EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 1

Name: Faheem Elahi

Roll No: BY646183
Address: R-373, Sector 9, North Karachi.
Course: Educational Psychology (M.Ed ETE)
Code: 840
Tutor: Summya Hanif
Assignment: 01
Date of Submission:
Final Date of
Submission: 15-02-2020
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 2

Q.No.1 Discuss the different methods of educational psychology. Which method do you
like most and why?

Answer: Followings are the top six and highlighted methods vastly used in educational
psychology. These six methods are explained below:
1. Method of Introspection.
2. Observational Method.
3. Experimental Method.
4. Clinical Method / Case Study Method.
5. Genetic & Development Method.
6. Testing Method.
Psychology, we have observed before a systematic and scientific study of human
Behavior. It has its special tools, observations and procedures. These tools, observations and
procedures helps in gathering and organizing subject matter or the essential facts about it. These
procedures are called as Methods.
These methods have to be scientific, consistent and systematic, if the knowledge
that we get through them is to be used for scientific purposes. Educational psychology uses all
these main methods of psychology. Besides these methods, there are certain other methods that
are used by the educational psychologists in the collection and organization of necessary data.
1. Method of Introspection:
Introspection is one of the older methods and is peculiar to psychology. It means
looking within, looking into the working of our own minds and reporting what we find there. In
order words, it is a method of “self-observation “observation by an individual of his own mental
states directly by directing attention towards a particular experience with a particular purpose. This
kind of self-observation, therefore, is not a vague, unsystematic or haphazard observation. For
example, a student has been asked to answer a question. He has to recall certain facts learned by
him to organize them in a particular manner and then to report what way he tried to recall, what
he thought and felt when trying to recall. Thus, it is a method in which the individual observes,
analyses and reports his own feelings, thoughts or all that passes in his mind during the course of
a mental act or experience.
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PSYCHOLOGY 3

Advantages of Introspection Method: The advantages of the introspection method are given
below:-
 Introspection is the easiest of all methods of educational psychology.
 It does not need any tool or laboratory as the subject and the investigator is the same.
 It is the most economical method and one which enables us to know about the mental
state of an individual, i.e. his emotions and feelings.
 Introspection, as a method, has generated a lot of research and is used in almost all
experimental students.
Drawbacks of Introspection Method: The drawbacks of the introspection method are given below:-
 Introspection means looking into-one’s own emotions and feelings, so when one attempts
to study one’s mental state, it disappears and therefore it is different to introspect the
changing psychological experiences.
 The introspection method cannot be done by abnormal individuals and children.
 According to Kant, a famous scholar, it is not possible to accept conscious experience as
the subject matter of psychology and then consider introspection as its proper method.
 A person should be highly trained and skilled to introspect properly.
 As the subject and investigator is same the introspection becomes subjective and biased
and therefore the data may not be reliable and valid. The person may not consider certain
facts.
2. Observational Method.
It is one of the most popular of methods used in psychology for collection of data.
This method is also called the method of ‘objective observation’ as against introspection which is
a method of self-observation. The individual’s behaviour is observed by somebody other than that
person himself. The behaviour observed may be expressed in the form of bodily changes, bodily
action, gestures, facial expression and speech. The psychologist may sit down and take notes of
the behaviour of a subject under particular conditions. The method was used widely by child
psychologists who would prepare running records of all that the child did during a certain
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 4

period and in a certain situation. These observations enabled them to make certain generalizations
about human behaviour in general.
Principles that should be followed in the observation method are mentioned below:

 Observation should be made not only of the individual’s behaviour but of the whole situation.
 Proper planning of the observation process should be made; objectives must be clear and the
proper tools for recording must be kept properly.
 Observer must select the appropriate number of subjects to be observed. Too many will be
difficult to manage.
 The time limit of observation must also be fixed. Too long time may make the observer
distracted and tired and if it is too short it will not yield the proper information.
 As observation is a systematic process, the observer must have the proper skills and aptitude
and the ability to report accurately. Only then will the data be reliable.
Advantages of the observation method: The observation method has certain advantages such as:

 It is observation of behaviour in natural setting.

 It is objective and therefore more reliable.

 It is applicable for all age groups.

 Observation can be done through simple tools as well as sophisticated ones like camera, tape
recorder video recorder etc.
 Observation can be made in any situation of our day to day life.

Limitations of the Observation method: The limitations of the observation method are as follows:-

 Data can be collected only about observable behaviour or overt behaviour. Therefore, it
can be unreliable at times as the subject’s mental behaviour can be different.
 Personal prejudices, or in other words, subjectivity on the part of the observer can be a big
drawback of this method. The observer’s own interests, values may affect the interpretation
of the data to a great extent.
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 5

3. Experimental Method:
The experimental method in psychology was made popular first by a German
psychologist named Wundt who opened the first psychological laboratory at Leipzing in 1879.
The tremendous progress which psychology has made during the last 50 years is due to the use of
this method. Experimental investigations has thrown light on different ways of memorization, the
effect of different factors on learning, mental fatigue, image and imagination, span of attention,
the effects of giving children practice or coaching on intelligence tests, transfer of training, the role
of maturation in learning and the like. Another important technique of experimentation in
educational psychology is the use of control group method. Suppose we want to study the effect
of a period of intellectual activity after memorizing a prose passage, on the amount of material
remembered. We can have two groups of students or subjects. They will be equated in age,
intelligence socio-economic or cultural status and also in their memorizing ability. The later will
be ascertained through various tests and observations. Both these groups will be then given the
task of memorizing a prose passage. The passage having been memorized, group ‘A’ will be given
some rest-pause for a certain period whereas group ‘B’ will be given some other intellectual task,
say, of working out some mathematical problems during this interval. At the end of the interval,
the two groups will be compared in regard to the amount of material they can remember from the
passage originally learned. Group ‘A’ is the control group and group ‘B’ is the experimental group.
The comparison will either prove or disprove our hypothesis i.e., that the period of intellectual
activity after the passage has been memorized improves or increases the amount of material
remembered. The same technique could be used to prove or disprove the hypothesis that the
administration of glutamic acid, if given at a certain age and for a certain period, will increase the
intelligence level of mentally deficient children. Subjects constituting the control group do not
receive the drug whereas those of the experimental group do set it. Proving or disproving a
hypothesis is technically described as ‘testing’ a hypothesis. A hypothesis is formed on the basis
of available general knowledge insight and research inferences.
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 6

The ‘experimental methods’ has certain characteristics. They are explained Below-
 In the experimental method the conditions are always controlled.
 It essentially requires at least two persons, the experimenter and the subject.

 Usually the experimental method is applied on persons in a random order.

 In the experimental method two different types of variables are used – (a) Independent
variable like intelligence and (b) dependent variable like home or school environment, other
socio-economic conditions etc.

Merits of Experimental Method: The experimental method has the following merits:
 It is the most systematic method and the conditions can be completely controlled.
 The data collected can be analyzed in an objective manner and so it is reliable.

 A cause-effect relationship of individual’s behaviour can be established.

 Hypothesis can be formulated and the result of the experiment can be tested keeping this in
consideration.
 It discards subjective viewpoints.

 It increases the scope for further research as the result of the experimental method can be
precisely recorded.
Drawbacks of the Experimental Method. The drawbacks of the experimental method are –
 As human behaviour is changeable, identical behaviour of the same individual not occur
even under identical conditions at different times.
 The experimental method can produce results of probability and not certainly.
 The tools used in experiments may not be satisfactory and therefore the obtained data may
not be reliable.
 The experimenter must have specialized skills to conduct experiments.
 The experimental method is costly and time consuming.
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 7

 It is often difficult to conduct experiments in social sciences unlike physical sciences.

4 Clinical Method / Case Study Method.
The ‘Clinical / Case Study’ method deals with the emotional and mental state of an
individual. This method is applied to study special behavioural problems of an individual by
specially trained teachers, psychologist and psychiatrists. Through this method total information
of family background, schooling and also social conditions of the individuals is obtained; hence it
can be called a cumulative record which is of great help in understanding the source of an
individual’s fears, anxiety, worry, or any kind of maladjustment. The main objective of this method
is to help the individual adjust better with the environment and gain self-confidence to attain higher
levels of achievement. Different steps may be used in the case study method- some of them are
mentioned below:
 Special care must be taken in the post treatment period so that there is no recurrence of the
problem. The parents and family members and other associates must take care so that the
subject can modify his behaviour and prevent maladjustment.
 The investigator must not tire the subject; instead, regular intervals of rest should be given.
The method cannot be applied hastily - it may go on for several weeks or months.
 The subject should be very comfortable with the investigator while the latter takes the
information. The investigator (teacher or psychologist) should be friendly and the language
of collecting data must be simple so that free and frank responses can be available.
 Basic preliminary information about the subject’s name, age, sex, parent’s age, education,
occupation as well as social status.
 Proper physical check-up of the individual is done to ascertain whether his/her behavioural
problem is due to any disease. Only in the absence of any physical ailment can
psychological treatment start.
 The behaviour of the individual should be observed in natural setting and working
conditions. Doing so will provide correct data which ultimately in most cases, will lead to
proper understanding of the root cause of the person’s problems.
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 8

Method of Treatment: Treatment methods of maladjusted individuals include the following:-

 Efforts must be made to modify the environmental factors so that the individual can adapt
better.
 If the existing environment cannot be modified then the individual should be physically
placed in a different environment which is more congenial for his development.
 Different types of therapies should be applied like play therapy, group therapy,
psychotherapy etc. by experts.
 Proper guidance and counselling should be provided to the individual
 Case study method provides details about the individual’s behaviour, an in-depth study
about the root cause of the behavioural problems, and help to provide guidance to modify
the behaviour of the subject.
Limitation of the Cast-study Method: The case- study also has certain limitations. They are:
 The investigator should be technically proficient to handle a case. In most cases, however,
the investigators are not found to be experts in this field.
 There is a possibility of the investigator of becoming involved with the problems of the
individual and therefore his diagnosis and counselling or other methods of treatment may
not be effective.
 Sometimes the information may become highly subjective. The subject, parents and other
associates may hide certain facts about the subject’s behavioural problems and so the data
collected may not be reliable and valid.
 Be possibility of errors in understanding the problems as well as treatment is high; therefore
utmost care must be taken to minimize the errors.

Which method do you like and why?

I personally like “The Testing Method”, because the method consist of different series of
psychological test, educational measurements, rating scales, questionnaire and checklists.
In this method we can draw a clear picture of the person for which we want to test.
This method is also s the sum of Introspective Method because some people uses questionnaire.
There are several testing methods in order to test the person’s psychology, e.g questionnaire,
checklists, rating scales etc.
METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY 9

In rating scale there are mainly five or seven degrees, so we can easily rate the person using the
degree chart. The words and phrases used in these degree have separate marks which clears the
pen picture.
In checklist the examiners are basically provided with qualities, on the basis of that
qualities a checklist of testing person is obtained. In psychological test the measurement of
aptitude, achievements, intelligence, personality and intelligent quotient (IQ) is measured carefully
by obtaining these tests.
Passing through the psychological test one can easily determine the mental condition of
testing person.

AIOU Course Team. (2009). Educational Psychology. Islamabad. Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad.

Shivangi Zav.(2013). Top 6 Methods of Educational Psychology. Educational Psychology.

(66)1. 12-15. Retrieved from: http://www.psychologydiscussion.net/notes/psychology-
notes/educational-psychology-psychology-notes/top-6-methods-of-educational-psychology/2277
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 10

Q.No.2 Discuss the general characteristics of Physical and Motor Development.

Answer:
1. Physical Development.
As has been stated earlier, development is unified and cumulative; hence the discussion of physical
development cannot be restricted only to the growing in size.
Any development implies an all-round developmental behaviour pattern.
Yet the study of the significance of physical growth separately is to see how much does it
contribute in total personality development of a person from childhood to maturity.
Physiological maturing prepares one to profit from experience. It is important in educational
psychology because biological changes—especially in the nervous system— influence what one
can learn in future. Children who differ in rate of maturing have different experiences and develop
different personalities.
Children grow at different rates and develop different physiques. The direct effect of these
differences is seen in the child’s ability to play games—solitary or cooperative. The indirect social
and psychological effects are even more important, e.g. physical immaturity, poor coordination,
or biochemical abnormalities can interfere with any type of social learning.
The child who tires readily, for example, will have a shorter span of concentration, will be more
upset by difficulty and will be less willing to persevere.
Physical superiority helps beneficially the development of personality and it has been noticed that
physically competent children gain social assurance, are more confident and have positive self-
concept. The child with a slight physique or poor coordination finds himself mostly unwanted
when his playmates are choosing teams.
Physical strength’ and stature are particularly important to the boy whose personality affects all of
his social relationships.
Stronger boys are generally superior in spirit and appearance and more masculine which attract
other people’s attention. One’s attitude toward one’s physical endowments is an element in self-
confidence at all ages. A large portion of adolescents are at some time disturbed about one or
another physical characteristic.
Tallness in girls, shortness in boys, and fatness in either sex lead the list of causes of discontent,
in general. Hence, there bubbles up a craze for body building, preparation for good look, attractive
appearance because body builds are associated with self-image
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 11

In spite of all the facts stated above, physical superiority does not necessarily lead to superior
development of personality. Sometimes the large boy is overbearing and unpopular. A relatively
small adolescent who is attractive and mature may be popular among his peer group. What is most
important is that the effect of a physical characteristic depends upon meaning attached to it by the
person and the group.
Patterns and Trends in Physical Growth:
Even casual observation reveals that the first two and three years of development are of very rapid
growth for the human organism. In order to know the characteristics of these periods of life it is
important firstly to identify general principles that can adequately characterize and summarize
growth and secondly, to collect normative data regarding the development of particular body parts
and functions.
Viewed in its larger perspective, bodily growth occurs through approximately the first twenty years
of life in humans. The entire span of overall growth period can be divided into three major
subdivisions—infancy and early childhood (up to the fifth year of life), middle and late childhood
(up to the age of twelve) and adolescence (up to the age of twenty or little more).
Growth is more rapid and more likely to show spurts during both the infancy-early childhood
period and the adoles-center period than during middle childhood.
2. Motor Development:
The issue of motor development is important to the educational psychologists as it paves the way
for later smooth learning on the part of the child. As the child grows physically he or she develops
the ability to know and manipulate the environment which is also an indication of rapid growth.
This type of motor development is often referred to as perceptual- motor development because it
involves many complex perceptual and cognitive processes.
Two general principles of motor development in a child are two closely related processes known
as “differentiation” and “hierarchic integration”. The term differentiation refers to the facts that
the child’s physical development is characterized by an increasing degree of control and specificity
in its motor functions.
Varieties of developed motor activities and control are manifested by the young infants very
quickly during the growth process which indicate growing motor coordination. First they show
good control over arm movements, then hand movements, and, finally, finger movements and so
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 12

on with increased coordination, increasingly differentiated control over the exercise of other body
parts.
The individual movements over which the child gains mastery are then “put together” that is,
‘integrated’, into more complex and sophisticated organization of behaviour. This process is called
the “hierarchic integration”: implying that individual parts of the child’s new motor competence
are integrated into larger and more coherent whole units of motor behaviour.
Thus, the process of ‘differentiation’ leads to the process of ‘hierarchic’ integration to complete
the growth process in the motor development.
Maturation and Learning:
The total physical development of a child is influenced by two factors—one maturation and the
other learning or experience. The two factors, though labelled separately, as a matter of fact are
interwoven to cast influence on the growing process.
Maturation refers to the changes that primarily represent an unfolding of the nature of the
capacities of the organism (and the species) that are at least relatively independent of special
environmental circumstances, training or experience.
Maturation is a concept more important than mere chronological aging. Maturation implies the
changes involving improvement of behaviour from earlier to later stage of development. This
means that maturation takes place automatically as an organismic process in its natural way—in a
species-specific way, following two general principles of differentiation and integration.
Similarly, the ‘learning’ factor, which is a product of experience, contributes to the environmental
influence.
The relative importance of the two factors need not be discussed in the present section—that the
processes involved in the two factors act together and contribute jointly to form new behaviours.
Therefore, this dichotomy appears to be quite simple and it is an agreed fact that a child’s’
behaviour develops through the interaction of his biological and genetic make-up as well as his
social and environmental influences.
Maturational and learning factors combine for the development of various kinds of behaviour in a
child again through the same process of differentiation and integration.
Growth indicates improved motor performances with age. Growth is more than enlargement. Parts
of the body change in relative size, glands and their secretion take on new functions and
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 13

Innumerable changes take place in the body’s microanatomy and biochemistry. Change in height
and weight is most striking in early adolescence.
Adolescence sees great increase in height and weight, change from childish to adult body
proportions, change in the sexual organs, change in the glandular functions and change in voice.
The child, in effect, acquires a new body, which can do new things and admits him to new social
relationships. These biological changes extend over several years. It is customary to consider the
appearance of adult sexual characteristics (primary and secondary) at the start of adolescence.
This development is known as ‘puberty’, is dramatically signaled for the girl by the first
menstruation (menarche), and less suddenly for the boy by the appearance of pubic hair and
breaking of voice. The child does not leap into adolescence; the physical and behavioural changes
are gradual.
As to the size, height grows rather steadily during childhood, slowing a bit before the spurt at
puberty. In middle childhood, the average for the two sexes on most physical measures are about
the same. In adolescence the males become taller, heavier, and stronger than females.
The second trend is the ‘timing’ of adolescent changes. Girls enter the adolescence cycle ahead of
boys. The peak growth for the girls come somewhere between age 10 and 15 and most often at
about 12—two years ahead of the average boy. The more rapid growth for girls presents special
problems during Grades V-VTII.

AIOU Course Team. (2009). Educational Psychology. Islamabad. Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad.

Ashwawriya Sina. (2017). Physical and Motor Development in Children. Educational

Psychology. (48)2. 09-11. Retrieved from: http://www.psychologydiscussion.net/educational-
psychology/physical-and-motor-development-in-child/1898
IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 14

Q.No.3 Discuss the importance of emotional development for students. What is your role
as teacher in emotional developing among students?

Answer: Emotional Development

Emotion involve a combination of feelings and impulses, physical and
psychological reactions. The emotional urges can be either constructive or disruptive. There are
three general features of emotional development.
1. There is differentiation in emotional response from a sort of general excitement. Bridges
found general agitation and excitement in the infant. He noticed that this general excitement
entailing the whole body develops into feelings of distress and delight by six month and jealousy
by twelve months. Delight develops into elation, affection by twelve months and joy by twenty
four months.
2. The effective stimuli tends to evoke a specific emotional change from direct tangible and
concrete in childhood to indirect signs and symbols in adulthood. For example, the idea of an
atomic war keeps many adult on tender hooks. An old person may gladden his heart by the memory
of his past successes. The process by which the number of effective stimuli increases or they
become complex, indirect and symbolic is due to learning, maturation, manipulation, language and
reasoning.
3. It is the decline in the immediate, over and explosive expression of emotions. As the child
grows older, his emotional expressions becomes more subtle, subdued, distinguished, delayed and
complex. For example, a person may just use with humoring or satire to show his anger, jealousy
and hostility.
Emotion and Adolescence.
Due to hormonal changes, adolescents have mood swings and frequently change their
temperament. They tend to have more intense and wide-ranging emotions than children or adults,
and they exaggerate their problems as well. It's common to see adolescents fluctuating between
feeling like they're on top of the world one moment and being depressed the next. These emotional
changes affect their school performance, appearance, choice of friends and their ability to make
appropriate life choices.
Adolescence is a time of emotional stress in the house as adolescents become increasingly
independent and their desires often clash with their parents' requests. Adolescents are inclined to
take risks, whereas their parents are interested in their safety. They tend to act impulsively,
ROLE OF TEACHER 15

without thinking about the consequences, and they make decisions based on what feels good at the
moment. Even when parents try to explain their own decisions based on their life experience and
knowledge, adolescents often react emotionally without even listening to the reasons. Therefore,
behavior issues and rebellion is common. However, although it's unwelcome, their defiance is
necessary in order for the adolescent's unique identity to emerge.
Adolescents lean toward making intimate relationships with friends while distancing themselves
from their family. In addition, their perception of themselves is tied to how others view them.
Adolescents may think they are constantly being watched and evaluated, making them overly
concerned with their appearance. Although adolescents crave independence from their family,
their insecurity and social pressure cause them to strive to fit in with the crowd in order to be
accepted.
Along with independence and emerging identity, adolescence is marked by the beginning of
romantic interests. However, sexual emotions induce anxiety and these underlying emotions often
distract adolescents from their day-to-day activities, such as school and sports. Adolescents who
have severe emotional problems, such as excessive mood swings or prolonged depression, need to
get professional help as soon as possible.
Role of a Teacher:
Emphasizing the importance of emotions in life, writes that emotions are basic, primeval forces of
great power and influence designed by nature to enable the organism to cope with circumstances
which demand the utmost effort for survival or success or to add colour and spice to our living.
Our emotions control our behaviour.
Adolescence is marked by heightened emotionality. Emotions like love, anger, hate, jealousy, fear,
worry and joy etc, all reach its peak. At no stage the child is so restless and emotionally perturbed
as in adolescence. He is too sensitive and moody. In the words to Ross, “The adolescent lives on
intensely emotional life, in which we can see once more the rhythm of positive and negative phases
of behaviour in his constant alternation between intense excitement and deep depression”.
This is why the period is often stated as a period of stress and strain. Sometimes he is hilarious but
on other occasion he is depressed. He may develop morbid fears and inferiority complex.
If the teacher is aware about all these upheavals adolescents, he can guide accordingly. Developing
proper emotions and controlling them is very essential objective of education during
ROLE OF TEACHER 16

adolescence. Meeting social demands as well as to eliminate the damaging effects of emotions on
attitudes, habits, behaviour and physical wellbeing, control of emotions is essential.
Control does not mean repression but it means learning to approach a social situation with rational
attitude and repression of those emotions which are socially unacceptable. The class-room teacher
can play an important role to reduce pressures that interfere with adolescents’ emotional
development.
 Proper training:
A teacher can use devices and methods to control fears of inadequacy in various situations by
developing competencies and skills, thus developing self-confidence.
Development of resistance:
A teacher should help the adolescents to examine themselves in finding the causes of failure and
frustrations thus developing in them the resistance to frustrations.
 Proper understanding:
As the adolescent is beset by problems of divided loyalties, accentuated by the lack of adult
privileges and responsibilities, he is very sensitive and does not welcome any criticism. It becomes
the utmost duty of the teacher to understand the adolescents and change the attitude towards him,
try to provide him the proper environment for the expression of pent up feelings and can suggest
the same for parents at home.
Fair treatment, sympathy, co-operation, and freedom of action within a reasonable limit should be
given to adolescents and no unnecessary restrictions should be imposed. A variety of interests
should be developed to avoid frustration.
Teach the adolescents to relax by providing opportunities for hobbies, cultural activities, catharsis
through play, free discussion, drama etc.
Suggesting the parents not to over protect the child can be an effective way of handling the
emotions of youth.
 Verbalization of feelings:
Adolescents should be trained to express their feelings. As the verbalization of pent up emotional
feelings release mental tension and as emotions are put into words, they become diffused, less
intense and manageable. The teacher must develop a clear recognition of the desirability of
achieving free and constructive expression of emotions which will result in progress towards the
desired goal.
ROLE OF TEACHER 17

 Health:
Poor health of the children may cause irritable behaviour like worry, anxiety, fear etc. Hence the
health of children should be properly looked after. Moreover, teachers can guide them that they
should study when they are not tired lest it should result in negative learning and feeling of
inadequacy.
 Picnic and tours:
The teacher can organize picnics, excursions; and tours to provide them opportunities to
understand each other and to come closer. This may resolve many problems.

AIOU Course Team. (2009). Educational Psychology. Islamabad. Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad.

Jayne Clare.(2015). Social Apps for Special Education and Adolescence. Educational
Psychology. (48)2. 06-07. Retrieved from: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-emotional-apps-
special-ed-jayne-clare

Julie Scelfo (2015). Teaching Peace in Elementary School & Role of Teacher, Educational
Psychology (11)3. 21-22. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/sunday-
review/teaching-peace-in-elementary-school.html
MORAL DEVELOPMENT 18

Q.No.3 Write notes on the following:

1. Moral Development
2. Adolescence and Development.

Answer: Moral Development

It focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through
adulthood. Morality develops across a lifetime and is influenced by an individual's experiences
and their behavior when faced with moral issues through different periods' physical and cognitive
development. In short, morality concerns an individual's growing sense of what is right and wrong;
it is for this reason that young children have different moral judgement and character than that of
a grown adult. Morality in itself is often a synonym for "rightness" or "goodness". It refers to a
certain code of conduct that is derived from one's culture, religion or personal philosophy that
guides one's actions, behaviors and thoughts. This term is related to psychology. There are other
types of development such as social development, physical development and cognitive
development.
Notions of morality development have been developed over centuries, the earliest came from
philosophers like Confucius, Aristotle, and Rousseau, who all took a more humanist perspective
and focused on the development of the conscience and sense of virtue. In the modern day, empirical
research has explored morality through a moral psychology lens by theorists like Sigmund
Freud and its relation to cognitive development by theorists like Jean Piaget, Lawrence
Kohlberg, B. F. Skinner, Carol Gilligan and Judith Smetana.
The interest in morality spans many disciplines (e.g., philosophy, economics, biology,
and political science) and specializations within psychology (e.g., social, cognitive, and cultural).
In order to investigate how individuals understand morality, it is essential to consider their beliefs,
emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that contribute to their moral understanding. Additionally,
researchers in the field of moral development consider the role of peers and parents in facilitating
moral development, the role of conscience and values, socialization and cultural influences,
empathy and altruism, and positive development, in order to understand what factors impact
morality of an individual more completely.
Foundation Theories and Historical Background:
Freud: Morality and the Superego:
MORAL DEVELOPMENT 18

The founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, proposed the existence of a tension between the
needs of society and the individual. According to Freud, moral development proceeds when the
individual's selfish desires are repressed and replaced by the values of important socializing agents
in one's life (for instance, one's parents).
B.F. Skinner's Behavioral Theory:
A proponent of behaviorism, B.F. Skinner similarly focused on socialization as the primary force
behind moral development. In contrast to Freud's notion of a struggle between internal and external
forces, Skinner focused on the power of external forces (reinforcement contingencies) to shape an
individual's development.
Piaget's Theory of Moral Development:
While both Freud and Skinner focused on the external forces that bear on morality (parents in the
case of Freud, and behavioral contingencies in the case of Skinner), Jean Piaget (1965) focused on
the individual's construction, construal, and interpretation of morality from a social-cognitive and
social-emotional perspective. To understand adult morality, Piaget believed that it was necessary
to study both how morality manifests in the child's world as well as the factors that contribute to
the emergence of central moral concepts such as welfare, justice, and rights. Interviewing children
using the Clinical Interview Method, Piaget (1965) found that young children were focused on
authority mandates, and that with age children become autonomous, evaluating actions from a set
of independent principles of morality. Piaget characterizes the development of morality of children
through observing children while playing games to see if rules are followed.
Jean Piaget.
Social Domain Theory: Elliot Turiel argued for a social domain approach to social cognition,
delineating how individuals differentiate moral (fairness, equality, justice), societal (conventions,
group functioning, traditions), and psychological (personal, individual prerogative) concepts from
early in development throughout the lifespan. Over the past 40 years, research findings have
supported this model, demonstrating how children, adolescents, and adults differentiate moral
rules from conventional rules, identify the personal domain as a nonregulated domain, and evaluate
multifaceted (or complex) situations that involve more than one domain. This research has been
conducted in a wide range of countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia,
Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, U.K., U.S.,
Virgin Islands) and with rural and urban children, for low and high income
MORAL DEVELOPMENT 19

communities, and traditional and modern cultures. Turiel's social domain theory showed that
children were actually younger in developing moral standards than past psychologists predicted.
Kohlberg: Moral Reasoning: Lawrence Kohlberg was inspired by the works of Jean
Piaget and John Dewey.
For the past 20 years, researchers have expanded the field of moral development, applying moral
judgment, reasoning, and emotion attribution to topics such as prejudice, aggression, and theory
of mind, emotions, empathy, peer relationships, and parent-child interactions. The Handbook of
Moral Development (2006), edited by Melanie Killen and Judith Smetana, provides a wide range
of information about these topics covered in moral development today. One of the main objectives
was to provide a sense of the current state of the field of moral development.

AIOU Course Team. (2009). Educational Psychology. Islamabad. Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad.

Kohlberg’s. (1958). Theory of Moral Development. Educational Psychology. Retrieved from:

https://www.simplypsychology.org/kohlberg.html

Wikipedia. (2019) Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_development

ADOLESCENT AND DEVELOPMENT 20

2. Adolescent and Development

Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. Children who are
entering adolescence are going through many changes (physical, intellectual, personality and
social developmental). Adolescence begins at puberty, which now occurs earlier, on average, than
in the past. The end of adolescence is tied to social and emotional factors and can be somewhat
ambiguous.
Physical changes of adolescence
There are three main physical changes that come with adolescence:
 The growth spurt (an early sign of maturation);
 Primary sex characteristics (changes in the organs directly related to reproduction);
 Secondary sex characteristics (bodily signs of sexual maturity that do not directly involve
reproductive organs)
Intellectual changes of adolescence
Adolescent thinking is on a higher level than that of children. Children are only able to think
logically about the concrete, the here and now. Adolescents move beyond these limits and can
think in terms of what might be true, rather than just what they see is true. They are able to deal
with abstractions, test hypotheses and see infinite possibilities. Yet adolescents still often display
egocentric behaviors and attitudes.
Social and emotional changes of adolescence
Adolescents are also developing socially and emotionally during this time. The most important
task of adolescence is the search for identity. (This is often a lifelong voyage, launched in
adolescence.) Along with the search for identity comes the struggle for independence.
Parents support healthy adolescent development?
While adolescence can be a trying period for both youth and their parents, the home does not have
to become a battleground if both parents and young people make special efforts to understand one
another. The following guidelines may help parents:
 Give your children your undivided attention when they want to talk. Don't read, watch
television or busy yourself with other tasks.
 Listen calmly and concentrate on hearing and understanding your children's point of view.
 Speak to your children as courteously and pleasantly as you would to a stranger. Your tone
of voice can set the tone of a conversation
ADOLESCENT AND DEVELOPMENT 21

 Understand your children's feelings, even if you don't always approve of their behavior.
Try not to make judgments. Keep the door open on any subject. Be an "open/approachable"
parent.
 Avoid humiliating your children and laughing at what may seem to you to be naive or
foolish questions and statements.
 Encourage your children to "test" new ideas in conversation by not judging their ideas and
opinions, but instead by listening and then offering your own views as plainly and honestly
as possible. Love and mutual respect can coexist with differing points of view.
 Help your children build self-confidence by encouraging their participation in activities of
their choice (not yours).
 Make an effort to commend your children frequently and appropriately. Too often, we take
the good things for granted and focus on the bad, but everyone needs to be appreciated.
 Encourage your children to participate in family decision-making and to work out family
concerns together with you. Understand that your children need to challenge your opinions
and your ways of doing things to achieve the separation from you that's essential for their
own adult identity.

AIOU Course Team. (2009). Educational Psychology. Islamabad. Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad.

Brittany Allen. MD, FAAP & Helen Waterman, DO (2012) Stages of Adolescence Retrieved
from: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Stages-of-Adolescence.aspx
CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONALITY 22

Q.No.5 What are general characteristics of personality? Also discuss the personality and
children adjustment problems. How teacher can play influential role in personality development
of students?
Answer: Childhood social and personality development emerges through the interaction of
social influences, biological maturation, and the child’s representations of the social world and the
self. This interaction is illustrated in a discussion of the influence of significant relationships, the
development of social understanding, the growth of personality, and the development of social and
emotional competence in childhood.
 Provide specific examples of how the interaction of social experience, biological
maturation, and the child’s representations of experience and the self-provide the basis for
growth in social and personality development.
 Describe the significant contributions of parent–child and peer relationships to the
development of social skills and personality in childhood.
 Explain how achievements in social understanding occur in childhood. Moreover, do
scientists believe that infants and young children are egocentric
 Describe the association of temperament with personality development.
 Explain what “social and emotional competence“is and provide some examples of how it
develops in childhood.
The answers that readily come to mind include the influences of parents, peers, temperament, a
moral compass, a strong sense of self, and sometimes critical life experiences such as parental
divorce. Social and personality development encompasses these and many other influences on the
growth of the person. In addition, it addresses questions that are at the heart of understanding how
we develop as unique people. How much are we products of nature or nurture? How enduring are
the influences of early experiences? The study of social and personality development offers
perspective on these and other issues, often by showing how complex and multifaceted are the
influences on developing children, and thus the intricate processes that have made you the person
you are today. Understanding social and personality development requires looking at children from
three perspectives that interact to shape development. The first is the social context in which each
child lives, especially the relationships that provide security, guidance, and knowledge. The second
is biological maturation that supports developing social and emotional competencies and underlies
CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONALITY 23

temperamental individuality. The third is children’s developing representations of themselves and

the social world. Social and personality development is best understood as the continuous
interaction between these social, biological, and representational aspects of psychological
development. This interaction can be observed in the development of the earliest relationships
between infants and their parents in the first year. Virtually all infants living in normal
circumstances develop strong emotional attachments to those who care for them. Psychologists
believe that the development of these attachments is as biologically natural as learning to walk and
not simply a byproduct of the parents’ provision of food or warmth. Rather, attachments have
evolved in humans because they promote children’s motivation to stay close to those who care for
them and, as a consequence, to benefit from the learning, security, guidance, warmth, and
affirmation that close relationships provide. Although nearly all infants develop emotional
attachments to their caregivers--parents, relatives, nannies-- their sense of security in those
attachments varies. Infants become securely attached when their parents respond sensitively to
them, reinforcing the infants’ confidence that their parents will provide support when needed.
Infants become insecurely attached when care is inconsistent or neglectful; these infants tend to
respond avoidant, resistant, or in a disorganized manner. As children mature, parent-child
relationships naturally change. Preschool and grade-school children are more capable, have their
own preferences, and sometimes refuse or seek to compromise with parental expectations. This
can lead to greater parent-child conflict, and how conflict is managed by parents further shapes the
quality of parent-child relationships. In general, children develop greater competence and self-
confidence when parents have high (but reasonable) expectations for children’s behavior,
communicate well with them, are warm and responsive, and use reasoning (rather than coercion)
as preferred responses to children’s misbehavior. This kind of parenting style has been described
as authoritative (Baumrind, 2013). Authoritative parents are supportive and show interest in their
kids’ activities but are not overbearing and allow them to make constructive mistakes. By contrast,
some less-constructive parent-child relationships result from authoritarian, uninvolved, or
permissive parenting styles.

AIOU Course Team. (2009). Educational Psychology. Islamabad. Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONALITY 24

Mohammad Naquibur Rahman. (2015). Characteristics and Trends Needed for Personality
Development for Manifold Spheres of Management. Educational Psychology (3)8. Retrieved
from :
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308794004_Characteristics_and_Trends_Needed_for_
Personality_Development_for_Manifold_Spheres_of_Management