Unit 4.1.3 Emotional Intelligence.pdf

MEd: Psychological Perspectives of Education Unit 4:Creativity and Intelligence Unit 4.1.3: Cognitive Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence George Attanayake BA (Peradeniya) PGDE (Colombo) MA in Education and EL...

MEd: Psychological Perspectives of Education Unit 4:Creativity and Intelligence Unit 4.1.3: Cognitive Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence George Attanayake BA (Peradeniya) PGDE (Colombo) MA in Education and ELT (London) PGD in TESL (Humber) Practical Nursing (Theory) (George Brown College of Nursing, Toronto)  Cognitive Intelligence: Cognitive intelligence is referred to as human mental ability and understanding developed through thinking, experiences and senses. It is the ability to generate knowledge by using existing information. It also includes other intellectual functions such as attention, learning, memory, judgment and reasoning. Cognitive intelligence is the ability of the human brain to digest information and form intelligence and meaning. Hence, measuring cognitive intelligence is crucial for organizations undertaking recruitment, as it determines whether an applicant has the aptitude to perform well at work that requires significant cognitive ability. It is said that cognitive intelligence uses existing knowledge that grows with practice and different. Cognitive or intellectual development means the growth of a child's ability to think and reason. It's about how they organize their minds, ideas and thoughts to make sense of the world they live in. What is Cognition? The mental activities involved in the acquisition, processing, organization, and use of knowledge are collectively termed cognition. These activities include selective attention, perception, discrimination, interpretation, classification, recall and recognition memory, evaluation, inference and deduction. How does Cognition Take Place? Jean Piaget, a Swiss Psychologist, spent his life searching for the answer to the question. “How does knowledge grow?” or “how does cognitive development take place” With the results of his experiments (mainly did with his own children) he argued that the growth of knowledge or the acquisition of understanding is a progressive construction of logically embedded mental structures developing one after the other and superseding (overruling) one another in a process. This process begins as soon as a child is born. First, the lower, less powerful logical mental structures (or cognitive structures) develop and gradually they are superseded by higher and more powerful ones as an individual grows older. Piaget explained that, this cognitive process helps human beings to adapt to their environment and their intelligence allows them to make adaptive choices. He explained the process of adaptation with the concepts, 1. Scheme /Schema 2. Assimilation 3. Accommodation and 4. Achieving Equilibrium. A scheme/schema is a pattern of behaviour that an individual uses in dealing with objects and situations in the environment. In the first few weeks the infant has a few schemas based on innate reflexes such as sucking, grasping, swallowing, and it develops the ability to throw limbs about etc. E.g. Rattle Dancing Schema. Assimilation is the incorporation of some new stimulus or concept from the environment into the already existing set of schemas E.g. If you give your finger, the baby will suck it but stop sucking quickly. He forms a new schema that all teat like objects don’t give milk. This is a development of the existing schema or adding new data into the existing schema. Accommodation is the modification of an old schema or learning a new schema. E.g. when a child, who so far has walked only on a flat surface, finds a rough path with mounds of soil or obstructive stones, tries to avoid them by lifting his legs higher than normal to walk over them or by jumping over them. Here the child has developed a new schema. Achieving equilibrium: When the child encounters a new situation in his environment where he cannot understand or proceed further, a disequilibrium or an imbalance in his perception is created. In such a situation the child tries to come to equilibrium by developing new schemas to find a solution to the new problem situation. He will keep on developing new schemas until the equilibrium is restored. This process of balancing the equilibrium is called Equilibration. Piaget believed that learning depends on this process of achieving equilibrium. Piaget divides the cognitive development of an individual into four stages. 1. Sensory motor Period (birth to 2 years) 2. Pre-operational stage (2 to 6/7 years) 3. Concrete Operations (6/7 to 11/12 years) 4. Formal Operations (11/12 to adulthood) 1. Characteristics of children in Sensorimotor Period (birth to 2 years) Think in action or "think" with their eyes, ears, hands etc. All knowledge is gained through their practical movements. The child’s cognitive system is limited to motor reflexes at birth like rooting, sucking, grasping, swallowing etc. By the end of the Sensorimotor period, an infant becomes aware of himself as a separate physical entity. Realizes that the objects around him also have a separate and permanent existence. Although a familiar object is not visible the infant thinks it is present somewhere and will appear at any time (object permanence) 2. Characteristics of children in Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years) This stage can be further divided into 2 sub stages. (i) Pre-conceptual Stage (From 2 years to 4 years or up to 6 years in some children) (ii) Intuitive Stage (From 4 years to 7 years). (i) Pre-conceptual Stage (From 2 years to 4 years or up to 6 years in some children)  Develops a store of concepts or ideas of things he manipulates and explores in the environment.  This enables him to develop cognitive representation of objects, events, people and relationships through symbols. (“Brrrrrrmm” for a running vehicle).  Understands that actions have their consequences.  Very self-oriented, and have an egocentric view; that is, preoperational children can use these representational skills only to view the world from their own perspective. (Ships in the sky, boats on roads, etc) They express their ideas by drawing. E.g. A child draws a bus after travelling in a bus. Intuition = The ability to know something by using one’s feelings (instinctively) rather than considering facts logically. (ii) Intuitive Stage (From 4 years to 7 years). Reasoning is not logical and is based on intuition rather than on systematic logic. Cognitive immaturity leads to many illogical ideas about the world. E.g. If amounts of the same volume of a coloured liquid is put inside a test tube and a dish the child will say that there is more liquid in the test tube. They think that “tall” means big or more because they cannot attend to concepts like length and width simultaneously but grasp only one dimension at a time. Unable to classify items logically. E.g. if there are a mixed set of red, blue and green triangles and also squares of the same colours and we ask the child to make a row of red triangles and a row of green squares, he makes the rows correctly (through intuition) but as soon as the red colour is over, he starts putting blue triangles in the same row. The child’s knowledge on abstract thinking is not developed yet. If you give the child five marbles and take back two and ask how many are left with him, he will look at the remaining marbles (practically) and say “three”. But if you just put the question in mathematical form, i.e. “How much is left when you subtract two from five” the child will not be able to answer it successfully. 3. Concrete Operations (6/7 to 11/12 years) Able to take into account another person’s point of view. Able to consider more than one perspective simultaneously, with their thought process being more logical, flexible, and organized than in pre-operational stage. Can add, subtract, multiply and divide. They can also represent transformations. The child understands that if, X = Y and Y = Z, X is similar to Z. He also can solve simple abstractions like 3 X 5 = 15 and 15 divided by 3 is 5. Able to concretely understand, mainly 7 types of numerical concepts: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area and volume. Mental actions that are reversible develop. E.g. They are able to say from A to Z and from Z to A, through reversibility of memory. Gains the ability to understand law of conservation of mass. Develops the ability in classification, seriation (arranging numbers into series), and spatial reasoning tasks. (Spatial thinking is what we do when we visualize shapes in our “mind’s eye.”) 4. Formal Operations (11/12 to adulthood) Adolescence is the beginning of the stage of formal operational thought. Capable of thinking logically and abstractly. Can reason theoretically. Abstract concepts like democracy, justice, scientific thinking and experimenting skills develop. Able to organize information, reason scientifically, build hypotheses based on understanding and test their hypotheses. Search for identity becomes central. Withdraw from parents. Peers become central importance. Peer groups help to develop and test self-concept. Sexual maturity Arrives. A period of strain and stress for adolescents as well as their parents, teachers, guardians and caretakers.  Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, manage, and regulate your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. According to Daniel Goleman , an American psychologist who helped to popularize emotional intelligence, there are five key elements to it: Self-awareness. Self-regulation. Empathy. Social skills. Self-motivation. There are three general ways to measure emotional intelligence: Self-Report and Ability Test. The ability test, is believed to be the best way to measure Emotional Intelligence. 1. Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It's a key part of emotional intelligence because knowing yourself and how you impact others will help you maintain strong relationships, build trust, improve communication and a range of other “soft skills”. 2. The 2nd important element of EI, Self-regulation, is about acknowledging the emotions, accepting their existence, understanding their causes, and managing them. It is about how well you regulate or channelize your emotions to have the ideal temperament in any overwhelming situation, positive or negative. 3. Empathy and emotional intelligence are closely related. People with high emotional intelligence are often empathetic, as they are able to understand and share the emotions of others. Additionally, empathy is a key component of social skills, which are an important aspect of emotional intelligence. 4. being able to interact well with others is an important emotional intelligence skill. There are 7 Social skills such as active listening skills, verbal and nonverbal communication skills, collaboration and cooperation, conflict management, patience management, taking responsibility and persuasiveness allow you to build meaningful relationships with others and develop a stronger understanding of them and yourself. 5. The next personal skills aspect of emotional intelligence is Motivation. Self-motivation includes our personal drive to improve and achieve, commitment to our goals, initiative, or readiness to act on opportunities, and optimism and resilience. Self-motivation and personal time management are key skills in this area. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use emotions to communicate with and relate to others effectively and constructively. This ability to express and control emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Some experts suggest that emotional intelligence is more important than IQ for success in life. Some key signs and examples of emotional intelligence include: 1. An ability to identify and describe what people are feeling 2. An awareness of personal strengths and limitations 3. Self-confidence and self-acceptance 4. The ability to let go of mistakes 5. An ability to accept and embrace change 6. A strong sense of curiosity, particularly about other people 7. Feelings of empathy and concern for others 8. Showing sensitivity to the feelings of other people 9. Accepting responsibility for mistakes 10. The ability to manage emotions in difficult situations  There are six basic emotions that are universal throughout human cultures: fear, disgust, anger, surprise, joy, and sadness. Some other identified emotions are distress, calmness, serenity, peace, embarrassment, contempt, shame, pride, hatred, satisfaction, and amusement. We also talk of eight primary emotional dimensions: joy vs. sadness, anger vs. fear, trust vs. disgust, and surprise vs. anticipation. There are hundreds of emotions that have been identified in human beings. When people form/generate feelings in their minds due to various reasons these feelings can be noticed in the outward expressions called emotions. They express their emotions through behaviour responses like facial expressions, gestures postures or other kinds of body language. A psychologist’s or our ability to accurately understand these expressions of another person is generally called ’emotional intelligence’  How Emotional Intelligence Is Measured A number of different assessments have emerged to measure levels of emotional intelligence. Such tests generally fall into one of two types: self-report tests and ability tests. 1. Self report tests are the most common because they are the easiest to administer and score. On such tests, respondents respond to questions or statements by rating their own behaviors. For example, on a statement such as "I often feel that I understand how others are feeling," a test-taker might describe the statement as disagree, somewhat disagree, agree, or strongly agree. 2. Ability tests, on the other hand, involve having people respond to situations and then assessing their skills. Such tests often require people to demonstrate their abilities, which are then rated by a third party.  If you are taking an emotional intelligence test administered by a mental health professional, here are two measures that might be used: 1. Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is an ability-based test that measures emotional intelligence through a series of questions and tests the participant's ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions. MSCEIT consists of 141 items and takes 30-45 minutes to complete. MSCEIT provides 15 main scores: Total EI score, two Area scores, four Branch scores, and eight Task scores. This test a has high reliability and validity across the four branches of EI. The literature finds women have higher emotional intelligence ability than men based on common ability tests such as the MSCEIT. Physiological measures and behavioral tests also support this finding. 2. Emotional and Social Competence Inventory (ESCI) is based on an older instrument known as the Self-Assessment Questionnaire and involves having people who know the individual offer ratings of that person’s abilities in several different emotional competencies. The test is designed to evaluate the social and emotional abilities that help distinguish people as strong leaders.  In general, soft skills require emotional intelligence (EQ), while hard skills are more based in assessments such as the intelligence quotient (IQ). EQ is “the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups,”  The 4 Components of Emotional Intelligence Researchers suggest that there are four different levels of emotional intelligence including emotional perception, the ability to reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotions, and the ability to manage emotions. 1. Perceiving emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to perceive them accurately. In many cases, this might involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions. 2. Reasoning with emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention. 3. Understanding emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of the person's anger and what it could mean. For example, if your boss is acting angry, it might mean that s/he is dissatisfied with your work, or it could be because s/he got a speeding ticket on his/her way to work that morning or that s/he has been fighting with his/her partner. 4. Managing emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a crucial part of emotional intelligence and the highest level. Regulating emotions and responding appropriately as well as responding to the emotions of others are all important aspects of emotional management.  Social Intelligence Social intelligence is the ability to understand one's own and others' actions. Social intelligence is learned and develops from experience with people and learning from success and failures in social settings. It is an important interpersonal skill that helps individuals succeed in all aspects of their lives. Social intelligence refers to a person's ability to understand and manage interpersonal relationships. It is distinct from a person's IQ or “book smarts.” It includes an individual's ability to understand, and act on, the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of other people. Social intelligence (SI) involves how we make sense of the people around us. SI requires a basic understanding of people and a set of skills for successful social interaction with others. It also describes a person's interpersonal abilities. Individuals with social intelligence can sense how other people feel, know intuitively what to say in social situations, and seem self-assured, even in a larger crowd. You might think of these folk as having “people skills,” but  People who are socially intelligent are often able to build and maintain strong, positive relationships with others. They are able to communicate effectively, empathize with others, and navigate interpersonal conflicts in a productive manner. Social Intelligence is not an innate skill. It's a skill that can be acquired and can be improved at any point in life. In 1920, psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike defined social intelligence as the ability to understand and manage others and act wisely in social situations. While IQ is mostly inborn, social intelligence is developed over time, through experience interacting with people in different social situations. Social intelligence has a big impact on Team Performance: High social intelligence within a team leads to better collaboration, effective conflict resolution, and a more positive and productive work environment. It enhances understanding and empathy among team members.  The 5 aspects of social intelligence Karl Albrecht, around 2009, elaborated the five major dimensions of social intelligence as: 1. situational radar 2. presence/bearing 3. authenticity 4. clarity and 5. empathy (acronym: SPACE) Presence: the external sense of one's self that others perceive: confidence, bearing self-respect, and self-worth.  The theory of social intelligence was first brought to the forefront by American psychologist Edward Thorndike. He defined it as, “The ability to understand and manage men and women and boys and girls, to act wisely in human relations.” No one is born socially intelligent. Instead, it involves a set of skills that an individual learns over time. Signs of Social Intelligence People who are socially intelligent display core traits that help them communicate and connect with others. 1. Effective Listening: A person who possesses social intelligence doesn’t listen merely to respond but truly pays attention to what a person is saying. The other folks in the conversation walk away feeling like they were understood and that they made a connection. 2. Conversational Skills: Have you ever seen someone “work the room?” They have conversational skills that enable them to carry on a discussion with practically anybody. They’re tactful, appropriate, humorous and sincere in these conversations, and they remember details about people that allow the dialogue to be more meaningful. 3. Reputation Management: Socially intelligent people consider the impression that they make on other people. Considered one of the most complex elements of social intelligence, managing a reputation requires careful balance—a person must thoughtfully create an impression on another person while still being authentic. 4. Lack of Arguing: Someone with social intelligence understands that arguing or proving a point by making another person feel bad isn’t the way to go. They don’t outright reject another person’s ideas, but rather listen to them with an open mind—even when it’s not an idea that they personally agree with.  Developing Social Intelligence While some people may seem to develop social intelligence without really trying, others have to work to develop it. Luckily, certain strategies can help a person build social skills. These tactics can help you develop social intelligence: Pay close attention to what (and who) is around you. Socially intelligent people are observant and pay attention to subtle social cues from those around them.3 If you think that someone in your life has strong people skills, watch how they interact with others. Work on increasing your emotional intelligence. Although similar to social intelligence, emotional intelligence is more about how you control your own emotions and how you empathize with others. It requires recognizing when you’re experiencing an emotion—which will help you recognize that emotion in others—and regulating them appropriately. An emotionally intelligent person can recognize and control negative feelings, such as frustration or anger, when in a social setting.  Respect cultural differences. More than that, seek out cultural differences so you can understand them. Although most people learn people skills from their family, friends and the community surrounding them, a socially intelligent person understands that others might have different responses and customs based on their upbringing. Practice active listening. Develop your social intelligence by working on your communication skills—which requires active listening. Don’t interrupt. Take time to think about what someone else is saying before you respond. Listen to the inflections in what others say, which can give you clues to what they really mean. Appreciate the important people in your life. Socially intelligent people have deep relationships with people who are meaningful to them. Pay attention to the emotions of your spouse and children, friends, co-workers, and other peers. If you ignore the closest people in your life, you’re missing the cues on how to connect with them.  Spiritual Intelligence Spiritual intelligence is the ultimate intelligence reflecting values and meanings, covering mental adaptation capacities and leading to non-materialistic and non- obligatory aspects. It contains spiritual sources, values, and specifications which enhance individuals' daily function and health. Spirituality and Religion Some authors contend that spirituality involves a personal quest for meaning in life, while religion involves an organized entity with rituals and practices focusing on a higher power or God. Spirituality may be related to religion for certain individuals, but not, for example, for an atheist or yoga practitioners.  Spiritual intelligence is a term used by some philosophers, psychologists, and developmental theorists to indicate spiritual parallels with IQ and EQ. Robert Emmons defines spiritual intelligence as "the adaptive use of spiritual information to facilitate everyday problem solving and goal attainment. Spiritual intelligence is defined as the human capacity to ask questions about the ultimate meaning of life and the integrated relationship between us and the world in which we live. It results in an increase in psychological well-being of individuals as well as having a goal in their life. Examples of Spiritual Intelligence Spontaneity: Living in and being responsive to the moment. Being vision- and value-led: Acting from principles and deep beliefs, and living accordingly. Holism: Seeing larger patterns, relationships, and connections; having a sense of belonging. Compassion: Having the quality of "feeling-with" and deep empathy.  By developing spiritual intelligence, we can learn to reflect more deeply on our values and beliefs, connect more deeply with ourselves and others, and develop a greater sense of inner peace and contentment. characteristics of spiritual intelligence The components of spiritual intelligence in individuals who have developed well, according to Marshall and Zohar, include the following: individuals have deep self-awareness and intuition, broad views of the world, see themselves and others as interrelated, have moral high, have strong opinions, a tendency to be happy. Holistic Theory holistic theory - the theory that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to the whole; "holism holds that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"  With a high level of spiritual intelligence, people can use their spirituality to bring meaning, importance, and general enrichment to our lives. This helps them achieve personal integrity, determine the purpose of their lives, and stay on the right path (Zohar & Marshall, 2000) Especially for teachers, spiritual Intelligence is a powerful ability to solve problems related to personal, professional, academic, social and other aspects of life. Developing a holistic approach to life is one of the key goals of higher education and SI enables students and teachers to handle difficult situations and to live a happy life. A spiritual teacher should know the rules of etiquette, but sincerity is more important than manners. Stick to your goal, teach loyalty, do not compete with others, and never allow yourself be controlled by anyone. Never prolong speaking so as to tire your audience, and never become angry with people who criticize you. The End Thank You Any Questions?