Psychology Chapter 3-6 PDF

Chapter 3 : Learning  Learning 3.1. Definition  Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour as a result of previous practice and experience 3.1.1. Features( Attributes) of Learning  Involves a change in behaviour  Is a relatively permanent  Changes due to maturation, illness or...

Chapter 3 : Learning  Learning 3.1. Definition  Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour as a result of previous practice and experience 3.1.1. Features( Attributes) of Learning  Involves a change in behaviour  Is a relatively permanent  Changes due to maturation, illness or use of drugs are not considered learning  Cannot be observed directly  Is based on practice 3.1.2.Principles of Learning  Learning occurs effectively under certain conditions:- o People learn best when they are physically, mentally and emotionally ready to learn o Learning occurs best when there is meaningful practice and exercise o Learning is strengthened when it is associated with a pleasant feeling o Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase. o Things most recently learned are best remembered o Individuals must have some abilities and skills to learn  3.2. Factors that affect learning  Motivation  Maturation  Health condition  Psychological wellbeing of the learner  Good working conditions( comfortable surroundings, distracting  3.3. Theories of Learning 3.3.1. Behavioral Theories of Learning o Focuses on the stimulus response associations A. Classical conditioning ( Ivan Pavlov)  Classical conditioning is a process of learning in which a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a natural stimulus until it alone can produce a similar response.  Pavlov’s Experiment  Basic Terms  Neutral Stimulus  Itrefers to a stimulus which has no capacity to produce a certain response initially but which can produce the same natural reflex through association with another natural stimulus  Natural( Unconditioned) Stimulus  Thisis a stimulus which automatically produces a response without learning.  Conditioned Stimulus  The originally neutral stimulus which has now acquired the power to evoke the salivation response.  Principles of Classical Conditioning 1. Extinction  A gradual disappearance of the conditioned response  when a conditioned stimulus is presented alone without an unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will eventually cease.  2. Spontaneous Recovery  is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period or period of lessened response. 3. Stimulus generalization  occurs when a previously unassociated or new stimulus that has similar characteristics to the previously associated stimulus elicits a response that is the same or similar to the previously associated response. 4. Stimulus Discrimination  is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. B. Operant ( Instrumental) Conditioning ( B.F. Skinner)  Is a process of learning in which the probability of a behaviour is strengthened or decreased based the kind of consequences that occurs after the behaviour.  Principles of Operant conditioning  Reinforcement (Reinforcer)  Isa consequence or stimulus which usually increases the probability of a  Types of Reinforcer A. Positive reinforcement  refers to a pleasant stimulus that increases the likelihood of a behavior.  is further divided in to two types  Primary Positive reinforcer  refers to a stimulus which is vital for biological survival. Examples: food, water, sleep, air etc.  Secondary Positive reinforcer  refers to a stimulus which is pleasant but not essential for survival. Example : a university degree B. Negative Reinforcement  Is a painful or aversive stimulus which increases a behaviour when it is avoided.  A response or behaviour is strengthened by stopping, removing, or avoiding a negative or aversive stimulus.  Punishment ( Punisher)  is the process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.  Itinvolves the presentation of aversive stimulus or the removal of a pleasant one in order to decrease the probability that an operant behaviour will occur again.  Types of Punisher 1. Positive punishment  sometimes known as presentation or application punishment involves the presentation of unpleasant stimulus after a bad behaviour 2. Negative Punishment  A negative punishment or sometimes known as removal or withdrawal punishment involves the removal or withdrawal of a pleasant stimulus after a bad behaviour  Like reinforcers, punishment can also be primary or secondary. 1. Primary Punishers  Arestimuli or conditions which are naturally or inherently unpleasant like pain, extreme cold, or heat 2. Secondary Punishes  Are stimuli or conditions which happen to be unpleasant as a result of learning like demerits, demotion, criticism, etc.  Factors in Punishment  Thepresence and absence of certain factors affect the effectiveness of punishment. These factors include: A. Immediacy  Refers to the time interval between the behavior and the punishment. The sooner the punishment is administered the better. B. Consistency  Theconsequence of a behavior must be predictable on the part of the C. Intensity or Balance  This refers to the strength of the punishment in light of the misbehavior. The punishment generally is assumed to be proportional with the misbehavior D. Love oriented Punishment  Punishment must focus on the behavior not on the person  Shaping  The process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.  In operant conditioning, behaviors are rewarded when they occur.  But when behaviors are less likely to occur in the first place we start by reinforcing any behavior that is similar with the behavior you want them to learn.  Schedules of Reinforcement  Involves the program or arrangement of providing a positive reinforcement.  Basically involves two categories A.Continuous reinforcement schedule  is the provision of reinforcement on continuous bases B. Non continuous( partial, intermittent) schedule  is the provision of reinforcement to some of the behaviours selectively  Types of Partial Reinforcement Schedules 1. Fixed Interval schedule  is an intermittent schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for a response after constant and fixed period of time. EX: Salary 2. Variable Interval Schedule  is an intermittent schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for a response after a variable period of time 3. Fixed Ratio Schedule  is an intermittent schedule in which reinforcement occurs only after a fixed number of responses.  In order to receive a reward, it is necessary for the organism to produce a certain fixed amount of behaviour  A salesperson who must sell a specific number of items before getting a commission and a factory worker who must produce a specific number of products before earning a given wage are both on fixed ratio schedules. 4. Variable Ratio Schedule  isan intermittent schedule in which reinforcement occurs after a variable number of responses. C. Social (observational ) learning (ALBERT BANDURA)  isa process of learning in which an individual learns new responses by observing the behaviour of another rather than through direct experience.  Learning can occur not only by doing and association but also by observing or watching what others do  Principles (concepts) in social learning  Model  refers to a person who demonstrates to the learner how a behaviour is performed.  Vicarious reinforcement( conditioning)  is an indirect reinforcement that the learner observes the model receiving and which encourages the learner to imitate the behaviour of the model in order to receive a similar reinforcement on future occasions.  Steps (elements) of social learning 1. Attention  Attention involves focusing on the behaviour of the model. 2. Retention  Retention involves the recall of whatever is observed. Attention without retention is meaningless. 3. Duplication  This step involves performing the behaviour like the model. Motivation 4. Motivation or expectation of reinforcement.  The learner keeps on imitating the behaviour of the model only when he is motivated or expects to receive reinforcement sometime in the future. Chapter 4: Memory and Forgetting  Information Processing Model (Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968)  Suggests that in order for information to become permanent in memory, it must pass through three stages of mental processing:  This model sometimes known as the three box model analyses the memory systems in these three stages.  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 Processes  arethe 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: 1. Encoding  Convertingsensory input into a form that can be processed and deposited in the memory 2. Storage  It is the location in memory system in which material is saved. Storage is the persistence of information in memory. 3.Retrieval  is the point at which one tries to remember 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.  Stages/ Structures of Memory 1. Sensory Register  Is an initial /entry way of storage  information is lost without attention within seconds 2. Short term Memory (STM)  Has a limited capacity to store information  Information is lost without Rehearsal  Rehearsal  is the process of repeating, activating, renewing or refreshing information to keep it in memory. Types of Rehearsal A. Maintenance rehearsal  This kind of rehearsal involves the rote repetition of a material in order to maintain it.  B. Elaborative rehearsal  It involves making associations or connections between the new information we want to remember with familiar already existing information in memory.  Is also known as working memory, immediate memory, active memory and primary memory 3. The Long term Memory( LTM)  Has unlimited capacity to store information  Stores Information permanently( Indefinite time)  Information can also be lost due to interference  Interference  is the process through which either the storage or retrieval of information is impaired by the presence of other information  Types of Interference 1. Proactive interference  occurs when previously stored material interferes with the ability to remember similar, more recently learned material 2. Retroactive interference  occurs when recently stored materials interferes with the ability to remember similar and previously stored material.  Contains a large amount of information which can be classified in to three categories ( Subsystems)  Types of Memory in the LTM 1. 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.  A. Semantic memory  This is a memory of general knowledge, including facts, rules, concepts and propositions and conceptual knowledge B. Episodic Memory  is internal representation of personally experienced events.  Is Autobiographical in nature  Semanticand episodic memory are known as declarative or explicit memory since they can be communicated verbally 2. Non-declarative/ Implicit memory-  refers to type 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. A. Procedural memory  is a memory of knowing how.  This memory is about the performance of activities,  Serial Position Effect  Is a theory that explains an individual remembers information differently depending on the order the information is presented.  If you are shown a list of items and are then asked immediately to recall them, your recall will be best for items at the beginning of the list (the primacy effect) and at the end of the list (the recency effect).  Factors that Affect Memory  A number of factors determine the degree of memory. 1. Age of the person ( Maturation)  Youngsters can remember better than the aged. 2. Good health A person with good health can retain the learnt material better than a person with poor health 3.Will to remember( Interest)  Willingness to remember helps for better retention. 4. Over learning  Experiments have proved that over learning will lead to better memory. 5. Meaningfulness of the Material  Meaningful materials remain in our memory for longer period than for nonsense material 6. Sleep or Rest  Sleepor rest immediately after learning strengthens connections in the brain and helps for clear memory.  Forgetting  refers to the loss of information from memory or inability to retrieve or remember information.  Theories ( Causes) of Forgetting 1. Decay ( Disuse) theory  states that information which is not used gradually disintegrates 2. Interference theory  Accordingto this theory, people forget not because memories are actually lost from memory, but because other information gets in the way of what we want to remember. 3. Displacement (New for old) theory  Newinformation entering memory can wipe out old information  Short term memory has a limited capacity and can only hold a small amount of information at one time.  Once the memory is full, new information will replace the old one 4. Motivated Forgetting ( Repression)  According to this theory, We forget because we want to forget 5. Cue dependent Forgetting ( Retrieval Failure)  Is the failure to recall information without memory cues.  Information stored in the memory is retrieved by way of association with other memories. Chapter 5: Motivation and Emotion 5.1. Motivation  is an internal process in an individual that arouses, maintains and directs behaviour towards a goal.  It is what moves people to do what they do Features of Motivation  Motivation has many characteristics. Some of these are:- 1. Motivation usually arouses behaviour.  When a person or an organism becomes motivated, it/he will be more likely to perform behaviour 2. Motivation also produces a consistent and regular behaviour in an organism.  When a person becomes motivated he/she becomes not only aroused to take action, but also interested to show a behaviour until a goal is achieved. 3. Motivation guides behaviour in a specific ways that helps the person achieve his goal.  People become selective of the behaviour they perform when they become motivated  THEORIES( Approaches to ) OF MOTIVATION  There are many causes of behaviour. People perform behaviour for a number of reasons.  Psychologists have been studying the causes of behaviours and have developed various theories that explain the why( sources) of these behaviours. 1. Incentive Theory( Pull theory)  The incentive theory of motivation focuses on external factors to explain why behaviour occurs  The incentive theory is also sometimes known as the pull theories of motivation. 2. Drive reduction Theory( Push theory)  The drive reduction theory of motivation states that behaviours are a result of a biological deficiency that must be reduced for biological survival.  This theory is sometimes described as the push theory of motivation since behaviour is pushed towards goals by driving states within the person or animal. 3. The instinct Theory  According to the instinct theory, behaviour is a result of a natural tendency.  An instinct is an innate or unlearned biological pattern of behaviour that occurs uniformly across a species.  For example, human infants come in to the world equipped with some unlearned instincts such as crying, sucking that helps them get what they want.  Are caused by biologically determined and innate patterns. 4. Cognitive theory of Motivation  Suggest that motivation is a result of people’s thoughts, beliefs ,expectations and goals.  Draw a key difference between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation  Extrinsic Motivation  An extrinsic motivation involves engaging in behaviour to obtain an external reward or avoid punishment.  When a person becomes extrinsically motivated he performs behaviour for sake of getting what he wants.  Intrinsic Motivation  Involves engaging in behaviours for their own sake. A person with intrinsic motivation performs behaviour out of interest.  theact itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner  Biological Motives( Unlearned Motives)  are also called survival motives for they need to be satisfied to continue to live. Ex: Hunger, thirst, need for air, etc  Learned Motives  Are also called social motives because they develop from social or environmental interactions. They develop as a result of societal rewards and punishment. 5. Humanistic Theory of Motivation ( Abraham Maslow)  Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist, suggested that human behaviour is influenced by a hierarchy of five classes of needs or motives.  Needs or motives at the lowest level of the hierarchy, he argues, must be at least partially satisfied before people can be motivated by higher needs.  These motives or needs are ranked and arranged according to their importance to survival.  From the bottom to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy, these five motives are as follows:  Frustration  refers to a negative mental state caused by the blocking of behaviour directed toward a goal. If motives are frustrated or blocked, emotional feelings and behaviour often result.  Sources of Frustration 1. Environmental Frustration  By making it difficult or impossible for a person to attain a goal, environmental obstacles can frustrate the satisfaction of motives.  An obstacle may be something physical, such as a locked door or lack of money. Or it may be people like your parents, teachers or police officers who prevent you from achieving your goals 2. Personal Frustration  Unattainable goals can be important sources of frustration.  These are largely learned goals that cannot be achieved because they are beyond a person’s abilities 3. Conflict Produced Frustration  This occurs when the expression of one motive interferes with the expression of other motives. When people are caught between a need to express different conflicting motives, they experience frustration  Conflict  refers to negative emotional state (depression, anger, anxiety, etc) that develop when a person is unable to make a choice between two or more alternatives.  Types of Motivational Conflict 1. Approach –Approach Conflict  is a conflict between two positive goals—goals that are equally attractive at the same time.  An individual may be torn between the idea of going to a political rally or a movie which he likes to do equally. 2. Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict  This kind of conflict arises when a person must select one of two undesirable alternatives.  In this type of motivational conflict, people are required to choose between two negative goals which they both dislike.  Such conflicts are capsuled in the saying ‘’ caught between the devil and the deep blue sea ‘’ 3. Approach-Avoidance Conflict  This is a type of conflict in which a person is both attracted and repelled by the same goal object.  Because of the positive valence of the goal, the person approaches it, but as it is approached, the negative valence becomes stronger.  In this type of conflict, a single decision involves a positive and negative aspect.  The closer you are to something appealing, the stronger your desire to approach it, the closer you are to something unpleasant, the stronger your desire to flee.  5.2. Emotions  Refer simply to feelings  A state of arousal involving biological changes (brain activation), expressive behaviour and mental experience. Basic Emotions  Defining characteristics (features) of Emotion 1. Emotion has three levels or components. These aspects of emotion are the biological, behavioural and cognitive. A. The biological Level ( Component)  refers to the bodily and physical changes that accompany certain emotions B. The Behavioral Level ( Component)  emotion refers to all the things we do or the activities we perform under the influence of a certain emotion.  The mechanisms of expressing emotion like facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, vocal qualities, etc are behavioural components of emotions. C. Cognitive Level ( Component)  itinvolves interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it a label 2. Emotional experience elicits an action tendency; a motivation to behave in certain ways.  An individual who is under a certain emotion is more likely to take action. 3. Emotion is usually transitory. It tends to have a relatively clear beginning and end and a relatively short duration.  4. Emotions differ in their magnitude and pleasantness. Different emotions can be felt in different magnitudes from time to time.  Similarly, the same person may feel the same emotion in different degrees of strength in different situations. 5. Emotional experience is elicited partly by the cognitive evaluation of a situation and how that relates to our goals.  The same event may elicit different emotions in different people depending on their interpretation of the event.  6. Emotions and their expressions facilitate communication between and among people.  We are capable of understanding the feelings of others and how we should interact through the use of non verbal cues like facial expressions, body movements, etc.  Theories of Emotion 1. The James Lange theory of Emotion  States that emotional experience is a reaction to bodily events occurring as a result of an external situation (“I feel sad because I am crying”). 2. The Canon Bard theory of Emotion  State that emotion and physiological arousal occur more or less at the same time.  fear and the bodily reactions are experienced at the same time-not one after the other Chapter 6: Personality  6.1. Meaning of Personality  Personality is a distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling and acting that characterize a person’s responses to life situations.  The pattern of enduring characteristics that produce consistency and individuality in a given person ( Feldman, R.S.,2011)  Enduring attributes that are representative of an individual’s behaviour.(Wittig,A.F.,2001)  6.2.1. The psychoanalytic theory of personality ( Sigmund Freud)  Major features of psychoanalyses  Psychoanalyses has the following major defining characteristics as a theory of personality. 1. It focuses on the unconscious intrapsychic dynamics- the movement of psychological energy within the mind.  2. It focuses in the importance and primacy of the first five years of life.  The theory assumes that adult personality and ongoing problems are formed primarily by experiences in early childhood.  The child is the father of the man, as the saying goes. 3. Personality is a result of conflict between different personality systems or structures.  Personality Structures  In Freud’s theory, personality consists of three major systems: the Id, the Superego and the Ego.  Any actions we take or problems we have results from t he interactions or degree of balance among these systems.  The Id  As one major component of personality the id involves a number of characteristics. 1. It is a reservoir of unconscious psychological and physical needs and urges. It contains all our instinctual and biological needs and behaviour. 2. It is a system of personality that begins to operate at birth. Unlike the other structures, the id is born with the individual. 3. The major focus of the id is to get as much pleasure as possible. If it feels good, do it. 4. It does not tolerate delay of gratifications of needs 4. It is oblivious to rules and regulations  The super ego( The Moral Watchdog) o Major Features 1. The super ego contains all the moral codes that we obtain from society 2. The super ego gradually develops after birth as the individual gains knowledge and experience from the environment. 3.The focus of the super ego is to gain perfection in every activity of the individual. It aspires for and expects the individual to be perfect. 4. The super ego is also ignorant of the objective reality of the individual. It gives no allowances for failures and wrongdoings. 5. It uses reinforcement techniques in order to enforce its guidelines.  The reward comes in the form of pride , satisfaction and mental peace.  The punishment comes in the form of guilt, shame and self blame,  The Ego( The Executive Director) o Major Features 1. The ego serves as a referee or mediator between the needs of the id and the demands of society. 2. The ego is not ignorant or blind to the objective reality in its attempt to satisfy the divergent needs of the id and the super ego.  It operates on the reality principle.  It resorts to defense mechanisms when it fails to reconcile the two  Defence Mechanisms  refer to methods used by the ego to prevent anxiety or threatening thoughts.  Features of Defence Mechanisms 1. Are useful to reduce anxiety and make us feel normal again. They only become harmful if or when they are used excessively. 2. Are misrepresentations or distortions of reality. In order to justify one’s action which is wrong in the eyes of the superego, the ego has to deny, distort or twist the reality.  Types of Defence Mechanism 1. Repression Or Motivated Forgetting  Isthe rejection of unpleasant feelings and experiences from conscious awareness.  Itinvolves pushing or blocking threatening memories, urges or ideas from consciousness. 2. Rationalization  Isjustifying wrong actions by producing acceptable reasons and explanations. 3. Reaction Formation  Involves repressing a negative feeling by exaggerating the opposite feeling. It occurs when a feeling that produces anxiety is transformed in to its opposites.  It is a reversal of motives. A woman who is afraid to admit to herself that she fears her husband may instead cling to the belief that she loves him deeply. 4. Projection  Is the process of shifting or attributing one’s own undesirable feelings to others.  By accepting that others also have the same problems like us , we tend to be ok.  It involves blaming others for the same mistakes or problems we have. 5.Displacement  Occurs when people direct their emotions (especially anger) toward things, animals or other people that are not the real object of their feelings.  Itinvolves using a substitute outlet for an emotion. 6.2.2. The Trait Theory Major Assumptions 1. Personality exists along a continuum. It is different in the relative strength 2. Personality is relatively enduring 3. People differ in how much of a particular train they possess.  Traits  Are consistent personality characteristics and behaviors displayed in different situations.  2. The Big five Theory of Personality  is associated with the work of Raymond Cattell  is also known as the five factor model  is known as OCEAN for short 1. Openness A person’s willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences.  curiosity , flexibility and imaginative tendency 2. Consciousness  refers to a person‘s organization and motivation  are careful about being in places on time and careful with belongings as well. 3. Extraversion  all people could be divided into two personality types: extraverts and introverts ( Carl Jung)  Extraverts are outgoing and sociable, fun- loving whereas introverts are more solitary and dislike being the center of attention. 4. Agreeableness  refers to the basic emotional style of a person, who may be easygoing, friendly, helpful, cooperative and pleasant (at the high end of the scale) or hostile, self centered and hard to get along with (at the low end). 5. Neuroticism / Emotional stability  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.  6.2.3. Humanistic theory of personality ( Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow)  Emphasize people‘s inherent goodness and their tendency to move toward higher levels of functioning instead of seeing people as controlled by the unconscious.  Assume people have conscious, self- motivated ability to change and improve.  The self concept is an important element in this theory  The real self  One‘s actual perception of characteristics, traits, and abilities  The ideal self  The perception of what one should be or would like to be  Rogers believed that when the real self and the ideal self are very close or similar to each other, people feel competent and capable. Otherwise anxiety develops   Group Assignment  Project Title: Cultural Diversity  Guidelines of the Project 1. What is cultural Diversity? 2. What are the uses of cultural diversity? 3. What is culture shock and give practical examples in the Ethiopian context 4. Discuss ways of appreciating or promoting cultural diversity  Notes  Dateof Submission: 2 weeks from the date of submission of the assignment  Page limit: Not more than 6 pages  Presentation: Any group member may be selected for the presentation by the instructor and members should actively take part in the presentation.  Presentation Date: To be decided later