Chapter 2

sensation and perception

 Chapter overview
➢Psychological life begins with the activity of
knowing what is happening around

➢Sensation and perception are the first important

dimensions of this intelligent life

➢They are starting points for all of our other

psychological processes
➢ They supply the data for use of
✓learning and remembering

✓ thinking and problem solving

✓ communicating with others, and

✓experiencing emotions and

✓being aware of yourself

➢ Without access to the environment through

sensation and perception, we would be like a
person in a coma devoid of any thoughts or feelings
 The meanings of sensation and perception
• Psychologists have traditionally differentiated
between sensation and perception

• Sensation is the process whereby stimulation of

receptor cells in the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and
surface of the skin sends nerve impulses to the
brain

• Sensations are closely tied to what is happening in

the sensory systems themselves
 The meanings of sensation and perception
• Color, brightness, the pitch of tone or a bitter taste are

examples of sensations

• The starting of point of sensations is a stimulus

• A form of energy (such as light waves or sound waves) that

can affect sensory organs (such as the eye or the ear)

• Sensation is therefore the process that detects the stimulus

from one‘s body or from the environment

 How different is sensation from perception?
• More than sensations perceptual processes are
constantly at work to modify sensory input into what
are actually experiences

• Perception is the process that organizes sensations

into meaningful patterns

• It is the process whereby the brain interprets

sensations, giving them order and meaning
• Thus, hearing sounds and seeing colors is largely

a sensory process, but forming a melody and

detecting patterns and shapes is largely a perceptual

process
 The sensory laws

Sensory thresholds and sensory

adaption
• There are certain sensory laws that explain how

sensation works.

• Sensory threshold and sensory adaptation are the

two general laws of sensation

• Sensory threshold is the minimum point of intensity

a sound can be detected.

• There are two laws of sensory threshold: The law of

absolute threshold and the law of difference

threshold.
 The absolute threshold

• The minimum amount of stimulation a person can

detect is called the absolute threshold

 The difference threshold
• In addition to detecting the presence of a stimulus, you also detect changes
in the intensity of a stimulus
• The minimum amount of change that can be detected is called
difference threshold
• For example, a cup of coffee would require a certain amount of additional
sugar before you could detect an increase in its sweetness
• Similarly, you would have to increase the intensity of the sound from your
tape recorder a certain amount before you could detect a change in its
volume
• Like the absolute threshold, the difference threshold for a particular
sensory experience varies from person to person and from occasion to
occasion.
 Sensory Adaptation
• if a stimulus remains constant in intensity, you will
gradually stop noticing it.

• For example, after diving into a swimming pool,

you might shiver. Yet a few minutes later you might
invite someone to join you saying, ―The water is fine.

• Sensory adaptation lets you detect potentially

important change in your environment while

• ignoring unchanging aspects of it

• Sensory adatation = habituation: is the tendency to ignore a

stimulus that occurs continuously in the same way

• Habituationis is the decrease in response to a stimulus that

occurs after repeated presentations of the same stimulus.

 Perception
➢ Since we have its meaning before, let us see its procedures

➢ Selectivity of perception, from perception, depth

perception, perceptual constancy, and perceptual illusion

 Selectivity of perception: Attention
• any given time, your sense organ is bombarded by many

stimuli

• Yet you perceive a few of them.

• Attention is therefore the term given to the perceptual

process that selects certain inputs for inclusion in your

conscious experience, or awareness, at any given time,

ignoring others
 What does this selectivity of perception imply?
• The selectivity of perception implies, among other things, that our
field of experience is divided into what is known as: Focus‖ and
Margin

• Events or stimuli that you perceive clearly are the focus of your
experience and other items or stimuli that you perceive dimly or
vaguely are in the margin of your attention.

• You may be aware of items in the marginal field but only vaguely or
partially
• Paying attention is in general a function of two factors: factors
external to the perceiver and factors internal to the perceiver

• External factors refer to factors that are generall y found in the

objects or stimuli to be perceived

• Some of the external characteristics of objects that determine

whether you are going to attend them or not are size and
intensity, repetition, novelty (or newness), and movement
• Repetition is the second factor

• You are more likely to attend to stimuli that repeatedly or

• frequently occur in your perceptual field.

• A misspelled word is more likely to be detected if it occurs many

times in a paragraph than when it occurs only once or twice

➢ Repetition is, then, attention getting

➢ That is, by the way, why slogans, advertisings, and announcement

are repeated continuously to audiences and spectators

➢ The other external factor in attention getting is movement

➢ Moving objects tend to get your attention more than non-

moving or stagnant objects

 Psychological factors to attention
• Psychologists have identified two important psychological
factors:
✓Set or expectancy and

✓motives or needs.

• Set refers to the idea that you may be ―ready and ―Primed
for certain kinds of sensory input

• Set, or expectancy, therefore, varies from person to

person.
• Motives and needs are the second psychological factors

influencing you as an observer.

• There are differences between you and your friend in what

you select to perceive as a result of differences in your

motives and needs.

• You and your friend attend to and organize the sensory

input in ways that match your respective needs.

• People who are hungry, thirst, or sexually aroused are

likely to pay attention to events in the environment, which will

satisfy these needs.

 From perception
• sensations provide the raw materials that are to be

organized into meaningful patterns, shapes, forms, and

concepts or ideas or form perception

• The meaningful shapes or patterns or ideas that are made

out of meaningless sensations refer to form perception

• To perceive forms (meaningful shapes or patterns), need to

distinguish a figure (an object) from its ground (or its

surrounding)
 Figure-Ground Perception

• Figure-ground perception is the perception of objects and

forms of everyday experience as standing out from a

background.
• The ability to distinguish an object from its general

background is basic to all form perception

• And gestalt psychologists stress that form perception in an active,

rather than a passive, process like selectivity of perception.

 Contours in Form Perception

• You are able to separate forms from the general

ground only because you can perceive contours.
Contours are formed whenever a marked difference
occurs in the brightness or color of the background
• For instance, if you look at a piece of paper that varies
continuously in brightness from white at one border to
black at the opposite border, you will perceive no
contour
• In perceiving the division at the place where the
brightness gradient changes abruptly, you have
perceived a contour

• In general, contours give shape to the objects in our

visual world because they mark one object off from
another or they mark an object off from the general
ground.
 Organization in form Perception
• When several objects are present in the visual field, we tend to
perceive them as organized into patterns or groupings.
• The Gestalt psychologists studied such organization intensively in
the early part of this century
• They emphasized that organized perceptual experience has
properties, which cannot be predicated from a simple analysis of
the components.
• In other words, Gestalt psychologist said ―the whole is more
than the sum of its parts.‖
• Organization in perception partially explains
our perception of complex patterns as unitary
forms, or objects
Laws of perceptual organization
 1. Proximity or nearness
• The laws of proximity says that items which are close

together in space or time tend to be perceived as

belonging together or forming an organized group.

 2. Similarity

• Most people see one triangle formed by the dots with its

apex at the top and another triangle formed by the rings

with its apex at the bottom. They perceive triangle

because similar items such as, the rings and the dots,

tend to be organized together.

 3. Continuation

• the tendency to perceive a line that starts in one

way as continuing in the same way.

 Depth perception
• If we live in a two-dimensional world, form perception would be
sufficient
• But because we live in a three-dimensional world, we have
evolved depth perception-the ability to judge the distance of
objects
• Depth perception: is the ability to view the world in three
dimensions and to perceive distance.
• Given that images on the retina are two dimensional, how can we
perceive depth?
• Depth perception depends on the use binocular
cues and monocular cues

• there are two kinds of binocular cues: retinal

disparity and convergence.

• The two kinds of binocular cues require the

interaction of both eyes
 Explanation
• The ability to view the world in three dimensions and to perceive
distance—a skill known as depth perception—is due largely to the fact
that we have two eyes. Because there is a certain distance between
the eyes, a slightly different image reaches each retina. The brain
integrates the two images into one composite view, but it also
recognizes the difference in images and uses it to estimate the
distance of an object from us. The difference in the images seen by the
left eye and the right eye is known as binocular disparity
• Retinal disparity is, the degree of difference between the image of an
object that are focused on the two retinas.
• The closer the object, the greater is the retinal disparity.
• The second binocular cue to depth is convergence, the
degree to which the eyes turn inward to focus on an
object
• Hold a forefinger vertically in front of your face and move it toward
your nose.
• Binocular cues require two eyes, whereas monocular cues require
only one.
• This means that even people who have lost sight in one eye may still
have good depth perception
• One monocular is accommodation, which is the change in the shape of
the lens that lets you focus the image of an object on the retina
 CHAPTER Three
LEARNING AND THEORIES OF LEARNING
 Definition, Characteristics and Principles of Learning
• Definitions of learning
• Learning is a relatively permanent change in
behavior occurring as a result of experience
or practice
 Characteristics of Learning
➢ Learning is continuous modification of behavior throughout life
➢ Learning is pervasive; it reaches into all aspects of human life.
➢ Learning involves the whole person, socially, emotionally &intellectually.
➢ Learning is often a change in the organization of experiences.
➢ Learning is responsive to incentives
➢ Learning is an active process
➢ Learning is purposeful
➢ Learning depends on maturation, motivation and practice.
➢ Learning is multifaceted
 Factors Influencing Learning

➢Motivation

➢Maturation

➢Health condition

➢Psychological wellbeing: anxiety, fear, seslf-confidence,

➢Good working conditions

 Theories of Learning and their Applications

There three major theories of learning

1. Behaviorist theory: Pavlov, Skinner, Thordike,

2. Social learning: Albert Bandura

3. Cognitive learning: Jean Piaget,

 Behavioral Theory of Learning

❖Learning from stimulus-response associations

❖It emphasizes observable behaviors (think back the definition of psych)

❖Focuses on consequences

❖Behaviorists differ on the role of reinforcement in learning: thus,

There are two major behavioral theories of learning

1. Classical Conditioning: formulated by Evan Pavlove

2. Operant Conditioning: formulated Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner

 Classical conditioning theory

➢ Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of involuntary emotional or

physiological responses to stimuli that normally elicit no response

➢ e.g. fear, increased heartbeat, salivation or sweating

➢ Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes

to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally
brings about that response
 Classical conditioning (Contd.)
Basics of Classical Condition
1. Neutral stimulus: A stimulus that, before conditioning, does
not naturally bring about the response of interest

2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that naturally

brings about a particular response without having been learned.

3. Unconditioned response (UCR): A response that is natural

and needs no training (e.g., salivation at the smell of food).
 Basics …..
4. Conditioned stimulus (CS): neutral stimulus that paired

with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response

similar with the unconditioned stimulu

5. Conditioned response (CR): A response that follows a

previously neutral stimulus

 Classical conditioning (Contd.)
Hence, the theory of classical conditioning represents a
process in which a neutral stimulus, by pairing with a
natural stimulus, acquires all the characteristics of natural
stimulus

It is also called substitution learning b/c it involves

substituting a neutral stimulus in place of natural stimulus

Let us consider Pavlov’s experiment (Summary)

 Summary of classical conditioning procedure

A. Before conditioning
Food (UCS) Salivation (UCR)
Bell (NS) No salivation

B. During conditioning
Bell + food Salivation
NS + UCS UCR
C. After conditioning
Bell Salivation
CS CR
 Principles of Classical Condition

1. Extinction: presenting the CS repeatedly without the UCS (meat), the CR

will diminish and eventually stop

2. Spontaneous recovery is the reemergence of an extinguished

conditioned response after extinction

3. Stimulus generalization: is a process in which, after a stimulus has been

conditioned to produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the

original stimulus begin to produce the same responses

• Stimulus generalization happens when an organism learns a

response to one stimulus and applies it to another similar

stimulus

• Even though the stimuli may be different, the familiarity that

accompanies the initial learning can be applied to other

stimuli as well
• Stimulus generalization enables organisms to take previous

learning and apply it to new, but similar, situations.

• The ability to utilize previous learning keeps the organism

from having to start over in the learning process.

• Generalizations can be less effective when the stimulus has an

element of newness unassociated with the familiarit

 For example,
When a person learns to drive a car, this training can be generalized to
driving most other cars. If the initial training was on an automatic
transmission, though, and now the driver must drive a manual
transmission, generalization of the prior skills is limited. The
respondent must then use stimulus discrimination to distinguish
between the familiar and the new information, and make the
appropriate adjustments to generalize the new learning.
• Stimulus discrimination is the process of distinguishing two similar
stimuli; the ability to differentiate between stimuli
 Note that:
• Extinction would prove to be a useful psychological finding to
treat phobias and other irrational fears.
the following summary can help make the relationships between stimuli and responses easier to
understand and remember:

➢ Conditioned=learned.

➢ Unconditioned=not learned.

➢ An unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response.

➢ Unconditioned stimulus–unconditioned response pairings are unlearned and untrained.

➢ During conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus is transformed into the conditioned stimulus.

➢ A conditioned stimulus leads to a conditioned response, and a conditioned stimulus–conditioned

response pairing is a consequence of learning and training.

➢ An unconditioned response and a conditioned response are similar (such as salivation in Pavlov’s
experiment), but the unconditioned response occurs naturally, whereas the conditioned
response is learned
 Operant/Instrumental conditioning

➢ Operant conditioning: Learning in which a voluntary response is

strengthened or weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavorable
consequences.
➢ Operant conditioning states that learning occurs as a result of the
rewards and punishments the subject receives in response to a
particular behavior.
➢ If the result of the behavior is a reward, the same behavior is likely to be
repeated
➢ If the result is a punishment, the behavior is less likely to be repeated.
• It states that learning occurs as a result of voluntary

responses that are operatingon the environment

• These behavioral responses are either strengthened (more

likely to recur) or weakened (less likely to recur) depending on

whether the consequences of the response are favorable or

unfavorable.
➢Unlike classical conditioning ( which depends on the biological

responses) operant conditioning applies to voluntary

responses (which an organism deliberately performs in order

to achieve a desired outcome)

➢In operant a behavior operates on the environment in ways

that produce consequences

 Example

If a person is playing the piano, that person is

operating on the environment (the keys on the piano)
in such a way as to produce music. The quality of
the music and comments from listeners are the
consequences that condition the person’s operant
performance at the piano. Well-played music
elicits social approval that reinforces the skills
needed
 Operant…..
➢ Operant conditioning is learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened
or weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences

➢ It is a form of association learning in which the consequences of behavior

produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence

➢ Also known as instrumental conditioning because it is instrumental in

changing the environment and producing consequences

➢ In operant conditioning, the organism's response operates on the environment

and the environment, in turn, operates the organism's response
 BASIC OPERATIONS

As Skinner‘s analysis, a response (operant) can lead to three types of

consequences

1) A neutral consequence 2) A reinforcement or 3) punishment

1. A neutral Consequence that does not alter the response

2. A reinforcement that strengthens the response by a reinforcer

 BASIC OPERATIONS ……
1. Reinforcement
➢ A reinforcer is any event that increases the probability that the behavior that
precedes it will be repeated

➢ Reinforcers are the prime movers of operant conditionin

➢ Reinforcers that follow an operant behavior increase the likelihood (reoccurance)

a similar response (behavior) in the future
There are two basic types of reinforcers
➢ Primary reinforcers: Food, water, light, stroking of the skin, and a comfortable air
temperature

➢ Secondary Reinforcers: . Money, praise, applause, good grades, awards, and gold
stars
 BASIC OPERATIONS ….
➢ Both primary and secondary reinforcers can be positive or negative
✓ Positive reinforcement is the process whereby presentation of a stimulus makes
behavior more likely to occur again
✓ A positive reinforcer is a stimulus added to the environment that brings about an
increase in a preceding response.
For instance, if food, water, money, praise, or any number of other stimuli follow
a particular response, it is very likely that this response will occur again in the
future.
✓ Positive reinforcement can be given in natural or artificial ways.
✓ Unnatural praise and artificial rewards are not very effective in reinforcing
behavior
✓Negative reinforcement is the process whereby elimination of an
aversive stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur

✓A negative reinforcer refers to an unpleasant stimulus whose removal

from the environment leads to an increase in the probability that a
preceding response will occur again in the future.

✓The two main classes of behavior produced by negative reinforcement

are escape and avoidance.

✓Escape responses are those operants that allow a person to get away
from aversive stimuli after the stimuli are present.
✓ Avoidance responses are those operants that allow a person to prevent
the occurrence of aversive stimuli beforethe aversive stimuli appear.

✓In other words, escape involves reacting after an aversive event is

present.

✓Avoidance involves proacting,or taking preventative steps before an

aversive event arises.

✓ People react to getting a splinter in their finger by pulling it out; they

proact by putting on gloves before handling rough wood.

✓Escape behaviors are usually learned before avoidance behaviors

 Examples:
1. For e.g., if someone nags you all the time to study, but stops nagging when you comply,
your studying is likely to increase- e.g. escape learning, avoidance learning

2. An example of escaping could involve a married couple who repeatedly find

themselves in verbal arguments with each other. They react by trying to
escape the aversive situation through marital counseling.
3. Other couples who see their friends having marital troubles may proact by
working on improving their communication and resolving differences before
problems arise, thereby avoiding some arguments and possible long-term
damage to their marriage.
 Generally,
• Better to understand as:
• There are two kinds of reinforcement: positive and negative
• To reinforce means to strengthen;
• thus, both positive and negative reinforcement strengthen
behavior
• i.e. Both increase the likelihood that a subject will repeat the
behavior in the future.
• The critical difference between the two is that positive
reinforcement occurs with the addition of a reinforcing
stimulus. Negative reinforcement consists of removing an
aversive stimulus.
 2. Punihment
• When an operant behavior is followed by a response that reduces
the frequency of a similar response in the future, that stimulus is
called punishment

• If a person receives a significant fine after driving through a red

light, the punishment is likely to reduce the tendency to speed
through red lights in the future

• Punishment produces the fastest reduction of the behavior when

it is strong, immediate, and not opposed by reinforcement.
• There are two types of punishment: positive punishment and
negative punishment, just as there are both positive and
negative reinforcement.

• In both cases, the term “positive” refers to something that is

added, whereas “negative” implies something that is removed.
 Explanation: “positve” & “negative”
• The terms “positive” and “negative” indicate whether
punishment occurs with the onset or termination of the stimulus
that follows the operant.

• “Positive” indicates onset, and “negative” indicates termination

• Positive punishment occurs when the onset of an aversive

stimulus suppresses behavior.

• For instance, if you spill hot coffee on your hand while carrying a

cup to a nearby table, the onset of an aversive stimulus (hot

coffee) punishes the clumsy act. This is considered a positive form

of punishment.
• Negative punishment occurs when the termination of a rewarding
stimulus suppresses behavior.

• If a haphazard action results in your dropping and losing an

important document, the loss serves as punishment for the act.
Therefore the loss of a positive reinforcer is a negative
punishment.
 Negative reinforcement & punishment
• It is important to distinguish between negative reinforcement and punishment.

• The two are not the same in operant conditioning.

• Punishment refers to a stimulus that decreases the probability that a prior

behavior will occur again.

• This differs from negative reinforcement, which increases the likelihood of a

recurrence in the behavior.

• Punishment does not cause behavior to be unlearned or forgotten.
• It merely suppresses the frequency of responding.
• Often the effects of punishment are only temporary.
• When the punishment no longer occurs, the rate of responding usually
increases.
• This phenomenon is called recovery.
• Recovery is fastest and most complete when the original punishment was mild
or infrequent and there is reinforcement for reinstating the behavior.
• The milder the original punishment, the sooner a behavior is likely to recover
after the end of punishment.
• Positive punishment weakensa response or makes it less likely to
recur through the application of an unpleasant stimulus.

• On the same track, but coming from the opposite direction, is

negative punishment.

• This consists of removing something that is pleasant in order

to weaken the response or make it less likely to be repeated.
• Although Skinner recognized the role of punishment in response to
behavior, he was against using it because he did not believe it had a
permanent effect on altering behavior except in extreme cases.
• Although it may initially stop the particular behavior in question,
Skinner believed that the prior response was likely to reappear over
time.
• In addition, punishment may actually cause a resulting fear or anxiety
to emerge that wasn’t present before the application of the
punishment.
 Note: Punishment

➢is a stimulus that weakens the response or makes it less

likely to recur

➢It is an undesirable event that follows a behavior it intends

to reduce/ weaken

➢Punishers can also be primary or secondary

➢primary punishers: Pain and extreme heat or cold

➢Secondary punishers: Criticism, demerits, catcalls, scolding,

fines, and bad grades
 The Pros and Cons of Punishment

▪ Immediacy –punishment follows immediately after the

behavior to be punished

▪ Consistency- using punishment evenly/steadily

▪ Intensity- use severe punishments

 The Pros and Cons (Contd.)
When punishment fails:
✓administering punishment inappropriately or mindlessly
✓recipient of punishment often responds with anxiety, fear or
rage
✓depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person
or circumstances
✓hard to punish immediately
✓Punishment conveys little information - instead of punishing
it may be reinforcing because it brings attention
 3. Schedules of reinforcement
➢Skinner discovered that reinforcement need not be given for each response, but
instead could be given after some number of responses according to various
schedules of reinforcement

➢A schedule of reinforcement refers to the specific relationship between

the number, timing, or frequency of responding; and the delivery of the
reward.
➢Once a behavior has been shaped, it can be maintained by various patterns of
reinforcement.
➢ Depending on the particular schedule, the reward may follow the response
immediately or have varying degrees of delay.
• Schedules are among the most powerful determinants of behavior.

• All reinforcers and punishers are embedded in one schedule or

another and each schedule has its own characteristic effects on
behavior.
 Type of the schedule
• Reinforcement can be given for each occurrence of the response
or only for some of the responses.
• The two broad categories of schedules are continuous and
partial (also called intermittent) reinforcements.
• With continuous reinforcement, each response of a particular
type is reinforced.
• In a partial reinforcement schedule, only a portion of the
responses are reinforced.
• a continuous schedule of reward generally produces more rapid
conditioning or a higher level of responding than a partial-
reinforcement schedule.

• Though a continuous schedule may condition more rapidly, partial

schedules are often more powerful in sustaining the behavior,
depending on the interval of reward.

• Extinction does tend to occur more quickly if a behavior that has

received continuous reinforcement is no longer reinforced.
• There are again two broad types of partial-reinforcement
schedules: interval schedules, which are based on the passage of
time; and ratio schedules, which are based on the number of
responses.

• On an interval schedule, the first response made after an interval

of time has passed is reinforced.

• Responses made before that interval of time are not reinforced.

There are two types of interval schedules: fixed and variable.
• In a ratio schedule, time is not a factor. Instead, reinforcement is
given only after a certain number of responses.

• Ratio schedules also have two types: fixed and variable.

 Examplary expression:
• A fixed-interval schedule applies the reinforcer aftera
specific amount of time.

• An example might be an employee who gets a raise once at the end of

each year but no increase in pay during the course of the year.
• The reinforcer (increase in pay) comes only at a predetermined
time regardless of the employee’s work performance during the year.
• Fixed intervals have built-in problems that manifest in certain
situations
• Using the example of the employee’s end-of-the-year raise, the
employee, knows when the reinforcement is to come,
• So he may tend to lower his performance immediately after
the reinforcement and tend to increase performance right
before the reinforcement period
• In fixed, therefore, resonse rate decrease (immediate after)
then increase as it approaches (for the secod round)
• In this case, the emplyee might improve his performance near

the end of the year to “look good” when it comes time for the

review that determines the amount of pay raise

 Variable-interval
• Reinforcement is also controlled by the passage of time in a
variable-interval schedule

• In contrast to the fixed-interval (in which the person knows the

time the reinforcement will be given) the person does not know
when the reinforcement will appear in a variable-interval
schedule.
 Examplary expression: interval
• An example of this schedule might be the supervisor who checks an
employee’s work at irregular intervals.

• Because the employees never know when such checks will

occur, they must perform in a consistent manner in order to
obtain positive outcomes, such as praise; or avoid negative ones,
such as criticism or loss of their job.
➢A response can be reinforced each time it occurs- a procedure as

continuous reinforcement or once a response has become reliable

reinforcing only some responses, not all of them, a procedure called

intermittent (partial) schedule of reinforcement

➢There are four types of intermittent schedules

 1. Fixed-ratio schedules
• Reinforcement is determined in a very different manner on a fixed-
ratio schedule

• Here, reinforcement occurs only after a fixed number of responses

• For example, some individuals are paid on the basis of how many
pieces of goods they produce

• a fixed-ratio schedule yields a high rate of response, though there is

a tendency for brief pauses immediately after reinforcement
 2. Variable-Ratio Schedule
• On a variable-ratio schedule, reinforcement occurs after completion of

a variable number of responses

• It is reinforcing a response after some average number of responses,

but with varying from reinforcement to reinforcement

• Since the person using a variable-ratio schedule cannot predict how

many responses are required before reinforcement will occur, they

usually respond at high and steady rates

 Example
• The person who repeatedly plays the slot machine knows at
some point the machine will have a payoff, but they are not sure
when it will occur.

• The anticipation that it could happen on the next pull compels many
to keep playing beyond the point of good reason.
• Variable-ratio schedules also result in behaviors that are highly
resistant to extinction.
• This means that even in the absence of reinforcement, the
behavior might persist.
• In fact, resistance to extinction is much higher after exposure to a
variable-ratio schedule than to a continuous-reinforcement
schedule.
• This would help explain why gambling can be so addictive for
certain individuals.
3. Variable-Ratio Schedule: reinforcing a response only after

a fixed amount of time has passed

4. Variable Interval Schedule: reinforcing a response only

after a variable amount of time has passed

 Generally, note that:
• Fixed-ratio schedule:
✓ produces high rate of responding;
✓ sometimes respone drops off just afters;
✓ response is less reistant to extniction = more exposed to extniction
• Variable ration:
✓ produces extreemly high steady rate of respondig;
✓ response is more resistant to extniction = the learned behavior is mot easily
extnicted
 4. Shaping
➢ Shaping is a technique that is used in behaviorism to train an organism to perform
a behavior that is completely new
➢ Shaping teaches a complex behavior by rewarding or reinforcing each step of the
learning process rather than the final outcome
➢ an operant conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a
desired response are reinforced
➢ It is establishing novel behaviors by reinforcing responses that gradually
approach the behavior that is desired
➢ The concept of shaping breaks down the learning process into smaller
pieces.
• Shaping, then, helps the organism acquire or construct new and
more complex forms of behavior from simpler behavior

• By the time shaping is complete, the reinforcement need only be

given at the completion of the desired behavior in order for the
behavior to recur
 Examples for shaping

Textbooks for students are often written using the concept of

shaping. Typically, information is presented so that new
material builds on previously learned concepts or skills. If this
were not the progression, most students would become
confused and perhaps abandon the attempt to learn the
concepts under study.
 Chaining
• Chaining refers to a type of conditioning that is similar to
shaping but requires a more complex sequence of
behaviors.
• This process is referred to as chaining because each
response is like a link in the chain.
• The reward is presented after the entire sequence of
behaviors is completed, thus reinforcing the sequence and
not the individual behavior
• Chains can be trained in the forward direction, that is, by
practicing the first response in the chain and then adding
successively the next elements.

• It can also be learned backwards, beginning with the last

element and working toward the front.

• Sometimes the entire chain is learned simultaneously.

 Exapmles for chaining
• Backward chaining is often used with pilot trainees when using a flight
simulator. They practice landings first, followed by landing approaches
and then other flight specific behaviors such as midair maneuvers. The
purpose of the backward chaining is that landings are the most difficult
behavior to master in the chain and by starting there, this behavior
receives the most practice as the behavioral links are put in place.
• Forward chaining might be used by physical therapists to teach
disabled individuals to transfer themselves from a wheelchair to
another chair or bed.
 Personal note
• Unlike classical conditioning, in which the original behaviors are the
natural, biological responses to the presence of a stimulus such as
food, water, or pain, operant conditioning applies to voluntary
responses, which an organism performs deliberately to produce a
desirable outcome. The term operant emphasizes this point: The
organism operateson its environment to produce a desirable result.
Operant conditioning is at work when we learn that toiling industriously
can bring about a raise or that studying hard results in good grades.
 Applications of operant conditioning

• Conditioning study behavior: arranging effective contingencies of

reinforcement, e.g., for Self-learning reinforcing a student using incentives
such as prize, medal, smile, praise, patting on the back or giving higher
marks
❖ Conditioning and classroom behavior: acquiring unpleasant experience
which becomes conditioned to the teacher, subject and the classroom and
students begin to dislike the subject and the teacher
❖ Managing Behavioral Problem : used as therapy to shape students’
behavior by admitting positive contingencies like praise
 Applications (Contd)

❖ Dealing with anxieties through conditioning: used to break fear habits

using use desensitization technique- initially provide very weak form of
conditioned stimulus, gradually increasing the strength of stimulus

❖ Conditioning group behavior: reinforcement breaks undesired and

antisocial behavior of a group
 Applications of operant conditioning (Contd)

❖Conditioning and Cognitive Processes: to bring a progress

of knowledge, reinforcing in the feedback form

❖Shaping Complex Behavior: Controlling complex behavior

that exist in the form of a chain of small behaviors

 Social Learning Theory (observational learning)theory

A tendency for individuals to reproduce the actions, attitudes or

emotional responses displayed by real life or symbolized models
As Bandura, three forms of reinforcement can encourage observational
learning

❑direct reinforcement: reproduce the behaviors of the model

❑vicarious reinforcement:

❑self-reinforcement
 Processes of Social learning

Bandura mentions four conditions that are necessary in the processes of

observational learning

1. Attention: paying attention to the model

2. Retention: encoding and storing of observed behavior in memory
3. Motor reproduction: replicating the observed behavior
4. Motivation: motivation; the desire to demonstrate (perform) the learned
behavior frequently
 Implications of Social learning theory

▪ Learning occurs through observing other people

▪ Describing the consequences of behavior to increase appropriate behaviors

and decrease inappropriate ones

▪ Provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new behaviors

▪ Taking care to model appropriate behaviors but not inappropriate behaviors

▪ To break down traditional stereotypes, exposing students to a variety of

other models
 Implications (Contd.)
▪ To develop a sense of self-efficacy - believe that someone is capable of

accomplishing school tasks

▪ To set realistic expectations for academic accomplishments

▪ Helps to improve elf-regulation behavior

 Cognitive Learning Theory

➢Cognitive learning theory: An approach to the study of learning that

focuses on the thought processes that underlie learning

➢These mental processes affect individuals’ behavior and personality

➢These theory deals with the mental mechanisms that mediate the
processing of information in some meaningful fashion.

➢It extends into the realms of memory, thinking, problem solving and the
use of language
 Forms of Cognitive learning
Examples:
• Latent learning - a hidden form of learning in which a behavior is not manifested
for the time being but it might appear when situations are favorable
• Latent learning: Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not
demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it
• It involves changes in the way information is processed and occurs without
reinforcement and responses
• Insight learning - a sudden change in our perception that comes while encounter
and struggle with life challenging problem
It doesn‘t depend on conditioning of particular behaviors for its occurrence
 Note

• Clearly, not all learning is due to operant and classical

conditioning
 Recaptulations

➢Behaviorsim learning theory

➢Socila learning theory

➢Cognitive learning theory

Bobo doll experiment
Conclusion of Bobo doll experiment
 CHAPTER FOUR

MEMORY AND FORGETTING

• Intelligent life does not exist without memory

• Memory:The process by which we encode, store,

and retrieve information,

• the ability to store and retrieve information over

time

• The initial process of recording information in a

form of usable to memory, is called encoding,

• is the first stage in remembering something.

• Memory is the retention of information/what is learned
earlier over time.

• It is the way in which we record the past for later use in the
present.

• Memory is a blanket label for a large number of processes that

form the bridges between our past and our present.

• To learn about the nature of memory, it is useful to separate the

process from the structure.
Processes of Memory
 Encoding
• the term encoding refers to the form (i.e. the code) in which an
item of information is to be placed in memory.
• It is the process by which information is initially recorded in a
form usable to memory.
• In encoding we transform a sensory input into a form or a memory
code that can be further processed.
• The initial process of recording information in a form usable to
memory, a process called encoding, is the first stage in remembering
something.
• Encoding is the process by which we place the things that we

experience into memory

• Unless information is encoded, it cannot be remembered

 Storage

• Storage is the process of holding information in memory to

be processed or used
 Retriveal
• Retrieval refers to the process of reactivating information that

has been stored in memory

• Storage is the persistence of information in memory

 Stages/Structure of Memory
• Memory structure is the nature of memory storage itself- how

information is represented in memory and how long it lasts

and how it is organized.

• memory has three structures: Sensory Memory/Sensory

Register; Short-term Memory; Long Term Memory

 Sensory Memory/Sensory Register
• Sensory memory refers to the brief storage of sensory information.
• It is the entry way to memory.
• It is the first information storage area.
• Sensory memory acts as a holding bin, retaining information until we
can select items for attention from the stream of stimuli bombarding
our senses
• It can hold virtually all the information reaching our senses for a
brief time
 For instance,
• Visual images (Iconic memory) remain in the visual system

for a maximum of one second

• Iconic memory is sensory memory for visual information

• Auditory images (Echoic memory) remain in the auditory

system for a slightly longer time, by most estimates up to

two second or so.

• The information stored sensory in memory is a fairly
accurate representation of the environmental information but
unprocessed

• Most information simply decay from the register

• Some of the information that has got attention and

recognition pass on short-term memory for further processing
 Short-term Memory
• is part of our memory that holds the contents of our attention.

• Unlike sensory memories, short-term memories are not brief

replicas of the environmental message

• they consist of the by -products or end results of perceptual analysis

• important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading, speaking, and

problem solving= are working memories

• terms used to refer to this stage of memory are working memory,

immediate memory, active memory, and primary memory
 The four characteristics of STM:
1. It is active

• consciously processing, examining, or manipulating it

• Used workspace to process new information and to call up

relevant information from LTM

2. Accessibility

• Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is readily available

for use
3. Preserves the temporal sequence of information

• helps us to maintain the information in sequential manner for a

temporary period of time

4. Limited capacity

• the capacity of STM to be ―the magic number seven plus or minus 2

• That is, on the average, people can hold about seven pieces of
information in STM at a time; with a normal range from five to nine
items.
• However, if we can only hold a maximum of about nine digits in

short-term memory, then

✓how can we remember larger amounts of information than this?

✓ For instance, how can we ever remember a 10-digit phone number

long enough to dial it?

• One way we are able to expand our ability to remember things in
STM is by using a memory technique called chunking.
• Chunking is the process of organizing information into smaller
groupings, or chunks, thereby increasing the number of items that
can be held in STM
• Chunking expands working memory by making large amounts of
information more manageable
• The real capacity of short-term memory, therefore, is not a few
bits of information but a few chunks.
• STM holds received from SM for up to about 30 seconds

by most estimates

• But it is possible to prolong STM indefinitely by rehearsal-

the conscious repetition of information

 Long Term Memory
• the memory storage that can hold information for days, months, and
years.
• The capacity of long- termmemory is large, and there is no known limit
to what we can remember
• is a memory system used for the relatively permanent storage of
meaningful information
• The vast amount of information stored in LTM enables us to learn,
get around in the environment, and build a sense of identity and
personal history.
• LTM stores information for indefinite periods
 Subsystems of LTM
• Declarative/ explicit memory

✓Semantic memory

✓Episodic memory

• Non-declarative/ implicit memor

 Declarative/ explicit memory

• refers to knowledge or experiences that can be

consciously remembered

• When we assess memory by asking a person to consciously

remember things, we are measuring explicit memory
 Semantic memory

• Semantic memory- factual knowledge like the meaning of

words, concepts and our ability to do math.

• i.e. it refers to our knowledge of facts and concepts about the

world.

• They are internal representations of the world, independent

of any particular context.

 Episodic memory
• the firsthand experiences that we have had.

• memories for events and situations from personal experience.

• They are internal representations of personally experienced

events

• For example, recollections of our high school graduation day

 Non-declarative/ implicit memory
• refers to a variety of phenomena of memory in which behavior is
affected by prior experience without that experience being
consciously recollected.

• One of the most important kinds of implicit memory is procedural

memory.

• It is the – “how to” knowledge of procedures or skills:

Knowing how to comb your hair, use a pencil, or swim.
 Factors Affecting Memory
Eleven Factors
• Ability to retain:
• Good health:
• Age of the learner: young > old age
• Maturity: more mature > less mature
• Will to remember:
• Intelligence: more intelligent > less intelligent
• Interest: more interested > less interested to retain
• Over learning: over learning will lead to better memory
• Speed of learning: Quicker learning leads to better retention
 Forgetting
• first studied by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus

• forgetting refer to the apparent loss of information already

encoded and stored in the long-term memory
 Theories of Forgetting
• Psychologists have proposed five mechanisms to account
for forgetting:
✓decay,

✓replacement of old memories by new ones,

✓interference,

✓motivated forgetting, and

✓cue dependent forgetting.

 The Decay Theory
• holds that memory traces or engram fade with time if they
are not accessed now and then
• assumes that when new material is learned a memory trace
or engram- an actual physical change in the brain- occurs
• the trace simply fades away with nothing left behind, because
of the passage of time
• Mostly decay occurs in sensory memory and short term memory
as
• the mere passage of time does not account so well for forgetting
in long-term memory.

• E.g. People commonly forget things that happened only yesterday

while remembering events from many years ago
 Interference
• similar items of information interfere with one another in either
storage or retrieval

• The information may get into memory, but it becomes confused

with other information
• There are two kinds of interference: proactive and
retroactive.

• Proactive: information learned earlier interferes with recall of

newer material

• Retroactive: new information interferes with the ability to

remember old information
 New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory
• holds that new information entering memory can obliterate/wipe
out old information: like taperecoder,

• This theory is mostly associated with the STM: b/c of the capacity
for information is limited to seven plus or minus chunks.

• But It cannot be associated with the LTM because of its virtually

unlimited capacity.
 Motivated Forgetting
• Think of the assumtion of Sigmund Freud

• people forget because they block from consciousness: b/c they

threatening or painful to live with

• he called this self-protective process: Repression technique

• currently, psychologists prefer to use a more general term,

motivated forgetting.
 Cue Dependent Forgetting
• Depending on retrieval cues: items of information that can help
us find the specific information we‘re looking for

• When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we have lost

the call number for an entry in the mind‘s library.

• In long-term memory, this type of memory failure may be the

most common type of all
 Thank you

Any question?
 CHAPTER FIVE

MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS

 Learning Outcomes
• Define what motivation is

• Identify the two types of motivation

• Compare the different theories of motivation

• Explain the different types of conflicts of motives

• Define what emotion is

• Discuss the three elements of emotion

• Discuss the different theories of emotion

 Motivation

Definition and types of motivation

 Brainstorming

• Why do we do the things we do?

• What motivations underlie our behaviors?

• It a Latin word: Mover = to move
• Motivation: describes the wants or needs that direct behavior
toward a goal
• Motivation: is a factor by which activities are started,
directed and continued so that physical or psychological
needs or wants are met.
• Motivation: an internal state that activates behavior and directs it
toward a goal
• A motivation: is a driving force that initiates and directs behavior.
• need: biological or psychological requirement of an organism

• drive: a state of tension produced by a need that motivates an

organism toward a goal

• Motivation, therefore, is what moves people to do the things they do

• Motivation: an internal state that activates behavior and directs it

toward a goal
• Some motivations are biological, such as the motivation for food,
water, and sex.

• Some are personal and social motivations that can influence

behavior, including the motivations for social approval and
acceptance, the motivation to achieve, and the motivation to
take, or to avoid taking, risks
Biological and social motives
 For example,
• when a person is relaxing in front of a television and begins to feel hungry,
the physical need for food may cause the person to get up, go into the
kitchen, and search for something to eat. If hunger is great enough, the
person may even cook something.

• The physical need for hunger causes:

✓ the action (getting up),

✓directs it (going to the kitchen), and

✓sustain the search (finding or preparing something to eat)

different types of motivation: now are 2

Intrinsic
Extrinsic
 IM: the act itself is
rewarding or satisfying in EM: in which the action leads to an
some internal manner
outcome that is external to a
person
• Instincts: innate tendencies that determine behavior

• Intrinsic motivation: engaging in activities because they are

personally rewarding or because they fulfill our beliefs and

expectations

• Extrinsic motivation: engaging in activities that either reduce

biological needs or help us obtain external incentives

 Approaches to motivation (theories of motivation)
• according to theories of motivation there are different sources
of motivation:
✓instinct,

✓drive-reduction,

✓ arousal,

✓incentive,

✓ cognitive, and

✓ humanistic.
 1. Instinct approaches to motivation
• One of the earliest theory of motivation

• focused on the biologically determined and innate patterns of

both humans and animals behavior: intrinsic

• Instincts: innate tendencies that determine behavior

• Both animals and humans governed by intrinsic motivation:

 Example,
Animals: Human shares

Build nests Reproduction

Agression for
Migrating territory
proection

Mating
• The early theorists and psychologists listed thousands of
instincts in humans including:
✓ curiosity,

✓flight (running away),

✓pugnacity (aggressiveness), and

✓acquisition (gathering possessions).

• However, none of these theorists did more than give names to

these instincts.
 2. Drive-reduction approaches to motivation
• This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives
• A need: is a requirement of some material that is essential
for the survival of the organism
• A need it leads to a psychological tension or physical arousal to
reduce the tension and fulfill the need = This tension is called
drive
• Drive-reduction theory proposes the connection between
internal psychological states and outward behavior
• It proposed two kinds of drives; primary and secondary

• Primary drives: are those that involve survival needs of the

body such as hunger and thirst,

• Secondary/ acquired drives: are learned through experience

or conditioning, such as the need for money, social approval.
• It includes the concept of homeostasis: the tendency of the body to
maintain a steady-state

• When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a state of imbalance.

• This stimulates behavior that brings the body back into balance or
homeostasis

• For example, if mister X‘s body needs food, he feels hunger and the state of
tension (arousal associated with that need). He will seek to restore his
homeostasis by eating something which is the behavior stimulated to reduce
the hunger drive
Drive-reduction and homeostasis
• Homeostasis: the tendency of all organisms to correct
imbalances and deviations from their normal state
 3. Arousal approaches: beyond drive reduction
• These approaches seek to explain behavior in which the goal
is to maintain or increase excitement/eagerness.
• For these approaches to motivation, each person tries to maintain
a certain level of stimulation and activity.
• This approach suggests that if our stimulation/inspiration and
activity levels become too high, we try to reduce them
• if levels of stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to
increase them by seeking stimulation
 4. Incentive approaches: motivation’s pull
• suggest that motivation stems from the desire to attain
external rewards, known as incentives

• the desirable properties of external stimuli: whether grades,

money, affection, food, or sex—account for a person‘s
motivation.
• It is believed that the internal drives proposed by drive-
reduction theory work in a cycle with the external
incentives of incentive theory to “push” and “pull” behavior,
respectively.
 5. Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind motivation

• Suggest that motivation is a result of people‘s thoughts, beliefs,

expectations, and goals draw a key difference between
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation: causes to participate in an activity for
our enjoyment rather than for any actual or concrete reward
that it will bring indivual.
• Extrinsic motivation: causes to do something for money, a
grade, or some other actual, concrete reward.
 For instances:
1. A teacher provides tutorial support for students in her extra
time because she loves teaching, intrinsic motivation is
prompting her; if she provides tutorial support to make a lot
of money, extrinsic motivation underlies her efforts

2. If you study a lot because you love the subject matter, you
are being guided by intrinsic motivation; if all you care
about is the grade to get in the course, it is extrinsic
motivation
 6. Humanistic approaches to motivation
• Is based on the work of Abraham Maslow
• He was one of the early humanistic psychologists
• He was who rejected the dominant theories of psychoanalysis and
behaviorism
• He rejected these theories in favoring of a more positive view of
human behavior
• He Proposed a hierarchy of needs that spans the spectrum of motives
ranging from the biological to the individual to the social
• As you recall from chapter one,therefore, humanism embraces
the notions of the self and free will

• Arguing that people are free to choose their own lives and make
their own decisions,
 Among the major assumptions underlying humanism are the following:
➢ human nature is inherently good;
➢ individuals are free and autonomous, thus they are capable of
making major personal choices;
➢ human potential for growth and development is virtually unlimited;
➢ self-concept plays an important role in growth and development;
➢ individuals have an urge toward self-actualization;
➢ reality is defined by each person; and
➢ individuals have responsibility to both themselves and to others
• While many individuals have made important contributions to

humanistic psychology, two of the most noteworthy contributors

were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

• Maslow discussed the concept of "self-actualization," which he

described as "the full use and exploitation of talents,

capacities, potentialities, etc."

• Rogers፡ his approach referred to as "client-

centered therapy"

• He noted that the major goal of therapy is to

help clients foster greater self-direction.

• According to Rogers, self-direction "means

that one chooses - and then learns from the

consequences
• He believed that all human beings need to feel competent, to win

approval and recognition, and to sense that they have achieved

something.

• He suggested that human behavior is influenced by a

hierarchy, or ranking, of five classes of needs, or motives

• As him needs at the lowest level of the hierarchy must be at least
partially satisfied before people can be motivated by the ones at
higher levels.

• Maslow‘s five Hierarchies of needs for motives from the bottom to

the top are as follows (look at the here under diagrams):
Or
OR
 Detail explanation for each:
1. Physiological needs: also called fundamental needs
• Are biological drives that must be satisfied to maintain life
• These are biological requirements for human survival, e.g.
air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
• People have to satisfy these fundamental needs to live
 2. Safety needs: also called psychological needs
• Is the urge to belong and to give and receive love, and the urge to
acquire esteem

• It the needs of protection from elements, security, order, law,

stability, freedom from fear

• Is the need to belong and to give and receive love, and the need to
acquire esteem through competence and achievement

• A lack of love or esteem makes people anxious and tense.

3. Love and belongingness needs: social needs
• Involves feelings of belongingness

• It includes friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving

and giving affection and love.

• Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work)

 4. Esteem needs
• Is the need to be respected as a useful, honorable individual;
which

• Maslow classified esteem needs into two categories:

✓esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, and
independence) = bieng one’s self and

✓the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status,

prestige)= needs to be respected by others
 5. Self-actualization needs
• Are at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy

• the pursuit of knowledge and beauty or whatever else is required

for the realization of one’s unique potential

• Is the needs of realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment,

seeking personal growth and peak experiences

• A desire “to become everything one is capable of becoming”

 Understanding the nature of the pyramid

• Why it is wider at the bottom and norrower at the top?

 It is because:
• The top tier of the pyramid is self-actualization, which is a need
that essentially equates to achieving one’s full potential, and it can
only be realized when needs lower on the pyramid have been
met.
• lifelong process and that only a small percentage of people
actually achieve a self-actualized state
• one must satisfy lower-level needs before addressing those needs
that occur higher in the pyramid.
 Example
• If someone is struggling to find enough food to meet his

nutritional requirements, it is quite unlikely that he would spend an

inordinate amount of time thinking about whether others viewed

him as a good person or not.

• Instead, all of his energies would be geared toward finding

something to eat.
 Shared elements between the humanist and behaviorist
• Learning should focus on practical problem solving

• Learners enter a teaching-learning setting with a wide range of skills,

abilities, and attitudes, and these need to be considered in the instructional
planning process

• The learning environment should allow each learner to proceed at a pace

best suited to the individual

• It is important to help learners continuously assess their progress and make

feedback a part of the learning process

• The learner's previous experience is an invaluable resource for future

learning and thus enhancing the value of advanced organizers or making
clear the role for mastery of necessary prerequisites
• Conflict of motives and frustration
• Motivation and the importance of the decision, people usually face

difficulty choosing among the motives

• When the decision is more important, the number and

strength of motivational pushes and pulls are often greater,

creating far more internal conflict in decision making.

• There are four basic types of motivational conflicts.

 1. Approach-approach conflict
• Exists when we must choose only one of the two desirable
activities.

• Example, going to a movie or a concert

 2. Avoidance-avoidance conflict
• Arises when we must select one of two undesirable
alternatives.

• Someone forced either to sell the family home or to declare

bankruptcy
 3. Approach-avoidance conflict
• Happens when a particular event or activity has both
attractive and unattractive features,

• For example, a freshman student wants to start dating but she,

at the same time, is worried that this may unduly consume her
study time.
 4. Multiple approach-avoidance conflict
• Exists when two or more alternatives each have both positive
and negative features
• Suppose you must choose between two jobs.
• One offers a high salary with a well-known company but requires
long working hours and relocation to a miserable climate.
• The other boasts advancement opportunities, fringe benefits, and a
better climate, but it doesn‘t pay as much and involves an
unpredictable work schedule.
Emotions
 Definitions of emotion
• the “feeling” aspect of consciousness, characterized by certain
physical arousal, certain behavior that reveals the feeling to the
outside world, and an inner awareness of feelings.

• From this short definition, we can understand that there are

three elements of emotion: the physiology, behavior and
subjective experience.

• emotion: a set of complex reactions to stimuli involving subjective

feelings, physiological arousal, and observable behavior
• Is a subjective, affective state that is relatively intense and that
occurs in response to something we experience

• emotiona response of the whole organism, involving (1)

physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3)
conscious experience

• It means, our emotional states are combinations of physiological

arousal, psychological appraisal, and subjective experiences

• These are known as the components of emotion

 Element 1: The physiology of emotion
• when a person experiences an emotion, there is physical
arousal created by the sympathetic nervous system

• Thus, the heart rate increases, breathing becomes more rapid,

the pupils of the eye dilate, and the moth may become dry.
 Examplary senario: symphathetic NS
• The sympathetic divisionof your ANS directs your adrenal glands to release
the stress hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
Influenced by this hormonal surge, to provide energy, your liver pours extra
sugar into your bloodstream. To help burn the sugar, your respiration increases
to supply needed oxygen. Your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Your
digestion slows, diverting blood from your internal organs to your muscles. With
blood sugar driven into the large muscles, running becomes easier. Your pupils
dilate, letting in more light. To cool your stirredup body, you perspire.
 Element 2: The behavior of emotion
• tells us how people behave in the grip of an emotion.

• There are facial expressions, body movements, and actions that

indicate to others how a person feels

• Frowns, smiles, and sad expressions combine with hand gestures,

the turning of one‘s body, and spoken words to produce an
understanding of emotion
 Element 3: Subjective experience or labeling emotion
• it involves interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it a label:
anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, shame, interest, surprise
and so on.

• The label a person applies to a subjective feeling is at least in part

a learned response influenced by that person‘s language and
culture
Theories of emotion
 There are theories:
1. James- Lang Theory of Emotion

2. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

3. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory

 1. James- Lang Theory of Emotion
Philohized/theorized that:

• the theory that our experience of emotion awareness of our

physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

• a stimulus of some sort (for example, the large snarling dog)

produces a physiological reaction.
• This reaction, which is the arousal of the “fight-or-flight” ????
• believed that physical arousal led to the labeling of the emotion
(fear)
 2. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
• theorized that the emotion and the physiological arousal occur more or
less at the same time emotions arise from physiological arousal.
• Cannon argued that the thalamus (part of the lower brain) is the seat of
emotion
• He was an expert in sympathetic arousal mechanisms,
• He did not feel that the physical changes aroused by different
emotions were distinct enough to allow them to be perceived as
different emotions.
• Certain, he said, experiences activate the thalamus, and the

thalamus sends messages to the cortex and to the other body

organs

• This theory states that the brain sends two reactions -arousal

and experience ofemotion.

• For him the sensory information that comes into the brain is sent
simultaneously (by the thalamus) to both the cortex and the organs of
the sympathetic nervous system.
• The fear and the bodily reactions are, therefore, experienced at the
same time-not one after the other.
• “I am afraid and running and aroused!”
• He was the first to describe the fight-or-flight reaction of the
sympathetic nervous system that prepares us for an emergency.
• Some of the signs of physiological arousal are measured in one of the
most famous applications of psychological knowledge- lie detection
 3. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory
• proposed that two things have to happen before emotion occurs: the physical arousal
and labeling of the arousal base on cues from the surrounding environment.
• These two things happen at the same time, resulting in the labeling of the emotion.
• For example, if a person comes across a snarling dog while taking a walk, the
physical arousal (heart racing, eyes opening wide) is accompanied by the
thought (cognition) that this must be fear.
• Then and only then will the person experience the fear of emotion.
• In other words, -I am aroused in the presence of a scary dog; therefore, I must be
afraid.‖
• bodily changes and thinking work together to produce emotions.

• Physiological arousal is only half of the story.

• What you feel depends on how you interpret your symptoms

• emotions are composed of two factors: physiological and

cognitive.

• In other words, physiological arousal is interpreted in context to

produce the emotional experience.
Biological vs social motives
Theories of motivation: summary
Emotions:
 Thank you

Any question?
CHAPTER SIX

PERSONALITY
“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others
would want you to be, rather than being yourself”.

Shannon L. Alder
 Learning Outcomes
• Define personality

• Discuss the natures of psychoanalytic theory

• Identify the structures of personality

• Explain psychological defense mechanisms

• Explain the essence of the trait theory of personality

• Discuss the five factor model of personality

• Explain the essence of humanistic theory of personality

 Overview
• Personality has different meanings for theologians, philosophers, and
sociologists, and within psychology it has been defined in many ways

• So is better begin by considering just one definition of personality

considered acceptable by many psychologists today that says:

personality refers to more or less stable, internal factors that make

one person’s behaviour consistent from one time to another, and
different from the behaviour other people would manifest in
comparable situations’
 Continued ….
• this definition consists of four major assumptions of personality.

• These assumptions are that personality is stable, internal,

consistent and different.
 Stability assumption
• The assumption of stability corresponds to our everyday
experience: friends do not present radically different personalities
on every fresh meeting, but instead are likely to be approximately
the same from occasion to occasion.
• Even when we are taken by surprise by an old friend’s
dramatic new image, we are usually able to fit the new and old
selves into a coherent whole, and to be reassured that deep
down the person is still the same.
 Internality assumption
• Personality cannot be observed directly; it can only be measured
indirectly by making observations of that which is available
externally.

• For example, on the basis of a personality test; on the basis of

observations of their behaviour.
 Consistency assumption
• personality makes one person’s behaviour consistent from one
time to another.

• Consistency over time refers to the similarity between a person’s

behaviour on two different occasions.
 Individual differences assumption
• personality makes a person’s behaviour different from the
behaviour other people would manifest in comparable situations.

• people respond to the same situation in different ways

 Meaning of Personality
• The word personality is derived from a Greek word, rooted in Latin “persona”
• Refers to the theatrical masks worn by Greek actors
• Many define personality differently
• But psychologists generally view personality as the unique pattern of
enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions that characterize a person
• Psychologists agree that personality is fundamentally a matter of human
individuality, or ‘individual differences
• Personality is defined as an individual’s consistent patterns of feeling, thinking,
and behaving.
• Personality refers to the long-standing traits and patterns that
propel individuals to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific
ways.
• Ersonality includes all those relatively permanent traits or
characteristics that render some consistency to a person’s
behavior
• Our personality is what makes us unique individuals
• Our personalities are thought to be long term, stable, and not
easily changed.
 Careful that:
Personality should not be confused with:
• character: refers to value judgments made about a person‘s morals
or ethical behavior;
• It usually refers to those personal attributes that are relevant to moral
conduct, self-mastery, will-power, and integrity
• character is often assumed to be the result of socialization
experiences, aspects of the person’s psychological make-up that
depend on learning socially appropriate forms of self-control and
‘prosocial’ conduct.
• Temperament: the enduring characteristics with which each
person is born, such as irritability or adaptability.

• temperamental characteristics are commonly assumed to have a

biological basis,

• However, both character and temperament are vital personalities

• Not all differences between people are differences of personality.

• We differ in our physical attributes, our ages, our nationalities, and our
genders, and none of these differences really seem to be about personality.

• Of course, it is possible that these differences are in some way relatedto

personality, but they are not themselves differences of personality

• So we must qualify our definition so that personality refers only to

psychological differences between people, differences having to do with
thought, emotion, motivation, and behaviour.
 Theories of Personality
• Personality is still a relatively young fields of psychology

• The specific questions psychologists ask and the methods they use to

investigate personality

• there are different theories of personality but we will see at least the three

ones

✓ psychoanalytic,

✓ trait and

✓ humanistic
 The psychoanalytic theory of personality
• psychoanalytic theory was formulated by Sigmund Freud

• As Freud, ppersonality is formed within ourselves, arising

from basic inborn needs, drives, and characteristics

• He argued that people are in constant conflict between

their biological urges (drives) and the need to tame
them

• It includes a theory of personality structure

 Continued….
• Freud views that personality has three parts which serves a
different function and develops at different times: the id, the
ego, and the superego.
• To Freud, the most primitive part of the mind was das Es, or the
“it,” which is almost always translated into English as id

• a second division was das Ich, or the “I,” translated as ego;

• a final province was das Uber-Ich,or the “over-I,” which is

rendered into English as superego.
• These provinces or regions have no territorial existence, of course, but
are merely hypothetical constructs.
• to Freud, the way these three parts of personality interact with
one another determines the personality of an individual
• The synergy of the three structures creates “normal” personality
• They interact with the three levels of mental life so that the ego cuts
across the various topographic levels and has conscious,
preconscious, and unconscious components, whereas the superego is
both preconscious and unconscious and the id is completely
unconscious.
 The ID personality
• A term derived from the impersonal pronoun meaning “the it,” or
the not-yet owned component of personality

• The id has no contact with reality, yet it strives constantly to

reduce tension by satisfying basic desires.

• its sole function is to seek pleasure then is said it serves the

pleasure principle

• Completely unconscious
• A newborn infant is the personification of an id unencumbered by
restrictions of ego and superego

• The infant seeks gratification of needs without regard for what is

possible (that is, demands of the ego) or what is proper (that is,
restraints of the superego)

• Since the id has no direct contact with reality, it is not altered by

the passage of time or by the experiences of the person
• Besides being unrealistic and pleasure seeking, the id is illogical
and can simultaneously entertain incompatible ideas.

• For example, a woman may show conscious love for her

mother while unconsciously wishing to destroy her.
• These opposing desires are possible because the id has no
morality; that is, it cannot make value judgments or distinguish
between good and evil
 The ID ….
• the id is merely amoral/unethical

• All of the id’s energy is spent for one purpose—to seek pleasure
without regard for what is proper or just
 In summary:
• the id is primitive, chaotic, inaccessible to consciousness,
unchangeable, amoral, illogical, unorganized, and filled with energy
received from

• basic drives and discharged for the satisfaction of the pleasure

principle.
 The ID: from your module:
• If It Feels Good, Do It

• The first and most primitive part of the personality in the infant

• The id is a completely unconscious amoral part of the personality

that exists at birth, containing all of the basic biological
drives; hunger, thirst, sex, aggression,

• When these biological drives are active, one feels increased

physical and psychological tensions # Freud called it libido
 The ID: from your module …..
• Libido is the instinctual energy that may come into conflict
with the demands a society‘s standards for behavior

• High libidinal energy creates high unpleasant situation, so the goal

is to reduce the libido by fulfilling the drive

• For example Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty,

• this need for satisfaction is called the pleasure principle

• Pleasure principle is the desire for immediate satisfaction
of needs with no regard for the consequences ∑ “if it
feels good, do it.”
 The Ego personalit
• is the only region of the mind in contact with reality.
• It grows out of the id during infancy and becomes a person’s sole
source of communication with the external world
• It is governed by the reality principle, which it tries to substitute
for the pleasure principle of the id
• As the sole region of the mind in contact with the external world,
the ego becomes the decision-making or executive branch of
personality.
 The EGO …..
• because it is partly conscious, partly preconscious, and partly
unconscious, the ego can make decisions on each of these three
levels.

• Look at the nex Example:

A woman’s ego may consciously motivate her to choose excessively

neat, well-tailored clothes because she feels comfortable when well

dressed. At the same time, she may be only dimly (i.e., preconsciously)

aware of previous experiences of being rewarded for choosing nice

clothes. In addition, she may be unconsciously motivated to be

excessively neat and orderly due to early childhood experiences of toilet

training

Thus, her decision to wear neat clothes can take place in all three levels of mental life
• Tries to equally treat unrealistic demands of the id and the
superego
• In addition to these two tyrants, the ego must serve a third master:
the external world (the reality)
• Thus, the ego constantly tries to reconcile the blind, irrational
claims of the id and the superego with the realistic demands of the
external world.
• Finding itself surrounded on three sides by divergent and hostile
forces, the ego reacts in a predictable manner: where it becomes
anxious (look at the next picture)
• It then uses repression and other defense mechanismsto defend
itself against this anxiety
• the ego becomes differentiated from the id when
infants learn to distinguish themselves from the
outer world

• While the id remains unchanged, the ego continues

to develop strategies for handling the id’s unrealistic
and unrelenting demands for pleasure

• At times the ego can control the powerful, pleasure-

seeking id, but at other times it loses control
 The synergy of id & ego
• Looks like a person on horseback

• The rider checks and inhibits the greater strength of the

horse but this possible by politeness the horse (its
mercy)

• Similarly, the ego must check and inhibit id impulses

but the ego has no its own power but borrows from
the id

• b/c of the more poorly organized id, gives its power

 The ego: what your module says:
• The Executive Director
• deals with reality
• is mostly conscious and is far more rational, logical than
the id
• works on the reality principle
• i.e. It satisfies the demands of the id and reduce libido only in
ways that it will not lead to negative consequences
• b/c sometimes denies id’s drives based on the consequence
that will produce painful or too unpleasant
 The superego personality
• Represents the moral and ideal aspects of personality and is
guided by the moralisticand idealistic principlesas opposed to the
pleasure principle of the id and the realistic principle of the ego

• The superego grows out of the ego, and like the ego, it has no
energy of its own.

• However, the superego differs from the ego in one important

respect: it has no contact with the outside world and therefore
is unrealistic in its demands for perfection
 The superego…..
• Superego: The Moral Watchdog

• Is the third and final part of the personality, the

moral center of personality

• Is the Latin, meaning “over the self”

• It develops as a preschool-aged child learns the

rules, customs, and expectations of society
 The superego ….
• The superego has two subsystems, the conscienceand the ego-
ideal

• the conscience results from experiences with punishments for

improper behavior and tells us what we should not do,

• the ego-ideal develops from experiences with rewards for proper

behavior and tells us what we should do.
 the ego ideal:
• The ego-ideal is a kind of measuring device.

• It is the sum of all the ideal or correct and acceptable behavior

that the child has learned about from parents and others in the
society

• All behavior is held up to this standard (i.e. societal expectation,

social standards) and judged by the conscience.
 The conscience ego
• The conscience is part of the personality that makes people pride

when they do the right thing and guilt, or moral anxiety when they

do the wrong thing

 The superego…..
• A well-developed superego acts to control sexual and
aggressive impulses through the process of repression.

• It cannot produce repressions by itself, but it can order the ego

to do so.

• The superego watches closely over the ego, judging its actions
and intentions.
 The superego ….
• Guilt is the result when the ego acts—or even intends to act—
contrary to the moral standards of the superego.

• Feelings of inferiority arise when the ego is unable to meet the

superego’s standards of perfection.

• Guilt, then, is a function of the conscience, whereas inferiority

feelings stem from the ego-ideal
Relationship among Id, Ego,
and Superego
• The development of the three divisions varies widely in different
individuals.

✓For some people, the superego does not grow after childhood;

✓For others, the superego may dominate the personality at the cost
of guilt and inferiority feelings.

✓For yet others, the ego and superego may take turns controlling
personality, which results in extreme fluctuations of mood and
alternating cycles of self-confidence and self-deprecation.
• In the healthy individual, the id and superego are integrated into a
smooth functioning ego and operate in harmony and with a
minimum of conflict.

• What you have learned from the above picture?????

 For the 1st person: ID > SUPEREG
• The id dominates a weak ego and a feeble superego, preventing

the ego from counterbalancing its incessant demands of the id and

leaving the person nearly constantly striving for pleasure

regardless of what is possible or proper

 For the 2nd person: SUPEREGO > ID
• With strong feelings of either guilt or inferiority and a weak ego,

will experience many conflicts because the ego cannot arbitrate

the strong but opposing demands of the superego and the id.
 For the 3rd person: ID<EGO>SUPEREGO
• A strong ego that has incorporated many of the demands of both
the id and the superego, is psychologically healthy and in control of
both the pleasure principle and the moralistic principle.
 Defense mechanisms
• Our personality is the outcome of the continual battle for dominance
among the id, the ego, and the superego

• Our personality uses defense mechanism to mange it

• DFs are unconscious tactics that either prevent threatening

material from surfacing or disguise it when it does

• DF is a certain specific means by which the ego unconsciously protects

itself against unpleasant impulses or circumstances

• They defend the ego from experiencing anxiety about failing in its tasks
 Defense…
• Defense mechanisms are normal and universally used,
• But when carried to an extreme they lead to compulsive, repetitive, and
neurotic behavior.
• Because we must expend psychic energy to establish and maintain defense
mechanisms, the more defensive we are, the less psychic energy we have
left to satisfy id impulses
• It is the ego’s purpose/duety in establishing defense mechanisms
• It does it to avoid dealing directly with sexual and aggressive implosives and to
defend itself against the anxiety that accompanies them
 Defense…
The principal defense mechanisms identified by Freud include
• Repression
• Denial
• Regression
• Rationalization
• Displacement
• Projection
• Reaction formation
• Sublimation
 1. Repression

• involves banishing threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into

the unconscious mind
• Whenever the ego is threatened by undesirable id impulses, it protects
itself by repressing those impulses; that is, it forces threatening
feelings into the unconscious
• In many cases the repression is then perpetuated for a lifetime.
• Eg. a young girl may permanently repress her hostility for a
younger sister because her hateful feelings create too much
anxiety.
 Cultural sayings

• አውቆ የተኛውን ብቀሰቅሱት አይነቃም፤

• Kan beekaa rafe yaaman hin dammaqu;

 2. Denial
• is refusal to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation

• i.e. Refusing to accept a reality

• if you refuse to accept the reality of something that makes you

anxious.
 Example for denial
Forexample, it is a stormy and frightening night,
and the local television and radio announcers are
advising citizens to take cover and observe the
tornado warnings in effect. Bekalu does not believe
that his town will get hit (he is in denial) and is
severely injured after failing to heed the warnings.
Mr. Geremew is an alcoholic who denies/ doesn‘t
accept being an alcoholic

"ይህ ህልም መሆን አለበት" ይባላል

“kun abjuu tahuu qaba” jedhama

 3. Regression:
• involves reverting to immature behaviors that have relieved anxiety in
the past

• Is means going back to an earlier and less mature pattern of behavior

• Once the libido has passed a developmental stage during times of

stress and anxiety, revert back to that earlier stage

• Regressions are quite common and are readily visible in children.

• For example, a completely weaned child may regress to demanding a bottle

or nipple when a baby brother or sister is born.

• Regressions are also frequent in older children and in adults.

• A common way for adults to react to anxiety-producing situations

is to revert to earlier, safer, more secure patterns of behavior and
to invest their libido onto more primitive and familiar objects.

• Example: a girl/a boy who has just entered school may go

back to sucking her/his thumb or wetting the bed.
 4. Rationalization
• Is giving socially acceptable reasons for one's inappropriate
behavior.

• Example: make bad grades but states the reason as

being knowledge rather than grade oriented; and grades
only showing superficial learning.
 5. Displacement
• Involves expressing feelings toward a person who is less threatening
than the person who is the true target of those feelings.

• Example: Hating your boss but taking it out on family members

• For example, a woman who is angry at her roommate may displace

her anger onto her employees, her pet cat, or a stuffed animal. She
remains friendly to her roommate, but unlike the workings of a reaction
formation, she does not exaggerate or overdo her friendliness.
 6. Projection
• Involves attributing one's undesirable feelings to other people.

• When an internal impulse provokes too much anxiety, the ego

may reduce that anxiety by attributing the unwanted impulse to
an external object, usually another person

• Example: a paranoid person uses projection to justify isolation

and anger.
• Paranoia is a mental disorder characterized by powerful delusions of

jealousy and persecution

• Projection, therefore, is talking as we hate something but the

opposite is real/tue = we love it/accept it

• E.g. Some indivuals I hate to marry but they want to do where thay

hate for the could not get the chance.

• Locally it is: “Dhabduun didduu of gootii”

• paranoia is always characterized by repressed
homosexual feelings toward the persecutor. Freud
believed that the persecutor is inevitably a former
friend of the same sex,
• When homosexual impulses become too powerful,
persecuted paranoiacs defend themselves by
reversingthese feelings and then projecting them onto
their original object
• e.g. for men, the transformation proceeds as follows.
Instead of saying, “I love him,” the paranoid person
says, “I hate him.”
 7. Reaction formation
• involves a tendency to act in a manner opposite to one's
true feelings.

• Reactive behavior can be identified by its exaggerated character

and by its obsessive and compulsive form

• Example: a person who acts conservation but focuses on

violence in their behavior.
• Another example of a reaction formation can be seen in a young
woman who deeply resents and hates her mother. Because she
knows that society demands affection toward parents, such
conscious hatred for her mother would produce too much
anxiety. To avoid painful anxiety, the young woman concentrates
on the opposite impulse-love. Her “love” for her mother,
however, is not genuine. It is showy, exaggerated, and overdone.
 8. Sublimation
• involves expressing sexual or aggressive behavior through
indirect, socially acceptable outlets.

• is the repression of the genital aim of Eros by substituting a cultural or

social aim.

• The sublimated aim is expressed most obviously in creative cultural

accomplishments such as art, music, and literature, but more subtly, it
is part of all human relationships and all social pursuits.

• Example: an aggressive person who loves playing football.

• Sublimationrefers to redirecting a forbidden desire into a
socially acceptable desire.
• For example, you may be so frustrated by your friend’s
arrogant attitude that you work extra hard at soccer practice,
pushing yourself to your physical limits.
• You have channeled your aggressive feelings into physical
activities.
 Projection vs reactionformation?
• Projection refers to a person seeing attributes of his own
personality in others.

• In Projection a person believes that impulses really coming from

within himself are coming from other people.

• (He is jealous of his girlfriend but claims that she’s the one
who is jealous.)
• In Projection inner feelings are thrown, or projected, outside the
self and assigned to others.

• If a person thinks, for example, that others dislike him when in

reality he dislikes himself, he is said to be projecting.

• This is a common mechanism, which you may have used yourself

from time to time.
Example
 Reaction formation
• involves replacing an unacceptable feeling or urge with an
opposite one.
 Generally, note that:
• defense mechanisms are not considered as inappropriate or unhealthy
unless we rely on them to an extreme level all of us use defense mechanisms
to manage our conflict and stress
• It may not be possible to get through life without such defenses
• But, excessive use may create more stress than it alleviates
• all defense mechanisms protect the ego against anxiety.
• They are universal in that everyone engages in defensive behavior to some
degree.
• Each defense mechanism combines with repression, and each can be carried to
the point of psychopathology
• Normally, however, defense mechanisms are beneficial to the
individual and harmless to society

• In addition, one defense mechanism-sublimation—usually benefits

both the individual and society
The trait theory of personality
• trait approach see personality as a combination of stable
internal characteristics that people display consistently over
time and across situation

• The trait approach to personality makes three main assumptions:

1. traits are relatively stable, and therefore predictable, over
time

2. traits are relatively stable across situations = eg. Bieng

competent in tennis transfers to socer game
3. no two people are exactly alike on all traits = individual difference
 five-factor model or the Big Five theory
• Component of trait theory
• The five trait dimensions can be remembered by using the
acronym OCEAN
• O = Openness
• C = Conscientiousness
• E = Extraversion
• A = Agreeableness
• N = Neuroticism
 1. Openness
• person‘s willingness to try new things and be open to new
experiences

• People who try to maintain the status quo and who don‘t like to
change things would score less on openness
 2. Conscientiousness
• a person‘s organization and motivation, with people who score
high in the dimension being those who are careful about being in
places on time and careful with belongings as well.

• for example, Someone scoring low on this dimension might

always be late to important social events or borrow belongings
and fail to return them or return in poor coordination.
 3. Extraversion
• first used by Carl Jung, who believed that all people could be
divided into two personality types: extraverts and introverts.

• Extraverts are outgoing and sociable, whereas introverts are

more solitary and dislike being the center of attention.
 4. Agreeableness
• refers to the basic emotional style of a person, who may be
easygoing, friendly and pleasant (at the high end of the scale) or
grumpy, crabby and hard to get along with (at the low end).
 5. Neuroticism
• refers to emotional instability or stability.

• People who are excessively worried, overanxious and moody

would score high on this dimension, whereas those who are more
even-tempered and calm could score low.
Humanistic theory of personality
• It is the works Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
• a central feature of personality is one’s self-concept—all the thoughts
and feelings we have in response to the question, “Who am I?”
• If our self-concept is positive: we tend to act and perceive the world
positively.
• If it is negative: if in our own eyes we fall far short of our ideal we feel
dissatisfied and unhappy.
• A worthwhile goal for therapists, parents, teachers, and friends is
therefore, he ( Rogers) said, to help others know, accept, and be true
to themselves.
• Want psychology to focus on subjective emotions and the
freedom to choose one‘s destiny.

• people‘s inherent goodness and their tendency to move toward

higher levels of functioning instead of seeing people as controlled
by

✓the unconscious (psychoanalysis approach),

✓ unseen forces (psychodynamic approaches), and

✓ a set of stable traits (trait approaches)

• It is this conscious, self-motivated ability to change and improve,
along with people‘s unique creative impulses, that humanistic
theorists argue make up the core of personality.
 Carl Rogers:
• Self-Cconcept
• believed that human beings are always striving to fulfill their
innate capacities and capabilities and to become everything
that their genetic potential will allow them to become.

• This striving for fulfillment is called self-actualizing tendency.

• Therefore, self-concept is all our thoughts and feelings about
ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”
 Carl….
• Image of oneself or self-concept leads to self-actualization.

• self-concept based on what people are told by others and

• how the sense of self is reflected in the words and actions of

important people in one‘s life, such as parents, siblings,
coworkers, friends, and teachers.
 Carl said on two components of SELF
• Real: one‘s actual perception of characteristics, traits, and
abilities that form the basis of the striving for self-actualization

• Ideal Self: the perception of what one should be or would like to

be

• ideal self comes from significant others in one‘s life (models),

most often the parents = to say ideal self is the learned self
 Carl ……
• Rogers believed that when:

✓the real self and the ideal self are very close or similar to each
other, people feel competent and capable,

✓there is a mismatch between the real and ideal selves, anxiety

and neurotic behavior can be the result.
 Rogers’ Regards in self
• For Carl Rogers there are two regards

1. Conditional postive regard

2. Unconditional Positive regard

 Conditional postive regard

• positive regard: is warmth, affection, love, and respect that

comes from the significant others (parents, admired adults,

friends, and teachers) in people‘s experience (life)

• Positive is vital to people‘s ability to cope with stress and

to strive to achieve self-actualization.

 Unconditional Positive regard
• Unconditioned positive regard, or love, affection and respect
with no strings attached,

• It is necessary for people to be able to explore fully all that

they can achieve and become

• Unfortunately, some parents, spouses, and friends give

conditional positive regard, which is love, affection, respect
and warmth that depend, or seem to depend, on doing what
those people want.
 Self-actualization
• Is the humanist term for realizing one’s unique potential

• self-actualization: is, the realization of our potentialities as

unique human beings.

• Self-actualization involves an openness to a wide range of

experiences, an awareness of and respect for one’s own and other
people’s uniqueness, accepting the responsibilities of freedom and
commitment, a desire to become more and more authentic or true
to oneself, and an ability to grow.
 Self-actualization
• Self-actualization involves an openness to a wide range of
experiences, an awareness of and respect for one’s own and other
people’s uniqueness, accepting the responsibilities of freedom and
commitment, a desire to become more and more authentic or true
to oneself, and an ability to grow.

• Therefore, both conditional and unconditional positive regads

are much important in self-actualization processes

(look at the example from your module pp. 86)

 Therefore, for the Rogerian’s:
• a person who is in the process of self-actualizing is:
✓actively exploring his/her potentials and abilities
✓experiencing a match between real and ideal selves

• As a result this man is fully functioning/working/operative person.

• Fully functioning person is in touch with his/her feelings and abilities
and can trust his innermost urges and intuitions/ perception/
intrinsic
• To become a fully functioning, then, a person needs unconditional
positive regard.
 Conclustion from the above example:
• Chaltu would not have been a fully functioning person= b/c of
conditional positive regad = parental preexpectation = think
of extrinsic motivation

• Tirhas would have been a fully functioning person = b/c of

unconditional positive regard = personal expectation = think
of intrinsic motivation
 Self-actualization vs fully functioning
• Self-actualization is a goal that people are always striving to reach
• fully functioning: an individual whose person and self coincide
• It is ablity to accept your person and become open to allyour feelings,
thoughts, and experiences and hence to other people.
• Fully functioning is an element of self-actualization
• i.e. only a person who is fully functioning is capable of reaching
the goal of self-actualization
• To be fully functioning is a necessary step in the process of self-
actualization
• The person and the self are one.
• So, the individual is free to develop all of his
or her potentialities
• Maslow listed several people that he considered to be self-actualized
people:

Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt

• Qualities of self-actualized person include creative, autonomous and

unprejudiced /fairness/unbais/evenhanded

• Self-actualized people have trust in their true feelings and innermost

needs rather than just going along with the crowd, a description that
certainly seems to apply in these three cases
HANS EYSENCK: DIMENSIONS OF

PERSONALITY
• he was an English psychologist
• He concluded that there are two basic dimensions of
personality
1. stability versus instability
2. extraversion versus introversion.
• Stability refers to the degree to which people have control
over their feelings
• A person is emotionally stable who is easygoing, relaxed,
well-adjusted, and even-tempered
• At the anxiety (instability) dominated end of the spectrum is
the moody, anxious, and restless person.
Learn this: Two personality dimensions
• Extravert: an outgoing, active person who directs his or her
energies and interests toward other people and things

• Extravertsare sociable, outgoing, active, lively people.

• They enjoy parties and seek excitement.

• introvert: a reserved, withdrawn person who is preoccupied with

his or her inner thoughts and feelings

• who are more thoughtful, reserved, passive, unsociable, and quiet.

• Eysenck added a third dimension: psychoticism

Self-centered
High superego

• self-centered end: they are hostile, and aggressive people, who

act without much thought.

• high superego: they tend to be socially sensitive, high on caring

and empathy, and easy people with whom to work
Theories of Personality
 Theory Assumptions
Psychoanalytic ➢ Mian point: proposes that personality is made up of three components: the id, ego, and superego;
➢ every personality has an unconscious component and that childhood experiences, even if not
consciously recalled, continue to influence peo ple’s behaviors.
➢ The id, ego, and superego explain how the mind functions and how instinctual energies are
regulated.
Learning/behvioral ➢ Main point: Behaviorists are interested in how aspects of personality are learned

➢ Behaviorists believe that as individuals differ in their learning experiences, they acquire different
behaviors and different personalities.
➢ Albert Bandura believed that personality is acquired not only by reinforcement but also by
observational learning.
Humanistic and ➢ Main point: personality stress the positive aspects of human nature
Cognitive
➢ All human beings strive for self-actualization
➢ many people suffer from a conflict between what they value in themselves and what they believe
other people value in them
Trait Theories character traits account for consistency of behavior in different situations
 CHAPTER SEVEN

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

AND

TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
 Chapter Overview
• Mental illness is a disorder that affects mood, thinking and
behavior
Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders,
schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors
• Many people have mental health concerns from time to time.
• But, a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when
ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect
your ability to function
 Learning Outcomes
• Describe how psychological disorders are defined, as well as the
inherent difficulties in doing so.

• Identify the nature of Psychological disorders.

• Explain the causes of psychological disorders.

• Identify the different types, characteristic features of psychological

disorders.

• Explain different theories to explain the nature of abnormality.

• Discuss the treatment techniques.

 Nature of Psychological Disorders
• People who exhibit abnormal patterns of feelings, thinking and
behavior most likely suffer from some kind of psychological
disorders
• Psychological disorder is a clinically recognizable set of
symptoms or behaviours associated in most cases with distress
and with interference with personal functions
Criteria for psychologica disorder:
Three main criteria:
• abnormality,
• maladaptiveness, and
• personal distress.
 1. Abnormality
• Abnormal behavior is a behavior that deviates from the behavior
of the “typical” person; the norm

• When someone behaves in culturally unacceptable ways and the

behaviors a one exhibit violates the norm, standards, rules and
regulations of the society, this person is most likely to have
a ps ychological problem

• Since abnormal behavior not sufficient context is great solution

 2. Maladaptiveness
• Maladaptiveness: lack skills to carry out day-to-day activities
• a social, personal and occupational problem on those who
exhibit the behaviors
social

Cognitive Amladaptive Psychologica

Academic
 Personal Distress
• Our subjective feelings of anxiety, stress, tension and other
unpleasant emotions determine whether we have a psychological
disorder

• These negative emotional states arise either by the problem itself

or by events happen that on us but is not sufficient for the
presence of psychological disorder because of some distressed by
their own behavior
Causes of Psychological Disorders (Based on Perspectives)
 The Biological Perspective
• working of chemicals in the brain, called neurotransmitters, may
contribute to many psychological disorders.

• For example, over activity of the neurotransmitter

dopamine, perhaps caused by an overabundance of certain
dopamine receptors in the brain,

• This links to the bizarre symptoms of schizophrenia.

 Psychological Perspectives

three psychological perspectives

• the psychoanalytic perspective,

• the learning, and

• the cognitive behavioral perspectives

 the psychoanalytic perspective

believed that the human mind consists of three interacting

forces:

• the id (a pool of biological urges),

• the ego (which mediates between the id and reality), and

• the superego (which represent society‘s moral

standards)
• in Freud’s view, it is caused by the ego’s inability to manage the
conflict between the opposing demands of the id and the
superego

• It is the individuals’ failure to manage the conflicting of:

✓ id’s sexual impulses during childhood VERSUS society’s sexual

morality to resolve the earlier childhood (superego)
 Learning perspective

• arise from inadequate or inappropriate learning.

• People acquire abnormal behaviors through the
various kinds of learning
 Cognitive perspective
• Believe or not, the quality of our internal dialogue either builds
ourselves up or tear ourselves down and has profound effect on our
mental health

• Theme: self-defeating thoughts lead to the development of negative

emotions and self-destructive behaviors

• ways we think about events in our life determine our emotional and
behavioral patterns

• But our environmental and cultural experiences factor our thinkng

 Types of Psychological Disorders
• Psychlogical disorder: is a condition characterized by
abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

• Psychopathology: is the study of psychological disorders,

including their symptoms, etiology (i.e., their causes), and
treatment

• Psychopathology: refer to the manifestation of a

psychological disorder
there are many types of psychological
disorders including:

• mood disorder,

• anxiety disorder and

• personality disorder.
 Mood Disorder
• a serious change in mood from depressed to elevated feelings
causing disruption to life activities

• Depressive disorder: is characterized by overall feelings of

desperation /worry/extreem anxiety/nerviousness and
inactivity.

• Elevated mood: characterized by mania or hypomania

• Mania: is excessive happy

• Bipolar mood: is the cycling between both depressed and manic
moods

• Dysthymic disorder: is a lesser form of major depression

• Cyclothymic disorder: is recognized less severe form of bipolar

disorder
Generally mood disorder include:

• Major Depression

• Dysthymic Disorder

• Bipolar Disorder and

• Cyclothymia.
 Major Depression
• also known as clinical depression

• is characterized by:
✓depressed mood,

✓diminished interest in activities previously enjoyed,

✓weight disturbance,

✓sleep disturbance,

✓ loss of energy, difficulty concentrating, and

✓often includes feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of suicide

 Dysthymia
• is often considered a lesser, but more persistent form of
depression.

• Its symptoms are similar but a lesser degree.

• as opposed to Major Depression it is steadier in periods of

normal feelings and extreme lows.
 Bipolar Disorder

• Previously known as Manic-Depression

• is characterized by periods of extreme highs called mania and

extreme lows as in Major Depression.

• Bipolar Disorder is subtyped:

✓ either I (extreme or hypermanic episodes) or

✓ II (moderate or hypomanic episodes)

• bipolar disorder is in which individuals are excessively and
inappropriately happy or unhappy.

• These reactions may take the form of high elation, hopeless

depression, or an alternation between the two.
 Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety is a general state of dread or uneasiness that a person feels in
response to a real or imagined danger.
• anxiety: is a vague, generalized apprehension or feeling that one is in danger
• Anxiety: is a normal reaction to stress
• People suffering from Anxiety disorders feel anxiety but not just normal
anxiety.
• They suffer from anxiety that is out of proportion to the situation provoking it
• This intense anxiety interferes with normal functioning in everyday
• It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay
attention.

• Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness

or anxiousness, and involve excessive fear or anxiety

• anxiety disorders are treatable and a number of effective

treatments are available

• Anxiety disorders can cause people into trying to avoid situations

that trigger or worsen their symptoms.
the primary feature is abnormal or inappropriate anxiety
that includes
• Panic Disorder,
• Agoraphobia,
• Specific Phobias,
• Social Phobia,
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
 Panic disorder
• Is a psychological disorder characterized by sudden attacks of
anxiety and terror, known as panic attacks, that have led to
significant behavioral changes in the person’s life

• Symptoms: shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembling,

dizziness, choking sensations, nausea, and an intense feeling of
dread or impending doom
Example of panic diorder: from an interview women
• When I was about 30 I had my first panic attack. I was driving home, my
three little girls were in their car seats in the back, and all of a sudden,
I couldn’t breathe, I broke out into a sweat, and my heart began racing
and literally beating against my ribs! I thought I was going to die. I
pulled off the road and put my head on the wheel. I remember songs
playing on the CD for about 15 minutes and my kids’ voices singing
along. I was sure I’d never see them again. And then, it passed. I slowly
got back on the road and drove home. I had no idea what it was
 Phobias
• A phobia is a specific fear of a certain object, situation, or activity
that adversely affects an individual’s functioning

• Most people learn to live with their phobias, but for others the fear
can be so debilitating that they go to extremes to avoid the fearful
situation.
 Agoraphobia

• is defined as anxiety about being in places or situations

from which escape might be difficult or in which help may
not be available.

• Means fear of the marketplace

 Specific/Simple and Social Phobias
• Specific phobias: are unreasonable fears of a clearly identified
object or situation

• Examples of specific phobias include animals, blood, flying in a

plane, or thunder and lightning

• social phobia: also known as social anxiety disorder, which is an

extreme discomfort in social situations due to a fear of being
negatively evaluated by others or humiliating oneself
The Most Common Phobias
Kinds of phobia
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
• is a psychological disorder that when an individual continuously
experiences distressing or frightening thoughts, and then engages
in repetitive behaviors
• Obsessions: are unwanted and distressing repetitive thoughts
and
• Compulsions: are the repetitive behaviors done as a way to
reduce the anxiety caused by the obsession.
• Everyone has obsessions and compulsions
 Example of OCD: from star socer David Bekham
I have got this obsessive-compulsive disorder where I
have to have everything in a straight line or everything
has to be in pairs. I’ll put my Pepsi cans in the fridge
and if there’s one too many then I’ll put it in another
cupboard somewhere. I’ve got that problem. I’ll go into a
hotel room. Before Ican relax, I have to move all the
leaflets and all the books and put them in a drawer.
Everythinghas to be perfect

(Dave Beckham as reported)

 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• feel stress and fear that cause distress and interfere with their
lives after having been exposed to a traumatic event

• People who have survived a terrible ordeal, such as torture,

sexual assault, imprisonment, abuse, natural disasters, or
witnessing the death of someone, may develop PTSD

• PTSD may begin months or even years after the event. People with
PTSD experience flashbacks or high levels of anxiety or arousal
along with re-experiencing the trauma
post-traumatic stress disorder generally is
disorder in which victims of traumatic events
experience the original event in the form of
dreams or flashbacks
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• a psychological disorder diagnosed in situations in which a

person has been excessively worrying about money, health,
work, family life, or relationships for at least 6 months, even
though he or she knows that the concerns are exaggerated, and
when the anxiety causes significant distress and dysfunction
 Personality Disorders
• is a disorder characterized by inflexible patterns of thinking,
feeling, or relating to others that cause problems in personal,
social, and work situations

• Personality disorders tend to emerge during late childhood or

adolescence and usually continue throughout adulthood
Personality disorder is categorized into three types:

• Characterized by odd or eccentric behavior

• Characterized by dramatic or erratic behavior

• Characterized by anxious or inhibited behavior.

 It is Reality based issue

You will probably think of people that you know who have each of these
traits, at least to some degree. Probably you know someone who seems a
bit suspicious and paranoid, who feels that other people are always
“ganging up on him,” and who really does not trust other people very
much. Perhaps you know someone who fits the bill of being overly
dramatic, such as the “drama queen”, who is alwaysraising a stir and whose
emotions seem to turn everything into a big deal. Also, you might have
afriend who is overly dependent on others and cannot seem to get a life
of her own.
• Two personality disorders that have important implications for behavior, will be
further discussed

• The first, borderline personality disorder (BPD), is important because it is so

often associated with suicide, and the second, antisocial personality disorder
(APD), because it is the foundation of criminal behavior

• Borderline and antisocial personality disorders are also good examples to

consider because they are so clearly differentiated in terms of their focus

• BPD is known as an internalizing disorder because the behaviors that it entails

are mostly directed toward the self (e.g., suicide and self-mutilation)
 Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
• is a psychological disorder characterized by a prolonged
disturbance of personality accompanied by mood swings, unstable
personal relationships, identity problems, threats of self-
destructive behavior, fears of abandonment, and impulsivity.

• BPD is widely diagnosed as up to 20% of psychiatric patients are

given the diagnosis, and it may occur in up to 2% of the general
population

• About three-quarters of diagnosed cases of BDP are women.

• People with BPD fear being abandoned by others, show a clinging
dependency on others, and engage in manipulation to try to
maintain relationships.

• They become angry if a partner limits the relationship, but deny

that they care about the person.

• As a defense against fear of abandonment, those with BPD are

compulsively social, but their behaviors, including intense anger,
demands, and suspiciousness, repel people.
• APD, on the other hand, is a type of externalizing disorder in which

the problem behaviors focus primarily on harm to others (e.g.,

lying, fighting, vandalism, and other criminal activity).

• BPD has both genetic and environmental roots.

• In terms of genetics, research has found that those with BPD

frequently have neurotransmitter imbalances and the disorder is
heritable.

• In terms of environment, many theories about the causes of BPD

focus on a disturbed early relationship between the child and his
or her parents
• Some theories focus on the development of attachment in early
childhood, while others point to parents who fail to provide
adequate attention to the child’s feelings.

• Others focus on parental abuse (both sexual and physical) in

adolescence, as well as on divorce, alcoholism, and other
stressors
• The dangers of BPD are greater when they are associated with childhood
sexual abuse, early age of onset, substance abuse, and aggressive
behaviors.

• The problems are amplified when the diagnosis is comorbid, as it often is,
with other disorders, such as substance related disorders, major
depressive disorder,
 Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)
• is a pervasive pattern of violation of the rights of others and a
tendency to violate those rights without being concerned about doing
so
• APD is about three times more likely to be diagnosed in men than in
women.
• To be diagnosed with APD, the person must be 18 years of age or
older.
• People having antisocial personality disorder are sometimes referred
to as “sociopaths” or “psychopaths.”
• People with APD feel little distress for the pain they cause others

• They lie, engage in violence against animals and people, and

frequently have drug and alcohol abuse problems

• They are egocentric and frequently impulsive, for instance

suddenly changing jobs or relationships

• The intensity of antisocial symptoms tends to peak during the 20s

and then may decrease over time