General Psychology 2022.pptx Logic and C

General Psychology
General Psychology
ESSENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
By Kumlachew Derso
2022

CHAPTER ONE
ESSENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Up on the completion of this session, learners will be
able to:
• Define psychology
• Show historical roots of psychology as a science
• Point out the goals of psychology
• Identify early schools and modern perspectives of
psychology
• Identify subfields of psychology
• Differentiate the major research methods in
psychology

• What is your previous understanding about psychology?
• A psychologist once asked a group of university freshmen
to tell him who they think a psychologist is. Some say…
• “someone who reads the palm of an individual and tells
the behavior of a person”,
• others said “someone who is a fortune/prosperity teller”,
• The rest said, “a person who can understand what
someone is thinking about at a certain time.”
• Define psychology by using your own words?

Cont..
Etymological Definition Psychology comes from the
Greek root words psyche, , and logos.
In Greek
• Psych- soul or sprit
• Logos – study
Modern perspective
• Psych- mind
• Logos – study / science , knowledge or discourse
 Psychologists define psychology differently based on
their intentions, research findings, and background
experiences

It is often represented by the Greek letter (psi)
ᴪ
which is read as ("sy").

Nowadays, in APA most of them agree on the following
scientific definition of psychology.
• Psychology is defined as the ‘scientific study of animal
and human behavior as well as underling mental
processes’.
In the above definition, there are three aspects:
 Scientific: systematic method.
 Study Behavior: what can be directly observed.
 Mental process: thought, feeling and motive.
3
What is psychology?

Psychologist do not study humans and animals
behavior with commonsense rather they follow
scientific procedures and use empirical data to
study behavior and mental processes.
Why Psychologist study animal behavior?
Psychologist study animal behavior
 This can be because of two reasons:
1. Due to their similarities in behavior
2. Human beings can not be studied in
experimental setting due to ethical reasons
4
1. Science

Refers to any action that people can observe or measure all of
our outward or overt actions and reactions.
• Overt means observable activities include physical activities
like
-Walking -Playing
-Sleeping - talking
-Eating -Laughing
- facial expression etc.
 Can be classified as:
-Overt, Covert - Conscious, Unconscious
-Simple, Complex -Rational, Irrational
- Voluntary, Involuntary
5
2. Behavior

Refer to all the internal, covert activities of our
mind.
Covert (unobservable) about mental activities
like
- Thinking
- Understanding
- Reasoning
- Perceiving
- Dreaming
- Remembering etc.
6
3. Mental process

Goals of Psychology
why do you think is psychology important?
What a psychologist is doing to study behavior?
As a science, psychology has four goals; description,
explanation, prediction, and control.
Description: involves observing the behavior and noticing
everything about it. It is a search for answers for questions like
What is happening?
Where does it happen?
To whom does it happen?
under what circumstances does it seem to happen?
Ex. Mr x is behaving oddly

Cont…
Explanation: is about trying to find reasons for the observed behavior. This
helps in the process of forming theories of behavior (A theory is a general
explanation of a set of observations or facts).
• Why is it happening? Ex. Why Mr. x behave oddly? Because of
• parenting style ,
• way of life….
Prediction: is about determining what will happen in the future. Forecasting
behaviors based on previous research into similar situations.
What will happen?
• Ex. Mr.x may never be able to reach his full learning potential.
Control: Control or modify or change the behavior from undesirable one
(such as failing in school) to a desirable one (such as academic success).
• How can it be changed?
• Counseling
• Psychotherapy…..
Improving

Historical Background and Major Perspectives in
Psychology
can you imagine how long has psychology been around and
where did it begin?
• Psychology is a relatively new field in the realm of the
sciences, only about 125 years old. It began as a science of its
own in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, with the establishment of a
psychology laboratory in the University of Leipzig by
Wilhelm Wundt.
• psychology then begun as an independent field of study and
with Wundt as its founder or "father of modern psychology’’.
• Different schools of thought emerged at different times. These
schools of thought can be categorized as old and modern as
described below.

Early schools of psychology
• A school of thought is a system of thinking
about a certain issue, say, for example, about
human behavior (nature vs nurture).
• You may, for example, think that human
behavior is all the result of inheritance, or you,
may, instead, say it is all the result of
interaction with the environment.
• There are five such early schools of psychology.
• Structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism
gestalt psychology and psychoanalysis.

Early schools cont.…
Structuralism-
• views psychology as a study of structure of mind. It is an expansion
of Wundt‘s ideas by his student named Edward Titchener (1867-
1927).
• Titchener is the founder of structuralism.
• Goals of structuralists was to find out the units or elements,
which make up the mind such as; sensations, images, and feelings.
• Method used by them was introspection i.e looking inward into our
consciousness.
• It is a procedure aimed at analyzing the mental experience into
three basic mental elements: images, feelings, and sensations.
• Analyzing mental structure alone was found to serve little purpose
in helping humans deal with the environment.
• Hence, a new school of thought emerged to study this functional
value of human mind-functionalism.

Cont..
Functionalism-
• views psychology as a study of function of the mind.
• The founder of this school of thought is William James (1848-1910),
who was the first American psychologist and the author of the first
psychology textbook.
• Unlike Wundt and Titchener, James focused on:
how the mind allows people to function in the real world; how people
work, play, and adapt to their surroundings, a viewpoint he called
functionalism.
• Methods He developed many research methods other than
introspection including questionnaires, mental tests and objective
descriptions of behavior.
• Generally, according to functionalists, psychological processes are
adaptive.
• They allow humans to survive and to adapt successfully to their
surroundings.

Cont..
Gestalt psychology:
• views psychology as a study of the whole mind.
• Max Wertheimer and his colleagues founded this school of thought in Germany in the
20th century.
• Gestalt psychologists argued that the mind is not made up of combinations of elements.
• The German word "gestalt" refers to form, whole, configuration or
pattern.
• According to them, the mind should be thought of as a result of the whole pattern of
sensory activity and the relationships and organizations within their pattern.
• In brief, the gestalt psychologists acknowledge consciousness. They held the slogan
that…..
• "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts ". Means mind is greater than its parts
(images, sensations, and feelings).
• Generally what is common to all the three schools of though is the fact that they all try
to examine the human mind; which is an internal, no-visible, and hidden experience of
human beings.
• But this can‘t be observable, measurable, and hence can‘t be studied scientifically.
So,it led to the birth of a new paradigm of thought about psychology called
behaviorism.

Behaviorism:
• Behaviorists view psychology as a study of observable and measurable behaviors.
• John B. Watson is the founder of behaviorism. For Watson, psychology was the
study of observable and measurable behavior and nothing more about hidden
mental processes.
• According to Watson, we cannot define consciousness any better than we can
define the soul; we cannot locate it or measure it and, therefore, it cannot be the
object of scientific study.
• As to Watson, behaviorism had three other important characteristics in addition to
its focus on behavior;
 conditioned response as the elements or building blocks of behavior,
 learned rather than unlearned behaviors, and
 focus on animal behavior.
• All the four schools of thought discussed so far were focusing on human mind and
behavior as conscious experiences.
• But human functioning was basically explained by more powerful forces which
were not accessible to our consciousness.
• How about our unconsciousness ? Hence, this lead to the formulation of a new
school of thought in psychology called Psychoanalysis.
So what is Psycho analysis?

Cont..
Psychoanalysis:
• psychology studies about the components of the unconscious part of the human mind.
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is the founder of this school of thought. He was the most
controversial and most popular in the study of behavior and mental processes.
• As a physician, Sigmund Freud became convinced that some of the physical
illnesses of his patients didn‘t have medical or bodily causes; but non-physical or
emotional causes.
• He called these kinds of illnesses as ‘hysteria‘ or conversion reaction to indicate the
conversion of emotional problems into bodily problems.
• He also underscored that conflicts and emotional traumas that had occurred in early
childhood can be too threatening to be remembered consciously and therefore they
become hidden or unconscious and then will remain to affect later behavior.
• Freud argued that conscious awareness is the tip of the mental iceberg beneath the
visible tip lays the unconscious part of the mind.
• The unconscious which is the subject matter of psychoanalysis contains hidden
wishes, passions, guilty secrets, unspeakable yearnings, and conflict between desire
and duty.

Cont…
We are not aware of our unconscious urges and thoughts and they make
themselves known in:-
• dreams,
• slip of the tongue,
• apparent accidents and
• even jokes.
method: He used clinical case studies (hypnosis and Dream analysis)
Summary
Early schools basically differ in terms of three issues: object, goal, and
methods of study:·
• In their object of study, i.e. what they studied (conscious mind,
unconscious mind, and overt behavior).
• In their goal (analyze the components of the mind or observing the effect
of the environment on behavior).
• In their method (Introspection, observation, clinical case studies, etc...).

Modern schools of psychology
• Note that an important lesson learned from early psychological thoughts is
that there are different ways of explaining the same behavior. Hence,
modern psychologists tend to examine human behavior through several
views.
Psychodynamic perspective
It has its origins in Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, but many other
psychodynamic theories exist.
This perspective emphasizes the unconscious dynamics within the individual
such as inner forces, conflicts or instinctual energy. The psychodynamic
approach emphasizes:
• The influence of unconscious mental behavior on everyday behavior
• The role of childhood experiences in shaping adult personality
• The role of intrapersonal conflict in determining human behavior
Psychodynamic perspective tries to dig below the surface of a person's behavior
to get into unconscious motives;
So, psychodynamists think of themselves as archaeologists of the mind.

Cont..
Behavioral Perspective-
• It emphasizes the role learning experiences play in shaping the
behavior of an organism.
• It is concerned with how the environment affects the person‘s
actions.
• Behaviorists focus on environmental conditions (e.g. rewards, and
punishments) that maintain or discourage specific behaviors.
• The behavioral perspective is sometimes called the "black box"
approach in psychology because it treats the mind as less useful
in understanding human behavior and focus on what goes in to
and out of the box, but not on the processes that take place inside
• This means, behaviorists are only interested in the effects of the
environment (input) on behavior (output) but not in the process
inside the box.

Cont..
Humanistic Perspective-
• According to this perspective, human behavior is not
determined either by unconscious dynamics or the
environment.
• Rather it emphasizes the uniqueness of human beings
and focuses on human values and subjective experiences.
• This perspective places greater importance on the
individual‘s free will.
• The goal of humanistic psychology was helping people to
express themselves creatively and achieve their full
potential called
• self- actualization (developing the human potential to its
fullest).

Cont..
Cognitive Perspective-
• It emphasizes what goes on in people's heads;
• how people reason, remember, understand language, solve
problems, explain experiences and form beliefs.
• This perspective is concerned about the mental processes.
• The most important contribution of this perspective has
been to show how people's thoughts and explanations
affect their actions, feelings, and choices.
• Techniques used to explore behavior from a cognitive
perspective include electrical recording of brain activity,
electrical stimulation and radioactive tracing of metabolic
activity in the nervous system.

Cont..
Biological Perspective-
• It focuses on studying how bodily events or functioning of the body affects
behavior, feelings, and thoughts.
• It holds that the brain and the various brain chemicals affect
psychological processes such as learning, performance, perception of reality,
the experience of emotions, etc.
• This perspective underscores that biology and behavior interact in a complex
way; biology affecting behavior and behavior in turn affecting biology.
Socio-cultural Perspective-
• It focuses on the social and cultural factors that affects human behavior.
How?
• As a fish cannot leave without water, human behavior cannot be
understood without sociocultural context (the social and cultural
environment) that people "Swim" in every day.
• This perspective holds that humans are both the products and the producers
of culture, and our behavior always occurs in some cultural contexts.

Branches/Sub Fields of Psychology
• Developmental psychology – It studies the physical, cognitive and
psychological changes across the life span. It attempts to examine the
major developmental milestones that occur at different stages of
development.
• Personality Psychology – it focuses on the relatively enduring traits and
characteristics of individuals. Personality psychologists study topics such
as self-concept, aggression, moral development, etc.
• Social Psychology –deals with people‘s social interactions, relationships,
social perception,and attitudes.
• Cross-cultural Psychology - examines the role of culture in
understanding behavior, thought, and emotion. It compares the nature of
psychological processes in different cultures, with a special interest in
whether or not psychological phenomena are universal or culture-specific.
• Industrial psychology – applies psychological principles in industries and
organizations to increase the productivity of that organization.
• Forensic psychology - applies psychological principles to improve the
legal system (police, testimony, etc..).

Cont..
• Educational Psychology - concerned with the application
of psychological principles and theories in improving the
educational process including curriculum, teaching, and
administration of academic programs.
• Health Psychology - applies psychological principles to the
prevention and treatment of physical illness and diseases.
• Clinical Psychology:-is a field that applies psychological
principles to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of
psychological disorders.
• Counseling Psychology: - is a field having the same
concern as clinical psychology but helps individuals with
less severe problems than those treated by clinical
psychologists.

Methods of studying psychology
Important terms
• Scientific method - a process of testing ideas
through systematic observations,
experimentations, and statistical analysis.
• Theory - is an integrated set of principles about
observed facts that is intended to describe and
explain some aspects of experience.
• Hypotheses - is a tentative proposition about
the relationship between two or more variables
or phenomena. E.g. Males have high self -
confidence in making decisions than females.

Major types of research methods
There are three major types of research methods: descriptive, correlational and
experimental research methods.
Descriptive research - in this type of research, the researcher simply records
what she/he has systematically observed. It include naturalistic observation, case
studies, and surveys.
i.Naturalistic observation: subjects are observed in their natural environment to
get a real (not artificial) picture of how behavior occurs. its two Limitations are
• observer effect (animals or people who know they are being watched may
behave artificially) and
• observer bias (the researcher may not observe systematically or he/she may
observe behaviors he/she wants to observe and ignores others).
ii.Case study: an individual is studied in great detail.
Advantage it provides tremendous amount of data about a single case or
individual.
Disadvantage that the researchers can‘t apply the results to other similar people,
which means what researchers find in one case can‘t necessarily apply or
generalize to others.
iii.Survey: used to collect data from a very large group of people.

Cont…
• It is useful to get information on private (covert) behaviors.
• It addresses hundreds of people with the same questions at the same time.
• Its disadvantage is that it needs a careful selection of a representative sample of the
actual population.
Correlational research
• is a research method that measures the relationship between two or more variables.
What is variable?
• A variable is anything that can change or vary –scores on a test, the temperature in a
room, gender, and so on.
• For example, a researcher might be curious to know whether or not cigarette smoking
is connected to life expectancy.
• Correlation tells researchers if there is a relationship between variables,
• how strong the relationship is, and
• in what direction the relationship goes,
• But it doesn‘t prove causation (which means it doesn‘t show the cause and effect
relationship).
• This means, for example, that if there is a relationship between smoking and lung
cancer, this doesn‘t mean that smoking causes lung cancer

Experimental Research
It is a research method that allows researchers to study the cause and effect
relationship between variables.
In experimental research, a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more
factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated and all other
factors are held constant.
Experiments involve at least one independent variable and one dependent variable.
• The independent variable is the manipulated, influential, experimental factor. It
is a cause.
• The dependent variable is the factor (behavior) that is measured in an
experiment. It can change as the independent variable is manipulated. It is an
effect
• Ex, a researcher may need to know whether or not class size has an effect on
students‘ academic performance and hypothesizes as do students in small class
size have better academic performance than students in large class size?
• In this question, what is IV&DV ?
• class size, which is the independent variable to be manipulated and
• students performance
‟ which is the dependent variable to be measured while
class size is changed.

Cont..
Experiments also involve randomly assigned experimental groups and
control groups.
• An experimental group is a group whose experience is manipulated.
• In our example, the experimental group is students who are assigned
in small class sizes.
• A control group is a comparison that is treated in every way like the
experimental group except for the manipulated factor (class size).
• The control group serves as a baseline against which the effects of the
manipulated condition can be compared.
• In this example, the control group is the group of students who are
assigned in large class sizes.
• Although experimental research is useful to discover causes of
behaviors, such research must be done cautiously because expectations
and biases on the part of both the researcher and participants can affect
the results.

Steps of scientific research
In scientific research, there are at least five
major steps to be followed.
• Step one - Defining the Problem
• Step two - Formulating the Hypothesis
• Step three - Testing the Hypothesis
• Step four - Drawing Conclusions
• Step five - Reporting Results

Class work
A psychologist is interested in exploring the effect of
tutorial support on students‘ academic performance
and assign students into two groups. Students in
group one get the tutorial support and those in group
two do not. In this example, what is the
a) Dependent variable
b) Independent variable
c) Control group
d) Experimental group

Chapter Two
Sensation and Perception
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, students are expected to
understand the:
• Meaning of sensation and perception
• Difference and similarities of sensation and perception
• Factors affecting sensation and perception
• Principles of sensation and perception, and
• Reasons for sensory and perceptual differences
amount individuals.

Natures of Sensation
• Sensation is the process whereby stimulation of receptor cells in the eyes,
ears, nose, mouth, and surface of the skin sends nerve impulses to the brain.
• Sensations are closely tied to what is happening in the sensory systems
themselves.
• Color, brightness, the pitch of tone or a bitter taste are examples of
sensations. The starting of point of sensations is a stimulus.
• A form of energy (such as light waves or sound waves) that can affect
sensory organs (such as the eye or the ear).
• Sensation is therefore the process that detects the stimulus from one‘s body
or from the environment.
• It is the process by which our senses or sense organs gather information and
send it to the brain.
• Sensation is the process of receiving information through our sense organs.

Sensory Channels
 Sensation begins with the sense organs, receptors & cells located in the sense organs.
 The process of converting the energy of the stimulus into electrical/neural impulses
that travel along nerves to the brain is known as transduction.
 All our senses transform physical stimulation (such as light waves or sound waves) into the
neural impulses what give us sensations (such as light and dark).

The sensory laws
• There are certain sensory laws that explain how sensation works.
• Sensory threshold and sensory adaptation are the two general laws of
sensation.
• Sensory threshold is the minimum point of intensity a sound can be
detected.
• There are two laws of sensory threshold: The law of absolute threshold
and the law of difference threshold.
The absolute threshold
• The minimum amount of stimulation a person can detect is called the
absolute threshold,
• It is the smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be present for it to be detected.
• Examples:-
 Sight: a candle flame can be seen from 30 miles away on a dark, clear
night.
 Smell: perfume can be detected when one drop is present in a three-room
apartment.

Cont..
The difference threshold
• In addition to detecting the presence of a stimulus, you also
detect changes in the intensity of a stimulus. The minimum
amount of change that can be detected is called difference
threshold.
• It is the smallest/minimum level of stimulus that enables to
discriminate the difference between two similar stimuli.
• For example, a cup of coffee would require a certain amount of
additional sugar before you could detect an increase in its
sweetness. Similarly, you would have to increase the intensity of
the sound from your tape recorder a certain amount before you
could detect a change in its volume.
• This difference in threshold is called the just noticeable
difference (jnd).

Cont…
Sensory adaptation: The tendency of our sensory receptors to have
decreasing responsiveness to unchanging stimulus.
• Of course, you will not adapt completely to extremely intense sensations,
such as severe pain or freezing cold. This is adaptive, because to ignore
such stimuli might be harmful or even fatal.
Perception
• the active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting the
information brought to the brain by the senses.
• is a meaning making process of the human intelligent life.
• It helps you understand the major characteristics of the perceptual
process:
Perceptual Processes (Principles)
Perception consists of three basic processes:
A. Selection/Attention
B. Organizing
C. Interpretation

Selectivity of perception:
Note that at any given time, your sense organ is bombarded by many stimuli. Yet you
perceive a few of them.
Attention
• is the term given to the perceptual process that selects certain inputs for inclusion
in your conscious experience, or awareness, at any given time, ignoring others.
• The selectivity of perception implies, among other things, that our field of
experience is divided into what is known as Focus and Margin.
• Events or stimuli that you perceive clearly are the focus of your experience
• items or stimuli that you perceive dimly or vaguely are in the margin of your
attention. You may be aware of items in the marginal field but only vaguely or
partially
• Attention shifts constantly. What is in the focus of your attention one moment
may be in margin; and what is in the margin may become in your focus.
• Parallel processing and serial processing are processes that are related to attention
• Serial processing allows only one object at a time to be processed,
whereas parallel processing assumes that various objects are processed
simultaneously.

Cont…
• Paying attention is in general a function of two factors: factors external to
the perceiver and factors internal to the perceiver.
1. Factors of Attention
1 . Environmental/Objective Factors
• Environmental factors are found in the objects or stimuli to be perceived.
Some of environmental factors are:-
 Size and intensity:- bigger and brighter objects are more likely to capture
our attention than smaller and less bright objects.
 Repetition:- people are more likely to attend to stimuli that repeatedly or
frequently occur in their perceptual fields.
 Novelty:- new objects have the tendency to capture people’s attention.
E.g. a cow having 8 legs draw the attention of individuals than the
normal one

Cont…
 Movement:- Moving objects tend to get attention more than non moving or stagnant
objects. E.g. a moving vehicle than stagnant one
 Contrast:- What contrasts with the surrounding environment attracts attention easily.
Any change in the stimulation to which we have become adapted immediately
captures our attention. E.g. a black spot on a whit t-shirt
2. Psychological/Subjective Factors
 It is the internal psychological states of the individual.
 Motives or Needs:- people in need (of something) are more likely to perceive
something that they think will satisfy that need. E.g. a hotel will draw the attention
hunger person.
 Emotions:- our emotions may influence our selection of sensory information and
words with strong emotional connection seem to gain more attention than others. E.g.
This is very dangerous and when a person is highly excited due to fear he/she
may not understand what others say.

Cont..
– Personality and interests:-
 For example:-
 in a football game, an ex-player may give attention to
the football game;
 a singer, may give attention to the music; and a friend;
 a commentator may give attention to the way the
referee is handling crisis situations in the play.
3. Physiological Factors:
• The presence of specialized cells in the brain
called feature detectors (or feature analyzes)
that respond only to certain sensory information.

From perception
• To perceive forms (meaningful shapes or patterns), you
need to distinguish a figure (an object) from its ground (or
its surrounding). Let us look at this idea further.
• Figure-ground perception is the perception of objects and
forms of everyday experience as standing out from a
background. Pictures (figure) hang on a wall (ground),
words (figure) are seen on a page (ground), and melody
(figure) stands out from the repetitive chords in the musical
background (ground), the pictures, words, and the melody
are perceived as the figure, while the wall, the page, and
the chords are the ground.
• There can be a shift in you perception of figure and ground
such that the figure may become the ground and vice versa.

 Organize information into patterns that will help us to understand
the world easily .
 Organization refers to organizing stimuli into meaningful shapes
or patterns/we mentally arrange the information.
Perceptual Rules
1. Figure-Ground
 The most fundamental process in forming perception.
 Recognition of a figure on a ground, i.e., to perceive forms one
needs to distinguish a figure (object) from its ground.
2 . Proximity/Nearness
 The law of proximity says that items which are close together
in space or time tend to be perceived as belonging together or
forming an organized group even though they are dissimilar.
B. Organization

Cont..
How to separate figure from ground?
Contours in Form Perception
contours give shape to the objects in our visual world
because they mark one object off from another or they
mark an object off from the general ground. When
contours are disrupted visually, as in camouflage,
objects are difficult to distinguish from the background.
Organization in form Perception
When several objects are present in the visual field, we
tend to perceive them as organized into patterns or
groupings.

3. Similarity:-
• Objects that are alike in some way (e.g., in color, shape, size)
tend to be perceived as belonging together.
4. Closure:-
• The brain tends to fill-in gaps in order to perceive complete
forms, that is, we tend to perceive a complete object even
though parts of it may be obscured or missing.
5. Continuity:-
 The law of continuity says that lines, patterns or objects tends to
be seen as continuing in one direction even if interrupted by
another objects.
 It is the tendency to perceive a line that starts out as a curve is
seen as continuing on a smoothly curved course.

What are some of the laws of perceptual organization?
Law of Proximity: says that items which are close
together in space or time tend to be perceived as
belonging together or forming an organized group.
Law of Similarity: stimuli that are similar tend to be
perceived as part of the same form.
Law of continuity: we tend to perceive smooth,
continuous patterns rather than discontinuous one.
Law of closure: we tend to fill in gaps in forms that we
perceive. We often supply missing information to close a
figure and separate from a background.
Law of simplicity: when we observe a pattern in the most
basic straightforward manner.

C. Interpretation
• After the incoming sensory information is arranged in to organized patterns the
brain explain and make judgments about the external world for our life.
Factors Affecting Interpretation
 Expectation/Set:-
 Experience with the environment often affects how we perceive the world
by creating perceptual expectations
 It is the tendency to perceive what to expect.
 It is affected by previous experiences.
 Motives or needs:-
 People in need of something are more likely to perceive something
that they think will satisfy that need.

 Belief:-
• What we hold to be true about the world can
affect the interpretation of ambiguous sensory
signal.
 Emotions:-
• Our emotions may influence our interpretation of
sensory information.

Depth perception
It is the ability to judge the distance of objects. Given that images on the
retina are two dimensional, how can we perceive depth? That is, how can we
determine the distance of objects (the distal stimulus) from the pattern of
stimulation on our retinas (the proximal stimulus)?
Depth perception depends on the use binocular cues and monocular cues there
are two kinds of binocular cues: retinal disparity and convergence. The two
kinds of binocular cues require the interaction of both eyes. Retinal disparity
is, the degree of difference between the image of an object that are focused on
the two retinas. The closer the object, the greater is the retinal disparity.
The second binocular cue to depth is convergence, the degree to which the
eyes turn inward to focus on an object.
Binocular cues require two eyes, whereas monocular cues require only one.
This means that even people who have lost sight in one eye may still have
good depth perception. One monocular is accommodation

Cont…
A second monocular cue is motion parallax, the tendency to
perceive ourselves as passing objects faster when they are
closer to us than when they are farther away.
The remaining monocular cues are called pictorial cues
because artists use them to create depth in their drawings and
paintings. an object that overlaps another object will appear
closer, a cue called interposition.
You probably have noticed that parallel objects, such as railroad
tracks, seem to get closer as the further away (and farther apart
as they get closer). This pictorial cue, linear perspective.
Aerial perspective depends on the clarity of objects. Closer
objects seem clearer than more distant ones. A distant mountain
will look hazier than a near one.

Perceptual consistency
The image of a given object focused on your retina may vary in
size, shape, and brightness. Yet you will continue to perceive the
object as stable in size, shape, and brightness because of perceptual
constancy.
size constancy makes you interpret a change in its retinal size as a
change in its distance rather than a change in its size. Size
constancy can be disrupted by alcohol
Shape constancy assures that an object of known shape will appear
to maintain its normal shape regardless of the angle from which
you view it. Shape constancy occurs because your brain
compensates for the slant of an object relative to your line of sight.
Though the amount of light reflected from a given object can vary,
we perceive the object as having a constant brightness, this is called
brightness constancy

• Visual illusions provide clues to the processes
involved in normal visual perception. For
example, from ancient times to modern times,
people have been mystified by the moon
illusion illustrated in Figure in which the moon
appears larger when it is at the horizon than
when it is overhead.
• some people appear to have an ability to know
other people, objects, and events without any
sensory contact an experience called extra
sensory perception (ESP) or paranormal ability.

Group Discussion
1. Briefly describe the distinction between ‘sensation’ and
‘perception’ .
2. Discuss about sensory laws.
3. A perceptual processes, selection is the first step. We select events
which are in our “focus” of attention. Parallel processing and serial
processing are processes that are related to attention. Explain what
we mean by them and how and when they happen (use examples).
4. The attention of an individual can be affected by external and
internal factors to the individual. What are Internal and external
factors. Explain by providing example to each of them.
5. In perceptual processes interpretation is the last stage. It means
giving meaning to the information selected and organized. The
process of interpretation is influenced by factors what are the
factors?

Chapter three
Learning and theory of learning
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior
occurring as a result of experience or practice. This
definition emphasizes four attributes of learning.
• Learning is a change in behavior
• This change in behavior is relatively permanent
• It does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation
and use of intoxicant.
• This permanent change in behavior is not because of
biological factors (like hormonal changes) that bring
permanent changes in behavior; but because of experience,
or practice
• The learning is not directly observable but manifests in the
activities of the individual

Definition of learning
• Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change
in behavior that comes as a result of practice or experience.
• The change may be in understanding, attitude, knowledge,
information, ability and skills.
• The changes in behavior could be either for worse or better.
• An individual starts to learn immediately after birth, more
specifically while the child is in his/her mother womb.

The definition has three important elements:
1. The change must be relatively permanent.
 It must last for a fairly longer time (i.e., for days, weeks,
months.
 Changes in behavior for a short time due to the effects of
such as illness, fatigue, alcohol, medication, drug etc.
are not considered as learning.
 Learning is a change in behavior for better or worse
2. Learning is not directly observable but manifests in
the activities of the individual
3. It depends on practice and experience:
 Changes due to growth (growth is an increase in height,
weight, length and size) or maturation (biological
factors) like hormonal changes are not learning.

General Characteristics of Learning
• Learning is change in behavior
• Learning is growth.
• Learning is purposeful.
• Learning is often a change in the organization of Experience
• Learning is an active process of the learner
• learning is the product of environment.
• Learning is adjustment to the new thing
• Learning is intelligence (i.e., meaningful)
• Learning is both individual & Social
• True learning affects the conduct of the learner
• Learning depends on maturation, motivation and practice.
• Learning is multidimensional.
• Learning is continuous modification of behavior throughout life
• Learning is universal, it reaches into all aspects of human life.

Theories of learning
1.Behavioral Learning Theories
 It believes that learning occurs as a result of
stimulus-response (S-R) relationships.
 Behaviorism concentrates on the study of overt behaviors
that can be observed and measured.

Brainstorming Question
 What do you expect/ feel when there is
thunder? “What does a child expect
when he sees the mother coming back
home?
 How do you respond to an unfamiliar
person? What about meeting a person
whom you mate?
 Each of the responses in these questions
seem to illustrate the nature of what is
called classical conditioning that you
are to explore know now.

Types of Behavioral Learning Theories
A. Classical Conditioning
 Discovered by Ivan Pavlov.
 It is a multi-step procedure.
 Demonstrated that behaviors could be learned via conditioned
associations.
 It focuses on the learning of making involuntary emotional or
physiological responses to stimuli that normally elicit no response; for
example, s fear, increased heartbeat; salivation or sweating at the sight
of a hyena.
 Through the process of classical conditioning, humans and animals
can be trained to act involuntarily to a stimulus that previously had
no effect - or a very different effect - on them.

Process of classical conditioning
• Basically, the findings support the idea that we
develop responses to certain stimuli that are not
naturally occurring.
• When we touch a hot stove, our reflex pulls our
hand back.
• It does this instinctually, no learning involved.
• It is merely a survival instinct.
• Generally, classical conditioning is a technique
used in behavioral training in which a naturally
occurring stimulus is paired with a response.

• Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of
making involuntary emotional or physiological
responses to stimuli that normally elicit no
response. for example the production of saliva in a
response to food when you are hungry, and it was
this response which Pavlov first investigated
when he discovered classical conditioning.
• Therefore, in short Classical conditioning is a type
of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to
bring about a response after it is paired with a
stimulus that naturally brings about that response

Basics of Classical Condition
The Unconditioned Stimulus/UCS
 The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a
response.
The Unconditioned Response/UCR
 The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the
unconditioned stimulus. (e.g., salivation at the smell of food )
The Conditioned Stimulus/CS
 The conditioned stimulus is previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with
the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.
The Conditioned Response/CR
 The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. (e.g.,
salivation at the ringing of a bell)
Hence, the theory of classical conditioning represents a process in which a neutral
stimulus, by pairing with a natural stimulus, acquires all the characteristics of natural
stimulus. It is also sometimes called substitution learning because it involves substituting
a neutral stimulus in place of natural stimulus.

Procedure classical conditioning
Stimulus --------------------Response
Before Conditioning/Training
Bell (CS)/NS -------------------- No response/irrelevant response/
Meat (UCS) ------------------Salivation (UCR)
During Conditioning/Training
Bell (CS) plus food (UCS) --------------------Salivation (UCR)
Repeated pairing of the US and CS
After Conditioning/Training
Bell (CS)alone ------------------------------------------Salivation (CR)

Reflection
• Suppose a two-year old child is playing with a toy
near an electrical substation. He insert a part of the
toy into the substation and the substation creates fire.
He gets shocked, becomes frightened, and begins to
cry. For several days after that experience, he shows
fear when his mother gives him the toy and he refuses
to play with the toy. What are?
A.UCS_________________________
B.UCR_________________________
C.CS___________________________
D. CR__________________________
• Could you please explain of something you learned
through classical conditioning?

Principles of Classical Conditioning
A. Acquisition /Attainment
 It is the initial stage of learning when a
conditioned response is first established and
gradually strengthened.
B. Sequence and Time Interval
 For conditioning to occur, the presentation of CS
must precede/come first the presentation of UCS.
There is an optimal/best time between the
presentation of CS and UCS.

The time interval is 0.5 seconds between the CS
and UCS onset/start appears to produce the most
efficient and effective conditioning for many
salivary and eyelid(የአይን ሽፋሽፍት) reflexes.
C. Extinction
The gradual decrease of a conditioned response
when only the CS is presented after conditioning.
E.g. A dog that has learned to salivate to a dinner
bell (CS) will eventually stop doing so unless
presentations of the dinner bell are periodically
followed by presentations of the UCS (meat).

D. Spontaneous Recovery
It is the reappearance of an extinguished/canceled
CR after a rest period or period of lessened
response and with no further conditioning.
In spontaneous recovery, the reappearance CR is
weaker and extinguishes faster than it did
originally.
The principle of spontaneous recovery states that
extinction was suppression or inhibition of CR
rather than eliminating it completely.
For example, suppose you produce extinction of

E. Stimulus Generalization
 It is a process in which, after a stimulus has been
conditioned to produce a particular response, stimuli that
are similar to the original stimulus begin to produce the
same responses.
 E.g-1. a dog conditioned to salivate to a dinner bell (CS)
might also salivate to a door bell, a telephone bell
 E.g-2.Supose the child initially showed no fear of white
cat, but after the presentation of the cat paired repeatedly
with loud ,frightened sounds ,the child would cry when the
cat was present. Later on the child fear also responds to
other similar white objects.

 Therefore, the subject tends to respond to similar stimuli.
 The dog would generalize its response by salivating to sounds similar to
the bell and the child becomes frighten similar to white objects.
F. Stimulus Discrimination
 Discrimination refers to selectively responding to the CS
but not to stimuli which are similar to the CS.
 It is the ability to differentiate between a CS and other
similar stimuli that have not been paired with an UCS.
 It is the process of distinguishing two similar stimuli.
E.g-1:- the dog salivates only in response to the dinner
bell instead of the doorbell or the telephone bell. E.g-2:-
Cadet officer Selam gives response only to the sound of
whistle instead of the sound of other similar stimuli.

Group work
• List out 5 behaviors that you believe are learned
behaviors and explain why they are learned
behaviors?
• Is crime learned behavior? Discuss on it.
• Give an example on how your subordinates learn
through classical conditioning to do something.
• Follow the steps in the module to show how the
natural and neutral stimuli can be associated.
• Show exactly the CS, US, CR, and UR.

Operant Conditioning
Brainstorming Questions
• Why do you think a child cries
when feeling hungry? Or why
do you think a child learns to
become aggressive?
• What is the role of reward and
punishment in learning?

B. Operant Conditioning/Instrumental conditioning
 It was originated by the behaviorist B. F. Skinner
 The term "Operant" refers to how an organism operates on the
environment.
 It is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and
punishments for behavior.
 It is also called instrumental conditioning because ,the organism
operates on its environment to produce a desirable result or the
organism becomes instrumental.
 Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a
behavior and a consequence for that behavior.
 Example:- Parents rewarding a child’s excellent grades with candy or
some other prize.

 In operant conditioning learning in which voluntary
behavior is strengthened or weakened by
favorable/unfavorable consequences or antecedents.
 When we say that a response has been strengthened
or weakened, we mean that it has been made more
or less likely to come again regularly.
 Operant conditioning comes from how we respond to
what is presented to us in our environment.
 In operant conditioning the kind of behavior or
response emitted by the animal that is influenced by
reinforcement is called operant.

Components Involved in Operant Conditioning
In Skinner‘s analysis, a response (operant) can lead to three types of
consequences: such as neutral consequence, reinforcement or punishment
A. Reinforcement
 It refers to that a stimulus which strengthens or increases the probability of
a specific response.
There are two kinds of reinforcement
1. Primary/Natural Reinforcement: have direct biological significance.
 They reduce some innate, vital physiological needs of the organism.
 They have ability to reinforce without learning (they have “natural”
reinforcing properties).
 Some examples Food, water, light, comfortable air temperature and oxygen
are naturally reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs etc.

2. Secondary Reinforcement
 It refers to stimuli which becomes reinforcing because of
their association with primary reinforces. Some
examples are smiles, praise, attention, money,
handclapping, good grades, awards, and gold stars are
common secondary reinforcements .
 Both primary and secondary Reinforcement can be
either positive or negative.
A. Positive reinforcement:- are favorable events
or outcomes that are presented after the desired
behavior.
 Think of it as adding something which is positive in
order to increase a response.
 E.g. rewarding 3 bones marks for a student who got

B. Negative Reinforcement:- involve the removal of
an unfavorable events or outcomes after the display
of a behavior.
 In these situations, a response is strengthened by
the removal of something considered unpleasant.
 Think of negative reinforcement as taking something
negative away in order to increase a response
 E.g-1:- Avoiding the work load on student who scores
a highest grade.
 E.g-2:- Taking aspirins to obtain relief from headache.
 E.g-3:- A less performer student who is nagged by his
parent/friend to score a good grade.
N.B:- In both of these cases of reinforcement, the
goal is to increase behavior .

Reinforcement Schedules
• It is a protocol for different experts to follow when delivering
reinforcement to different bodies.
• It determines how and when a behavior will be followed by a
reinforcement.
1. Continuous Reinforcement
• The desired behavior is reinforced every single time it occurs.
• It is best used during the initial stages of learning in order to create a
strong association between the behavior and the response
• Learning tends to occur relatively quickly.
• Extinction occurs quickly when reward is stopped.
2. Partial/Intermittent Reinforcement
• It involves reinforcing only some responses, not all of them.
• The response is reinforced only part of the time.
• Learned behaviors are acquired more slowly with partial reinforcement,
but the response is more resistant to extinction

There are four schedules of partial reinforcement
I. Fixed-Ratio Schedules:- response is reinforced only after a specified
number of responses have occurred
 It produces a high steady/stable rate of responding with only a brief pause
after the delivery of the reinforcement.
• Employers often use fixed ratio schedules to increase productivity.
• An interesting feature of a fixed ratio schedule is that performance sometimes
drops off just after reinforcement
 E.g-1:- Reinforcing an investigator every 3 investigation
cases had been completed.
 E.g-2:- Reinforcing a shoe factory worker when he/she
produces 10 shoes per day beyond the limit
II. Variable-Ratio Schedules:- occur when a response is reinforced after
varied/unpredictable number of responses.
 This schedule creates a high steady/stability rate of responding and
more resistant to extinction.
E.g:- Gambling and lottery games. Like sending message to
8100- A in order to win some prize.

III.Fixed-Interval Schedules:- are those where the first
response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time
interval has elapsed/passed.
 This schedule causes high amounts of response rate near the
end of the interval/when the reinforcement time approach.
 But, slow response rate immediately after the delivery of the
reinforcement.
 E.g.- Rewarding a cadet officer because of his/her good
academic achievement at each term/semister.
 E.g.-Monthly salary
IV. Variable-Interval Schedules:- Involves
delivering reinforcement after unpredictable/variable
amount of time has passed. This schedule produces a slow &
steady/fixed rate of response.
 E.g. Delivering reward at varying time for a child when he
exhibits a good behavior

B. Punishment
Is the presentation of an adverse event or outcome that
causes a decrease in the behavior it follows.
It reduces behavior
 E.g. Spanking a child for misbehaving.
There are two kinds of punishment
 Primary punishment:- E.g. Pain and extreme heat or
cold
 Secondary punishment:- Criticism, demerits,
disapproval, caution, charges, and bad grades are
common.

Punishment can be also either Positive or Negative
A. Positive punishment:- sometimes referred to as
punishment by application, involves the
presentation of an unfavorable event or
outcome in order to weaken the response it
follows. For Example
 A teacher warning a student who is talking in the class,
 Demotion,
 Not giving rank promotion for misbehaving police
officer,
 Giving written or oral warning for police officer who
repeatedly absent from work etc. .

B. Negative punishment:- also known as punishment by
removal, occurs when favorable event or outcome is
removed after a behavior occurs.
• It involves avoiding something which is pleasant for
somebody.
• E.g.1- A child who kicks another child while playing may
be sent out of play,
• E.g.2- Snatching a puppet from a child when he/she shows
inappropriate behavior,
• E.g.3- a child may told they will lose vacation privileges if
they misbehave in the class ,
• E.g.-4 not giving vacation for student etc.
N.B. In both of these cases of punishment, the
goal is to decrease behavior.

C. Shaping
• It is a reinforcement technique that is used to teach animals or
people behaviors that they have never performed before.
• For a response to be reinforced it must first to occur.
• It is a way to bring about a new response by reinforcing responses
that are progressively more like the desired one.
• Shaping is an operant conditioning procedure in which successive
approximations of a desired response are reinforced until the final
desired response is showed by the trainee.
• Eg.1- Suppose you to train a child to use a knife and a fork
properly.
• Eg.2- Giving training for new entrants of police members how can
shoot a gun. When the cadet shot towards the right direction
reinforcement is given .when continuing in that way ,you continue
rewarding responses that are closer to the desired behavior until they
become perfect shooter.

2. Cognitive Learning Theories
• Assumes that learning is a cognitive process.
• Give emphasis on the role of expectations, thinking,
remembering ability, experience etc.
• Focus on the organism as an active processor of
information .
• Recognize that learning can take place in the absence of
overt behavior
• Cognitive learning theories are stimulus-stimulus
association learning theories.
• It is not the response to a particular stimulus, the so
called Stimulus-Response association, that are learned
in the classical and operant conditioning.

Three Types of Cognitive Learning
I. Latent Learning
• It is a type of learning that occurs but is not displayed until the
organism is motivated to do so.
• ‘It is a type of learning that becomes evident only when the occasion
for using it arises.
• Occur without reinforcement of particular responses and seems to
involve changes in the way information is processed.
E.g. A police officer learnt how to shoot or fire a gun but he does not
exhibit the skill until he joins the operation.
II. Insight learning
• learning begins from several trial and error strategies and ends in a
sudden solution to a problem.
• learning which is said to involve perceptual reorganization.
• People who solve problems insightfully feel “Aha experience”

Social learning Theories/Learning
by Observing
Brainstorming Question
• Who is the person that you admire the most?
• Why do you want to become like him/her?
• What do you do to become like that person?
• What do you feel if you be able to become
like your model?.

3. Social learning Theories/Learning
by Observing
• Developed by Albert Bandura & his colleagues.
• Stress that learning takes place through observation and imitation or
modeling of what others do and what happens to them for doing it.
Types of Social Learning/ Learning by observing.
• Vicarious Learning:- occurs when we see others rewarded or
punished for a particular action (behavior
• Imitation/Modeling:- Imitating the behavior of the model with no
reinforcement by observing.
 Two types of models:-
• Real life Models :- example, parents, teachers, friends, and other most
successful persons in the society.
• Symbolic models:- example, verbal materials, pictorial etc.
 Both types of models are effective in teaching people.

The Process of Social learning/Imitation
• Bandura mentions four conditions that are necessary
before an individual can successfully model/imitate the
behavior of someone else:
1. Attention:- paying first attention to produce the
model activities.
2. Retention:- encode and retrieve the models actions.
3. Motor reproduction:- The individual selects the
behavior, mentally organizes, and reproducing or
imitating the model’s action.
4. Motivational processes:- after attending, retaining
and production, there should be a condition of
motivator to repeat the action.

CHAPTER FOUR
MEMORY AND FORGETTING
Meaning and Processes of Memory
Memory is the retention of information/what is learned earlier
over time.
It is the way in which we record the past for later use in the
present. Memory is a blanket label for a large number of
processes that form the bridges between our past and our present.
Memory process
Memory processes are the mental activities we perform to put
information into memory, to keep it there, and to make use of it
later. This involves three basic steps:
This involves three basic steps:
• Encoding ,storage and retrieval

a) Encoding: Taken from computer science, the term encoding
refers to the form (i.e. the code) in which an item of information
is to be placed in memory.
• It is the process by which information is initially recorded in a
form usable to memory. In encoding we transform a sensory
input into a form or a memory code that can be further processed.

Cont…
b) Storage: To be remembered the encoded experience must leave some record in the
nervous system (the memory trace); it must be squirreled away and held in some
more or less enduring form for later use.
• This is what memory specialists mean when they speak of placing information in
storage.
• It is the location in memory system in which material is saved. Storage is the
persistence of information in memory.
c) Retrieval: is the point at which one tries to remember to dredge up a particular
memory trace from among all the others we have stored.
• In retrieval, material in memory storage is located, brought into awareness and used.
NB. Failure to remember can result from problems during any of the three phases of the
memory process. If, for example, you encode a new item of information only as a sound
pattern, there would be no memory trace of its meaning.
If both the sound and the meaning were encoded and held for the length of the retention
interval, the item might have been misfiled in memory. If so, the item might be
impossible to retrieve even though it is still stored in memory.
Memory is the process by which information is encoded (phase1), stored (phase 2) and
later retrieved (phase 3).

Stages/Structure of Memory
• Memory structure is the nature of memory storage itself- how information
is represented in memory and how long it lasts and how it is organized.
Although people usually refer to memory as a single faculty, the term
memory actually covers a complex collection of abilities and processes.
• Models of memory based on the idea of Information processing theories.
Like computer, we also store vast amounts of information in our memory
storehouse. From this storehouse, we can retrieve some information onto a
limited capacity of working memory, which also receives information from
our current experience.
• Part of this working memory is displayed on the mental screen we call
consciousness. A number of such models of memory have been proposed.
One of the most important and influential of these is the one developed by
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968).
• According to Atkinson and Shiffrin, memory has three structures: these are
sensory memory, short term memory and long tern memory

Stages of Memory
Sensory
Memory/SM
Short Term
Memory/STM/
Long Term
Memory/LTM/
Stages of
Memory

1. Sensory Memory/Sensory Register:
• It is the entry way to memory. It is the first information storage area. Sensory
memory acts as a holding bin, retaining information until we can select items for
attention from the stream of stimuli bombarding our senses.
• It gives us a brief time to decide whether information is extraneous or important.
• Sensory memory includes a number of separate subsystems, as many as there are
senses. It can hold virtually all the information reaching our senses for a brief time.
• visual images (Iconic memory) remain in the visual system for a maximum of one
second.
• Auditory images (Echoic memory) remain in the auditory system for a slightly
longer time, by most estimates up to two second or so. The information stored
sensory in memory is a fairly accurate representation of the environmental
information but unprocessed.
• Most information briefly held in the sensory memory simply decays from the
register. However, some of the information that has got attention and recognition
pass on short-term memory for further processing.

2. Short-term Memory
• Unlike sensory memories, short-term memories are not brief
replicas of the environmental message. Instead, they consist of the
by-products or end results of perceptual analysis.
• STM is important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading,
speaking, and problem solving.
• There are various terms used to refer to this stage of memory,
including working memory, immediate memory, active memory,
and primary memory.
Short term memory is distinguished by four characteristics:
• It is active information remains in STM only so long as the
person is consciously processing, examining, or manipulating it.
• People use STM as a workspace to process new information and
to call up relevant information from LTM

Cont…
Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is readily available for use. In this
respect, the difference between STM and LTM is the difference between
pulling a file from the top of a desk versus searching for it in a file drawer, or
between searching for information in an open computer file versus file stored
on the hard drive.
Preserves the temporal sequence of information- STM usually helps us to
maintain the information in sequential manner for a temporary period of time.
• It keeps the information fresh until it goes to further analysis and stored in
LTM in meaningful way.
Limited capacity- Years ago, George Miller (1956) estimated the capacity of
STM to be ―the magic number seven plus or minus 2.
• That is, on the average, people can hold about seven pieces of information
in STM at a time; with a normal range from five to nine items.
• Some researchers have questioned whether Miller‘s magical number is
so magical after all. Everyone agrees, however, that the number of items
that short-term memory can handle at any one time is small.

Cont…
• According to most models of memory, we overcome this problem, by
grouping small groups of information into larger units or chunks.
• Chunking is the grouping or packing of information into higher order
units that can be remembered as single units.
• Chunking expands working memory by making large amounts of
information more manageable.
• The real capacity of short-term memory, therefore, is not a few bits of
information but a few chunks. A chunk may be a word, a phrase, a
sentence, or even a visual image, and it depends on previous experience.
• STM memory holds information (sounds, visual images, words, and
sentences and so on) received from SM for up to about 30 seconds by
most estimates.
• It is possible to prolong STM indefinitely by rehearsal- the conscious
repetition of information. Material in STM is easily displaced unless we
do something to keep it there.

3. Long Term Memory
• It is a memory system used for the relatively permanent storage
of meaningful information. The capacity of LTM seems to have
no practical limits.
• The vast amount of information stored in LTM enables us to
learn, get around in the environment, and build a sense of
identity and personal history.
• LTM stores information for indefinite periods. It may last for
days, months, years, or even a lifetime.
• The LTM is assumed to be composed of different sub systems:
Declarative/ explicit memory-
• The conscious recollection of information such as specific facts
or events that can be verbally communicated. It is further
subdivided into semantic and episodic memories.

Cont..
Semantic memory- factual knowledge like
• The meaning of words, concepts
• Our ability to do math.
• They are internal representations of the world, independent of any
particular context.
Episodic memory- memories for events and situations from personal
experience.
• They are internal representations of personally experienced events.
Non-declarative/ implicit memory-
• Refers to a variety of phenomena of memory in which behavior is affected
by prior experience without that experience being consciously
recollected.
• One of the most important kinds of implicit memory is procedural memory.
• It is the ―how to knowledge of procedures or skills:
‖
• Knowing how to comb your hair, use a pencil, or swim.

Serial Position Effect
The three-box model of memory is often invoked to explain interesting phenomenon called the
serial position effect.
If you are shown a list of items and are then asked immediately to recall them, your retention of
any particular item will depend on its position in the list. That is, recall will be best for items
• at the beginning of the list (the primacy effect)
• at the end of the list (the recency effect).
• When retention of all the items is plotted, the result will be a U-shaped curve.
A serial position effect occurs when you are introduced to a lot of people at a party and find you
can recall the names of the first few people you met and the last, but almost no one in between.
• According to the three-box model, the first few items on a list are remembered well because
short-term memory was relatively ―empty‖ when they entered, so these items did not have to
compete with others to make it into long term memory. They were thoroughly processed, so
they remain memorable.
• The last few items are remembered for a different reason: At the time of recall, they are still
sitting in STM.
• The items in the middle of the list, however, are not so well retained because by the time they
get into short-term memory, it is already crowded.
• As a result many of these items drop out of short-term memory before they can be stored in
long-term memory.

Factors Affecting Memory
Memory as stated already, is a process which includes learning, retention and remembering. As
such all the three processes are important for good memory.
Eleven Factors that Influence Memory Process in Humans are as follows:
Ability to retain: This depends upon good memory traces left in the brain by past
experiences.
Good health: A person with good health can retain the learnt material better than a person with
poor health.
Age of the learner: Youngsters can remember better than the aged.
Maturity: Very young children cannot retain and remember complex material.
Will to remember: Willingness to remember helps for better retention.
Intelligence: More intelligent person will have better memory than a dull person,
Interest: If a person has more interest, he will learn and retain better.
Over learning: Experiments have proved that over learning will lead to better memory.
Speed of learning: Quicker learning leads to better retention,
Meaningfulness of the material: Meaningful materials remain in our memory for longer period
than for nonsense material,
Sleep or rest: Sleep or rest immediately after learning strengthens connections in the brain and
helps for clear memory.

Forgetting
• Psychologists generally use the term forgetting to refer to the apparent loss
of information already encoded and stored in the long-term memory.
• The first attempts to study forgetting were made by German psychologist
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885/1913). Using himself as his only subject, he
memorized lists of three letter non-sense syllables- meaningless sets of two
consonants with a vowel in between, such as FIW and BOZ.
• He found that forgetting occurred systematically. The most rapid forgetting
occurs in the first hours, and particularly in the first hour.
• After nine hours, the rate of forgetting slows and declines little, even after
the passage of many days.
• Ebbinghaus‘s research had an important influence on subsequent research,
and his basic conclusions had been upheld.
• There is almost always a strong initial decline in memory, followed by a
more gradual drop over time. Furthermore, relearning of previously
mastered material is almost always faster than starting from a scratch,
whether the material is academic information or a motor skill such as
serving a tennis ball.

Theories of forgetting
1. Decay theory: this theory holds that memory traces or engram fade
with time if they are not accessed now and then.
• This explanation assumes that when new material is learned a memory
trace or engram- an actual physical change in the brain- occurs. In decay,
the trace simply fades away with nothing left behind, because of the
passage of time.
2.Interfrence Interference theory holds that forgetting occurs because similar
items of information interfere with one another in either storage or retrieval.
• The information may get into memory, but it becomes confused with other
information.
• There are two kinds of interference that influence forgetting: proactive and
retroactive.
• In Proactive Interference, information learned earlier interferes with
recall of newer material.
• If new information interferes with the ability to remember old information
the interference is called Retroactive Interference.

Cont..
3. New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory
This theory holds that new information entering memory can wipe out old
information, just as recording on an audio or videotape will obliterate/wipe out the
original material.
• This theory is mostly associated with the STM, where the capacity for information
is limited to seven plus or minus chunks. It cannot be associated with the LTM
because of its virtually unlimited capacity.
4. Motivated Forgetting
• Sigmund Freud maintained that people forget because they block from
consciousness those memories that are too threatening or painful to live with, and
he called this self-protective process Repression.
• Today many psychologists prefer to use a more general term, motivated forgetting.
5. Cue dependent forgetting
• Cues that were present when you learned a new fact or had an experience are
apropriatet to be especially useful later as retrieval aids.
• When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we have lost the call number for an
entry in the mind‘s library.
• In long-term memory, this type of memory failure may be the most common type
of all.

Improving memory
A better approach is to follow some general guidelines.
Pay Attention: It seems obvious, but often we fail to remember because we
never encoded the information in the first place. When you do have
something to remember, you will do better if you encode it.
Encode information in more than one way: The more elaborate the
encoding of information, the more memorable it will be
Add meaning: The more meaningful the material, the more likely it is to
link up with information already in long-term memory.
Take your time: If possible, minimize interference by using study breaks
for rest or recreation. Sleep is the ultimate way to reduce interference.
Over learn: Studying information even after you think you already know it-
is one of thebest ways to ensure that you‘ll remember it.
Monitor your learning: By testing yourself frequently, rehearsing
thoroughly, and reviewing periodically, you will have a better idea of how
you are doing.

CHAPTER FIVE
MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS
Definition and Types of Motivation
• Motivation is a factor by which activities are started, directed and continued so that
physical or psychological needs or wants are met.
• The word itself comes from the Latin word ‘Mover‘, which means to move.
Motivation is what moves people to do the things they do.
• There are different types of motivation. But, it is possible to categorize them into
two: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which a person acts because the act itself
is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner.
 The individual's motivational stimuli are coming from within.
 Examples:
 feelings
 Interest
 Attitude
 Understanding
 Problem solving skill

Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in
which individuals act because the action leads to
an outcome that is external to a person.
The individual's motivational stimuli are coming
from outside.
For example,
• giving a child money for every ‘A‘ on a report
card,
• offering a bonus to an employee for increased
performance.
 Employee of the month award
 Benefit package

Approaches to motivation (theories of motivation)
a) Instinct approaches to motivation
• One of the earliest theory of motivation that is focused on the biologically
determined and innate patterns of both humans and animals behavior is called
instincts.
• According to instinct theories, people are motivated to do some activity because
they are evolutionarily programmed to do so.
• Like animals humans governed by instincts including curiosity, flight (running
away), pugnacity (aggressiveness), and acquisition (gathering possessions).
b) Drive-reduction approaches to motivation
This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives.
• A need is a requirement of some material (such as food or water) that is essential
for the survival of the organism.
• When an organism has a need, it leads to a psychological tension as well as
physical arousal to fulfill the need and reduce the tension. This tension is called
drive.
• Drive-reduction theory proposes just this connection between internal
psychological states and outward behavior.
• In this theory, there are two kinds of drives; primary and secondary.

• Primary drives are those that involve survival needs of the body such as
hunger and thirst,
• whereas acquired (secondary) drives are those that are learned through
experience or conditioning, such as the need for money, social approval.
• This theory also includes the concept of homeostasis, or the tendency of
the body to maintain a steady-state.
C) Arousal approaches: beyond drive reduction
• Arousal approaches seek to explain behavior in which the goal is to
maintain or increase excitement.
• According to arousal approaches to motivation, each person tries to
maintain a certain level of stimulation and activity.
• As with the drive-reduction model, this approach suggests that if our
stimulation and activity levels become too high, we try to reduce them.
• But, in contrast to the drive-reduction perspective, the arousal approach
also suggests that if levels of stimulation and activity are too low, we will
try to increase them by seeking stimulation.

Cont…
d) Incentive approaches: motivation s pull
‟
• Incentive approaches to motivation suggest that motivation stems from the desire to
attain external rewards, known as incentives.
• In this view, the desirable properties of external stimuli: whether grades,
money, affection, food, or sex—account for a person‘s motivation.
e) Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind motivation
• Cognitive approaches to motivation suggest that motivation is a result of people‘s
thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and goals.
• For instance, the degree to which people are motivated to study for a test is based
on their expectation of how well studying will pay off in terms of a good grade.
• Cognitive theories of motivation draw a key difference between intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation causes us to participate in an activity for our enjoyment rather
than for any actual or concrete reward that it will bring us.
• In contrast, extrinsic motivation causes us to do something for money, a grade, or
some other actual, concrete reward.

f) Humanistic approaches to motivation
• Maslow was one of the early humanistic psychologists who rejected the dominant theories
of psychoanalysis and behaviorism in favor of a more positive view of human behavior.
• Maslow suggested that human behavior is influenced by a hierarchy, or ranking, of five
classes of needs, or motives.
• Needs at the lowest level of the hierarchy must be at least partially satisfied before people
can be motivated by the ones at higher levels.
• Maslow‘s five Hierarchies of needs for motives from the bottom to the top are as follows:
• Physiological needs- these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air, food,
drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
• Safety needs- protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.
• Love and belongingness needs- the third level of human needs is social and involves
feelings of belongingness. Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance,
receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family,
friends, work).
• Esteem needs- the need to be respected as a useful, honorable individual; which Maslow
classified into two categories:
i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, and independence) and
ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
• Self-actualization needs- realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal
growth and peak experiences.
A desire ―to become everything one is capable of becoming.

Bio-Psychosocial Theories: Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
PHYSIOLOGICAL OR SURVIVAL NEEDS
MOST NEEDS HAVE TO DO WITH
SURVIVAL PHYSICALLY AND
PSYCHOLOGICALLY

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
SAFETY NEEDS
ON THE WHOLE AN INDIVIDUAL
CANNOT SATISFY ANY LEVEL
UNLESS NEEDS BELOW ARE
SATISFIED

SAFETY NEEDS
LOVE, AFFECTION, AND
BELONGINGNESS NEEDS

SAFETY NEEDS
BELONGINGNESS NEEDS
ESTEEM NEEDS

SAFETY NEEDS
BELONGINGNESS NEEDS
ESTEEM NEEDS
SELF-
ACTUALIZATION
NEED

General Psychology 2022.pptx Logic and C

Conflict of motives and frustration
There are four basic types of motivational conflicts.
Approach-approach conflicts - exist when we must choose only one of the two
desirable activities.
• Example, going to a movie or a concert.
Avoidance-avoidance conflicts - arise when we must select one of two undesirable
alternatives. Someone forced either to sell the family home or to declare bankruptcy.
Approach-avoidance conflicts - happen when a particular event or activity has
both attractive and unattractive features,
• for example, a freshman student wants to start dating but she, at the same time, is
worried that this may unduly consume her study time.
Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts - exist when two or more alternatives each
have both positive and negative features.
• Suppose you must choose between two jobs. One offers a high salary with a well-
known company but requires long working hours and relocation to a miserable
climate. The other boasts advancement opportunities, fringe benefits, and a better
climate, but it doesn‘t pay as much and involves an unpredictable work schedule.

Emotion
Definition of emotion
Emotion can be defined as the feeling aspect of consciousness, characterized by certain
physical arousal, certain behavior that reveals the feeling to the outside world, and an inner
awareness of feelings.
• There are three elements of emotion: the physiology, behavior and subjective experience.
• Physiology of emotion - when a person experiences an emotion, there is physical
arousal created by the sympathetic nervous system.
 The heart rate increases,
 breathing becomes more rapid,
 the pupils of the eye dilate, and
 the moth may become dry.
• Behavior of emotion- tells us how people behave in the grip of an emotion. There are
facial expressions, body movements, and actions that indicate to others how a person
feels.
• Subjective experience or labeling emotion is the third component of emotion and it
involves interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it a label:
 anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, shame, interest, surprise and so on.

Theories of emotion
I. James- Lang Theory of Emotion
Since it was developed by James and Lang this theory named as James-Lang theory In this
theory, a stimulus of some sort (for example, ) the large snarling dog) produces a physiological
reaction.
This reaction, which is the arousal of the ―fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system (wanting
to run), produces bodily sensations such as increased heart rate, dry mouth, and rapid breathing.
• James and Lang believed that physical arousal led to the labeling of the emotion (fear).
Simply put, I am afraid because I am aroused
II. Cannon-Bard theory
This theory also named from the founders Canon and Bard and stated that the brain generates
direct experiences of emotion.
The fear and the bodily reactions are, therefore, experienced at the same time-not one after
the other. I am afraid and running and arroused!
III. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory
Based on the Schachter-Singer theory, cognitive interpretation of events and
physiological reactions to them shapes emotional experiences.
• both the physical arousal and the labeling(cognitive) of that arousal based on indications
from the environment must occur before the emotion is experienced.
• ex. I am aroused in the presence of a scary dog; therefore, I must be afraid

Discussion
1. Discuss the different theories of motivation. Then, identify one theory of motivation
that you have to apply to raise the performance level of your subordinates: How can you
apply the theory?
2. Examine the means of motivation that your ex - manager/boss applied to motivate
his/her subordinates, including you.
• Do you think you and your colleagues were properly motivated to raise your level of
performance so as to meet the organizational objectives?
• If your answer is “yes” explain how you and your colleagues were motivated; if your
answer is “no” explain why the boss did not motivate.
• Discuss how you (as a boss) can motivate your subordinates to meet the
organizational objectives.
3. Briefly explain Maslow’s hierarchy of needs by providing an example to each stages
of the hierarchy.
4. Briefly explain the four major kinds of conflicts by providing an example to each of
the conflicts.
5. As a police officer you have to understand the behavior of the suspect, witness, victim
and even your subordinates.
• How do you understand whether the aforementioned individuals are happy or
unhappy, exited or depressed feeling love or hate, feeling like or dislike etc using their
emotions?

Chapter six
personality
Meaning of Personality
• The word personality is derived from the word `persona‘, which has Greek and
Latin roots and refers to the theatrical masks worn by Greek actors. Personality
has been defined in many different ways, but psychologists generally view
personality as the unique pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions
that characterize a person.
• Personality should not be confused with character and temprament.
• Character refers to value judgments made about a person‘s morals or ethical
behavior
• Temperament is the enduring characteristics with which each person is born,
such as irritability or adaptability. However, both character and temperament are
vital personalities.
Theories of Personality
Though there are different theories of personality, some of them we will see in this
chapter are; psychoanalytic, trait and humanistic theories of personality.

The psychoanalytic theory of personality
• It was formulated by the Austrian physician named Sigmund Freud.
• According to Freud, personality is formed within ourselves, arising from
basic inborn needs, drives, and characteristics.
• He argued that people are in constant conflict between their biological urges
(drives) and the need to tame them. Freud’s 3 levels of awareness
/consciousness are the pre conscious mind which is small part above surface
and controls for things we are focusing on, Conscious level found in the
middle part and controls things are not currently aware of but which we
could focus on and the last level is unconscious which is below the surface
and controls things which we are unaware of.
• The psychoanalytic theory includes a theory of personality structure. In
Freud's view personality has three parts which serves a different function
and develops at different times: the id, the ego, and the superego.
• According to Freud, the way these three parts of personality interact with one
another determines the personality of an individual.

Cont..
Id: If It Feels Good, Do It-
• The first and most primitive part of the personality in the infant is the id. The
Id is a Latin word that means it .
• The id is a completely unconscious amoral part of the personality that exists
at birth, containing all of the basic biological drives; hunger, thirst, sex,
aggression, for example. When these drives are active, the person will feel an
increase in not only physical tension but also in psychological tension that
Freud called libido, the instinctual energy that may come into conflict with
the demands a society‘s standards for behavior.
• When libidinal energy is high, it is unpleasant for the person, so the goal is to
reduce libido by fulfilling the drive; Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, and
satisfy the sex when the need for pleasure is present. Freud called this need
for satisfaction
• The pleasure principle, which can be defined as the desire for immediate
satisfaction of needs with no regard for the consequences. The pleasure
principle can be summed up simply as ―if it feels good, do it.‖

Cont..
Ego: The Executive Director
The ego, from the Latin word for ―I , is
‖ mostly conscious and is far more rational,
logical and cunning than the id.
The ego works on the reality principle, which is the need to satisfy the demands of the
id and reduce libido only in ways that will not lead to negative consequences.
This means that sometimes the ego decides to deny the id its drives because the
consequence would be painful or too unpleasant.
A simpler way of stating the reality principle is ―if it feels good, do it, but only if you
can get away with it.
Superego: The Moral Watchdog-
Freud called the third and final part of the personality, the moral center of personality,
the superego. The superego (also Latin, meaning ―over the self ) develops as a
‖
preschool-aged child learns the rules, customs, and expectations of society. There are
two parts to the superego:
The ego-ideal is a kind of measuring device. It is the sum of all the ideal or correct and
acceptable behavior that the child has learned about from parents and others in the
society. All behavior is held up to this standard and judged by the conscience.
The conscience is part of the personality that makes people pride when they do the
right thing and guilt, or moral anxiety when they do the wrong thing.

Cont..
For Freud, our personality is the outcome of the continual battle for dominance
among the id, the ego, and the superego. This constant conflict between them is
managed by psychological defense mechanisms.
Defense mechanisms are unconscious tactics that either prevent threatening material
from surfacing or disguise it when it does. Some of the psychological defense
mechanisms are discussed below.
• Repression is a defense mechanism that involves banishing threatening thoughts,
feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind. Example: an Ethiopian
husband who is defeated by his wife will not remember/ talk it out again.
• Denial: is refusal to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation. Example;
Mr. Geremew is an alcoholic who denies/ doesn‘t accept being an alcoholic.
• Regression: involves reverting to immature behaviors that have relieved anxiety
in the past. Example: a girl/a boy who has just entered school may go back to
sucking her/his thumb or wetting the bed.
• Rationalization: giving socially acceptable reasons for one's inappropriate
behavior. Example: make bad grades but states the reason as being knowledge
rather than grade oriented; and grades only showing superficial learning.

Defense mechanism cont..
• Displacement: the defense mechanism that involves expressing feelings toward
a person who is less threatening than the person who is the true target of those
feelings. Example: Hating your boss but taking it out on family members.
• Projection: the defense mechanism that involves attributing one's undesirable
feelings to other people. Example: a paranoid person uses projection to justify
isolation and anger.
• Reaction formation: a defense mechanism that involves a tendency to act in a
manner opposite to one's true feelings. Example: a person who acts conservation
but focuses on violence in their behavior.
• Sublimation: defense mechanism that involves expressing sexual or aggressive
behavior through indirect, socially acceptable outlets. Example: an
aggressive person who loves playing football.
• Our use of defense mechanisms is not considered as inappropriate or unhealthy
unless we rely on them to an extreme level.
• Remember that all of us use defense mechanisms to manage our conflict and
stress. It may not be possible to get through life without such defenses. But,
excessive use may create more stress than it alleviates.

Freud’s Stages of Personality Development
Freud identifies five stages of personality development. These are
• oral stage , anal Stage, phallic stage, latency stage and genital stage
1) Oral stage of development
• Time period: Birth to 18 months:
– Erogenous zone is mouth.
• Gratification through sucking and swallowing.
• Oral fixation has two possible outcomes.
– Oral receptive personality:
• Preoccupied with eating/drinking.
• Reduce tension through oral activity.
– eating, drinking, smoking, biting nails
• Passive and needy; sensitive to rejection.
– Oral aggressive personality:
• Hostile and verbally abusive to others.

Cont..
(2) Anal stage of development:
• Time period: 1 1/2 to 3 years of age.
• Erogenous zone is the anus.
• Conflict surrounds toilet training.
• Anal fixation has two possible outcomes.
– Anal retentive personality.
• Stingy, compulsive orderliness, stubborn, perfectionistic.
– Anal expulsive personality.
• Lack of self control, messy, careless.
3) Phallic stage of development:
• Time period: 3 to 6 years.
• Erogenous zone is the genitals: self-stimulation of the genitals produces pleasure.
• At age 5 or 6, near the end of the phallic stage, children experience the Oedipal
conflict (boys)/the Electra conflict (girls)--a process through which they learn to
identify with the same gender parent by acting as much like that parent as
possible

• Oedipus complex (boys) vs Electra complex (girls)
– Child is sexually attracted to the other sex parent and wishes to replace the
same sex parent.
• Oedipus complex (little boys):
• Castration anxiety:
– Son believes father knows about his desire for mom.
– Fears dad will castrate him.
– Represses his desire and defensively identifies with dad.
• Electra complex (little girls):
• Penis envy:
– Daughter is initially attached to mom.
– Shift of attachment occurs when she realizes she lacks a penis.
– She desires dad whom she sees as a means to obtain a penis substitute (a
child).
– Represses her desire for dad.
• incorporates the values of her mother
• accepts her inherent “inferiority” in society

Cont..
4) Latency Period:
• During the latency period, little girls and little boys try to socialize only with
members of their own gender.
• Freud posits that children do this so as to help minimize the awareness of
“sexuality.”
• Thus, they continue the process of sexual repression that began in the previous
stage (for those who successfully made it through the Oedipal Complex/Electra
Complex).
5) Genital Stage:
• When adolescence begin puberty, they enter the 5th stage of psychosexual
development.
• They develop secondary sexual characteristics (e.g., pubic hair).
• The onset of the physical sexual characteristics “re-awakens” people sexual urges,
and thus they are no longer able to successfully repress their sexual desires,
impulses, and urges.
• They begin searching for a marital mate, with whom they can share sex and
intimacy.

The trait theory of personality
Trait theorists seek to measure the relative strength of the many personality
characteristics that they believe are present in everyone. The trait approach to
personality makes three main assumptions:
1. Personality traits are relatively stable, and therefore predictable, over time.
So a gentle person tends to stay the some way across time.
2. Personality traits are relatively stable across situations, and they can explain why
people act in predictable ways in many different situations.
• A person who is competitive at work will probably also be competitive on the
tennis court or at a party.
3. People differ in how much of a particular personality trait they possess;
• no two people are exactly alike on all traits. The result is an endless variety of
unique personalities.
Though the history of the trait theory of personality has come through different stages,
our attention here will be paid on the five-factor model or the Big Five theory. The
five trait dimensions can be remembered by using the acronym OCEAN, in which
each of the letters is the first letter of one of the five dimensions of personality.

Openness can best be described as a person‘s willingness to try new
things and be open to new experiences.
• People who try to maintain the status quo and who don‘t like to
change things would score less on openness.
Conscientiousness refers to a person‘s organization and motivation, with
people who score high in the dimension being those who are careful
about being in places on time and careful with belongings as well.
• Someone scoring low on this dimension, for example, might always
be late to important social events or borrow belongings and fail to
return them or return in poor coordination.
Extraversion is a term first used by Carl Jung, who believed that all
people could be divided into two personality types: extraverts and
introverts.
• Extraverts are outgoing and sociable,
• whereas introverts are more solitary and dislike being the center of
attention.

• Agreeableness refers to the basic emotional style
of a person.
• Those who may be easygoing, friendly and
pleasant (at the high end of the scale) or grumpy,
crabby and hard to get along with (at the low end).
Neuroticism refers to emotional instability or
stability.
• People who are excessively worried, overanxious
and moody would score high on this dimension,
• whereas those who are more even-tempered and
calm could score low.

Humanistic Theory of Personality
• Humanistic approaches to personality emphasize people‘s inherent goodness and their
tendency to move toward higher levels of functioning instead of seeing people as
controlled by the unconscious, unseen forces (psychodynamic approaches), and a set of
stable traits (trait approaches).
• It is this conscious, self-motivated ability to change and improve, along with people‘s
unique creative impulses, that humanistic theorists argue make up the core of
personality.
• Humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow wanted psychology to focus on
the things that make people uniquely human, such as subjective emotions and the
freedom to choose one‘s destiny.
• Like Maslow, Rogers believed that human beings are always striving to fulfill their
innate capacities and capabilities and to become everything that their genetic potential
will allow them to become.
• This striving for fulfillment is called self-actualizing tendency. An important tool in
human self-actualization is the development of an image of oneself or the self-concept.
• The self-concept is based on what people are told by others and how the sense of self is
reflected in the words and actions of important people in one‘s life, such as parents,
siblings, coworkers, friends, and teachers.

Cont..
• Two important components of the self-concept are
• the real self (one‘s actual perception of characteristics, traits,
and abilities that form the basis of the striving for self-
actualization) and
• the ideal self (the perception of what one should be or would
like to be).
• positive regard as warmth, affection, love, and respect that
comes from the significant others (parents, admired adults,
friends, and teachers) in people‘s experience.
• Positive is vital to people‘s ability to cope with stress and to
strive to achieve self-actualization.
• unconditioned positive regard, or love, affection and respect
with no strings attached, is necessary for people to be able to
explore fully all that they can achieve and become.

Chapter seven
Psychological disorders and treatment techniques
Nature of Psychological Disorders
what are the criteria used for determining that person has a psychological problem/disorder? We
generally have three main criteria:
• Abnormality,
• Mal adaptiveness, and
• Personal distress.
1. Abnormality
Abnormal behavior is a behavior that deviates from the behavior of the typical person; the norm. A
society‘s norm can be qualitative and quantitative. When someone behaves in culturally
unacceptable ways and the behaviors he/she exhibit violates the norm, standards, rules and
regulations of the society, this person is most likely to have a psychological problem.
Only abnormal behavior cannot be sufficient for the diagnosis of psychological problem. Hence, we
need to consider the context in which a person‘s behavior happens. There fore, The context in which
abnormal behavior occurs must be considered before deciding that it is symptomatic of
psychological disorders.
Culture-Bound Syndromes: what we consider a disorder may actually be considered normal in other
areas

Cont..
2. Maladaptiveness
• Maladaptive behavior in one way or another creates a social, personal and
occupational problem on those who exhibit the behaviors.
• These behaviors seriously disrupt the day-to-day activities of individuals that
can increase the problem more.
• Maladaptive Behavior—determines whether the behavior is harmful to self or
others
3. Personal Distress
• Our subjective feelings of anxiety, stress, tension and other unpleasant
emotions determine whether we have a psychological disorder.
• These negative emotional states arise either by the problem itself or by
events happen that on us. But, the criterion of personal distress, just like other
criteria, is not sufficient for the presence of psychological disorder.
• This is because of some people like feeling distressed by their own behavior.
Hence, behavior that is abnormal, maladaptive, or personally distressing
might indicate that a person has a psychological disorder.

Causes of Psychological Disorders (Based on Perspectives)
The Biological Perspective
• According to this perspective abnormalities caused in the working of chemicals in the
brain, called neurotransmitters, may contribute to many psychological disorders.
• For example, over activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine, perhaps caused by an
overabundance of certain dopamine receptors in the brain, has been linked to the bizarre
symptoms of schizophrenia.
Psychological Perspectives: It includes the psychoanalytic perspective, the learning, and
the cognitive behavioral perspectives.
A. Psychoanalytic perspective
Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic approach, believed that the human mind
consists of three interacting forces:
• the id (a pool of biological urges),
• the ego (which mediates between the id and reality), and
• the superego (which represent society‘s moral standards).
Therefore Abnormal behavior, in Freud s view, is caused by
‟ the ego s inability to
‟ manage
the conflict between the opposing demands of the id and the superego. Especially important
is the individuals‘ failure to manage the conflicting of id s sexual impulses during
‟
childhood, and society s sexual morality to resolve the earlier childhood emotional conflicts
‟
that determine how to behave and think later.

Cont..
Learning perspective
Most mental and emotional disorders, in contrast to the
psychoanalytic perspective, arise from inadequate or inappropriate
learning. People acquire abnormal behaviors through the various
kinds of learning.
Cognitive perspective
The main theme of this perspective is that self-defeating thoughts
lead to the development of negative emotions and self-destructive
behaviors.
• People's ways thinking about events in their life determines
their emotional and behavioral patterns.
• so, the quality of our internal dialogue either builds ourselves
up or tear ourselves down and has profound effect on our
mental health.

Types of psychological disorder
• A psychological disorder is a condition characterized by abnormal thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors.
• Psychopathology is the study of psychological disorders, including their
symptoms, etiology (i.e., their causes), and treatment.
Types of psychological disorder includes mood disorder, anxiety disorder and
personality disorder.
1) Mood Disorders
Mood disorders are characterized by a serious change in mood from depressed to
elevated feelings causing disruption to life activities.
• Depressive disorder is characterized by overall feelings of desperation and
inactivity.
• Elevated moods are characterized by mania or hypomania.
You may be extremely sad, empty or irritable (depressed), or you may have periods of
depression alternating with being excessively happy (mania).
Mood disorder includes Major Depression, Dysthymic Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and
Cyclothymia.

Cont..
1) Major Depression (also known as depression or clinical depression)
• is characterized by depressed mood,
• diminished interest in activities previously enjoyed,
• weight disturbance, sleep disturbance, loss of energy,
• difficulty concentrating, and often includes feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of
suicide.
2) Dysthymia is often considered a lesser, but more persistent form of depression.
• Many of the symptoms are similar except to a lesser degree. Also, dysthymia, as opposed
to Major Depression is steadier rather than periods of normal feelings and extreme lows.
3) Bipolar Disorder (previously known as Manic-Depression) is characterized by periods of
• extreme highs (called mania) and
• extreme lows as in Major Depression.
Bipolar Disorder is subtyped either
• I (extreme or hyper manic episodes) or
• II (moderate or hypomanic episodes).
4) Cyclothymia: Like Dysthymia and Major Depression, Cyclothymia is considered a lesser
form of Bipolar Disorder.

2) Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can be beneficial in some
situations. It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay
attention. Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of
nervousness or anxiousness, and involve excessive fear or anxiety.
• Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and
affect nearly 30 percent of adults at some point in their lives.
• However, anxiety disorders are treatable and a number of effective
treatments are available.
In general, for a person to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, the
fear or anxiety must:
• Be out of proportion to the situation or age inappropriate
• Hinder your ability to function normally
It includes Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Specific Phobias, Social
Phobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (PSTD).

Cont.…
a) Panic Disorder is characterized by a series of panic attacks.
A panic attack is an inappropriate intense feeling of fear or discomfort
including many of the following symptoms:
• heart palpitations, trembling, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness.
• These symptoms are so severe that the person may actually believe he or
she is having a heart attack. In fact, many, if not most of the diagnoses of
Panic Disorder are made by a physician in a hospital emergency room.
• b) Agoraphobia literally means fear of the marketplace. It refers to a
series of symptoms where the person fears, and often avoids, situations
where escape or help might not be available, such as shopping centers,
grocery stores, or other public place. Agoraphobia is often a part of
panic disorder if the panic attacks are severe enough to result in an
avoidance of these types of places.

Cont..
• c) Specific or Simple Phobia and Social Phobia represent an intense fear and
often an avoidance of a specific situation, person, place, or thing.
• To be diagnosed with a phobia, the person must have suffered significant
negative consequences because of this fear and it must be disruptive to their
everyday life.
• d) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions
(thoughts which seem uncontrollable) and compulsions (behaviors which act to
reduce the obsession).
• Most people think of compulsive hand washers or people with an intense fear
of dirt or of being infected.
• These obsessions and compulsions are disruptive to the person's everyday life,
with sometimes hours being spent each day repeating things, which were
completed successfully already such as checking, counting, cleaning, or
bathing.
• e) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs only after a person is exposed
to a traumatic event where their life or someone else's life is threatened.

• The most common examples are war, natural disasters,
major accidents, and severe child abuse.
• Once exposed to an incident such as this, the disorder
develops into an intense fear of related situations,
avoidance of these situations, reoccurring nightmares,
flashbacks, and heightened anxiety to the point that it
significantly disrupts their everyday life.
f). Generalized Anxiety Disorder is diagnosed when a person
has extreme anxiety in nearly every part of their life.
• It is not associated with just open places (as in
agoraphobia), specific situations (as in specific phobia), or
a traumatic event (as in PTSD).
• The anxiety must be significant enough to disrupt the
person's everyday life for a diagnosis to be made.

3) Personality Disorders
• A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a
rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving.
• Is characterized by an enduring pattern of thinking, feeling, and
behaving which is significantly different from the person's culture and
results in negative consequences.
• This pattern must be longstanding and inflexible for a diagnosis to be
made. It includes
1) Paranoid (includes a pattern of distrust and suspiciousness).
2) Schizoid (pattern of detachment from social norms and a restriction of
emotions).
3) Schizotypal (pattern of discomfort in close relationships and eccentric
thoughts and behaviors).
4) Antisocial (pattern of disregard for the rights of others, including
violation of these rights and the failure to feel empathy).

Cont…
5) Borderline (pattern of instability in personal relationships,
including frequent bouts of clinginess and affection and anger and
resentment, often cycling between these two extremes rapidly).
6) Histrionic (pattern of excessive emotional behavior and
attention seeking).
7) Narcissistic (pattern of grandiosity, exaggerated self-worth, and
need for admiration).
8) Avoidant (pattern of feelings of social inadequacies, low self-
esteem, and hypersensitivity to criticism).
9) Obsessive-Compulsive (pattern of obsessive cleanliness,
perfection, and control).

4 Treatment Techniques
Treatment of mental illnesses can take various forms. They can include medication,
talk- therapy, a combination of both, and can last only one session or take many years
to complete.
Psychotherapy consists of the following:
1. A positive, healthy relationship between a client or patient and a trained
psychotherapist
2. Recognizable mental health issues, whether diagnosable or not
3. Agreement on the basic goals of treatment
4. Working together as a team to achieve these goals
Treatment Approaches
Providing psychological treatment to individuals with some kind of psychological
problems is psychotherapy. When providing psychotherapy, there are several issues to
be considered.
• empathy. It is a requirement for a successful practitioner to be able to understand
his or her client's feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
• being non- judgmental is vital if the relationship and treatment are going to work.
If your therapist judges you, then you don't feel safe talking about similar issues
again.

Cont…
Three main branches of treatment approaches include Cognitive,
Behavioral, and Dynamic.
• Cognitive branch will look at dysfunctions and difficulties as
arising from irrational or faulty thinking.
• In other words, we perceive the world in a certain way (which may or
may not be accurate) and this result in acting and feeling a certain way.
• Behavioral models look at problems as arising from our behaviors
which we have learned to perform over years of reinforcement.
• Dynamic or psychodynamic camp stem more from the teaching of
Sigmund Freud and look more at issues beginning in early childhood
which then motivate us as adults at an unconscious level.
• Most mental health professionals nowadays are more eclectic in that
they study how to treat people using different approaches. These
professionals are sometimes referred to as integrationists.

Treatment Modalities
Therapy is most often thought of as a one-on-one relationship between a client
or patient and a therapist. This is probably the most common example.
But therapy can also take different forms. Often time‘s group therapy is utilized,
where individuals suffering from similar illnesses or having similar issues meet
together with one or two therapists.
Group sizes differ, ranging from three or four to upwards of 15 or 20, but the
goals remain the same.
Therapy can also take place in smaller groups consisting of a couple or a family.
In this type of treatment, the issues to be worked on are centered around the
relationship.
There is often an educational component, like other forms of therapy, such as
communication training, and couples and families are encouraged to work
together as a team rather than against each other.
The therapist's job is to facilitate healthy interaction, encourage the couple or
family to gain insight into their own behaviors, and to teach the members to
listen to and respect each other.

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