Psychology

INTRODUCTION

MBA II Sem
Meaning and Definitions of Psychology:

 Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes (both humans
and animals).

 Behaviour (An act or response of someone especially toward others) includes all of our
outward or overt actions and reactions, such as verbal and facial expressions and movements.

 Mental processes (All the things that individuals can do with their minds, which
includes ideation, imagination, memory, thinking, belief, reasoning, volition and emotion)
refer to all the internal and covert activity of our mind such as thinking, feeling and
remembering.
The word Psychology has its origin from two Greek words ‘Psyche’ and ‘Logos’, ‘psyche’
means ‘soul’ and ‘logos’ means ‘study’. Thus literally, Psychology means ‘the study of
soul’ or ‘science of soul’.

 1. The first definition of the Psychology was the study of the soul:
 The earliest attempts at defining Psychology owe their origin to the most mysterious
and philosophical concept, namely that of soul. What is soul? How can it be studied?
The inability to find clear answers to such questions led some ancient Greek
philosophers to define psychology as the study of the mind.
2. In terms of the study of the mind:
 Although the word mind was less mysterious and vague than soul, yet it also faced the
same questions, namely what is mind? How can it be studied, etc. This definition was also
rejected.

 3. In terms of the study of consciousness:

 The description and explanation of the states of consciousness is the task of Psychology
which is usually done by the instrument introspection—process of looking within.
This definition was also rejected on the grounds that:
(i) It could not include the study of the consciousness of animals.
(ii) It would not include subconscious and unconscious activities of mind.
(iii) The introspection method for the study proved that it is most subjective and unscientific
method.

 4. In terms of the study of behaviour:

 The most modern and widely accepted definition of
psychology even today, is the study of behaviour, both
humans and animals.
Foundation

 Plato (428-347 BC)

 Aristotle (384-322 BC)
 Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)
 Wilhelm Wundt, Germany (1832 – 1920)
 William Jones (1842- 1910)
 Importance of psychology
 Understanding Basic Psychological and Scientific Principles
Psych graduates say that knowledge of research methods and the ability to interpret
statistical results are the biggest contributors to their career success, regardless of whether
they pursued a career in psychology or elsewhere.

 Critical Thinking
A great deal of psychological content, and the methods taught and used by psychologists,
focus on how to think critically. Critical thinking is considered to be essential to being an
educated person and is often a general education requirement in colleges. Psychology courses
develop the critical thinking skills that are important in business, law, and other professions.
 Effectiveness in the Workplace
Industrial-Organizational Psychology (one of the top-10 highest paying professions) focuses on
understanding human dynamics in the workplace. A knowledge of human behavior is one of
the "selling points" for psych majors when it comes to gaining employment, and a knowledge
of basic psychology makes you a more effective supervisor/manager.

 Understanding of Relationships and Well-Being

Although studying psychology doesn’t necessarily make you psychologically healthier any more
than studying medicine makes you physically healthy, psych majors do have this knowledge at
their fingertips and should be more aware of the fact that good interpersonal and family
relationships require attention and work. Psych majors should, at least, know where to go
when they need counseling or psychotherapy.
 Improved Employability
Savvy employers (and savvy job applicants) know that an understanding of human behavior is
essential to success in the workplace, and this needs to be emphasized as an important, and
employable, competency.
Graduates with psychology degrees end up in a wide array of occupations, and most are quite
successful because of what they learned in college.
Subfields

Brain Science and Cognitive Psychology

Brain science and cognitive psychologists study how the human mind thinks, remembers
and learns. They apply psychological science to understand how we make decisions and
perceive our world

Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychologists study how people grow and adapt over the course of
their lives. They apply their research to help people overcome developmental
challenges and reach their full potential.

Human Factors and Engineering Psychology

Human factors and engineering psychologists strive to make everyday experiences
easier, more comfortable and less frustrating by applying the psychological science of
human behavior to the products, systems and devices we use every day
Psychology of Teaching and Learning
Psychologists working in education study how people learn and retain knowledge. They
apply psychological science to improve the learning process and promote educational
success for all students.

Sport and Performance Psychology

Sport and performance psychologists use science to study human behavior and
abilities in sport, exercise and performance. They help people overcome psychological
barriers that can impede their achievements and professional success
Brain Science and Cognitive Psychology

 Cognitive psychologists, sometimes called brain scientists, study how the human
brain works — how we think, remember and learn. They apply psychological
science to understand how we perceive events and make decisions.
 Understanding Brain Science and Cognitive Psychology
 The human brain is an amazing and powerful tool. It allows us to learn, see,
remember, hear, perceive, understand and create language. Sometimes, the
human brain also fails us.
 Cognitive psychologists study how people acquire, perceive, process and store
information. This work can range from exploring how we learn language to
understanding the interplay between cognition and emotion.
 New technologies like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allow researchers to see
a picture of the brain at work — helping them to understand how a brain reacts to
a particular stimulus or how differences in brain structure can affect a person’s
health, personality or cognitive functioning.
Developmental Psychology

 Developmental psychologists focus on human growth and changes across the

lifespan, including physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual,
personality and emotional growth.
 Understanding Developmental Psychology
 The study of developmental psychology is essential to understanding how
humans learn, mature and adapt.
 Throughout their lives, humans go through various stages of development.
Developmental psychologists study how people grow, develop and adapt at
different life stages. They conduct research designed to help people reach
their full potential — for example, studying the difference between learning
styles in babies and adults.

 Human Factors and Engineering Psychology
 Human factors and engineering psychologists study how people interact with machines and technology. They
use psychological science to guide the design of products, systems and devices we use every day. They often
focus on performance and safety.
 Understanding Human Factors and Engineering Psychology
 We’ve all experienced mild anxiety during our first interaction with a new device — from setting up our hi-
def TVs to checking in for a doctor’s appointment via an in-office kiosk. Will it work the way I need it to and
the way I expect it to?
 Human factors and engineering psychologists strive to make these interactions easier, more comfortable, less
frustrating and, when necessary, safer. But their purview extends beyond the everyday gadgets we need to
function; they also apply the science of psychology to improve life-critical products, such as medical
equipment and airline computer systems.
 These professionals apply what they know about human behavior to help businesses design products, systems
and devices. They combine technology and psychology to improve our interactions with the systems and
equipment we use daily.
 Have you ever wondered why some products seem to work better than others? The best products are thought
out and tested with people trying them out in real-life situations.
 Better designs mean happy customers, fewer costly redesigns and less likelihood of accidents or injuries.
Because of this, businesses and organizations need the expertise of human factors and engineering
psychologists, who study how people behave and use that knowledge to create better processes and
products.
 These psychologists work in many different areas, including business, government and academia. And they
can work on a range of designs — from the ordinary things that touch all of our lives, such as better can
openers and safer cars, to the highly specialized, such as instruments that allow pilots to land jumbo jets
safely.

Psychology of Teaching and Learning

 Psychologists working in the field of education study how people learn and retain knowledge.
They apply psychological science to improve the learning process and promote educational
success for all students.
 Understanding Educational Psychology
 Today’s educational system is highly complex. There is no single learning approach that works
for everyone.
 That’s why psychologists working in the field of education are focused on identifying and
studying learning methods to better understand how people absorb and retain new
information.
 Educational psychologists apply theories of human development to understand individual
learning and inform the instructional process. While interaction with teachers and students in
school settings is an important part of their work, it isn’t the only facet of the job. Learning
is a lifelong endeavor. People don’t only learn at school, they learn at work, in social
situations and even doing simple tasks like household chores or running errands. Psychologists
working in this subfield examine how people learn in a variety of settings to identify
approaches and strategies to make learning more effective.
Sport and Performance Psychology

 Sport and performance psychologists focus on identifying and applying

psychological principles that facilitate peak sport performance, enhance people’s
participation in physical activities and help athletes achieve optimal human
performance.
 Sport and performance psychologists are experts in helping athletes and
professionals overcome problems that impede performance. Some teach strategies
that help clients maximize their physical prowess; others work with clients to
overcome anxiety or a traumatic experience, such as a ski fall, that is affecting
their confidence. Other clients might need help communicating with colleagues or
teammates or accepting a coach’s critiques.
 But athletes aren’t the only clients. Consider the rigors of performing surgery, for
example. Doctors may need help gaining the confidence to return to the operating
room after losing a patient. Actors or comedians may need support getting back on
stage following a poor review.
 In all of these situations, tapping into the potential of human performance is the
key so that individuals can hone resilience skills and perform at their best.
MEMORY INTRODUCTION

 Memory is the ability to encode, store and remember information and past
experiences in the brain. In general terms one can define memory as the use of past
experience to influence or affect human behaviour.
 Encoding: a process of making mental representation of information. It can also mean
transferring from short term to long term.
 Storing: Process of placing encoded information into relatively permanent storage for
later recall.
 Remembering: the process of retrieving what has been stored in short term or long term
memory.
TYPES OF MEMORY

 There are three main types of memory.

 1) Sensory memory
 2) Long term memory
 3) Short term memory
a) SENSORY MEMORY (<1sec)

 Sensory memories the Shortest term element of memory. In order for anything to enter our
memory, it must be picked up by our senses ( taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell).
 Sensory memory makes use of the five senses in order to be developed.

For example, the ability to look at

something and remember what it
looked like with just a second of
observation is an example of sensory
memory.
SHORT TERM MEMORY (<1min)

 Also called working memory. It is everything you are thinking of at the current moment.
Takes less than one minute to process.
 It is the information we hang on to while doing another process and it tends to disappear
really fast unless we make an effort to remember it.
For example, when reading a sentence, you place the beginning of the sentence in mind
so as to understand the rest of the sentence.
LONG TERM MEMORY (life- time)

 This is a process of storing unlimited amounts of information over long period of time.
 Although there is the element of forgetting, long term memory decays very little and we
are thus able to recall most of it.
 Short term memories can become long term memories through the process of
consolidation which involves rehearsal and meaningful association.

 Characteristics of long term memory

 It has an unlimited capacity and it is relatively permanent.
 Chances of retrieval are dependent on encoding process.
 Its accuracy may be distorted over time
IMPLICIT MEMORY(procedural)

 Implicit memory is memory that can be unconsciously recalled. This is also known as
procedural memory. It is a memory of skills and how to do things, particularly movement
of body parts and use of objects or machines.
 This is memory acquired through repetition and practice and is composed of automatic
sensorimotor behaviours that are so deeply embedded that we are no longer aware of
them. An example is when you teach a child to write over and over again, eventually it
becomes embedded in him until he is able to do it simply without thinking so much
about it. Other examples include riding a bike, tying a shoe-lace, playing the guitar etc.
This type of long-term memory allows people to carry out ordinary motor actions more or
less automatically. This is aided by previous performances of the task without explicit or
conscious awareness of the previous experiences, like you do not remember how you
learnt how to hold a spoon or how to tie your shoe lace, yet now you can do it more
unconsciously.
b) EXPLICIT(declarative)
 Declarative memory is a type of long term memory and it is also known as explicit
memory.
 Declarative memory (“knowing what”) is the memory of facts and events and refers to
those memories that can be consciously recalled (or “declared”).

 Imagine that you are having a conversation with your friend about food and she asks you
about your favorite restaurant. You tell her the name of your favorite restaurant and the
most recent meal that you ate there. She asks you for the nearest intersection and the
address, which you easily recall without assistance from the internet or the phone book.
You also tell her the restaurant's phone number, hours of operations, and the location of
the nearest parking garage. The information that you gave your friend is an example of
declarative memory.
 Your ability to recall addresses, locations of parking garages, intersection names, phone
numbers, and an experience that you had at a restaurant are all a part of declarative
memory.

 For example: let's say that you know that your favourite restaurant is only open until 6
PM on Sundays. The time that the restaurant closes is stored as a declarative memory. We
can consciously recall declarative memory.
EPISODIC MEMORY
 Episodic memory represents our memory of experiences and specific events in time, from
which we can reconstruct the actual events that took place at any given point in our lives.
 Episodic memory is what enables one to give an account of an event which happened
and will tend to be different from someone else's.
 EXAMPLES OF EPISODIC MEMORY
 First day at a new job. First movie you watched with your wife.
 The first time you travelled by plane. Your wedding day.
SEMANTIC MEMORY
 Semantic memory includes things that are common knowledge, such as the names of
colors, the sounds of letters, the capitals of countries and basic facts acquired over a life
time.
 Semantic memory is the recollection of facts gathered from the time we are young
 For Example:
 Understanding the difference between a dog and a cat
 Knowing that the space shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on Jan. 28, 1986
 Being able to associate letters with their sounds
 Recalling how to use a phone
Methods of Improving Memory
Forgetting things ?
 Do you want to improve your memory without any medication. Improving your memory is easier by
following below tips.
 It is a common experience that forgetting is usually a source of trouble for people. Everyday
conversation, class room participation, performance in examination, interview, presentation and
communication in meetings often put demands on us to remember information. Failure in doing so
has negative consequences which all of us experience to different degrees in our lives. As a result
most of us are interested in improving our memory.

 RECALL
 This involves digging into the memory and bringing back information on a stimulus/response basis,
e.g., "What is the capital of India?" Answer: “Delhi". Recall often needs prompting with cues to help
us retrieve what we are looking for. It is not a reliable form of memory and many of us experience
the feeling that we know the answer but simply can't dig the information out. This is the technique
we use to remember people's names, hence we often forget them. There are three types of recall:
 1. Free recall: when no cues are given to assist retrieval
 2. Serial recall: when items are recalled in a particular order
 3. Cued recall: when some cues are given to assist retrieval
Recognition (re+cognition)
 is a process that occurs in thinking when some event, process, pattern, or object recurs.
Coming from the base cognition; cognition has various uses in different fields of study and
has generally accepted to be used for the process of awareness or thought.

 RELEARNING:
 Another means of remembering is through relearning. Relearned information may return
quickly, even if it hasn't been used for many years.

 Paying attention through your senses

 You can’t remember something if you never learned it, and you can’t learn something —
that is, encode it into your brain —if you don’t pay enough attention to it. Make your habit
of attention through varies senses i-e by Eye contact Auditory Tactical Smell test
Rehearsal
 preserve information in STM
 To be remembered twice at least

Over learning
 best insurance against going blank
 study is continued beyond bare mastery

Space practice
 Superior to massed practice 20 minutes study session vs one hrs. continues study

Whole vs. part method

 It is better to practice whole packages of information rather than smaller parts
Chunking Memory
 Chunking involves creating something more meaningful and therefore memorable from
seemingly random bits of information. One example is if you need to remember a list of
things such as buying figs, lettuce, oranges, apples, and tomatoes you can create a word
out of the first letters (e.g., "FLOAT"), which is easier to remember than the individual
items. If you've ever tried to remember a phone number by making a word (or words) out
of the letters on the phone's dial pad, you've used chunking
 the items to be memorized are divided into small and easily memorable chunks or groups.
 This method works best when the order of the items is not important.

Brain exercises
 Memory, like muscular strength, is a “use it or lose it” proposition. The more you work out
your brain, the better you’ll be able to process and remember information.

Eat right & drink a right way

 Your brain needs a lot of fuel, mainly the omega-3 fatty acids and drink six to eight glasses
of water a day.
Make notes
 When you find it difficult to remember, just write it down

Laugh
 It activates brain areas vital to learning and creativity.

Meditation
 Meditation improves focus, concentration, creativity, learning and reasoning skills. It is
believed to encourage connections between neurons which increase mental sharpness.
.

Memory distortion
 Memories aren’t exact records of events. Instead, memories are reconstructed in many different
ways after events happen, which means they can be distorted by several factors. These factors
include schemas, source amnesia, the misinformation effect, the hindsight bias, the overconfidence
effect, and confabulation.
 Schemas
 A Schema is a mental model of an object or event that includes knowledge as well as beliefs and
expectations of oneself. Schemas can distort memory.
 Example: Suppose a high school junior visits her sister’s college dorm room for the first time.
She’s never been to a dorm before, but she’s seen dorms in movies, read about them, and heard
her friends talking about them. When she describes the room to another friend after the visit, she
comments on how many clothes her sister had and how many huge books were on her sister’s desk.
In reality, the books were hidden under the bed, not out in the open. The clothes were something
she actually saw, while the books were part of her dorm-room schema.
Source Amnesia

 Another reason for distorted memories is that people often don’t accurately remember
the origin of information.

 Example: After witnessing a car crash on the freeway, Sam later tells friends many details
about what he saw. It turns out, however, that there is no way he could have actually seen
some of the details he described and that he is, in fact, just reporting details he heard on
TV about the accident. He isn’t deliberately lying. He just may not be able to remember
where all the different pieces of information came from.

 This inaccurate recall of the origin of information is called Source Amnesia, source
misattribution, or source monitoring error.
The Misinformation Effect
 The Misinformation Effect occurs when people’s recollections of events are distorted by
information given to them after the event occurred. The psychologist Elizabeth Loftus did
influential research on the misinformation effect that showed that memory
reconstructions can affect eyewitness testimony.

 Example: A bank robber enters a crowded bank in the middle of the day, brandishing a
gun. He shoots out the security cameras and terrifies everyone. He is taking money from a
teller when one of two security guards approaches the robber, draws his own weapon, and
shoots. Suddenly, another shot is fired from a different direction and the security guard
falls to the ground, shot. Some of the customers see that the other security guard, who
was approaching the robber from the other side, mistakenly shot his partner. Later, police
ask the witnesses when the robber shot the guard, and they report that he shot after the
guard fired on him. Even though they saw one guard shoot the other, they are swayed by
the misinformation given by the police.
 THE HINDSIGHT BIAS
 The Hindsight Bias is the tendency to interpret the past in a way that fits the present.
Hindsight bias is a psychological phenomenon that allows people to convince themselves after
an event that they accurately predicted it before it happened. Hindsight bias is where an
individual claims to have been able to predict an event after it has happened. For example,
they will state, ‘I knew that would happen’. However, their belief of that outcome was
significantly lower before the event. It is only after the event occured that they believe their
initial feelings were stronger than they were.
 For example, a stockbroker may be uncertain about a stock and decides not to buy it.
However, two months later, its value increases by 50 percent and they claim ‘they knew it
would rise’. Yet the feeling they had at the time was not strong enough for them to take the
risk and invest.
THE OVERCONFIDENCE EFFECT

THE OVERCONFIDENCE EFFECT

The Overconfidence Effect is the tendency people have to overestimate their
ability to recall events correctly.

A person who thinks their sense of direction is much better than it actually
is could show overconfidence by going on a long trip without a map and refusing
to ask for directions if they get lost along the way. An individual who thinks they
are much smarter than they actually are is a person who is overconfident.
Two influential views of Memory

 The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model: (Stage Model / Multi-store Model / Multi-
Memory model / Modal Model)
Craik and Lockhart : Level of Processing
 Forgetting

 Why do we forget? There are two simple answers to this question.

 First, the memory has disappeared - it is no longer available. Second, the memory is still
stored in the memory system but, for some reason, it cannot be retrieved.
 These two answers summaries the main theories of forgetting developed by psychologists.
The first answer is more likely to be applied to forgetting in short term memory, the
second to forgetting in long term memory.
 Forgetting is the loss or change in information that was was previously stored in short-
term or long-term memory. It can occur suddenly or it can occur gradually as old memories
are lost. While it is usually normal, excessive or unusual forgetting might be a sign of a
more serious problem.
 Forgetting or disremembering is the apparent loss or modification of information already
encoded and stored in an individual's short or long-term memory. It is a spontaneous or
gradual process in which old memories are unable to be recalled from memory storage.
 While you might find yourself
wondering why is my memory so bad,
forgetting is part of life and people
forget surprisingly fast. Research has
found that approximately 56% of
information is forgotten within an
hour, 66% after a day, and 75% after six
days.1
 The reality is that while the brain is
capable of impressive feats, its capacity
to store and recall details is limited.
There are a few different ways and
reasons that we forget things.

 Types of forgetting

 Trace decay theory

 Interference theories.
 Organic causes.
 Cue-dependent forgetting.
Trace Decay Theory of Forgetting
 The trace(A pathway to recall a memory) decay theory of forgetting states that all
memories fade automatically as a function of time. Under this theory, you need to follow a
certain pathway, or trace, to recall a memory. If this pathway goes unused for some
amount of time, the memory decays, which leads to difficulty recalling, or the inability
to recall, the memory. Rehearsal, or mentally going over a memory, can slow this
process.
 But disuse of a trace will lead to memory decay, which will ultimately cause retrieval
failure. This process begins almost immediately if the information is not used: for
example, sometimes we forget a person’s name even though we have just met them.
 The decay Theory of forgetting can be stated simply as a function of memory fading away
with ravages of time
 Trace theory proposes that the length of time between the memory and recalling that
information determines whether the information will be retained or forgotten. If the time
interval is short, more information will be recalled. If a longer period of time passes, more
information will be forgotten and memory will be poorer.
 Memory over time: Over time, a memory becomes harder to remember. A memory is most
easily recalled when it is brand new, and without rehearsal, begins to be forgotten.
Interference Theory
 If you had asked psychologists during the 1930s, 1940s, or 1950s what caused forgetting
you would probably have received the answer "Interference".
 It was assumed that memory can be disrupted or interfered with by what we have
previously learned or by what we will learn in the future. This idea suggests that
information in long term memory may become confused or combined with other
information during encoding thus distorting or disrupting memories.
 Interference theory states that forgetting occurs because memories interfere with and
disrupt one another, in other words forgetting occurs because of interference from other
memories (Baddeley, 1999). There are two ways in which interference can cause
forgetting:
Difference
 The main difference
between proactive and
retroactive interference
is that in proactive
interference, old
memories interfere with
new memories, whereas
in retroactive
interference, new
memories interfere with
old memories.
For ex: For ex:
You have difficulties remembering
Incorrectly writing the the names of the students in your
date during the first new maths group last year because you
learnt the names of your
months of a year psychology class this year.
 1. Proactive interference (forward acting) occurs when you cannot learn a new task
because of an old task that had been learnt. When what we already know interferes with
what we are currently learning – where old memories disrupt new memories. Eg: 4 For
example, if you move into a new house, you might find yourself accidentally writing
your old address down when filling out s. The older memory of your previous address
makes it more difficult to recall your new. When interference occurs, retrieval of the
desired information is not necessarily blocked completely. People may be able to
remember some of it or even all of it if sufficient cues are given.
 Previous learning can sometimes interfere with new learning (e.g. difficulties we have
with foreign currency when travelling abroad).

 2. Retroactive interference (or backward) occurs when a later event interferes with
recall or earlier information. Suppose you look up a telephone number and as you start
dialing your friend distracts you by asking the time it is. When you return to making the
call, you discover that the number has slipped from your memory.
 Also new learning can sometimes cause confusion with previous learning. (Starting French
may affect our memory of previously learned Spanish vocabulary).

 In the short term memory interference can occur in the form of distractions so that we
don’t get the chance to process the information properly in the first place. (e.g. someone
using a loud drill just outside the door of the classroom.)
 Motivated forgetting

 Freud(1901) believed that we forget things because we don’t want to remember them.
Things that we forget, he argued, are either traumatic or unpleasant for us, or could be
associated with things that are traumatic or unpleasant, so we forget them. We repress the
memory because in that way the unconscious mind can protect itself from harm. People
often push certain kinds of memories out of conscious awareness because they are too
embarrassing, frightening, painful or degrading to recall.
 Freud argues that repressed memories are pushed back into the unconscious where they can
still affect a person’s feelings and behaviors but no longer cause stress.
 The two basic forms of motivated forgetting are suppression, which is a conscious form of
forgetting, and repression, an unconscious form of forgetting. However, the concept of
repressed memories is not universally accepted by all psychologists.
 Cue Dependent Forgetting
The inability to retrieve information stored in memory because of insufficient cues for
recall. This type of forgetting can occur due to a lack of the same external or internal
cues during recall.

 Context (External environmental cues ) This depends on the environment in which

the encoding takes place and how this acts as a cue to remembering in the same
environment again. (eg: songs, smells, places, etc)
 State (Internal Cues) Physical state can be a memory cue. The tendency to
remember something when the rememberer is in the same physical or mental state
as during the original learning.(eg: stress, drunk, happy, etc)
 Organic causes of forgetting

 Forgetting is not usually caused by organic pathology. Most of the forgetting is normal. It is
the kind that we expect to happen, the kind that we complain about but don’t find
alarming. However, certain physical illness or accidents can alter the psychology of brain.
 Memory deficit caused by this condition is called
1. ORGANIC AMNESIA which is of three types.
 a. Amnesia caused by disease (Cardiovascular, Strokes, Alzheimer’s) produces progressive
widespread degeneration/deterioration of brain cells.

 b. Retrograde Amnesia (is a loss of memory access to events that occurred, or information
that was learned in the past. It is caused by an injury or the onset of a disease.

 c. Anterograde Amnesia (is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event
that caused amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past,
while long-term memories from before the event remain intact.
2. Absentmindedness
 If you’ve ever put down your keys when you entered your house and then
couldn’t find them later, you have experienced absentmindedness. Attention
and memory are closely related, and absentmindedness involves problems at the
point where attention and memory interface. Common errors of this type
include misplacing objects or forgetting appointments. Absentmindedness
occurs because at the time of encoding, sufficient attention was not paid to
what would later need to be recalled.
3. Lack of Sleep
4. Medications
5. Stress and anxiety
6. Alcohol
7. Depression
 EMOTIONS
Emotions colour our lives. We are green with envy, red with anger, blue with sorrow. Positive
emotions such as love and desire can fill our days with pleasure. Negative emotions such as fear,
depression, and anger can fill us with dread and make each day a chore.
Emotions are states of feeling that have cognitive,
Physiological, and behavioral components (Carlson
And Hatfield 1992; Fischer and others, 1990 ;
Haaland 1992).
In Psychology, the word emotion stands for a state
of excitement in an organism. The term emotion
has been originated from a Latin word ‘Emovere’
Which means to stir up, to agitate or to excite.
Definations
 Emotion is a subjective feeling or response generally accompanied by a physiological
change and usually associated with behavior. - Lefton
 “Emotion is a complex state of organism involving bodily changes of a wide spread
character in breathing, pulse, gland secretion, and on the mental side, a state of
excitement marked by strong feeling”. - Drever
 Emotion is an affective experience that involves diffused physiological changes and can be
expressed overtly in characteristics behavior patterns. -Chartes GMorris
Nature of emotions

 1. Cognitive Process – Perception, thinking and memory are very much involved in
emotional expressions.
 2. Subjective feelings – All emotions include subjective feelings involving both a general
positive or negative emotional state and a specific feeling tone such as for anger, fear or
disgust.
 3. Physiological arousal (Body symptoms) – Emotions are typically associated with mild to
extreme changes in physiological processes occurring within our bodies.
 4. Behavioral response – Emotions often cause us to act out or express our feelings. These
expressions may range from crying, screaming or verbal outbursts to smiling and laughing.
 Cognitive process

 Thoughts that occur while we are listening to someone talk are called cognitive
responses.
 our cognitive responses are the things we think of while listening to the messages of
others. Cognitive responses occur while reading, watching television, listening to the
radio, or surfing the Internet.
 Perception
 Attention
 Sensation
 Thinking
 Imagination
 Learning
Subjective feelings
 While experts believe that there are a number of basic universal emotions that are experienced by
people all over the world regardless of background or culture, researchers also believe that
experiencing emotion can be highly subjective.4

 While we have broad labels for emotions such as "angry," "sad," or "happy," your own experience of
these emotions may be much more multi-dimensional, hence subjective.

 Consider anger, for example. Is all anger the same? Your own experience might range from mild
annoyance to blinding rage.

 Plus, we don't always experience pure forms of each emotion. Mixed emotions over different events
or situations in our lives are common. When faced with starting a new job, you might feel both
excited and nervous.

 Getting married or having a child might be marked by a wide variety of emotions ranging from joy to
anxiety. These emotions might occur simultaneously, or you might feel them one after another.
Physiological arousal

 If you've ever felt your stomach lurch from anxiety or your heart palpate with
fear, then you realize that emotions also cause strong physiological reactions.
 Many of the physiological responses you experience during an emotion, such
as sweaty palms or a racing heartbeat.
Behavioral response
The final component is perhaps one that you are most familiar with—the actual
expression of emotion. We spend a significant amount of time interpreting the
emotional expressions of the people around us. Our ability to accurately
understand these expressions is tied to what psychologists call emotional
intelligence, and these expressions play a major part in our overall body
language.

Research suggests that many expressions are universal, such as a smile to

indicate happiness or a frown to indicate sadness. Sociocultural norms also play a
role in how we express and interpret emotions.
Imagine life without

 Fear
 Anger and Aggression
 Love or affection
 Joy
 Humor
 Jealousy
 Curiosity

 https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-the-types-of-emotions-
4163976
Expressions

 The communication of a emotion, thought or behavior.

 Non verbal communication
 Communicating feelings without words:
 Facial expressions
 Tone of voice
 Hand gestures
 Also called “body language”
 Impact
 Emotion has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans, including
perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem solving. Emotion has a
particularly strong influence on attention, especially modulating the selectivity of
attention as well as motivating action and behavior. This attentional and executive control
is intimately linked to learning processes, as intrinsically limited attentional capacities are
better focused on relevant information. Emotion also facilitates encoding and helps
retrieval of information efficiently.
 There are many different types of emotions that have an influence on how we live and
interact with others. At times, it may seem like we are ruled by these emotions. The
choices we make, the actions we take, and the perceptions we have are all influenced by
the emotions we are experiencing at any given moment.
Happiness
 People have long believed that happiness and health were connected, and research has
supported the idea that happiness can play a role in both physical and mental health.
Happiness has been linked to a variety of outcomes including increased longevity and
increased marital satisfaction.
 Conversely, unhappiness has been linked to a variety of poor health outcomes. Stress,
anxiety, depression, and loneliness, for example, have been linked to things such as
lowered immunity, increased inflammation, and decreased life expectancy.

Sadness can often lead people to engage in coping mechanisms such as avoiding other people,
self-medicating, and ruminating on negative thoughts. Such behaviors can actually exacerbate
feelings of sadness and prolong the duration of the emotion.
Anger
 While anger is often thought of as a negative emotion, it can sometimes be a good thing.
It can be constructive in helping clarify your needs in a relationship, and it can also
motivate you to take action and find solutions to things that are bothering you.
 Anger can become a problem, however, when it is excessive or expressed in ways that are
unhealthy, dangerous, or harmful to others. Uncontrolled anger can quickly turn
to aggression, abuse, or violence.
 This type of emotion can have both mental and physical consequences. Unchecked anger
can make it difficult to make rational decisions and can even have an impact on your
physical health.
 Anger has been linked to coronary heart diseases and diabetes. It has also been linked to
behaviors that pose health risks such as aggressive driving, alcohol consumption, and
smoking.

 Surprise can have important effects on human behavior. For example, research has shown
that people tend to disproportionately notice surprising events. This is why surprising and
unusual events in the news tend to stand out in memory more than others. Research has
also found that people tend to be more swayed by surprising arguments and learn more
from surprising information.
Feelings

 Feelings: recognizing and expressing emotions constructively

 Our feelings and emotions have a profound effect on our health and
wellbeing. While expressing happy emotions is generally not a problem for
most children, expressing sadness, anger, disappointment and rejection may
be an issue. Aggressive display of anger often leads to more violence and
creates unsafe situations. Learning to express our emotions in an assertive
and respectful manner can help us be safe and firm at the same time.
 A fundamental difference between feelings and emotions
is that feelings are experienced consciously, while emotions manifest either
consciously or subconsciously. Some people may spend years, or even a
lifetime, not understanding the depths of their emotions.
The expression of emotion

 Sometimes you are vaguely aware that a person makes you feel
uncomfortable. When press to be more precise, you might say, “you never
know what she is thinking” but you do not mean that you never know her
opinion of a film. It probably be more accurate to say that you do not know
what she is feeling.
 Almost all of us conceal our emotions to some extent to protect our self
image or to social conventions but usually there are some clues to help us
determine another person’s emotions.
 Communication

 Verbal communication

EQ ZWEE3
 Body language
 Body language is a type of a nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors,
as opposed to words, are used to express or convey the information. Such behavior
includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and
the use of space.

KINESICS
(Kinesics
describes an
individual's use of
body language

including the
study of
postures,
gestures, facial
expression, and
eye contact.)


 PROXEMICS

 Proxemics describes an individual's perception of and use of space, both personal

(how much space do they take up) and social (distance from another).
 Do you feel uncomfortable when someone stands too close to you? Do very bright
colors in a room make you feel distracted? These questions are important to the
study of proxemics.
 Basically, proxemics is the study of space and how we use it, how it makes us feel
more or less comfortable, and how we arrange objects and ourselves in relation to
space. The term was coined by the anthropologist Edward Hall. Hall was interested
in understanding how humans use space in communication.
 Public space is the space that characterizes how close we sit or stand to
someone, like a public figure or public speaker. So, if you are at an event
listening to a professor give a lecture, you are probably about 12 - 25 feet
away.
 Social space means we're getting a little closer, about 4 - 12 feet away. This is
the kind of space you're probably in if you're talking to a colleague or a
customer at work.
 Personal space is even closer. In this case, you're probably about 1 - 4 feet
away from someone. This is reserved for talking to friends or family.
 Intimate space is for people who you are very close to. In this case, you're
probably less than a foot away and you might even be touching the other
person. This is the space you're in with a romantic partner, for example.
HAPTICS
 Haptics is a form of non- verbal communication using a sense of touch. Some forms
of Haptics communication is Handshake, or a gentle pat on back, or a high five. The
sense of touch allows one to experience different sensations.
Intelligence
IQ
 Mental Age is the age of an individual’s mental ability.
 Chronological Age is the number of years a person has lived.
 The normal distribution: most of the population falls in the middle range of scores between 84 and 116.
 • Very Superior Intelligence (gifted) - Above 130
 • Superior Intelligence - 120 to 129
 • High Average Intelligence - 110 to 119
 • Average Intelligence - 90 to 109
 • Low Average Intelligence - 80 to 89
 • Borderline Intellectual Functioning - 71 to 79
 • Mild Mental Retardation - 55 to 70
 • Moderate Retardation - 40 to 54
 • Severe Mental Retardation - 25 to 39
 • Profound Mental Retardation - Below 25
Multiple Intelligence theory
Multiple Intelligence Theory
 Emotional Intelligence
 Emotional intelligence, more commonly referred to as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to
be aware of, control and manage one’s own emotions and those of other people. The two main
aspects of EQ are:
1. Understanding yourself, your goals, aspirations, responses and behaviour.
2. Understanding others and their feelings.

 The concept of emotional intelligence was developed in the mid-1990s by Daniel Goldman,
coming to prominence with his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence. The early emotional
intelligence theory was originally developed in the USA during the 1970s and 1980s by the work
and writings of Howard Gardner of Harvard University, Peter Salovy (Yale) and JohnMayer (New
Hampshire).
 The EQ concept argues that IQ, which has tended to be the traditional measure of intelligence,
is too narrow and and that there are wider areas of emotional intelligence, such as behavioural
and character elements, that help to dictate how successful we are. It is because of this that
emotional intelligence, in addition to aptitude testing, is now an important part of recruitment
interviewing and selection procedures.
Intelligence Theories

 1. Spearman’s two factor theory

 2. Howard Gardner – Theory of multiple Intelligence
 3. Sternberg – Triarchic theory
 4. Catell’s Theory
In an attempt to determine the factors that
influence intelligence in humans, psychologists
have investigated the issue from two principal
perspectives: nature and nurture. As a result,
research studies on these aspects have confirmed
that both nature and nurture influences the
development of intelligence. According to Heffner (2002), genetic factors have
been identified as the influential forces of nature
that shape intelligence, whereas environmental
factors influence intelligence through exposure or
rather nurture. In both schools of thought, it is
apparent that tests for intelligence are aimed at
determining the level of intelligence through the
use of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test. Similarities
and differences in IQ among individuals explain the
degree at which genetics and environment
Roles of Genetics in Determining
Intelligence
 TWIN and Adoption Theory
 According to research studies, the role of genetics in determining intelligence is
explained by hereditary similarities between fraternal (dizygotic twins) and
identical (monozygotic) twins. Devitt & Ormrod (2007) report that identical twins
exhibit similar IQ, even when they are raised in different environments. This
implies that genetic factors act as the principal force for the development of
intelligence in identical twins. On the other hand, fraternal twins share
similarities in IQ. As such, it is apparent that genetic factors determine their
intelligence (Devitt & Ormrod, 2007). Moreover, adoption studies indicate that
adopted children express intelligence related to their biological parents.
 Genomic studies show that identical twins arise from a single zygote which splits
into two identical products. Therefore, identical twins share similar genetic
components. This explains why identical twins exhibit similarities in IQ. In IQ test,
identical twins have been found to produce similar IQ scores, even when they are
raised in different environments (Devitt & Ormrod, 2007).
Roles of Environment in Determining
Intelligence
 Environmental factors have also been found to influence intelligence. Heffner
(2002) reports that environmental factors account for the differences observed
in children’s cognitive development.
 Devitt & Ormrod highlights some the environmental factors that influence
intelligence as home environment, nutrition, toxic substances, and formal
schooling. Home environment is considered influential in determining
intelligence.
 For instance, socioeconomic status of the family in which a child is raised
influences their IQ scores. Wahlsten (1995) identified those children who are
brought up in homes with a high socioeconomic status record high IQ scores than
those raised in low income homes. In general, the environment in which a child
is raised influences his intelligence.
Roles of both Genetics and Environment

 Currently, there is consensus that nature (genetics) and nurture

(environment) influences intelligence. However, IQ correlation studies have
not yet enabled psychologists to ascertain the degree at which each
parameter influences intelligence. It is reported that none of the two factors
contributes to the development of intelligence in entirety; both heredity and
environment are believed to interact to produce intelligence (Devitt &
Ormrod, 2007).
What is Creativity?
Creativity is the characteristic of a person to generate new
ideas, alternatives, solutions, and possibilities in a unique and
different way.

Creativity is the ability to conceive something unpredictable,

original and unique. It must be expressive, exciting and
imaginative. It is the mirror of how beautifully a person can think
in any given circumstance.

It is not genetic but can be developed if someone keeps on

learning and comprehending things with a rare and exclusive
perception. Creativity is a brainstorming and mind-
blogging activity in which a person has to think beyond his
imagination for bringing something worthwhile. It is an activity
of unveiling something which was previously hidden.
 What is Innovation?
Innovation is an act of application of new ideas to which creates some value for the
business organization, government, and society as well. Better and smarter way of doing
anything is innovation. It could be the introduction of:
•New technology.
•New product line or segment.
•A new method of production.
•An improvement in the existing product.
Innovation is closely tied to creativity i.e. putting creative ideas into action is an
innovation, whose consequences should be positive. It is the process of doing something
better for the first time, which was not previously done by any entity. It can also be termed
as a change which can bring a new edge to the performance and productivity of the
company. It is of two types i.e. evolutionary and revolutionary.
Key Differences
 The quality of thinking new ideas
and putting them into reality is
creativity. The act of executing the
creative ideas into practice is
innovation.
 Creativity is an imaginative process
as opposed to innovation is a
productive process.
 Creativity can never be measured,
but Innovation can be measured.
 Creativity is related to the
generation of ideas which are new
and unique. Conversely, Innovation
is related to introduce something
better into the market.
 Creativity does not require money.
On the other hand, innovation
requires money.
 There is no risk involved in
creativity, whereas the risk is
always attached to innovation.
 Example

 The invention of the motorcycle was the biggest innovation over scooters. In
early centuries, people used to travel with scooters, for which they have to
make lots of efforts to start it like they need to strike the kick and knee down
from either side if it doesn’t start. So, years and years passed away, and
nobody even thought for the invention of bikes. The invention of the
motorcycle make them realize that they can also ride bikes without making
any extra efforts, they just have to click the switch and its starts
automatically.
 In this example, the thought of creation of a new traveling motorcycle is
creativity, but the actual invention of it is innovation.
A. Brainstorming

A group of people write ideas on

sticky notes as part of a
brainstorming session.
 Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to
find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas
spontaneously contributed by its members.

 In other words, brainstorming is a situation where a group of people meet to

generate new ideas and solutions around a specific domain of interest by
removing inhibitions. People are able to think more freely and they suggest as
many spontaneous new ideas as possible. All the ideas are noted down
without criticism and after the brainstorming session the ideas are evaluated.
 Here are some examples of how the
B. SCAMPER SCAMPER verbs work for innovation:
•If you were making spectacles then
you could substitute plastic lenses for
glass (incremental innovation) or you
could substitute contact lenses for
spectacles (radical innovation).
•A mobile phone was combined with a
camera and then an MP3 player.
•The roll-on deodorant was an idea
adapted from the ballpoint pen.
•Restaurants that offer all you can eat
have maximized their proposition.
•A low cost airline like Ryanair has
minimized (or eliminated) many
elements of service.
•De Beers put industrial diamonds to
other use when they launched
engagement rings.
•Dell Computers and Amazon
eliminated the intermediary.
•McDonalds rearranged the restaurant
by getting customers to pay first and
then eat.
E. Problem Reversal (Charles Thompson)
The Method
a. Create negative statements. For example, in dealing with Customer Service
issues, ask students to generate a list of all the ways to make customer
service bad.
b. Doing what everybody else doesn't. For example, food delivery using
“Nykaa” or selling women accessories using vending machine.
c. Make a list of pairs of opposing actions which can be applied to the problem.
Make students ask themselves "What if I ........" and plug in each one of the
opposites. A small sample:-
i. Stretch it/Shrink It
ii. Freeze it/Melt it
iii. Personalise it/De-personalise it
d. Change the direction or location of your perspective.
e. “Flip-flop” the results. For example, if we want to increase sales, think
about decreasing them. What would you have to do?
f. Turn defeat into victory or victory into defeat. For example, if something
turns out bad, think about the positive aspects of the situation. If I lost all of
the files off this computer, what good would come out of it? Maybe I would
spend more time with my family?! Who knows!
118
MOTIVATION
 Motivation is an urge to behave or act in a way that will satisfy certain
conditions, such as wishes, desires, or goals. Psychologists believe
that motivation is rooted in a basic impulse to optimize well-being, minimize
physical pain, and maximize pleasure.
 Berelson and Steiner: “A motive is an inner state that energizes, activates, or
moves and directs or channels behaviour goals.’
 Lillis: “It is the stimulation of any emotion or desire operating upon one’s will
and promoting or driving it to action.”
 The Encyclopaedia of Management: “Motivation refers to degree of readiness
of an organism to pursue some designated goal and implies the determination
of the nature and locus of the forces, including the degree of readiness.”
 Dubin: “Motivation is the complex of forces starting and keeping a person at
work in an organisation.”
Motivational Cycle

 (a) Need
i. Physiological (food, water, air)
ii. Social (Affection, recognition, prestige)
 (b) Instrumental behavior e.g. a small child cries, his crying is instrumental in
getting food from his mother.
 (c) Goal and Incentive e.g. if a person is hungry, goal is to eat food.
 (d) Relief – There is satisfaction after goal attainment, but soon another need
is aroused and the circle continues.
Functions of Motivation

 Psychologists have analyzed the motivated behaviour of an organism and

observed the following functions of such type of behaviour.
 a) Motives energize and sustain behavior.
 b) Motives direct and regulate our behavior.
 c) It allow us to change our behavior.
 d) It helps to develop competencies.
 e) It also helps us to be creative, set goals, grow interests, make plans,
develop talents, and boost engagement.
Types of Motivation

 Intrinsic Motivation
 Extrinsic Motivation
 Types of Motives

Biological Motives Psychological Motives Social Motives

(Physiological motives)
-Hunger -Urge to escape -Need for achievement
-Thirst -Humor -Need for affiliation
-Need for Oxygen -Need to have a purpose -Need for Power
-Regulation of body temperature -Force of habit -Aggressive motive
-Need for sleep -Need to maintain self-esteem -Imitation
-Maternal motive -Curiosity and Exploration -Gregariousness
- -Sympathy/Empathy
 Prejudice

 Prejudice refers to a set of negative attitudes, beliefs, and judgments about whole categories
of people, and about individual members of those categories, because of their perceived race
and/or ethnicity.
 An example of prejudice is believing that overweight women are not as intelligent,
competent, or capable as women of normal weight.
 Prejudice and discrimination are often confused, but the basic difference between them is
this: prejudice is the attitude, while discrimination is the behavior.
 Social psychologists believe that it is better to treat people as individuals rather than rely on
our stereotypes and prejudices, because stereotyping and prejudice are always unfair and
often inaccurate (Fiske, 1989; Stangor, 1995).
 Furthermore, many of our stereotypes and prejudices occur outside of our awareness, such
that we do not even know that we are using them.
❑ Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an
individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group.

❑ For example, a person may hold prejudiced views towards a certain race or gender
etc. (e.g. sexist).

❑ Psychology definition experts hold that prejudice involved three main things:

1. Negative feelings

2. Stereotyped beliefs

3. A tendency to discriminate against a stereotyped group.

 The word prejudice is remarkably similar to its Latin root in form and meaning; the
Latin praejudicium means “judgement in advance”. Although we usually link
prejudice with negative feelings toward race (racism), there many other types of social
bias including:

❖ Sexism- Stereotyping based on gender.

❖ Religious prejudice- Disliking a person/group solely based on their religious beliefs.

❖ Ageism- Bias based on one's age.

❖ Classism- Prejudice against those of a certain social class.

❖ Homophobia- Stereotyping of people based on their sexual preference.

❖ Xenophobia- Prejudice against those from other countries.

 1.Authoritarian Personality
 One of the first social-psychological explanations of prejudice
centered on the authoritarian personality (Adorno, Frenkel-
Social- Brunswick, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950).

Psychological  According to this view, authoritarian personalities develop in

childhood in response to parents who practice harsh discipline.
Explanations  Individuals with authoritarian personalities emphasize such
things as obedience to authority, a rigid adherence to rules, and
low acceptance of people (out-groups) not like oneself.
 Many studies find strong racial and ethnic prejudice among
such individuals (Sibley & Duckitt, 2008).
 But whether their prejudice stems from their authoritarian
personalities or instead from the fact that their parents were
probably prejudiced themselves remains an important question.
SOCIAL INFLUENCE

 Social influence is the change in behavior that one person causes in another,
intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of the way the changed person
perceives themselves in relationship to the influencer, other people and society
in general.
Types OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE
Positive Psychology
 Positive psychology is one of the newest branches of psychology to emerge. This
particular area of psychology focuses on how to help human beings prosper and lead
healthy, happy lives.
 While many other branches of psychology tend to focus on dysfunction and abnormal
behavior, positive psychology is centered on helping people become happier.

 Positive psychology focuses on the positive events and influences in life, including:
1. Positive experiences (like happiness, joy, inspiration, and love).
2. Positive states and traits (like gratitude, resilience, and compassion).
3. Positive institutions (applying positive principles within entire organizations and
institutions).
 As a field, positive psychology spends much of its time thinking about topics like character
strengths, optimism, life satisfaction, happiness, wellbeing, gratitude, compassion (as well
as self-compassion), self-esteem and self-confidence, hope, and elevation.
Positive Psychology: A Seven-Lesson Unit Plan for High School LINK
Psychology Teachers (apa.org)
Putting positive thinking into practice
Negative self-talk Positive thinking
I've never done it before. It's an opportunity to
learn something new.
It's too complicated. I'll tackle it from a
different angle.
I don't have the Necessity is the mother of
resources. invention.
I'm too lazy to get this I couldn't fit it into my
done. schedule, but I can re-
examine some priorities.
There's no way it will I can try to make it work.
work.
It's too radical a change. Let's take a chance.
No one bothers to I'll see if I can open the
communicate with me. channels of
communication.
I'm not going to get any I'll give it another try.
better at this.
Mindscape and outcomes of Positivity

 Stress relief
 Increased immunity
 Improved wellness
 Better Resilience
What Are Positive Psychology Interventions?

 Positive psychology interventions, or PPIs, are a set of scientific tools and

strategies that focus on increasing happiness, wellbeing, and positive
cognitions and emotions
 All positive psychology interventions have two essential components:
• Focusing on enhancing happiness through positive thoughts and emotions
• Sustaining the effects for long-term
Types Of Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs)
In terms of content, a review of the literature reveals that PPIs can be divided
into seven categories.

1. Savoring PPIs
Savoring interventions focus on a particular experience and aim to enhance their
effects for maximizing happiness . The core principle of these interventions is to
encourage the person to grab every little aspect of experience – physical, sensory,
emotional, or social.
Savoring interventions can be connected to everyday experiences like eating,
smelling, or observing, only with a little more orientation and focus to what we are
consciously attending to
2. Gratitude Interventions
Gratitude interventions are categorized into two parts:
• Self-reflective practices, for example, writing a gratitude journal that we keep to
ourselves and use as a tool for self-expression.
• Interactive methods where we actively express our gratitude to others by
saying ‘thank you,’ giving small tokens of appreciation, or paying gratitude visits.
3. Kindness Boosters
Kindness is a trait all happy people possess. Studies have shown that happiness and
kindness go hand in hand and complement each other. Positive psychology
interventions focusing on compassion can be simple acts like buying someone a
small token of love, volunteering for a noble cause, donating something, or helping
a stranger in need. Kindness reinforces happiness and positivity.
4. Empathy PPIs
Empathy-oriented PPIs focus on strengthening positive emotions in interpersonal
relationships. Healthy social bonds – both at personal and professional fronts are
essential for happiness and inner peace.
PPIs that promote empathy include activities like self-love meditation
and mindfulness practices.
5. Optimistic Interventions
Optimistic interventions create positive outcomes by setting realistic expectations.
An example of an optimistic PPI is the ‘Imagine Yourself’ test where participants are
asked to note down where they see themselves in the future.
6. Strength-Building Measures
Strength in positive psychology refers to internal capacities and values.
Studies have illustrated that awareness and acknowledgment of power help in
reducing symptoms of depression and increases self-contentment. As the famous
saying goes, “It is within yourself that you will find the strength you need,” strength-
based PPIs convey a similar message.
7. Meaning Oriented PPIs
This category of PPIs helps in understanding what is meaningful to us in life
and why, and what we can do to achieve the things that matter in life. A person
who has clarity of goals and expectations is more likely to feel happier and
content.
If we follow Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy, the highest level of
human needs include self-enhancement and self-esteem, both of which are
intertwined with finding the true meaning of life.
P (positive emotion): acknowledging when one feels
happiness or joy
Positive Psychology
» E (engagement): finding tasks that are enjoyable and
intervention
free from distractions
» R (relationships): offering support and listening to
friends and family, spending one-on-one time with
another person
» M (meaning): discover individual beliefs and ideas
about the world and engage in activities that promote a
greater good
» A (accomplishments): challenging self in positive and
progressive ways to further develop strengths and skills
Aspects of Positive Psychology
 Character strengths
Character strengths are the positive attributes in each person’s personalities. Positive
psychologists believe it is important to learn more about each person’s positive qualities and,
in doing so, help them gain tools that will help them put their strengths to work in their life.
Character Strengths that can be characterized into:
» Wisdom: curiosity, love of learning, critical thinking, ingenuity/creativity, social/emotional
intelligence and perspective.
» Courage: bravery, perseverance and integrity. » Humanity and Love: kindness and loving and
allowing yourself to be loved.
» Justice: citizenship/teamwork/loyalty, fairness and equity and leadership. » Temperance:
self-control, discretion and humility/modesty.
» Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope and optimism,
spirituality/sense of purpose, forgiveness, playfulness/humour and zest/passion/enthusiasm
 Grit – is about sustained, consistent effort toward a goal even when we struggle,
falter, or temporarily fail. It is the passion and perseverance for long term goals. It
involves courage.
 Happiness
Types of Happiness
• Hedonic happiness is happiness that is often achieved through experiences of
pleasure and enjoyment .
This idea has roots in the 4th century BCE with the Greek philosopher Aristippus. He
thought that life’s goal should be to maximize pleasure.
• Eudaimonic happiness is happiness that is often achieved through experiences of
meaning and purpose

 Resilience skills – is our ability to bounce back after we have struggled, faltered or
failed. It involves optimism. It is the ability to easily recover from or adjust to
misfortune or change.