Psychology Notes:

Chapter 1: Introduction and history

-- Psychology is defined formally as a science which studies mental processes, experiences and behaviors
in different contexts.

# Mental processes are reflected at one level by the brain activity. However both of them are not the
same things, although they are interdependent.

# Experiences are embedded in awareness or consciousness, and therefore, can only be understood by
analyzing a complex set of internal and external conditions. Psychologists also study esoteric
experiences(the ones which are understood only by a chosen few, the enlightened inner circle)

# Behavior is studied as an association between stimulus and response, both of which can be internal or
external.

PSYCHOLOGY: NATURAL SCIENCE OR SOCIAL SCIENCE?

Psychology today has two streams; one which makes use of the method in physical and biological
sciences, and the other which uses social and cultural conditions.

AS A NATURAL SCIENCE:

# Psychology influenced by Descartes and later by the dev of physics, has grown following what is called
the hypothetico-deductive model. Using this, theories of learning, memory, attention, perception etc
have been developed. Most of research in Psychology follows this approach. Also, the evolutionary
approach is followed, based on which many theories like aggression and attachment have been
developed.

AS A SOCIAL SCIENCE:

# While regularity is seen wrt a lot of behaviors, variations are seen, which basic psychological principles
cannot explain or predict. Therefore, P as a social science focuses on indiv and communities in relation
to their socio-cultural and physical environments.

UNDERSTANDING MIND AND BEHAVIOR:

If the term "mind" has returned to P, we should thank neuro-physicists like Sperry, and physicians like
Penrose. The phenomenon, where people can still respond to location and configuration of visual cues,
even after the occipital lobes have been cut off, and the phenomenon of sensation in a phantom limb,
give weight to the fact that mind does exist apart from the brain.

Neuroscience has shown how positive visualisations techniques, and good emotions, can help in
bringing sig changes in bodily processes. (Ornish study of blocked arteries where visualizations lessesd
the degree of blockage). A new discipline called psychoneuroimmunology which emphasizes on the role
played by the mind on strengthening the immune system.

EVOLUTION OF PSYCHOLOGY:

History of modern P started from 1879 when wilhelm wundt opened the first lab in leipzig, germany.
that time the str of the mind was studied through introspection(when subjects were asked to describe in
detail their own mental processes and experiences), and thus, these people were called as structuralists.

However, this was considered unscientific and non verifiable by a lot of psychologists. Next came the
functionalist approach by William James, which studied behavior, and how it enabled ppl to satisfy their
needs. They believed that consciousness as an ongoing stream of mental process interacted with the
env and made up the core of psychology. John Dewey argued using this to argue that human beings seek
to function effectively by adapting to their environments.

Gestalt P came in the early 20th century. Focused on organization of perceptual experiences. They said
that instead of looking at components of the mind,when we look at the world our perceptual experience
is more than the sum of the components of perception. Experience is holistic.

John watson rejected structuralism, and said that P should focus on what is observable and verifiable.
Thus came behaviorism. was further dev by psychologists like Skinner.

Freud invented psychoanalysis. Carl rogers and Abraham Maslow gave the humanistic perspective, it
emphasized the free will of huma beings, and their natural striving to grow and unfold their inner
potential.

Gestalt and structuralism combined and came out as dev of the cognitive perspective, which focuses on
how we know about the world. Modern cognitive P views human mind as actively constructing their
minds through exploration in the physical and social world, this view is k/a Constructivism. Piage's
theory emphasizes on hoe children actively construct their minds, while Vygotsky takes the view that
mind is a jt cultural construction emerging due to interaction of children and adults.

DEVELOPMENT OF P IN INDIA

Department of Philosophy at Calcutta Univ in 1915, where first P lab came up.

dept of P in 1916, and dept of applied P in 1938, both in calcutta university.

Initial influences: Dr N.N. Sengupta, Dr G. Bose

Acc to durganand sinha, first phase of P was till indep, when emphasised on psychoanalysis and
experimental psychological testing, reflecting the western countries.

then in the second phase, which lasted till 1960s, was the phase of expansion of P into may branches.

only in the 1960s post research did P start becoming relevant in india.
THEMES OF RESEARCH IN P AND ITS APPLICATIONS:

1. P like other sciences attempts to develop principles of behavior and mental processes.

2. Human behavior is a function of the attributes of a person and his env( Kurt Lewin equation: B= f(P,E))

3. Human behavior is caused.

4. Understanding of human behavior is culturally constructed.

5. Human behavior can be controlled and modified through psychological principles.

CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF INQUIRY IN PSYCHOLOGY

Goals of P.al inquiry: 1. Description,

2. Prediction, 3. Explanation and 4. Control of behavior, and 5. Application of knowledge so generated.

CONDUCTING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Scientific method attempts to study a particular event or phenomenon in an objective(meaning that if

two researchers conduct a study, they will arrive at a similar conclusion to a great extent), systematic(
the steps being 1. Conceptualisation of a problem 2. collecting data 3. drawing conclusions 4. revising
research conclusions) and testable manner.

ALTERNATIVE PARADIGMS OF RESEARCH

Although the conventional method emphasises on P being studied similar to scientific method, a new
form, known as INTERPRETIVE has emerged. It emphasises understanding over prediction and
explanation, focuses on understanding subjective interpretation of the reality. this is because of the
complex nature of human behavior and experience.

NATURE OF P.AL DATA

1. It should be understood that data are not independent entities, they are attached to a social context,
the person involved and the time in which it happens. If any of this factor changes, the data can change.

2. Method of data collection also influences the nature and quality of data collected.

3. Data does not speak for itself, inferences always have to be made.

TYPES OF DATA-- 1. Physical information 2. demographic information 3. physiological data 4.

psychological information.

IMPORTANT METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

1. OBSERVATION METHOD

How is observation for a study different from observation in real life?

• Selection: in a study the subject is chosen and concentrated upon.

• Recording: the studied upon parameter is recorded.

• Analysis of data: The data is then analysed.

Types of observation:

1. Naturalistic vs. controlled: in the first, there is no effort by the observer to change or control the
environment; the second ones are done in laboratory experiments, because you are studying some
aspect of the behavior which is not the focus of your study and thus needs to be eliminated.

2. Non participant vs participant observation: The dange with the first kind of observation is that there
can be a feeling that an outsider is there and that may lead to a change in behavior.

While observation allows us to study behavior in a naturalistic setting, it is labour intensive, time
consuming, and subject to observers' bias.

2. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

The concept of independent and dependent variables: An independent variable is the one which is not
affected by the study conditions, and therefore, it is that factor, the effect of which is being studied, and
is manipulated or altered or strength varied by the researcher.

The variable on which the effect of independent variable is studied is known as the dependent variable.

Both these variables are interconnected, and neither exists without the other. There are a lot of other
variables which might be affecting the dependent variable, they are known as extraneous variables and
need to be controlled during the study. These variables an be of 3 types: 1. Orgasmic variables(anxiety,
intelligence, personality etc) 2. situational or environmental variables operating at the time of
conducting the expt(noise, temp humidity etc) 3. sequential variables(assume significance when
participants have to be tested in multiple situations, and therefore hv fatigue, which can influence the
results.

Methods used to reduce the effect of these variables:

1. Eliminate them from the experiment setting; for e.g. setting expt in a sound proof or controlled temp
room

2. If that is not possible, these variables are held constant across all groups

3. In case of orgasmic and background variables, a technique called matching is used, where the
variables with similar characteristics are matched and then allocated to study groups, thereby keeping
these factors constant.

4. Counter balancing technique is used to minimise sequence effect. 2 groupps are given varying
sequence of the tasks in the expt
5. Random assignment of participants to different groups.

** The xperiments that are carried out in highly controlled conditions in the laboratory generally have a
low external validity, because they do not simulate the outside world conditions. Another problem with
them is that every problem cannot be studied like that due to ethical concerns. Also, it is difficult to
know and control all the relevant variables.

FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND QUASI EXPERIMENTS:

Field experiments are done when the study needs to be generalised, or if it cannot be done in a lab set
up. it is more time consuming, expensive, and control over the relevant variables is very less.

Some variables cannot be manipulated in the lab settings, and thus, a quasi experiment is carried out,
where the independent variable is elected rather than manipulated e.g. selecting people with a specific
disease from a pool of patients and studying them. So it attempts to manipulate an independent
variable in a natural setting using naturally occurring groups to form experimental and control groups.

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH:

When instead of determining the dependency between two variables, we find out the relationship
between them. Describes positive, negative and zero correlation on a -1 to +1 scale.

SURVEY RESEARCH:

Their main concern initially was to find out existing reality or baseline, but now it has grown into a
sophisticated technique where a lot of casual relationships are inferred by taking opinion from people.

Techniques for collecting information:

1. Personal interviews

• 2 types of interviews: structured/standardized; unstructured /unstandardized

The interview method is adaptable, and flexible, and can be used when no other method is available. It
can also be used with children and non literate people. However, it is time consuming and therefore, not
cost effective.

2. Questionnaire survey

simple, versatile, low cost

open ended and close ended questions

3. Telephone survey

Because the respondents do not know the interviewer, the technique is fraught with uncooperativeness,
reluctance and superficial answer by the respondents. Also, the responding may differ from the ones not
responding.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

Used for assessment of individual differences.

A psychological test, by definition is a standardized and objective( U know what is objectivity. So the
wording should be crafted in a manner that it means the same thing to different readers; also the
procedure of the test, the environment of taking of test, and the way scoring is done should be spelt out
before the test is taken) instrument for testing an individual's standing in relation to others with respect
to some mental or behavior characteristics.

The construction of a test is a systematic process, and involves estimating reliability, validity, and norms
of the whole test.

• reliability referring to consistency of scores, meaning that if the same person checks the test again
and again, the same score is obtained.(called the test-retest ability, which indicates temporal
stability)

• another technique called split-half reliability measures the internal consistency of the test. the
questions are divided into two halves in the pattern of 1,3,5.. and 2,4,6.. and then the correlation is
computed. The assumption is that if the questions are from the same domain, similar scores should
be obtained.

• validity refers to the condition where the test measures what it is actually supposed to measure.

• norm refers to the normal or average performance of the group, helps in comparing an individual's
score relative to the whole group.

• Types o tests: verbal, non verbal and performance tests; individual or group tests. (Individual tests
are time consuming but are imp methods of getting responses form children and those who do not
know the language); power or speed tests.(in power questions increase in difficulty levels). Most of
the tests are a combination of power and spped, it is difficult to construct a pure power/speed test.

CASE STUDY

Can provide critical information or new learning on less understood phenomenon. very valuable in study
of clinical P and human development. However the problem of validity in a single case study is quite
challenging, and thus, it is recommended that the information is collected using multiple strategies from
different sources of information by a number of investigators.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

1. Quantitative method: statistical methods are used and conclusions drawn out.

2. Qualitative method: various methods, like narrative analysis have been developed and used.

LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY

1. Lack of a true zero point: very difficult to define a zero point in P. so all the scores that are obtained
are not absolute but relative. when ranks are given, the difference between first and second is not the
same as second and third, which further tells about the relative nature of measurement.

2. Relative nature of P.al tools: one tool developed for one kind of po[ulation may not be applicable to
the second set of population.

3. Subjective interpretation of qualitative data: Interpretations vary, and thus, it is suggested that the
field work should be done by one investigator, who should discuss his observations, and arrive at an
agreement before finally giving it a meaning. infact it is better off if the respondent is also involved in
the process.

ETHICAL ISSUES

1. Voluntary participation:

2. Informed consent: the technique of deception, whenever used should make sure that the nature of
the study is explained to the participant before it is begun.

3. Debriefing: once the study is over, participants are provided with necessary information to complete
their understanding of the research, this is done to ensure that the person leaves in the same mental
state as he entered into the study.

4. Sharing the results of the study: it is important because a. the expectations of the participants are
fulfilled and b. they give their opinions, which provide new insights.

5. Confidentiality of data source. The most common way is to record identities. if that is not possible,
code numbers are given, and the list is destroyed once the study is over.

CHAPTER 3: THE BASES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE:

Evolution occurs through natural selection. three features where human beings are different from their
ancestors: 1. bigger, more developed brain, with increased capacity for cognitive behaviors, and use of
language for communication. 2. ability to walk upright on two legs 3. free hand with a workable
opposing thumb.

Human brain development is evidenced by the fact that 1. it forms nearly 2.35% of the body weight,
which is the highest of all species, and 2. human cerebrum is more evolved than other parts of the brain.

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR:

Neuron is the basic unit of our nervous system. almost 12 billion neurons are found in the body, but
while they differ a lot in size and shape, they share three main fundamental characteristics: soma, axon,
and dendrites. Although apart from sensory and motor nerves, we also have mixed nerves, the sensory
and motor fibers in them are separate.
While the transmission in the axon is electrochemical, the synaptic transmission is chemical, the
chemicals are known as neurotransmitters.

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF NERVOUS SYSTEM AND ENDOCRINE SYSTEM AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP
TO BEHAVIOR AND EXPERIENCE:

1. Organization of nervous system: the nervous system is divided into central NS.(Further brain and
spinal cord) and peripheral NS.(Further into autonomous and somatic NS. Autonomous is further divided
into sympathetic and para-sympathetic NS. )

Brain and parasympathetic NS correspond to the endocrine system.

SOMATIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

consists of cranial(12 sets, sensory and motor nerves for the head region) and spinal nerves(31 sets,
information carried from/to rest of the body via spinal cord).

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

controls involuntary activities like breathing, salivation, circulation etc.

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

1. BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR

The limbic system, cerebellum, and brain stem are the oldest structures, while cerebrum is the most
recently developed one.

An adult brain weighs about 1.36 kg and has nearly 100 billion neurons.

Structure of the brain:

Hindbrain-- 1. Medulla Oblongata: Lowest part of brain in continuation with spinal cord.

Has neural centres which regulate basic life supporting activities, also has some autonomic centres.

2. Pons: Connected with medulla on one side and the midbrain on the other.

nucleus(neural centre of pons) receives the auditory signal relayed by ears

also involved in sleep mechanism, especially the one characterised by dreaming.

also has nuclei affecting respiratory movement and facial expressions.

3. cerebellum: controls and maintains posture and equilibrium of the body, main function being
coordination of muscular movements(although signals arise from the forebrain, cerebellum relays them
to transmit them to the muscles)
also stores the memory of movement patterns, so that we do not have to concentrate on sleeping,
walking, dancing etc.

Midbrain

Few neural centres related to special reflexes, and some special visual and auditory sensations.

an important part known as Reticular Activating System(RAS), is responsible for arousal, alertness and
activity. Also helps in selecting information from the environment.

Forebrain

Most important as it performs all cognitive, emotional and motor activities.

1. Hypothalamus: one of the smallest structures in the brain, but very vital.

Regulates physiological processes involved in emotional and motivational behavior(like drinking,

sleeping, sexual arousal etc)

Also regulates and controls the internal environment of the body.

2. Thalamus: Egg shaped cluster of neurons situated on the ventral surface of the hypothalamus.

Relay station for receiving the incoming signals and sending out the motor ones.

3. Limbic System: Has close links with hypothalamus, and helps in maintaining internal homeostasis.

Also includes hippocampus and amygdala(plays an imp role in emotional behavior)

4. Cerebrum: regulates all higher level cognitive functions

makes two-third of total mass of human brain, thickness 1.5-4mm

Made up of two cerebral hemispheres, which look identical, but functionally one hemisphere dominates
the other (e.g. left controls language and behavior, while right is specialized to control images, spatial
relationships,and pattern recognition).

Frontal lobe-- Concerned with cognitive functions like attention, thinking, memory, learning and
reasoning; also exerts inhibitory effects on autonomic and emotional responses.

Parietal lobe: Mainly concerned with cutaneous sensations, and their coordination with visual and
auditory sensations.

Temporal lobe: Processing of auditory information, memory of symbolic sounds and words,
understanding of speech and written language.

Occipital language: concerned mainly with visual information.

2. SPINAL CORD
The butterfly shaped mass of grey matter contains the association neurons, and other cells; surrounding
is the white matter which has ascending and descending neural tracts.

Main functions of SC: 1. Carries sensory impulses from the lower part of body to brain, and motor
impulses from brain to rest of the body 2. Performs some simple reflexes that do not involve the brain;
only sensory nerve , motor nerve, and the association neurons.

ENDOCRINE SYSTEM-- Nothing much to write!

HEREDITY:GENES AND BEHAVIOR-- Same!

CULTURAL BASIS-- SOCIO-CULTURAL SHAPING OF BEHAVIOR

Hormones and biological reflexes do not explain all behavior, as for example stereotype(fixed pattern),
that is the most distinguishing feature of a reflex, does not appear in most responses.

CONCEPT OF CULTURE

Culture refers to the "man-made" part of the environment, and comprises of the diverse products of
behavior.

Just as culture shapes us, we also shape culture.The relationship between both is interactive, and in the
course of these interactions, they constitute each other. This shows that human beings are not passive
recipients of cultural forces, instead they shape the context in which behavior is shaped.

WHAT IS CULTURE?

The innumerable definitions of it point to some of its basic features

1. Culture includes behavioral products of others who preceded us, and indicates both substantial and
abstract particulars that have prior existence in one form or another. Thus, culture is there already when
we begin life.

2, It contains values that will be expressed and a language to express them. consists of a way of life to
grow with. In such conceptualization of culture, it is placed outside the individual, but in some instances,
it is placed in the minds of an individual. In the latter case, culture is identified with historically
transmitted patterns of meanings embodied in symbols. Culture provides meaning by creating
significant categories like social practices, roles and values.

3. Culture exerts many real influences on human behavior. Allows us to categorize and explain
important differences in human behavior that were previously attributed to biological differences.

CULTURAL TRANSMISSION

No other organism has as much learning capacity as we do, and we have a highly developed capacity to
benefit from from experiences of our own, and those of others. The process of enculturation and
socialisation make us cultural beings.
1. Enculturation

Refers to all learning that happens without direct, deliberate teaching, due to its availability in our socio-
cultural context.

The key element here is learning by observation. A major part of our behavior is enculturation.

Although the effects are obvious, ppl are not aware generally of this effect, they are also not aware of
what all is there to learn in the society. That leads to the apparent paradox that people who are most
thoroughly enculturated are often the least aware of culture's role in modeling them.

2. Socialisation

Process by which individuals acquire skills, knowledge and dispositions, which allow them to function as
effective members of society.

This forms the basis of cultural transmission from one generation to the other, and its failure may
endanger the very existence of that society.

The concept of socialization suggests that human beings are capable of far greater repertoire of
behaviors that they never exhibit, the most clear example being of linguistic behavior.

Anyone who possesses power relative to us, can socialize us. These people are called socialization
agents.

The process of socializaton is not always smooth,and involves conflicts. Reward and punishments serve
as basic means for achieving the goals of socialization.

The process is not unidirectional, individuals are not only influenced by their social environment, but
also influence it in turn. With increased migration, indiv are not only socialised once, but resocialised
too, the process is called acculturation.

SOCIALISATION VS ENCULTURATION

While the former includes delibarate teaching, the latter does not need teaching. Since most of the
learning takes place with our engagement in our culture, socialization can be easily subsumed within
enculturation. A good deal of everything we learn is a combination of the two, e.g. language learning.

SOCIALIZATION AGENTS

Parents and family members are the most common socialization agents. Also, peer groups and media
influences play an important role.

In terms of being parent, parenting styles, treatment of children(in terms of degree of acceptance and
degree of control), conditions of living, grand-parental proximity, and network of social relationships are
some factors which affect.
ACCULTURATION

Refers to cultural and psychological changes arising from contact with other cultures.

Contact may be direct or indirect; voluntary or involuntary.

The course is multidirectional, meaning that not every time people want to move from a traditional
state to a state of modernity, as evidenced by a lot of tribal populations and immigrants to western
countries.

The changes can be both objective(acculturation strategies) and subjective(acculturation attitudes).

On an objective level, lot of things change like lifestyles entertainment etc, and the amount of change
can give the measure of acculturation, but the only problem is that sometimes the changes are not
conscious, and done only because they are easily available and economically affordable.

So to actually place some confidence in conscious acceptance, we need to analyze at the subjective
level.Based on two important issues( the desire to maintain one's own culture and identity, and the
desire to engage in daily interactions with members of other groups). John Berry has classified the
acculturation attitudes as:

1. Integration: Interest in both; some cultural integrity maintained

2. Assimilation: Dont wish to maintain their own; loss of one's own culture n identity

3. Separation: wish to hold to their culture; glorification of own cultural identity

4. Marginalization: no interest in both; indecision leads to a great degree of stress.

CHAPTER 4: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Development is the pattern of progressive, orderly and predicatable changes that begin at conception
and continue throughout life.

Interplay of biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes.

LIFE-SPAN PERSPECTIVE ON DEVELOPMENT

The life-span perspective has some asumptions:

1. Development is lifelong, includes gains and losses which interact in a dynamix way all through life.

2. The three processes are interwoven

3. Dev is multi directional, some components increase in size, while some decrease.

4. Dev is highly plastic, i.e. within an indiv, plasticity is found in psychological dev.Plasticity varies
between individuals. This means that skills and abilities can be improved or developed within a life span.
5. Dev is influenced by historical conditions. A 20 year old kid will not have the same dev as a 20 year old
kid had 50 years ago.

6. DEv is the concern of a no of disciplines, each one trying to find the answers.

7. An indiv acts and behaves in respect to contexts, i.e. what he inherited, the historical, social and
cultural contexts.

FACTORS INFLUENCING DEVELOPMENT

Genetics and environment, with genes setting the limits in which the environment can modify
development.

Parents provide the genes for the child's development. Sandra Scarr believes that the environment
parents provide depends to a certain extent on their own genetic predisposition.

CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT

Urie Bronfenbrenner's contextual view of development

Micro-system refers to the immediate environment/setting in which individual lives and interacts
directly with the social agents.

Mesosystem contains the relations between these contexts(between parents, teachers and friends)

Exosystem-- where child does not participate directly, but they influence child's experiences in the
immediate context e.g. transfer of parents.

Macrosystem -- culture in which individual lives.

Chronosystem -- includes events in an individual's life course, and socio-historical circumstances of time
like divorce of parents, or ec setback.
Therefore, this model basically proves that a child's development is significantly affected by the
minutest of changes in his life. Research has shown that children who live in impoverished environments
have unstimulated env, parents who are ineffective as role models, and therefore, are at a disadvantage
at learning.

ECOLOGICAL MODEL-DURGANAND SINHA

Ecology of the child can be viewed in two layers: the upper layer and the surrounding layer.

The upper layer consists of the visible factors-- 1. home and its conditions in terms of space available,
technology, facilities 2. nature n quality of schooling, facilities 3. nature of interactions and activities
taken with peer groups childhood onwards.

The surrounding layer includes -- Embedded in a more pervasive setting, and not clearly visible but
constantly interact with the upper layer. Includes -- 1. General geographical environment; congestion
and density of population around 2. Institutional setting given by caste, class 3. general amenities
available to the child like water, electricity etc.

DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

Developmental stages are assumed to be temporary and are often characterized by a dominant feature
or leading characteristic, which gives each period its uniqueness. Some behavior patterns and skills are
easily learnt and these become the social expectations of that time, known as Developmental tasks.

1. Prenatal stage

Lasts typically for 40 weeks

Affected by maternal characteristics(nutrition, disease etc.); teratogens

2. Infancy

Motor development:

newborn's movements are governed by reflexes- which are automatic, built in responses to stimuli;
these are genetically carried survival mechanisms, and the building blocks to further motor
development. some reflexes like coughing, yawning persist and the rest disappear.

Along with this, the physical development also progresses. the muscles and nervous system mature
leading to development of finer skills like crawling, walking running. The sequence is universal with
some minor exceptions.

SEnsory development:

Hearing is fairly well developed.

newborn vision is estimated to be slightly inferior than the adults, and in 6 months-1 year, he/she
achieves adult level of vision. As regarding color vision, the newborn might be able to distinguish
between red and white color, but full color vision develops only by 3 months of age.

Touch, pain, smell and taste is fairly well developed.

cognitive development:

Piaget stressed that children actively construct their understanding of the world.

Each stage of cognitive dev is characterized by a distinct way of thinking and is not age related. this
different way of thinking makes one stage more advanced than another and not the amount of
information.

In infancy, the child lives in the present, and experiences world through senses and interactions with the
objects. What is out of sight is out of mind.they lack Object Permanence. By 8 months, partial pursuing
of a hidden object starts.

Verbal communication starts at approx 3-6 months of age.

Socio-emotional development:

show preference for mother's company by 6-8 months of age. The close emotional bond between the
child and the parents is called attachment.(Harlow and harlow, classic cloth monkey study =
nourishment or feeding was not important, contact comfort was)

Erik Erikson-- first year was very important for development of attachment, represents the dev of trust
vs mistrust. if parents are sensitive, affectionate and accepting, trust is developed.

2. Childhood

Physical development-- Ceohalo caudal and proximo-distal trend.

Motor development: Gross motor skills include use of arms and legs, moving around more confidently
and more purposefully. Fine motor skills improve in early childhood, the preference fr rt or left hand
develops.
Cognitive development:

• Acquires the concept of object permanence, and starts using mental imagery to represent objects

But lacks the ability which allows him to do mentally what was done physically before. Cognitive dev
focuses on Piaget's stage of pre-operational thought. Draws objects because of ability of mental imagery
and expands his world. A salient feature of pre-operational thought is egocentrism(self-focus), where
the children are not able to appreciate others' point of view. Because of egocentrism, they also engage
in animism-thinking that all things are living.

• AT 4-7, they want the answers to all the questions, known as the stage of intuitive thought by
piaget. Another tendency in this stage is centration- focusing on only one aspect for understanding
something e.g. "big glass" means only tall, not a short and broad glass.

• between 7-11 years -- concrete operational thought develops.Intuitive thought is replaced by logical
thought.

concrete operational thought is made up of concrete operations -- the child is able to do mentally what
was done physically before. Also, centration is not present now, i.e. reversible mental action on real
objects is possible. This decreases egocentrism, and child becomes more flexible.

Still not able to do abstract thinking, i.e. manipulating ideas in the absence of objects

Socio-emotional development:

The basic aspects are self, gender and moral development.

Changes in the self take place, which acc to Erik Erikson, take the form of development of sense of
initiative(if freedom and support is given) or sense of guilt.

Self understanding in early childhood is limited to physical characteristics; during middle and late
childhood, internal characteristics are used, along with social aspects of self. They also think in terms of
what they can or cannot do relative to others.

Moral development: Acc to Lawrence Kohlberg, before 9 years-- child thinks in terms of external
authority.(thinking an action is good if he is not punished for it or rewarded)

by early adolescence: moral reasoning develops through sets of rules of parents or society laws, which
are acceped by the child as their own, and are "internalized" in order to be virtuous and win
approval(not to avoid punishment). Moral thinking at this stage is relatively inflexible.

Personal moral code develops as the child grows.

3. Adolescence

Stage that begins at the onset of puberty, when sexual maturity or ability to reproduce is obtained.
Physical development: dev of primary and secondary sexual characteristics

Cognitive developmental changes: thoughts are more abstract, logical and idealistic

Piaget said the stage of formal operational thought begins between 11-15 years of age, where
adolescents think logically and reason; and compare themselves and others with these ideal standards.
Sometimes this leads to confusion as to what ideal standards they should adopt. In contrast to trial and
error used by children they develop a systematic approach, and seek solutuons logically, something
piaget called hypothetico-deductive reasoning.

Logical thought also influences moral reasoning. Do not follow societal norms, and moral thinking shows
some flexibility. Develops a personal moral code.

Special kind of egocentrism, known as imaginary audience and personal fable develops.(By david Elkind)

Forming an identity: a detachment enables an adolescent to develop a personal identity. Adolescents

who are able to cope between confusing identities develop a new sense of self, those who cannot
develop "identity confusion". formation of identity depends on a lot of factors like family and social
values, ethnic background, vocational committment, relation between parents and peers

Rapid fluctuations between self confidence and insecurity.

Some major concerns:

Delinquency: Behavior ranging from socially unacceptable behavior to legal offences and criminal acts.
tend to have a negative self identity, less trust and low achievement level. they do not always remain
like that if conditions around are improved.

Sbstance Abuse: In india, a successful anti-drug programme is the Society for Theater in Education
Programme, Delhi. It uses street performances to entertain ppll in age range from 13-25 years. United
Nations Internatuional DRug Control Programme(UNDCP) has chosen it to be adopted by the other
NGO's in the region.

Eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia

4. Adulthood and old age

in early adulthood, two major tasks are- exploring possibilities for adult living, and developing a stable
life structure. Very boring, some pointers:

* Decline in long term memory is more than short term memory

*ppl of different cultures view death differently. like in the gond culture, it is believed death is caused by
magic n demon. in tanala culture of madagascar, natural forces are thought to be the cause of death.
CHAPTER 5:SENSORY, ATTENTIONAL AND PERCEPTUAL PROCESSES
Besides 5 external senses, we have also got 2 deep senses-- that of kinesthetic (body position) and
vestibular systems(movement of body parts related to each other)

With these 7 sense organs, we register ten different stimuli.

SENSE MODALITIES

Because each sense organ is highly specialized for dealing with a particular kind of information, it is also
called as a sense modality.

Functional limitations of sense organs: The concept of ABSOLUTE LIMEN OR THRESHOLD(AL), which is
the the minimum value or weight of the stimulus needed to activate a given sensory system.

AL is not a fixed point and varies between individuals, their organic tastes and motivational states. so
the point is taken when 50% of ppl perceive that point as AL.

Similarly, the amount of change in stimulus needed to be perceived as a different stimulus(on 50%
occasions) by the sensory system, is known as the DIfference Limen(DL) or threshold.

apart from this, the receptor organ, neural pathway,and the center in the brain play important parts,
and a defect in any one can lead to a loss of sensation.

VISUAL SENSATION

Vision is the most highly developed of all modalities.

Eyes are sensitive to a spectrum of light of wavelength 380-780 nm

Human eye: outer layer of transparent cornea and tough sclera(protects and maintains the shape of
eye)

middle layer of choroid which has blood vessels

inner layer of retina, which has receptors and an elaborate network of interconnected neurons.

Lens divides the eye into aqueous and vitreous chamber, which have fluids which hold the lens at its
appropriate place, and also allow enough flexibility to allow for accomodation by the ciliary muscles.
Iris controls the amount of light that enters the eye.(membrane like structure between cornea and lens;
controls the light by regulating pupil dilation)

Retina has 5 types of photoreceptor cells, out of which rods and cones are most common. rods- night,
achromatic vision, operate at low level of illumination. cones-- day, chromatic vision, ulta.(highly
concentrated in central region of retina surrounding the fovea, only 7 mn cf. rods which are 100 mn)
Fovea is a small circular region on the retina the size of a pea, and is also called the yellow spot. it is the
site of max visual acuity.

WORKING OF EYE: Light enters thru conjunctive, cornea, pupil, lens focuses it and passes it on to retina.

retina has got a nasal half and a temporal half. light from right visual field stimulates the left half and
vice versa. an inverted image is formed on the retina, which is sent through optic nerve to visual cortex
in brain, where it is re inverted and processed.(optic nerve leaves the retina from an area where there
are no photoreceptors, this area is called the blind spot).

ADAPTATION

Process of getting adjusted to different intensities of light.

While light adaptation takes only a minute or two, dark adaptation takes half hour or even longer.(it is
because rhodopsin/visual purple, the pigment present in rods disintegrates in the presence of light,
giving way to light adaptation. but it takes time to reform again when dark adaptation has to happen,
which is why it takes longer to adapt in the dark. Reformation happens with the help of vitamin A).

COLOUR VISION

Colour is a psychological property of our sensory experience.

Dimensions of color: 1. Hue- it is a prop of chromatic color, refers to the name of the color, which in turn
refers to the wavelength. Achromatic colors, like black and white are not characterized by hues.

2. Saturation is the psychological attribute that refers to the relative amount of hue of a surface or
object. Monochromatic lights are highly saturated and saturation decreases as we mix colors. color grey
is entirely unsaturated.
3. Brightness is the perceived intensity of light.varies across both chromatic and achromatic colors.
White represent the extremes, with white being the most bright and black least.

Color mixtures: Primary colors are RGB (Because their mixing can produce almost any color)

Complementary colors are those, which yield an achromatic grey or white when mixed. examples are
red-green and yellow-blue.

After images: Positive (resemble the original image in hue, saturation and brightness; usually occur after
a brief, intense stimulation of dark adapted eyes); negative(appear in complimentary colors; happens
when someone stares at a patch for 30 seconds, and then transfers his gaze to a neutral background)

2. AUDITORY SENSATION

External ear: has Pinna(cartilaginous funnel shaped structure, to collect sound waves) and Auditory
Meatus(canal protected by ear wax, carries sound waves from pinna to tympanum).

Middle ear: starts with tympanum(thin membrane highly sensitive to vibrations), followed by tympanic
cavity(which joins pharynx via eustachian tube). From here, vibrations pass on to the three ossicles,
which increase the intensity of the sound 10 times.

Inner ear: Has a membranous labyrinth which is enclosed in a bony labyrinth, with a lymph like fluid
between the two, known as perilymph.

Bony labyrinth has 3 semicircular canals at 90 degree to each other, a cavity called vestibule, and a
coiled structure called cochlea. The canals have fine hair cells, which are highly sensitive to postural
changes and body orientation. Inside the bony cochlea is membranous cochlea(also known as scala
media), and has a spirally coiled membrane known as basilar membrane. this membrane has fine hair
cells arranged in series to form the organ of corti. This is the main organ of hearing.

SOUND AS A STIMULUS

The changes in air pressure results in the formation of sound waves, which, when they strike our ears,
generate a mechanical pressure change which causes auditory response.

Amplitude: is a measure of extent of change in pressure(amount of displacement of molecules from

rest); it is the distance of crest or trough from its mean position.

Wavelength is the distance between two successive crests or troughs

Frequency is the number of cycles per second; varies inversely with wavelength.

Psychological dimensions of sound:

Loudness is determined by the amplitude of a wave, and measured in decibels.

Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of a sound. Determined by the frequency.

Timbre refers to the nature of quality of sound.

ATTENTIONAL PROCESSES

The process through which certain stimuli are selected from a group of stimuli is known as attention.

Attention has a focus(when the field of awareness is centered on an object) as well as a fringe(when
objects or events are far away from the center of attention, and one is vaguely aware of them they are
said to be at the fringe of attention).

A process oriented view divides attention into selective and sustained. When two things can happen at
the same time, it is called divided attention.

• Selective attention: concerned with selection of a limited number of stimuli, from a large pool.

Factors affecting selective attention: External (size, intensity, and motion of stimuli); large, complex,
rythmic auditory(cf. verbal narration), sudden and intense stimuli are better attended to.

Internal (motivational factors and cognitive factors like interest, aptitude and preparatory set).

Theories of selective attention:

1. Filter theory- by broadbent(1956). According to this, many stimuli simultaneously enter our brains
and create a "bottleneck" situation. They enter our short term memory system, where they enter the
selective filter which allows only one stimulus to pass through.

2. Filter-attenuation theory- by Triesman(1962). They say the stimuli enteringg are not completely
blocked, but only attenuated, and thus, some of them pass thru at a weak level, which is why,
sometimes, they are noticed e.g. someone's name at a collective dinner.

3. Multimode theory: by Johnston and Heinz(1978). Attention is a flexible system which allows selection
of stimulus at three stages. stage one, the sensory representations(e.g. visual images) of stimuli are
constructed; stage two, the semantic representations are done(e.g. names of objects); stage three,
sensory and semantic representations enter consciousness. They also said that that mental processing
requires effort, and so the effort increases in every stage.

• Sustained attention

Concerned with concentration

Factors affecting: Sensory modality-- Performance is superior when stimuli are auditory than visual.

Clarity of stimuli-- intense and long lasting stimuli facilitate sustained attention

Temporal uncertainty -- regular stimulus is attended better than irregular

Spatial uncertainty -- stimuli appearing at a fixed place are easier to attend.

PERCEPTUAL PROCESSES

The process by which we recognize, interpret, or give meaning to the information provided by the sense
organs is called perception.

It is a psychological construct, because in doing so, the interpretation is constructed in an individual's

own ways.

PROCESS APPROACHES IN PERCEPTION

The idea that recognition process begins from parts, which lead us to the recognition of the whole, is
known as the bottoms up processing. It lays emphasis on the various features of stimuli, and considers
perception as a process of mental construction.

The notion that recognition begins from the whole, which leads to identification of various components,
is called top down processing. This process lays emphasis on the perceiver, and considers the process to
be that of recognition or identification of stimuli.

THE PERCEIVER

Four factors play part, 1. Motivation(ppl want to perceive something in a way which will fulfill their
needs), and secondly, 2. the expectations of the perceptual set(expectations about what we might
perceive). This phenomenon of perceptual familiarisation or perceptual generalisation reflects a strong
tendency to see what we expect to see, even when results do not reflect actual reality.

3. Cognitive styles: Refers to the consistent style of dealing with the environment. There are many of
these styles, but the one most extensively used is that of "field dependent and field independent". The
former perceives the world in its totality(holistic), while the latter by breaking it down into smaller
pieces(analytic/differential).

4. Cultural background and experiences: These factors affect perception. like eskimos can differentiate
between various kinds of snow; ppl coming from a pictureless env, like African subjects will hv trouble
perceiving objects in a picture.

PRINCIPLES OF PERCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION

The process by which visual field is organized into meaningful wholes is called Form Perception. The
most widely accepted answer for this has been given by the Gestalt psychologists.

Gestalt means a regular figure or form. Acc to them, we perceive diff stimuli not as discrete elements,
but as an organized "whole" that carries a definite form. They believe the form of the object lies in its
whole, and is different from the sum of its parts. THey also indicate that our cerebrum is tailored
towards perception of "good figure" or Pragnanz. The most primitive organization takes place in the
form of figure-ground segregation(when certain aspects of a surface stand out as seperate entities, like
words on a page; Rubin's vase.
Figure is distinguished from ground on the basis of certain characteristics:

1. Figure has a definite form, while the background is formless.

2. Figure is more organized cf background.

3. Figure has a clear contour, background is contourless.

4. Figure stands out from the background, while the latter stays behind figure.

5. figure appears cleaner, neater and closer, ulta for background.

Principles: (figures in order below)

1. Principle of proximity: objects close together in space or time are perceived to be in a group.

2. Principle of similarity: Objects similar to one another, and having similar characteristics are perceived
as a group.

3. Principle of continuity: WE tend to perceive objects as belonging together, if they appear to form a
continous pattern.

4. Principle of smallness: smaller areas tend to be seen as figures against a larger background.

5. Principle of symmetry: symmetrical areas tend to be seen as figures against an asymmetrical

background.

6. Principle of surroundedness: Areas surrounded by others tend to be perceived as figures.

7. Principle of closure: Tendency to fill in the gaps in stimulation, and perceive the objects as a whole,
rather than their seperate parts

PERCEPTION OF SPACE, DEPTH AND DISTANCE

While images of objects projected on retina is flat and 2 dimensional, retina has the ability to transfer to
transfer a two dimensional retinal vision into a three dimension perception.

in perceiving depth, we rely on two different cues, monocular and binocular.(called so because they
need to eyes for perceiving depth).

1. Monocular cues(psychological cues): often used by artists to induce depth in two dimensional
paintings, thus also known as pictorial cues.

a. relative size: as obect gets away, the image on retina gets smaller n smaller.

b. interposition and overlapping: overlapped object is considered farther away, whereas the object that
is covering is considered closer.
c. linear perspective: phenomenon by which distant objects appear closer together than the nearer
objects. The more the lines converge, the farther they appear.

d. aerial perspective: air has microscopic particles of moisture and dust, that makes distant things look
blurry and hazy.e.g. distant mountains appear blue due to scattering of light, but the same mountains
are perceived to b closer when atmosphere is clear.

e. light and shade: in light some parts of objects get highlighted, some become darker. these provide
information about an object's distance.

f. relative height: larger objects are perceived closer to the viewer, and vice versa. if we expect two
objects to be the same size, this rule makes us perceive objects closer n farther.

g. texture gradient: phenomenon by which visual field having more density of elements is seen farther
away.

i. motion parallax: it is a kinetic monocular cue, and thus, not considered as a pictorial cue. occurs when
objects at different distances move at a different relative speed. SLOB rule applies.

2. Binocular cues(physiological cues)

1. retinal or binocular disparity: retinal disparity occurs bcoz two eyes hv different locations inside our
head.(seperated by a distance of 6.5 cm). If it is more, brain interprets it to be a closer oject; and vice
versa.

2. Convergence: a group of muscles send signals to the brain as to how much do the eyes converge on
seeing an object. more convergence means closer object.

3. Accomodation: The signal for thickness of lens muscle is sent to the brain, more muscle thickening
means closer object.

PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCIES

Perception of objects as relatively stable despite changes in stimulation of sensory receptors is called
perceptual constancy.

Size constancy:

Tendency for the perceived size of the objects to remain relatively unchanged with changes their
distance from observer and the size of retinal image.

Similarly there is shape constancy and brightness constancy.

ILLUSIONS

Our perceptions are not always veridical.

misperception resulting from misinterpretation of signals by our sensory organs is known as illusions.
also known as "primitive organizations". although they can happen with any sense organ, they hv bn
studied most widely for the visual organs.

Some illusions are universal/permanent, bcoz they do not change with experience. those that seem to
vary are called individual illusions.

1. Geometrical illusions: e.g. Muller-Lyer illusion and vertical horizontal illusion.

Even experienced by children, some studies suggest it is even experienced by animals

2. Apparent movement illusion: experienced when motionless pictures are projected one after another
at an appropriate rate; also known as "phi phenomenon". also observed with rapid flickering of
lights.(for this one, wertheimer has suggested that appropriate level of brightness, size, spatial gap, and
temporal contiguity is reqd)

Socio-cultural influences on perception:

Segall, campbell and herskovits carried out most extensive study of illusion susceptibility by comparing
samples from african villages and remote urban settings. while african subjects showed more
susceptibility to horizontal vertical illusion, western ppl showed higher susc to the muller lyer.(bcoz the
former, living in dense forests experienced verticality more often and the latter, in an env characterized
by right angles developed tendency to underestimate the lines characterized by enclosure) It was also
found that interpretation of pictures was is strongly related to experiences of ppl.

CHAPTER 6: LEARNING
Can be defined as any permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential produced by experience.

Features of learning:

1. always involves some kind of experience.

2. behavioral changes that happen due to learning are permanent.(fatigue, and orienting reflexes due to
habituation are temporary, and hence are not considered to be learning.)

3. learning is an inferred process, and is different from performance.

PARADIGMS OF LEARNING:
Kinds of learning-- conditioning(simplest type of learning; has two types, classical and
operant/instrumental), observational learning, verbal learning,cognitive l, concept l, skill l

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

By ivan p. pavlov.

In the dog experiment, before conditioning, food was the unconditioned stimulus(US), and salivation an
unconditioned response(UR). After conditioning, the sound of bell, became the CS, and the salivation
became CR. This kind of conditioning is called classical conditioning, and is based on an S-S pattern, in
which one stimulus(sound of bell), becomes the signal for another stimulus(food).

The examples of CC abound in our daily life.

Determinants of CC:

1. Time relations between stimuli: are of 4 types:(first 3 are known as forward conditioning)

a. when CS and US are presented together-- called simultaneous conditioning

b. when onset of CS precedes onset of US; CS ends before onset of US -- known as delayed conditioning

c. onset and end of CS precede the onset of US -- trace conditioning

d. CS after US-- backward conditioning.

It is well established now that delayed is the best for classical conditioning. with trace and simultaneous,
more no of acquisition trials are needed; and its very rare with backward.

2. Types of US: Appetitive and aversive; former is slower and needs more trials, but latter is established
in one, two or 3 trails depending on the aversiveness of the stimulus.

3. Intensity of CS: More intense are more effective in accelerating acquisition of conditioned
responses.(less trials).

OPERANT/INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING

Skinner studied occurence of voluntary responses when an organism operates on the environment, he
called them operants. So operants re the behaviors/responses elicited voluntarily by the animals and
human beings and are in their control.

called instrumental because the response is instrumental in getting the reward; examples abound in
daily life.

Determinants of operant conditioning:

operant or instrumental conditioning is a form of learning where the behavior is learnt,modified and
changed based on the consequences; these consequences are known as reinforcers. A reinforcer is
defined as any stimulus or event, which increases the probability of occurence of an event or behavior.

1. TYpes of reinforcement: may be positive or negative.responses that lead org to get rid of the painful
stimuli or avoid and escape from them, are known as negative reinforcements.

No punishment suppresses a response permanently, more severe the punishment, more lasting i sthe
suppression effect but is not permanent. negative reinforcement encourages avoidance r escape
response.

2. No of reinforcemnt and other features:

refers to the no of trials in which an org has been reinforced or rewarded., amount and qualtity of
reinforcer is also the detreminant, and the behavior increses with all of these factors till a certain level.

3. Schedules of reinforcement: partial reinforcemnt has been found to produce breater resistance to
extinction than cont reinforcement.

4. DElayed reinforcement: delay leads to poor performance, smaller rewards immediately are preferred

rather than a big one after a long time.

KEY LEARNING PROCESSES

1. REINFORCEMENT: reinforcers can e primary or secondary. primary ones are biologically important
since they determine an organism's survival(like food for a hungry organism). secondary reinforcers are
the ones which have acquired characteristics of the reinforcers because of organism's experience with
the environment.e.g. money, praise, and grades.

2. EXTINCTION: Means disappearance of a learned response due to removal of reinforcers.

Learning shows resistance to extinction, meaning that even when reinf is not there, it continues to occur
for sometime. It has been shown, that with greater no of acquisition trials, resistance increases, and
learned response reaches its highest level, where performance gets stabilized. After that, no. of trials do
not make a difference.

Resistance increases with increasing no of reinf.ments during acquisition trials, after which it stabilizes,
and over that it starts decreasing. For the amount of reinf. the more the amount, the less the resistance

3. GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION: Occur in all kinds of learning, but hav been extensively
evaluated with conditioning.

Phenomenon of responding similiarly to similar stimuli is known as generalization. u know whats

discrimination. occurence of generalization means failure of discrimination.

4. SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY: Occurs after a learned response is extinguished. amount of spontaneous

recovery depends on the time lapsed. mor ethe time lapsed, more is the recovery.

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Also known as social learning/modeling.

Studies have been done by bandura(5 minute film, with different ends, followed by children's reaction
to the same thing, depending on which reaction film they saw).

In this, observers acquire knowlwdge by observing the model's behavior, but performance depnds on
model's behavior rewarded or punished.
COGNITIVE LEARNING HERE, THERE IS A CHANGE IN WHAT THE LEARNER KNOWS, RATHER THAN WHAT
A LEARNER DOES(AS IN CONDITIONING; THIS BASICALLY BREAKS FREE FROM THE S-R AND S-S RULE OF
CONDITIONING)

Shows up in 2 types:

1. Insight learning

kohler's experiment with chimpanzees(poles and boxes, larning thru insight and not thru trial and error).
sudden solution is the rule, showing that what is learnt is a cognitive relationship between means and
an end, because of which this learning can be generalized to other similar problem situations.

2. Latent learning

A new behavior is learnt but not demonstrated, until reinforcement is provided for diaplaying it. (maze
and rat experiment)

VERBAL LEARNING

This is different from conditioning, and is limited to human beings.

Methods used in studying verbal learning:

1. Paired-Associates learning: is similar to S-S conditioning and S-R Learning; used in learning some
foreign lang words equivalent of mother tongue words.

first, a list of paired associates is made, first word is the stimulus, and second word is the response.
members of each pair can be of same or different language. first member is from a nonsense
syllable(stimulus), seconsd is the english noun(response).

learner is shown both and asked to remember them. after this, a strial run begins. in case of failure, the
response to that particular stimulus is shown, and then test is carried on. trials cont until participants giv
all correct answers. total number of truials taken becomes the criteria for paired associates learning.

2. SErial learning: used to learn how participants learn the list of verbal items, and what processes are
involved in it. Lists of verbal items, nonsense syllables, inter-related, most or least familiar words etc is
made, and then the participant is asked to remember it; he is upposed to present it in the same serial
order. at trial, first word is shown, and next word is asked. if fails, second is given, third asked. no of
trials counted, until perfect list is produced. The procedure is called Serial anticipation method.

3. Free recall: mor ethen 10 words are included; used to study how words are stored in memory. studies
indicate that words stored at the beginning/en are recalled easily, cf middle which r difficult.

DETERMINANTS OF VERBAL LEARNING:

1. Different features of the verbal material to b learned: like the length of list and meaningfulness of
material(measured in many terms like number of associations elicited in a fixed time, familiarity of the
mat, frequency of usage, relations among words and sequential dependence of each word to preceding
word).

The list of nonsense syllables are available with different levels of association. These syllables should be
selected from a list containing the same association value.

Generalizations that have been made based on the research findings:

1. learning time increases with length of the list, occurrence of words with low association values, or lack
of relations among the items in the list.

2. the more time it takes to learn the list, stronger will be the learning.(total time principle operates,
meaning that a fixed amt of time is necessary to learn a fixed amt of material, regardless of the trials
into which that time is divided.)

3. if free learning is used, learning becomes organizational, meaning words are not recalled in the series
in which it was presented, but in a new sequence, where categories are remembered together, known
as CATEGORY CLUSTERING. Also free recall is organized subjectively.

4. verbal learning is intentional, but a person may learn some featuresof the words unintentionally or
incidentally. in this, ppl might note which two words rhyme, start with a vowel etc.

CONCEPT LEARNING

A concept is defined by a set of features or attributes connected by some rule. A feature is any
characteristic or aspect of an object or living organism that is observed in them, and can be considered
equivalent to some feature observed or discriminated in other objects.

Keeping in view the rules that are used to define concepts, psychologists have studied two kinds of
concepts-- artificial(well defined, rules rigid and precise) and natural(ill defined categories e.g.biological
objects, real world products).

A well defined concept is when features representing the concept are both singly necessary and jointly
sufficient.

SKILL LEARNING

Ability to perform some complex task smoothly and efficiently. A skill consists of a chain of perceptual
motor responses or as a sequence of S-R associations.

Phases of skill acquisition: Skill learning passes through many qualitatively different phases, each of
which makes performance smoother and with less effort. each phase, the performance improves. In
transition from one phase to another, when the performance remains still, it is called as the
performance plateau. Once the next phase begins, performance starts to improve.

One of tthe most influential accounts of this has been given by Fitts, acc to whom it passes thru 3
phases: cognitive, associative, and autonomous. in the first phase, the learner has to memorize all the
instructions, and understand how the task has to be performed. in this phase, every outside cue,
instructional demand, and one's response outcome has to be kept alive in consciousness.

in second phase, different sensory stimuli are linked with appropriate responses. as practice increases,
performance improves. with continuation, errorless performance begins, but the learner still has t o pay
attention.

in third phase, 2 imp changes take place: the attentional demands decrease, and interference caused by
external factors decreases. finally skill performance attains automaticity with minimal dmends on
conscious effort.

TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Refers to the effects of prior learning on new learning. can be positive, where prior learning facilitates
new learning, and vice versa.

In the study of transfer effect, a distinction is made between generic transfer and specific transfer. It is
now well known that prior learning always leads to positive general transfer, it is always in specific
transfer that effects are positive or negative, or zero, though in reality, due to some amt of general
transfer, zero transfer is theoretically untenable.

1. Generic/general transfer: is not clearly conceptualized or defined in its details. However, prior
learning predisposes/"warms-up" a person to learn another task in a better manner.

2. Specific: Any task can be understood as a chain of discriminable stimuli, each of which has to be
associated with a specific response. possible relationships-

a. due to difference in stimuli of initial and transfer tasks, no specific transfer is expected. howeevr, due
to generic transfer, some positive transfer may occur.

b. stimuli of both are same and responses are highly similar. so positive specific transfer happens;
maximum transfer.

c. stimuli are same but responses are different. some positive transfer may occur.

d. stimuli are different, response is the same. so new associations with response are to be learned.
positive t

e. stimuli and responses are the same, but associations are altered, which leads to negative t bcoz the
associations interfere.

FACTORE FACILITATING LEARNING

1. Continous vs partial reinforcement: the former has a high rate of responding, but less resistance to
extinction.(effectiveness of the reinforcer , due to being given at each stage is reduced)
It has been found that the latter produce very high rates of responding, especially if the responses are
reinforced acc to the ratio. In this schedule, there are many times that the reinforcement are not given
for several responses. so it is difficult to tell whether the reinf has been stopped or is merely delayed.
Thi sdifference has been found to be crucial for extinction. the fact that partial reinf produces higher
resist to extinction is k/a partial reinforcement effect.

2. Motivation: energizes an organism to act vigorously to attain a goal.

3. preparedness for learning: members of various species vary in their sensory capabilities and response
abilities. It can be said that species have biological constraints on the learning capacities. The kind of S-S
or S-R an organism can easily acquire depends on the associative mechanism it is genetically endowed
with or prepared for. This conept can be best understood as a continuum or dimension, with the tasks
which are easy for members at one end, and the tasks for which the members are not prepared at all at
the other end; in the middle lie those tasks which members are neither prepared nor unprepared for;
thse can be learnt but with great difficulty and persistence.

THE LEARNER:LEARNING STYLES

Lerning style is defined as a learner's consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of
learning. Approaches are derived from:

1. Perceptual modality: biologically based reactions to physical environments(refers to preferences of

persons through which they take in information of senses)

2. information processing: distinguishes the way in which we are structured to think, solve problems and
remember information. e.g. active/reflective; sensing/intuitive; sequential/global etc.

3. personality patterns: way we interact with the surroundings. each of us has a preferred way of
perceiving, organizing and retaining information

Anderson differentiated between analytical style and relational style.

however, it must b remembered that these styles are points along a scale, that help us to discover
different forms of mental representation. they do not characterize ppl. ppl are capable of learning any
style, no matter what their preference may b.
LEARNING DISABILITIES

THis is a general term, and refers to a heterogenous group of disorders manifested in terms of difficulty
in acquisition of learning, reading, writing, speaking, reasoning, and mathematical activity. the sources
of these disorders are inherent in a child. these originate from problems in functoning of CNS, and might
present in conjunction with physical handicap, sensory impairment, ,ental retardation, or without them.

also, these may be observed as distinct handicapping cond in children of avg to superior intelligence,
adequate sensory motor systems,and adequate learning opportunities.

Symptoms:

1. difficulties in writing letters, words and phrases, reading out teaxt, and speaking. often listening
problems are also seen, though no auditory defect is seen.

2. disorders of attention. attentional deficiency may lead to hyperactivity.

3. poor space orientation and inadequate sense of time, misjudge right. lt up and down; do not get
oriented to their surroundings.

4. poor motor coordination and manual dexterity.

5. fail to understand and follow directions.

6. misjudge relationships,and do not understand body lang.

7. show perceptual disorders. it is not that they do not hv sensory acuity, they just fail to use it in
performance.

8. large no have dyslexia, fail to otganize verbal materials.

APPLICATIONS OF LEARNING PRINCIPLES

1. Like giving rewards to all those who werent absent on a single working day, to check absenteeism.

2. to improve discipline, managers start functioning as mos=del for employees, and then employees are
placed under such model managers.

3. therapeutic procedures developed to modify maladapting or socially incapacitating habits and

behaviors. e.g. principle of extinction, for irrational fear with accompanying avoidance behavior,
implosive therapy(starts with the person imagining his most feared form of contact with the feared
object, and accompanied by vivid, verbal descriptions from the therapist) and flooding(in vivo exposure,
considered to bbe most effective) is used.

systematic desensitization for pts with excessive anxieties and fears; uses counterconditioning by
associating the crucial stimulus with a new conditioned response.

aversion therapy to eliminate habits that are undesirable and injurious to health and happiness.(e.g
pairing of alcohol with emetic drug so that nausea and vomiting becomes a conditioned response to
alcohol)

4. modeling and systematic uses of reinf

5. biofeedback for ppl who lose mental peace alonwith biological symptoms(accelarated heart beat, rise
in BP) at the slightest provocation; based on interaction between classical and operant conditioning; a
bodily function is monitored, and information is fed to the person to control the physiological process.

6. educational sector; use of S-S and S-R responses in teaching.

CHAPTER 7: MEMORY
Refers to retaining and recalling information over a period of time.

has 3 components-- encoding(recording and registration of information for the first time, so that is
becomes usable by our memory system. incoming information is received and some meaning is derived.
it is then represented in away that it can be processed further), storage and retrieval.

INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH: THE STAGE MODEL

proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968.

acc. to this, there are 3 memory systems- sensory, short term, and long term, with each having different
features and different functions w.r.t. sensory inputs

1. Sensory memory: incoming information first enters here. this memory has a large capacity, but very
less retention time(less than a second)

Registers information from each sense with reasonable accuracy. Often this system is referred to as
sensory memories or sensory registers, because each stimulus is stored as the exact replica. visual after
images or auditory reverberations are examples of iconic(visual) or echoic(auditory) sensory registers.

2. Short term memory: Information that is attended to enters the second memory store, called STM.

Holds small amt of information, for a brief period of time(approx 30 seconds)

The authors proposed that the inf is primarily encoded acoustically., and unless rehearsed continously, it
is lost within 30 seconds. so STM is fragile but not as fragile as 1.

3. Long term memory: materials that survive the capacity and duration limits of STM finally enter LTM.

Vast capacity, permanent storehouse.

it has been shown that once an inf enters here, it is never lost bcoz it is stored semantically; so only
retrieval failure is possible if u forget.

These are the structural features of the stage model. questions that remain:

How is information transmitted from one store to another?

The authors propose the notion of control processes which function to monitor the flow of information.
information received by our senses are not registered(imagine the kind of pressure if they did!), only the
one that is paid attention enters STM(by selective attention which is the first process. after this STM
initiates MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL, to retain information for as long as it needs. so information stays if
it is repeated, otherwise it dies down. another control process, which operates to expand STM is
chunking, through which memory is expanded beyond 7+2).
From STM inf enters long term memory via elaborative rehearsals; as against maintenance ones which
were primarily based on silent/vocal repetition,this attempt to connect the 'to be retained information'
to the 'already existing information in long term memory'. The no of associations that can be made will
determine its permanence. so it involves organization of the information in some kind of logical
framework, linking to similar memories, or creating a mental image.

Experiments that were done to test this theory has provided mixed results. while some show that stm
and ltm are truly two separate groups, others have questioned their distinctivensss. evidences show that
information can be stored semantically in STM and acoustically in LTM. Also for a pt who had an
accident and lost his STM, but LTM was intact. that is counter to this theory, acc to which, information
goes to long term via short term memory.

LEVELS OF PROCESSING VIEW

Given by Craig and LOckhart in 1972.

Suggests that processing of any new inf relates to the manner in which it is perceived, analyzed, and
understood, which in turn determines, how long will it be retained. This has gone a lot of revisions, but
the basic view remains the same.

level 1 is analysis in physical or structural features, (like analyzing the shape and color of ink in which cat
is written)

level 2 is , intermediate level, phonetic sounds are considered and attended to, which gives at least
some meaning(like understanding cat has 3 specific letters)

these two levels are called shallower levels of processing, and produce fragile memory.

level 3 deepest level, where information is analyzed and understood in terms of its meaning, or a mental
image. this level leads to considerable resistance to forgetting.

TYPES OF STM:

TYPES OF LONG TERM MEMORY

1. Declarative -- information pertaining to dates, places, names etc are under this. this memory can be
episodic or semantic.(Tulving) the former contains biographical details of our lives, contents are
generally emotional. although these events are hardly forgetful, there are some events, which are not
remembered in as much detail, esp the painful ones.

semantic is the memory of general awareness and knowledge. unlike episodic, this memory is not dated.
concept, rule, logic is stored here. since the contents relate to facts and ideas, it is affect neutral, and
not susceptible to forgetting.

2. Procedural/non declarative-- relates to memories of procedures, like riding a bicycle. contents ahere
are not amenable to verbal descriptions, unlike 1.
KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION AND ORGANIZATION IN MEMORY

How does long term memory store so much information and retrieve with so much efficiency?

• many ideas related to organization in LTM have come from expts that have employed some
semantic retrieval tasks. it is agreeable that no one will hv a problem in recall of semantic memory,
but the answers come in variable lengths of time, based on which the organization is inferred.

• the most important unit of memory representation is Concept.(mental categories for objects and
events, similar to each other in more than one way). Concepts organize themselves into
categories(which in itself is a concept, but also functions to organize similarities among other
concepts based on common features). Concepts may also organize themselves into schemas(mental
frameworks which represent our knowledge and assumptions about the world e.g. things that come
to mind when we say school, which is a schema). So what we learnt is that categories and schema is
the first level at which the concepts are organized.

What are the higher levels of organization?

ALan collins, and ross quillian in 1969 suggested that long term memory is hierarchically organized and
assumes a network structure. elements of the structure are called nodes, which represent concepts,
while, connections are known as labelled relationships, which indicate category membership or category
attributes. It showed by an experiment, that an immediate superordinate category was easily verified,
and time was taken to verify things which formed a part of distal superordinate category.

They concluded that we can store knowledge at a certain level that applies to all the members of a
category without having torepeat that information at th elower levels of hierarchy. this ensures a high
degree of COGNITIVE ECONOMY(Maximum and efficient use of the capacity of LTM, with minimum
redundancy).
• Another question that arises after discussion of concept as the unit of encoding is: is knowledge
encoded only in word like format?

It has been shown that information can also be coded in a perceptual format, or mental images. Image is
a concrete form of representation, that directly conveys perceptual attributes of an object.

It is accepted that generally, all concrete forms or objects are encoded by both words and images,
something known as DUAL CODING HYPOTHESIS.(ORIGINALLY BY PAIVIO, acc to whom concrete nouns
and information are stored in the form of images, while information related to abstract concepts
assume a verbal and descriptive code).

Information encoded by images generate mental models, which are used in routine tasks, like cooking
by following instructions from a book. So, mental models refer to our belief about the manner in which
our env is structured and such beliefs are formed with the help of concrete images as well as verbal
descriptions.

MEMORY AS A CONSTRUCTIVE PROCESS

Ebbinghaus primarily held the view that memory was basically a reproduction of the stored materials. If
the reproduced version of the stored material shosed any deviation, it was consedered to be an error,
and a memory failure. This impled that the memory was a passive occurence of learnt material that had
been transported to its long term storehouse.

This position was challenged by Bartlett, who said that memory is an active process, and all that is
stored undergoes constant change and modification. so memory was seen a s constructive, and not
reproductive process. Using meaningful materials like texts, folk tales, fables, he attempted to
understand manner in which content of any specific memory gets affected bya person's goals,
motivation, preferences, and other psychological processes. he conducted simple expts where reading
of stimulus mat was folld by a 15 min break and then participants recalled what they had read, the
technique used ws Serial reproduction.While doing this, the participants committed a lot of errors,
which he used to understand memory construction. his participants altered the texts to make them
more consistent with their knowlwdge, glossed over unnecessary details, and transformed mat to make
it more rational and coherent. To explain such findings, he invoked th eterm Schema.(acc to him, it
meant active organization of past experiences and knowledge, thus influencing the way in which the
incoming information is interpreted.

NATURE AND CAUSES OF FORGETTING

First attempt to understand this was made by Ebbinghaus, who memorized list of nonsense syllables,
and then measured the no of trials it took to relearn the same at varying time intervals. he observed
that forgetting follows a pattern, and that max forgetfulness happens in the first 1 hour, and continues
till 9 hours. after that rate slows down, and much is not forgotten. although his methods were not
sophisticated, they hv influenced memory research, for it is now held that memory loss is higher initially
after which it is gradual.

1. Forgetting dur to trace decay(also called disuse theory)

has been proved inadequate

The assumption here is that memory produces a achange in CNS, which is akin to physical changes in
brain called memory traces; if the yare not used for a long time, they fade away.

But ppl who sleep do not forget, and are in fact better than ppl who do not sleep, in an exam? could not
explain all this and was discarded
2. Forgetting due to interference

most influential

forgetting is due to interference between various informations that memory store contains.

It assumes that learning and memorizing involves forming of associations between items and once
acquired, remains intact. a lot of thses remain in the brain without mutual conflict. problemarises when
retrieval time comes, when these numerous associations compete with each other. Interference can be
proactive(when previous association interferes with recall of subsequent learning), or
retroactive(difficulty in recalling what was learnt earlier due to subsequent learning)

3. Forgetting due to retrieval failure

due to retrievak cues being inappropriate or absent.

Retrieval cues are aids which help us in recovering information stored in the memory.(Tulving et al).

ENHANCING MEMORY

There are a no of strategies to improve memory called mnemonics.

1. Mnemonics using images

a. Keyword method: if a foreign language is to be learnt, a similar english word is thought of, which
becomes the keyword.(pot for spanish Pato, which means duck), then mental image of the keyword and
the target word(meaning of Pato)should be generated, and imagined as interacting. like, imagine duck in
a pot of water:)

b. the method of loci: items that are to be remembered are placed as objects arranged in physical
spaces, in the form of visual images. particularly helpful in remembering things in a serial order.(ghar ka
samaan arranged in mental images from bathroom to kitchen)
2. Mnemonics using organization

a. Chunking

b. First letter technique

Mnemonic strategies are too simplistic, and underestimate the complexities associated of memory tasks
and difficulties ppl experience while memorizing. a more comprehensive approach:

1. Engage in deep level processing: asking questions, forming associations with the facts already known.

2. minimize interference: arranging different subjects to be read one after another., intermittent rest
periods.

3. Giving enough retrieval cues: parts of study materials should be linked to these cues.

4. PQRST Method by Thomas and Robinson: preview, Question, Read, Self recitation, Test

CHAPTER 8: THINKING
Involves manpulation and analysis of information received from the environment.

It is an internal mental process, which can be inferred from overt mental behavior; and it is mostly
organized and goal directed.

BUILDING BLOCKS OF THOUGHT

Thinking usually resides on knowledge that already exists; that can happen either by way of mental
images or words.

1. Mental images: It is a mental representation of a sensory experience, and can be used to think about
things, places and events.

2. Concepts: When we see a new object, we look at its charateristics and try to match it with the
characteristics of an existing category. If the matching is perfect, we put it under that category. so a
concept is a mental representationof category and refers to a class os objects, events or ideas that share
common properties.

Why do we need to form concepts? Because it helps in organizing our knowledge, which in turn gives
easier and faster access when need arises.

Concepts usually fall under hierarchies or levels of understanding, classified as superordinate(highest

level), basic(intermediate level), and suvordinate level(lowest level). Most of speaking is done with basic
level concepts, like a "dog" is basic level. Calling it an "animal" is superordinate, and "four legged animal
that barks and wags tail" is subordinate.

Most of the cobcepts used in thinking are neither clear nor unambigous, but fuzzy, and the yoverlap
with each other. To these fuzzy questions when we dont know in which category to put something, a
PROTOTYPE is the answer. Prototype is the best reperesentative member of the group. In consedering
about concepts, prototypes exist in real life(Eleanor Rosch). ppl decide categories by comparng the new
item with the prototype.

PROCESSES OF THINKING

A. PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem solving is thinking that is goal directed. Problems, referred to not only obstacles or hurdles, but
any simple activity.

Obstacles to solving problems:

1. Mental Set: tendency of someone to solve problems only by using known/already tried methods or
operations or steps, with prior success helping in solving a new problem. Creates a mental rigidity taht
affects quality and spped of problem solving.

Like mental set, functional fixedness also hindres PS. It happens when ppl fail to solve a prblm because
they are fixed on the way a particular thing functions.
2. Lack of motivation:

B. REASONING

1. Deductive and inductive Reasoning The kind of reasoning that begins with an assumption is k/a
deductive. assumption is believed to be true, and on that basis, conclusion is drawn. In other words, it is
reasoning from general to particular. so mistakes happen, if the underlying assumption is wrong.

REasoning that is based on specific facts and observation, is called inductive. One mistake that can be
made is jumping to a conclusion without knowing all the facts. Most cases of scientific resoning are
inductive in nature.

Analogy is another form of reasoning.A is to B as C is to D; this kind of reasoning helps us in identifying

and visualizing salient attributes of an object/event, which would otherwise go unnoticed.

C. DECISION MAKING

In judgments, we draw conclusions, form opinions, evaluate events, objects, based on knowledge and
available evidences. While some judgments are automatic, and require no effort, occurring out of
habit(like pressing a brake on a red light), others need reference to past knowledge and experience(like
evaluating a text). And so our judgments are not devoid of our personal beliefs and attitudes, and also,
changes are made in them based on newly acquired information.(change in how a teacher is after a few
classes!!)

judgment and decision making are inter related. in the latter, the problem is to choose from one of the
option based on cost benefit ratio of each alternative.

NATURE AND PROCESS OF CREATIVE THINKING

Creative thinking is not only expressed in extraordinary work. It can also be expressed in day to day
works like writing, teaching, cooking etc. The concept of 'Everyday creativity', reflected in one's
perceiving thinking and problem solving, is different from 'special talent creativity' seen in outstanding
creative achievements.

1. Nature of creative thinking: Distinguished by other types of thinking by the fact that involves
production of novel and original ideas. It has to be understood that besides thinking differently(novelty),
originality is also an imp aspect of creative thinking.

Creative thinking is also characterized by what brunner calls as the 'effective surpeise', that is if a
product or idea is unusual, the reaction of most of those who experiene it is of instant surprise or
startle.

Another important criterion is appropriateness in a particular context. Thinking is said to be creative

when it is reality oriented, appropriate, constructive and socially desirable.

J.P. Guilford, proposed two kinds of thinking- convergent and divergent. the former is used to solve
problems which have only one correct answer. the latter is used when open ended thinking is needed.

Divergent thinking ability includes:

a. Fluency: ability to produce many ideas for a given task. more the ideas, higher is fluency ability.

b. Flexibility: indicates variety in thinking. thinking of diff uses of something, or diff interpretations of a
picture

c. Originality: producing idea that is rare or unusual by seeing new relationships, combining old ideas
with new ones. research has shown that fluency and flexibility are the two main prerequisites for
originality.

d. elaboration: ability that enables an individual to go into details and workout implication of ideas.

So, while divergent thinking is necessary for generating a wide range of ideas, convergent thinking is
necessary to identify the most useful or appropriate idea.
PROCESS OF CREATIVE THINKING

The process begins with the NEED stage, when need for search of new ideas,and solutions arises from
sensing problems and gaps in information. Does not happen to everyone.

Next is the PREPARATION stage which requires one to understand the task or problem at hand, analyze
it and become aware of background facts and related information. This process induces more creativity
and exciting, and if supplemented by divergent thinking, pushes one to new directions.

One may then get stuck at some point, and may get frustrated and leave the problem for some time.
This is called INCUBATION stage. Research shows that creative ideas may not occur immediately during
incubation, or when the individual is not consciously thinking about problem, or seeking relaxation. it
may occur when a person is doing something else, like taking a bath. Following is the stage of
ILLUMINATION('Aha' moment), moment normally associated with the emergence of creative ideas. Last
is the stage of VERIFICATION, when the worth or appropriateness of ideas or solutions are tested and
judged.

DEVELOPING CREATIVE THINKING

1. Barriers to creative thinking: can be characterized as habitual, perceptual, motivational, emotional,

and cultural.

although much of habitual learning is necessary for smooth and efficient functioning within daily
routine, there is a tendency to be overpowered by them, which can be detrimental to creative
expression. Perceptual block prevents us from being open to novel and original ideas. Motivational and
emotional blocks show that creative thinking is not merely a cognitive process. cultural barriers are
related to excessive adherence to traditions, expectations, conformity pressures, and stereotypes.

2. Strategies for creative thinking:

THOUGHT AND LANGUAGE

Relationship between the two can be studied in 3 aspects:

1. Language as determinant of thought

the differences in the no of words used for the English word uncle in Hindi!

Benjamin Whorf believed that language determined thought. This view is k/a LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY
HYPOTHESIS. In its strong version, this view holds what and how individuals can possibly think is
determined by the language and linguistic categories they use.(LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM).
Experimental evidence however proves that it is possible to have the same level of thought sin various
languages, depending on availability of linguistic categories or structures.

2. Thought as a determinant of language

Jean Piaget believed that thought not only determines language but also precedes it. He said that when
children observe or imitate, they do so by thinking, and not language, which is only the vehicle. As
actions become internalized, it might limit symbolic thinking, but not the origin of thought. Though
language can be taught to children, understanding of the words needs knowledge of the u/l concepts. so
thought is basic and necessary to understand language.

3. Thought and language have different origins

Lev Vyogotsky argued that these both develop in a child separately until 2 years of age, when they
merge. Before 2, thought is pre-verbal, and experienced more in action.(Piaget's sensory motor stage),
with utterances being more of reflexes than language(like crying). around 2 years, speech shows some
rationality, and during this phase both of these become interdependent; dev of conceptual thinking
depends upon inner speech and vice versa.

thought is used without language when the vehicle of thinking is non verbal like visual or movement
related. language is used without thought when expressing pleasantries. when the two overlap, they can
be used to produce verbal thought and rational speech.

DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE USE

Language consists of a system of symbols organized by means of certain rules that we use to
communicate with each other. so the 3 basic characteristics are 1. presence of symbols 2. set of rules to
organize symbols 3. communication.(gestures/postures are called non verbal communication; sign
language is also a form of language).

Human lang is more complex, creative and spontaneous than animals. there is also a great deal of
regularity in children learning various lang all over the world.

1, newborns and infants make variety of sounds which gradually modify to resemble words. first sound
is crying. initial cry is undifferentiated, and similar across situations. gradually variations in pitch,
intensity to signify different states is seen. these differentiated sounds become more meaningful like
cooing(aaa, uuu) to express happiness.

2, at around 6 months, babbling is seen(prolonged repetition of a variety of consonants and vowel

sounds(da aa ba).

by 9 months, sounds get elaborated to a string of sound combinations like dadada into repetitive
combinations, k/a ECHOLALIA. While early babblings are random/accidental, later ones are
imitative/adult voices.

4. around 1 year, most children enter one word stage, with first word consisting of one syllable, like ma,
or da. gradually move to one or more words which are combined to form phrases, so they are called
holophrases..

5. when 18-20 months, 2 word stage, and begin to use words together, exemplifies TELEGRAPHIC
STAGE.(bcoz like telegrams, it contains a noun and a verb; got money, found pen)

6. by third birthday, focuses on rules of the language.

How is lang acquired? the nature and nurture both play part. acc to Skinner, lang dev follows the
learning principles, like association, imitation, or reinforcement.

However acc to linguist Noam Chomsky, who put forth the innate proposition of dev of lang, rate at
which children acquire words and grammar without being taught, cannot be explained only by learning
principles. children also create all sorts of sentences without even hearing about them, and hence
cannot be imitating. Children throughout the world seem to go through a CRITICAL PERIOD- A PERIOD
WHEN LEARNING MUST OCCUR IF IT HAS TO OCCUR-for learning language. He believes lang dev is like
physical maturation, given adequate care, it 'just happens to the child'. children are born with 'universal
grammar'.

skinner's concept explains why infants acquire the lang they hear and how they add new words to their
vocabularies. chomsky's emphasis on built in readiness to learn grammar helps to explain how children
acquire language without teaching.

LANGUAGE USE.
Language must be pragmatically correct, and contextually appropriate, apart from being grammatical
and meaningful.

CHAPTER 9: MOTIVATION
Term motivation is derived from the word 'movere'. referring to movement of activity; motivation
focuses on what "moves" behavior.

The motivational cycle:

Types of motives:

2 types: Biological and Psychosocial. while the former ones are guided by the physiological mechanisms
of the body(and hence also k/a physiological motives), the latter are learned from an individual's
interactions with the various environmental factors. However, both of them are interdependent.

1. Biological approach

was the earliest attempt to understand causes of behavior, with many theories developing later carrying
their traces.

It holds that organisms have needs,(internal physiological imbalances) that produce drive, which
stimulates behavior leading to action for certain goals.

Earliest explanations relied on the term instinct; which denoted inborn patterns of behavior which are
determined biologically and not learned. ex- curiosity, flight, repulsion etc.

Instincts are innate tendencies that direct behavior in a predictable manner. some basic biological needs
explained by this approach are -- hunger, thirst and sex

a. Hunger

stimuli for hunger -- stomach contractions, which signify that stomach is empty, and blood glucose, or
fat, or protein is low. Liver also responds by sending nerve impulses to brain.

It has to be noted that it is not only the internal factors, but also the external factors(like taste and color
of food, smell of food ) which act in consonance and stimulate hunger.

Food intake is regulated by a complex feeding satiety system in the hypothalamus. The 2 regions
involved are the Lateral hypothalamus(LH), and ventro-medial hypothalamus(VMH). While the former is
considered to be excitatory, latter is hunger controlling area, and inhibits hunger drive.

b. Thirst

Motivation to drink water comes from the body itself. by loss of water from cells, and reduction of blood
volume.
Ant hypothalamus contains nerve cells called 'osmoreceptors', which generate nerve impulses in cases
of cell dehydration; which act as a signal for thirst and drinking; when thirst is regulated by the loss of
water from the osmoreceptors, it is called Cellular Dehydration Thirst. The precise mechanisms
underlying thirst drive are yet to be understood.

c. Sex

It is far from a biologic motive, and different from other ones in - it is not necessary for an individual's
survival, homeostasis is not the goal, develops with age.

While in lower animals, it depends on psychological conditions, in humans, it is very closely regulated
biologically, sometimes difficult to classify sex purely as a biological drive.

Sexual drive in humans is primarily stimulated by external stimuli and th expression depends on cultural
learning.

2. Psychosocial Motives

a. Need for affiliation

seeking other human beings and wanting to be close to them physically and psychologically is called
affiliation. happens when ppl feel threatened or helpless an also when they are happy.

b. Need for power

Ability of aa person to produce intended effects on other person's behavior and emotions, with the
goals being influence, lead, control or charm them, most importantlt enhancing reputation of own.

David Mc clelland-- suggested 4 ways in which ppl express this need -- do things to gain power and
strength from outside sources, like associating themselves with some celebrity; power felt from siurces
within and expressed by muscle building and mastering urges and impulses; doing things as an indiv to
have impact on others like arguments competition; doing things as members of organizations to have an
impact on others like leaders of political parties.

c. Need for achievement

Also known as n-Ach, it is the desire of a person to meet the standards of excellence.

d. curiosity and exploration

It is a motivational tendency to act without any specific identifiable goal. need for various sensory
stimulations is closely related to curiosity, which is the basic motive, and exploration and curiosity are th
expressions of it.

this is very dominant in infants and children.

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

By Abraham H Maslow-- k/a theory of self actualization.

Lower levels dominate as long as they are unfulfilled

FRUSTRATION AND CONFLICT

Frustration occurs when the desired goal is not obtained and the motive is blocked. aversive state.

result in a variey of behavioral and emotional rxns-- aggressivenss, escape, fixation, avoidance, crying

Dollar and mIller-- gave Frustration-Aggression hypothesis, stated that frustration produces aggression.
the latter can be directed at self or blocking agent or a substitute. Direct aggressive acts are restricted
due to fear of punishment.

main sources are found in -- a. environmental factors(physical objects, constraining factors, or even
physical ppl) or b. personal factors(inadequacies or lack of resources) or c. conflicts.

Conflicts are when a person has to choose b/w contradictory desires, needs or demands.

can be of 3 types-- approach approach(choosing between two positives), avoidance avoidance(two

negatives), and approach-avoidance conflict.(choosing between something that attracts and repels
both; a central characteristic is AMBIVALENCE, are more troublesome).

The choice depends on the relative strength or importance of one option over another, and
environmental factors.

NATURE OF EMOTIONS

D/D feeling, mood and emotions: feeling denotes the pleasure or pain dimension of emotion, which
usually involves bodily functions.

Mood is an affective state of long duration, but of lesser intensity than emotion.

Emotion are a complex pattern of arousal, subjective feeling, and cognitive interpretation. emotions
move us internally and move us physically and psychologically. It has been noted that at least 6
emotions have been found worldwide. they are anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise.
Izard proposed 10 emotins, plutchnik 8, arranging them in pairs(joy-sadness, acceptance-disgust, fear-
anger, surprise-anticipation).

emotions vary in intensity and quality; also, subjective factors and situational contexts influence
emotion experience. evidence indicates that women experience experience emotions more than men,
except anger.

PHYSIOLOGIC BASIS OF EMOTIONS

Both autonomic and somatic NS play part.

emotions are a result of a series of neurophysiological activations in which thalamus, hypothalamus,
limbic system and cerebral cortex are involved.

one of the earliest physiological theories of emotion was given by James supported by Lange, therefore
known as James Lange theory. suggests that environmental stimuli elicit physiological responses from
viscera which in turn are associated with muscle movement, the basic perception being that env
stimulates physiologic changes, and an individual's perception of these changes results in emotion being
experienced.

this faced criticism; disused; another theory called Cannon-Bard theory came. says that entire process of
emotion is mediated by thalamus which after perception of stimulus, relays the signal to cerebral cortex,
skeletal muscles, and sympathetic nervous system. then the cortex determines the nature of stimulus by
comparing it with previous experiences, which in turn determines the subjective experience of the
emotion.

COGNITIVE BASIS OF EMOTIONS

Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer have proposed a two factor theory in which emotions have 2
ingredients-- physical arousal, and cognitive label. they presumed that our experience of emotion
depends on our present state of arousal(like exercise). they also believed emotions are physiologically
similar(increased heartbeat in both sadness and happiness).

they injected epinephrine in subjects and then they were made to observe behavior of others in
euphoric and angry manner. the behavior of others, as predicted, influenced the cognitive interpretation
of a subjects' own arousal.

CULTURAL BASIS OF EMOTIONS

Studies reveal that most basic emotions are inborn, and dont have to be learnt. while there is a notion
that emotions, specially expressions have strong biological ties, on comparison it is seen that learning
plays a crucial role in two ways-- influences expression of emotions more than what is
experienced(some cultures encourage free expressions, others to reveal little emotions in public; second
learning has a lot to do with the stimuli that produce emotional rxns.

EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS

1. Cultural and emotional expression: verbal- words

non verbal- sharpness and pitch of voice, facial expressions, kinetic(gesture, posture, movement of
body), proximal(physical distance during face to face interaction) behaviors.

facial xpression is the most common channel . research supports darwin's contention that facial
xpressions for basic emotions are inborn and universal.

body movements are used in theatre and dance.

Most of research has been done in facial xpression because it is easy for observation, less complex, and
provides a link between subjective experience and overt expression.

gestures: varies from culture to culture. in china handclap indicates worry or disappointment, anger is
expressed by laughing. silence also conveys different meanings in different cultures. gaze also
different(indians peripheral, americans central into the interactant). physical space(proximity) also
differs with americans favoring distance, while in asian cultures, it represents warmth.

2. Cultural and emotional labeling: Tahitian language has 46 labels for anger, and so on. every culture
has different expressions and responses to an emotion.

So in brief, both expression and experience of emotions are mediated and modified by culture specific
'display rules' that delimit conditions under which an emotion may be expressed and the intensity with
which it may be displayed.

MANAGING NEGATIVE EMOTIONS: FROM BOOK

ENHANCING POSITIVE EMOTIONS: FROM BOOK

CHAPTER 1 : VARIATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

For psychologists, individual differences refer to distinctiveness and variations among ppl's
characteristics and behavior patterns.

while many believe that variations result from individual differences, some believe that they result from
differences in situational factors. This concept is k/a SITUATIONISM. This perspective views human
behavior resulting from interaction of external and internal factors.

ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES

It is the first step in understanding a psychological attribute.

assessment may be formal or informal. formal is objective, standardized and organized.

Psychological assessment uses systematic testing procedures to evaluate abilities, behaviors,a nd

personal quality of individuals.

Domains of P attributes: These attributes are not linear or unidimensional,but complex and multi
dimensional.

important attributes:

1. intelligence -- global capacity to understand the world, think rationally, and use available resources
effectiveky when faced with challenges. Intelligence tests provide a global measure of a person's general
cognitive competence including the ability to profit from school.

2. Aptitude: individual's underlying potential for acquiring skills. reflect what someone would do if
provided necessary training and env.
3. Interest: individual's preference in engaging in one or more specific activities relative to one another.

4. Personality: Relatively enduring characteristics of a person that make him or her distinct from others.

5. Values: Enduring beliefs about an ideal mode of behavior.

Assesment methods:

Psychological tests, interviews, case study, observation, self-report.

INTELLIGENCE

Power or perceiving, learning, understanding and knowing.(Oxford Dictionary)

Alfred Binet was the first to work on intelligence, and defined it as the ability to judge well, understand
well and reason well.

Weschler(whose tests are the most widely used), defined intelligence i terms of functionality- that is, its
value for adaptation to env. he defined it as the global capacity of an indiv to think rationally, act
purposefully, and deal effectively with his env.

Others, like Gardner and Sternberg suffested that intelligent individual not only adapts to the
environment, but also shapes it.

THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

1. Psychometric approach: considers int as an aggregate of abilities, and expresses performance as a

single index of cognitive abilities.

2. Information processing approach: describes processes ppl use in intellectual reasoning and problem
solving. major focus being on how an int person acts, and the functions u/ling cognitive behavior, and
not the structure or the underlying dimensions to it.

1. Binet's theory of intelligence: known as Uni/one factor theory- it arose from his interest in
differentiating more intelligent individuals from the less intelligent ones. so he conceptualixzed int being
as a similar set of abilities which can be used for solving any or every problem in an individual's
environment.

2. Charles Spearman- 1927, two factor theory: employed a statistical method called factor analysis. he
showed int is made of g factor(general) and s-factor(specific). former includes operations that are
primary and common to all. latter specific abilities that allow someone to succeed in their respective
domains.

3. LOuis tHurstone- theory of primary mental abilities- seven primary abilities, each of which is relatively
indep of the others- verbal comprehension(grasoing meaning of words, concepts and ideas); numerical
abilities(speed and accuracy in numerical and computational skills); spatial relatins(visualizing patterns
and forms); perceptual speed(speed in perceiving details); word fluency(using words fluently and
flexibly); memory(accuracy in recalling information); inductive resoning(deriving general rules from
presented facts).

4. Arthur Jensen -- hierarchail model of intelligence consisting of abbilities at 2 levels-- level 1(associative
learning in which output is almost similar to the input); and level 2(called cognitive competence,
involves higher order skills as they transform the input into an effective output)

5. JP Guilford- structure of intellect model -- classifies intellectual traits in 3 dimensions--

operations(represent what the respondent does. include cognition, memory, responding, memory
retention, divergent production, convergent production n evaluation); contents( nature of mat or info
on which intellectual operations are performed. include visual, auditory, symbolic(letters, numbers),
semantic(words), and behavioral(info about ppl's behavior, attitude, needs etc)); products(form in whih
information is processed by the respondent; classified into units, classes, systems, transformations,
implications).

bcoz this classif has 6x5x6 categories, the model has 180 cells. each cell is expected to have at least one
factor or ability.

all these 5 theories are psychometric theories.

*Theory of multiple intelligences: Howard Grdner-- int is not a single entity. he described 8 types of
identity: linguistic(skills involved in production and use of language); persons are "word smart"

logical mathematical(skills in scientific thinking and problem solving)

spatial(skills in forming visual images and patterns)

musical(sensitivity to musical rythms and patterns)

bodily kinaesthetic(using whole or part of portions of body flexibly and creatively)

interpersonal(sensitivity to subtle aspects of others' behavior)

intrapersonal(awareness of one's own feelings, desires and motives)

naturalistic(sensitivity to features of the natural world)

*Triarchic theory of int: Robert Sternberg- viewed int as "ability to adapt, shape, and select env to
accomplish one's goals, and those of society and culture". views int in 3 basic types:

a. componential int: also k/a analytical int., it is the analysis if information to solve problems. has three
components: first is knowledge acquisition component, which is resp for learning and acquisition of the
ways of doig things; second is meta or high order component(involves planning concerning what n how
to do); third is the performance component(involves actually doing things)

b. experiential int: k/a creative int, involved in using past experiences creatively to solve novel problems.
c. contextual or practical intelligence: ability to deal with env.al demands encountered on a daily basis.
also called street smartness or business sense.

Triarchic theory represents the information processing approach.

PLANNING, ATTENTION, SIMULTANEOUS SUCCESSIVE(PASS) MODEL OF INTELLIGENCE

Das, Niglieri and Kerby- intellectual activity involves the interdependent functioning of 3 neurologic
systems, called the functional units of brain.

a. arousal/attention: state of arousal is basic to any behavior as it helps us in attending to any stimuli;
and enables us to process an information. too much or too little of arousal affects our attention.

b. Simultaneous and successive processing: former takes place when we perceive relations among
various components and integrate them into a meaningful pattern of comprehension, like Raven's
progressive matrices test(RPM). This processing helps us in grasping the meaning and relationship
between the given abstract figures.

Successive processing takes place when informtion is remembered serially so that one recall leads to
another.

c. Planning: essential feature of int.

allows us to think of possible courses of action, implement them to reach a target and evaluate their
effectiveness.

the PASS processes operate on a knowledge base developed formally(by reading, writing,
experimenting), or non formally. these processes are interactive and dynamic in nature; yet each class
has its own distinctiveness. The same set of ppl have also given a attery of tests, k.a Cognitive
assessment system(CAS); it has both verbal and non verbal tests that measure basic cognitve functions
presumed to be independent of schooling. these tests are meant for individuals between 5 and 18 years
of age.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE

Rsearch on two lines(twin children, and adopted children), shows that children's intelligence is more
biological than adopted.

But they also show that as children grow, their intelligence level grows closer to their adoptive parents.
There is evidence that enval deprivation lowers intelligence while rich nutririon, good family
background, and quality schooling increases intelligence.

assessment of intelligence:

1905, alfred binet and theodre simon, made first successful attempt to measure int. in 1908, when the
scale was revised, they gave the concept of mental age(MA; mesure of a person's intellectual
development relative to ppl of his/her age group)
1912, william stern, gave the Intelligence quotient(IQ), which refers to the mental age divided by
chronological age multiplied by 100. IQ scores in population tend to approximate the bell shaped curve,
called the normal curve. 90-110: normal intelligence;>130: exceptional;<70- suspected to hv mental
retardation.

Variations of intelligence

1. Intellectual defcy: American association on mental defcy views mental retardation as: " significantly
sub average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and
manifested during the development period. so 3 basic features- sub avg int functioning; deficits in
adaptive behavior; deval period.

mild MR- IQ 55-69

Moderate- 40-54

severe- 25-39

profound- below 25.

Intellectual giftedness: difference between giftedness and talent; former is an exceptional general ability
shown as superior performance in a wide variety of areas . talent is a narrower term referring to a
specific field. highly talented are sometimes called prodigies.

characteristics of gifted ppl: book

these people should not be evaluated on academic basis alone. they need special attention and
different educational programs, which may include life enrichment programs which can sharpen
children's skills in productive thinking, planning, decision making and communication.

TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS

Can be individual or group tests(former need rapport with the subject, and are generally taken in an oral
or written format, latter are generally taken in a written mcq format); or verbal, non verbal,
performance tests(RPM is anon verbal test, illiterate ppl can use these tests; kohn's block design test is a
performance test, a major advantage of performance tests it can be administered to ppl of different
cultures)

culture fair or culture biased tests: it is difficult to make a test that is entirely culture fair; non verbal and
performance tests to some extent are fair.

Intelligence testing in india: the nlept(national library of educational and psychological tests ) at ncert,
has documented indian p tests.

CULTURE AND INTELLIGENCE

Vygotsky, a russian p has argued that culture provides a social context in which ppl live, grow, and
understand the world around them. he also believed that cultures have a life of their own, they grow
and change, and in that process specify what will be the end product of successful intellectual
development. acc to him while primary mental functions are universal, higher mental functions are
largely culture produced.

Sternberg's contextual notion implies that intelligence is a product of culture.

Technologically advanced societies adopt child rearing practices that foster generalization, and
abstraction, speed, minimal moves and mental manipulation among children. these societies promote a
behavior which is called Technological Intelligence. here, ppl are well versed in skills of attention, speed,
analysis, achievement orientation. This is not much valued in asian and african societies, where self
reflection and collectivist orientation is more valued as opposed to personal achievement and
individualistic orientation.

Intelligence in indian tradition:

here int can be termed as integral intelligence, gives emphasis on connectivity with the social and world
env.

the sanskrit word Buddhi acc to JP Das includes skills like mental effort, determined action, feelings and
opinions along with cognitive competence such as knowledge, discrimination and understanding.

Among other things, buddhi has components of knowledge of one's own self based on conscience, will
and desire. so it has affective and motivational components, besides a strong cognitive component. Foll
competencies are considerd facets of int in indian tradition:

cognitive capacity, social competence, emotional competence, enterpreneurial competence.

Emotional intelligence:

Set of skills that underlie accurate appraisal, expression and regulation of emotions.

concept first introduced by Salovey and Mayer who considerd it as the ability to monitor one's own and
other's emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the info to guide one's thinking and actions.

EQ is used in a similar way to IQ.

This is receiving a lot of attention of educators for dealing with students whoa re affected by stresses
and challenges of the outside world.

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aptitude: nature and management

Aptitude tests are available in 2 forms: specialized(clerical/numerical/mechanical) or

generalized(multiple aptitude tests exist in different batteries of tests which measure aptitude in
separate but homogenous areas). Differential aptitude tests(DAT), General aptitude tests battery(GATB),
Armed services vocational aptitude battery(ASVAB).

DAT is the m/cly used. has 8 indep subsets: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, abstract r, clerical
speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling, language use. JM Ojha has
developed an indian version of DAT.

CREATIVITY

Research suggests that children begin developing their imagination during early levels in childhood, but
express this in physical activities and non verbal ways. once language and intellectual functions are fully
developed, an store of knowledge is adequately available, creattivity is expressed thru verbal modes
too.

affected both by heredity and env. Limits of creative potential are set by heredity, environmental factors
stimulate its development(like everything else).

Creativity and intelligence:

Terman, in 1920, found that persons with high IQ were not necessarily creative. at the same time,
creative ideas could cm from ppl who did not hv very high IQ.

research has found the association b/w the two to be positive. bcoz all creative acts require a min
ability to acquire knowledge and capacity to comprehend, retain and retrieve.

a general feature of all creativity tests is that they are open ended, as the ypromote divergent thinking,
contrary to int tests which need convergent thinking.

famous p who hv developed creativity tests-- guilford, torrance, khatena, wallach and kogan, paramesh,
baqer mehdi and passi.

CHAPTER 2: SELF AND PERSONALITY

Both these refer to the characteristic ways in which we define our existence.

we know that different people have different ideas about themselves, these ideas represent 'self' of a
person. also different ppl behave differently in a given situation, but the way in which one person
behaves in multiple situations, is relatively stable. such relatively stable behavior of the person is known
as the 'personality' of that person.

CONCEPT OF SELF

Our interaction with other people, and the meaning we give to them, forms the basis of our self. The str
of self is modifiable in the light of our experiences, and the experiences we have with other ppl.

Idenities are personal(the attributes that make someone differnt from others; like name,
quality/characteristics etc) and social(religion, caste etc).
Thus, self refers to the totality of an indiv's conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts and feelings with
regard to himself or herself.

SElf as subject and self as object: when we say 'i know who i am', we are describing the self as a
'knower', as well as 'something that can be known'. So, as a subject(actor), the self actively engages in
the process of knowing oneself; and as an object(consequence),the self gets observed and comes to be
known. This dual status of self should always be kept in mind.

Kinds of self: The self is formed by an interaction between our physical and socio-cultural environments.
BIOLOGICAL SELF, is formed by biologic needs, like a baby crying for milk. the biological self in the
context of socio-cultural environment modifies itself. While one child feels hungry for a chocolate, an
eskimo might not. Soon, a child's p and social needs in the context of his/her env lead other components
of PERSONAL SELF to emerge. emphasis comes to be laid on only those aspects of life which relate to a
particular indiv(personal freedom, personal resp, personal comfort etc). The SOCIAL SELF emerges in
relation with others and emphasizes such aspects of life as cooperation, unity, sacrifice etc. This self
values family and social relationships and hence, is also known as familial/relational self.

COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF SELF

The way we perceive ourselves and the ideas we hold about our competencies and attributes is also
known as self-concept. At a general level, this can be positive or negative. at a more specific level, it can
be positive in one aspect, and negative in the other. At an even more specific level, a person may have a
positive concept of a part of that aspect, and negative concept of the other part of the same.

1. Self esteem

The value judgement of a person about himself/herself is known as SELF ESTEEM.

Studies indicate that by 6-7 years, children seem to have formed self esteem in at least 4 areas--
academic competence, physical/athletic c, social c, physical appearance.

Our capacity to view ourselves in terms of stable dispositions permits us to combine separate self
evaluations into a general p image of ourselves. High academic self esteem children perform better than
low ones. Warm and positive parenting helps in dev of high self esteem children.

2. self efficacy

extent to which they believe they themselves control life outcomes or the outcomes are controlled by
luck or fate or other situational outcomes.

notion of self efficacy is based on Bandura's social learning theory. His studies showed that children and
adults learned behavior by observing and imitating others. People's expectation of mastery or
achievement and their convictions about their own effectiveness also determine the types of behavior in
which they would engage, and the kind of risk that they would undertake.
Strong sense of self efficacy allows ppl to select, influence, and even construct the circumstances of
their own life, these ppl are also less fearful. self efficacy can also be developed. ppl with hig hlevel have
been found to quit smoking the moment they want to.

3. self regulation

self regulation refers to our ability to organize and monitor our own behavior, acc to the damnds of the
external env.

Learning to delay/defer the gratification of needs is called self control. Indian culture provides us with
certain effective mechanisms like fasting to inculcate self control.

A no of p techniques to inculcate self control have also been suggested. Observation of own behavior is
one of them, which provides the necessary information that may be used to change, modify or
strengthen certain aspects of self. Self instruction is another technique. self reinforcement is the third.

CULTURE AND SELF

The most important distinction made between indian and western traditions is the way boundary is
drawn between self and the other. In the western view, this bounday appears to be relatively fixed.
Indian view on the other hand, is characterized by the shifting nature of the boundary. while the former
holds clear dichotomies between the self and the other, man and nature, subjective and objective,
indian view does not make such clear dichotomies. this is why western cultures are characterized as
individualistic, and indian as collectivistic.

CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY

The literal meaning is derived from teh latin word persona, which means the mask used by actors in
roman theatre for changing their facial make up. it did not mean,however, that the person necessarily
possessed those qualities.

In p terms, personality refers to the characteristic way of responding to individuals and

situations.(consistently, in most of the situations, as no one behaves in a similar way always). so
personality is characterized by the following features:

1. has both physical and p.al components

2. its expression in terms of behavior is fairly unique to the individual.

3. Its main features do not easily change with time.

4. It is dynamic in the sense that some of its features may change due to internal or external situational
demands. so, it is adaptive to situations.

Understanding of personality allows us to deal with ppl in realistic and acceptable ways.

MAJOR APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PERSONALITY

P.ists differ in their approaches towards personality.

The TYPE APPROACH attempts to comprehend human personality by examining certain broad patterns
in the observed behavioral characteristics of individuals. each pattern refers to one type in which
individuals are placed in terms of similarity of their behavioral characteristics with that pattern.

The TRAIT APPROACH focuses on th especific p attributes along which individuals tend to differ in
consistent and stable ways. for example, a person may be less shy, the other more shy, 'shy' being the
trait selected to rate individuals.

the INTERACTIONAL APPROACH holds that situational characteristics play an important role in
determining behavior.The cross-situational consistency of behavior is found to be quite low, and the
compelling influence of situations can be noted in many circumstances.

1. TYPE APPROACHES

Efforts have been made from ancient times, to characterize ppl into personality types.

Hippocrates proposed a typology based on fluid and humor- sanguine, phlegmatic, melancolic and
choleric, each characterized by certain behavioral features.

Charak Samhita, a famous treatise on ayurveda classifies ppl into vatta, pita, kapha, on the basis of three
humoral elements, called tridosha. each refers to a prakriti of a person.

a typology based on trigunas -- sattva(cleanliness, dutifulness, truthfulness, detachment, discipline etc),

rajas(dissatisfaction, envy, intense gratification etc), tamas(anger, arrogance, depression, lazing). all 3
gunas are present in everyone in varying degrees, dominance of one guna over the other lead to a
particular kind of behavior.

Within p , sheldon has given a typology of endomorphic(fat, soft, round; relaxed and sociable),
mesomorphic(strong musculature and rectangular; energetic and courageous), ectomorphs(thin, long,
fragile; brainy, artistic and introvert). These body typologies are simple, and have limited use for
prediction of behavior. They are more like stereotypes.

Jung has proposed another typology-- introverts(prefer to be alone, tend to avoid others, withdraw in
face of conflicts, and shy) and extroverts(sociable, outgoing, drawn to occupations allowing direct
dealing with ppl), which is widely recognized.

Friedman and Rosenman-- Type A personality(possess high motivation, lack patience, feel short on time,
in great hurry, always feel burdened with work) more susceptible to problems like hypertension and
coronary heart disease. risk of them developing these diseases is sometimes even greater than risks dt
high bp, high cholesterol, or smoking.

type B(ulta of type A)

Morris suggested an extension-- type C(Prone to cancer. they are cooperative, unassertive and patient.
they suppress their negative emotions and show compliance to authority)

type D(Prone to depression)

Typologies are appealing but too simplistic. ppl do not fit into these schemes very neatly.

2. TRAIT APPROACHES

They try to discover the 'building blocks' of personality.

this approach is very similar to our common experience in everyday life. It attempts to identify primary
characteristics of ppl.

a trait is considered as a relatively enduring attribute or quality on which one individual differs from the
other; include a range of possible nehaviors taht are activated based on the demands of the situation.

In short-- traits are relatively stable over time; consistent across situations; strengths and combinations
vary across individuals, thus giving rise to indiv differences in personality.

a. Allport's trait theory

Gordon Allport is considered to be the pioneer of trait approach. He proposed that indiv possess a no of
traits, which are dynamic in nature. he looked for words in english language to look for traits which
describe a person. Based on this, he classified them into 1. Cardinal(highly generalized dispositions;
indicate the goal around which a person;s life seems to revolve. like gandhi's non violence or hitler's
nazism; become so strongly associated with the name, that it is called as a gandhian or hitlerian trait)

2. Central(Less pervasive, but still quite generalized. like warm, sincere, intelligent; used in writing a
testimonial or a job recommendation.) 3. Secondary(least generalized; like 'prefers ethnic clothes').

while he acknowledged the role of external factors, acc to him, rxn to a situation depends on traits
atlthough ppl sharing the same traits might express them in diff ways. So for him, traits were in between
the stimulus and response. If the trait vary, so will the response.

b. Cattell: Personality Factors

He believed that there is a common str on which everyone differs, which can be determined empirically.
He tried to identify primary traits from a huge array of descriptive adjectives, by applying a statistical
technique called factor analysis. he found 16 primary or source traits(those that r relatively stable, and
considered the building blocks of personality). Besides these, there are also surface traits, which result
due to the interaction of source traits. he dev.d a test called the SIXTEEN PERSONALITY FACTOR
QUESTIONNAIRE(16PF), and is widely used by P.

c. Eysenck's theory
He proposed that personality can be broadly reduced to two dimensions. these are biologically and
genetically based. each dimension subsumes a no of specific traits. these dimensions are:

1. Neuroticism vs emotional stability: refers to the degree to which ppl have control of their own
feelings. at one extreme are ppl who are neurotic(anxious, moody, restless, quickly lose control), at the
other lie ppl who are calm, even tempered, reliable and under control.

2. Extraversion vs introversion: degree to which ppl are socially outgoing or withdrawn. at one extreme:
gregarious, impulsive, thrill seeking; other-passive, quiet, cautious and reserved.

3. Psychoticism vs emotional stability: proposed later in his work. this is considered to interact with the
other 2 mentioned above; person scoring high on psychoticism dimension tends to be hostile,
egocentric and antisocial. EYSENCK PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE is used to study these dimensions of
personality.

A new formulation has come.

PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH

Highly popular; by Sigmond Freud.

He used free association(person asked to share any idea/thought openly that comes to his/her mind),
dream analysis and analysis of errors to understand the int functioning of the mind.

Levels of consciousness:

visualizes the mind in 3 levels of consciousness: conscious(thoughts, feelings, actions of which ppl are
aware); preconscious(mental activity of which ppl can be aware only if they attend to it closely);
unconscious(mental activity ppl are unaware of).

acc to him the unconscious is the reservoir of instinctive or animal drives.it stores all ideas, wishes that
are concealed from conscious bcoz it leads to p conflicts, most of thse arising from sexual desires which r
not expressed openly. unsuccessful resolution of conflicts can result in abnrml behavior.

he described a process called PSYCHOANALYSIS, with the basic goal being to bring repressed
unconscious materials to consciousness.

Structure of personality:

primary structural elements are 3: id, ego and superego.(remember they r just concepts and not real
structures)

Id: source of a person's instinctual energy.

deals with imm gratification of primitive needs, sexual desires and aggressive impulses. dsnt care about
moral values or society or other individuals.
works on 'pleasure principle'(ppl seek pleasure and avoid pain)

freud considered much of instinctual energy to be sexual, and the rest aggressive.

Energized by 2 instincts: life instinct and death instinct. he ignored the death instinct and focused more
on th elife(sexual) instinct. Instinctual life force that energizes the id is calle libido.

Ego: grows out of Id, and seeks to satisfy an indiv need in accordance with reality. works by REALITY
PRINCIPLE. (A boy who want sicecream cone; id- grab and eat; ego- punishment , best way is to ask)

Superego: Moral branch of mental functioning.

tells the ego and id whether the demand is ethical.

helps control the id by internalizing the parental authority thru socialization

Ego defence mechanisms: acc to freud, how ego deals with anxiety largely determine how ppl behave.
he believed taht ppl avoid anxieth by developing DEFENCE MECHANISMS which distort reality. these are:

1. repression: anxiety provoking thoughts/behaviors are totally dismissed by unconscious.(I do not know
what i did/ why i did it)

2. projection: ppl attribute their traits to others. like an aggressive tendency person will believe other
ppl to be acting aggressively towards him.

3. denial: refusal to accept reality. like GIV/AIDS pt not accepting he has the disease.

4. REaction formation: adoption o fbehavior opposite to his/her true feelings. a person with stron sexual
energy who channels it into religious fervour.

5. Rationalization: trying to make unreasonable behavior seem reasonable and unacceptable.

Freud's ideas about these mechanisms have bn questioned. for eg, his claim that projection reduces
anxiety has not found claim in further studies.

Stages of personality development: Five stage theory of personality(also called psychosexual)

development

1. oral stage: mouth is infant's primary pleasure seeking centre. for freud, an adult who considers the
world a bitter place has had difficulty during this stage.

2. Anal stage: one of the principal demands made by the parents at 2-3 years is control of urination and
defaecation. anal area becomes the focal point of certain pleasurable feelings. this stage establishes
basis for conflict between id and ego, and desire for babyish pleasure along with the demand for adult,
controlled behavior.

3. Phallic stage: focuses on genitals. oedipus and electra complex; a major achievement o fthis phase is
the resolution of oedipus complex, when the boy accepts father's relationship with the mother, and
models his own behavior after the father; electra follows a slightly diff course. by attaching her love to
father, the girl tries to symbolically marry him n raise a family. when she realizes this isnt possible, she
begins to identify the mother n copy her behavior; the critical component in both being identification
with the same sex parents.

4. Latency stage: lasts from 7 yrs until puberty. child continues to grow physically, but sexual urges are
rel.ly inactive

5. Genital stage: maturity in psychosexual dev; ppl learn to deal with members of opp sex in a socially
mature way.but stree or over indulgence may lead to fixation at an earlier stage.

Freu believed taht child's progress to the next stage adjusts his view of the world. failure to pass
unsuccessfully thru a stage may lead to fixation(child's dev getting arrested at an earlier stage).
Regression is also a likely outcome, where a person goes back to an earlier stage; occurs when
resolution of problems at a stage is inadequate.)

POST-FREUDIAN APPROACHES(NEO-ANALYTIC)

Characterized by less prominent roles of sexual and aggressive tendencies of the id and expansion of
ego.

1. CARL JUNG: AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS

Saw human beings guided by them as well as sex and aggression

he dev.d his own theory or personality, called analytical p. basic assumtion of this theory is that
personality consists of competing forces and structures within the individual(which must be balanced)
rather thatn between indiv and demands of society or indiv and reality.

he claimed there was a collective unconscious consisting of archetypes or primordial images(for eg, god
or mother earth), which are inherited, and not acquired. they are found in myths, dreams, and arts of
mankind. he said that in order to achieve unity and wholeness, one should be increasingly aware of the
wisdom available in one's own personal and collective unconscious, and one must learn to live in
harmony with it.

2. KAREN HORNEY: OPTIMISM

Adopted a more optimistic view of human life with emphasis on human growth and self actualization.

major contribution lies in her challenge to freud's treatment of women as inferior. acc to her, each sex
has attributes to be admired by other, and she argued that p disorders were caused by disturbed
interpersonal relationships in childhood. when parents behavior towards the child is erratic, child feels
insecure and a feeling called BASIC ANXIETY develops. deep resentment or hostility is the result of this
anxiety.

3. ALFRED ADLER: LIFESTYLE AND SOCIAL INTEREST

Theory is known as "Individual Psychology".

Basic assumtion: human behavior is purposeful and goal oriented. personal goals are th esource of
motivation. in his view, every indiv suffers from feelings of inadequacy and guilt, that is, inferiority
complex arising from childhood, and overcoming this is essential for personality dev.

4. ERICH FROMM: THE HUMAN CONCERNS

In contrast to Freud's biological orientation, he developed this with a social orientation; he viewed
human beings as essentially social beings, who could b understood in their relationships with others. he
said that p qualities like growth and realization of potential resulted from a desire for freedom, and
striving for justice and truth.

character traits develop from our experiences with indiv. while culture is shaped by the mode of
existence of a given society, ppl's dominant character traits in a society shape the social processes and
culture itself. his work recognize the importance of positive qualities, like tenderness and love in
personality dev

5. ERIK ERIKSON: SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

Lays stress on rational ego processes. dev is a lifelong process and egoo is granted a central place.

his concept of IDENTITY CRISIS has drawn considerable attention. he argues that younger generation
must generate for themselves a central perspective and a direction that gives them a meaningful sense
of unity n purpose.

Criticism of Psychodynamic theories:

largely based on case stusies, lack a rigorous scientific basis

use small and atypical indiv as samples for generalizations

concepts are not poorly defined, and it is difficult to submit them to scientific testing

freud used males as prototype, and overlooked female experiences and perspectives.

3. BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

Does not give importance to internal dynamics of behavior. they believe only in data which is defined,
observable and measurable. for them personality can be best studied as an indiv's response to the
environment, response being the structural unit of personality for them.

children eat veg initially under anticipation of appreciation(reinforcement), but later themselves; so the
core tendency that organizes behavior is the reduction of biological or social needs that energize
behavior. this is accomplished thru responses that r reinforced.
All learning principles( classical and operant conditioning, observational learning) view learning and
maintenance of behavior thru diff angles. for eg, observational learning considers thought process
extremely imp, but these find almost no place in conditioning theories. obs learning also emphasizes
social learning and self regulation, which is again missed out in other two. principles of these theories
have bn widely used in developing personality theories.

4. CULTURE APPROACH

Proposes that a group's ;economic maintenance' system plays a vital role in cultural and behavioral
variations. climatic conditions, nature of terrain of the habitat, availability of food determine not pnly
ppl activities, but also social structures, div of labour, and child rearing practices. taken together they
constutute the child's learning env.

ppl dev various personality qualities so as to adapt to ecological and cultural features of a group's life.
example: tribal societies, which are autonomous(and thus teach and value autonomy, indep and
achievement), cf. agricultural societies, where obedience, responsibility is taught.

5. HUMANIST APPROACH

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

most imp idea proposed was that by Rogers, that of a fully functioning person, he believed that
fulfillment is the motivating force for personality dev.

he makes 2 basic assumtions-- behavior is goal deircted and worthwhile; ppl who are innately good, will
choose adaptive, self actualizing behavior. his theory is structured around the concept of self.

basic principle is that ppk have a tendency to maximize self concept thru self actualization, in this
process, self grows, expands,and becomes more social. he also views the role of social influences in dev
of self soncept. if social influence is positive, high self concept and self esteem result.

this situation warrants that an atmosphere of unconditional positive regard must be created to ensure
enhancement of self concept. the client-centred therapy that Rogers developed basically attempts to
create this condition.

we hv already done maslow's theory of self actualization.

ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

1. Psychometric tests-- done

2. Self report tests-- Allport suggested that the best wsy is to ask the person himself.

fairly well structured, often based on theory, require verbal responses using a rating scale. responses are
accepted at their face value. scored on quantitative terms based on norms for the test.

a. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory(MMPI)

Hathway and Mackinley

developed for psychiatric diagnosis, but also found useful in identifying psychopathology.

revised version is available as MMPI-2.

HAS 567 statements, subject has to judge each of them as true or false. test is divided into subscales,
whcih seek to diagnose hypochindriasis, depression, hysteria, schizophrenia, mania and sicial
introversion.

in india, mallick and joshi have dev.d a JodhpurMPI

b. eyesenck personality questionnaire

initially assessed 2 dimensions(intooverted-extraverted; emotionally stable-emotionally unstable), later

on Psychoticism was added. it is linked t psychopathology that reoresents lack of feelings for others,
tough manner of interaction, tendency to defy social conventions

c. 16PF

CATTELL

A ste of declarative statemnts are given and the person has to choose one alternative. can be used with
high school students as well as adults. found extremely useful in career guidance, vocational exploration
and occupational testing.

Problems with self report tests:

social desirability(tendency on part of the respondent to endorse items in a socially desirable manner)

acquiscence(tendency to agree with the iems/questions irrespective of the contents)

3. PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

Indirect technique(unlike the first 2)

developed to assess unconscious motives and feelings.

common features:

1. stimuli are relatively unstructured or poorly defined.

2. person being assessed is usually not told about the purpose of assessment and the method of scoring
and interpretation

3. person is informed there are no correct or incoreect responses.

4. each response is assumed to reveal a sig area of personality

5. scoring and interpretation is lengthy and sometimes subjective.

differ from psychometric tests in thet they cannot be scored in an objective manner, require
qualititative analysis, need vigorous training.

a. Rorschach inkblot test

Hermann Rorschach

10 inkblots, 5 b/w; 2 red ink; 3 in pastel colours. symmetrical in design, painted in centre of a cardboard
of 7'x10'

made by dropping ink on paper and folding it. in first phase called PERFORMANCE PROPER, subjects are
asked what they do they see, and second, INQUIRY, they are asked where, how and on what basis was
the response made. fine judgement is needed to place responses in meaningful context

b. The Thematic Appreciation Test(TMT)

MOrgan and Murray

more structured than a.

30 b/w picture cards and one blank card. each card depicts ppl in avariety of situations; some are shown
to adults, some to boys and girls, still others are used in combinations

20 are appropriate for a subject, though a lesser no (even 5) have been used successfully. subject is
asked to tell a story describing the situation for every card presented. what led upto the situation? what
is happening at th emoment? what will happen in future? what characters are feeling and thinking?.

std procedure is available for scoring.

test is modified for children and aged, Uma chaudhary's indian adaptation of TAT.

c. Rozenzweig's Picture-frustration study

to assess how ppl express aggression in face of a frusttrating situation.

cartoon like pics in which one person frustrates another, or calls attention to a frustrating cond. subject
is asked to tell what the other person will tell or do. analysis is based on type and direction of
aggression.

it i sdetermined wether focus is on the frustrating object, or on protection of frustrating person, or on

solving the problem. deirection of aggression mayb towards env, oneself or mayb turned off in an
attempt to gloss over/evade teh situation. Pareek's indian adaptation

d. Sentence completion test: it is held that these refelct attitudes, otivation and conflicts.
e. Draw-a-person test: subject is asked to draw a person on a sheet of paper, after this, opposite sex
figure is asked to b drawn. then, subject is asked to make a story about the person as if ina novel/play.
examples of interpretations:

if facial features are omitted-- person tries to evade highly conflict ridden interpersonal relationship

graphic emphasis on neck-- lack of control over impulses

disproportionately large head-- brain dis, preoccupation with headaches.

Reliability of acores and validity of interpretations is one problem, with al of these tests, but they have
been found to b quite useful.

BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS

By -- a. Interview

b. observation(professional training needed; maturity of p is prerequisite; presence of observer may

contaminate the results)

c. ratings: *used in educational or industry settings; taken from ppl who know the assessee intimately
and have interacted over a period of time.

*they attempt to put indiv into certain categories, which many involve diff numbers or descriptive
terms(it has bn found that use of numbers and general descriptive adjectives always creates confusion,
and to use them effectively, traits shud b clearly defined in terms of carefully stated behavioral anchors).

*limitation of ratings method:

1, biases which color judgements of diff traits. like some trait which is too favorable or unfavorable
forms the basis of a rater's overall judgement. k/a HALO EFFECT

2. Tendency to place indiv in the middle of scale by avoiding extreme positions or in extermes by
avoiding middle categories. k/a MIDDLE CATEGORY BIAS, and EXTREME CATEGORY BIAS respectively.

*can be overcome by providing appropriate rating to raters or by developing scales in which respinse
bias will be small.

d. nomination: used in obtaining peer assessment. can be used for ppl who have been in long term
interaction with the assessee. each person is asked to pick one person with whom they would ike to
work, study, play etc; reasons for the same may b asked; nominations are anayzed to understand
personality and behavioral qualities; highly dependable technique, although may b affected by personal
biases)

e. situational tests: m/c is the situational stress tests. requires a person to do a task whe all others are
instructed to b non cooperative n interfering. involves a kind of role playing. person is instructed to play
a role for which he/she is observed, verbal report is obtained on what he/she was asked to do. then
analysis is done.

CHAPTER 3: MEETING LIFE CHALLENGES-- FROM BOOK

CHAPTER 4: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Although many def of abnormality hav bn used for years, none has got universal acceptance. still, most
of them have 4 common features -- deviance, distress, dysfunction and danger.

deviant-- different, extreme, unusual, bizzare

distress-- unpleasant, upsetting to the person and others

ysfunction-- interfering wit hthe person's ability to carry out daily activities in a constructive way.

dangerous-- to the person and others.

In P, we have no 'ideal model' or even 'normal model' of behavior. from the various approaches used,
there have emerged two conflicting views--

1. deviation from social norms view

says that each society has norms,growing from its culture, which are stated or unstated rules for proper
conduct. behaviors, thoughts and actions that break away from the norm are called abnormal.

so a culture that values competitiveness and assertiveness may accept aggressive behavior, others
where conservation and family values(as in india) are valued, it might not.

serious questions have been raised about this definition.

2. maladaptive view

says that best criterion is whether the behavior it fosters well being of the individual and eventually of
the group to which it belongs. well being nor being only maintenance n survival, but also growth and
fulfillment.

HISORICAL BACKGROUND

One ancient theory that is still believed is that abnormal behavior can be explained by supernatural and
magical forces.

there are 3 approaches:

biologic or organic approach belief that indiv behave strangely because

because their bodies and brains are not working
properly. in the modern era, this approach has
 been linked to many kinds of maladaptive
behavior.
psychological approach problems are caused by inadequacies in the way
an indiv thinks, feels or perceives the world.
organismic approach developed by philosophers-physicians of ancient
greece, in the ancient western
civilization.(hippocrates, socrates and pluto in
particular.)
behavior arises out of conflicts of emotion and
reason. galen elaboarted on the role of four
humors(earth, air, fire and water made up the
world which subsequently made up the humours
or essential body fluids-- bllod, black bile, yellow
bile, phlegm, each resp for a different
temperament.) imbalances in the fluids were
believed to cause disorders. this is quite similar to
teh vatta, pitta and kapha of athrava veda and
ayurvedic texts.

middle ages demonology and superstitions gained renewed

rennaisance period
age of reason and enlightment
interactional/bio-psycho-social approach
importance.christian spirit of charity prevailed;
laid ground work for modern psychodynamic
theories.
increased humanism and curiosity about
behavior. Weyer emphasized p conflict and
disturbed interpersonal conflicts as causes of p
disorders
17th and 18th centuries; scientific method
replaced dogma; contributed to REFORM
MOVEMENT and to increased compassion
towards mentally ill. reforms of asylms in both
europe and africa. one aspect of it was
deinstitutionalization, which placed emphasis on
providing community care for mentally ill
patients.
convergence and combination of the biological,
psychological and social approaches.

CLASSIFICATION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

American Psychiatric Association(APA) has publshed an official manual describing an dclassifying various
p disorders. the current version of it-- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders(DSM-IV)
evaluates the pt on five axes or dimensions rather than just one aspect of 'mental disorder'. these
dimensions relate to biological, psychological and social aspects.

classif scheme officially used in india and elsewhere is teh tenth revision of the International
Classification of Diseases(ICD-10), known as ICD-10 Classification of behavioral and mental disorders,
prepared by WHO.

FACTORS UNDERLYING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

1. BIOLOGICAL FACTORS-- faulty genes, endocrine imbalances, malnutrition,injuries etc.

acc to this model, behavior has a physiological or biochemical basis. anxiety disorders have bn linked to
low activity of neurotransmitters GABA, depression to low activity of serotonin, and schizophrenia to
high activity of dopamine.

2. GENETIC FACTORS-- No specific gene has been found, and multi gene inheritance is noted in almost all
disorders.

3. PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS-- psychological and interpersonal factors have a significant role to play in
abnormal behavior. factors like maternal deprivation, faulty parent child relationships, maladaptive
family structures. include psychodymanic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic models.

4. SOCIO-CULTURAL MODEL-- As behavior is shaped by societal forces, factors such as family structure
and communication, social networks, societal condition and societal labels and roles become more
important.

Certain family systems produce abnormal functioning in indiv members. some families have an
enmeshed structure in which the members are overinvolved in each others activities, thoughts and
feelings.

ppl who are isolated and lack social support are more depressed.

societal labels and norms also influence. when ppl break the norms of their society, they are called
deviant or "mentally ill", such labels tend to stick and the person actually starts behaving sick, leading to
changes in behavior.

5. One of the most widely accepted explanations has been the diathesis-stress model. this states that
psychological disorders develop when a diathesis(biological predisposition to the disorder) is set off by a
stressful situation. this model has 3 components-- first, is the diathesis or presence of some biological
aberration which may be inherited. second, diathesis may carry a vulnerability to a p disorder. third,
presence of pathogenic stressors.

MAJOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

A. ANXIETY DISORDERS
Anxiety is defined as a vague, unpleasant, diffuse feeling of fear and apprehension. also shows a
combination of foll symptoms: increased heart rate, shortness of breath, diarrhoea, loss of apetite,
fainting, dizziness, sweating, sleeplessness, frequent urination and tremors.

1. generalized anxiety disorder prolonged, vague, unexplained and intense fears

that are not attached with a particular object.
symptoms:
• worry and apprehensive feelings
• hypervigilance(constantly scanning env for
dangers)
• motor tension(person is restless, visibly shaky
and tense)
Panic disorder recurrent anxiety attacks when person feels
intense terror
abrubt surge of intense anxiety which is
associated with thoughts of a particular stimuli
thoughts are of unpredictable nature
c/f-- shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain,
palpitations, choking, nausea, fear of going crazy,
losing control or dying

Phobias irrational fear to specific objects, ppl or

situations. 3 types- specific, social, agarophobias.
social are the ones where irrational fear is of fear
and embarrasment when dealing with others.
agarophobia-- term used when ppl dev a fear of
unfamiliar situations, and are afraid of leaving
home.
OCD Inability to prev themselves from repeatedly
carrying out an act or series of acts that affect
their ability ro carry out normal activities.
obsessive behavior is the inability of a person to
stop thinking about an idea or topic. compulsive
disorder is need to perform certain behavior
again and again.
Post traumatic stress disorder recurrent dreams, flashbacks, impaired
concentration, emotional numbing.

SOMATOFORM DISORDERS

Conditions in which there are physical symptoms in the absence of a disease.

indiv has psychological difficulties and complains of physical symptoms for which there is no biological
cause.
 Pain disorders • reports of extreme incapacitating pain, either
without any identifiable biological symptoms,
or greatly in excess of what might b expected.
• how ppl interpret pain influences their
overall adj-- sm ppl use activ coping(remain
activ and ignore pain); others engage in
passive coping(reduced activity and social
withdrawal)
Somatization disorders multiple and recurrent or chronic bodily
complaints.
present complaints in a dramatic and
exaggerated way; provide longg detailed histories
and take lots of medicines
common complaints are headache, vomiting,
palpitations, allergies etc.
Conversion disorders report loss of apart/all of sm basic bodily
functions; generally happen after a stressful
event in life and may b quite sudden.
Hypochondriasis diagnosed if a person has a serious belief that he
or she has a serious illness, despite medical
reassurance, lack of phy findings and failure to
dev the disease.
continually worry about their health.

DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS

Can b viewed as severance between ideas and emotions.

involves feeling of unreality, estrangement, depersonalization and sometimes a loss or shift of identity.

a defining characteristic is sudden temp alteration of consciousness that blot out partial experiences.

Dissociative amnesia extensive but selected memory loss that has on

organic cause.
often assoc with an overwhelming stress
Dissociative fugue essential feature is an unexpected travel away
from home n workplace, assumtion of a new
identity, and inability to recall the previous
identity.
usuallyy ends when the eperson 'wakes' up with
no memory of events that happened during the
fugue.
 Dissociative identity disorder often referred to as multiple personality disorder.
assumes alternate personalities that may b or
may not b aware of each other.
most dramatic of all dissociative disorder.
often associated with traumatic childhood
experiences.
Depersonalization dream like state where a person has a feeling of
being seperated both from self and reality.
self perception changes, and the sense of reality
is lost or changed.

MOOD DISORDERS

Characterized by disturbances in mood or prolonged emotional state; most common being depression.
Depression can be a symptom or a disorder.

Major depressive disorder defined as a period of depressive mood and/or

loss of interest or pleasure in most activities;
together with most of other symptoms like
change in body weight, constant sleep problems,
tiredness, inability to think clearly, greatly slowed
behavior, thoughts of death and suicide.
also, feelings of guilt and worthlessness can
come.
What predisposes to depression?-
• genetic make up is an imp risk factor fo
rdepression and bipolar disorders.(e.g.
women particularluy at risk during woman
adulthood, men in early middle age.
• gender also adds to differential risk
addition.(women in comparison to men are
more likely)
• negative life events or lack of social support
are also factors.
Mania ppl suffering from this become euphoric,
extrememly active, excessive talkative and easily
distractible.

bipolar mood disorders Manic episodes which alternate with depression,

interspersed ny times of normal mood, are
known as bipolar mood disorders; earlier known
as manic-depressive disorders.
• suicide risk is highest in these' several other
risk factors also predispose to suicide like
 age, gender, race, ethnicity, recent serious
events in life.
• teenagers and young adults have as much risk
as those who are over 70 years old.
• men hv higher rate of contemplated suicide.
• cultural attitudes(in japan, suicide is the
culturally appropriate way to deal with
shame and disgrace)

SCHIZOPHRENIC DISORDERS

Schizophrenia is a descriptive term used for a grp of psychotic disorders in which personal. social and
occupational functtioning deteriorate due to disturbed thought processes, strange perceptions, unusual
emotional states, and motor abnormalities.

debilitating disorder

Symptoms:

positive symptoms(excess of thought, emotion or 'pathological excesses' or 'bizarre additions'

behavior) delusion, disorganized thinking and speech,
heightened perception and hallucinations, and
inappropriate affect are ones often found.
• Delusions is a false belief that is firmly held
on inadeq grounds, has no rational argument
and no base in reality.
1. delusions of persecution- believe they are
being plotted against, spied on, slandered,
threatened, attacked.
2. delusions of reference- attach sp meaning to to
the actions of others or to objects/events.
3. delusions of grandeur- ppl believe themselves
to be specially empowered.
4. delusions of control- belief that their feelings
and thoughts are controlled by others.
• Formal thought disorders are also seen. the
person is not able to think logically, and
speaks in peculiar ways, making
communication extremely difficult. shift from
one topic to another rapidly so that normal
str of thinking is muddled and becomes
illogical(loosening of associations,
derailment); invent new phrases or
words(neologisms); and persistent and
inappropriate repetition of the same
thoughts.
 • Hallucinations-perceptions that occur inn
absence of external stimuli.
1. auditory hallucinations are most common. pt
hears sounds or voices that speak directly to the
pt(second person hallucination); or talk to one
another referring to the pt(third person
hallucination)
2. tactile hallucination(forms of tingling, burning)
3. somatic hallucinations(something happening
inside the body like snake crawling in the
stomach)
4. visual hallucinations(vague perceptios of color
or distinct visions of ppl/objects)
5. gustatory(food or dring taste strange
6. olfactory(smell of poison or smoke).
• alos show INAPPROPRIATE AFFECT(Emotions
that are inappropriate to the situation)
naegative symptoms 'pathological deficits'; include poverty of speech,
less anger, sadness and other feelings(blunted
affect)
no emotions at all(flat affect)
apathy/inability to start or complete a course of
action(avolition)
social withdrawal
psychomotor symptoms move less pontaneously and mk odd grimaces
and gestures; may take extreme forms like
catatonia. ppl in a catatonic stupor remain
motionless and silent for long stretches of time.
some show catatonic rigidity(rigid, upright
posture for hours)
catatonic posturing(awkward, bizarre positions
for long periods)

BEHAVIORAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS

Specific to children, if neglected can lead to serious consequences.

children have less self understanding, have not developed a stable sense of identity, and do not have an
adequate reference of values, reality, and possibility. so they are unable to cope up with stressful
events. on the other hand, children also bounce back more quickly than an adult, inspite of all these
problems.

Classification of these disorders has taken in a different path, with Achenbach identifying 2 factors-
externalization and internalization, which include majority of childhood behavior problems.
the former include problems of undercontrolling, include behaviors which are disruptive, aggressive and
aversive to others in the child's environment.
the latter include overcontrolling problems, where child experiences depression, anxiety, and
discomfort not evident to others.
externalizing disorders--
ADHD
Oppositional defiant disorder
conduct disorder and antisocial behaviro
internalizing disorders--
1. seperation anxiety disorder(SAD): Internalizing disorder which is unique to children.
2 main features are inattention, and
hyperactivity-impulsivity.
• common complaints are the child does not
listen, cannot concentrate, does not follow
instructons, disorganixed, forgetful quick to
lose interest.
• impulsive children are unable to control their
imm reactions to think before they act. find it
diff to wait/take turns, have difficukty
resisting imm temptations or delaying
gratifications. serious incidents like knocking
things over can also occur.
• hyperactivity also takes many forms- constant
motion. child may fidget, squirm, climb or run
thru the class. they are described as 'driven
by a motor'. boys 4 time more likely.
display age-inappropriate amounts of
stubbornness, irritable, defiant, disobedient, and
behave in a hostile manner.
almost similar rates in boys or girls
age inappropriate actions which violate family
expectations, societal norms and
personal/property rights of others.
behavior include aggressive actions, non
aggressive acts that cause property damage,
major deceiot or theft, serious rule violations.
many differnt types of behavior like verbal
aggression(name calling, swearing), physical
aggression, hostile aggression(directed at
inflicting injury st others), and proactive
aggression(dominating and bullying without
provocation)
most prominent symptom is excessive panic or excessive anxiety experienced by children when being
seperated from their parents. are fearful of entering new situations ad cling to their parents' shadow. to
avoid separattion, make fuss, throw tantrums, make suicidal gestures.

2. depression-- ways in which children manifest this is related to their physical, emotional and cognitive
development. an infant may be passive and unresponsive, a pre schooler may be withdrawn and
inhibited, school age child may be argumantative and combative, teenager may show gulit and
hopelessness.

3. Pervasive developmental disorders-- serious disorders that children may have.

severe and widespread impairments in social interaction and communication skills and stereotyprd
patterns of behaviors, interests and activities.

Autism is one of the most common disorders. these children have marked difficulties in social
interaction and communication, a restricted range of interests, and a strong desire for routine. nearly
70% of children with autism r also mentally retarded.

they have lot of learning difficulties. unable to initiate socila behavior; and seem unresponsive to odr
person's feelings. also show serious abnormalities in communication and language that persists over
time. many of them never dev speech and those who do have repetitive and deviant speech patterns.

have narrow patterns of interests and repetitive behaviors like lining up objects or stereotyped body
mov like rocking.(motor movement scan be self stimulatory like flapping hand or self injurious like
banging head on the wall)

4, eatin disorders-- anorexia and bulimia nervosa.

MENTAL RETARDATION

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

Disorders raleting to maladaptive behaviors resulting from regular and consistent use of substance
involved are called substance abuse disorders.

substance dependence intense craving for the substance

tolerance is seen(more amd more drug needed
each time to get the same affect)
withdrawal symptoms
compulsive drug taking
substance abuse recurrent and significant adverse consequences
related to use of substances.
1. alcohol abuse and dependence

for many, the pattern of alcohol abuse extends to dependence

2. heroin abuse and dependence

the most direct danger is an overdose, which slows down respiratory centres in the brain, almost
paralyzing breathing, and in many cases causing death.

3. cocaine a and d

regular use leads to a pattern of abuse that the person is intoxicated throughout the day.

also causes problems in short term memory and attention.

ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE

In general, attitudes are learned thru one's own experiences, thru interaction with others.

there are few studies which show that there is sm aspect of inborn attitudes, but these genetic factors
influence attitudes only indirectly, along with learning. so most of the social psychologists have focused
on conditions which lead to learning of attitudes.

A. Process of attitude formation:

1. Learning them thru association- like association between a good teacher and a subject.

2. thru being rewarded or punished

3. thru modeling(observing others)

4. thru group or cultural norms-- this can be a combination of all 3 factors described above.

5. learning thru exposure to information- media, books, biographies.

B. Factors affecting attitude formation:

1. family and school env-- parents, family members, school; thru association, rewards and punishment,
and modelling.

2. reference groups- they indicate to an individual the norms regarding acceptable behavior and ways of
thinking, thus reflecting learning of attitudes thru group or cultural norms. their influence is particularly
noticeable at the beginning of adolescence; their role is in learning thru rewards and punishment.

3. personal experiences

4. media related influences-- media, school textbooks. they initially strengthen cognitive and affective
aspect of attitude and later also strengthen the behavioral aspects.

C. Attitude change

-- Attitudes that are in the formative stage and more in the form of opinions are mor elikely to change
cmpared to those which have already become values.
-- their changing is mostly the aim of politicians, advertisers, community leaders etc.

Process of attitude change: 3 major concepts

a. THE CONCEPT OF BALANCE -- BY FRITZ HEIDER

• Described sometimes in the form of 'P-O-X' triangle, representing the relationship between three
aspects or components of the attitude. P is the person whose attitude is being studied. O is another
person, X is the topic towards which attitude is being studied. it is also possible that all 3 are
persons.

• the basic idea is that P-O ,O-X and O-X attitudes must be in a stste of balance; if not, the attutude
has to change to ultimately bring them in balance.

• imbalance is found when -- a. all three sides of the POX triangle is negative; b. 2 sides are positive
and one is negative.

• balance is when a. all 3 sides are positive; and b. 2 sides are negative, and one is positive.

• example of dowry(X), father(P), father in law(O)

b. CONCEPT OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE BY LEON FISTINGER

• Emphasizes the cogntitive component.

• the basic idea is that the cognitive components of the attitude must be in consonance with each
other, that is fall in line with each other logically. if they are dissonant, tehn the attitude changes.

• the experiment of telling a lie for 20 dollars.

• both balance and cogntive dissonance discussed are examples of COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY, which
means that 2 components, aspects or elements of d attitude or attitude syatem shuld be in the
same direction and each element must logically fall in line with other elements.

c. TWO STEP CONCEPT BY S.M. MOHSIN

• Acc to him, attitude change takes place in 2 steps: the first step is that of IDENTIFICATION. in this the
target(the person whose attitude has to be changed), identifies with d source(the person through
whose influence the attitude has to be changed). identification means the target has a liking for the
source. the source must alos have positive regard for the target, so that the feeling becomes mutual.

• in the second step, the source shows a change in attitude, by actually changing his/her behavior
towards teh attitude object. observing that, the target also shows a change in behavior. this is a kind
of imitation or observational learning.

D. Factors influencing attitude change:

1. Characteristics of the existing attitude- all four propertis of attitude. (valence, extremeness, simpicity
or centrality) determine attitude change. in general, positive attitudes are easier to change than
negative ones; extreme attitudes and central ones are more diff to change; simple are easier to change
than complex ones.

2. one must also consider the DIRECTION and EXTENT of change. the change may be congruent(change
in the same direction as the existing attitude like a positive thing becoming more positive) or
incongruent(someone feeling women might become too empowered after reading about a woman's
success and think she might shrug off responsibility). In general, congruent changes are easier to bring
about.

3. also, an attitude may change in the direction of the information presented to change it or in the opp
direction; for e.g. a poster describing importance of brushing teeth may strengthen attitude, but if
frightening pictures of dental cavities are shown, there is a fair chance that ppl may not believe them,
and become less positive about dental care. research has found that fear sometimes works well in
convincing ppl, but toomuch fear generated turns off the receiver and has little persuasive effect.

4. source characteristics: SOURCE CREDIBILITY and ATTRACTIVENESS. Highly credible sources are more
likely to change attitudes; but same age groups also matter, like in case of school children, they will
listen more to their age groups when something is being bought for/by them. in case of some products
like cars, popular public figures can increase sales.

5. Message characteristics: it i sthe msg that is presented in order to produce an attitude change. the
change happens when the info given is just enough. also, whether the msg contains a rational or
emptional appeal also matters(like LPG saving money/increasing nutrition). also, the motives activated
by the message determinr changes brought about in the attitude. Finally, teh mode of spresding the msg
is also important. face to face transmission of the msg is more effective than indirect transmission thru
letters and pamphlets.(community workers meeting ppl vs talking on radio)

6. target characteristics: qualities of the target like persuasibility, strong prejudices, self esteem and
intelligence influence the likelihood and extent of attitude change.

ATTITUDE BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP

An individual's attitudes may not always be reflected in behavior, infact behavior may sometimes be
contrary to the attitude. consistency in both is found when-

a. the attitude is strong, and occupies a central place in the attitude system.

b. the person is aware of his/her attitude.

c. there is very little/no external pressure for the person to behave in a particular way.

d. the behavior is not being watched/evaluated by others.

e. person thinks the behavior would have a positive consequence, and thus, intends to engage in that
behavior.

suppose behavior determines the attitude, like in the twenty dollars expt, where those who were given
1 dollar thought tthat they could not have told a lie for 1 dollar, and changed their attitude to actually
liking the movie!

PREJUDICES AND DISCRIMINATION

• Prejudices are examples of attitudes towards a particular group. they are usually negative, and in
many cases, based on stereotypes(the cognitive component) about the specific group.

• the cognitive component of prejudice is accompanied by the dislike or hatred, the affective
component.

• prejudice may get transformed into discrimination, the behavioral component. here the conflicts are
very easy to arise between groupd of the same society. our society has witmessed many of them
based on gender, religion, community.

• prejudices can exist without discrimination and vice versa, but yet, the two often go together.

• in many cases discriminatory behavior can be controlled, but prejudice and hatred are more diff to
eradicate or change.

• sources of prejudice -- 1. learning. 2. strong social identity and in-group-bias(very positive attitude
for their own group members, boost it more by harvesting negative feeling for other groups) 3.
scapegoating(phenomenon where the majority places blame on minority for its own social, political
or economic problems) 4. kernel of truth concept(sometimes ppl keep believing in prejudices
because tehy believe there must be at least a kernel of truth in what everyone says about the other
grp) 5. self fulfilling prophecy(in some case, the grp that is being prejudiced with itself is responsible
for continuing the prejudice. the target grp may behave in ways that justifies prejudice, and teh
members may actually start behaving in a way that proves this description true.)

Strategies for handling prejudice:

the strategies would be effective if they aim at -

• minimizing opportunities for learning prejudices

• changing such attitudes

• de-emphasizing a narrow social identity based on ingroup

• discouraging tendency towards self fulilling prophecy.

goals are accomplished thru:

1. education an dinformation dissemination

2. increasing intergroup contact: allows for direct communication, removal of mistrust and even
discovery of posotive qualities in the outgroup. but these are successful only if-

2 gps meet in a cooperative rather than a competitive context

close interactions are held which allow them to know wach other better

gps are not different in power and status

3. highlighting indiv identity: this weakens both ingroup and outgroup bias.

SOCIAL COGNITION

Cognition refers to all of those mental processes that deal with obtaining and processing of information.
so social cognition would mean the same as related to social objects, including all processes that help in
understanding, explaining and interpreting social behavior.

• The processing of information related to social objects differs from the processing of physical
objects in the sense that the social objects may themselves change as the cognitive process takes
place. like a teacher and a student.

• social cognition is guided by mental units called schemas.

SCHEMAS AND STEREOTYPES

Schema is defined as a mental structure that provides a framework, set of rules or guidelines for
processing information about an object. SCHEMAS(in this case, social schemes, plural schemata) are
basic units stored in our memory and function as shorthand ways of processing information, thus
reducing mental effort and time required in cognition.

Most of them are in the form of categories(when the are called prototypes, and are the entire set of
features or qualities used to define an object) or classes. in social schema, category based schema which
related to groups of ppl are k/a Stereotypes. these are overgeneralized, are not directly verified, and do
not offer exceptions. the result sin thinking are not based on logical thinking, but on preconceived
notions.

IMPRESSION FORMATION AND EXPLAINING BEHAVIOR OF OTHERS THROUGH ATTRIBUTIONS

The process of coming to know a person can be divided into:

1. Impression formation: the person who forms teh impression is called the PERCEIVER, th eperson
whose impression is to be formed is the TARGET. The former gathers info or responds to given info
about the qualities of target, organizes info, and forms inferences about target.

2. Attrubution: the perceiver goes further, and explains why the target behaved in that particular way.
both these processes are influenced by:

• nature of information available to the perciever

• social schemas in the perciever, including stereotypes

• personality characetristics of teh perceiver

• situational factors

1. impression formation: this process consists of three sub-processes:

a. selection- taking into acc some bits of target info

b. organization- combination of info in a systematic way

c. inference- conclusion about what kind of person target is.

order or sequence in which information is presented has some effect. mostly, info presented first has a
stronger effect than info at end(PRIMACY EFFECT; first impressions are lasting impressions). but if the
perceiver is instructed to pay heed to all the info, whatever info comes at the end may have a stronger
influence.(RECENCY EFFECT)

Also, there is a tendency to think that a target with one set of positive qualities must have other spec
positive ones associated with the set. k/a HALO EFFECT.

2. Attribution of causality: when we assign cause, we can assign internal or external causes. the former
deals with the person, and the latter deals with something outside the person.

• when making attributions, causes can be int or ext and also stable(causes that do not change with
time), or unstable(causes that do not change with time)

• overall tendency for ppl to give higher weightage to internal/dispositional factors; k/a
FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR. this tendency differs in diff cultures. indians have been found
to give higher weightage to external factors than americans.

• There is a diff when attribution is amde for success than when it is made for failure. in the former,
ppl attribute it to internal factors like ability to work hard, in the latter to luck destiny etc(external)

• distinction has also been found between attributions made for our own positive and negative
experieces(ACTOR ROLE),and for another person(OBSERVER ROLE). K/A ACTOR-OBSERVER EFFECT.

For ourselves, success is attributed to internal, and failures to external factors, ulta for observor role. the
basic reason is taht ppl want to have a nice image of themselves compared to other ppl.

BEHAVIOR IN THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS

the influence on performance of teh mere presence of ppl is k/a SOCIAL FACILITATION.
Norman TRiplett obseeved that performance is better in the presence of others, compared to alone.

• better performance happens due to AROUSAL(as told by ZAJONC), which leads to doing the activity
in a more intense manner.

• arousal maybe because the person is being evaliuated. k/a EVALUATION APPREHENSION. Because
we want to get praise, we perform well and avoid mistakes.

• nature of the task to be performed also matters. if teh task is familiar, person is more sure of
performing well, and the eagerness of praise or reward is stronger. in complex or new task, the
person may be afraid of making mistakes, and thus, perform worse.

• if others are also going to do teh same task, it is called a situation of COACTION. Here comparison
and competition take place. performance is better when task is familiar, performance is better.

• Other kinds of social influences are SOCIAL LOAFING.the larger the group, the lesser effort each
member puts in. this is based on diffusion of responsibility.

PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Very similar to altruism. doing someting for others or thinking about others without self interest.

characteristics:

1. aim to do benefit or do good to otehr person or persons

2. be done without expecting anything in return

be done willingly by the person, without any pressure

involve some difficulty/'cost' to the person giving help.

inspite of all this, ppl do not show this behavior everytime. the ques thus is, under what conditions, and
what motives do ppl help each other?

research has led to following insights:

• thi sbehavior is based on an inborn tendency in human beings to help members of other species.
this tendency facilitates survival of species

• is influenced by learning.

• influenced by cultural factors. in cultures that encourage independence, less of prosocial behavior is
seen as ppl are expected to tk cr of themselves.

• the behavior is shown when situation activates some SOCIAL NORMS which need helping others.
like-
1. NORM OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: we shud help anyone who needs help, without considering any
other factor.

2. NORM OF RECIPROCITY

3. NORM OF EQUITY: we shud help whenever we find it is fair to do so. like flood/disasters.

• also affected by the reaction of ppl who we are going to help. ppl might be unwilling to give money
to needy person because they feel that person might feel insulted/dependent.

• more likely to be shown by ppl with high EMPATHY.

• May be reduced by factors liek bad mood, own problems, lack of time, or a feeling that a person is
resp for his/her own situation.(internal attribution for the state of the person)

• may also be reduced when teh number of bystanders is increased. k/a DIFFUSION OF
RESPONSIBILITY.

CHAPTER7: SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUP PROCESSES

A group may be defined as an organized system of two or more individuals, interacting and
interdependent, with a common set of motives, having a set of role relationships among its members,
and norms that regulate the behavior of its own members.

Salient characteristics:

• consists of 2 or more indiv.s who perceive themselves to be a member of the group. this helps in
distinguishing one grp frm other, and gives the grp its unique identity.

• motives and goals are common, and work is towards either towards a goal or away frm threat.

• individuals are interdependent, that is what one does has consequence for the others.

• individuals who are trying to satisfy a need thru joint association also influence each other.

• interact with each other directly or indirectly.

• interactions are structured by a set of norms and roles. which means members perform the same
function each time they meet, and all stick to the norms.

D/D Group and Team:

1. in group, performance is dependent on contributions of individual members. team is a special type of

group, where apart from indiv performance, team effort is also important.

2. in a group, leader or the head holds the responsibility, while in a team, each indiv person also has the
resp for oneself.
An audience is also a collection of ppl who have assembled for a special purpose. Audiences are
generally passive, but sometimes they go in frenzy and become mobs. Mob behavior is characterized by
homogeneity of thought and behavior as well as impulsivity.

WHY DO PPL JOIN GROUPS?

1. Security: for sense of comfort and protection

2. status: sense of recognition and power

3. self esteem: feeling of self worth and positive social identity.

4. satisfaction of p and social needs

5. goal achievement: power in majority

6. provide knowledge and information.

GROUP FORMATION

Facilitated by-

1. Proximity- repeated interactions gives a chance to know ppl

2. Similarity

3. Common motives and goals

STAGES OF GROUP FORMATION

Tuckman suggested that groups pass thru 5 stages:

1. Forming stage: when grp members first meet, there is a lot of uncertainity about the group, goal, and
how it is to be achieved. ppl try to know each other an dwher ethey eill fit in. there is both excitement
and apprehension.

2. Storming stage: stage of intra group conflict, about what are the goals, who is to control the grp and
its resources. at its completion, a sort of hierarchy in leadership develops, and a clear vision as to how to
achieve the group goal.

3. norming stage: grp members dev norms for the grp, leads to dev of a strong positive grp identity.

4. performing stage: by this time, the structure of the grp has evolved and is accepted by grp members;
the grp moves towards achieving the grp goal. for some grps, this may be the last stage.

5. Adjourning stage: for some gps like organizing committees etc, this stage comes when the grp is
disbanded.
All gps do not pass in series all these stages systematically, and sometimes, several stages go
simultaneously, and in other instances, gps may go back and forth thru various stages.

During grp formation, there is also dev of grp structure. over time, this interaction shows regularitiesin
the distbn of tasks to be performed, resp assigned, and prestige or rel status of members.

Elements of grp structure:

1. Roles: Socially defined expectations that individuals in a given situation are expected to fulfill. they
refer to typical behavior that depicts a person in a given social context like son, daughter, and the role
expectations that are associated with these roles.

2. Norms: expected standards of behvior and beliefs established upon, and enforced by grp members.
can be considered a family's 'unspoken rules'. represent shared views of viewing the world.

3. Status: relative social pos given to grp members by others. this relative pos or status may be either
ascribed (given due to one's seniority) or achieved(by hard work or expertise). all of us want to be
members of a prestigious grp. even intra grp, every indiv may have difficult prestige, like captain in a
cricket team.

4. Cohesiveness: refres to togetherness, binding or mutual attraction among grp members.as grp
becomes more cohesive, grp members start thinking, feeling and acting as a social unit. it i sdifficut to
leave or join a highly cohesive grp. extreme cohesivenes, however, may not be in the grp's interest, as
identified by the penomenon called GROUPTHINKING by the psychologists.

TYPES OF GROUPS

A. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY GROUPS

• the former are pre existing formulations which are usually give to the individual, while the latter are
those which individual joins by chance. so family, caste religion are primary gps, while membership
of a political party is secondary.

• in the former, there is a face to face interaction, close physical proximity and warm emotional
bonds. they are central to indiv's functioning and have a major role in developing values and idelas.
in the latter, relationship is more impersonal, more indirect, and less freq.

• in former, boundaries are less permeable, tthat is the indiv does not have choice to easily leave the
grp, whereas in the latter, it is easy.

A. FORMAL AND INFORMAL GRPS

• the functions of a fromal grp are stated explicitly and formally. roles are demarcated.
• the basic diff is that of structure, where in the formal, the formationis based on some spec rules and
laws and there are grp norms e.g. like a university. in the latter, theer are no rules or laws, and the
members have close relationships.

C. INGROUP AND OUTGROUP

• The firmer refers to own group(we), and the latter to another group(they).

• it has been found that persons in a ingroup are generally found to be similar, are viwed favorably,
and have desirable traits. members of teh outgrp are viewed differently and ar eperceived
negatively cf ingroup members.

• It shud be understood that these categories are not real and have been created by us. In some
cultures like India, plurality is celebrated.

INFLUENCE OF GROUP ON INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

2 situations -- social facilitation(done in last chapter) and social loafing.

Social loafing: research shows that presence of others can lead to enhancement of performance by an
indiv, but does this extend to a grp too?

it has been found that individuals work less hard in a grp than when they work alone. this is called social
loafing.(reduction in indiv work in a collective task, the one in which output is pooled with those of other
grp members). this phenomenon has been demonstrated in many expts by Latane etal who did the
clapping experiment(asked grp of male students to clap or cheer as loudly as possible, grps of 2,4, 6
were made. results showed that although total noise did go up in a larger grp, amount of noise
produced by each participant decreased.)

Why does social loafing occur?

• grp members feel less rep for the whole task overall

• motivations decrease as the yknow their contribution swill not be evaluated individually.

• performance is not to be compared to other grps

• belonging to same grp is not imp for members because it is just an aggregate of individuals.

How to overcome it?

• making efforts of each person identifiable.

• increasing pressure to work hard, making members committed to successful task performance.

• increasing apparent Importance or value of task.

• making ppl feel their individual contribution is imp

• strengthening grp cohesiveness.

GROUP POLARIZATION

Groups show a tendency where grps have a higher tendency to take extreme decision sthan indiv
alone,k/a grp polarization, that is, strengthening of the group's initial position as a result of group
interaction and discussion. this may sometimes have dangerous repercussions.

Why does it happen?

• in the company of like minded ppl,new viewpoints are heard which reinforce opinions.

• when others also favour a viewpoint, there is a feeling that this view id validated by the public. this
is k/a BANDWAGON EFFECT.

• When ppl have similar views, they are perceived as ingroup. so everyone starts identifying with the
grp, begin showing conformity thus strengthening the group's position.

CONFORMITY, COMPLIANCE AND OBEDIENCE

SOCIAL INFLUENCE refers to those processes whereby our attitudes and beliefs are influenced by the
real or imagined presence of other ppl.

• Behaving according to the group norm, that is according to the group expectations, is called
Conformity. (persons who do not confirm are called Non-Conformists or Deviants), and get noticed
more than Conformists.

• Kelman distinguished between three forms of social influence -- compliance, identification,

internalization.

• In compliance there are external conditions that force the indiv to accept the influence of the
significant other. It also refers to behaving in a particular way in response to a request made by
someone.(e.g. u do something not because u agree, but because u have been requested to do so by
a sig member; in the second context, u do something just because it wont cause u any harm
anyway)

• Identification refers to influence process based on agreement seeking or identity seeking.

• internalization on the other hand is information seeking.

• Obedience is the response to a person in authority.

• Obedience is the most direct an dexplicit form sof social influence; compliance is less direct because
someone else requests; conformity is the least direct, where something is only done because u dont
want to deviate from the norm.
CONFORMITY

It seems that the tendency to follow a norm is natural, and does not need special explanation.

why is it natural?

• Norms represent a set of unwritten or informal rules of behavior which provide information to
members of a grp about what is expected of tehm in specific situations. this think makes the whole
thing clearer, and allow both indiv and grp to function smoothly.

• in general, ppl do not feel comfortable in feeling 'different', as it attracts disapproval/dislike, which
is a form of social punishment

• norm is seen as representing views of majority, majority believe that norm is more likely to be right
than wrong, as seen in audience polls in quiz shows.

• The pioneering experiments in this area were carried out by Sherif and Asch, and led to what sherif
called 'autokinetic effect' and the Asch technique.

• the main lessons learnt from these experiments is that degree of conformity among grp members is
determined by many factors which are situation specific.

DETERMINANTS :

• SIZE OF GROUP: greater when grp is small, because it is easier for a deviant member for a noticed.
but on the other hand, if in a large group, there is a strong agreement among members, this makes
majority dtronger and thus teh norm is also stronger which makes ppl more likely to confirm.

• SIZE OF THE MINORITY: When the dissenting or the deviating minority size increases, the likelihood
of conformity decreases.

• NATURE OF TASK: If the task involves giving an opinion, that is, in which there is no correct or
incorrect answer, there will be less confirmity.

• PUBLIC/PVT EXPRESSION OF BEHAVIOR: More confirmity in former.

• PERSONALITY: Some pp have a confirming personality, and tehy change their behavior acc to what
others say or do in a lot of situations. others are independent, and do not look for a norm. research
has shown taht highly intelligent ppl, and those with a high self esteem are less likely to confirm.

Confirmity takes place due to 1. Informational influence- influence resulting from accepting evidence
rather than reality. This kind of rational confirmity can be thought of as learning about the world from
the actions of theirs; learning by observing ppl, who are the best source of info about many social
conventions.
it can also occur due to 2. Normative influence- influence based on a person's desire to be accepted or
admired by others. here ppl conform because deviation may lead to rejection or at the least, non-
acceptance of some form of punishment.

It is generally observed that group majority determines the final decision, but in certain conditions,
when a minority takes a firm and uncompromising stand, it creates a doubt on the correctness of
majority stand and creates a conflict within the group.

COMPLIANCE

Techniques found useful to make the other person comply:

1. The foot-in-the-door-technique: person begins by making a small request that the other person is not
likely to refuse, and once that request is carried out, a bigger request is made. as it is felt that the other
person might feel uncomfortable refusing to the second request.(salespersons!)

2. The deadline technique: a 'last date' is announced, until which a particular product or offer will be
available.

3. The door in the face technique. a bigger request is made, and if that is refused, a later request for
something smaller is made, which is usually granted.

OBEDIENCE

It is easy to understand why ppl show it; mainly because of the fear of punishment.

it might be also because we feel person in authority should be obeyed.

that horrible expt carried out by Milgram to show that individuals obey commands from strangers;
demonstarting taht ppl in authority have effective menas for enforcing their orders.( expt where pairs
were made of fake 'teacher' and 'learner', with the latter's job to memorize pairs of words, and the
former's job was to make th elearner learn and punish him when he made errors by giving shock. the
teacher was told to increase the strength of shock with successive errors. learners were preinstructed to
make errors,a nd no real shocks with me. in all, 65% showed obedience, and only some protested
against and asked for the session to end.) His study suggests that even ordinary people are willing to
harm an innocent person if ordered by an authority.

Reasons?

• because they feel tehy are not resp for their actions

• authority generally has symbols of status, which ppl find difficult to resist.

• authority gradually increases commands from lesser to greater levels and initial obedience binds
followers for commitment. onc esmall orders are obeyed, commitment escalates for the person in
authority.
• events in fast speed sometimes give no time to think.

COOPERATION AND COMPETITION

• When groups work together to achieve goals, it is referred to as cooperation; rewards are generally
group rewards and not individual rewards. the goals are fabricated ina way taht you can attain a
goal only if other members also attain it.

• Competitive goals are set in such a way that each individual can get her/his goal only if others do not
attain their goals.

• Deustch investigated cooperation and competition between groups, and found that there was more
coordination in cooperative groups, with higher acceptance of each other's ideas, members were
more friendly.

• competition between groups, however, may increase within grp cohesion and solidarity.

• PRISINER DILEMMA GAME:Based on an anecdote when 2 prisoners were quizzed by detectives

separately. the detectives had only enough evidence to convict them both for a small offence. both
were offered a chance to confess. if one confesses and other does not, one who confesses gets no
punishment,and the other gets severe punishment.

DETERMINANTS OF COOPERATION AND COMPETITION

1. REWARD STRUCTURE: Cooperative structure is one of promotive interdependence. each is beneficiary

of reward and it is possible only if all contribute.

2. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: If it is good, cooperation is the consequence. communication

facilitates interaction and discussion.

3. RECIPROCITY: Initial cooperation may encourage cooperation and v-v.

SOCIAL IDENTITY

Sometimes we perceive ourselves as unique identities, and sometimes as a social identities derived from
groups; both are important and equally valid expressions of self.

Social identity provides its members with a shared set of beliefs, values and goals about themselves and
about their social world. once values are internalized, it regulates our attitudes and behavior. the
categorization between ingroup and outgroup also becomes salient.

INTERGROUP CONFLICTS: NATURE AND CAUSES

It is a process where either an indiv or a group, perceives that others(indiv/groups) have

opposite/conflicting interests; they also have a belief that the oteh rparty will protect only its own
interests.
this leads to not only opposition, but exertion of power on each other

grps have bn found to b more aggressive than individuals.

REasons:

• lack of communication and faulty communication by both parties. this leads to suspicion, that is lack
of trust.

• RELATIVE DEPRIVATION- when members of a grp compare themselves to the odr grpand perceive
that they do not have they do not have what they want, which the odr grp has. that triggers
discontentment and deprivation, which may trigger off conflict.

• one party's belief taht it is better than the other and what it says shud be done.when that does not
happen, both start accusinf each other. smaller differences are magnified because every member
wants to get his grp norms respected.

• a feeling that the other grp dsnt respect my grp norms and actually violates them due to a
malevolent intent.

• desire for retaliation for some harm in the past.

• biased perceptions, feleing of we and they

• grps, as research shows are more aggressive tahn indiv, as tehy compete over resources, both
material and social.

• perceived inequity: if one group's rewards contributions ratio is less, they generally blame it on
other grp and feel irritated and exploited.

Explanations of conflicts:

conflicts lead to triggering of social and cognitive processes, which cause in group polarization,and
coalition of like minded parties.

Gardner murphy, in his book 'in the minds of men' attributes the explanation to structural(poverty,
economic and social stratification); group(social identity, realistic conflict over resources and unequal
power relations) ; individual(beliefs, biased attitudes, personality characteristics) factors, which ar
eimportant determinants.

Consequences of conflicts(Deutsch):

• poor communication between the two grps; dont trust each other leading to suscpicion

• magnifying their differences and start perceiving theor behavior as fair and the other's unfair.
• each side tries to increase its power and legitimacy dir to which conflict escalatesshifting from a few
specific issues to much larger issues.

• once conflict starts, several other factors escalates it. hardening of ingroup opinion, explicit threats,
more retaliation and inclusion of outsiders taking sides increases conflict.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES:

1. Intriductio of superordinate goals: as sherif's study shows, something liek this is mutually beneficial
and hence increases cooperation.

2. Altering perceptions: thru persuasion, educational appeals, portrayal of grps differently in society.
promoting empathy shud be taught.

3. Increasing intergroup contacts: involving gps on neutral grounds thru community projects and ideas.
however to maintain them they shud be supported for a long period of time.

4. Redrawing group boundaries: by creating conditions that refines boundaries and grps perceive
themselves as common grp.

5. Negotiations: to try to find mutually acceptable solutions. needs understanding n trust. sometimes
mediation and arbitration by a third party is needed, which helps to keep discussion on the relevant
issue and reach a voluntary agreement.

6. Structural solutions: by redistributing resources acc to principles of justice. research has suggested
several principles of justice like -- equality, need and equity(on basis of contribution of members)

7. respect for other group's norms

CHAPTER 8: PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE

The relationship between human behavior and psychology plays a special role in our lives. A branch of P
called environmental P deals with various psychological issues pertaining to human environment
interaction in a very broad sense of the term.

Environment includes all the forces around human beings to which they respond in some way. Ecology is
the study of relationship between living beings and their env. there are 2 kinds of env-- natural and built.

Built env usually involves teh concept of environmental design; the idea of 'design' contains some
psychological features:

a. the creativity of the human mind.

b. sense of human control env

c. influence on the kind of social interaction that takes place in a particular type of env

DIFFERENT VIEWS ON HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP

A. MINIMALIST PERSPECTIVE: This assumes that physical env has minimal/negligible influence on human
behavior, health and well being. so physical env and human beings exist as parallel components.

B. INSTRUMENTAL PERSPECTIVE: Suggests that physical env mainly exists for the service of human
beings. most of human influences on env reflect this perspective.

C. SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE: Refers to env as something to be valued and respected rather than
exploited, and that as long as human beings recognize the interdependent relationship, they will be
happy and healthy.

The 2 examples of the last are found in india as Bishnio community of rajasthan, and the chipko
movement of uttarakhand.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR:

The two influence each other, and depend on each other for survival and maintenance. effects of
environment:

1. Environmental influences on perception-- like africans, who live in circular houses, show less errors in
geometric illusions(Muller-Lyer illusion) cf city people, who live in houses in angular walls.

2. On emotions: watching nature induces a sense of tranquility, and disasters sorrow. PTSD after
raumatic events.

3. On occupation, living style and attitudes: natural env determines whether ppl depend on agricukture,
industry or other occupations, which further determine the lifestyle and attitudes of ppl of a particular
geographical region. for example, an agricultural society depends on collective efforts of its members,
and thus, dev an attitude of cooperativeness, and are more closer to nature and dependent on it
thereby developing an attitude of fatalistic beliefs; industry env on the other hand dev an attitude of
independence, competitiveness, and cultivate a belief of personal control over events in life.

HUMAN INFLUENCE ON ENVIRONMENT

Started with the process of building 'houses' for better shelters. now refrigeratore which use CFC's,
deforestation, effluents into rivers etc are worsenin the quality of life!

Noise, pollution, crowding, and natural disasters, are some examples of ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS
which are stimuli/conditions that create a stress for human beings.

1. NOISE

• Any sound that is annoying or irritating and felt to be unpleasnt

• apart from hearing loss, it has effects on mental activity because it affects concentration.

• 3 characteristics of noise are found to determine its task performance- Intensity, predictability and
controllability.
• systematic research has shown the following effects:

1. when mental task is simple, noise does not affect overall performance, whether it is loud or soft.
adaptation takes place.

2. if task is very inteersting, then too it does not affect performance. this is also one kind of adaptation.

3. intermittent and unpredictable noise is more disturbing than cont noise.

4. when task is diff and needs concentration, then intense, unpredictable and uncontrolled noise
reduces level of task performance.

5. when switching the noise off is in control of the person, the number of errors decrease.

6. in terms of emotional effects, it can lead to annoyance and emotional disturbance, although
adaptation takes place if it is a part of occupation or if it is controllable.

So basically, the effect of noise is not only determined by its intensity, but also by the extent to which
adaptation happens, nature of task being performed, and whether noise is predictable and controllable.

2. POLLUTION

• Can result in both physical and P effects.

• emotional effects include discomfort, decreased work efficiency. Presence of dust particles give
feeling of suffocation and difficulty in breathing.

• Studies have shown that in industrial regions, air pollution leads to more anxiety and greater tension
among its inhabitants.

• Bhopal Gas tragedy still continues to show both physical and psychological effects of inhalation of
MIC, Methyl IsoCyanate. still ppl suffer from disturbances in memory, attention and alertness.

• smoking leads to both active and passive smoking effects.

• presence of specific chemicals in soil can have harmful effects-- like lead and can also get
incorporated in food chains.

• another source is industrial/domestic waste, which are non biodegradable.

3. CROWDING

Crowds are informal groups of ppl coming together temporarily without any particular goal.

But crowding refers to a feeling of discomfort because of too many ppl around. also leads to loss or
decrease in privacy, negative view of space around person, and feeling of loss of control over social
interaction
Due to higher population in india, many foreign psychologists have come to india for studies on
crowding.

• It shud be understood that the ill effects of crowding in our country have been brought about not by
large no pf persons as such, but by the DENSITY of people

• Also, the nature of social interaction determine sthe effects of crowding. if the occasion is a happy
one, there might be no effect, infact, positive emotions may occur.

• crowding and high density may lead to abnormal behavior and aggression. this was shown many yrs
ago in a study of rats. the end result may be violent crimes.

• crowding leads to lower performance on difficult tasks involving cognitive processes, and has
adverse effects on memory and emotional states.

• children who grow up in very crowded environments show lower academic performances, and show
less patience on solving difficult problems.

• indiv show differences in their level of tolerance to crowding -- 2 kinds -- crowding tolerance and
competition tolerance. the former refers to ability to mentally deal with crowding, because of being
used to having an environment of having too mahy ppl around them(like joint families).

• the latter refers to the ability to put up with a setting where there is a compettion for basic
resources, including physical space.

• Cultural characteristics may slso determine the extent to which a particular env i sjudged
subjectively, and teh amount of negative reactions that are aroused. in cultutres where group
activities are encouraged, presenc eof large no of ppl is not thought of as undesirable.

• PERSONAL SPACE, orcomfortable space taht one likes to maintain around oneself is violated in
crowding, leading to negactive emotions.

• In social situations, human beings like to maintain an INTERPERSONAL PHYSICAL DISTANCE, which is
a prt of a broader concept, personal space. Edward Hall, an anthropologist, mentioned 4 kinds of
these distances-- Intimate distance(upto 18 inches)-- distance maintained when talking privately to
someone, or interacting with a close friend. 2. Personal distance(18 inches - 4 feet)-- intercating
one-on-one with a close friend, or with someone who is not very clos ein a work setting. 3. social
distance(4 ft to 10 ft) -- distance maintained when interacttion is formal, not close. 4. Public
distance(10 ft to infinity)-- maintained in aformal setting, like auditoriums, teachers in classes.

• It must be remembered that these distances are maintained voluntarily, keeping in mind teh
comfort experienced during interactions; if violated, the indiv will feel crowded, although the total
no of ppl is not very lrge around.

• the concept of physical space is important for teh following reasons-

1. explains many of the effects of crowding as an env stressor

2. tells us about social relationships, where assumptions can be made about the relationship depending
on the distances used.

3. gives an idea about hoe physical space can be modified in order to reduce social discomfort or to
make social interactions more enjoyable and fruitful.

4. NATURAL DISASTERS

The earlier three things were the result of human behavuior, this is the result of nature's fury. there are
examples of other disasters too like wars and epidemics.

the following features are seen--

1. immediate reaction is one of disorientation, when they may actually deny that something has
happened.

2. then come physical reactions like bodily exhaustion even without physical activity, difficulty in
sleeping, change in eating pattern, in creased heartbeat and BP, getting startled easily.

3. emotional reactions like grief, fear, irritability, anger, depression, lack of emotion, blaming oneself,
lack of interest in one's routines

4. cognitive reactions like worry, difficulty in concentration, reduced span of attention, confusion, loss of
memory or vivid memories thata re unwanted or nightmares of the event.

5. social reactions like withdrawal, getting into conflict with others, feeling rejected or left out.
surprisingly, in the middle of severe emotional reactions, some survivors may actually help in the healing
process.

intensity o fthe rxn is affected by--

a. severity of disaster, and the loss incurred, both in terms of property and life.

b. individual's general coping ability

c. other stressful experiences before disaster; if the person had a stressful life before, coping may be
much more difficult.

Measures that can be taken at a community level--

a. warnings

b. safety measures
c. T/t of psychological disorders -- first step shud be providing material relief then counselling can be
done. one of the key attitude to be developed in the survivors is that of self-efficacy or the belief that I
can do it! then psychiatric help, and finally followed by rehabilitation can help. follow up shud be kept.

PROMOTING PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR

PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL CONCERNS

2 major concerns faced are - poverty and violence.

1. POVERTY AND DISCRIMINATION

• Some define poverty mainly in economic terms, and measure it in terms of income, nutrition, and
expenditure on some basic necessities. some other indicators like physical health and literacy are
also used sometimes.

• However, from a social and psychological point of view, these are very narrow definitions,a nd they
define poverty as the lack of necessities of life in the context of unequal distribution of wealth.

• some also add 2 more dimensions of DEPRIVATION AND SOCIAL DISADVANTAGE in this. deprivation
refers to the feeling that some one has lost something valuable, or someone is not getting
something he/she deserves. poverty on the other hand refers to the actual shortage of resources.
thus, poverty is not a necessary condition for the feeling of deprivation. But the situation of the poor
is worsened if they also feel deprivation.

• Both poverty and deprivation are linked to social disadvantage, a condition when some sections of
the society are not allowed to enjoy the same privileges as the rest of the society.

• social disadvantage, due to caste and poverty have further created DISCRIMINATION, which is
intricately linked to prejudice. both social disadvantage and discrimination prevent the poor from
improving their socio-economic condition through their efforts, and that makes the poor poorer.

• In effect, discrimination becomes both a cause and a consequence of poverty.

Psychological characteristics and effects of poverty and deprivation

1. poor have low motivation and low aspiration, and a high need for dependence. they have very litle
sense of personal control over events.

2. with regard to personality, poor have low self esteem, are high on anxiety and subversion, and dwell
on immediate present rather than long term future. they prefer smaller immediate rewards rather than
larger rewards in the long run; live with hopelessness, powerlessness, felt injustice and eaperience a loss
of identity.

3. w.r.t. social behavior, show resentment towards the rest of the society.
4. Among effects of prolonged deprivation on cognitive functioning, it has been found that intellectual
functioning and performance on tasks such as classification, verbal reasoning, time perception, pictorial
depth perception is lower among the highly deprived compared to the less deprived. the effect being
due to the environment in which the children grow in, which is impoverished in the latter.

5. With regard to mental health, there is an unquestionable relationship between mental disorders and
poverty and deprivation. poor are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses, probably because they hae
to worry too much about basic necessities. it has been said depression might be a disorder of the poor.
plus they also suffer from a sense of hopelessness and loss of identity. due to this, they suffer from
emotional and adjustment problems.

Major causes of poverty

Various causes like disasters, and then poverty propagating poverty are there, but there are some
schools of thought which differ in this opinion:

a. poor are themselves responsible fo rtheir poverty. acc to this view, poor lack the ability and
motivation to put in effort and avail opportunities. this view is very negative, and does not help at all in
making them better.

b. it isnt the indiv, but a way of life and values in which someone is brought up. this belief system called
"The culture of poverty", convinces the person that he/she will remain poor and that belief is carried
from one generation to the next.

c. economic, social and political factors together a/c for poverty. Economic system grows in a
disproportionate way, and leads to social disadvantage.

d. geographic regions in which ppl live plays an imp part. like deserts, where lack of natural resources
and harsh climate predisposes to poverty. while this factor is not controllable by human beings, special
support can b given to ppl in these places like alternate means of livelihood, and sp facilities for
education and employment.

e. POVERTY CYCLE- Poverty begets poverty. low income, lack of resources-- low health and nutrition --
lack of education and skills -- low employment opportunities -- poverty continues alongwith a cycle of
decreased motivation, hope, and semse of control.

MEASURES FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION

1. Breaking the poverty cycle, and helping the poor to attain self sufficiency. initially financial relief,
medical facilities etc shud be provided but care shud b taken that they dont become dependent.

2. create a context where poor take resp and not blame for their condition, so as to regain a sense of
hope, control and identity.

3. providing educationala nd employment opportunities to let them discover their own abilities and
skills. this can reduce frustration, and in turn lead to reduction of crimes and violence.
4. measures shud be taken for the awareness and improvement of mental health.

5. steps shud be taken for their empowerment. the concept of ANTODYAYA has helped a large section of
the poor to get uplifted to better economic condition than they have experienced earlier. mention
various antodyaya programmes, microcredit facilities which run similar to the concept of grameen bank
in bangladesh, decentralization. ActionAid, an int'al organization is dedicated to the cause of the poor,
has goals for making them more sensitive to their own rights, equality and justice, and ensuring for them
good nutrition, health and facilities education and employment. indian work of this organization has
been working for poverty alleviation in the country.

AGGRESSION, VIOLENCE AND PEACE

The term aggression is defined by psychologists to refer to any behavior by one person/persons that is
intended to cause harm to another person/persons. it can be demonstrated thru actual action or harsh
words or even hostile feelings.

Forceful, destructive behavior towards other object or person is called Violence.

Some distinguish aggression from violence by pointing out that the former involves the intention to
harm or injure the othe rperson, while violence may or mat not involve any such intention. like kick
starting a motorbike violently.

There is also a difference between hostile aggression and instrumental aggression. In the former,
aggression is pointed at a certain goal or object and not th eperson; while the latter is aimed at a target
with the intention of harming him/her with/without the intention of having something from him.

Causes of aggression:

1. Inborn tendency- biologically, it might be inbuilt for self defence

2. Physiological mechanisms- by activtio of certain parts of brain involved in emotional experiences, lik
earousal happening due to crowding.

3. Child-rearing- the way an indiv is brought up; children whose parents use physical punishment tend to
become more aggressive.

4. Frustration- Aggression is an expression and consequence of frustration. JOhn Dallard conducted

research to specifically examine frustration-aggression theory. he found this to be true, and aggression
is more directed towards a weaker person who was unlikely or unable to react to the aggression. This is
called DISPLACEMENT. It is also seen when a majority group lashes out anger at a minority group
exhibiting displaced aggression.

Later, with more research, it was found that frustration is not the only, or even major cause of
aggression. Observations showed that - a. Frustration doesnt necessarily lead to aggression and b. other
situational factors are also responsible. These are --
a. Learning-among human beings, aggression i smore the result of learning rather than an inborn
tendency; conditioning and modeling can contribute.

b. Observing an aggressiv emodel- films and television the question is do these factors merely cause
aggression or other factors are involved? The answer is obtained thru info about specific situational
factors.

c. anger provoking acttion by others-made to feel angry after watching a violent movie

d. availability of weapons of aggression

e. personality factors- ppl with low self esteem or insecurity may use it to boost their ego. ppl with high
self esteem may show it bcoz they feel everyone does not place them at the high level they place
themselves.

f. Culltural factors

REDUCING AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE

1. Parents and teachers shud not reward it. Use of punishment as a means of discipline shud be
changed.

2. opportunities to imitate and learn shud be reduced drastically; portrayal of aggressive behavior as
heroism shud be drastically reduced.

3. Implementing social justice and equalitymay help curb it

4. inculcsting a positive attitude towards peace at the community or societal level.

HEALTH

• It is now conceded that various health outcomes are not only the result of disease but also the way
we think and behave. this is reflected in WHO's def of health as which includes biological, social and
psychological components to health, and focuses also on mental and spiritual aspects of health.

• Health and illness are a matter of degree. One may be suffering from a physically crippling disease,
but might be quite healthy otherwise. remember stephen hawking or baba amte.

• people also differ across cultures in their thinking about when and how ppl fall ill, and therefore, in
the models they use for prevention of disease and promotion of health.

• Also, acc to WHO, in developing countries like asia, africa, etc ppl die mostly of communicable
diseases and nutritional deficiencies. in developed world, deaths are mostly due to cardiovascular
diseases, cancers and psychiatric disorders.

• At individual level, various factors related to attitudes, behaviors and social factorsd determine well
being.
1. Cognitions -- variations in seeking a doctor's help are due to differing mental representations about
the disease, its severity and causes.

The level of awareness about the disease, beliefs about how it is caused, and possible ways of relieving
the distress affect this help seeking behavior as well as sticking to the doctor's regimen.

Another influencing factor is the perception of pain, which further depends on personality, anxiety and
social norms.

2. Behaviors-- Behaviors like smoking, tobacco, alcohol, drugs etc are associated with coronary heart
disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS. A new discipline called Behavior Modification deals with modifications in
behavior to alleviate stress due to diseases.

3. Social and Cultural factors -- they may affect our responses and vary across cultures. norms
associated with gender, roles etc greatly influence our behavior. like in india, medical advice by a female
is less valued.

IMPACT OF TV ON BEHAVIOR

Mixed impact

1.provide a whole lot of infotainment, but eat up huge amounts of children time

2. may have an effect on children's ability to concentrate on one target, their creativity and ability to
understand and also their social interactions.

3. effect on aggressiveness and violence. But some say that watching natural violence may have
CATHARSIS effect, that is what i sbottled up gets an outlet, like a choked up pipe becoming clean.

CHAPTER 9: DEVELOPING PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS

The term skill refrs to proficiency, facility or dexterity acquired or developed thru training or experience.
American Psychological Association defines at least 3 sets of skills for a psychologist

1. assessment of indiv defferences

2. behavior modification skills

3. counselling and guidance skills

The real difference between a pseudo and a real psychologist remains in the training of the latter as a
researcher and internalization of certain professional values. Basic skills fall into 3 categories -- general
skills, observational skills and specific skills.

GENERAL SKILLS

Generic in nature and needed by all psychologists regardless of their specialization.

Include personal as well as intellectual skills, and professional training shud not be given to students
who do not possess these.

OBSERVATIONAL SKILLS

SPECIFIC SKILLS

1. COMMUNICATION SKILLS

• Communication is an unconscious or conscious, intentional or unintentional process in which

feelings or ideas are expressed as verbal/non verbal messages that are received, sent and
comprehended.

• this process can be accidental(having no intent), expressive(resultinf from emotional state of the
person), or rhetorical(resulting from specifc goal of the communicator)

• human communication occurs at the intra personal, interpersonal and public levels.

Components of human communication--

• When we communicate, we do so selectively, that i sfrom a wide repertoire of words, we choose

those which will best represent the idea we want to express.

• While communicating, we encode(take ideas, give them meaning, and send them across as
messages),and then use a channel for the msg. It is composed of our primary signal system based on
our senses and is received by someone using their primary signal system. this person decodes the
msg. like an object is soft depends on the receiver's signal system, how it is perceived.

• the response can also come at a non verbal level, like touching a hot stove

• it must be understood tha tspeech and communication are different. while the former meanls only a
biological act, teh latter refers to a broade phenomenon where two people attempt to share a
meaning so that th eintent of teh msg received is the same as teh msg sent. the communication is
effective if the mutual understanding of the messages and codes is good.

Speaking

Language involves use of symbols which package meaning within them. To be an effective
communicator, it is imp to know how to use language appropriately.

Because lang is symbolic, it is imp to be as clear and concise as possible.

Next, the context is important, and one must understand the sender's frame of reference.

importance must be given to whether one understands ur interpretation or not. if not, the vocabulary
level and choice of words shud be changed for the listener. slangs, or words unique to a culture or
region can become obstacles to good communication.
Listening

Needs one to be patient, non judgemental, and yet having the capacity to analyze and respond.

Hearing is only a biological activity and a part of listening, which involves in itself reception, attention,
assignment of meaning and listener's response.

Reception

can be either thru auditory or visual means.

Attention

In this stage, other stimuli recede so that we can concentrate on specific words or visual symbols

Paraphrasing

to know whether the other person has been listening to u or not, the person is asked to repeat what you
just said. he/she is going to give a summary/statement of what was just said(this is called Paraphrasing)
allowing u to understand how much he/she was actually listening.

Assignment of meaning

process of putting the stimulus received into a predetermined category

Role oof culture in listening

- Asian cultures expect silent communication when seniors or elders are talking; buddhism advvocates
mindfulness

Body language

Non verbal acts which are closely connected to the talk in progress refer to the body language.

It must be understood that a single non verbal gesture does not hold a complete meaning. all of them
must be considers together-- meaning in a cluster

a person's background and past patterns of behavior must also be given weightage when analyzing body
language. consistency betwen current and past behavior and between verbala nd non verbal
communication is k/a CONGRUENCY.

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING SKILLS

These are concerned with the knowledge base of the discipline of psychology.

Psychologista have always been intersted in understanding individual differences from the time of
Galton in 19th century
An attitude of objectivity,, scientific orientation and standardized interpretation must be kept in mind.
for e.g. in business and industry or othe rorganization/personnel work, where specialized tests are used
to select indiv for spec jobs, it is essential to use actual performance records or ratings as a criteris for
the establishment of the validity of the test. The test must differentiate among the employees of diff
personnel levels. In addition, it shud also be found out that performance on the job of a newly employed
worker matches with his/her test scores.

3. INTERVIEWING SKILLS

A. INterview format

basic format, regardless of the interview's purpose is divided into 3 stages-- opening, the body and the
closing.

opening o fthe interview establishes rapport between communicators. serves two functions- sets the
goal of the interview and gives the interviewee time to become comfortable with the situation and the
inyerviewer.

Body of the interview is teh heart of the process.

While closing th einterview, the interviewer shud summarize what he/she has been able to gather. one
shud end with a discussion of teh next step to be taken. a chance shud be given to the interviewee to
ask queations or comments.

B. Sequence of questions

Interviewer prepares a set of questions, called the SCHEDULE, for different domains or categories he
wants to cover. questions are formulated to assess facts as well as subjective assessment.

4. COUNSELLING SKILLS

Meaning and nature of counselling

• It provides a syatem for planning the interview, analyzing the counsellor and client's behavior, and
determining th edevlopmental impact on the client.

• here, the counseller is more interested in building an understanding of the client's problem, by
focusing on what understanding the client has of his/her own problem, and how he/she feels about
it. the focus is less on actual or objective facts of the problem. The focus is more on the person and
how he/she defines the problem.

• Counselling involves a helping relationship that includes someone seeking help, and someone
willimg to get help, who is capable of or trained to help in a setting that permits help to be given or
received.

• Common concepts to all counsellings-- they involve--

1. responding to feelings, thoughts, and actions of clients.

2. basic acceptance of client's perception and feelings, without using any evaluiative standards.

3. confidentiality and privacy; physical facilities taht preserve them are important.

4. voluntary nature of action, no coercion is used.

5. transmitting and receiving both verbal and non verbal messages during the process. So awareness and
sensitivity to the same is important.

DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS

For most ppl who seek help from a counsellor, effective or satisfyinf relationships are virtually non
existent. Since change in beahvior is often and created and supported by a network of social support, it
is essential for the client to develop more positive relationships with other persons. Counselling
relationship is this vehicle thru which this begins.

Effective behavior change that is brought sbout by counselling is multifacted.

Characteristics of effective helper:

• Authenticity- The self perceived "I" is reflected thru ideas, words, actions, clothing and life style, all
of which communicate the 'I ' to others. The collective judgments by the ppl u respect, also called
'significant others' develops into a 'me'. the other me is what you perceive you to be. The degree to
which you are aware of the perception of others as well as your own perception indicates taht u are
self aware. authenticity refers to when behavioral expressions are consistent with what is valued
and the way inner self image is felt and related to.

• positive regard for others - a agood relationship between a counsellor and counselled allows for
freedom of expression. some tips --

a. use "I" rather tha nyou messages(like I understand rather than u shud not)

b. respond to what the other person has said, after checking with him.

c. gove the other person freedom to share feelings or anything he/she wants to say. do not interrupt.

d. do not assume the other person knows what u are thinking. express yourslef according to frame of
reference.

e. do not label yourself or the other person.

• Empathy- most critical competencies needed.

• Paraphrasing.

Ethics of counselling
Some of APA guidelines-

a. knowledge of ethical codes, standards, and guidelines; knowledge of statutes, rules regulations and
case law relevant to th epractice of psychology.

b. recognize and analyze ethical and legal issues across the range of professional acvities in the clinical
setting.

c. recognize and understand the ethical dimensions/features of his/her own attitudes and practic in the
clinical setting.

d. seek appropriate info and consultation when faced with ethical issues.

e. practice appropriate professional assertiveness related to ethical issues.

Psychology Baron notes

Chapter 2: Biology, Culture and Human behavior

There is a sub topic about neurons, Nervous system and endocrine system. I will be very
selective about that.

Selected points:

● Glial cells, which outnumber the neurons by ten to one, performs a lot of functions,
major among them are formation of myelin sheath, housekeeping functions like
cleaning up of cellular debris, and formation of blood-brain barrier.
● The communication within neurons is guided by the Graded potential (The signal within
neurons resulting from external stimulus to the dendrite or the cell body, unlike the
action potential this does not follow the all-or-none phenomenon, and increases as the
signal increases) and the action potential(rapidly moving wave of depolarization
travelling along the cell membrane of the neuron, thus communicating the disturbance
within the neuron).
 ● The various neurotransmitters, the common ones --
Acetylcholine -- found throughout the CNS,ANS and all neuromuscular junctions -- involved in
muscle action, learning and memory.

Norepinephrine -- in ANS -- Control/alertness and wakefulness.

Dopamine -- Neurons in substantia nigra -- movement, attention and learning.(Its deficiency

may cause Parkinsons, excess Schizo)

Serotonin -- Brain and spinal cord -- regulation of mood, and control of eating, sleeping and
arousal. also, regulation of pain and dreaming.

GABA -- ditto -- major inhibitory NT. Abnormal levels implicated in eating and sleep disorders.

● Endorphins -- Naturally occurring substances produced by the brain that closely

resemble morphine. Released by the brain in response to pain/vigorous exercises to
reduce sensations that might otherwise affect ongoing behavior, they also increase the
pleasure sensations, thus serving as an internal mechanism to reduce unpleasantness,
and increase pleasure.
● Posterior pituitary produces hormones that regulate reabsorption of water by the
kidneys, and also, production and release of milk by females. anterior pituitary releases
hormones that affect other endocrine glands.
● The major functions of various organs in brain are to be done from the book, they are
not mentioned in the syllabus.
The functions performed by the various lobes in cerebral cortex--

1. Frontal lobe -- Has the motor cortex, controls the body movements; damage to which does
not produce total paralysis( thus showing PLASTICITY, which is greater at a younger age than
after maturity, but seems to operate to some extent throughout life). PLasticity means that
while a specific area may normally perform a given function, other regions can take up that
function of the original area is damaged, and may gradually come to perform the same
functions.
2. Parietal lobe - contains the somatosensory cortex(to which info from the skin senses -- temp,
pressure, touch etc - is carried)

Damage to the left cerebral hemisphere may cause loss of ability to read or write, and difficulty
in knowing the spatial orientation of body parts. Damage to the right hemisphere may cause
the individual to be unaware of the left side of the body.

3. Occipital lobe -- helps in vision, and damage causes a "hole" in the person's field of vision,
that is objects in a particular field cannot be seen, the rest is unaffected.

4. Temporal lobe -- key role in hearing. Injuries on left hemisphere can cause loss of ability to
understand spoken words; right damage can cause unaffected understanding, but inability to
understand other organizations of sound like melodies, tones etc.

* It is interesting that the total sensory and motor controlling area of the cortex is only a
quarter of the total area, with the rest being made up of association cortex, which integrates
various activities,and translates sensory input for motor output.

LATERALIZATION OF FUNCTION IN BRAIN

● In general, the left hemisphere is the verbal hemisphere, while right specializes in the
control of certain motor movements, in synthesis(putting isolated elements together),
and comprehension and communication of emotion.
● evidence for this has been collected from research with split-brain persons due to
accident or surgery; or studies in connected hemispheres, where surgeries are done.
● Of mention is the tenant experiment. page 54.
● The evidence for the right hemisphere being much more emotive is when while surgery
the pt describes a traumatic experience before and after the right hemisphere is
anesthetized.
● Conclusive evidence is provided with PET scans.
 ● One question that might come to mind is why this specialization exists? the answer,
from an evolutionary point of view is that, it helps us to not think in words when a
threat comes -- a quicker response can be made on a gut-level. So logical thought is
done with the left part, while global, non-analytic thought of the likes of "I like it" or not,
are done by the right brain. so this increases survival, and hence might be naturally
selected.

THE BRAIN AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR: WHEN BIOLOGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

The basic difference between a modern computer and a human brain is the fact that while the
former work SERIALLY, the brain works in a PARALLEL way, with many modules-- collections of
interconnected neurons -- processing information simultaneously.

REsearch shows how we might have two different pathways for finding out what an object
is,and where it is located. Apparently, light from eyes reaches to the extrastriate cortex,and
then divides into two branches - the ventral branch going down to the temporal lobe, and the
ventral going down to parietal lobe to tell what the object is. PET scans further corroborate this.

THE BRAIN AND HUMAN SPEECH: SOMETHING ABOUT BROCA AND WERNICKE APHASIA

Damage to Broca's area results in inability to speak, and pp, speak slow, laborious speech that is
agrammatical in nature. Also, there is difficulty in finding the right word, and even if it is found,
it is difficult to pronounce that word.

This might mean that the memories of muscular movements needed to speak the words is
stored in this area.

Speech comprehension is largely concentrated in Wernicke's area, and damage to this area
produces three major symptoms - inability to recognize spoken words(to tell one word from
another), inability to understand the meaning of these words, and inability to convert thought
into words. But, study has revealed that not every function is found in a single area. So,

If only wernicke area is damaged -- pure word deafness results -- indiv cannot understand the
words being told to them, and cannot repeat them. They can hear the other sounds, and are
not deaf, as in, can understand the emotion expressed by the speech, and can even read lips to
understand what is being said.

If an area behind wernicke's called the posterior language area is damaged alone - persons can
repeat words, but have no idea about their meanings.(The fact that repetition of words is
possible suggests that there is a link between Broca and wernicke area)

If injury to the posterior area completely separates it from Wernicke's - the third symptom
happens- inability to convert thought sinto words, and no meaningful speech can happen
without assistance.

If both the areas are damaged -- all 3 symptoms happen.

In sum, the following Model of Human Speech has been developed:

Speech comprehension involves flow of information from wernicke area to posterior language
area and then to sensory areas and back.

speech production involves flow from sensory association areas to posterior language area to
Broca's area.

THE BRAIN AND HIGHER MENTAL PROCESSES

Relational reasoning may underlie many aspects of our higher mental processes, and the brain
part associated with this has been found out to be the prefrontal cortex.

HEREDITY AND BEHAVIOR: GENETICS AND EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

This is the basic debate about nature vs nurture.

Progress has been made in determining the role of genetic factors in the transmission of traits
and diseases.

In some cases however, merely having the gene does not mean that the effect will follow,
because in these cases, the gene acts indirectly via the chemical processes, and not via direct
action. eg Phenylketonuria.

Research strategies that disentangle the genetic and environmental effects are the TWIN
STUDIES and the ADOPTION STUDIES. A major problem with the former is basically that the
environments in which twins are raised are not identical, which is especially true for fraternal
twins. And if their sex is different, that further complicates the problem. Hence, while they
help, they cannot provide conclusive evidence.

Adoption studies however, come closer to the goal because they study identical twins who
b=have been adopted into different homes.

Using these methods, psychologists have come down to a measure known as HERITABILITY. It
basically means the extent to which variability with respect to a given trait or behavior in
individuals is due to genetic factors. So for a value of 50%, it will mean a variability of that
much. but is does NOT mean that the trait is half due to genetic, and half due to environmental
factors.

Evolutionary psychology part talks about dominance motivation and natural selection -- it's
really stupid, pg 68.

CULTURE AND BEHAVIOR

The particular environment in which we are born is full of material and symbolic artifacts which
constrain or afford our behaviors.
The concept of culture:

● carries two different meanings- either people sharing the same set of features like
language, cultural heritage, country etc.; or a system of meaning sor practices working
as an organiser of the experiential world of individuals, and therefore belonging to an
individual.
● Culture is humanly created environment in its simplest form, and consists of
subjective(attitudes, beliefs). as well as non subjective/material(tools, artifacts) parts.
● Our relationship with culture is bidirectional, whereby it influences us, and we in turn,
create and shape our culture.
● The concept of ethnocentrism: people often evaluate others' customs and practices by
their own cultural standards, leading to prejudice, discrimination and interethnic
conflict.
● A close scrutiny of human behavior reveals that its major part is intentional, and
irreducible to biology, and does not show a fixed, deterministic association with genes.
ven biologically important motives like hunger or sex lead to different behaviors and are
governed by different norms in different cultures.
● Biology, as pointed out by Bruner(1990) is only a constraint, and it is only through
culture that we are able to go beyond these constraints.
THE PROCESS OF CULTURAL SHAPING:

● Diverse cultures have diverse worldviews, and it is through a process cultural

transmission, which is very prolonged, that a person becomes a full-fledged member of
that culture.
● Studies of cross-cultural and cultural psychology indicate that cultural context has a
formative form in psychological functioning, and that the concept of a central processor
or psychic unity leading to presumed universal and invariant psychological processes is
not acceptable.
● Western thought is analytic, while Asian thought is holistic. So, while the former focuses
on the object and its attributes, uses attributes to categorize, laws are deterministic and
 linear, implies formal logic; the latter considers the field around the object, the relation
between the object and the field, has less control and no universal laws, formal logic is
replaced by experiential knowledge and prefers a dialectical approach.
THE PROCESS OF CULTURAL TRANSMISSION:

● The transmission through own culture happens through enculturation and socialization,
while through a different culture happens through Acculturation.
● Enculturation encompasses all learning that happens in human life because of what is
available to be learnt without any deliberate teaching. It takes place primarily based on
the cultural surroundings of the individual. The behaviors learnt through modeling or
effects of conformity provide good examples of enculturation.
● Socialization refers to the process by which an individual is led to develop actual
behaviors which are confined within a narrow range -- one which is customary and
acceptable to the group to which the person belongs. it has two basic phases -
primary(taking place during infancy and childhood, largely within the family setting), and
secondary(taking place outside the family).
The agents of socialization are

● 1. Family: Parenting or parental practices vary along two dimensions- emotional

responsiveness(ranging from warm and responsive to cold and rejecting), and
control/demand(ranging from authoritarian power assertion to indifference and
neglect.)
Based on this, 3 parenting styles have been mentioned-- Authoritarian(low warmth, high
control), authoritative(high warmth, high control, but foster independent responsibility), and
permissive(unstable omn warmth, low on control).

The children of the second category show high self esteem, high academic performance, and a
positive response to traumatic conditions. First category children tend to be low in self esteem,
poor peer relationship, and high on aggression. third category children are high in aggression,
have difficulty adjusting in school, and show problematic behavior.
 ● 2. School: a formalized and structured manner is used. In interaction with teachers, and
peers, normative aspects of culture, values and beliefs are inculcated, and they also
make children learn problem solving skills, conflict resolution, strategies of cooperation
and friendship.
● 3. Peers: They emphasize independence from parents, and conformity with group.
● 4. Mass media: with this, the virtual is fast becoming a reality, and better use of this
agent in socialization needs to be done, to prevent undesirable behaviors to develop in
children.
ACCULTURATION

● Refers to the changes individuals/groups undergo in relation to a change in the cultural

context.
● Acculturation at indiv level is termed as psychological acculturation, which focuses on
changes in identity, values and attitudes.
● At group level, it takes place when changes occur in social structure, economic base and
political organization.
● Acculturation involves continuous and first hand contact or interaction between the two
groups, and while it can change both the dominant and the acculturating groups,
generally one group dominates, that mostly being the dominant group. The outcome
depends on the cultural and psychological factors like the length and purpose of stay,
and the policies adopted.. The changes among the acculturating group are not similar,
and some domains within them may be more susceptible to change than others.
Key acculturation strategies:

a. Assimilation - acculturating indiv does not tend to maintain one's culture, and seeks daily
interaction with the dominant group.

b. Separation - emphasis on maintaining one's own culture, and avoiding the other culture.

c. INtegration - interested in the dual goal and wants to maintain own culture as well as
interacting with the new culture.
d. Marginalization - low interest/possibility for maintaining either one's own culture or relating
with other.

● A multicultural society shows greater tolerance, and acceptance of cultural diversity and
promotes assimilation.
CULTURAL CONTACT IN THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD

● Globalisation is promoting cultural borrowing, exposing people to a range of values,

beliefs and lifestyles. The clash between tradition and modernity is seen everywhere;
while there is nothing to say that both are contradictory or mutually exclusive, certain
cultures are putting emphasis on fundamentalism.
● This push and pull of culture has great value, because it is adaptive in nature. But while
biological predispositions create behavioral tendencies, rational reflection, in which the
modern man engages gives a chance for logical choices.

CHAPTER 8: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, THE CHILDHOOD YEARS

Skipping the physical development part, do the reflexes table to know about the various
reflexes, locomotor development which shows milestones. Within this broad topic, is also
mentioned the LEARNING ABILITIES OF NEWBORNS:

Evidence indicates that newborns can be classically conditioned, but primarily with respect to
survival values for babies. But on the other hand, infants do not readily acquire conditioned
fears until they are eight months old.

Operant conditioning however, comes naturally to newborns and they learn to suck faster, see
visual designs, hear music or human voices, and by the age of two, they can move their heads
to the side on which their cheeks are gently brushed to gain access to a bottle of sugar water.

PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT
The studies are based on the fact that as infants can't talk, their facial expressions and other
cues are used to find out whether or not they are able to differentiate between two different
colors, or depth etc. So if they look at two stimuli for the same amount of time, then those two
stimuli are not different and vice versa.

Studies based on these have found that infants can distinguish between different colors, tastes,
sounds and odors, as they change the pattern of their expressions and sucking patterns.

Earlier studies about depth perception using the visual cliff experiment(the dip in the surface
but covered with a transparent surface) show that infants as young as 6-7 months refuse to
crawl over the dip. Study of infants lower than this age is difficult because they cannot crawl
anyway, but some research has shown this ability to be coming at 2 months of age, as these
infants showed increase in heart rate when presented with a visual cliff.

So infants have sophisticated abilities to interpret complex sensory input.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: CHANGES IN OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD

AROUND US

Until well into the twentieth century, it was believed that children think, reason and remember
in the same way as adults, after which Piaget challenged this view, and said that children differ
in thought processes not only in degree but kind as well. And hence, came into being his theory.

PIAGET'S THEORY: AN OVERVIEW

1. His theory is a scale theory, that is, it talks about stages, and that there is an organized,
predictable series of changes in every child's life.

This theory, however, is being challenged, because of the things it assumes, which are no longer
assumed owing to wide variability between individuals. These assumptions pertain to:

a. that all human beings move through a set series of changes.

b. that they move from one set to another at specific ages;

c. and that this order is unchangeable.

2. His theory is based on Constructivism -- that children are active thinkers who are constantly
trying to construct a more accurate understanding of the world around them, by interacting
with it.

3. According to him, this building of understanding is done in 2 ways -- assimilation, and

accommodation. The first refers to incorporation of new knowledge or information, into
existing knowledge structures(into "schemas"); and the latter to modification of existing
knowledge structures due to exposure to new information or experiences. Piaget believed that
its the tension between the two that stimulates cognitive development.

STAGES OF PIAGET'S THEORY:

1. THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE: FIGURING OUT WAYS TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

● During this period, infants learn that their actions produce a change in the external
world, that there is a relationship between the two.(acquire a sense of cause and effect)
● this leads to them experimenting what they do will produce what effect.
● In this stage, they come to know the world only through sensory impressions and motor
activities, leading to some interesting phenomenon like "out of sight, out of mind".
● By 8-9 months, acc to him, children gain a sense of Object Permanence -- that an object
exists, even when hidden.

2. THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE: GROWTH OF SYMBOLIC ACTIVITY

● Somewhere between the age of 18-24 months, children acquire the ability to make
mental images of objects and events, at the same time language developing to a point
where they can think in terms of symbols - words. This stage lasts till 7 years of age.
● This stage are called preoperational,, because acc to Piaget, children don't yet show the
ability to use logic, and mental operations.
 ● Children demonstrate Symbolic Play - where they pretend that one object is another, eg
a wooden block is a frog!
● This leads us to 3 observations/insights about the cognitive development happening in
the children. One is Decentration( the child starts making someone else the recipients of
their playful actions eg dressing a doll), second is decontextualisation(making objects
substitute for each other -- eg making a twig a spoon), and third is
Integration(combining play actions into increasingly complex sequences, meaning that
the child is also having a growing ability to think in terms of words).
● After all this also, there is a lot that these children lack in maturity, three concepts of
Piaget explain that.
● One is egocentrism-- their inability to understand that others may perceive the world
differently than they do; secondly, that lack Seriation, i.e. they are unable to arrange
things in an order along some dimension, and fail to understand the term lighter, softer
etc. Third, they show Conservation -- knowledge that certain attributes remain
unchanged no matter how much outward appearance is altered.
3. THE STAGE OF CONCRETE OPERATIONS: THE EMERGENCE OF LOGICAL THOUGHT

● According to Piaget, a child's mastery over conservation marks the beginning of the
third stage. lasts until 11 years of age.
● Many important skills emerge -- the understanding of reversibility(that many physical
changes can be undone through reversal of original action), and children who learn this,
also begin to engage in what he called Logical Thought.(limited to concrete objects and
events)

4. THE STAGE OF FORMAL OPERATIONS: DEALING WITH ABSTRACTIONS, AS WELL AS REALITY

● During this stage, many adult features make their appearance. Logical thought extends
from concrete to abstract too, and also extends to possibilities which do not exist, but
can be imagined.
 ● At this stage, child becomes capable of hypothetico-deductive reasoning -- developing a
hypothesis and thinking logically about symbols, ideas and propositions; and
interpropositional thinking(where they seek to test the validity of several propositions).
Children in concrete stage can sometimes test validity of a single proposition.
● Even at this stage, Piaget believed that children have still not developed adult thinking.
While they can make theories, and give reasonings for the, the theories in themselves
are false, and young people do not have experience or information enough to do a
better job.
● One crucial point here is that people who have reached the stage of formal operations,
although they have reached a stage of logical thought, does not mean that they will
necessarily use it. Because such thinking requires a lot of cognitive effort, it is not
surprising that adolescents, and adults too slip back into less advanced modes of
thought.

A MODERN ASSESSMENT OF PIAGET'S THEORY:

Although it provides insight in a lot of areas, in light of new evidence, revisions have been
sought in 3 areas :

a. cognitive abilities of infants and preschoolers have been found to be much more than what
Piaget defined.

● It has been mentioned that maybe, the apparatus and the methods used by him were
too difficult for the infants and preschoolers to show the cognitive ability that they
actually possessed. eg it seems that the children have a problem understanding the
concept of "under" when "out of sight, out of mind" is done. however, if things are
hidden "behind" a screen, infants as young as 4-5 months can act like it is there.
● Also they can understand much more than this. Consider the IMPRESSIVE EVENTS
experiment by Baillargeon. pg 260.
 ● a different model used for egocentrism also showed that children as young as 3-4
respond correctly(Newcombe), and even 14-18 months old infants also show some
awareness of the fact that others may not see what they see.(Schickedanz). Piaget also
underestimated the ability towards overcoming conservation, both of number of
physical attributes or their size; their ability to classify objects and their understanding
of what it means to be alive.(Bullocks)
b. discreteness of the stages of cognitive development.

● Piaget suggested that these stages are discrete and discontinuous - meaning one must
finish one stage before entering into another. But research proves that these changes
are more gradual, and all the more, they are DOMAIN SPECIFIC -- that is, a child may
advance with respect to one thinking, but be far behind in the other aspect.
c. importance of social interaction between children and caregivers in a child's cognitive
development.

● Piaget's theory completely contrasts with the SOCIO-CULTURAL THEORY (By Lev
Vygotsky)in this aspect - in that the latter gives a major role in a child's development to
social factors and language. He suggested that growth happens in an interpersonal,
social context in which children move from their Zone of actual development(what they
can do unassisted), to their zone of potential development(what they can do with
assistance from their older tutors/other people). The gap between the two has been
called the Zone of proximal development.
● The social assistance provided may take the form of reciprocal teaching(teacher and
child taking turns engaging in an activity, allowing the adult to serve as a model to the
child; or in the form of Scaffolding - mental structures or images on which the child can
master new tasks and ways of thinking.
● It has been proven that the more socially skilled children are, the more advanced they
are in the understanding of how other people think -- an important aspect of cognitive
development.
BEYOND PIAGET: TWO LATER MODELS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

A. CHILDREN'S THEORY OF MIND: THINKING ABOUT THINKING

● The ability, it seems to know that others can hold beliefs different from their own, and
that these beliefs can be false, is learnt only by four years, as shown by the MAXI
EXPERIMENT.
● Another example that shows how theory of mind attains sophistication is observing that
infants even 2-3 months old can know when someone is looking the other way, but it is
only by two years, that they will follow the gaze of the person to see where is he
looking.
● It should be added however, that while children are capable of all that, they do lack
important insights into the processes of thought. eg they have difficulty recognizing
when the other person is thinking(they know it is different from talking or seeing but
don't know it is a pvt mental event. Also, when they know something, they are unclear
about the source of the knowledge, whether it was something they saw, or whether
someone narrated it to them(thus making them unreliable witnesses, even in traumatic
events that they have experienced personally.
B. THE INFORMATION PROCESSING PERSPECTIVE:

● It seeks insights into the cognitive development of a child that happens by the basic
aspects of cognition like attention, memory, metacognition(thinking about thinking, and
being able to use one's own creative abilities strategically).
● eg as they grow older, children increasingly are able to use rehearsal(ability of repeating
things to yourself to memorize them), and likewise, older children are better able to use
the technique of elaboration(strategy in which new information is linked to existing
knowledge)
● It happens for attention and metacognition too, and this theory has helped linked the
cognitive development process to the basic processes of cognition. So that has been its
utility.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT: REASONING ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG

● The most famous theory put forward is the one by Lawrence Kohlberg(1984)
● He studied boys and men, and reasoned that human beings move through three distinct
levels of reasoning, each with two separate phases. He gave them a moral dilemma, and
asked them to choose what they would do. (One of them is the wife's cancer dilemma,
pg 264) He then said that it was the explanations, and not the choices that actually
reveal an individual's stage of moral development.
● Based on his research following was put forth:
a. Preconventional level

● the first stage of moral development, where morality is perceived in terms of

consequences, and anything that is rewarding is considered as good, and vice-versa.
● two phases are Stage 1. Punishment and obedience orientation - morality judged in
terms of consequences, and Stage 2. Naive hedonistic orientation- judged in terms of
what satisfies own needs or those of others.

b. The conventional level

● as cognitive abilities increase, children become aware of the complexities of the social
order, judge morality in terms of what supports the laws and preserves the rule of their
society.
● two phases are Stage 3: Good boy-good girl orientation -- judged in terms of adherence
to social rules or norms, with respect to personal acquaintances. Stage 4: in terms of
social rules or laws apeopleied universally, not only to acquaintances.

c. The postconventional level

● in adolescence or early adulthood, people judge morality in terms of abstract principles

and values rather than existing rules or laws, and they believe that certain obligations
 transcend the laws of the society, and the rules they follow are based on inner
conscience rather than external authority.
● Stage 5: Legalistic orientation -- judged in terms of human rights, which may transcend
laws
● Stage 6: universal ethical principle orientation: in terms of self chosen ethical principles.

ANALYZING HIS THEORY

While there is support for an increasingly sophisticated moral development with age(Walker),
major revisions are also sought in some areas:

a. Gender differences -

● Carol Gilligan criticized the theory arguing that females perceive the given situations not
in terms of justice, but from the point of Care based principles - concerns over
relationships, caring and promotion of others' welfare. Because moral reasoning based
on these would be termed immature according to his theory, she said that this theory is
biased against women.
● These charges however, have not been supported by research, and it has been argued
that even females, score the same, even higher when taking the tests. It has been said
that while females do use the basis of care based principles, they are mostly used for
own personal dilemmas, and not for other types of questions.
b. consistency of moral judgments:

● In a study of Krebs, it was found that the level of moral development witnessed was not
consistent across different situations presented in front of people.
c. Cultural differences and moral development:

● In cross cultural studies(Taiwan, Turkey), it has been found(Nisan and KOhlberg), that
rural or village background people may not be able to reach stage 5 at all, compared to
people from more advantaged backgrounds. This makes the theory "culture bound"
 ● Kohlberg's work is limited to the person and the justice paradigm as his work is rooted
in an individualistic framework(Shweder etal)
● "second order" culture meanings often make the apeopleication of this theory
problematic(Shweder and Much)
● Millor and Bersoff show how Indian subjects prioritize beneficence prescriptions over
justice prescriptions. along with that they have different perspectives of role oriented
obligations and contextual information as important info to solve social issues.
● In the Indian context, dharma and karma are important, karma operating within a broad
framework of dharma, and the two offering a broad template for untangling right and
wrong behavior in the Indian context.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: FORMING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER

While cognitive development is very important part of growth, it doesn't happen in a social
vacuum.

1. Emotional development and temperament

● Infants, as studied by their facial expressions start showing expressions as early as two
months of life, when they show social smiling in response to human faces, at 3-4
months, they begin to laugh, with other emotions also appearing early and being easily
recognizable to humans.
● Some expressions appear before the others, and it must be noted that emotional
development and cognitive development happen at the same time. It has been shown
that following medical inoculations, two months show pain expressions more than the
expression of anger, but after a few months, anger expressions are shown more
frequently than pain, probably showing how infants gain a growing ability to understand
who inflicted the pain.
● As they grow older, infants also gain the capacity to "read" the emotional expressions of
others, by three months they become upset when their mothers show immobile facial
expressions.
 ● By 8-9 months they begin to demonstrate a growing understanding of of their own
mental states and others. So, if a one year old falls, he/she will look at their expressions,
and depending on that, will engage in crying or laughing -- that is, engaging in Social
Referencing.
● Children also learn how to regulate their own emotional expressions, and show them to
others, although they do not have this skill as infants.By the time they are ten, they have
learnt to express emotions - both verbally and non verbally. Progress in both these tasks
- regulating and expressing emotions- determines how they form complex social
relationships.
Temperament:

● Refers to the stable individual differences in characteristic mood, individual reactivity,

and activity level.
● Growing evidence suggests that these differences are present very early on in life --
probably at birth.
● The dimensions of temperament - positive emotionality(extent to which an infant shows
pleasure, and is in a good mood), distress-anger(extent to which infant shows distress
and the emotion of anger), fear(extent to which infant shows fear in various situations),
and activity(infant's overall level of activity and energy).
● On the basis of such differences, infants are divided into 3 basic groups: (Thomas and
Chess)
a. Difficult children(10%) ; irregular in daily routines, slow to accept new situations/experiences,
show negative reactions more often than infants.

b. Slow-to-warm-up children(15%): relatively inactive and apathetic, and show mild negative
reactions when exposed to unexpected situations.

c. Easy children(40%): generally cheerful, adapt readily to new experiences, and quickly
establish routines for many activities of daily life.

Remaining 35% cannot be put into any category.

Stability of the above classification? research suggests that they are moderately stable from
birth to ~24 months of life, and highly stable after that.

● It has been shown that while temperament is partly genetic in origin, social and
environmental factors play a large role in shaping it..
● Temperament has important implications for social development - difficult children
have problems later in life making friends,, adjusting to school etc, high reactive children
demonstrate shyness as they grow older and enter into a broad range of social
situations. Also, temperament can also influence attachment -- the kinds of bonds infant
forms with their caregivers- and hence important aspects of a child's personality, and
even their abilities to form close bonds later in life as adults.
EMPATHY

● It has been shown that the capacity for empathy increases in the first two years of our
lives.
● Our cognitive development permits us to first clearly differentiate between us and
others - forming a self - and then to construct a more sophisticated theory of mind,
which allows us to understand that others have feelings which might be different from
our own.
● Infants as young as 18 months - do something comforting when the child is distressed;
by two years they give an object or got to seek adult help in this situation. By the age of
4, they have a grasp on what causes emotional distress, and why others are upset,
empathy ultimately developing to the point where they feel guilt if they know that they
are the cause of someone's distress.
● Empathy serves as an important source of prosocial behavior - actions designed to help
others without necessarily benefiting oneself.

2. Attachment: the beginning of love

● Psychologists generally use the strange situation test for measuring attachment in
infants, this test being in turn based on a theory by Balby(1969), which says that
 attachment involves a balance between infant's tendencies to seek to be near their
caregivers, and their willingness to explore the new environments. The quality of
attachment is determined by the degree to which the infant behaves as if, the caregiver,
when present, serves as a secure base of operations- provides comfort and reassurance;
and by the effectiveness of the infant-caregiver interactions when the caregiver returns
after a separation.
● Patterns of attachment:
a. Secure attachment - freely explore new environments, touching base with the caregiver
periodically to see whether she is there; they may or may not cry on separation, but if they do it
is mostly due to her absence, and when she is back, they actively seek contact, and stop crying
very quickly.

b. Insecure/avoidant attachment: don't cry when the caregiver leaves, and behave with the
stranger in the same way that they would have behaved with the caregiver. When the caregiver
is back, they do not seek contact.

c. Insecure/ambivalent attachment: seek contact before separation, but after the caregiver
returns after separation, first seek her and then reject her offers of comfort, hence ambivalent.

d. Disorganized/Disoriented attachment: has elements of both b and c.

● All of this however is culturally bound. eg b is highly prevalent in Germany where

independence is encouraged.
● Factors that affect attachment patterns -- It was long believed that maternal sensitivity -
a caregiver's alertness to infant signals, appropriate and prompt responses to them,
flexibility of attention and behavior go a long way in establishing an attachment pattern,
but recently, other factors like the temperament of the child have been found to play a
larger role.(Rosen and Rothbaum, 1996)
● The long term effects of attachment style -- It has been shown that children with an
ambivalent attachment are found to be ambivalent in their adult relationships too, and
those that were avoidantly attached to their caregivers seem to worry too much about
 losing their partners, and they don't trust spouses or lovers,as they did not trust their
caregivers.
Contact comfort and attachment

Harlow's experiment pg 272.

The results have been found to be true for human babies too who feel secure with security
blankets given to them(Passman and Weisberg).

3. The role of friendships in social development

● Give children an opportunity to learn and practice social skills needed for effective
interpersonal relationships, and these skills actually do help a lot in children's
developing theory of mind.
● also help in the understanding that others may have feelings different from one's own
self.
● help in emotional development as bonds form between friends, and other people apart
from caregivers.
● Research findings indicate that having a friend may prevent bullies from picking up on
on children who show behaviors that would otherwise make them the prime candidates
of bullying - internalizing behaviors like working alone, or appearing sad/tearful etc.
● Do parents really matter? discussion pg 276 - fight between a Judith Rich Harsis book,
and NICHD Study of Early Child Care.

GENDER DEVELOPMENT - FROM GENDER IDENTITY TO SEX-CATEGORY CONSTANCY

Complete understanding of one's sexual identity, what is known as Sex Category

Constancy(SCC) centers around biologically based categorical distinction between males and
females, and involves 3 components:

a. Gender identity : the understanding that one is a male or a female. established quite early, by
2 years.
b. Gender stability : that one will always remain either a male or a female. by 4.

c. Gender consistency: Children's understanding that their gender will not change even if they
adopted the behavior, dress or hairstyles of the other gender. only by 6-7 years of age.

● while the biological sex is straightforward, gender sex is complicated and rests upon
society's beliefs about traits and behaviors supposedly characteristic of males and
females. And thus the concept of gender incorporates in it gender stereotypes(beliefs,
often exaggerated about traits possessed by males and females, and differences
between them.), and gender roles(expectations regarding what both sexes should do
and the way they should behave).
● The change with regard to sexual identity as children grow older is also part of their
increasingly sophisticated reasoning/theory of mind being developed as they grow
older.
Theories of how children move through the stages of SCC- many explanations have been
offered -

a. Social Learning theory --

● emphasizes the role of learning - explains it with the use of operant conditioning theory,
and modeling.
● It says that children are rewarded(eg with verbal praise) for fulfilling their gender
stereotypes and roles, and also because they imitate models they perceive as being
similar to themselves, they tend to adopt the behavior of the same-sex parent.
b. Cognitive development theory -

● says that children's increasing understanding of gender is only a reflection of their

steady cognitive growth. First, they develop a self, because of which they start
identifying themselves as a boy or a girl, followed by which they acquire the ability to
classify things into specific categories, when they realize that they are in one category
and won't shift to another, and later, as they understand they belong to one sex, they
strive to adopt behaviors which are consistent with this identity.
 ● So, basically what this says is opposite to the first theory in the sense that the first
theory says that the children first imitate and then develop a sexual identity, but this
says identity is established first followed by behavior learning.
c. Gender schema theory: Proposed by Bem.

● He proposed that knowledge of gender is far more important than the knowledge of
one's race or the color of eyes.
● He said that children acquire Gender schemas - cognitive experiences reflecting
children's experiences with their society's beliefs about the attributes of females and
males such as instructions of parents, observations of how males and females behave
etc.Gender schemas develop, in part, because adults call attention to these differences
even when it is irrelevant(eg good morning, boys and girls!)
● Once these schemas are established, it starts influencing their processing of social
information - they categorize others' behavior as masculine or feminine. So, gender
becomes for them, a key concept or dimension by which they attempt to make sense of
their social world, and one which gets linked to their self concept too.

CHAPTER 9: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT II : Adolescence, Adulthood, and Aging

The question of when does childhood end and adulthood start does not have one answer, and
every culture decides for itself just where the dividing line falls.

Physical development during adolescence -

you know this.

Facial changes take place during puberty, and while "baby-faced" appearance helps females,
because males find it attractive but the same thing does not confer so many advantages on
males, and research suggests that these males may engage in antisocial behavior to
compensate for their physical looks.
Similarly, gender differences also exist with respect to effects of early sexual maturation. Early
maturing males have an edge over the delayed maturing ones because the former are more
athletic and often excel in competitive sports. Partly because of this, they tend to be more self
assured, popular and are chosen for leadership roles.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT DURING ADOLESCENCE

As seen in Piaget's theory, adolescents become capable of logical thought, but it does not mean
that they necessarily show it. In fact, only 40% could solve the problems used by Piaget to test
for formal operational thinking. Moreover, even if they do solve problems, it is mostly related
to topics/types of problems they have had direct experience with.

How does the theory of mind - their understanding of how they and others think - evolve?

a. Younger children have a realistic approach to knowledge: believe that knowledge is a

property of the real world, and that there are specific facts or truths that can be acquired.

b. Older children show a relativist approach - understand that different people may interpret
the same information in contrasting ways.

c. Preadolescents adopt a defended realism approach: recognizes the difference between facts
and opinions, but still believe that there is a set of facts about the world that is the truth,and
difference in opinion results from differences in available information.

d. Adolescents later adopt dogmatism-skepticism approach : there is no secure basis for making
for knowledge or making decisions, at this point they alternate between blind faith in some
authority, and doubting everything.

e. At least some of them take an approach called post-skeptical rationalism- they realise that
while there are no absolute truths, there are specific better or worse reasons for holding a
certain view.
The last view is the one which democratic societies want to promote between its citizens,
because people capable of judgments like these are capable of making informed judgment
needed in elections.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING ADOLESCENCE

A. Emotional changes: the ups and downs of everyday life

Research has speculated the speculation that adolescents are wildly emotional,and go through
a lot of mood swings. Beeper random signaling expt by Larson, 1984. Pg 287.

Other widely accepted beliefs are,however, not supported. eg it is believed that adolescence is
a period of unhappiness and great stress, but in fact, most of them report feeling quite happy
and confident, not unhappy or distressed(Diener and Diener, 1996).

Also, contrary to prevailing views, they report having good relations with their parents,and
agreeing with them about their future plans, and many other matters(Bachman, 1987).

B. Parenting styles, and their effects on adolescents

Two key dimensions have seemed to underlie parenting styles -- Parental demandingness
(extent to which parents are strict or controlling, with those high on this dimension seeking to
control children through status and power, and confronting them angrily when they do not
meet parents' expectations); and parental responsiveness(extent to which parents are involved
in and supportive of their children's activities, parents high on this listen actively to their
children, respond to their requests, show warmth, and focus on their children's concerns and
interests during conversations). On the basis of these two -

1. Authoritarian parents - high in a, low on b

2. Authoritative parents - high in both, establish rules but show great interest and high
responsiveness.
3. Permissive - high in b, low on a' warm and responsive, but fix no rules and do not hold
children accountable

4. Rejecting/neglecting - low on both.

Growing evidence suggests that style 2 is the best style - children handled by parents in this
way are competent both socially and cognitively; in contrast adolescentswhose parents show
style 4 are low in both , and also show unsettled patterns of behavior, often engaging in
antisocial activities that can get them in serious trouble.

adolescentswhose parents fall in style 1 and 3 fall in between.

C. Social development: Friendships, and their quest for identity

Girls tend to have larger social networks than boys, and these networks become smaller and
more exclusive as adolescentsgrow older - a trend that continues throughout life.

One motive for developing friendships seems to be the need to belong: need to have frequent
positive interactions with ongoing relationships; this need strengthens during early adolescence
and leads many teenagers to reject parental influence and to identify with their peers instead.

Friendships and social success also play a crucial role in another aspect of social dev - quest for
personal identity- something that is a vital component of Erikson's theory.

ERIKSON'S EIGHT STAGES OF LIFE

● Like Piaget, it is a stage theory. But unlike him, it is more a theory of social development
and not cognitive development.
● The fundamental basis for this theory is that at every stage of life, there is a different
crisis or conflict between competing tendencies and only if it is solved, will the individual
grow in a normal, healthy manner. Biological drives reflect individual growth and
physical changes, and societal demands reflect the expectations and requirement of the
society for people at different ages.
 ● The stages occur in the ratio of 4:1:3, 4 conflicts during childhood, 1 during adolescence
and 3 during adulthood.
● The first is trust vs mistrust in the first year of life, where infants must trust others to
fulfill their needs. If that doesn't happen, then they do not develop trust, and always
remain suspicious and wary.
● Second year of life, the conflict is autonomy vs shame and doubt. During this time,
toddlers are regulating their own bodies, and trying to do things independently. If they
succeed, they develop autonomy. If they fail, or if they are labeled as inadequate by the
persons who care for them, they may feel shame and doubt their abilities to interact
with the external world.
● Between the age of 3-5, is the conflict of initiative vs guilt. The children are learning new
mental and physical skills. At this point, they must also learn to control their impulses. If
they find the right balance between initiative and guilt, all is well. But if the former
overpowers the latter, they become unruly, and if the latter overpowers, they become
too uninhibited.
● Fourth and final childhood stage is between 6-11/12 years of age. Industry vs inferiority.
Children acquire many of the skills necessary for adult life, learn to make things and use
tools. If they succeed, they form a sense of their own competence, if they don't, they
may suffer from low self esteem, as they unfavorably compare themselves with other
kids.
● The adolescent stage is the stage of identity vs role confusion. At this point, they seek to
establish a clear self-identity - to understand their unique traits and what is centrally
important to them. It is crucial that these questions are answered, if not, they drift,
uncertain of what they want to do or what they want to accomplish.

Adolescents use a lot of techniques to establish a self identity for themselves - like acquiring
different roles (the good boy/girl, rebel. supercool operator, athlete etc) and join many
different social groups, form many social selves of themselves - different kinds of persons they
might potentially become.
Out of these experiences, they gradually piece together a cognitive framework for
understanding themselves - a self schema, which once formed remains fairly constant and
serves as a guide for adolescents in many contexts.

Apart from Erikson, there are many other psychologists who have focused on the development
of a personal identity for adolescents - eg Marcia suggests that adolescents can be categorized
in terms of whether they have explored alternative selves, and whether they have actually
chosen one. Based on this -

a. Identity achievement - those who have gone through the identity crisis, and made a
commitment to one clear alternative.

b. identity moratorium - tjose still searching for an identity.

c. identity foreclosure - those who have chosen the identity given by their parents/other
authority figures.

d. identity diffusion - those who haven't started.

SOME SPECIFIC ISSUES

A. Living in two worlds: identity formation among bicultural adolescents

Children whose parents are immigrants. or when they come from two different ethnic or
cultural groups have problems in forming a clear identity and they may cope in one of the many
different ways -

They achieve separate identities in both cultures, then alternate between them depending on
the social situation (k/a the Alternation model)

They combine different identities into one(k/a identity fusion); and biracial/mixed race is
becoming quite common in the US.
They might reject one cultural heritage and identify with the other. THis is especially more
common, if the rejected culture can lead to discrimination against them.

B. Dysfunctional families: The intimate enemy

Families where one parent is an alcohol addict or someone with a serious psychological
problem - these families may not be able to provide for the growth of children emotionally, and
in fact may be seriously physically threatening.

Research findings indicate that when these factors are lacking, children and adolescents are at
increasing risk for a wide range of problems and externalizing behaviors (eg stealing, overt
aggression, disobedience at home and elsewhere etc)

Another facet of the same problem is sexual abuse - sexual contact or activities forced on
children or adolescents - especially if it is perpetrated by a close member of the family. The
most common symptoms of this can be depression, running away, withdrawal and substance
abuse.

C. Adolescent Personality: Future problem predictor?

It must be noted that while env is important, it does interact with the personality of an
adolescent to generate contrasting level of adjustment. And hence, the whole blame for an
adolescent cannot be blamed on the parenting style or or families.

GRowing evidence shows that certain kinds of adolescents are at a high risk for being rejected
by their peers, and for growing anti-social behavior - adolescents who show high levels of
aggression, who are disruptive or hyperactive, and especially, who show Irritable-Inattentive
behavior(complain a lot, behave like a baby and don't pay attention to others).

Pope Bierman experiment pg 293.

D. Overcoming the odds: Resilient adolescents

Some children, despite exposure to truly devastating conditions,develop into confident,

competent and healthy adults, and these are those who show resilience in development.

How they become so is because of several protective factors - factors which, together serve to
buffer them against conditions that would ordinarily be expected to undermine their chances.
These factors include

a. protective factors within individuals themselves = they are active, affectionate, good
caregivers and easy to deal with. ("easy" temperament), this allows them to recruit the help of
many caregivers who are willing to contribute to their development. Also, such youngsters are
highly intelligent and have good communication and problem solving skills resulting in good
friendships, and getting-along skills.

b. protective factors within their families - they have the opportunity to establish close bond
with at least one competent and emotionally stable person, thus giving them the element of
trust that Erikson considers so important. Mostly, this person is not their family member, but
someone else in the extended family, so what is important is not the biological relation, but the
fact that these adults serve as models and provide encouragement.

c. protective factors related to their community - favorite teachers , youth workers, caring
neighbors, others - all give them the boost to rise above, parental problems, poverty and other
destabilising factors of their lives.

DEVELOPMENT DURING ADULT YEARS

CONTRASTING VIEWS : STAGE THEORIES VERSUS THE CONTEXTUAL APPROACH

A. Stage theories --

As suggested by Erikson, during adulthood, we pass through 3 major crisis. The first of these is
intimacy versus isolation.

Erikson suggests that in early adolescence and late adulthood,, ppl must learn to form deep,
intimate relationships with others, involving not only sexual intimacy, but also strong emotional
attachments. Ppl who fail to resolve this live in isolation, unable to form truly intimate, long
lasting relationships.

The second crisis is generativity versus self-absorption: reflects a need for overcoming selfish,
self-centered concerns and to take an active interest in guiding and helping the next
generation. For parents, this is served by their children, after children grow up, these ppl may
seek to become a mentor for the younger generation; for ppl who cannot have children,
express generativity by helping and guiding the young ppl - students, co-workers and so on.
Individuals who successfully overcome this struggle find a new meaning, and those who cannot
resolve this crisis meaningfully get cut off from an important source of growth and satisfaction.

The last crisis is that of integrity versus despair: the final questions of :did I live my life well?
Did my being here matter? If the answer to all these questions is yes, and ppl feel like they have
reached many goals, they attain a sense of integrity. If not, they may go into despair. Successful
resolution of this crisis is an important component of how ppl face their mortality - and an
important part of their psychological and physical well being.

Several other stage theories exist like Kotre, Levinson, with their basic assumption remaining
that at different times in our lives, we all experience the same problems, events, challenges or
crises, and the way in which we deal with them determines the course and nature of our lives
from that point on.

B. Contextual approach: development in response to the environment

These theories suggest that because life events vary from culture to culture, as well as over
time, any theory for adult development must take these social and historical factors into
account.

A notable example of this theory is Urie Bronfenbrenner's ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY.

This suggests that in order to understand human development fully, we must focus on the
relationship between the individual and his environments, and that these relationships exist at
various levels. According to him, it makes no sense to study how ppl change in the course of
their lives without the knowledge of how they interact with, and are affected by their
environment. And because the latter vary, their is no possibility that the course of adult
development will not vary.

a. Microsystem - the developing person interacting directly with ppl and objects - at home, at
work, school, neighborhood, and so on.

b. Mesosystem - relationships between settings in which the individual participates. eg what

happens at work also affects what happens at home.

c. exosystem - settings the individual does not experience directly, but have an effect on his life
- eg company in which spouse works, school board of kids etc.

d. Macrosystem - widely shared cultural beliefs, laws, values - which influence inner systems,
and therefore, the person's life and development.

So unlike stage theories, contextual theories suggest that the barrier between chronological age
and specific developmental events are very fluid. eg the example of social age
clocks(internalized calendars telling us when certain events should happen in our lives, and
what we should be doing at certain ages.)

In recent years, there has been the blurring of the social age clock, and the boundary between
chronological age and social events is becoming fluid, largely because people are living longer,
and postponing the age of doing certain things like having a child etc, and also people have,
started feeling younger, with the gap widening with passing years. So, as contextual theories
suggest, adult development is more a component of social beliefs and definitions than age-
linked stages.

C. Are we strongly shaped by the events of our youth?

This is not a new belief - it fitting closely with Erikson's observation that what happens during
17-25 years of age shapes us for the rest of our lives. This idea also fits with other views about
origins of cohort effects (difference between groups of ppl born at different times who had
contrasting life experiences as a result of being raised in different decades).

Perhaps this effect,much more than what happens at a particular age helps explain why
persons belonging to a different generation see the world through different eyes.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT DURING ADULTHOOD

Because cognitive abilities rest on biological processes, it is reasonable to expect some loss of
cognition with age; however, experience is gained, and our overall knowledge base is
expanded, so can these changes compensate?

A. AGING AND MEMORY

Research on short term memory indicates that older ppl seem to retain as much information in
this limited capacity system, as the younger ones - seven to nine separate items. Some findings,
however, suggest that ability to transform short term memory into long term memory may
decrease with age.(Hunt, 1993)

It is also seen that older ppl perform perform poorly if multiple working memory tasks have to
be done in a row. This means that as we grow older, our ability to deal with Proactive
Interference - interference from materials we are currently entering into working memory with
the ones that we entered earlier - declines. (However, such an effect may also happen due to
slowing of cognitive system with age.)
With respect to long term memory, while the episodic memory shows some decline, semantic
memory remains intact, while procedural memory is the most stable of all.

Other findings indicate that memory for relatively meaningless information like nonsense
syllables, or paired associated declines with age, but is the information is meaningful - for
instance, has some connection with everyday life, differences between young and old ppl is
very small, and sometimes don't appear at all.

So overall, unless a serious disease is encountered, cognitive memory remains relatively intact,
and also, that even modest declines in memory can be avoided by "mental exercises" -
engaging in activities that require us to think, reason and remember.

Declines in certain aspects of memory due to age can be attributed to changes in brain -
decreased weight, with frontal lobe(the lobe for memory) losing the most neurons,and
hippocampus also getting increasingly damaged.

Interestingly, female sex hormones are protective and protect women from memory loss
relative to the males.

AGING AND INTELLIGENCE

Cross sectional studies has earlier proved that intelligence increases into early adulthood,
remains stable through the thirties, and declines as early as the forties.

Longitudinal studies paint a more positive picture, saying that many intellectual abilities remain
quite stable across the lifespan, and in fact show little change until a person is in their sixties,
seventies or even beyond.

Only on tasks involving speed of reasoning do there appear to be constant declines, and
considering the fact that drops in performance may be because of a slower reaction time - that
happens with age, there is little indication of intelligence decreasing with age.
Important cohort related changes may be evident in age-related changes in intelligence(Finkel
and others), with old people showing decline in intelligence probably because of poor nutrition
and lack of formal educational methods. If these factors are equated, no changes are evident.

However, standardized tests used to measure intelligence for all these findings may not be the
whole story, with the differentiation between crystallized and fluid intelligence relevant.

Crystallized intelligence - (those aspects of intelligence that rely on previously learned

information - our accumulated knowledge eg vocabulary tests, many social situations in which
we must make decisions or judgments) tends to increase throughout the lifespan. In contrast,
fluid intelligence(our abilities, in part inherited, to think and reason) increases into early
twenties and then declines.

There is no decline in practical intelligence - the ability to solve everyday problems, with it
being possible that it might actually increase,

So, in sum, while there might be decline in intelligence with age, they are smaller in magnitude
and scope compared to what age related stereotypes suggest.

AGING AND CREATIVITY

THis concept is easier to define than measure.

Cross sectional research says that, as measured by standard tasks such as coming up with novel
ways of using everyday objects, creativity declines with age. Other research points to the
following conclusions -

a. Creativity rapidly rises to a peak, usually in late thirties or forties, then gradually declines.

b. The age at which peak occurs varies with the field - in poetry, mathematics, theoretical
physics, it happening early (late 20s to early 30s) In psychology , early 40s, and in still other
fields - writing, philosophy, history - late 40s or 50s
c. what is crucial is the no of career age, not chronological age, so for ppl who start late, the
peak will be late.

d. Many ppl show a secondary peak in creativity near the end of their lives - THE SWAN SONG
PHENOMENON - these works of old age are shorter and more restrained, but they often win
critical acclaim often for precisely this reason - they do it all with less complexity.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING ADULTHOOD

A. FRIENDSHIPS: THE CONVOY MODEL

This is a model of social networks suggesting that from midlife on, we tend to maintain close
relationships with a small number of people, for the remainder of our lives

Named so because of the symbolic resemblance to convoy of ships sailing the ocean.

B. LEVINSON'S STAGES OF ADULT LIFE(1986)

One crucial aspect of his theory is a concept he terms as life structure -- refers to the underlying
pattern of a person's life at a particular point of time, an evolving cognitive framework
reflecting an individual's views about the nature and meaning of his or her life. Work and family
are usually central, but other components might also be included - like ethnic background,
economic boom or depression etc.

Acc to Levinson, the individuals move from one life structure to another at different times
during adult years, with a transition period lasting about five years between them.

See diagram - pg 305.

He divides the adult years into 4 major eras, each separated from the next by a transition
period.

The first transition happens between the preadult era - early adulthood time.(between 17-22);
this transition involves establishing one's independence, both financial and emotional,and is
marked by events such as establishing one's own residence and learning to live independently.

In early adulthood, the two key components are DREAM (vision of future accomplishments) and
MENTOR (more experienced individuals who guide individuals).

At about 30, many ppl experience AGE THIRTY TRANSITION - Individuals realizing they are
entering the point of no return- faced with this, they reexamine their initial choices, and either
make specific changes or conclude that they have indeed chosen the best course.

Then comes midlife transition - mostly happening between 40-45 years- many ppl come to
terms with their own mortality, up until then, they consider themselves "still young". This si
period of emotional turmoil, where they take stock of their past choices and possibility of
raeching their youthful dreams. This leads to the formation of a new life structure that takes
into account an individual's new position of life, and involves new elements such as change in
career, divorce, redefinition of relationship with spouse.

Between 50-55 - many ppl experience another transition - in which they consider modifying
their life structure once again, for example, by adopting a new role as a grandparent and as a
parent, but this transition is much less dramatic than the one that happens at 60-65, the LATE
ADULT TRANSITION - during this individuals must come to terms with the impending retirement
and the life changes that it will bring.

IS THIS THEORY ACCURATE?

While consonant with the common sense ideas about aging, it must be remembered, that he
built this theory only on the basis of interviews with 40 men of US, and hence, critics argue that
this sample is too small and restricted to have such a sweeping framework based upon. Also, it
is uncertain whether these apply to women as well as men.

The results of interviews with women - pg 306.

AGING, DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT

Theories of aging: contrasting theories about why we grow old

A. Stochastic theories - "growing old is the result of living"

also known as wear and tear theories of aging.

says that we grow old because of cumulative damage to our body through external and internal
sources, because such damage is not completely repaired, we simply wear out over time.

One such theory emphasizes on the role of "free radicals" - atoms which are unstable due to
loss of electrons - and once formed, react violently with cells, once this affects DNA they can
interfere with basic aspects of cell maintenance and repair - the damage cumulates over time
and produces aging. Evidence for such theories is provided by ppl who drink/take drugs and
show premature aging - probably because they have overloaded their bodies' capacity for
internal repairs.

B. Programmed theories

attribute aging primarily to genetic programming. According to them, every living individual
contains a biological clock that is built in and regulates the process of aging. It suggests that it
may involve, at least in part, telomeres which when shortened to a critical point, hamper the
repair processes.

Other theories stress the fact that our immune system seems to "wind down" over time and
that our endocrine system, and the neural areas that control it, decline with increasing age.
Support for these theories is provided by various facts -

a. each species has a characteristic maximum life span suggesting that the maximum life is
probably built into the genetic codes.

b. Longevity appears to be an inherited trait, with how long you will live depending on your
parents and grandparents.

c. age related changes in our body are hard to explain without reference to genetic factors.

d. Findings Suggest that a cell can only divide a certain number of times before dying, and no
environmental condition seems to be able to change that.

MEETING DEATH:FACING THE END OF LIFE

Elizabeth Kubler Ross' five distinct stages - Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

However, these are not widely accepted due to its sample not being generalizable, especially to
older individuals for whom death is a less unexpected event.

READ THE INDIAN CONTEXTS THAT ARE THERE IN THE BOXES ALONGSIDE.

CHAPTER 3: SENSATION AND PERCEPTION: MAKING CONTACT WITH THE

WORLD AROUND US

Psychological research has shown that we do not understand the external world in a simple,
automatic way. Instead, we actively construct our interpretation of sensory information
through complex processes.
In making sense of the outside world, psychologists use two concepts -- sensation and
perception.

Sensation - focuses on describing the relationship between various forms of sensory

stimulation(pressure, electromagnetic waves etc.) and how these inputs are registered with our
sense organs.

Perception - concerned with the way we organize and interpret this information to produce a
conscious experience of objects and relationship between objects. Perception is not a passive
process of decoding incoming sensory output.

SENSATION: THE RAW MATERIALS OF UNDERSTANDING

An interesting paradox is that while our surroundings are bombarded with lots of physical
energy, our brain is able to respond to only intricate patterns of action potential generated by
the neurons. Thus, a critical question is how physical energy is converted into nervous signals
we can understand.

Highly specialized cells called sensory receptors, located in our sensory organs help accomplish
this task of sensation, and so this process is accomplished by TRANSDUCTION - a process by
which the physical energy of stimulus is converted into neural signals via specialized sensory
nerves.

A. Sensory thresholds: How much stimulation is enough?

Our bodies seem well prepared to deal with the abundance of information around us, so much
so that absence of sensory input - called sensory deprivation, causes one to hallucinate.

As far as threshold is concerned, it turns out to be pretty low for all the senses,but while our
receptors are remarkably efficient, they do not register all the information available around us.
So, we are able to smell and taste certain chemicals but not others, hear only in a certain
frequency range, and see only in particular wavelengths.(The range of physical stimuli we are
able to detect is closely designed to maximize our survival potential, like for example, as the
survival of humans is tied to their unique capacity for spoken language, our auditory system is
best suited to detect frequencies that fall under human speech.)

Our sensitivity to stimuli changes from moment to moment.For this reason, psychologists have
coined the term Absolute threshold as the smallest magnitude of stimulus that can be reliably
discriminated from no stimulus 50% of the time.

B. Sensory Thresholds: Some complications

The first complication is that sensory thresholds are not really fixed, but change in response to
variety of factors like fatigue, lapses in attention and moment-to-moment fluctuations
occurring within our nervous system, with additional research suggesting that motivational
factors(rewards/costs associated with detecting various stimuli) may also play an important
role.

SIGNAL DETECTION THEORY says that complex decision mechanisms are involved when we
want to determine whether we have or have not detected a specific stimulus. e.g. the
radiologist example.

C. Difference Threshold: Are two stimuli same or different?

DIFFERENCE THRESHOLD is defined as the amount of change in a stimulus required for a person
to detect the difference. In other words, it is the amount of change in a physical stimulus
necessary to produce a just noticeable difference(jnd) in sensation.

a. Our ability to detect differences in stimulus intensity depends on the strength of the initial
stimulus, if it is a weak stimulus, even slight changes can be detected but we need much larger
changes for us to detect changes in stronger stimuli.
b. We are also more sensitive to some kind to stimulus changes than we are to the rest like
temperature changes are sensitive, while loudness/smells is not.

D. Stimuli without perception: Subliminal perception

The question is that can we sense/get affected by stimuli that remain outside of our conscious
awareness?

The most direct answer is given by visual priming, where participants are "primed" with brief
exposures (less than one tenth of a second) to words or simple pictures long enough to be
detected by the nervous system, but not registered into conscious awareness. While the
participants were not able to name the visual primes, their reactions to stimuli were changed.

Systematic research has shown that indeed, subliminally presented visual stimuli can indeed
have measurable differences in many aspects of our cognition and emotion, including liking for
ambiguous stimuli, attraction to members of opposite sex, and even liking for words.

New research is beginning to reveal how subliminal stimuli are processed by the brain. Study by
Bar and Biederman(pg 85), which showed that while visual priming may be sufficient for
activating brain processes necessary for object identification, they may not be sufficient to
activate processes necessary to make more subtle distinctions about objects.

Practical implications of Subliminal visual priming? while it appears huge, they are much less
dramatic because-

a. effects are generally small and are obtained only under controlled laboratory conditions.

b. effects are short lived and mostly, target stimuli must be presented within a few minutes
following the prime for the effect to be obtained.

E. Sensory adaptation: 'It feels great once you get used to it'.
It refers to reduced sensitivity to changed stimuli over time.

It has various practical advantages, and without it, we will not be adapted to our clothes
rubbing our skin, or to bodily processes like blinking or swallowing.

However, it also has some harmful effects, eg olfactory adaptation may reduce the knowledge
of some risky chemicals or smells being detected.

In general however, it allows us to focus on the more important things and that small stimulus
changes are what is more important for survival.

VISION:

A. The eye: its basic structure

Light passes through the cornea, enters pupil,(is controlled by iris,the colored part of eye, and
the pupil helps in accommodation).

After entering through the pupil, light enters the lens(helps in focus, i.e. adjustment to
distances) which bends light rays so as for them to fall on the retina.

The retina is a postage stamp-sized structure, that has 2 types of light-sensitive receptor cells: 5
mn cones, and 20 mn rods. The cones are in the centre, concentrated at a point called fovea,
function best in bright light and play an important role in color vision and in our ability to notice
fine detail. In contrast, rods are found only outside the fovea, function at low levels of
illumination, and help in dark vision.

The rods and cones pass the neural signal to bipolar neurons, which further pass it on to
ganglion cells. Axons from ganglion cells converge to form optic nerve, which goes to the brain.
There are no receptors present at the spot from where the nerve exits the eye, and we have a
blind spot in our visual field here.
B. Light: The physical stimulus for vision

Our visual range is rather limited, with the range between cosmic rays on the shorter
wavelength side to radio waves on the longer/slow end of the spectrum.

Certain physical attributes of the light are the cause of our psychological experience of the
same. eg

a. The wavelength of light(distance between the peaks and valleys of a light wave) cause us to
perceive HUE/COLOR. As the wavelength increases, we perceive VIBGYOR.

b. The intensity of light, that is the amount of energy it contains is perceived as brightness.

c. The amount by which light is mixed with other wavelengths is perceived as saturation - the
less mixed wavelengths, the more saturated a color is.

C. Basic functions of the visual system - Acuity, Dark adaptation, and Eye movements

1. Acuity refers to our ability to resolve fine details.

● Visual acuity is of two types -- static and dynamic. The former refers to the ability to
discriminate different objects when they are stationary, and the latter referring to that
ability when the test object is in motion.
● In general, the more the angular velocity of the object -- the rate at which the object
moves across our retina - the lesser is the visual acuity.
● It is to correct this visual acuity that lens are used. In nearsightedness, either the eyeball
is too long/the cornea stiffly curved, resulting in the formation of the image a little in
front of the retina. Ulta for farsightedness.
2. Dark adaptation refers to the increase in sensitivity that occurs when we move from a bright
light to a dim environment. (A dark adapted eye is about 100,000 times more sensitive than a
light adapted eye).
THis happens in two phases -- first within 5-10 mins, the cones reach their maximum sensitivity.
Then, after 10 mins, the rods begin to adapt, and this process takes nearly 30 mins.

3. Eye movements -- are of two basic types - version movements(where eyes move together in
the same direction), and vergence movements(where the lines of sight for the two eyes
converge or diverge)

There are 3 types of version movements - involuntary, saccadic, and pursuit movements.

a. Involuntary -- happen without our conscious control, and help in ensuring that the stimuli
reaching our rods and cones are constantly changing. (If that were not to happen, to sensory
adaptation, we would experience temporary adaptation if we focused on an object for more
than a few seconds!)

b. Saccadic - fast, frequent jumps by the eye from one fixation point to the next. These
movements are apparent in reading or driving.

Both the size of the jumps, and the region seen during each fixation maximize the information
we glean while reading.

Saccadic movements of good readers move smoothly across the materials being read, while
that of poor readers tend to move backwards and forward.

Research suggests that the characteristics of word tend to guide the location and the duration
of each fixation, with the fixation shortest for short, predictable words that occur frequently.

c. Pursuit movements - smooth movements used to track moving objects.

D. Color vision

There are two theories that explain color vision.

a. Trichromatic theory --
says that we have 3 types of cones in our retina - each of which is maximally sensitive to
(though not exclusively)- particular ranges of wavelengths, a range roughly corresponding to
blue, green and red.

Careful study has proven that that there are indeed 3 types of receptors - although with a lot of
overlap.

So, according to this theory, color vision results from differential stimulation of the cones in the
retina by the light of a particular wavelength, and the overall pattern of stimulation produces
the rich sense of color. The differential sensitivity may be due to genes directing different cones
to produce pigments sensitive to red, green and blue.

This theory fails to account for negative afterimages - sensation of complementary color
occurring after staring at a particular color.

b. Opponent process theory -

This addresses the aspects of afterimages more effectively by describing what happens after
the light is processed in the cones, and transmitted to bipolar and ganglion cells, to the visual
cortex (located in the back of the brain and processes visual information).

It suggests that there are specialized cells we possess that play a role in the sensation of color.
Two of these cells handle red and green - in an opponent process manner - one is stimulated by
red light, and inhibited by green light, and the other is stimulated by green light and inhibited
by red light.

Two additional cells handle yellow and blue, and two others black and white.

It explains negative afterimages by putting forth that when stimulation of one cell in a pair is
terminated, the other is automatically activated. So, each opponent pair is stimulated in
different patterns by three types of cones, and it is the overall pattern of such stimulation that
yields our complex and eloquent sense of color.
* Both these theories are necessary for us to have an understanding about color vision - while
the first theory tells us how color coding happens in the cones of retina, the other theory tells
us how processing occurs in the higher order nerve cells.

E. Vision and the Brain: Processing visual information.

The understanding of initial stages of teh processing of visual information was done in the
studies of Hubel and Wiesel - who conducted studies on Feature Detectors -- neurons at various
levels in the visual cortex. Their work revealed three types of feature detectors --

a. Simple cells - respond to bars and lines present in certain vertical or horizontal or other
orientations.

b. Complex cells - respond maximally to moving stimuli eg a tilted bar moving from rt to lt, or a
vertical bar moving from lt to rt.

c. Hypercomplex cells - respond to even more complex features of the visual world, including
length, width height and other aspects of shapes such as corners and angles.

These findings led scientists to believe that brain processes information hierarchically,
consistent with which PET scans have shown that there are specialized areas in the brain to
process only certain types of visual information.

However, other studies have also shown that destruction of an area does not lead to loss of
perception of that information.

Additional clues suggesting that brain processes various aspects of visual information
separately is by studying certain disorders like Blindsight in which damage to primary visual
cortex takes place. These patients respond to certain aspects of visual stimulation like color or
movement, and yet paradoxically, are completely blind, and deny having "seen" anything.

Another disorder called Prosopagnosia - people lose the ability to recognize well known persons
by their faces, but continue to have a normal vision.
THese disorders seem to confirm that a division of labor takes place in the visual system, and
therefore while some abilities are lost, some may still be kept intact.

These findings, combined, indicate -

a. that the visual system is selective - certain types of visual stimuli have a greater chance at
reaching the brain and undergoing further processing.

b. Because nature is rarely wasteful, the presence of specialized cells to detect certain features
of the external world suggest that these features may be the building blocks for many complex
visual abilities eg identifying subtly varied faces.

c. the study of certain disorders shows how "seeing" the world is a complex process 0 one that
requires integration at various levels of the visual system.

HEARING

A. The ear: Its basic structure

From pinna to the eardrum to the middle ear bones, of which the third bone is attached to a
second membrane called the oval window, covering a spiral, fluid filled structure, cochlea. The
vibration of the fluid bends tiny hair cells which are the true sensory receptors of sound,
creating neural messages which are transmitted to brain via auditory nerve.

B. Sound: the physical stimulus for hearing

The relationships between physical properties of sound and psychological perception of them.

Greater the amplitude(magnitude) of the waves - greater the loudness; greater the frequency -
greater the pitch.(human ear most sensitive to frequencies between 1000-5000 Hz)
A third psychological aspect of sound is its Timbre - the quality of sound - depends on the
mixture of frequencies and amplitudes in a sound. In general, the timbre of sound is related to
its complexity -- how many different frequencies it contains. Other factors may also be
involved, but the relationship is not that simple.

C. Pitch Perception

The question is how do we make fine distinctions between various pitches? Two theories exist -

a. Place theory also called as the Traveling wave theory

says that different sound frequencies cause different places in the basilar membrane(floor of
cochlea) to vibrate, these vibrations in turn stimulate hair cells.

Actual observations have shown that different frequencies produce peaking of waves or
maximal displacement at various distances along basilar membrane with high frequency sounds
causing displacement at the narrow end of basilar membrane near the oval window, and low
frequency on the opposite side.

Does not explain our ability to discriminate among very low frequency sounds - sounds of only a
few 100 cycles/second - because for them, the displacement site is almost identical. For the
same reason, it cannot provide for a reason for us being able to discriminate among sounds for
which frequencies vary only by 1 or 2 Hz.

b. Frequency theory -

Suggests that sounds of different pitch cause different rates of neural firing, so a high pitch
sound will cause a higher rate of auditory nerve firing, and vice versa.

This theory works fine till frequencies of about1000 Hz, which is the maximum rate of firing for
individual neurons. After that, the Volley principle must be included - rests on the assumption
that sound receptors for other neurons begin to fire in volleys. ( so for a 5000 Hz sound, a
pattern of activity will be generated where each five groups of neurons fire 1000 times in rapid
succession -- that is in volleys.

* Because our daily activity expose us to sounds of varying frequencies, it takes both theories to
help understand pitch perception - the first theory explains high frequency perception, and teh
second low frequency. Between 500 - 4000 Hz, both of them apply.

C. Sound Localization

Research suggest that several factors play a role in our ability to localize a sound.

a. firstly, we have two ears placed on opposite side of our head ~~ creation of a "sound
shadow" - a barrier that reduces the intensity of sound on the "shadowed" side. So a sound to
our behind and left will be louder on the left than right side.

The shadow effect is highest for high frequency sounds, which have difficulty bending around
teh head, and thus, produce a difference in intensity to the tune of 30 dB or more in the ear
farthest away.

b. The placement of our ears also affects the time it takes for the sound to reach each ear.
Although this difference is truly minute - often less than a millisecond, it does produce a clue to
sound localization.

c. When, however, the sound comes from the front rather than the back of us, we have
difficulty localizing because the sound reaches our ears at the same time. In these situations,
head movements may help - by turning our head a little, we create a slight difference in the
time taken for teh sound to reach both ears - helping in localization.

TOUCH AND OTHER SKIN SENSES

The skin is teh largest sensory organ and produces teh most varied experiences - touch,
warmth, cold, pain.

As there are specific sensory receptors for vision and hearing, it might be logical to assume that
each skin sensation might also have a different receptor - but the results of tests conducted to
test this prediction have been disappointing -- while there are several different types of skin
receptors, they were not found at the spots highly sensitive to their corresponding sensation.
Thus, the skin's sensory experience is probably determined by the total pattern of nerve
impulses reaching the brain.

A. Pain: Its nature and control

Determining its mechanism has been difficult for the reason that it has no specific stimulus -
unlike other sensations. However, sensations of pain do seem to originate in free nerve endings
located throughout the body - in skin, around muscles and internal organs.

Two types of pain seems to be transmitted through two different nerve bundles -- sharp and
quick through large myelinated sensory nerve fibres, and dull and throbbing through
unmyelinated nerve fibres(as they carry impulses slowly). Both fibres synapse with neurons in
the spinal cord that carry pain messages to the thalamus, and other parts of brain.

B. Pain perception -- the role of physiological mechanisms.

The above discovery of pain systems led to the development of Gate Control Theory(Melzack,
1976).

This suggests that there are neural mechanisms that close the "gate" of spinal cord, thus
preventing pain messages from reaching the brain. These fibres are those of large nerve fibres,
the ones that transmit short and quick pain, and not by the smaller fibres- the ones transmitting
dull and throbbing pain. (This may explain why sharp pain is relatively brief compared to the
dull pain). It might also explain why vigorous stimulation of an area, might relieve the pain in
another area, as also rubbing the area around an injury, applying hot water bottles or cold
packs, or acupuncture.

This theory has also been revised to account for the various brain mechanisms that might alter
the perception of pain, eg our current emotional state may interact our pain stimulus and alter
the experience of our pain.

Various tribal and cultural ceremonies where people pierce their skins have led to the intriguing
question about the nature of pain. So, although pain is perceived as automatic and universal,
large cultural differences in its perception exist. What, then are the basis for these differences?

On first glance, it is tempting to conclude that cultural differences in pain threshold - physical
differences - are responsible for these, but no experimental evidence supports this view.
Instead, these differences seem to be perceptual in nature, and reflect the powerful effects of
social learning. This social learning is different in some cultures where honor and social standing
are related strongly to stoicism and ability to tolerate pain.

C. Pain perception : The role of cognitive processes

Evidence indicates that pain exerts its unpleasant effects through interrupting our ongoing
thought process,and redirecting attention to pain.

The extent to which we experience pain is a dynamic interplay between two characteristics -
the character of the pain(intensity, novelty, predictability) and the context in which the pain
emerges. Thus, cognition appears to play an important mediator role, determining the extent to
which we focus on our pain relative to these factors,and the amount of threat they pose to us.

This cognitive activity may help explain why procedures that redirect our attention can reduce
our pain. eg Hypnosis, has been shown to reduce the effects of pain, apparently by activating
the supervisory attention-control system in the brain that shifts the focus away from the pain.
A group of therapies, collectively called cognitive-behavioral procedures have also shown to
counteract the effects of pain. These are based on the fact that our thoughts, emotions and
beliefs can actually help to influence our perceptions of pain.

Research suggests that moods and beliefs can affect the way pain is perceived. (The movies
experiment - and the placebo experiment for mood and belief respectively). pg 102.

SMELL AND TASTE - THE CHEMICAL SENSES

They both respond to substances in solution - chemicals dissolved in either fluid or air; and they
both are interrelated in everyday life.

A. Smell and Taste - how they operate

SMELL:

stimulus for smell sensation consists of molecules of various substances(odorants) contained in

the air, these molecules dissolve in the nasal lining and reach the receptor cells in the olfactory
epithelium.

Human beings possess 50 million of these receptors, compared to 200 mn in the dogs. But still
the human smell perception is impressive enough.Our olfactory senses, however, are restricted
in terms of the range of stimuli it can detect -- this being related to the molecular weight of
substances - human olfactory receptors can detect only substances with a combined atomic
weight between 15-300.

Theories about how smell messages are intercepted by the brain -

a. Stereochemical theory which says that the different smell perception of various foods is due
to difference in molecular shapes. The support for this theory has been mixed because identical
shape substances tends to have different odors, and vice versa.
b. Some theories have focused on isolating "primary odors" , much like the basic hues in color
vision, but these attempts have been unsuccessful because the human perception of even the
most basic of all human smells also disagree.

c. An additional intriguing possibility is that brain's ability to recognize odors may be based on
the overall pattern of activity provided by olfactory receptors. This view says that these
receptors are stimulated to varying degrees by a particular odorant, and these different
patterns of stimulation may then result in different patterns of output. The actual way this
happens is yet unknown.

With regards to taste, Within each papilla is a cluster of taste buds, and each taste bud has
several receptor cells. Humans have nearly 10,000 taste buds.

The reason why while we can detect lots of flavors, but know only of 4 taste sensations is that
we are aware not only of the taste, but its smell, texture, temperature, the pressure it exerts on
tongue and mouth, and many other sensations, which if removed, will actually leave only these
4 basic tastes.

While our ability to identify various odors is limited, our memory for them is quite vast,
extending up to many years. This might be due to them being associated with a more complex
and significant life event.(Richardson & Zucco).

Knowledge of the chemical senses can have various practical implications, eg commercial
success of aromatherapy, which claim that they can successfully treat various psychological and
physical ailments with their specific fragrances. A growing body of evidence suggests that
fragrance can actually affect human behavior in measurable ways, but whether specific
fragrances produce contrasting effects is still uncertain, with some findings supporting the
claim, and others not. Cite a research by Diego, and the contrasting research by Baron.(pg 105)
KINESTHESIA AND VESTIBULAR SENSE

Kinesthesia is the sense that gives us information about the location of our body parts with
respect to one another, and allows us to perform movements - both simple and complex.

This movement comes from receptors in joints, ligaments and muscle fibres. These receptors
register the rate of change of movement speed as well as rate of change of angle of the bones
in our limbs, then transform this mechanical movement into neural signals for the brain.
(Important kinesthetic information is also received from the visual and touch sensations, as
'touching nose with eyes closed' shows).

The vestibular sense gives us information about body position, movement and acceleration -
factors critical for maintaining our sense of balance. The sensory organs for this sense are
located in the inner ear - two fluid filled vestibular sacs providing information about body's
position in relation to the earth by tracking changes in linear movement. When movement
occurs - hair cells bend accordingly and this differential bending causes neural discharge
sending signals to brain.

Semicircular canals provide information about rotational acceleration of head or body along
three principal axes; because these three canals are perpendicular to each other, bending is
greatest along the axes in which movement is occurring.

Also, this vestibular system is designed to detect changes in motion rather than constant
motion(and thus, take off is perceived, but not the constant velocity that follows).

We also receive vestibular information from our other senses, especially vision - and this fact
can actually be problematic if these two signals do not match. eg a ride where visual signal does
not match the movement felt can result in motion sickness.

PERCEPTION: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

It is the process by which we select. organize and interpret our sensory input.

A. Perception: The focus of our attention

The certain thing is that we cannot attend to all the available sensory information from our
environment. We selectively attend to certain stimuli relegating the others to the background.

This sensory selection has various advantages, and helps to focus on the point of attention, and
reduce sensory interference from other stimuli. This same thing however, can be counter-
productive hindering the notice of even salient stimuli for people who focus intently on their
tasks.

However, there are many situations in the daily life when we are confronted with conflicting
inputs, and must handle them together. The phenomenon, where in a crowded party, one is
able to listen to their own name or a juicy bit of conversation, is known as COCKTAIL PARTY
PHENOMENON, and is one way in which we might deal with the demands of divided attention.

B. Perception: Some organizing principles

Aspects of perceptual organization were first studied by Gestalt psychologists in 1900s - they
were intrigued by the tendencies of the human mind to impose order and structure on the
physical world and perceive the sensory patterns as well-organized wholes than separate,
isolated parts. They outlined several principles that influence the way in which we organize
sensory input into whole patterns(gestalts).

a. Figure and ground: what stands out?

This means that we tend to divide our worlds in two parts - the figure, which has a specific
shape and location, and the ground, which does not have a shape, tends to run behind the
figure and does not have a definite location.

eg the young woman - old woman photo, where although the sensory pattern generated is the
same, the perception continually shifts between the two figure-ground patterns.
This same relationship extends also to other senses eg audition; (the eg of whispering in class)

b. Grouping: which stimuli go together?

The law of grouping are the simple principles describing how we tend to group discrete stimuli
together in the perceptual world.

Law of proximity, law of simplicity, law of good continuation - pg 112.

These however, are not hard and fast rules, and merely describe a way in which we perceive
our world. Whether they are innate, as the Gestaltists believe, or learned, is still open to
debate.

Perceptual organization is visible in the natural world, and helps us to organize our perceptual
world.

C. Constancies and Illusions - When perception succeeds - and fails.

a. Perceptual constancies - stability in the face of change.

Constancies are our tendencies to perceive physical objects as unchanging despite them
inducing a change in the pattern of their sensations.

The principle of size constancy is one example - with two factors contributing towards it.

The principle of SIZE-DISTANCE INVARIANCE suggests that while estimating the size of an
object, we take into account both the size of the image that is cast on our retina, but also the
apparent distance of the object, from this data we instantly calculate the size of the object.
Only when the cues that normally reveal an object's distance are absent do we run into some
difficulties,(as are shown by illusions).
Also, the RELATIVE SIZE of an object is compared to objects of known size. THis is especially
used for unfamiliar things.

In a similar way, shape constancy (flipping a coin), and brightness constancy( same color of
cloth in indoor and outdoor light; this happening probably because the objects and their
surroundings are lighted by the same illumination source thus sending the same neural signals
to tne brain; if this is changed, brightness constancy will be changed(Sekular& Blake)) is
present.

Also worth remembering is how while research on constancies has focused on the visual sense,
it also extends to other senses like audition.(listening to remix of an old song)

Constancies play an important role in our everyday life because without them, we would spend
a lot of time re-identifying sensory information in our environment each time we perceive them
in a different perspective.

b. Illusions - when perception fails

These are instances when perceptions yields false interpretations of physical reality.

There are two types of illusions -- those due to physical processes(mirage), and those due to
cognitive processes, which can further be illusions of size, or illusions of shape or area.

The explanation for illusions is provided by various theories, one of which is the THEORY OF
MISAPPLIED CONSTANCY, which says that we use certain cues to estimate the size of certain
objects thus bringing into play size constancy and perceptually distorting the length of various
lines.

The other theory blames it on LEARNING, eg Muller Lyer illusion (pg 115). Learning also seems
to affect the extent to which our perception is affected by illusions: Many visual illusions
decline in magnitude following extended exposure - although they do not disappear altogether.
Illusions of shape/area also exist - the most common area illusion being the moon illusion,
which again happens due to the first theory.(pg 115). Poggendorf illusion is an eg of shape
illusion.(pg 115)

Like other things, illusions are also not limited to visual senses alone, and extend to other
senses like touch and temperature. (the hot-cold touch temperature activity).

D. Some key perceptual processes - pattern and distance.

Perception is a practical process, and it provides organisms with information essential for
survival in their normal habitat. Virtually all organisms need information concerning - what is
out there, and - how far away it is.

a. Pattern recognition - what is out there?

This follows two theories - bottom up approach and top down approach.

The first theory suggests that our ability to recognize specific patterns efg letters of an alphabet
is based on simpler capacities to recognize and combine lower level features of objects
correctly, such as lines, edges, corners and angles. So it suggests that pattern recognition is a
product of simple perceptual abilities through a series of discrete steps.

The second theory suggests that our expectancies play a critical role in shaping our perceptions.
We proceed in accordance with our past experience, and thus, do not analyze every feature of
a stimulus every time we encounter it. This tendency, while it can be extremely efficient can
also lead us astray.(rushing to some stranger looking like an old friend)
Evidence suggests that both these theories are involved in pattern recognition. Marsolek
suggests that the arrangement by which the two hemispheres of brain perform some functions
more efficiently than the others, allow separate systems within each hemisphere to
accommodate feature based processing (characteristic of bottom up), and exemplar based
processing(characteristic of top down).

The ability of brain to recognize similarity at one level, and differences at another is provided by
the working of independent systems known as DISSOCIABLE SUBSYSTEMS operating in each
hemisphere simultaneously.

An abstract category subsystem, located primarily on the left side of the brain, analyzes objects
in terms of their features and a specific-exemplar subsystem on the right side analyzes objects
holistically. THis helps us to distinguish between two separate exemplars within a single
abstract category explaining how we recognize the specific ways in which two objects are
different.

b. Distance perception : how far is it?

many different cues are used to form such judgments - monocular and binocular cues.

Monocular cues for depth and distance include -

a. Size cues - larger the image of an object on retina, larger it is perceived to be; also, if an
object is larger than others it is perceived to be closer.

b. Linear perspective : Parallel lines appear to converge in the distance; the greater this effect,
the farther away an object appears to be.

c. Texture gradient: texture of an object appears smoother as distance increases.

d. Atmospheric perspective : The farther away objects are, less distinctly they are seen - smoke,
dust, haze get in the way.
e. Overlap/Interposition - THe object that is overlapped appears farther.

f. Height cues - Below horizon, objects lower down in our field of vision are perceived to be
closer; above the horizon, objects higher up are seen as closer.

g. Motion parallax - SLOB effect; objects at different distances appear to move at different
velocities.

Binocular cues -

a. Convergence - in order to see close objects, our eyes converge; the greater this effect, the
closer the object is perceived to be.

b. Retinal disparity - (binocular parallax) - our eyes view an object from different positions in
space, and the difference between these two images also provides a cue to depth.

TIME PERCEPTION

You will have to read this to understand. Some important pointers:

says that the ritual of time varies from a physicist's view and by the ritual of clock time, the
latter has been provided by us as a part of our consciousness classifying events into past, future
and present. But for a physicist, everything that happened or will happen at any point of time is
at the same level of existence.

We know from everyday life that our internal clocks can be reset in response to body heat,
differences in the type to stimuli to which we are responding, and by high adrenaline situations.

In everyday reference, long time ago and terms like that refer to an unspecified period of time,
but in a laboratory, time perception means the judgment of duration, that is, how much time
has elapsed.
The problem with time perception is that there are no cues which will provide an invariant basis
for judgment, and no specific organ for time perception. The whole process is intrinsic and
intuitive. The difference is clear: for other senses, the response is given when stimuli are
physically present but response to duration of events can only be had only after the events
have run their full course.

Humans are accurate measurers of time at relatively short intervals(milliseconds), with both the
mean perceived time and the standard varying linearly with elapsed time. THis property, of
linear relationship between duration and SD of duration judgments indicates that time
perception obeys Weber's law - such that the absolute time sensitivity of time judgments is
independent of the length of actual duration. Factors that affect the duration judgments
include -

order in which stimuli are perceived(time-order errors).

whether interval is filled or empty (filled intervals are perceived as longer than empty ones)

length of time between event and duration judgment (durations are remembered as having
been longer if there is a delay in recall)

Factors affecting time perception -

1. Stimulus factors -- length of stimulus, filled/unfilled, nature of duration, type and intensity of
filler activity, intensity of onset and offset of stimuli marking the interval time - affect time
perception.

Results-

very small limits are underestimated.

shorter intervals are accurately estimated.

long intervals are overestimated.

Filled duration is underestimated, and unfilled overestimated. Moreover, filler activity also
plays a role (expt, pg 119)

Time duration filled with loud continuous tone is underestimated as the subject tends to
underestimate in comparison to a an interval filled with a longer tone.

If onset is louder than the offset, then time is overestimated; on the other hand if the offset is
lesser in intensity compared to the onset, it results in underestimation of time.

2. Organismic factors - concentration ofn of time, mental activity, personality, motivation,

stress also play a role.

For an inactive person, time passes slowly, and v/v

If a person is happy, he underestimated time, and v/v

introverts overestimated time and v/v

high achievement motivation underestimated time, and v/v

3. Drugs

those that increase dopamine - like cocaine and methamphetamine - speed up the internal
clock and so do moments of stress (when neurotransmitters flood the brain) leading to o of
time

Substances that decrease dopamine - eg marijuana - lead to u.

Dopamine also falls with age, which leads to the felling in old people that time is passing
quickly.

CULTURE AND PERCEPTION

● It has been proven that individuals raised in different cultures can actually
perceive the world differently.
 ● eg Marshall Segall studied this and concluded that ppl living in rural areas can
sense slanted/crooked lines more easily than urban people - so they showed
susceptibility to horizontal-vertical illusion than westerners who showed higher
susceptibility to Muller Lyer.
● It has also been seen that rural Africans who live in villages live in between dense
forests, and hence, develop a tendency to overestimate vertical lines, whereas
Westerners who live in closed spaces develop a tendency to underestimate
length of enclosed lines.
● Nisbett and Miyamoto(2005) have made a case for "cultural perception" - their
conclusion is that American visual perception is more analytical, while that of
Asians is more holistic, the former view an object in isolation, and the latter in
context.
● This is where the concept of low context and high context comes. Cultures in
which less has to be said or written because more of the meaning is in the
physical environment or already shared by the people are labeled high context
(Asian cultures). Cultures in which little of the meaning is determined by the
context because the message is encoded in the explicit code are termed as Low
context(European and American cultures).

Chapter 5: Learning- How are we changed by experience

Learning is defined as any relatively permanent change in behavior, or behavior potential,

produced by experience.

This implies that-

a. Learning is not temporary changes in behavior from fatigue, illness or drugs.

b. Learning does not refer to changes resulting from growth and maturation.
c. Learning includes both vicarious and direct experiences- meaning one can be affected either
by observing events and behavior, or participating in them (Bandura, 1986).

d. The changes produced by learning are not always positive in nature.

A. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - LEARNING SOME STIMULI SIGNAL OTHERS

It is defined as a basic form of learning in which one stimulus comes to serve as the signal for
the other stimulus. In this form of learning, organisms acquire information about relations
between different stimuli, not simple associations between them.

Here, a stimulus, that previously did not elicit a response acquires that capability as a result of
repeated pairing with a stimulus that can elicit a reaction.

Learning of this type is quite common and seems to play a role in in such varied reactions such
as strong fears, taste aversions, some aspects of sexual behavior, and even racial or ethnic
prejudice.

Various terms of Pavlov's experiment -

a. Unconditioned stimulus(UCS) - In classical conditioning, a stimulus that can evoke an

unconditioned response the first time it is presented.

b. Unconditioned Response(UCR) - In classical conditioning, the response evoked by an

unconditioned stimulus.

c. CS -In classical conditioning, the stimulus that is repeatedly paired with UCS.

d. CR -In classical conditioning, the response to the conditioned stimulus.

Classical conditioning - some basic principles

1. ACQUISITION : THE CAUSE OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

 ● Acquisition is the process by which a conditioned stimulus acquires the capacity
to elicit a conditioned response by repeated pairing with an unconditioned
stimulus.
● This process proceeds rapidly at first - increasing as the number of pairings
between UCS and CS increase, however, there is a limit to this effect, and after a
number of pairings, it slows down and finally wears off.
● Although it was initially believed that the number of pairings played the primary
part in conditioning, it is now known that other factors may also play a part, one
such factor being Temporal arrangement of the CS-UCS pairings - the extent to
which a conditioned stimulus precedes or follows the unconditioned stimulus.
● There are 4 types of temporal arrangements this pairing can follow - Delay
conditioning, trace conditioning, simultaneous con , and backward conditioning.
The first two temporal arrangements are examples of forward conditioning
because the conditioned stimulus always precedes the unconditioned one. (They
differ however, in the fact that while CS and UCS overlap to some degree in
delay, there is no overlap in trace conditioning). In simultaneous con, both CS
and UCS begin and end at the same time, and in backward, CS follows UCS.
● Research suggests that delay conditioning is the most effective method for
establishing a conditioned response, as the CS helps in predicting the
forthcoming presentation of UCS.
● Many additional factors apart from temporal also may affect conditioning.
a. Conditioning is faster when the intensity of CS or UCS increases, or in other words, when CS
stand out in relation to other background stimuli.

b. also depends on the time interval between the two stimuli - a time of 0.2 -2 seconds is
considered optimum, as less than that rarely produces conditioning, and more than that
doesn't allow animals to recognize that CS is a stimulus for some future event.

c. Familiarity also plays a role - in contrast to the laboratory where mostly the uio used are
novel, most of the potential conditioning stimuli in the environment are familiar to us, (eg
background noise) and tell us they don't predict anything unusual, thus making them irrelevant
to us.

2. EXTINCTION: HOW DO WE GET RID OF IT AFTER ACQUISITION?

● Eventual decline and disappearance of the conditioned response in the absence

of the unconditioned stimulus is known as extinction.
● The course of extinction, however, is not smooth. If after extinction, if the CS and
UCS are again paired, the conditioned response returns very quickly - a process
known as Reconditioning. The re-appearance of a weakened conditioned
response to a conditioned stimulus after a time interval is known as
Spontaneous recovery. If extinction is then allowed to continue, the conditioned
response disappears in time.

3. GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION : RESPONDING TO SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Stimulus generalization refers to the tendency of stimuli similar to conditioned stimuli to evoke
similar conditioned responses.

Stimuli discrimination is the process by which organisms learn to respond to certain stimuli but
not to others.

Stimulus generalization serves a lot of useful functions - eg for dangerous species to ward off
predators, stopping at red lights no matter what shape the lights are in.

However, while it is an important adaptive function, it is also dangerous and may lead people
astray sometimes. eg sexual abuse.
4. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - THE NEURAL BASIS OF LEARNING

Systematic research with animals has led to the nearly complete identification of the neural
circuitry that underlies eye-blink classical conditioning, with evidence indicating that the site
responsible for acquisition and performance of this conditioning is the Cerebellum.

When cerebellum is surgically destroyed in animals, previously learned associations can be

severely disrupted, and new association ability eliminated altogether.

Additional areas have also been identified - Hippocampus, amygdala, and brainstem areas
which either project to or receive information from cerebellum.

In humans too, similar results have been identified - Damage to cerebellum/related structures
resulted in difficult conditioning of eye-blink response to a light/tone, although UCS (puff of air)
resulted in UCR(eye blink), indicating that motor stimulation, and ability to respond to external
stimulation remains intact. (Daum and Schugens, 1996)

Because this circuitry is well known, psychologists have used it to study certain basic processes,
even the biological correlates of mental disorders, which can be used in effect, to form better
treatments. eg symptoms of OCD has been known to arise from due to learned associations
that are maladaptive and resistant to extinction.

5. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING : SOME EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES.

● The most convincing of these studies is by Garcia and his colleagues - the study
of saccharin flavored water, rats, light, noise, X rays and painful shock (these are
keywords, study on pg 154) - this study proved that animals associate nausea or
dizziness with something they have consumed, and pain with something they
have seen/heard. Similar studies later in 1985 by Braverman and Bronstein
proved that acquisition of a conditioned response does not occur at equal ease
for all stimuli.
 ● Another contradiction that emerged from Garcia's study was that taste aversion
does not necessarily follow the rule of classical conditioning happening only if
unconditioned response is presented after a very short interval of CS.
● Further research has also shown the Biological constraints of learning - meaning
that some conditioning readily acquired by one species is slowly acquired by
others, and those that are readily acquired are those that have adaptive
potential. eg because rats feed in the dark, it is useful for them to associate a
later illness with something they ate, but in birds, visual cue is most useful for
associating illness because they use vision for finding food.

6. CONDITIONED TASTE AVERSION : BREAKING ALL THE RULES?

● They are important because they inhibit the repeated ingestion of toxic and
dangerous substances in animals' natural environments.
● Surveys have shown that food and beverage aversions are very common
amongst humans, are very strong and can last despite our thoughts about the
actual illness. eg studies show that even if we know that a particular food is not
the cause of our illness, we continue to have a taste aversion for it.
● The way in which these associations differ from classical conditioning in many
ways -
a. taste aversions have been known to occur with a single pairing between UCS and CS - one-
trial learning compared with multiple pairing requirement of classical conditioning.

b. Taste aversions have been reported with conditioned stimulus being presented hours before
UCS.

c. Taste aversions are extremely resistant to extinction - with some lasting for a lifetime.

● These conditioned taste aversions create problems many times eg for

radiotherapy/chemotherapy patients who develop aversion to foods had before their
 treatment - for this various measures are recommended for them -- having the longest
possible gap between food and therapy, eating familiar foods( which have been
previously associated with pleasurable experiences, making the conditioning difficult),
and eating bland foods with avoiding strong flavors.
● This knowledge has also been practically helped farmers keep wild animals out of their
farms, though certain caveats show that results may differ from location to location and
also weak lithium chloride taste aversions and nausea may decay over time. (mutton
laced with this is kept in fields to condition the predators against coming in the fields).

7. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: A COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

● The idea that cognitive processes involving expectation play a part in classical
conditioning has been supported by evidence - firstly, because the association
between UCS and CS are not formed if the pairing is random, it does not allow
room for the expectation that the UCS will definitely follow the CS. Thus the
pairing has to be consistent for the association to be formed.
● Secondly, this idea is also supported by a phenomenon known as blocking - that
conditioning to one stimulus may be blocked by previous associations. Because
one association is already expected, the other stimulus fails to get associated
with the same UCS because it provides no new information to the organism and
is of very low predictive value.
● Thirdly, the concept of mental imagery also supports the hypothesis - the main
concept tested by the Holzman and Levis experiment was to test whether mental
images can be a substitute for their physical counterparts in the process of
conditioning. Several studies have converged to an answer of yes.(pg 156)
● In conclusion, in what seems to be an automatic function at first, is actually
shaped actually by memory and active comparison processes, and is much more
than simple associations between two stimuli.
8. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING : TURNING PRINCIPLES INTO ACTION

● One of the first applications was in the area of phobias.

● Research has shown that it can also be useful in altering the immune system -
the study of Alvarez Borda(1995).

B. OPERANT CONDITIONING - LEARNING BASED ON CONSEQUENCES.

A process through which organisms learn to repeat behaviors that yield positive outcomes and
permit them to avoid or escape negative outcomes.

Psychologists generally agree that the probabilities of these behaviors happening are
dependent on on 4 basic procedures - two of which strengthen behavior (reinforcements), and
two suppress behavior (punishments).

A. Reinforcements - the application or removal of a stimulus to increase the strength of a

specific behavior.

● 2 types - positive and negative - positive involves the use of positive reinforcers -
stimulus events that reinforce or strengthen the responses preceding them.
● Some positive reinforcers act like one because they are related to biological needs eg
food when we are hungry or water when we are thirsty, and sexual pleasure. In
association, other events acquire that role by getting related to a primary reinforcer (eg
Finish homework before ice cream, eat vegetables before dessert etc).
A good point to keep in mind is that a positive reinforcer that acts like one in a context may not
act like that in another - eg food can act as one when the child is hungry, not after he has had a
meal.
Also individual variations exist and one reinforcer that works for one may not work for another
person.

● Negative reinforcer - involves stimuli that strengthen responses allowing organisms to

escape or avoid their presence, or threatened application of them.
● Similar to positive some primary reinforcers are intense heat, extreme cold, or electric
shock and others come to have that effect through associations. eg - waking up to avoid
the sound of alarm clock etc.

B. Punishment

Refers to procedures that weaken or decrease the rate of behavior.

● Positive punishment refers to instances when behaviors are followed by aversive

stimulus events known as Punishers. We learn to not perform these actions because
aversive consequences can follow.
● D/D between negative reinforcement and punishment - the former is the stimulus
needed to avoid an aversive event, and the latter is when behavior is reduced because it
has resulted in an aversive event in the past.
● In negative punishment - the rate of a behavior is weakened/decreased because t is
related to a potential loss of reinforcements. It is commonly referred to as "timeout" - a
procedure experienced by growing up youngsters.

1. OPERANT CONDITIONING - SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES

Operant conditioning differs from classical conditioning in that -

In the latter, certain stimulus events predict the occurrence of others that triggers a response,
and the response is generally involuntary.
In the former, however, organisms learn associations between particular behaviors and their
consequences. The responses are voluntary and are emitted by organisms in a given
environment.

A. Staging and Chaining - getting behavior started and then putting it all together.

● In essence shaping is based on the principle that a little can go a long way
eventually.
● The organism undergoing shaping gets a reward for every small step which is a
step towards of the final goal. Initially rewards are given for actions even
remotely resembling final behavior - termed successive approximations. Then
closer and closer approximations of the final behavior are required before the
reward is given.
● Shaping, thus helps organisms to construct increasingly new and complex
behavior from simpler one.
● For even more complex behavior, another method called Chaining is used. Here
trainers establish a series of responses, the last of which leads to a reward.
● Generally, trainers begin chaining by shaping the final response. Once the final
response is established, the initial responses are shaped. After that, they are
reinforced by giving the organism an opportunity to perform responses later in
the chain, the last one leading to the reinforcer.
● These two techniques have important implications for human behavior - and is
helped by trainers in teaching a new techniques to their students. Infact they can
have dramatic effects in many fields, including training the animals various
acrobatics and tricks.
● However, just like classical conditioning, there are biological constraints to
learning based on consequences, or shaping. This is demonstrated in the
experiments of Keller and Marian, a tendency they term instinctive drift - a
 return to the type of behavior one would demonstrate in normal conditions.
Natural tendencies are as important as positive and negative reinforcers.
B. Schedules of reinforcement - different rules for delivery of payoffs.

Research by Skinner and other psychologists has revealed these can affect behavior. The most
important ones are -

a. Continuous reinforcement schedule -

every occurrence of behavior is reinforced.

It is useful for strengthening or establishing new behaviors.

b. Partial/Intermittent reinforcement schedule

more powerful in maintaining behavior.

these are further of various types -

1. The fixed interval schedule : occurrence of reinforcement depends on the passage of

time, with the first response after a specific period of time eliciting the reward. Here,
people show a pattern where the response is weakest just after the reward is received,
and then gradually increases until the time of the next reward. eg student studying.

2. Variable - interval schedule : here the period that must elapse before reward is given
varies. Because people do not know when the reward will come, they tend to work
consistently, in contrast to the pauses observed in 1. eg random drug testing of people
in safety sensitive jobs like pilots, operators at nuclear reactor sites, or in sports.

3. fixed ratio schedule : reinforcement happens after a fixed number of responses, eg

workers paid on a piecework basis where a fixed amount is paid for each item produced.
Generally these result in a high response, though with a brief pause after each
reinforcement, as individuals take a breather.
 4. Variable ratio schedule : reinforcement occurs after a variable number of responses.
This behavior results in high and steady rate of response, as individuals do not know
how many responses are needed for reinforcement. eg gambling casinos.

This is also highly resistant to extinction- persisting even when reinforcement is no

longer available.

In fact, the resistance to extinction is much higher in this compared to continuous

reinforcement, for the reason that in variable ratio, reinforcements are intermittent and
infrequent, and people continue to respond because it is difficult for them to recognize
that reinforcement is no longer available. In other words, they fail to understand that
any responding will not do any good.

C. Operant conditioning - a cognitive perspective.

● This is a controversial topic, with one side saying that there is no need to bring cognition
into the picture - if we know and understand reinforcers and their schedules in a given
situation, it is easy to predict behavior; on the other hand there are others who say that
a discussion of this is not possible without bringing cognitive factors into picture.
● Perhaps the most dramatic evidence for the latter is the phenomenon of LEARNED
HELPLESSNESS - Feelings of helplessness that develop after exposure to situations in
which no efforts succeed in affecting outcomes. Even if the situation changes, these
people never discover this - rather being in a seemingly passive state and not trying.
Although the reason for this is not clear,it cannot be explained in terms of individual behavior
or learning and its consequences. Rather, some evidence suggests that organisms learn a
general expectation of helplessness transferred across situations, even if they gain a control
over their environment.

Research has also suggested that it might be related to our perception of control - the
perception that we have no control over our lives and our environment eg in slum children.
Genetic factors have also been implicated.
 ● another genetically inherited disorder called hypohedonia - impairment in the ability to
experience pleasure, has been reported. According to Hamburg (1998) - this tendency
may cause children who inherit it to perceive the feedback given for their actions very
differently from the children without the disorder, the former children interpreting
these rewarding consequences from their actions as if they are on an extinction
schedule - this tendency to misinterpret rewarding feedback may in turn, produce false
perceptions of control and helplessness.

D. Evidence that it's all relative - the contrast effect.

Evidence states that our behavior is influenced not only by the rewards we receive, but also by
our evaluation of those rewards with the experience of previous ones.

Changes in rewards can lead to dramatic, transient changes in behavior - increase in rewards
lead to positive changes in behavior (compared to those consistently receiving the larger
reward)- termed positive contrast effects and v/v.

These changes however are transient - giving way to performance levels similar to those who
receive a consistent level of reward.

This indicates that reward alone cannot explain the changes in behavior, our experience with a
previous reward - and consequent expectancies- also play a role dramatically.

It also explains some of our everyday behavior eg the spike in performance after an unexpected
rise, with performance falling similar to others with that reward once the novelty wears off.

E. Tolman's cognitive map : a classic study in the history of psychology.(pg 166)

The experiment led him to hypothesize that animals form a cognitive map - a mental
representation of their environments.
Systematic research by Capaldi and his colleagues also proves that animals make a mental
representation of the rewards they have received in the past - distinct rewards producing
distinct memories. Reward memories serve two distinct functions -

a. serve as discriminative stimuli - directing the animal's behavior by signaling when, and if,
future responses lead to reinforcement.

b. reward memories also lead to a response enhancing function- memories of a larger or bigger
award lead to greater increases in responding than do memories of small or no award.

F. Applying OPerant conditioning - solving problems of everyday life.

a. Field of education - Computer assisted Instruction(CAI) which provides immediate

reinforcement by giving correct responses. It has also been extended to distance education
programs, and web based training.

b. Biofeedback - a technique that allows people to monitor and self regulate certain bodily
functions through the use of a specialized equipment.

c. Operant conditioning have been applied in interventions aimed at socially significant issues in
our communities.

C. OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING : LEARNING FROM THE BEHAVIOR AND OUTCOMES OF OTHERS.

Many studies point evidence for this effect - most famous being the Bobo doll experiments of
Bandura.

A. Observational learning - some basic principles.

1. In order to learn through observation - one must pay ATTENTION to appropriate models -
and these are chosen by focusing most attention on ppl who are most attractive to us, or
possess signs that they know what they are doing, ppl whose behavior seems relevant to our
own needs and goals.

2. We must be able to remember what that person has said or done - RETENTION - so as to
acquire some useful information.

3. The ability to convert these memory representations into appropriate actions - known as
PRODUCTION PROCESSES - these depend on - physical abilities of oneself, and also the capacity
to monitor one's own performance and match it until it reaches that of the model.

4. MOTIVATION also plays a role as after acquiring information, we do not put it to use
immediately. Only if the information is useful, will observers put them to actual use.

Hence, observational learning is far more complex than mere imitation and plays an important
role in many aspects of behavior, an important role in the controversy of television affecting
the violence in children.

A. Observational learning and aggression

Ways in which TV can affect this -

a. when children get to see the new techniques of aggression - it adds new behaviors to their
repertoire, and they can later put this to use when angry or frustrated; the incidence being
highest for those who are by nature more aggressive than others.

b. Can convey messages that violence is an acceptable way to handling interpersonal

difficulties.
c. May elicit aggressive ideas and thoughts through amalgamating real life into them - and
making viewers believe that real life violence is more common than believed.

These effects when coupled with the new behaviors and skills acquired through observational
learning can contribute to the tendency to engage in aggression.

Some contrary views also suggest that these effects are only modest in effect, and in fact, those
who are more concerned about this may start getting help from the sponsors of the shows.
Study by Bushman showed that violent programs decreased the memories of viewers of brand
names and commercial messages.

B. Observational learning and culture

In the context of globalisation and inter-cultural movement of people, a new set of skills and
behavior are needed so as to interact effectively between cultures.

Experts in the area of cross-cultural training have advocated an experiential approach (Black
and Mendenhall, 1990)- based on behavioral modeling where trainees first watch films in which
models exhibit the correct behavior to portray in problematic situations, followed by trainees
engaging in role playing exercise to test their knowledge. This is followed by constructive
feedback regarding their performance.

So observation can first help us learn behaviors appropriate to our own cultures, and then
adapt to the demands to the rapidly changing world.

C. Observational learning : practical applications

All effects of this learning cannot be beneficial - eg development of unhealthy behaviors like
smoking.
But then again, peer influence can also be used to promote more productive behaviors. Werts
study(1996) showed how observational learning can be instrumental in the learning process.

SKILL LEARNING

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre determined results with a minimum overlay of
time, energy or both.

Skills can be domain general and domain specific, (with teamwork, time management etc in the
first group.)

Skills consist of a chain of perceptual motor responses or as a sequence of S-R associations.

Testing a skill requires certain environmental stimuli and situations for assessment.

Phases of skill acquisition -

The acquisition passes through qualitatively different phases - each making the process more
smooth, efficient, autonomous. In transition from one phase to another, when performance
stands still, it is called performance plateau. When the next stage beging, it starts rising and
level goes up.

1. Fitts and Posner phases of skill acquisition -

a. Cognitive phase - identification and development of component parts of skill - involves

forming a mental picture of the skill. Here, every outside cue, instructional demand, and
response outcome have to be kept alive in consciousness.

b. Associative phase - linking the component parts - involves linking of different sensory or
input stimuli with appropriate responses into smooth action. This involves practicing the skill
and using feedback to improve on it.

As practice increases, errors decrease, performance improves, and time taken is also reduced.
With continuous practice, error;ess performance begins, though the learner has to be attentive
to all sensory inputs and maintain concentration on the task.

c. Autonomous phase - developing the learned skill so that it becomes automatic - involves little
or no conscious thought or attention, finally attaining the stage of automaticity with minimal
demands on conscious effort.

2. Adams' Closed Loop theory has 2 elements -

a. Perceptual trace - a reference model acquired through practice.

b. Memory trace - responsible for initiating the movement.

The key feature of this theory is the feedback which is used to analyze the reference model
actions, the result of those actions, and the desired goals, and to refine the reference model to
produce the required actions to achieve the desired goals.

3. Schmidt's theory - based on the view that actions are not stored, rather we refer to abstract
relationships or rules about movement.

Every time a movement is conducted - 4 pieces of information are gathered - the initial
conditions(starting point), certain aspects of motor action(how fast, how high), the result of the
action (success or failure), and the sensory consequences of the action - (how it felt).

Relationships between these informations is used to collect two schemas - a recall schema
based on the initial condition and result and used to generate a motor program, and a
recognition schema consisting of sensory actions and the outcome.

Of course, in conclusion, a person's genetic make up, confidence level and previous experience
influences the speed at which a skill is acquired.
Baron psychology part 2

CHAPTER 6: MEMORY : OF THINGS REMEMBERED AND FORGOTTEN

Memory is one of the earliest focus of psychological research - the experiments of Hermann Ebbinghaus
in the late nineteenth century are famous for observations that have stood the test of time. eg he found
that at first we forget materials memorized quite rapidly, but that later, forgetting proceeds more
slowly. He was also the one to find out that distributed practice(spreading out the efforts to memorize
over time) is superior to massed practice(remembering everything at once).

Today the modern memory research has gone much far beyond after the early studies by Ebbinghaus
and Alfred Binet.

HUMAN MEMORY - TWO INFLUENTIAL VIEWS

Psychologists often construct models of what they study, these models describing the nature and
operation of the processes in question.

A. Atkinson and Shiffrin model

● The basic analogy of computer memory and human memory played a key role in this model,
sometimes known as the MODAL MODEL of memory.
● The theory says that basically, both computer and human memory must accomplish 3 tasks -
encoding - converting information in a form that can be stored in the memory, storage -
 retaining information over varying periods of time and retrieval - locating and assessing specific
information when it is needed later at times.
● According to this theory, we possess 3 kinds of memory - sensory memory ( which provides
temporary storage of information from the senses), short term memory (stores small amount of
information for brief periods of time, thirty seconds or less), and long term memory(stores vast
amount of information over very long periods of time; it is long term memory that helps in
retaining factual information.)
● So how does memory move from one memory to another? The model proposes the presence of
active control processes acting as filters.
a. The information in sensory memory goes to short term memory when it becomes the focus of
our attention, whereas sensory impressions that do not fade away. This is called Selective attention -
our ability to pay attention to only some aspects of the world around us while largely ignoring others.

b. The information in short term memory enters long term through Elaborative Rehearsal - when
we think about its meaning and relate it to other information in long term memory. Unless this cognitive
effort is done, the information in short term memory also fades away and is lost.

In contrast, simply repeating the information to ourselves - maintenance rehearsal does not
necessarily commit the information to long term memory

● In sum, these two linked the study of human memory to the INFORMATION PROCESSING
PERSPECTIVE - An approach to human memory that emphasizes the encoding, storage and
retrieval of information, and is an important aspect of cognitive psychology today.

B. Neural network models : parallel processing of information

● It says that the rich interconnectedness of our neural units accounts for our ability to process
information so quickly.
 ● They also propose that the information in memory is not located at a specific point, but rather in
patterns of activation spread over many processing units and by the strength of activation
across these units.
● This model sharply differentiates between computer and human memory - with the former
processing information serially, and the latter parallel : meaning that many modules - collections
of interconnected neurons - process information in different ways simultaneously. These
modules may be scattered widely in different parts of brain.

KINDS OF INFORMATION STORED IN THE MEMORY

A. WORKING MEMORY : THE WORKBENCH OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

● Evidence for this kind of memory was provided by many findings, the most important
among them being the Serial Position Curve - the greater accuracy of recall of words or
other information early and late in a list of information than of words or information in
the middle of the list. One possible answer, supported by various results, is the presence
of two memory systems - one that holds information for very short periods of time, and
one that holds it for very long periods. So the recall of last words we hear - the
ARECENCY EFFECT - is due to them being in the working memory.
● Therefore, working memory is the memory system that holds the information we are
processing at the moment, (formerly called short term memory). Research has
suggested that this memory contains many more complex levels than was previously
believed.
● As a storage system, the working memory can hold 7-9 discrete items. Beyond that, the
system becomes overloaded, and if new information enters, existing information is
lost.(Miller, 1956). However, each of these "items" can contain several separate bits of
information - related bits that can somehow be grouped into meaningful information.
When this is done, each piece of information is described as a CHUNK - and the total
information that can be held can be quite large. eg the difference between
FBICBIAIIMSAFMC and FBI CBI AIIMS AFMC.
Processing in working memory - there is a lot going on!

● While there is not total agreement on how working memory operates, there is growing
evidence for the model proposed by Baddeley(1992).
● This theory says that this memory consists of 3 parts -
a. A phonological loop that processes information related to the sound of words

b. A visuospatial sketch pad that processes visual and spatial information

c. A central executive that supervises and executes other two components - procedural
knowledge and abstract semantic information.

● Several studies have supported this model, neuroimaging has shown that phonological
and spatial information are processed in different areas. Recent research has even been
able to observe specific regions of brain in which spatial information is rehearsed, and
hence, retained in working memory.
● The presence of central executive is known by a concurrent task paradigm where
participants work on two tasks at the same time - the reasoning being that the more
similar the distracting task is to primary task, the more it will disrupt the planning and
control functions of the central executive, which is precisely what happens.
Other evidence is provided by those who have suffered damage to their frontal lobes - where
the executive function is presumably, centred. Such people - suffering from a dysexecutive syndrome -
are not able to come to a decision, get distracted easily, and show a tendency towards perseveration -
they continue to pursue an initial goal instead of switching to other goals once the first one is met.

B. MEMORY FOR FACTUAL INFORMATION : EPISODIC AND SEMANTIC MEMORY

Factual information is also known as explicit or declarative memory because we can bring it into
consciousness and report it verbally. It has 2 types.
Episodic memory holds information we acquire at a specific time and place - the kind of memory which
allows us to go back in past and remember specific thoughts or experiences. It is tested by psychologists
when participants are tested for recall of words, lists and numbers and so on.

Semantic memory is the memory which holds info of a more general nature - information that we do
not remember acquiring at a specific time or place (general knowledge).

Episodic memory : some factors affecting it.

● The first factor is the amount and spacing of practice. It more often we practice
information, the more we can retain.
However, the major gains occur first, and slow down later, which is why spacing of practice is
equally important - spreading of efforts over time is helpful. This also suggests that memories get
consolidated or grow stronger over time.

● The second factor is the processing done to retain the info. An influential theory of memory
called Levels of processing view was proposed by Craik and Lockhart(1972) suggesting that the
more deeply info is processed, the higher chances there are that it will be retained.
Shallow processing involves little mental effort and may involve repeating a word and little
sensory judgment about it - eg do two words look alike?

A deeper level may involve more complex comparisons - eg two words rhyme?

A still deeper level would include an attention to their meaning.

Considerable evidence suggests that the deeper the level of processing, more is the likelihood
that info will enter long term memory. However, important questions still arise - eg it is still difficult to
specify in advance just what constitutes shallow and deep level of processing. Also, it is difficult to
fathom that even after reading a word again and again, one will not be aware of its meaning. In fact
several levels of processing occur at once. So because of potential confusions, it is difficult to outline
different levels of processing.
 ● A third factor affecting episodic memory is retrieval cues - stimuli associated with information in
memory that can assist in its retrieval.
Indeed the more cues we have, the more is our ability to retrieve information from long term
memory, although it is not a guarantee.

Perhaps the most intriguing research in this area is that of context dependent memory - the fact
that material learnt in one environment is easier to retrieve in the same environment, compared to a
different one. The expt by Godden and Baddeley(1975; pg 190).

#Additional research suggests that it is not necessary to be in the location or context where information
was entered into long term memory, and that mere imagination of the same is sufficient. (Smith, 1979) -
proving that we are capable of generating our own context-related specific cues.

#Studies also show that it is not only external cues that are an aid to retrieval but also our internal
states. The most general term for this effect in State dependent Retrieval - occurs when aspects of our
physical states serve as retrieval cues for info stored in long term memory.

#The basic principle that underlines all these phenomenon is known as ENCODING SPECIFICITY
PRINCIPLE which states that retrieval of information is successful to the extent retrieval cues match the
cues used by the learner during the study phase. The more these cues are similar, the more retrieval is
facilitated.

Semantic memory : how information is organized in memory.

● Because of the large amount of information here, psychologists have focused on how this is
organized, rather than how it entered in the first place. One important element of organization
 consists of Concepts - mental categories for objects or events that are similar to one another in
certain ways eg bicycle, car, elevator - may be clubbed in the concept of vehicle or means of
transportation.
● Concepts in semantic memory may exist in networks reflecting relationships between them - the
semantic networks.
a. In the network model of semantic memory - the meaning of a concept reflects its links or
associations with other, adjoining concepts.

b. In another view, the meaning of concept derives from prototypes - abstract, idealized
representations that capture an average or typical notion of members of that category.

c. Still another view derives the meaning of concept from exemplars - an example of the
category that an individual can readily bring to mind.

The finding that episodic and semantic memory are different are provided from two sources - one,
patients where disease or operation leaves episodic memory intact and semantic memory destroyed
and vice versa, and also PET scans which show higher blood flow in different areas, when tasks
pertaining to both are performed respectively.

C. MEMORY FOR SKILLS : PROCEDURAL MEMORY

● Memory systems that retain information which we cannot express verbally - eg information
necessary to perform skilled motor activities like riding a bicycle. Also called Implicit memory.
● It is studied by a method called Priming - the fact that having seen or heard a stimulus may
facilitate us recognizing it on a later occasion, even if we are unaware this is happening.
● The effect of priming is said to be the difference between Remembering and Knowing -
remembering is being able to report an event and the circumstances in which it happened, and
knowing is the sense of familiarity that accompanies the event even when we can't remember it
explicitly - a familiarity that can affect our behavior to a large extent. Agostino expt - pg 192.
● Apart from priming, the way in which a skill is acquired also forms an evidence for procedural
memory - Initially, when in the starting stages, when we acquire a skill, we think about what we
are doing and report it verbally, but as time progresses, and the level of skill acquisition
 increases, explicit knowledge is replaced by procedural memory and we are less and less
capable of precisely describing how we perform the actions in question.
Read about super memory?

FORGETTING - SOME CONTRASTING VIEWS

A. The earlier view was that the info in long term memory fades or decays with the passage of time -
while this matches with our subjective experience, research has shown that forgetting is not only a
function of time, rather what happens during that time is crucial (Jenkins and Dallenbach, 1924) the
experiment of cockroaches pg 193.

Infact some other studies even came to the conclusion that recall increases over time(Kleinbard, 1978).
So early on, psy rejected the notion that forgetting happens due to passive decay of information over
the passage of time.

B. Forgetting as a result of interference -

Such interference can take two different forms -

a. Proactive interference - when previously learned info present in long term memory interferes with
the current information being learnt.

b. Retroactive interference - when the currently learned information interferes with info already present
in memory.

A large body of evidence suggests that this might be true (Tulving and Psotka, 1971) - their expt with
syllables.

However, there are many doubts -

a. while interference does seem to play a role in forgetting meaningless passage, it seems to play very
little role in the forgetting of meaningful passages. Memory for the basic meaning or gist of such
passages is retained even when they are quite similar and are expected to produce interference.

b. Similarly for interference to happen, something must happen between original learning and testing
for memory, yet forgetting happens even when a single list is learnt by participants - although it can be
said that this happened due to interference due to factors outside the expt - such factor shave proved
difficult to identify.

C. Forgetting and retrieval inhibition

This paradoxical finding is explained as follows : when we attempt to remember information in memory,
we might recall the items we seek but at the same time generate inhibition of other items that we don't
try to remember - resulting in a higher propensity to forget them. THis phenomenon is called Retrieval
Inhibition - and has been observed in several experiments.

MEMORY DISTORTION AND MEMORY CONSTRUCTION

These represent cases where info entered in memory is altered over a period of time - and these
alterations reduce its accuracy and change its meaning.

A. DISTORTION AND THE INFLUENCE OF SCHEMAS

● Almost everyone has firsthand experience with memory distortion eg looking at ourselves in
favorable light when looking back at past situations.
● It can also happen when false or misleading information is provided by others - if someone's
comments suggest a fact or detail that is not present in our memory , we might add that fact or
detail in our memory - things that can happen in trials.
● What accounts for them?
1. In many cases, they seem to involve the operation of schemas - cognitive frameworks
representing our knowledge and assumptions about specific aspects of the world. These are formed
through experience, and act like mental scaffolds providing us with basic frameworks for processing new
info and relating it to existing knowledge - including knowledge held in long term memory.

Once schemas are formed, they strongly influence the way info is encoded, stored and retrieved,
which can in effect lead to errors and distortions within memory.

These are most evident with encoding - research suggests that when schemas are being formed,
information inconsistent with the schema being formed are easier to notice and encode compared to
the info that is consistent.(Inconsistent information is surprising and more likely to become the focus of
our attention). But once the schemas are formed, info consistent with them is easier to notice, and is
responsible for most part, where we are more likely to remember info that supports our beliefs about
the world than contradicts it.

2. Another important cause can be our motives - we often distort our memory in order
to bring them in line with whatever goals we are seeking. - Mcdonald and Hirt expt pg 196.

3. A final way in which memory can be influenced is confusion concerning the sources of
memory. Often errors are made in Source monitoring - the process of identifying the origins of specific
memories. WHile the info is remembered, it is attributed it to a wrong source.

A related effect is reality monitoring - the process of deciding whether memory stems from
external sources(events we actually experienced) or internal sources(imagination or thoughts). Both
source and reality monitoring have important practical effects specially in eyewitness testimony.

B. MEMORY CONSTRUCTION : REMEMBERING WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN

Recalling events that didn't happen, or experiences never really had.

A growing body of research suggests that false memories can be persistent and convincing - people
strongly believe that they are real. THis in turn has significant practical implications especially in legal
areas.

Eyewitness testimony - is it as accurate as we believe?

These testimonies, as research suggests are far from infallible.

Factors involved -

a. Suggestibility - getting influenced by leading questions and similar techniques used by attorneys and
officers.

b. Errors wrt source monitoring.

c. Illusion of outgroup homogeneity - the fact that people outside our own group seem more similar in
appearance and characteristics than people in our group, because of this it is easy to identify an outsider
as perpetrator of a crime wrongly.

Things that can be done to enhance eyewitness testimony -

a. improved interviews that can help enhance their ability to remember info accurately. In such
interviews, eyewitnesses are asked to report everything they can remember, this provides them with
multiple retrieval cues and increases the accuracy of recall.

b they are also sometimes asked to describe events from another perspective and in different order so
as to increase accuracy.

MEMORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE

A. Repression : what's too painful to remember, we simply forget.

○ This concept played an important role in Freud's theory of human personality and his
causes for psychological disorders; he said that repressed memories are pushed in the
unconscious mind, where they are kept festering psychological problems until taken out
by a skilled therapist.
○ Repression has been generally accepted by psychiatrists, psychologists and the society
generally - cases of childhood sexual abuse where victims forget their experiences until
a therapist talks to them, raising further questions about the reality of these feelings.
○ The skepticism is warranted because firstly, despite its widespread acceptance, there is
very little scientific evidence for it. Case studies are there, but they cannot be
conclusive. Also, secondly, because a therapist believes strongly in the theory of
 repression, he/she may in a way lead the clients to report repressed memories, in other
words, Suggest them to patients in a subtle and unconditional manner. Third, even if the
first 2 conditions do not exist, media reports for sexual abuse along with the fact that
repressed memories are common, may lead some to believe that there problems are
due to these causes even when it is untrue. Finally, it is also true that people generate
false memories - memories for events that never happened, and are especially common
in young children who show errors with respect to both source and reality monitoring.
Ceci experiment - pg 199.

B. Autobiographical memories : remembering the events of our own lives

Autobiographical memory is the memory for information about events in our own lives - falls under the
broader heading of episodic memory.

The most dramatic approach to study these memories has been diary studies - Willem Wagenaar kept a
diary for 6 years - the results were complex, but showed that this memory is also affected by many of
the same variables as other forms of memory - eg by retrieval cues and emotional states. Since diary
studies are conducted under more natural conditions although less controlled compared to laboratory
conditions, and examine memory for everyday events rather than list of words or nonsense syllables,
they are useful in one crucial aspect - they support the view that research on memory can indeed be
generalized beyond the confines of a psychological laboratory.

a. Infantile amnesia - when do autobiographical memories begin?

It refers to our supposed inability to remember events during the first 2 or 3 years of life.

Research however suggests that we can infact remember these experiences, but because we do not
possess language skills in infancy, we cannot report them in words. The study by Myers et al pg 201.

Other factors that may contribute to this amnesia are - brain structures necessary for such memory are
not fully developed (Moscovitch, 1985), and that we do not form a clear self concept until sometime
between our second and third birthdays - so we lack the personal frame of reference for
autobiographical memory(Howe and Courage, 1993)

Hence, the term infantile amnesia is misleading as it suggests a lack of memory, when memory is
actually present.

b. Organization of autobiographical memory

In order to study this memory, psychologists commonly use cue-word method, where participants are
asked to associate autobiographical memories with certain words given to them.

The results show that events described are generally recent and frequency of memories brought to
mind drops off with increasing age - people recalling more events from 10 years ago than 20 years. But
there is a "bump" in this function - people report more memories than expected from their early adult
years(late teens to mid twenties). This might be because a lot of thing happen at that time which may be
personally important to them and also linked to strong emotions thus encoding them differently.

In addition, people may use different retrieval cues for recalling events associated with landmark events
in their lives, thus aiding their recall.

So if we talk about the organization of autobiographical memories, they seem to not be random
assortment of experiences - and are centered mostly around major lifetime periods; below this level of
organization are general events or personal landmarks most people remember, such as first date, first
day at work, and then finally there is info for some specific,unique events.

We know such organization exists because the time taken to recall events is the shortest when
describing lifetime periods followed by personal landmarks and highest for specific events that do not
relate to the larger themes.

Hence, we do retain much info about our lives, but this info is not equally memorable.

c. Memory for emotionally laden events : flashbulb memories and the effects of mood on memory
Flashbulb memories relate to vivid memories of what we were doing at the time of an emotion
provoking event - called so because they are preserved in the autobiographical memories like a
photograph.

Research has however raised questions about whether they are really special after all - suggesting that
these memories are found to be exceptionally strong or vivid because they are triggered due to events
that are surprising, distinctive and important to the people involved - and can be understood in the way
other autobiographical memories are understood - elaborateness of encoding, rehearsal and
emotionality of the event.

Flashbulb memories are not distinctly different from other memories, in fact they might be quite
inaccurate too (Neisser, 1999); they do not provide an individual with perfect memory snapshots of
important public events.

d. effects of mood on memory

Mood can affect memory in two distinct bey related ways -

1. retrieval can be enhanced if mood during retrieval is similar to the mood during encoding, this
enhanced recall is called Mood dependent memory and one can recall whatever memory was stored in
that mood - positive, negative or unrelated to mood.

2. Second are the mood congruence effects - our tendency to remember info congruent to our current
mood(Blaney, 1986).

Research suggests that these effects may be very important for depression, a very serious psychological
disorder as depressed people have difficulty remembering times when they felt better(Schachter &
Kihlstrom, 1989) - thus mood congruence can set up a vicious circle in which negative thoughts breed
negative memories.
AMNESIA AND OTHER MEMORY DISORDERS - KEYS FOR UNLOCKING BRAIN-MEMORY LINKS

-- 2 major types - retrograde( loss of memory of events that occurred prior to the amnesia-inducing
event) ,and anterograde(inability to store in long term memory info that occurs after an amnesia
inducing event)

The cases of SP and Clive Wearing - pg 204, 205 -- read!

a. Amnesia as a result of Korsakoff's syndrome

develops in people who consume large amounts of alcohol.

apart from large sensory and motor problems as well as gastro, heart and liver disorders, they develop
both retro and antero grade amnesia - and brains show extensive damage to thalamus and
hypothalamus.

b. The amnesia of Alzheimer's disease

wide range of memory impairments are seen - working memory, episodic memory, memory for skills,
and autobiographical memories - all are disturbed. The worst thing is they are aware of the progressive
changes they are experiencing, and this is very disturbing to them.

Careful study of brain reveal tangles of amyloid beta protein, a substance not found in similar
concentration in normal brains. Also, the reduced acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter which appears to
play a key role in memory - has been associated with this disease. Recent research has implicated the
involvement of other neurotransmitters also, so the picture is complex.
MEMORY AND THE BRAIN - A MODERN VIEW - PG 207.

Why does damage to various brain structures causes amnesia and other memory deficits? Various
theories exist -

a. prevents memory consolidation.

CHAPTER 7 - COGNITION - THINKING, DECIDING COMMUNICATING

Cognition is a general term referring to mental events associated with thought, decision making,
language and other higher mental processes.

A. THINKING: FORMING CONCEPTS AND REASONING TO CONCLUSION

1. Basic elements of thought - Concepts, propositions and images

A. Concepts: Categories for understanding experience

Concepts are mental categories for events, objects, experiences or ideas that are similar to one another
in one or more respects - this allows us to represent a great deal of info about diverse objects, ideas or
events in a highly efficient manner. This simplifies the complex world world of our experience that is so
full of variation.

The difference between logical and natural concepts - the former are concepts that can be clearly
defined by a defined set of rules or properties, and the membership of an object in a category is
unambiguous eg geometrical figures.
Natural concepts, on the other hand are those that are not based on a precise set of attributes or
properties, do not have clear cut boundaries, and are often defined by prototypes. The more attributes
the new item shares with an existing prototype, the more are its chances of getting included in that
category. eg fruit or art.

B. Concepts : how are they represented.

No firm answer exists to this, but several possibilities have been suggested -

1. Concepts may be represented by the features or attributes associated with them in memory. Then,
when a new item is encountered, its features are compared with the features we have already learned
about; the closer the match, the higher the possibility of adding it within the concept.

2. Concepts may be represented, in part by visual images: mental pictures of objects and events in the
external world.

3. Concepts are also closely related to schemas. Like the latter, concepts are also acquired through
experiences and represent info in an efficient summary form. However, schemas appear to be more
complex than concepts - each schema containing a broad range of info and including many distinct
concepts.

C. Propositions : relations between concepts

Thinking is not a passive process, and involves mental manipulations of internal representations of the
external world(i.e. concepts); frequently thinking involves the relating one concept to another, or
relating a part of the concept to the whole concept.

Because we possess highly developed language skills, these cognitive actions take the form of
propositions - sentences that relate one concept to another and can stand as separate assertions eg
Polar bear have white fur (relation of a concept and its properties), or Slama met Pooja(relation
between two concepts).

Clusters of propositions are represented as mental models - knowledge structures guiding our
interactions with the objects and events in the world around us eg if I want to clear my exam, I might
use a mental model constructed from several propositions - I have to finish History. I have to write
answers. I have to read Yojana. What must be kept in mind, however, is that if some aspect of a mental
model is incorrect, or if we process info contained in the model wrongly or incorrectly, we may tend to
make mistakes. So, I must know what weightage is being given in the exams as of now, or I will not clear
my exam!

So because much of our thinking involves the formulation and consideration of propositions, it can be
said to be one of the basic elements of thought.

D. Images: mental picture of the world

Research seems to indicate that mental manipulations performed on images of objects is very similar to
those performed on actual objects. eg if asked to picture a scene of Kanha national park, we would
easily conjure snow in our mind, but conjuring up animal will take some time - maybe because locating
the animals requires more scanning than locating snow.

REsearch also seems to indicate that once we form a mental image, we perceive and think about it just
as if it actually existed. eg when instructed to imagine walking closer to an objet, people often report
that object gradually expanding in size as and when they come closer; when asked to tell the distance
between two locations in a familiar place, the farther apart the places indicated, the more time it takes
to respond by the participants.

Mental images serve important purposes in thinking - people report using images for understanding
verbal instructions, and also using them for enhancing their own moods by visualising positive events or
scenes.

Also research has pointed out to some practical benefits with mental images use - it can help people
change their behavior towards reaching important goals like - losing weight, or enhancing certain
aspects of their performance. It has been found that the greatest benefit has been derived from
mentally simulating the process or steps necessary to reach a goal, rather than picturing the desired
outcome itself. This helps -

to identify and organize the specific activities that will enable them to reach their goals.
helps avoid planning fallacy - the tendency to underestimate the resources (like time or money)
necessary to achieve the goal, and to overestimate how easily the goal can be achieved (Buehler, Griffin
and Ross, 1964).

2. Reasoning : Transforming information to reach conclusions

Definition is this only.

The distinction between formal reasoning and everyday reasoning - in the formal reasoning, all the
needed info is supplied, the problem to be solved is straightforward, there is typically one correct
answer, and the reasoning applied follows a specific method. In contrast, everyday reasoning refers to
what we do in our daily lives - planning, commitment, evaluating arguments etc.

Reasoning: some basic sources of error -

a. The role of mood states -

● Positive and negative moods can both make us lose our ability to reason effectively.
● Oaksford expt - pg 219.
● The positive state brings to us more and more diffused memories - a state that is optimal for for
tasks that need creative solutions; but reasoning mostly relies on the ability of long term
memory retrieval, and that of being able to work through a series of discrete steps.
b. The role of beliefs -

● Reasoning is influenced by emotion laden beliefs which may make the person trying to
reason alter the opposite viewpoint person's premise, or "remember" things that are
never said.
● When powerful beliefs come face to face with logical arguments, it is the latter that
mostly gives way.
c. The confirmation bias : searching for positive evidence

● The tendency to pay attention primarily to that information that supports existing
beliefs or views.
 ● Because of this, individuals fall prey to flawed conclusions, and when this bias operates,
people fail to even notice the info that might question their premise.
d. Hindsight: The "I knew it all along" revisited.

● The tendency to assume that we would have been better at predicting actual events
than is really true. (Hawkins and Hastie, 1990)
● Most research in the past has focused on not the participants or decision makers, but on
observers of the event/decision outcome. Recent research however, has focused on the
hindsight bias of decision makers (Marks and Mellor, 1991). Of particular interest has
been how individuals show the bias when their decisions reflect on their ability or skill,
with evidence indicating that hindsight may be influenced by whether outcomes reflect
positively or negatively on the decision maker. In the process of taking credit when
outcomes reflect well on them, people may show significant hindsight effects, while
denying responsibility and reducing hindsight bias when outcomes reflect negatively.
This goes to prove that because of our tendency to act in ways that are self-serving,
hindsight effect may be most evident for those events where we receive favorable
feedback for our actions.
● HIndsight effect can have serious consequences both for decision makers and for those
who depend on them. The tragic incident of Mount Everest deaths. pg 221.
●
Physical reasoning : reasoning about objects in the physical world

● Physical reasoning is a growing area of research in the field of cognitive psychology.

● Physical reasoning refers to the way in which people perceive physical objects and the
cognitive processes that allow people to make predictions about events involving these
objects.
● Evidence suggests that the ability to reason effectively about the nature of physical
systems depends on the fit between the info that we gain through perception and our
knowledge of the fundamental properties of physical systems. Among the most
important of these is the orientation of the object - how physical objects are aligned in
three dimensional space.
● Study by Pani Zhou and Friend(1997) - showed that way in which objects are oriented
has dramatic effects on physical reasoning. Those who saw objects vertically perceived
 them to have uniform edges and surfaces and therefore subjectively simple in contrast
to those who saw objects in a different orientation perceiving them to have non-
uniform edges and surfaces and thus, subjectively complex.

B. MAKING DECISIONS: CHOOSING AMONG ALTERNATIVES

The process of choosing among various actions or alternatives.

1. Heuristics : using quick - but fallible - rules of thumb to make decisions

● Where cognition is concerned, human beings follow the path of least resistance, so they
try to take shortcuts in decision making also. One of these cognitive shortcuts is known
as heuristics - Mental rules of thumb that allow us to make decisions and judgments in a
rapid and efficient manner. They reduce the effort required, though they may not
necessarily enhance the quality or accuracy of the decisions reached (Kahneman and
Tversky, 1982).Heuristics are derived from past experiences and serve as simple
guidelines helping us to take reasonably good decisions quickly and efficiently.
● Availability heuristic -- Our tendency to make judgments about the frequency or
likelihood of events in terms of how readily examples of them can be brought to mind.
This shortcut generally works well, because the more readily we can bring events to
mind, the more frequently they do happen, but it can lead us into error as well The
study by Tversky and Kahneman - pg 223; also influences may allow people to
overestimate their chances of being a victim of a violent crime, or the winner of a lottery
because of their over representation in the media.
● Representativeness heuristic - assuming what is typical is also likely; This refers to a
mental rule of thumb suggesting that the more closely an event or object resembles
typical examples of some concept or category, the more likely it is to belong to that
concept or category. eg judging what someone does by the way he/she looks.
Unfortunately the use of this heuristic sometimes makes us ignore forms of information
 that can prove very helpful - the most important of them being the base effect - the
relative frequency of various events or items in the external world.
● Anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic - A cognitive rule of thumb for making decisions in
which the existing info is accepted but then adjusted(usually insufficiently) in the light of
various factors. eg deciding that the later shop offered a product at a cheaper price than
the first. The problem with this heuristic is that adjustments are generally insufficient in
magnitude to offset the impact of the original reference point.

2. Escalation of commitment : getting trapped in bad decisions.

The tendency to get trapped in bad decisions known as escalation of commitment, has sometimes no
simple or easy means of getting out.

Why?

● Research suggests that various factors may be involved - initially decisions are based on
rational factors(people believe that factors chosen will result in favorable outcomes),
when things go bad and negative results occur, it is at first reasonable to continue(after
all temporary setbacks are common, or when an initial decision is changed, it takes time
to see better effects).
● Then as negative factors mount, psychological factors come into play - the person feels
that if he goes back now, he will be admitting he made a mistake. Thus, as negative
results increase the tendency for self justification comes into play - a tendency to justify
both the previous judgments and the losses already endured.
● In the later phases of the process, external pressures stemming from other persons or
groups affected by the bad decisions come into play, with some people blocking the
decision to reverse it because they too have got committed to the action it implies.
Certain steps have been found useful to help people refrain from escalating commitment to a failed
course of action -

● Escalating commitment is less likely to occur if resources for further action are limited
and evidence of failure is overwhelmingly obvious. So a group can decide in advance
that if the losses reach a certain level, they will not squander more resources.
 ● Also escalation is less likely if people can diffuse their responsibility. If we feel less
responsible for our personal actions, the less is the chance that we will invest more
resources, more time or effort to justify more mistakes.
● Finally, escalation is less when people are held accountable for their actions, and that
they, or someone they work for can be adversely affected by the consequences.

3. Emotions and decision making : the magnifying effects of unexpected loss and gain.

Our reactions to decisions are not only influenced by the decisions only, but also by a lot of cognitive
factors-

a. our expectations - what we anticipate will happen, and

b. by the comparisons we make between the outcomes that happen, and those that could have
happened, a tendency known as counterfactual thinking.

Study by Mellers(1997) - pg 226 - found that surprise wins or surprise losses were more elating and
more disappointing than the expected ones.

4. Naturalistic decision making - Making choices in the real world.

Refers to the decision making in the real world, and this new emphasis contributes to the study of
decision making in several ways -

a. focuses on how people bring their experiences to bear while taking decisions; the differences
between people contribute a lot to the decisions they make.

b. broadens to focus of a single event to include elements of the decision context, which is not possible
in a controlled laboratory study.
c. emphasizes the complexity of decision making and takes into account the complexity of modern
decision making environments - including in terms of impact of bad decisions both on money and quality
of life.

Although this is a new development, its application has led to a fuller and more accurate perhaps,
description of a decision making process in environments where the accuracy of decision making is
paramount. eg military or health sectors.

This shift towards naturalistic settings has led researchers to acknowledge that research findings derived
from laboratory studies are often artificial and lack the kind of info people need when making decisions
in everyday life. They add that experience also plays a role and as people gain experience with certain
types of judgments, they are more likely to consider base rates in their decisions, while in certain
instances it may actually be prudent to ignore base rates.

C. PROBLEM SOLVING: FINDING PATHS TO DESIRED GOALS

A. The major aspects of problem solving involve -

a. problem identification,

b. formulate potential solutions - solutions do not come out of a cognitive vacuum; the more info at
disposal, the more info stored in long term memory can be retrieved.

c. evaluate each alternative and the outcomes they will produce

d. trying the potential solutions and evaluating them on the basis of the effects they produce. - all too
often a solution might be only partially effective - bringing us closer to solving the problem, but never
actually solving it.

B. Methods for problem solving - from trial and error to heuristics.

 - the trial and error rests on the premise that various approaches will be kept on trying, until one
works.
- problems: not very efficient at solving problems, and offers no guarantee that a useful
solution will be found.
- sometimes, however, this is the best approach that can be used owing to a lack of
information.
- the second method is the use of Algorithms.
- these refer to the rules for a particular problem that have to be followed, so as to yield a
solution.
- problem is it is time consuming and inefficient.
- A much more effective method of solving a problem is a heuristic.
- heuristic are rules of thumb used to to guide our cognition.
- they involve using strategies suggested by past experiences - ones we have found useful
in the past- so the solution is not guaranteed but what they lack in certainty they
certainly gain in efficiency - by providing a lot of shortcuts.
- Another method used to solve problems is analogy -
- this uses strategies that helped solve problems in similar situations in the past.
- People frequently use analogy to solve their problems without being aware of the same.
- In conclusion, selecting an effective strategy is critical to problem solving.
*examples - Imagine that a friend has asked you to meet her in the restaurant, but you forgot the name
of the restaurant. If u try finding the name by calling all the restaurants and asking whether she made
the reservation, you are using the algebra to solve your problem. But if you use heuristic, you would
know that the friend will not book a hotel far from her house - thus eliminating a lot of far away
restaurants. If you are driving and feel like eating a Mcdonalds burger but don't know where the joint is,
using the info that it is generally located near interstate highways and finding it with the help of that
knowledge is a use of Analogy.

C. Facilitating effective problem solving : the role of metacognitive processing

- Metacognitive processing refers to an expanded level of awareness which, in a sense, allows us

to observe ourselves us in the problem-solving process.
 - Research has suggested that talking about a problem helps in diverting the attention from the
irrelevant aspects of the problem and focus on the relevant aspects of it, those aspects that will
help in searching for a solution - by the process of metacognitive processing.
- Experiment by Berardi- Coletta etal in 1995. Three groups were given increasingly complex card-
solving problems, and they were tested for the most complex problem. The groups differed as
one group in which metacognitive processing was used and process-oriented questions were
asked like “What method do you plan on using for solving the problem?”; the second group
were asked problem-focused questions like “What is the goal of the problem?” and third group
was the control group. As predicted, the first group solved the problem fastest and more
accurately.
- This infers that talking through a problem can be useful - especially when it is process oriented,
focuses on problem solving process and leads to Metacognitive processing.

D. Factors that interfere with effective problem solving

- Sometimes despite lots of efforts, we are unable to solve problems. This might be due to:
- inadequate knowledge or experience.
- we may lack internal frameworks to adequately represent the situation fully and
effectively. This leads to a lack of knowledge about what variables or factors are most
important, and hence, we spend most of time ‘wandering about’, using an informal type
of trial and error.
- In other cases, some subtler forces may be in play.
- a. Functional fixedness - prior use versus present solutions.
- refers to the strong tendency to think of using objects only in ways in
which they have been used before.
- It is easy to overcome such blind spots but one must try, or else it can
lead to impairment to solve many types of problems.
- b. Mental set - sticking to the tried and true
- refers to sticking with a familiar method of solving a particular problem
in a particular way- one that has worked before. THis works up to a
point, until this approach forces the solver to overlook other, more
efficient approaches to solving a problem.
E. Artificial Intelligence: Can machines really think?

- It refers to the interdisciplinary branch scientists test the capacity of computers to demonstrate
performance, that if it were produced by human beings, would be described as showing
intelligence.
- Computers show lightning speed and accuracy - something beyond mere mortals, and hence
they are much more proficient than humans at doing repetitive tasks involving speed and
accuracy.
- But can computers be constructed in a way that allows them to interact with humans in a more
meaningful way? The Cog project at MIT has produced a robot which has a motivational system
that mirrors our own. Because these motivational factors play an important role in establishing
meaningful social interactions, these systems in the robot maintain homeostasis and motivates
it to learn behaviors that satisfy its need. KIsmet is capable of a lot of facial expression, including
getting overwhelmed by too much stimulation, when it switches off to restore balance. Through
a series of such interactions, it is possible to know how its actions influence the behavior of the
caretaker, ultimately learning how its needs are met.
- Efforts to demonstrate computer intelligence for human language has shown mixed results. On
the one hand, computers
- computerized voice recognition systems are used by various organizations, companies
and banks,
- computers that can converse with their owners and carry out a lots of tasks
- computers can even ask when they didn't understand what the user said, or when they
have inadequate information
- the complex machines possess large vocabularies and grasp syntax well enough to be
able to understand normal sentences.
- On the other hand, however,
- it has been frustratingly difficult to teach them the subtleties of human speech, and still
most ordinary conversations that humans take for granted exceed the capabilities of
even the most modern computers.
- In response to these and various other related issues, the scientists are nowadays designing
computers that that mirror the most powerful computer- our brain. The new computers - based
 on neural networks - have interconnected elemental computational units -which work in
parallel fashion, much like the brain. The beauty of this process lies not in individual functioning
of individual units, but from the resultant of these units working simultaneously.
- In addition they have the capability to learn from experience by adjusting the strength
of output of individual units based on new info.
- Computers’ capability predictions in the past times were definitely overstated, but there is no
doubt that in certain fields they are exceptionally useful in the study of human cognition and in
certain contexts, can show performance that closely resembles that of intelligent human beings.

LANGUAGE: THE COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION

It is at present agreed on by many experts that what truly sets us apart from a lot of other species is the
Language - that we can communicate using such a rich set of symbols, and with the knowledge of how
to combine them too. While a lot of animals also use communication, the human capability to
communicate far exceeds the animal’s.

A. Language : Its basic nature:

- In order for a set of symbols to be viewed as a language, certain conditions need to be fulfilled.
- firstly, the information must be transmitted by a set of symbols: the words and
sentences must carry meaning.
- secondly, although the number of sounds and words may be limited separately, the
combinations possible which can be formed into a sentence should be infinite.
- the meanings of these combinations must be independent of the settings in which they
are used. that is, they must be able to convey info about other places and other times.
- Only if these 3 criteria are fulfilled, can we give the name language to a system of
communication.

B. Milestones of language development.

- 12 weeks : smiles when talked to, makes cooing sounds.

- 16 weeks: turns head in response to human voice.
 - 20 weeks: makes vowel and consonant sounds while cooing.
- 6 months: progresses from cooing to babbling.
- 8 months: repeats certain syllables e.g. “ma-ma”.
- 12 months: understands some words, may say a few.
- 18 months: can produce upto 50 words.
- 24 months: has vocabulary of >50 words, uses two-word phrases.
- 30 months: several hundred words vocabulary, 3-5 word phrases are used.
- 36 months: vocabulary of >1000 words
- 48 months: basic elements of language are mastered.

C. Theories of language development: some contrasting views:

Social learning view:

- proposes that speech is acquired through a combination of operant conditioning and imitation.
- THis is by parents rewarding or praising the child when he/she makes sound that approximate
the native language, plus they also model the words, sounds or sentences.
- Together, it is contended, these basic forms of learning contribute to the rapid acquisition of
language.
Noam Chomsky theory(1968):

- He says that the acquisition of language is at least partly innate.

- Human beings have a language acquisition device - a built in neural system that that provides
them with an intuitive grasp on grammar.
- So in essence, he means that human beings are prepared to acquire language and thus, do so
rapidly.
Cognitive theory(Slobin, 1979)

- recognizes the importance of both innate mechanisms and learning.

- suggests that children possess certain information processing abilities or strategies that they use
in acquiring language. Known as Operating Principles.
- Two of these principles, eg, are “Pay attention to the end of words(children do actually do that
with it also making sense because generally suffixes in a sentence carry important meanings),
and “Pay attention to the order of words(it has been seen that children closely follow the
 pattern of words spoken by the parents, and because word order differs quite a lot between
languages, this is an important operating principle.
#Presently, all theories seen correct and no single theory is sufficient to prove the language acquisition.

- eg contrary to what social learning theory suggests, the parental feedback may be inadequate to
account fully for the rapid language acquisition(Pinker 1989), although in every culture imitation
plays a significant role as witnessed by the resemblance between the parents and children’s
speech.
- For Chomsky’s theory - it is suggested by research that there may be a critical period for
language development in which it is easiest to acquire the components of language. If for some
reason the language is not acquired at this age, children find it increasingly difficult to master
language(De Villiers & De Villiers 1978). THis is also supported by research on adults who
communicate via the American sign Language, those who acquire sign language early on in life
seem more proficient than those who learn it later.
- THerefore, it can probably be safely assumed that language dev is a complex process involving
several aspects of learning, many cognitive processes, and various genetically determined
processes as well.

D. Basic components of language development

- THis includes progress in three distinct but interrelated areas :

a. Phonological development: the spoken word.
- Between 3 and 6 months: babies start babbling and at first, babbling consists of a rich mixture of
sounds.(babies can distinguish between the sounds of various languages)
- By 9/10 months: the babbling narrows down and sounds start to resemble the one from native
culture.
- By the first year the relatively short step between the above and producing the first word is
taken.
- it is believed that gestures is an important part of early language development, which may be
partly because at this age, the pronunciation of children leaves a lot to be desired.
- Between the age of one and two - the vocabulary rises rapidly; by 18 months children can speak
nearly 50 words which are words that concern their everyday life - eg animals(cat, dog) toys(bat,
ball) - and use them as holophrases - often combining them with gestures and pointing.
 - Many of the words take a simple form - consisting of a consonant and a vowel . Toddlers
generally have difficulty dealing with clusters of 2 or more consonants(saying “” for stairs,
“banky” for blanket)
- While it was initially believed that acquisition of verbs follows that of nouns (words referring to
specific objects) - recent research suggests that it might be reversed in some cultures making
this aspect something that is variable from culture to culture. eg it was found that Chinese
children actually used more verbs than nouns in their daily speech.
b. The semantics development: acquisition of meaning.

- A child’s vocabulary increases rapidly after the age of two, and by the time they are 6 years, this
is some several thousand words.
- However, children don't just learn new words, but also learn new ones - words that allow them
to communicate a richer range of thoughts and ideas. eg
- they learn the negative meaning words like no and how to use them in sentences.
- they also acquire many adjectives and prepositions which allow them to be more
specific in describing their own thoughts and the world around them. They start with
adjectives like good, little, bad and then diversify into greater specificity like high, low,
narrow, wide etc, and prepositions like in front of, behind etc
- they also start learning question words like what? why? when? These Keywords are
acquired between the age of two and three.
- Due to the rapid acquiring of vocabulary, children often demonstrate several interesting forms
of error.
- overextensions : tendency to extend the meaning of a word beyond its actual usage eg
calling all small objects like flies and pebbles as raisins.
- underextensions: limiting the word of a meaning more than appropriate, eg thinking
that the word fish refers only to their own fish and no one’s else.
c. The development of grammar

- By the time most children are two(before which they talk in single words, and pointing gestures,
and hence do not use grammar), they start using two word sentences - a pattern sometimes
known as Telegraphic speech. eg
- saying “give food” when they want it, and if it does not produce action, they say
“Mummy give”
 - Youngsters pack a lot of meaning by changing inflection like saying “Go play?” when
asking permission and “Go play!” when indicating that they are going to play.
- The grasp of grammar increases as they switch to three word sentences by the age of 2-3. They
start adding inflections to words - endings that carry s to indicate plurals, and endings that
change the tense of a verb)eg “He played with me” rather than “he play with me”)
- From this, children move on to increasingly grasp of the grammar and more complex sentences
in which an important idea is implied or understood rather than directly stated.
- eg in the sentence Sahiba made Raju a pot of tea may make a 3 year old feel that Raju
made the tea because they don't understand that the word made refers to Sahiba. As
they grow older they learn to unravel this and other mysteries of grammar.
- they also learn to link two or more ideas in a single utterance.

LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT: DO WE SAY WHAT WE THINK OR WE THINK WHAT WE SAY?

The question therefore is what is the precise relationship between language and thought?

1. Linguistic relativity hypothesis:

- suggests that the language determines or shapes thought. SO people who speak different
languages may perceive the world differently because of the difference in the words that are
available to them of their own language. eg the Inuit of Alaska have many different words for
snow, and their thinking of this particular aspect of the physical world may be different from
that of the English speaking people.
2. The opposing view is that thought shapes language.

- It suggests that language merely reflects what we think about the world - how our minds work.
So what is the verdict?

- The issue is far from resolved but a modified version of the linguistic relativity hypothesis has
been advanced that suggests that structural characteristics of the language may indeed
influence the way people think about objects and the relationships among objects in the
physical world.
- The experiment of Zhang and Schmitt where they explored the possibility of exploiting structural
differences that exist between languages - they used classifiers which were found only in
Mandarin Chinese but not English - their research showed that the CHinese not only were more
 likely to perceive objects belonging to a common classifier as more similar to each other than
other objects, but they were also more likely to recall classifier sharing objects in clusters
compared to english speaking population. Thus proving the above,

BILINGUALISM/MULTILINGUALISM

- Refers to attaining proficiency in communication through two/more languages.

- Indian social context is characterised as grassroot multilingualism which makes
bi/multilingualism a characteristic feature at the level of an individual as well as society.
Linguistic diversity is a hallmark of India(Bhatia and Ritchie, 2004)
- there are 1652 languages and a much larger no of dialects in India though constitution
recognizes only 22.
- It is not only the presence of a no of languages in different spheres of social life in India, but also
the dynamics of the relationship between these languages that make the whole ethos of
language so dynamic compared to the dominant-monolingual(MOhanty 1994).
- Mohanty(2004) has also indicated that bilingualism is currently at the grassroot level, and
because it is related to the maintenance of norms, it results in multiplicity of linguistic identities.
However, there are certain complementarities of language, and he also argues that that
multilingualism is a positive force and emphasizes on need for early socialization and
multilingual functioning.
- Earlier studies had support for the fact that bilingualism inhibited cognitive development, and
that when tested by tests of verbal intelligence, bilinguals had a language handicap. These
results however started changing after 1960 towards the positive advantages of L2 uses. These
studies denunciate earlier studies because the latter depended on L2 users that had a lot of
different factors other than knowing a second language. other major limitations were:
- they did not control for socioeconomic status between bilingual and monolingual
subjects. Mccarthy(1930) has pointed out that bilingualism in America was confounded
with SEC as more than half of the families who were bilingual were also unskilled labor
groups.
- there was also a failure to differentiate and adequately assess the differences between
the degrees of bilingualism.
- lack of clarity on how the mono or bilingual status was evaluated.
 - Many recent studies have suggested the influence of bilingualism on word awareness leading to
better reading skills(Bruck and Genesee, 1993). These benefits have been found not only for
balanced bilinguals, but also for those whose contact with the second language was restricted.

RESEARCH METHODS: BILINGUALISM

ADVANTAGES SHOWN BY STUDIES:

- enhanced ability to restructure perceptual solutions.

- stronger performance in rule discovery tasks
- greater verbal originality and verbal ability
- precocious levels of divergent thinking and creativity.
- advantages in nonverbal executive control tasks has also been noted.
These advantages seem to persist in adulthood and appear to protect bilingual adults from decline of
these processes in older age.

The difference in executive control is greater in old age because the normal decline is attenuated in
bilinguals.

Across lifespan therefore, bilingualism boosts development and and postpones decline of executive
control on a variety of tasks. Of note however, these effects were nonverbal and not related to linguistic
processing and it is possible that the results might differ for linguistic processing.

Various theories have been proposed to explain this positive relationship:

a. Objectification theory:
-

PSYCHOLOGY : PART 3 OF NOTES

CHAPTER 10: Motivation and Emotion

Motivation is defined as the internal processes that activate, guide and maintain behavior over time.

Emotion, on the other hand, refers to complex reactions which include - Physiological

responses(increase in BP), Subjective feelings we describe as happiness, sorrow etc, and Expressive

reactions that reflect these internal states like changes in facial expressions or posture.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION: SOME MAJOR PERSPECTIVES

A. DRIVE THEORY - Motivation and Homeostasis.

- According to this theory, biological needs arising in our bodies create an unpleasant state of

arousal - eg thirst, fatigue, hunger etc - so in order to eliminate these feelings and restore a

balanced physiological state, or homeostasis, we engage in certain activities.

- So, in essence - this is a theory of motivation suggesting that behavior is “pushed” from within

by drives stemming from basic biological needs.

- Behaviors that work - that help in reducing the appropriate drive are strengthened and

repeated, and those that fail to produce the desired effects are weakened.

- This theory persisted for many decades in psychology and was extended from basic biological

needs to various other forms of behavior like status, power, achievement etc.

- The theory, though is still valid today for various behaviors, has some drawbacks.

- Contrary to what the theory suggests, human beings sometimes engage in behavior that

increases the drive rather than reducing it. eg skipping snacks when hungry to lose

weight or in anticipation of a large meal; erotic material reading even when no

immediate sexual gratification is available.

 - Hence it was felt that this theory does not give a comprehensive explanation of

motivation.

B. AROUSAL THEORY: Seeking optimum activation.

- This theory focuses on Arousal - our general level of activation. THis varies throughout

the day with being the lowest when we sleep to much higher when we do

strenuous/exciting tasks.

- This theory suggests that human beings seek the optimal level of arousal and not the

minimal level - a level that is best suited to our personal characteristics and to the

activity we are performing currently. so eg if we are knitting or whittling, a low level of

arousal will be preferred while in a sports event, a higher one will be the best.

- Many studies offer an indirect support for the theory - by proving that the performance

increases as arousal rises, up to a certain point beyond which more increases actually

decrease performance. But, given that too, it is difficult to predict in advance just what

level of arousal will be ideal for any given task. In general, the more difficult the task,

the lower the level of arousal at which reduction in performance begins to happen. This

suggestion that the level of arousal beyond which the performance begins to decline is a

function of task difficulty is known as YERKES-DODSON LAW.

- However, factors other than task difficulty may also play a role - eg there are individual

differences wrt preferred arousal level with people wanting to do parachuting and

paragliding at one level, and those who prefer much lower level of arousal at the other.

- SO the fact that the level of arousal for a given task cannot be predicted limits the

usefulness of this theory.

C. EXPECTANCY THEORY: A Cognitive approach.

- It suggests that behavior is “pulled”by the expectations of desirable outcomes. (rather than

being “pushed”by some drive).

- Such outcomes, known as Incentives - can be anything that one has learned to value - money,

approval of others etc.

- THis theory has been applied in many aspects of human motivation, but it has found its most

important applications in work motivation. Research in the industrial organization psychology

indicates that someone will work at work only if it provides them with:

- improvement in performance - k/a expectancy in the theory.

- recognition of good performance - k/a instrumentality

- rewards provided will be what they want - k/a valence.

D. GOAL SETTING THEORY

- THis theory emphasizes on the cognitive factors rather than drives or arousal, and is of the view

that Motivation can be strongly influenced by the goals.

- THis theory did not begin as a theory but as an interesting observation - people performed

better when they were given a specific goal rather than when they were just told to do “their

best”.(Wood and Locke, 1990).

- It has been seen that goal setting works best under some given set of conditions -

- when the goals set are highly specific - people know what they are trying to accomplish.

- when the goals are challenging - meeting them requires considerable effort.

- the goals are attainable - people believe that the goals are truly attainable.
 - when people receive feedback on their progress towards meeting their goals.

- when people are truly, deeply committed to reaching their goals.

E. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY : Relations among motives.

- It suggests that human motives may exist in a hierarchy - so that we must satisfy those that are

more basic before we move on to those less linked to biological needs.

- The hierarchy goes like this - Physiological needs - Safety needs - Need to belong - Esteem

needs(gaining self respect, approval and success) - Self actualization needs(need for self

fulfillment and being what one is capable of). The first three needs are put in Deficiency

needs(basics that must be satisfied before going up in the pyramid), and the last two in Growth

needs.

- Ambition and the need for achievement are closely linked to esteem needs.

- WHile the theory is intuitively appealing, the research designed to test it has found mixed

results - with some findings indicating that people sometimes seek to pursue higher needs even

when the lower ones haven’t been met with(Williams and Page, 1989). Hence, we need to view

this theory in an interesting but unverified framework.

- Indian perspective - Indian view holds that human life is organized around 4 life goals -

dharma(observing life sustaining principles), artha(pursuing goals to fulfill wealth),

kama(pursuing desires), and moksha(liberation). THese life goals, called Purusharthas, provide

an overarching framework of motivation, with the ventral aspect of this view being that the

pursuit of goals have to be organized within the framework of Dharma. Another relevant motion

relates to the idea of Panch Koshas - doctrine of five sheaths that describes 5 types of identity

encompassing existence from physical to spiritual levels.

HUNGER: REGULATING OUR CALORIC INTAKE

Hunger motivation - the motivation to obtain and consume food - is a powerful one.

A. REGULATION IN EATING: A COMPLEX PROCESS

- We seem to be living amidst an epidemic of obesity. But what factors lead to the caloric intake

and caloric needs balance in some so that their weight remains fairly stable?

- The answer lies in hypothalamus which plays a part both in hunger as well as satiety. By

its links to cerebral cortex, it also helps to adapt to changing environmental conditions

such as shifts in the foods available to us.

- REgulation of eating, however, involves much more than hypothalamus itself and

extends to the liver and other organs of the body as well, with the latter reacting to

presence of various nutrients in blood like glucose, protein(and especially to certain

amino acids), lipids with the help of certain “detectors”.

- Eating and hunger is also strongly affected by the smell and taste of food, as also by the

feedback provided by chewing and swallowing, and our taste and smell receptors, as

also the muscles in throat and mouth help us determine when it is that we have eaten

enough.

● A north Indian study is mentioned - read page 322. the box.

- The sight of food is important too, with foods that are attractive in appearance overwhelming

the regulatory mechanism leading to overeating.

 - Then, next is culture. Depending on one’s cultural preference, the thoughts of various items can

produce feelings of hunger or disgust.

- Role of cognitive factors suggests that these factors also play a role apart from our internal vues

telling us when to eat. The time when we last ate, and its memories can influence when and

how much we eat.

- A recent experiment by Rozin et al(1998), in which individuals who had suffered from bilateral

damage to hippocampus ate three times in a row even after reporting lower hunger after eating

the first time - explained as they forgot that they ate last!

B. FACTORS IN WEIGHT GAIN: Why many experience difficulty in long term regulation in body weight?

1. The first factor seems to be the effects of learning - many people acquire eating habits that are

very likely to generate excess weight. eg learning to eat high calorie meals that are rich in

protein and fats.

- also, learning to associate eating with various contexts and situations also creates problem eg

eating whenever sitting front of a TV or watching a movie. The desire to eat can be classically

conditioned - with the cues associated with eating when hungry leading way to prompting

eating when we are not really hungry.

2. genetic factors interact with the changes in diet and can intensify these changes. our early ancestors

had periods of plenty alternating with periods of famine - so those who ate and stored excess calories

were at an advantage during famine. Due to this, we all have a tendency to gain weight when we

overeat.
3. Also, there are intriguing differences between those who are obese and those who are not -

overweight people respond more strongly to external cues related to food - feeling hungrier in the

presence of food related cues(sight or smell of foods) compared to those with normal weight. Modern

societies, that keeps exposing them to all these cues is not really helping.

4. The final factor relates to the reaction of our own bodies to the weight gain. WHile internal

mechanisms spring into action when we gain weight and work towards bringing the body towards its

own “set point”, evidence suggests that once we gain weight, out sensitivity to leptin(a chemical

produced by the body that reduces appetite and speeds up metabolism) actually decreases. The process

can be halted only if some weight is lost and maintained for some years, something that requires a lot of

willpower.

SEXUAL MOTIVATION: THE MOST INTIMATE MOTIVE

A. HORMONES AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

- Sex Hormones exert what is called an Activation effect - in their presence sexual behavior

occurs, and in their absence the sexual behavior either does not happen or happens at a very

low frequency.

- Human beings and to some degree other primates, however, are an exception to this general

pattern. ALthough women report rise in sexual desire at various points in their menstrual cycle,

these changes do not happen at the times when these hormones are at peak levels. In fact,
 women continue to engage and enjoy in sexual relations even after menopause, when the

hormonal output of the ovaries drops sharply. Similarly, in men, there is no evidence of a direct

correlation between blood levels of testosterone and sexual responsiveness.

- THis, however is not to say that in humans hormones play no role in sexual motivation. it has

been found that those with higher testosterone levels become aroused more quickly to an

erotic film than those with relatively lower levels. Still the case between sex hormones and

sexual motivation seems far less compelling in humans.

- REcent findings suggest that when someone is sexually attracted to the other person, the brain

releases increased amounts of several substances related to amphetamines - increased amount

of these substances like phenylethylamine may account for the feeling of strong sexual

attraction(“sweeping away” feeling).

- So, while sex hormones may not play the centre stage, the sexual motivation seems to be

controlled by some biochemicals, which are just beginning to be understood.

B. HUMAN SEXUAL BEHAVIOR: SOME BASIC FACTS

- THe initial problem was that of how to record the data, and until 1960s, only surveys were used

which showed that inter-individual variability in sexual behaviors was enormous. After 1960s

however, came the method of directly observing sexual intercourse, and the most famous

experiment remains that of Masters and Johnson who observed and recorded the reactions of

several hundreds of volunteers during sexual interaction and mastubation.

- The results indicated that both males and females move through four phases of sexual behavior:
 - Excitement phase : physiological changes denoting increasing sexual excitement- penis

and clitoris become enlarged, vaginal secretions increase.

- Plateau phase : size of the penis increases more, outer third of vagina engorged with

blood vessels decreasing its diameter.

- Orgasmic phase: consists of several contractions of muscles around the sexual organs,

along with intense sensation of pleasure. The pattern of contractions, including their

strength and timing was found to be identical in males and females).

- Resolution phase: reduction in sexual and physiological arousal in males. In females, two

distinct patterns are possible - reduction in sexual and physiological arousal, or if

stimulation continues, additional orgasms may occur.

- These basic pattern while applying to all human beings, different cultures show different

standards in various matters:

- age at which sexual behavior begins

- frequency of it

- physical characteristics considered attractive or sexy

- particular positions and practices considered acceptable

- proper time and setting for sexual relations.

- persons who are appropriate partners

- number of partners one should have at one time or in succession.

C. HUMAN SEXUAL BEHAVIOR: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE ON MATING STRATEGIES

- It has been suggested that men want to have multiple sex partners, and women are more

selective preferring quality to quantity. To an extent, it has also been shown that to the question
 that how long would they like to know someone before having sex, men suggest shorter periods

of time(Buss and Schmitt, 1993).

- Why is this the case? As told by evolutionary psychology:

- While men, if they have multiple partners, can produce more children, women can have

only one pregnancy at one time no matter how many lovers she has.

- Moreover, the investment in having a child is more for a woman because she has to

keep and raise the child.

- So by natural selection, tends to produce preference for natural variety among males

than females. Men who prefer many different mates produce more offspring than men

with weaker preference for variety. But this preference for variety in females was not

that strongly favored by natural selection for its no obvious advantages.

- Another theory says that because the preference for variety in men couldn't have

emerged without if no women showed an interest in such behavior, there must have

been some women also who would have preferred multiple partners. To explain this,

evolutionary psychology states that this must have evolved because multiple partners

must have helped women in 2 ways - by allowing them to gain valuable resources from

them(food gifts etc.), and also perfect her love making skills to perhaps, replace the

current mate with a more desirable one.

- As noted by Buss(1999), there is support for both hypotheses.

- Biological evidence also supports the notion that women have sought variety in their

sexual partners, as evidenced by the presence of “Blockers” - sperms that tend to block

other sperms unlike “egg getters” - that race towards the egg to fertilize it. Ideally, if

women were monogamous, there would have not been any need for the

blockers.(Baker and Bellis, 1995). Interestingly, the proportion of such blockers rises
 when the man has been separated from his mate for a long period of time, during which

perhaps the woman has had other lovers(same).

- In essence, therefore, while there might be a difference between mating strategies of

males and females, these are often exaggerated by films, folklore and literature and

may not be as large and universal as people believe.

D. HUMAN SEXUAL BEHAVIOR: WHAT’S AROUSING AND WHY

- In certain respects, the same events or stimuli that produce arousal in other species do so in

humans too - direct physical contact by touching or foreplay

- In addition, however, human beings can also be stimulated by real or imagined erotic

stimuli/images. As there is no evidence that other species also respond in these ways, our highly

developed cognitive capacities may play a part in sexual motivation. In fact they may play the

most important part, as one famous researcher has put it : “The mind is the truly erogenous

zone.”

E. SEXUAL ORIENTATION

- What is the reason for people to have different sexual orientation, is a complex question, and

one to which a definitive answer has not been found yet.

- Initially the emphasis was for environmental factors - eg psychodynamic theory suggested that

people become homosexual as a result of having an overprotective mother and a distant,

ineffectual father, Other factors mentioned were - separation of opposite sex members from

childhood(all girls or all boys school), sexual abuse by parents etc. Long years of research

however, could not find support for this.

- Research recently has been supporting the weight of biological and genetic factors for this. A

study by Green(1987), who followed up two groups - one typically “masculine boys”, and the

other of “feminine” acting boys - after 15 years, at least three fourths of the latter category

turned out to be homosexual while only one from the first group.

- Other findings that support the above hypothesis:

- research suggests that there may be subtle differences between the brains of

heterosexual and homosexual individuals - the anterior commissure( a bundle of fibres

that allow communication between the two hemispheres of brain) is larger in homos

men than heteros.

- SImilarly the hypothalamus is found to be smaller in homos

- Twin studies also point to the genetic role with more than 50% chances of an identical

twin being homos, quite more than a fraternal twin(22%).

- Also, these both categories seem to differ in cognitive abilities, with homos falling

somewhere between heteros and women in terms of visual/spatial ability.

- The next question that comes to mind is : how precisely do genetic and biological factors shape

sexual orientation?

- As Ben(1996) suggests, they contribute to differences in temperament, which in turn

causes individuals to prefer gender-typical or gender-atypical friends and activities. This

leads to children getting attracted to whichever gender differs from themselves in terms

of such behavior.

- So boys who act feminine compared to the societal standards find males attractive,

while females who act masculine compared to these standards find females attractive.

- This view needs to be further substantiated by studies.

AGGRESSIVE MOTIVATION : THE MOST DANGEROUS MOTIVE

- Various events all around the world suggest that aggressive motivation - the desire to cause

harm or injury to others plays an all too important role in human behavior

- While human beings do not always express aggressive motivation overtly, they often engage in

aggression against others - behavior directed towards the goal of harming another living being

that wishes to avoid such treatment.

A. AGGRESSION - INNATE OR LEARNED?

- Freud, while witnessing the carnage of WW-I concluded that human beings possess an inbuilt

tendency to harm other human beings.

- WHile this thought has been shared by many other scientists, the current thought is not with it,

and the psychologists generally believe that the aggressive behavior is “pulled” rather than

pushed from irresistible, possibly inherited, tendencies inside, by various external events and

stimuli.

- This view has been supported because of many observations about violent crime which

has different rates in different cultures. The rates of murders vary in developed and

developing countries. All this suggests that social and cultural factors play an important

part in such behavior, and if innate tendencies do playa part, they are only second to

these factors.

B. SOCIAL FACTORS

- For many years, frustration has been viewed as the prime cause for aggression.(Dollard, 1939).

- REcent findings suggest that this might just be one of the many reasons. First, when

exposed to severe frustration, people become depressed rather than aggressive. So

 contrary to what was suggested by the frustration-aggression hypothesis, frustration

does not always produce aggression.

- secondly, aggression does not stem from frustration, it can come because because it is

the part of someone’s role or job to aggress against others, not because they are feeling

frustrated.

- But the fact that frustration plays a part in aggression cannot be denied. When

individuals feel that their interests have been thwarted, and that this thwarting si unfair,

frustration can become an important tool of aggression.

- Feeling of injustice has often being quoted recently as being the prime cause of

workplace violence(Baron, Neuman & Geddes, 1999)

- Another factor that plays a part is direct provocation from other person - verbal insults or

physical actions interpreted as aggressive in nature lead the receiving party to reciprocate

setting into motion an aggression-counter aggression cycle.

- Exposure to violence in the media has also been pointed to as a big factor. The various ways it

has been suggested this increases aggression are:

- when viewers witness scenes assault one another, they acquire new and often

ingenious ways of assaulting others.

- they also learn that such actions are an appropriate response to provocation or

frustration - and also learning that such actions win too!

- they may also experience reduction in restraints on their own behavior.

- most alarming of all, such media violence can desensitize them to the harm produced by

violence.

- The question that comes to mind is that if there are so many negative effects of it, why do we

still have it? One answer as given by advertisers who pay for such programs is that violence sells.
 SOme research, however, has shown that violence can backfire also(Bushman 1998) from the

point of view of increasing sale of products advertised on the shows.

- it has been suggested that people who watch violent shows pay less attention to the

commercials, compared to those who watch non violent shows, possibly because in case

of former, violent images trigger memories of other violent scenes and that thought

distracts them from paying attention to commercials.

C. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

- High temperatures, diagreeable crowding, or unpleasnt irritating noise can produce negative

feelings which can increase aggrassive motivation.How?

- they may trigger aggression directly - when we feel bad, whatever the cause, we lash

out at others.

- such unpleasant feelings trigger negative thoughts and memories leading to attributing

others’ actions to hostile intentions, no matter whether it is true or not. So they lead us

to think in ways that promote aggressive motivation.

D. HORMONAL INFLUENCES

- The increase in testosterone has been correlated with aggressive behavior.

- drugs that reduce testosterone level in males seem to reduce the aggression in them,

and research in prisoners indicates the level higher in those who have committed

unprovoked violent crimes than those who committed violent crimes.

- Harris and colleagues(1996) conducted a study where participants were asked to fill a

questionnaire that measured their tendency to behave aggressively as well as in a

helpful, nurturant manner. After this, the hormone levels were measured - it showed
 that those who had a higher level of testosterone showed a higher tendency to engage

in aggression, and also a lower tendency to engage in helpful behavior. Increments in

testosterone level led to increased tendencies to aggress.

ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION: THE DESIRE TO EXCEL

While some motives - hunger, sex, aggression are shared by us with many other forms of life, there are

some motives which appear to be unique to us - one of them is achievement motivation - the desire to

accomplish difficult tasks and excel.

A. MEASURING ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

- Most of the tests are based on Thematic Apperception Test(TAT)

- in this, a series of ambiguous pictures are shown and ppl are asked to mk stories about them,

which are then scored for achievement related content according to carefully developed scoring

manuals(SMith 1992). If it is of interest to the researchers, this can be used to compute or

calculate for other motives as well like power motives(desire to exert influence over others),

affiliation motive(desire to form close, friendly relations with others).

- TAT continues to be used in its original form, by a modification by Winter(1983) has developed a

technique for scoring achievement motivation using any type of verbal material without need

for ambiguous pictures. THis can be applied to books, speeches or any other type of written

material.

B. EFFECTS OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION ON INDIVIDUALS

 - It has been suggested by research that persons who are high in this have very different life

experiences than those who are low on it. THe former go on to get high grades in school, earn

more rapid promotions, and earn more success in their businesses.

- Additional findings also suggest that achievement motivation, with some other factors may

affect success in school and elsewhere in the same manner across cultural and ethnic

groups(Rowe, Flannery, 1995).

- There are other differences between these two groups too- the ppl who are high in this tend to

avoid tasks that are easy and choose moderately difficult tasks - because they do not like

anything that is not challenging. But why are moderately difficult tasks chosen compared to

extremely difficult tasks? - because the chances of failing are quite high with the latter and these

ppl want success above everything else.

- Another characteristic is that these people have a stronger than average desire for feedback on

their performance, so that they can adapt their goals to make them challenging - not impossible.

- it has been suggested that because of this, these people tend to prefer jobs in which

rewards are closely related to individual performance - merit based pay system rather

than working in a system where everyone gets same raise regardless of

performances(Turban and Koen, 1993)

- They tend to excel in cases where their achievement motivation is activated - when challenged

to do their best, given difficult goals or when put up for competition.

C, EFFECTS OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION FOR SOCIETIES: ACHIEVEMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

- Some evidence points out to the fact that achievement motivation differs across cultures. In a

classic research on the topic,(McClelland 1985) children across different cultures were studied

for this, and were related to 2 measures of economic development - per capita income, and

electrical production per person. The major finding was clear : the more emphasis was laid on
 achievement in the stories told to children, the more the economic growth was seen in the

nation's children grew up.

- while these may be surprising, the fact is that they have been repeatedly confirmed.(Furnham

and Lynn 1n 1994 found a significant correlation)

- Because these studies were correlational in nature, we cannot obviously conclude that

differences in achievement motivation are the cause of differing economic growth, but the fact

that the former does affect individual performance and success suggests that investigating

cultural differences with this motive may help in explaining why countries show sudden rise in

economic performance at certain points in history.

THE INDIAN CONTEXT OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION:

- STudies in this area started with training programs provided to people to enhance

entrepreneurial activities. Mcclelland and Winter(1969) undertook such a programme at

Kakinada, AP, but failed.

- Subsequent studies highlighted the failure of that model. J.B.P. Sinha in 1968 found that

achievement motivation does not produce achievement related behaviors if the resources are

limited.

- Agrawal and MIsra(1986) concluded that the achievement goals and means construed by

indians are mainly familial. While in the west, the notion of achievement symbolizes individual

achievements, in India, familial considerations, well being of others and fulfilling duties of

oneself are all part of these goals. The perceived value of various goals is determined by the

expectation of significant others, and hence such an understanding is important in order to deal

with cultural groups that emphasize on the relational orientation.

- The causal attribution in western culture is dichotomous and external and internal world are

treated as different and exclusive categories, but in Indian context, there are multiple causes so
 that success may be caused by both luck or ability despite the obvious contradiction(Dalal,

1988). Similarly, no outcome is considered as an independent, isolated and discrete event but a

part of the larger whole.

- Indians emphasize on the responsibility for the action rather than causality of it. (Misra, 1994).

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION: HOW TO TURN PLAY INTO WORK

- Activities that are pursued because they are rewarding in and of themselves without any

external rewards stem from Intrinsic motivation. bUt what happens when ppl are given external

rewards for things that they love doing?

- REsearch findings suggest that this is done, the ppl actually experience reduction in

intrinsic motivation. The explanation offered is that those ppl who did activities for their

pleasure or joy now feel that they are doing it partly for external rewards - to the extent

that they reach that conclusion, they may then view that their own interest in that

activity goes down than up.

- Many studies have supported this conclusion(Tripathi and Agrawal, 1988). This has

important implications for anyone trying to motivate others by means of external

rewards - teachers, parents and managers.

- However, additional evidence also suggests that if the rewards provided are viewed as

recognition rather than bribes, and are large and satisfying, external and internal motivation are

not necessarily incompatible, and the internal motivation then increases rather than getting

reduced.

- ALso, research has suggested that individuals tend to buffer themselves against reductions in

intrinsic motivation. eg saying “I do not feel great today”, or “ I did not sleep well at night” are

some ways to do it - providing ready explanations for poor performance. Engaging in such a
 strategy is known as “self-handicapping”, the goal being to explain away poor performance

which most of us realize, could reduce our intrinsic motivation.

- Since most of us are experts at self handicapping, it appears that we have at least one technique

that is effective to protect our intrinsic motivation when we wish to do so. The indigenous

concept of Anasakti(non attachment) draws attention to the idea of undertaking work without

any concern for outcome. This is based on the idea that human action is pursued well and

without stress if there are no distractions of outcome related expectations.

EMOTIONS: THEIR NATURE, EXPRESSION AND IMPACT

Emotions refer to reactions consisting of subjective cognitive states, physiological reactions and

expressing behaviors.

A. THE NATURE OF EMOTIONS: SOME CONTRASTING VIEWS

1. CANNON BARD THEORY AND JAMES LANGE THEORY - WHAT COMES FIRST, ACTION OR

FEELING?

- Cannon Bard theory suggests that various emotion provoking events simultaneously provoke

physiological arousal and subjective reactions labeled as emotions.

- So it says that a situation stimulates multiple areas of nervous system so that both arousal,

mediated by ANS, and subjective feelings, mediated by cerebral cortex and other portions of

brain are produced.

2. James Lange theory suggests that emotion provoking actions produce various physiological reactions

and that recognition of these is responsible for subjective emotional experiences.

- “We feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike and fear because we tremble.” - William

James
 - Until recently, the first theory was supported but recently, the support for the second one has

gathered. Several lines of evidence point to this conclusion.

- Studies conducted with different modern equipments have shown that different kind of

emotions do produce different kinds of physiological activity. Not only various emotions

feel different, they are also different in terms of various bodily changes produced,

including contrasting patterns of brain and muscle activity.

- SEcond, evidence is provided by the facial feedback hypothesis - which says that change

in facial expressions can produce change in emotional states, rather than merely

reflecting them. Other research also suggests that changing our bodily posture or tone

of voice can also produce the same effects. (In view of this evidence, this hypothesis has

been renamed peripheral feedback hypothesis).

- A lot of research has supported this hypothesis (Ekman etal, 1990) While subjective

emotional experiences are often produced by specific external stimuli, as suggested by

the first view, specific emotional states may also be generated by awareness of our own

bodily states, as contended by second theory.

3. SCHACHTER AND SINGER’S TWO FACTOR THEORY

- A theory of emotion suggesting that subjective emotional states are determined at least in part,

by the cognitive labels we attach to feelings of arousal, also known as two-factor theory.

- So this theory says emotion provoking events produce increased arousal, in response to which

we then search the external env in order to identify the causes behind them. The factors we

select play a key role in determining the kind of emotion we feel. eg if we have a near-miss in

traffic, we would increase in heart rate to fear, and if there is someone attractive around, to

attraction or love!

- support for the theory - Dutton and Aron(1974) page 337.

4. OPPONENT PROCESS THEORY : ACTION AND REACTION TO EMOTION

- This theory says that

- an emotional reaction is followed automatically by an opposite reaction, and

- repeated exposure to a stimulus causes the initial reaction to weaken and the opponent

process, or reaction to strengthen.

- eg those who take heroin often experience initial pleasure followed by unpleasant withdrawal

symptoms, AFter a while, the initial pleasure feeling decreases, and then addicts start taking the

drug not for its pleasure but for reducing the withdrawal symptoms.

- So this theory suggests that the law of physics - that to every action, there is a reaction - applies

to emotion as well.

THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF EMOTIONS

1. It appears that the right cerebral hemisphere plays an especially important role in emotional

functions.(Harrington, 1995). It seems to be specialized to process emotional info.

- Individuals with damage to this part have difficulty in understanding the emotional tone of

another person’s voice, or describing emotional scenes.

- Similarly, among healthy persons, ppl do a better job of identifying emotions when info is

presented to right hemisphere rather than left.

- THis side is also specialized for expression of emotion. Individuals with damage to this part have

trouble expressing emotions through the tone of their voice than persons without the damage.

2. In addition, there appear to be imp differences between left and right hemispheres when it comes to

valence(the extent to which emotion is pleasant or unpleasant), and arousal(intensity of emotion).

- activation of left hemisphere associated with - approach, response to reward, positive effect.

- right - avoidance, withdrawal from aversive stimuli, negative feelings.

 - anterior part of hemispheres - associated primarily with valence dimension.

- posterior part - with arousal.

- These have imp implications for our understanding of nervous disorders. eg

- depression and anxiety involve negative feelings or emotions but the former is

associated with low arousal and the latter with high arousal.

- The prediction that depression should be associated with reduced activity in right

posterior region, and anxiety with increased activity in that region have been conformed

with several studies.

3. Additional research indicates that structures deep within brain also play a part eg Amygdala seems to

be playing a part in our ability to judge the intensity, although not the valence of others’ emotions.

- Adolph, Russell and TRanel expt(1999) page 339. which concluded that amygdala plays an

especially key role in our interpretation of emotional info relating to threat or danger - eg signs

of fear or anger on the part of other persons. Being able to respond quickly to such stimuli can

mean the difference between survival and death.

THE EXTERNAL EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS: OUTWARD SIGNS OF INNER FEELINGS

While no one can share our subjective inner experiences, we are able to recognize presence of various

emotions in others with the help of nonverbal cues - states shown in facial expressions, body posture

and other behaviors.

A. NONVERBAL CUES: THE BASIC CHANNELS

- The most revealing channels are facial expressions and body movements and posture.

1. Unmasking the face: facial expressions as clues to others’ emotions

- It has been suggested that 6 emotions are represented clearly and at an early age -

sadness, anger, fear, disgust, happiness and surprise(Ekman, 1992).

 - Some findings suggest that contempt may be other basic emotion(Rosenberg and

Ekman, 1995).

- agreement on what facial expression is consistent with this emotion is less consistent

than that for the other 6 emotions.

- Until fairly recently, it was believed that the facial expressions for emotions like anger,

happiness or disgust are fairly universal - and are recognized as representing specific

emotions all over the world(Ekman Friesen 1974). However, recent research has

questioned this premise, and said that while facial expressions can reveal a lot about

emotional states, interpretation of these may also be affected by external contexts and

by various situational cues. eg Caron and Russell, 1996 expt(participants, if shown a

photo showing fear, but told a story of the character depicting anger, participants will

report the latter emotion in the photo).

- findings like the above show that facial expressions are not as universal in terms of

providing clear signals about underlying emotions.

2. Gestures, postures and movements.

- Body language - nonverbal cues involving body posture or movement of body parts, specifically

called kinesics can provide several kinds of info about others’ emotions.

- How?

- frequent body movements - especially in which one body part constantly touches the

other like touching, scratching, rubbing suggest emotional arousal; greater the

frequency of these, higher the emotional arousal or nervousness.

- larger patterns of movements involving the whole body can also be informative (eg

threatening posture); different body orientations can be suggestive of contrasting

emotional reactions.
 - more specific info about others’ feelings is provided by gestures - body movements that

provide specific meanings in a given culture.

EMOTION AND COGNITION: HOW FEELINGS SHAPE THOUGHT AND THOUGHT SHAPES FEELINGS

- Thoughts and emotions affect one another and get affected by each other; when in a happy

mood, we tend to think nice things, and when we think nice things, we tend to become happy.

- The focus of most of the discussion will be on affect - relatively mild feelings and emotions

rather than intense emotions. The line between emotions and affective states is fuzzy, and most

of the research has focused on modest shifts in moods and emotions - the kinds of changes

experienced everyday due to run-of-the-mill experiences.

- For many years, it was widely assumed that affective states are bipolar in nature - that is there is

a positive affect and a negative affect which represent the opposite ends of a single dimension

with our moods falling in between. Recent research has however stated that it is possible that

the negative and positive affect are actually independent of each other - so that one can be high

in both, low in both, or high in one and low in other. This issue s still contentious, although

recent findings seem to offer strong support for them being indeed the two extreme

dimensions(Barrett&Russell, 1999).

HOW AFFECT INFLUENCES COGNITION

1. The first effect is the impact of our current moods, or Affective states, on ambiguous stimuli -

these stimuli are more favorably perceived and evaluated if we are in a good mood. eg when

interviews are held and qualifications for a job are ambiguous, research participants assigned

higher marks when they are in a good mood.(Baron, 1987)

2. Affect has an impact on the style of information processing we adopt - if we are in a good mood,

it leads to a more flexible, fluid pattern of thinking, while negative mood is associated with more
 systematic, careful processing.This might be because we interpret negative affect as a kind of

danger signal, indicating that the given situation requires our full attention.

3. Happy mood can increase creativity - maybe because happy mood activates a wider range of

ideas and associations compared to a negative mood(and creativity, in part consists of

combining such associations into new patterns).

4. It can have a wide impact on our plans and intentions in a wide range of social situations eg it

was found that negotiators who were in a good mood were more likely to adopt cooperative

strategies and expect better outcomes than those who were in a bad mood.(Forgas 1998)

HOW COGNITION INFLUENCES AFFECT- How feelings influence thought

1. When our internal reactions are ambiguous, we look outward - for our own behavior or at the

behavior of external world - for clues about the nature of our feelings. The emotions or feelings

we experience in such cases, is determined by the interpretation or cognitive labels we select.

2. Cognition can activate some particular schemas with a strong affective component eg when we

meet an individual belonging to a certain group, the schema of that group might become

activated dictating what should we feel about the person and what should be our behavior. So

racial, ethnic, religious schemas’ or stereotypes activation can have strong effects on our current

feelings or thoughts.

3. Thoughts can also affect our reaction towards emotion-provoking events. eg apology can reduce

anger and aggressive motivation, and sometimes when we think about things other than those

that make us angry, the anger reduces or can be prevented from happening in the first place.

CULTURE AND EMOTION

- Emotional expression is usually guided by the cultural beliefs, values and rules regarding

appropriate expression, and the expressed emotions vary across cultures and situations. eg in

China, women are encouraged to express grief and conceal happiness while it is ulta in the U.S.

- Studies have revealed that the most basic emotions are inborn, and that emotions, especially

facial expressions have strong biological ties. Eg children with visual impairment also laugh and

frown in much the same way as others without having learnt it from the surroundings.

- But when different cultures are compared, it is evident how learning plays an important part in

the expression of emotions. This is done by two ways -

- some cultures encourage free expression of emotions, and others do not, by way of

modeling and reinforcement.

- learning has got to do a great deal with the stimuli that produce emotional reactions eg

it has been shown that individuals with fear towards elevators, height and the like learn

it via modeling/classical conditioning or avoidance conditioning.

- The display rules are learnt as a part of socialization process. eg in Asian cultures, the emphasis

is on collective effort, interdependence and social connections, and display of emotions like

shame, respect and empathy are more important than the display of negative emotions that

might disturb the peace of the group. In contrast western people display dissent openly and

their emotions are more intense and prolonged.

- A felt emotion can also be communicated through channels other than words - by gaze,

gestures, behavior, paralanguage and proximal behaviors. This varies from culture to culture

too.

- in China handclap is a symbol of worry or disappointment and anger is manifested by

laughter.
 - in India, deep emotions are communicated via silence, but the same emotion can

convey embarrassment in western culture.

- Latin Americans and South Europeans encourage direct gaze into the eyes of interactant

while Asians, Indians and Pakistanis in particular prefer a peripheral gaze(looking away

from the conversational partner).

- Americans do not prefer a proximity too close while interaction while Oriental Indians

consider a close space comfortable and in fact touching behavior in physical proximity is

considered reflective of emotional warmth.

- Basic emotions also vary in the extent of elaboration and categorical labels eg Tahitian language

has 46 english labels for anger.

- In India, 8 emotions are considered basic - love, mirth, energy, wonder, anger, grief,

disgust and fear. In U.S., in contrast, happiness, sadness, fear, anger and disgust are

common emotions and shame, contempt, guilt and surprise are not considered as basic

to all.

- Indian tradition offers a rich conceptualization of emotions, encompassing physical,

social and spiritual planes of existence.

- In the context of the argument that culture plays an important role in the process of emotion, is

presented the example of Lajja - which has a positive connotation in the Indian context. page

344.

- Ethics of ‘autonomy’, ‘community’ and ‘divinity’ affect the experience and expression of

emotions along with cultural conceptualization of it.

- emotions felt by those whose morality is based on autonomy will be different from

those whose morality is based on community where family is the main concern.
 - “Lajja will not be felt in a culture that sees hierarchy and exclusive prerogative of others

as unjust than powerful object of others’ admiration and respect” - Shweder.

- Schimmack, Oishi and Diener(2002) noted that Asians have dialectical views of emotions

- opposite valence of happy and sad are compatible with each other whereas there is

perceivance of conflict between the two in western cultures.

- Buddhist practice of self-observation of emotions can help in self understanding which

can in turn help to develop insights into emotional problems and increase wellness.

RASA AND BHAVA THEORY OF EMOTIONS - A HUMAN PERSPECTIVE

- The theory of rasa and bhava was propounded by the sage Bharat in his treatise Natya Shastra.

- Rasa means to taste, savor or sample, but when the term is applied to the grand meta-emotion

of esthetic experience, it is usually translated as esthetic pleasure, enjoyment, pleasure or

rapture. It is a pleasure which lasts as long as the dramatic illusion that makes “rasa” a reality.

Because it is possible for those who watch a drama(rasiks) to experience enjoyment or pleasure

even from the apprehension of negative emotional states(disgust, fear, anger, sorrow) which in

other situations one might want to suppress or avoid, it is reasoned by sage Abhinavagupta and

others that “rasa” must be an autonomous meta-emotion, a sui-generis form of consciousness.

- In addition to 8 basic emotions, some scholars have posited Shant(peace), Bhakti(devotion), and

vatsalya(love for children) as emotions. Sage Bharata has described 33 minor or relatively

transient emotions.

- Emotions and art:

- Emotions are the experiences of particular individuals due to some causes. Shorn of all

connections with particular persons, emotions expressed in art are devoid of any

context of time and place, and thus are truly generalized. Abhinavagupta is very clear

and specific about the importance of ability of art to separate emotion from their
 common loci, namely the egos of particular people at particular time and place, leading

to particular consequences, experiential or behavioral.

- when tied to a specific context, the lure or threat of external factors leads to either

pleasure or pain, satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the ego. But when they are not tied to

a context, they are neither pleasurable nor threatening and yet strike a chord with the

observer, and in the psyche of the esthete. Then these become emjoyable such that

even fear and disgust are “relished”.

- The experience of bhava is by a combination of static emotions(sthayibhava), transitory

emotions(vyabhicaribhava), eliciting conditions(vibhava), consequences(anubhava), and

organic manifestation of emotions(sattvikabhava).

- We attain to something of the capacity for variable and universal delight to the esthetic

reception of things as presented by Art and Poetry so that we enjoy the rasa and taste

of even the sorrowful, terrible, horrible or repellant - all because we are detached,

disinterested, and not thinking of ourselves or of self defence(jugupsa).

- This experience of power of the art experience to rise above egoistic concerns is an

important aspect of some of the most dominant values of Indian culture.

- Rasa invokes the experience of bliss that is said to result from an arduous pursuit of self

realization. The relation between experiencing art and the supreme bliss of the Brahmin

is called “brahmananda Sahodara” - born from the same womb. This becomes possible

by communion, which makes the person a receptacle of art(sahridaya) - through

continuous appreciation of art, the person identifies with the object of art because his

mind has been purified and made like a mirror. He is capable of having a heart to heart

communication with art and this art is able to put him in touch with his own self. Rasa is

experienced as a revelation of the self.

SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING - SOME THOUGHTS ON PERSONAL HAPPINESS

- Nearly 80% of people surveyed report being happy and satisfied with life. This report of a

relatively high level of subjective level of well being seems to be true across age groups, around

the world at all levels of income and physical attractiveness, and in all racial and ethnic groups.

- Factors that influence well being:

- overall human beings have a strong tendency to look at the bright side of things, and

they show a strong optimistic bias - a powerful tendency to believe that they can

accomplish more in a given period of time than they really can.(Baron, 1998)

- A report by Diener etal in 1999 points to the following factors:

- genetic factors - pleasant, easy going temperament people report higher

personal happiness probably because of the tendency of them to get along well

with others.

- personality factors - emotionally stable, high in affiliation(tendency to want to

relate to other people), and in perceived control tend to be happier than the

opposite quality people. In addition, extraverts, optimistic, and those who avoid

unnecessary worrying also report higher personal happiness.

- goals, and resources - those who have concrete goals. and adequate resources

for their goals, and those who feel, realistically and otherwise that they are

inching towards their goals are obviously more happy.

- external conditions over which individuals have varying degrees of influence

also play a role - so as people in wealthy countries are happier than in poor

countries; also people who are married are happier(although it depends on how

a particular culture views marriage) and those with satisfactory jobs and career

are happier.
 - What is more surprising, however are the findings which do not relate certain factors to

level of happiness - like money, age(happiness does not decline with age, even when the

income and proportion of people who are married goes down as higher age

approaches).

- Also there are no significant gender differences - this despite the fact that women seem

to experience wider shift in affective states than men - but apparently, women’s lows

are lower than men experience but then their highs are also higher - thus compensating

the process, and making the genders come together on a an equal footing.

CHAPTER 12: INTELLIGENCE - COGNITIVE, PRACTICAL AND EMOTIONAL

Intelligence, like love is a concept that is better recognized than defined.

As a working definition, the following by a panel of experts can be accepted:

“Intelligence is an individual’s ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the

environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, and to overcome

obstacles by careful thought.”

INTELLIGENCE: UNITARY OR MULTIFACETED?

- Previously, the scientists were divided on this issue, with two separate groups formed.

- In one camp were those who believed intelligence to be unitary. One early supporter of

this view was Spearman(1927) who believed that performance on any cognitive task

was dependent on a primary general factor(called g) and one or more specific factor

related to particular tasks.

 - He found that although intelligence tests tested a lot of different items to measure

different aspects of intelligence, the scores correlated highly with one another,

something that suggested to him that no matter how intelligence was measured, it was

related to a single, primary factor.

- Other group had researchers believe that intelligence consists of many separate abilities

operating more or less independently. This view, known as multifactorial view, says that

one person can be intelligent in one component but low in other, and vice versa.One

early supporter of thsi position was Thurstone(1938), who suggested that intelligence is

composed of 7 distinct primary mental capabilities, including verbal meaning-

understanding of words and meanings; number-speed and accuracy in dealing with

numbers,, and space - the ability to visualize objects in three dimensions.

- Most modern theories recognize that while intelligence may involve a general ability to handle a

wider range of cognitive tasks and problems, but that intelligence may be expressed in many

different ways and people high on one aspect of intellience may be low on others.

1. GARDNER’S THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE

- Howard Gardner(1983) argued about the approach that was being followed in Psychology to

study about intelligence - that of studying “normal” children, those who would fall neither too

high nor low of what are considered average levels of intelligence.

- In his view, this was restricting the view of intelligence in psychology. He suggested that we

should also study the extremes - academic geniuses, and those with impaired cognitive

potential, along with those who are experts in several domains and those who might be said to

possess special mental “gifts”.

- eg an athlete can be viewed only as a product of extensive training or having a special kind of

intelligence - something very different from verbal fluency we usually associate with the term
 intelligence, but just more important? Gardner strongly supported the latter view, and in fact

added terms like musical intelligence - those who can playa tumbe without any formal training,

bodily kinesthetic intelligence - kind shown by athletes and dancers, personal intelligence -

ability to get well along others.

- So in his view we must understand all these intelligence in order to understand the big picture.

2. STERNBERG’S TRIARCHIC THEORY - THE VALUE OF PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE

- Robert Sternberg asserted that there are 3 basic types of intelligence:

- componential/analytic intelligence - ability to think critically or analytically.

- such people show academic excellence.

- experiential/creative intelligence - insights and ability to formulate new ideas

- persons high on this dimension excel at zeroing in on what is important

information ina given situation and linking seemingly unrelated facts.

- this is the kind of intelligence shown by scientific inventors and geniuses -

Einstein, Newton.

- Contextual/practical intelligence - persons high on this are practical and adaptive-

“street smarts” to solve everyday problems.

3. CATELL’S THEORY OF FLUID AND CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE

- In efforts to determine whether intelligence consists of one or several components,

psychologists sometimes use factor analysis - this technique identifies clusters of items on a test

that seem to be related to one another and so can be viewed as measuring one common factor -

a specific test of intelligence. This was used by many researchers including Spearman.

- Cattell used this to come to the conclusion that there are two types of intelligence-
 - Fluid intelligence - our largely inherited abilities to think and reason, meaning that the

hrdware of our brain determines the limit of our information processing capabilities.

- Crystallized intelligence - refers to accumulated knowledge- info that we store as a

lifetime of experience, plus the application of skills and knowledge to solve a

problem/problems. In a sense then, crystallized intelligence refers to outcome of

experience acting on fluid intelligence.

- So the speed with which one can analyze information is an example of fluid intelligence

but the breadth of one’s vocabulary illustrates crystallized intelligence.

- Fluid intelligence decreases with age while crystallized stays same or even increases -

this is why older people can sometimes outperform younger ones in chess or research

because the loss of fluid intelligence is more than offset by gains in crystallized

intelligence.

PASS THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

Arguments against a general factor of intelligence arise both from logical considerations and clinical

observations.

- eg in cases of brain damage, some functions are lost while soem are spared. in cases of frontal

lobe damage, patient retains normal IQ, although frontal lobe is essential for higher cognitive

processes.

- similarly dyslexic children, though have difficulty in reading have high IQs

These examples challenge the usefulness of one factor for intelligence, be it conceptualized in mental

energy or speed.

Addressing these concerns, Das, Naglieri and Kirby(1994) came up with the PASS theory suggesting 4

types of competence - Planning, Attention, Simultaneous and Successive.