memory. They were thoroughly processed, so they remain memorable. The last few items are remembered for a different reason: At the time of recall, they are still sitting in STM. The items in the middle of the list, however, are not so well retained because by the time they get into short-term memory, it is already crowded. As a result many of these items drop out of short-term memory before they can be stored in long-term memory. Reflection  What accounts for the serial-position effect? 5.1.3 Factors Affecting Memory Memory as stated already, is a process which includes learning, retention and remembering. As such all the three processes are important for good memory. Eleven Factors that Influence Memory Process in Humans are as follows: a. Ability to retain: This depends upon good memory traces left in the brain by past experiences. b. Good health: A person with good health can retain the learnt material better than a person with poor health. c. Age of the learner: Youngsters can remember better than the aged. d. Maturity: Very young children cannot retain and remember complex material. e. Will to remember: Willingness to remember helps for better retention. f. Intelligence: More intelligent person will have better memory than a dull person, g. Interest: If a person has more interest, he will learn and retain better. h. Over learning: Experiments have proved that over learning will lead to better memory. i. Speed of learning: Quicker learning leads to better retention, j. Meaningfulness of the material: Meaningful materials remain in our memory for longer period than for nonsense material, 63 k. Sleep or rest: Sleep or rest immediately after learning strengthens connections in the brain and helps for clear memory. 5.2 Forgetting Brainstorming Questions  What is forgetting? How forgetting occur or what causes forgetting?  Why do human beings forget information?  In what way and how do we forgot that information?  Is forgetting bad or good for us? 5.2.1 Meaning and Concepts of Forgetting Brainstorming Questions  Dear students why do human beings forget information? In what way and how do we forgot that information? Is forgetting bad or good for us? From the store house of information, most of us forget the names of individuals, names of places and other information‘s. In our daily living, we encounter so much information. if we attempt to encode, store and recall all the information we face daily, we are in trouble. Hence, we are selective in storing and forgetting information. Sometimes we are motivated to forgot something and recall what we want to remember. Psychologists call this phenomenon as motivated forgetting? Psychologists generally use the term forgetting to refer to the apparent loss of information already encoded and stored in the long-term memory. The first attempts to study forgetting were made by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885/1913). Using himself as his only subject, he memorized lists of three letter non-sense syllables- meaningless sets of two consonants with a vowel in between, such as FIW and BOZ. By measuring how easy it was to relearn a given list of words after varying periods of time from initial learning had passed, he found that forgetting occurred systematically. The most rapid forgetting occurs in the first hours, and particularly in the first hour. After nine hours, the rate of forgetting slows and declines little, even after the passage of many days. Ebbinghaus‘s research had an important influence on subsequent research, and his basic conclusions had been upheld. There is almost always a strong initial decline in memory, followed by a more gradual drop over time. Furthermore, relearning of previously mastered 64 material is almost always faster than starting from a scratch, whether the material is academic information or a motor skill such as serving a tennis ball. 5.2.2. Theories of Forgetting Psychologists have proposed five mechanisms to account for forgetting: decay, replacement of old memories by new ones, interference, motivated forgetting, and cue dependent forgetting. 5.2.2.1.The Decay Theory The decay theory holds that memory traces or engram fade with time if they are not ―accessed‖ now and then. This explanation assumes that when new material is learned a memory trace or engram- an actual physical change in the brain- occurs. In decay, the trace simply fades away with nothing left behind, because of the passage of time. We have already seen that decay occurs in sensory memory and that it occurs in short term memory as well, unless we rehearse the material. However, the mere passage of time does not account so well for forgetting in long-term memory. People commonly forget things that happened only yesterday while remembering events from many years ago. Although there is evidence that decay does occur, it does not seem to be the complete explanation for forgetting. Memory specialists have proposed an additional mechanism: Interference. Brainstorming Question  Is time a factor in forgetting? 5.2.2.2. Interference Interference theory holds that forgetting occurs because similar items of information interfere with one another in either storage or retrieval. The information may get into memory, but it becomes confused with other information. There are two kinds of interference that influence forgetting: proactive and retroactive. In Proactive Interference, information learned earlier interferes with recall of newer material. If new information interferes with the ability to remember old information the interference is called Retroactive Interference. 5.2.2.3. New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory 65 This theory holds that new information entering memory can wipe out old information, just as recording on an audio or videotape will obliterate/wipe out the original material. This theory is mostly associated with the STM, where the capacity for information is limited to seven plus or minus chunks. It cannot be associated with the LTM because of its virtually unlimited capacity. 5.2.2.4. Motivated Forgetting Sigmund Freud maintained that people forget because they block from consciousness those memories that are two threatening or painful to live with, and he called this self-protective process Repression. Today many psychologists prefer to use a more general term, motivated forgetting. 5.2.2.5. Cue Dependent Forgetting Often when we need to remember, we rely on retrieval cues, items of information that can help us find the specific information we‘re looking for. When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we have lost the call number for an entry in the mind‘s library. In long-term memory, this type of memory failure may be the most common type of all. Cues that were present when you learned a new fact or had an experience are apt to be especially useful later as retrieval aids. That may explain why remembering is often easier when you are in the same physical environment as you were when an event occurred: Cues in the present context match from the past. Cues present during the initial stage of learning help us to recall the content of the specific learning materials in an easy manner. Your mental or physical state may also act as a retrieval cue, evoking a state dependent memory. For example if you are intoxicated when something happens, you may remember it better when you once again have had a few drinks than when you are sober. Likewise, if your emotional arousal is specially high or low at the time of an event, you may remember that event best when you are once again in the same emotional state. Reflection    How do you define forgetting? What are causes of forgetting? Why do we forget information? What are the major memory impairments? 66  What environmental factors are important in loosing information from memory? 5.3. Improving Memory Brainstorming Question  What causes difficulties and failures in remembering? Someday in the near future, drugs may be available to help people with memory deficiencies to increase normal memory performance. For the time being, however, those of us who hope to improve our memories must rely on mental strategies. Some simple mnemonics can be useful, but complicated ones are often more bothersome than they are worth. A better approach is to follow some general guidelines. Pay Attention: It seems obvious, but often we fail to remember because we never encoded the information in the first place. When you do have something to remember, you will do better if you encode it. Encode information in more than one way: The more elaborate the encoding of information, the more memorable it will be Add meaning: The more meaningful the material, the more likely it is to link up with information already in long-term memory. Take your time: If possible, minimize interference by using study breaks for rest or recreation. Sleep is the ultimate way to reduce interference. Over learn: Studying information even after you think you already know it- is one of the best ways to ensure that you‘ll remember it. Monitor your learning: By testing yourself frequently, rehearsing thoroughly, and reviewing periodically, you will have a better idea of how you are doing Reflection  Define memory and forgetting in your own words.  Describe the stage memory model proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin.  Explain the typical characteristics of a) sensory memory, b) short-term memory, and c) long-term memory.  Discuss how learned information are organized in the long-term memory store.  List down the theories of forgetting and elaborate the main ideas of each theory. Summary 67  This unit was concerned with the actual processes of memory and forgetting.  In memory part of the lesson, you have learned: 1) meaning of memory; 2) stage model of memory that describes how the learned materials are processed and retained for later use; 3) the stages of memory involved in information processing (including sensory memory, short-term/working/ memory, and long-term memory); and 4) the different ways of organizing information in the memory store.  In the other part of this unit, you have studied about forgetting or loss of memory and the possible causes of memory failures. Accordingly, some theories of forgetting that have been attempted to describe the causes of memory failure or forgetting have been discussed.  Memory is a complex mental process that allows us to recognize friends and family as well as to do things such as drive, speak a language, and play an instrument.  Psychologists have sought to understand memory and to find ways to improve it.  There are three processes involved in memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.  During encoding, you use your senses to encode and establish a memory.  Storage is the process by which information is maintained over a period of time.  Retrieval occurs when information is brought to mind from storage.  Stored memory can be retrieved by recognition, recall, and relearning.  Forgetting can be the result of decay, interference, or repression.  Memory can be improved through meaningfulness, association, lack of interference, and degree of original learning. 68 CHAPTER FIVE MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS Chapter Overview This chapter introduces the concepts of motivation and emotion. In so doing, the chapter focuses on the definition and types of motivation, theories of motivation, conflict of motives, definition,and elements of emotion, and theories of emotion. Learner appetizer “It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually.” Abraham Maslow Dear student, based on the above quote, think about your behaviors for a while and reflect on the following questions. 1. What do you think are behind your actions? 2. In most cases, what makes you unable to start doing things? 3. Have you ever faced with conflicts among your ideas, interests and challenge to decide? If so, how did you resolve your conflicting ideas/interests? Learning Outcomes After successful completion of this chapter, you are expected to:  Define what motivation is  Identify the two types of motivation  compare the different theories of motivation  Explain the different types of conflicts of motives  Define what emotion is  Discuss the three elements of emotion  Discuss the different theories of emotion 5.1. Motivation 5.1.1. Definition and types of motivation Brainstorming Questions  Why do you join the university and regularly attend your classes?  Do you think what pushes you to do what you do is something internal or external? Have you tried to answer the questions? Fine! 69 Motivation is a factor by which activities are started, directed and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met. The word itself comes from the Latin word ‗Mover‘, which means ―to move‖. Motivation is what ―moves‖ people to do the things they do. For example, when a person is relaxing in front of a television and begins to feel hungry, the physical need for food may cause the person to get up, go into the kitchen, and search for something to eat. If hunger is great enough, the person may even cook something. The physical need for hunger causes the action (getting up), directs it (going to the kitchen), and sustain the search (finding or preparing something to eat). There are different types of motivation. But, it is possible to categorize them into two: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which a person acts because the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner. Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which individuals act because the action leads to an outcome that is external to a person. For example, giving a child money for every ‗A‘ on a report card, offering a bonus to an employee for increased performance. Reflection  Dear student, which type of motivation (intrinsic or extrinsic) do you have most of the time? 5.1.2. Approaches to motivation (theories of motivation) Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, what is/are the source/s of your motivation? Can you mention some sources for different types of your behavior, please? The sources of motivation are different according to the different theories of motivation. Some of these theories are instinct, drive-reduction, arousal, incentive, cognitive, and humanistic. a) Instinct approaches to motivation One of the earliest theory of motivation that is focused on the biologically determined and innate patterns of both humans and animals behavior is called instincts. Just as animals are governed by their instincts to do things such as migrating, nest building, mating and protecting their territory, early researchers proposed that human beings may also be governed by similar instincts. According to this instinct theory, in humans, the instinct to reproduce is 70 responsible for sexual behavior, and the instinct for territorial protection may be related to aggressive behavior. The early theorists and psychologists listed thousands of instincts in humans including curiosity, flight (running away), pugnacity (aggressiveness), and acquisition (gathering possessions). However, none of these theorists did more than give names to these instincts. Although there are plenty of descriptions, such as ―submissive people possess the instinct of submission‖, there was no attempt to explain why these instincts exist in humans. But these approaches accomplished one important thing by forcing psychologists to realize that some human behavior is controlled by hereditary factors. b) Drive-reduction approaches to motivation This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives. Dear student, what do you think is the relationship between need and drive? Have you tried? Great! A need is a requirement of some material (such as food or water) that is essential for the survival of the organism. When an organism has a need, it leads to a psychological tension as well as physical arousal to fulfill the need and reduce the tension. This tension is called drive. Drive-reduction theory proposes just this connection between internal psychological states and outward behavior. In this theory, there are two kinds of drives; primary and secondary. Primary drives are those that involve survival needs of the body such as hunger and thirst, whereas acquired (secondary) drives are those that are learned through experience or conditioning, such as the need for money, social approval. This theory also includes the concept of homeostasis, or the tendency of the body to maintain a steady-state. One could think of homeostasis as the body‘s version of a thermostatthermostats keep the temperature of a house at a constant level and homeostasis does the same thing for the body‘s functions. When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a state of imbalance. This stimulates behavior that brings the body back into balance or homeostasis. For example, if mister X‘s body needs food, he feels hunger and the state of tension (arousal associated with that need). He will seek to restore his homeostasis by eating something which is the behavior stimulated to reduce the hunger drive. (see the figure below) 71 Increased hunger Lowered glucose Eat Raised glucose Don‟t eat Diminished hunger Figure 1. Drive-reduction and homeostasis Although the drive-reduction theory works well to explain the actions people take to reduce tension created by needs, it does not explain all human motivation. Why do people eat when they are not hungry? People do not always seek to reduce their inner arousal, either sometimes they seek to increase. c) Arousal approaches: beyond drive reduction Arousal approaches seek to explain behavior in which the goal is to maintain or increase excitement. According to arousal approaches to motivation, each person tries to maintain a certain level of stimulation and activity. As with the drive-reduction model, this approach suggests that if our stimulation and activity levels become too high, we try to reduce them. But, in contrast to the drive-reduction perspective, the arousal approach also suggests that if levels of stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to increase them by seeking stimulation. d) Incentive approaches: motivation‟s pull Incentive approaches to motivation suggest that motivation stems from the desire to attain external rewards, known as incentives. In this view, the desirable properties of external stimuli: whether grades, money, affection, food, or sex—account for a person‘s motivation. Many psychologists believe that the internal drives proposed by drive-reduction theory work in a cycle with the external incentives of incentive theory to ―push‖ and ―pull‖ behavior, respectively. Hence, at the same time that we seek to satisfy our underlying hunger needs (the push of drive-reduction theory), we are drawn to food that appears very appetizing (the pull of incentive theory). Rather than contradicting each other, then, drives and incentives may work together in motivating behavior. e) Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind motivation Cognitive approaches to motivation suggest that motivation is a result of people‘s thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and goals. For instance, the degree to which people are motivated to 72 study for a test is based on their expectation of how well studying will pay off in terms of a good grade. Cognitive theories of motivation draw a key difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation causes us to participate in an activity for our enjoyment rather than for any actual or concrete reward that it will bring us. In contrast, extrinsic motivation causes us to do something for money, a grade, or some other actual, concrete reward. For example, when a teacher provides tutorial support for students in her extra time because she loves teaching, intrinsic motivation is prompting her; if she provides tutorial support to make a lot of money, extrinsic motivation underlies her efforts. Similarly, if you study a lot because you love the subject matter, you are being guided by intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, if all you care about is the grade to get in the course, it is extrinsic motivation. f) Humanistic approaches to motivation The other approach to the study of motivation is the humanistic approach which is based on the work of Abraham Maslow. Maslow was one of the early humanistic psychologists who rejected the dominant theories of psychoanalysis and behaviorism in favor of a more positive view of human behavior. Maslow suggested that human behavior is influenced by a hierarchy, or ranking, of five classes of needs, or motives. He said that needs at the lowest level of the hierarchy must be at least partially satisfied before people can be motivated by the ones at higher levels. Maslow‘s five Hierarchies of needs for motives from the bottom to the top are as follows: Physiological needs- these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep. Safety needs- protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear. Love and belongingness needs- after physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness. Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work). Esteem needs- the need to be respected as a useful, honorable individual; which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, and independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige). 73 Self-actualization needs- realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. A desire ―to become everything one is capable of becoming‖. The following figure shows how our motivation progresses up the pyramid from the broadest, most fundamental biological needs to higher-order ones. Figure 2. Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs Reflections   Dear student, among the theories discussed above, which one more explains your behavior as a student? How? Do you agree that lower-order needs must be satisfied before higher-order needs? 5.1.3. Conflict of motives and frustration Based on the sources of motivation and the importance of the decision, people usually face difficulty choosing among the motives. These are just a few of the motives that may shape a trivial decision. When the decision is more important, the number and strength of motivational pushes and pulls are often greater, creating far more internal conflict and indecision. There are four basic types of motivational conflicts. Approach-approach conflicts - exist when we must choose only one of the two desirable activities. Example, going to a movie or a concert. Avoidance-avoidance conflicts - arise when we must select one of two undesirable alternatives. Someone forced either to sell the family home or to declare bankruptcy. 74 Approach-avoidance conflicts - happen when a particular event or activity has both attractive and unattractive features, for example, a freshman student wants to start dating but she, at the same time, is worried that this may unduly consume her study time. Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts - exist when two or more alternatives each have both positive and negative features. Suppose you must choose between two jobs. One offers a high salary with a well-known company but requires long working hours and relocation to a miserable climate. The other boasts advancement opportunities, fringe benefits, and a better climate, but it doesn‘t pay as much and involves an unpredictable work schedule. Reflection  Dear student, have you ever have faced any of these conflicts of motives? How did you resolve them? 5.2. Emotions 5.2.1. Definition of emotion Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, what makes you emotional? What symptoms are commonly observed when you are emotional? Have you tried? Thank you! The Latin word meaning ―to move‖ is the source of both words used in this chapter over and over again-motive and emotion. Emotion can be defined as the ―feeling‖ aspect of consciousness, characterized by certain physical arousal, certain behavior that reveals the feeling to the outside world, and an inner awareness of feelings. Thus, from this short definition, we can understand that there are three elements of emotion: the physiology, behavior and subjective experience. The pphysiology of emotion - when a person experiences an emotion, there is physical arousal created by the sympathetic nervous system. The heart rate increases, breathing becomes more rapid, the pupils of the eye dilate, and the moth may become dry. Think about the last time you were angry and then about the last time you were frightened. Weren‘t the physical symptoms pretty similar? Although facial expressions do differ between various emotional responses, emotions are difficult to distinguish from one another based on outward bodily reactions alone. It is quite easy to mistake a person who is afraid or angry as being 75 aroused if the person‘s face is not visible, which can lead to much miscommunication and misunderstanding. The behavior of emotion- tells us how people behave in the grip of an emotion. There are facial expressions, body movements, and actions that indicate to others how a person feels. Frowns, smiles, and sad expressions combine with hand gestures, the turning of one‘s body, and spoken words to produce an understanding of emotion. People fight, run, kiss, and yell, along with countless other actions stemming from the emotions they feel. Facial expressions can vary across different cultures, although some aspects of facial expression seem to be universal. Subjective experience or labeling emotion is the third component of emotion and it involves interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it a label: anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, shame, interest, surprise and so on. Another way of labeling this component is to call it the ―cognitive component,‖ because the labeling process is a matter of retrieving memories of previous similar experiences, perceiving the context of the emotion, and coming up with a solution- a label. The label a person applies to a subjective feeling is at least in part a learned response influenced by that person‘s language and culture. Such labels may differ in people of different cultural backgrounds. 5.2.2. Theories of emotion I. James- Lang Theory of Emotion This theory of emotion is based on the work of William James (1884, 1890, 1894), who was also the founder of the functionalist perspective in the early history of psychology and a physiologist and psychologist in Denmark, Carl Lang (1885), came up with an explanation of emotion so similar to that of James that the two names are used together to refer to the theory –the James- Lang theory of emotion. In this theory, a stimulus of some sort (for example, the large snarling dog) produces a physiological reaction. This reaction, which is the arousal of the ―fight-or-flight‖ sympathetic nervous system (wanting to run), produces bodily sensations such as increased heart rate, dry mouth, and rapid breathing. James and Lang believed that physical arousal led to the labeling of the emotion (fear). Simply put, ―I am afraid because I am aroused,‖ ―I am embarrassed because my face is red, ―I am nervous because my stomach is fluttering,‖ and ―I am in love because of my heart rate increases when I look at her or him.‖ 76 Stimulus (e.g. snarling dog) Physiological arousal (High blood pressure, high heart rate, sweating) Emotion (fear) Figure 2. James Lang Theory of Emotion II. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion Physiologists Walter Cannon and (1927) and Philip Bard (1934) theorized that the emotion and the physiological arousal occur more or less at the same time. Cannon, an expert in sympathetic arousal mechanisms, did not feel that the physical changes aroused by different emotions were distinct enough to allow them to be perceived as different emotions. Bard expanded on this idea by stating that the sensory information that comes into the brain is sent simultaneously (by the thalamus) to both the cortex and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system. The fear and the bodily reactions are, therefore, experienced at the same time-not one after the other. ―I am afraid and running and aroused!‖ Physiological arousal (High blood pressure, high heart rate, sweating) Stimulus (e.g. snarling dog) Sub-cortical brain activity Emotion (fear) Figure 3. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion III. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory The early theories talked about the emotion and the physical reaction, but what about the mental interpretation of those components? In their cognitive arousal theory, Schachter-Singer (1962) proposed that two things have to happen before emotion occurs: the physical arousal and labeling of the arousal base on cues from the surrounding environment. These two things happen at the same time, resulting in the labeling of the emotion. For example, if a person comes across a snarling dog while taking a walk, the physical arousal (heart racing, eyes opening wide) is accompanied by the thought (cognition) that this must be fear. Then and only then will the person experience the fear of emotion. In other words, ―I am aroused in the presence of a scary dog; therefore, I must be afraid.‖ Cognitive appraisal Stimulus (e.g. snarling dog) Emotion (fear) Physiological arousal (High blood pressure, high heart rate, sweating) Figure 4. Schachter-Singer theory of emotion 77 Reflection  Dear student, among the three theories, which one explains your emotion? How? Summary  Motivation refers to factors that influence the initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior.  Motivation is of two types intrinsic, and extrinsic.  There are different approaches/theories of motivation such as instinct approach, drive reduction, arousal approach, incentive approach, cognitive approach and humanistic (hierarchy of needs).  Emotion is the ―feeling‖ aspect of consciousness, characterized by certain physical arousal, certain behavior that reveals the feeling to the outside world, and an inner awareness of feelings.  Emotion consists of three elements; the physiology, behavior and subjective experience. The source of emotion is different according to different theories.  As to the James-Lange theory, emotions are created by awareness of specific patterns of peripheral (autonomic) responses.  Cannon-Bard theory stated that the brain generates direct experiences of emotion.  Based on the Schachter-Singer theory, cognitive interpretation of events and physiological reactions to them shapes emotional experiences. Discussion Questions 1. Explain the intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation using relevant examples. 2. Your psychology professor tells you, ―Explaining behavior is easy! When we lack something, we are motivated to get it.‖ Which approach to motivation does your professor subscribe to? 3. Among the three theories of emotion, which one best explains your emotion experience? Explain. 78 CHAPTER SIX PERSONALITY Chapter Overview In the previous chapter, we have seen. This chapter focuses on the concept of personality and theories of personality. Among the different theories of personality, this chapter addresses on the psychoanalytic, trait and humanistic ones. Learning Appetizer “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself”. Shannon L. Alder Dear student, based on the above quote reflect on the following questions please? 1. What makes an individual different from others? 2. What do you think are the sources of personality difference among individuals? 3. Have you been asked to be a kind of person what others would want you to be? 4. Is there a big difference between what you want to be and what others want you to be? Learning Outcomes After completion of this chapter, you will be able to:  Define personality  Discuss the natures of psychoanalytic theory  Identify the structures of personality  Explain psychological defense mechanisms  Explain the essence of the trait theory of personality  Discuss the five factor model of personality  Explain the essence of humanistic theory of personality 6.1. Meaning of Personality Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, can you explain what personality is about?  What do you think are the reasons behind our behavior? Dear student, have you tried to explain? Great! The word personality is derived from the word ‗persona‘, which has Greek and Latin roots and refers to the theatrical masks worn by Greek actors. Personality has been defined in many 79 different ways, but psychologists generally view personality as the unique pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions that characterize a person. Personality should not be confused with character, which refers to value judgments made about a person‘s morals or ethical behavior; nor should it be confused with temperament, the enduring characteristics with which each person is born, such as irritability or adaptability. However, both character and temperament are vital personalities. 6.2. Theories of Personality Personality is an area of the still relatively young fields of psychology in which there are several ways in which the characteristic behavior of human beings can be explained. Though there are different theories of personality, we will see at least the three ones; psychoanalytic, trait and humanistic. The specific questions psychologists ask and the methods they use to investigate personality often depend on the types of personality theories they take. Some of the theories of personality are: psychodynamic, trait, and humanistic. 6.2.1. The psychoanalytic theory of personality The psychoanalytic theory was formulated by the Austrian physician named Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, ppersonality is formed within ourselves, arising from basic inborn needs, drives, and characteristics. He argued that people are in constant conflict between their biological urges (drives) and the need to tame them. The psychoanalytic theory includes a theory of personality structure. In Freud's view, personality has three parts which serves a different function and develops at different times: the id, the ego, and the superego. According to Freud, the way these three parts of personality interact with one another determines the personality of an individual. [ Id: If It Feels Good, Do It-The first and most primitive part of the personality in the infant is the id. The Id is a Latin word that means ―it ―. The id is a completely unconscious amoral part of the personality that exists at birth, containing all of the basic biological drives; hunger, thirst, sex, aggression, for example. When these drives are active, the person will feel an increase in not only physical tension but also in psychological tension that Freud called libido, the instinctual energy that may come into conflict with the demands a society‘s standards for behavior. When libidinal energy is high, it is unpleasant for the person, so the goal is to reduce libido by fulfilling the drive; Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, and satisfy the sex when the need for pleasure is present. Freud called this need for satisfaction 80 the pleasure principle, which can be defined as the desire for immediate satisfaction of needs with no regard for the consequences. The pleasure principle can be summed up simply as ―if it feels good, do it.‖ Ego: The Executive Director- According to Freud, to deal with reality, the second part of personality develops called the ego. The ego, from the Latin word for ―I‖, is mostly conscious and is far more rational, logical and cunning than the id. The ego works on the reality principle, which is the need to satisfy the demands of the id and reduce libido only in ways that will not lead to negative consequences. This means that sometimes the ego decides to deny the id its drives because the consequence would be painful or too unpleasant. pry Here‘s a hypothetical example: If a 6-month-old child sees an object and wants it, she will reach out and grab it despite her parent‘s frantic cries of ―No, no!‖ The parent will have to pry the object out of the baby‘s hands, with the baby protesting mightily all the while. But if the same child is about 2 years old, when she reaches for the object and the parent shouts ―No!‖ she will most likely draw back her hand without grabbing the object because her ego has already begun to develop. In the first case, the infant has only the id to guide her behavior, and the id wants to grab the object and doesn‘t care what the parent says or does. But the 2 years old has an ego and that ego knows that the parent‘s ―No!‖ may very well be followed by punishment, an unpleasant consequence. The 2 years old child will make a more rational, more logical decision to wait until the parent isn‘t looking and then grab the object and run. A simpler way of stating the reality principle is ―if it feels good, do it, but only if you can get away with it.‖ Superego: The Moral Watchdog-Freud called the third and final part of the personality, the moral center of personality, the superego. The superego (also Latin, meaning ―over the self‖) develops as a preschool-aged child learns the rules, customs, and expectations of society. There are two parts to the superego: the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego-ideal is a kind of measuring device. It is the sum of all the ideal or correct and acceptable behavior that the child has learned about from parents and others in the society. All behavior is held up to this standard and judged by the conscience. The conscience is part of the personality that makes people pride when they do the right thing and guilt, or moral anxiety when they do the wrong thing. 81 For Freud, our personality is the outcome of the continual battle for dominance among the id, the ego, and the superego. This constant conflict between them is managed by psychological defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms are unconscious tactics that either prevent threatening material from surfacing or disguise it when it does. Some of the psychological defense mechanisms are discussed below. Repression is a defense mechanism that involves banishing threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind. Example: an Ethiopian husband who is defeated by his wife will not remember/ talk it out again. Denial: is refusal to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation. Example; Mr. Geremew is an alcoholic who denies/ doesn‘t accept being an alcoholic. Regression: involves reverting to immature behaviors that have relieved anxiety in the past. Example: a girl/a boy who has just entered school may go back to sucking her/his thumb or wetting the bed. Rationalization: giving socially acceptable reasons for one's inappropriate behavior. Example: make bad grades but states the reason as being knowledge rather than grade oriented; and grades only showing superficial learning. Displacement: the defense mechanism that involves expressing feelings toward a person who is less threatening than the person who is the true target of those feelings. Example: Hating your boss but taking it out on family members. Projection: the defense mechanism that involves attributing one's undesirable feelings to other people. Example: a paranoid person uses projection to justify isolation and anger. Reaction formation: a defense mechanism that involves a tendency to act in a manner opposite to one's true feelings. Example: a person who acts conservation but focuses on violence in their behavior. Sublimation: defense mechanism that involves expressing sexual or aggressive behavior through indirect, socially acceptable outlets. Example: an aggressive person who loves playing football. Our use of defense mechanisms is not considered as inappropriate or unhealthy unless we rely on them to an extreme level. Remember that all of us use defense mechanisms to manage our conflict and stress. It may not be possible to get through life without such defenses. But, excessive use may create more stress than it alleviates. 82 Reflection   Dear learner, how do you see the strength and weakness of psychoanalytic theory of personality? Have you applied any of the defense mechanisms so far? 6.2.2. The trait theory of personality Brainstorming Questions  Dear student, do you think your personality is inherited or learned? Psychologists who take the trait approach see personality as a combination of stable internal characteristics that people display consistently over time and across situations. Trait theorists seek to measure the relative strength of the many personality characteristics that they believe are present in everyone. The trait approach to personality makes three main assumptions: 1. Personality traits are relatively stable, and therefore predictable, over time. So a gentle person tends to stay the sameway across time. 2. Personality traits are relatively stable across situations, and they can explain why people act in predictable ways in many different situations. A person who is competitive at work will probably also be competitive on the tennis court or at a party. 3. People differ in how much of a particular personality trait they possess; no two people are exactly alike on all traits. The result is an endless variety of unique personalities. Though the history of the trait theory of personality has come through different stages, our attention here will be paid on the five-factor model or the Big Five theory. The five trait dimensions can be remembered by using the acronym OCEAN, in which each of the letters is the first letter of one of the five dimensions of personality.  Openness can best be described as a person‘s willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences. People who try to maintain the status quo and who don‘t like to change things would score less on openness.  Conscientiousness refers to a person‘s organization and motivation, with people who score high in the dimension being those who are careful about being in places on time and careful with belongings as well. Someone scoring low on this dimension, for example, might always be late to important social events or borrow belongings and fail to return them or return in poor coordination. 83  Extraversion is a term first used by Carl Jung, who believed that all people could be divided into two personality types: extraverts and introverts. Extraverts are outgoing and sociable, whereas introverts are more solitary and dislike being the center of attention.  Agreeableness refers to the basic emotional style of a person, who may be easygoing, friendly and pleasant (at the high end of the scale) or grumpy, crabby and hard to get along with (at the low end).  Neuroticism refers to emotional instability or stability. People who are excessively worried, overanxious and moody would score high on this dimension, whereas those who are more even-tempered and calm could score low. Reflection  Dear student, According to OCEAN theory, which trait is dominant in your personality? 6.2.3. Humanistic theory of personality Brainstorming Questions   Dear student, what do you think is the focus of the humanistic theory of personality? Can you imagine its difference from the previous two theories? In the middle of the twentieth century, the pessimism of Freudian psychoanalysis with its emphasis on conflict and animalistic needs, together with the emphasis of behaviorism on external control of behavior, gave rise to the third force in psychology: the humanistic perspective. Humanistic approaches to personality emphasize people‘s inherent goodness and their tendency to move toward higher levels of functioning instead of seeing people as controlled by the unconscious, unseen forces (psychodynamic approaches), and a set of stable traits (trait approaches). It is this conscious, self-motivated ability to change and improve, along with people‘s unique creative impulses, that humanistic theorists argue make up the core of personality. Humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow wanted psychology to focus on the things that make people uniquely human, such as subjective emotions and the freedom to choose one‘s destiny. As Maslow‘s theory will be discussed in Chapter Four, in this chapter the discussion of the humanistic view of personality will focus on the theory of Carl Rogers. 84  Carl Rogers and Self-Cconcept Like Maslow, Rogers believed that human beings are always striving to fulfill their innate capacities and capabilities and to become everything that their genetic potential will allow them to become. This striving for fulfillment is called self-actualizing tendency. An important tool in human self-actualization is the development of an image of oneself or the self-concept. The self-concept is based on what people are told by others and how the sense of self is reflected in the words and actions of important people in one‘s life, such as parents, siblings, coworkers, friends, and teachers. Real and Ideal Self - Two important components of the self-concept are the real self (one‘s actual perception of characteristics, traits, and abilities that form the basis of the striving for self-actualization) and the ideal self (the perception of what one should be or would like to be). The ideal self primarily comes from those important, significant others in one‘s life, most often the parents. Rogers believed that when the real self and the ideal self are very close or similar to each other, people feel competent and capable, but when there is a mismatch between the real and ideal selves, anxiety and neurotic behavior can be the result. The two halves of the self are more likely to match if they aren‘t that far apart at the start. When one has a realistic view of the real self, and the ideal self is attainable, there usually isn‘t a problem of a mismatch. It is when a person‘s view of self is distorted or the ideal self is impossible to attain that problems arise. Once again, it is primarily how the important people (who can be either good or bad influences) in a person‘s life react to the person that determines the degree of agreement between real and ideal selves. Conditional and Unconditional Positive Regard- Rogers defined positive regard as warmth, affection, love, and respect that comes from the significant others (parents, admired adults, friends, and teachers) in people‘s experience. Positive is vital to people‘s ability to cope with stress and to strive to achieve self-actualization. Rogers believed that unconditioned positive regard, or love, affection and respect with no strings attached, is necessary for people to be able to explore fully all that they can achieve and become. Unfortunately, some parents, spouses, and friends give conditional positive regard, which is love, affection, respect and warmth that depend, or seem to depend, on doing what those people want. 85 Here is an example: as a freshman Tirhas was thinking about becoming a math teacher, a computer programmer. Chalet, also a freshman, already knew that she was going to be a doctor. While Tirhas‟ parents had told her that what she wanted to become was up to her and that they would love her no matter what, Chaltu‟s parents had made it very clear to her as a small child that they expected her to become a doctor. She was under the very impression that if she tried to choose any other career, she will lose her parents‟ love and respect. Tirhas‟ parents were giving her unconditional positive regard, but Chaltu‟s parents were giving her conditional positive regard. Chaltu was not as free as Tirhas to explore potential abilities. For Rogers, a person who is in the process of self-actualizing, activity exploring potentials and abilities and experiencing a match between real and ideal selves is a fully functioning person. Fully functioning people are in touch with their feelings and abilities and can trust their innermost urges and intuitions. To become a fully functioning, a person needs unconditional positive regard. In Rogers's view, Chaltu would not have been a fully functioning person. Although self-actualization and ‗to be fully functioning‘ are highly related concepts, there are some subtle differences. Self-actualization is a goal that people are always striving to reach, according to Maslow (1987). In Rogers's view, only a person who is fully functioning is capable of reaching the goal of self-actualization. To be fully functioning is a necessary step in the process of self-actualization. Maslow (1987) listed several people that he considered to be self-actualized people: Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt, for example. These were people that Maslow found to have the self-actualized qualities of being creative, autonomous and unprejudiced, for example. We may add Nelson Mandela of South Africa to this list. In Roger's view, these same people would be seen as having trusted their true feelings and innermost needs rather than just going along with the crowd, a description that certainly seems to apply in these three cases. Reflection  Dear student, how do you explain the importance of positive regard for personality development? Summary  Personality is the unique pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions that characterize a person. 86  The specific questions psychologists ask and the methods they use to investigate personality often depend on the types of personality theories they take.  According to the psychoanalytic theory of Freud, personality is formed within ourselves, arising from basic inborn needs, drives, and characteristics.  The trait theorists see personality as a combination of stable internal characteristics that people display consistently over time and across situations.  According to humanistic theorists, personality is conscious, self-motivated ability to change and improve, along with people‘s unique creative impulses.  Discussion Questions 1. Discuss the difference between personality, trait and temperament? 2. Explain defense mechanisms and provide your own examples. 3. Elaborate the concept of conditional and unconditional positive regards? 4. How do you judge the positive regards you get from your parents based on Rogers theory? 87 CHAPTER SEVEN PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND TREATMENT TECHNIQUES Chapter Overview Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. Many people have mental health concerns from time to time. But, a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function. A mental illness can make you miserable and can cause problems in your daily life, such as at school or work or in relationships. In most cases, symptoms can be managed with a combination of medications and psychological treatments. The contents of this unit are presented in four parts. In the first section, you will explore the Nature of Psychological Disorders, and in the second you will focus on the causes of psychological disorders, thirdly about types of Psychological Disorders and finally about treatment techniques. Learner Appetizer Dear students, discuss over the following points.  Have you observed a behavior of a person who behaves differently from others in your locality? What kind of name they are given? Why?  Do people who behave differently are all the same in their personality?  Do you think behavioral problems can be curable? Learning Outcomes At the end of this unit, you are expected to:  Describe how psychological disorders are defined, as well as the inherent difficulties in doing so.  Identify the nature of Psychological disorders.  Explain the causes of psychological disorders.  Identify the different types, characteristic features of psychological disorders.  Explain different theories to explain the nature of abnormality.  Discuss the treatment techniques. 88 7.1 Nature of Psychological Disorders Brainstorming Questions Consider the following cases  A young woman who showed great academic promise in high school begins to have difficulty in her studies in college. She feels lonely and becomes increasingly depressed and withdrawn.  A middle-age business man is fed up with his stressful job and the demands of his suburban life-style, packs a small bag and flees to the mountains determined to life in isolation.  How many of these people have a psychological disorder and need psychotherapist help? Dear student, try to examine and gives the reasons that can justify that the two cases mentioned above have psychological problems, what makes people to behave way and the criteria used to give the judgments. People who exhibit abnormal patterns of feelings, thinking and behavior most likely suffer from some kind of psychological disorders. Brainstorming question  By the way, what are the criteria used for determining that person has a psychological problem /disorder? We generally have three main criteria: abnormality, maladaptiveness, and personal distress. 1. Abnormality Brainstorming question  Can you give an example of a behavior that deviates from the behavior of the “typical” person, the norm? Abnormal behavior is a behavior that deviates from the behavior of the ‗typical‘ person; the norm. A society‘s norm can be qualitative and quantitative. When someone behaves in culturally unacceptable ways and the behaviors he/she exhibit violates the norm, standards, rules and regulations of the society, this person is most likely to have a psychological problem. Only abnormal behavior cannot be sufficient for the diagnosis of psychological problem. Hence, we need to consider the context in which a person‘s behavior happens. The context in which „abnormal‟ behavior occurs must be considered before deciding that it is symptomatic of psychological disorders. 2. Maladaptiveness Brainstorming question 89  Does a person‟s behavior seriously disrupt the social, academic, or life of an individual? Maladaptive behavior in one way or another creates a social, personal and occupational problem on those who exhibit the behaviors. These behaviors seriously disrupt the day-to-day activities of individuals that can increase the problem more. 3. Personal Distress Brainstorming question  Does a person‟s behavior cause personal distress including feelings of anxiety, depression, hopelessness and self-defeating thoughts? Our subjective feelings of anxiety, stress, tension and other unpleasant emotions determine whether we have a psychological disorder. These negative emotional states arise either by the problem itself or by events happen that on us. But, the criterion of personal distress, just like other criteria, is not sufficient for the presence of psychological disorder. This is because of some people like feeling distressed by their own behavior. Hence, behavior that is abnormal, maladaptive, or personally distressing might indicate that a person has a psychological disorder. Reflection  Dear student, how do you get the criteria used for determining the person has a psychological disorder or not as per your previous conception? 7.2. Causes of Psychological Disorders (Based on Perspectives) 7.2.1 The Biological Perspective Brainstorming question  Do you think that psychological disorders can be caused by biological factors? Current researchers believe that abnormalities in the working of chemicals in the brain, called neurotransmitters, may contribute to many psychological disorders. For example, over activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine, perhaps caused by an overabundance of certain dopamine receptors in the brain, has been linked to the bizarre symptoms of schizophrenia. 7.2.2 Psychological Perspectives Brainstorming question  Do you think that psychological factors cause behavior disorders? 90 In this part, we will examine three psychological perspectives: the psychoanalytic perspective, the learning, and the cognitive behavioral perspectives. A. Psychoanalytic perspective Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic approach, believed that the human mind consists of three interacting forces: the id (a pool of biological urges), the ego (which mediates between the id and reality), and the superego (which represent society‘s moral standards). Abnormal behavior, in Freud‟s view, is caused by the ego‟s inability to manage the conflict between the opposing demands of the id and the superego. Especially important is the individuals‘ failure to manage the conflicting of id‟s sexual impulses during childhood, and society‟s sexual morality to resolve the earlier childhood emotional conflicts that determine how to behave and think later. B. Learning perspective Most mental and emotional disorders, in contrast to the psychoanalytic perspective, arise from inadequate or inappropriate learning. People acquire abnormal behaviors through the various kinds of learning. C. Cognitive perspective Whether we accept it or not, the quality of our internal dialogue either builds ourselves up or tear ourselves down and has profound effect on our mental health. The main theme of this perspective is that self-defeating thoughts lead to the development of negative emotions and self-destructive behaviors. People's ways thinking about events in their life determines their emotional and behavioral patterns. Most of the time our thinking patterns in one way or another affects our emotional and behavioral wellbeing in either positive or negative ways. Hence, if there is a disturbance in on our thinking, it may manifest in our display of emotions and behaviors. Our environmental and cultural experiences in our life play a major role in the formation of our thinking style. Reflection  Dear students, what are the main themes of psychoanalytic, learning and cognitive perspective? 7.3. Types of Psychological Disorders 91 Brainstorming questions  What are Psychological Disorders? A psychological disorder is a condition characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Psychopathology is the study of psychological disorders, including their symptoms, etiology (i.e., their causes), and treatment. The term psychopathology can also refer to the manifestation of a psychological disorder. In this connection, there are many types of ppsychological disorders, but here in this section we will try to see only types of mood disorder, anxiety disorder and personality disorder. 1) Mood Disorders Brainstorming Question  What does moody mean? Have you ever meet someone who is extremely excited onetime but turns the other way shortly afterwards?  What are mood disorders in psychology? Mood disorders are characterized by a serious change in mood from depressed to elevated feelings causing disruption to life activities. Depressive disorder is characterized by overall feelings of desperation and inactivity. Elevated moods are characterized by mania or hypomania. The cycling between both depressed and manic moods is characteristic of bipolar mood disorders. In addition to type and subtype of mood, these disorders also vary in intensity and severity. For example, dysthymic disorder is a lesser form of major depression and cyclothymic disorder is recognized as a similar, but less severe form of bipolar disorder. If you have a mood disorder, your general emotional state or mood is distorted or inconsistent with your circumstances and interferes with your ability to function. You may be extremely sad, empty or irritable (depressed), or you may have periods of depression alternating with being excessively happy (mania). The disorders in this category include those where the primary symptom is a disturbance in mood. The disorders include Major Depression, Dysthymic Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Cyclothymia. 1) Major Depression (also known as depression or clinical depression) is characterized by depressed mood, diminished interest in activities previously enjoyed, weight disturbance, sleep disturbance, loss of energy, difficulty concentrating, and often includes feelings of 92 hopelessness and thoughts of suicide. 2) Dysthymia is often considered a lesser, but more persistent form of depression. Many of the symptoms are similar except to a lesser degree. Also, dysthymia, as opposed to Major Depression is steadier rather than periods of normal feelings and extreme lows. 3) Bipolar Disorder (previously known as Manic-Depression) is characterized by periods of extreme highs (called mania) and extreme lows as in Major Depression. Bipolar Disorder is subtyped either I (extreme or hypermanic episodes) or II (moderate or hypomanic episodes). 4) Cyclothymia: Like Dysthymia and Major Depression, Cyclothymia is considered a lesser form of Bipolar Disorder. 2) Anxiety Disorders Brainstorming questions  What do you feel when you are to site for exam? or what do you feel if you are just invited to give a speech to your classmates? Would you feel anxious? Is this a problem? When does it becomes a problem?  What is a phobia? Write working definition in your own terms. Then describe some specific phobia that you have heard of. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can be beneficial in some situations. It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay attention. Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness, and involve excessive fear or anxiety. Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect nearly 30 percent of adults at some point in their lives. However, anxiety disorders are treatable and a number of effective treatments are available. Treatment helps most people lead normal productive lives. Anxiety disorders can cause people into trying to avoid situations that trigger or worsen their symptoms. Job performance, school work and personal relationships can be affected. In general, for a person to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, the fear or anxiety must:  Be out of proportion to the situation or age inappropriate  Hinder your ability to function normally Anxiety Disorders categorize a large number of disorders where the primary feature is abnormal or inappropriate anxiety. The disorders in this category include Panic Disorder, 93 Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, Social Phobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. a) Panic Disorder is characterized by a series of panic attacks. A panic attack is an inappropriate intense feeling of fear or discomfort including many of the following symptoms: heart palpitations, trembling, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness. These symptoms are so severe that the person may actually believe he or she is having a heart attack. In fact, many, if not most of the diagnoses of Panic Disorder are made by a physician in a hospital emergency room. b) Agoraphobia literally means fear of the marketplace. It refers to a series of symptoms where the person fears, and often avoids, situations where escape or help might not be available, such as shopping centers, grocery stores, or other public place. Agoraphobia is often a part of panic disorder if the panic attacks are severe enough to result in an avoidance of these types of places. c) Specific or Simple Phobia and Social Phobia represent an intense fear and often an avoidance of a specific situation, person, place, or thing. To be diagnosed with a phobia, the person must have suffered significant negative consequences because of this fear and it must be disruptive to their everyday life. d) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions (thoughts which seem uncontrollable) and compulsions (behaviors which act to reduce the obsession). Most people think of compulsive hand washers or people with an intense fear of dirt or of being infected. These obsessions and compulsions are disruptive to the person's everyday life, with sometimes hours being spent each day repeating things, which were completed successfully already such as checking, counting, cleaning, or bathing. e) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs only after a person is exposed to a traumatic event where their life or someone else's life is threatened. The most common examples are war, natural disasters, major accidents, and severe child abuse. Once exposed to an incident such as this, the disorder develops into an intense fear of related situations, avoidance of these situations, reoccurring nightmares, flashbacks, and heightened anxiety to the point that it significantly disrupts their everyday life. f) Generalized Anxiety Disorder is diagnosed when a person has extreme anxiety in nearly every part of their life. It is not associated with just open places (as in agoraphobia), specific 94 situations (as in specific phobia), or a traumatic event (as in PTSD). The anxiety must be significant enough to disrupt the person's everyday life for a diagnosis to be made. 3) Personality Disorders Brainstorming question   What is a personality disorder in psychology? List types of personality disorder. A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people. Thus, Personality Disorders are characterized by an enduring pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving which is significantly different from the person's culture and results in negative consequences. This pattern must be longstanding and inflexible for a diagnosis to be made. There are around nine types of personality disorders, all of which result in significant distress and/or negative consequences within the individual: 1) Paranoid (includes a pattern of distrust and suspiciousness). 2) Schizoid (pattern of detachment from social norms and a restriction of emotions). 3) Schizotypal (pattern of discomfort in close relationships and eccentric thoughts and behaviors). 4) Antisocial (pattern of disregard for the rights of others, including violation of these rights and the failure to feel empathy). 5) Borderline (pattern of instability in personal relationships, including frequent bouts of clinginess and affection and anger and resentment, often cycling between these two extremes rapidly). 6) Histrionic (pattern of excessive emotional behavior and attention seeking). 7) Narcissistic (pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated self-worth, and need for admiration). 8) Avoidant (pattern of feelings of social inadequacies, low self-esteem, and hypersensitivity to criticism). 9) Obsessive-Compulsive (pattern of obsessive cleanliness, perfection, and control). Reflection  Dear students, what are the main types of Psychological disorders and could you please list down some of the examples from each types of Psychological disorders? 95 7.4 Treatment Techniques Brainstorming question  Would you please tell us the procedures and various forms of treatment techniques? Treatment of mental illnesses can take various forms. They can include medication, talktherapy, a combination of both, and can last only one session or take many years to complete. Many different types of treatment are available, but most agree that the core components of psychotherapy remain the same. Psychotherapy consists of the following: 1. A positive, healthy relationship between a client or patient and a trained psychotherapist 2. Recognizable mental health issues, whether diagnosable or not 3. Agreement on the basic goals of treatment 4. Working together as a team to achieve these goals With these commonalities in mind, this chapter will summarize the different types of psychotherapy, including treatment approaches and modalities and will describe the different professionals who perform psychotherapy. Treatment Approaches Providing psychological treatment to individuals with some kind of psychological problems is psychotherapy. When providing psychotherapy, there are several issues to be considered. First and foremost is empathy. It is a requirement for a successful practitioner to be able to understand his or her client's feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Second, being nonjudgmental is vital if the relationship and treatment are going to work. Everybody makes mistakes, everybody does stuff they aren't proud of. If your therapist judges you, then you don't feel safe talking about similar issues again. The therapist must have experience with issues similar to yours, be abreast of the research, and be adequately trained. Aside from these commonalties, therapists approach clients from slightly different angles, although the ultimate goal remains the same: to help the client reduce negative symptoms, gain insight into why these symptoms occurred and work through those issues, and reduce the emergence of the symptoms in the future. The three main branches include Cognitive, Behavioral, and Dynamic. Therapists who lean toward the cognitive branch will look at dysfunctions and difficulties as 96 arising from irrational or faulty thinking. In other words, we perceive the world in a certain way (which may or may not be accurate) and this result in acting and feeling a certain way. Those who follow more behavioral models look at problems as arising from our behaviors which we have learned to perform over years of reinforcement. The dynamic or psychodynamic camp stem more from the teaching of Sigmund Freud and look more at issues beginning in early childhood which then motivate us as adults at an unconscious level. Cognitive approaches appear to work better with most types of depression, and behavioral treatments tend to work better with phobias. Other than these two, no differences in terms of outcome have been found to exist. Most mental health professionals nowadays are more eclectic in that they study how to treat people using different approaches. These professionals are sometimes referred to as integrationists. Treatment Modalities Therapy is most often thought of as a one-on-one relationship between a client or patient and a therapist. This is probably the most common example, but therapy can also take different forms. Often time‘s group therapy is utilized, where individuals suffering from similar illnesses or having similar issues meet together with one or two therapists. Group sizes differ, ranging from three or four to upwards of 15 or 20, but the goals remain the same. The power of group is due to the need in all of us to belong, feel understood, and know that there is hope. All of these things make group as powerful as it is. Imagine feeling alone, scared, misunderstood, unsupported, and unsure of the future; then imagine entering a group of people with similar issues who have demonstrated success, who can understand the feelings you have, who support and encourage you, and who accept you as an important part of the group. It can be overwhelming in a very positive way and continues to be the second most utilized treatment after individual therapy. Therapy can also take place in smaller groups consisting of a couple or a family. In this type of treatment, the issues to be worked on are centered around the relationship. There is often an educational component, like other forms of therapy, such as communication training, and couples and families are encouraged to work together as a team rather than against each other. The therapist's job is to facilitate healthy interaction, encourage the couple or family to gain insight into their own behaviors, and to teach the members to listen to and respect each other. Sometimes therapy can include more than one treatment modality. A good example of this is 97 the individual who suffers from depression, social anxiety, and low self-esteem. For this person, individual therapy may be used to reduce depressive symptoms, work some on selfesteem and therefore reduce fears about social situations. Once successfully completed, this person may be transferred to a group therapy setting where he or she can practice social skills, feel a part of a supportive group, therefore improving self-esteem and further reducing depression. The treatment approach and modality are always considered, along with many other factors, in order to provide the best possible treatment for any particular person. Sometimes more than one is used, sometimes a combination of many of them, but together the goal remains to improve the life of the client. Reflection             Dear students, what are the main treatment approach and modality to be considered? Define psychological disorders? Describe the nature of psychological disorders? What are the perspectives used to explain the causes of psychological disorders? Can you mention any types of psychological disorders? Do you know the causes of mood disorders? Could you please explain any types of mood disorders? Explain the causes of anxiety disorders? Would you please tell us any types and symptoms of anxiety disorders? What do you think about the causes of personality disorders? Explain the types of Personality disorders? Discuss the procedures to be applied in the psychological treatments or therapies? Summary  This unit emphasized about Psychological disorders and treatment techniques.  In the primary part of the lesson, you have learned: on the meaning of psychological disorders; Nature of Psychological Disorders like abnormality, maladativeness, and personal distress.  In the remaining part of this unit, you have studied about types of psychological disorders like mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders.  The last portion on this unit addressed about treatment techniques like applying a positive, healthy relationship between a client or patient and a trained psychotherapist, Recognizable mental health issues, whether diagnosable or not, agreement on the basic goals of treatment and working together as a team to achieve these goal and finally about treatment approaches and treatment modalities. 98 CHAPTER EIGHT INTRODUCTION TO LIFE SKILLS Chapter Overview Dear learners, you have been studying so far about the field of psychology as a science of mind and behavior, factors affecting mind and behavior, the different components of mind and behavior, and, then, problems relating to mind and behavior. Now, you need to examine tools at our hands that help us prevent, improve, and manage mind and behavior for effective psychological functioning. These tools are what we call ‗life skills‘. Life skills are very important tools of success if you really give attention to develop them. Hence, you are expected to equip yourself with these skills as much as possible. As an aid to this effort, you are then to study in the remaining chapters about these skills. This chapter specifically focuses on conception, goals and components of life skills. It has three major sections. The first section addresses definition and notion of like skills. The second one presents goals of life skills. The final section is about components of life skills. Learning Appetizers 1. Try to think of the following fundamental questions about yourself.  Who am I?  Whom am I going to be?  Am I working to achieve my life goals?  Is my life channeled to my destination or I am just living instinctively? Have you tried to organize your thinking of the answers for the questions? Good! If not, you do not have to put yourself into stress for not knowing the answers. If you are committed to get the answers, attend to the discussions in the subsequent chapters. 2. How much do you appreciate the following quotes?  “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” (Albert Einstein).  “Before, you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, surrounded by [exasperations]” Sigmund Freud.  “He[she] who decides a case without hearing the other side, though he[she] decide justly, cannot be considered just” Seneca. 99 Learning Outcomes At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:  Define life skills  Describe features of life skills  Identify components of life skill, and  Give illustrative examples of life skills and analyze its features 8.1. Nature and Definition of Life skills Brain storming Question  Can you define life skills? Try to define it mechanically: Define “life” first and then “Skill”. Combine the two definitions together. You just check your definition with the presented next. Life skills are something of a buzzword and have been the focus of discussion across a range of personal and social affairs around the world. As defined in the document of World Health Organization life skills are “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.” It is also defined as “behavioral changes or behavioral development approach designed to address a balance of three areas: knowledge attitude and skills” (UNICEF‟s definition). Life skills are essentially those abilities that help to promote mental well-being and competence in young people as they face the realities of life. Hence, students who are able to understand and use these skills, along with their educational qualifications, will be better placed to take advantage of educational and employment opportunities. 8.3. Components of Life Skills Brainstorming Questions  Decide whether the following list of human cognitions, emotions and behaviors are components of life skills or not. Which ones are components of life skills, and which ones are not? Put your mark in yes/no column. The phrases may be new for you. Do not frustrate to try. No. Given attributes Yes 100 No 1 Critical thinking 2 Self- confidence 3 Self-awareness 4 Self- esteem 5 Decision making 6 Interpersonal relationship 7 Reflective communication 8 Peer resistance 9 Knowing rights and duties 10 Problem solving Have you tried your best to include or keep out the above components into/out of life skills? Now, read the following tips taken from Macmillan (2014) and relate with your answers. Life skills include all the components given in table above. If someone is able to develop them at least to an average level, s/he can lead a better and peaceful life. Moreover, to be effective in life, one has to develop skills of expressing views, challenging stereotypes, making connections, thinking creatively, getting good advices, managing time, learning how to learn, listening actively, and the like. The following are simple descriptions given for major components of life skills. The details are given in the subsequent chapters of the module. However, for better understanding, you need to read different materials written on life skills. Critical thinking - thinking more effectively within curricular subject areas, understanding the reasoning employed, assessing independently and appropriately, and solving problems effectively. It involves, as well, improved thinking skills in dealing with real life problemsin assessing information and arguments in social contexts and making life decisions. Self-confidence – is the degree to which one can rely on his/her ability to perform certain behavior alone or in public. It is individual‘s trust in his or her own abilities, capacities, and judgments, or belief that he or she can successfully face day-to-day challenges and demands (Psychology Dictionary Online). Self-awareness – knowledge and understanding of one‘s strengthens and weaknesses. Selfawareness involves monitoring our inner worlds, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. It is important, because it is a major mechanism influencing personal development. 101 Self-esteem - the degree to which we perceive ourselves positively or negatively; our overall attitude toward ourselves, which can be measured explicitly or implicitly. Decision-making - Processes involved in combining and integrating available information to choose, implement and evaluate one out of several possible courses of actions. Interpersonal relationships – the relationships a person have with others persons. They are social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people having various levels of intimacy and sharing, and implying the discovery or establishment of common ground. Reflective communication - attending communications with thoughtful and due attention to reflect on one‘s own thinking, behaviors and interaction with others. Peer pressure resistance – individual‘s abilities and skills to confront negative influences from his/her group members. Knowing rights and duties – One‘s knowledge and understanding of rights and duties of individuals, groups, institutions and nations allowed to do or not to do by law and/or a culture. Problem solving – the process of identifying a discrepancy between an actual and desired state of affairs, difficulties, obstacles and complex issues and then taking action to resolve the deficiency or take advantage of the opportunity. Reflection  Group the following into thinking, working, social and learning skills. Discuss the grouping in class.  Decision making  ICT  Cooperation  Citizenship  Self- knowledge  Agility and adaptability  People  Social responsibility Management  Critical thinking  Receiving and giving  Cultural awareness feedback  Time management  Accessing and  Social development analyzing  Handling criticism  Organization  Respecting diversity information  Innovation/exploration  Negotiating  Networking  Learner autonomy  Leading by influence 8.2. Goals of Life Skills Brainstorming Questions 102  Dear learner, consider any one of the skills in the box above. How do you think building this skill is useful to an individual? Dear learner, you may think that the way you are thinking about and doing things is right. You may feel that you do not need any more advice from books or another experienced person. You may think that you function well because you are the most performing person from your class in academics. However, life may not be as simple as you think it is. If someone has no skill for choosing the best and appropriate course of action amongst multitude of options, life may be as difficult as crashing a stone with your teeth. You may not handle the challenges and hurdles of life with the academic knowledge of the subject matter you have mastered. For instance, let us say that you are a mathematics teacher and you are an excellent person in the area. Do you think you can lead a better family life? Do you think that you can deal well with your colleagues in the work place? Do you think that you are able to plan into the future to have your living house? Yes, you may not have started thinking about these things or you may have intuitions in your mind. These are inevitable under normal circumstance. Leave alone such big life issues, dealing with simple daily hassles like misunderstanding with friends are difficult to handle. The goal of knowing and applying life skills is to lead a smooth and successful life at home, work place and in social relationship. These skills help us live in harmony with ourselves and others around us, select the goods from the bad, choose gold from soil, simplify life that is full of troubles otherwise etc. Therefore, you are advised to know, understand and exercise skills of life. Life skills are not something we learn only for the sake of academic life. We rather develop them for effective functioning in our life. Development of life skills is, therefore, a lifelong process where one has to update his/her skills and knowledge of dealing with life events. Life skills are generally applied in the context of academics, workplace and social events. For instance, they can be utilized in many content areas of health: prevention of drug use, sexual violence, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS prevention and suicide prevention. Its importance can also extend into consumer education, environmental education, peace education or education for development, livelihood and income generation, among others. In short, life skills empower young people to take positive action to protect themselves and promote health and positive social relationships. 103 With life skills, one is able to explore alternatives, weigh pros and cons and make rational decisions in solving each problem or issue as it arises. It also entails being able to establish productive interpersonal relationships with others. Life skills enable effective communication, for example, being able to differentiate between hearing, listening, and ensuring that messages are transmitted accurately to avoid miscommunication and misinterpretations. Reflection 1. Dear learner, develop a plan on how you are going to live with your dorm mates, class mates, university employees and teachers, and the outside community during your stay in the university? Share the activities you have listed for your classmates and decided to implement the best ones during your stay in the university. 2. A story for discussion Once up on a time, a man was in a journey from one place to another. While he was traveling, he came across a river. On the riverbank, he found a snake. Then, he asked the snake why he was there. The snake replied, “I am waiting for someone to help me to cross the river. As I know, you can swim. Would you allow me to roll around your head while you swim to cross the river?” The man had agreed and allowed the snake to roll around his head and swam to cross the river. However, the snake refused to go down after they crossed the river. While the man and the snake were arguing, a fox had come. The fox asked why they were debating. The man explained the reason that the snake refused to go down. The man promised to give a sheep for the fox if it solved the dispute. Then, the fox said, “It is not the law of the earth you (the snake) to be on the top of someone during mediation and you have to go down.” Then, snake agreed and went down. Then, the man killed the snake. As per the agreement, the fox was waiting for a sheep but the man slaughtered a sheep, put its skin on his dog, and sent it to the fox. The fox was waiting at the mouth of her hole because it suspected the man. When she saw the dog running towards her in sheep‟s hide, she said “We know the trick and dung holes.” From the story. Depending up on the story given, discuss the following questions.  What was wrong with the man?  What was wrong with the snake and fox?  What can you say about the value of being genuine in helping someone or getting support from others? 104 Summary  Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.  Life skills include critical thinking, self-confidence, self-awareness, self-esteem, decisionmaking, interpersonal relationship, reflective communication, negative peer pressure resistance, knowing rights and duties, and problem solving.  The goal of knowing and applying life skills is to lead smooth and successful life at home, work place and in social interpersonal relationship.  Developing life skills can produce the following effects: lessened violent behavior; increased pro-social behavior and decreased negative, self-destructive behavior; increased the ability to plan ahead and choose effective solutions to problems; improved self-image, self-awareness, social and emotional adjustment; increased acquisition of knowledge; improved classroom behavior; gains in self- control and handling of interpersonal problems and coping with anxiety; and improved constructive conflict resolution with peers, impulse control and popularity. The purpose for which this topic and the course in general are introduced to freshman students is to help them develop the life skills. So, the purpose of the chapter and the way it is presented needs to help students to explore themselves and acquire a better way of managing their life. 105 CHAPTER NINE INTRA-PERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS Chapter Overview Well, in the previous chapter of the module, you have learned the basics of life skills. In this chapter, you learn about intra-person and interpersonal skills. Specifically, the chapter focuses on self-concept, self-awareness, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-control, emotional intelligence, resilience and coping with stress, anger management, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and decision-making. These concepts are extensions of the notion of life skills you have learned earlier. Learning Appetizer Read the following story and analyze problem-solving skills of the girl in the story. “There was a girl living with her father and mother. Once up on a time, her mother was in a quarrel with her father and, therefore, cooked porridge but added a poison in it planning to kill her husband. Then, the mother served the poisoned food to the husband. The girl was watching while her mother was putting the poison in the porridge. So, the girl said, “Do not allow my father to eat the porridge”. When she was asked why, she replied “If I tell you the reason, my mother will die. If I keep quiet, my father will die.” What do you learn from the story? Discuss your answer with your classmates. Learning Outcomes At the end of the chapter, you are expected to:  Define self-concept, self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-confidence and illustrate with real life examples;  Describe features of emotional intelligence and anger management and demonstrate with examples from your experience;  Explain resilience and coping with stress by taking different stressors as an example;  Explain critical and creative thinking, problem solving and decision making by taking hypothetical/real life stories 106 9.1. Self-Concept and Self-Awareness Brainstorming Questions     Have you ever think of your thinking and attitudes you have of yourself? How much the knowledge you have of yourself is dependable? How much you appreciate your physical appearance, competence, feelings, and skills? Can you identify your strengths and weaknesses? List them one by one? A. Self-concept As discussed by Gecas (1982) in a document entitled Annual Review of Sociology, the self is a reflexive phenomenon that develops in social interaction and is based on the social character of human language. The concept of self provides the philosophical underpinning for social-psychological inquiries into the self-concept. The "self-concept," on the other hand, is a product of this reflexive activity. It is the concept the individual has of himself/herself as a physical, social, and spiritual or moral being. Self-concept has the following important features:  It is the totality of ideas that a person holds about the self  It includes everything the person believes to be true about himself/herself  It is composed of relatively permanent self-assessments that of course changes over time with life experiences and relationships  It is not restricted to the present. It also includes past and future selves  It is a multi-dimensional construct that refers to an individual's perception of "self" in relation to a number of characteristics, such as academics, gender roles, racial identity, and many others  It guides our actions, motivations, expectations and goals for future B. Self- awareness Self-awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. It is an attribute of one‘s selfconcept that allows understanding other people‘s attitudes and responses to them. High self-awareness is a solid predictor of good success in life, perhaps because a self-aware person knows when an opportunity is a good fit for them and how to make an appropriate enterprise work well. However, most of us are hardly aware of why we succeed or fail; or why we behave as we do. Our minds are so busy with daily hassles that we usually self107 reflect only when something goes awfully wrong. Our response in challenging situations is often to get defensive, make excuses, or blame another person, because we do not want to see our part in the disaster. If we can observe ourselves during such incidents, it will be a good start to self-awareness. Here are some suggestions to start building self-awareness:  Practice mindfulness  Become a good listener  Become more self-aware  Open your mind to new perspectives  Develop self-esteem  Look at yourself objectively  Take feedback from others  Know your strengths and weaknesses  Set intentions and goals Reflection  What is the difference between self-concept and self-awareness 9.2. Self-esteem and self-confidence Brainstorming Questions   Do you think that you are beautiful/ handsome? “Confidence is better than medicine.” Do you agree with this preposition? A. Self-esteem "Esteem" is derived from the Latin aestimare, meaning "to appraise, value, rate, weigh, estimate," and self-esteem is our cognitive and, above all, emotional appraisal of our own worth. More than that, it is the matrix through which we think, feel, and act, reflects and determines our relation to ourselves, to others, and to the world. Self-esteem deals with the evaluative and emotional dimensions of the self-concept. Self-evaluation or self-esteem refers to the evaluative and affective aspects of the self-concept. 108 Self-esteem refers to an individual's overall self-evaluation. It is the judgment or opinion we hold about ourselves. It‟s the extent to which we perceive ourselves to be worthwhile and capable human beings. Increasingly, however, various aspects of self-esteem have been differentiated. However, common to these subdivisions is the distinction between (a) self-esteem based on a sense of competence, power, or efficacy and (b) self-esteem based on a sense of virtue or moral worth. The importance of this distinction lies in the suggestion that these two bases of self-esteem may be a function of different processes of self-concept formation and that they constitute different sources of motivation. Briefly, competency-based self-esteem is tied closely to effective performance. As a result, it is associated with self-attribution and social comparison processes. Self-esteem based on virtue (termed self-worth) is grounded in norms and values concerning personal and interpersonal conduct e.g. justice, reciprocity, and honor. The process of reflected appraisal contributes to the formation of self-worth. B. Self-confidence The term confidence comes from the Latin fidere, "to trust." To be self-confident is to trust in oneself, and, in particular, in one‘s ability or aptitude to engage successfully or at least adequately with the world. A self-confident person is ready to rise to new challenges, seize opportunities, deal with difficult situations, and take responsibility if and when things go wrong. Just as self-confidence leads to successful experience, successful experience leads to selfconfidence. Although any successful experience contributes to our overall confidence, it is, of course, possible to be highly confident in one area, such as cooking or dancing, but very insecure in another, such as mathematics or public speaking. Self-confidence is the belief in oneself and abilities, which describes an internal state made up of what we think and feel about ourselves. Sometimes, people use self-confidence and courage interchangeably. However, they have differences. In the absence of confidence, courage takes over. Confidence operates in the realm of the known, whereas courage in that of the unknown, the uncertain, and the fearsome. 109 I cannot be confident in diving from a height of 10 meters unless someone once had the courage to dive from a height of 10 meters. Courage is a nobler attribute than confidence because it requires greater strength, and because a courageous person is one with limitless capabilities and possibilities. Reflection Discuss whether the following attributes are the outcomes of low self-confidence or not. a) shyness b) communication difficulties c) social anxiety d) lack of assertiveness Do the following strategies help to improve self-confidence? a) Practicing self-acceptance a) Focus on your achievements b) Making personal changes c) Seeking out positive experiences and people d) Positive affirmations e) Rewards and support How self-confident do you think you are? What do you think you need to do to improve your self-confidence? 9.3. Self-Control Brainstorming Questions Comment on the following proverbs:  He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.  It is said, “A person who controls oneself is better than the one who controls a city.” What does this mean? Do you agree with it? Self-control is achieved by refraining from actions we like and instead performing actions we prefer not to do as a means of achieving a long-term goal. People often want to change themselves by, for example, quitting smoking, going on a diet, studying more effectively, and so on but they may find it difficult to stick with such long range goals. Instead, people often succumb to the lure of an immediate reward and break with their prior commitment. In other words, we fail to control ourselves in some meaningful way. Some researchers have suggested that the act of controlling ourselves is taxing and makes exercising subsequent self-control more difficult. It is said that we have a limited ability to 110 regulate ourselves, and if we use our control resources on unimportant tasks, there will be less available capacity for the important ones. Reflection   Dear students, identify a habit (everyone has some kind of unwanted habit) that you what to abandon. Find the best strategy to control yourself from the terrible habit. Share how you are going to do it for your classmate. How do you see yourself in terms of self-control? How self-controlled you think you are? Is self-control the same as self-inhibition? 9.4. Anger Management Brainstorming Question  What do you do when you are angry at someone in your dorm mate because s/he insulted you? Anger is a state of emotion where a person is irritated by block of interests, loss of possession or threats to personality. Everyone gets angry at times. When people are angry or annoyed, they may walk away or use a harsh tone of voice. Other times, they may yell, argue, or start a fight. If you learn to manage, or control your anger, you can redirect these surges of anger energy to reach your goal. When anger is not controlled, conflict becomes worse. Dwelling on how angry you are doesn‟t help to defuse your anger. Instead your anger can build and lead to rage. At this stage, you may no longer be able to think clearly. The ancient martial art teaches those who practice the art to remain calm, to empty themselves of anger, and to gain the advantage in a conflict by using their opponent‘s tendency to strike out in blind rage. This type of self-control is not just for martial artists. You can develop these techniques to control your anger and prevent conflicts from getting out of hand. Below are some of the ttechniques for mmanaging anger:  Recognize anger as a signal of vulnerability - you feel devalued in some way.  When angry, think or do something that will make you feel more valuable, i.e., worthy of appreciation. 111  Do not trust your judgment when angry. Anger magnifies and amplifies only the negative aspects of an issue, distorting realistic appraisal.  Try to see the complexity of the issue. Anger requires narrow and rigid focus that ignores or oversimplifies context.  Strive to understand other people's perspectives. When angry you assume the worst or outright demonize the object of your anger.  Do not justify your anger. Instead, consider whether it will help you act in your long-term best interest.  Know your physical and mental resources. Anger is more likely to occur when tired, hungry, sick, confused, anxious, preoccupied, distracted, or overwhelmed.  Focus on improving and repairing rather than blaming. It's hard to stay angry without blaming and it's harder to blame when focused on repairing and improving.  When angry, remember your deepest values. Anger is about devaluing others, which is probably inconsistent with your deepest values.  Know that your temporary state of anger has prepared you to fight when you really need to learn more, solve a problem, or, if it involves a loved one, be more compassionate. Therefore, if you are poor at controlling your anger, try to exercise the suggestions given above whenever you come across with state of anger in your life. After sometime, you will make them part of your daily behavior and you may not need to remember them. Reflection  How do you see yourself in terms of managing anger? 9.5. Emotional Intelligence and Managing Emotion Brainstorming Question  How much you value patience in your culture? Dear learner, try to remember what you have studied about emotions earlier. Having the basics emotions in your mind, you learn about emotional intelligence in this section of the module. Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one‘s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence includes at least three skills: emotional 112 awareness, or the ability to identify and name one‘s own emotions; the ability to harness those emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes both regulating one‘s own emotions when necessary and helping others to do the same. Emotional intelligence describes the ability, capacity, skill, or self- perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one‟s self, of others, and of groups. People who possess a high degree of emotional intelligence know themselves very well and are also able to sense the emotions of others. They are affable, resilient, and optimistic. By developing their emotional intelligence, individuals can become more productive and successful at what they do, and help others become more productive and successful too. The process and outcomes of emotional intelligence and its development also contain many elements known to reduce stress. Promoting understanding and relationships, fostering stability, continuity, and harmony helps to develop emotional intelligence family, organization and society. Last but not least, it links strongly with concepts of love and spirituality. Individuals have different personalities, wants, needs, and ways of showing their emotions. In the most generic framework, five domains of emotional intelligence are divided into personal (self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-motivation) and social (social awareness and social skills) competences. Reflection  Discuss how self-awareness, self-regulation, self-evaluation, social awareness and social skills are related to emotional intelligence.  How do you see yourself in terms of emotional intelligence? Do you think you have a reasonable level of emotional intelligence or do you think you need to improve?  What do you need to do to improve your emotional intelligence? 9.6. Stress, Coping with Stress and Resilience Brainstorming Questions  Do you attribute personal setbacks such as failure in exams solely to your inadequacy or are you able to identify contributing factors that are specific and temporary?  Do you demand a perfect streak or are you able to accept that life is a mix of losses and wins? 113  How do you manage when stressed?  Let us say you get a bad grade while you are expecting an “A”. What do you do? You try to know the reason why you get the grade or study hard to get a better grade next time in another course? Stress is a very common condition. You feel your heart racing, palms sweating, and stomach growling when you are under stress, perhaps due to an upcoming job interview or a huge occasion such as a wedding. You also feel it when you are overburdened with work; when you go through a crisis, or when you face your sources of fear like an angry dog or a plane flight. Stress generally refers to two things: the psychological perception of pressure, on the one hand, and the body's response to it, on the other, which involves multiple systems from metabolism to muscles and memory. Some stress is necessary for all living systems as it is the means by which you encounter and respond to the challenges and uncertainties of existence. However, prolonged or repeated arousal of the stress response, a characteristic of modern life, can have harmful physical and psychological consequences, including heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, and depression. Mainly, stress comes from three categories of stressors: catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles. Catastrophes - Catastrophes are unpredictable, large scale events, such as war and natural disasters, that nearly everyone appraises as threatening. Significant Life Changes - the death of a loved one, loss of a job, leaving home, marriage, divorce, etc. Life transitions and insecurities are often keenly felt during young adulthood. Daily life events - our happiness stems less from enduring good fortune than from our responses to daily events such as awaiting to hear medical results, perfect exam scores, gratifying phone call, your team‘s winning the big game and the like. This principle works for negative events, too. Everyday annoyances like rush hour traffic, aggravating housemates, long lines at the store, too many things to do, e-mail spam, and obnoxious cell phone talkers may be the most significant sources of stress. Although some people can simply shrug off such hassles, others are easily affected by them. People‘s difficulties in letting go of unattainable goals is another everyday stressor with health consequences. 114 Coping With Stress Stressors are unavoidable. As they are coupled with heart disease, depression, and lowered immunity, we need to learn to cope with the stress in our lives. There are two ways of dealing with stress: problem focused and emotion-focused. Problem focused - when we feel a sense of control over a situation and think we can change the circumstances or change ourselves, we may address stressors directly, with problem focused coping. For example, if our impatience leads to fight our friend, we may go directly to that friend to work things out. Emotion-focused - When we cannot handle the problem or believe that we cannot change a situation, we may turn to emotion-focused coping. If, despite our best efforts, we cannot get along with that friend, we may reach out to other friends to help address our own emotional needs. Emotion-focused strategies can be non-adaptive, as when students worried about not keeping up with the reading in class go out and party to clear their mind. A problem-focused strategy (catching up with the reading) would be more effectively reduce stress and promote long term health and satisfaction. When challenged, some people tend to respond more with cool problem-focused coping, others with emotion-focused coping. Several factors affect the ability to cope successfully, including feelings of personal control, outlook, and supportive connections. Resilience Adversity is a fact of life and resilience is succeeding in the face of the adversity. Resilience is about getting through pain and disappointment without letting them crush your spirit. In other language, resilience is the quality to come back at least as strong as before after being knocked down by adversity. In the process of resilience, individuals focus on finding a way to rise from the failure rather than letting difficulties or failure overcome them. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences (APA definition). 115 A positive attitude, optimism, the ability to regulate emotions, and the ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback are resilience strategies. Research shows that optimism helps to blunt the impact of stress on the mind and body in the wake of disturbing experiences. It gives people access to their cognitive resources, enabling cool-headed analysis of what might have gone wrong and consideration of behavioral paths that might be more productive. Resilience is not some magical quality but it takes real mental work to transcend hardship. Even after misfortune, resilient people are able to change course and move toward achieving their goals. Being resilient does not mean that a person does not experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress. Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone. Reflection  Do the following strategies are helpful in building resilience? a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) Making connections with family and friends Avoiding seeing crises as insurmountable problems Accepting that change is a part of living Moving toward your goals Taking decisive actions Looking for opportunities for self-discovery Nurturing a positive view of yourself Keeping things in perspectives Maintaining a hopeful outlook, and Taking care of yourself. 9.7. Critical and Creative Thinking Brainstorming Questions  What if you are given a chance to choose between your father and mother?  Assume that you are in the middle of grassland and a flame of fire started at some distance from you from the direction the wind is coming. What do you do to escape the fire? 116 Critical thinking skills includes decision-making/problem solving skills and information gathering skills. The individual must also be skilled at evaluating the future consequences of their present actions and the actions of others. They need to be able to determine alternative solutions and to analyze the influence of their own values and the values of those around them. Critical thinking is "Purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, contextual considerations upon which judgment is based (ADEA). Critical thinking is also regarded as intellectually engaged, skillful, and responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment because it requires the application of assumptions, knowledge, competence, and the ability to challenge one's own thinking. Critical thinking requires the use of self-correction and monitoring to judge the rationality of thinking as well as reflexivity. When using critical thinking, individuals step back and reflect on the quality of that thinking (ADEA). A central goal of contemporary education is to improve the thinking skills of students, and the notions of critical thinking and of creative thinking provide focusses for this effort. Educators strive for students to be better critical thinkers. This implies thinking more effectively within curricular subject areas, understanding the reasoning employed, assessing independently and appropriately, and solving problems effectively. It involves, as well, improved thinking skills in dealing with real life problems, in assessing information and arguments in social contexts and making life decisions. We also want students to be more creative, not simply to reproduce old patterns but to respond productively to new situations, to generate new and better solutions to problems, and to produce original works. The ability to connect the seemingly unconnected and meld existing knowledge into new insight about some element of how the world works. These goals of fostering critical thinking and of fostering creativity are generally considered to be quite separate and distinct. Critical thinking is seen as analytic. It is the means for arriving at judgments within a given framework or context. Creative thinking, on the other hand, is seen as imaginative, constructive, and generative. Learn the comparisons given in the below. 117 Critical Thinking              Creative thinking              Analytic Convergent Vertical Probability Judgment Hypothesis testing Objective Answer Closed Linear Reasoning Logic Yes but Generative Divergent Lateral Possibility Suspended judgment Hypothesis forming Subjective An answer Open-ended Associative Speculating Intuition Yes and Reflection  Critical thinkers foster which one of the following attributes? a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) l) Be capable of taking a position or changing a position as evidence dictates Remain relevant to the point Seek information as well as precision in information Be open minded Take the entire situation into account Keep the original problem in mind Search for reasons Deal with the components of a complex problem in an orderly manner Seek a clear statement of the problem Look for options Exhibit sensitivity to others' feelings and depth of knowledge Use credible sources 9.8. Problem Solving and Decision Making Brainstorming Question  Let us say you graduated from university and employed and you want to marry. How do you identify the best woman/man that can qualify to your preference out of many and decide to marry? Problem solving 118 Problems are a central part of human life and it is almost impossible to avoid it. Most of us have problems that have been posed to us (e.g., assignments from your teacher). There are two classes of problems: those that are considered well defined and others that are considered ill defined. Well-defined problems are those problems whose goals, path to solution, and obstacles to solution are clear based on the information given. For example, the problem of how to calculate simple simultaneous equation. In contrast, ill-defined problems are characterized by their lack of a clear path to solution. Such problems often lack a clear problem statement as well, making the task of problem definition and problem representation quite challenging. For example, the problem of how to find a life partner is an ill-defined problem. Problem solving is a process in which we perceive and resolve a gap between a present situation and a desired goal, with the path to the goal blocked by known or unknown obstacles. In general, the problem situation is one not previously encountered, or where at least a specific solution from past experiences is not known. Steps in problem solving Even though the type, degree and context of the problem vary from individual to individual, there are activities that should be accomplished one after the other. The steps are: 1. Recognize or identify the problem. 2. Define and represent the problem mentally. 3. Develop a solution strategy alternatives and select the best one. 4. Organize knowledge about the problem and avail the necessary resources. 5. Allocate mental and physical resources for solving the problem. 6. Monitor his or her progress toward the goal. 7. Evaluate the solution for accuracy. Decision-making People often turn to groups when they must make key decisions, for groups can draw on more resources than one individual. Groups can generate more ideas and possible solutions by discussing the problem. Groups, too, can evaluate the options that they generate during discussion more objectively. Before accepting a solution, a group may stipulate that a certain number of people must favor it, or that it meets some other standard of acceptability. People generally believe that a group‘s decision will be superior to an individual‘s decision. Groups, however, do not always make good decisions. 119 Decision-making is a selection process where one of two or more possible solutions is chosen to reach a desired goal. The steps in both problem solving and decision-making are quite similar. In fact, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably (Huitt, 1992). Summary  The self-concept is conceptualized as an organization (structure) of various identities and attributes, and their evaluations, developed out of the individual's reflexive, social, and symbolic activities.  Self-awareness is having a clear perception of one‘s personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions.  Self-esteem is the judgment or opinion we hold about ourselves. It‘s the extent to which we perceive ourselves to be worthwhile and capable human beings.  Self-esteem refers to an individual's overall self-evaluation.  Self-control is achieved by refraining from actions we like and instead performing actions we prefer not to do as a means of achieving a long-term goal.  Everyone gets angry at times. When people are angry or annoyed, they may walk away or use a harsh tone of voice. Other times, they may yell, argue, or start a fight.  Emotional intelligence describes the ability, capacity, skill, or self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one‘s self, of others, and of groups.  Stress generally refers to two things: the psychological perception of pressure, on the one hand, and the body's response to it, on the other, which involves multiple systems, from metabolism to muscles to memory. Mainly, there are three categories of stressors: catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles.  Resilience is about getting through pain and disappointment without letting them crush your spirit.  There are two classes of problems: those that are considered well defined and others that are considered ill defined. Reflection  Discuss/can be assignment/ over the following points and explain for others in class. 1. What is the relationship among self-concept, self-awareness, self-esteem and selfconfidence? 2. Can self-concept change? How? 3. Explain similarities and difference between self-control and anger managements. 4. Explain similarities and differences between coping with stress and resilience. 120 CHAPTER TEN ACADEMIC SKILLS Chapter Overview Dear learners, you have learned about intra-personal and personal skills vital for successful living in very complex world. In this chapter of the module, you learn about skills, which are helpful to perform in one‘s academic life. Once you develop the skills, you can use them throughout your life and they are not limited to campus life. Time management, note-taking, test-taking, dealing with anxiety, goal setting and career developments skills are the focuses of the chapter. As you have been doing in learning contents of the previous chapters, you have to keep up your commitment to learn and internalize the skills explained in the chapter. Learning Appetizer How you can relate the following Ethiopian proverb in terms of time management and study skill “A lazy sheep herd waits until sheep went far to return them back‖ ―A hyena in urgency catches the horn‖ “A person in hurry cannot breed goats” “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Chapter Learning Outcomes At the end of the chapter, you will be able to;  Describe features of time management  Explain applications of study skills  Identify note-taking and study skills important for students  Demonstrate test anxiety and its coping mechanisms  Describe goal setting process  Demonstrate career development skills with examples 10.1. Time Management Brainstorming Questions 121  Have you every counted the number of years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds you have lived?  How many of your times have you spent for good things?  How many of the time you have spent without something important for your life since you started thinking as adolescent?  Does time management mean being busy without having any leisure time? Time management is the ability to plan and control how someone spends the hours in a day to accomplish his or her goals effectively. This involves deal with time between the domains of life: work, home, social life, and hobbies. It is important to establish clear goals and priorities in order to set aside non-essential tasks that can waste time, and to monitor where the time actually goes. Good time management as deciding what someone wants to get out of life and efficiently per suing these goals. Time management does not mean being busy all the time. It means using your time the way you want to use it which can include large doses of day dreaming and doing nothing. Good time management brings with it increasing relaxation, less stress, more satisfaction and greater accomplishment. Time is a communal non-renewable resource for all human beings but abused by many individuals. Time is not something that we can get back again once passed although it is a freely available resource. Many of us do not consider time as a resource and we savagely spend it without doing something important for our life. Some people even use it to harm themselves. Therefore, wise utilization of time is very beneficial for success, happiness and peace of mind. Much like money, time is both valuable and limited: it must be saved, used wisely, and budgeted. Good time management is essential to success at university. Planning your time allows you to spread your work over sessions, avoid a jam of works, and cope with study stress. Many deadlines for university works occur at the same time. Hence, unless you plan in advance, you will find it impossible to manage. To meet the demands of study, you need to spread your workload over sessions of time. Work out what needs to be done and when they should be done. Plan on how you have to use your available time as efficiently as possible. People who practice good time management techniques often find that they: • Are more productive, • Have more energy for things they need to accomplish, 122 • Feel less stressed, • Are able to do the things they want, • Get more things done, • Relate more positively to others, and • Feel better about themselves. Finding a time management strategy that works best for individuals depends on their personality, ability to self-motivate and level of self-discipline. By incorporating some, or all of the ten strategies Chapman and Burpured below, you can manage your time more effectively. 1. Know how you spend time 2. Set priorities 3. Use a planning tool 4. Get organized 5. Schedule your time appropriately 6. Delegate – get help from others 7. Stop procrastinating 8. Manage external time wasters 9. Avoid multi-tasking 10. Stay healthy Reflection  Evaluate the rightness or the wrongness of the following proverbs in terms of the time management you have learned in the above section. a) Time is precious/gold. b) Lost time is never found again. c) Time cures all things. a) Time is money. b) Time and tide wait for no man. 10.2. Note-taking and Study Skills Brainstorming  How you take notes while your teacher is teaching in class? Can you catch up with him/her? 123 In order to succeed in learning, it is often necessary to take good notes as lecturers often provide you with key information for the course. Staying organized while taking notes is just as important as note-taking itself because if you have good notes to study, you will be more likely to do well in exams. There are several strategies which will help you stay organized and take good notes. However, due to limitation of the scope the module, the following comprehensive strategies are considered for better note-taking during classroom lesson. Getting Organized Before you go to class, you need to have the necessary materials such as notebooks and pen. Ringed exercise book is usually the most suitable one to have organized system of note taking. It allows you to place your syllabi in the front, insert handouts by date, and add notes as needed. It also allows you to remove sections of notes and place them side by side to create a big picture view of a main points, chapters, or sections. Moreover, in order to develop good notes, you have to prepare yourself and select the best approach to take notes during class. Before Class Effective note taking begins prior to class by creating a framework of reference. This strategy provides familiarity with terms, ideas and concepts discussed in lecture and leads to an active role in your own learning. Therefore; • Determine the lecture topic and review past readings and notes • Complete readings assigned to lecture topics and preview any other auxiliary materials • Prepare questions you may have from the readings During Class Depending on the type of class and personal learning style, you will develop your own method of taking notes. Here are some guidelines and methods to assist you with the process:  Date your notes  Keep the objective/theme of the class in mind  Record notes in your own words  Make your notes brief and focus on the pain points  If you fall behind, stop. Make a mark in your notebook, listen for a few minutes until you feel caught up, then begin taking notes again. It is better to listen and get the information later. 124 Common Note Taking Methods The following are the three major note-taking methods.  Cornell Method - a systematic and simple method for note taking that breaks the note page into three sections (Cue column, note-taking column and summary) to allow for organized recording and review the main points during lecture. You can also use it while reading your text books.  Outlining - Recording the main ideas of the lecture to the left margin of the page in your exercise book. Indent more specific information underneath and further indent examples.  Charting - Charting is a good strategy for courses that require comparisons/contrasts of specific dates, places, people, events, importance and how the information relates. After Class  Immediately after class, remain in the classroom or find a quiet space close by and review notes.  To solidify your understanding and connect new concepts with previous concepts, review your notes as soon as possible following class.  Connect with another member of the class and create an interactive discussion about the lecture.  Visit your professor during office hours with questions. Be specific, state what you understand and ask if you missed any important concepts.  Instead of recopying your notes, record yourself reviewing what you wrote (if possible). Speaking out loud is an interactive process that leads to a more in-depth understanding. Additionally, you will have a recording that can be played back. Reflection  Which of the note-taking methods you prefer? Why?  How do you see a proverb “Body present mind absent” in relation to note-taking during lecture time in class? 10.3. Test-Taking Skill Brainstorming Question  How do you prepare yourself for tests/exams? 125 Out of their experiences, every student practice certain type of test-taking thump rules. Depending up on what they think right, they prepare themselves for tests and approach the tests. Similarly, there are no agreed up on test-taking skills among scholars. However, there are some suggestions that can help students in doing tests. Some of these suggestions are given below. 1. Attend all classes 2. Take organized and clear lecture notes 3. Plan your study time and set study goals 4. Use SQ3R(Survey, Question, Read, Revise and Recite) study style 5. Use memorizing techniques such as associating difficult material with something you already know 6. Divide the review material into logical sections and concentrate on one at a time. 7. Organize the information you must remember 8. Know your teacher(e.g., His/her focus areas) and meet with your teacher out of class 9. Make your presence known in class by your courtesy, cooperation and willingness to learn 10. Ask questions to increase your understanding of course material 11. Make use of tutoring services and student support centers of the college 12. Separate review time from daily assignments 13. Start reviewing systematically and early, not just the night before the test 14. Practice predicting and answering test questions. 15. Learn test-taking terms and strategies. 16. Examine previous tests to ascertain what you did well and what you did not do so well. 17. Find out what kind of a test it will be: objective, essay, or a combination of both. 18. Find out when and where the test will be given; what you are expected to bring with you (pens); and what you are allowed to bring with you (dictionary). Get to the test site early with appropriate materials and do deep breathing exercises to relax. Do not, at this time, continue to try to study. 19. Get plenty of sleep the night before the exam. 20. Get up early enough to avoid rushing and to eat a healthy breakfast. 21. Tell yourself you will do well - and you will! 126 Reflection  How many of the test-taking advices listed above are acceptable in your case? 10.4. Test Anxiety and Overcoming Test Anxiety Brainstorming Questions Which one of the following statement describes you best? The first, second or both? 1. I‟m not good at math and I‟m terrible at tests. I‟m going to fail. I‟ll never pass Math! 2. I will study tonight and try my best tomorrow. I am fortune-telling and I don‟t know for sure that I will fail. I passed the last test. I have done fine on the homework assignments, so I will probably pass Math even if I don‟t do that well on this test. Almost everyone feels nervous or experiences some anxiety when faced with a test or an exam. In fact, it is unusual to find a student who does not approach a big test without a certain degree of anxiety. Many students experience some nervousness or apprehension before, during, or even after an exam. It is perfectly natural to feel some anxiety when preparing for and taking a test. However, too much anxiety about a test is commonly referred to as test anxiety. Test anxiety is a negative mood state characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension and by apprehension about a test/exam going to take place in the future. It can be a subjective sense of unease, a set of behaviors (looking worried and anxious or fidgeting), or a physiological response originating in the brain and reflected in elevated heart rate and muscle tension due to negative thinking of taking a test. Students with test anxiety will experience rushes of adrenaline before and throughout their test. Adrenaline blocks the brain from thinking and triggers flight/fight responses. It can interfere with students‘ studying, and they may have difficulty in learning and remembering what they need to know for the test. Further, too much anxiety may block performances. Students may have difficulty in demonstrating what they know during the test. Hence, the student will not be in a good state of feelings while doing the test and become a failure. Severe test anxiety can cause a host of problems in students. Although each person will experience a different collection of symptoms with differing degrees of intensity, the symptoms of sever test anxiety fall into a few categories. 127  Physical - headaches, nausea or diarrhea, extreme body temperature changes, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, light-headedness or fainting, rapid heartbeat, and/or dry mouth  Emotional - excessive feelings of fear, disappointment, anger, depression, uncontrollable crying or laughing, feelings of helplessness  Behavioral - fidgeting, pacing, substance abuse, avoidance  Cognitive - racing thoughts, going blank, difficulty in concentrating, negative selftalk, feelings of dread, comparing self with others, and difficulty in organizing thoughts Therefore, in order to reduce test anxiety, students should exercise realistic thinking. Realistic thinking means looking at all aspects of a situation (the positive, the negative and the neutral) before making conclusions. In other words, realistic thinking means looking at oneself, others, and the world in a balanced and fair way. The following are steps of realistic thinking that can be applied to reduce test-anxiety. Step 1: Pay attention to your self-talk Thoughts are the things that we say to ourselves without speaking out loud (self-talk). We all have our own way of thinking about things, and how we think has a big effect on how we feel. When we think that something bad will happen such as failing a test, we feel anxious. For example, imagine you have a test in Math class. If you think you are going to fail, you will feel scared and anxious. But, if you think you can pass, you will feel calm. Learn about the two scenarios from the diagram given blow. Situation: A test in Maths class THOUGHT: “I have studied and I’ll pass.” FEELING: Calm THOUGHT: “I am going to fail.” FEELING: Scared and Anxious Often, we are unaware of our thoughts, but because they have such a big impact on how we feel, it is important to start paying attention to what we are saying to ourselves. Step 2: Identify thoughts that lead to feelings of anxiety It can take some time and practice to identify the specific thoughts that make you anxious. Pay attention to your shifts in anxiety, no matter how small. When you notice yourself getting 128 more anxious, that is the time to ask yourself. Therefore, here are some important suggestions to identify thought that can lead to anxiety.  What am I thinking right now?  What is making me feel anxious?  What am I worried will happen?  What bad thing do I expect to happen? Step 3: Challenge your „anxious‟ thinking Thinking something does not mean it is true or that it will happen. Often, our thoughts are just guesses and not actual facts. For example, thinking that you will fail a test does not mean you will actually fail. Sometimes, our anxiety is the result of falling into thinking traps. Thinking traps are unfair or overly negative ways of seeing things. Therefore, it is helpful to challenge your anxious thoughts because they can make you feel like something bad will definitely happen, even when it is highly unlikely. Reflection  What techniques are important to challenge anxious thoughts related to test? 10.5. Goal Setting Brainstorming Questions  Have you ever recorded what you are planning to do sometime in the future? Goal setting is like drawing map, which will help individuals to track their development towards reaching their full potential. It is the process of imagining, planning and implementing the big picture of one‘s destination. Goal setting gives someone direction and motivation, as well as increasing satisfaction and self-confidence in their performance. In the process of goal setting, goals should be straightforward and emphasize what the individual want to happen in his/her life. The goal should be specific, measurable, action, realistic and time-bound (SMART). Hellriegel, Slocum, Woodman and Martens (1992; 1987) found the following to be the most important purposes of goal setting: • Guide and direct behavior • Provide clarity • Provide challenges and standards • Reflect on what the goal setters consider important 129 • Help to improve performance. • Increase the motivation to achieve • Help increase pride and satisfaction in achievements • Improve self-confidence • Help to decrease negative attitude Reflection  What personal behaviors, skills, resources and attitudes are important in setting goals? 10.6. Career Development Skill Brainstorming Question     Which department you are going to join? Why? How you are going to live life after graduation? When you are going to attend your MA/PhD? When you are going to have marriage and children? Career is how individuals live their lives across different contexts and settings, including education, work, family and leisure time. Vaughan (2011) asserts that all individuals need to carefully coordinate their life, work and learning choices and experiences, at all ages and stages throughout their lifetime. Career development is a lifelong continuous process of planning implementing and managing one‟s learning, work and leisure in order to achieve life objectives. It is a continuous lifelong process of developmental experiences that focuses on seeking, obtaining and processing information about self, occupational and educational alternatives, life styles and role options is career development. Put in an another way, career development is the process through which people come to understand themselves as they relate to the world of work and their role in it. Career management skill is often used to describe skills aptitudes abilities and attitudes required to manage life. In other language career management skills (CMS) are competencies which help individuals to identify their existing skills develop career learning goals and take action to enhance their careers. The concept of career management assumes that individuals can influence their careers, that there are a range of skills which help an individual to manage their career in ways that are 130 personally advantageous, and that at least some of these skills can be acquired through learning and experience. Reflection  Plan the age at which you complete your university education, join work, marry, have children and build personal home. Share what you have planned for your students.  Directions: Arrange the following life goals into an order you are thinking and planning to achieve in your life. What materials, time, money, energy, knowledge, skills and help are required to achieve each? _______Going to college _______Finding a job _______Finishing high school _______Having a car _______Living in a clean, safe area/home _______Have marriage _______Having friends _______Having family Summary  Time management is deciding what you want to get out of life and efficiently per suing these goals.  Time management does not mean being busy all the time – it means using your time the way you want to do it.  Effective note-taking begins prior to class by creating a framework of reference. This strategy provides familiarity with terms, ideas and concepts discussed in lecture and leads to an active role in your own learning.  Test anxiety is a negative mood characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension and apprehension about a test/exam going to take place in the future.  Test anxiety can cause a host of physical, emotional, behavioral and cognitive problems.  Goal-setting will give you direction, increase satisfaction and self-confidence in performance.  Career management skills are competencies, which help individuals to identify their existing skills, develop career learning goals and take action to enhance their careers. 131 CHAPTER ELEVEN SOCIAL SKILLS Chapter Overview Dear learners, you have learned about academic skills and its components in chapter nine. It is assumed that you have got good understanding out of the lessons you learning in the chapter. Now, as continuation of the previous lessons, you learn social skills, which are very vital to establish peaceful and harmonious social relationship with others in your life. To achieve this very important goal, you have to know and internalize diversity, gender and social isolation, interpersonal communication, social influences, peer pressure, assertiveness, conflict and conflict resolution, teamwork, and skills of overcoming risky behaviors. Chapter Learning Outcome At the end the chapter, make sure that you will be able to;  Describe features of intercultural diversity and diversity management  Differentiate gender differences and similarities  Explain reasons of social inclusions and exclusions  Describe interpersonal communication skills  Demonstrate social influences and peer pressure with examples  Define assertiveness  Give details of conflict and conflict resolution  Illustrate characteristics of teamwork  Explain techniques of overcoming risky behavior Learning Appetizer  To which group you belong? List the groups you are a member. Is there any person in your class out of the group you are a member. Discuss in class, in group. Your ethnic group________ Your political Your citizenship _______ affiliation__________ Your religion ___________ Your birth area__________ Your university _______ Your skin color ________ Your gender ________ Your age range _________ Your favorite football club____ Your favorite food ________ Your philosophy of life _____ Your continent_________ Your marriage status __________ Your town/kebel/village ____ Do you have facebook? Do you have twitter? Do you have telegram? 132 Do you have other social media?  List any of the virtual community to which you are a member? Your Language/s__________ Discuss over the following Ethiopian Proverbs  Diversity is spice of life.  Claw my back, and I will claw yours.  Company in distress makes trouble less. 11.1. Understanding cultural Diversity Brainstorming Questions   Can you define diversity? What is the importance of cultural diversity to live together in harmony? Diversity has become the defining characteristic of our social and cultural worlds. We are now constantly confronted with a multitude of ways in which we can define ourselves, and categorize others. Ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, occupation, political affiliation, skin color, profession, and others can define our identity. Our social and cultural worlds are increasingly unassailably and multifaceted. For instance, Ethiopian population is made up varieties of peoples, languages, religions, cultures, political orientations, and many more. No one can define himself/herself exclusively. We no longer live in the provincial, homogenized worlds that characterized much of human history in the world. We live in worlds defined by diversity. Culture is the criteria with which we evaluate everything around us. We evaluate what is proper or improper, normal or abnormal through our culture. If we are immersed in a culture that is unlike with that of ours, we may experience culture shock and become disoriented. When we come into contact with a fundamentally different culture, we start thinking about our culture.. People naturally use their culture as the standard to judge other cultures. However, passing judgment could reach a level where people begin to discriminate against others whose ―ways of being‖ are different from their own. Essentially, we tend to fear the culture we do not understand. Cultural diversity helps us recognize and respect ―ways of being‖ that are not necessarily ours. If we interact with others, we can build bridges to trust, respect, and understanding 133 across cultures. Furthermore, this diversity makes our country a more interesting place to live. People from diverse cultures contribute language skills, new ways of thinking, new knowledge, and different experiences. Moreover, cultural diversity is important because our country, workplaces, and schools increasingly consist of various cultural, religious, and ethnic groups. We can learn from one another but first we must have a level of understanding about each other in order to facilitate collaboration and cooperation. Learning about other cultures helps us understand different perspectives within the world in which we live, and helps dispel negative stereotypes and personal biases about different groups. The term “culturally diverse” is often used interchangeably with the concept of “multiculturalism.” Multiculturalism is defined as: ―…a system of beliefs and behaviors that recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society, acknowledges and values their socio cultural differences, and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organization or society (Belfield, 2012). Reflection  How do you appreciate cultural diversity? Discuss over the advantages and disadvantages? Diversity Management Brainstorming Question  How should we live with our friends/work colleagues from a different culture? The key to manage diversity is to capitalize more effectively on our capacity for multiple social identities. All individuals have multicultural heritage, and all of us are capable of juggling multiple identities across a lifetime (Seelye & Wasilewski, 1996). Hence, to manage cultural diversities and live with others in harmony, we need to;  Increase level of understanding about each other‘s cultures by interacting with people outside of one‘s own culture  Avoid imposing values on one other that may conflict or be inconsistent with cultures.  When interacting with others who may not be proficient in one‘s language, recognize that their limitations in the language proficiency in no way reflects their level of intellectual functioning. 134  Recognize and understand that concepts within the helping profession, such as family, gender roles, spirituality, and emotional well-being, vary significantly among cultures and influence behavior.  Within the workplace, educational setting, and/or clinical setting, advocate for the use of materials that are representative of the various cultural groups within the local community and the society in general.  Intervene in an appropriate manner when you observe others engaging in behaviors that show cultural insensitivity, bias, or prejudice.  Being proactive in listening, accepting, and welcoming people and ideas that are different from your own Reflection  What is the importance of diversity in teaching learning process? Discuss the pros and cons of diversity. 11.2. Gender and Social Inclusion Brainstorming Questions  What is the difference between sex and gender?  Describe the roles of women in your society.  Do you think women and men have equal rights and responsibilities in your society? The term ―sex‖ usually refers to biological phenomena such as hormones and reproduction. However, gender is an organizing principle of all social systems, including families, work, schools, economic and legal systems, and everyday interactions. Scholarship conceptualizing gender as an institution encompasses three levels of analysis: individual, interactional, and structural (e.g., Risman, 1998). The individual level refers to stable traits of men and women that endure over time in the process of human life span development, such as differences believed to be rooted in biology or early childhood socialization. The interactional level examines the ways in which social behavior is constrained or facilitated by expectations that people have regarding the traits men and women possess, the ways they should act, and the beliefs they should hold. The structural level addresses how macro level patterns, such as the positions to which people are assigned in society or the rewards attached to those positions, lead to differences in the behavior or experiences of men and women. 135 Excluding or limiting women‘s roles and benefits in social, political and economic arena is a part of human history. Development activities of a given nation mainly emerged from the cultural orientation of that nations have been denying women benefits that they should have got despite their significant contribution for the development. Hence, nations, right groups, nation leaders and scholars have been demanding more rights for women and inclusion of developmental activities. Therefore, women should benefit from education, economy, leadership system, development programs and legal system. Build a culture of gender inclusion across implementing the following is important. • Encourage inclusive engagement in all areas of development and cross-cutting initiatives; • Apply gender-inclusive approaches of development • Promote good practices in gender inclusion; and • Optimize resources and prosperity for all Reflection  List and discuss the differences and similarities of men and women?  How do you compare the live of women in urban and rural parts of Ethiopia? 11.3. Interpersonal Communication Skills Brainstorming Questions  Have you ever analyzed your relationship with your friend?  Do you have some kinds of skills to live with your friends? Interpersonal communication is not just about what is actually said, the language used but also how it is said and the non-verbal messages sent through tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures and body language. Core areas in which competency are essential for effective interpersonal interactions include the following: Self-awareness, effective listening, questioning, oral communication, helping or facilitating, reflecting, assertiveness and nonverbal communications (Facial expressions, gaze, gestures, posture, paralinguistic cues). Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages. It is face-to-face communication. Interpersonal skills can be defined broadly as “those skills which one needs in order to communicate 136 effectively with another person or a group of people Reflection  What are similarities and differences between interpersonal relationship and interpersonal communication (reading assignment)  What are the core areas in which competency are essential for effective interpersonal interactions? Discuss in detail (reading assignment) 11.4. Social Influences Brainstorming Questions  How do you respond if someone orders you to stop? By definition, social influence occurs when one person (the source) engages in some behavior (such as persuading, threatening, promising, or issuing orders) that causes another person (the target) to behave differently from how he or she would otherwise behave. Various outcomes can result when social influence is attempted. In some cases, the influencing source may produce attitude change - a change in the target‘s beliefs and attitudes about some issue, person, or situation. Attitude change is a fairly common result of social influence. In other cases, however, the source may not really care about changing the target‘s attitudes but only about securing compliance. Compliance occurs when the target‘s behavior conforms to the source‘s requests or demands. Reflection  How do you react to an order from your family members, friends, teachers, police officers and other ordinary individuals?  What are the differences among compliance, conformity and obedience (Reading assignment) 11.5. Peer Pressure Brainstorming Questions  How do you explain the following proverbs? “Birds of the same fly together”? “Tell me your friends, I will tell you who you are” Peer pressure is the influence to go along with the beliefs and actions of one‘s peers. Peer pressure may be positive when it inspires a person to do something worthwhile. The desire to fit in and feel like you are part of a group is normal, and most people feel this way 137 sometimes, especially in the teen and young adult years. Peer pressure, that feeling that you have to do something to fit in, be accepted, or be respected, can be tough to deal with. It can be overt or less direct. Positive peer pressure uses encouraging words and expressions. Negative peer pressure tries to get a person to do something harmful. It may involve threats, bribes, teasing, and name-calling. Peers can exert a negative pressure or a positive influence upon each other, for example: using drugs, misbehaving in class, stealing, making fun of someone, and the like. On the other hand, peer influence helps someone to do his/her best at school, playing sports, being inclusive, helping those in need (https://caps.ucsc.edu). How to Handle Peer Pressure Brainstorming Questions  If your friends ask you to go to hotel to drink alcohol, what will be your possible response? Do accept or refuse? Why? If you reject, do you think you continue your friendship with the group  If you go with the crowd and do something you might not have considered before, what will happen? Could there be a negative outcome? Could you feel bad about yourself for acting against your values or judgment? All important considerations! In a college environment, it is very likely that you will meet people with a wide variety of attitudes and behaviors. At times, it may feel easy to know where you stand and act accordingly, but at other times, you might feel confused, pressured, or tempted to act against your own judgment. What's more, college may be a time when you are away from home and family with more freedom to make your own choices than before. You might even feel a desire to do things your family doesn't do or doesn't think are right as a way to establish your own identity and try new things. Again, it's important to reflect on what you think is important, your values, and who you want to be. It's also good to try and think ahead to potential consequences of an action. When faced with overt or indirect pressure to do something you're not sure about, try using the following strategies:  Give yourself permission to avoid people or situations that don't feel right and leave a situation that becomes uncomfortable.  Check in with yourself. Ask, "How am I feeling about this?" "Does this seem right to me?" "What are the pros and cons of making this decision?" 138  Recognize unhealthy dynamics: It's not OK for others to pressure, force, or trick you into doing things you don't want to or for others to make threats if you don't give in. It's not OK for others to mock, belittle, shame, or criticize you for your choices. You can ask others to stop these behaviors, or you can choose to avoid spending time with people who act in these ways.  Spend time with people who respect your decisions and won't put unfair pressure on you to conform.  Remember that you can't (and don't have to) please everyone or be liked by everyone. This can be hard to accept, but it helps to try.  When people or situations that make you feel pressured are not avoidable, try the "delay tactic": Give yourself time to think about your decision instead of giving an immediate answer: "Let me think about that," "Can I get back to you?" or "Check back with me in an hour."  When you can't avoid or delay a pressure-filled situation, practice saying "No thanks" or just "No!" If "no" feels uncomfortable, practice using other responses, such as "Not today," "Maybe another time," or "Thanks, but I can't."  It's OK to use an excuse if the truth is too challenging. For example, if someone offers you a drink and you want to say no but feel awkward, say you're on medication or have to get up early the next day.  Take a friend who supports you along if you are going to be in a pressure-filled situation and let them know what your intentions are (e.g., "I don't want to drink, so if you see me about to, remind me that I wanted to stay sober").  Stand up for others when you see them being pressured. "Bystander intervention" (stepping in to help out when you see someone in trouble) can be an effective way to support others and send a message. If you don't feel comfortable directly confronting the person doing the pressuring, try distracting them or inviting the person being pressured to do something else.  Ask for advice or support from a parent or other trusted family member, a clergy person, a mentor, or a counselor if you need it. Reflection  From the skills listed above, how many of them you have been applying in the relationship you have with your friends? 139 11.6. Assertiveness Brainstorming Questions  How much you are good at expressing yourself for others?  Read the hypothetical story below. “Once up on a time, Obsan was in journey from his home village to another nearby village. On his way to the village, he met Chalachew another man travelling in the opposite direction. After greeting, Obsan asked Chalachew „where are you coming from?‟ Challachew responded ironically „I am coming from your mother‟s womb.” Obsan was surprised by Challachew‟s negative response, and replied „okay you are my brother. I wish good time.”  What do you understand from the story? Why do you think Challachew reacted in such a manner? Why Obsan reacted politely? Discuss over it. Assertiveness is a communication style. It is being able to express your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and opinions in an open manner that does not violate the rights of others. Assertiveness is about having confidence in yourself, a positive attitude about yourself and towards others, and it is about behaving towards others in a way which is direct and honest. The main effect of not being assertive is that it can lead to low self esteem. If we communicate in a passive manner we are not saying what we really feel or think. This means we can end up agreeing with and fulfilling other people‘s needs or wants rather than our own. This can result in a lack of purpose, and a feeling of not being in control of our own lives. If we never express ourselves openly and conceal our thoughts and feelings this can make us feel tense, stressed, anxious or resentful. It can also lead to unhealthy and uncomfortable relationships. We will feel like the people closest to us do not really know us. Assertive behavior includes: (taken from https://www.skillsyouneed.)  Being open in expressing wishes, thoughts and feelings and encouraging others to do likewise.  Listening to the views of others and responding appropriately, whether in agreement with those views or not.  Accepting responsibilities and being able to delegate to others.  Regularly expressing appreciation of others for what they have done or are doing.  Being able to admit to mistakes and apologise.  Maintaining self-control.  Behaving as an equal to others. 140 11.7. Conflict and Conflict Resolution Brainstorming Question  Is conflict harmful or not? Conflict occurs between people in all kinds of human relationships and in all social settings. Because of the wide range of potential differences among people, the absence of conflict usually signals the absence of meaningful interaction. Conflict by itself is neither good nor bad. However, the manner in which conflict is handled determines whether it is constructive or destructive (Deutsch & Coleman, 2000). Conflict is defined as an incompatibility of goals or values between two or more parties in a relationship, combined with attempts to control each other and antagonistic feelings toward each other (Fisher, 1990). The incompatibility or difference may exist in reality or may only be perceived by the parties involved. Nonetheless, the opposing actions and the hostile emotions are very real hallmarks of human conflict. Conflict has the potential for either a great deal of destruction or much creativity and positive social change (Kriesberg, 1998). Therefore, it is essential to understand the basic processes of conflict so that we can work to maximize productive outcomes and minimize destructive ones. This paperOur discussion will briefly describe some common sources of conflict, the levels of social interaction at which conflict occurs, and the general strategies of approaching conflict that are available. Sources of Conflict One of the early theorists on conflict, Daniel Katz (1965), created a typology that distinguishes three main sources of conflict: economic, value, and power. Economic conflict - involves competing motives to attain scarce resources. Each party wants to get the most that it can, and the behavior and emotions of each party are directed toward maximizing its gain. Value conflict - involves incompatibility in ways of life, ideologies – the preferences, principles and practices that people believe in. 141 Power conflict - occurs when each party wishes to maintain or maximize the amount of influence that it exerts in the relationship and the social setting. Another important source of conflict is ineffective communication. Miscommunication and misunderstanding can create conflict even where there are no basic incompatibilities. In addition, parties may have different perceptions as to what are the facts in a situation, and until they share information and clarify their perceptions, resolution is impossible. Selfcenteredness, selective perception, emotional bias, prejudices, etc., are all forces that lead us to perceive situations very differently from the other party. Lack of skill in communicating what we really mean in a clear and respectful fashion often results in confusion, hurt and anger, all of which simply feed the conflict process. Whether the conflict has objective sources or is due only to perceptual or communication problems, it is experienced as very real by the parties involved. Levels of Conflict Intrapersonal conflict - conflict in your head between opposing motives or ideas Interpersonal conflict - occurs when two people have incompatible needs, goals, or approaches in their relationship. Role conflict - involves very real differences in role definitions, expectations or responsibilities between individuals who are interdependent in a social system. Intergroup conflict - occurs between collections of people such as ethnic or racial groups, departments or levels of decision making in the same organization, and union and management. Multi-party Conflict - occurs in societies when different interest groups and organizations have varying priorities over resource management and policy development. International conflict - occurs between states at the global level. Methods of Conflict Resolution Brainstorming Question  Dear students try to remember a story of an ape mediated hyena and lion disputed over possession of a calf and relate it with assertiveness. Conflict can result in destructive outcomes or creative ones depending on the approach that is taken. Given interdependence, three general strategies have been identified that the parties may take toward dealing with their conflict; win-lose, lose-lose, and win-win (Blake, Shepard & Mouton, 1964). 142 Win-lose approach – situations result when only one side perceives the outcome as positive. Thus, win-lose outcomes are less likely to be accepted voluntarily. Lose-lose strategy- all parties end up being worse off. In some lose-lose situations, all parties understand that losses are unavoidable and that they will be evenly distributed. In such situations, lose-lose outcomes can be preferable to win-lose outcomes because the distribution is at least considered to be fair Win-win approach - is a conscious and systematic attempt to maximize the goals of both parties through collaborative problem solving. The conflict is seen as a problem to be solved rather than a war to be won. The important distinction is we (both parties) versus the problem, rather than we (one party) versus they (the other party). This method focuses on the needs and constraints of both parties rather than emphasizing strategies designed to conquer. 11.8. Team Work Brainstorming  How do you understand a proverb “Two heads are better than one” Teams are groups of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement. Ideally, they develop a distinct identity and work together in a coordinated and mutually supportive way to fulfill their goal or purpose. Task effectiveness is the extent to which the team is successful in achieving its task-related objectives. Successful teams are characterized by a team spirit based around trust, mutual respect, helpfulness and – at best – friendliness. Effective teamwork results from:  a team whose membership, size and resources match the task  good leadership and attention to team-building  commitment by team members to understand and identify with one another's goals  the development of team goals – a shared vision  a sense of common ownership of the task at hand and joint responsibility for its achievement  coordinated effort and planned sharing of tasks evenly across the team  the open exchange of information within the team  honesty and frankness among team members. 143 11.9. Overcoming Risky Behavior Brainstorming Question  What are life threatening risky behaviors during adolescence? Taking risks is fairly common in adolescence. Yet, risky behaviors can be associated with serious, long-term, and–in some cases–life-threatening consequences. This is especially the case when adolescents engage in more than one harmful behavior. A more powerful and costeffective approach may be to employ strategies designed to address factors associated with multiple risky behaviors. These strategies are to: 1. Support and strengthen family functioning; 2. Increase connections between students and their schools; 3. Make communities safe and supportive for children and youth; 4. Promote involvement in high quality out-of-school-time programs; 5. Promote the development of sustained relationships with caring adults; 6. Provide children and youth opportunities to build social and emotional competence; 7. Provide children and youth with high quality education during early and middle childhood. Reflection  Is what you have learned in the chapter has something helpful for your life in the future? How? Please discuss the contents of the chapter in relation to your experiences and plan.  Are there knowledge, understanding, attitudes and skills that you can use and apply in your campus life? Which ones are more applicable? Summary  Culturally diversity/Multiculturalism is defined as: “…a system of beliefs and behaviors that recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society, acknowledges and values their socio-cultural differences, and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organization or society.  The key to manage diversity is to capitalize more effectively on our capacity for multiple social identities. 144  Nations, right groups, nation leaders and scholars have been demanding more rights for women and inclusion of developmental activities. Therefore, women should benefit from education, economy, leadership system, development programs and legal system. Build a culture of gender inclusion across implementing the following is important.  Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages: it is face-to-face communication.  Social influence occurs when one person (the source) engages in some behavior (such as persuading, threatening or promising, or issuing orders) that causes another person (the target) to behave differently from how he or she would otherwise behave.  Assertiveness is a communication style. It is being able to express your feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and opinions in an open manner that does not violate the rights of others.  Conflict is an incompatibility of goals or values between two or more parties in a relationship, combined with attempts to control each other and antagonistic feelings toward each other (Fisher, 1990).  One of the early theorists on conflict, Daniel Katz (1965), created a typology that distinguishes three main sources of conflict: economic, value, and power.  Conflict can result in destructive outcomes or creative ones depending on the approach that is taken. Given interdependence, three general strategies have been identified that the parties may take toward dealing with their conflict; win-lose, loselose, and win-win (Blake, Shepard & Mouton, 1964).  Teams are groups of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement.  Taking risks is fairly common in adolescence. Yet, risky behaviors can be associated with serious, long-term, and–in some cases–life-threatening consequences. 145 REFERENCES Asian Development Bank. (2017). Understanding and Developing Emotional Intelligence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo/. Bandura, A. (2004). Social Cognitive Theory for Personal and Social Change by Enabling Media. Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Bailin, Sh.(1987). Critical and Creative Thinking. Vol. IX.1, Winter: Informal Logic Baron, R. A. & Branscombe N. R. (2012). Social Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 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