MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY

ADVANCED GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

MSYS – 11 / MCPS -11
Semester - I

Department of Psychology
School of Social Sciences
Tamil Nadu Open University
577, Anna Salai, Saidapet, Chennai – 600 015.

www.tnou.ac.in
March 2022
Name of the Programme: M.Sc., Psychology
Course Code: MSYS – 11 / MCPS-11
Course Title: Advanced General Psychology I

Curriculum Design
Dr. M. V. Sudhakaran
Professor of Psychology,
Department of Psychology,
School of Social Sciences,
Tamil Nadu Open University, Chennai – 15.

Course Writer
Dr. P. VIJAYALAKSHMI,
Associate Professor in Psychology
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences,
Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research
Porur, Chennai - 600116
Course Coordinator & Content Editor
Dr. M. V. Sudhakaran
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
School of Social Sciences
Tamil Nadu Open University, Chennai – 15

September 2022 (First Edition)

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 03.03.2022

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 MSYS-11 / MCPS -11 – ADVANCED GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

SYLLABUS

BLOCK - I

Basic concepts - Definition of Psychology - Schools of Psychology: Behaviorist - Gestalt

- Psychoanalysis – Humanistic - Scientific methods in Psychology - Application of
Psychology: Psychology in Industry, Community, Family, Education, Health, Self-
Development - Human relations.

BLOCK - II

The Sensory Process – Threshold sensitivity - Five senses - Perception: Organization -

The role of learning in perception - Perception and attention - Perceptual process -
Learning - Principles and Methods - Classical conditioning - Operant Conditioning -
The Principle of Reinforcement - Multiple Response learning - Cognitive learning -
Programmed Learning and Automated Instruction - Transfer of learning - Role of
Reward and Punishment in learning.

BLOCK- III

Motivation and Emotion - Physiological basis of motivation - Theories of Motivation

– Social Motives - Motivational factors in Aggression - Emotion – Biological basis of
emotion - Theories of Emotions – Emotional expression - Emotion and cognition.

BLOCK - IV

Memory and Forgetting - kinds of Remembering - Retrieval processes - The nature of

Forgetting - Two process theories of memory- Improving Memory - Language and
thought - Symbols and Concepts - Structure - Forms of thought - thinking and
reasoning - Concept Formation.

BLOCK V

Intelligence - Theories of Intelligence - Measuring Intelligence - Kinds of intelligence

tests - Ability - Formation of aptitude and attitude - Aptitude tests - Creativity and its
tests - Personality - Definition of Personality - Theories of Personality - Assessment of
Personality.
References:

1. Baron, R. A. (2010). Psychology (5th Ed.). New Delhi, India: Pearson India
Education Services Pvt Ltd.
2. Ciccarelli, S.K. & Meyer, G.E. (2008). Psychology. South Asian Edition.
NewDelhi: Dorling Kindersley India Pvt. Limited.

3. Fernald, L.D., & Fernald, P.S. (2007). Introduction to Psychology. 5th Ed.
AITBSPublishers.
4. Haggard, E.R., Atkinson, C.R., & Atkinson, R.L. (2011). Introduction to
Psychology.New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd.
5. Hillgard, E. R., Atkinson, R. C., & Atkinson, R. L. (1975). Introduction to

Psychology.6th Edition, New Delhi: Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.
6. Kalia, H. L. (2008). Introduction to Psychology. India: AITBS Publishers.
7. Morgan, C. T., King, R. A., Weisy, J. R., Schopler, J. (1993). Introduction to
Psychology. 7th Ed. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishers.
8. Venkattammal, P. General Psychology. (2011). Tamilnadu state higher
educationDepartment. Chennai.
 CONTENTS
Sl.No Title Page No

1 BLOCK I – BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BEHAVIOUR

2 Unit 1 Basic Concepts and Schools 2

3 20
Unit 2 Scientific Methods in Psychology
4 45
Unit 3 Applications of Psychology
5 60
Unit 4 Sensation
6 77
Unit 5 Perception
7 BLOCK-II: LEARNING 92

8 93
Unit 6 Learning Principles and Methods
9 112
Unit 7 Types of Learning
10 134
BLOCK-III: MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
11 134
Unit 8 Motivation
12 Unit 9 Emotions 158
13 BLOCK-IV: MEMORY, FORGETTING & LANGUAGE 180

14 Unit 10 Memory and Forgetting 181

15 Unit 11 Theories of Memory 200

16 215
Unit 12 Language and Thought
17 226
Unit 13 Thinking, Reasoning and Concept Formation
18 244
BLOCK- V: INTELLIGENCE AND PERSONALITY
19 245
Unit 14 Intelligence
20 Unit 15 Personality 266

21 Appendix -I Plagiarism Certificate 305

 BLOCK-I

UNIT 1 BASIC CONCEPTS AND SCHOOLS

UNIT 2 SCIENTIFIC METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

UNIT 3 APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

1
Unit 1
BASIC CONCEPTS AND SCHOOLS
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
1.1 Basic concepts
1.1.1 Definitions of Psychology
1.1.2 Aims of Psychology
1.2 Early schools of Psychology
1.2.1 Structuralism: Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
1.2.2 Functionalism
1.3 Modern schools of Psychology
1.3.1 Gestalt Psychology
1.3.2 Psychoanalysis
1.3.3 Behaviourism
1.3.4 Humanistic Psychology
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings
OVERVIEW

Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour and it

includes the application of science to human problems. Psychologists
approach the study of behaviour from many viewpoints and they are
represented in the schools of psychology. In this unit, we will initially
focus on the basic concepts, and definitions. Then we will see the major
schools like Gestalt, Psychoanalytic, Behaviorism and Humanistic
schools.
OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you will be able to

• define psychology
2
 • explain the basic concepts
• discuss the different schools of psychology
1.1 BASIC CONCEPTS

Psychology is the science of behavior and cognitive processes. In other

words, psychologists are concerned with obtaining the scientific
information on everything we think, feel, and do. They examine
observable behavior, cognitive processes, physiological events, social
and cultural influences, and hidden and largely unconscious processes.
They also look at the complex interactions between all of these different
factors in order to understand the behavior.

1.1.1 Definitions of Psychology

The term “psychology comprises of two Greek words, namely "psyche"

and "logos". The former refers to the soul and the latter means 'study of.'
Thus, the term psychology literally means 'study of the soul'. Later, as
the word came to possess religious and metaphysical significance,
psychology was referred to as the study of the mind. Since the term
mind was also something abstract, the definition of psychology
underwent various modifications.

The early psychologists defined psychologists as the "study of mental

activity." With the development of behaviourism at the beginning of 20th
century and its concern for studying only those phenomena that could be
objectively measured, psychology was redefined as the study of
behaviour. This definition usually included the investigation of animal as
well as the human behaviour on, the assumption that information from
experiments with the subhuman species could be generalized to the
human organism.

Man is essentially a living organism. Psychology is primarily concerned

with responses of these organisms to the outside world. The stimuli from
the environment act upon these organisms which in turn respond to
these stimuli. Hence psychology may be considered to be a biological
science. Besides being a biological organism, man is also a social being.
Human beings live in groups and their behaviours are conditioned by the
group in which they live. Thus, psychology may also be called a social
science. Since psychology is based both on biology and social
interaction, it may be called as a Bio-Social Science.
Having understood that psychology is the scientific study of behaviour
and mental process, and also that is a bio-social science, we shall look
into some of the other few changing definitions of psychology, for better
understanding of the subject.
3
Psychology is the Science of Mental Life, both of its phenomena and of
their conditions. These phenomena are called feelings, desires,
cognitions, reasoning, decisions, and the like. (William James, 1890)

For the Behaviorist, psychology is that division of natural science which

takes human behaviour the doings and sayings both learned and
unlearned as its subject matter. (John B. Watson, 1919)

Psychology is defined as a 'Scientific study of the behavior of living

creatures in their contact with the outer world". (Kurt Koffka, 1925)

Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behaviour. Its subject

matter includes behavioral processes that are observable, such as
gestures, speech, and physiological changes, and processes that can
only be inferred as thoughts and dreams. (Kenneth Clark and George
Miller, 1970)
Presently psychology is defined as the "Scientific study of behaviour
(human being and lower animals) and mental process". When we say
psychology is a scientific study of behaviour, it means that the behaviour
can be proved with factual information. The use of scientific procedures
includes systematic observation and experimentation by collecting and
gathering data. The mental process in the above definition refers to any
psychological or cognitive activity which takes place in the organisms
from birth to till the individual is alive.

The word behaviour refers to the activities of the organism that can
either be observed by another person, or by using certain psychological
tests. Most of the verbs such as eating, climbing, jumping, walking-the
physical activities or thinking, remembering, forgetting-the mental
activities, refer to behavioural elements that can be observed and
described as they occur. The components of behaviour are (i) conscious
experiences and (ii) unconscious process. The conscious experiences of
the organism are those experiences of which the organism is aware, for
instance, being hungry or having pain when injured. The unconscious
processes include the desire, urges, fears, etc. The conscious or the
unconscious behaviours are inferred from either the verbal report of the
individual concerned or through the inference of the manifest behaviour
of the person. Thus, both the conscious experiences and the
unconscious processes are both equally important for us to understand
the total behavior of the organism. Behaviour is further viewed as covert
behaviour which is the inward behaviour and overt behaviour that is
revealed outwardly. Behaviour may also be desirable behaviour that is,
an individual being truthful, disciplined, punctual etc. or may be an
undesirable behaviour such as stealing, lying, being dishonest and so
4
on. Psychology is not only a scientific field of study, it is also an
eminently useful and practical one.
1.1.2 Aims of Psychology

The prime aim of psychology is to understand, predict and control

behaviour. To understand we mean to find out how and why of the
behaviour, exploring the various causes for the particular behaviour. For
instance, why a student is not successful in passing the examinations
could be understood by exploring the various causes like poor study
habits, lack of concentration, poor memory, uninterested in the subject,
lack of motivation, or due to personal or other family problems, and by
describing as well as explaining such behaviours. To predict means, to
foretell or to tell in advance atleast to some extent the occurrence of
such behaviours. For example, poor study habits may lead to failure in
the examinations. To control refers to minimize or stop the occurrence
particular behaviour by using various psychological techniques or
treatment. For instance, poor study training programmes. Psychology
further aims at solving 'real-life' problems. The various activities like
Psycho-therapist talking to a worried client, the Educational Psychologist
advising a school board on a new curriculum, the Clinical Psychologist
supervising group therapy in a mental hospital and the Industrial
psychologist trying to lessen tensions between management and
workers in a large industry, all aim at minimizing the intensity of real life
problems.

Psychology further aims at solving social problems. For instance, what

can be done to eliminate race prejudice? What family and social
conditions contribute to alienation, aggression and crime?
Psychology also affects our lives through its influence on laws and public
policy. Laws concerning discrimination, capital punishment, the
conditions under which individuals may be held legally responsible for
their actions are influenced by psychological theories of human nature.

Psychology examines the nature of research so as to how psychologists

formulate hypotheses and devise methods to prove or disprove it.
On the whole, psychology helps us to understand the behaviour of
individuals and provide insights into their attitudes and reactions.
1.2 EARLY SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY

1.2.1 Structuralism: Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

Wundt is considered by many to be the founder of Experimental

Psychology. He developed the first widely accepted school of thought
5
called structuralism, which focused on the inner workings of
consciousness. In 1879, he opened the first psychology laboratory at the
University of Leipzig in Germany. Structuralism was later expanded by
Tichener (1867-1927) Structuralism is an early view suggesting that
psychology should focus on conscious experience and on the task of
analyzing such experience into its basic parts. Edward Bradford and
Titchner also contributed to this school of psychology at the Cornel
University in the United States. Structuralism in brief refers to the
images, sensation and feelings which contribute to form experience. It
otherwise, deals with the structure of the mind or mental structure. The
structuralists tended to ask "what are the parts of psychological
processes? Structuralism developed and used the technique called
introspection. Introduction refers to self-analysis or self-examination or
looking within oneself. The reports of the subjects allowed the
Psychologist to interest the structure of the mind and now it worked.

Structuralism attempted to study the conscious experience, the objective

features such as sight or taste and subjective feelings such as
responses, will and mental images. Structuralists believed that the mind
functioned by creatively continuing elements of experience. G. Sanlly
Hell, who founded the American Psychological Association, was also
associated with structuralism

1.2.2 Functionalism

Functionalists such as William James (1842-1910), James Angell (1869

- 1949) Harvey Carr (1873 - 1954), at the University of Chicago
proposed that psychology should study "what the mind and behaviour
do." In brief, these early psychologists studied the how of using to the
functions and behaviour. Functionalism addressed the ways in which
experience permits us to function more adaptively in our environments,
and it used behavioural observation in the laboratory. The functionalists
tended to ask "what are the purpose of overt behaviour and mental
processes? What differences do they make?
An early view of psychology was that, it should study the ways in which
the ever changing stream of conscious experience helps us adapt to a
complex and challenging world. Functionalism investigated adaptations
or adjustment.

6
1.3 MODERN SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
1.3.1 Gestalt Psychology

This School of Gestalt psychology was founded in Germany about 1912

by Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) and his colleagues: Kurt Koffka (1886-
1941) and Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967).
The German word Gestalt means "form" or "configuration and the
Gestalt psychologists maintained that, the mind should be thought of as
resulting from the whole patterns of sensory activity and the
relationships and organizations within this pattern. When you look at the
dots in the figure given below, your mental experience is not the just of
the dots, or elements but of a square and a triangle. It is the organization
of the dots and their relationships that determine the mental experiences
you have. Gestalt psychologists stated that the mental experiences
depend on the patterning and organization of the elements. In other
words, the mind is best understood in terms of the ways elements are
organized.
Figure

According to the Gestalt psychologists, the organization of the

relationships of elements determines the mental experience a person
has. Your mental experience is not just of the dots, or elements, but of a
square and a triangle sitting on a line. It is the organization of the dots
and their relationship's that determine the mental experience you have to
Gestalt psychologists believed mental experience depends on the
patterning and organization of elements and the mind is best understood
in terms of the ways elements are organized. The importance of
organization in a mental experience, will be discussed in perception
chapter. Gestalt psychologists stated that experiences cannot be broken
down to separate elements. Gestalt psychologists laid their basis on
perception, and believed that perception is a copy of objects or a "mental

7
image" of what has been perceived and thinking is a mechanical
combination of those images.
Gestalt is not a name of the person, instead it is a school of psychology
that argues that behaviour cannot be studied in parts but must be
viewed a whole. Parts make the whole or the whole is more important
that the sum of the parts. That is, the overall behaviour or the total
experience of the individual is important that the mere reflexes. The
whole is more than the sum of the parts. Whole experience is essential,
and the total experience is evaluated. For instance, there is a difference
between if I tell you "come to my house" and "come home". House here
merely refers to the parts - the table, chairs or the building but home
includes the people at house and they really want you to visit them. It is
a holistic approach. So, being a student of psychology, it calls for being
pretty careful when people invite you and check whether they use the
word house or home, having known what is Gestalt psychology.
Wertheimer and his colleagues focused on the perception and on how
perception influences thinking and problem solving. Perceptions were
more than the sum of the parts. Gestalt psychologists saw our
perceptions as a whole and that gives meaning to part.

Gestalt psychologists illustrated how we tend to perceive separate

pieces of information as integrated wholes, including the lowest in which
they occur.
Figure

For instance the symbol in the second column at the above is identical,
but in the top row, we may perceive it as B and in the bottom row as
number 13. The symbol has not changed, only the context in which it
appears has changed.
The method used in Gestalt psychology is Introspection Method. Gestalt
psychology, too had its criticisms like, the responses may be biased,
prejudiced, subjective, not consistent and not always reliable and valid,
thus exercising. Gestalt psychology required rigorous training and
practice.

8
1.3.2 Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis was founded in Vienna, Austria, by the Psychiatrist

Sigmund Freud (1856-1938). In the course of his practice with neurotic
patients, Freud developed a theory of behavior and mind which said that
much of what we do and think results from urges, or drives, which seek
expression in behavior and thought. A crucial point about these urges
and drives, according to psychoanalytic theory, is that they are hidden
from the awareness of the individual; they are, in other words,
unconscious. It is the expression of the unconscious drives which shows
up in behavior and thought. The term unconscious motivation thus
describes the key idea of psychoanalysis. Freud elaborated on this basic
theme of unconscious motivation as a system of psychotherapy

The psychoanalytic conception of human behavior was developed by

Sigmund Freud in Europe at about the same time that behaviorism was
evolving in the United States. Psychoanalytic concepts are based on
extensive case studies of individual patients rather than on experimental
studies. Psychoanalytic ideas have had a profound influence on
psychological thinking. The basic assumption of Freud's theory is that
much of our behaviour stems from processes that are unconscious. By
unconscious processes Freud meant thoughts, fears, and wishes a
person is unaware of, but which still influence behavior. He believed that
many of the impulses that are forbidden or punished by parents and
society during childhood are derived from innate instincts. Because
these impulses are innate, they exerted a pervasive influence that must
be dealt with in some manner. Forbidding them merely drives them out
of awareness into the unconscious, where they remain to affect

Behavior, according to Freud, unconscious impulses find expression in

dreams slips of speech, mannerisms, and symptoms of neurotic illness,
as well as through such socially approved behavior as artistic, literary, or
scientific activity.

The socially forbidden, personally unacceptable and painful desires,

impulses, urges and wishes of the individual are being pushed away into
the depths of the unconscious portions of the mind from the conscious
layers. This process is called "repression”. However, these repressed
impulses are active and try to occupy the conscious mind, atleast in a
disguised manner. These impulses find their expression in many like that
of dreams, slips of pen or tongue, unconscious mannerism and
symptoms of neurotic illness, Sometimes, they find socially acceptable
expressions like that of artistic, literary and scientifically produced.

9
According to Freudian theory, these expressed unconscious impulses
are sexual in nature.
According to psychoanalysis, the nature of the unconscious material
may be made conscious and that helped to remember the with the
accompanying affective components of the original experiences, which
would help the individual to recover, this is called by Freud the method
of "Free Association" and "Dream Interpretation". The structure of mind
deals with ld - the basic principles, the Ego - the reality principle, and the
Superego the conscious.

Freud also evolved a theory of personality development running through

certain stages of development which is known as theory of psycho-
sexual development, dealing with the oral, anal, phallic, latency and the
genital stage.
Freud came to believe that unconscious processes especially primitive
sexual and aggressive impulses were more influential than conscious
thoughts in determining human behaviour. Freud thought that most of
the mind was unconscious, consisting of conflicting impulses, urges and
wishes. People were motivated to gratify these impulses, ugly as some
of them were, but at the same time people were motivated to judge
themselves as being decent. Thus, they would often decide themselves
about their real motives. Because of the assumed notion of underlying
force in personality Freud's theory is referred to as 'psychodynamic'.
Freud devised a method of psychotherapy called psychoanalysis that
aims at helping patients gain insight into many of their deep-seated
conflicts and find socially acceptable ways of expressing the wishes and
gratifying needs. Psychoanalytic therapy is a process that can extend for
years.

Psychoanalytic concepts are based on effective case studies of

individual patients rather than on experimental studies. Psychoanalytic
ideas have had a profound influence on psychological thinking. The
basic assumption of Freud's theory is that much of our behaviour stems
from processes that are unconscious. By an unconscious processes,
Freud meant thoughts, fears and wishes, a person is unaware of but
which still influence behaviour. He believed that many of the impulses
that are forbidden or punished by parents and society during childhood
are derived from innate instincts. Because, these impulses are innate,
they exert a persuasive influence, that must be dealt with in some
manner. Forbidding them merely drives them out of awareness into
the unconscious, where they remain to affect behaviour.

10
Freud's view of human nature was essentially negative. We are driven
by the same basic instincts as animals like primarily sex and aggression
and are continually struggling against a society that stresses the control
of these impulses. Because Freud believed that aggression was a basic
instinct, he was pessimistic about the possibility of people ever living
together peacefully.

Psychoanalysis is a technique used by specially trained individuals to

help people cope with personal problems by overcoming anxiety.
1.3.2 Behaviourism

This school of psychology originated with the American Psychologist

John B. Watson (1878 - 1958), for many years, at Johns Hopkins
University Watson rejected mind as the subject of psychology and
insisted that psychology be restricted to the study of behavior, the
observable or potentially observable activities of people and animals.
Only the observable responses made by the subject were relevant.
Behaviourism studies the observable behaviour and relationships
between stimuli and responses.

In addition to its focus on behavior as the proper subject matter of

psychology, behaviorism had three other important characteristics. One
was an emphasis on conditioned responses as the elements, or building
blocks, of behavior. Watson argued that complex human and animal
behavior is made up almost entirely of conditioned responses. A second
closely related characteristic of behaviorism was its emphasis on
learned, rather than unlearned, behavior. It denied the existence of
inborn, or innate, behavioral tendencies. A third characteristic of
behaviourism was its focus on animal behavior. Watson held that there
are no essential differences between human and animal behavior and
that we can learn much about our own behavior from the study of what
animals do.
With the behavioral approach, a psychologist studies individuals by
looking at their behavior rather than at their internal workings. The view
that behavior should be the sole subject matter of psychology was first
advanced by the John B. Watson in the early 1900s. According to
Watson, "if psychology were to be a science, Its data must be
observable and measurable.
Stimulus-response psychology is influential particularly because of the
work of Harvard psychologist B.F.Skinner. Stimulus-Response
psychology (or S-R psychology for short) studies the stimuli that elicit
behavioral responses, the rewards and punishments that maintain these

11
responses and the modifications in behavior obtained by changing the
patterns of rewards and punishments. A theory of learning can be
developed by observing how learning can be done with the fewest
errors. Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement to
behaviourism.

Watson pointed out to the laboratory experiments being conducted by

Ivan Pavlov in Russia as a model. Pavlov found that, dogs will learn to
salivate when a bell is rung and if ringing the bells has been repeatedly
associated with feeding. Pavlov explained the salivation in terms of the
laboratory conditions, or conditioning. Salivation was an event that could
be measured by the laboratory instruments.
Harvard University psychologist, B.F. Skinner took the behaviorist call
and introduced the concept of reinforcement to behaviourism.
Organisms learns to behave in certain ways, because they have been
reinforced for doing so. According to Behaviorist's view, psychology
should focus solely on observable, overt activities that can be measured
in a scientific manner.
For example, consider the question of what motivates people to work
hard and spend efforts on their jobs. We cannot observe such work-
motivation directly, it is an internal state that we assume, exists inside
people and affects their overt behaviour. For example, - how long and
hard they work at a given task - we can observe both the conditions. We
believe that many influence motivation, such as the extent to which good
performance is rewarded, and changes in overt behaviour that appear to
be linked with motivation, such as actual output, number of errors and so
on in the industrial or organizational set up. Since modern psychology,
still focuses a great deal of attention on overt behaviour, this motivation
remains an important perspective within the field. Behaviourism is based
on the learning model like observation, conditioning and modeling. The
methods include all Behaviour Modification Techniques like Assertive
Training, Role Modeling, Systematic Desensitization, Aversion Therapy
etc.
Behaviourism did have criticisms based on the facts that all responses
are not observable and that it missed the richness of human nature of
thoughts and feelings.
1.3.4 Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic or Phenomenological Approach: Humanistic Psychology

is a recent school, which emerged in 1980's and is related to Gestalt
psychology and cognitive in flavor. The humanistic approach of

12
American psychologists such as Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987), Rollo May
(born 1909) and Abraham Maslow (1916 - 1972) assists that we are
basically free to determine our own behaviour. To Humanists, freedom is
a source of both pride and great responsibility. Humanistic psychologists
suggest that we are engaged in quests to discover our personal
identities and meaning of our lives.

Humanistic psychology, because of its focus on consciousness and self

awareness, is also labeled "phenomenological". The word
"phenomenon' is derived from the Greek word 'fantasy'. However,
fantasy implies that one's perceptions are inaccurate and unreal.

Humanistic approach which is otherwise called as the phenomenological

approach focuses on subjective experience. It is concerned with the
individual's own perception and interpretation of events the individuals
phenomenology. This approach seeks to understand events, or
phenomena, as they are experienced by the individual and to do so
without imposing any preconceptions or the theoretical ideas.
Phenomenological psychologists believe that we can learn more about
human nature by studying people's perceptions of themselves and their
world than we can by observing their actions. two people might behave
quite differently in response to the same situation, only by asking how
each interprets the situation can we fully understand their behavior.

Humanistic psychology assumes the existence of the self and

emphasizes the importance of consciousness and self awareness.
Phenomenological psychologists prefer to believe that we are
responsible for our actions. We are not "acted on" by forces outside our
control, but are "actors" capable of controlling our own destiny. The
issue here is one of determinism versus free will. Phenomenological
psychologists, in contrast, are not concerned with prediction and control.
Their emphasis is on understanding the individual's inner life and
experiences. They believe that, although animal behavior depends
primarily on how the individual perceives the world in general and the
immediate situation in particular. Phenomenological approach deals with
the experience of perceiving the world.
Some phenomenological theories are also called humanistic, because
they emphasize those qualities that distinguish people from animals-
primarily their free will and their drive toward self-actualization.
According to humanistic' theories, an individual's main motivational force
is a tendency toward growth and self-actualization. Achievement of us
has a basic need to develop our potential to the fullest, to progress
beyond where we are now. Although we may be blocked by all kinds of
13
environmental and cultural obstacles, our natural tendency is toward self
actualization of our potential. With its emphasis on developing one's
potential, humanistic psychology has been closely associated with
encounter groups and various types of "consciousness-expanding" and
mystical experiences. It is more aligned with the literature and
humanities than with science. In fact some humanists would even reject
scientific psychology claiming that its method can contribute nothing
worthwhile to an understanding of human nature.

Humanists such as Carl Rogers (1985) and other psychologists admit

that their observation method have been less than scientific, vague and
difficult to test, due to their subjectivity but argue that subjective
experience remains vital to the understanding of human nature.
COMPARISON OF SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Behavioristic Perspective Only concepts that can be related to

observable aspects of behavior are useful from the point of view of a
science-oriented psychology
Psychoanalytic perspective: According to the psychodynamic
perspective, behavior stem from continuous, and largely unconscious,
struggles among hidden forces deep within our personalities.
Humanistic perspective: Psychologists who adhere to the humanistic
perspective emphasize the importance of tendencies toward
personal growth-tendencies in each of us to try to become the best
person we can be. Only when external obstacles interfere is the growth
process interrupte; in such cases, humanistic psychologists contend, we
may experience various psychological disorders stemming from
disruption of our normal growth. Humanistic Perspective is a perspective
in modern psychology suggesting that human beings have free will and
are not simply under the control of various internal and external factors.

PERSPECTIVE FOCUS

Behavioral Focuses on overt, observable behavior concepts

are viewed as useful only if they can be related to
overt behavior.

Gestalt Emphasizes the tendency to organize perception

into whole and to integrals separate stimuli into
meaningful patterns

Psychodynamic Emphasizes the role of internal forces and

conflicts in behavior. It views many actions, and
14
 many forms of psychological disorders, as
stemming from unconscious impulses or forces.
Humanistic Emphasizes the importance of tendencies toward
personal growth and assumes that individuals
have free will with respect to their own Behavior.
HUMANIST VIEW

A school of thought which focuses Subject matter: Question about the

on subjective experience to whole person, subjective human
discover personal identities and experience, and significant human
meaning for live. We are problems, the extra ordinary and
responsible for our action. We are individual as well as the usual and
not 'acted on' forces outside our universal.
control, but are 'actors' capable of
Major Goals: Service and
controlling our thinking and action.
enrichment of the primary and
secondary knowledge.
Research methods emphasized:
The observers intuitive awareness
is considered important. All
procedures that include objective
methods, informal introspection,
case study, analysis, literature etc.,
are acceptable. Population studied
People.

BEHAVIOURISM

A school of thought that maintain Subject matter: stimuli and

that psychology can describe a observable responses; learning
measure only what is observable emphasized.
either directly or through the use
Major goals: Knowledge,
an instrument.
applications. Population studied:
people and other animals.

15
 GESTALT PSHCHOLOGY

A school of thought which believes Subject matter: Subjective; whole

that behaviour can be studied in human experience; perception,
part: but must be viewed as a thinking and problem solving
whole. emphasized.

Major goals: Knowledge, Research

methods emphasized; Informal
introspection, objective method.

PSYCHOANALYSIS

Theory and technique developed Subject matter: Normal and

by Sigmund Freud regarding the abnormal personality (laws,
dynamics of behaviour. determinants in early childhood,
Unconscious motivation is the and unconscious aspect
key to understand the behaviour emphasized); treatment of
abnormal behaviour.

Major Goals: Service, knowledge,

Research Methods emphasized;
patient's informal introspection to
reveal conscious experiences.
Therapist: Logical analysis and
observation to the uncover
unconscious Materials.
Population Studied: Patients
(Usually adults).

LET US SUM UP

Today, we define psychology as the science of behaviour and cognitive

processes. In other words, psychologists are concerned with obtaining
scientific information on everything we and other living organisms think,
feel and do. They examine observable behaviour, cognitive process,
psychological events, social and cultural influences and largely the
hidden and largely, unconscious processes. They also look at the
complex interactions between all of these different factors in order to
describe their behaviour. Regarding the modern schools of psychology,
Gestalt psychology emphasizes the tendency to organize perception into
16
whole and to integrals separate stimuli into meaningful patterns.
Psychoanalysis emphasized the importance of unconscious motives and
conflicts as determinants of human behaviours. Behaviourism mainly
deals with the observable responses to environmental stimuli that can be
measured either directly or indirectly by the use of instruments. Some
phenomenological theories are also called humanistic, because they
emphasize those qualities that distinguish people from animals-primarily
their free will and their drive toward self-actualization.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Psychology is the science of behavior and

2. is considered by many to be the founder of

Experimental Psychology
3. The German word Gestalt means or

4. This school of psychology originated with the

American Psychologist

5. With the a psychologist studies individuals by looking at

their behavior rather than at their internal workings.

6. approach deals with the experience of perceiving the

world.
KEY WORDS

Structuralism Functionalism
Cognitive process Behaviourism
Gestalt Psychoanalysis
Humanistic Phenomenological

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Cognitive Processes
2. Wundt
3. Form, Configuration
4. John B. Watson
5. Behavioral approach
6. Phenomenological

17
GLOSSARY

Behavior: An organism’s activities in response to external or internal

stimuli, including objectively observable activities, introspectively
observable activities and nonconscious processes.
Behaviorism: An approach to psychology, formulated in 1913 by John
B. Watson, based on the study of objective, observable facts rather than
subjective, qualitative processes, such as feelings, motives, and
consciousness.

Experimental psychology: The scientific study of behaviour, motives,

or cognition in a laboratory or other controlled setting in order to predict,
explain, or influence behavior or other psychological phenomena.

Functionalism: A general psychological approach that views mental life

and behavior in terms of active adaptation to environmental challenges
and opportunities.

Gestalt psychology: A psychological approach that focuses on the

dynamic organization of experience into patterns or configurations

Psychoanalysis: An approach to the mind, personality, psychological

disorders, and psychological treatment originally developed by Sigmund
Freud at the beginning of the 20th century.

Social Interaction: Any process that involves reciprocal stimulation or

response between two or more individuals.

Structuralism: It is the study of mental experience and sought to

investigate the structure of such experience through a systematic
program of experiments based on trained introspection. Also called
structural psychology.

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Define Psychology
2. What are the aims of Psychology?
3. What is Structuralism?
4. What is Behaviorism?
5. Explain the different schools of psychology.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

18
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.

3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002

19
Unit 2

SCIENTIFIC METHODS
IN PSYCHOLOGY
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
2.1 Scientific Method
2.2 Experimental Method
2.2.1 Laboratory Experiment
2.2.2 Field experiment
2.2.3 The important characteristics of the experimental method
2.3 Observation Method
2.3.1 Types of observation method
2.4 Survey Method
2.5 Test Method
2.6 Case study Method
2.7 Clinical Method
2.8 Correlation Method
2.9 Interview Method
2.10 Questionnaire Method
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings
OVERVIEW

As we have defined the psychology as a science, in the previous unit, it

was emphasized that the discovery of new knowledge about behaviour
is based on the experiments and the subsequent observation made
upon it. In this unit, let us look more closely at the ways psychologists go
about making observations. In this unit, we focus on the steps in the
scientific methods, the characteristics of experimental method,
laboratory method, Observation method, Survey method, clinical
20
method, various types of interview methods, and finally
the questionnaire method.

OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit you would be able to

• explain the various steps in the scientific methods

• describe about the experimental method and its characteristics
• explain the Observation method and its types
• describe about the survey, test and methods.
• discuss about the case study method, its advantages and
disadvantages

• discuss about the correlation, the various interview methods and

questionnaire methods as well as their advantages
and disadvantages.

2.1 SCIENTIFIC METHOD

As a student of psychology, you might have come across several

questions such as:
• How do psychologists study behaviour?
• Does alcohol cause aggression?
• What is the relationship between age and intelligence?
• Is there any difference between boys and girls in their academic
achievements?
• Can children be taught to develop desirable behaviours?

Many of us have expressed opinions on the various questions such as

these at one time of another and different psychological theories suggest
a number of possible answers. But, psychology is an empirical science.
Within an empirical science, assumptions about the behaviour of cosmic
rays, chemical compounds, cell or people, must be supported by
evidence. Scientific evidence is obtained by means of the scientific
method of investigation.
There are four basic steps in scientific method.

Step 1: Formulating a research question - Our daily experiences,

psychological theory and even folklore help to generate questions for
21
research. For example, social - learning or observational learning may
prompt research to find the effects of televised violence.
Step 2: Developing a hypothesis. A tentative statement explaining the
relationship between two study variables or difference between/among
the study groups. A hypothesis is a specific statement about the
behaviour that is to be tested through research. A hypothesis about TV
violence
Step Developing a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a specific statement
about behaviour that to be tested through research. A hypothesis about
TV violence might that elementary school boys who watch more violent
TV shows tend to behave aggressively towards their peers.
Step 3: Testing the Hypothesis - Psychologists test the hypothesis
through cardinally controlled methods of observation or the experiment
method. Concert effects of TV violence, we could obtain the parent's
help to tally which the TV shows their children watch and to rate the
shows for violent content, a boy could receive a total “exposure to TV
violence score". We could also gather the teacher's report on how
aggressively the boy acts toward theirs. Then, we could determine
whether more aggressive boys act toward their peers. Then we could
determine whether more aggressive boys also watch more violence on
television.

Step4: Drawing conclusion from the test of Hypothesis Psychologists

draws a conclusion about the accuracy of their hypothesis on the basis
of their research findings. When research findings do not bear out their
hypothesis the researchers may modify the theories from which the
hypothesis was to modify the theories from which the hypothesis was
derived Research findings often suggest new hypothesis and
consequently new studies, he would probably find that aggressive
children spend more time watching these television violence.

Thus, psychologists use several techniques for conducting systematic

research o n the scientific method and perform the task of adding to our
knowledge bout behaviour and mental processes. They move beyond
common sense in seeking answers to puzzling questions about human
behavior.
2.2 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

The aim of science is to provide new and useful information in the form
of verifiable data. Data obtained under conditions are such that other
qualified people can repeat the observations and obtain the same
results. This task calls for orderliness and precision in investigating
22
relationships communicating them to others. Psychology as a science
makes use of the method of experimentation for its findings.
Experimental method has been used by other science as well.

The experimental method is a research method where the investigators

systematically after one or more variable in order to determine
whether such changes will influence some aspect of behaviour. The
experimental method can be used outside the laboratory as well as
inside. Experiments conducted outside the laboratory are called field
experiments and those conducted within are called as laboratory
experiments. The experimental method is a matter or logic, not of
location. Most experiments take place in special laboratories, chiefly
because the control of conditions commonly require special facilities,
computer and other instruments.
2.2.1 Laboratory Experiment

The distinguishing characteristic of a laboratory is that it is a place where

the experimenter can carefully control conditions and take
measurements in order to discover relationship among variables. A
variable is something that can occur with different values. For example,
in an experiment seeking to discover the relationship between learning
ability and age, each can have different values. To the extent that
learning ability changes systematically with increasing age, we can
discover an orderly relationship between these two variables.
The special feature of the laboratory condition is that the experimenter
can carefully control conditions and take measurements in order to
discover relationships among variables. In this, determining the
relationship involves manipulating or changing the value of one variable
and then measuring the changes in another variable. Commonly, the
variable psychologists manipulate is called the independent variable. All
the variables affected by this manipulation are called the dependent
variables. This method of manipulation is very useful in helping
psychologists to identify the causes of behaviours, to test new kinds of
treatment for mental disorders or to evaluate new teaching methods.
Sometimes, an experimenter focuses only on the influences of a single
condition which can be either present or absent. An experimental
method commonly calls for an experimental group with the condition
present and the control group with the conditions absent. For instance,
in an experiment conducted to find if the computer assisted learning is
beneficial, the experimental group received computer assisted learning
for reading, scored higher on reading tests, than the control group which
did not receive such instruction for reading. The students in the
23
experimental group scored higher on the reading test than students in
control group, suggesting that computer assisted learning have been
beneficial. In this experiment, the independent variables are the
presence or absence of computer assisted learning. The dependent
variable is the students' score in the reading test. If changes in the
independent variable always leads to the subsequent changes in the
dependent variable, we can be confident that the variables are related
as cause and effect.

2.2.2 Field Experiment

Laboratory experiments furnish precise, focused controlled ways to

investigate cause-effect relationship. But the laboratory setting and
demand characteristics may distort people's behaviour, making it
unnatural. To avoid artificiality and demand characteristics and to make
the results more applicable to conditions, experiments that are
sometimes performed in natural settings, in the field.

Field experiments combine realism with control. Independent variable

are manipulated and dependent variables are measured usually
without the subjects' knowledge about their participation.

The ideal research strategy demands using laboratory experiments and

field experiments in a combined manner. The researcher can shift from
one to the other and back again to the laboratory experiments.
2.2.3 The important characteristics of the Experimental Method

a) Variables

A variable is an event or condition which can have different values.

Ideally, it is an event or condition which can be measured and which
varies quantitatively. Variables may be either independent or dependent.
An independent variable (or manipulated variable) is a condition set or
selected by an experimenter to see whether it will have an effect on
behavior; it might be a stimulus presented, a drug administered, and a
new method of training business managers, and so on. The dependent
variable (or resulting behavior) is the behavior of the person or animal in
the experiment. A dependent variable in an experiment might be the
response of a person to a stimulus, a change in behavior after the
administration of a drug, changes in managerial behavior after a new
training program has been instituted, a score on a test, a verbal report
about an event in the environment, and so on. The dependent variable is
so called because its value depends, on the value of the one
independently chosen and directly manipulated by the experimenter.

24
Experimental method discovers cause and effect relationships by
introducing independent variable and observing their effect on the
dependent variables The antecedent condition is called as the
independent variable, because it is independent of what the subject
does. The variable affected by changes in the antecedent conditions is
called the dependent variable, psychological research the dependent
variable is usually come measure of the subjects behaviour.

The factor systematically varied by the researcher is termed as the intuit

pendent variable, while the aspect of behavior or cognitive
processes studied is termed the dependent variable. Independent
Variable is the variable that is systematically altered in an experiment.
Dependent Variable is aspect of behavior that is measured in an
experiment.
When, in doing experiments, hypotheses are formulated about the effect
of one thing on another, the independent variable is the one expected to
produce changes in the dependent variable. Consider the following
hypotheses, for instance. Giving people training in how to meditate will
improve their skill as tennis players. The environmental enrichment and
the meditation the independent variables, while the changes in tennis
skills are the dependent variables.

b) Control

In an experiment, it is important that, only the specified independent

variables be allowed to change. Factors other than the independent
variable which might affect the dependent variable must be held
constant. It would do no good to study the effects of varying an
independent variable if, unknown to the experimenter, other factors also
changed. In an experiment, we must control conditions which would give
misleading results.

c) Replication

It is important that experiments can be repeated, or, in other words,

replicated For instance recitation is an aid to memory by having two
groups study something, one with recitation and the other without and
then measuring the differences in memory. If this experiment is
performed under proper conditions, it will show that the recitation helps
the memory.

25
d) Experimental group and Control group

Experimental group is the group on which the experiment is conduced or

receives the treatment. Control group is the group on which the
experiment is not conduced or does not receive the treatment.
A research method where investigators systematically alter one or more
variables in order to determine whether such changes will influence
some aspect of behavior. Experimentation or the experimental method
involves efforts to determine if variables are related to one another by
systematically changing one or more and observing the effects of such
variations on the other or others. Experimentation yields relatively clear-
cut evidence on causality. If systematic variations in one factor produce
changes in another (and if additional conditions we'll soon consider are
also met), we can conclude with reasonable certainty that there is a
causal link between the factors: those changes in one caused changes
in the other. Establishing such causality is extremely valuable from the
perspective of one major goal of science that is explanation.
The experimental method involves two basic steps: (1) The presence or
strength of some variable believed to affect behavior is systematically
altered, and (2) If the factor varied does indeed influence behavior or
cognitive processes, then individuals exposed to different levels or
amounts of that factor should differ in terms of their behavior. Thus,
exposure to a small amount of the variable should result in one level of
behavior; exposure to a larger amount should result in a different level,
and so on.

e) Two types of bias may intrude into experiments

They are (1) bias due to the demand characteristics of the experimental
situation itself and (2) bias due to the unintentional influence of the
experimenter.
Bias due to demand characteristics result in situation where the subjects
know that they are in an experimental situation and are aware of the fact
that they are being observed and that certain responses are expected
from them. Consequently, subjects may not respond to the experimental
manipulations as such, but to their interpretation of what responses
these are manipulations that are supposed to elicit from them. The
subjects may discover the research hypothesis and respond in a manner
consistent with it in an attempt to co-operate with the experimenter. A
common way to reduce their source is through deception by informing
about some other credible hypothesis.

26
The investigator's characteristics, age, sex, tone of voice, facial
expressions, body movements, information about the experiment or
research like research procedures, instruction to the subject, preparation
for research, laboratory equipments used for research and all these
influence the subjects' behaviour. As a result of these, the subject might
become anxious and nervous. This type cues, is known as bias due to
the unintentional influence of the experimenter and the subjects stop
behaving naturally and begin acting to please.

To reduce the effect of such demand characteristics, experimenters

often
use assistants who are unaware of the purpose of the experiment. The
assistant is said to be blind to the research goals and the experiment is
referred to as single and a blind procedure. When both the subject and
experimental assistant do not know the purpose, the procedure is
referred to as a "double-blind" experiment.

f) Limitations of Experimental Method

1) Experimental Method cannot always be used, especially if the

experiment might be dangerous for the subjects. 2) The conclusions
derived from an experiment may be limited to the artificial experimental
situation they may not apply to "natural" situations or even to other
experimental situations. 3) This method sometimes interferes with the
other factors it is trying to measure.
2.3 OBSERVATION METHOD

Careful observation of animal and human behavior including the study of

our own conscious processes is the starting point of psychology. Motion
pictures of newborn babies reveal the details of movement patterns
shortly after birth and the types of stimuli to which babies are
responsive.
Psychological researchers simply make the most exacting and
systematic study on the naturally occurring behavior. After making a
number of observations, the psychologist, using certain rules of logic, try
to infer the causes of the behavior being studied.
Extensive observations were made on the book-carrying behavior of
college students in Montana, Ontario, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.
The behaviour was classified into two patterns. The type pattern
consisted of carrying a book (or books) by wrapping the forearm around
it and supporting the short edge of the book against the body; the type Il
pattern consisted of carrying the book (or books) at the side of the body

27
with the long edge of the book approximately horizontal and with the
book grasped from the top or supported from underneath. Approximately
90 to 95 percent of the females fell into the type I pattern, while about
the same percentage of males fell into the type Il pattern. Look around
you and observe.

The method of systematic observation tells us what people do and how

they differ in their behavior. But, the psychological detective who uses
the method of systematic observation, may also seek to find out what
causes the observed behavior.

Why do females carry their books on the hip and males at the side? Is it
because of differences in female and male anatomy; is it because they
learn this behavior from others of the same sex, or is it due to the other
factors altogether? We would not be sure of the cause; we would only
have identified a likely cause or set of causes.

Observation becomes a scientific tool and the method of data collection

and is systematically planned and recorded and is subjected to checks
and controls on validity and reliability. Under the observation method,
the information is sought by the way of investigator's own direct
observation without asking from the respondent.
2.3.1 Types of Observation Method

Naturalistic Observation: Naturalistic Observation is a systematic study

of behaviour in natural settings. It is a research method in which various
aspects of behaviour are carefully observed in the settings where such
behavior naturally occurs.

Structured and unstructured Observation

While using this method, the researcher should keep in mind things like:
What should be observed? How the observations should be recorded?
Or how the accuracy of observation can be ensured? In case the
observation is characterized by a careful definition of the units to be
observed, the style recording the observed information, standardized
conditions of observation and the selection of a pertinent data of
observation, then the observation is called as structured observation.
But, when observation is to take place without these characteristics to be
thought of in advance, the same is termed as unstructured observation.
Structured observation is considered appropriate in descriptive studies,
whereas in an exploratory study the observational procedure is most
likely to be relatively unstructured.

28
Participant and non-participant observation

In social sciences it depends upon the observer's sharing or not sharing

the life of the group he is observing. If the observer observes by making
himself, more or less, a member of the group he is observing so that he
can experience what the members of the group experience, the
observation is called as the participant observation. But when the
observer observes as a detached emissary, what others feel, the
observation of this type is often termed as non-participant observation.
When the observer is observing in such a manner that his presence may
be unknown to the people he is observing, such an observation is
described as disguised observation.
Controlled and Uncontrolled Observation

If the observation takes place in the natural setting, it may be termed as

uncontrolled observation, but in un-controlled observation, no attempt is
made to use precision instruments. When observation takes place
according to definite pre-arranged plans, involving experimental
procedure, it is termed as controlled observation. The major aim of this
type of observation is to get a spontaneous picture of life and persons. It
has a tendency to supply naturalness and completeness of behavior,
allowing sufficient time for observing it. But in controlled observation, we
use mechanical or precision instruments as aids to accuracy and
standardization. Such observation has a tendency to supply formalized
data upon which generalizations can be built with some degree of
assurance. The main pitfall of un-controlled observation is that of
subjective interpretation. There is also the danger of having the feeling
that we know more about the observed phenomena than we actually do.
Generally, controlled observation takes place in various experiments that
are carried out in a laboratory or under the controlled conditions,
whereas uncontrolled observation is resorted to in case of exploratory
researches.

Advantages of Observation Methods

1) Subjective bias is eliminated, if observation is done accurately.

2) Information obtained under this method relates to what is
currently happening and it is not complicated by either the past
behavior or future intentions or attitudes.
3) It is independent of respondents' willingness to respond and
as such is relatively less demanding of active cooperation on the
part of respondents as happens to be the case in the interview or
the questionnaire method.
29
 4) It is particularly suitable in studies which deal with subjects i.e.
the respondents who are not capable of giving verbal reports of
their feelings for one reason or the other.

Disadvantages of Observation Methods

1) It is an expensive method
2) Information provided by this method is very limited.

3) Sometimes unforeseen factors may interfere with the

observational task.
4) The fact that some people are rarely accessible to the direct
observation that creates the obstacle, for this method to collect
the data effectively.

5) Anecdotes may take the place of observation

6) Interpretation may substitute description.

7) Data obtained are relatively formula subjective, based or

prejudicial and thus reduce their scientific value.

2.4 SURVEY METHOD

Some problems that are difficult to study by direct observation may be

studied through the use of questionnaires or interviews. In survey
method, people answer questions about aspects of their views, attitudes
or behaviour.
Surveys have been used to obtain information on political opinions,
consumer preferences, health care needs, etc. An adequate survey
requires a carefully pretested questionnaire, a group of interviewer
trained in its use, a sample carefully selected to ensure that the
respondents are representative of the population to be studied, and
appropriate methods of data analysis. So that the results are properly
interpreted.

It is a research method in which the large numbers of people answer the

questions about aspects of their views or their behavior. It involves
asking large numbers of individuals to complete questionnaires designed
to yield information on specific aspects of their behavior or attitudes.
Such surveys or polls are often conducted to measure a wide range of
attitudes and behaviors.
Surveys are often repeated over long periods of time in order to track
shifts in public opinions or actual behaviour. For example, some surveys

30
of job satisfaction and individual's attitudes towards their jobs have
constituted for several decades.
Advantages of Survey method: (1) Large amounts of information can be
gathered with relative ease, and shifts over time can be readily noted.
(2) When conducted carefully, surveys can provide highly accurate
predictions with respect to the outcome of elections and other events.

Disadvantages of Survey Method: (1) People may fail to respond

accurately or truthfully, providing answers that place them in a favorable
light rather than ones that reflect their true views. (2) The results of
surveys are useful only if the persons questioned are truly representative
of larger groups to whom the findings are to be generalized.
2.5 TEST METHOD

The test method is an important research instrument in contemporary

psychology. It is used to measure all kinds of abilities, interests,
attitudes, and accomplishments. Tests enable the psychologist to obtain
large quantities of data from people with a minimum disturbance of their
daily routines and without elaborate laboratory equipment. A test
essentially presents a uniform situation to a group of people who vary in
aspects relevant to the situation (such as intelligence, manual dexterity,
anxiety, or perceptual skills). An analysis of the results then relates
variations in test scores to variations among people.

Test construction and their use are, however, not simple matters. They
involve many steps in item preparation, scaling, and establishing norms.
Psychological test results like the result of surveys can be distorted by
respondents who answer in a socially desirable direction or attempt and
aggravate problems. For these reasons Psychologists have to use the
validity scales. Validity scales are groups of test items that suggest
whether or not the test results measure what they are supposed to
measure. Validity scales are sensitive to misinterpretations and alert the
psychologists when the test may be deceptive.

2.6 CASE STUDY METHOD

Scientific biographies, known as case studies or case histories, are

important sources of data for psychologists studying individuals. There
can, be case histories of institutions or the groups of people as well.
Most case histories are prepared by reconstructing the biography of a
person on the basis of remembered events and records. Reconstruction
is necessary because the individual's earlier history often does not
become a matter of interest until that person develops some sort of

31
problem; at such time, knowledge or the past is thought to be important
for understanding present behavior. The retrospective method may
result in the distortions of events or oversights, but it is often the only
method available.

Case histories may also be based on a longitudinal study. This type of

study follows an individual or group of individuals over an extended
period of time, with measurements made at periodic intervals. Thus, the
case history is constructed from actual observations made by the
investigator according to a plan. The advantage of a longitudinal study is
that it does not depend on the memories of those interviewed at a later
date. The disadvantage is that in most studies a large amount of data
has to be collected from many individuals in the hope that some of the
data will eventually show the characteristics of interest the investigator
perhaps. unusual creative abilities or some forms of mental disturbance.
Case Study Method is a method of research in which detailed
information about individuals is used to develop general principles about
behaviour. Detailed information is gathered on specific individuals in this
method.

Case study method is a very popular form of qualitative analysis and

involves a careful and complete observation of a social of be that of a
person, a family, an institution, a cultural group or even the entire
community. It is a method of study in depth rather than breadth. This
method places more emphasis on the full analysis of a limited number of
events or conditions and their interrelations. It deals with the processes
that. take place and their interrelationship. Thus, the case study method
is essentially an intensive investigation of the particular unit. under
consideration.

Case study is also a method of research in which detailed information

about individuals is used to develop general principles about behaviour.
For example, Freud based his entire theory of personality on the case
study method which was really useful in the hands of the talented
researchers such as Freud and seemed capable of yielding valuable
insights about their behaviour. Moreover, when the behaviour involved is
very unusual, the case study method can be quite revealing. The case
study is also used in psychological consultation. Psychologists learn
whatever they can about individuals, agencies and business firms, so
that they can suggest ways in which these clients can more effectively
meet their challenges.

32
2.7 CLINICAL METHOD

The clinical method is ordinarily used only when people come to

psychologists with personal problems. For instance, a child doing badly
in school and her parents bring her to the psychologist to find out why.
Little John Basil throws temper tantrums, refuses to eat, cries all night,
and generally makes life miserable for his parents.

There are "doctors who diagnose psychological disorders and treat them
by means of psychotherapy.

Many people are confused about the differences between a clinical

psychologist and a psychiatrist. The clearest distinction between them is
that a clinical psychologist normally holds a Ph.D. or M.A./M.Sc degree
or a relatively new degree called the Psy.D. (for "Doctor of Psychology";
a psychiatrist holds an M.D. degree. The Ph.D. (or Psy.D.) clinical
psychologist has taken 4 or 5 years of postgraduate work in a
psychology department; the M.A./M.Sc Clinical psychologist has had
about 2 years of postgraduate work and usually works under the
supervision of a Ph.D. psychologist. The psychiatrist, on the other hand,
has gone to medical school and has then completed 3 or 4 years of
residency training in psychiatry. This difference in training means that
the clinical psychologist, who does not have medical training, cannot
prescribe drugs to treat behavior disorders. It also means that whenever
there is possibility of a medical disorder, a patient should be examined
by a psychiatrist or other physician. Further, in most situations, only a
psychiatrist can commit a patient to a hospital for care and treatment. On
the other hand, psychologists are usually better trained in doing
research; thus, clinical psychologists are somewhat more likely than
psychiatrists to be involved in systematically studying better ways of
diagnosing, treating, and preventing behavior disorders. Psychologists
are also more likely than psychiatrists to use psychotherapy methods
that have grown out of scientific research. Clinical psychologists also
tend to rely more heavily than psychiatrists on the standardized tests as
an aid to diagnosing their behavior disorders.
Many clinical psychologists practice in state mental hospitals, community
mental health centers, and similar agencies. An increasing number are
in private practice, in the institutions and clinics where many clinical
psychologists practice, while psychiatrists often are available for
prescribing medical treatment when needed, psychologists do a large
part of the professional work of diagnosis and treatment, as well as
holding important administrative jobs and doing much of the research.
The clinical psychologist and the psychiatrist should also be
33
distinguished from the psychoanalyst. A psychoanalyst is a person who
uses the particular psychotherapeutic techniques which originated with
Sigmund Freud and his followers. And who has had the special training
required to use these techniques can be a psychoanalyst.
2.8 CORRELATION METHOD

A research method in which investigators observe two or more variables

in order to determine whether changes in one are accompanied by their
changes in the other. Prediction is the ability to forecast future events
from present ones and is an important goal of science Psychologists,
too, often seek to make predictions. We try to determine whether
changes in one variable are associated with changes in another so that,
for example, as one rises, the other does too. The stronger such
relationships or correlations, the more successfully one variable can be
predicted from the other.
Advantages of Correlation Method

1) it can be used to study behavior in many real-life settings.

2) It is often highly efficient and can yield a large amount of
interesting data in a short time.

3) It can be extended to include many different variables at once. In

a simple study, information on the physical attractiveness, age,
height, and gender of the political candidates, salespersons, and
so on might also be obtained. Then these variables could also be
related to success in persuasion, to determine if they too
influence this outcome.
Disadvantages of Correlation Study Method

There is no to cause-and-effect relationships. That is, the fact that two

variables are correlated even highly correlated does not guarantee that
there is a causal link between them, that changes in the first cause
changes in the second. Rather, in many cases, the fact that two
variables tend to rise or fall together and are simple reflects the fact that
both are caused by a third variable.
2.9 INTERVIEW METHOD

a) Personal interviews

Personal interview method requires a person known as the interviewer

asking questions generally in a face-to-face contact to the other person
or persons. This sort of interview may be in the form of the direct
personal investigation or it may be an indirect oral investigation. In the

34
case of direct personal investigation the interviewer has to collect the
information personally from the sources concerned. He has to be on the
spot and has to meet people from whom data have to be collected. This
method is particularly suitable for intensive investigations. But, in certain
cases it may not be possible or worthwhile to contact directly, the
persons concerned or on account of the extensive scope of enquiry, the
direct personal investigation technique may not be used. In such cases
an indirect oral examination can be conducted, under which the
interviewer has to cross examine the other persons, who are supposed
to have knowledge about the problem under investigation and the
information, thus, obtained is recorded. Most of the commissions and
committees appointed by government to carry on investigations make
use of this method.
b) Structured and Unstructured Interviews

The method of collecting information through personal interviews is

usually carried out in a structured way. As such we call the interviews as
structured interviews. Such interviews involve the use of a set of
predetermined questions and of highly standardized techniques of
recording. Thus, the interviewer in a structured interview follows a rigid
procedure laid down, asking questions in a form and order prescribed.
As against it, the unstructured interviews are characterized by a flexibility
of approach to questioning. Unstructured interviews do not follow a
system of predetermined questions and standardized techniques of
recording information. In a non-structured interview, the interviewer is
allowed a much greater freedom to ask, in case of need, supplementary
questions or at times he may omit certain questions if the situation so
requires. He may even change the sequence of questions. He has
relatively greater freedom while recording the responses to include some
aspects and exclude others. But, this sort of flexibility results in lack of
comparability of one interview with another and the analysis of
unstructured responses becomes much more difficult and time
consuming than that of the structured responses obtained, in case of
structured interviews. Unstructured interviews also demand deep
knowledge and greater skill on the part of the interviewer.
c) Focused Interview

Focused interview is meant to focus the attention on the given

experience of the respondent and its effects. Under it, the interviewer
has the freedom to decide the manner and sequence in which the
questions would be asked and has also the freedom to explore reasons
and motives. The main task of the interviewer in case of a focused
35
interview is to confine the respondent to a discussion of issues with
which he seeks conversance. Such interviews are used generally in the
development of hypotheses and constitute a major type of unstructured
interviews. The clinical interview is concerned with broad underlying
feelings or motivations or with the course of individual's life experience.
The method of eliciting information under it is generally left to the
interviewer's discretion. In case of non directive interview, the
interviewer's function is simply to encourage the respondent to talk about
the given topic with a bare minimum of direct questioning. The
interviewer often acts as a catalyst to a comprehensive expression of the
respondents' feelings and beliefs and of the frame of reference within
which such feelings and beliefs take on personal significances.

d) Telephone Interviews

This method of collecting information consists in contacting the

respondents on telephone itself. It is not a very widely used method, but
plays important part in industrial surveys, particularly in the developed
regions.

Advantages of Telephone interviews Method

1. It is more flexible in comparison to mailing method.

2. It is faster than other methods i.e., a quick way of obtaining
information.

3. It is cheaper than personal interviewing method; here the cost

per response is relatively low.
4. Recall is easy; callbacks are simple and economical.
5. There is a higher rate of response than what we have in mailing
method; the non response is generally very low.

6. Replies can be recorded without causing embarrassment to the

respondents.
7. Interviewer can explain requirements more easily.
8. At times, access can be gained to respondents who otherwise
cannot be contacted for one reason or the other.
9. No field staff is required.
10. Representative and wider distribution of sample is possible.
Pre-requisites and basic tenets of interviewing:

For successful implementation of the interview method, interviewers

should be carefully selected, trained and briefed. They should be honest,
36
sincere, hardworking, and impartial and must possess the technical
competence and necessary practical experience. Occasional field
checks should be made to ensure that interviewers are neither cheating,
nor deviating from the instructions given to them for performing their job
efficiently. In addition, some provision should also be made in advance
so that appropriate action may be taken if some of the selected
respondents refuse to cooperate or are not available when an
interviewer calls upon them.

In fact, interviewing is an art that is governed by certain scientific

principles. Every effort should be made to create friendly atmosphere of
trust and confidence, so that respondents may feel at ease while talking
to and discussing with the interviewer. The interviewer must ask
questions properly and intelligently and must record the responses
accurately and completely. At the same time, the interviewer must
answer the legitimate question(s), if any, asked by the respondent and
must clear any doubt that the latter has. The interviewers approach must
be friendly, courteous, conversational and unbiased. The interviewer
should not show surprise or disapproval of a respondent's answer, but,
he must keep the direction of interview in his own hand, discouraging
irrelevant conversation and must make all the possible effort, to keep the
respondent on the track.
Disadvantages of Telephone Interview Method

1) Little time is given to respondents for considered answers;

interview period is not likely to exceed five minutes in most
cases.
2) Surveys are restricted to respondents who have telephone
facilities.

3) Extensive geographical coverage may get restricted by

cost considerations.

4) It is not suitable for intensive surveys where

comprehensive answers are required to various questions.

5) Possibility of the bias of the interviewer is relatively more.

6) Questions have to be short and to the point and probes are
difficult to handle.
Advantages of Interview Method

(i) More information and that too in greater depth can be obtained.

37
 (ii) Interviewer by his own skill can overcome the resistance, if any,
of the respondents and the interview method can be made to
yield an almost perfect sample of the general population.

(iii) There is greater flexibility under this method as the opportunity to

restructure questions is always there, especially in case
of unstructured interviews.

(iv) Observation method can as well be applied to recording

verbal answers to various questions.

(v) Personal information can as well be obtained easily under

this method.

(vi) Samples can be controlled more effectively as there arises

no difficulty of the missing returns non-response generally
remains very low.
(vii) The interviewer can usually control which person(s) will
answer the questions. This is not possible in mailed
questionnaire approach If so desired, group discussions may
also be held.

(viii) The interviewer may catch the informant, off-guard and thus
may secure the most spontaneous reactions, than would be the
case if mailed questionnaire is used.
(ix) The language of the interview can be adapted to the ability
or educational level of the person interviewed and as such
misinterpretations concerning questions can be avoided.

(x) The interviewer can collect the supplementary information, about

the respondent's personal characteristics and environment which
is often of great value in interpreting results.
Disadvantages Interview Method

i. It is a very expensive method, especially when large and widely

spread geographical sample is taken.

ii. There remains the possibility of the bias of the interviewer as well
as that, of the respondent; there also remains the headache of
supervision and control of interviewers.
iii. Certain types of respondents such as important officials or
executives or people in high income groups may not be easily
approachable under this method and to that extent the data may
prove inadequate.

38
 iv. This method is relatively, more time consuming, especially when
the sample is large and re-calls upon the respondents are
necessary.
v. The presence of the interviewer on the spot, may over stimulate
the respondent, sometimes even to the extent that he may give
imaginary information just to make the interview interesting.

vi. Under the interview method the organisation required for

selecting, training and supervising the field staff is more complex
with formidable problems.

vii. Interviewing at times may also introduce the systematic errors.

viii. Effective interview presupposes proper rapport with

respondents that would facilitate free and frank responses. This
is often a very difficult requirement.
2.10 QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD

A questionnaire consists of a number of questions printed or typed in a

definite order on a form or set of forms. Sometimes the questionnaire is
mailed to respondents who are expected to read and understand the
questions and write down the reply in the space meant for the purpose in
the questionnaire itself. The respondents have to answer the questions
on their own.
A questionnaire can either be structured or unstructured questionnaire.
Structured questionnaires are those questionnaires in which there are
definite, concrete and pre-determined questions. The questions are
presented with exactly the same wording and in the same order to all
respondents. Resort is taken to this sort of standardization to ensure that
all respondents reply to the same set of questions. The form of the
question may be either closed under the type 'yes' or 'no' or open (i.e.,
inviting free response) but should be stated in advance and not
constructed during questioning. Structured questionnaires may also
have fixed alternative questions in which responses of the information
are limited to the stated alternatives. Thus, a highly
structured questionnaire is one in which all questions and answers are
specified and comments in the respondent's own words are held to the
minimum. When these characteristics are not present in a questionnaire,
it can be termed as unstructured or non-structured questionnaire. More
specifically, we can say that in an unstructured questionnaire, the
interviewer is provided with a general le on the type of information to be
obtained, but the exact question formulation is largely his own
responsibility and the replies are to be taken down in the respondent's
39
own words to the extent possible; in some situations tape recorders may
be used to achieve this goal.
Structured and unstructured Questionnaires

Structured questionnaires are simple to administer and relatively

inexpensive to analyse. The provision of alternative replies, at times,
helps to understand the meaning of the question clearly. But such
questionnaires have limitations too. For instance, a wide range of data
and that too in respondent own words cannot be obtained with the
structured questionnaires. They are usually considered inappropriate in
investigations where the aim happens to be to probe for attitudes and
reasons for certain actions or feelings. They are equally not suitable
when a problem is being first explored and working hypotheses sought.
In such situations, unstructured questionnaires may be used effectively.
Then on the basis of the results obtained in pretest (testing before final
use) operations from the use of unstructured questionnaires, one can
construct a structured questionnaire for use in the main study.
Advantages of Questionnaire method

(1) There is low cost even when the universe is large and is widely
spread geographically.
(2) It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in
respondent's own words.

(3) Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out

answers.

(4) Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also

be reached conveniently.
(5) Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can
be made more dependable and reliable.

Disadvantages of Questionnaire Method

(1) Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires; bias due to
no response is often indeterminate.

(2) It can be used only when respondents are educated and

cooperating.
(3) The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.

(4) There is inbuilt inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending

the approach once questionnaires have been dispatched.

40
 (5) There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of
replies altogether to certain questions, interpretation of omissions
is difficult.

(6) It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly

representative.
(7) This method is likely to be the slowest of all.

LET US SUM UP

The experimental method can be used both outside the laboratory as

well as inside. The experimental method is a matter of logic, not of
location. The experimental method may be either laboratory or field
experiment. These methods may be subject to bias that may intrude into
experiments. The other methods like observation which may be of:
naturalistic, structured vs Unstructured, Participant vs Non-participant,
Controlled vs Un-controlled observation methods.
The next most widely followed methods are the survey method, and test
method. Coming to the individual subjects the case study method,
clinical method and interview methods will be of much use. Here, the
interview method can be used for both the group as well as individual
data collection. All the methods discussed so far, do have advantages
as well as disadvantages and the acumen of the researcher is very
much significant regarding choosing the one for the study.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. The is the behavior of the person or animal in

the experiment.

2. Naturalistic Observation is a systematic study of behaviour in

settings.
3. In the the experimenter can carefully control
conditions and take measurements in order to discover
relationship among variables.
4. The is a research method where investigators
systematically alter one or more variable in order to determine
whether such changes will influence some aspect of behaviour.
5. have been used to obtain information on political
opinions, consumer preferences, health care needs.

41
6. Detailed information is gathered on specific individuals in
the method.
7. The , is ordinarily used only when people
come to psychologists with personal problems.

8. The main task of the interviewer in case of a is to

confine the respondent to a discussion of issues with which he
seeks conversance.

KEY WORDS

Experimental method Independent variable

Dependent variable Control group

Experimental group Bias

Survey Case study

Clinical Method Focused Interview

Telephone Interview Laboratory experiment

Field Experiment

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. dependent variable

2. natural
3. laboratory experiment

4. experimental method

5. Surveys

6. case study

7. clinical method

8. focused interview

GLOSSARY
Control Group: a comparison group in a study whose members receive
either no intervention at all or some established intervention.

Experimental Group: a group of participants in a research study who

are exposed to a particular manipulation of the independent variable

42
which a particular treatment or treatment level. The responses of the
experimental group are compared to the responses of a control group,
other experimental groups, or both.

Experimental method: a system of scientific investigation, usually

based on a design to be carried out under controlled conditions, that is
intended to test a hypothesis and establish a causal relationship
between independent and dependent variables.

Hypothesis: A tentative statement explaining the relationship between

two study variables or difference between/among the study groups. An
empirically testable proposition about some fact, behavior, relationship,
or the like, usually based on theory, that states an expected outcome
resulting from specific conditions or assumptions.

Hypothesis-testing: a statistical inference procedure for determining

whether a given proposition about a population parameter should be
rejected/accepted on the basis of observed sample data.

Scientific Method: A set of procedures, guidelines, assumptions, and

attitudes required for the organized and systematic collection,
interpretation, and verification of data and the discovery of reproducible
evidence, enabling laws and principles to be stated or modified.

Variable: a condition in an experiment or a characteristic of an entity,

person, or object that can take on different categories, levels, or values
and that can be measured using a tool or observation method.

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. What is meant by experimental method?
2. Describe the basic steps of scientific methods.

3. What is meant by a variable? Explain

4. How will you control the experimenter bias?

5. Describe the different types of observation method.

6. Describe the process, advantages and disadvantages

of observation method.
7. What is survey method?

8. Describe the process, advantages and disadvantages of case

study method.
9. Describe the process, advantages and disadvantages of
Interview method.

43
SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002

44
Unit-3

APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
3.1 Fields of psychology
3.1.1 Experimental psychology
3.1.2 Physiological psychology
3.1.3 Developmental psychology
3.1.4 Social psychology
3.1.5 Personality psychology
3.1.6 Clinical psychology
3.1.7 Counseling psychology
3.1.8 School psychology or educational psychology
3.1.9 Engineering psychology
3.2 Emerging specialties
3.3 Applications of psychology
3.3.1 Psychology in Community
3.3.2 Psychology in Family
3.3.3 Psychology in Education
3.3.4 Psychology in Health
3.3.5 Psychology in Self-development
3.3.6 Psychology in Human relations.
3.3.7 Psychology in Industry
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings
OVERVIEW

We can also define psychology in human terms by seeing what sorts of

things psychologists do. The fields may vary in the application of
45
psychology to life's problems. This unit is designed to bring out the
different fields in which the psychologists are involved. First let us have a
look on the branches or fields of psychology, and then we will focus on
the applications of psychology in the areas of community, family,
education, health, self-development, human relations and in industry.

OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you would be able to:

• list out the different fields of psychology

• identify the emerging specialties

• explain the application of psychology in various fields

3.1 FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychologists use scientific methods to understand the unknown, this is

used to pose and answer questions of psychological interest. this helps
us to sort out what is credible from what should be ignored. This can be
materialized by a variety of methods which we will be discussing now.

3.1.1 Experimental Psychology

Experimental Psychology studies how people react to sensory stimuli,

perceive the world around them, learn and remember, respond
emotionally, and are motivated to action, whether by hunger or the
desire to succeed in life. Experimental psychologists also work with
animals. Sometimes they attempt to relate animal and human behavior;
sometimes they study animals in order to compare the behavior of
different species comparative psychology. Whatever their interest,
experimental psychologists are concerned with developing precise
methods of measurement and control.
They study all aspects of basic psychological processes such as
perception, learning, and motivation. For example, research by
experimental psychologists has recently added much to our
understanding of attention the process of directing portions of our
information processing capacity to specific stimuli. This knowledge, in
turn, is now being applied to the design of more effective warnings about
various hazards.
3.1.2 Physiological Psychology

Physiological psychologists seek to discover the relationship between

biological processes and behavior. How do sex hormones influence
behaviour? What area of the brain controls speech? How do drugs like
marijuana and LSD affect coordination and memory? Two rapidly
46
developing areas of interdisciplinary research are the neurosciences that
are concerned with all aspects of the nervous system, including the
relationship between brain function and behaviour and
psychopharmacology that is the study of drugs and behaviour.

Physiological Psychology or Psychobiology: Investigates the

biological bases of behavior-the role of biochemical events within our
nervous systems and bodies in everything we do, sense, feel, or think.
For example, psycho biologists have recently investigated the possible
role of gender differences in behavior of subtle differences, in the
structure of female and male brains.
3.1.3 Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychologists are concerned with human growth and the

factors that shape behavior from birth to old age. They might study a
specific ability, such as how language develops and changes in the
growing child, or a particular period of life, such as infancy, the
preschool years, or adolescence. Because human development takes
place in the context of other persons-parents, siblings, playmates, and
school companions-a large part of development is social.

It studies how people change physically, cognitively, and socially over

the entire life span. For example, developmental psychologists have
found that the patterns of attachment children form to their parents can
influence the nature of the romantic relationships they form as adults.
3.1.4 Social Psychology

Social psychologists are interested in the ways that interactions with

other people influence attitudes and behavior. They are concerned also
with the behavior of groups. Social psychologists are perhaps the best
known for their work in public opinion and attitude surveys and in market
research. Surveys are now widely used by newspapers, magazines,
radio and TV networks, as well as by government agencies, such as the
Bureau of the Census.

Social psychologists investigate such topics as propaganda and

persuasion, conformity, and intergroup conflict. At present a significant
part of their search effect is directed toward identifying the factors that
contribute to prejudice and to aggression.

It studies all aspects of social behavior and social thought how we think
about and interact with others. For example, social psychologists
have recently found that while both women and men use complaints to

47
change others' behavior, the two genders use this technique in slightly
different ways.
3.1.5 Personality Psychology

Personality psychologists focus on the differences between individuals.

They are interested in ways of classifying individuals for useful purposes
as well as in studying an individual's unique qualities.

3.1.6 Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychology are concern with the application of psychological

principles to the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioral
problems mental illness, juvenile delinquency, criminal behavior, drug
addiction, mental retardation, marital and family conflict, and other less
serious adjustment problems. They may work in mental hospitals,
juvenile courts or probation offices, mental health clinics, institutions for
the mentally retarded, prisons, or university medical schools. They may
also practice privately, often in association with other professionals; their
affiliations with the medical profession, especially psychiatry, are close.
Clinical psychology studies the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of
mental disorders. For example, clinical psychologists have recently
devised effective forms of treatment for reducing the aggression among
highly assault children.

3.1.7 Counseling Psychology

Counseling psychologists serve many of the same functions, although

they usually deal with less serious problems. They often work with high
school or university students, providing help with problems of social
adjustment and vocational and educational goals. Together, clinical and
counseling psychologists account for about 41 percent of all
psychologists.

Counseling psychology assists individuals in dealing with many

personal problems that do not involve psychological disorders. For
example, counseling psychologists assist individuals in career planning
and in developing more effective interpersonal skills.
3.1.8 School Psychology or Educational Psychology

The public schools provide a wide range of opportunities for

psychologists. Because the beginnings of serious emotional problems
often appear in the early grades, many elementary schools employ
psychologists whose training combines courses in a child development,
education, and clinical psychology. These school psychologists work
with individual children to valuate learning and emotional problems;
48
administering and interpreting: intelligence, achievement, and
personality tests are part of their job. In consultation with parents and
teachers they plan ways of helping the child both in the classroom and in
the home. They also provide a valuable resource for teachers, offering
suggestions for coping with classroom problems.

Educational psychology studies all the aspects of the educational

process, from techniques of instruction to learning disabilities. For
example, educational psychologists are working to develop classroom
procedures designed to help minority children overcome the
environmental disadvantages they face.
Educational psychologists are specialists in learning and teaching. They
may work in the public school system, but more often are employed by a
university's school of education, where they do research on teaching
method and help train teachers and school psychologists.
3.1.9 Engineering Psychology

Engineering psychologists seek to make the relationship between

people and machines as satisfactory as possible to design machines so
that hum errors are minimized. For example, engineering psychologists
were involved developing space capsules in which astronauts could live
and function efficiently. Designing underwater habitats for
oceanographic research or developing the artificial limps and other
prosthetic devices for handicapped individuals are other examples of
their work.

Along with social psychologists and other scientists, engineering

psychologists are concerned with environmental issues - problems of
noise, air and water pollution, overcrowding, and toxic agents - that must
be solved in planning for the future. A new term for this area of research,
which is becoming increasingly active, is environmental psychology.
3.2 EMERGING SPECIALITIES

In addition to the areas we have mentioned are some newer career

possibilities in psychology. Forensic psychologists work within the
legal, judicial, and correctional systems in a variety of ways --for
example, consulting with police departments and probation officers to
increase their understanding of the human problems with which, they
must deal, working with prison inmates and their families, participating in
decisions about whether an accused person is mentally competent to
stand trial, and preparing psychological reports to help judges decide on
the most appropriate course of action or a convicted criminal.

49
Cyber- Psychologists who specialize in computer science may plan the
design and data analysis of experiments that require the kind of complex
calculations that can only be done with a computer. Or they may work in
the area of artificial Intelligence, which uses computers to perform the
kind of intellectual tasks that are considered characteristic of human
thought. Because, of their expertise in the experimental design the
procedures for gathering and analyzing data psychologists also work in
the area of evaluation research.

Early education for underprivileged children, preventing drug abuse

among high school students, or providing job training for unemployed
youths-are effective. Psychologists are becoming increasingly active in
the evaluation of public programs in such areas as education, health,
and employment.
3.3 APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

The application of knowledge to practical problems is an art; it is a skill,

or a knack for doing things, which is acquired by study, practice, and
special experience. The psychotherapist talking to a worried client, the
educational psychologist advising a school board on a new curriculum,
the clinical psychologist supervising group therapy in a state mental
hospital, and the social psychologist trying to lessen tensions between
management and workers in a large industry are all practicing the art of
psychology. Psychologists have learned, through special training, the
artistry, or knack, of applying psychology. The ability to apply
psychological principles is a hard won skill. Special experience is
needed. But after reading this lesson you should be able to apply
psychological principles to at least some of the things that happen in
your daily life.
3.3.1 Psychology in Community

Psychologists deal with human behaviour problems with a new

approach. They emphasize that a great deal of environmental factors is
responsible in causing adjustment difficulties. Amelioration or minimizing
a man's problems to a great extent rests with the manipulation of these
environmental causes, instead of passively waiting for these problems to
be solved.
The development of community psychology started in 1965, when a
group of psychologists headed by Hirsch, engaged in developing mental
health programmes. The community psychologists were expected to
make use of their scientific training to create knowledge and

50
programmes for better mental health, by assuming decision making
roles in the society and by being political activists.
Community psychologist's prime aim is to promote mental health at the
community level, by preventing and treating psychological problems.
They evaluate and improve community organizations and involve in
public programmes such as employing the physically handicapped,
rehabilitating the juvenile delinquents and caring for the elderly.
3.3.2 Psychology in Family

The application of psychology in family deals with certain personal

problems among the family members like is everyone happily married?
Does every couple have children? What happens to the adults and
children when committed relationships end? Aside from marriage, what
kind of intimate relationship is possible? How does family vary for those
from different social classes and ethnic groups?
When asked what they want from a partner, they indicate that they are
looking for someone with whom to share affection, intimate secrets and
companionship. They strive to obtain and maintain secure, lasting
relationship but which may not always be possible. this results in
problems in family like low frustration tolerance among the partners,
divorce or separation, extramarital relationships, widowhood, infertility,
conflict, role strain due to psychological distress, contradictory
responsibilities etc.
Apart from the problems between the husband and wife, the children
without whom one cannot call it a family, sometimes pose the greatest
threat. The child in the family may be mentally retarded,
physically handicapped, a spastic child, slow learner, have learning
disability etc. The psychologists play a vital role in dealing with such
serious problems and help the child with various intervention strategies,
depending on the intensity of the problem. The adolescents in the family
may be under stress and storm, for they are neither a child nor an adult.
Related to this, there may be communication gap or generation gap,
leading to misunderstanding or adjustment problems. Effective guidance
and counselling by the family counsellors prove to be successful, in
reducing such problems.
Here comes the role of the marriage or family counsellor who deals with
the marital, family, personal or emotional problems.

The application of various effective psychological techniques by the

marriage or family counsellors may minimize such haphazards in the
family.
51
3.3.3 Psychology in Education

The elementary and secondary schools provide a wide range of

opportunities for psychologists. Because, the beginnings of serious
emotional problems appear in the early grades, many elementary
schools employ psychologists, whose training combines courses in child
development, education and clinical psychology. These school
psychologists work with individual children to evaluate learning and
emotional problems, administering and interpreting the intelligence,
achievement and personality tests is part of their job. In congelation with
parents and teachers, they plan ways of helping the child both in the
classroom and in the home. They also provide a valuable resource for
teachers, offering suggestions for coping with classroom problems.

Educational psychologists are specialists in learning and teaching

methods. They help to train teachers with effective psychological
techniques. They may work in the schools, but more often are employed
in colleges, universities, or other institutions of higher learning, where
they do research on teaching methods. Educational psychologists are
usually involved with more general, less immediate problems, and are
concerned with increasing the efficiency in learning by applying
psychological theories of learning and motivation to the curriculum. .

Much of the school psychologist’s job consists of diagnosing learning

difficulties and trying to remedy them. Using tests and information
gained from consultations with the student and his or her parents, the
school psychologist tries to pinpoint a problem and suggest action to
correct them. For instance, a school psychologist suggests that a poor
reader be assigned to a remedial reading class. School psychologists
are involved in vocational and other forms of counselling. They are the
school counsellors.
3.3.4 Psychology in Health

"Health is wealth" no doubt. Here health is referred is both physical and

psychological well being. The human being is a product of both the body
and mind, where one cannot exist without the other. Both are equally
important for the smooth functioning of the individual. Deficiency or
disorder in either the body or the mind results in various complications in
the individual within and without.
In psychology, these disorders are called as psychosomatic and
somatopsychic problems, which are dealt in detail in the field of
abnormal psychology. The influence of the mind on the body or vice
versa, which leads to mental ill health in the individual. Thus, it is the role

52
of the psychologist to promote mental health, or mental hygiene and
maintain stability among the human race. On the other hand, the
physical or the bodily health problems are usually dealt with by the
physicians or the psychiatrists where they would prescribe them the
appropriate medicines and treatment.

Now, let us quickly see, what is meant by mental health. Mental health
may be defined by the ability to function effectively and find satisfaction
in life, in spite of all stress and strain. It also refers to absence of
disease, feeling of well being and well adjusted. The people with
mentally ill health may be helped to restore mental health atleast to
some extent.
3.3.5 Psychology in Self-Development

The aim of psychology, as already mentioned, is to understand, predict

and control behaviour. It is easy to say than done. Self understanding or
answering the question 'who am I?' Is the most difficult one to be
answered? Do you agree? Here, it is not referred to merely your name,
age, education or occupation. Only if the individual understands oneself.
he/she can develop. Development refers to the qualitative aspects
rather, than merely the quantitative aspects as in growth.

The qualitative aspects may be the individual's sincerity, punctuality,

honesty, assertiveness, dominance etc. which put in a nutshell; we call it
as personality in psychology. Personality is decided by both the physical
and psychological qualities and gratifying relationship with friends,
spouse, parents or children. The individual should be able to work
effectively, productively, laugh, play, relax and have fun, which is
becoming a rare phenomenon in the present day mechanical and
competitive world. The most important characteristic of a mentally
healthy individual is the realistic appraisal of his/her strength and
weakness. They would feel worthy member of the human race and
freedom from psychological handicap, and should be able to control
one's thoughts, feelings and actions. Check out for yourself whether you
have the above mentioned characteristics, atleast a few, though not all,
for you should be mentally healthy first, and then promote them to
others.
Not all individuals may be cent percent mentally healthy, and it is much
worse among the mentally disordered. Hence with the fascinating field of
psychology, by providing various treatment measures such as
relaxation, systematic desensitization, cognitive restricting, aversion
therapy, biofeedback, guidance and counselling, mental health may be
promoted.
53
Self-development deals with self-concept, self-esteem, self-awareness,
self analysis or self-profile. Now, how do you develop yourself?
Let us work out a small exercise by using the principles of psychology
which we are indebted to always, for us to know and develop ourselves.
But as a preliminary requisite, you should first have an open mind to
come out with you strengths and weaknesses and readiness to changes
should be promoted and reluctant to change should be evaded. Now get
ready, go.
Take out a fresh plain paper, divide into two columns, and one side write
your strengths and on the other your weakness, it points to improve -
because as psychologists we want to be optimistic. Feel free to write
whatever comes to your mind, be sincere and do not think for a long
time or manipulate. Is the list ready? Now, take another fresh page, and
give it to your close friend, who knows you well, and ask him or her to
write your strengths and weakness from their point of view. You may
give 5-10 minutes for instance. Is the second list over? Now, you
compare the first and second list, and find out the common
characteristics among both the strengths and weakness. Whichever is
the common is the answer to "Who am I?" Now you know who you are?
For the self to develop, you should try to strengthen your strengths and
weaken your weaknesses. Now you agree that psychology is interesting
and applied?
3.3.6 Psychology in Human Relations

Psychology plays an important role in human relations. No man is in

isolation and we need to relate with human beings, atleast to vent their
feelings and ease them, though not aiming to help other, which is also
equally important.

Human relations may be both expressed - where we express our

thoughts and feelings to others, or wanted where we may want affection,
care, low, warmth etc. from others. But there are times, when human
beings land up in some frictions, due to faulty communications, not being
assertive when the need arises, but rather aggressive etc.

By the vast application of psychological principles and techniques,

human relations may be promoted in a variety of ways like, (1)
generating a personal agenda where the individuals may reveal their
feelings (2) sensitizing the interpersonal dimensions by making the
individuals aware of their interpersonal relations, (3) Checking self-
understating where the individuals make a self-estimate and other
estimate him/he and (4) making individual interpretation or get feedback
54
from other, all of which promote social desirability and effective human
relations.
Cognitive Psychology: Investigates all aspects of cognition-memory,
thinking, reasoning, language, decision making, and so on. For example,
cognitive psychologists have recently found evidence suggesting that
the reason we can't remember events that happen to us before we are
about three years old is that we lack a clearly developed self-concept
prior to this age.
3.3.7 Psychology in Industry

Industrial psychologists aresometimes called organizational

psychologists) may work for particular company or as consultants for a
number of business organizations. Industrial psychologists is concerned
with selecting people most suitable for a particular job, by using
intelligence and aptitude tests, developing training programmes and
management consultancy with industries and business situation.
Industrial psychologists also deal with promotion, supervision, and
interpersonal relationship among the employees and between the
employers and employees. They study such aspects as fatigue,
accidents and working conditions and their improvements in industry that
involve the morale and welfare of employees. Industrial psychologists
are also called as the organizational psychologists.

Today, many industries use many psychological tests in their placement

and training programmes. Private and public organizations also apply
psychology to counselling employers, and to alleviate industrial strike.
The applied psychologists who do this work are sometimes called
personnel psychologists. Still another, may do research on consumer
attitudes towards the company's products, by applying the psychological
principles to minimize practical problems of work and commerce.

These are a few dimensions of Industrial psychology like the engineering

psychologist who seek to make the relationship between people and
machines as satisfactory as possible to design machines so that human
errors are minimized. For example, engineering psychologists were
involved in developing space capsules in which astronauts could live
and function efficiently. Designing underwater habitats for
oceanographic research and developing artificial limbs and other
devices for handicapped individuals are other examples of their work.
Along with engineering psychologists there is a group of psychologists
called the environmental psychologists who are concerned with
problems of noise, air and water pollution, overcrowding and the
psychologically optimal design of working and living areas. Yet another
55
type of psychologists, called the consumer psychologists, deal with
techniques of marketing, advertising and propaganda.
Ultimately, industrial psychologists aim at increasing productivity,
improving the performance of the employees and finding good market
for the products, which is essential for building greater productivity and
industrial peace.

Industrial / Organizational Psychology: Studies all aspects of

behavior in work settings selection of employees, evaluation of
performance, work motivation, leadership. For example,
industrial/organizational psychologists have found that work
performance often decreases sharply when employees feel that they are
being treated unfairly, that they are receiving fewer benefits that they
deserve. Indeed, professional basketball players who feel underpaid
actually score fewer points than those who feel that their salaries are
fair.

LET US SUM UP

The application of knowledge to practical problems is both an art and a

science. It is a skill, or a knack for doing things, which is acquired by
study, practice and special experience. The psychotherapist talking to a
worried client, the educational psychologist advising a school board on a
new curriculum, the clinical psychologist supervising a group therapy in
a mental hospital, and the social psychologist trying to lessen tens
between management and workers in a large industry are all practicing
psychology. Just as a physician or engineer develop skills in using
scientific knowledge to solve practical problems, these psychologists
have learned, through special training the arts or knack of applying
psychology.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. investigates the biological bases of behavior the

role of biochemical events within our nervous systems and bodies in
everything we do.
2. Industrial psychologists are sometimes called
psychologists.
3. investigates all aspects of memory, thinking,
reasoning, language, decision making.

4. studies the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of mental

disorders.
56
5. are concerned with human growth and the factors
that shape behavior from birth to old age.

KEYWORDS
Educational Psychology Experimental Psychology

Laboratory study Health

Industry Psychobiology

Cognitive psychology Counseling psychology

Educational psychology Community psychology

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Psychobiology

2. Organizational

3. Cognitive Psychology

4. Clinical psychology

5. Developmental psychologists

GLOSSARY
Clinical Psychology: the branch of psychology that, specializes in
research, assessment, diagnosis, evaluation, prevention, and treatment
of emotional and behavioral disorders.

Cognitive Psychology: The branch of psychology that explores the

operation of mental processes related to perceiving, attending, thinking,
language, and memory, mainly through inferences from behavior.

Community Psychology: a branch of psychology that encourages the

development of theory, research, and practice relevant to the reciprocal
relationships between individuals and the social systems that constitute
the community context.

Counselling Psychology: the branch of psychology that specializes in

facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan.

Developmental psychology: the branch of psychology that studies the

changes—physical, mental, and behavioural—that occur from
conception to old age and investigates the various biological,

57
neurobiological, genetic, psychological, social, cultural, and
environmental factors that affect development throughout the lifespan.

Educational Psychology: a branch of psychology dealing with the

application of psychological principles and theories to a broad spectrum
of teaching, training, and learning issues in educational settings.
Educational psychology also addresses psychological problems that can
arise in educational systems.

Engineering Psychology: a subfield of human factors psychology

concerned with identifying the psychological principles that, governs
human interaction with the environments, systems, and products and
applying these principles to issues of engineering and design

Industrial and Organizational psychology (I/O psychology): the

branch of psychology that studies human behavior in the work
environment and applies general psychological principles to work-related
issues and problems,

Personality Psychology: the branch of psychology that systematically

investigates the nature and definition of personality as well as its
development, its structure and trait constructs, its dynamic processes, its
variations.

Psychobiology: A school of thought in the mental health professions in

which the individual is viewed as a holistic unit and both normal and
abnormal behavior is explained in terms of the interaction of biological,
sociological, and psychological determinants.

Psychosomatic: of or relating to the role of the mind (psyche) in

diseases or disorders affecting the body (soma); specifically, the role of
psychological factors (e.g., anxiety, depression) in the etiology and
course of pathology in bodily systems.

Social Psychology: the study of how an individual’s thoughts, feelings,

and actions are affected by the actual, imagined, or symbolically
represented presence of other people.

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. What is experimental psychology?

2. What is Counseling psychology?

3. What is Educational psychology?

4. Explain the various applications of psychology.

58
SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002

59
UNIT - 4
SENSATION
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
4.1 Sensory Processes - Nature
4.2 Threshold Sensitivity
4.3 Vision
4.4 Hearing
4.5 Smell and Taste
4.6 Touch
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW
The information for the various processes are transmitted by the
individual neurons. This is converted into information through different
sources/modes, which are called as senses. The five senses are
composed of vision, hearing, smell, taste and kinesthetic and all these
senses are interlocked with each other. We will be studied those senses
now in order in this unit.

OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you will be able to:

• Explain the nature of Sensory Processes

• Highlight about the Threshold Sensitivity
• Give a detailed note on Vision
• Explain the process of Hearing
• Write a note on Smell and Taste
60
 • Explain about the Touch sensation

4.1 SENSORY PROCESSES - NATURE

The external stimuli from the external world, with their physical energy
excite receptor and this process of excitation of a sensory receptor is
referred to as stimulation. Sensory processes are the elementary
phenomena wherein the stimuli from the external world act upon sense
organs and make us aware of such stimuli and it is being referred to as
sensations. In short, a sensation is the process by which we are able to
detect and identify stimuli. Sensations are mere impressions just
conveying information, while perception refers to the interpretation of
information so conveyed which enables us to know the nature of the
stimuli so that we can deal with the environment, effectively.
Usually the five senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch are
thought to be basic for the humans, since they happen to be obvious in
the day-to-day experiences. The presence of many more senses have
come to light. The skin sense can be considered as four skin sense
namely pain, warmth, cold and touch. In addition, there are other senses
such are the kinesthesis and balance.
Each sense organ possesses elements that are sensitive to stimulation
and they are known as receptors. Any change or alteration in the
specific kind of physical energy is responded to by a receptor. Receptors
for smell and sight are cells that have grown out of the brain. Receptors
for taste, hearing, kinesthesia etc have their roots in the skin cells.
Different senses respond to different kinds of physical energy. The
senses can be classified according to the kind of physical energy to
which they respond. Thus smell and taste; are chemical senses since
they respond to chemical energy, warmth and cold thermal senses,
since they respond to variations in temperature; touch, pain, kinesthesis,
hearing and sense of balance as mechanical sense, since they are
evoked by some kind of mechanical energy. Extremes of the chemical
and thermal energy may also be responsible for pain. Electromagnetic
energy accounts for the sense of sight.
Each kind of receptor is sensitive to stimuli within certain limits. Though
stimuli of a wide range may be present in the environment and by acting
upon the sense organ; stimuli of certain intensity that are below a certain
"lower limit” and above a certain "upper limit", our receptors are not
sensitive to them. For instance, under normal conditions of illumination,
the human eye is sensitive to radiation ranging from 400 to 840 milli
61
microns that are (corresponding to 16 and 36 millionth of an inch.
Similarly, the human hearing receptors can receive sound vibrations that
are within the range of 20-20,000 cycles per second. In same manner, in
the case of chemical sense such as taste and smell, the receptors are
sensitive to only certain chemical molecules.

4.2 THRESHOLD SENSITIVITY

As it has been indicated earlier, a minimum amount of physical energy is

necessary for the stimulation of each sense organ. Very feeble, sounds,
very faint, light, very small weights and very slight movements do not
make an adequate impact on the respective receptors for them to be
stimulated and thus go unnoticed. In other words, minimum stimulus
energy is needed to make the receptors responds; and this minimum
energy required to initiate response is referred to an absolute threshold.
A stimulus is said to be at the absolute threshold when the presence or
absence of a stimulus is correctly detected 50 percent of the time. The
absolute threshold is determined for example, by the method of constant
stimuli, wherein a stimulus of a given intensity of say sound of particular
intensit), to be repeated by presenting to the subject who is to say either
"yes" or "no" to indicate whether he hears the sound. In the same way,
responses are gathered for various intensities or sound. The threshold is
determined at a point where the subject was able to hear the sound 50
percent of the time,
Various in absolute threshold will occur depending on the individual, the
sense involved, and with a number of conditions of the subject. For
instance, in n, the absolute threshold will depend upon the pitch of the
sound, the duration of its presentation and the motivation of the subject.
However, an absolute threshold is present under any conditions. Unless
the physical energy is equal to or above this level of absolute threshold,
sensation does not take place.

Unless there are differences in the stimuli in their value such as intensity
and quality making it is possible for us to discriminate, we will not be
able to perceive much even if stimuli were well above the absolute
threshold. When we hear a sound, for instance, a variation in its
loudness, pitch or timbre is essential for us to perceive it.

The limits to discrimination of differences are referred to as differential

threshold. The minimum change in the stimulus value can be identified
and recognized as change represents the difference threshold or just
noticeable difference (jnd). For instance, if there is an appreciable

62
difference between two weights we can perceive the difference. But if
the difference between the two weights is reduced to a particular point,
we are unable to discriminate between them. The differential threshold is
fixed at the point where the difference takes place or is perceived.
4.2.1 Sensory Adaptation

Sometimes, it so happens that stimulation is at an unusual level, much

above the threshold we have described. Under these circumstances, we
are able to make adjustments and adopt a pattern of behaviour wherein
we are able to cope up with the existing new levels of stimulation. This
method of adjustment is called sensory adaptation. For instance, a
person who shifts to a new place of residence, where the house is close
to a factory, producing noise most of the time. Though initially, he might
have faced difficulties of adjustment after a stay of, a couple of days, it
becomes habituated to the noise and it is no more a disturbance or a
nuisance.
Transduction

When a stimulus acts upon the receptor, its energy is transformed or

changed into action potential. Only after this kind of change in the
energy as action potential, the sensation is registered in the brain. This
process of change eyes, ears and other receptors are all transductions.
Here, they transducer physical energy into bio-electrical energy. For
instance, a loud speaker in a radio is a transducer, since, it changes or
converts the electrical energy in the radio, into vibrations in the air which
can be heard. Similarly, a television set is also a transducer since it also
converts electrical energy into light energy which becomes visible to the
eve. In turn, these light waves are transformed into electrochemical
activity in the nerves which lead it to the brain, so, that it can be
registered there. Of course, for transduction to occur, the incoming
energy level should, at least be at the level of absolute threshold.
THE FIVE SENSES

The five senses are composed of Vision, Hearing, Smell, Taste and
Kinesthetics and all these senses are interlocked. We will see those
senses now in order.

4.3 VISION

For an individual, normal vision is the most important and most

completely used sensory system. Most of our knowledge about objects
and nearly all of our spatial information about the world comes to us
through our eyes. The study of the process of seeing can also serve the

63
purpose of explaining the principles of perception. Generally we say that
we see because of light. But light is the psychological sensation
experienced because of the physical stimulus exciting the eye. The
physical properties of light are to be examined.
4.3.1 Electromagnetic Radiations

We are able to see objects under one of the two conditions. One they
give out or discharge radiant energy or the radiant energy is thrown on
the object which is reflected. The electromagnetic spectrum of radiation
that can stimulate the visual receptors what we call as light. According to
physicists, light has two characteristics. First, it is viewed as a packet of
energy called the photon. Second, light is conceived in terms of waves
and are described by their wavelengths. A wavelength is viewed in terms
of the distance between the peak of one wave and its distance to the
peak of the next wave.
Both these conceptions of light help us to understand visual perception,
since the intensity of light is dependent upon the number of photons and
the composition of light in terms of wavelength accounts for colour
perception. The human eve is capable of responding to an enormous
range of intensity.
The visible spectrum of wavelengths, as we have already indicated
elsewhere is between 400 and 800 millimicrons i.e. between 16 and 32
millionths of an inch.
When a beam of sunlight is passed through a glass prism, the visible
spectrum can be broken up into component wavelengths. Since the
prism spreads out all the component wavelengths in space, we form
violet to red through blue, green yellow, orange etc. On the other hand,
the brightness in vision is dependent upon the amount of light reflected
from the surface on the object. The intensity and the wavelength of this
reflected light, is the combined function of the nature of the source of
light and the reflecting surface.

The organ receiving the light energy from a surface is the eye. The light
energy passes through the cornea, the transparent coating over the front
of the eye as the lens, the transparent tissue.

Both the cornea and the lens are curves in shape and hence gather and
focus the light rays on the retina which is the photosensitive portion of
the visual system. For an image to be sharply focused on the retina, the
eye must adjust to changes in the distance between the object it sees
and the eye itself. Adjustment is done by the lens, which varies in shape,
thickening for near objects and thinning for objects that are farther away.
64
This process is called accommodation which is made possible by the
contraction and expansion of the ciliary muscles. The iris, the coloured
portion of the pupil, eye and the opening through which light pass to the
retina play an important role in visual process. The iris is a muscular
diaphragm and it regulates the size of the pupil. More intense the light is,
smaller the pupil becomes faint is the light, the bigger the pupil
becomes. The chambers behind the cornea and the large central portion
are filled with the fluid vitreous humor. This fluid serves the purpose of
maintaining the shape of the eye ball. It is also a medium for collecting
waste products.

In the retina of each eye, there are more than 120 million photo receptor
cells. These are of two types called the rods and cones, based upon the
shape. The rods are highly sensitive to light energy. They are spread
over the entire retina except for a small part in the central region called
for fovea. The fovea contains all cones and it is the area where visual
activity is at its highest. The rods are particularly useful in detecting
small amounts of light and hence are helpful in night vision.

The cones are concentrated in the fovea with decreasing number spread
further over in the retina. For cones to be stimulated to respond, large
amounts of energy are required. Since, the cones respond selectively to
varying wavelength, the cones are meant for colour vision.

4.3.2 Colour Vision

The ability to see colours and distinguish between them adds colours to
life and makes life enjoyable. The word colour is commonly used to
indicate various tints or shades. Colour involves three different
dimensions.
a) Hue

An important dimension of colour is the hue. Hue refers to the perceived

dimension of the colour. When we name a colour as red, green or
greenish blue etc, the predominant quality pertaining to each of the
colours are hues. Wavelengths of light determine the hue except in the
case of pure colours that (are made by the prism). When more than one
wavelength is mixed together, the hue is determined by the dominant
wavelength in the mixture. The relation between the wavelength and the
hue is likely to differ due to the eye not being equally sensitive to all
wavelengths. Also brightness of the light effects changes in relative
sensitivity of the eye. However, under normal conditions, it can be said
that perceived hue is related to the wavelength directly and precisely.

65
b) Complementary Hues

One of the basic laws of colour is the law of complementary colours. The
law of complementary colour states that for every hue there is a
complementary hue, and that complementary hues when mixed in the
appropriate proportions produce grey or white, For instance, yellow and
blue are complementary colours. Complementary colours when mixed
together produce grey or white shades which are colourless. Some of
the complementary colours are extra spectral in nature. The law of the
complementary colours, operates in the day-to day experiences of
colour vision.
c) Brightness

This is another dimension of colour. It ranges from being light to bring

dark. But shades of brightness are not limited to whites, greys and
blacks. Hues also cause the brightness dimension. Every colour besides
possessing hue also possesses brightness. The physical correlate of the
brightness of a spectral hue is the amplitude of the light wave. Any
colour whether dime of bright are of the same wavelengths. But they
differ in amplitude. Amplitude here refers to the height of the waves.

d) Saturation

There may be two colours, both having the same hue and are also of
equal brightness. But they may differ from one another in another
dimension, namely saturation. For instance, the colour of a parrot and
that of a leaf may have the same hue and also be equal in brightness.
But they may still differ in the purity or saturation of their 'greenness. The
composition of the light wave is the important correlate of saturation. A
light wave of only one or a few wavelengths will produce the greatest
possible saturation or the purest colour. When a number of different
wavelengths are included in the composition of the colour, it results in
the colour becoming more neutral as to hue.
e) Colour-Blindness

There are people who find it difficult to distinguish colours. There are a
very small percentage of persons who are unable to see any colour and
they are said to be completely colorblind. They see all the colours in the
visible spectrum in different shades of grey. They are able to
differentiate between different wavelengths based only on brightness.
Some kind of defect is attributed to the cones of the colour-blind person.
A totally colour-blind person shows evidences of blindness in fovea also.
This is obvious by the manner in which such a person shifts his gaze in
such a manner that the image does not fall upon the fovea which in the
66
normal eye contains cones only. Such behaviour is referred to as
mystagmus.
Colour defect of less severity is commonly found. This is referred to as
partial colour-blindness. The two main kinds of partial colour-blindness
involve a red green deficiency or a blue-yellow deficiency. Majority of
partially colour-blind people are men. This kind of deficiency is often
genetically transmitted from a male grandparent through his daughter to
her son. To whichever colours a person is blind, he sees those colours
as different shades of grey.

f) Testing for colour-blindness

The ability to discriminate between colours is of vital importance in such

professions as air pilots, bus and train drivers. If colour blindness in
them is not detected, it may lead to serious consequences.
Different tests are used for testing colour vision and colour blindness.
One of the popular tests is that of Pseudo-isochromatic cards of
ishihara. In each of the plates of this test, the individual has simply
identity any symbols he can see. The symbols in the plates are more or
less equal in brightness to their background. Only the individuals who
can detect hue of the symbol can identify it. In the case of those who are
colour-blind the symbol merges with the background figure since the hue
is invisible to them.

Two important theories of colour vision are stated below. One is known
as Young-Helmholtz theory. This is called so because this theory was
formulated by Thomas Young (1773-1839) and roughly after a century
and a half it was elaborated by Herman Von Helmholtz (1822-1984). It is
based on the fact that every hue can be described in terms of the
relative quantities of red, green and blue light required to produce it.
According to this theory, basically there are three different kinds of
cones and each of them responds to the various light waves differently.
Each type of cone is responsive to light waves of one of these three
colours. If each of these three kinds of cones is excited in varying
degrees, different kinds of colour sensations occur. When all these three
kinds of cones are simultaneously and equally excited, the sensation of
white results. The main weakness of this theory is that, it is unable to
explain the sensation of yellow-since certain areas of the retina are
sensitive to this colour alone.

Another theory of colour-vision is that of Ewald Hering (1834-1918) a

German physiologist and psychologist. This theory also postulates three
different visual processes. But Hering's theory assumes three opponent

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parts of visual systems. They are yellow-blue red-green and white-black.
Each of the three systems is capable of two modes of reactions that are
incompatible with each other. That is, when red-green receptors are
stimulated they can react in only a red or green manner, but not both
together. Due to this reason, according to this theory, while it is possible
to see a red-blue or a yellow-green, it is just not possible to see a red-
green or a yellow-blue.

4.4 HEARING

Hearing, most probably takes the next important place, since this sense
plays a significant role in understanding speech. It is an important
medium both for imparting and acquisition of knowledge. Hearing also
provides us with many vital cues to understand things and events in our
environment. Such cues as the horn of an oncoming vehicle, the blowing
of the college siren etc. are cues that help us to prepare ourselves for an
appropriate behaviour. Hence, we shall consider this sense in detail.
For hearing, the physical stimulus is a mechanical vibration in an object.
Usually the vibration is transmitted to the ear from the object in the form
of changes in air pressure in rapid, minute forms. Changes in air
pressure are produced in a wave like motion by slight back and forth
movements of air molecules. The medium of air is essential for purposes
of sound transmission. If there is no air in the atmosphere as in outer
space or in vacuum such transmission cannot occur.
Second waves differ in two fundamental dimensions of intensity and
frequency. A simple sound can be considered as a smooth oscillating
function. This function traces out the aggregate movement of molecule
in the vibrating object or in the conducting medium for a resting position
to a maximum deflection in either direction. The vibration moves from
the resting position to the maximum deflected position and again travels
back to the resting position. This process is repeated continuously until
the sound ceases to be heard. The measure of sound intensity is the
amplitude i.e., the maximum duration of the vibration from the resting
point. The number of times this kind of process gets repeated within a
second is the measure of frequency. The measure of frequency so far
known as cycles per second is currently referred to as the number of
Hertz for a sound.

4.4.1 Characteristics of Sound

The physical characteristics of the objects in motion are the intensity and
the frequency. When the vibrations emanating from an object falls within
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range (20 cycles per second to 20,000 per second), the human auditory
apparatus is sensitive to them and so they are heard. For a perceived
sound, intensity corresponds to loudness and frequency which is
referred to as pitch.

Loudness is measured according to a sound pressure scale. The

absolute threshold for hearing forms the starting point of the scale which
is at the lowest intensity level of normal hearing. The units of the
measurement, used by this scale are called the decibels. Various kinds
of common sounds are at various levels of decibel rating. For instance,
whisper is at the level of about 25 decibels, the sound of an automobile
at 70 decibels and that of thunder at 120 decibels.
While frequency of waves is physical characteristic, pitch is a
psychological one. In other words, pitch is a sensory attribute of
experience. Pitch is measured by what is called a pitch scale which is
constructed in such a way that it shows quantitatively the relation
between frequency and pitch. This scale is a curved one in which pitch
rises very slowly below 1000 cycles and above 4000 cycles. Between
these ranges, it is more or less of frequency.

Another important characteristic of the sound is referred to as Timbre.

Timbre refers to the total quality which enables an individual to
distinguish different musical instruments and voices having the same
fundamental frequency. It is determined by the frequencies comprising a
sound.

Primarily, the human consists of three parts. The visible part of the ear,
which is referred to as an outer ear, is funnel shaped and "traps" the
sound waves and passes them on to the interior of the ear. The middle
ear functions as a transmitter of sound. At the entrance of the middle ear
is a thin membrane which is sensitive to air vibrations and is called the
ear-drum. These vibrations are passed on to the inner ear through the
middle ear, through the middle ear, through three small bones which are
interconnected. These together are called the ossicles. The inner ear is
a cavity filled with fluid. This fluid is set in motion by the vibrations of the
ossicles. Cochlea is a structure in the inner ear which resembles a snail
shell that is involved in the process of hearing.
It is a spiral, tubular pathway narrowing down at its tip. In the centre of
cochlea, the basilar membrane passes through, and it is covered with
tiny hair cells. Some of these nerve cells are stimulated when the fluid in
the cochlea is set in motion. At this juncture, nerve impulses are
discharged by these hair cells in the adjoining fibers of the auditory
nerve. Thus, electrical impulses produced in the cochlea are passed on
69
to the brain through the auditory nerves and interpreted there as
sounds.
4.4.2 Theories of Hearing

So far we have discussed the anatomy of the ear in relation to the

functions of each part. Now let us examines the relationship between
these and the sensory experience of loudness and pitch.

There is not much difficulty with regard to the understanding of loudness,

since, it is obvious that with the increase in the intensity of the stimulus
and the number of stimulation, the amount of nerve impulses generated
by sense-organs also increase. In the case of auditory sense, loudness
results by such a process.

Understanding the nature of pitch is more difficult. There are theories

with regard to the role of cochlea in pitch perception. Two important
theories are the Helmholtz resonance theory and the Telephone theory.
The telephone theory holds that cochlea is similar to a microphone and
the auditory nerves similar to a telephone wire. It holds that the pitch
experienced by an individual is dependent upon that frequency of the
impulses passing through the auditory nerve. The pitch is thought to be
directly proportional to the frequency.
On the other hand, Helmholtz theory holds that the basilar membranes
consist of fibers of different lengths; arranged in such a fashion as found
in a piano and that each of these fibers resonate to different frequencies
of tone. Thus, the pitch is determined by the spot or the place stimulated
in the cochlea. This is possible only if different spots in the brain register
sounds received from the different spots in the cochlea. This theory
relatively finds favour than the other place theory
4.4.3 Spatial Localization

Location of objects in space based on hearing is more difficult than in

vision. However, hearing too provides with some ability to locate the
distance and direction of a sound source.

When the source of the sound is either on the right or left side of the
body, location is easier, since one of the ears necessarily is nearer to
source and hence receives the stimuli a little earlier. Also the intensity of
the sound (loudness) would be greater in nearer ear. But when the
source of the sound happens to be in front of us or at the back and
likewise if it is from above or below, location of the source is relatively
difficult. And under such situations, localization of sound source is
facilitated by turning our heads in different directions. Location of objects

70
based upon sound is important in certain jobs. It is also of great
importance to persons with impaired vision or no vision.
a) Deafness

A chapter on hearing cannot be considered complete if reference is not

made of deafness. Deafness impairs the ability for spoken
communication. It is a handicap both in listening and speaking. In
addition, a handicap can create emotional problems too. After the
discovery of electronic hearing aids, deaf people have come to use a
sensory organ in the process of hearing. But not all kinds and agrees of
deafness can be overcome by the use of hearing aids.

Deafness can be measured by using an instrument known as

audiometer, intensity and frequency limits of hearing measured by this
tool. The minimum of sound in terms of decibels that is required by the
individual to enable him to hear at each frequency is indicated by the
audiometer. Such findings can be graphically represented on a chart the
audiogram. Similar chart for normal hearing can also be plotted on the
same chart and a comparison of the two would provide us an indication
regarding the amount of hearing loss.

Usually, there are two kinds of deafness that are referred to. One kind is
called the conduction deafness. A person suffering from this kind of
deafness is deaf uniformly to sound of all frequencies. This is named so
because; a defect is indicated in the process of conduction in the ear.
The defect may be at any point i.e. it may be with the eardrum, the
ossicles or any part of the ear.

Another kind of hearing loss is referred to as nerve deafness. In this kind

of deafness the defect is with the auditory, nervous system. Here the
damage is indicated either in the nervous themselves or in the cochlea
particularly in the basilar membranes. People with this kind of deafness
can usually, hear, the low pitch sounds and they are deaf to sounds at
high frequencies. In such deafness, the person can hear the louder and
low tones but he is unable to distinguish between the word sounds (loss
of clarity). This may interfere with his capacity to comprehend and
understand what he hears and because of this reason such deafness is
called perception deafness.

4.5 SMELL AND TASTE

Since both the senses of smell and taste are based on chemical
reactions produced by a stimulus, they are commonly considered

71
together. The stimuli for smell usually discharge molecules in the form of
a gas. The molecules so discharged come into contact with the sensory
receptors at the top of the nasal cavity. The axons of the odour receptors
directly terminate in the brain. Intermediate neurons are absent in the
case of the sense of smell as are found for the rest of the senses.

In the case of taste the stimulus has to come into contract with the
tongue. Then it produces a reaction in the taste bud. In a taste bud, a
number of taste cells are found collected together in clusters. Most of the
taste buds are on the surface of the tongue but about 10 percent of them
are found in other portions of the mouth. A chemical reaction set off, with
the substances in the month excites the nerves and produces an
electrical exchange in the membrane of the taste cell. Basically, there
are four tastes that are experienced. They are sweet, sour, salt and
bitter. All other tastes are thought to be the result from the mixture of
these primary tastes.
Among these two senses, the smell appears to play a dominant role, for
it has been found that much of the sense of taste seems to be based on
the odours given out by substances. For instance, if we had the nose
plugged and eyes blind-folded, a piece of an apple, a piece of onion and
a piece of potato all may taste alike.

4.6 TOUCH

Basically, four kinds of objects that come into contact with our skin have
been identified. They seem to have four different qualities and give rise
to sensations of warmth, cold, touch and pain. Each of these qualities is
produced from electrical impulses initiated in a particular type of receptor
cell. If we examine the different regions below the surface of the skin,
will find different kinds of sensory cells and nerve-endings. Each group
of these cells is sensitive to each one of the sensations of warmth, cold,
pressure and pain. Generally speaking, most of these basic skin
sensations experienced by us are a kind of combination of this basic
skin sense. Skin over different region below the body is varyingly
sensitive to the stimulations. For instance, the tip of the tongue, the lips,
the fingers and the hands are the most sensitive areas. The arms and
the legs are less sensitive and the trunk the least sensitive. Not only the
skin, but also the hair on the skin is sensitive to the sensation
of pressure or touch.
Kinesthesis: These are sense organs in our joints and muscles. These
provide us with accurate information with regard to the position of our

72
limbs, the forces acting upon them either from outside or by the various
muscles and tendons in the body. Lack of such kind of information and
knowledge would also make it difficult in understanding the position of
our various limbs, it would also make it difficult for us to know as to how
much we have to more to get to a new position that we are desirous of.
Kinesthetic sensory feedback plays a very vital role in our fine skill
movements.

While Kinesthesis supplies us the information with regard to the

positions of the various limbs of the body, the position of the entire body
and its movement in relation to gravity is referred to as orientation. The
sense organs for body position are found in the inner ear, attached to
the cochlea, where, the receptors for hearing sensation are located. For
recognising the body position, the three semicircular canals
perpendicular to one another in the three different planes play a vital
role. When the body moves, the fluid in the canal also moves. By this
process, separate sets of tiny hair cells are excited. Motion in a
particular plane will produce impulses from one canal. If the motion is in
a direction across the place of reference, it will produce the impulses in
all three canals. The sense of balance is perceived because of the
enlargements at the base of the semicircular canals called the vestibular
sacs. These organs are sensitive to changes in position. Among the
various sensations we have described, there are a few in which the
receptor is situated within the tissues of the body. They are usually
referred to as proprioceptive sensations.

LET US SUM UP
Sensations are mere impressions just conveying information, and the
usual the five senses are vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
Sensation is the process or experience of perceiving through the
senses. The minimum stimulus energy needed to make the receptors
responds is referred to an absolute threshold. We see because of light
which is the psychological sensation experienced, because of the
physical stimulus exciting the eye. For hearing, the physical stimulus is
mechanical vibration. Both the senses, of smell and taste are based on
chemical reactions produced by a stimulus. four different qualities and
give rise to sensations of warmth, cold, touch and pain.

73
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. is the process by which we are able to detect

and identify stimuli.

2. The human hearing receptors can receive sound vibrations that

are within the range of _cycles per second.

3. A minimum amount of physical energy is necessary for the

stimulation of each sense organ

4. This process of change from energy to action potential is called

the of the signals.

5. The are meant for colour vision.

6. too provides with some ability to locate the
distance and direction of a sound source.

7. Basically, there are tastes that are experienced.

8. is the chemical transmitter at every synapse
where a nerve axon terminates a skeletal muscle fibre and is
responsible for muscle contraction.
9. refers to the general level of functioning
characteristics of the healthy organism.

KEY WORDS

Homeostatis Acetylcholine

Absolute threshold Signal deduction theory

Young Helmholtz theory Hering theory

Colour blindness Cytoplasm

DNA Forebrain Midbrain

Spinal cord Central Nervous system

Parasympathetic nervous system Peripheral nervous system

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Sensation 2. 20-20,000

3. Absolute threshold 4. Transduction

5. Cones 6. Hearing

7. Four 8. Acetylcholine

74
9. Homeostasis

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. Analyse the nature of sensory processes.

2. What is meant by sensory threshold?
3. Explain the sense of vision.

4. What is colour blindness?

5. Explain the sense of Hearing.

6. Discuss about the theories of hearing.

7. Explain the sense of Smell, Taste and Touch.

GLOSSARY
Colour blindness: the inability to discriminate between colours and to
perceive colour hues. Colour blindness may be caused by disease,
drugs, or brain injury

Hue: the subjective quality of colour, which is determined primarily by

wavelength and secondarily by amplitude.

Absolute Threshold: the minimum amount of stimulation required to

trigger a reaction or produce a sensation.

Frequency: the number of repetitions of a periodic waveform in a given

unit of time. In acoustics, the frequency of a pure tone is the number of
cycles of a sinusoidal pressure variation that occur in 1 second. The
standard measure of frequency is the hertz (Hz)

Stimulus: Any change in physical energy that activates a sensory

receptor

Sensation: a sensation is the process by which we are able to detect

and identify stimuli. In simple terms it is the process or experience of
perceiving through the senses.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

75
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

76
Unit 5
PERCEPTION

STRUCTURE

Overview

Objectives
5.1 Object Perception and Perceptual Constancies

5.2 Figure and Ground

5.2.1 Reversible Figures

5.2.2 Perceptual Grouping and Patterning

5.2.3 Visual Illusions

5.3 Movement Perception

5.3.1 Apparent Motion

5.3.2 Real motion

5.3.3 Depth Perception

5.4 The Role of Learning in Perception

5.4.1 Effects of Restored Vision

5.4.2 Visual Deprivation with Animals

5.4.3 Perception in Infants

5.5 Attention and Perception

5.5.1 Selective Attention

5.5.2 Determinants of Stimulus Selection

5.5.3 Physiological Correlates of Attention

5.5.4 Needs and Values

Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

77
OVERVIEW

We live in a world of objects and people-a world that constantly

bombards our senses with stimuli. We react to patterns of stimuli,
usually with little awareness of the parts composing the pattern. The
perception of objects and events takes place within a framework of the
space and time. Vision and audition provide the most complex patterns
of these perceptual experiences. In this unit, let us focus on the
perceptual process like object perception, figure and ground
phenomenon, Movement perception. Then we will analyse the role of
learning in perception and finally discuss about the attention
OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you will be able to:

• explain the object perception and perceptual constancies

• describe the Figure and Ground phenomenon

• explain Movement Perception

• analyze the Role of Learning in Perception
• discuss about Attention and Perception
5.1 OBJECT PERCEPTION AND PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCIES

If you look around the room and ask yourself what you see, you see,
your answer is likely to be, “a room full of objects” or “a room full of
people and objects.” You may pick out specific people or objects instead
of making such a general statement, but you are not likely to report that
you see a mosaic of light and shadow. Perception is oriented toward
things rather than toward the sensory features that describe them.
Detached sensory features like "blueness” “square ness" or "softness"
can be perceived, but they are usually perceived as the qualities of
objects. You are aware of the blue flowers or the square box or the soft
pillow-not "blueness" "squareness" or "softness."

Our Perceptual experiences are not isolated; they build a world of

identifiable things. Objects endure, so that you meet the same object
over and over again. When you turn your head away, you think of
objects as remaining where you saw them. A well-known object is
perceived as permanent and stable regardless of the illumination on it,
the position from which it is viewed, or the distance at which it appears.
The tendency to see the color of a familiar object as the same,
regardless of the actual light conditions, is called color constancy. The
tendency to see an object's shape as unchanging regardless of the

78
viewing angle is called shape constancy. The tendency to see an object
as the same size regardless of distance is called size constancy. Finally,
the fact that an object appears to retain its "same" position, even as we
move about, is known as location constancy. The word "constancy” is an
exaggeration, but it dramatizes

a) Color Constancy

Familiar objects appear to retain their color under a variety of lighting

conditions even colored light provided there are sufficient contrasts and
shadows. The owner of a blue car sees it as blue, whether looking at it in
bright sunlight, in dim illumination, or under a yellow street light. He is
relying on his memory of the car's color, which is one factor contributing
to color constancy. Information about the nature of the illumination and
the color of surrounding objects are also clues to color constancy.
b) Shape and size constancy

When a door sings open toward us, its shape as projected on the retina
goes through a series of distortions. The door's rectangular shape
becomes a trapezoid, with the edge toward us looking wider than the
hinged edge, then the trapezoid grows thinner, until all that is projected
on the retina is a vertical line the thickness of the door. We can readily
distinguish these changes, but the psychological experience is an
unchanging occurrence of swinging on its hinges. The fact that the door
does not seem to change it shape is an example of shape constancy.
Size constancy refers to the fact that as an object is moved farther away
we tend to see it as more or less invariant in size. Studies of what
people blind from birth, see, when their sight is restored through surgery
show that the figure-ground organization is present even when other
features of perception are missing. Adults who see for the first time have
no difficulty seeing something as a figure on a background, although
they are unable to identify familiar forms by sight.

We can perceive figure ground relationships through senses other than

vision. For example, we may hear the song of a bird against a
background of outdoor noises or the melody played by the violin against
the harmonies of the rest of the orchestra.
5.2 FIGURE AND GROUND

Geometrical patterns are always seen as figures against a background

and thus appear to be like objects, with the contours and the boundaries.
Figure ground organization is basic to stimulus patterning. Patterns do
not have to contain identifiable objects to be structured as figure and

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ground. Patterns of black and white and many wallpaper designs are
perceived as figure-ground relationships, and very often figure and
ground are reversible In the following figure note that the part that is
seen as figure seems more solid and well defined and tends to appear
slightly in front of the background, even though the spaces in and
around the figure to a uniform background, whether the background is in
white ( a light color or black a dark color).

Fig: A Butterfly or Two Faces?

5.2.1 Reversible Figures

In spite of producing a 'good figure' with the information given above, it

will be not be maintained if the formulation and integrity of their borders
is interfered by the introduction of succeeding 'stronger' figures.

The multiple interpretations are afforded by the 'ambiguous figures’; a

sub-class in this type of figure is 'reversible figures'. In such figures,
perception seems to be perversely unstable. That is, a figure may
remain detectable and its spatial stability may be disrupted in the
absence of an articulated background.

A reversible figure is so structured that it gives rise to two possible figure

ground relations. That is, at one time figure A becomes the figure and
figure B becomes the ground, subsequently, figure B becomes the figure
and figure A becomes the ground. In this, in any ideal condition which
maintains stable perception, instability will occur if given a chance.
But, the total figure does not disappear, only analogous to
disappear occurs. Alternative figures replace each other, when one is
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dominant, the other is in abeyance. The lines remain visible, but the
interpretations change.
5.2.2 Perceptual Grouping and Patterning

Even simple patterns of lines and dots fall into ordered relationships
when we look at them. In the top part of figure we tend to see three pairs
of lines, with an extra line at the right. But notice that we could have
seen three pairs beginning at the right with an extra line at the left. The
slight modification shown in the lower part of the figure causes us to do
just that. This tendency to structure what we see is very compelling;
what we see in figures seems to be forced on us by the patterns of
stimulation. The properties of wholes affect the ways in which parts are
perceived. For that reason we may say following the lead of Gestalt
psychology that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.
5.2.3 Visual Illusions

Sometimes we select a perceptual hypothesis that is actually incorrect;

in this case we experience an illusion. Visual illusions have long
intrigued psychologists by studying stimulus situations where
perceptions are misleadin, they hoped to gain the information about how
perception works.
5.3 MOVEMENT PERCEPTION

When you perceive movement, you sense action in space taking place
over time. Usually the perception of movement is explained according to
the stimulation of successive parts of the sensory surface. When an
image moves across our line of vision, it produces a pattern of
successive stimulation of the rods and cones, and we perceive
movement.
When you turn your head to look around the room Images move across
the retina, yet objects in the room appear stationary. Some higher brain
process apparently integrates the information from the retinal stimulation
and the kinesthetic information from your head, neck, and eye muscles
to tell you that your head or eyes are moving, not the room.
5.3.1 Apparent Motion

It is also possible to perceive the motion without a successive pattern of

stimulation. We will now consider some examples of this kind of
apparent motion.

(i) Auto kinetic effect: If you stare for a few seconds at a single spot of
light in a completely dark room, the light will appear to move about in an
erratic manner-sometimes oscillating back and forth, sometimes
81
swooping off in one direction. This apparent movement of a stationary
light, known as the auto kinetic effect.
(ii) Stroboscopic motion: Another kind of apparent motion is known as
stroboscopic motion this illusion of motion is created when separated
stimuli, not in motion, are presented in succession. Each frame of a film
is slightly different from the preceding one, but, if the frames are
presented rapidly enough, the pictures blend into smooth motion.
A simpler form of stroboscopic motion, known as the phi phenomenon,
when one light blinks on and then off, followed shortly by another, there
is the illusion of a single light moving from the position of the first to the
position of the second, and so on. The apparent movement is seen as
occurring through the empty space between the two lights.

5.3.2 Real motion

We can see apparent motion, when there is no real motion at all. The
perception of real motion is even more complex; it depends upon the
relations between objects within the visual field. Whenever there is
movement, the perceptual system must decide what is moving and what
is stationary with reference to some frame of reference. Experiments
have shown that, when the only information we have about movement is
visual, we tend to assume that large objects are stationary and smaller
objects are moving. If a subject views a spot of light within a frame or
against a screen background and the frame is moved while the spot
remains stationary, he will perceive that spot as moving. This type of
induced movement experienced when the moon is viewed through a thin
cover of moving clouds. In a clear sky the moon appears to be
stationary
5.3.3 Depth Perception

Our study of perception would be incomplete without considering the

problems of perceiving the third dimension that is distance and depth.
The retina is essentially a two-dimensional surface. How, then, is it
possible to perceive things as filling a space of three dimensions?
(i) Binocular Cues to Depth

Many of the facts of vision can be treated by considering phenomena

that can be registered with one eye only. A man with vision in only one
eye has most of the visual experiences of a man using two eyes. He
sees colors, forms, and space relationships, including third-dimensional
configurations. We might suppose that two suppose that two eyes have

82
evolved merely to give man a "spare" in case of injury, just as he has
two kidneys although one is enough.
A man with vision in both eyes does have advantages over a man with
vision in one eye his total visual field is larger, so that he can see more
at once, and he has the benefit of stereoscopic vision. In stereoscopic
vision the two eyes cooperate to yield the experience of solidity and
distance. That the experience does indeed depend upon the cooperate
of the two eyes is clear enough from the effects that can be produced
with a stereoscope. In these device two flat pictures, presented one
before each eye, combine to yield an experience of depth very different
from that received from a single flat picture. The depth appears real, as
though the objects pictured were exactly set up on a stage or in their
true relations of depth and distance.
Stereoscopic experience differs from the experience of the third
dimension in single flat pictures because of retinal disparity. Since our
eyes are separated in our head, the left eye does not get exactly the
same view as the right eye and the stereoscopic effect results from the
combination of these slightly different pictures in one view. You can
easily demonstrate retinal disparity for yourself. With one dove closed
hold a pencil about a foot in front of you and line it up with some vertical
edge on the opposite wall. Open that eye and close the other. The pencil
will appear to have moved a considerable distance from its
original alignment if you line up the pencil with both eyes open and then
close each eye alternately, you can determine which your dominant eye
is; that is, if the pencil shifts when you close the right eye, your right eye
is dominant which is usually the case with right-handed individual.
The facts of stereoscopic vision are clear enough, but just how the
process works is not so clear. Because of the way in which the nerve
fibers from the eves are separated in passing to the brain, the
combination cannot take place in the eyes. Information from the two
eyes must somehow be combined in the brain, probably at the level of
the visual cortex (Barlow, 197?)
(ii) Monocular Cues to Depth

Although having two eyes helps us to perceive depth and distance, we

are by no means restricted to binocular effects for this perception.
Closing one eye causes the loss of some precision, but there is much
left to go on. An artist is able to give depth to his picture because he can
make use of the many monocular cues that tell us the distance of
objects.

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Fig. Visual distance perception
84
The above Figure illustrates four types of cures that are used in the
perception of depth. If one object appears to cut off the view of another,
the presumption is strong that the first object is nearer (Figure A). If
there is an array of like objects of different sizes then the smaller ones
are perceived as being in the distance. Even a series of scattered circles
of different sizes may be viewed as spheres of the same size at varying
distances (Figure B); another hint of perspective is height in the
horizontal plane. As we look along a flat plane, objects further away
appear to be higher, so that we can create the impression of depth for
objects of the same size by placing them at different heights (Figure C).
Even for irregular surfaces, such as a rocky desert or the waving surface
of the ocean, there is a gradient of texture with distance, so that the
“grain” becomes finer as distance becomes greater (Figure D).
5.4 THE ROLE OF LEARNING IN PERCEPTION

The phenomena of perceptual organization movement, and depth

perception, and the various perceptual constancies lend themselves to
simple and convincing experimental demonstrations, so that by now
there is general agreement over what the subject perceives.
Disagreements remain, however, over how to explain what happens.
One of the traditional problems of visual perception has been the
question of whether our abilities to perceive the spatial aspects of our
environment are learned or innate. This is the familiar nature-nurture
problem, and its investigation with relation to perception goes back to
the philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Natives and Empiricist Viewpoints

One group, the atavists who were Descartes and Kant), argued that we
are born with the ability to perceive the way we do. In contrast, the
empiricists who were Berkeley and Locke)maintained that we learn our
ways of perceiving through experience with objects in the world about
us. Among the early sensory psychologists, Herring and Helmholtz
(whose theories of color vision were discussed in Unit 5) held opposing
views. Herring pointed to retinal disparity as evidence for the view that
our eyes are innately designed to perceive depth; he developed a theory
of distance vision based on the fact that each eye registers a different
image. Helmholtz argued that visual perceptions were too variable. For
example, the reversible figure) to be explained on the basis of fixed
receptor mechanisms and must therefore be learned.
Most contemporary psychologists believe that a fruitful integration of
these two viewpoints is possible. No one today really doubts that
practice and experience affect perception. The question is whether we
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are born with some ability to perceive objects and space in our
environment or whether these abilities are completely learned. Let us
examine some of the areas of research, that yield information on the role
of learning in perception.
5.4.1 Effects of Restored Vision

As far back as the seventeenth century, Locke quotes a letter he

received from a colleague, in which the problem is posed:

Suppose a man born blind, and now adult, taught by is touch to

distinguish between a cube and a sphere of the same metal, and nightly
of the same bigness, so as to tell, when he felt one and the other, which
is the cube, which the sphere. Suppose that the cube and the sphere
placed on a table, and the blind man be made to see... Distinguish and
tell which is the globe, which is the cube?
Locke, supporting the empiricist viewpoint, concluded that he could not.
A partial answer to this question is provided by studies of individuals
who were blind from birth with cataracts on both eyes and whose vision
was restored by surgical means when they were adults. When the eye
bandages are removed for the first time, the patient is confused by the
bewildering array of visual stimuli. He is able, however, to distinguish
figure from ground and apparently perceiving figure-ground relationships
in much the same way as normally sighted people do, to fixate figures,
scan them, and follow moving figures with his eyes. These abilities then
appear to be innate. He cannot identify by sight alone objects very
familiar from the sense of touch, such as faces, knives, and keys. He
cannot distinguish a triangle from a square without counting the number
of corners or tracing the outline with a finger. He also cannot tell which of
two uneven sticks is longer without feeling them, although he may report
that the two sticks look somehow different. Often it takes several weeks
of training for such patients to learn to identify simple objects well from
sight, and even after identification has been learned in a specific
situation, the patient shows little evidence of generalization or perceptual
constancy.
These studies of previously blind adults who are suddenly able to see for
the first time suggest that our perceptions develop gradually from
primitive visual experiences in which figure-ground relationships and
color predominate, becoming more accurate and more detailed with
practice. They cannot, however, be taken as conclusive evidence of the
innate visual ability of the infant.

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5.4.2 Visual Deprivation with Animals

in an attempt to provide a more controlled situation similar to restored

vision in humans, animals have been raised in various degrees of
darkness and then tested for visual ability. Investigators who reared
infant chimpanzees in total darkness until they were sixteen months old
found serious perceptual deficiencies when the animals were tested
upon first exposure to light. But, these chimpanzees were later
discovered to have defective retinas. Apparently a certain amount of
light stimulation is necessary for normal anatomical development of the
visual system. Without any light stimulation, nerve cells in the retina and
the visual cortex begin to atrophy. This fact is interesting in itself, but it
does not tell us much about the role of learning in
perceptual development
Later studies made use of translucent goggles so that the animals
received light stimulation, but of a diffuse, unattended form. Studies
have been carried out with monkeys, chimpanzees, and kittens wearing
translucent goggle from birth to anywhere from one to three months of
age. The result showed that although some simple perceptual abilities
were unimpaired, more complex visual activity was seriously affected.
The visually deprived animals did almost as well as normal animals in
distinguishing differences in color, brightness, and size. But they could
not perform such tasks as following a moving object with their eyes,
discriminating forms (a circle from a square of triangle), perceiving
depth, and distinguishing between a moving and a nonmoving stimulus.

5.4.3 Perception in Infants

If the human infant could tell us what the world looks like to him, many of
our questions concerning the development of perception might be
answered. Since he cannot, experimenters have had to stretch their
ingenuity to try to measure the visual abilities of infants.

An infant's perception of height, a special case of a depth perception,

has been investigated. The apparatus has been used with human and
various animal infants in attempts to determine whether the ability to
perceive and avoid a brink is innate or must be learned by the
experience of falling off and getting hurt. Most parents, mindful of the
caution they exercise to keep their offspring from falling out of the crib or
down the stairs, would assume that his ability to appreciate height is
something the child must learn. But the observation of the human
infant's susceptibility to such accidents does not tell us whether he is
unable to discriminate depth or whether he can indeed respond to depth
cues but lacks the motor control to keep from falling.
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Gibson and Walk (1960) tested the response of infants, ranging in age
from 6-14 months, when placed on the centerboard of the visual cliff.
The mother called to the child from the cliff side and the shallow side
successively. Almost all the infants crawled off on the shallow side but
refused to crawl on the deep side. Their dependence on vision was
demonstrated by the fact that they frequently peered through the glass
on the deep side and then backed away. Some of the infants, patted the
glass with their hands but still remained unasserted that it was solid and
refused to cross.

5.5 ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION

Our perceptions are selective. We do not react equally to all the stimuli
impinging upon us; instead we focus upon a few. This perceptual
focusing is called attention. Through attentive processes, we keep in
focus-selected stimuli and resist distracting stimuli.
5.5.1 Selective Attention

We are constantly bombarded by stimuli to which we do not attend. In

fact, our brains would be quite overloaded if we had to attend to every
stimulus present in our environment. Somehow, our brain selects those
stimuli that the pertinent and ignores the others until a change in a
particular stimulus makes it important for us to notice it.

There is evidence, however, those stimuli to which we are not actively

attending still register in some form in our perceptual system, even
though we may not recognize them at the time. Consider what takes
place during a cocktail party. Out of the complex volume of sound that is
generated by the wavelengths of many voices taken together, you are
able to listen to one voice. Although you may think you are not attending
to the other voices, let someone in the far corner of the room mention
your name and you are immediately aware of it; apparently the nervous
system monitors the other voices for relevant stimuli without your being
aware of such activity.

5.5.2 Determinants of Stimulus Selection

What factors determine which of many competing stimuli will gain our
attention? The characteristics of the stimulus are important, as are our
own internal needs, expectancies, and past experience. The advertiser
is concerned with discovering these factors so that he can direct
attention to his product. Some physical properties of the stimulus that
are important in gaining attention are intensity, size, contrast, and
movement.

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Certain internal variables, such as motives and expectations, are equally
important in determining which stimulus attracts our attention. The
advertiser counts on an appeal to the male sex drives when he uses
pictures of scantily clad females to advertise anything from carpets to
automobile tires. In a culture where hunger is a more generally
unsatisfied drive than sex, pictures of food might prove to be a more
powerful attention-getter.

Because of habitual or momentary interests, individual vary greatly in

their responses to the same stimuli. The naturalist will hear sounds in
the woods that the ordinary picnicker would miss. A mother will hear her
baby's cry above the conversation of a room full of people. These two
illustrations represent abiding interests. Sometimes momentary interest
controls attention. When you page through a book looking for a
particular diagram, only pages with illustrations cause you to hesitate;
others you ignore. Emotional states, especially moods, may also affect
the ways in which attention is directed. In a hostile mood, personal
comments are noticed that might go unremarked in a friendlier mood.
5.5.3 Physiological Correlates of Attention

When a stimulus attracts our attention, we usually perform certain body

movements that enhance our reception of the stimulation. If it is a
visual stimulus we turn our head in the proper direction, our eyes turn so
that the image falls on the fovea, our pupils dilate momentarily to allow
lighter to enter the eye, and the lens muscles work to bring the image
clearly into focus. If the stimulus is auditory, we may cup our hands
behind our ears or turn one ear in the direction of the sound, keeping the
rest of our movements very still so as to enhance the reception of a faint
auditory stimulus. These body movements are accompanied by certain
characteristic internal physiological changes. The physiological reactions
that occur, in response to the stimulation changes in the environment
form such a consistent pattern that they have been called the orienting
reflex and have been studied extensively by psychologists.
The orienting reflex occurs in both man and animals in response to even
minimal changes in the stimulus environment. The physiological
accompaniments of attention, in addition to the body movements
mentioned above, include dilation of the blood vessels in the head,
constriction of the peripheral blood vessels, certain changes in the gross
electrical responses of the b.ain (EEG) and changes in muscle tone,
heart rate, and respiration.

These responses serve the dual function of (1) facilitating the reception
of stimulation and (2) preparing the organism to respond quickly in case
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action is needed we can see why such a reflex is extremely valuable for
self-preservation
5.5.4 Needs and Values

What a person perceives and how he perceives it may also be

determined to some extent by his needs and personal values. The value
an individual places on an object may affect such direct impression as
those of size. For example, it has been shown that the children from the
poorer homes tend to overestimate the size of coins more than do
children from well-to-do homes (Bruner and Goodman, 1947).

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. The tendency to see the color of a familiar object as the

same, regardless of the actual light conditions, is
called
2. The tendency to see an object as the same size regardless
of distance is called

3. This apparent movement of a stationary light, known as

the .

4. Although having two eyes helps us to perceive depth and

distance, we are by no means restricted to binocular effects for this
perception. (True /False)

5. pointed to retinal disparity as evidence for the view

that our eyes are innately designed to perceive depth.
6. , reflex occurs in both man and animals in
response to even minimal changes in the stimulus environment.
7. refers to process that our brain selects those
stimuli that the pertinent and ignores the others until a change in a
particular stimulus makes it important for us.
LET US SUM UP

The perceptual constancies imply organization within perception.

Geometrical patterns are always seen as figures against a background
and thus appear to be like objects, with contours and boundaries. Figure
ground organization is basic to stimulus patterning. Patterns do not have
to contain the identifiable objects to be structured as figure and ground.
Patterns of black and white and many wallpaper designs are perceived
as figure-ground relationships, and very often figure and ground are
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reversible. We do not react equally to all the stimuli impinging upon us;
instead we focus upon a few.
KEY WORDS

Colour size

Shape Constancies

Real motion Apparent motion

Selective Attention
ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Color constancy 2. Size constancy

3. Auto kinetic effect 4. True

5. Herring 6. The orienting

7. Selective attention

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. What is perception?

2. What is constancy? Explain.

3. Explain the object perception and perceptual constancies.

4. Describe the figure and Ground phenomenon.

5. Explain Movement Perception.

6. What is real motion?

7. What is apparent motion?

8. Analyze the Role of Learning in Perception.

9. Discuss about Attention and Perception.

GLOSSARY
Apparent Motion: An illusion of motion or change in size of a visual
stimulus
Constancy: The phenomenon in which an object or its properties (e.g.,
size, shape, colour) appear unchanged despite variations in the stimulus
itself or in the external conditions of observation, such as object
orientation or level of illumination, distance etc..
Depth perception: Awareness of three-dimensionality, solidity, and the
distance between the observer and the object.

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Illusion: A false sensory percept. Illusions of the senses, such as visual
illusions, result from the misinterpretation of sensory stimuli
Perception: The process or result of becoming aware of objects,
relationships, and events by means of the senses, which includes such
activities as recognizing, observing, and discriminating
Reversible Figure: An ambiguous figure in which the perspective easily
shifts, so that at certain times specific elements appear to make up a
distinct figure while at others those same elements appear as an
indistinct background
Selective Attention: Concentration on certain stimuli in the environment
and not on others, enabling important stimuli to be distinguished from
peripheral or incidental ones.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction

to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.

3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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BLOCK-III

UNIT 7 LEARNING PRINCIPLES AND METHODS

UNIT 8 TYPES OF LEARNING

93
Unit 6
LEARNING PRINCIPLES AND METHODS
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
6.1 Nature of learning
6.2 Factors involved in Learning
6.3 Classical Conditioning
6.3.1 Ivan Pavlov Rings a Bell
6.3.2 Stimuli and responses in classical conditioning: US, CS,
UR and CR
6.3.3 Extinction
6.3.4 Generalisation
6.3.5 Discrimination
6.4 Instrumental or Operant Conditioning
6.4.1 Skinner's Work
6.4.2 Types of Instrumental Conditioning
6.4.3 Shaping
6.5 Principles of Reinforcement
6.5.1 Primary and Secondary Reinforcement
6.5.2 Schedules of Reinforcement
6.6 Other types of Operant learning
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

Learning, relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience is

a basic topic of psychology. However, it is a process that must be
assessed indirectly by observing the performance. In this unit, we will
94
define learning, factors involved in learning; explain the Classical
conditioning and the various types of instrumental conditioning. Finally,
other types of operant learning will be listed out.

OBJECTIVES

• After studying this unit you will be able to:

• explain the concept of Learning

• define learning
• describe the factors involved in learning

• explain the Classical conditioning

• identify the stimuli and responses in classical conditioning

• explain the various types of instrumental conditioning
• list out other types of operant learning

6.1 NATURE OF LEARNING

Learning is a key process it pervades everything we do and think, it

influences various aspects of our behavior like the way we speak, dress,
attitudes, belief and the goals we pursue. Let us first define the learning.
Learning may be defined as "any relatively permanent change in the
behavior, which occurs as a result of experience or practice" excluding
the role of motivation. You must note that in this definition there are
three important elements.
1. Learning is a permanent change in the behaviour for better or
worse.
2. It is a change that takes place through experience or practice
and this does not include changes that take place due to
growth, maturation or injury.
3. The change, must be relatively permanent, that is it must lost for
a fairly long time.

6.2 FACTORS INVOLVED IN LEARNING

There are many factors that contribute to learning, for the phenomena of
learning to occur; a single factor or a combination of factors may be
involved.

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a) Arousal and motivation: We all know that the most fundamental
condition for learning to take place is that the organism be in a
reasonably high state of arousal. Although it has been claimed that
some learning can take place during sleep, such learning is very
minimal. But then, is being aroused a sufficient condition for learning or
do you think that, the organism must also be motivated. Being motivated
for learning to take place is important in at least three ways.

1. First, it is a condition for eliciting behaviour. For example if a rat

is to learn a maze, it must at least walk through it, rat will do this
merely to explore, but they are found to be more active when
they

2. are hungry. Second motivation is necessary for reinforcement,

which in turn is an essential condition of learning. Reward and
punishments act as reinforcers. For a hungry rat, food not water
is a reinforce, that explains the point that reinforces should be
appropriate.
3. Thirdly, motivation controls the variability of behaviour. When
learning a new half, a motivated organism will run through an
extensive repertory of response, one of which may be "correct".
Let us make this clear with an example, suppose a mother is
interested in teaching her child, who is thirsty to say "milk” when
a glass of milk is shown to. One way of doing this is to show the
child a glass of milk while saying 'milk' at the same time. If he
says 'milk' be will be given a sip as reinforcement. If he is
motivated, the child will quickly run through much behaviour, he
may grab for the glass, he may cry, he may imitate 3 and say
"milk” is the “correct" response. If he is not motivated this
repertory of responses will be less likely to occur.
In summary we can say that motivation is important become

(1) It brings out appropriate behaviours to be learned.

(2) It permit reinforcement to occur and

(3) It increases the variability of behaviour, this raising the

probability that a correct response will occur.

b) Association: One factor that is common to most of the situations in

which learning takes place is association. By association, here we mean
some connection in time and place between two events. Lightning (S1)
and thunder (S2) usually occur in close sequence, so the light and
sound may be connected. There connections in the physical world

96
provide opportunities for an organism to form association's focus
experiencing two events simultaneously or in close succession. The
formation of such associations is a function of the brain. Stated
symbolically, if S, and S, together will tend to form an association
between processes in the train, so that S, can now a rouse S 2 or S2
arouse S1

(i) Stimulus Response Association

Another kind of association is the S-R or stimulus response association.

In this care the learner associates a stimulus with a response. For
instance, when we learn a foreign language vocabulary, we are forming
an S-R association. The foreign work is a stimulus for the English
learning response or vice versa. S-R association lend themselves to
objective observation, and for this reason they have received the
greatest attention in psychological experiments.
ii) Contiguity

The concept of association implies contiguity that is to say, for two

physical events to be connected, and hence for the corresponding
processes in the training to become associated, the event must occur at
approximately the same time and place. They must be contiguous, or
paired, events. For this reason, contiguity has long been started as a
basic law governing the formation of associations.

What must be contiguous varies with different learning situations. In

simple conditioning, it is the contiguity of two stimuli that is essential for
learning. In more complex learning it is the contiguity of a response and
a reward or punishment that is important for learning. For example, we
give a dog a bit of food, when he performs a trick, or we hit a child's
hand when he reaches for a lighted matchstick. In every care, it is the
pain of event making them contiguous that is essential in learning.

iii) Interference

Still another aspect of forming association deserves emphasis the

possibility of interference among associations. One stimulus may
become associated with two different stimuli or with two different
responses. If the two associations with the single to stimulus are
incompatible, are tends to block interfere with the other. Let us
understand this better with an example of learning two languages at the
same time. Children who are brought up in bilingual homes or where two
languages are used are slower in language development than there who
learn only is language of home. A child learns a good deal of language
by associating a word with same stimulus. He learns to associate (thirst)
97
with water. But, if he must learn to associate 'thanni' (Tamil for 'water) or
‘paani' (Hindi for 'water) at the same time, he has two different
associations (R1 and R2) for the same visual stimulus (s). He cannot
say than both at the same time. Hence are association interferes with
the other and neither association is built up as rapidly as it might be. The
principle of mutual interference of association is a general one, which
accounts for several of the phenomena of learning and for getting

c) Reinforcement

Another important term, one that psychologists repeatedly use when

talking about learning, is reinforcement. This term has two meanings,
depending on the kind of learning situation be is talking about. In simple
conditioning, it merely refers to the second stimulus of the pair being
presented. The other meaning is what is commonly called reward or
punishment. Examples of the things that serve as reinforcers are food
for a hungry organize, praise for a child or escape from punishment.
Reinforcement is of great importance in learning and hence Thorndike
called it the law of effect. This law states that an act, which has a
satisfying effect for instance, satisfaction of a drive, escape from
punishment, or relief from pain, fear will be learned, but an act, which
has an unpleasant effect such as frustration of a motive, punishment, or
fear, will not be learned. It is relatively easy to observe that
reinforcement strengthen. Certain kind of association's Hall has called
this simple fact that, reinforcement work to strengthen association has
the empirical law of effect.

We have discussed three basic principles or factors in learning can you

recall them; they are motivation, association and reinforcement.
6.3 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Classical conditioning is a form of learning. In lower organisms, much

behaviour is instinctive, or inborn for e.g. fishes are born “knowing" how
to swim. Among human being, however, the variety and complexity of
behaviors pattern are largely learned through experience.

Classical conditioning involves same of the ways in which we learn to

associate events. Let us understand, this better with an example we are
usually more likely to stop our cars for red traffic light. Why? Red light is
associated with avoiding accidents and traffic regulations.

6.3.1 Ivan Pavlov Rings a Bell

Lower animals also learn relationships among events Russian

physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) discovered in research
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with laboratory dogs. Pavlov during his research found that because of
its biological making, a dog will salivate if meat powder is placed on its
tongue. Salivation in response to meat powder is unlearned, a reflex. A
certain range of stimuli elicits reflexes. A stimulus is an environmental
condition that evokes a response from an organism. Reflexes are simple
unlearned responses to stimuli. Pavlov discovered that reflexes could
also be learned, or conditioned, through association. His dogs began
salivating in response to clinking food trays became this noise, in the
past, had been paired repeatedly with the arrival of food. The dogs
would also salivate when an assistant entered the laboratory. Guess
why? In the past the assistant had brought food.

When we are faced with novel events, we sometimes have no

immediate way of knowing whether or not they are important. When we
are striving for concrete goods, we often ignore the unexpected, even
when the unexpected is just as important, or more important, than the
goal. So it was that Pavlov at first saw this uncalled for canine salivation
as an annoyance, a hindrance to his research. But in 1901, he decided
that this 'problem' was worth looking into. He then set about to show that
he could train, or condition, his dogs to salivate when he wished and in
response to any stimulus he chose.
Pavlov termed the trained salivary responses as "conditional reflexes".
They were conditional upon the repeated pairing of a previously neutral
stimulus such as the clinking of a food tray and a stimulus that is in this
case, food that predictably evoked the target response (in this case,
salivation). Today conditional reflexes are more generally referred to as
conditioned responses, (CRS) since they are responses to previously
neutral stimuli that are learned or conditioned.
Pavlov demonstrated conditioned responses by strapping a dog into a
harness. When meat powder was placed on the dog's tongue, the dog
salivated. Pavlov repeated the process several times, with are
difference. He preceded the meat powder by hall a second or so with the
sounding of a bell on each occasion. After several pairing of meat
powder and bell Pavlov sounded the bell but did not follow the bell with
the meat powder. Still the dog salivated. It had learned to salivate in
response to the bell.

Why did the dog learn to salivate in response to the bell? Behaviorists
explain the out came of classical conditioning in terms of the publicity
observable conditions of learning.
They define classical conditioning as a simple form of learning in which
one stimulus craves to evoke the response usually evoked by a second
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stimulus by being paired repeatedly with the second stimulus. In
Pavlov's demonstration, the dog learned to salivate in response to the
bell because the sounding of the bell had been paired with meat powder.
Thus, in classical conditioning, the organizing forms association between
stimuli because the stimuli are contiguous. Behaviorists are of the
opinion that any targeted behaviour can reliably be made to occur, and
hence behaviorists focus on the mechanical acquisition of the
conditioned response

6.3.2 Stimuli and responses in classical conditioning: US, CS,

UR and CR.
In the demonstration described above we have seen that that meat
powder is an unlearned or unconditional stimulus (US). Salivation in
response to the meat powder is an unlearned or unconditional response
(UR) where the bell was at first a meaningless or neutral stimulus. Then,
through repeated association with the meat powder, the bell became a
learned or a conditioned stimulus (CS) for the salivation. Salivation in
response to the bell (or CS) is a learned one or conditioned response
(CR). A CR is a response similar to a UR, but, the response elicited, or
brought out, by definition a CR, not a UR.
Fig A schematic Representation of Classical Conditioning

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6.3.3 Extinction

In classical conditioning, extinction is the process by which conditioned

stimulus (CS) lose the ability to elicit conditioned responses (CR)
because the CS are no longer associated with unconditioned stimuli
(US). From the cognitive perspective, extinction teaches the organism to
modify its representation of the environment because the CS no longer
serves its predictive function.
In this experiment in the extinction of CR, Pavlov found that repeated
presentation of CS (or bell) without the US (meat powder) led to
extinction of the CR (salivation in response to the bell). The dog
conditioned by Pavlov began to salivate (CR) in response to a bell (CS)
often only for a couple of pairings of the stimuli led to increased
salivation, as measured in number of drops of salivation. After seven or
eight trials, salivation leveled off at eleven to twelve drops.
Then, salivation to the bell (CR) was extinguished through several trails
referred to as extinction trials in which the CS (bell) was presented
without the meat powder (US). After about ten extinction trails, the CR
(salivation in response to the bell) was no longer shown.

6.3.4 Generalisation

We know that no two things are exactly alike. Traffic lights are hung at
slightly different heights, and shades of red and green differ a little. The
Larking of two dogs differs and the sound of the same animal differs
slightly from back to back. Adaptation requires, that we respond similarly
to the stimuli that are equivalent in function and that, we respond
differently to the stimuli that are not. Pavlov noted that responding to
different stimuli as though they are functionally equivalent is adoptive for
any organism.

In a demonstration of generalization, Pavlov first conditioned a dog to

salivate when a circle was presented. During each acquisition trial the
dog was shown a circle (CS), and then given meat powder (US) After
several trials, the dog exhibited the CR of salivating when presented with
the circle above. Pavlov demonstrated that the dog also exhibited the
CR (salivation) in response to closed geometric figures such as ellipses,
pentagons, and squares. The more closely the figure resembled a circle
the greater the strength of the response the more drops of salivation that
flowed

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6.3.5 Discrimination

This is another important concept organizers must also learn (1) that
many stimuli perceived as being similar are functionally different and (2)
to respond adoptively to each. During the first couple of months of life,
babies can discriminate the voices of their other from there of others.
They will often stop crying when they hear a stranger's voice.

Pavlov showed that a dog conditioned to salivate in response to circles

be trained not to salivate in response to ellipses. The type of
conditioning that trains an organisms to show a CR in response to a
narrow range of stimuli (in this care, circular rather than elliptical
geometric figures) is termed discriminating training, Pavlov trained the
dog by presenting it with circles and ellipses but associating the meat
powder (US) with circles only. After a while, the dog no longer showed
the CR (salivation) in response to the ellipses. Instead the animal
showed discrimination. It displayed the CR in response to circle only.

6.4 INSTRUMENTAL OR OPERANT CONDITIONING

This is another important type of learning: operant conditioning also

referred to as instrumental conditioning. An organism learns to engage
in certain behaviours because of the effects of those behaviours. There
are two important psychologist associated with operant conditioning.
They are Edward L Thorndike and B.F. Skinner.

Edward Thorndike used stray cats for his research in learning by trial
and error. He placed the animals in so-called puzzle boxes. If they
managed to pull a dangling string a latch would be released, allowing
them to joining out and reach a bowl of food. When the cat was placed in
a puzzle box, it tries to squeeze through any opening and would claw
and bite at the confining bars and wire or would claw at any feature it
could reach. Through such random trail-and-error behaviour, if might
take three to four minutes, before the cat would chance a response of
pulling the string. Pulling the string would open the cage and allow the
cat to reach the food.

Classical conditioning experiments throw light on important features of

learning or association providing a starting point for the study of more
complex types of learning. The next basic kind of learning is what is
known as Instrumental or operant conditioning. The term "operant"
emphasizes the component of work involved on the part of the learner,
because he has to "operate" on his environment, and the term
"instrumental" points to the fact that the learner has some control over
his circumstances and his action is instrumental to what happens to him

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Instrumental conditioning involves more activity on the part of the learner
than classical conditioning. Generally, behaviors directed towards
gaining a reward or avoiding a punishment are examples of instrumental
action. In this form of behaviour, the intention and achievement are
important.

The important concepts in this sort of conditioning are contingency and

consequences. Instrumental learning involves learning about
the sequences of behaving in a specific way (i.e.) learning that making of
a particular response will be followed by a specific stimulus event. For
instance, a child might learn that crying would fetch him his mother's
attention. Simplifying the basic idea, we might say that learning consists
of discovering that a particular response (R) will be followed by a
stimulus event (S).
In another way, we may interpret it in terms of contingency learning. The
learner finds out that for the purpose of making a stimulus event to occur
(getting the mother's attention); he will have to perform a particular
response (crying). Here, the stimulus (S) is contingent upon the
response.

Historically, as classical conditioning is associated with the work of

Pavlov, instrumental conditioning is associated with the works of E.L.
Thorndike and B.F. Skinner. Thorndike was the first to conduct
laboratory experiments on instrumental conditioning leading to the
formulation of the Law of Effect, which formed the basis for the principle
of reinforcement. But it was Skinner who made operant conditioning
popular. His studies on the behaviour of pigeons, rats and human beings
led to the identification of the basic elements and laws of operant
conditioning. The development of the concepts functional analysis,
which emphasizes on the functions and the consequences of behaviour
is due to his efforts His findings, which forms the foundation for the
development of a new technology of behaviour modification in its
application.
Though this is in its formative stage, still it is useful and controversial.

6.4.1 Skinner's Work

Skinner used a device, which has come to be known as Skinner box to

investigate the relationship between the events of instrumental
conditioning. He placed a rat inside a glass box containing a lever and
food tray. The animal was free to explore the box. Whenever the lever in
the box was pressed, automatically a pellet of food was dropped on the
tray. A mechanical device recorded the number of times the rat pressed

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on lever. Pressing of the lever was the response to be learned are (the
operant response, and the food was the stimulus consequence is
reinforcement. The rate of presses increased notably with the rewarding
of the rat with food each time he pressed the bar. By reinforcement, the
rat learned the instrumental response.

Basically the reinforcers are of two kinds namely the positive (S+) and
the negative (S-). A positive reinforcer refers to a stimulus event that
when made contingent on a response will cause the frequency of that
response to increase. In the rat experiment, the food is a positive
reinforcer because the rat will increase the number of presses if food is
withheld until he presses the lever. Generally speaking, the positive
reinforcers are those things that are liked or desired i.e. rewards. On the
other hand, a negative reinforcer refers to the stimulus event that will
cause an increase in response frequency when the contingency is a
negative one i.e. the making of the response results in the cessation of
the stimulus. For example, an electric shock in the place of food may be
called a negative reinforcer. Generally, a negative reinforcer is one,
which is disliked or avoided by an organism, i.e. punishments.
6.4.2 Types of Instrumental Conditioning

By this conditioning method, it is possible to teach an individual to make

a particular response or withhold it by providing him with either rewards
or punishments. A combination of two kinds of consequences that are
rewards and punishments with two kinds of contingencies (either the
consequences is contingent on making or on not making it) can be
presented.
They are: reward, omission, escape and punishment training. Positive
reinforcement is used in reward training. For example, giving an
individual his due allowance is a case of this kind of training. When
rewards are used to withhold a response that is not desired, it is called
omission training. For instance, if a child is offered a candy for giving up
nail-biting it is a case of omission training. Escape training refers to the
use of negative reinforcement to increase the frequency of a desired
response. Telling a convict that good conduct on his part will secure him
remission of sentences of this type. Lastly' punishment training is used
to make the learner cease performing an undesired response. Scolding
a child for using impolite language is a good example of this type of
instrumental conditioning.

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6.4.3 Shaping

Shaping refers to the reinforcing of closer approximations for performing

a desired response. This consists of learning graduated steps, where
each following step has a resemblance to the desired performance and
hence it is known as the method of successive approximations. For
example, in the case of an animal in the operant conditioning apparatus,
with the help of a remote control, the experimenter reinforces the
approaches to the lever, by going near it, pawing it and eventually
pressing it a sequence of responses leading to the appropriate
response. This kind of a thing is done with children, when they are
taught to learn languages. At the beginning, the child may say “Maaa”
"Mrrr”... “Maar” and finally "Mother”.

6.5 PRINCIPLES OF REINFORCEMENT

We have already seen what reinforcement means. Now we will discuss

about the nature and types of reinforcement. Regarding the nature of
reinforcement we have primary and secondary reinforcement. Whereas
for the types of reinforcement we can classify into i) time and ii) interval.
Now let us discuss in detail about the same.
6.5.1 Primary and Secondary Reinforcement

In primary reinforcement, a reinforcer is an event that increases or

maintains the strength of a response. Secondary reinforcement also is
important in operant conditioning. A stimulus is a secondary reinforcer if
it has acquired a reinforcing quality because it has been associated with
a primary reinforcer. When such a stimulus follows a response, it tends
to increase and maintain the strength of a response.
The experiment by Cowles with chimpanzees would be useful. The
chimpanzees learned to work for poker chips, which in turn helped to
get food. Here poker chips were token rewards and they were
exchanged for the food. While food is the primary reinforcer, poker chips
are the secondary; reinforcers. In human beings, in the social learning's
secondary reinforcers plays a vital role: Symbolic rewards, like degrees,
titles, promotions and money serve as secondary reinforcers.
6.5.2 Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed Ratio Schedules

If a schedule is administered on a ratio basis, reinforcement is given

after a certain number of responses. If the schedule is a fixed ratio, the
exact number of responses is specified. A fixed ratio that reinforces after
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every response is designated as 1:1. The 1:1 fixed ratio is generally
used in basic conditioning experiments, and almost every type of
learning situation must begin with this schedule. However, as learning
progresses, it is more effective to shift to a fixed ratio of 2:1, 4:1, 8:1 and
even 20:1.

Administering rewards under a fixed ratio schedule tends to produce a

high rate of response that, is characterized as vigorous and steady. The
person soon determines that reinforcement is based on the number of
responses and performs the responses as quickly as possible in order to
receive the reward.
Fixed Interval Schedules

A second common way to administer rewards is on a fixed interval basis.

Under this schedule, reinforcement is given after a specified period of
time, which is measured from the last reinforced response. The length of
time that can be used by this schedule varies a great deal. In the
beginning of practically any learning situation, a very short interval is
required. However, as learning progresses, the interval can be stretched
out.

Behavior resulting from a fixed interval method of reinforcing is quite

different from that exhibited as result of a fixed ratio schedule. Whereas
under a fixed ratio schedule there is a steady, vigorous response
pattern, under a fixed interval schedule there is an uneven pattern that
varies from a very slow, unenergetic response immediately following
reinforcement to a very fast, vigorous response immediately preceding
reinforcement. This type of behavior pattern can be explained by the fact
that the person figures out that another reward will not immediately
follow the last one. Therefore, the person may as well relax a little until it
is time to be rewarded again.
Variable or intermittent Schedules

Both ratio the interval schedules can be administered on a variable or

intermittent basis. This means that the reinforcement is given in an
irregular or unsystematic manner. In variable ratio, the reward is given
after a. number of responses, but the exact number is randomly varied.
When the variable ratio is expressed as some number say, 1:50 this
means that on the average the organism is reinforced after fifty
responses. However, in reality the ratio, may randomly vary from 1:1 to
1:100. In other words, each response has a chance of being reinforced
regardless of the number of reinforced or the the non-reinforced
responses that have preceded it.

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The variable interval schedule works basically the same as the variable
ratio schedule except that a reward is given after a randomly distributed
length of time rather than after a number of responses. a fifty-minute
variable interval schedule means that on the average, the individual is
reinforced after fifty minutes, but, the actual reinforcement may be given
anywhere from every few seconds to every two or three hours.

Behavior under Variable Schedules

Both variable ratio and variable interval schedules tend to produce

stable, vigorous behavior under variable schedules is similar to that
produced by a fixed ratio schedule. Under a variable schedule, the
person has no idea when the reward is coming, and so the behavior
tends to be steady and strong. It logically follows that variable schedules
are very resistant to extinction.
Variable schedules are not very effective in highly controlled learning
experiments and are seldom used. On the other hand, they are the way
in which many real-life, everyday learning situations are reinforced.
although primary reinforcers for humans are administered on a relatively
fixed basis (for example, food is given three times a day at mealtimes,
and organization compensation plans are on either a fixed ratio or a
fixed interval basis), most of the other human behavior that takes place
is reinforced in a highly variable manner. For example, practically all
social rewards are administered on a variable basis. Attention, approval,
and affection are generally given as reward in a very random fashion.

6.6 OTHER TYPES OF OPERANT LEARNING

a) Aversive Conditioning

This is kind of conditioning response learning in which aversive stimuli

that is the Stimuli, that isunpleasant, painful or noxious) play a part.
Escape conditioning, avoidance conditioning and punishment training
are the various types of aversive conditioning.

i) Escape Conditioning

The organism learns to get away from a stimulus situation that is a

aversive to it. There termination of electric shock reinforces the
response. The repeated trials the subject escapes more and more
quickly from the shock.
ii) Avoidance conditioning

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Here, a warning signal is followed by the onset of an aversive stimulus.
This happens untill such time the proper response is made terminating
the aversive stimulation. However, a quick reaction on the part of the
subject help him to avoid the aversive stimulation completely. For
instance, rat placed in a box, which has two compartments, one painted
white and another black, separated by a low partition over which the rat
can jump. In the white portion there is a provision to give electric shock
to the rat and in the black portion the animal can stay without a shock. A
few minute following the sound of a buzzer, the rat is administered a
shock. After some random movements, the rat jumps to the black
apartment. Following such a procedure repeated a number of times; the
response generally becomes so immediate that the rat avoids the shock
totally.
In the case of human beings also, learned or acquired fears induce
behaviors and responses that remove a fear-arousing signal are
secondary reinforcing. When external stimulus situations given rise to
fear such as addressing a big audience, or pursuing a difficult academic
task, the response that would help the individual to get away from the
situation is reinforced by reduction of fear.
iii) Punishment Training

Punishments are generally used for suppressing or eliminating

undesired behaviour of an individual punishment training, an aversive
stimulus is contingent on responses. Cases such as not following the
rules of the road or an employee being taken to ask for late coming are
examples. Punishments generally result in suppressing the responses at
least for sometimes. Punishment or threat of punishment to improve
human learning has many problems. The individuals getting punishment
develop hostility towards the punisher. Punishment may also wound
one's feelings that one is not being wanted or loved. Punishments may
produce unrealistic and exaggerated fears. For instance, a child who is
punished for sex play may develop a generalized fear of everything
related to sex.

LET US SUM UP

One major form of learning is known as classical conditioning, first

studied by Ivan Pavlov. He stated that conditioning occurs when the
neutral stimulus after repeated pairings, brings about the same response
as the unconditioned stimulus. The second form of learning is operant
conditioning. According to Skinner, the stimulus can increase the

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probability that a preceding behaviour will be repeated. Generalisation
and discrimination are phenomena that operate in both the types of
conditioning. Learning is not always permanent, that is extinction occurs
when a previously learned response decreases in frequency and
eventually disappears. Shaping is a process for teaching complex
behaviours by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired
behaviour.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. is necessary for reinforcement, which in turn is an

essential condition of learning.

2. refers to that, an act which has an unpleasant

effect such as frustration of a motive, punishment, or fear, will not
be learned
3. was the first to conduct laboratory experiments on
instrumental conditioning leading to the formulation of the Law
of Effect.
4. One stimulus may become associated with two different stimuli
or with two different responses. True / False

5. is the process by which conditioned stimulus lose the

ability to elicit conditioned responses.
KEY WORDS

Classical conditioning Neutral stimulus

Unconditioned response Conditioned stimulus

Extinction Stimulus generalization

Discrimination Operant conditioning

Reinforcement Punishment
Ratio Vs Interval Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed Vs Variable Positive Vs Negative Reinforcers

Shaping Observational learning

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Motivation

2. Law of effect
3. Thorndike
4. True
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5. Extinction

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. Define Learning.

2. What is the important element in learning?

3. What are the three factors in learning?

4. Explain the Classical conditioning process.

5. What is Discrimination?

6. What is generalization?

7. Identify the stimuli and responses in classical conditioning.

8. Describe the operant conditioning through Skinnerian experiment.

9. Explain the various types of instrumental conditioning.

10. List out other types of operant learning.

GLOSSARY
Arousal: A state of physiological activation or cortical responsiveness,
associated with sensory stimulation and activation of fibers from the
reticular activating system.

Classical Conditioning: Refers to the establishment of a association

between stimulus and response. It is a type of learning in which an
initially neutral stimulus—the conditioned stimulus (CS)—when paired
with a stimulus that elicits a reflex response—the unconditioned stimulus
(US)—results in a learned, or conditioned, response (CR) when the CS
is presented

Contiguity: The co-occurrence of stimuli in time or space. Learning an

association between two stimuli is generally thought to depend at least
partly on the contiguity of those stimuli.

Learning: A relative permanent change in the behaviour. Also refers to

the acquisition of new information, behaviors, or abilities after practice,
observation, or other experiences, as evidenced by change in behavior,
knowledge, or brain function.

Motivation: The impetus that gives purpose or direction to behavior and

operates in humans at a conscious or unconscious level (see
unconscious motivation).

Neutral Stimulus: In classical conditioning, a stimulus that does not

elicit a response of the sort to be measured as an index of conditioning.
110
Operant Conditioning: The process in which behavioral change (i.e.,
learning) occurs as a function of the consequences of behavior. That is a
behaviour is followed by stimulus (reward/punishment).
Reinforcement: The procedure that results in the frequency or
probability of a response being increased in such a way through the
strengthening with rewards.

Shaping: Refers to the production of new forms of operant behavior by

reinforcement of successive approximations to the behavior. By
providing proper rewards and punishments, the desired behaviour can
be brought out with.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction

to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed.,
2002.

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Unit 7
TYPES OF LEARNING
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
7.1 Multiple-Response Learning
7.1.1 Sensorimotor Learning
7.1.2 Rote Memorization
7.2 Cognitive Learning
7.2.1 Insight Experiments
7.2.2 Other types of Cognitive Learning
7.3 Programmed Learning
7.3.1 Principles of Programmed Instruction
7.3.2 Physiological Principles under laying Programmed
Learning
7.3.3 Limitations of Programmed Learning
7.3.4 Application of Programmed Learning
7.4 Programmed Learning and Automated Instruction
7.5 Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)
7.5.1 Instructional Program
7.6 Transfer of Learning
7.6.1 Doctrine of Formal discipline
7.6.2 Learning to Learn
7.6.3 Transfer by Mastering Principles
7.7 Reward and Punishment in Learning
7.7.1 Controlling Learning through Punishment
7.7.2 Pros and Cons on the use of Punishment
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

112
OVERVIEW

Conditioning is most directly to single identifiable responses, but much

learning is more complex than this. These more complex instances are
classified as multiple response learning. Some psychologists are not in
favour of over emphasis upon the automatic nature of learning that
comes from stimulus response associations. Much of our learning
consists of the acquiring patterns of sequences of behaviors, as in
learning athletic skills of in memorizing a poem. In this unit, we will
discuss about the multiple response learning, cognitive learning,
programmed learning and computer aided instruction, transfer of
learning and role of reward and punishment in learning.
OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you would be able to:

• explain about multiple response learning

• describe multiple response learning

• explain the components of cognitive learning

• discuss about the programmed learning

• explain the advantages of computer aided instruction

• analyse the transfer of learning

• highlight the significance of reward and punishment in learning

7.1 MULTIPLE-RESPONSE LEARNING

These patterns illustrate multiple-response learning, a kind of learning

involving more than one identifiable act, with the order of events usually
fixed by the demands of the situation. To study this kind of learning
psychologists have designed such laboratory tasks as mirror drawing,
target tracking, and rote memorization. The first two tasks are forms of
sensorimotor skill, and the last is largely verbal. Tasks such as these
approximate the learning of skills that are used in everyday life.
7.1.1 Sensorimotor Learning

By a sensorimotor skill we mean one in which muscular movement is

prominent, but under sensory control. Riding a bicycle, turning a flip from
a diving board, playing a piano, and typing are sensorimotor skills. They
are not simply patterns of skilled movements. The bicycle rider has to
watch the traffic and the bumps in the road and be guided by them. The
diver must adjust his timing to the height of the platform. The musician
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reads notes and attempts to play with feeling. The typist must follow a
manuscript and stay within specified boundaries. These considerations
call attention to the sensory control of skill.

Psychologists have not limited themselves to laboratory tasks in

studying skills. The pioneer study was, in fact, a practical one on
learning to send and receive telegraphic messages, carried out by Bryan
and Harter in 1897. Many of the best-established principles are first
worked out on laboratory skills, however, and later validated in more
complex practical situation. A convenient laboratory illustration is given
by the mirror-drawing experiment. We learn something of the importance
of the eye-hand coordination in developing the skills by studying what
happens when our usual eye-hand coordination's are inappropriate and
we have to reorient accordingly.
In a typical mirror-drawing experiment, the subject is required to trace a
pall around a geometric figure, such as a star, while viewing it in a
mirror. The subject knows that the correct performance is a smoothly
traced line within the path around the figure. The subject starts out by
using familiar habits. These of course cause trouble. When using the
visual cues from a mirror in the same way as cues in direct vision, the
subject will find that the pencil will not go where it is supposed to go. The
subject therefore attempts to correct: movements and gradually
approximates a good performance, although at firs a very jagged line is
drawn. Old habits may again interfere at the corners of the figure. With
practice, however, the lines smooth out, and the subject can achieve a
rapid tracing of the figure.
a) Learning curves for skill

Experimenters typically keep track of progress in skill learning by plotting

a learning curve similar to those used to depict the course of classical
conditioning. Two learning curves for mirror drawing are plotted, ore
representing massed practice which are the practice trails follows each
other consecutively within one period and the other depicting spaced
practice which are practice trails distributed one per day. Note that
spaced practice is more efficient, which is generally the case although
there are exceptions. This comparison shows how learning curves can
be used to display a relationship between two variables.

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 Fig 7.1 Learning curves from mirror

drawing The measure of proficiency is the time required to trace a figure

seen in the mirror. Improvement shows a decrease in time required and
yields a falling curve. If the measure of proficiency is a score that
increases with practice, then the learning curve rises. Scores in a target-
tracking task like the pursuit rotor are of this sort. The subject attempts
to keep the tip of a hand-held stylus in contact with a small metal disc
mounted near the edge of a revolving turntable much like that of an
ordinary record player. When the stylus is in contact with the moving
target, an electric circuit is completed though a clock. The subject's
score is the amount of time on target.

b) Qualitative Changes with Practical

A learning curve presents performance over the course of an experiment

as though the subject followed the same pattern of activity at the end as
at the beginning and improved only in efficiency. But, it is quite possible
that in the course of improvement the subject's method changed. For
example, in studying learning how to type, some investigators have
detected a shift from a letter to a word habit like learning the location of
the individual keys associated with each letter to a word habit, which is

115
learning to write familiar words with a single burst of movement,
embedding the letters in a total pattern). Occasionally these higher order
and lower order learning conflict, and there is a period of no
improvement in the learning curve. This period is described as a plateau
because it has been preceded by improvement and will be followed by
more improvement when the higher order learning wins out.

7.1.2 Rote Memorization

By rote memorization we mean verbatim learning by repetition, as

contrasted with substance memorization. Experiments on rote
memorization take one of two chief forms, corresponding to the ways we
learn things verbatim in ordinary experience. One form is serial
memorization, as in memorizing poetry or lines of a play. In a laboratory
experiment, a list of words is memorized from beginning to end, so that
each word in the list is in some sense the stimulus for the word to follow.
The second form is paired associate learning, which is comparable to
the method sometimes used in learning the words of a foreign language.
The words are learned in stimulus response pairs, such as prepared-
afraid, careless-vacant, hungry quiet; a stimulus word is presented, and
the response word has to be learned. The pairs are not learned in any
special order and depending on the experiment, may or may not
be meaningfully related.

The experimenter usually presents the material to the subject by means

of an exposure device called a memory drum. The items to be learned
appear one at a time at fixed intervals in the aperture of the memory
drum. After the initial presentation of each item, the subject tries to state
in advance the next item to appear in the aperture. By keeping the score
of the subject's hits and misses throughout memorizing, the
experimenter can plot a learning curve from his record.

The anticipation method for rote memorization requires that the subject
try to state what lies immediately ahead. It can be used for either serial
memorization or paired-associate memorization. In the serial method the
item anticipated becomes the stimulus for the next anticipation when it
(the item) appears in the aperture; it is both a response item and a
stimulus item. In the paired associate method the stimulus item is used
only as a stimulus, not as a response. When the stimulus is presented in
the aperture of the memory drum the subject tries to anticipate the
response item, then the stimulus response pair appear together for a
brief period of study prior to presentation of the next stimulus item.

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7.2 COGNITIVE LEARNING

The kinds of learning that we have considered thus far all stress the
organization of behavior into learned stimulus-response associations. In
studying more complex forms of learning, attention must be given to the
roles of perception and knowledge, or cognitive processes. There is the
possibility that emphasis upon stimulus-response associations may lead
to too much concern for piecemeal activities and too little attention to
organized relationships and meaning. The teacher impressed by habit
formation may use rote memorization and drill excessively, without
caring enough about whether the child organizes and understands what
is learned.
Those identified with the cognitive viewpoint argue that learning,
particularly in humans, cannot be satisfactorily explained in terms of
stimulus response associations. They propose that, the learner forms a
cognitive structure in memory, which preserves and organizes
information about the various events that occur in a learning situation.
When a test is made to determine how much has been learned is largely
depend upon the situation. When a test is made to determine how much
has been learned, the subject must encode the test stimulus and scan it
against his memory to determine an appropriate action. What is done
will depend upon the cognitive structure retrieved from memory, which
preserves and organizes information about the various events that occur
in a learning situation. When a test is made to determine how much has
been learned, the subject must encode the test stimulus and scan it
against his memory to determine an appropriate action. What is done
will depend upon the cognitive structure retrieved from memory, and the
context in which the test occurs. Thus, the subject's response is a
decision process that varies with the nature of the test situation and the
subject's memory for prior events.
7.2.1 Insight Experiments

Partly in protest against too much study of the kinds of learning that
involve stimulus-response associations, Wolfgang Kohler, a German
Psychologist who immigrated to the United States, performed a series of
dramatic experiments with chimpanzees. At some point in working on a
problem, chimpanzees appeared to grasp is its inner relationship
through insight , They solved the problem not through mere trial and
error, but by perceiving the relationships essential to solution. The
following experiment by Köhler is typical.

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Sultan (Kohler's most intelligent chimpanzee) is squatting at the bars but
cannot reach the fruit which lies outside by means of his only available
short stick. A longer stick is deposited outside the bars, about two
meters on one side of the object and parallel with the grating. It cannot
be grasped with the hand, but it can be pulled within reach by means of
the small stick. Sultan tries to reach the fruit with the smaller of the two
sticks. Not succeeding, he tears at a piece of wire that projects from the
netting of his cage, but that too, is in vain. Then he around about him
(there are always in the course of these tests some long pauses, during
which the animals scrutinize the whole visible area). He suddenly picks
up the little stick once more, goes up to the bars directly opposite to the
long stick, scratches it towards him with the "auxiliary," izes it, and goes
with it to the point opposite the objective (the fruit), which he secures.
From the moment that his eyes fall upon the long stick, his procedure
forms one consecutive whole, picking the bigger stick by means of the
smaller is an action that could be complete and distinct in itself, yet
observation shows that it follows, quite suddenly, on an interval of
hesitation and doubt staring about-which undoubtedly has a relation to
the final objective. Then it is merged in the final action of the attainment
of the end goal.

7.2.2 Other types of Cognitive Learning

Apart from the learning types mentioned, hitherto, there are certain other
types of learning are prevalent. This may appear simple but do have lot
of social relevance and day to day living. They are:

a) Latent Learning

The word latent means "hidden" or that is too obvious. Latent learning
refers to the learning that occurs but this learning is not obvious or
apparent until the conditions for its appearance are favorable. Latent
learning is essentially a cognitive learning since it occurs without
reinforcements for particular responses; it also involves changes in the
methods in which information is processed.
b) Insight Learning

The term insight describes the phenomenon in which a problem is

posed. This is followed by a period of no apparent improvement in
solving the problem. Then a sudden solution occurs. The suddenness of
the solution is the unique nature of insight. Insight learning occurs
because it involves a perceptual reorganization of the elements in the
environment suddenly new relationships among objects and events are
seen. The nature of perceptual reorganization would be seen clearly by

118
getting to know the experiments conducted by Wolfgang Kohler, a
German psychologist. He conducted many experiments making use of
chimpanzees as his subjects and this is explained in the next unit.

c) Imitation and Modeling

Learning by modeling is also known as observational learning, learning

by imitation, vicarious learning and social learning, such learning
involves the observation of a response or a sequence of responses on
the part of somebody else and later incorporation and display of these in
one's own behaviour is known as modeling or imitation.

Though the basic principle of modeling is the same, it may occur in

many different ways. Live modeling or observation is one kind. This
refers to the common form of learning, is by direct observation of a live
model by the learner. This involves significant persons like the parents,
friends and teachers with whom the observer has frequent contacts.
Verbal modeling is another, which, perhaps is mostly characteristic of
human beings. For example, through the use of vocabulary a person can
learn from another, such as a short-cut route to a destination. Imitative
behaviour is important in understanding such psychological phenomena
as language learning, attitude formation and personality development.
7.3 PROGRAMMED LEARNING

Programmed learning is essentially an instructional procedure that

represents an application of learning principles to educational practice.
This instructional procedure requires the learner participation, provides
immediate feedback and permits each individual to progress at his or her
own pace.
According to D.L.Cook programmed learning is a term sometimes used
synonymously to refer to the broader concept of auto instructional
method. According to Fred Stoftel," The arrangements of the tiny bits of
knowledge into a logical frequency is called the programme and its
process is called programmed learning"

7.3.1 Principles of Programmed Instruction

The principles of programmed learning are as follows:

Small steps: The materials to be programmed, are divided into

meaningful segment are presented through small steps.
Immediate Confirmation or feedback: As soon as the learner proceeds
through programmes, his response is immediately confirmed as to be
either correct or incorrect by knowledge of results (KR) and feedback is
immediately provided.
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Active Responding: For the success of any programme the learner has
to any how respond. Response is core of programmed learning that
keeps the learner busy throughout the programme.

Self pacing: An individual learner proceeds through a programme at his

own pace without care for the group. He is not forced to move quickly by
the teacher without mastery.

Student Testing: Regular and continuous testing of the effectiveness of

the programme to the particular individual learner is conducted by the
particular individual learner, is conducted by the teacher with a view to
improve upon it.

Book "Programmed instruction, Techniques and trends” has been

classified as the principles of programmed instructions into two groups,
Mandatory Principle and Optional principle. We would discuss each of
these principles in brief:
(i) Mandatory Principle

1) Objective specification: The programme, while developing

a programmed instructional maternal, specifies the objectives of
the programme in behavioural terms. He further specifies the
conditions under which the terminal behaviours are to be
manifested and states explicitly restrictions to be imposed. The
standard of judging the acceptable performance is also
mentioned in definite terms.
2) Empirical Testing: Programmed material is empirically
tested material. The programmer, after writing a few initial draft of
the programme tries it out in the following three phases.
(a) Individual tries out - The first draft of the programme is
tested on an individual in face to face testing. The Reactions
of the individual recorded for each frame.
(b) Small group try out - After modifying the programme on
the basis of individual try out, the programme to test on five
to ten representative students of the class for which it is
developed.
(c) Field try out-At the third stage, the programme, after
modification on the observation of small group, is
administered in actual class room conditions.
3) Self pacing: In programmed learning, the learner decides the
rate at which he progresses through the programme. He adjusts
the pace of the work to his own ability and motivation level. He is
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 not forced to work with the speed of other students of the class.
The principle of self pacing incorporates the concept of
individualized instruction.

(ii) Optional Principles

(1) Overt Responding: The learners are asked to respond

frequently to explicit or implicit questions as they progress
through the programme. The overt response requirement of
programmed learning insures that the learner will become and
remain active and attentive to the instructional material. The
active involvement of the learner increases the learner's
motivation.
(2) Immediate Feed Back: Back to the learner. It is the knowledge
of the result or the performance of the learner. When a learner
works through a programmed text, he is immediately fed back by
comparing his response with the response of the programme.

(3) Small step size: As already described the body of knowledge is

broken into small units (Frames) of the meaningful information
and presented one frame at a time.

7.3.2 Psychological Principles under laying Programmed Learning

Ernest R.Hilgard has summed up the psychological principles of learning

which support programmed learning.

(1) Programmed learning recognizes individual difference by

beginning where the learner is and by permitting him to
proceed at Rise own pace. It is possible that programmed
learning may success in reducing individual differences
because of these features.

(2) Programmed learning requires the learner to be active. Since

learner is active h/she feels more involved and learns faster.
(3) Programmed learning provides immediate knowledge of
results.

(4) Programmed learning emphasizes the organized nature of

results knowledge because it requires continuity between the
easier (earlier) concepts and harder (later ones).

(5) Programmed learning provides spaced review in order to

guarantee the high order of success that has become a
standard requirement of good programmers.

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 (6) Programmed learning reduces anxiety because the learner is
not threatened by task.
Advantages:

programmed instruction has innumerable advantages over the traditional

methods of learning that have been proved through research. A few of
those are enumerated as under.

(I) Foreign languages drill in spelling, factual information can

best be taught through programmed instruction.

(II) Teachers being free from routine classroom activities can

devote more independent time and think more creatively in
case of programmed instruction.
(III) Social and emotional problems, especially in the West, have
been effectively dealt through programmed instructions in the
classroom. The self instructional materials have successfully
eliminated the problem of indiscipline inside the class.

(IV) It caters for the individual needs through individualized

instruction and self pacing and can better serve a
heterogeneous population of learners.

(V) It helps the teacher to clearly diagnose the needs and

problems of the individual learner and correct those on
personal basis without any delay that is quite absent in a
traditional classroom of uncountable students.
(VI) Learning becomes interesting through the programmed
instruction. It provides challenge to the individual confirmation
of correct responses provides sufficient motivation to proceed
at a quicker speed towards cent per cent mastery.
7.3.3 Limitations of Programmed Learning

Though the supporters of programmed learning make high claims and

point out many advantages, there are certain limitations in programmed
learning which require presence of the teacher.

(I) In programmed learning students learn how to search out the

facts needed for a given purpose. E.g. Students cannot
develop the habit of using a dictionary of going the library
with the help of a teaching machine or programmed learning.

(II) In the rapidly changing world new situations arise quickly. In

order to function effectively in new situation and adjust

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 accordingly, the students require developing certain
personality qualities and social maturity.
(III) The third limitation of the programmed learning is that it does
not develop in students the ability to discover problems for
themselves and solve them on their own.
(IV) Programmed learning does not develop creativity among
students to the extent a teacher can.
(V) Teaching machines provide programmed learning in a
scientific manner and thus programmed is the science of
teaching. As regards the art of teaching it is possible only
with the help of a teacher.
(VI) Teaching machines and programme learning ignore the
human factor and do not provide opportunities for human
relations, which is now regarded as the fourth R. The 3 Rs
being reading, writing, and arithmetic.

(VII) Another limitation in programmed learning is that it does not

help in socialization of students. It is in peer groups play
groups and work groups that the social development of
children takes place.

7.3.4 Application of Programmed Learning

Programmed instruction can be applied where ever learning occurs,

whether in the classroom or in the industrial setting. In the classroom it
helps in regular instruction, enrichment of learning and for remedial
instruction. In industry, it helps discriminating the technical innovations
through refresher courses for up-to date professional development. This
can also be applied in teaching military sciences in defense, for example
teaching of electronic trouble shooting programmed instructions.

The use of programmed learning finds application in the following areas:

1. Teacher's training: Programmed material can be used at all

levels of teacher education programmes. Many teachers need to
keep abreast with the knowledge of the latest developments in
the field. In these areas programmed instruction is of
considerable aid.

2. Correspondence Courses: Education through distance

education is becoming very popular. It is emerging as a very
successful media for educating the masses as well as those who
want to continue their education.

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 3. Non formal education: Nor-formal education is becoming
highly popular in India, especially with especially with
unprivileged groups masses. Non-formal education makes use of
programmed learning.

4. Use for gifted children: Carefully programmed material can be

used to enrich the curriculum to cater to the needs of gifted
children.
5. Vocational training: Programmed instruction has been applied
to vocational training and psychotherapy. A technique of the
programmed therapy has been recently developed to correct
deviants to rehabilitate emotionally disturbed children.
6. Modification of deviant behaviour: Programmed instructional
material has been used very successfully to modify the behaviour
of deviant children. A project has been undertaken at Draper
correctional centre Elmore Alabama. The population consisted of
young sociopath offenders. The objective was to reduce the rate
of offences to rehabilitate the offenders in the society. The
immediate aim was to raise the academic standard to develop
vocational proficiency in the inmates. To achieve the objectives,
the project staff utilized the programmed instruction adapting to
the needs of individuals. The result of the project was very
significant.
7. Programmed instruction and exceptional children:
programmed instructional material has been used on disturbed
children slow learners with great success. Eldred his coworkers
conducted a study on slow learner's under-achievers with
programmed instructional technique. The student shows great
improvement in their performance.
Special programmes should be developed for exceptional children.
Abraham 1966 warned about the false assumption that a programme
developed for so called typical children will work for exceptional children,
disadvantaged population dropouts delinquents others.

7.4 PROGRAMMED LEARNING AND AUTOMATED INSTRUCTION

For centuries teachers have stood in front of classrooms and dispensed

words of wisdom. Students passed or failed depending on how much of
this knowledge they could recall at the time of an examination. This form
of instruction has obvious limitations when compared to a tutorial

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arrangement -a one-to-one relationship between the student and
teacher. But the cost of tutorial education makes it impractical on a
large-scale basis. In the 1950s, under the guidance of B.F. Skinner at
Harvard University, an effort was made to approximate some aspects of
tutorial instruction in the form of a teaching machine. The basic idea was
to present information to the student in a series of frames. Each frame
contains a new item of information and also poses a question which the
student must answer. After writing the answer usually in a word or brief
phrase), the student turns a knob that uncovers the correct answer and
exposes the next instructional frame. In this way the student goes step-
wise through a course, gradually being introduced to each unit of
instruction and being tested to see that he understands it.

With the advent of computers it became evident that teaching devices

could be developed that would be far more flexible and responsive to the
student than the Skinner-type teaching machine. As yet the use of
computers in business, science, and engineering far exceeds
applications in education. However, if potentials are properly realized,
the nature of education during our lifetime will be radically changed by
the computer. The most important feature of the computerized
instruction is that it permits a high degree of individualization and each
student can proceed at his own pace following a path through the
curriculum best suited to his particular interest and talents.

7.5 COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION (CAI)

Because of its great speed of operation, a large computer can handle

many students simultaneously as many as several thousand students
each at a different point in one of several hundred different curricula.
One of the student terminals of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI)
system used for research purposes at Stanford University. Located at
each student's station are a cathode-ray tube, a microfilm-display
device, earphones, and a typewriter keyboard. Each device is under
computer control. The computer sends out instructions to the terminal to
display a particular image on the microfilm projector to write a message
of text or construct a geometric figure on the cathode-ray tube and
simultaneously plays an auditory message. The student sees the visual
display, hears the auditory message, and then may be required to
respond. The student responds by operating the typewriter keyboard or
by touching the surface of the cathode-ray tube with an electronic pencil.
This response is fed back to the computer and evaluated.

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If the student is correct the computer moves on to the next instructional
item; if incorrect the computer evaluates the type of error made and then
branches to appropriate remedial material. A complete record on each
student is stored in the computer and is updated with each new
response. The record is checked periodically to evaluate the student's
rate of progress and to determine any particular difficulties. A student
making exceptionally good progress, may be moved ahead in the lesson
sequence, or branched out to special materials designed to enrich his
understanding of the curriculum. A student having difficulties may be
branched back to review earlier materials or to a special remedial
sequence. In a very real sense the Cal system simulates the human
tutorial process.

3.5.1 Instructional Program

The essence of teaching, whether in the classroom or under computer

control, also in the arrangement of the material to be learned. A body of
material arranged so as to be most readily mastered is called a program.
Instructional programs have two basic formats: the linear program and
the branching program. With the linear program, the student progresses
along a single track from one frame to the next; each time an item is
answered the student moves on to the next regardless of whether the
response was correct. The branching program allows the learner to take
any number of different paths through the curriculum. Each response is
evaluated; that evaluation determines, in part, where the student goes
next. An error in response is pointed out, and the student is given help to
avoid making that error again. The student who has done very well on a
number of questions may be given an opportunity to jump ahead; the
one who has made too many mistakes may retrace his steps or take an
alternative route in an effort to resolve difficulties.
7.6 TRANSFER OF LEARNING

An important issue in optimizing learning is the extent to which the

learning of one thing facilitates the learning of something else. If
everything we learned was specific to the situation in which it was
leaned, the amount of learning that would have to be crammed into a
lifetime would be phenomenal. Fortunately, most learning is readily
transferable, with some modification, to a number of different situations.

The influence that learning one task may have on the subsequent
learning of another is called transfer of learning. The term positive
transfer is used when learning one task does facilitate learning another.

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If one is a good tennis player, it is easier to learn to play squash; this is
positive transfer. But transfer is not always positive; when interference
occurs, we have negative transfer.

There are numerous examples of negative transfer in everyday life.

When driving a car with automatic transmission after having been
accustomed to one with a hand gear, we may find ourselves pressing a
nonexistent clutch pedal when changing from a pedal-brake to a hand-
brake bicycle; we may still try to press back on the pedal when we have
to stop quickly. The transition from driving on the left-hand side of the
street to the American procedure of driving on the right is difficult for
many Indian visitors to America and vice versa. The original! habit is so
over learned that even after driving successfully on the left for some
time, an individual may revert to right-side driving when required to act
quickly in an emergency.

7.6.1 Doctrine of Formal discipline

The problem of transfer of learning has been historically of great concern

to educators. For them it constitutes the very important practical
question of how the school curricula should be arranged to ensure
maximum positive transfer. Does learning algebra help in the learning of
geometry? Which of the sciences should be taught first to ensure
maximum transfer to other science courses?

One of the earliest notions of transfer of learning, prevalent among

educators around the turn of the century, maintained that the mind was
composed of faculties that could be strengthened through exercise,
much as individual muscles can be strengthened. This notion, known as
the doctrine of formal discipline, was advanced in support of keeping
such studies as Latin and Greek in the high school curriculum. It was
argued that the study of mother tongue/native language, for example,
trains a student's powers of self-discipline, reasoning, and observation.

7.6.2 Learning to Learn

A special example of transfer of training is a phenomenon that

psychologists have labeled learning to learn. Subjects who learn
successive lists of verbal materials over a period of days are able to
increase the speed with which they learn subsequent lists. Positive
transfer occurs even though the lists are not similar. The subjects that
are apparently learn a technique or an approach to the task that
facilitates their performance on later tasks of the same sort.
Another example of learning to learn is provided by an experiment in
which monkeys are presented with a series of discrimination problems.
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For each problem the animal is shown two objects for example, a red
triangle and a green circle and is reinforced with food if it selects the
correct object, which might be the red triangle. Object position is
alternated in a random order from trail to trial so that sometimes the
triangle is on the right and sometimes on the left. The animal must learn
to ignore positional cues in selecting the correct object. After the monkey
has learned consistently to select the correct object, it is given a problem
involving a different pair of objects.

7.6.3 Transfer by Mastering Principles

One factor that makes transfer possible is the appropriate application to

new situations of principles learned in old situations. The Wright brothers
applied the principles they learned in flying kites to building an airplane.
Principles of reasoning learned in logic are equally applicable in
mathematics. The following experiment demonstrates, the advantages of
the learning principles.

7.7 REWARD AND PUNISHMENT IN LEARNING

Anyone responsible for training or instructing, whether at home, in

school, or in business, has to decide what motivational techniques to
use. Success may depend upon the skillful use of rewards and
punishments to encourage and guide the learning process.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards

In choosing goals for the learner, it may be possible to select those

intrinsically related to the task rather that those extrinsically related. A
goal is intrinsic if it is natural or inevitable. For example, the boy who
assembles a radio in order to communicate with a friend derives a
satisfaction inherent in the task when he completes the instrument and
finds that it works. The relation between a task and a goal is extrinsic if it
is arbitrarily or artificially established. For example, a father may promise
to buy his son a radio if the cuts the grass each week. The radio is an
incentive extrinsically related to cutting grass; there is no natural
relationship between cutting grass and a radio.

The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is not clear-cut,

and in most learning situations both types of motivation are involved. A
child learning to ride a bicycle is usually intrinsically motivated by the
pleasure derived from mastering this new skill. But the fear of derision
from his peers if he fails may also be a motivation, an extrinsic one.

Whenever possible, it is advantageous to use goals intrinsically related

to the learning task. A child whose interest in music has been stimulated

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at an early age will persevere in practicing the piano longer than one
whose motivation stems solely from promised rewards and threats of
punishment. But even the intrinsically motivated child may require some
extrinsic rewards when the drudgery involved in the mastery outweighs
the satisfaction of making music. In most cases, if the person who
guides and controls the learning situation can capitalize on intrinsic
motives, the battle is half won.

We know that rewards are effective, but extrinsic rewards-such as prizes

for excellence-may have some objectionable by products:

1. A reward planned by an adult (parent or teacher) and arbitrarily

related to the activity is like a bribe, and may lead to docility and
deference to authority rather than to originality and self-initiated
activity. It may engender in the child an attitude of "What do I get
out of this?”. The activity becomes worthwhile only for the praise,
attention, or financial gain it brings. Cheating on examinations
sometimes occurs when desire for the external reward outweighs
regard for the processes by which the reward is achieved.

2. Rewards are often competitive. One or a few learners may be

encouraged by the reward, but many will be frustrated. If there is
only one prize and many contestants, the problems of the losers
must be considered. Is the gain to the winner worth the price in
disappointment to the losers?
These remarks, however, should not be interpreted as justification for
eliminating all extrinsic rewards in home or school situations. Evidence
to be discussed later with regard to behaviour modification.
7.7.1 Controlling Learning through Punishment

Folklore leads us to believe that punishment is an effective way of

controlling learning. "Spare the rod and spoil the child' is not an isolated
epigram. Fines and imprisonment are forms of social control that are
sanctioned by all governments. For many years arguments have
continued over the relative advantages and disadvantages of benevolent
treatment that is emphasizing reward for good behaviour and stern
treatment that is emphasizing punishment for error. The preference has
shifted slowly from punishment to reward. Has this shift come about
solely on humanitarian grounds or has punishment has been found less
effective than reward? Evidence from psychological experiments
indicates two important conclusions:
(1) punishment is often less effective than reward because it
temporaries suppresses a response but does not weaken it and
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 (2) when punishment is effective it accomplishes its purpose by
forcing the individual to select an alternative response that may
then be rewarded.

7.7.2 Pros and Cons on the use of Punishment:

In addition to its suppressive effect, punishment may unsatisfactorily

control behaviour for the following reasons:

1. The results of punishment, although they may include altered are

not as predictable as the result of reward. Reward says: "Repeat
what you have done." Punishment says "Stop it!" Punishment by
itself fails to give you an alternative. As a result, an even more
undesirable response may be substituted for the punished one.

2. Punishment under some circumstances tends to fix the

behaviour rather than eliminate it, perhaps as a consequence of
the fear and anxiety induced by the punishment. Punishing a
child for wetting the 'bed, for example, often increases the
frequency of the behaviour.
3. The byproducts of punishment may be unfortunate. Punishment
often leads to dislike of the punishing person-whether parent,
teacher, or employer-and to a dislike of the situation, in which the
punishment occurred.

These cautions about punishment do not mean that punishment is never

serviceable in learning and teaching. In fact, it may be useful for
several reasons:
1. Punishment can effectively eliminate an undesirable response
if alternative responses are available that are not punished or,
better yet, are rewarded. Rats who learned to take the shorter of
two paths to reach food in a goal box will quickly switch to the
longer path if they are shocked in the shorter one. In fact, they
will learn the new response more quickly than animals whose
response of taking the shorter path is blocked by a newly placed
barrier. In this case, the temporary suppression produced by
punishment provided the opportunity for the organisms to learn a
new response. Punishment was an effective means of redirecting
behaviour.
2. Punishment can be quite effective when all we want is that the
organism responds to a signal to avoid punishment. For
example, people learn to come inside when they hear thunder, or
to seek shade when it is hot and additional sun may cause

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 uncomfortable sunburn. Avoiding a threatened punishment can
be rewarding. The policeman is seldom a punishing person; he is
more usually a symbol of threatened punishment. How does a
policeman control us if he has never struck us with his stick or
placed us under arrest? Our anxiety explains, his control over us.
If we drive too fast, and see a police car in the rearview mirror,
we become anxious lest we get a ticket, and feel reassured when
we have slowed down and the police officer has driven
past without stopping us. Our reward comes from the reduction in
anxiety we feel as a result of conforming to the law.

3. Punishment may be informative. A child who handles

electrical appliances and gets shocked may learn which
connections are safe, which hazardous. A teacher's corrections
on a student's paper can be regarded as punishing; but they are
also informative and can provide an occasion for the learning.
Informative punishment can redirect behaviour so that the new
behaviour can be rewarded.

LET US SUM UP

In some of the features of programmed instruction and CAl that make

them effective are: participation by the learner, immediate feedback, and
rate and path through the learning materials adjusted to individual
differences. The influence that learning one task has on the subsequent
learning of another task is called transfer of learning. Positive transfer
occurs when one task facilitates the learning of another, when there is
interference we have negative transfer. Factors that produce positive
transfer include learning to learn and the learning to relax in the
situation, to ignore irrelevant stimuli, and to distinguish the relevant cues
and learning general principles. Punishment may be effective, however,
when it forces the individual to select an alternative response that can
then be rewarded, or when it serves as an informative cue to avoid a
certain response. Arbitrary rewards and punishments have some
unfavorable consequences.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. By a we mean one in which muscular movement is

prominent, but under sensory control.

2. viewpoint argue that learning, particularly in humans,

cannot be satisfactorily explained in terms of stimulus-response
associations.
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3. By we mean verbatim learning by repetition.

4. refers to the learning that occurs but not obvious

or apparent.

5. The influence that learning one task may have on the

subsequent learning of another is called

6. The whether in the classroom or under computer

control, lies in the arrangement of the material to be learned.

7. can effectively eliminate an undesirable response

if alternative responses are available that are not punished or, better
yet, are rewarded.

KEY WORDS

Multiple Response learning Programmed learning

Cognitive learning Rote Memorization
Latent learning Computer aided instruction

Shaping Positive Transfer

Negative transfer Reward Punishment

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. sensorymotor skill.
2. Cognitive.

3. rote memorization

4. Punishment.
5. transfer of learning
6. essence of teaching.

7. Latent learning.

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. What is multiple response learning?

2. Describe multiple response learning

3. What is cognitive learning?

4. Explain the components of cognitive learning

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5. Discuss about the programmed learning

6. explain the advantages of computer aided instruction

7. What is transfer of learning? Explain.

8. Highlight the significance of reward and punishment in learning

GLOSSARY
Cognitive learning: A change in knowledge attributable to experience

Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) : a program of instructional

material presented by means of a computer or computer systems.

Latent learning: ;Learning that is acquired without conscious effort,

awareness, intention, or reinforcement and is not manifested as a
change in performance until a specific need for it arises

Negative transfer: A process in which previous learning obstructs or

interferes with present learning.

Positive Transfer: The improvement or enhancement of present

learning by previous learning.

Programmed learning: Educational technique characterized by self-

paced, self-administered instruction presented in logical sequence and
with much repetition of concepts.

Rote Learning: Memorization by repetition without any elaboration or

other deep processing of the material.

Transfer of Learning: The influence of prior learning on new learning,

either to enhance it (positive transfer) or to hamper it (negative transfer).

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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BLOCK - IV
UNIT - 8 MOTIVATION
UNIT - 9 EMOTIONS

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Unit - 8
MOTIVATION
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Types of Motives
8.3 Physiological Basis of Motivation
8.4 Theories of Motivation
8.5 Social Motives
8.6 Motivational Factors in Aggression
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings
OVERVIEW

Motivation becomes an indispensable concept in all areas of

psychology. Today, virtually all psychologists acknowledge the impact of
motivational variables on human behaviour. It is also concerned with the
factors that direct and energize the behaviour of humans and other
organisms. This unit provides the meaning and the physiological basis of
motivation. Various theories of motivation have also been discussed in
this unit. Further different current status of motives are elaborated and
the motivational factors in aggression, have been discussed in this unit.

OBJECTIVES

• After studying this unit, you should be able to

• understand the meaning motivation

• explain the physiological basis of motivation

• examine the different theories of motivation
• know the social motives and their impact on behaviour

• analyze the motivational factors in aggression

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8.1 INTRODUCTION

The term motivation and emotion derived from the Latin word “movere”
which means "to move”. The concept of motivation was introduced by
Robert Woodworth in 1918 into psychology. Psychology not only
discusses about the 'What' and 'how ‘aspect of behaviour but also deal
with the why' aspect of human behaviour. Actually the concept of
Motivation and emotion explain the 'why' aspect of behaviour. Motivation
refers to a presumed internal state of an organism that causes it to move
toward some goal. Motivation is concerned with the factors that direct
and energize the behaviour of humans and other organisms.
Psychologists who study motivation seek to discover the particular
desired goals, the motives, that underlie behaviour. Such motives may
be exemplified by behaviour as basic as drinking to satisfy thirst or as
inconsequential as taking a stroll to obtain exercise. To the psychologist
specializing in the study of motivation, underlying motives are assumed
to steer one's choice of activities.
MOTIVES

The study of motivation, then, consists of identifying why people seek to

do the things they do. Psychologists studying motivation ask questions
such as these: "Why do people choose particular goals for which to
strive?" "What specific motives direct behaviour?" "What individual
differences in motivation account for the variability in a people's
behaviour?" "How can we motivate people to behave in particular ways,
such as eating certain foods, quitting smoking, or engaging in safer-sex
practices?"
Motivation is concerned with the forces that direct future behaviour
whereas emotion pertains to the feelings we experience throughout the
course of our lives. The study of emotions focuses on our internal
experiences at any given moment. Most of us have felt a variety of
emotions; happiness at getting distinction on a difficult exam, sadness
brought about by the death of a loved one, anger at being treated
unfairly. Because emotions not only motivate our behaviour but can also
reflect our underlying motivation, they play a broad role in our lives.

8.2 TYPES OF MOTIVES

Motivation never acts in a vacuum but it always acting on and being

acted on by both learning and perception. Motivation explains the why
aspect of human behaviour.

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In this subsection, let us consider about the types of motivation. We
begin by focusing on the major conceptions of motivation, discussing
how the different motives and needs people experience jointly affect
behaviour. We consider motives that are biologically based and
universal in the animal kingdom, such as hunger, as well as motives that
are unique to humans, such as needs for achievement, affiliation, and
power.

The motives can be generally classified into i) Physiological motives or

primary motives, ii) Social motives.

8.3 PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF MOTIVATION

Physiological motives are internal bodily needs that direct an individual's

behaviour towards the goal. These are also termed as biological
motives. Physiological motives are the "primary motives or drives”
because these needs are related to the survival. Various physiological
motives are discussed below:
In order to understand physiological drives we should know the meaning
of a concept called homeostasis. This is the tendency of the body to
maintain a balance among internal physiological conditions. Such a
balance is essential for the individual's survival. Body temperature must
not get too high or too low. Blood pressure must not rise or fall beyond
certain limits. The blood must not get too acidic or alkaline; it must not
contain too much carbon dioxide; it must not become too concentrated; it
must have a certain amount of sugar in it. If these limits are exceeded,
the individual becomes sick and he may die.
Physiologists have discovered that many homeostatic mechanisms are
involved in keeping conditions within normal limits. Physiological
mechanisms take care of many of the problems of maintaining a
homeostatic balance, but the body also makes use of regulatory
behavior. Behaviour that has the effect of regulating the internal
physiological conditions to maintain or restore the balance. Such
regulatory behaviour is behaviour that is instrumental in satisfying
physiological needs. When the body becomes depleted of water or food,
for example, it cannot maintain a balance by calling on its physiological
mechanisms. Rather, it must obtain more water and food from the
outside. It does this through motivated behaviour that normally succeeds
in procuring more water and food; after that, the homeostatic balance is
restored. The important point, then, is that physiological drives are part

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of a more general physiological mechanism for maintaining homeostatic
balance within the body.
Now let us consider some of the principal physiological motives

i) Warmth, Cold, and Pain

Warmth, cold, and pain are senses that take part in our perception of the
world, and they are treated as drives, for they can serve as powerful
motives that keep a person striving to restore them to a satisfactory
level.

Warmth and cold are regulated within limits by the physiological

mechanisms of homeostasis. When the body is too hot, it perspires and
does other things to reduce the production of heat; when it is too cold, it
burns more fuel and keeps its loss of heat to a minimum. In addition,
however, the individual may behave in such a way as to achieve a
comfortable temperature. When too hot, he takes off clothes, when too
cold, he puts them on. He raises or lowers the room temperature, opens
or closes windows, and so on. In extreme conditions of hot or cold, he
may exert most of his effort trying to obtain a relief. Instances of this sort
are so familiar that they need not be dwelt on. The important point is that
warmth and cold are among the physiological drives.
The hypothalamus is a center for the regulation of body temperature.
The hypothalamus is a relatively small region at the base of the brain
immediately above the back part of the mouth. It functions in emotion,
thirst, hunger, sleep, and sex-indeed in almost all physiological
motivation. This center probably responds directly to the temperature of
the blood circulating through it by increasing or decreasing the flow of
blood throughout the body.
In addition, there are receptors for warmth and cold distributed
generously over the surfaces of the body. These receptors are so
adapted to the temperature of the body that they are quiescent under
ordinary, comfortable circumstances. When the temperature around
them becomes either too hot or too cold, however the warmth or cold
receptors there are two different kinds are activated. Impulses from the
receptors are conveyed to the brain, which instigates efforts to relieve
the discomfort.
The physiological mechanism of pain as a drive is similar to that for
warmth and cold except that there are much more specific reactions to
pain. Sense organs for pain, which are probably, free nerve endings are
widely distributed throughout the skin, blood vessels, and internal
organs. These sense organs are usually stimulated by some injury to the
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tissues of the body. The individual then strives to remove the injurious
stimulus. If that cannot be done or if it does not help, he looks for some
way to relieve the pain.

The body is equipped with certain automatic mechanisms for avoiding

pain. A sudden pain in a limb, for example, makes a person reflex
withdraw his limb from the source of stimulation. He does not have to
think about it; he just withdraws, immediately and quickly. Sometimes
when the source of pain is deep within the body, there is no way to
withdraw from the source of injury. In such cases, the individual tries
many techniques to reduce the pain. Modern pain killing drugs are, of
course, the most effective ways of helping such pain. But they can fail,
and often they are not available. Then the individual may writhe, tear at
his tissues, lie down, try to sleep, try not to move, or try to distract
himself. Since none of these techniques is very effective, the individual
may become preoccupied with his pain and continue endlessly in his
efforts to reduce it. Such pain constitutes a powerful drive that channels
tremendous efforts toward one goal, the relief of pain and of course, the
most effective ways of helping such pain. But they can fail, and often
they are not available. Then the individual may writhe, tear at his tissues,
lie down, try to sleep, try not to move, or try to distract himself. Since
none of these techniques is very effective, the individual may become
preoccupied with his pain and continue endlessly his efforts to reduce it.
Such pain constitutes a powerful drive that channels the tremendous
efforts toward one goal, the relief of pain.

ii) Thirst

We constantly need water because we are constantly losing it by

evaporation from the skin and mouth and in the formation of urine. But
what is it about the need for water that makes us thirsty and therefore
motivated to drink? Thirty years ago, some physiologists declared that
the throat and mouth get dry when we need water, and therefore we
drink to relieve unpleasant sensations in our throats, actually the
problem is not as simple as that.

Certainly people will report that they drink to wet the mouth, but
apparently a dry mouth and thirst are two different things. There was, for
example, a man who had no salivary glands His mouth was always dry,
and he would often sip water just to wet his mouth. Despite the fact that
his dry mouth was never a good sign of how much he needed water, he
would from time to time feel thirsty. Furthermore, he was always able to
drink the right amount of water to meet his biological needs.

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Dryness of the mouth can be a good sign of thirst in normal people, but it
is obvious that other factors must also operate to produce thirst and
permit the individual to regulate his drinking in accordance with his
needs. Lack of water makes all the cells in the body give up water.
Within a center in the hypothalamus there are some cells that are
especially sensitive to loss of water through their connections with other
parts of the brain; they can regulate thirst according to the relative
amount of water in the body.

iii) Hunger

The need for food is as obvious as the need for water; the body is
always using up materials in growth, in the repair of tissues, and in the
storage of re-serve supplies. But the most important is the fact that every
function of our bodies from heartbeat to thinking requires energy, and
this energy must ultimately come from the metabolism of food.

When people need food, they usually report that they are hungry. For
some, hunger means a feeling of strong contractions in the stomach. But
for others, there may be no particular sensation of stomach contractions,
just a general feeling of weakness and lightheadedness. Some people
have both kinds of feeling at once.
But stomach contractions are not the whole story. First of all, some
people claim they never feel stomach contractions, but still they report
the experience of hunger. Second, and perhaps more convincing, are
facts obtained from people who have had their entire stomachs
removed. They have no stomach contractions, of course, but they still
get hungry. The same thing shows up in rats whose stomachs are
removed. These animals eat food eagerly, they get restless when it is
time to eat, and they learn mazes for food rewards just like normal rats.
Hunger therefore exists without the stomach or stomach contractions, so
we must look to other factors for the explanation of hunger.
Unfortunately, the exact nature of the other factors is not known. Many
kinds of chemical changes take place in the body when an individual is
in need of food. Some of them undoubtedly are very important in hunger
too. At the present time, we have only the barest idea of what
these chemical changes might be and how they might do their work.
Specific hungers: Organisms not only regulate when and how much
they eat but they also select what they eat. Given a chance, animals and
men balance their diets and eat approximately what they need of
proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Organisms
therefore are not motivated merely by a lack of food; rather they are very
specifically motivated for many particular foods. As a matter of fact, it
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has been questioned whether there is any such thing as general hunger
apart from the sum total of specific for the various food substances. But
we are still far enough from answering this question to warrant treating
the hunger and the specific hungers separately.
iv) Sleep

Sleep is typical of physiological drives in almost every way except that it

involves passive resting of the body rather than an active striving. We
therefore consider the need for sleep a physiological need comparable
to those for water and for food. Occasionally there is a person who does
not believe sleep is a need and tries to get along without it. The need for
sleep is real. Yet we cannot put over Finger on any accumulation of
waste products or special chemicals in the body that helps bring on
sleep. Sleep occurred independently of the condition of the blood. Sleep
is reported by centers in the brain.
v) Sex

Sexual motivation is unique in bio-logical motivation. It is a powerful

motive, yet the survival of the individual does not depend upon it in any
sense. Sexual motivation is also unique because we know more about
its physiological basis that we do about the basis of other kinds of
biological motivation. There is still much to be learned, particularly about
sexual behavior in our own society, but, as matters stand now, we have
excellent information on the sexual behavior of a wide variety of different
animals and in a wide variety of human societies. Sexual behavior can
be understood in terms of two main factors like the sex hormones and
the habits acquired through learning.
The sex hormones: - The testis of the male and the ovary of the female
secrete hormones that are responsible for the development of the
secondary sex characteristics of the body as well as for much of the
sexual behavior of the two sexes. When the sex glands mature at
puberty, with them develop the masculine and feminine body forms, hair
distribution, vocal characteristics, and adult sex organs. At the same
time, in animals as well as in human beings, interest in the opposite sex
typically develops in a sharp spurt. If the sex glands fail to develop
properly or are removed in experimental animals, very few of the typical
sex characteristics will show up in the individual.
There is no magic about the sex hormones, especially in the case of
human beings. They are not solely responsible for sexual behavior they
only help. When sexual motivation is low, extra sex hormones are not
likely to help. Neither is it true that homosexuality occurs because an

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individual has the wrong sex hormones. Giving a homosexual an extra
amount of hormone appropriate to his or her own biological sex will more
likely increase the homosexuality than reverse it, if it does anything at
all.

Among lower animals, such as the rat, the sex hormones are more
crucial than among the higher animals, such as the chimpanzee and
man. The specific female rat will never mate again unless given
hormones artificially. The male may continue to mate for a short while
after castration, but he then becomes incapable of sexual motivation
unless restored with sex hormones. The comparable story for human
beings is not so clear. There are cases among both sexes in which
removal of the sex glands made sexual motivation disappear, but there
are equal numbers of cases in which sexual motivation was unaffected
by castration or ovariectomy. The picture is all the more complicated by
the fact that there are men and women who are sexually impotent or
frigid but who still have perfectly normal supplies of sex hormones, The
information we have on monkeys and chimpanzees, however, indicates
that the higher animals really do not depend crucially on sex hormones.
The males in these species can be castrated without noticeable effect on
sexual motivation. It is clear that female monkeys and chimpanzees
show sexual motivation at times when their hormonal supply is very low.
This is not true among the lower female animals, but it is true of women.
So the sex hormones are important in the development of physical
sexual characteristics and sexual motivation. However, their importance
in sexual behavior is much greater among the lower animals than among
the higher animals.

Habit and sexual motivation:- In the sexual behavior of higher animals,

such as monkeys and human beings, the sex hormones are relatively
less important and habit and experience relatively more important than
they are in lower animals. Habit is much more important in the sexual
behaviour of man and higher animals. Habit can cause sexuality to
persist even when sex hormones are absent. Also, habit frequently
determines the way in which human beings express their sexual
motivation and the kinds of sexual outlets they prefer. Maternal behavior
is motivated behavior arising, like sex behavior, from a physiological
drive, indeed. Instinctive behavior is characteristically motivated
behavior associated with some identifiable drive.
vi) Maternal Drive

The maternal drive has its basis in a combination of hormones secreted

during pregnancy and shortly thereafter. One of the important hormones
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in the combination is prolactin, a product of the pituitary gland. This
gland is closely associated with the hypothalamus and concerned in the
regulation of a number of physiological processes, particularly those of
sex and maternity. The secretion of prolactin is stimulated by the
presence of a fetus in the uterus. Prolactin in turn stimulates the
mammary glands, which supply milk for nursing the young, but it is also
important in maternal behavior. When it is injected into a virgin female
rat, that has been given the young of another rat the injected rat will
accept the young and care for them in much the same way that the
natural mother would.

8.4 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

The complexity of motivation has led to the development of a variety of

conceptual approaches. Although, they vary in the degree to which they
focus on biological, cognitive, and social factors, all seek to explain the
energy that guides people's behaviour in particular directions.
i) Instinct Approach

When psychologists first sought to explain motivation, they turned to

instincts, inborn patterns of behaviour that are biologically determined
rather than learned. According to this instinct approach to motivation,
people and animals are born with preprogrammed sets of behaviors
essential to survival. These instincts provide the energy that channels
behavior in appropriate directions. Hence, sex might be explained as
response to an instinct for reproduction, and exploratory behavior might
be viewed as motivated by an instinct to examine one's territory.
There are several difficulties with such a conception, however; for one
thing, psychologists have been unable to agree on what the primary
instincts are. One early psychologist, William Mc Dougall suggested that
three are eighteen instincts, including pugnacity and gregariousness.
Others found even more with one sociologist claiming that, there are
exactly 5759 instincts. Clearly, such an extensive enumeration provides
little more than labels for behavior.
No explanation based on the concept of instincts goes very far in
explaining why a specific pattern of behavior, and not some other, has
appeared in a given species. Furthermore, variety and complexity of
human behavior, much of which is clearly learned, are difficult to explain
if instincts are the primary motivational force. Therefore conceptions of
motivation based on instincts have been supplanted by newer

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explanations, although instincts approaches still play a role in certain
theories.
ii) Drive-Reduction Approach

In rejecting instinct theory, psychologists first proposed simple drive

reduction theories of motivation in its place (Hull, 1943). Drive-reduction
approaches to motivation suggests, that when the people lack some
basic biological requirement such as water, a drive to obtain that
requirement in this case the thirst drive) is produced.

To understand this approach, we need to begin with the concept drive. A

drive is motivational tension, or arousal, that energizes behavior in order
to fulfill some need. Many basic kinds of drives, such as hunger, thirst,
sleepiness, and sex are related to biological needs of the body or of the
species as a whole. These are called primary drives. Primary drives
contrast with secondary drives in which no obvious biological need is
being fulfilled. In secondary drives, needs are brought about by prior
experience and learning. For example, some people have strong needs
to achieve academically in their careers. We can say that their
achievement need is reflected in a secondary drive that motivates their
behavior.
We usually try to satisfy a primary drive by reducing the need underlying
it. For example, we become hungry after not eating for a few hours and
may raid the refrigerator, especially if our next scheduled meal is not
imminent. If the weather turns cold, we put on extra clothing on the
thermostat in order to keep warm. If our body needs liquids in order to
function properly, we experience thirst and seek out water.
The reason for such behavior is homeostasis, a basic motivational
phenomenon underlying primary drives. Homeostasis is the
maintenance of some optimal level of internal biological functioning by
compensating for deviations from its usual, balanced, internal state.
Although not all basic biological behaviors related to motivation fit a
homeostatic model- sexual behavior is one example. Most of the
fundamental needs of life, including the need for food, water,
maintenance of body temperature, and sleep, can be explained
reasonably well by such an approach.
Unfortunately, although drive- reduction theories provide a good
explanation of how primary drives motivate behavior, they are
inadequate when it comes to explaining behaviors in which the goal is
not to reduce a drive, but rather to maintain or even to increase a
particular level of excitement or arousal. For instance some behaviors

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seem to be motivated by nothing more than curiosity. Anyone who has
rushed to pick up newly delivered mail, who avidly follows gossip
columns in the newspaper, or who yearns to travel to exotic places
knows the importance of curiosity in directing behavior. And it is not just
human beings who display behavior indicative of curiosity: Monkeys will
learn to press a bar just to be able to peer into another room, especially
if something interesting such as a toy train moving along a track can be
glimpsed. Monkeys will also expend considerable energy solving simple
mechanical puzzles, even though their behavior produces no obvious.

Both curiosity and thrill-seeking behavior, then, shed the doubt on drive
reduction approaches as a complete explanation for motivation. In both
cases rather than seeking to reduce an underlying drive, people and
animals appear to be motivated to increase their overall level of
stimulation and activity. In order to explain this phenomenon,
psychologists have devised an alternative: arousal approaches to
motivation.
iii) Arousal Approach

Arousal approaches seek to explain behavior in which the goal is the

maintenance of or an increase in excitement. According to arousal
approaches to each of us tries to maintain a certain level of stimulation
and activity. As with the drive-reduction model, if our stimulation and the
activity levels, become too high we try to reduce them. But in contrast to
the drive-reduction model, arousal model also suggests that if the levels
of stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to increase them by
seeking stimulation. People vary widely in the optimal level of arousal
they seek out, with some people having, especially high levels of
arousal.
iv) incentive Approach

Incentive approaches to motivation attempt to explain why behavior is

not always motivated by an internal need, such as the desire to reduce
or to maintain an optimum level of arousal. Instead of focusing on
internal factors, incentive theory explains motivation in terms of the
nature of the external stimuli, the incentives that direct and energize
behavior. In this view, properties of external stimuli largely account for a
person's motivation. Although, the theory explains why we may succumb
to an incentive even though internal cues are lacking, it does not provide
a complete explanation of motivation, since organisms seek to fulfill
needs even when incentives are not apparent. Consequently, many
psychologists believe that the internal drives proposed by drive -
reduction theory work in tandem with the external incentives of incentive
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theory to “push “and "pull" behavior, respectively. Thus, at the same time
we seek to satisfy our underlying hunger needs the push of drive-
reduction theory, we are drawn to food that appears particularly
appetizing (the pull of incentive theory). Rather than contradicting each
other, then, drives and incentives may work together in motivating
behavior.

v) Cognitive Approach

Cognitive approaches to motivation focus on the role of our thoughts,

expectations and understanding of the world. For instance, according to
one cognitive approach, expectancy-value theory, two kinds of
cognitions underlie our behavior. The first is our expectation that a
behavior will cause us to reach a particular goal, and the second is our
understanding of the value of that goal to us. For example, the degree to
which we are motivated to study for a test will be based jointly on our
expectation of how well our studying will pay off in terms of a good
marks and the value we place on getting a good mark. If both
expectation and value are high, we will be motivated to study diligently;
but if either one is low, our motivation to study will be relatively lower.

Cognitive theories of motivation draw a key distinction between intrinsic

and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation causes us to participate in
an activity for our own enjoyment, rather than for any tangible reward
that it will bring us. in contrast, extrinsic motivation causes us to do
something for a tangible reward.

According to research on the types of motivation, we are more apt to

persevere work harder, and produce work of higher quality when
motivation for a task intrinsic. Some psychologists go farther, suggesting
that providing rewards for desirable behavior may cause intrinsic
motivation to decline and extrinsic motivation to increase. In one
demonstration of this phenomenon a group of nursery school students
were promised a reward for drawing with magic markers an activity for
which they had previously shown high motivation. The reward served to
reduce their enthusiasm for the task, for they later showed considerably
less zeal for drawing. It was as if the promise of reward undermined their
intrinsic interest in drawing, turning what had been play into work.
Such research suggests the importance of promoting intrinsic motivation
and indicates that providing extrinsic rewards or, as in this case simply
calling attention to them may actually undermine the effort and the
quality of performance parents might think twice, then, about offering
their children monetary rewards for getting good report cards. Instead,

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the research on intrinsic motivation suggests that can come from
learning and mastering a body of knowledge.
vi) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow proposed a model which considers different motivational needs

to be ordered in a hierarchy, and it suggests that before more
sophisticated, higher order needs can be met, certain primary needs
must be satisfied. The model can be conceptualized as a conceptualized
as a pyramid in which the more basic needs are at the bottom and the
higher-level needs are at the top. In order for a particular need to be
activated and thereby guide a person's behavior, the more basic needs
in the hierarchy must be met first.

The most basic needs are those described earlier as primary drives:
needs for water, food, sleep, sex and the like. In order to move up the
hierarchy, a person must have these basic physiological needs met.
Safety needs come next in the hierarchy. Maslow suggests that the
people need a safe, secure environment in order to function effectively.
Physiological and safety needs compose the lower-order needs.
Only when the basic lower-order needs are met can a person consider
fulfilling higher-order needs, such as the need for love and a sense of
belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Love and belongingness
needs include the need to obtain and give affection and to be a
contributing member of some group or society. After these needs are
fulfilled, the person strives for esteem. In Maslow's thinking, esteem
relates to the need to develop a sense of self worth by knowing that
others are aware of one's competence and value.

Figure: Maslow's hierarchy of Needs

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Once these four sets of needs are fulfilled - no easy task - the person is
ready to strive for the highest level need self-actualization. Self-
actualization is a state of self-fulfillment in which people realize their
highest potential. A parent with excellent nurturing skills who raises a
family, a teacher who, year after year creates an environment that
maximizes students' opportunities for success, and an artist who realizes
her creative potential might all be self actualized. The important thing is
that people feel at ease with themselves and satisfied that they are using
their talents to the fullest. In a sense, achieving self-actualization
produces a decline in the striving and yearning for greater fulfillment that
marks most people's lives and instead provides a sense of satisfaction
with the current state of affairs.

Unfortunately, research has not been able to validate the specific

ordering of the stages of Maslow's theory, and it has proved difficult to
measure self actualization objectively However, Maslow's model is
important for two reason: It highlights the complexity of human needs
and it emphasizes that until basic biological needs are met, people are
going to be relatively unconcerned with higher-order needs. If people are
hungry their first interest will be in obtaining food. They will not be
concerned with such needs as love and self-esteem. The model helps
explain why victims of disasters such as famine and war may suffer the
breakdown of normal family ties and be unconcerned with the welfare of
anyone other than themselves.

Reconciling the Different Approaches to Motivation

So far, we have examined several different approaches to motivation it is

reasonable to wonder which of them provides the fullest account of
motivational phenomena. Actually, many of the conceptual approaches
are complementary, and it is often useful to employ several theories
simultaneously in order to understand a particular motivational system.
Thus, as we proceed to consider specific motives, such as the needs for
food, achievement, affiliation, and power. Let us sum up various theories
of motivation to gain a better understanding about motivation.
Theory Description

People and animals are born with preprogrammed

Instinct
sets of behaviour essential to their survival.

When some basic biological requirements is

Drive reduction
lacking, a drive is produced.

Arousal People seek an optimal level of stimulation. If the

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 level of stimulation is too high, they act to reduce it;
if it is too low, they act to increase it.

Incentive External stimuli direct and energize behaviour

Thoughts, expectations, and understanding of the

Cognitive
world direct motivation

Hierarchy of Needs to form a hierarchy, before higher-order

needs needs are met, lower-order needs must be fulfilled.

8.5 SOCIAL MOTIVES

While hunger may represent one of the most potent primary drives in our
day to-day lives, we are also motivated by powerful secondary drives
that have no clear biological basis (McClelland). Among the most
prominent of these is the need for achievement.
i) The need for achievement: Striving for success

The need for achievement is a stable, learned characteristic in which

satisfaction is obtained by striving for and attaining a level of excellence.
People with a high need for achievement seeks out situations in which
they can compete against some standard be it grades, money, or
winning at a game and prove them successful. But they are not
indiscriminateD when it comes to picking their challenges. Instead,
people high in achievement motivation are apt to choose tasks that are
of intermediate difficulty.
In contrast, people with low achievement motivation tend to be motivated
primarily by a desire to avoid failure. As a result, they seek out easy
tasks, being sure to avoid failure, or they seek out very difficult tasks for
which failure has no negative implications, since almost anyone would
fail at them. People with a high fear of failure, will stay away from tasks
of intermediate difficulty, since they may fail where others have been
successful.
The outcomes of a high need for achievement are generally positive, at
least in a success oriented society such as our own. For instance, the
people motivated by a high need for achievement are more likely to
attend college than their low achievement counterparts, and once in
college they tend to receive higher ranks in classes that are related to
their future careers Furthermore, high achievement motivation is
associated with future economic and occupational success.
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Measuring Achievement Motivation: How can we measure a person's
need for achievement? The technique used most frequently is to
administer, a Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). In the TAT people are
shown a series of ambiguous pictures. They are told to write a story that
describes what is happening, who the people are, what led to the
situation, what the people are thinking or wanting, and what will happen
next. A standard scoring system is then used to determine the amount of
achievement imagery in people's stories. For example, someone who
writes a story in which the main character is striving to beat an
opponent, studying in order to do well at some task, or working hard in
order to get a promotion shows clear signs of an achievement
orientation. It is assumed that the inclusion of such an achievement
related with imagery in their stories indicates an unusually high degree
of concern with and therefore a relatively strong need for achievement.

ii) The need for affiliation: Striving for Friendship

Most people have a need for affiliation, an interest in establishing and

maintaining relationships with other people. Individuals with a high need
for affiliation write TAT stories that emphasize the desire to maintain or
reinstate friendships and show concern over being rejected by friends.

People who are higher in affiliation needs are particularly sensitive to

relationships with others. They desire to be with their friends more of the
time, and they want to be alone less often than people who are low in
their need for affiliation. At the same time, affiliation motivation may be
less important than gender in determining how much time is actually
spent with friends. According to the results of one study, regardless of
their affiliative orientation, female students spend significantly more time
with their friends and less time alone than male students do.

iii) The need for Power: Striving for impact on others

If your fantasies include being elected as an executive director of a

company, they may be reflecting a high need for power. The need for
power, a tendency to seek impact, control, or influence over others, and
to be seen as a powerful individual, represents an additional type of
motivation.

As you might expect, people with a strong need for power are more apt
to belong to organizations and seek office than those low in the need for
power. They are also apt to be in professions in which their power needs
may be fulfilled, such as business management and you may or may not
be surprised teaching. In addition, they seek to display the trappings of

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power. Even in college, they are more apt to collect prestigious
possessions.
There are some significant sex differences in the display of the need for
power. Men who are high in power needs tend to show unusually high
levels of aggression, drink heavily, act in a sexually exploitative manner,
and participate more frequently in competitive sports behaviours that
collectively represent somewhat extravagant, flamboyant behaviour. In
contrast, women display their power needs in a more restrained manner,
congruent with traditional societal restraints on women's behaviour.
Women high in a need for power are more apt than men to channel their
power needs in a socially responsible manner such as by showing
concern for others or through highly nurturing behaviour.
In common with other types of motivation, the need for power may
express itself in several, quite diverse, ways. How a particular need is
manifested reflects a combination of people's skills, values, and the
specific situation in which, they find themselves.
8.6 MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN AGGRESSION

Aggression refers to the behaviour directed toward the goal of harming

another living being, that the wishes to avoid such treatment. Aggressive
motivation refers to the desire to harm or injure others in some manner.
Human beings often have powerful desires to harm others. Such
aggressive motivation can produce them tragic consequences.
After witnessing the horrible carnage of World War I, Freud concluded
that human beings possess a powerful built-in tendency to harm others.
This view has also been shared by many other scientists. Most believe
that aggression is elicited by a wide range of external events and stimuli.
In other words, it is often “pulled" from without rather than “pushed" or
driven from within by irresistible, perhaps inherited, tendencies. Why do
psychologists hold this view? Partly because several findings argue
strongly against the existence of universal, innate human tendencies
toward aggression. Perhaps the most telling of these is the finding that
rates of violent crime differ tremendously in different cultures. For
instance, in many developed countries rates of violent crime are much
lower than those reported in the United States, whereas in some
developing nations rates are even higher. In fact, murder rates are more
than one hundred times higher in some countries than in others. These
huge differences in the incidence of aggression suggest that such
behaviour is strongly influenced by social and cultural factors, and that
even if it stems in part from innate tendencies, these are less important
than social conditions and other factors. This is not to imply that
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biological or genetic factors play no role in human aggression; on the
contrary, they probably due to the hormonal influences. But in the case
of human beings, most experts agree that aggression is influenced more
strongly by a wide range of situational factors that evoke its occurrence
and shape its form and targets, than by inherited tendencies or
mechanisms.

If aggression does not stem primarily from inherited tendencies, the next
question is obvious: What factors do influence its occurrence? Decades
of careful research have yielded increasingly clear answers. While it
would be impossible to summarize the results of all this research here,
we can at least take a brief look at several factors that have been found
to play an important role in eliciting overt aggression.

i) Social Factors

For many years psychologists viewed frustration as the major cause of

aggression. Research findings indicate, however, that in fact the
frustration is just one of many different social causes of aggression, and
perhaps not the strongest one. First, when exposed to severe frustration,
many people become depressed rather than aggressive. Thus, contrary
to one famous view known as the frustration aggression hypothesis,
frustration does not always produce aggression. Second, aggression
does not always stem from frustration; often, individuals aggress against
others because it is part of their role or job, not because they are feeling
frustrated.
So, does frustration play any role in aggression? The answer seems to
be yes. When individuals feel that their interests have been thwarted,
and that such thwarting is unfair, frustration can indeed be a powerful
cause of aggression. In fact, feelings of injustice have recently been
found to play an important role in instances of work place violence
violent outbursts in which the employees attack and even kill other
persons with whom they work.

Another social factor that often plays a role in aggression is direct

provocation from another person. Verbal insults or physical actions
interpreted as aggressive in nature often lead the party on the receiving
end to reciprocate, with the result that a powerful spiral of aggression
counter-aggression can develop. Large body of evidence indicates that
exposure to violence in the media television, movies, and so on has
been found to increase aggression on the part of viewers. Such results
have been obtained in literally hundreds of studies, so this is one of the
most consistent findings of research on aggression. Apparently, when
viewers witness scenes in which characters assault one another, they
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can acquire new and often ingenious ways of assaulting others. Further,
they learn that, such actions are an appropriate response to provocation
or frustration and that, moreover, aggression often succeeds. In addition,
they may experience reductions in their own restraints against such
behavior. Perhaps most alarming of all, exposure to a steady diet of
media violence can lead individuals to become desensitized to the harm
produced by violence: Scenes in which others are harmed, no longer
have any emotional impact on them. As you can see, the implications of
such findings are frightening for any society in which large numbers of
people are regularly exposed to scenes of violence in films and on
television.

If exposure to violence in the mass media has harmful effects on society,

why, you may be wondering, is there so much of it? One answer is that
the advertisers who pay for television programmes believe that violence
sells that violence is one way to increase audience size. Although this
may be true, findings reported by Bushman also suggests that the
television violence may actually backfire from the point of view of
increasing the sales of products advertised on the shows. Bushman
found that audiences who watch violent programmes are significantly
less likely to remember the content of commercials shown during these
programmes than audiences who watch nonviolent programmes.
Apparently, violent images on the television screen trigger the memories
of other violent scenes, and such thoughts distract viewers from paying
attention to commercials. These findings suggest that sponsoring violent
television programmes is not just questionable from a moral point of
view; it may also make little economic sense for sponsors.
ii) Environmental Factors

While social factors seem to be among the most important causes of

aggression, it is also noted that such behaviour sometimes stems from
other causes as well. Especially important here are any conditions in the
physical environment that cause the individuals to experience
discomfort, for instance, uncomfortably high temperatures disagreeable
crowding, or unpleasant, irritating noise. The negative feelings produced
by such conditions can increase aggressive motivation in several ways.
First, they may trigger aggression directly: When we feel bad whatever
the cause-we tend to lash out against others. Alternatively, such
unpleasant feelings may trigger negative thoughts and memories, or
may lead us to attribute others' actions to hostile intentions even when
this is not the case. In other words, unpleasant feelings may lead us to
think in ways that tend to activate aggressive motives. Whatever the

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precise mechanism that is involved, research findings do offer strong
support for the view that environmental conditions that we find
uncomfortable or unpleasant can sometimes increase our tendencies to
aggress something to keep firmly in mind the next time you are caught in
traffic on a sweltering day and feel your temper beginning to fray around
the edges.

iii) Hormonal Influences

Recent findings also suggest that sex hormones, especially the male sex
hormone testosterone, may play a role in aggression. Drugs that reduce
testosterone levels in violent human males seem to reduce their
aggression; and research on prisoners indicates that testosterone levels
tend to be higher in those who have committed unprovoked violet crimes
than among those who have committed nonviolent crimes. Also
testosterone levels seem to be related not only to aggression but to
prosocial behaviours.

In sum, aggressive motivation and the overt aggression it produces,

stem from many different factors. Identifying these factors, of course, is
an essential first step toward the goal of reducing the frequency of
human violence. However, the number of variables involved does
suggest that achieving this objective will not be easy.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Motivation is concerned with the forces that direct future

behaviour. True/False
2. Physiological motives are bodily needs

a) external b) internal

c) both a and b d) none of the above

3. The tendency of the broadly to maintain a balance among internal

physiological conditions is known as homeostasis True/False
4. is a center for the regulation of body temperature.

a) Hypothalamus b) Cerebral cortex

c) Amelia d) Cerebral medulla

5. Among the human several behaviour the sex hormones are

relatively more important than the habit and experience. True/False

154
6. approach proposed that people and animals are born
with pre programmes sets of behaviours essential to survival.
a) Drive-reduction b) Instinct

c) Animal d) Incentive

7. People vary widely in the optimal level of arousal they seek out.
True/False

8. The motivation which compels us to do something for a tangible

reward is known as
a) Intrinsic motivation b) Extrinsic motivational

c) none of the above

9. The need in which people realize their highest potential is known

as
a) Self-esteem needs b) Self-actualization need

c) None of the above

10. Incentive approach proposed that the external stimuli direct and

energize behaviour. True/False

11. The concept of achievement motivational was proposed by

a) Maslow b) McClelland

c) Atkinson d) None of the above

12. is useful in measuring achievement motivation

a) T.A.T. b) Research Ink-blot test

c) WISC d) WAIS

13. A tendency to seek impact control or influence over others is

known as the need for power. True/False

14. There are no gender differences in the need for power.

True/False
15. The desire to harm/injure others in some manner is known as

a) Assertion b) aggression

c) aversion c) None of the above

LET US SUM UP

The concept motivation can be explained through motives. Motives are

composed of needs deficits within the person and drives needs that
155
cause the person to act. The whole sequence is called motivational
when the drive is goal-directed. Various emotional states may act to
influence motivated activity. People will under different emotional sets.
The physiological arousal associated with an emotion may even transfer
from one motive to another. Psychologists not only considered the
physiological motives hased on physical needs like food, sex etc but
also considered the social motives need for achievement, affiliation etc.
Human beings often have powerful desires to harm others and are
referred as aggressive motivation. Aggression has been influenced by
the entire social, environmental and ho factors.

KEY WORDS

Motives Homeostasis Physiological motives

Hypothalamus Instinct Arousal
Intrinsic motivation Aggression Extrinsic motivation
Hierarchy of needs Self-actualization Achievement motivation

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. True 2. b 3. True 4. a

5. False 6. a 7. True 8. True

9. b 10. True 11. b 12. a

13. True 14. False 15. b

MODEL QUESTIONS
1) Enumerate the physiological basis of motivation

2) Compare the different theories of motivation.

3) Elucidate the key concepts in Maslowian approach and discuss its

practical implications.
4) Examine the various motivational factors in aggression.

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GLOSSARY

Affiliation – The state of being closely associated with or connected to

an individual, organization, company, etc.

Aggression – Aggression is a forceful and hostile behavior toward

another person that can result in emotional or physical harm.

Cognitive – Relating to or involving the process of thinking and

reasoning.

Hierarchy – Arranged according to people’s or things’ level of

importance, or relating to such a system.

Homeostasis – The process by which the body reacts to changes in

order to keep conditions inside the body, for example temperature, the
same.

Instincts – The natural force that causes a person or animal to behave

in a particular way without thinking or learning about it.
Motivation - Goal directed behavior

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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Unit - 9
EMOTIONS
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
9.1 Emotions: An Introduction
9.2 Theories of Emotion
9.3 The Biological Basis of Emotions
9.4 Emotional Habits and Motives
9.5 Emotional Expression
9.6 Emotion and Cognition
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

In the previous unit we have discussed about the meaning, theories and
factors of motivation. Motivation is the state which drives the organism
towards action. Similarly, it is also observed that our emotions govern
action. Today, virtually all the psychologists acknowledge the impact of
emotions on the human behaviour. Emotions colour the human lives and
hence it is imperative to discuss the emotions of human in detail. This
unit provides a meaning for emotion. The various theories of emotion
with the biological basis of emotion have also been presented in this
unit. Further, the relationship between the emotions and the cognition is
also discussed in this Unit.
OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you will be able to

• explain the meaning of emotions

• analyze the various theories of emotions

• describe the biological basis of emotions
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 • list out the different emotional habits and motives
• identify the relationships between emotion and cognition

9.1 EMOTIONS: AN INTRODUCTION

At one time or another, all of us have experienced the strong feelings

that accompany both very pleasant and very negative experiences.
Perhaps it was the thrill of getting a sought-after job, the joy of being in
love, the sorrow over someone's death, or the anguish of inadvertently
hurting someone. Moreover, we experience such reactions on a less
intense level throughout our daily lives; the pleasure of a friendship, the
enjoyment of a movie, or the embarrassment of breaking a borrowed
item.

Despite the varied nature of these feelings, they all represent emotions.
Although everyone has an idea of what an emotion is, formally defining
the concept has proved to be an elusive task. We'll use a general
definition; Emotions are feelings that generally have both physiological
and cognitive elements and that influence behaviour.

Think, for example, about how it feels to be happy. First, we obviously

experience a feeling that we can differentiate from other emotions. It is
likely that we also experience some identifiable physical changes in our
body; perhaps our heart rate increases, or we find ourselves “jumping for
joy.” Finally, the emotion probably encompasses cognitive elements; our
understanding and evaluation of the meaning of what is happening
prompts our feelings of happiness.
It is also possible, for us, to experience an emotion without the presence
of cognitive elements. For instance, we may react with fear to an
unusual or novel situation such as coming into contact with an erratic,
unpredictable individual, or we may experience pleasure over sexual
excitation without having cognitive awareness or understanding of what
it is about the situation that is exciting.

Some psychologists argue that entirely separate systems govern

cognitive responses and emotional responses. One current controversy
is whether motional response takes the predominance over the cognitive
response or vice versa. Some theorists suggest that we first respond to
a situation with an emotional reaction and then later try to understand it.
For example, we may enjoy a complex modern symphony without at first
understanding it or knowing why we like it.

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In contrast, other theorists propose that people first develop cognitions
about a situation and then react emotionally. This school of
thought suggests that, it is necessary for us to first, think about and
understand a stimulus situation, relating it to what we already know,
before we can react on an emotional level.

Both sides of this debate can cite, the research to support their
viewpoints, and so the question is far from resolved. It is possible that
the sequence varies from situation to situation, with emotions
predominating in some instances and cognitive processes occurring first
in others.
Regardless of the sequence, it is clear that our emotions play a major
role in influencing our behaviour. On the other hand, not everyone
seems to experience emotions in an identical way. For instance, there
seem to be gender differences in the emotional experiences. Results of
a variety of studies confirm what popular literature suggests. Women
consistently report experiencing emotions more intensely than men and
expressing them more readily than men.

Although some researchers have suggested that this gender difference

is due to innate biological factors, a more recent analysis suggests that
the variation may be due to different societal expectations for men and
women. Psychologists suggest that women's greater emotional intensity
stems from the different social roles played traditionally by women and
men in society. Women for example, are more apt to fill nurturing,
caretaker roles in the home, such as those of mother and wife.
Furthermore, even when women work outside the home, they are more
likely to engage in professions in which nurturance is an important
component, such as teaching or nursing.

The functions of Emotions

Imagine what it would be like if we didn't experience emotion - no depths

of despair, no depression, no remorse, but at the same time any
happiness, joy or love, Obviously life might be considerably less
satisfying, and even dull, if we lacked the capacity to sense and express
emotion.
Psychologists have identified a number of important functions that
emotions play in our daily lives. Among the most important of those
functions are the following:

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Preparing us for action: Emotions act as a link between events in the
external environment and behavioural responses that an individual
makes. For example, if we saw an angry dog charging toward us, the
emotional reaction (fear) would be associated with physiological arousal
of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. The role of
the sympathetic division is to prepare us for emergency action, which
presumably would get us moving out of the dog's way-quickly. Emotions
are the stimuli that aid in the development of the effective responses to
various situations.

Shaping our future behaviour: Emotions serve to promote learning of

information that will assist us in making appropriate responses in the
future. For example, the emotional response that occurs when a person
experiences something unpleasant - such as the threatening dog -
teaches that person to avoid similar circumstances in the future.
Similarly, pleasant emotions act as reinforcement for prior behaviour and
therefore are apt to lead an individual to seek out similar situations in the
future. Thus, the feeling of satisfaction, that follows, giving to a charity is
likely to reinforce a charitable behaviour and make it more likely to occur
in the future.
Helping us to regulate social interaction. The emotions we
experience are frequently are communicated through our verbal and
nonverbal behaviours. These behaviours can act as a signal to
observers, allowing them to better understand what we are experiencing
and to predict our future behaviour. In turn, this promotes more effective
and appropriate social interaction. For instance, a mother who sees the
terror on her 2-year-old son's face when he sees a frightening picture in
a book is able to comfort and reassure him, thereby helping him to deal
with his environment more effectively in the future.
9.2 THEORIES OF EMOTION

i) The James-Lange Theory

To William James and Carl Lange, who were among the first
researchers to explore the nature of emotions, proposed that emotional
experience is a reaction to instinctive bodily events that occur as a
response to some situation or event in the environment.
James and Lange took the view that the instinctive response of crying at
a loss leads us to feel sorrow, that striking out at someone who
frustrates us results in our feeling anger; that trembling at a menacing
threat causes us to feel afraid. They suggested that for every major
emotion there is an accompanying physiological, or “gut," reaction of

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internal organs - called a visceral experience. It is this specific pattern of
visceral response that leads us to label the emotional experience.
In sum, James and Lange proposed that we experience emotions as a
result of physiological changes that produce specific sensations. In turn
these sensations are interpreted by the brain as particular kinds of
emotional experiences. This view has come to be called the James-
Lange theory of emotion.
The James-Lange theory has some serious drawbacks. However in
order for the theory to be valid, visceral changes would have to occur at
a relatively rapid pace, since, we experience some emotions such as
fear upon hearing a stranger rapidly approaching on a dark night almost
instantaneously. Yet emotional experiences, frequently occur, even
before there is time for certain physiological changes to be set into
motion. Because of the slowness with which the some visceral changes
take place, it is hard to see how they could be the source of immediate
emotional experience.
The James-Lange theory poses another difficulty: Physiological arousal
does not invariably produce emotional experience. For example, a
person who is jogging has an increased heartbeat and respiration rate,
as well as many of the other physiological changes associated with
certain emotions. Yet joggers do not typically think of such changes in
terms of emotions. There cannot be a one-to-one correspondence,
between the visceral changes and emotional experience. Hence,
visceral changes by themselves may not be sufficient to produce
emotion.
Finally our internal organs produce a relatively limited range of
sensations. Although some types of physiological changes are
associated with specific emotional experiences it is difficult to imagine
how the ranges of emotions that people are capable of experiencing
could be the result of unique visceral changes. Many emotions are
actually associated with relatively similar sorts of visceral changes, a fact
that contradicts the James-Lange theory.
ii) The Cannon-Bard Theory

In response to the difficulties inherent in the James-Lange theory, Walter

Cannon and Philip Bard suggested an alternative view, which has come
to be known as the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. The major thrust of
the theory is to reject the view that physiological arousal alone leads to
the perception of emotion. Instead, the theory assumes that both
physiological arousal and the emotional experience are produced

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simultaneously by the same nerve impulse, which Cannon and Bard
suggested emanates from the brain's thalamus.
According to this theory, after an emotion inducing stimulus is perceived,
the thalamus is the initial site of the emotional response. In turn, the
thalamus sends a signal to the autonomic nervous system, thereby
producing a visceral response. At the same time, the thalamus
communicates a message to the cerebral cortex regarding the nature of
the emotion being experienced. Hence, it is not necessary for different
emotions to have a unique physiological pattern that is associated with
them as long as the message sent to the cerebral cortex differs
according to the specific emotion.
The Cannon-Bard theory seems to have been accurate in its rejection of
the view that physiological arousal alone accounts for emotions.
However, recent research has led to some important modifications of the
theory.

iii) The Schachter-Singer Theory

Suppose as in our earlier example, you were walking down a dark street,
fearful of the stranger who appeared to be following you? Additionally
assume that you notice a woman on the other side of the street who also
appears to be followed. However, suppose that the women, instead of
reacting with fear, begin to laugh and act gleeful. Might the reactions of
this woman be sufficient to lay your own fears to rest? Might you, in fact,
decide there is nothing to fear, and get into the spirit of the evening by
beginning to feel glee yourself?

According to an explanation that focuses on the role of cognition, the

Schachter-Singer theory of emotion, this might very well happen. This
approach to explaining emotions emphasizes that we identify the
emotions, we are experiencing by observing our environment and
comparing ourselves with others.

A classic experiment found evidence for this hypothesis. In the study,

subjects were told that they would receive an injection of a vitamin called
Suproxin. In reality, they were given epinephrine, a drug that causes an
increase in physiological arousal, including higher heart and respiration
rates and a reddening of the face, responses that typically occur during
strong emotional reactions. Although, one group of subjects was
informed of the actual effects of the drug, another was left unaware.
Subjects in both groups were then individually placed in a situation
where a confederate of the experimenter acted in one of two ways. In
one condition, he acted angry and hostile, complaining that he would
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refuse to answer the personal questions on a questionnaire that the
experimenter had asked him to complete. In the other condition, his
behavior was quite the opposite. He behaved euphorically, flying paper
airplanes and tossing wads of paper, in general acting in an exuberant
manner.

The purpose of the experiment was to determine, how the subjects

would react emotionally to the confederate's behavior. When they were
asked to describe their own emotional state, at the end of the
experiment, subjects who had been told of the effects of the drug were
relatively unaffected by the behaviour of the confederate. They thought
their physiological arousal was due to the drug and therefore were not
faced with the need to find a reason for their arousal. Hence, they
reported experiencing relatively little emotion.
On the other hand, subjects who had not been told of the drug's real
effects were influenced by the confederate's behaviour. Those subjects
exposed to the angry confederate reported that they felt angry, while
those exposed to the euphoric confederate reported feeling happy. In
sum, the results suggest that uninformed subjects turned to the
environment and the behaviour of others for an explanation of the
physiological arousal they were experiencing.

The results of the Schachter-Singer experiment, then, support a

cognitive view of emotions, in which the emotions are determined jointly
by a relatively nonspecific kind of physiological arousal and the labeling
of the arousal based on cues from the environment. The Schachter-
Singer theory of emotion has led to some clever experiments in several
areas of psychology.
The Schachter-Singer theory of emotions is important because of its
suggestion that, at least under some circumstances, emotional
experiences are a joint function of physiological arousal and the labeling
of that arousal. When the source of physiological arousal is unclear, we
may look to our surroundings to determine just what it is we are
experiencing.
iv) Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion

The opponent-process theory of emotion (Solomon, 1982) suggests that

an emotional and reaction to a stimulus is followed automatically by an
opposite reaction, and repeated exposure to a stimulus causes the initial
reaction to weaken and the opponent process or opposite reaction to
strengthen.

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For example, consider a surgeon who initially experiences very positive
emotions each time she successfully completes a lifesaving operation.
Later, however, she experiences a sharp emotional letdown. Over time,
her positive reactions decrease, while the letdown intensifies or occurs
sooner after each medical procedure. As a result: she may gradually
reduce the number of operations she performs or, at least, become
increasingly bored with and indifferent to her work.

Opponent-process theory provides the important insights into drug

addiction. For instance, heroin users initially experience intense pleasure
followed by unpleasant sensations of withdrawal. With repeated use of
the drug, the pleasure becomes less intense and the unpleasant
withdrawal reactions strengthen (Marlatt et al., 1988). In response,
addicts begin to use the drug not for the pleasure it provides, but to
avoid the negative feelings that occur when they don't use it.
In sum, opponent-process theory suggests that a law of physics every
action produces a reaction may apply to emotions as well. Every
emotional action produces a reaction, and such cycles can have
important effects on many aspects of our behaviour.

Theories of Emotion: An Over view

Theory of Emotion Basic Assumptions

i) James-Lange Theory Subjective emotional experiences result

from physiological changes within our
bodies. e.g., we feel sorry because we
cry, frightened because we run away
from something etc.

ii) Cannon-Bard Theory Emotion-provoking events induce

simultaneously the subjective
experiences we label as emotions and
the physiological reactions that
accompany them.

iii) Schachter-Singer Emotion-provoking events produce

increased arousal; in response to the
(Two - Factor) Theory
arousal we search the external
environment in order to identify the
causes behind it. The factors we
identify then determine the label we
place on our arousal and the emotion we
experience.

iv) Opponent Process Emotional reactions to a stimulus

Theory are followed automatically by an
opposite reaction; repeated exposure to

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 a stimulus causes the initial reaction to
weaken and the opponent process
(opposite reaction) to strengthen.

9.3 THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF EMOTIONS

Emotions are complex reactions, involving not only the intense

subjective feelings we label as "joy, "anger", "sorrow” and so on, but also
outward emotional expressions and the ability (or abilities) to understand
emotional information e.g., the ability to read” the emotional reactions of
the others. Research on the biological and neural bases of emotions
indicates that different portions of the brain play a role in each of these
components. Research concerning the neural basis of emotion is
complex, hence let us simply summarize a few of the key findings.

First, it appears that the right cerebral hemisphere plays an especially

important role in emotional functions. The right hemisphere seems to be
specialized for processing emotional information. Individuals with
damage to the right hemisphere have difficulty in understanding the
emotional tone of another person's voice or in correctly describing
emotional scenes. Similarly, among healthy persons with no damage to
their brains, individuals do better at identifying others emotions when
such information is present to their right hemisphere rather than to their
left hemisphere. The right hemisphere also seems to be specialized for
the expression of emotion, for instance, patients with damage to the right
hemisphere are less successful at expressing emotions through the tone
of their voice than persons without such damage.

In addition, there appear to be important differences between the left

and right hemispheres of the brain with respect to two key aspects of
emotion: valance - the extent to which an emotion is pleasant or
unpleasant; and arousal - the intensity of emotion. Activation of the left
hemisphere is associated with approach, response to reward, and
positive affect (i.e., positive feelings), whereas activation of the right
hemisphere is associated with avoidance, withdrawal from aversive
stimuli and negative affect. Further, anterior regions of the hemispheres
are associated primarily with the valence (pleasant-unpleasant)
dimension, while posterior regions are associated primarily with arousal
(intensity). These findings have important implications for our
understanding of the neural basis of various psychological disorders. For
instance, depression and anxiety disorders involve negative feelings or
emotions, but depression is usually associated with low arousal that the
depressed people lack energy while anxiety is associated with high
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arousal. This leads to interesting predictions: Persons suffering from
depression should show reduced activity in the right posterior region,
while persons suffering from anxiety should show increased activity in
that brain region. These predictions have been confirmed in several
studies. Insight into the neural mechanisms that underlie such disorders
can be an important first step toward developing effective treatments for
them, so our growing knowledge of the neural bases of emotions has
important practical as well as scientific implications.

Additional research indicates that structures deep within the brain, too,
play an important role in emotions. In particular, the amygdala seems to
be involved in our ability to judge the intensity, although not the valence,
of other's emotions. Studies suggest that the amygdala plays a key role
in our interpretation of emotional information relating to threat or danger
for instance, signs of fear or anger on the part of other persons. From an
evolutionary perspective, the existence of the systems within the brain
that focus on expressions of fear on anger makes considerable sense:
Being able to respond quickly to such stimuli can mean the difference
between survival and death.

9.4 EMOTIONAL HABITS AND MOTIVES

Emotions can function in human life both as habits (learned reactions)

and as motives. Learned emotional habits can be reactions not only to
physical things and the actions of other people, but also to one's own
thoughts and expectations. Emotions are also motives when they impart
an impetus to behavior and give it direction to-ward certain goals. Let us
then consider in detail how emotional habits are acquired and the role of
these habits are applied in motivation. The discussion will revolve
around three basic emotional patterns: pleasure, fear, and anger.
i) Pleasure

Pleasure, is the accompaniment of satisfying a drive. Hence the

achievement of any goal, whether it is a primary goal, such as eating or
drinking, or a secondary goal, such as social approval or academic
achievement, is experienced as pleasant. This general principle can be
extended to the relief of any tension and indeed to relief from such
emotions as fear and anger. The goal of fear is to escape a fear-
producing situation or fear itself; the goal of anger is to attack, destroy,
or hurt the thing provoking anger. Hence the achievement of these goals
is also regarded as pleasant.

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Any situation regularly associated with a goal becomes a secondary goal
itself. This principle applies to the pleasure we take in the achievement
of goals. Anything connected with the satisfaction of drives may itself
become a goal and, when achieved, gives pleasure. Thus we like to be
around people with whom we have shared satisfying experiences. We
like to make money because it satisfies other needs. We like to go back
to places where we formerly had a good time.

ii) Fears

Responses to an object or situation perceived as threatening and which

the individuals believe he cannot cope with is termed as Fear, which is
one of the important emotions.
The experiment done by Watson and Rayner with little Albert
demonstrates two points: One is the conditioning of fear. Any stimulus
regularly present when a fear response is made can itself become a
stimulus for fear. The other is the phenomenon of generation. The fear
that is learned is not restricted to the conditioning stimulus but
generalizes to similar objects. Both conditioning and generalization are
important factors in building up our repertory of learned fears.

People acquire many different sorts of fears. If a person has a bad fall
from a height, he may go through life fearing high places. A child who is
lost and terrified in a crowd of people may, even as an adult, fear being
in a crowd. If at some time he is locked up in a dark closet, he may
thereafter be afraid of being in a room with all the doors closed. Since
people may have varied experiences of this kind, a very large number of
specific fears may be found in any one person.
Parents and society deliberately use the fear of punishment to enforce
their will and to teach approved ways of behaving. The punishment may
be something painful, such as a whipping. But most often it is the
frustration of other drives loss of money: loss of freedom (imprisonment),
which frustrates a number of drives; or loss of social approval, status,
and related social goals. Our government uses fear of fine or
imprisonment to enforce its laws, and people use fear of loss of friends,
privileges, and social prestige to control each other's behavior. Fear of
loss of freedom appears to be a most potent motive for getting nations to
fight. Indeed, everywhere we look, we see fear profoundly influencing
what people do and what they work for.

Fears become important motives in life because we have so many

opportunities to acquire them. In childhood there are physical hazards
like falling down the steps and getting burned in the fire, and the child

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comes to fear those situations in which he has been harmed. Soon the
parent starts using fear deliberately. By punishing and at the same time
saying "no, a parent soon teaches an infant to fear punishment, and the
signal for evoking this fear is the word "no." Later on, the teaching of
fear becomes more complicated. To motivate the child, the parent may
put him to bed without his supper, deny him his ice cream or chocolate,
or not allow him to go out and play. Thus the child is taught to fear/ loss
or denial of the things he wants.

iii) Anger

Anger, is provoked by restraints, including any interference with the goal

directed activity. This means that anger is produced by frustration by not
having or getting what one wants. Frustration may not always elicit
anger, but anger is usually caused by frustration or by circumstances
that have previously caused frustration. Keeping this point in mind, we
can note the following points about anger as a habit and as a motive.

Anger can be learned as a social technique for achieving goals.

The persistence of temper tantrums in children is a good example. In
many children, the temper tantrum is a natural reaction to frustration. If
the baby wants something he cannot have, he gets mad and throws a
tantrum. If this does not work, he will probably try other, more
reasonable approaches, and the temper reaction to frustration will tend
to die out. Thus he learns not to get mad, but to find other means of
relieving his frustration. If, on the other hand, the temper tantrum does
get him what he wants as it often will, when parents give in because they
cannot stand the annoyance of the tantrum, then the baby learns to
throw tantrums whenever he is frustrated. If the tantrums continue to be
successful, he will habitually get angry, whenever he is frustrated, using
anger as a device for getting what he wants.
There is a corollary to this: if fighting generally is successful, fighting
tends to be learned. If it is not successful, it tends to drop out. This point
is demonstrated in laboratory experiments with fighting mice. When
strange mice are paired up, they tend to fight. One usually wins and the
other loses. The mouse that wins is more likely to fight again; the one
that loses is more likely to retreat and give up without a fight. The same
general principal probably applies to fighting in children. The boy who
usually wins his battles is likely to become a bully who is always picking
fights, but the boy who has lost a few times learns to avoid fighting if he
can.
Parents and society try in various ways to suppress angry behaviour.
Children are usually punished for outbursts of anger. In adults, even the
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slightest display of anger may be perceived upon as socially
disapproved behavior. So, both by failing to reward anger and by
punishing its expression, society attempts to teach us not to get angry.

This raises an interesting problem. The punishment of anger is itself

frustrating and hence anger provoking. First, inability to express anger to
blow off steam is frustrating because it prevents achievement of one's
goal, namely, to attack or destroy whatever is doing the frustrating.
Secondly, any sort of punishment can be frustrating, and the threat of
punishment can thus be anger provoking. Society, therefore, in its effort
to suppress anger actually provokes anger. The result then is not so
much to teach people not to be angry as it is to teach them not to
express anger. Anger merely smolders inside instead of coming out into
the open.
Anger can be conditioned and generalized in the same way as fear. We
get angry at whatever keeps us from achieving our ends, and if the
same thing a conditioned hostility toward the obstacle and other things
similar to it. A harsh father, for example, who frequently makes his son
angry by restricting the son's activities, may become such a stimulus for
anger that the boy becomes generally hostile toward him even when he
is doing nothing to frustrate the boy. When the boy grows up, he may be
hostile to all the superiors, if he generalizes to them, the feelings he has
toward his father. Such conditioned hostility is fairly common among
older children and adults.
Attitudes and Prejudices: The tendency to react emotionally to people
and things formerly associated with emotional behaviour helps to
account for our preferences and aversions. We prefer the kinds of things
which formerly gave us pleasure, and we are averse to those which
made us fearful or angry. This is also true of our attitudes and
prejudices. An attitude is a tendency to respond positively (favourably) or
negatively (unfavorably) to certain per-sons, objects, or situations.
Hence it is a tendency to react emotionally in one direction or another.
An attitude may be fearful, hostile, or pleasant. Whichever it is depends
on our previous conditioning of emotional reactions to certain kinds of
people or things and then the generalization of these reactions to similar
people or things. This is the general way we learn about our prejudices.
Attitudes and prejudices are discussed at length in a later chapter. Here
we simply want to point out that they are emotionally toned tendencies
learned through conditioning and generalization.
Conflict and Frustration: Frustration, we have just seen, is a key to
under-standing anger and hostility. We have seen too that fear of
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punishment is frustrating and hence a source of anger. For that reason,
we need to consider more carefully the common sources of frustration.
Generally speaking, sources of frustration may be classified into the
three categories described below.

Environmental frustration: Environmental obstacles frustrate the

satisfaction of motives by making it difficult or impossible for a person to
attain his goal. These environmental obstacles may be something
physical, such as a locked door or lack of money. They may be people
parents, teachers, or policemen who prevent us from achieving our
goals. In general, environmental obstacles are the most important
sources of frustration for children. What usually prevents children from
doing the thing they want to do is some restraint or obstacle that is
imposed by their parents or teachers.
Personal frustration: As children grow up and move toward adulthood,
unattainable goals loom increasingly more important as sources of
frustration. These goals are largely learned goals that cannot be
achieved because they are out of reach of the person's abilities. A child,
for example, may learn to aspire to high academic achievement, but lack
the ability to make better than a mediocre record. He may want to make
the school band, the football team, to be admitted to a certain club, or to
have the lead in a play, but be frustrated because he doesn't have the
necessary talents. The trouble here is that one may learn goals levels of
aspiration that are too high for one's level of performance.
Conflict frustration: The adult, as well as the child, has his share of
environmental obstacles and unattainable goals, but his most important
source of frustration is likely to be motivational conflict. This is
frustration caused by a conflict of motives. The expression of anger, for
example, is usually caught in such a conflict. On the one hand, a person
would like to vent his anger, but on the other hand, he fears the social
disapproval that would result if he did. The anger motive is thus in
conflict with the motive for social approval. In Western societies, sexual
motivation is often in conflict with society's standards of approved sexual
behavior. There are hundreds of possible examples of motivational
conflict, and more will be described later. The important point is that,
frustration takes place because of two motives that are in conflict, and it
is not possible to satisfy one without frustrating the other. For this
reason, many adults are forever being frustrated and hence have
occasion to feel angry or hostile.
Anxiety and Hostility. In our society, there is plenty of cause to feel
anger, yet reason to suppress it. The consequence is kind of smoldering
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anger hostility toward numerous things and people, de-pending on the
particular sources of frustration in an individual's life.
There is also plenty of cause for anxiety. Fear, we have seen, is a
reaction to a specific thing or situation. Anxiety is a general state of
apprehension or uneasiness that occurs in many different situations. In
other words, anxiety is a rather vague fear or an "objectless" fear, it is
sometimes called. The person usually is not quite sure what he is afraid
of and it may, in fact, be rather difficult for anyone to ascertain. Anxiety is
like a mosquito in the dark. You know it is near, but, you do not know
quite where, and you somehow cannot locate it to make the killing slap
and be rid of it. Anxiety is usually less intense but more persistent than
fear, although some individuals suffer brief or prolonged attacks of
anxiety that are agonizingly severe.
Several sources of anxiety may be distinguished. One is linked to
hostility. Since society teaches us, through threats of punishment or loss
of social approval, that we should not be angry or hostile, feelings of
hostility become associated with vague fears of what might happen if we
expressed our feelings. Secondly, through simple conditioning of fear,
we may learn to be anxious. If we have many fear provoking
experiences with parents, teachers, and associates, these can
generalize to almost everyone so that, we become anxious in the
presence of people generally. Human beings, thirdly, are peculiarly
prone to anxiety, because they have the ability to recall and imagine
their experiences. By thinking of fear provoking situations that have
happened or might happen, people elicit in themselves the same fear or
anxiety that they would have if they were in the real situation.
For these reasons, then, people are often anxious, and some people are
generally anxious a good part of the time. Thus, anxiety and hostility
become prominently linked in much of everyday behavior.
9.5 EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION

Emotions are a private affair. No one, no matter how intimate with us

they are, can truly share our subjective inner experiences. Yet we are
able to recognize the presence of various emotions in others, and we
are able to communicate our own feelings to them as well. How does
such communication occur? A large part of the answer involves
nonverbal cues outward signs of others; internal emotional states shown
in their facial expressions, body posture, and other behaviors.

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Nonverbal cues: The Basic channels

Decades of research on nonverbal cues suggest that this kind of

communication occurs through several different channels or paths
simultaneously. The most revealing of these involve facial expressions
and body movements and posture.

(i) Unmasking the Face: Facial Expressions as Clues to Others'

Emotions

It is accepted by the psychologists that, the face is the image of the soul.
By this, we meant that feelings and emotions are often reflected in the
face and can be read there from specific expressions. Modern research
suggests that it is possible to learn much about others' current moods
and feelings from their facial expressions. In fact, it appears that six
different basic emotions are represented clearly and from an early age,
on the human face anger, fear, sadness, disgust, happiness, and
surprise. In addition, some findings suggest that emotion contempt may
also be quite basic. However, agreement on what the specific facial
expression represents, this emotion is less consistent than that for the
other six emotions just mentioned.

Until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that basic facial expressions
such as those for happiness, anger, or disgust are universal that they
are recognized as indicating specific emotions by persons all over the
world. The findings of several studies indicate that although facial
expressions may indeed reveal much about others' emotions,
interpretations of such expressions are also affected by the context in
which the expressions occur, and by various situational cues. For
instance, if participants in a study are shown a photo of a face showing
what would normally be judged as fear but are also read a story
suggesting that the person is actually showing anger, many describe the
face as showing this emotion not fear. Findings such as these suggest
that the facial expressions may not be as universal in terms of providing
clear signals about underlying emotions as was previously assumed.
These findings are somewhat controversial, however, at present it would
be unwise to reach firm conclusions about this issue.

ii) Gestures, Posture and Movements

Try this simple demonstration: First remember some incident that made
you angry the angrier the better. Think about it for a minute. Now try to
remember another incident one that made you feel happy the happier
the better. Did you change your posture or move your hands, arms, or
legs as your thoughts shifted from the first incident to the second? The

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changes are good that you did, for our current mood or emotion is often
reflected in the posture, position, and movement of our body. Together,
such nonverbal behaviours are sometimes termed body language or,
more scientifically kinesics and they can provide several kinds of
information about others' emotions.

First, frequent body movements, especially ones in which a particular

part of the body does something to another part, such as touching,
scratching, or rubbing, suggest emotional arousal. The greater the
frequency of such behaviour, the higher a person's level of arousal or
nervousness seems to be.
Larger patterns of movements involving the whole body can also be
informative. Such phrases as “she adopted a threatening posture" and
"he greeted her with open arms" suggest that different body orientations
or posture can be suggestive of contrasting emotional reactions.

Finally, more specific information about others' feelings is often provided

by gestures body movements carrying specific meanings in a given
culture.
9.6 EMOTION AND COGNITION

In many instances, our thoughts seem to exert strong effects on our

emotions. This relationship works in the other direction as well; being in
a happy mood often causes us to think happy thoughts, while sad tends
to bring negative memories and images to mind. In short, there are
important links between emotion and cognition between the way we feel
and the way we think. Let's take a brief look at some of the evidence for
such links.
The boundary between emotions and affective reactions is modest shifts
in mood the kinds of changes we experience many times each day as a
result of runs of the mill experiences these will be the focus here. For
many years, it was assumed that affective reactions are bipolar in
nature; that is, that positive affect and negative affect represent opposite
ends of a single dimension, and that our moods fall somewhere along
this dimension at any point in time. However, in recent years this
assumption has been challenged by the suggestion that perhaps
positive affect and negative affect are actually independent dimensions
so that we can be high in one, low in the other, high in both, or low in
both. This issue has not yet been resolved, although the recent findings
seem to offer a fairly strong support for the idea that positive and
negative affect are indeed two ends of a single dimension. But

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remember, this conclusion is tentative; the scientific jury is still out on
this one.
How Affect Influences Cognition? The findings of many studies
indicate that our current moods can strongly influence several aspects of
cognition. One such effect involves the impact of our current moods, or
affective states, on our perception of ambiguous stimuli. In general, we
perceive and evaluate these stimuli more favorably when we are in a
good mood than when we are in a negative one. For example, when
asked to interview applicants whose qualifications for a job are
ambiguous neither very strong nor very weak research participants
assign higher ratings to applicants when the interviewers are in a
positive mood than when they are in a negative mood.
Another way in which affect influences cognition is through its impact on
the style of information processing we adopt. A growing body of
research findings indicates that a positive affect encourages us to adopt
a flexible, fluid style of thinking, while negative affect leads us to engage
in more systematic and careful processing. Why? Perhaps because we
interpret negative affect as a kind of danger signal, indicating that the
current situation requires our full attention.

Our current moods also influence the other important aspect, of

cognition creativity. The results of several studies suggest that being in a
happy mood can increase creativity perhaps because being in a happy
mood activates a wider range of ideas or association than being in a
negative mood, and creativity consists, in part, of combining such
associations into new patterns.
A fourth way in which affect can influence cognition involves its impact
on our plans and intentions in a wide range of social situations. For
instance, recent findings reported suggest that negotiators who are in a
good mood adopt more cooperative strategies and expect better
outcomes than ones who are in a bad mood.

How Cognition influences Affect? Most research on the relationship

between affect and cognition has focused on how feelings influence
thought. However, there is also compelling evidence for the reverse the
impact of cognition on affect. The two factor theory of emotion
(Schachter) suggests that often we don't know our own feelings or
attitudes directly. Rather, because these internal reactions are often
somewhat ambiguous, we look outward at our own behaviour or at other
aspects of the external world for clues about the nature of our feelings.
In such cases the emotions or feelings we experience are strongly
determined by the interpretation or cognitive labels we select.
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A second way in which cognition can affect emotions is through the
activation of schemas containing a strong affective component. For
example, if we label an individual as belonging to some group, our
schema for this social category may suggest what traits he or she
probably possesses. In addition, it may also tell us how we feel about
such persons. Thus, activation of a strong racial, ethnic, or religious
schema or stereotype may exert powerful effects upon our current
feelings or moods.

Third, our thoughts can often influence our reactions to emotion-

provoking events. For example, anger and resulting aggressive
motivation can often be reduced by apologies and other information that
helps explain why others have treated us in a provocative manner anger
can sometimes be reduced or even prevented by techniques such as
thinking about events other than those, that generate anger. In such
instances, the effects of cognition on feelings can have important social
consequences.
In sum, as our everyday experience suggests, there are indeed many
links between affect and cognition. The ways we feel our current mood
influences the way we think, and our thoughts, in turn, often shape our
moods and emotions.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Emotions are Feelings that generally here True/False

2. The important functions of emotions are

a) Prepare we for action b) Shape our Future behaviour

c) Both a and b d) None of the above

3. We experience emotions as a result of physiological charges

that produce specific sensations is proposed
by theory
a) James - Large theory b) The Control-Band theory

c) Schachter - Singer theory c) None of the above

4. Cannon - Bard theory of emotion is also termed as two factor

theory True/False

5. Emotional reactions to a stimulus are followed automatically by

an opposite reaction is explained through theory
a) James - large b) opponent process theory

c) Cannon - Bard theory c) Schachter - Singer theory

176
6. Different portions of brain play a role on governing our
emotions True/False
7. hemisphere of the brain is responsible for
understanding the emotional tone

a) right b) left

c) None of the above

8. Amygdala plays a key role in our interpretation of

emotional information True/False

9. _are important factors in building up our repertory of

learned fears
a) Conditioning and counter conditioning

b) Conditioning and generalization

c) Counter conditioning

d) None of the above

9. Motivational conflict is the most important source of

frustration True/False
11. Nonverbal cues are the basic channels for the communication
of emotions True/False

12. More specific information about others feelings is often provided by

gestures True/False
13. Our current moods influence our

a) perception b) creativity

c) both a and b d) None of the above

14. The activation of containing a story affective component

a) perception b) Schema

c) creativity d) None of the above

15. Both affect and cognition influences our perception True/False

LET US SUM UP

Emotions are feelings that generally have physiological and cognitive

elements which influence behaviour. Emotions prepare us for the action.
It also shapes our future behaviour and helps us to regulate our social
interaction. Various theories of emotion help us to understand the
different attributes of emotion. Emotions can function in the human life
both as habits and motives. Facial expressions, body movements and
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postures are found to important channels of emotional communication.
Above all, our emotions affect the cognition and vice versa.

KEY WORDS
Visceral experience Physiological arousal

Emotion - provoking events Emotional reactions

Opponent - Process Non verbal cues
Learned emotional habits Attitudes

Conflict Frustration

Anxiety Hostility

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. True 2. (c) 3. (a) 4. False 5. (b) 6. True 7. (a) 8. True 9. (b) 9. True

11. True 12. True 13. (c) 14. (b) 15. True

MODEL QUESTIONS
1) Describe the various theories of emotions.

2) Discuss about the biological basis of emotions.

3) Write a note on “non-verbal web”.

4) Delineate the dialectic relationship between emotion and

cognition.
GLOSSARY

Anger – The strong feeling that you have when something has
happened or somebody has done something that you do not like.

Anxiety – Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension,

worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.
Attitude – The way that you think, feel or behave.

Emotion – An emotion is a feeling such as happiness, love, fear, anger,

or hatred, which can be caused by the situation that you are in or the
people you are with.

Fear - The feeling that you have when something dangerous, painful or
frightening might happen.

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Pleasure – The feeling of being happy or satisfied

Prejudice – A strong unreasonable feeling of not liking or trusting

somebody or something especially when it is based on his/her/its race,
religion or sex.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction

to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.

3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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 BLOCK-V

UNIT- 10: MEMORY AND FORGETTING

UNIT- 11: THEORIES OF MEMORY

UNIT -12: LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

UNIT -13: THINKING, REASONING AND CONCEPT FORMATION

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Unit 10
MEMORY AND FORGETTING
STRUCTURE

Overview

Objectives
10.1 Kinds of remembering

10.1.1 Reintegrative memory

10.1.2 Recall

10.1.3 Recognition

10.1.4 Relearning
10.2 Two types of memory

10.3 Short-term memory

10.3.1 Storage capacity

10.3.2 Storage chunks

10.4 Long-term memory

10.4.1 Encoding

10.4.2 Storage and retrieval

10.4.3 Retrieval process

10.5 Nature of forgetting

10.5.1 Decay through disuse

10.5.2 Interference effects

10.5.3 Motivated forgetting

10.5.4 Emotional factors in forgetting

10.6 Amnesia

10.6.1 Psychological amnesias

10.6.2 Biological amnesias

Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords

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Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

Memory refers to the encoding, storage and retrieval of information. The

current trend emphasizes on cognitive or mental process. Cognition
concerns with the internal processing of information received from
senses, and memory is part of it. It consists of encoding, storage and
retrieval, and it follows some steps or stages, like sensory register, short
term and long-term memory. Not all the information that is stored can be
retrieved at once, which refers to the process of forgetting. In this unit,
we will focus on the concept of memory by looking into: kinds of
remembering, two types of memory, storage capacity, and nature of
forgetting and finally the amnesias.
OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you would be able to

• explain the different kinds of remembering

• describe the two types of memory

• explain about the storage capacity

• discuss about the process involved in short-term memory
• explain the long-term memory
• describe the Nature of forgetting
• define amnesia list out the various types of amnesias
10.1 KINDS OF REMEMBERING

Redintegration, recall, recognition, and relearning all give evidence of

memory, but each of these terms imply a different aspect of
remembering. Redintegration may also appear in the retrieval of the
factual information. Many memories lack this reintegrative quality. For
example, you may recall a poem, even if you do not remember the
circumstances under which you learned it. You can remember how to
climb stairs or ride a tricycle or sing a song without any direct reference
to the past. Since remembering through recall is easier to measure, it is
the kind of memory usually studied in the laboratory. A third kind of
memory is 'recognizing' someone or something as familiar. “That time is
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familiar”, “Some one I know has a copy of that picture - but I can't
remember now.
Finally, you may also find that what you learned once, you can
remember it better, by relearning it more rapidly. Now, we shall look into
each kind of remembering in more detail.
10.1.1 Reintegrative Memory

Less attention has been paid to reintegrative memory because it is

difficult to check details of the recovery of events in the personal of the
individuals.

A few research studies have used hypnosis; one such research by Reef
and Sheerer, 1959 has shown that the memories of school experiences
from the ages 7 year to 10 year can be more accurately recovered by
adults under hypnosis than in the waking state.

One way of remembering is to recollect or reintegrate and the

circumstances surrounding it. The word 'reintegrate' means 'to
reintegrate' or to re-establish' an earlier experience on the basis of
partial cues. For example, you reintegrate your high-school 'fare-well day
only if something reminds you of it. The stimuli to reintegrate are
souvenirs, remembrances or reminders of total past experiences. In your
recollection, you may remember the music played, your class mate
singing, the arrangements of the speaker's platform, your principal’s
speech, teacher’s words, and the emotions you are experienced as the
function was closing. Such reintegrative memories are often quite
detailed and complete. They are distinguished from other kinds of
remembering because they reconstruct a past occasion from your
personal auto-biography with its setting in time and place.
10.1.2 Recall

This is the kind of remembering most easily tested in the laboratory, the
active recall method of some performance learned in the past. You will
observe that you remember how to ride a bicycle by climbing and riding
away. You may show that you known any poem by reciting it. You are
demonstrating that your present performance is because of the residue
from the past.

To get a quantitative measure of recall in the laboratory, the investigator

allows time to elapse after a subject has memorized some material,
often by the paired - associate method. The elapsed time may be
minutes, hours, days, or even months. The subject returns to the
laboratory, and tries to recall the response previously paired with each

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stimulus as it is presented. The percentage of correct response words
recalled correctly is called the recall score.
Paired - associate words

Stimulus words - Response words

Prepared - Afraid
Careless - vacant

Hungry - Quiet

10.1.3 Recognition

When we recognize something, we do mention that it is familiar and that

we have met someone before. Recognition is a common experience, but
it is complex and a somewhat mysterious process. The entire process
takes place quite automatically. Sometimes we experience faulty
recognition, from a declining sense of familiarity.
Sense of familiarity is aroused in strange situations also. What may
happen is that a pattern of buildings along a street is actually somewhat
like one seen in earlier experience. It may also be that in a strangely
familiar garden, the scent of a flower permeating the air is, which is met
on an earlier occasion but since forgotten. The present situation, through
actually novel, seems vaguely familiar. This is a form of generalization
from past experience
10.1.4 Relearning

Another method to show that there is some residue from the past is to
demonstrate that previously familiar material can be learned more
rapidly than if it were unfamiliar. Even though something may be seem
to be completely 'forgotten' it may easier to learn the second time
because it was learnt in the past.

To use the relearning method in the laboratory, the experimenter

proceeds as in the study of recall. After the initial learning, a time period
is allowed to elapse; then retention is tested in a second learning. The
subject learns the material by one of the standard methods until a
perfect reproduction or recitation and learns the materials again to the
same criterion of perfect recitation.

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Basic Distinctions about Memory

Three Stages of Memory

10.2 TWO TYPES OF MEMORY

Differ between those situations that require us to store material for a

matter of seconds and those that require us to store material for longer
intervals from minutes to years. The former situations are said to tap
short-term memory while the latter reflect long-term memory.

This contrast between the short and the long term memory is similar to
the contrast between conscious knowledge and the subconscious
knowledge we have but are not currently thinking about. We can think of
memory as a vast body of knowledge, only a small part of which can
ever be active at any moment. The rest is passive. Short-term memory
corresponds to the active part, long-term memory to the passive.
10.3 SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Encoding

Attention is important to encode information into short-term memory.

Many difficulties labeled “memory problems" are really lapses in
attention. When information is attended to, it gets encoded into short-
term memory. Encoding means not only that information is deposited in
memory, but also that it is deposited in a certain form, or code. When
you look up a phone number and retain it while dialing. In what code do
you store the digits? Is the code visual-a mental picture of the digits? Or
is the code acoustic-the sound of the names of the digits?

A good deal of research indicates that short-term memory tends to favor

an acoustic code for verbal materials like digits, letters, and words.
Short-term memory sometimes uses a visual code. However, with verbal
materials, the visual code fades quickly and is soon dominated by the
acoustic one. The dominance of the acoustic code may apply mainly to
verbal materials. Recent research suggests that when one has to store
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nonverbal items, like pictures that are difficult to describe, the visual
code may become more important.
10.3.1 Storage Capacity

Short-term memory has very limited capacity. On the average, the limit
is seven items, plus or minus (2) some people store as few as five items;
others can hold onto as many as line. It may see s strange to give
such an exact number to cover all people when it is clear that individuals
differ greatly in their memory abilities. These differences, however, are
due to long term memory. For short-term memory, actually all normal
adults have a capacity of 72. This constancy has been down since the
earliest days of experimental psychology. Ebbinghaus, who began the
experimental study of memory in 1885, reported results showing his own
limit were seven items. Some 70 years later, Miller (1956) was so struck
by the constancy that he referred to it as the magic number seven.

Psychologists determined this number by using a task called the

memory span was first introduced by Jacobs In 1887. Subjects see a
different sequence of items (digits, letters, or words) on each trial and
must recall them in order. On the initial trials, they have to recall just a
few items, say four or five, which they can easily do. Then the number
increases until the experimenter determines the maximum number a
subject can recall in order. The maximum, almost always between five
and nine, is the subject's memory span, or capacity. This task, which is
part of many IQ tests, is so simple that you can easily try it yourself.
Each item entering short-term memory goes into its own slot. As long as
the number of items does not exceed the number of slots, we can recall
the items perfectly. When all the slots are filled and a new item enters,
one of the old ones must go. The new item displaces an old one. The
principle of displacement explains how an item is lost from short-term
memory.
10.3.2 Storage Chunks

Short-term memory holds 72 items. YTDRAES contains seven single-

letter items, but, when the letters are rearranged to form the word
STRAYED, there is only one item, the word itself. It appears that an item
is the largest meaningful unit we can find in the materials presented to
us. Such units are called chunks, and the capacity of short-term memory
is best expressed as 72 chunks.

The notion of chunks has some important implications. If short-term

memory could hold only seven letters, it could not retain even a simple
sentence. Fortunately, though, letters can be grouped into word chunks,
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and word chunks themselves can be grouped into phrase chunks. This
enables us to hold in short-term memory as much as the last few
sentences we have heard-a capacity critical for following conversations.
Language provides a natural chinking device, since it groups letters and
words into larger meaningful units.

Sometimes we can chunk letters without forming words. This occurs

when the letters stand for some meaningful (but non-word) unit. The
letter string IB-MFB-ITVU-SA is hard to recall because it contains more
than seven chunks. But suppose the spacing is changed so that the
string is IBM-FBI TV-USA. Each letter group is now a familiar unit. The
result is four chunks and a string that is easy to remember. Chinking can
occur with numbers as well. The string 149-2177-619-79 is beyond our
capacity, but 1492-1776-1979 is well with it. In both the examples, the
regrouped strings contain familiar units. The general principle seems to
be that we can boost our short-term memory by regrouping sequences
of letters and digits into familiar units.
Retrieval involves a search of short-term memory, in which each item is
examined one at a time.
10.4 LONG-TERM MEMORY

Long-term memory involves information that has been retained for

intervals as brief as a few minutes or as long as a few decades
10.4.1 Encoding

For verbal materials, the dominant code is based on the meaning of the
items. Encoding items in terms of their meaning is particularly striking
when the items are sentences.
How are meanings encoded for long-term storage? Consider the
meaning of “helicopter": one might encode its meaning in terms of a
mental picture, of image, of a typical helicopter; or one might encode
something more abstract, more conceptual-say, the kind of information
that a dictionary gives about helicopters where "a helicopter is a kind of
airborne vehicle...". The former is called an imagery code and the latter a
semantic code; both can capture the meaning of an item. The evidence
indicates that both codes play a role in long-term memory.

We often remember the meaning of sentences without experiencing

images either during encoding or during retrieval. Some evidence
suggests that pictures are more easily remembered than sentences.

Coding in long-term memory is like that in short-term memory: we have

a preferred code for verbal material-meaning for long-term memory,
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acoustic for short-term memory-but other codes can be used as well.
Coding by meaning, however, seems to result in the best memory. And
the more deeply or elaborately one encodes the meaning, the better
memory will be.
10.4.2 Storage and Retrieval

In long-term memory, storage and retrieval are considered together.

Many of forgetting from long-term memory seems to result from a loss of
access to the information, rather than from a loss of the information
itself. That is, poor memory may retrieval failure rather than a storage
failure. Everyone has been unable to recall a fact, only to have it come
to mind later. Another example is the "tip-of-the-tongue" experience, in
which a particular word or name lies tantalizingly outside our ability to
recall it. A more striking example of retrieval failure is that some people
under hypnosis feel they can recover memories of early childhood that
are otherwise unavailable. Similar experiences occur in psychotherapy.
While we lack firm experimental evidence for some of these
observations, they at least suggest that some seemingly forgotten
memories are not lost. They are just difficult to get at and require the
right kind of retrieval cue where anything that can help us retrieve
memory. Better the retrieval cues, the better our memory.
ORGANIZATION AND CONTEXT

Research has identified two factors that increase the chances of

successful retrieval: (1) organizing the information in storage and (2)
ensuring that the context in which we retrieve information is similar to the
context in which we encoded it. The more we organize the material we
store, the easier it is to retrieve.

Context is not always something external to the memorizer, like a

physical location or a specific face. What is happening inside of us when
we encode information our internal state is also part of the context. If we
experience some event while under the influence of a particular drug,
like alcohol or marijuana, perhaps we can best retrieve it when we are
again in that drug induced state. In such case memory would be partly
dependent on the internal state during learning-what is called state
dependent learning.
10.4.3 Retrieval Process

Memory depends on retrieval cues, so if interference results in problems

with the use of these cues, forgetting will result. Retrieval is facilitated by
organization of the stored material and the presence of retrieval cues
that can guide our search through our long-term memory for stored
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information. Without appropriate retrieval cues, the sought for items
stored term memory may not be found one forgets.
Emotional factors can also play a role in the retrieval failure that is the
cause of so much forgetting. State-dependent memory is an example. If
we encode information while in one emotional state and try to retrieve it
while in another, our recall may suffer.

Psychologists have adopted a more cognitive view of memory in an

attempt to isolate some of the processes that act between the input of a
stimulus and the response output. The cognitive view divides memory
into three stages: (a) encoding, (b) storage, and (c) retrieval.

Encoding implies transforming the sensory input into a form that can be
processed by the memory system. If something is to he remembered,
then storage must occur which requires transfer of the encoded
information into memory, Finally, the process of retrieval involves
locating the memorized information when needed.

These three stages can be compared to an office filing system. A phone

message is received and encoded into a typed document suitable for
filing. The document is then stored in the files using possibly the date,
the caller's name, or the topic of the conversation to determine where it
is placed. When the information is needed, at a later time, it must be
retrieved by searching the files. The failure to remember may involve
faulty encoding, failure to have stored the information, or inability to
retrieve it when needed.

Our ability to retrieve a word or name from memory is so efficient.

Sometimes, an item cannot be retrieved immediately, although we feel
certain that we know it. For example, you may not recall off hand the
name of your third grade teacher. But, if you think for a while, trying the
various possibilities, you probably will recall the name. In some cases,
the name may suddenly come to you, long after you stopped
thinking about it. Events of this kind suggest that an active search of the
memory store is going on even though consciously we may not be
aware of it.
10.5 NATURE OF FORGETTING

We know that our memories are not permanent. There are songs we
once sang whose words we have now forgotten.
There are childhood playmates whose names we no longer remember.
There are hobbies forgotten, skills diminished. This is called forgetting.

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Why do we forget? There are three traditional explanations. Each one of
them helps us to understand the nature of what we remember and why
we forget. The three explanations for forgetting are

1. Decay through disuse

2. Interference effects

3. Motivated forgetting.
10.5.1 Decay through disuse

One of the oldest explanations of forgetting is that it takes place simply

because of passage of time. This explanation is based an assumption
that learning leaves a "trace" in the brain; the memory trace involves
some sort of physical change that was not present prior to learning. With
the passage of time the normal metabolic processes of the brain cause a
fading or decay of the memory. Therefore, traces of material once
learned gradually disintegrate and eventually disappear altogether.
You may notice that lightly learned material rapidly fades away; that
verbatim report of a lecture fades away. Pictures or stories also suggest
a process of fading with the passage of time. When you look at a picture
for the first time, a picture may reveal wealth of detail. But as time
passes, the details are rapidly forgotten and only the main outlines are
remembered.
Research evidence suggests that it is atleast incomplete explanation. In
many instances, learning is retained over long intervals of time with no
intervening practice. Most motor skills like swimming or driving a car, are
not easily forgotten even though, we may not have used these skills for
many years.
Some verbal material may be retained over long periods, while other
material is forgotten. We may be able to recall quite accurately a poem
memorized in sixth grade, yet be unable to remember a part use learned
in a high-school play. People approaching senility, who can barely
remember the events of the decay, often vividly recall events of their
youth.
There is much evidence against a theory of passive decay. It cannot be
denied that some forgetting may occur through the organic changes
taking place in the nervous system with the passage of time but doesn't
refer to all the facts about forgetting.

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10.5.2 Interference effects

It is not necessary that the passage of time alone that determines the
course of forgetting but it may depend more upon what we do in the
interval between learning and recall. New learning may interfere with
material previously learned.

The theory of interference is illustrated by a story about Stanford

University's first president, David Stam Jordan, who was an authority in
fishes. As the president of a new university, Jordan began to call the
students by name, but every time he learned the name of a student he
forgot the name of a fish. Although the story lacks foundation in fact, it
explains how new learning may interfere with the recalling of old
learning. The theory that the new learning may interfere with the old is
known as retroactive inhibition.
Another theory of interference explains the prior learning may also
intervene with the learning and recall of new material. This theory is
called pro-active inhibition.
Research Design for testing Retroactive Inhibition

Experimental Phase l Phase II Phase III

Group
Learns list A Learns list B Recalls list A

Learns list A Rest or unrelated

Control Group Recalls list A
activity

(a) Retroactive Inhibition: This can be easily explained through an

experiment. Two groups of subjects were selected at random for the
experiment. One group which can be called experimental group was
asked to learn list A and then list B. This group of subjects was asked to
recall list A after an interval of time. The second group, which is a control
group, was given list A to learn and was asked to recall list A after a
period of rest during which they were allowed to engage in any activity.
If the control group (which didn't learn list B) recalled list A significantly
better than the experimental group, he has learned the new list also, we
can attribute the difference to retroactive inhibition. The later learning of
list B has interfered with the recall of the earlier learning of list A.

If the recall is tested after an interval of rest, without any interpolated

activity, some forgetting occurs. Perhaps this can be tested with another
experimental research. This theory can be tested of comparing, retention
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of learned material after periods of sleep and waking. If waking activity
interferes with recall, the retention should be better after sleep, when
less interfering activity has occurred. It is seen in the group that we do
forget more when awake than when asleep. We lose a little during the
first hour or two of sleep, but after that we forget very little, during the
night.

We can therefore accept the hypothesis that retroactive inhibition occurs

not only when formal learning takes place between initial learning and
recall, but also when ordinary waking life interferes. Retroactive
inhibition has a secure place as are phenomenon of forgetting.

(b) Proactive Inhibition: Another kind of interference occurs when

material that is previously learned interferers with the recall of something
newly learned. The following research plan can be compared with the
research design that is used in the study or retroactive inhibition.

The extent of proactive effect is quite remarkable when it involves a long

series of successive cycles of learning and recall. In one experiment, a
list of paired-associates was learned to a criterion of perfect recitation by
subjects, these subjects were asked to recall the list two days later.
Immediately upon completion of the recall test a new learning recall
cycle was begun. Data were obtained on 36 successive cycles, each
involving a new list of paired associate items. Recall for the list in the
initial cycle was about 70 percent, recall for one list in the last cycle was
virtually zero.
Effects of Proactive and Retroactive inhibition are much less striking
when meaningful materials are learned when compared to the learning
of nonsense Syllables. In addition, if any material is mastered well, an
individual is less susceptible to interferences of either proactive or
retroactive type. However there is considerable evidence supporting the
roles of inhibition in forgetting.
10.5.3 Motivated Forgetting

The previous explanations of forgetting emphasize that it is either

because of physiological processes affecting the memory trace or of
interference between new and old material. Both the theories don't give
attention to an individual's motives in remembering and forgetting.
Repression: One aspect of motivated forgetting is the principle of
repression, in which some memories became in accessible to recall,
because of the way in which they relate to our personal problems. The
inaccessibility is neither, due to faded traces not due to disruptive
learning's; because the memories are still there and can be revealed
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under appropriate conditions. The theory of repression states that the
memories are not recalled because they would in some way is
unacceptable to the person. It can be possibly because of the anxiety
they would produce or the guilt they might activate.

The nature of forgetting that occurs in certain instances of amnesia

helps in the understanding of repression. The amnesia victim doesn't
forget everything, but has a rich store of memories and habits to crayon
current activities. They may usually forget the items like personal
reference name, family, home address and personal biography.
Amnesia can often be traced to some severe emotional shock that the
individual suffered and from which the amnesia provides and escape.
Psychoanalytic studies of normal people suggest that repression is a
very general phenomenon, but the laboratory studies are not yet very
satisfactory. Occasionally cases in psychotherapy give convincing
evidence of repressed memories and recovery from the repression.

10.5.4 Emotional Factors in Forgetting

Negative emotions hinder retrieval. Failure to deal with situations

produced some anxiety. Anxiety is often accompanied by extraneous
thoughts. These thoughts then interfere with any attempt to retrieve the
information and memory fails. According to this view, anxiety does not
directly cause memory failure. Rather, it causes, or is associated with,
extraneous thoughts, and these thoughts cause memory failure
(Holmes, 1974).
Two means by which emotion can influence memory-improving or
hindering retrieval, Rehearsal and interference. The third view of
emotion and memory Freud's repression hypothesis (1915) This theory
proposes that some emotional experiences in childhood are so traumatic
that to allow them to
enter consciousness many years later would cause one to be totally
overwhelmed by anxiety. Such traumatic experiences are stored in the
unconscious, or repressed. They can be retrieved only when some of
the emotion associated with them is defused, usually by therapeutic
means. Repression, therefore, represents the ultimate retrieval failure
which gives access to the target memories is actively blocked.
Psychologists generally use the term forgetting to refer to the apparent
loss of information already encoded and stored in long-term memory.

Much of what we think we have forgotten does not really qualify as

"forgotten" because it was never encoded and stored in the first place,

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With information processing theories in mind, some information, due to
lack of attention, may not have reached short-term memory from the
sensory register; or, due to inadequate encoding and rehearsal, the
information may not have been transferred from short-term to long-term
memory. The levels-of-processing theory would say that information was
not stored in long-term memory because rehearsal was not sufficiently
elaborate. Thus much information is lost before being stored in long-
term memory, and that the memory record of life's happenings is
incomplete. Because what we remember is not an accurate
representation of what really happened. The memory trace in the brain,
sometimes called the engram, decays with time.

10.6 AMNESIA

In everyday speech, we use the term amnesia to refer to “loss of

memory." This implies that amnesia is a king of forgetting, and indeed
some forms of memory disorder do result from a loss of what has
already been stored or an inability to retrieve stored information. But
amnesia is a more general "disease of memory." The term is also used
for cases in which encoding and storage are impaired so that new
memories cannot be formed. Thus amnesia is a profound memory deficit
due either to the loss of what has been stored or to the inability to form
new memories.

Some amnesia has a biological basis; the memory machine the brain is
disturbed in some way. These may be called biological amnesias. Other
amnesias may be called psychological amnesias. Without any known
brain malfunction, these amnesias result from major disturbances in the
processes of information encoding, storage, and retrieval.

10.6.1 Psychological Amnesias

a) Childhood Amnesia

Freud in 1938 used the “repression" concept to account for childhood

amnesia. He said that we are unable to retrieve childhood memories
because they are associated with the forbidden, guilt arousing sexual
and aggressive urges he thought characterized early childhood. These
urges and their associations are repressed and cannot be retrieved they
are "forgotten" because being aware of them would result in strong
feelings of guilt or anxiety.
Another interpretation of childhood amnesia, stresses the differences in
the ways young children and older people encode and store information.
As adults, much of our memory is encoded verbally and tied into
networks, or schemata, that are based on language; it is probably no
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accident that language development. But when we were very young and
without language, we encoded memories in a nonverbal form, perhaps
storing information as images or feelings. Early childhood memories are
thus said to be stored in forms no longer available to us as verbal adults;
our language dominated memories do not have retrieval cues
appropriate for gaining the access to the image-and-feeling memories of
early childhood.

A third interpretation of childhood amnesia is that it may not be very

"psychological" at all. The brain is maturing and growing in the first few
years after birth and is just not able to store long-term memories until its
maturations is essentially finished. Language ability and memory
develop together, according to this interpretation, because both depend
on brain maturation.
b) Dream Amnesia

Freud's (1900/1953) interpretation of dreams was based, as was his

interpretation of childhood amnesia, on repression. He considered
dreams to be expressions of forbidden sexual or aggressive urges.
These urges can produce strong guilt or anxiety if we become aware of
them in ourselves. So their expression, in the dreams is hidden behind a
disguise the actual content of the dream. But even the disguised urges
dreams have the capacity to generate some guilt or anxiety feelings.
Hence they are forgotten.
Other interpretations stress the differences in the symbol systems used
in dreaming and waking. If the memory-symbol networks of waking life
are different from those of dreaming, we may have difficulty retrieving
dreams in the waking state.

Dream amnesia may also have a biological basis. The dreaming brain
seems to be in a special state different from that of the waking brain.
Information stored in one state is difficult to retrieve when in another
state. Thus the dream amnesia may be just another example of state-
dependent memory.
c) Defensive Amnesia

People with this form of amnesia may forget their names, where they
have come from, who their spouses are, and many other important
details of their past lives. It is called defensive because this type of
amnesia is usually considered to be a way of protecting oneself from the
guilt or anxiety that can result from intense, intolerable life situations and
conflicts. We often wish we could forget a nagging problem. Defensive
amnesia is thus an extreme form of repression.
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10.6.2 Biological Amnesias

Concussions like brain bruises from blows on the head, other damage to
the brain, temporary disturbances in the brain's blood supply, certain
drugs, and brain diseases are some of the major biological causes of
amnesia.

A) Transient Global Amnesia: This is a profound memory problem with

no loss of consciousness. It without any obvious cause, it typically lasts
for only a few hours or days before memory becomes normal again, and
occurs only once. Both retrograde amnesia forgetting events one was
exposed to in the past and anterograde amnesia the inability to encode
and store new information characterize, transient global amnesia. It is
due to temporary alterations in the normal pattern of blood flow to the
brain.
B) Marijuana, Alcohol, and Amnesia: Marijuana appears to have a
limited, short-lived effect on the encoding, storage, and retrieval of
information, but it can hardly be said to result in amnesia. Even when
marijuana is taken in relatively high doses, its memory effects fall far
short of those of the most popular mind altering drug ethyl alcohol.

Heavy drinking over a period of years, however, can result, through

vitamin-B deficits and other chemical imbalances, in irreversible brain
damage and a pattern of symptoms known as the Korsakoff syndrome.
Anterograde amnesia (the inability to form new memories) is one of the
prominent symptoms of this syndrome. Korsakoff patients also have
some loss of what are called remote memories remembrances of events
that occurred early in their lives. Squire & Cohen, 1982. Korsakoff
patients; also have difficulties with attention and perception that may
impair their performance on some remote memory tests.

C) Diseases of the Brain: Korsakoff syndrome is the main one, senile

dementia, and primary degenerative dementia, are also common.

(i) Senile dementia (the world senile refers to old age) is characterized
by deficits in many intellectual abilities memory, attention, judgment, and
abstract thought, for example that can occur in aged people. Personality
changes, excessive dependence and irritability, are common. Delusions
thoughts which have no basis in reality and general disorientation not
knowing where one is in time or place can also occur.
(ii) Primary Degenerative Dementia

Is that the symptoms often begin in middle age. Alzheimer's disease is a

form of primary degenerative dementia in which there is a cluster of

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specific degenerative brain changes of unknown origin. Some evidence
indicates that the amnesia in Alzheimer's disease is related to the
deficiencies in the brain neurotransmitter chemical disease is related to
deficiencies in the brain neurotransmitter chemical acetylcholine.
Check your progress

1. means 'to reintegrate' or ‘to re-establish' an earlier

experience on the basis of partial cues.

2. An irreversible brain damage and a pattern of symptoms known

as the .

3. is a profound memory
problem with no loss of consciousness.

4. is a profound memory deficit due either to the loss of what

has been stored or to the inability to form new memories.
5. Short-term memory has very limited capacity and the limit is
items.

6. The theory of states that the memories are not

recalled because they would in some way is unacceptable to the
person.
7. occurs when material that is
previously learned interferers with the recall of something newly
learned.

Let us sum up

To remember means, to show or reveal in present responses some of

earlier learned responses. There are several ways in which our
memories appear. Redintegration, recall, recognition, and relearning are
the terms those imply a different aspect of remembering. Memory is
classified into the short and long term memories. The information which
is received by our sense organs were sent to the sensory register, from
there moved to the short term memory and forwarded to the long-term
memory. Forgetting refers to the inability to retrieve information. Usually,
it may due to decay through disuse, interference, and motivated
forgetting.
KEY WORDS

Redintegration Relearning Short term memory

Recall Recognition Long term memory

Korsakoff syndrome Amnesia Proactive inhibition

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Repression Transient global amnesia

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Reintegrate 2. Korsakoff syndrome

3. Transient Global Amnesia 4. Amnesia

5. Seven 6. Repression

7. Proactive Inhibition

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. What is meant by memory?

2. Describe the different kinds of remembering.

3. Explain the process involved in memory.

4. What are reasons for forgetting? Illustrate with examples.

5. What is Korsakoff’s syndrome?

6. What is amnesia? Explain the different types of it.

Glossary
Remembering – To be able to bring back a piece of information into
your mind, or to keep a piece of information in your memory.
Recognition – The fact of knowing someone or something because you
have seen or heard him or her or experienced it before.
Attention – To watch, listen to, or think about something or someone
carefully or with interest.
Forgetting – Forgetting is h apparent loss or modification of information
already encoded and stored in an individual’s short or long-term memory.
Repression – The action or process of suppressing a thought or desire in
oneself so that it remains unconscious.
Amnesia – The loss of memories, such as facts, information and
experiences.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

198
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.

3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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Unit 11
THEORIES OF MEMORY
STRUCTURE

Overview

Objectives
11.1 Evidence for two kinds of memory

11.2 Two-process theory of memory

11.2.1 Two-process theories of memory

11.2.2 Physiological evidence for a two-process theory

11.2.3 Free-recall experiments

11.3 The levels of processing theory

11.3.1 Free-recall evidence

11.4 Improving memory

Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

A number of theories of memory have been proposed. In the two

process theory memory is said to consist of three cognitive processes.
The levels of processing the theory of memory insist on the depth
analysis and the elaboration of incoming information. Usually when think
about memory it refers to long-term memory. In this unit, initially we will
focus on the two process theories of memory, general theory of memory
and information processing theory also. Then we shall look into the
various ways through which we can improve our memory.

200
OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you would be able to:

• explain the two process theory of memory

• identify its physiological evidences
• explain the primacy and Recency effect
• describe the levels of processing theory
• suggest some techniques to improvement
11.1 EVIDENCE FOR TWO KINDS OF MEMORY

Short and long-term memory

In the differences between them, first, the encoding stage favors an

acoustic code in short - term memory, but based on meaning in long-
term memory. Second, the storage capacity of short-term memory is
limited to 7+2 items, while the capacity of long-term memory seems
unlimited for all practical purposes. And third, retrieval from the short-
term memory is thought to be more or less error free, while retrieval from
long-term memory appears to be very error-prone and a major cause of
forgetting.

Retrograde amnesia usually results from a concussion or severe injury

to the head. People with this condition often have no memory for the
events that immediately preceded the injury, though their memory for
earlier events may be intact. The brain injury affected only short-term
memory and not long-term memory. The clinical facts on retrograde
amnesia therefore support the idea of two different memories.
Another kind of memory disturbance, anterograde amnesia, has been
observed in patients who have undergone surgery for relief of epileptic
seizures. These patients, from whom part of the hippocampus an area
deep in the brain's temporal lobes has been removed, seem incapable of
learning new material. They have no trouble remembering skills and
information learned before the operation, so their long-term memory is
intact.
11.2 TWO-PROCESS THEORY OF MEMORY

A Theory of Dual Memory

This theory assumes that information we have attended to enters a

limited Short-term memory, where it can be either maintained by
rehearsal or lost by displacement. . Long-term memory is considered to
have virtually unlimited capacity but to be vulnerable to retrieval failures.

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In addition, in order for information to be encoded into long-term
memory, it must be transferred there from the short-term memory. This
is the critical assumption that relates the two memories. In its strongest
from, it means that we can learn something that encodes it in the long-
term memory) only by first processing it in short-term memory.

Rehearsing an item not only maintains it in short-term memory but also

causes it to be transferred to long-term memory. Dual memory
theory provides a way of classifying severe memory disturbances.
Retrograde

amnesia may reflect a disruption of short-term memory. We can now see

that the memory disturbances caused by removal of the hippocampus
may be manifestations of a breakdown of the transfer processes that
relate short-and long-term memory. And of course, there is the classical
type of amnesia, where individuals forget many of the personal
memories that contribute to their sense of identity, such as their name
and family ties. Clearly, this seems a disturbance in long-term memory.
Furthermore, the fact that such amnesic victims can recover missing
memories indicates that the loss was of access or retrieval, which again
fits the notion of a long-term memory disturbance.
11.2.1 Two-process Theories of Memory

No single explanation provides an adequate account of forgetting.

Psychologists propose that one type of storage mechanism is involved in
remembering events just recently experienced. A different type is
involved in the recall of information that has received repeated attention.
These mechanisms have been labeled short-term memory (STM) and
long-term memory (LTM). The difference between them is like the
difference between recalling a telephone number you first looked up in
the directory and recalling your own telephone number. Your own
number is stored in LTM along with memories of such items as your
name, the words and grammar of the language, and important events in
your life. Except for occasional mental blocking of a word or the name of
an acquaintance these memories are relatively permanent. In
contrast, the telephone number you have just booked up, the definition
the lecturer has just given in class, and the name of a stranger just
introduced remain in STM only momentarily. Unless you make a
conscious effort of focus your attention on the information, to transfer it
to LTM, it is quickly lost. This is also referred to as the information
processing theory, developed by Atkinson and Richard Schifrin (1968)
Two storage mechanisms are postulated one for short-term memory and
the other for long-term memory, The short-term memory STM is viewed
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as a rapidly decaying system, whereas LTM long-term memory is a
permanent store. STM is characterized by trace-dependent forgetting.
This means the memory trace of items entering STM is subject to rapid
decay. In contrast, LTM is characterised by cue-dependent forgetting,
which means the information is permanently recorded in LTM. And our
ability to retrieve it depends upon having the appropriate cues.

Incoming information is constantly fed into STM and, if not attended to,
begins to fade away. It is possible to maintain selected information in
STM by means of rehearsal. By rehearsing the information, the trace in
STM is prevented from decaying atleast for a short period of time. Again
after some time it starts decaying again. If an item is not frequently
rehearsed enough, it will fade away. The set of traces being maintained
in STM at any particular time is referred to as the rehearsal buffer. It can
be compared with a box of fixed size that can hold only so many blocks.
Each block represents a stimulus input. When new blocks are added to
the box, old ones have to be removed to make room for them.
The information coming into STM is entered into the rehearsal buffer
unless the person regards it as particularly important; otherwise it begins
to decay rapidly. Information is temporarily stored in STM via rehearsal
until incoming information replaces it. While information resides in STM it
may be coded and transferred to the long-term storage. Information that
is allowed to decay in STM before such a transfer takes place is
permanently lost.
In contrast LTM is assumed to be virtually unlimited, so that any
information transferred from STM to LTM will have a place for
permanent storage. Even though the information is permanently stored,
sometimes, memory may fail because the cues needed to retrieve the
information from LTM are incomplete.
In this tip-of-the-tongue state an individual has inadequate cues to find
the desired information. When the person is unable to recall the
information immediately, she or he may narrow the area of search and
retrieve some words that are similar in certain characteristics to the
target word. These similar words may provide additional cues that lead
eventually to the target word.
Long-term memory storage is comparable to a large filing cabinet. It is to
toss items into various file drawers, so that it is a more difficult task to
retrieve a desired item. For example, Mr. Sunder’s letter to the city
corporation, complaining about a possible pollution of the water supply
may be filed under "Sunder”, “Complaints”, “Sanitation" or "Pollution".

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The two-process theory provides several reasons why forgetting may
occur.
• Immediate recall may fail because subsequent inputs to STM
have caused the information to decay.
• Long-term recall may fail because the information was never
transferred to LTM

• Not enough cues are available at the time of attempting to recall

locating the information in LTM.
• The person who "knew the material backwards and forwards" but
couldn't recall it for the exam may simply have started at the
textbook, with his mind thinking other things and never rehearsed
the material, to be encoded into LTM.
• The material may be stored in LTM but the examination
questions didn't provide sufficient cues to permit retrieval.

• If other items of information with similar codes are stored in

LTM, we have difficulty in retrieving the correct item upon recall.
The phenomena of retroactive and proactive inhibition can
demonstrate their effects in this manner.

• Frequently used items of information may be coded in such a

way that many different cues lead to their recall. Such items are
readily available and require no searching.

• Sometimes when the recall of certain information is painful to us,

we may instruct our “retrieval mechanism" to ignore the
information. It is not lost and can be retrieved once the need for
repression is gone.
11.2.2 Physiological Evidence for a Two-process Theory

Memories explained this just before are frequently called information

processing models. Such models don't explain any physiological details.
In the case of the two-process theory of memory, some neurological
data, from epileptic patients who have undergone surgery for relief from
seizures, provides evidence for the theory. If a lesion is made in a
specific area deep in the temporal lobes an area called the
hippocampus, then the patient appears to be unable to successfully
transfer new information from STM to LTM. Such patients have no
trouble remembering skills and information learned prior to the
operations but they have serious difficulty with new learning. In one
case, several months after the operation the patient's family moved to a
new house a few blocks away on the same street. A year later, the
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patient still couldn't remember his old address, and couldn't find his way
to the new house alone. He couldn't remember where he kept his things
continuously used, and he would read the same magazines over and
over without finding their contents familiar.

Some patients with hippocampus lesions consistently fail to recognize or

learn the names of the people they have met following surgery. They
might have talked with them countless times. If a person to whom they
are talking walks out of the room for a few minutes, they may fail to
recognize him on his return.

These patients don't seem to suffer from the deficiency, with short-term
memory after the operation. The patients can hold items, such as a
series of digits, in memory if they concentrate upon repeating them.
Such people can even carryout complicated mental arithmetic with
speed and accuracy. But the rehearsal doesn't produce permanent
learning. Patients can walk to the store for a newspaper if they keep
repeating verbally where and why they are going. When they stop
rehearsing, they quickly forget what they were supposed to do. The
difficulty appears to lie in an inability to transfer new material from STM
to LTM. The material can circulate in the short term memory buffer but
fails to get registered into long-term memory.

11.2.3 Free-Recall Experiments

Evidence for a two-process theory also comes from an analysis of a

memory task known as free-recall. The free-recall task is similar to the
situation when you are asked to name all the people present at the last
large party you attended. In free-recall experiments, a list of unrelated
words is presented to the subject one at a time. Later one subject
attempts to recall as many words as possible in any order. The
probability of recalling each item in list is depending on its place in the
list, or "serial presentation position". Plotting this influence of place in the
list yields a U-shaped curve.

Primacy and Recency Effect

The increased probability of recall for the first few words in the first list is
called the primacy effect. The large increase for the last seven to ten
words is called the Recency effect. According to a two-process theory,
the Recency effect is because the words are retrieved from STM. The
earlier portions are retrieved from LTM only.

The Recency effect is eliminated by the following experiment to study

the retrieval from LTM. In one experimental procedure, the subject is
required to carry out a difficult arithmetic task for 30 seconds
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immediately after presenting the list to learn and is then asked to recall.
It is easy to understand that the arithmetic task cause the loss of all
words in STM, and the recall reflects retrieval from LTM only.

In the similar manner, the variables that influence LTM but not STM can
be manipulated so that the recency portion is relatively unaffected. For
example, one such variable is the number of words in the list presented.
Recency effect is unaffected by list length. Increase in the rate of
presentation during study decreases the likelihood of words recalling
words preceding the recency region but does not change the recency
effect.

In free-recall experiments many lists are usually in a session to recall all

the words presented during the session. In this, the recall is expected to
reflect retrieval from long-term storage only. The subjects are expected
to recall the list in the serial position as presented immediately after the
presentation. This recall can be compared with recall at the end of
session. When compared, it can be observed that the primacy effect
remains in the delayed recall but the recency effect is eliminated, the
recency effect appears to reflect retrieval from both STM and LTM,

A two-process theory assumes that the subject sets up a rehearsal

buffer in STM that can hold only a fixed no. of items. At the beginning of
the presentation of a list the buffer is empty; successive items are
entered until the buffer where is filled. Thereafter, as each new item
enters the rehearsal buffer it replaces, one of the items already
rehearsed there. The items still being rehearsed when the last item is
presented are immediately recalled by the subject. This gives rise to the
Recency effect.

The transfer of information from STM to LTM is expected to depend on

the length of time an item resides in the rehearsal buffer. The longer the
time period, the more rehearsed the item receives and greater the
transfer of information to LTM. Since items presented first in a list enter
an empty or partly empty rehearsal buffer, they remain longer than later
items and consequently receive additional rehearsal. This extra
rehearsal causes more transfer of information to LTM for the first items,
giving rise to the primacy effect.
A theory of general memory functions

Three distinct processes of memory have been identified. These are

1) An encoding process

2) A sensory process and

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 3) A retrieval process.

Encoding is the process of receiving sensory input and transforming it

into a form, or code, which can be stored.

Storage is the process of actually putting coded information into memory

and the retrieval is the process of gaining access to the stored, coded
information when it is needed.

To illustrate these three memory processes, imagine on the way to work,

your vehicle was bumped by a bus and slightly dented or damaged. You
encoded your visual impressions of the accident in a form that you could
store in your memory. This simple process helps explain why your
memory of an accident may be inaccurate. The encoding you do may he
faulty, perhaps due to the emotion and distress you experience at the
time of the accident, or it may be distorted by events occurring after the
accident. Therefore, memory is seldom an accurate record of what was
experienced.

11.3 THE LEVELS OF PROCESSING THEORY

Information - processing theories of memory view the memory process

in terms of discrete stages. Furthermore, information is transferred from
stage to stage until some of it is finally registered in long-term memory.
A contrasting model of memory involves what are called levels of
processing.

According to the levels-of-processing idea, incoming information can be

worked on at different levels of analysis: the deeper the analysis goes,
the better the memory. The first level is perception, which gives us our
immediate awareness of the environment. At a deeper level, the
structural features of the input are analyzed and finally, at the deepest
level of processing, the meaning of the input is analyzed. Analysis to the
deep level of meaning gives the best memory.

Good memory results from deeper and more elaborate processing of

perceptual input Many times it is not necessary to process information
deeply; it is enough to hold the information long enough to act an some
structural feature of it and then discard it. Many of the daily routine
happenings are not processed deeply. It is enough to the respond
appropriately at the moment.
Rehearsal plays a role in the deeper processing of information, as it
does in the stage theories of memory. Rehearsal refers to keeping
information at the center of attention, perhaps by repeating it over and
over again to you. All this does is to maintain the information at a given

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level of depth; for deeper levels to be reached, the rehearsal must be
elaborative. In other words, rehearsal must process the information to
the meaning level if the information is to be well-retained. Rehearsal is
thus seen as a process which gives meaning to information.

The idea of elaboration has been added to the levels-of-processing

theory. Elaboration refers to the degree to which incoming information is
processed so that it can be tied to or integrated with existing memories.
The greater the degree of elaboration given to an item of incoming
information, the more likely it is that it will be remembered.

The amount depends on both the levels of processing and the degree to
which information is elaborated. The best memory is the result of
processing to the meaning level, where the amount of elaborations is
also greatest
11.3.1 Free-Recall Evidence

The dual-memory theory assumes that at the time of recall the last few
words presented are likely to still be in short-term memory, while the
remaining words are in long-term memory. Thus we would expect recall
of the last few words to be high, since items in short - term memory can
easily be retrieved. But recall for the first words presented is also quit
well. Why is this? Dual memory theory has an answer. When the first
words were presented they were entered into short-term memory and
rehearsed. Since there was little else in short-term memory, they were
rehearsed often and were therefore likely to be transferred to long-term
memory. As more items were presented, short-term memory quickly
filled up and opportunities for rehearsal and transfer to long-term
memory decreased to a low level. So only the first few items presented
enjoyed the extra opportunity of transfer, and that is why they are later
recalled so well from long-term memory.
11.4 IMPROVING MEMORY

Some of the general principles described in this lesson suggest methods

through which you can improve memory. You can apply these general
principles, but more specific aids to memory are available.

a) The Method of Loci: The word loci mean 'places'. The memory trace
in this system is parts of your image of a scene. Anything that can be
visualized clearly and contains a no. of discrete items in specific
locations to serve as memory traces.

In trying to memorize a poem, it often helps to visualize the action being

described. Most people will agree that they can form mental pictures;

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although they differ in the vividness of the pictures and the amount of
details included. People with remarkable memories often deal with new
material by forming visual images. For example, a Russian newspaper
reporter who would visualize the digits as written down on a piece of
paper, usually in his own handwriting. To remember a long list of objects
he would visualize the objects arranged in a row with their order
presented. In brief, this technique was to translate the verbal material
into imaged objects and maintain their order by locating them against the
background of a well-known route.

The method of loci requires very little practice. Try to visualize a walk
through the house or apartment in which you line. You enter each room
and observe every object in the rooms. When ready to recall the
shopping list, you take an imaginary walk trying to retrieve the image
associated with each room. This kind of mental imagery isn't the same
as eidetic imagery. An eidetic image is a literal projection before your
eyes. Here, the individual creates an image to help in the recall of
material that may not he pictorial.

In an experiment conducted in the laboratory, the imagery group showed

80 percent recall, whereas the control group remembered only 33 per
cent of the word pairs. Interviews with the control subjects revealed that
some of them were spontaneously using mental imagery to learn the
material, though they were instructed not to form images.
b) Mnemonics: This word comes from the Greek word for “memory"
and this refers to specific memory improvement techniques. People with
super memories sometimes use mnemonics. Most mnemonic
techniques rely on the thinking, or association of to-be-remembered
material. It is a systematic and organized set of images or words that are
ahead firmly established in long-term memory and can therefore serve
as reminder cues. The reminder cues are called memory pegs; the to-
be-remembered items are hung a these "Pegs". The order of the colors
in the spectrum can be remembered by collectively using the first letter
of each color. VIBGYOR = Red, orange, yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo,
Violet, Number and letter peg systems. In number systems you form an
image with each number.
For the number 1 through 10 thinks of a word that rhymes with the
numbers. For example,

1 is a bun 2 is a shore 3 is a tree 4 is a door and so on.

When you have a list to remember, you can associate the items on the
list with your images of the numbers. Letter systems are similar.

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c) Stories you tell yourself: If you have a list of unrelated item to
remember, a useful mnemonic device is to relate the items in a made-up
story. Doing this gives coherence and meaning to otherwise unrelate
items. It is a form of elaborative encoding.

d) Remembering names and faces: First steps in establishing a good

memory for names and faces, you should 1) be sure to hear the name
clearly when introduced 2) repeat the name when acknowledging the
introduced and 3) if the name is unusual, politely ask your new
acquaintance to spell it.

While you are making sure, you have heard and rehearsed the name,
you should he paying close attention to the individual's face. Voice
quality may also be important.

e) Chunking: The mnemonic technique illustrates systematic ways of

encoding information. To remember a telephone or cellular phone
number, you can break the number into chunks. For example, 98402278
as 9870 and 2278. Suppose you want to remember a number
1947/1832/1721 breaks them into small works as 1947/1832/1721. Use
your own creativity and group the numbers that is familiar and work for
you.

f) Dual encoding systems: Research suggests that encoding

information in memory involves two separate processes. These two
types of encoding systems are the nonverbal imagery process and the
verbal symbolic process. The non-verbal imagery process is best suited
for representing concrete-spatial events and objects. Whereas the verbal
symbolic process is best for representing abstract verbal information.
In a paired-associate study both processes are activated when the
subject is given imagery instructions. In the absence of specific
instructions to visualize, the subject relies primarily on the verbal
symbolic process. It is found that the right cerebral hemisphere seems to
play an important role in the imagery process. The left hemisphere pre-
dominates in the verbal symbolic process.
g) Self-recitation during practice: Recall during practice usually takes
the form of reciting to oneself. Such self-recitation increases the
retention of the material studied. Re reading the assignment four times is
likely to be much less effective than reading it once and clearing doubts
for oneself.

The percentage of study time that should be spent in self-recitation

depends of the (a) material and the (2) type of test for which you are

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preparing. The amount of material recalled is function of the percentage
of study time spent in self-recitation.
In self-recitation method, learner has an opportunity to define and select
what is to be remembered. In addition, recitation represents practice in
the retrieval of information.
h) Encoding and Storing Long : Term Memories The Role of
Organization One strategy in remembering things well is to organize, or
arrange, the input so that it fits into existing long-term memory
categories, is grouped in some logical manner, or is arranged in some
other way that makes "sense". The organizational encoding may be
inherent in the input itself or it may be supplied by individuals as they
learn and remember new things. The Method of Loci The word loci mean
“places”. Anything can be visualized clearly that contains a number of
discrete items in specific locations to serve as memory pegs.
i) Number and Letter Peg Systems

The main idea of these systems is to establish, in your long-term

memory, a well-organized set of images to which the to-be-remembered
items can be linked. In number systems, you form an image with each
number. For instance, a rhyming system can be used for the numbers 1
through 10 or example 1, 2, buckle my shoe etc. tell tea. Letter systems
are similar. You can establish mnemonic pegs by forming strong,
distinctive images of words that start with the sounds of the letters of the
alphabet

j) Studying To Remember

First, study is work and takes time, so plan a study schedule that you
can stick to. During the time you set aside for study, work at it instead of
talking to friends or watching television out of the corner of your eye.
Second, rehearsal is crucial for transferring information from short-term
to long-term memory or, alternatively, for the deeper and richer
processing of information that is necessary for a good memory.
Maintenance rehearsal consists of merely repeating information, while
elaborative rehearsal consists of thinking about what is being rehearsed
in an effort to relate it to other things that you know or are learning is
important. Elaborative rehearsal is the kind to use in studying. You
should spend a great deal of your study time in elaborative rehearsal:
Ask yourself what you have just read, what the new concepts and terms
are, and how they relate to other things you know or are learning.
Third, remember the importance of organization during encoding. Give
your own subjective organization to the material, and you will also be
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providing yourself with retrieval cues, or reminders, that will be important
when you try to recall what you are learning. If you can, form visual
images of abstract ideas.

Fourth, try to get some idea of how well you remember the material. If
you study by breaking the material up into parts, try to get some
feedback after you study each part. Go back over what you have just
studied and, using the headings as retrieval cues, ask yourself what is
under each heading. Turn to the terms at the end of the chapter and ask
yourself for definitions of the appropriate terms. Feedback will tell you
both what you both what you have mastered and where you are weak.
When you have finished a chapter, test yourself on it, and do some
additional work on any weak spots. By testing yourself, you will also be
practicing your retrieval skills.
Fifth, review before an examination. You will have forgotten many of the
details you learned. Use the organization of the text to test yourself
during review, and go back over the things you have forgotten,
relearning them the way you learned them in the first place. Thus
Planning, rehearsal, organization, feedback, and review will help you to
remember the study materials better. All the best for good memory!

LET US SUM UP

The two-process theory, in its strongest from, it means that we can learn
something encode it in long-term memory only by first processing it in
short term memory. Whereas, the Information - processing theories of
memory view the memory process in terms of discrete stages.
Furthermore, information is transferred from stage to stage until some of
it is finally registered in long term memory. Long-term memory storage is
comparable to a large filing cabinet. In a free recall list, the ability to
remember the first learnt words are called Primacy effect, whereas, the
last words are called, Recency effect. Some of the general memory
principles described in this chapter have suggested ways in which you
can improve your memory. You can apply some of these general
principles.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. usually results from a concussion or

severe injury to the head.

2. The short-term memory STM is viewed as a

rapidly system.

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3. Long-term recall may fail because the information was never
transferred to LTM. (True / False)
4. Dual-memory theory provides a way of classifying severe
memory disturbances. (True / False)

5. is the process of receiving sensory input and

transforming it into a form, or code, which can be stored.

6. refers to keeping information at the center of

attention, perhaps by repeating it over and over again.

7. refers to the degree to which incoming information is

processed so that it can be tied to or integrated with
existing memories.
8. In the Method of Loci, the word loci means

KEY WORDS
Anterograde Amnesia Chunking

Long term memory Method of Loci

Mnemonics Primacy & Recency effect

Rehearsal Buffer Retrograde Amnesia

Short term memory Tip of the tongue

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Retrograde amnesia 2. Decaying

3. True 4. True
5. Encoding 6. Rehearsal

7. Elaboration 8. Places

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GLOSSARY

Anterograde Amnesia – Anterograde amnesia is a loss of ability to

create new memories after the event that caused amnesia, leading to a
partial or complete inability to recall the recent past.
Chunking: This mnemonic technique is a systematic way of encoding
information.

Lesion – An abnormal area of tissue inside or outside the body that may
get bigger or change appearance, and may or may not be cancerous.
Mnemonics – the study and development of systems for improving and
assisting the memory.

Recency Effect – It is a cognitive bias in which items, ideas, or

arguments that came last are remembered more clearly than those that
came first.
Retrograde Amnesia – Retrograde amnesia is loss of memory-access
to events that occurred or information that was learned in the past.

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by memory?

2. Explain the two process theory of memory

3. Identify the physiological evidences for memory.

4. Explain the primacy and Recency effect

5. Describe the levels of processing theory.

6. How will you improve the memory? Suggest some techniques.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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Unit 12
LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT
STRUCTURE

Overview

Objectives
12.1 Language and thought

12.1.1 The Thinking process

12.2 The production of speech

12.2.1 Morphemes

12.2.2 Phonemes and morphemes

12.2.3 Deep structure and surface structure

12.2.4 Recording in memory

12.3 Language and forms of thought

12.3.1 Linguistic - relativity hypothesis

12.4 Basic components of language development

12.4.1 From thoughts to sentences

12.4.2 Extracting propositions from sentences

12.4.3 Development of language

Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

Thinking is the form of information processing that goes on during the

period between a stimulus event and the response to it. These thinking
activities are carried out through some languages only. Language is a
system of symbols, plus the rules for combining them, used to
communicate information. In this unit, we will focus on the nature of

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language and thought, the thinking process, and the production of
speech, language and forms of thought, basic components of language
development.

OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you would be able to

• explain the nature of language and thought

• analyze the thinking process
• describe the production of speech

• explain the concepts of morpheme and phoneme

• explain the linguistic-relativity hypothesis
• discuss about the basic components of language development

12.1 LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

During most of our waking hours, and even when we are asleep and
dreaming, We are thinking; it is hard not to think. As you read these
words you are thinking, and even if you stop thinking about what you are
reading and your thoughts wander off to something else perhaps to what
you are going to do tomorrow you will still be thinking. Thinking
represents the most complex form of human behaviour, the highest form
of mental activity.
What do we do when we think? We might say that we mentally, or
cognitively, process information. Thinking consists of the cognitive
rearrangement or manipulation of both information from the environment
and the symbols stored in long-term memory. A symbol represents, or
stands for, some event or item in the world; as we will see, images and
language symbols are used in much of our thinking.

Thought is symbolic and can have a wider content than other kinds of
activity. It incorporates present perceptions and activities into its topics.
But it deals with their meanings which go beyond the present; hence
thought reflects upon and elaborates what is given in perception. The
general definition of thinking given above includes many different
varieties of though. One type of thinking which is highly private may use
symbols with very personal meanings. This kind of thinking is called
artistic thinking. Dreams are an example of artistic thinking.

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Some thinking is highly private and may use symbols with very personal
meanings. This kind of thinking is called autistic thinking; dreams are an
example of autistic thinking. Other thinking is aimed at solving problems
or creating something new; this is called directed thinking.

Thinking is the form of information processing that goes on during the

period between a stimulus event and the response to it. In other words,
thinking is the set of cognitive processes that mediate, or go between,
stimuli and responses.

12.1.1 The Thinking Process

The symbols that we use in thinking are often words and language, and
therefore thinking and language are closely related. A language makes
available hundreds of thousands of potential symbols and gives us rules
for using them. To a large degree, the availability of language symbols is
what makes human thinking so much more sophisticated that the
thinking of other animals.

For many people, much of the time, a good deal of thinking involves the
use of word symbols and the rules of grammar to join the words into
phrases and sentences. The words, their meanings, and the rules for
joining them together are stored in our semantic long-term memories.
When we think with language, we draw on this store of information to
use language as a tool of thought.

Some theorists view of the role of language in thinking; they claim that
language can actually determine the thoughts we are capable of
having. Because, so much thinking involves language, the idea arose in
psychology, that the thinking was actually, a kind of inner speech, a kind
of "talking to yourself under your breath." According to this idea, people
make small movements of the vocal apparatus when they think and
carry on their thinking by talking to themselves.

Language is a system of symbols, plus rules for combining them, used

to communicate information. Language uses symbols for communicating
information. For a set of symbols to be viewed as a language, however,
several other criteria must be met.
First, information must actually be transmitted by the symbols. The
words and sentences must carry meaning. Second, although the number
of separate sounds or words in a language may be limited, it must be
possible to combine these elements into an essentially infinite number of
sentences. Finally, the meanings of these combinations must be
independent of the settings in which they are used. In other words,
sentences must be able to convey information about other places and
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other times. Only if all three of these criteria are met can the term
language be applied to a system of communication. Language involves
two major components: the production of speech, and its
comprehension.
12.2 THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH

All spoken language consists of phonemes, a set of basic sounds;

morphemes, the smallest units of speech that convey the meaning and
syntax, rules about how these units can be combined into sentences.
There are 40 or so phonemes, or categories of speech sounds that are
used in English.
12.2.1 Morphemes

A morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that carries meaning. Most

morphemes are themselves words, like “time." Others and suffixes, like
"ly," or prefixes, like “un," which are added on to words to form more
complex ones, like “timely" or "untimely."

Structure of Language

Two major functions of language are as follows:

1) It allows us to communicate with one another

2) It provides a system of symbols and rules that facilitates our thinking.

The study of language involves both the linguistics and psychology.

Linguistics deals with the study of the structure of language, including
speech sounds, their meanings, and the grammar that relates to sounds
and meanings.

Psychologists study how we acquire language and how such a system

functions. Psycholinguistics incorporates the linguistic and the
psychological methods to study the mental processes underlying the
acquisition and use of language.

12.2.2 Phonemes and Morphemes

Elementary sounds on which language is based are known as

phonemes. The smallest meaningful units in the structure of a language
are called morphemes. Every language has certain restrictions on how
phonemes can be sequenced and combined. The restrictions a
language places on phoneme sequencing help prevent errors of
interpretation.

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Phrase Structure and Rule Learning: Rules also specify

1) How words are formed from morphemes (formation of plurals).

2) How sentences are formed from words.

A sentence can be analyzed at a number of levels. The speech sounds

can be analyzed and classified as phonemes. The phonemes can then
be grouped into meaningful units as morphemes and words. And the
words can be categorized into phrases to give structure to the sentence.
Linguists have found it useful to describe a sentence by the organization
of its various phrases. Such a description is called the phrase-structure
of the sentence.

Sentence (s) consists of a noun phrase (NP) followed by a verb phrase

(VP). These phrases can be similarly unpacked into their constituents.

A transformational rule is a rewrite rule that allows a complete sentence

to be rewriter as a different sentence. Transformations, at the level of
relationships among word that is the phrase-structure rules and
relationships among sentences that are transformational rules that are
assumed by some psycholinguists to reflect universal properties of the
mind.

The location of pauses is also fixed by phrase structure. Research

results suggest that the phrase structure of sentences function as
natural units in the perception of speech in normal conversation the
listener does not perceive each word as a unit, but rather the phrase
operates as a unit.

The effects of phrase structure are also evident in the retrieval of

information from memory. When a test occurs, the speed of response
depends on the location of the test word in the phrase structure of the
sentence.
12.2.3 Deep Structure and Surface Structure

Language is a system that relates sound to meaning. The some

meaning can be expressed by different patterns of sound. Conversely, a
single sound pattern can have more than one meaning. This has led to
the distinction between the surface structure and the deep structure of
a sentence. The concept of deep structure is used to refer to the intent
of sentences and the thought behind it. The surface structure is the
actual sound sequence the production of the sentence. It is assumed
that the deep structure is transformed into the surface structure by a
series of rules.

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12.2.4 Recording in Memory

Related to the issue of deep structure is the question of what information

is coded in memory when we hear something. We often cannot repeat
what we hear word for word. It appears that the meaning of the message
is remembered even when surface features of the sentence are
forgotten. Apparently, the original form of the sentence is held only long
enough for comprehension; once a semantic interpretation has been
made, the meaning alone is retained. The meaning of the sentence is
coded in memory. But surface structure and stylistic details are soon
forgotten.
12.3 LANGUAGE AND FORMS OF THOUGHT

Language in Children's Thinking: A child's ability to use language

corresponds closely to his ability to deal with concepts and relationships.
Older children are more developed as problem-solvers, regardless
of whether they relied upon languages, the younger children are able to
use language to some extent, but not well enough to serve as a tool for
thinking.
Studies compare the performances of deaf-mute children and those with
normal hearing indicate that language may aid in solving problems of
relationships and concept formation. But, it is not essential for the
development of such cognitive abilities.
12.3.1 Linguistic - Relativity Hypothesis

We commonly believe that any idea expressed in one language can be

translated into another language. But Whorf in 1956, who was a student
of American Indian languages, found such direct translation is often
impossible. One of the language, he studied, makes no clear distinction
between nouns and verbs; another language blurs the distinction ions of
past, present and future; a third uses the same name of the colors gray
and brown. These differences led Whorf to two conclusions:

1) The world is conceived differently by those whose languages

are of completely unlike structure.

2) The structure of language is a cause of these different ways

of conceiving the world.

Whorf's thesis is known to explain the linguistic-relativity hypothesis. It

proposed that though is relative to the language in which it is conducted;
that there is a close correspondences between language and thinking.

It is time that those experiences significant to people affect the way

things are expressed in language. Thus Eskimos have different words
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for different kinds of snow that we would not be able to tell apart. And
the Hanunoo of the Philippines islands have names for ninety-two
varieties of rice.

Simulation Models: Computer programs used to mirror the cognitive

activity of human beings are called simulation modes. The first attempt
to simulate complex cognitive processes was made by Newell and
Simon (1956) that developed and information processing model to prove
theorems in symbolic logic.

Surface Structure and Deep Structure

a) Surface Structure: The actual words of which sentences

consist.
b) Deep Structure: Information that underlies the forms of a
sentence and is crucial to its meaning.
12.4 BASIC COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

a) Phonological Development: Development of the ability to

produce recognizable speech.

b) Semantic Development: Development of understanding of

the meaning of spoken or written language.

c) Grammar: Rules within a given language indicating how words

a) can be combined into meaningful sentences.

d) Babbling: An early stage of speech development in which

infants emit virtually all known sounds of human speech.

e) Do We Think What We Say or Say What We Think?

Although we often have vivid mental images, most of our thinking seems
to involve words. The linguistic relativity hypothesis, suggests that the
language, actually shapes or determines thought (Whorf, 1956).
According to this view, people who speak different languages may
actually perceive the world in different way because their thinking is
determined, at least in part, by the words available to them. The
opposing view is that thought shapes language. This position suggests
that, language merely reflects the way we think-how our minds work.
12.4.1 From Thoughts to Sentences

Propositions

The thoughts expressed in sentences often take the form of

propositions. Example, "Susan likes vegetables". In this example, the
assertion (Susan) likes vegetables is called the predicate; the person is
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called the subject. A proposition, then, consists of a subject plus a
predicate. All sentences, no matter how complex, can be broken down
into propositions.

How do propositions correspond to thoughts? A good deal of evidence

shows that people take longer to read a sentence that are expressing
two propositions, than one expressing a single proposition, even when
they contain the identical number of words. Simple thoughts, which
correspond to single propositions, often assert an attribute, state, or
activity about some person or object.

12.4.2 Extracting Propositions from Sentences

How do we extract propositions from sentences? We break a sentence

into phrases, where each phrase corresponds to either the subject or the
predicate of a proposition, or to an entire proposition. Things get more
interesting for more complex sentences. Consider “Serious scholars
read books." Intuition says the sentence divides into two phrases.
"Serious scholars" and "read books”. Since the first centers on a noun
(“scholars"), it is called a noun phrase; "serious scholars," we see it
expresses the entire proposition scholars are serious. The verb phrase,
“read books," expresses only part of another proposition, scholars read
books. Thus in this example the noun phrase expresses an entire
proposition while the verb phrase expresses only part the predicate-of a
proposition.
Breaking a sentence into noun and verb phrases may help greatly in
getting at the propositions or thoughts behind it.

12.4.3 Development of Language

From Primitive to Complex Sentences

During the first year of life, preverbal children acquire three types of
knowledge they will use when they begin to speak. First, children learn
specific facts about their world-their mother provides food, this toy
makes a noise, and so forth-and these are the things they will talk about
when they utter their first words. Second, preverbal children learn the
roles different things play in their world. Third, the preverbal that the
children learn to communicate with gestures. Seven or eight month olds
know that when an adult points to an object, they or to look at the object
and not at the adult's hand. About three months later, children
themselves begin to point in order to pick things out for individuals they
are trying to communicate with (Bruner, 1978). Knowledge of facts,
roles, and communication sets the stage for acquiring sentences.

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At about 12 to 18 months, children begin to utter single words that refer
to specific things they have had contact with. They talk predominantly
about people, food, toys, animals, body parts, and the like using words
like “Dada," "cookie," "block," "doggie," and "foot."

At about one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half years, the next stage of

language acquisition begins. Children start to combine single words into
two-word utterances-such as “There cow” There's the cow, “Jimmy bike”,
That's Jimmy's bike “Towel bed" The towel's on the bed. Their
utterances reflect an appreciation of the roles of agent, object, and
location.
Children progress rapidly from two-word utterances to more complex
sentences. Clearly they do not just acquire a larger and larger
vocabulary. They also learn more about how words are combined into
sentences to express propositions clearly. Thus “Daddy hat" may
become “Daddy wear hat" and finally “Daddy is wearing a hat." Such
expansions of the verb phrase appear to be the first truly complex
constructions that occur in children's speech.

Children also learn to use certain morphemes that are critical for making
sentences grammatical. Important grammatical morphemes include the
suffixes "in" that the added to verbs to form the progressive "kicking",
"ed" that is added to regular verbs to form the past "kicked"), "s" (added
to nouns to form the plural "boys" and added to verbs in the present
tense for the third person singular
Thus children progress from one word utterances about agents, objects,
and places that they know to two word "telegrams." Then they begin to
elaborate their noun and verb phrases.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. consists of the cognitive rearrangement or
manipulation of both information from the environment and the
symbols stored in long-term memory.

2. A represents, or stands for, some event or item in

the world.

3. the smallest units of speech that convey meaning.

4. is a system of symbols, plus rules for combining

them, used to communicate information.

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 5. rules about how these units can be combined
into sentences.

6. is the development of understanding of the

meaning of spoken or written language.

LET US SUM UP

Thinking consists of the cognitive rearrangement or manipulation of both

information from the environment and the symbols stored in long-term
memory. A symbol stands for, some event or item in the world, images
and language symbols. Thought is symbolic and can have a wider
content than other kinds of activity. Most of our thoughts involve several
concepts. According the linguistic relativity hypothesis help for the
conception of the world. Language development starts from the mono-
syllable word to the complex sentences.

KEY WORDS

Language Syntax Semantic development

Surface structure Thinking Symbol
Model questions Grammar Linguistic Relativity

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Thinking 2. Symbol 3. Morphemes

4. Language 5. Syntax 6. Semantic Development

GLOSSARY

Babbling – Babbling is a stage in child development and a state in

language acquisition during which an infant appears to be experimenting
with their own words.

Morphemes: The smallest unit of language that has its own meaning,
either a word or part of a word.
Phonemes: The smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word from
another.
Preverbal Communication: A form of communication that infants use
to interact with people around them.

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Simulation Models: Computer programs used to mirror the cognitive
activity of human beings are called simulation modes.

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Explain concept of the production of speech.

2. Explain the linguistic-relativity hypothesis.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weiss and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.
2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction
to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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Unit 13
THINKING, REASONING AND CONCEPT FORMATION

STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
13.1 Nature and types of thinking
13.1.1 Logical vs Illogical thinking
13.1.2 Cognition
13.2 Reasoning
13.2.1 Formal versus everyday reasoning
13.3 Some basic sources of error
13.4 Concept formation: nature of concepts
13.4.1 Typicality
13.4.2 Hierarchy of concepts
13.4.3 Acquiring concepts
13.5 Symbols and concepts
13.6 Concept formation
13.6.1 How concept is formed
13.6.2 Proposition: relations between concepts
13.6.3 Concepts and categories
13.7 Theories of concepts for concrete objects
13.8 The theoretical nature of concepts
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

Thinking represents the most complex form of human behaviour, and the
highest form of mental activity. Thinking is an activity that involves the
manipulation of mental representations of the various features of the
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external world. Thinking includes reasoning mental activity through
which we transform available information in order to reach conclusions.
Concepts are the building blocks of thought. Concepts develop into the
complex thoughts, which will be expressed in the language.

OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you would be able to

• explain the nature and types of thinking

• explain the various types of reasoning
• identify the sources of error in reasoning
• describe the nature of concepts
• explain the symbols and concepts
• describe how concepts are being formed
• analyze the theories of concept formation

13.1 NATURE AND TYPES OF THINKING

We all think as human beings and we know what thinking is. In fact the
famous quote saying that, "I think, therefore I am" does indicate the
significance of thinking and it's inter tenement with living. However,
thinking cannot be directly observed. The process of thinking, therefore,
must be inferred from your behaviour. It is behaviour which is being
directed by our thoughts, followed by actions.
This understanding of thinking by psychologists has led them to define
thinking as a response and according to them thinking could be just
talking to one's own self. This is a very simple definition and so limited.
Thinking is a complex chain of many ideas or symbols. It is not a mere
chain, it is a manipulation of ideas and symbols. Therefore, a more
comprehensive definition of thinking, would be a mental manipulation of
the information.
Thinking is not exclusive to human beings alone. Animals obviously do
some kind of thinking. Babies do think even before they learn language.
It seems therefore that thinking does not always require language. But
most of us think mostly in words atleast most of the time, and language
greatly enlarges the scope of our thinking. Thinking of the sounds and
the pictures for example, do not require any language.

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Whether we are remembering about our childhood, daydreaming about
television stardom, or trying fixing a leakage of water, painting a mural,
we are "thinking”. It is a very broad and complex term. It includes
processes from preoccupation and daydreaming to complex problem
solving and creativity and innovation. Psychologists often refer to the
thinking process as "cognition". Cognition refers to any mental activity
whether conscious or unconscious.

'Thought' comes in various forms. Sometime we think in terms of

images. For example, it we are asked to come up with a new scheme of
rearranging our drawing room in order to accommodate a TV, DVD or
new furniture, we would undoubtedly think in terms of visualizing our
room h the new addition in terms of what we call as 'images'. But certain
other situations will require only the verbal expressions like, say, for
example, our electricity charges or telephone call rates increase. Then
our thinking will be on increase. Then our thinking will be a mental
speech, to identifying attributes of the appropriateness or injustice of the
rates hike as the case may be.
Sometimes our thoughts are neither in the forms of words nor images.
Once again ideas of peace, kindness, sorrow are simply "concepts”
which you can feel. Concepts are formed from experiences. Most of our
thoughts involve a combination of images, words, and concepts. It is not
always easy to distinguish among them. To illustrate this, we can simply
think of a vacation we had last year. Are you able to separate the
images, words, and concepts in your thoughts? It is totally impossible.
We think of many things as we look around us. We are always in search
of meanings and relationships that enable us to form concepts and
categories. As we accumulate more knowledge these concepts change
and become more and more refined as elaborate. The mind, it has been
said, is constantly working on its knowledge. Trying to understand and
absorb the new revising the old, in light of the new.

We think about what we have learned about our world in the past and
we plan to do in the world tomorrow. We think about our food, clothing
and shelter, about our classes and job, about the people we know and
our relationships with them. We also think about ideas and develop our
own set of beliefs about religion, politics and what is good and bad in our
society.

13.1.1 Logical Vs Illogical Thinking

As we think of complex things and manipulate, it is most probable, that

we may be right or wrong in our thinking this is usually referred as logical

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or illogical thinking. Logical thinking means drawing conclusions that
follow inescapably from the rules we have learned and the premises we
have adopted. A simple example would be in answering the question:
"Does whale nurse its young?" We know the rule that all mammals nurse
their young. We also know that whale is a mammal. Therefore it follows
that a whale must nurse its young.

Logical thinking means drawing conclusions that are not justified, by

evidences as rules, facts and promises. For example, a young woman
may decide to become a teacher as a result of thinking that, “my mother
was enjoying her teaching." Therefore I will be happy only as a teacher".
This becomes illogical for the simple times even lower than that needed
for choosing a teaching job. So the illogical aspect, enters only in their
premises though the influences that, follow the appropriate rule of a
conclusion. This is why, we find people debating over same issues in
totally different or diagonally opposite directions. Arguments of their kind
never come to an end and left inconclusive since human beings involved
in such arguments are convinced about their premises however illogical
it may be.

Problem solving, involves processing information in various ways in

order to move toward desired goals.
13.1.2 Cognition

The activities involved in thinking, reasoning, decision making, memory.

problem solving and all other forms of higher mental processes. At any
given moment, consciousness contains a rapidly shifting pattern of
diverse thoughts, impressions, and feelings. In order to try to understand
this complex and ever changing pattern, psychologists have often
adopted two main strategies. First, they have focused on the basic
elements of thought and how, precisely the aspects of the external world
are represented in our thinking. Second, they have sought to determine
the manner in which we reason-how we attempt to process available
information cognitively in order to reach specific conclusions.

13.2 REASONING

Reasoning is also part of thinking. It is relevant information processing

form the environment on the basis of the particular motive or goal. This
reasoning is of three types namely, inductive, deductive and evaluative.
Inductive reasoning involves constructing an inference from a minimum
data. The thinker has to depend on a small set of data to draw
inferences.

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Deductive reasoning involves analysis and synthesis. It consists of
premised and inferences drawn. For example, the premise is “All human
beings are mortal" and when there is another premise "Socrates is a
man”, then the inference will be "Socrates is mortal".

The third type of reasoning, namely, evaluative reasoning is judging the

soundness or appropriateness of a decision, action or an idea. For
example, critical thinking is evaluative it involves judging the suitability or
goodness or effectiveness of an idea or representation, as distinguished
from trying to create or add to it. But, the validity depends on the criteria
that is used, as a standard for evaluation. If the standard is faulty, then
the judgment is also faulty.
13.2.1 Formal versus Everyday Reasoning

In formal reasoning, all the required information is supplied, the problem

to be solved is straightforward, there is typically only one correct answer,
and the reasoning we apply follows a specific method. One important
type of formal reasoning is syllogistic reasoning in which conclusions are
based on two propositions called premises. For example, consider the
following syllogism:

Premise: All people who love chocolate are extremely kind.

Premise: Saddam Hussein loves chocolate.
Conclusions: Therefore, Saddam Hussein is extremely kind.

Is the conclusion correct? According to the rules of formal reasoning, it

is. But you may find it hard to accept and the problem should be
obvious. At least one of the premises is incorrect: There is no strong
evidence that all people who love chocolate are extremely kind. This
simple example illustrates an important point: Formal reasoning can
provide a powerful tool for processing complex information, but only
when its initial premises are correct

Everyday reasoning involves the kind of thinking we do in our daily lives:

planning, making, commitments, evaluating arguments. In such
reasoning some of the premises are implicit, or unstated.
13.3 SOME BASIC SOURCES OF ERROR

The role of emotion and beliefs: The way we feel-our current moods or
emotions can strongly affect various aspects of cognition.
Oversight Bias: The tendency to overlook flaws if the overall topic or
issue is perceived as important.

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The Confirmation Bias

The confirmation bias leads individuals to test conclusions or

hypotheses by examining primarily or only evidence consistent with their
initial views. As a result, these views may be maintained regardless of
the weight of the opposing evidence.

Hindsight: The "I knew it all along" effect revisited

Confirmation Bias: The tendency to pay attention primarily to the

information, that confirms the existing views or beliefs.

Hindsight Effect: The tendency to assume that we would have been

better at predicting actual events than is really true.
13.4 CONCEPT FORMATION: NATURE OF CONCEPTS

What is the concept of apple? Roughly, it means that we know the

properties common to all or most apples, that they are edible, have
seeds, grow on trees, and round, have distinctive colors, and so on.
Having perceived some visible properties of the object, something round
and red, on a tree, we assign it to the concept or apple. This allows us to
infer properties that are not visible-for instance, that it is dibble. And this
ability is fundamental to thought.
We do not have to perceive the properties of an object or a person to
know a lot about it. If you are introduced to a doctor, you immediately
know he or she has a medical degree, extensive knowledge about
disease, and experience with patients, you do not have to see any of
these properties directly; you can infer them indirectly from the concept
of doctor. Concepts, then allow us to apply what we already know the

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common properties of a doctor or an apple-to people and objects we
encounter for the first time.
We also have concepts of activities, like eating; of states, like being old;
and of abstract things, like truth, justice, or even the number two.
Concepts with single word names are sometimes called semantic
concepts (they are used to from the semantic codes for long-term
memory.
13.4.1 Typicality

We rate red apples as more typical than green ones and robins as more
typical birds than chickens. Not only do people judge one member of a
concept to be more typical than the other, they also classify the more
typical one faster. The question "Is a robin a bird?" produces an
immediate "yes"; "Is a chicken a bird?" takes longer. We treat the ability
to fly as a property of the concept bird, even though some-such as
chickens or penguins-do not fly. A property that is true of most but not of
all birds is said to be only characteristic of the concept bird. Typical
members have more characteristic properties of their concept than do
less typical ones. A robin is a more typical bird than a chicken, in part
because a robin can fly.
Concepts about people also contain properties that are not true of all
instances. Consider the concept computer scientist. Some properties
like, knows how to program a computer-and has a need for order and
clarity. Typicality has important implications for mental life. When we
think of a concept, we are likely to think of a typical instance of it. Your
concept a doctors is probably those who are middle aged and male
why? Because most doctors you've seen, either directly or through the
media, have been middle-aged males. These characteristic properties,
have become a part of your concept. You are essentially thinking in
terms of stereotypes. If the Doctor Jones was young and female, you'd
be surprised. Our thoughts and expectations then are biased in
important ways. They can be changed by experience. With more and
more women becoming doctors, our concept of doctors should change.
13.4.2 Hierarchy of Concepts

Words in capital letters represent semantic concepts; lower-case words

depict properties of these concepts. The black lines show direct relations
between concepts, while the colored lines connect properties and their
appropriate concepts.

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In addition to knowing the properties of concepts, we also know how
they are Prevample, apples are momhain menntast men larger category,
fruit; robins are a subset or birds, which in turn are a subset or animals.

13.4.3 Acquiring Concepts

Children's Concepts

Knowledge about concepts is one of the most important things children

learn. We get an idea of how children acquire concepts by looking at
their first use of words. At the age of about one year, children begin to
name things. One year olds already know a good deal about the world
they probably have concepts for parents and household pets before they
know the names for them. To learn which word goes with which
concept, the children look at what is happening around them when a
word is used and when the take the important aspects of the situation as
the meaning of the word. They are essentially creating hypotheses.
Children often pick out only one or two properties of a concept when a
whole cluster of properties is relevant. A two-year-old boy might hear
"doggie" spoken in the presence of the family dog, focus on the fact that
it has four legs and moves, and hypothesize these two features define
"doggie.” He then applies the term to the cats and cows, which also have
four legs and move. He overextends the meaning of "doggie" to other
animals. Overextensions decrease as the child adds more properties to
the word's meaning-for example, sound (barks), size (relatively small),
and texture (furry), This restricts his use of “doggie". At the same time,
he is learning more about cats (they meow) and cows (they moo and
have horns). Thus, the meanings of these three animal terms become
further and further differentiated from one another.
13.5 SYMBOLS AND CONCEPTS

Basic Elements of Thought: Concepts, Proposition, Images

Concepts are mental categories for objects, events, experiences, or

ideas that are similar to one another in one or more respects. Concepts
play a central role in our task of understanding the world around us and
representing it mentally.
Artificial and natural concepts. Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Many people would answer, "A vegetable.” Botanists, however, classify
it as a fruit, since it contains seeds and its structure is definitely more like
that of apples and pears than those of potatoes and spinach. Artificial
concepts are defined by a set of rules or properties. Thus, a tomato is a
fruit because it possesses the properties established by botanists for this

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category. Natural concepts are ones that have no fixed and readily
specified set of defining features.
For example: is a psychologist a scientist?

Natural concepts are often based on prototypes the best or clearest

examples. Prototypes emerge from our experience with the
external world, and new items that might potentially fit within their
category are then compared with them. The more attributes new items
share with an existing prototype, the more likely that they are to be
included within the concept. For clothing, most people think of items like
shirts, pants, or shore. They are far less likely to mention wet suits, mink
coats, or coats of armor.

13.6 CONCEPT FORMATION

Concepts are formed passed on their features or attributes. As natural

concepts are formed, the attributes associated with them may be stored
in memory. Then, when a new item is encountered, its attributes are
compared with the ones already present. The closer the match, the more
likely is the item to be included within the concept. As a second
possibility is that natural concepts are formed, through visual image:
mental pictures of objects or events in the external world. When asked
whether chess in a sport, did you conjure up an image of two players
bending intently over the board while an audience looked on. If so, you
can readily see how visual images may play a role in the representation
of natural concepts.

Finally, it is important to note that concepts are closely related to

schemas, cognitive frameworks that represent our knowledge of
assumptions about the world. For example, each of us possesses a self-
schema, a mental framework holding a wealth of information about our
own traits, characteristics, and expectations. This framework, in turn,
may contain many different concepts, such as intelligence,
attractiveness, health, and so on. Some of these are natural concepts,
so the possibility exists that natural concepts are represented, as least in
part, through their links to schemas and other broad cognitive
frameworks.
13.6.1 How Concept is formed

Human beings when learning to think, also learn to form concepts. The
ability to form concepts starts developing from the time we are born. A
young child start developing from the time we are born. A young child for
example, has difficulty informing the concept, “food and consequently

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may eat strange and sometimes dangerous objects. We all learn to
classify and group objects appropriately.
The task of forming concepts was studied by many learning theorists
including Clark Hull. Their interest in concept formation focused on its
relationship to the processes of stimulus generalization and
discrimination. That is, the concept formation task requires that the same
response be given to several stimuli and this is called stimulus
generalization. In addition, concept formation requires stimulus
discrimination, because not all stimuli are correctly responded to with the
name of the concept. Responses paired incorrectly with stimuli are not
rewarded, and this eventfully leads to extinction and then to stimulus
discrimination. Rats and other animals can learn concepts based upon
colour, shape and pattern. While stimulus - response associations can
explain the simple types of concept formation, they do not fully account
for more complex concepts. We shall discuss some of these complicated
concepts in the following Para on information-processing approaches.
From an information processing view point, there is little difference
between problem-solving and concept formation. Both type of thinking
utilize manipulation of symbols according to rules: algorithms and
heuristics. The task is dependent on rules called serial pattern learning.
This task is very similar to traditional concept formation tasks, but with
this difference it used several symbols string out in a row rather than a
single symbol.
In additions to simple concepts and sets of rules that always go in the
same order, people can also master complex arrangements of rules.
They gradually learn lower order rules to higher order rules. These
higher order rules involve cognitive structures such as schema, script,
attribution, heuristics and inference strategies. A Schema is a network of
interrelated concepts. A script involves the sequences of interrelated
events. Attribution is an inference about causality and also gives
predictions. Heuristics are the cognitive strategies or rules of thumb on
which we base our behaviour. Based on these Strategies inferences and
judgments are made.
Concepts are important language symbols used in thinking. A concept is
a symbolic construction that represents some common and general
feature of features of many objects or events. Examples are “man,"
"red," "triangle", "motivation”, “atom", "anger", and the word concept
itself. In fact, most of the nouns in our vocabulary are names of
concepts; the only exceptions are proper nouns names of specific things
or persons
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The human ability to form concepts enables us to classify things into
categories. With a concept of "red", for example, we can sort objects into
red and not red; with a concept of "fruit", we can classify things into fruit
and not fruit. The feature or features we select define the concept and
form the basis for making classifications. When a classification has been
made, we tend to behave toward, and think about, members of the class
in similar ways. Thus, since concepts are ways of classifying the diverse
elements in the world a rounds us, they are convenient tools to use in
thinking about the world and in solving problems.

Some concepts seem "basic" and "natural". These concepts, or

categories, are acquired easily; appear in thinking very early in life; and,
to some degree, reflect the way the brain processes and sorts
information. An example of such a natural concept is the division of the
colors of the spectrum into the categories “red”, “green”, and so forth.
Basic categories such as chair”, "tree", and "fruit" are other examples of
natural concepts.
Unlike natural categories, many of our concepts are acquired more
slowly and with more effort. Discrimination learning plays a role in the
formation of some concepts. This type of learning occurs when some
responses are rewarded, or reinforced, and other responses are not
rewarded. A child, for instance, gradually learns the concept "apple" by
being rewarded with a “Right!" after saying "apple” and pointing to one,
but not after saying "apple: and pointing to something else. By seeing
examples of a concept in different contexts, or settings, we often learn
the defining features of the concept.
In addition to discrimination learning and context, a third way of
acquiring new concepts is, of course, by definition. Many of the concepts
acquired in the later stages of a person's education are learned in this
way. Definition then helps us acquire the concepts by describing them in
terms of other words or concepts with which we are already familiar.

13.6.2 Proposition: Relations between Concepts

Thinking involves active manipulation of internal representations of the

external world. The representations that are mentally manipulated are
often concepts. Propositions: Sentences that relate one concept to
another and can stand as separate assertions. For example, consider
the following propositions: “This is a very interesting lesson".

Lesson and interesting indicates some kind or relationship between the

concepts or between the concepts and one or more of their features.
Propositions are one of the basic elements of thought.

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Images: Mental Pictures of the World

Images, are mental pictures of the world, are a basic element of thinking.
Mental images serve important purposes in thinking. People report using
them for understanding verbal instructions, by converting the words into
mental pictures of actions for increasing motivation, by imagining the
successful performance; and for enhancing their own moods, by
visualizing positive events or scenes.
13.6.3 Concepts and Categories

Schemes played an important role in our sketch of the classical theory of

the cognitive architecture. We have endowed them with several
important properties. Once a schema is activated by some features in
the current external or cognitive environment, it exerts effects on the
allocation of attention and working-memory resources, serving as a filter
that discards irrelevant information and focuses processing on what is
relevant. Because it can function as a single chunk in working memory, it
can facilitate processing. Because it organizes attention and processing,
it can have effects on later memory white (these are discussed further
later in this chapter. Because a schema represents generalizations
about the world, it triggers inferences or predictions that guide thought
and action. Schemes act to classify objects and situations, to assign
them to categories. Once a classification is made, all the knowledge
associated with the relevant category can be brought into play. Finally,
we noted that schema-driven cognition can lead to various kinds of error.
The dominance of a particular schema can lead us to ignore features of
a situation that are actually relevant to current goals or to make
inappropriate or incorrect inferences.
Research on schemes is guided by a number of deep issues. There are
many questions about how schemes are represented, how they are
activated, and how they are learned. In this section we will explore some
of these questions further, focusing mostly on concepts for concrete
objects.
13.7 THEORIES OF CONCEPTS FOR CONCRETE OBJECTS

A great deal of psychological research has been devoted to the

information content of simple, concrete concepts, such as dog or chair.
One attractive theory of simple conceptual schemes is the definitional
theory, which has a long history in philosophy and thus is sometimes
known as the classical theory of concepts. This theory states that the
information content of a concept is a definition that gives the necessary
and sufficient conditions that an object must meet to fall under the

237
concept. For example, a reasonable schema for grandmother would be
a small, network of propositions containing the information that a
grandmother is a female person, with at least one child who has at least
one child. Each proposition, or feature, of the schema is necessary for
grand motherhood, and the schema as a whole is sufficient to determine
grand motherhood. The definition is general because many possible
attributes of people are not mentioned in it, such as height or favorite ice
cream flavor. Even reasonably the probable attributes of grandmothers
are not mentioned, such as over forty years old nor has gray hair. The
power of definitional schemes is that reasoning from a definition to a
particular situation is completely reliable, because every property in the
definition is true of every instance.

In spite of the attractions of the definitional theory, many psychologists

have been impressed with its potential problems. The most immediate
problem is that we do not seem to have a very clear sense of the
necessary and sufficient conditions for most simple concepts. Many of
us, for example, are quite willing to apply the concept grandmother to a
woman whose only child is an adopted son who has children. Matters
are much worse for concepts such as dog. Just what makes an object a
dog seems to be unknown to most of the people who use the concept,
aside from an occasional professional biologist or breeder? Further, the
definitional theory gives no account of our use of characteristics of object
that could not figure in a definition because they are neither necessary
nor sufficient. Introspection suggests that our use of most ordinary
concepts frequently involves knowledge of properties that are clearly not
necessary. Without seeming to register any mental reservations, we
blithely assume that grandmothers are over forty and that dogs have
four legs (although a dog can lose a leg without ceasing to be a dog).
When we think very carefully, we realize such things, but it seems likely
that most of the time we opt for more efficient thinking. We classify
objects on the basis of features that are available in the current input but
that are logically insufficient. An object will be classified as a dog, not on
the basis of a careful assessment of its morphology or chromosomes but
on the basis of its shape, gait, or bark, although these characteristics
might also be true of a movie robot or of some unfamiliar marsupial from
an isolated island.

Such intuitions have led cognitive scientists away from the definitional
approach toward alternatives that allow a much broader range of
characteristics to play a role in conceptual sachems. Such approaches
are probabilistic in the sense that most of the features or characteristics
associated with a concept will have a likelihood that is less than
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absolute. Predictions based on a categorization decision will be
inherently probabilistic. The categorization decision itself also becomes
probabilistic. The available features do an object will assign it to a
category with some probability rather than absolutely. Some objects will
be difficult to classify because the available features do not support any
category very strongly or support more than one equally.

Under the probabilistic approach the instances of a concept tend to have

a family resemblance structure. They tend to resemble each other in the
way members of a family do. Some members of a conceptual family will
be very typical because they share many features with many of our
family members. Some members of a family might, however, be highly
atypical because they share only a few features with other family
members. The robin, for example, is a typical bird in that it is similar to
other common birds-for example, it shares the capacity for flight, a
length of about nine inches, a tendency to perch in the branches of
trees, and the ability to sing. None of these features is necessary for bird
hood, but the family resemblance theory assumes that they play a strong
role in our concept of bird, nonetheless. The penguin, however, has
none of these common features, although it does have feathers and lay
eggs, which are closer to being necessary features. The family
resemblance theory assumes that, the penguin is an atypical bird with
many uncommon features and therefore it is difficult to be viewed as a
bird.

The family resemblance structure of a concept can be captured in

various ways. One way is to set up a probabilistic schema. Such a
schema is an organized representation of the features that are relevant
to a concept, but the features are assigned probabilities or weights that
indicate, how strongly they are associated with the concept. The
probabilities can be used by cognitive processes to make categorization
decisions about particular exemplars or to reason about them. For
example, a probabilistic schema for dog could be used to decide
whether to categorize a fox as a dog or to predict the likelihood that a fox
can howl or that it eats meat. Another type of schema is called a
prototype. Each feature of a prototype is an average value of the feature
over all the examples of the concept that have been encountered.
Categorization and prediction are based on some measure of similarity
to the prototype.
13.8 THE THEORETICAL NATURE OF CONCEPTS

Our discussion of concepts and categorization so far has emphasized

what might be called a descriptive and statistical approach. Concept
239
learning has been thought of mainly as a matter a gathering data about
the observable characteristics of objects, which are stored in the form of
exemplars or a summary schema. Categorization decisions can be seen
as evaluating hypotheses about the category membership of objects by
weighing the observable features against the accumulated knowledge by
measuring and summing up similarities. The fact that the learning and
decision making can be carried out very efficiently by connectionist
networks doesn't change the focus on a statistical characterization of
surface characteristics. Our discussion of conceptual complexity
admitted a wider range of conceptual knowledge into the picture, but this
knowledge was again differentiated only by its tendency to be activated
by various contexts. Conceptual knowledge can have a theoretical
character, however, which can alter and even override the influence of
observable features, similarity, or frequency of occurrence.

Concept acquisition can also be guided by goals, which can include the
desire to construct rules of theories that govern a domain. At the
simplest level, goals influence which concepts we acquire. We probably
miss many interesting patterns in our environments simply because our
goals never led us to attend to and process the relevant features. The
goal of making sense of a domain can also affect how we process
examples, because a current theory of the domain can lead us to attend
differentially to various features or to interpret them in a particular way.
Theoretical goals even affect which examples we are exposed to,
because our ideas might lead us to seek out particular kinds of
examples.
Dunbar in 1993 demonstrated that these phenomena are experiments
on scientific reasoning. Some subjects adopted find evidence, goal,
which led them to search for evidence consistent with a current
hypothesis, even when they had been exposed to some inconsistent
evidence. Upon exposure to the inconsistent evidence, other subjects
concluded that the current hypothesis was ruled out and adopted a find-
hypothesis goal, which led them to search for a hypothesis that could
account for the anomalous features. These two groups of subjects
interpreted some features of the evidence differently in setting their
goals, and in trying to meet their goals; they attended to and processed
different features of the evidence.

It is apparent that a complete theory of concepts will have to take into

account both perceptual statistical factors and factors that are due to the
pursuit of goals and the use of rules and theories. The former have a
bottom-up character, in which concept formation and use are driven by

240
incoming data. The latter have a top-down character, because the
theories and rules influence the interpretation of the data. Research by
Armstrong, Gleitman, and Gleitman (1983) and Landau (1982) suggests
that the findings from the two approaches do apply to the same
conceptual domains. They employed concepts add number or rectangle.
People reason correctly with these definitions in judging whether a
particular figure is a rectangle or whether, say, 57 is an odd number.
Nevertheless, typicality effects were found in these domains. People rate
3 a more typical odd number than 57, and they rate square a more
typical geometric figure than ellipse. In categorization tasks these ratings
predict relative response times. Thus, 3 can be classified as an odd
number much more quickly than 57.
The researchers accounted for these results by arguing for a
distinction between features that are at the core of a concept and more
probabilistic features that are useful in identifying instances or making
likely guesses about instances. Rating tasks are likely to activate many
useful probabilistic features. Speeded categorization tasks involve the
perceptual representations and possibly automat zed procedures for
making rapid, automatic identifications. The frequency and similarity
influenced strength of a representation or procedure will be influential in
such tasks. In tasks that allow or require more careful reasoning, the
people are able to define or be involved in a theory of the domain. One
basic reason for such findings is that core features are often not very
useful in identifying instances. For example, it is usually easier to see
whether someone is over forty-five years old than it is to see whether
that person has grandchildren. Thus, an assessment of a person's age
tends to be incorporated into the identification procedure for
grandparenthood, although it is not part of the definition.
Because simple concepts are, in a sense, part of the bedrock of
cognition, they will no doubt continue to be the focus of active research
in all of the cognitive science disciplines.
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. refers to any mental activity whether conscious or

unconscious.

2. means drawing conclusions that are not justified,

by evidences as rules, facts and promises.

3. involves processing information in various ways in order

to move toward desired goals.

241
4. involves analysis and synthesis. It consists of
premised and inferences drawn.

5. is a reasoning in which conclusions are based on two

propositions called premises.
6. are ones that have no fixed and readily specified set of
defining features.

7. _are the cognitive strategies or rules of thumb on which we

base our behaviour.

8. is an average value of the feature over all the examples of

the concept that have been encountered.
LET US SUM UP

Thinking is an activity that involves the manipulation of mental

representations of various features of the external world. Thinking
includes reasoning mental activity through which we transform available
information in order to reach conclusions. Reasoning refers to drawing
conclusions from available information. It involves the cognitive
transformations of appropriate information in order to reach specific
conclusions. Concepts are the building blocks of thought. Concepts into
complex thoughts and express them in language.
KEY WORDS

Prototype Cognition

Logical thinking Illogical thinking

Inductive reasoning Deductive reasoning

Syllogistic reasoning Artificial concepts
Natural concepts Prototypes

Heuristics
ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Cognition

2. Illogical thinking

3. Problem solving

4. Deductive reasoning

5. Syllogistic reasoning

6. Natural concepts
7. Heuristics
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8. Prototype

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. Explain the nature of Thinking.

2. Differentiate logical and illogical thinking.

3. What is meant by reasoning?

4. Describe how concepts are formed.

5. Explain the theories of concept formation

Glossary
Hindsight – The ability to understand, after something has happened,
why or how it was done and how it might have been done better.
Concept –The abstract ideas that are understood to be the fundamental
building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
Overextensions –The act of extending something too far.
Prototype – An original model on which something is patterned.
Stimulus Generalisation – It is the ability to behave in a new situation
in a way that has been learned in other similar situations.
Stimulus Discrimination – The ability to distinguish among different
stimuli and to respond differently to them.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction

to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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 BLOCK-VI

UNIT 14: INTELLIGENCE

UNIT 15: PERSONALITIES

244
Unit 14
INTELLIGENCE
STRUCTURE
Overview
Objectives
14.1 Nature of Intelligence
14.1.1 Intelligence - Definition
14.1.2 Mental Sub - Normality
14.1.3 The Mentally Gifted
14.2 Theories of Intelligence
14.2.1 Spearman's Two - Factor Theory
14.2.2 Thorndike's Multifactor or Atomic Theory
14.2.3 Thurstone's Group - Factor Theory
14.2.4 Guilford's S.l Model
14.2.5 Cattle's Model: Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence
14.3 Tests of General Intelligence
14.3.1 Binet's Method: A Mental - Age Scale
14.3.2 Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
14.4 Types of Intelligence Tests
14.5 Intelligence Tests Commonly used
14.6 Aptitude and Ability
14.6.1 Testing Aptitudes and Achievements
14.7 Creativity
Let us sum up
Check your progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

Intelligence represents a focal point for the psychologist's intent on

understanding, how the people are able to adapt their behaviour to the
environment in which they live in. It also represents a key aspect of how
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individuals differ from one another in the way they learn about and
understand the world. In this unit, we begin with the difficulties involved
in defining the intelligence and explain the abnormality with reference to
the intelligence. We will explore the theories of intelligence, and their
implications. Then we will focus on the measurement of intelligence, and
finally the levels of aptitude and creativity.

OBJECTIVES

• After reading this unit you should be able to

• explain the nature of intelligence

• define the intelligence

• describe the mentally subnormal and the gifted
• discuss about Theories of intelligence

• explain the different Types of intelligence tests

• list out the Intelligence tests commonly used
• describe Creativity

14.1 NATURE OF INTELLIGENCE

The most unique adaptive resources that humans possess are their
intellectual capabilities, their superior capacity for learning, imagining
and reasoning. It is largely by virtue of these resources that they have
been able to learn about the different facets of their environment to
establish supremacy in the struggle for the survival over other members
of the animal kingdom and to gain some understanding of themselves. It
is their superior intellectual capability which provides them with the
resources for planning and shaping their own future.

On an individual level, the person who develops and learns to use his
intellectual capabilities effectively has a decided advantage in adjusting
to the problems of living. Such intellectual competence enhances his
feelings of adequacy and worth this enriches his understanding of
himself and his world. This permits him to predict accurately the
probable outcome of alternative choices and course of action. It also
enables an individual to cope with a wider range of stressful situations
that contribute to continued personal growth and increases his ability to
determine his own destiny.

It was recognized that every human being was born with a general
cognitive capacity which was termed intelligence. Similar to the concept
of energy in physics, the term intelligence is a convenient label to
designate a cognitive ability which is innate and general. Some
246
psychologists have defined intelligence as the capacity to deal with
abstract intellectual operations connected with THE arithmetical and
verbal reasoning. Intelligence has also been defined as the ability to
learn quickly and efficiently.
14.1.1 Intelligence- Definition

Some of the definitions listed give an insight into the nature of this
construct. Binet in his conception of the nature of intelligence
emphasized four kinds of operations:
1. Taking a goal set, 2. Comprehension

3. Solution finding, and 4. Auto-criticism

Terman defined intelligence as the capacity for carrying on abstract

thinking.

Thorndike believed that intelligence is a conglomerate aggregation of a

multitude of independent specific habits or skills. He identified three
kinds of intelligence namely abstract intelligence, mechanical
intelligence and social intelligence. According to Spearman, intelligence
is the capacity for constructive thinking, which involves a discovery of
appropriate qualities and relations of the ideas that are before us and
bringing in other relevant ideas. He viewed intelligence as
encompassing a general factor (g) common to all forms of intellectual
behaviour as well as specific (s) factor.

Wechsler defined intelligence as "the aggregate or global capacity of the

individual to think rationally, to act purposefully and to deal effectively
with the environment". Baler and Charles, says that intelligence meant a
person's ability to learn, to adapt and to solve new problems.

In order to avoid the current profusion and confusion of definitions of

intelligence, simple operational definitions have been offered. Though it
is unsatisfactory, it is simple and direct. It is operationally defined as
"Intelligence is what the intelligence test measures". A second method of
defining intelligence is to consider it as a theoretical construct. According
to this conception, intelligence is basic ability underlying behavior in a
wide variety of to this conception; intelligence is a basic ability underlying
behavior in a wide variety of situations. In this sense the concept of
intelligence is similar to the concepts of habit, drive and personality. It
can be inferred from performance and its function, like that of all
theoretical concepts is to integrate and systematize knowledge and to
predict new facts.

247
The definitions of intelligence, though diverse, most of them stress the
ability to think in abstract terms, to reason and the ability to use functions
of adaptive purposes. It is also the capacity by which the entire cognitive
life is built up.
14.1.2 Mental Sub-Normality

Mental deficiency, mental retardation, and feeble-mindedness are the

various terms used for below average intelligence. The retarded
individuals were classified as morons. imbeciles intermediate group) and
idiots (severely deficient group). The modern approach recognizes that
there are mentally subnormal children with a variety of handicaps.
Descriptive expressions such as more severely defective, less severely
retarded, trainable, or educable are used to avoid the stigma of harsh
labels. The potentially retarded constitute 3% of the population. Their
mental age is less than 7 years. The most severely retarded constitute
0.1% of the population. Their mental age is less than 4 years.
World Health Organization has made a distinction between the
individual who is mentally defective. A child is classified as mentally
retarded only if it is congenital, leading to intellectual impairment; that is,
if he is sound physically and there is o history of disease or injury that
might have caused intellectual impairment. A child is classified as
mentally defective if his mental impairment is caused by brain injury,
disease or accidents of development that preclude normal intellectual
growth. The causes may occur during fetal life, childhood or even adult
life. Such individuals may appear in any family, or socio-economic
groups, regardless of family history of retardation.
A mentally retarded child can be helped in some aspects. An increase in
his intellectual capacity is least likely to occur, but he can be taught
social habits, and he can learn vocational skills appropriate to his
intellectual level. The better institutions for the mentally deficient have
facilities and teachers for training these social and occupational skills.
Every year many such individuals who are capable to earning a living
and looking after themselves reasonably well, return to society.
14.1.3 The Mentally Gifted

At the other end of the scale from the mentally retarded and defective,
are those who are intellectually gifted. At the top end of the distribution
of intelligence scores are the very superior (130-140 IQ) and the near
genius (above 140). Gifted implies high aptitude; genius implies very
great and original achievement. Psychologists have studied the gifted in
two ways. They estimated the intelligence of gifted people who lived

248
years ago. They also followed the accomplishments and problems of
gifted children into adulthood.
One of the monumental studies in this area was conducted by Terman
and his associates. The result gives us a picture of the characteristics of
gifted individuals. Terman and his associates followed the progress of
over 1500 gifted children from their early school years through the
middle years of adult life. The group was chosen on the basis of IQ's of
140 or above. About 10 or 11 out of every 1000 children in the public
schools have IQ's of 140 or above. About 16 or 11 out of every 1000
children in the public schools have IQ's that high. Less than 1 out of
every 1000 has an IQ above 160.
Terman's gifted children were better than average physical specimens.
They were superior in height than others of the same age. Their birth
weights were above normal. They walked early and talked early. They
were grades ahead of their age groups in the school. None were below
grade level. They read an unusually large number of books but reading
did not interfere with their superiority in leadership and social
adaptability. These characteristics of the gifted children contradict the
notion that the very bright child is a weakling and a social misfit.
Differences in intelligence make a difference in the occupational and
educational achievements which can be expected from people. This is
one aspect of the problem of individual differences in intelligence.
14.2 THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence can be defined operationally as what the intelligence test

measures. The other method of defining intelligence is to consider it as a
theoretical construct. According to this conception, intelligence is a basic
ability underlying behavior in a wide variety of situations. In this sense,
the concept of intelligence is similar to the concepts of habit, drive and
personality. It can also be inferred, from performance and its function,
like all theoretical concepts to integrate and systematize knowledge and
to predict new facts.
For the most part, intelligence has been conceptualized as a unitary
global ability. The picture of intelligence, as revealed by factor analysis
that a refined statistical technique that can be used to find out the
components of intelligence, personality or any other construct, has
suggested that intelligence is not one unitary ability but instead consists
of different components. The technique originated with Spearman whose
theory is a well-known one. Some of the major theories include
Spearman's two-factor theory, Thorndike's multifactor theory,

249
Thurstone's primary mental abilities, Guilford's structure of intellect
model that is commonly known as the SKI. model, and Cattell's
crystallized and fluid intelligence.

14.2.1 Spearman's Two-factor Theory

Spearman propounded that all intellectual activity is dependent primarily

upon, and is an expression of, a general factor common to all mental
activity. This factor, designated by the symbol 'g' is possessed by all
individuals, but in varying degrees, of course, since people differ in
mental ability, and it (g) operates in all mental activity, though in varying
amounts, since mental tasks differ in respect to their demands upon
general factor as mental energy, because in the realm of intelligent
activity, he maintained, it has a role similar to that of physical energy in
the physical world. Further, he asserted that the general factor fan be
understood only through its specific manifestations, through the
psychological tests.

Spearman postulated 'g' factor, to explain correlations that he found to

exist among diverse sorts of perceiving, knowing, reasoning and
thinking. He concluded that all mental activity is to some extent
dependent upon, and an expression of, this general factor; and the
magnitude of the correlation coefficient found between any two forms of
mental activity reveals the extent to which this 'g' factor is operative in
each and common to both.
However, since the intercorrelating are by no means perfect, Spearman
postulated the existence of specific factors, called 's' factors, each of
which is specific to a particular type of activity. Thus, the two-factor
theory states that all mental activities have in common some of the
general factors; each mental activity might also be a member of a
'group', and each has also its own specific factors. The only negative
aspect in this theory is that it portrays too much of importance to the
intercorrelating. If the correlation between the two mental activities is
spurious then it will definitely affect the general factor and that would
distort the test results.
14.2.2 Thorndike's Multifactor or Atomic Theory

One of the sharpest critics of Spearman's two-factor theory was

E.L.Thorndike. He believed that the inter correlations studied by
Spearman were often too small to test the question of a common factor.
He objected very strongly to the existence of a characteristic such as
general intelligence. Instead of one kind of factor, he maintained that
there were a large number of separate characteristics which made up

250
intelligence. He argued that there was no generality to intelligence but
rather communality in the acts that people perform. The common
element does not reside in the individual but in the nature of the tasks
themselves. People differ in their ability to perform any specific act, that
is, in terms of the level of difficulty they can manage. They also differ in
the range or number of tasks they can perform. For Thorndike,
intelligence was more like a series of skills or talents. Several or many
tasks may call for the same kind of ability. The correlations between the
various tests are the result of the fact, that the tests have features in
common with each other, even though they are called measures of
different things.

Thorndike's theory appears to be a thoroughly atomistic one, as he

conceived that intelligence is said to be composed of a large number of
separate facts or elements. There is no general intelligence but very
specific acts. The number of these depends upon how broad or narrows
a classification one can or wants to make. Some tasks have so many
elements in common that it is desirable to classify them into groups.
Tasks can be classified into categories such as arithmetical reasoning,
visual perception, word meaning etc. Despite the atomistic approach,
Thorndike has actually seen fit to classify intellectual activity into three
broad types, namely: social intelligence, concrete intelligence and
abstract intelligence. The kind of intelligence that is involved in
understanding and in dealing with people is called the social intelligence.
Concrete intelligence refers to the ability that is involved in dealing with
mechanical objects or equipment or appliances. Abstract intelligence is
the one that comes into play in dealing with numbers, letter or any kind
of symbolic material.
This is a classification of the types of tasks and not an analysis of the
mental organization itself. Thorndike conceived of mental organization
as a multitude of simple intellectual acts. This discrepancy of point of
view between Spearman and Thorndike is basically a theoretical one
and does not greatly affect what one does in the actual measurement of
intelligence.

They are:

1. Verbal comprehension (V) - Vocabulary tests represent this

factor.

2. Word fluency (W) – This factor calls for the ability to think of
words rapidly, as in solving anagrams or in thinking of words that
rhyme.

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 3. Number ability (N) Simple arithmetic tests, especially those
calling for computations, represent this factor.
4. Spatial relations (S) - This factor deals with visual form
relationships, as in drawing a design from memory.
5. Perceptual speed (P) - This ability calls for the grasping of
visual details and of the similarities and differences between
pictured objects.
6. Memory - This is his ability to memorize verbal materials
as measured by the usual methods of recall and recognition.

7. Reasoning (R) - This ability calls for finding a general rule on the
basis of presented information, as in determining how a
number series is constructed after being given only a portion of
that series.

Thurstone's method and his results gave hope that there might be a
smaller number of primary abilities. Discoverable by factor analysis, that
it might be possible to break intelligence into its fundamental elements.
This hope had not been realized because the so-called primary abilities
turned out to be dependent, and the number of factors can be multiplied
by an appropriate choice of items out of which the tests are constructed.
14.2.3 Thurstone's group - Factor Theory

According to the group-factor theory, intelligent activity is not an

expression of specific factor as called by (Thorndike) or the general
factor as called by Spearman, but, it is certain mental operations that
have in common a 'primary' factor which gives them psychological and
functional unity and it differentiates them from other mental operations.
These mental operations then constitute a 'group'. A second group of
mental operations has its own unifying primary factor; a third group has
a third; and so on. Each of these primary factors are said to be relatively
independent of the others.
In this theory, the independence which is spoken about can be attained
only by statistical means and not by the actual psychological and
functional operations. That is, from the factors by Thurstone, it can be
ascertained that "the Number factor' and 'the Reasoning factor' are the
two primary factors which are independent (statistically), but looking into
the psychological and functional aspects, the calculations in Number
factor cannot be done without Reasoning. Hence, Thurstone and others
concluded that in addition to the primary abilities there is a 'second order
general factor'.

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14.2.4 Guilford's SI. Model

Guilford has proposed a cubical model of the structure of intelligence.

He has likened intelligence to a cube with each edge representing a
different intellectual characteristic. The structure of intellect model
illustrates that there are 5 kinds of operations, 6 kinds of products and 4
kinds of contents, thus resulting in 120 cells (5 x 6 x 4) each
representing a specific intellectual factor. Each factor stands for a
potential ability. For example, the factor of verbal comprehension (the
understanding of individual words) is represented by the intersection of
the cognitive, unit product and the semantic content.
Content refers to the broad classes or types of information distinguished
without regard to formal properties. Operation refers to the major kind of
intellectual activity or process, something that the organism does with
information. Products are the form that information takes in the
organism's processing of it Products are different kinds of mental
constructs.
a) Categories in the structure-of-intellect

The model has three categories:

1. Content

2. Operation and

3. Product categories

1. Content categories Three distinct, parallel content categories were

recognized and were referred to as the figural, symbolic and semantic.
A hierarchical model does not take care of parallel members, nor are
parallels needed to form a hierarchy, except for the parallel levels of
generality; and there are no apparent; levels of generality among the
factors obtained.
A fourth kind of content was added by Guilford (1958), referred to as
'behavioural. The term 'behavioural was added to take care of the kind of
information involved in cognition and in other operations pertaining to the
behaviour of other person's feelings, thinking, perceptions, etc., the
inferences are drawn and utilized to control our actions.

2. Operation categories In addition to memory and reasoning

factors, new operational categories were needed. Reasoning proved to
be a poor categorical concept because it could not be uniquely defined.
Hence, divergent thinking the tests are all of completion form, and the

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examinee makes a good source for the number and variety of his
responses and sometimes for high quality, e.g., creative thinking;
convergent thinking-in accordance with the information given in the item,
the respondent must converge upon one right answer. To avoid the
ambiguity of the term 'thinking' the later substitution of the term
'production' is used. Thus, two operation categories, divergent
production and convergent production, were used.

With memory and evaluation abilities it became four categories and a

last category, 'cognition', took care of the remaining factors, in a limited
way, to become the fifth category.
3. The product categories This category was evolved to account the
parallels that appeared across both the content and the operation
categories. That is, if we take a set of factors having in common one of
the content properties, say semantic, and also one of the operation
categories, say cognition, we have a set of semantic-cognition abilities,
not just one but the possible other parallels.
Guilford propounded a model to integrate such parallels, with the five
operation categories arranged along one dimension, the four content
categories along a second dimension, and a the six product categories
that include, Units, Classes, Relations, Systems, Transformations and
Implications along the third dimension. Thus, content, operation, and
product became three parameters of the SI three-dimensional model.
The 120 cells in the model (5 operations x 6 products x 4 contents = *20)
define specific intellectual factors.

b) Salient features of Si model

Since its conception as a frame of reference for the intellectual abilities;

the SI model has served the heuristic function of generating hypotheses
regarding new factors of intelligence. Additional factors were readily
given logical places within the model, determined by the unique
properties: its operation, its content, and its product. Further, the
concepts used can add considerable new meaning and significance to
old and new psychological findings by other methods.
14.2.5 Cattle's Model: Crystallized and Fluid intelligence

A special kind of theory proposed by R.B.Cattell involves the distinction

between crystallized and fluid intelligence. The distinction was
suggested by the fact that scores from the certain classes of tests,
representing different primary mental abilities, are found to differ in
relation to certain conditions. Certain abilities seemed to be most
affected when brain injuries occur early in life and others are most
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affected by brain injuries later in life. Certain abilities seem to be more
affected than others by opportunities to acquire knowledge. Certain
kinds of tests are more culture-free than others. Some abilities tend to
decline more rapidly than others with normal ageing. These conditions
help us to infer that certain abilities are determined more by cultural
sources and therefore constitute a "crystallized intelligence". Those
abilities that are less affected by cultural conditions constitute a "fluid
intelligence". This distinction is in accordance with heredity versus
environmental determination of abilities.

14.3 TESTS OF GENERAL INTELLIGENCE

Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, developed the first tests
designed to measure intelligence. Galton, a naturalists and
mathematician, was interested in individual differences. He invented the
correlation coefficient which plays such an important role in psychology
and developed the ideas behind fingerprinting and eugenics. Galton
administered a battery of tests - measuring such variables as head size,
reaction time, and visual acuity, memory for visual forms, breathing
capacity, and strength of hand grip to over 9000 visitors to the London
Exhibition in 1884.
The intelligence test as we know it today was formulated by the French
psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911). The French government asked
Binet to devise a test that would detect those children too slow
intellectually to profit from regular schooling. He assumed that
intelligence should be measured by tasks requiring reasoning and
problem Solving, rather than perceptual motor skills. In collaboration with
Theodore Simon (1873-1961), another French psychologist, Binet
published a scale in 1905, which he revised in 1908 and again in 1911.
These Binet scales are the direct predecessors of contemporary
intelligence tests.
14.3.1 Binet's Method: A Mental - Age Scale

Binet assured that a dull child was like a normal child but retarded in
mental growth; he reasoned that the dull child would perform on tests
like a normal child of younger age. Binet decided to scale intelligence as
the kind of change that ordinarily comes with growing older. Accordingly,
he devised a scale of units of mental age. Average mental age (MA)
scores correspond to chronological age (CA), that is, to the age
determined from the date of birth. A bright child's MA is above his CA; a
dull child has an MA below his CA. The mental age scale is easily
interpreted by teachers and others who deal with children differing in
mental ability.
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CONTEMPORARY BINET TESTS: The tests originally developed by
Binet underwent several revisions in this country, the first by Goddard in
1911. For many years the best-known and most widely used revision
was that made by Terman at Stanford University in 1916, commonly
referred to as the Stanford-Binet. The test was revised in 1937, 1960
and 1972.

14.3.2 Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Terman adopted a convenient index of brightness that was suggested by

the German psychologist William Stern (1871-1938). This index is the
intelligence quotient, commonly known by its initials IQ. It expresses the
intelligence as a ratio of mental to chronological age:

IQ =

The 100 is used as a multiplier to remove the decimal point and to make
the IQ have a value of 100 when MA equals CA, It is evident that if the
MA lags behind the CA, the resulting IQ will be less than 100; if the MA
is above the CA, the IQ will be above 100.

How is the IQ to be interpreted? The distribution of IQs follows the form

of curve found for many differences among individuals, such as
differences in height; this is the bell-shaped "normal" distribution curve
shown in Figure 13-3. In this curve most cases cluster around a mid
value, tapering off to a few at both extremes.

In the 1960 and subsequent revisions of the Stanford-Binet, the authors

introduced a method of computing the IQ from tables. The meaning of
an IQ remains essentially the same as before, but the tables permit
corrections to allow the IQ at any age to be interpreted as somewhat,
more exactly. A modern IQ is merely a test score adjusted for the age of
the person being tested. It is therefore no longer a "quotient" at all, but
the expression IQ persists because of its familiarity and convenience.

14.4 TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS

The table given below shows the various types of intelligence tests.

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a) Verbal Individual intelligence tests

The Binet-Simon scale and the Standard Revised scale are examples of
verbal individual intelligence tests. They are verbal since they make use
of language spoken or written. They are individual tests because only
one individual can be tested at a time. Individual tests consume a long
time and limit the number of individuals who can be tested by a single
examiner. Verbal tests presupposes that, the individuals tested are able
to speak, read and understand the language of the test.

b) Verbal Group-tests of intelligence

Are those which can be given to many persons at the same time? They
are suitable for measuring groups of persons like children in a school,
applicants for jobs, etc. During World War í, military authorities were
faced with the problem of classifying thousands of recruits into soldiers,
commissioned and noncommissioned officers. The American
Psychological Association helped in devising an intelligence test which
could be taken by several people at the same time. The verbal group
intelligence test devised was the 'Army Alpha Test'. It consists of eight
sections, each containing 12 to 40 questions. Every section begins with
easy questions and proceeds to more difficult ones, so that all persons
can answer some questions, but a few can answer all.

c) Performance tests of intelligence

(i) Seguin constructed a test for the feeble-minded children

known as the Seguin Form-board Test. It consists of
fitting blocks of various shapes like circle, triangle, etc into
corresponding cut-outs in the board.

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 (ii) Two psychologists – Pinter and Patterson - prepared the
first performance scale in 1917. In this test all the tests
call for motor responses, putting together a puzzle, etc
Verbal directions are unnecessary.

(iii) The Porteus Maze Test is another standardized

performance test using a series of mazes of the
increasing complexity for children of ages three to
fourteen. Maze tests are useful with illiterates and
primitive people whose command of language is either all
or poor. Performance tests are mostly individual tests.
(iv) The ‘Army Beta', test was devised along with the 'Army
Alpha' test. The 'Army Beta' is a group intelligence test of
performance.
14.5 INTELLIGENCE TESTS COMMONLY USED

A) Wechsler Bellevue Scale: David Wechsler, a clinical psychologist at

Bellevue Hospital, developed a scale for measuring intelligence of adults
in 1939. In the year 1949, he developed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for Children, (WISC). Later, he revised the earlier version, and the new
scale is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). It is an individual
test and consists of two parts including – the verbal part and the
nonverbal or performance part. It does not provide for mental age. This
test can be administered for both clinical as well as general population.
Verbal tests Performance tests

Information Digit symbol

Comprehension Picture completion

Arithmetic Block design

Similarities Picture arrangement

Digit span Object assembly

Vocabulary

The approximate total time usually taken by the client will be from 90-
120 minutes. This is an individual test. The individuals will be asked to
do the sub-tests both Performance and Verbal as per the instructions
given in the maual and under the surveillance of the administrator. The
raw scores will be converted into standard scores.
b) Bhatia's Battery of Performance test

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This test was developed by Dr. Bhatia and consists of five dimensions
namely:
1. Koh's Block Design test 2. Alexander's Pass- along test

3. Pattern-drawing test 4. Test of Immediate memory

5. Picture construction test.

The approximate total time usually taken by the client will be from 40-45

minutes. This is an individual test. The individuals will be asked to do the

sub-tests (both Performance and Verbal) as per the instructions given by
the test administrator and under the surveillance of the administrator.
The scores will be scored with the help of manual and after doing the
appropriate age correction, the IQ is determined. This test can be
administered for both clinical as well as general population.

c) Raven's Progressive Matrices

This is non-verbal test which can be administered both as individual

basis as well as group as a whole. The test was developed by J.C.
Raven. This consists of 60 items, equally divided into five divisions (A-
E). This test is available in Child coloured, Adult and (Advanced)
versions. There will be question figure with a blank space followed by
answer figures. The client has to fill up the space by specifying the
correct alternative from the answer figures. The approximate total time
usually taken by the client will be from 30-40 minutes. The results can be
scored according to the manual and the clients can be classified into five
categories.
14.6 APTITUDE AND ABILITY

Individuals differ widely in intelligence, knowledge, and skills. To

determine if a person has the skills for a particular job, or the intelligence
to profit from a college education, we need reliable methods of
measuring present and potential abilities. In a technological society as
complex as ours, the ability to match the unique talents of each person
to the requirements of the job, has advantages for both the individual
and society.
What a person can do now and what he might do given appropriate
training are not the same. The distinction between a capacity to learn
and an accomplished skill is important in appraisal. Tests designed to
measure capacities, that is, to predict what one can accomplish with
training, are called aptitude tests so they include tests of general
intelligence as well as tests of special abilities. Tests that tell what one
can do now are achievement tests. An intelligence test that predicts how
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well you will do in college is an aptitude test; examinations given at the
end of a course to see how much you have learned are achievement
tests. Both are ability tests.

14.6.1 Testing Aptitudes and Achievements

Aptitude tests, by definition, predict performances that are not yet

attained. But the items- the units of which a test is composed-must
consist of samples of what can be accomplished now. For example, one
of the abilities contributing to success in flying is knowledge of
mechanical principles. Thus, pilot aptitude tests may include a test of
mechanical knowledge – even though from another point of view the
mechanical knowledge test is an achievement test. The distinction
between an aptitude test and an achievement test is not based on the
content of the items, but upon the purpose of the two kinds of tests.
a) Aptitude Tests

Aptitude tests designed to predict performance over a broad range of

abilities are called intelligence tests. Other aptitude tests measure more
specific abilities; mechanical aptitude tests measure various types of
eye-hand coordination; musical aptitude tests measure discrimination of
pitch, rhythm, and other aspects of musical sensitivity that are predictive
of musical performance with training and clerical aptitude tests measure
efficiency at number checking and other skills that have been found to
be predictive of an individual's later achievement as an office clerk.
Many aptitude tests have been constructed to predict success in specific
jobs or vocations. Since the Second World War the armed forces have
devised tests to select pilots, radio technicians, submarine crews, and
many other specialists.
Aptitude is usually measured by a combination of test. Pilot aptitude
tests include not only measures of mechanical knowledge but also tests
of spatial orientation, eye-hand coordination, and other skills. A
combination of these tests are used for prediction is known as a test
battery. Scores from individual tests are weighted to get the best
possible prediction. Scores on the tests that predict well count more than
scores on tests that predict less well. If an eye-hand coordination test
predicts pilot success better than a spatial orientation test, scores in eye-
hand coordination will be weighted more heavily than scores in spatial
orientation.
b) Achievement Tests

Although achievement tests are most commonly used in school and

government examinations, they are also used to assess what has been
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learned in preparation for the practice of a specialty, such as law,
medicine, or accounting. The consequences of these achievement tests
are very important to the person who takes them. The successful
candidate will receive a degree or a license to practice or an opportunity
to enter a desired career the one who fails may find many paths blocked.
If the tests are in any way inappropriate, their use may lead to social
injustice. It is crucial that examinations be well conceived so that they
measure, what they are intended to measure and their scores represent
fairly the abilities of the candidate who takes the tests.

Psychologists are interested in the development of achievement tests for

two reasons. First, there is much demand for such tests, especially in
education and in government. Second, achievement tests furnish a
standard against which to judge the predictive effectiveness of aptitude
tests. To devise an aptitude test, for the pilot success, we first need a
standard of excellent flying against which to measure the aptitude.
Otherwise we have no way of checking predictions. If professors
assigned college grades whimsically instead of on the basis of a
student's achievement in the course, it would be futile to try to predict
grades from an aptitude battery. Thus, achievement tests furnish
a standard, or criterion, for the prediction of aptitudes. With improved
achievement examinations, predictions can be made more efficiently. Of
course, other criteria, such as success in a job, can be used Then the
measure of success serves as a measure of achievement.

14.7 CREATIVITY

The creative thinker, whether artist, writer or scientist, is trying to create

something new under the sun. The visual artist is trying to express an
idea or emotional feeling in new ways that will have an impact on
viewers; is trying to do the same for readers. The creative scientists
think about their own discoveries and those of others, inventing new
ways of studying nature and new theories to tie discoveries together. In
contrast with ordinary problem solving, creative solutions are new ones
that other people; have not thought of before. The product of creative
thinking may be a new and unique way of conceptualizing the world
around us. The emphasis in creative thinking is on the word 'new'.
Creative thinking in arts and sciences seems to involve a considerable
amount of unconscious rearrangement of symbols. The thinker at first
makes little progress, but then, perhaps triggered by a fortuitous set of
circumstances, a new idea seems to "bubble 'up' into awareness or
consciousness in a seemingly spontaneous manner. Because the
creative thinker becomes aware of the new idea suddenly, it is said that
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much of the though has already gone on unconsciously. This sudden
appearance of new ideas is called insight. Several political theorists,
artists and scientists have analyzed their own thinking or have had the
products of their thought analyzed by others in an attempt to learn about
the creative process. At one time it was generally agreed, as a result of
these studies, that creative thinking passed through three or four stages.
Recently, it seems more appropriate to consider these stages as simply
aspects of the overall creative process, neither necessarily separate
from one another nor occurring in a fixed sequence. These are: (1)
preparation, (2) incubation, (3) illumination and (4) verification or
revision.

a) Preparation: Creative thinking in most fields of endeavor requires

some preparation. The inventor of an electrical device, for example,
generally must have a good understanding of the elements of electricity
and mechanics. Einstein's concept of relativity probably would not have
occurred to him if he had not had advanced study in both physics and
mathematics. In addition preparation often includes much trial and error.
In writing a term paper, a student writes something, scratches out what
he has written, and starts over again, only to destroy that. Edison
remarked that much of his inspiration was actually perspiration, referring
perhaps to the work involved in preparation.

b) Incubation: This aspect of creative thinking is characterized by the

absence of overt activity and, in many instances, of any conscious effort
to think about the problem.

Such observations have led some psychologists to assume that while

the creative thinker is turning his attention to other matters, his problem
is incubating or being solved unconsciously. It is difficult, if not
impossible, to prove this claim, although it is likely that the associations
activated by the attempts to solve the problem continue to some degree,
regardless of where one's attention is directed.

c) Illumination: Most creative thinkers claim that their creative ideas

appear suddenly following incubation at any time, even while the thinker
is dreaming. In writing a creative theme, one may have been
discouraged at times by lack of progress, when suddenly the material
seems to organize itself and ideas come copiously and rapidly. A
solution may appear when least expected.

Insights may occur suddenly when no problem is evident. In science, a

well-trained individual occasionally discovers something he was not
looking for, an event referred to as serendipity. The word was coined by

262
Horace Walpole to denote "the faculty of making lucky and unexpected
finds".
d) Verification or revision: In most instances, it is necessary to
evaluate, test and perhaps revise new ideas. Sometimes, one can
determine whether a new idea is appropriate by putting it in the form of a
syllogism and applying the laws of logic, but often it is necessary to carry
out controlled observations which demonstrate whether or not an
inspiration is correct, workable or needs revision.
Several attempts have been made to develop tests that measure
creativity in people. In one elaborate study. A battery of tests was
constructed and carefully analyzed. From this work came the concepts
of convergent and divergent thinking. Convergent thinking is concerned
with a particular end result. The thinker gathers information relevant to
the problem and then proceeds by using problem solving rules to work
out the right solution. Convergent thinking is not the type of thought
people primarily use when they are thinking creatively.
The characteristic of divergent thinking is the variety of thoughts
involved. When thinking creatively, people; tend to think in a divergent
manner, thus having many varied thoughts about a problem. Divergent
thinking also includes autistic thinking. The creative thinkers may use
convergent thinking to gather information and thoughts as building
materials for the ultimate creative achievement. At times the person may
drift into autistic thinking, or free association in which symbols of
thoughts have private meaning, and in the process come upon useful
ideas that would have been missed by concentration strictly on the
problem.
Check your progress

1. defined intelligence as the capacity for carrying

on abstract thinking.

2. A child is classified as if his mental impairment is caused

by brain injury, disease or accidents of development that preclude
normal intellectual growth.
3. The _theory states that all mental activities have in
common some of the general factors.
4. is the one that comes into play in dealing with
numbers, letter or any kind of symbolic material.

5. refers to the major kind of intellectual activity or

process, something that the organism does with information.
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6. The 'Army Beta' is a group intelligence test of .

7. Those abilities less affected by cultural condition are

the .

8. developed the first tests designed to measure IQ.

9. is characterized by the absence of overt activity and, in

many instances, of any conscious effort to think about the problem.

LET US SUM UP

Because intelligence can take many forms, defining it presents a

challenge to psychologists. One commonly accepted view is that
intelligence is the capacity understand the world, think rationally, and
use resources effectively when faced with challenges. Through this unit,
we have seen some of the major theories include Spearman's two-factor
theory, Thorndike's multifactor theory, Thurstone's primary mental
abilities, Guilford's structure of intellect model commonly known as Sl
model, and Cattell's crystallized and fluid intelligence. The notion of IQ,
its measurement the role of aptitude and achievement tests were
revisited. Finally the concept of creativity was discussed.
KEYWORDS

Abstract thinking Mentally defective Mentally subnormal

Fluid intelligence Content Crystallized Intelligence

Operation Product General factors
Specific factors incubation Preparation

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Terman 2. Mentally defective 3. Two-factor

4. Abstract intelligence 5. Operation 6. Performance

7. Fluid intelligence 8. Sir Francis Galton 9. Incubations

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. Explain the nature of intelligence

2. Define the intelligence

3. Describe the mentally subnormal and the gifted

4. Discuss about Theories of intelligence

5. Explain the Structured intellect model of Intelligence.

6. Explain the nature of different Types of intelligence tests

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7. List out the intelligence tests commonly used

8. Define Creativity

9. Describe the process of creativity.

GLOSSARY
Abstract Thinking – The ability to think about objects, principles, and
ideas that are not physically present.
Creativity – The ability to make or produce new things using skill or
imagination.
Crystalised Intelligence – It involves the ability to deduce secondary
relational abstractions by applying previously learned primary relational
abstractions.
Fluid Intelligence – It involves being able to think and reason abstractly
and solve problems.
Mental Sub normality – Incomplete or insufficient general development
of the mental capacities.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction

to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.

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Unit 15
PERSONALITY
STRUCTURE

Overview

Objectives
15.1 Introduction

15.2 Determinants of Personality

15.3 Psychodynamic Theories

15.4 Behavioural Theories

15.5 Humanistic Theories

15.6 Biological Theories

15.7. Assessment of Personality

Let us sum up
Check Your Progress
Keywords
Answers to check your progress
Glossary
Model Questions
Suggested Readings

OVERVIEW

It is obvious that we all frequently use the term personality, but many
people seem hard pressed to define it. In general we can understand the
personality by saying something about 'charm', 'charisma' or 'style'. We
all make personality judgments about the people we know. A major part
of coming to understand ourselves, is developing a sense of what our
personality characteristics are. This unit will provide the clear meaning of
one’s personality and its determinants. Also, this unit discuss about the
different theories of personality and the methods of measuring it.

OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you will be able to

• understand the meaning of personality

• know the various determinants of personality.

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 • analyse the psychodynamic theories and its key contributions.
• evaluate the behavioural theories of personality.

• discriminate the humanistic theories from the biological theories.

15.1 INTRODUCTION

The word personality is derived from the Latin term 'persona” means
'mask' personality is the effect of this mask on the others. Many people
confuse the term personality with character. Normally by the term
personality we mean the person is friendly, outgoing and attractive
thereby we referring to the good character in our culture (or) the physical
qualities of the person.
Psychologists use a large number of terms to explain personality. It is a
person's unique and relatively stable behaviour patterns. In other words,
personality refers to the consistency in which you are, have been and
will become. It also refers to the special blend of talents, attitudes,
values, hopes, loves, hates and habits that makes each of us a unique
person. Personality can be understood by identifying traits, by probing
the mental conflicts and dynamics, by noting the effects of prior learning
and situations and by knowing how people perceive themselves. Watson
defined personality as the sum of activities that can be discovered by
actual observations over a long period of time to give reliable information
about an individual. In contrast Allport defined the personality as the
dynamic organization within the individual of these psychophysical
systems that determine the individual's unique adjustment to the
environment.
The characteristics of the ‘personality’ have been derived as follows:

1. Personality is the combination of physical and mental

qualities, ideals, aspirations, ambitions, aptitudes and interests
that characterize a person (i.e. the inner sources of behaviour)

2. Personality is the structure and pattern of the total behaviour of

the individual (i.e. the characteristic behaviour).
3. Personality is the social and psychological impact one makes
on others (i.e. the consequences of behaviour)

4. Personality is self-consciousness.

5. It is dynamic and through and through social.

6. It is unique, organized and functions, as a whole.

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 7. Personality is the product of heredity and environment.

15.2 DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

Let us examine some of the determinants of personality. Personality

development is because of the interaction of the following
determinants biological factors, physical environment psychological
factors, familial determinants, social class and cultural factors. Let us
discuss about these determinants one by one

a) Biological Factors Personality development is influenced by many

biological factors. Among the biological factors the two major factors are
includes genetics and hormones.
The role of genetics in the development of personality has been studied
with twins. The studies show that temperament is mostly determined by
the genetics. Temperament may be defined as the "characteristic
phenomena of an individual's nature, including his susceptibility to
emotional stimulations, his customary strength and speed of response
and the quality of this prevailing mood, and all the peculiarities of
fluctuation and intensity of mood. It has been suggested that the
introversion - extraversion may be the most genetically influenced
personality traits. Introverts are defined as quiet, retiring, introspective,
and not very socially active. Extraverts, on the other hand, are
characterized as being outgoing, impulsive, and uninhibited, having
many social contacts, and frequently taking art in-group activities.
The secretion of the endocrine gland hormones also influences the
behaviour. For example, when the thyroid gland is overactive the person
becomes irritable, restless and hyperactive and when it become under
active the person becomes dull and sluggish. Similarly, the two key
hormones, androgen and estrogen, affect not only the biological sexual
orientation but also the psychological assumption of sex roles.
Aggression and maternalism are two types of behaviour that are affected
by these hormones. Androgen levels correlate positively with aggressive
tendencies, ad estrogens levels correlate positively with maternalistic
tendencies.
b) Physical Environment

It has been widely accepted that climate and ions of the physical
environment are also influencing behaviour and personality. We are
familiar with the stereotype that individuals living in a warm climate are
much more impulsive and tempestuous than persons living in a cold

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climate. The phrase hot tempered illustrates this common association
between heat and anger. A great deal of psychological research has
explored whether there is a relationship between environmental
temperature and aggression. The findings show that hot temperatures
increase aggression tendencies, and this is documented in the fact that
hotter regions of the world are associated with more aggression.
Aggressions, including murders, rapes, assaults, riots, and wife
beatings, all other more frequently given augmented temperature.

Studies show that negative and positive ions in the air also affect
aggression and moods, as do high ozone levels. For example, The
onset of global winds like the Santa Ana in California correlates the
increased the crime, suicide, and industrial accidents. It has been
suggested that some individuals are particularly sensitive to increased
ions and respond with tension and irritability.
c) Psychological Factors

The psychological factors like self-concept and Intelligence have

significant influence on the development of personality.
A person's self-concept is the person's view of his or her own strengths
and weaknesses. Self-concept becomes the core of the personality. A
positive self-concept, initiated in the childhood period and nurtured
throughout the developmental span, enables an individual to meet each
challenge as it comes and to deal with it appropriately. A person with a
strong sense of self recognizes that he or she has a wide range of
capabilities, yet also acknowledges limitations. Such a person realizes
that it is acceptable to work within the framework of those limitations. A
person whose self-evaluations are negative tends to experience
consistently high levels of anxiety, which in turn lead to less positive
interactions with peers. An individual with a poor self-concept feels
sense of powerlessness to change roles, thus perpetuating a cycle of
feeling victimized.
Intelligence, the ability to reason through complex situations has many
areas of development and behaviour, such as talking, memory,
understanding and playing new concepts, and creativity. It seems that
children who learn rapidly and who can apply their knowledge develop a
more positive self-concept as a result of praise received from parents
and teachers than children who are poor achievers.

d) Familial Determinants

The family unit is the chief which mould of personality. The nature of the
family relationships that develop is crucial to each family member. It is
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within the family system that identification occurs, a major factor in
personality development. Parents serve as the models for the
identification. A father can facilitate the development of masculinity in a
son by rewarding masculine activities and by withholding rewards for
feminine activities.

Another aspect of familial determinant is the child rearing practice. In the

democratic child rearing practice there is an opportunity for freedom,
respect for individuality and rational decisions. In the democratic child
rearing practice the children become more active socially out going,
more original and constructive than the children reared by the autocratic
childrearing practice. It has been found that lack of warmth and love of
children lead to delinquency, drug abuse and mutual parent-child
rejection.
e) Social Class

All societies are to some extent stratified. Social stratification is a

relatively stable, hierarchical arrangement of groups of individuals, with
the "higher" classes within this hierarchy receiving more social and
material rewards than the "over" classes. Individuals within a class
typically perform similar occupations and face the same life conditions
and problems. As a result, individuals can be assigned to a social class
by using indexes such as education, occupation, income, and prestige.
When people change from one social cuss to another, their life styles,
language, and even personality attributes will also change.
f) Cultural Factors

Personality differences between nations and ethnic groups are popularly

recognized; there are stereotypes that all the people within a particular
group or nations are believed to follow. These differences are ascribed
as disparities in the culture. Culture involves consistency in the actions
of a large number of people than does social class. Our behaviour and
personality is also shaped by culture. Culture regulates our lives at every
term. From birth to death culture exerts constant pressure upon us to
follow certain types of behaviours. From the culture we learn the value
and norms. Our religion and the education have also influence the
personality development.
15.3 PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

Psychodynamic theories include all the diverse theories descended from

the work of Sigmund Freud that focus on unconscious mental forces.
Freud inspired many brilliant scholars who followed in his intellectual
footsteps. Some of these followers simply refined and updated Freud's
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theory. Others veered off in new directions and established independent,
albeit related, schools of thought. Today, the psychodynamic umbrella
covers a large collection of related theories. In this section, some of the
ideas of Sigmund Freud two of his and the ideas Carl Jung and Alfred
Adler have been discusses.

I. Freud's psychoanalytic theory

Freud was a physician specializing in neurology when he began his

medical practice in Vienna toward the end of the 19th century. Like other
neurologists in his era, he often treated people troubled by nervous
problems such as irrational fears, obsessions and anxieties. Eventually
he devoted himself to the treatment of mental disorders using an
innovative procedure he developed, called the psychoanalysis, which
required lengthy verbal interactions in which Freud probed deeply into
patient’s lives. Decades of experience with his patients provided much of
the inspiration for Freud's theory of personality.
Although Freud's theory gradually gained prominence, most of Freud's
contemporaries were uncomfortable with the theory, for at least three
reasons. First, he argued that unconscious forces govern human
behaviour. This idea was disturbing because it suggested that people
are not masters of their own minds. Second, the claimed that childhood
experiences strongly determine adult personality. This notion distressed
people because it suggested that people are not masters of their own
destinies. Third, he said that individual's personalities are shaped by
how they cope with their sexual urges. This assertion offended the
conservative, Victorian values of his time. Thus, Freud endured a great
deal of criticism, condemnation, and outright ridicule, even after his work
began to attract more favourable attention.
Structure of Personality

Freud divided personality structure into three components: the id, the
ego, and the superego. He saw a person's behaviour as the outcome of
interactions among these three components.
The id is the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates
according to the pleasure principle. Freud referred to the id as the
reservoir of psychic energy. By this he meant that the id houses the raw
biological urges to eat, sleep, defecate, and copulate, and so on that
energize human behaviour. The id operates according to the pleasure
principle, which demands immediate gratification of its urges. The id

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engages in primary process thinking, which is primitive, illogical,
irrational and fantasy oriented.
The ego is the decision-making component of personality that operates
according to the reality principle. The ego mediates between the id, with
its forceful desires for immediate satisfaction, and the external social
world, with its expectations and norms regarding suitable behaviour. The
ego considers social realities society's norms, etiquette, rules and
customs in deciding how to behave. The ego is guided by the reality
principle, which seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until
appropriate outlets and situations can be found. In short, to stay out of
trouble, the ego often works to tame the unbridled desires of the id. As
Freud put it, the ego is "like a man on horseback, who has to hold in
check the superior strength of the horse".
In the long run, the ego wants to maximize gratification, just like the id.
However, the ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is
relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem solving. Thus,
the ego strives to avoid negative consequences from society and its
representatives (for example, punishment by parents or teachers) by
behaving "properly". It also attempts to achieve long range goals that
sometimes require putting off gratification.

While the ego concerns itself with practical realities, the superego is the
moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about
what represents right and wrong. Throughout their lives, but, especially
during childhood, the individuals receive training about what is good and
bad behaviour. Eventually they internalize many of these social norms.
This means that they truly accept certain moral principles, and then they
put pressure on themselves to live up to these standards. The superego
emerges out of the ego at around 3 to 5 years of age. In some people,
the superego can become irrationally demanding in its striving for moral
perfection. Such people are plagued by excessive guilt.
According to Freud, the id, ego, and superego are distributed across
three levels of awareness. He contrasted the unconscious with the
conscious and preconscious. The conscious consists of whatever one is
aware of at a particular point in time. For example, at this moment your
conscious may include the current train of thought in this text and a dim
awareness in the back of your mind that your eyes are getting tired and
you're beginning to get hungry. The preconscious contains material just
beneath the surface of awareness that can be easily retrieved.
Examples might include your middle name, what you had for supper last
night, or an argument you had with a friend yesterday. The unconscious
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contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the
surface of conscious awareness, but that nonetheless exert great
influence on one's behaviour. Examples of material that might be found
in your unconscious would include a forgotten trauma from childhood or
hidden feeling of hostility toward a parent.

Conflict and Defence Mechanisms

Freud assumed that behaviour is the outcome of an ongoing series of

internal conflicts. Internal battles among the id, ego, and superego are
routine. Why? Because the id wants to gratify its urges immediately, but
the norms of civilized society frequently dictate otherwise. For example,
your id might feel an urge to clobber a co-worker who constantly irritates
you. However, the society frowns on such behaviour, so your ego would
try to hold this urge in check, and you would find yourself in a conflict.
You may be experiencing conflict at this very moment. In Freudian
terms, you id may be secretly urging you to abandon reading this
chapter so you weighing this appealing option against your society
induced need to excel in school.

Freud believed that conflicts dominate people's lives. He asserted that

individuals careen from one conflict to another. The following scenario
provides a fanciful illustration of how the three components of
personality interact to create constant conflicts. Freud believed that
conflicts centering on sexual and aggressive impulses are especially
likely to have far reaching consequences. Why did he emphasize sex
and aggression? Two reasons were prominent in his thinking. First,
Freud thought that sex and aggression are subject to more complex and
ambiguous social controls, than other basic motives. The norms
governing sexual and aggressive behaviour are subtle, and people
often get mixed messages about what is appropriate. Thus, he believed
that these drives are the source of much confusion.

Second, Freud noted that the sexual and aggressive drives are thwarted
more regularly than other basic biological urges. Think about it: If you
get hungry or thirsty, you can simply head for a nearby vending machine
or a drinking fountain. But if a department store clerk infuriates you, you
aren't socially acceptable. Likewise, when you see an attractive person
who inspires lustful urges, you don't normally walk up and propose a
tryst in a nearby broom closet. There is nothing comparable to vending
machines or drinking fountains for the satisfaction of sexual and
aggressive urges. Thus, Freud ascribed great importance to these
needs because social norms dictate that they are routinely frustrated
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Most psychic conflicts are trivial and are quickly resolved one way or the
other. Occasionally, however, a conflict will linger for days, months, and
even years, creating internal tension. Indeed, Freud believed that
lingering conflicts rooted in childhood experiences because most
personality disturbances, More often than not, these prolonged and
troublesome conflicts involve sexual and aggressive impulses that
society wants to tame. These conflicts are often played out entirely in the
unconscious. Although you may not be aware of these unconscious
battles, they can produce anxiety that slips to the surface of conscious
awareness. This anxiety is attributable to your ego worrying about the id
getting out of control and doing something terrible.

The arousal of anxiety is a crucial event in Freud's theory of personality

functioning. Anxiety is distressing, so people try to rid themselves of this
unpleasant emotion any way they can. This effort to ward off anxiety
often involves the use of defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms
are largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from painful
emotions such as anxiety and guilt. Typically, they are the mental
maneuvers that work through self-deception. A common example is
rationalization, which involves creating false but plausible excuses to
justify unacceptable behaviour. You would be rationalizing if, after
cheating someone in a business transaction, you tried to reduce your
guilt by explaining that everyone does it."
Repression is the most basic and widely used defense mechanism.
Repression involves keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in
the unconscious. People tend to repress desires that make them feel
guilty, conflicts that make them anxious, and memories that are painful.
Repression is "motivated forgetting." If you forget a dental appointment
or the name of someone you don't like, repression may be at work.
Self-deception can also be seen in the mechanisms of projection and
displacement. Projection involves attributing one's own thoughts,
feelings, or motives to another. For example, if your lust for a co-worker
makes you feel guilty, you might attribute any latent sexual tension
between the two of you to the other person's desire to seduce you.
Displacement involves diverting emotional feelings usually anger from
their original source to a substitute target. If your boss gives you a hard
time at work and you come home and slam the door, kick the dog, and
scream at your spouse, you are displacing your anger onto irrelevant
targets. Unfortunately, social constraints often force people to hold back
their anger until they end up lashing out at the people they love the
most.

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Other prominent defense mechanisms include reaction formation,
regression, and identification. Reaction formation involves behaving in a
way that is exactly the opposite of one's true feelings. Guilt about sexual
desires often leads to reaction formation. Freud theorized that many
males who ridicule homosexual impulses. The telltale sign of reaction
formation is the exaggerated quality of the opposite behaviour.

Regression involves a reversion to immature patterns of behaviour.

When anxious about their self-worth, some adults respond with childish
boasting and bragging that as opposed to subtle efforts to impress
others. For example, a fired executive having ridiculous statements
about his incomparable talents and achievements. Such bragging is
regressive when it is marked by massive exaggerations that anyone can
see through.
Identification involves bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or
real alliance with some person group. For example, youngsters often
shore up precarious feelings of self-worth by identifying with rock stars,
movies stars, or famous athletes. Adults may join exclusive country
clubs or civic organizations with which they identify. According to Freud,
everyone uses defense mechanisms to some extent. They become
problematic only when a person depends on them excessively. The
seeds for psychological disorders are sown when defenses led to
wholesale distortion of reality.
Development: Psychosexual stages

Freud made the startling assertion that the foundations of an individual's

personality is laid down by the tender age of 5 To shed light on these
crucial early years, Freud formulated a stage theory of development. He
emphasized how young children deal with their immature, but powerful,
sexual urges that he used the term, “sexual” in a general way to refer to
many urges for physical pleasure, not just the urge to copulate.
According to Freud, these sexual urges shift in focus as children
progress from one stage to another. Indeed, the names for the stages
including oral, anal, genital, and so on are based on where children are
focusing their erotic energy at the time. Thus, psychosexual stages are
developmental periods with a characteristic sexual focus that leave their
mark on adult personality.
Freud theorized that each psychosexual stage has its own unique
developmental challenges or tasks.
Definition Mechanisms, with examples
Definition Example
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 Repression involves A traumatized soldier has no
keeping distressing thoughts and recollection of the details of a
feelings buried in the unconscious. close brush with death.
A woman who dislikes her
Projection involves attributing
boss things she likes her boss
one's lawn thoughts, feeling, or but feels that the boss doesn't
motives to another person. like her.
Displacement involves After a parental scolding, a
diverting emotional feelings young girl takes her anger out
on her little brother.
(usually anger) from their original
source to a substitute target.
Reaction formation involves A parent who unconsciously
behaving in a way that is exactly resents a child spoils the child
the opposite of one's true feelings. with outlandish gifts.
Regression involves a reversion An adult has a temper tantrum
to immature patterns of behaviour. when he doesn't get his way.
Rationalization involves the A student watches TV instead
creation of false but plausible of studying, saying that
excuses to justify unacceptable "additional study wouldn't do
behaviour any good anyway."
Identification involves bolstering An insecure young man joins a
self-esteem by forming an fraternity to boost his self-
imaginary or real alliance with esteem.
some person or group

Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

Stage Approximat Erotic focus Key tasks and

e ages experiences

Oral 0-1 Mouth (sucking, biting) Weaning (from breast

or bottle)

Anal 2-3 Anus (expelling or Toilet training

retaining feces)

Phallic 4-5 Genitals Identifying with adult role

(masturbating) models; coping with
Oedipal crisis

Latency 6 - 12 None (sexually Expanding social contacts

repressed

Genital Puberty on Genitals (being Establishing intimate

relationships; contributing
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 ward sexually intimate) to society through
working.

The way these challenges are handed supposedly shapes the

personality. The notion of fixation plays an important role in this process.
Fixation is a failure to move forward from one stage to another as
expected. Essentially, the child's development stalls for awhile. Fixation
is caused by excessive gratification of needs at a particular stage or by
excessive frustration of those needs. Either way, fixations left over from
childhood affect adult personality. Generally, fixation leads to an
overemphasis on the psychosexual needs that were prominent during
the fixated stage. Freud described a series of five psychosexual stages.
Let's examine some of the major features of each stage.
Oral stage

This stage usually encompasses the first year of life. During this stage
the main source of erotic stimulation is the mouth in biting, sucking,
chewing, and so on. How caretakers handle the child's feeding
experiences is supposed to be crucial to subsequent development.
Freud attributed considerable importance to the manner in which the
child is weaned from the breast or the bottle. According to Freud, fixation
at the oral stage could form the basis for obsessive eating or smoking
later in life which is among many other things.
Anal Stage

in their second year, children supposedly get their erotic pleasure from
their bowel movements, through either the expulsion or retention of the
feces. The crucial event at this time involves toilet training, which
represents society's first systematic effort to regulate the child's
biological urges. Severely punitive toilet training is thought to lead to a
variety of possible outcomes. For example, excessive punishment might
produce a latent feeling of hostility toward the "trainer," who usually is
the mother. This hostility might generalize to women in general. Another
possibility is that heavy reliance on punitive measures might lead to an
association between genital concerns and the anxiety derived from
severe toilet training could evolve into anxiety about sexual activities
later in life.

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Phallic stage

Around age 4, the genitals become the focus for the child's erotic
energy, largely through self-stimulation. During this pivotal stage, the
Oedipal complex emerges. Little boys develop an erotically tinged
preference for their mother. They also feel hostility toward their father,
whom they view as a competitor for mom's affection. Little girls develop
a special attachment to their father. At about the same time, they learn
that their genitals are very different from those of little boys, and they
supposedly develop penis envy. According to Freud, girls felt hostile
toward their mother because they blame her for their anatomical
“deficiency."
To summarize, in the Oedipal complex children manifest erotically tinged
desires for their other gender parent, accompanied by feelings of
hostility toward their same gender parent. The name for this syndrome
was taken from the Greek myth of Oedipus, who was separated from his
parents at birth. Not knowing the identity of his real parents, he
inadvertently killed his father and married his mother.
According to Freud, the way parents and children deal with the sexual
and aggressive conflicts inherent in the Oedipal complex is of paramount
importance. The child has to resolve the dilemma by giving Lip the
sexual longings for the other-sex parent and the hostility toward the
same-sex parent. Healthy psychosexual development is supposed to
hinge on the resolution of the Oedipal conflict. Why? Because continued
hostile relations with the same-sex parent may prevent the child from
identifying, Freudian theory predicts that many aspects of the child's
development won't progress as they should.
Latency and Genital Stage

Freud believed that from age 6 through puberty, the child's sexuality is
suppressed and it becomes "latent." Important events during this latency
stage center on expanding social contacts beyond the family. With the
advent of puberty the child evolves into the genital stage. Sexual urges
reappear and focus on the genital once again. At this point the sexual
energy is normally channeled toward peers of the other sex, rather than
toward oneself, as in the phallic stage.
In arguing that the early years shape personality Freud did not mean
that personality development comes to an abrupt halt in middle
childhood. However, he did believe that the foundation for one's adult
personality is solidly entrenched by this time. He maintained that future

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developments are rooted in early, formative experiences and that
significant conflicts in later years are replays of crises from childhood.
In fact, Freud believed that unconscious sexual conflicts rooted in
childhood experiences cause, the most personality disturbances. His
steadfast belief in the psychosexual origins of psychological disorders
eventually led to bitter theoretical disputes with two of his most brilliant
colleagues: Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Jung and Adler both argued that
Freud overemphasized sexuality. Freud summarily rejected their ideas,
and the other two theorists felt compelled to go their own way,
developing their own psychodynamic theories of personality. . Jung's
Analytical Psychology Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung called his new
approach analytical psychology to differentiate it from Freud's
psychoanalytic theory. Like Freud, Jung emphasized the unconscious
determinants of personality. However, he proposed that the unconscious
consists of two layers. The first layer called the personal unconscious is
essentially the same as Freud's version of the unconscious. The
personal unconscious houses material that is not within one's conscious
awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten. In addition,
Jung, theorized the existence of a deeper layer he called the collective
unconscious. The collective unconscious is a storehouse of latent
memory, traces the inherited from people's ancestral past that is shared
with the entire human race. Jung called these ancestral memories
archetypes. They are not memories of actual, personal experiences.
Instead, archetypes are emotionally charged images and thought forms
that have universal meaning. These archetypal images and ideas show
up frequently in dreams and are often manifested in a culture's use of
symbols in art, literature, and religion. Jung felt that an understanding of
archetypal symbols helped him make sense of his patients' dreams. This
was of great concern to him because he depended extensively on dream
analysis in his treatment of patients.
Jung's unusual ideas about the collective unconscious had little impact
on the mainstream of thinking in psychology. Their influence was felt
more in other fields, such as anthropology, philosophy, art, and religious
studies. However, many of Jung's other ideas have been incorporated
into the mainstream of psychology. For instance, Jung was the first to
describe the introverted (inner directed) and extraverted (outer-directed)
personality types. Introverts tend to be preoccupied with the internal
world of their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. They generally
are contemplative and aloof. In contrast, extraverts tend to be interested
in the external world of people and things. They're more likely to be
outgoing, talkative, and friendly, instead of reclusive.
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III. Adler's Individual Psychology

Alfred Adler was a charter member of Freud's inner circle the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society. However, he soon began to develop his sown
theory of personality, which he christened individual psychology. Adler
argued that the foremost human drive is not sexuality, but a striving for
superiority. Adler viewed striving for superiority as a universal drive to
adapt, improve oneself, and master life's challenges. He noted that
young children understandably feel weak and helpless in comparison to
more competent older children and adults. These early inferiority
feelings supposedly motivated the individuals to acquire new skills and
develop new talents.
Adler asserted that everyone has to work to overcome some feelings of
inferiority. Compensation involves efforts to overcome imagined or real
inferiorities by developing one's abilities. Adler believed that
compensation is entirely normal. However, in some people inferiority
feelings can become excessive, resulting in what is widely known today
as an inferiority complex foalinanmirambiamendinganemas! Alla-tharinht
that either parental pampering or parental neglect or actual physical
handicaps could cause an inferiority problem. Thus, he agreed with
Freud on the importance of early childhood, although he focused on
different aspects of parent-child relations. Adier explained personality
disturburces by nothing that an inferiority complex can distort the normal
process of striving for superiority. He maintained that some people
engage in overcompensation in order to conceal, even from themseives,
their feelings of inferiority. Instead of working to master life's challenges,
people with an inferiority complex work to achieve status, gain power
over others, and acquire the trappings of success like fancy clothes,
impressive cars, or whatever looks important to them; they tend to flaunt
their success in an effort to cover up their underlying inferiority complex.
The problem is that such people engage in unconscious self-deception,
worrying more about appearances than reality.
Adler’s theory stressed the social context of personality development.
For instance, it was Adler who first focused attention on the possible
importance of birth order as a factor governing personality. He noted that
firstborns, second children, and later born children enter varied home
environments and are treated differently by parents and that these
experiences are likely to affect their personality. For example, he
hypothesized that only children are often spoiled by excessive attention
from parents and that firstborns are often problem children because they
become upset when they're "dethroned" by a second child.

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Adler's theory stimulated hundreds of studies on the effects of birth order
but these studies generally failed to support his hypotheses and did not
uncover any reliable correlations, between birth order and personality. In
recent years, Frank Sulloway has argued persuasively that birth order
does have an impact on personality.

Sulloway's reformulated hypotheses focus on how the Big Five traits are
shaped by competition among siblings as they struggle to find a "niche"
in their family environments. For example, he hypothesizes that
firstborns should be more conscientious but less agreeable and open to
experience than later-borns. In light of these personality patterns, he
further speculates that firstborns more tend to be conventional and
achievement oriented, whereas later-boms tend to be liberal and
rebellious. To evaluate his hypotheses, Sulloway reexamined decades
of research on birth order. After eliminating many studies, that failed to
control the important confounding variables, such as social class and
family size, he concluded that the results of the remaining, well-
controlled studies provided impressive evidence in favour of his
hypotheses. Some subsequent studies have provided additional support
for Sulloway's analyses but others have not. More studies will be needed
as research on birth order is enjoying a bit of a renaissance.
Evaluating Psychodynamic Theories

The psychodynamic approach has given us a number of far-reaching

theories of personality. These theories yielded some bold new insights
for their time. Psychodynamic theory and research have demonstrated
(1) that unconscious forces can influence behaviour, (2) that internal
conflict often plays a key role in generating psychological distress, (3)
that early childhood experiences can exert considerable influence over
adult personality, and (4) that people do rely on defense mechanisms to
reduce their experience of unpleasant emotions.

In a more negative vein, psychodynamic formulations have been

criticized on several grounds, including the following:
1. Poor testability: Scientific investigations require testable
hypotheses. Psychodynamic ideas have often been too vague to permit
a clear scientific test. Concepts such as the superego, the preconscious,
and collective unconscious are difficult to measure.

2. Inadequate evidence: The empirical evidence on psychodynamic

theories has often been characterized as inadequate. The approach
depends too much on the case studies, in which it is easy for clinicians
to see what they expect to see based on theory. Recent reexaminations

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of Freud's own clinical work suggest that he sometimes distorted him
patients' case histories to mesh with his theory (Esterson, 1993;
Sulloway, 1991) and that there are the substantial disparity between
Freud's writings and his actual therapeutic methods (Lynn & Vaillant,
1998). Insofar as researchers have accumulated evidence on
psychodynamic theories, it has provided only modest support for the
central hypotheses (Fishger & Greenberg, 1985, 1996; Westen &
Gabbard, 1999).

3. Sexism: Many critics have argued that psychodynamic theories

harbor a bias against women. Freud believed that females' penis envy
made them feel inferior to males. He also thought that females tended to
develop weaker superego and to be more prone to neurosis than males.
He dismissed female patients' reports of sexual molestation during
childhood as mere fantasies. Admittedly, sexism isn't unique to Freudian
theories, and the sex bias in modern psychodynamic theories that has
been reduced to some degree. But the psychodynamic approach has
generally provided a rather male centered viewpoint.
It's easy to ridicule Freud for concepts such as penis envy and to point to
ideas that have turned out to be wrong. Remember, though, that Freud,
Jung, and Adler began to fashion their theories over a century ago. It is
not entirely fair to compare these theories to other models that are only a
decade old. That's like asking the Wright brothers to race the Concorde.
Freud and his psychodynamic colleagues deserve great credit for
breaking new ground. Standing at a distance a century later, we have to
be impressed by the extraordinary impact that psychodynamic theory
has had on modern thought. No other theoretical perspective is
psychology has been as influential except for the one we turn to next
behaviourism.
15.4 BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES

Behaviourism is a theoretical orientation based on the premise that

scientific psychology should study observable behaviour. Behaviourism
has been a major school of thought in psychology since 1913, when
John B. Watson published an influential article. Watson argued that, the
psychology should abandon its earlier focus on the mind and mental
processes and focus exclusively on overt behaviour. He contended that
psychology could not study mental processes in a scientific manner
because they are private and not accessible to outside observation.
It completely rejecting mental processes as a suitable subject for
scientific study, Watson took an extreme position that is no longer
dominant among modern behaviourists. Nonetheless, his influence was
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enormous, as psychology did shift its primary focus from the study of the
mind to the study of behaviour.
The behaviorists have shown little interest in internal personality
structures similar to Freud's id, ego and superego, because such
structures can't be observed. They prefer to think in terms of "response
tendencies," They prefer to think in terms of "response tendencies",
which can be observed. Thus, the most behaviorists view an individual's
personality as a collection of response tendencies that are tied to
various stimulus situations. A specific situation may be associated with a
number of response tendencies that vary in strength, depending on an
individual's past experience.
Although behaviourists have shown relatively little interest in personality
structure, they have focused extensively on personality development.
They explain development the same way they explain everything else
through learning. Specifically, they focus on how children's response
tendencies are shaped through certain classical conditioning, that
include operant conditioning, and observational learning. Let's look at
these processes.

1. Pavlov's Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus

acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by
another stimulus. This process was first described back in 1903 by
Ivan Pavlov.
The Conditioned Reflex

Pavlov (1906) was studying digestive processes in dogs when he

discovered that the dogs could be trained to salivate in response to the
sound of a tone. What was so significant about a dog salivating when a
tone was rung? The key was that the tone started out as a neutral
stimulus; that is, originally it did not produce the response of salivation.
However, Pavlov managed to change that by pairing the tone with a
stimulus that did produce the salivation response. Through this process,
the tone acquired the capacity to trigger the response of salivation. What
Pavlov had demonstrated was how learned reflexes are acquired.

Pavlov's discovery came to be called the conditioned reflex. Classically

conditioned responses are viewed as reflexes because most of them are
relatively involuntary. Responses that are a product of classical
conditioning are said to be elicited. This word is meant to convey the
idea that these responses are triggered automatically.

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Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life

What is the role of classical conditioning in shaping personality? in

everyday life? Among other things, it contributes to the acquisition of
emotional responses, such as anxieties, fears, and phobias. This is a
relatively small but important class of responses, as maladaptive
emotional reactions underlie many adjustment problems. For example,
on middle-aged woman reported being troubled by a bridge phobia so
severe that she couldn't drive on interstate highways because of all the
viaducts she would have to cross. She was able to pinpoint the source of
her phobia. Many years before, when her family would drive to visit her
grandmother, they had to cross a little-used, rickety, dilapidated bridge
out in the countryside. Her father, in a misguided attempt at humour,
made a major production out of these crossings. He would stop short of
the bridge and carry on about the enormous danger of the crossing.
Obviously, he thought the bridge was safe or he wouldn't have driven
across it. However, the naïve young girl was terrified by her father's
scare tactics, and the bridge became a conditioned stimulus eliciting
great fear. Unfortunately, the fear spilled over to all bridges, and 40
years later she was still carrying the burden of this phobia. Although a
number of processes that can cause phobias, it is clear that the classical
conditioning is responsible for many of our irrational fears.

II. Skinner's Operant Conditioning

Even Pavlov recognized that classical conditioning is not the only form of
conditioning. Classical conditioning best explains reflexive responding
controlled by stimuli that precede the response. However, both animals
and humans make many responses that don't fit this description.
Consider the response you are engaging in right now studying. It is
definitely not a reflex (life might be easier if it were). The stimuli that
govern it (exams and grades) do not precede it. Instead, your studying
response is mainly influenced by events that follow it specifically its
consequences.
This kind of learning is called operant conditioning. Operant conditioning
is a form of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled
by their consequences. Operant conditioning probably governs a larger
share of human behaviour than classical conditioning, since most human
responses are voluntary rather than reflexive. Because they are
voluntary, operant responses are said to be emitted rather than elicited.
The study of operant conditioning was led by B.F. Skinner, a Harvard
University psychologist who spent most of his career studying simple
responses made by laboratory rats and pigeons. The fundamental
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principle of operant conditioning is uncommonly simple. Skinner
demonstrated that organisms tend to repeat those responses that are
followed by favourable consequences, and they tend not to repeat those
responses that are followed by neutral or unfavourable consequences.
In Skinners' scheme, favourable, neutral and the unfavourable
consequences that involve reinforcement, extinction, and punishment,
respectively. We'll look at each of these concepts in turn.

The Power of Reinforcement

According to Skinner, reinforcement can occur in two ways, which he

called positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive
reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened (increases in
frequency) because it is followed by the arrival of a (presumably)
pleasant stimulus. Positive reinforcement is roughly synonymous with
the concept of reward. Notice, however, that reinforcement is defined
after the fact, in terms of its effect on behaviour. Why? Because
reinforcement is subjective. Something that serves, as a reinforcer for
one person may not function as a reinforce for the other. For example,
peer approval is a potent reinforcer for most people, but not all.
Positive reinforcement influences personality development in a
straightforward way. Responses followed by pleasant outcomes are
strengthened and tend to become habitual patterns of behaviour. For
example, a youngster might clown around in class and gain appreciative
comments and smiles from schoolmates. This social approval will
probably reinforce clowning-around behaviour. If such behaviour is
reinforced with some regularity, it will gradually become an integral
element of the youth's personality. Similarly, whether or not a youngster
develops traits such as independence, assertiveness, or selfishness
depends on whether the child is reinforced for such behaviours by
parents and by other influential persons.

Negative reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened

(increases in frequency) because it is followed by the removal of a
(presumably) unpleasant stimulus. Don't let the word negative here
confuse you. Negative reinforcement in reinforcement. Like positive
reinforcement, it strengthens a response. However, this strengthening
occurs because the response gets rid of an aversive stimulus. Consider
a few examples: You rush home in the winter to get out of the cold. You
clean your house to get rid of a mess. Parents give in to their child's
begging to halt his whining.

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Extinction and Punishment

Like the effects of classical conditioning, the effects of operant

conditioning may not last forever. In both types of conditioning, extinction
refers to the gradual weakening and disappearance of a response. In
operant conditioning, extinction begins when a previously reinforced
response stops producing positive consequences, As extinction
progresses, the response typically becomes less and less frequent and
eventually disappears.

Thus, the response tendencies that make up one's personality are not
necessarily permanent. For example, the youngster who found that his
classmates reinforced clowning in grade school and that, might find that
his attempts at comedy earn nothing but indifferent stares in high school.
This termination of reinforcement would probably lead to the gradual
extinction of the clowning around behaviour. How quickly an operant
response extinguishes depends on many factors in the person's earlier
reinforcement history
Some responses may be weakened by punishment. In Skinner's
scheme, punishment occurs when a response is weakened (decreases
in frequency) because it is followed by the arrival of a (presumably)
unpleasant stimulus. The concept of punishment in operant conditioning
confuses many students on two counts. First, it is often mixed up with
negative reinforcernent because both involve aversive stimuli. Please
note, however, that they are altogether different events with opposite
outcomes! In negative reinforcement, a response leads to the removal of
something aversive, and this response is strengthened, in punishment, a
response leads to the arrival of something aversive, and this response
tends to be weakened.

The second source of confusion involves viewing punishment as only a

disciplinary procedure used by parents, teachers, and other authority
figures. In the operant model, punishment occurs whenever a response
leads to negative consequences. Defined in this way, the concept goes
far beyond the actions such as parents spanking children or teachers
handing out detentions. For example, if you wear a new outfit and your
friends make fun of it and hurt your feelings, your behaviour has been
punished, and your tendency to wear this clothing will decline. Similarly,
if you go to a restaurant and have a horrible meal, in Skinner's
terminology your response has led to punishment
The impact of punishment on personality development is just the
opposite of reinforcement. Generally speaking, those patterns of
behaviour that lead to punishing that is, negative) consequences tend to
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be weakened. For instance, if your impulsive decisions always backfire,
your tendency to be impulsive should decline.
According to Skinner (1987), conditioning in humans operates much as it
does in the rats and pigeons, that he has studied in his laboratory.
Hence, he assumes that conditioning strengthens and weakens people's
response tendencies "mechanically" that is, without their conscious
participation. Like John Watson (1913) before him, Skinner asserted that
we can explain behaviour without being concerned about individuals'
mental processes.

Skinner's ideas continue to be influential, but his mechanical view of

conditioning has not gone unchallenged by other behaviourists.
Theorists such as Albert Bandura have developed somewhat different
behavioural models in which cognition plays a role. Cognition refers to
the thought processes that is involved in acquiring knowledge. In other
words, cognition is another name for the mental processes that
behaviourists have traditionally shown little interest in.
III. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura is one of several theorists who have added a cognitive

flavour to behaviorism since the 1960's. Bandura (1977), Walter Mischel
(1973), and Julian Rotter (1982) take issue with Skinner's view. They
point out that humans obviously are conscious, thinking, feeling beings.
Moreover, these theorists argue that in neglecting cognitive processes,
Skinner ignores the most distinctive and important feature of human
behaviour. Bandura and like-minded theorists call their modified brand of
behaviourism social learning theory.
Bandura agrees with the basic thrust of behaviorism in that he believes
that personality is largely shaped through learning. However, he
contends that conditioning is not a mechanical process in which people
are passive participants. Instead, he maintains that individuals actively
seek out and process information about their environment in order to
maximize their favourable outcomes.
Observational Learning

Bandura's foremost theoretical contribution has been his description of

observational learning. Observational learning occurs, when an
organism's responding is influenced by the observation of the others,
who are called models. Bandura does not view observational learning as
entirely separate from classical and operant conditioning. Instead, he
asserts that both classical and operant conditioning can take place
indirectly when one person observes another's condition.
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To illustrate, suppose you observe a friend behaving assertively with a
car salesman. Let's say that her assertiveness is reinforced by the
exceptionally good buy she gets on the car. Your own tendency to
behave assertively with salespeople might well be strengthened as a
result. Notice that the favourable consequences are experienced by your
friend, not you. Your friend's tendency to bargain the assertively should
be reinforced directly. But your tendency to bargain assertively may also
be reinforced indirectly.

The theories of Skinner and Pavlov make no allowance for this type of
indirect learning. After all, this observational learning requires that you
pay attention to your friend's behaviour, that you understand its
consequences, and that you store this information in memory.
Obviously, attention, understanding, information, and memory involve
cognition, which behaviourists used to ignore.
As social learning theory has been refined, it has become apparent that
some models are more influential than others (Bandura, 1986). Both
children and adults tend to imitate people they like or respect more so
than people they don't. People are also especially prone to imitate the
behaviour of those they consider attractive or powerful such as the
celebrities. In addition, imitation is more likely when individuals see
similarity between the model and themselves. Thus, children, imitate
same-gender role models somewhat more than other sex models.
Finally, as noted before, people are more likely to copy a model if they
see the model's behaviour leading to positive outcomes.
According to social learning theory, models have a great impact on
personality development. Children learn to be assertive, conscientious,
self-sufficient, dependable, easygoing, and so forth by observing others
behaving in these ways. Parents, teachers, relatives, siblings, and peers
serve as models for young children. Bandura and his colleagues have
done extensive research showing how models influence and
development of aggressiveness, gender roles, and moral standards in
children. Their research on modeling and aggression has been
particularly influential.

Self-Efficacy

Bandura believes that self-efficacy is a crucial element of personality.

Self efficacy is one's belief about one's ability to perform behaviours that
should lead to expected outcomes. When a person's self-efficacy is high,
he or she feels confident in executing the responses necessary, to earn
the reinforcers. When self-efficacy is low, the individual worries that the
necessary responses may be beyond her or his abilities. Perceptions of
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self-efficacy are subjective and specific to different kinds of tasks. For
instance, you might feel extremely confident about your ability to handle
difficult social situations but doubtful about your ability to handle
academic challenges. Although specific perceptions of self-efficacy
predict behaviour best, these perceptions are influenced by general
feelings of self-efficacy.

Perceptions of self-efficacy can influence which challenges people tackle

and how well they perform. Studies have found that feelings of great self
efficacy are associated with greater success in giving up smoking
greater adherence to an exercise regimen; more success in coping with
pain; greater persistence and effort in the academic pursuits higher
levels of academic performance enhanced performance in athletic
competition greater receptiveness to technological training, and higher
work related performance among many other things.
Evaluating Behavioural Theories

Behavioural theories are firmly rooted in empirical research rather than

clinical intuition. Pavlov's model has shed light on how conditioning can
account for people's sometimes troublesome emotional responses.
Skinner's work has demonstrated how personality is shaped by the
consequences of behaviour. Bandura's social learning theory has shown
how people's observations mold their characteristic behaviour.

Behaviourists, in particular Walter Mischel (1973, 1990) have also

provided the most thorough account of why people are only moderately
consistent in their behaviour. For example, a person who is shy is one
context might be quite outgoing in another. Other models of personality
largely ignore this inconsistency. The behaviourists have shown that,
this inconsistency occurs because of people who behave in ways they
think will lead to reinforcement in the situation at hand. In other words,
situational factors play a significant role in controlling behaviour.

Of course, each theoretical approach has its shortcomings, and the

behavioural approach is no exception. Major lines of criticism include the
following
1. Dilution of the behavioural approach: The behaviourists used to be
criticized because they neglected cognitive processes, which clearly are
important factors in human behaviour. The rise of social learning theory,
which focuses heavily on cognitive factors, blunted this criticism.
However, social learning theory undermines the foundation on which
behaviourism was built the idea that psychologists should study only

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observable behaviour. Thus, some critics complain that behavioural
theories aren't very behavioural anymore.
2. Overdependence on animal research: Many principles in
behavioural theories were discovered through research on animals.
Some critics, especially humanistic theorists argue that behaviourists
depend too much on animal research and that they indiscriminately
generalize from the behaviour of animals to the behaviour of humans.
15.5 HUMANISTIC THEORIES

Humanistic theory emerged in the 1950s as something of a backlash

against the behavioural and psychodynamic theories. The principal
charge hurled at these two models was that they were dehumanizing.
Freudian theory was criticized for its belief that primitive, animalistic
drives dominate behaviour. Behaviourism was criticized for its
preoccupation with the animal research. Critics argued that both schools
view people as helpless pawns controlled by their environment and their
past, with little capacity for self-direction. Many of these critics blended
into a loose alliance that came to be known as humanism because of its
exclusive interest in human behaviour. Humanism is a theoretical
orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially
their free will and their potential for personal growth. Humanistic
psychologists do not believe that, we can learn anything of significance
about the human condition from animal research.
Humanistic theorists take an optimistic view of human nature. In contrast
to most psychodynamic and behavioural theorists, humanistic theorists
believe (1) that human nature includes an innate drive toward personal
growth (2) that i actual experience. In contrast, if a person's self-concept
is reasonably accurate, it is said to be congruent with reality. Everyone
experiences some incongruent, the crucial issue is how much Rogers
maintained that a great deal of incongruence undermines a person's
psychological well-being.

In terms of personality development, Rogers was concerned with how

childhood experiences promote congruence or incongruence. According
to Rogers, everyone has a strong need for affection, love, and
acceptance from others. Early in life the parents provide and the parents
make their affection conditional. That is, they make it depend on the
child's behaving well and living up to expectations. When parental love
seems conditional children often distort and block out of their self-
concept those experiences that make them feel unworthy of love. At the
other end of the spectrum, Rogers asserted that some parents make
their affection unconditional. Their children have less need to block out
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unworthy experiences because they have been assured that they are
worthy of affection no matter what they do. Rogers believed that
unconditional love from parents fosters congruence and that conditional
love fosters incongruence. He further theorized that individuals who
grow up believing that affection from others (besides their parents) is
conditional go on to distort more and more of their experiences to feel
worthy of acceptance from a wider and wider array of people, making
the incongruence grow.

Anxiety and Defense

According to Rogers, experiences that threaten people's personal views

of themselves are the principal cause of troublesome anxiety. The more
inaccurate your self-concept, the more likely you are to have
experiences that clash with your self-perceptions. Thus, people with
highly incongruent self-concepts are especially likely to be plagued by
recurrent anxiety.

To ward off this anxiety, such people often behave defensively. Thus,
they ignore, deny, and twist reality to protect their self-concept. Consider
a young woman who, like most of us, considers herself a “nice person."
Let us suppose that in reality she is rather conceited and selfish, and
she gets feedback from both boyfriends and girlfriends that she is a
"self-centered, snotty brat." How might she react in order to protect her
self-concept? She might ignore or block out those occasions when she
behaves selfishly and then deny the accusations by her friends that she
is self-centered. She might also attribute that her girlfriends' negative
comments to their jealousy of her good looks and blame the boyfriends'
negative remarks on their disappointment because she won't get more
serious with disappointment because she won't get more serious with
them. Meanwhile, she might start doing some kind of charity work to
show everyone (including herself) that she really is a nice person. As
you can see, people often go to great lengths to defend their self-
concept.

Roger's theory can explain defensive behaviour and personality

disturbances, but he also emphasized the importance of psychological
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health. Rogers held that psychological health is rooted in a congruent
self-concept. In turn, congruence is rooted in a sense of personal worth,
which stems from a childhood saturated with unconditional affection from
parents and others. These themes are similar to those emphasized by
the other major humanistic theorist, Abraham Maslow.

II. MASLOW'S THEORY OF SELF-ACTUALIZATION

Abraham Maslow grew up in Brooklyn and spent much of his career at

Brandeis University, where he provided crucial leadership for the
fledgling humanistic movement. Like Rogers, Maslow (1968, 1970)
argued that psychology should take a greater interest in the nature of the
healthy personality, instead of dwelling on the causes of disorders. “To
oversimplify the matter somewhat," he said, "it is as if Freud supplied to
us the sick half of psychology and we must now fill it out with the healthy
half". Maslow's key contributions were his analysis of how motives are
organized hierarchically and his description of the healthy personality.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow proposed that human motives are organized into a hierarchy of

needs a systematic arrangement of needs, according to priority, in which
basic needs must be met before less basic needs are aroused. This
hierarchical arrangement is usually portrayed as a pyramid (Figure 2).
The needs toward the bottom of the pyramid, such as the physiological
or the security needs are the bottom levels in the pyramid consist of
progressively less basic needs. When a person manages to satisfy a
level of needs reasonably well (complete satisfaction is not necessary),
this satisfaction activates needs at the next level.

Figure. 2: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

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Like Rogers, Maslow argued that humans have an innate drive toward
personal growth that is, evolution toward a higher state of being. Thus,
he described the needs in the uppermost reaches of his hierarchy as
growth needs. These include the needs for knowledge, understanding,
order, and aesthetic beauty. Foremost among the growth needs is the
need for self-actualization, which is the need to fulfill one's potential; it is
the highest need in Maslow's motivational hierarchy. Maslow
summarized that this concept with a simple statement: “What a man can
be, he must be." According to Maslow, people will be frustrated if they
are unable to fully utilize their talents or pursue their true interests. For
example, if you have great musical talent, but, must work as an
accountant, or if you have scholarly interests but must work as a sales
clerk, you need for self-actualization will be thwarted.
The Healthy Personality

Because of his interest in self-actualization, Maslow set out to discover

the nature of the healthy personality. He tried to identify people of
exceptional mental health so that he could investigate their
characteristics. In one case, he used'. psychological tests and interviews
to sort out the healthiest 1% of a sizable population of college students.
He also studied admired historical figures (such as Thomas Jefferson
and psychologist-philosopher William James) and personal
acquaintances characterized by superior adjustment. Over a period of
years, he accumulated his case histories and gradually sketched, in
broad strokes, a picture of ideal psychological health.
Maslow called people with an exceptionally healthy personalities, self-
actualized persons because of their commitment to continued personal
growth. He identified various traits characteristic of self-actualizing
people. In brief, Maslow found that self-actualizers are accurately tuned
in to reality and that they are at peace with themselves. He found that
they are open and spontaneous and that they retain a fresh appreciation
of the world around them. Socially, they are sensitive to others' needs
and enjoy rewarding interpersonal relations. However, they are not
dependent on others for approval, nor are they uncomfortable with
solitude. They thrive on their work, and they enjoy their sense of humor.
Maslow also noted that they enjoy "peak experiences" (profound
emotional highs) more often than others. Finally, he found that they
strike a nice balance between many polarities in personality, so that they
can be childlike and mature, rational and intuitive, conforming and
rebellious.

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Evaluating Humanistic Theories

The humanists added a refreshing perspective to the study of

personality. Their argument that a person's subjective views may be
more important than objective reality has proven compelling. Today,
even behavioural theorists have begun to consider subjective personal
factors such as beliefs and expectations. The humanistic approach also
deserves credit for making the self-concept an important construct in
psychology. Finally, the humanists have often been applauded for
focusing the attention on the issue of what constitutes a healthy
personality.
Of course, there is a negative side to the balance sheet as well. Critics
have identified some weaknesses in the humanistic approach to
personality, including the following:
1. Poor testability: Like psychodynamic theorists, the humanists have
been criticized for proposing hypotheses, that are difficult to put to a
scientific test., Humanistic concepts such as personal growth and self-
actualization are difficult to define and measure.

2. Unrealistic view of human nature: Critics also charge that the

humanists have been overly optimistic in their assumptions about human
nature and unrealistic in their descriptions of the healthy personality. For
instance, Maslow’s self-actualizing people sound perfect. In reality,
Maslow had a hard time finding self-actualizing persons. When he
searched among the living, the results were so disappointing that he
turned to the study of historical figures. Thus, humanistic portraits of
psychological health are perhaps a bit unrealistic.
3. Inadequate evidence: Humanistic theories are based primarily on
discerning but uncontrolled observations in clinical settings. Case
studies can be valuable in generating ideas, but they are ill-suited for
building a solid database. More experimental research is needed to
catch up with the theorizing in the humanistic camp. This is precisely the
opposite of the situation that you'll encounter in the next section, on
biological perspectives, where more theorizing is needed to catch up
with the research.

15.6 BIOLOGICAL THEORIES

In this section we'll discuss Hans Eysenck's theory, which emphasizes

the influence of heredity, and looks at behavioural genetics and
evolutionary perspectives on personality.

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1. Eysenck's Theory

Hans Eysenck was born in Germany but fled to London during the era of
Nazi rule. He went on to become one of Britain's most prominent
psychologists. According to Eysenck (1967),'Personality is determined to
a large extent by a person's genes". How is heredity linked to the
personality in Eysenck's model? In part, through conditioning concepts
borrowed from behavioural theory. Eysenck theorizes that some people
can be conditioned more readily than others because of inherited
differences in their physiological functioning through specific, levels of
arousal. These variations in "conditionability" are assumed to influence
the personality traits that people acquire through conditioning.
Eysenck views personality structure as a hierarchy of traits. Numerous
superficial traits are derived from a smaller number of more basic traits,
which are derived from a handful of fundamental higher-order traits, as
shown in figure. Eysenck has shown a special interest in explaining
variations in: extraversion introversion, the trait dimension first
described years earlier by Carl Jung. He has proposed that introverts
tend to have higher levels of physiological arousal than extraverts. This
higher arousal purportedly motivates them to avoid social situations that
will further elevate their arousal and makes them more easily
conditioned than extraverts. According to Eysenck, people who condition
easily acquire more conditioned inhibitions than others. These inhibitions
coupled with their relatively high arousal, make them more bashful,
tentative, and uneasy in social situations. This social discomfort leads
them to turn inward. Hence, they become introverted.

Is there any research to support Eysenck's explanation of the origins of

introversion? Yes, but the evidence is rather inconsistent. Many studies
have found that introverts tend to exhibit higher levels of arousal than
extraverts, but many studies have also failed to find the predicted
differences. Part of the problem is that the concept of physiological
arousal has turned out to be much more multifaceted and difficult to
measure than Eysenck originally anticipated. Still, theorists of many
persuasions agree with Eysenck that introversion and closely related

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traits like shyness, sensitivity, and inhibited temperament seem to have
some sort of physiological basis. So Eysenck was probably on the on
the right track, but it has proven difficult to pinpoint the physiological
basis for introversion.
II. Recent Research in Behavioural Genetics

Recent twin studies have provided impressive support for Eysenck's

hypothesis that personality is largely inherited. In twin studies
researchers assess hereditary influence by comparing the resemblance
of identical twins and fraternal twins on a trait. The logic underlying this
comparison is as follows. identical twins emerge from one egg that
splits, so that their genetic makeup is exactly the same 100% overlap.
Fraternal twins result when two eggs are fertilized simultaneously; their
genetic overlap is only 50%. Both types of twins usually grow up in the
same home, at the same time, exposed to the same.
relatives, neighbours, peers, teachers, events and so forth. Thus, both
kinds of twins normally develop under similar environmental conditions,
but identical twins share more genetic kinship. Hence, if sets of identical
twins exhibit more personality resemblance than sets of fraternal twins,
this greater similarity is probably attributable to heredity rather than to
environment. The results of the twin studies can be used to estimate the
heritability of personality traits and other characteristics. A heritability
ratio is an estimate of the proportion of trait variability in a population that
is determined by variations in genetic inheritance. Heritability can be
estimated for any trait. For example, the heritability of height is estimated
to be around 90%, whereas the heritability of intelligence appears to be
about 50% to 70%.
The accumulating evidence from twin studies suggests that heredity
exerts considerable influence over many personality traits. For instance,
in research on the Big Five personality traits, identical twins have been
found to be much more similar than fraternal twins on all five traits.
Some skeptics still wonder whether identical twins might exhibit more
personality resemblance than fraternal twins because they are raised
more similarly. i in other words, they wonder whether environmental
factors (rather than heredity) could be responsible for identical twins'
greater similarity. This nagging question can be answered only by
studying identical twins that have been reared apart. Which is why the
twin study at the University of Minnesota was so important?
The Minnesota study was the first to administer the same personality
test to identical and fraternal twins reared together as well as apart. Most
of the twins reared apart were separated quite early in life and remained
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separated for a long time. Nonetheless, on all three of the higher-order
traits examined, the identical twins reared apart displayed more
personality resemblance than fraternal twins reared together. Based on
the pattern of correlations observed, the researchers estimated that the
heritability of personality is around 50%. Another large-scale twin study
of the Big Five traits conducted in Germany and Poland yielded similar
conclusions. The heritability estimates based on the data from this study,
which are shown in figure 2.19, are in the same range as the estimates
from the Minnesota study.

III. The Evolutionary Approach to Personality

In the realm of biological approaches to the personality, the most recent

development has been the emergence of an evolutionary perspective.
Evolutionary psychologists assert that the patterns of behaviour seen in
a species are products of evolution in the same way that anatomical
characteristics are. Evolutionary psychology examines behavioural
processes in terms of their adaptive value for members of a species over
the course of many generations. The basic premise of the evolutionary
psychology is that if is a natural selection that favours behaviours, that
enhance organism's reproductive success that is, passing on genes to
the next generation. Thus, evolutionary analyses of personality focus on
how various-traits and the ability to recognize these traits in others may
have contributed to reproductive fitness in ancestral human populations.
For example, David Buss has argued that the Big Five personality traits
stand out as important dimensions of personality across a variety of
cultures because those traits have had significant adaptive implications.
Buss points out those humans historically have depended heavily on
groups, which afford protection from predators or enemies, opportunities
for sharing food, and a diverse array of other benefits. In the context of
these group interactions, people have had to make difficult but crucial
judgments about the characteristics of others, asking such questions as:
Who will make a good member of my coalition? Who can I depend on
when in need? Who will share their resources? Thus, Buss argues,
“Those individuals able to accurately decide and act upon these
individual differences likely enjoyed a considerable reproductive
advantage". According to Buss, the Big Five emerged as fundamental
dimensions of personality because humans have evolved special
sensations in the ability to bond with others (extraversion), the
willingness to cooperate and collaborate (agreeableness), the tendency
to be reliable and ethical (conscientiousness), the capacity to be an
innovative problem solver (openness to experience), and the ability to

297
handle stress (low neuroticism). In a nutshell, the Big Five supposedly
reflect the most salient personality features in ancestral human's
adaptive landscape.

Evaluating Biological Theories

Although evolutionary analysis of personality is pretty speculative, recent

research in behavioural genetics has provided convincing evidence that
biological factors help shape personality. Nonetheless, we must take
note of some weaknesses in biological approaches to personality:

1. Problems with estimates of hereditary influence: Efforts to carve:

personality into genetic and environmental components with statistics
is ultimately artificial. The effects of the heredity and environment are
twisted together in complicated interactions that can't be separated
clearly. Although heritability ratios sound precise, they are estimates
based on a complicated chain of inferences that are subject to debate.
2. Lack of adequate theory: At present there is no comprehensive
biological theory of personality. Eysenck's model does not provide a
systematic overview of how biological factors govern personality
development and it was never intended to. Evolutionary analyses of
personality are even more limited in scope. Additional theoretical work is
needed to catch up with recent empirical findings on the biological basis
for personality.

15.7 ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY

Psychologists interested in assessing personality must be able to define

the most meaningful ways of discriminating between one person's
personality and another's. They use psychological tests, standard
measures devised to assess behaviour objectively. Such tests are used
by psychologists to help people make decisions about their lives and
understand more about themselves. They are also employed by
researchers interested in the causes and consequence of personality.

All psychological tests must have reliability and validity. Reliability refers
to the measurement consistency of a test. If a test is reliable, it yields the
same result each give different results each time they are administered.
Tests also must be valid in order to draw a meaningful conclusion. Tests
have validity when they actually measure what they are designed to
measure. If a test is constructed to measure sociability, for instance, we
need to know that it actually measures sociability and not some other
trait.

298
Psychological tests are based on norms, standards of test performance
that permit the comparison of one person's score on the test with the
scores of others who have taken the same test. For example, a norm
permits test takers to know they have scored in the top 10 percent of
those who have taken the test.

Basically, norms are established by administering a particular test to a

large number of people and determining the typical scores. It is then
possible to compare a single person's score with the scores of the
group, providing a comparative measure of test performance against
others who have taken the test. Psychologists use various measures of
personality such as personality inventories projective methods and
behavioural assessment. They are discussed below:
1. Self-Report Measures of Personality

If someone wanted to assess the personality, one possible approach

would be to carry out an extensive interview with the person in order to
determine the most important events of your childhood, your social
relationships, and successes and failures. Obviously, though such a
technique would be extraordinarily costly in terms of time and effort. It is
also unnecessary, just as physicians draw only a small sample of your
entire blood in order to test it. Psychologists can utilize self-report
measures that ask people about a relatively small sample of their
behaviour. This sampling of self report data is infer the presence of
particular personality characteristics.
One of the best examples of a self-report measure, and the most
frequently used personality test, is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory 2 (MMP-2). Although the original purpose of the measure was
to differentiate people with specific sorts of psychological difficulties from
those without disturbances, it has been found to predict a variety of other
behaviours. For instance, MMPI scores have been shown to be good
predictors of whether college students will marry within ten years and
whether they will get an advanced degree. Police departments use the
test to measure whether police officers are prone to use their weapons.
Psychologists in the former Soviet Union even administered a modified
form of the MMPI to their cosmonauts and Olympic athletes.
The test itself consists of a series of 567 items to which a person
responds "true", "false," or "cannot say." The questions cover a variety of
issues, ranging from mood (“I feel useless at times") to opinions (“people
should try to understand their dreams") to physical and psychological
health ("I am bothered by an upset stomach several times a week:" and "
have strange and peculiar thoughts"). There are no right or wrong
299
answers. Of course, instead, interpretation of the results rests on the
pattern of responses. The test yields scores on ten separate scales, plus
three scales meant to measure the validity of the respondent's answers.
For example, there is a lie scale" that indicates when people are
falsifying their responses in order to present themselves more favourably
through items such as “I can't remember ever having a bad night's
sleep").

When the MMPI is used for the purposes for which it was devised
identification of personality disorders it does a reasonably good job.
However, like other personality tests, it presents the opportunity for
abuse. For instance, employers who use it as a screening tool for job
applicants may interpret the results improperly, relying too heavily on the
results of individual scales instead of taking into account the overall
patterns of results, which require skilled interpretation. Furthermore,
critics point out that the individual scales overlap, making their
interpretation difficult. In sum, although the MMPI remains the most
widely used personality test and has been translated into more than
100 different languages and it must be used with caution.

II. Projective Methods

If you were shown the shape presented in Figure 3 and asked what it
represented to you, you might not think that you impression would mean
very much. But to a psychoanalytic theoretician, your responses to such
an ambiguous figure would provide valuable clues to the state of your
unconscious, and ultimately to your general personality characteristics.
The shape in the figure is representative of inkblots used in projective
personality tests, in which a person is shown an ambiguous stimulus and
asked to describe it or tell a story about it, the responses are then
considered to be "projections" of what the person is like.
The best known projective test is the Rorschach test. Devised by Swiss
psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach (1924), the test consists of showing a
series of symmetrical stimuli, similar to the one in Figure 3, to people
who are then asked what the figures represent to them. Their responses
are recorded, and through a complex set of clinical judgments on the
part of the examiner people are classified into different personality types.
For instance, respondents who see a bear in one inkblot are thought to
have a strong degree of emotional control, according to the rules
developed by Rorschach.

300
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is another well known projective
test. The TAT consists of a series of pictures about which a person is
asked to write a story. The stories are then used to draw inferences
about the writer's personality characteristics.
Tests with stimuli as ambiguous as the Rorschach and TAT that require
particular skill and care in their interpretation. They are often criticized
for requiring too much inference on the parts of the examiner. However
they are widely used, particularly in clinical settings, and their
proponents suggest that their reliability and validity are high.
Ill. Behavioural Assessment

The behavioral assessment is a direct measure of an individual's

behaviour used to describe characteristics indicative of personality. As
with observational research, behavioural assessment may be carried out
naturalistically by observing people in their own setting in the work place,
at home, or in school, for instance. In other cases, behavioural
assessment occurs in the laboratory, under controlled conditions in
which a psychologist sets up a situation and observes an individual's
behaviour.
Regardless of the setting in which behaviour is observed, an effort is
made to ensure that behaviour assessment is carried out objectively,
quantifying behaviour as much as possible. For example, an observer
might record the number of social contacts a person initiates, the
number of questions asked, or the number of aggressive acts. Another
method is to measure duration of events the length of a conversation,
the amount of time spent working, or the time spent in cooperative
behaviour.

Behavioural assessment is particularly appropriate for observing and

eventually remedying specific behavioural difficulties, such an increasing
socialization in shy children. It provides a means of assessing the
specific nature and the incidence of a problem and subsequently allows

301
psychologists to determine whether intervention techniques have been
successful.
Behavioural assessment techniques based on learning theories of
personality have also made important contributions to the treatment of
certain kinds of psychological difficulties. Indeed, the knowledge of
normal personality provided by the theories we have discussed
throughout this unit has led to significant advances in our understanding
and treatment of both physical and psychological disorders

LET US SUM UP

The idea of personality is used to explain the stability in a person's

behaviour over time and across situations (consistency) and the
behavioural differences among people reacting to the same situations
(distinctiveness). Personality refers to an individual's unique
constellation of consistent behavioural traits. The personality is
determined by the Biological Physical, Psychological, Familial, Social
and Cultural causes. The different theories of personality reveals that
human personality is complex and it has many influences. The self-
report measures projective methods and behaviour assessment
techniques are widely employed to assess the personality.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. The decision-making component of personality that

operates according to the reality principle is

a) ld b) Ego c) Super Ego d) none of the above

2. The defense mechanisms are largely reactions

3. The process of keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the

unconscious is known as
4. are emotionally charged images and thought forms that
have universal meaning.

5. propose that striving for superiority is the universal drive

to adapt, improve oneself and master life's challenges.
a) Adler b) Freud c) Jung d) None of the above

6. The term conditioned reflex is proposed by

a) Pavlov b) Skinner c) Jung d) Rogers

302
7. refers to the thought processes involved is
acquiring knowledge

8. learning occurs when an organism's responding is

influenced by the observation of others
9. One's belief about one's ability to perform behaviours that should
lead to expected outcomes is termed as

a) Self-perception b) Self-competence c) Self-efficiency d) Self-mastery

10. According to social learning theory models have a great impact on

the personality development of children. True/False

11. A collection of beliefs about one's own nature, unique qualities

and typical behaviour is known as
a) Self-theory b) Self-concept c) Self-evaluation d) none of the above

12. According to Maslow people will be frustrated if they are unable to

fully utilize their talents True/False
13. Self-actuatizers are accurately tuned into reality and they are at
peace with themselves. True/False
14. The view that variations in condition ability influence the personality

traits is proposed

a) Maslow b) Skinner c) Rogers d) Eysenck

15. Psychology examines behavioral processes in terms of

their adaptive value for members of a species over the course of many
generations

KEY WORDS

Classical conditioning Collective unconscious

Defence mechanisms Evolutionary Approach

Observational Learning Operant conditioning

Personality Traits Psychosexual stages

Rorschach In-blot test Self-actualization

Thematic Apperception Test

303
ANSWERS TO THE CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) a 2) Unconscious 3) Repression 4) Archetypes

5)a 6) a 7) Cognition 8) Observational

9) C 10) Time 11) b 12) True

13) True 14) d 15) Evolutionary

GLOSSARY

Collective Unconscious – The part of the unconscious mind which is

derived from ancestral memory and experience and is common to all
humankind, as distinct from the individual’s unconsciousness.
Defence Mechanism – A mental process initiated unconsciously to
avoid experiencing conflict or anxiety.

Extrovert – A person who is confident and full of life and who prefers
being with other people than being alone.
Introvert – A person who prefers to be alone rather than with other
people.
Persona –It is the public image of one’s personality, or the social role
that one adopts, or a fictional character.

MODEL QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the contributions of psychoanalytic theory to the personality
development.

2. Critically evaluate the concepts of classical and operant conditioning.

3. Enumerate the different needs of Maslow's theory. Explain the needs

with reference to the global competition.
4. Examine the various measures of personality.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Clifford T. Morgan, Richard a King, John R. Weis and John Schopler,

"Introduction to Psychology" - 7th Edition. Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.
New Delhi, 1993.

2. Ernest R. Hilgard, Richard C. Atkinson, Rita L. Atkinson, "Introduction

to Psychology" 6th Edition, Oxford IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 1975.
3. Baron A. Robert, Psychology, Pearson Education Vth Ed., 2002.
304
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