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SOUTH EASTERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE(A Constituent College of the University of Nairobi)

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

An Introduction to Psychology

For

Bachelor of Education (Arts/Science)

By James M. Muola (PhD)

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December, 2011

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CONTENTS PAGEPreface: iiTopic 1: Definition of Psychology 1Topic 2: Methods of study in psychology 8Topic 3: Branches of psychology 13Topic 4: Theories of psychology 16Topic 5: Biological and environmental bases of behavior 21Topic 6: Human Development 32Topic 7: Intelligence 43Topic 8: Sensation and perception 48Topic 9: Emotions 58Topic 10: Drives and motivation 64Topic 11: Human learning 72Topic 12: Memory 86Topic 13: Abnormal behaviour 92Topic 15: Social behaviour and group dynamics 115Bibliography 127

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TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. IntroductionIn this topic an attempt will be made to introduce you to the broad field ofpsychology. Psychology as a discipline will be defined and looked at themajor goals of psychology. We shall also discuss the historical developmentof psychology. Finally, we will look at the reason why the study ofpsychology can be useful to you as teacher.

1.2. What is psychology?The term psychology may not be new to you but your understanding of the termmight be different from that of psychologists. Psychologists define it as thescientific study of human and animal behaviour. Behaviour here means whatpeople do, their thoughts, feelings, perceptions, reasoning processes,memories, emotions and so on. It encompasses both covert (indirectlyobservable) and overt (directly observable) behaviours.

As a science, psychology is empirical, that is, it is based on experimentationand observation rather than on opinion, belief or intuition. A science is abody of systematized knowledge that is gathered by carefully observing andmeasuring phenomena. Psychologists carry out experiments and makeobservations, which others can repeat; and they obtain data which others canverify. This scientific approach is different from forming opinions on thebasis of individual experiences or arguing from premises that no one can test.

Research in psychology follows scientific procedures to collect, analyse, andinterpret information regarding the behaviour under study. Psychology isconsidered a science because it uses systematic and precise methods ofobservation and measurement. Now that you have an idea of what psychology is,we will now look at the basic goals of psychology.

1.3. Goals of psychologyPsychology has four basic goals: to describe, explain, predict and change ormodify behaviour. In some studies, psychologists attempt to describebehaviours by making careful scientific observations. In other studies, theytry to explain behaviour by conducting experiments to determine their causes.

Learning objectives

At the end of this topic you should be able to: Define psychology. Explain the major goals of psychology. Give a brief history of the development of psychology as a science of human

behaviour. Explain the importance of psychology to a teacher.

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For example, a study may be conducted to find out why a learner’s academicachievement is declining.

Psychologists use research information or findings to predict futurebehaviour. By knowing the factors related to a particular behaviour, it ispossible to predict when the behaviour is likely to occur. Psychologistsapply research findings to modify or change inappropriate behaviour orcircumstances. For example, by knowing that a learner’s academic achievementis declining because of the lack of a conducive learning environment, you cantry to improve the environment to maximize his/her performance. Nevertheless,we can conclude by observing that the ultimate goal of psychology is to gatherknowledge for the benefit of humanity through research.

Psychologists do conduct either basic or applied research. Basic studyinvolves the study of theoretical issues that may or may not have real-worldapplication. For example, laboratory research on animals is conducted toexplore new theories and advance general scientific understanding ofbehaviour. Applied research on the other hand, is conducted to solve aspecific problem. It is research that uses the principles and discoveries ofpsychology for practical purposes, to solve real-world problems. For example,educational psychologists conduct applied research to generate importantknowledge that can be used to improve educational practices.

1.4. The historical development of psychologyHow old is psychology as a formal scientific discipline? Psychology emergedas a formal science slightly over a century ago. However, this does not implythat psychology never existed before. Prior to the time it became a formalscience; issues related to psychology were studied as part of philosophy,sociology, and also physiology.

The development of psychology as a separate discipline was stimulated by thedevelopment of research methodology appropriate to psychological questions.Thus, it became a separate discipline when it acquired its methods ofresearch. The contents of psychology have emerged from the application ofthese methods. We shall discuss these methods in the subsequent section.

Psychology started as a formal discipline in the year 1879 when the firstpsychological laboratory was established at the University of Leipzig by aGerman philosopher/psychologist namely, Wilhelm Wundt. At about the sametime, an American – William James set up his laboratory in Cambridge,Massachusetts. These two are considered to be the founders of experimentalpsychology. Through all these years psychology has evolved as a true science.It has also developed different approaches/perspectives or conceptual modelsthat have been used to study behaviour. Each of the approaches also known asschools of psychology provides a different perspective (way of explainingbehaviour) emphasizing different factors.

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Schools of psychology can be thought of as groups of psychologists who holdcommon beliefs about both the subject matter of psychology, that is, whatfacets of mental processes and behaviours should be studied, and what methodsof study should be used. Thus, a school of psychology represents a view pointor approach to the explanation of behaviour. Most schools of psychologydeveloped as a revolt against traditional methods and beliefs at the time.Different schools provided ideas that influenced contemporary approaches topsychology. In this topic we are going to discuss various schools ofpsychology and as we do this, keep your attention focused on how some of theseschools might have contributed to the teaching-learning process.

1.4.1 Structuralism

German physiologist Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1920) is generally considered thefounder of psychology as a scientific discipline. He established the firstlaboratory for experimental psychology in 1879 at the University of Leipzig inLeipzig, Germany. He started one earliest schools of psychology calledstructuralism.

Figure 1: Wilheim WundtThe goal of structuralists was to find the units, or elements, which make upthe mind. They thought that a first step in the study of the mind should be adescription of those basic or elementary units of sensation, image and emotionthat compose it (Morgan, King, & Scholpler, 1986). They were mainly concernedwith determining the components of conscious thought.

Wundt and other structuralists used a technique called introspection to studythe structure of behaviour. Introspection is a method in which subjects areasked to describe in detail their thoughts and feelings. The assumption wasthat one can understand the structure of the mind through the objectivereports and reactions of the subject. For example, a subject might bepresented with a coloured light and asked to describe it as minutely aspossible.

Structuralists inaugurated psychology as a science and established theimportance of studying mental processes. However, psychologists felt thatstructuralism was limited to only one area of behaviour and had few practical

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applications. These psychologists who were mainly Americans began a newschool of psychology called functionalism.

1.4.2 Functionalism

William James (1842 – 1910) was the leading force in the functionalism schoolof psychology. Functionalists felt that psychology should study “what themind and behaviour do”. They were specifically interested in the fact thatmind and behaviour are adaptive – they enable an individual to adjust to achanging environment. Psychologists in this school of thought were influencedby Darwin’s theory of the survival for the fittest. Instead of limitingthemselves to the description and analysis of the mind, they did experimentson the ways in which learning, memory, problem solving and motivation helphuman beings and animals to adapt to environments. In short, as the name ofthe school implies, these early psychologists studied the functions of mindand behaviour.

Figure 2: William JamesFunctionalism had an impact on the development of psychology although it is nolonger considered a formal school (Huffman, Vernoy, & Williams, 1987). Itexpanded the scope of psychology to include research on emotions andobservable behaviours. Functionalists initiated the psychological testingmovement, changed the course of modern psychology and were responsible forextending psychology’s influence on diverse areas in industry. OtherPsychologists’ dissatisfaction with these initial schools of psychology led tothe development of new perspectives of looking at behaviour.

1.4.3 Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) founded psychoanalytic approach. He was an Austrianphysician whose area of specialization was neurology (the study of disordersof the nerves and brain). It developed because of his experience with hismedical patients. In his treatment of neurological patients, Freud noted thatsome of his patients presented symptoms that had no physical basis like braindamage. These symptoms were real for the patients as if they had neurologicalcauses.

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Freud suspected that these problems were psychological in origin and as aresult developed a complex and sophisticated model of human behaviour known aspsychoanalytic theory. From this theory he developed the treatment known aspsychoanalysis.

Freud believed that behaviour is brought about by inner unconscious forces,drives or impulses over which the person has little control. These urges anddrives are hidden from the awareness of the individual. In other words, theyare unconscious. It is the expression of these unconscious drives which showsup in behaviour and thought. For example, psychoanalysts believe that dreamsand slips of the tongue are manifestations of what a person is feeling withina subconscious psychic activity.

Freud also emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences on laterpersonality development. He coined the phrase, “the child is the father ofthe man”, to emphasize his belief that our childhood experiences are stored inour unconscious state of mind and influence our personality and behaviour whenwe are adults

1.4.4 Behaviourism

Behaviourism is a school of psychology that advocates the use of strictexperimental procedures to study observable behaviour (or responses) inrelation to the environment (or stimuli). Behaviourists felt that observablebehaviour should be the focus of study rather than mental processes andunconscious experiences. The proponents of this school of thought include J.B. Watson (1878 – 1958), B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), and E. L. Thorndike (1874–1949). Behaviourists felt that the scientific method in psychology should belimited to the study of behaviours that can be directly observed and verified.Watson believed that by controlling a person’s environment any desiredbehaviour could be obtained irrespective of his/her talents, abilities,heredity and other factors.

Behaviourists believed that all behaviour can be viewed as a response to astimulus (an object or event that causes an organism to respond in theenvironment). For example, a baby who cries upon seeing a nurse wheneverhe/she is taken to the dispensary is demonstrating stimulus-response

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behaviour. The nurse is the stimulus and the crying is the response.According to this school of thought, nearly all behaviour can be accounted forby learning. Behaviour that has been rewarded in the past will likely berepeated again whereas behaviour that is not reinforced is likely to becomeextinct.

Watson and Skinner used animals (such as, rats, pigeons and cats) to study howbehaviours are acquired through learning and how behaviour can be changed.This perspective was criticized for overemphasizing visible behaviour andenvironmental influences on behaviour to the extend of ignoring thought andsubjective experiences. This approach had significant influence on:

How we learn new behaviours. How behaviour can be modified. The proper use of punishment and rewards

1.4.5 Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology that deals mainly with theprocesses of perception (see a later topic on sensation and perception). According toGestalt psychology, images are perceived as a pattern or a whole rather thanmerely as a sum of distinct component parts. The context of an image plays akey role.

Gestalt psychology began as a protest. At the beginning of the 20th century,behaviourism dominated psychology. About 1910, German researchers MaxWertheimer (1880 -1943), Wolfgang Köhler (1887 – 1967), and Kurt Koffka (1886– 1941) rejected the prevailing order of scientific analysis in psychology.They did not, however, reject science; rather they sought a scientificapproach more nearly related to the subject matter of psychology.

Gestalt psychologists found perception to be heavily influenced by the contextor configuration of the perceived elements. The word Gestalt can be translatedfrom the German approximately as “configuration.” The parts often derive theirnature and purpose from the whole and cannot be understood apart from it.Moreover, a straightforward summation process of individual elements cannotaccount for the whole. Activities within the total field of the whole governthe perceptual processes.

Gestalt psychologists felt that human beings respond holistically toexperience; according to Gestaltists, any separation of mind and body isartificial. The emphasis is on present experience, rather than onrecollections of infancy and early childhood as in psychoanalysis.

1.4.6 Humanistic Psychology

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Faced with a choice between psychoanalysis and behaviourism, manypsychologists in the 1950s and 1960s sensed a void in psychology’s conceptionof human nature. Carl Rogers (1902 – 1987) and Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970)are some of the most influential psychologists associated with the humanisticapproach. This school of psychology developed as a reaction against the ideathat behaviour is determined by forces beyond our control or by environmentalforces. It emphasizes on free-will, that is, the human ability to makechoices and decisions about one’s life. According to Huffman et al,(1987:34), humanistic psychologists emphasized the importance of inner,subjective self, consciousness and feelings. Humanists emphasize that humannature is naturally positive, creative and growth seeking unless blocked byexperience. We can freely choose to live more creative, meaningful andsatisfying lives. Thus, we are free to make choices and to decide how tobehave. Each one of us is seen as a unique individual with both the need andability to fulfill our unique and optimum potential according to AbrahamMaslow. This school of thought has made major contributions in counsellingwhich is the process of assisting another person to find a solution to his/herproblems through discussion with a counselor.

1.4.7 Cognitive Psychology

The psychologist who is closely associated with this school of thought is JeanPiaget (1896 – 1980) who was a Swiss. This view was a reaction againstradical behaviourists like Skinner, who regarded cognition (thought) asoutside the realm of psychology. The new view came to be known as cognitivepsychology and focused on reasoning and the mental processing of information.Cognitive psychology is concerned with the acquisition, storage, retrieval anduse of knowledge. Cognitive psychology studies how we gather, encode andstore information from our environment using mental processes such as,perception, memory, imagery, concept formation, problem solving, reasoning,decision making and language (Huffman et al., 1995:34)

Cognitive psychologists take an information processing approach based on theidea that humans are like computers in that both take in information, processit and produce a response/behaviour. Thus, we do not just respond toenvironmental stimuli, we mentally process the sensory input, appraise thesituation and respond accordingly. For example, if the same ridicule isdirected to three students, their reactions may be different. One may cry,another one may take it as a warning not to continue misbehaving and the thirdone may not react at all. Their reactions can be explained in terms of howthey process and interpret the information.

Piaget and other cognitive psychologists believed that behaviour has acognitive element. We understand and actively interpret information. Piagetbelieved that the ability to process information undergoes dramatictransformation as children grow from one stage of development to another.According to Piaget, children understand the world in an entirely different

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way from adults. Thus, the difference in behaviour in children and adultsreflects the difference in their ability to know, understand and reason aboutthings and events around them which develops systematically. As children, weneed to see and feel things to know and understand them, but as adults, we canknow and understand things and events through abstract reasoning andconceptual analysis. Cognitive development will be discussed in detail in thesecond module on developmental psychology.

1.4.8 Psychobiology

This school of thought explains behaviour in terms of the biologicalfunctioning of the body. It emphasizes that genetic, physiological andneurological factors and processes determine behaviour. The influence of thenervous system, particularly the brain is very crucial. A normal human beingdepends on a properly functioning nervous system. Psychological developmentis based on changes in brain growth, which are genetically determined, thatis, maturation. Normal behaviour or psychological or mental health isfunctions of a normally functioning healthy nervous system. A problem ordisease affecting the nervous system, which includes the brain, will affecthuman behaviour, causing problems in learning and normal living (Sindabi &Omulema, 2000).

1.4.9 The Eclectic View

The various schools of psychology discussed are important in the historicaldevelopment of psychology. At any one time or another each was the dominantperspective. They influenced thought and guided research in psychology. Mostof the knowledge and content we have in psychology today developed from theseschools of thought.

Most contemporary psychologists recognize that these perspectives are notmutually exclusive from each other and hence the eclectic view/perspectivewhich allows blending of ideas from different perspectives. The eclecticapproach adopts principles and practices from several orientations or schoolsof thought. This approach holds that human behaviour cannot be understoodfully by taking one perspective. Each perspective focuses on a differentaspect of human behaviour and as such may be seen as complementary rather thancompeting. In many cases, they provide explanations of behaviour at differentlevels. All the explanations may be right since they address the task ofunderstanding human behaviour at different levels and perspectives.

Rather than speak of schools of psychology, most modern psychologist prefer totalk about the perspectives or approaches that influence the topics studied inpsychology.

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1.5. Application of psychology to teachingHaving defined and described the nature of psychology, we will now look at whyit is an important area of study for prospective teachers. The knowledge youare going to acquire in psychology can help you as a teacher to: Understand some of the problems related to learning. For example, lack of

motivation and learning disabilities. Understand how learning takes place. Understand the conditions that are necessary for learning to take place for

example, a conducive learning environment, learners’ health, adequatemotivation and reinforcement.

Understand and appreciate individual differences among learners. Yourlearners will be different in terms of intellectual, emotional, social, andmoral behaviour.

Evaluate the child’s learning. You will be able to monitor the learner’sprogress and your effectiveness as a teacher.

Offer guidance and counselling to your learners on matters pertaining tolearning, study methods, career choice, and behaviour and so on.

Identify learners’ problems and their causes. By knowing why a learnerbehaves the way he/she does you can make an attempt to rectify thesituation.

Make decisions about the learner. For example, you may need to make adecision to give remedial teaching to a student who is a slow learner orgive extra and challenging work to a student who is a quick learner.

To formulate realistic expectations for different learners depending ontheir learning potential.

Understand and appreciate the principles involved in the process oflearning and teaching. You will be able to apply these principles in thelearning–teaching situation.

Prepare instruction that suits the age, needs, and interests of thelearner.

1.6. Summary Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour and experience. Psychologists use scientific methods to investigate overt (observable) and

covert (unobservable) behaviours. The scientific approach insists onprecision, consistency, objectivity and reliability.

The basic goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict and changebehaviour.

Psychology emerged as a formal scientific discipline in the year 1879 whena German philosopher/psychologist Wilhelm Wundt established the firstpsychological laboratory at Leipzig in German.

A school of psychology represents a group of psychologists who held commonbeliefs about the subject matter of psychology and the methods of study tobe used.

Structuralists attempted to identify elements of consciousness and thatform the structure of the mind.

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Functionalists studied the functions of mental processes and behaviour inadapting the individual to the environment.

Psychoanalysts examined psychological problems presumed to be caused byunconscious thoughts and conflicts.

The Gestalt school studied organizing principles of perceptual processes. Behaviourism emphasized observable behaviours and the ways they are

learned. Humanistic psychology focused on free will and the assumption that our

nature is positive and growth seeking. Cognitive psychologists focused on the role of reasoning and mental

processes in behaviour. Psychobiology attempts to explain behaviour in terms of complex chemical

and biological events within the brain. The eclectic view allows blending of ideas from different schools of

psychology in order to understand behaviour fully. The art of teaching requires psychological knowledge such as adequate

information about the learner’s behaviour and the learning process.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Why is psychology considered as a scientific discipline?2. Identify and explain the major goals of psychology.3. Give a brief account of how psychology evolved as a formal science.4. As a prospective or practicing teacher, discuss how the knowledge of

psychology can be useful to you.5. What is a school of psychology?6. Explain the difference between the two historical schools of psychology,

that is, structuralism and functionalism.7. (a) In one or two sentences explain the major emphasis of the

following schools/perspectives in psychology: psychoanalytic gestalt behaviourism humanistic cognitive psychobiology

(b) Discuss the contributions of the six perspectives in 3a. Inpsychology.

8 Compare the cognitive approach with the psychobiological approach topsychology.

9 Explain how behaviour originates according to the behaviouristicapproach to psychology.

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TOPIC 2: METHODS OF STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY

2.1. IntroductionIn the previous topic we defined psychology and discussed how it developedinto a true science with its own methods of study. In this topic we are goingto discuss some of these methods that have contributed to the knowledge wehave in psychology today. The methods that we are going to discuss areexperimental and non-experimental methods.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this topic you should be able to: Differentiate between various methods of studying behaviour. Give the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of studying human

behaviour. Discuss some of the ethical considerations to be made when studying human

behaviour. Apply various methods of study in the investigations of problems in the learning-

teaching process.

2.2. Experimental researchWhat is experimental research? Weiten (1989:38) defines experimental researchas a “Method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefullycontrolled conditions and observes whether there are changes in a secondvariable as a result”. Through an experiment a researcher is able to isolatea single factor and examine its effect on a particular behaviour. Let us lookat some of the major components of experimental research.

2.2.1. The hypothesisResearch in psychology begins by formulating a hypothesis which is an educatedor informed guess or a possible explanation for a behaviour being studied. Itis usually expressed as a prediction or a statement of cause and effect. Ascientific hypothesis is based on facts and theories that have been gatheredand investigated by previous researchers. A theory is an interrelated set ofconcepts that is developed in an attempt to explain a body of data andgenerate testable hypotheses (Huffman, Vernoy, M. and Vernoy, J., 1995). Ahypothesis is posed in a way that indicates how the results can be measured.It may or may not be correct because it is just a possible explanation ofbehaviour. Thus, it is subject to proof/verification through scientificstudy. The following are examples of hypotheses: There is a relationship between learner’s motivation and academic

performance. There is a relationship between a teacher’s level of professional training

and learners’ academic performance. There is a relationship between performance in mock and final examinations.

2.2.2. Variables

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A variable is a factor that may vary or change. It can assume more than one value, for example factors such as, weight, height, scores on a test,motivation, and so on. An independent variable is the factor that is selectedand manipulated by an experimenter and is independent of anything the subjectdoes. The experimenter can vary it as he thinks is necessary in terms of whathe wants to achieve. The second variable is the dependent variable.Dependent variable refers to a measurable behaviour or outcome exhibited bythe subject and is affected by the independent variable. In other words, itsvalue is dependent on the independent variable. It is what you measure aftervarying or manipulating the independent variable. For example, let us assumethat the level of professional training of a teacher has a direct effect onlearners’ academic performance. The level of training would be theindependent variable whereas the learners’ academic performance would be thedependent variable.

The third types of variables are extraneous variables, that is, factors thatmay influence the results if they are not adequately controlled. In theexample given, such factors would include intelligence, age, past experienceand learning facilities. Extraneous variables get in the way of the study andmake it look as though we found what we expected, even though we did not.They confound (confuse) the results.

2.2.3. Experimental controlsIn an experiment, the researcher randomly assigns subjects to experimental andcontrol groups. The experimental group receives treatment with the aim ofdiscovering whether the treatment has a predictable effect on some outcome orbehaviour (dependent variable). The control group (non-treatment group) doesnot receive such treatment so as to ensure that any changes in the dependentvariable are due to the treatment administered. The two groups are expectedto have similar attributes or characteristics. The effect of the treatment isassessed by comparing the two groups after treatment is given to theexperimental group.

Advantages: Researcher is able to establish cause-and-effect relationships between

variables. Other conditions/factors can be controlled or kept constant. Experiments can be easily replicated and thus the reliability of the

findings can be confirmed.

Disadvantages: Some experiments can pose risk or danger to human subjects. For example, a

teacher cannot administer drugs to learners to study their effect onbehavbiour.

The observed change in behaviour may be due to the artificial experimentalsituation. Therefore, application to the real world may be limited. For

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example, the awareness that one is participating in an experiment may makehim/her change his/her behaviour.

2.3. Non-Experimental research methodsWhat are the non-experimental research techniques and what are theiradvantages and disadvantages? Sometimes it may not be feasible for ethical orpractical reasons to study behaviour experimentally. For this reason, anumber of non-experimental techniques have been devised. These includenaturalistic observations, surveys, case studies and correlational studies.Although none of these techniques can be used to determine cause and effect inbehaviour beyond doubt, they are useful in determining relationships betweenvariables and in providing information vital to make predictions about futurebehaviour.

2.3.1. Naturalistic observationNaturalistic observation involves observing subjects without interfering withtheir natural situations or environments. For example, observing children inthe classroom, home, school, or playground. The researcher, systematicallyrecords the behaviour of the subjects in their natural state or habitat. Thesubjects should not detect that they are being observed or studied becausetheir behaviour becomes unnatural when they know that they are being observed.However, in other cases the observer may interact with the subjects beingobserved in which case the behaviour may change and consequently lower thereliability of the findings.

Advantage: The researcher can obtain data about a truly natural behaviour rather than

a behaviour that is a reaction to the experimental situation.

Disadvantages: Naturalistic observation may be time consuming. It is not possible to control other factors that may contribute to the

observed behaviour. Interpretation of data may be subjective or biased. Observation of overt behaviour does not always provide reliable information

about the internal processes of the subject since the researcher can onlyobserve overt behaviour.

2.3.2. Survey research methodIn this method, a relatively large number of cases are studied in less depth.In a survey, the subjects are asked specific questions about their behaviouror opinion. Although a small portion of the population is studied, a carefulsurvey can provide accurate information about how the large group of peoplefeels about a particular issue. For example, one can conduct a survey to findout how Kenyans feel about the 8:4:4 system of education, free education,examination system and the recent ban of corporal punishment in schools.

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This method employs various techniques of data collection such as telephone,questionnaires and interviews. Some of the questions asked may be based on: Facts, for example, Are you a teacher by profession? Past and present events, for Example, Have you ever considered changing

your profession? Feelings, for example, How do you feel about the ban of corporal punishment

in schools? Attitudes, for example, what is your attitude towards free education for

all children in Kenya (Mwamwenda, 1995).

In a survey, it is important that the sample used is representative of thetarget population to which the results are going to be generalized.

Advantages: It is less expensive than using the entire population for the study. Information about a large number of subjects can be gathered within a short

period of time. The sample can be used as a basis for generalizing and predicting what is

likely to be observed in future on the basis of the current findings(Mwamwenda, 1995).

Disadvantages: Responses may be inaccurate especially if the subjects decide to be

dishonest. It is not possible to control other factors that may contribute to the

observed behaviour/outcome. If the target population is very large and diverse, it may not be easy to

get a representative sample.

2.3.3. Case study methodA case study involves an in-depth or detailed investigation of a singleresearch subject or a limited number of subjects. In a case study, manyaspects of a subject are studied in detail in order to account for thepossible causes and effects of the behaviour under investigation. Forexample, you may conduct a case study to account for the declining academicachievement of a learner. In your study you may try to gather informationabout his/her home background, intellectual ability, study habits and skills,peer influence, motivation, interests and aspirations and so on.

Advantages: It is appropriate when it is unethical or risky to conduct an experiment.

For example, you cannot underfeed learners to find out how their learningand performance are going to be affected.

Allows the investigation of an unusual problem in depth. It makes use of a natural phenomenon.

Disadvantages:

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A single case may be unrepresentative and therefore generalizability of theresults may be limited.

Control of other factors that may be related to the observed behaviour maybe difficult.

A case study may be difficult to replicate.

2.3.4. Correlational studiesWhat is involved in the correlational method of studying behaviour? Acorrelation study involves finding out the extend to which two sets ofvariables or factors are related. Correlation refers to the relationshipbetween variables. It looks at whether two variables are correlated orassociated and provides information about cause-and-effect. The correlationbetween the two sets of variables is indicated by means of a correlationcoefficient (numerical index of the degree of relationship between twovariables) which may be either positive or negative. A correlationcoefficient of zero indicates lack of relationship between the two sets ofvariables. A positive correlation ranges from 0 to +1.0, whereas a negativeone ranges from 0 to –1.0. A correlation coefficient of +1.0 indicatesperfect positive relationship. A correlation coefficient of –1.0 indicatesperfect negative relationship. The method of calculating correlationcoefficient will be discussed in a later module. However, if you areinterested on how it is done, you can refer to any statistics book.

A positive correlation implies that scores of both variables increasescorrespondingly as opposed to negative correlation in which an increase inscores of one variable means a decrease in scores of the other variable. Forexample, a positive correlation would be expected between: Performance in Kenya Certificate of Education (K.C.S.E.) examination and

academic performance at university. Learning facilities and academic performance. Level of education and one’s income. High intelligence and academic performance. Teacher and school performance.

On the other hand, a negative correlation may be expected between: indiscipline and academic performance. Cost of education and learners’ dropout. This implies that the higher the

cost of education the bigger the number of children who will drop out ofschool.

An example of a situation where you may expect zero correlation would bebetween learners’ height and academic performance. This means that one’sknowledge about learners’ height cannot be used to predict their academicperformance. However, a correlation between two variables does notnecessarily imply that one variable causes the other. A third variable thatwas not taken into account may have contributed to the observed relationship.

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Advantages: Correlational studies allow prediction of events. Correlational studies are easier to carry out than experimental studies.

Disadvantages: It is not easy to prove causation. It is not easy to control all other variables that may have a direct effect

on the observed behaviour.

2.4. Ethics in psychological researchWhy should study in psychology be governed by various ethics? Psychologistsmostly use human beings in their investigations. Experiments involving humanbeings may often entail exposing them to painful, stressful or unpleasantexperiences. The nature of a research may expose subjects to risk ornegatively affect the lives of the research participants. To deal with thisproblem, organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA)have developed a code of ethics for research in order to protect the subjectsand avoid violating human rights.

Some of the ethical considerations are: The right to privacy: Subjects have a right to conceal information about

themselves that they feel may be sensitive and private. To safeguard theprivacy of subjects, the researcher should obtain consent for participationfrom adults and consent from parents or teachers for children.

The right to non-participation: A subject has the right to decline ordiscontinue from participating in a research at any time.

The right to remain anonymous: Subjects have the right to insist thattheir identities be concealed. The identities of participants should notbe a salient feature of the research. To ensure this, researchers focustheir interest in group data rather than individual data. Subjects canalso be identified by numbers rather than by names.

The right to confidentiality: Participants have a right to insist thatdata collected from them be treated with confidentiality. To ensure this,researchers should list data by numbers rather than by names and destroythe original questionnaires as soon as the study is completed.

The right to be protected from physical or psychological harm: Theresearcher should be sensitive to human dignity. He/she should ensure thatsubjects are not hurt by their participation.

The researcher should be open and honest to the participants. If the studyrequires concealment or deception, the investigator should explain to thesubjects the reasons for this action and make an attempt to correct anyundesirable consequences on the side of the participants.

Psychologists who conduct research on animals are supposed to ensure thatanimals are not subjected to unnecessary suffering unless the researchfindings are going to alleviate human suffering.

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2.5. Summary Research methodology includes the experimental approach that is used to

investigate cause-and-effect relationships and non-experimental approachesthat provide description of behaviour.

An experiment begins with a hypothesis or possible explanation ofbehaviour. Independent variables are the factors the researchermanipulates. Dependent variables are measurable behaviours of thesubjects resulting from the manipulation of the independent variable.

Experimental controls include assigning subjects to treatment and non-treatment groups and holding extraneous variables constant.

Naturalistic observation is used to study behaviour in its natural habitat. Surveys use mainly interviews or questionnaires to obtain information on a

sample of subjects selected from a large population. Case studies are in-depth investigations of single subjects. Experiments enable us to determine causes for behaviours. Correlational relationships enable us to predict behaviours and not to

prove causation. Psychologists are expected to observe certain ethical guidelines to ensure

that subjects do not suffer unnecessarily.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Identify and discuss factors in the learner’s environment that are

likely to be correlated positively to his/her academic achievement.2. (a) Giving relevant examples, explain the following major components

of the experimental method of study: Hypothesis. Variables. Experimental controls.

(b) Identify a problem in education and explain how you caninvestigate it using the experimental method of study.

3. (a) Why do psychologists who carry out studies on human beings preferthe non-experimental research methods?

(b) What ethical considerations would you take into account whenstudying problems related to learners behaviour?

4. Discuss the merits and demerits of the following methods of study: experimental naturalistic observation survey case study correlational

5. Explain four major methods of psychological research.

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TOPIC 3: BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY

3.1. IntroductionA branch of psychology is an area of specialization in psychology. Sincepsychology became a formal scientific discipline various branches ofpsychology have evolved. The methods of study discussed in the previous topichave contributed immensely towards the development of specialized fields inpsychology. Psychologists perform a wide variety of roles in our societytoday. This shows how diverse the discipline has become. In this topic, weare going to discuss some of these areas. As we discuss these branches ofpsychology try to reflect on their implications to educational practices andthe learning-teaching process.

3.2. Physiological psychologyPhysiological psychology is also known as biopsychology. It studies therelationship between the brain and the rest of the nervous system tobehaviour. It is concerned with the body as a biological and neurologicalsystem. Physiological psychologists study perception, thought, learning,personality and behaviour in relation to the underlying neurological activity– all of which are of interest to the classroom teacher.

3.3. Developmental psychologyDevelopmental psychology focuses on development from conception to death.Developmental psychologists study growth and development in various stages ofdevelopment (i.e., prenatal, infancy, childhood, adulthood, and old age).Issues studied include, physical, cognitive, personality, moral, language,emotional and social development. The next module in this programme willcover developmental psychology.

3.4. Social psychologyThis field of psychology studies the behaviour of people in group situations.It focuses on the interaction between people, their perceptions of one anotherand the effect of groups on the individual’s behaviour. Some of the topicsstudied include; social perception, impression formation, aggression andviolence, formation and change of attitudes, leadership, conformity and socialinfluence. In our schools today, most cases of indiscipline and riots can be

Learning ObjectivesAt the end of this topic, you should be able to: Define branches of psychology. Explain the various branches of psychology. Discuss contexts in which psychology is applied in the day-to-day activities in your

society.

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attributed to peer influence and children’s need to conform to the socialnorms of the groups to which they belong.

3.5. Personality psychologyPersonality psychology is concerned with the study of consistency and changeof behaviour over time. It focuses on individual differences, that is howpeople differ in terms of their characteristics such as anxiety, motivation,aggression, emotional stability and so on. It also looks at the causes ofindividual differences and personality characteristics. Personality and groupdynamics will be dealt with in a later module in the course of your study.

3.6. Clinical psychologyIt is a branch of psychology concerned with how human behaviour and mentalprocesses become disordered, what causes abnormal behaviour and its treatment.Clinical psychology is applied in the diagnosis and treatment of psychologicaldisorders. Clinical psychologists work in hospitals and clinics.

3.7. Counselling psychologyCounselling psychology is similar to clinical psychology but is generallyconcerned with advising and helping people solve milder emotional and personalproblems. Counselling psychologists assist people having problems with drugabuse, career choice and development, family living, study habits, subjectchoice, stress management and so on. Counsellors working in our schools helpstudents to make career decisions, choose subjects, deal with issues ofpersonality, morals, language, emotional and social development. A wholemodule will be devoted to guidance and counselling in this programme.

3.8. Industrial psychologyThis is a field of specialization concerned with the human factor in theindustrial or technological settings, that is, how satisfied workers are withtheir jobs, how to increase morale and productivity, how to improve services,and how to develop better job training and placement procedures. Industrialpsychology has contributed to the human engineering discipline referred to asergonomics, which involves the design of equipment and machinery that are moreefficient and easier to use because they fit the actual size, strength andcapabilities of human beings who use them (Sindabi & Omulema, 2000).

3.9. Consumer psychologyThis is a field of psychology that studies buying habits and the effects ofadvertising on buyer behaviour. It also studies marketing strategies,determines characteristics of consumers and so on. You might have fallenvictim to consumer psychology by buying something because the offer lookedvery attractive. For example, in a sale offer in a supermarket you arepromised a free gift for purchases worth a certain amount of money, or pricesof a few items are drastically reduced while those of others are increased.

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This field explains why manufacturers and companies spend millions ofshillings on advertisements and promotions as a result of which they make goodprofits. You may be aware that private schools and institutions choose anattractive name (such as, St. Joseph’s Academy) and use very attractive orpersuasive language to advertise their programmes (such as, an offer for freecomputer lessons, transport, uniform, educational tours etc). These aremarketing gimmicks and may have no truth in them.

3.10. Educational psychologyThis is an area of applied psychology concerned with the application ofpsychological principles, knowledge, concepts, and techniques to problems ineducation. Educational psychologists help in analyzing educational needs,developing curriculum and teaching materials, and evaluating instructionalprogrammes. It also focuses on how people learn and which teaching methodsare effective. You are learning psychology now so that you can apply theknowledge in the learning-teaching process. For this purpose, most of thetopics covered in this module include a section on applications and where itis not included you are encouraged to reflect on how the knowledge can beapplied in the teaching-learning process and educational practices.

3.11. Health psychologyThis is an area of psychology that studies the relationship betweenpsychological factors and physical ailments and diseases. For example, howstress affects physical health. It is also concerned with ways of promotingbehaviour related to good health (such as increased exercise) or discouragingunheatlhy behaviour (such as smoking and drinking of alcohol). Your learnersneed to be in good health to be able to participate actively in the learningprocess. As a teacher you have a role to play in promoting physical andmental health of your learners.

3.12. Environmental psychologyThis is a field of psychology that is concerned with studying the relationshipbetween a person’s physical environment and his/her behaviour. A person’sphysical environment can affect his/her behaviour. For example, our religiousbeliefs, attitudes, prejudices, and eating habits can be attributed to ourexperiences in the immediate environment. Schools have established traditionsand unique environments that greatly contribute towards the behaviour oflearners and academic achievement.

3.13. Summary A branch of psychology is an area of specialization in psychology Psychologists perform research and can specialize in several areas,

including clinical, counselling, educational, health, environmental,industrial, and consumer psychology.

Some of the areas of psychology that may have a direct application to thelearning and teaching process include educational, counselling,developmental, learning, personality and social psychology.

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The diversity of psychology makes it relevant and applicable in homes,schools, business, religion, war, and in our individual daily lives.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Identify professions in which psychologists can find employment in our

country.2. What is a branch of psychology?3. List five branches of psychology and explain their areas of

specialization.4. Identify behaviours among learners that may require the application of

counselling psychology.5. Discuss how the school environment can affect learners’ behaviour and

academic achievement.6. Identify some of the branches of psychology that you might have

benefited from and explain how.

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TOPIC 4: THEORIES OF PSYCHOLOGY

4.1 IntroductionA theory is an assumption, or system of assumptions, accepted principles andrules of procedure based on limited information devised to analyze, predict,or otherwise explain the nature or behaviour of a specified set of phenomenon.In the history of psychology, different theories evolved. This came as aresult of strong differences of opinion about what psychology should study andhow it should do it. Different theories provided ideas which influencedcontemporary psychology. In this topic we are going to discuss varioustheories of psychology.

4.2 Psychoanalytic theory

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) founded psychoanalytic approach. He was an Austrianphysician whose area of specialization was neurology (the study of disordersof the nerves and brain). It developed because of his experience with hismedical patients. In his treatment of neurological patients, Freud noted thatsome of his patients presented symptoms that had no physical basis like braindamage or stroke. These symptoms were real for the patients as if they hadneurological causes.

Figure 3: Sigmund Freud

Freud suspected that these problems were psychological in origin and as aresult developed a complex and sophisticated model of human behaviour known aspsychoanalytic theory. From this theory he developed the treatment known aspsychoanalysis.

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Explain the nature and development of theories of psychology. State the major emphases of the various theories of psychology. Explain the major contributions of each theory of psychology. Relate the various theories of psychology to the learning-teaching process.

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Freud believed that behaviour is brought about by inner unconscious forces,drives or impulses over which the person has little control. These urges anddrives are hidden from the awareness of the individual. In other words, theyare unconscious. It is the expression of these unconscious drives which showsup in behaviour and thought. For example, psychoanalysts believe that dreamsand slips of the tongue are manifestations of what a person is feeling withina subconscious psychic activity.

According to Freud, the human personality consists of three aspects, the id,ego and super ego. He postulated that if the ego is overwhelmed by anxiety, ituses some defense mechanisms (unconscious mental strategies that blocks theharmful id impulses that cause anxiety) to protect itself.

Freud also emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences on laterpersonality development. He coined the phrase, “the child is the father ofthe man”, to emphasize his belief that our childhood experiences are stored inour unconscious state of mind and influence our personality and behaviour whenwe are adults. For example, if you were neglected and abused as a child,chances are high that you will lack affection and trust in other people. Ifyou are such a person, you may be cold and abusive in adulthood experience(Sindabi & Omulema, 1999).

He came up five psychosexual stages of development; oral (0-1 yr), anal (1-3Yrs), phallic (3-6 Yrs), latency (6-12 yrs) and genital (12 years onwards).These stages will be discussed later.

Freud’s perspective was criticized because of his research methodology inwhich he exclusively applied the individual case study technique withoutcomparing his data to normal people as a control. Thus, critics contend thatthis theory applies to abnormal behaviour, if it is applicable at all.Despite the criticism, his school of thought has had an impact onpsychotherapy (the application of psychological principles and techniques tothe treatment of psychological disorders) and psychiatry (the diagnosis andtreatment of mental disorders especially with drugs).

4.3 Behaviourism

Behaviourism is a school of psychology that advocates the use of strictexperimental procedures to study observable behaviour (or responses) inrelation to the environment (or stimuli). Behaviourists felt that observablebehaviour should be the focus of study rather than mental processes andunconscious experiences. The proponents of this school of thought include, J.B. Watson (1878 – 1958), B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), and E. L. Thorndike (1874–1949). Behaviourists felt that the scientific method in psychology should belimited to the study of behaviours that can be directly observed and verified.Watson believed that by controlling a person’s environment any desired

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behaviour could be obtained irrespective of his/her talents, abilities,heredity and other factors. He was so convinced by this theory that once hestated that:

“Give me a dozen infants, well formed and my own specified world tobring them up and I will guarantee to take any one at random and trainhim to become any type of specialist I might select; doctor, artist,merchant, and yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents,penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors”(Watson, 1925).

Figure 4: J. B. Watson

Behaviourists believed that all behaviour can be viewed as a response to astimulus (an object or event that causes an organism to respond in theenvironment). For example, a baby who cries upon seeing a nurse wheneverhe/she is taken to the dispensary is demonstrating stimulus-responsebehaviour. The nurse is the stimulus and the crying is the response.According to this school of thought, nearly all behaviour can be accounted forby learning. Behaviour that has been rewarded in the past will likely berepeated again whereas behaviour that is not reinforced is likely to becomeextinct.

Watson and Skinner used animals (such as, rats, pigeons and cats) to study howbehaviours are acquired through learning and how behaviour can be changed.This perspective was criticized for overemphasizing visible behaviour andenvironmental influences on behaviour to the extend of ignoring thought andsubjective experiences. This approach had significant influence on:

How we learn new behaviours. How behaviour can be modified. The proper use of punishment and rewards

4.4 Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology that deals mainly with theprocesses of perception (see a later chapter on sensation and perception). According toGestalt psychology, images are perceived as a pattern or a whole rather thanmerely as a sum of distinct component parts. The context of an image plays akey role.

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Gestalt psychology began as a protest. At the beginning of the 20th century,behaviourism dominated psychology. About 1910, German researchers MaxWertheimer (1880 -1943), Wolfgang Köhler (1887 – 1967), and Kurt Koffka (1886– 1941) rejected the prevailing order of scientific analysis in psychology.They did not, however, reject science; rather they sought a scientificapproach more nearly related to the subject matter of psychology.

Gestalt psychologists found perception to be heavily influenced by the contextor configuration of the perceived elements. The word Gestalt can be translatedfrom the German approximately as “configuration.” The parts often derive theirnature and purpose from the whole and cannot be understood apart from it.Moreover, a straightforward summation process of individual elements cannotaccount for the whole. Activities within the total field of the whole governthe perceptual processes.

Several contemporary psychotherapies are termed Gestalt. These are constructedalong lines similar to Gestalt psychology's approach to perception. Humanbeings respond holistically to experience; according to Gestalt therapists,any separation of mind and body is artificial. Accurate perception of one'sown needs and of the world is vital in order to balance one's experience andachieve “good Gestalten.” Movement away from awareness breaks the holisticresponse, or Gestalt. Gestalt therapists attempt to restore an individual'snatural, harmonic balance by heightening awareness. The emphasis is on presentexperience, rather than on recollections of infancy and early childhood as inpsychoanalysis. Direct confrontation with one's fears is encouraged.

4.5 Humanistic Psychology

Faced with a choice between psychoanalysis and behaviourism, manypsychologists in the 1950s and 1960s sensed a void in psychology’s conceptionof human nature. Freud had drawn attention to the darker forces of theunconscious, and Skinner was interested only in the effects of reinforcementon observable behaviour. Humanistic psychology was born out of a desire tounderstand the conscious mind, free will, human dignity, and the capacity forself-reflection and growth. An alternative to psychoanalysis and behaviourism,humanistic psychology became known as “the third force.”

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Figure 5: Abraham Maslow

The humanistic movement was led by American psychologists Carl Rogers andAbraham Maslow. According to Rogers, all humans are born with a drive toachieve their full capacity and to behave in ways that are consistent withtheir true selves. Rogers, a psychotherapist, developed person-canteredtherapy, a non-judgemental, nondirective approach that helped clients clarifytheir sense of who they are in an effort to facilitate their own healingprocess. At about the same time, Maslow theorized that all people aremotivated to fulfil a hierarchy of needs. At the bottom of the hierarchy arebasic physiological needs, such as hunger, thirst, and sleep. Further up thehierarchy are needs for safety and security, needs for belonging and love, andesteem-related needs for status and achievement. Once these needs are met,Maslow believed, people strive for self-actualization, the ultimate state ofpersonal fulfilment. As Maslow put it, “A musician must make music, an artistmust paint, a poet must write, if he is ultimately to be at peace withhimself. What a man can be, he must be.”

4.6 Cognitive Psychology

The psychologist who is closely associated with this school of thought is JeanPiaget (1896–1980) who was a Swiss psychologist. This view was a reactionagainst radical behaviourists like Skinner, who regarded cognition (thought)as outside the realm of psychology. The new view came to be known ascognitive psychology and focused on reasoning and the mental processing ofinformation. Cognitive psychology is concerned with the acquisition, storage,retrieval and use of knowledge. Cognitive psychology studies how we gather,encode and store information from our environment using mental processes suchas, perception, memory, imagery, concept formation, problem solving,reasoning, decision making and language (Huffman, Vernoy, & Vernoy, 1995).

Figure 6: Jean Piaget

Cognitive psychologists take an information processing approach based on theidea that humans are like computers in that both take in information, processit and produce a response/behaviour. Thus, we do not just respond toenvironmental stimuli, we mentally process the sensory input, appraise thesituation and respond accordingly. For example, if the same ridicule is

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directed to three students, their reactions may be different. One may cry,another one may take it as a warning not to continue misbehaving and the thirdone may not react at all. Their reactions can be explained in terms of howthey process and interpret the information.

Piaget and other cognitive psychologists believed that behaviour has acognitive element. We understand and actively interpret information. Piagetbelieved that the ability to process information undergoes dramatictransformation as children grow from one stage of development to another.According to Piaget, children understand the world in an entirely differentway from adults. Thus, the difference in behaviour in children and adultsreflects the difference in their ability to know, understand and reason aboutthings and events around them which develops systematically. As children, weneed to see and feel things to know and understand them, but as adults, we canknow and understand things and events through abstract reasoning andconceptual analysis.

4.7 Psychobiology

This school of thought explains behaviour in terms of the biologicalfunctioning of the body. It emphasizes that genetic, physiological andneurological factors and processes determine behaviour. The influence of thenervous system, particularly the brain is very crucial. A normal human beingdepends on a properly functioning nervous system. Psychological developmentis based on changes in brain growth, which are genetically determined, thatis, maturation. Normal behaviour or psychological or mental health isfunctions of a normally functioning healthy nervous system. A problem ordisease affecting the nervous system, which includes the brain, will affecthuman behaviour, causing problems in learning and normal living (Sindabi &Omulema, 2000).

4.5. Summary

Psychoanalysts examined psychological problems presumed to be caused byunconscious thoughts and conflicts.

The Gestalt school studied organizing principles of perceptual processes. Behaviourism emphasized observable behaviours and the ways they are

learned. Humanistic psychology focused on free-will and the assumption that our

nature is positive and growth seeking. Cognitive psychologists focused on the role of reasoning and mental

processes in behaviour. Psychobiology attempts to explain behaviour in terms of complex chemical

and biological events within the brain.

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Learning activities and revision questions1. (a) In one or two sentences explain the major emphasis of the

following schools/perspectives in psychology: psychoanalytic gestalt behaviourism humanistic cognitive psychobiology

(c) Discuss the contributions of the six perspectives in 3a. inpsychology.

2. Compare the cognitive and the psychobiological theories of psychology.3. Explain how behaviour originates according to the behaviouristic theory

of psychology.

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TOPIC 5: BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL BASES OF BEHAVIOUR

5.1. Introduction

In this topic we are going to look at the controversy that existed amongpsychologists on how heredity and environment contribute to the differences inhuman behaviour. The issue of how much of human behaviour is inherited andhow much is acquired through experience within the environment has been one ofthe greatest problems in psychology. We shall also discuss the nervous systemand see how it affects our behaviour. In our discussion we shall examine themajor divisions of the nervous system; the central nervous system (CNS), whichconsists of the brain and spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system (PNS),which consists of the nerves in the body outside the central nervous system.We will also examine the endocrine system, which consists of glands that helpregulate our behaviour by secreting hormones, or chemicals into our bloodstream.

5.2. The genetic and environmental influences on human behaviourTeachers and parents may often have very high expectations of what childrenare capable of achieving. When their expectations are not fulfilled they mayfeel discouraged and may blame children for failing to do their best. Anunderstanding of how heredity and environmental factors interact to determinebehaviour and how much our inherited potential can be realized, can help tosolve this problem.

Behaviour is influenced by both heredity (nature) and environment (nurture).For a long time in the history of psychology, psychologists have debated onthe relative importance of heredity and environment in determining ourbehaviour. The question they have tried to answer is whether our behaviour isdetermined or decided upon by heredity or by environment.

5.2.1. Genetic influence

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Explain the nature versus nurture controversy. Explain how heredity and environment interact to determine human behaviour. Give the implication of the nature versus nurture debate on the learning process. Explain how neurons convey electrochemical information throughout the body. Discuss how the two major divisions of the peripheral nervous system initiate bodily

activity and regulate body functions. Identify the major structures of the brain and state their role in behaviour. Explain the role of hormones in human behaviour.

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The influence of heredity on our behaviour cannot be overemphasized. At themoment of conception, when the sperm unites with an ovum an incredible numberof personal features and developmental patterns are determined. Thehereditary instructions are transmitted through the chromosomes that containthousands and thousands of genes, which determine our inherited traits.Chromosomes are long chainlike structures containing genes and are found inthe nuclei of body cells.

The individual inherits 23 chromosomes from each parent. These chromosomescombine to make a pair of 23, meaning that each single human cell will have atotal of 46 chromosomes. The thousands and thousands of genes carried in eachchromosome determine the sequence of growth, timing of maturity, skin colour,hair colour, body size, vulnerability to some diseases (e.g., sickle-cellanaemia and mental disorders), body shape, height, intelligence, athleticpotential, personality characteristics and other traits. The next module ondevelopmental psychology will discuss in detail the mechanisms of geneticinheritance. In this topic our concern is to show how hereditary andenvironmental factors interact to influence our behaviour. Both heredity andenvironment are important in determining behaviour and development. The twoare inseparable. As one grows, there is a constant interaction between theforces of nature and nurture. Therefore, the total person is a product ofheredity and environmental factors.

Heredity shapes behaviour and development by providing a framework of personalpotentials and limitations that are altered by environmental factors such asnutrition, culture, disease, learning, parents, peers, home, school and so on.Environmental factors determine how much of our inherited potentials orcapacities will be realized. For example, a child with a very high inheritedacademic potential will not achieve high grades unless he or she is exposed toan ideal and conducive learning environment. The observed academicachievement in this case may be far much below the child’s inherited ability.

5.2.2. Environmental influenceThe influence of environment on behaviour and development begins immediatelyafter conception and continues until death. During prenatal (before birth)development a number of factors can affect the foetus before it is born. Themother’s nutrition and exposure to disease, drugs and radiation through x-raycan result to malformation of the baby, low birth weight, mental retardationand other permanent effects. The effect of various pre-natal environmentalfactors on development will be discussed in the next module.

After birth, the influence on behaviour and development includes a variety ofenvironmental factors such as the culture, peers, media, family, nutrition,parents, disease, learning and school. In the early years of life, the mostimportant influence comes from an infant’s caretaker. Thus the quality ofmothering is of prime importance (Omulema & Sindabi, 1999).

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Without the interaction of heredity and environment behaviour may not bemanifested. For example a child will not learn language unless he/she isexposed to a spoken language. As one grows, there is a constant interactionor interplay between the forces of nature and nurture. Our heredity does notchange, but produces various physical changes that occur throughout our lifetime.

The relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors differs fromone trait to another. A certain trait may be determined largely by hereditybut not much by environment and vice-versa. For example, genes contributemore to intelligence than they do to other personality traits such as,attitudes, beliefs, prejudice, interest and values.The real issue in understanding human behaviour and development is thequestion of how heredity and environment interact or work together to produceour psychological traits and developmental changes but not the percentage ofcontribution of each.

Today psychologists support an interactionist model or approach. From aneducational point of view, the most important thing to learn is that many ofour characteristics can be influenced by the environment. Although there islittle or nothing we can do about heredity, much of the environment stillremains under our control. Therefore, we should try to improve the learningenvironment for our children to realize their full potential.

5.2.3. Studies on heredity and environment(a) Studies on intelligenceResearch findings on the contributions of heredity and environment haverevealed the following: Intelligence quotient (IQ) correlations between identical twins (who

develop from the same egg) are exceptionally high when raised together andslightly less when raised in separate environments (Eysenck & Kamin, 1981). Theslight variation can be attributed to differences in their environment.

IQ scores of fraternal twins (who like siblings develop from differenteggs) are correlated at about the same level as those of non-twin brothersand sisters.

The more closely two people are genetically, the higher their IQcorrelations.

The correlation between the IQ scores of a child and its mother is the sameas the correlation between the IQ score of the child and its father.

The IQ scores of adopted children show correlation with those of theirbiological parents.

The correlation between unrelated children reared in separate environmentsis zero, whereas if the same set of children are brought up in the sameenvironment it rises to about 0.25.

The IQ scores of adopted children are more closely related to theirbiological parents than their adoptive parents, who raised them (Bourchard,

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1984). Table 1 shows various family relationships and correlationcoefficients.

Table 1: Family relationships and correlation coefficientsRelationship Correlation Coefficient Identical twins reared together 0.75 Identical twins reared apart 0.65 Fraternal twins reared together 0.50 Siblings reared together 0.20 Biological parent and child, lived

together0.40

Biological parent and child, lived apart 0.20 Adoptive parent and child, lived

together0.15

Adoptive siblings reared together 0.30 Cousins reared apart 0.15

Adopted from Mwamwenda (1995)

Table 1 shows average correlations in IQ scores for people of variousrelationships as obtained from studies of IQ similarity. Higher correlationsindicate greater similarity. Greater genetic similarity is associated withgreater similarity in IQ, suggesting that intelligence is partly inherited.Living together is associated with greater IQ similarity, suggesting thatintelligence is partly governed by the environment (Weiten, 1989). Wheneverthere is more similarity in either or both environment and genetics, the IQcorrelation is fairly high.

As indicated earlier, it is not possible to determine how much of ourintelligence is contributed to by heredity or environment. The role of genescan only be realized in the context of an environment and similarlyenvironment is irrelevant and of no substance without heredity.

(b) Studies in restricted environmentsInstitutionalized or children brought up in an orphanage tend to be retardedin skills such as talking, speech and walking. This could be attributed tolack of maternal attention and stimulation. If placed in a favourableenvironment, such children are able to overcome the difficulties. Animals(e.g., dogs, rats etc.) reared in restricted environment also fail to manifesttheir heredity potential. When compared with animals raised in normalenvironments, they are inferior in orientation tests, maze tests and emotionaldevelopment as well (Spitz, 1972).

5.3. The nervous systemWhy do psychologists study the nervous system? Psychologists study thenervous system to understand how it affects behaviour. For example, the areasof your brain that control speech are known. Physiology is an integral partof psychology. The kind of behaviour of which a species is capable is

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determined partly by the kind of nervous system it possesses. The humannervous system, especially the brain is highly developed and more complexcompared to that of other animals. Hence, human behaviour is complex comparedto that of other animals.

The nervous system is divided into two major divisions: central; constitutingthe brain and spinal cord; and peripheral which includes nerves outside thecentral nervous system serving muscles, glands and sensory receptors. Each ofthese systems is made up of several components that contribute in one way orthe other to behaviour. They initiate bodily activity and regulate bodyfunctions.

The neuronThis is the basic unit of the nervous system (a single nerve cell). Neuronstransmit information throughout the body as well as the brain. Each neuronreceives and sends signals to other neurons. All behaviour - everything youdo, think or feel is a result of neural activity. Your movement, thinking,heartbeat and so on depends on what happens at the level of the neuron. Aneuron has three basic features: dendrites, cell body and an axon. Neuronsin different parts of the nervous system may differ in size and shape but theyall have the three major parts.The dendrites receive information from other neurons. Each neuron may havehundreds or thousand of dendrites. The cell body, or soma has severalfunctions; It integrates the electrical information coming from the dendrites. It absorbs needed nutrients. It produces the majority of protein molecules needed for normal functioning

of the cell.

The axon which is a tube like structure transmits neural information to axonterminals (nerve endings). It is highly sensitive to changes in theelectrical charge of its membranes. If the electrical charge is sufficient,an action potential (an electrochemical impulse) is initiated at the junctionbetween the soma and the axon. This action potential travels down andbranches into the axon terminal buttons. These terminal buttons formjunctions with other neurons and with muscles, which in turn are activated bychemicals released by the terminal buttons. While a neuron is a single cellconsisting of the three parts discussed, a nerve is a bundle of axons thathave a similar function.

Neurons do not touch one another. They are separated by a gap between themknown as a synapse. When an action potential reaches the axon terminals, itcauses neurotransmitters to be released into the synaptic gap, the spacebetween the two cells. Neurotransmitters are chemicals (such as acetycholine,histamine, serotonin) released from terminal buttons into the synaptic gap.

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Fig. 1. Structure of a neuron and a synapse

These chemicals cross the gap and stimulate/excite the presynaptic terminalsof the next cell which in turn releases an electrical charge or spark. Theneurotransmitters may either have excitatory or inhibitory effect on theirtarget cells. Excitatory neurotransmitters instruct the receiving neuron tofire or conduct an action potential. Inhibitory neurotransmitters instructthe receiving neuron not to fire an action potential. Excitatoryneurotransmitters include acetycholine, norepinephrine, serotonin anddopamine. An example of an inhibitory neorotransmitter is endorphin, whichblocks neural signals (Huffman, et al., 1995).

Psychoactive drugs (drugs that affect the nervous system like alcohol orcaffeine) have their effect by either increasing or decreasing the amount ofneurotransmitters released into the synapse. Drugs like alcohol andpainkillers work by suppressing the release of neurotransmitters or increasingthe release of inhibitory neurotransmitters. Drugs like caffeine and cocaineincreases the amount of neurotransmitters in the synapse or directly activatesreceptor sites on the dendrites – thus they have a stimulating effect on thenervous system.

The nervous system is made up of millions of neurons, which make up the basicstructural units of the nervous system. About 80 percent of all neurons arefound in the brain.

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There are three types of neurons: Sensory neurons, that carry information from the sense organs to the

central nervous system. They are also called afferent neurons. Connector neurons that are found within the spinal cord and the brain.

They receive information from the sensory neurons and sends them to thebrain for processing. They are also referred to as interneurons.

Motor neurons, that carry information from the central nervous system tothe muscles or glands. They are also known as efferent. They receivemessages from the brain and take them to the required sites like muscles.For any observable response/behaviour, all the three types of neurons mustbe involved.

5.3.1. Peripheral nervous systemThe peripheral nervous system (PNS) connects the central nervous system to therest of the body. It includes all the nerves going to and from the brain andthe spinal cord. It serves to transmit neural impulses to and from the brainand the spinal cord. It consist of two systems, the somatic and the autonomicnervous systems. The two divisions work jointly with the CNS in carrying outtheir functions.

The somatic nervous system directs the movement of the skeletal muscles, whichare usually under our voluntary control. It regulates voluntary actions. Forexample, when you move your hand when writing, the somatic nervous systemsends neural impulses to and from the brain with instructions for the skeletalmuscles to contract or relax.

The autonomic nervous system controls the more automatic (self-regulating)bodily functions such as heart rate, sweating and breathing, which are beyondour voluntary control. It maintains homeostasis – the regulation of bodybalances necessary for survival. It regulates the glands, heart muscles,muscles of the blood vessels, internal organs and other involuntary responses.

The autonomic nervous system is made up of two systems, the parasympatheticand the sympathetic nervous systems. These two tend to work in opposition toeach other in regulating the functioning of such organs as the heart,intestines and the lungs.

The parasympathetic nervous system is dominant when a person is in a relaxed,non-stressful physical and mental state. It slows the heart rate, lowersblood pressure, dilates arteries, and increases digestive and eliminativeprocesses. In short, it performs bodily maintenance.

The sympathetic nervous system which is an emergency system takes over when aperson is under some type of stress, or some type of mental and physicalstrain. It stops digestive and eliminative processes, increases bloodpressure, respiration, heart rate and causes several hormones to be released

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into the bloodstream. This happens to get more oxygenated blood and glucoseto the skeletal muscles, thus making a person able to deal with the source ofstress. In other words, it prepares the body to fight or flee from whateveris causing the stress or anxiety. When you feel very tense and anxious whentaking a very important examination or being interviewed for a job, thesympathetic nervous system is the one that would be responsible for suchfeelings. When the crisis is settled, the parasympathetic division resumescontrol and the activity of the related organs returns to their usual level.

Figure 2. Subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system

Table 2: The actions of the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of the AutonomicNervous system

Parasympathetic Body system/organ SympatheticConstricts Pupil DilatesStimulates salivation Salivary glands Decreases salivationConstricts Blood vessels DilatesSlows Heart SpeedsConstricts Airways in lungs OpensRelaxes Hair ErectsConstricts Sweat glands Opens

Peripheral nervous system(All nerves going to and

Somatic nervous system(All nerves carrying

Autonomic nervous system (Regulates bodily functions - automatic

Parasympathetic nervous system (maintains basic

Sympathetic nervous system (Activates body to deal with

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Increase contractions Stomach Reduces contractionsContracts Bladder RelaxesRelaxes Reproductive system ExcitesIn short, the function of the parasympathetic nervous system is to quiet thebody and bring it to a lower level of arousal whereas the function of thesympathetic nervous systems is to generally activate the body.

The endocrine systemThe endocrine system consists of several glands that release hormones into theblood stream. The nervous system and the endocrine system work together todirect our behaviour and maintain our body’s normal functioning. The nervoussystem activates the endocrine system to secrete hormones which are passedinto the blood stream which circulates them throughout the body. Thesehormones affect behaviour and the nervous system itself. These glands includethe pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, gonads and the pancreas.

(a) The pituitary glandIt is located at the base of the brain. One of the major hormones produced bythe pituitary gland is the growth hormone which controls the growth of theskeletal system. Too much growth hormone produces gigantism and too little ofit produces dwarfism. It regulates the functioning of the other glands(especially the thyroid, adrenal glands and the gonads). It functions mostlyunder the control of the hypothalamus, to which it is attached. In women, itcontrols the production of milk. The pituitary gland is also called themaster gland because of its many effects on other glands.

(b) The thyroid glandThe thyroid gland is located in the neck region. It produces thyroxinhormone, which controls metabolism rate of the body (i.e., the rate at whichenergy is produced and expended). As a result, it has an effect onpersonality. A person with an overactive thyroid (termed hyperthyroidism)tends to be thin, tense, excitable and nervous. An under active thyroid(termed hypothyroidism) can cause inactivity, sleepiness, slowness andoverweight among adults. In infancy, hypothyroidism limits development of thenervous system and can cause mental retardation. Deficiency of iodine whichis part of the thyroxin hormone causes goiter which is the swelling of thethyroid gland.

(c) The adrenal glandThe adrenal glands are located at the upper end of the kidneys. They arealways two, with an inner core/layer called adrenal medulla and an outer layercalled adrenal cortex.

The adrenal medulla is the source of adrenaline, which helps the body toperform in emergencies by increasing heart rate, permitting the flow of sugarand oxygen etc. It also influences emotional behaviours such as crying andaggression.

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The adrenal cortex produces hormones called corticoids whose function is toregulate salt balance in the body and helps the body to adjust to stress. Theadrenal cortex is also a secondary source of sex hormones.

(d) The gonadsThe gonads are the testes and ovaries. They play a key role in sexualbehaviour. They produce gametes (sperms and ovum). Among other hormones, theovaries produce oestrogen which influences sex drive, development of secondarysexual characteristics (e.g., the development of breasts and pubic hair) andovulation. One of the major male hormones is testosterone which influencessex drive, development of secondary sexual characteristics (e.g., thedevelopment of beards and deep voice). The hormones produced by the gonadscontribute to the physical and psychological development during the onset ofadolescence and continues to influence sexual responsiveness throughoutadulthood.

(e) The pancreasThe pancreas secretes insulin – a hormone that controls the amount of sugarcirculating in the blood. If little insulin is produced, there will be moresugar freed from the liver and vice versa. Diabetes results due to non-insulin production. This affects brain functioning which utilizes about ¼ ofthe sugar in the body.

In conclusion, you have seen how behaviour and personality among other bodyfunctions are tied to the flow of hormones in the blood which are produced bythe endocrine system.

5.3.2. The central nervous systemThe central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord. Thebrain is the control center for all voluntary behaviour (such as writing,computing and talking) and a good part of involuntary behaviour (such asfeeling embarrassed). The spinal cord contains the structures responsible forreflex actions and the nerve fibers that link the brain and other parts of thebody.

(a) The spinal cordIt is the part of the nervous system found within the spinal column which isinvolved in reflexes and the relay of neural information to and from thebrain. It is involved in all the voluntary and reflex responses of the bodybelow the neck. A reflex is a simple, automatic response integrated withinthe spinal cord such as a knee jerk.

The spinal cord has two major components, the gray matter and white matter.The gray matter near the center contains mainly cell bodies within whichinformation is processed within the spinal cord itself. The white matter isthe outer layer of the spinal cord. Within the white matter, axons transmit

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information to and from the brain. When damaged, all muscles served bysections of the spinal cord below the damaged part will not function normallyand a person may be paralysed.

(b) The brainWhat are the major structures of the brain and what are their role inbehaviour? As we have seen, the brain is the control centre for the body. Itcontrols what we do, think and feel. The human brain is complex and highlydeveloped as compared to that of other animals. This accounts for thecomplicated nature of human behaviour. The major divisions of the brain arethe cerebrum, consisting of the cerebral cortex and subcortical areas, thecerebellum and the brain system.

(i) The cerebral cortexThe cerebral cortex makes the outside surface of the brain. It is the largeststructure of the brain and accounts for more than 70 percent of the neurons inthe central nervous system. It is composed of two hemispheres connected by athick band of fibers called corpus callosum. The two sides control oppositesides of the body. The right half mainly controls the left body areas. Theleft half mainly controls the right side of the body. Each hemisphere isdivided into four areas or lobes according to their general functions andstructures. The four areas are the frontal, parietal, occipital and temporallobs (see figure 3).

Figure 3: Parts of the Brain

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The frontal lobesThe frontal lobes are located at the top front portion of the brainhemispheres. Their functions include self-awareness, initiative and abilityto plan ahead. At the back of the frontal lobes lies the motor control areaswhich controls all voluntary body movements. For example, when you removeyour pen from your bag, it is the motor control area of the frontal lobes thatguide your hand.

A specialized area in the left frontal lobe on the surface of the brain nearthe bottom of the motor control area is the broca’s area, which controls themuscles used to produce speech. The remaining part consists of associationcortex which is believed to control mental operations or complex psychologicalfunctions such as, thought, perception, imagery, problem solving, emotions,memory, language and thinking (Luria, 1973, 1980). The association areas organizeand integrate sensory information received from other brain areas to enable usto perform various functions.

The parietal lobesThe parietal lobes are located behind the frontal lobes. They control bodysensations and memory about the environment. Bodily sensations such as touch,pain, pressure and temperature are channeled to the parietal lobes.

The occipital lobesThe occipital lobes are located at the back of the brain. They mainly controlvision and visual perceptions. When you are hit at the back of your head withyour eyes closed you will see stars or flashes of light. This is because theblow activates the nerve cells in the occipital lobes. Damage or injury tothis area can affect vision.

The temporal lobesThe temporal lobes are located on the sides of the brain. Their majorfunctions are auditory perception (hearing), language, memory and someemotional control. They are also important in the formation of new conceptsand memories. Damage to the temporal lobes will cause impairment to the abovefunctions.(ii) Subcortical brain areasThe subcortical brain areas are found in the center of the brain and aresurrounded by the cerebral cortex. They include the corpus callosum,thalamus, hypothalamus and a group of structures collectively known as limbicsystem.

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Figure 4: The limbic system

The corpus callosum connects the cerebral hemispheres and makes it possiblefor the hemispheres to communicate or coordinate with each other. If thispart is damaged we will have two brains that can function independently ofeach other, a conditions known as split brain. In such a case, eachhemisphere will have its own sensations, perceptions and concepts. Forexample, if one sees or learns something with one eye and blindfolds it anduses the other, the second eye will not recognize what was seen or learned.However, in conflict one side overrides the other and therefore one willbehave normally.

The thalamus is located below the corpus callosum and between the twohemispheres. It serves as the major sensory relay center for the brain. Itreceives input from nearly all the sensory system, then projects thisinformation to the respective or appropriate areas of the brain. It sorts outand directs information from the sensory organs to specific sensory and motorregions of the brain. The thalamus also plays a role in learning and memory.If damaged, one would have problems in forming new memories.

The hypothalamus lies below the thalamus. Its major function is homeostasis,that is, the regulation of the internal environment of the body. It controlsblood temperature, the concentration of salt and sugar in the blood, theconcentration of hormones and other chemicals in the body. It accomplishesthis function through regulating the endocrine system. For example, if itdetects high level of sugar in the blood, it will send signals to the pancreasto produce insulin that will bring it down to the required level. It is amaster control center for emotion and other basic motives. The hypothalamuscontrols behaviours such as sexual response, rage, anger, eating and drinking,sleeping, waking and emotion. If damaged, all these functions may be

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impaired. It is also a part of a group of subcortical and cortical structurescollectively known as limbic system.

The limbic system comprises of the hypothalamus, the fornix, hippocampus,amygdala, septum, parts of the thalamus and parts of the frontal and temporalcortical lobes. It controls emotional and motivated behaviour especiallyaggression, rage, fear, pleasure and other intense arousals. Damage to thisbrain system will affect all these behaviours.

(iii) The cerebellumThe cerebellum is located at the base of the brain. It regulates posture(maintenance of balance when walking, riding, sitting etc), muscularcoordination and motor activities/movements. The cerebellum makes ourmovements coordinated and smooth. It also plays a role in some types ofmemory.

(iv) The brain stemThe brain stem consists of the pons, medulla and the reticular activatingsystem. The Pons is involved in functions such as respiration, movement,facial expression and sleep. Parts of the brain stem are shown in figure 5.

Figure 5: The Brain Stem

The Medulla is located at the bottom of the brain and at the top of the spinalcord. It mainly controls automatic bodily functions such as breathing,heartbeat and swallowing. Injury to the medulla can affect these functionsand endanger life.

The Reticular activating system (RAS) which is also known as the Reticularformation, filters incoming information. It selectively attends to some

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information and ignores or excludes unimportant sensory input. It isimportant for attention and arousal. This part of the brain is alsoresponsible for various degrees of alertness and wakefulness. If damaged onecan go into coma resembling sleep.

As you have seen in this topic, behaviour is a complex process that has itsroots in the interaction between heredity and environment and also the nervousand endocrine systems. The more you learn about the influence of heredity andenvironment on behaviour and the brain and nervous system the more you willunderstand why people behave the way they do.

5.5. Summary Heredity and environment interact to determine behavioural characteristics. Heredity shapes behaviour by providing a framework of personal potential

and limitations. The environment determines whether a person will realizethe full-inherited potential or not.

Since there is little or nothing we can do about genetic inheritance weshould improve the environment, much of which remains under out control forour children to attain their full potentials.

Neurons transmit information throughout the body. Neurons do not touch one another. Information is transferred from one

neuron to another at the synapse which is a gap between them via chemicalsknown as neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are released by axonterminal buttons when an action potential reaches the buttons.

The endocrine system releases hormones into the bloodstream that regulatebehaviour.

The peripheral nervous system includes all nerves going to and from thebrain and spinal cord.

The peripheral nervous system has two major divisions, the somatic andautonomic nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two branches, theparasympathetic and sympathetic, which tend to work in opposition to eachother.

The parasympathetic nervous system is dominant when a person is relaxed. The sympathetic nervous system is dominant when a person is under physical

or mental stress. The central nervous system is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. The major divisions of the brain are the cerebral cortex, the subcortical

areas, the cerebellum and the brain stem. The cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal,

occipital and temporal which perform different functions. The cerebellum is responsible for smooth movement and coordinated motor

activity.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Explain the controversy about the role of nature and nurture in human

behaviour.

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2. Which has the greatest effect on human behaviour; heredity orenvironment? Explain.

3. Why are psychologists interested in the study of the nervous system?4. Identify the major divisions of the nervous system.5. Identify three types of neurons and describe their functions.6. Describe how nerve cells communicate and discuss the importance of

neurotransmitters to human behaviour.7. How does a neuron fire and conduct information to the next neuron?8. Identify the various parts of the brain and explain their functions.9. Why is it impossible to quantitatively determine the relative

contributions of heredity and environment when considering a particulartrait?

10. How do psychoactive (mind-altering drugs) produce their effects?11. Choose one particular behaviour and describe the influence of heredity

and environment on that behaviour.12. Explain how the autonomic nervous system functions.13. Describe how the body reacts to an emergency.14. Discuss why it is not possible for a child to realize their full

academic potential.

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TOPIC 6: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

6.1. Introduction

In this topic we are going to examine how we develop as human beings and thefactors that affect development. Developmental psychology is the science thatseeks to understand how and why people change, and how and why they remain thesame as they grow older. As a teacher you need to understand thedevelopmental changes that are taking place within individual children and howthese changes affect them in general and in particular learning. Anunderstanding of the level of development of a learner and their capabilitieswill enable you as a teacher to provide appropriate experiences. Thediscussion will be brief because later on you will have a module indevelopmental psychology.

6.2. Theoretical approaches to developmentA developmental theory is a systematic statement of principles andgeneralizations that provides a coherent framework for studying and explainingdevelopment. Each developmental theory interprets human development from adifferent perspective. All developmental theories attempt to provide acontext for understanding how individual experiences and behaviour change overtime.

The psychoanalytic theory emphasizes that human actions and thoughts originatefrom powerful impulses and conflict s that often are not part of our consciousawareness. Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic theory, explained howsexual urges arise during the oral, anal, phallic, and genital stages ofdevelopment. Parents’ reactions to conflicts associated with these urges andsuccess or failure to resolve these conflicts have a lasting impact on thechild’s personality.

Erikson’s version of psychoanalytic theory emphasizes psychosocial contexts,whereby individuals are shaped by the interaction of personal characteristicsand social forces. Erikson describes eight successive stages of psychosocialdevelopment from infancy through old age, each of which involves a

Learning objectives

At the end of this topic you should be able to: Describe various approaches to development Explain the factors that influence development Explain prenatal development Explain the changes that take place during various developmental stages Give an account of cognitive development from birth through adolescence

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developmental crisis that must be resolved. Success or failure in resolvingthe crisis has lasting effect on personality development.

Table 3Comparison of Freud’s Psychosexual and Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Approximate Age Freud (Psychosexual) Erikson (Psychosocial)Birth to 1 year Oral Stage

The mouth, tongue, andgums are the focus ofpleasurable sensations inthe baby’s body, andsucking and feeding arethe most stimulatingactivities.

Trust Vs MistrustBabies learn either totrust that others will carefor their basic needs,including nourishment,warmth, cleanliness, andphysical contact, or tolack confidence in the careof others.

1 – 3 years Anal StageThe anus is the focus ofpleasurable sensations inthe baby’s body, andtoilet training is themost important activity.

Autonomy Vs Shame and DoubtChildren learn either to beself-sufficient in manyactivities, includingtoileting, feeding,walking, exploring, andtalking, or to doubt theirown abilities.

3 – 6 years Phallic StageThe phallus, or penis, isthe most important bodypart, and pleasure isderived from genitalsimulation. Boys areproud of their penises,and girls wonder why theydon’t have one.

Initiative Vs GuiltChildren want to undertakemany adult like activities,sometimes overstepping thelimits set by parents andfeeling guilt.

7 – 11 years LatencyThis is not a stage butan interlude, duringwhich sexual needs arequiet and children putpsychic energy intoconventional activitieslike schoolwork andsports.

Industry Vs InferiorityChildren busily learn to becompetent and productive inmastering new skills orfeel inferior and unable todo anything well.

Adolescence Genital StageThe genitals are thefocus of pleasurablesensations, and the youngperson seeks sexual

Identity Vs Role ConfusionAdolescents try to figureout “Who Am I”? Theyestablish sexual,political, and career

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stimulation and sexualsatisfaction inheterosexualrelationships.

identities or are confusedabout what roles to play.

Adulthood Freud believed that thegenital stage laststhroughout adulthood. Healso said that the goalof a health life is “tolove and to work well”.

Intimacy Vs IsolationYoung adults seekcompanionship and love withanother personal or becomeisolated from othersbecause they fear rejectionand disappointment.

Generativity vs. IsolationMiddle-aged adultscontribute to the nextgeneration throughmeaningful work, creativeactivities, and/or raisinga family, or they stagnate.

Integrity vs. DespairOlder adults try to eithermake sense out of theirlives, seeing life as ameaningful whole or despairat goals never reached.

Behaviourists, or learning theorists, believe that the focus of psychologistsstudy should be behaviour, which can be observed and measured. Behaviouristsseek to discover the relationship between events and the reactions theyproduce – that is, between stimulus and response. Learning theory emphasizevarious forms of conditioning - a learning process by which particularstimuli become linked with particular responses in classical conditioning, aneutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus. In Operantconditioning, certain responses, called reinforcers are used to make it morelikely that certain behaviours will recur.

Social Learning theory recognizes that much of human behaviour is learned byobserving the behavior of others. The basic process is modeling in which wefirst observe a behaviour and then repeat it.

Cognitive theorists believe that a person’s thought processes have animportant effect on his/her understanding of the world, and thus on theperson’s development. Piaget proposed that an individual’s thinking developsthrough four age-related periods. Sensorimotor intelligence develops ininfancy, preoperational intelligence emerges during the pre-school years,

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concrete operational intelligence comes into play during the school years, andformal operational intelligence begins in adolescence. Piaget believed thatcognitive development is an active and universal process – that is, uniform inall individuals.

Sociocultural theory explains human development in terms of the guidance,support and structure provided by one’s culture. For Vygotsky, learningoccurs through the social interactions learners share with more knowledgeablemembers of the society, learning and development occurs within a socialcontext.

Epigenetic systems theory emphasizes the fact that genes are powerful andomnipresent and that they affect every aspect of development. The theory alsostresses an ongoing interaction between the genes and environmental forces.This interaction can halt, modify or strengthen the effect of the genes, bothwithin the person and overtime, within the species.

6.3. Heredity and EnvironmentConception occurs when a sperm penetrates and fuses with an ovum, creating asingle cell known as a zygote. The zygote contains all the generic material(half from the sperm and the other half from the ovum) needed to create aunique developing individual. Genes contain chemically coded instructionsthat cells need to become specialized and to perform specific functions in thebody. The genes are arranged on chromosomes. With the exception of gametes,every human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, with one member of eachpair contributed by each parent. Every cell contains a duplicate of thegenetic information in the first cell, the zygote. Twenty-two pairs ofchromosomes control the development of most of the body while the twenty-thirdpair determines, among other things, the individual’s sex. Zygote with XXand XY combination will become females and males respectively.Each person has a unique combination of genes with the exception of identicaltwins. Genes determine most of our physical characteristics and behavioraltendencies to a great extend. The expression of the genetic characteristicsis influenced by environmental factors. Genes affect almost every humantrait, including intellectual abilities, personality patterns, and mentalillnesses. From the moment of conception and throughout life, theenvironment influences genetic tendencies.

6.4. Prenatal DevelopmentThe first two weeks of prenatal growth are called the germinal period. Duringthis period, the single-cell zygote develops into a organism of about more

Learning activity

Working in small groups, identify one behaviour and discuss how the various theories would account for it.

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than 100 cells, travels down the Fallopian tube, and implants itself in theuterine lining. The period between the third through the eighth week iscalled the period of the embryo. During this period the heart begins to beatand the eyes, nose and mouth begin to form. At 8 weeks the organism has thebasic organs and features of a human baby, with the exception of the sexorgans. It measures about 1½ inches.

The fetal period extends from the ninth week until birth. By the twelfth weekall the organs and body structures have formed (Berger, 2001). The foetusattains viability when the brain is sufficiently mature to regulate basic bodyfunctions, around the twenty second week after conception. During the foetalperiod maturation of the body organs takes place and by the end of 40 weeksthe baby is born.

Many teratogens (agents and conditions that can impair prenatal developmentand lead to birth defects or even death) can cause harm to the embryo andfoetus. Diseases, drugs, pollutants, chemicals, stressors and malnutritioncan all cause birth defects. Whether a particular teratogen will cause harmdepends on the timing and amount of exposure and on the developing organism’sgenetic vulnerability. The organism is highly vulnerable to teratogenicinfluences during the period of the embryo (3 – 8 weeks after conception)during which most of the body organs are formed. To protect against prenatalcomplications, a woman can avoid or limit exposure to teratogens, maintaingood nutrition, and seek early and competent prenatal care. Social supportfrom the family and the community is also important.

Low birth weight can be caused by the mother’s poor health or nutrition,smoking , drinking, drugs, and age. Preterm or small-for-gestational-agebabies are likely to suffer from stress during the birth process and toexperience medical difficulties, especially breathing problems. Long-termcognitive difficulties may occur depending on whether the newborn was of verylow birth weight, had serious medical problems, or is raised in animpoverished home. Birth complications, such as unusually long and stressfulbirth that includes anoxia (a lack of oxygen to the foetus) can cause problemssuch as mental retardation.

6.5. Infancy (0 – 2 Years)

Physical DevelopmentDevelopment is rapid during the first two years. Most babies gain about 22pounds (10 kilogrammes) and grow about 15 inches (38 centimeters) during thefirst two years. Proportions changes. The head is relatively large at birth,and fat accumulates quickly and then more slowly after age one. At birth thebrain contains more than 100 billion nerve cells or neurons, but the networksof fibers that interconnect them are relatively rudimentary (Berger, 2001).Brain development is rapid within the infancy stage. At the age of 6 months,the brain is approximately 50% of its adult weight. By 3 years it is

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approximately 75% of its adult weight. The rapid brain development enablesthe emergence of new capabilities, including self-regulation and variouscognitive skills. Over the course of the early years neural pathways in thebrain that are used become strengthened and further developed, and those thatare not used fade away. Thus, stimulation is important in the early years forbrain development.

At first, the newborn’s motor abilities consist of reflexes – involuntaryresponses to stimuli some of which are crucial for survival such as thebreathing and sucking reflexes. Gross motor skills involve large movements,such as running and jumping; fine motor skills involve small, precisemovements, such as picking a coin. The development of both motor abilitiesduring the first two years allows the infant new possibilities in discoveringthe world. The sequence for motor development is the same for all infants,but there are individual variations. For example, some infants may master thewalking skill long after their age mates.

Physical growth, brain development and the mastery of motor skills all dependon adequate nutrition. Breast milk is recommended as the ideal food for mostbabies. If the infant does not get sufficient food, development is likely tobe affected. Severe protein-calorie deficiency can cause:

Marasmus, which is characterized by cessation of growth, wasting away ofbody tissue, and eventually death.

Kwashiorkor, which is characterized by bloating and degradation ofvarious parts of the body and

Long-term cognitive deficits.

Cognitive developmentFrom birth to age two, children are in what Piaget referred to as sensorimotorstage. During this stage they use their senses and motor skills to understandthe environment. By the end of this period they:

Achieve object permanence Understand cause-and-effect relationships Are able to set simple goals and have the knowledge and ability to

achieve them Attain the ability to symbolize.

Language skills begin to develop as babies communicate through noises andgestures and then practice babbling. By the end of the first year they learnthe first few words and thereafter vocabulary grows gradually. Languageacquisition is dependent on genetic predisposition to learn language andenvironmental factors.

Psychosocial developmentDuring infancy various basic emotions develop. These include:

Smiling at about 6 weeks Laughing at 4 months

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Stranger wariness at 6 months Affection at about 9 months etc

The social context teaches infants when and how to express their emotions.Self-awareness develops in the second year of life and allows a new set ofemotions, including pride, embarrassment and jealousy. Personalitydevelopment is influenced by learning, early life experiences with feeding andtoileting among other factors. The interaction between the caregiver and theinfant is crucial to the sharing of personality. Attachment develops betweenthe caregiver and the infant. Attachment refers to an enduring emotionalconnection between people that produces a desire for continual contact as wellas feelings of distress during separation (Berger, 2001: 206). It can be secureor insecure depending on the responsiveness of the caregiver among otherfactors. Securely attached infants will be willing to explore and play in thecaregiver’s presence, react to the caregiver’s return. Insecure attachment ischaracterized by overdependence, lack of interest, in the caregiver, and lackof confidence in the part of the infant. Attachment patterns in infancyinfluence development throughout life.

6.6. Early Childhood (2 – 6 Years)

Physical DevelopmentDuring early childhood, children grow about 3 inches (7 centimeters) and gainabout 4½ pounds (2 killogrammes) a year. Variation in growth and developmentis caused primarily by genes health care, and nutrition.

Brain maturation improves children’s: Physical abilities Emotional regulation. As they grow older, pre-school children are more

able to control their emotions. Motor co-ordination.

Improvement of gross motor skills enables the child to perform many physicalactivities. Fine motor skills, such as holding a pencil or tying a shoelace,improve more gradually during early childhood. The fine motor skills developmore slowly as compared to the gross motor skills that improve dramatically.Development of Brain and Nervous SystemThe brain continues to develop, attaining 90 percent of its adult weight bythe time the child is 5 years old. Both the proliferation of neural pathwaysand myelination continue. Co-ordination between the two halves and thevarious areas of the brain increase, allowing the child to settle down andconcentrate when necessary and to use various parts of the body in harmony.

Cognitive DevelopmentBetween the age of two and six, children are in the preoperational state ofdevelopment. Many cognitive abilities, including some related to number,memory and problem solving, become more mature. Children become less

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egocentric and able to take into account the ideas and emotions of others.However, their thinking is still illogical and egocentric. They attainsymbolic thought. They are distracted by appearances and inability to thinkin reverse. They center on one aspect of a situation to the exclusion ofothers.

Language abilities develop rapidly; by the age of six, the average child knowsabout 10,000 words and demonstrates extensive grammatical knowledge. Theylearn to adjust their communication to their audience. They over generalizegrammatical rules or apply them where they do not fit (Berger, 2001),

Psychosocial DevelopmentSelf-concept emerges as does the ability to regulate emotions. Children boldyinitiate new activities, especially if they are praised for their endeavours.They engage in different types of play that help them master physical andintellectual skills and that teach or enhance their social roles and skills.They increasingly engage in play with others. Antisocial behaviour such asaggression and delinquency may develop.

6.7. Late Childhood (7 – 11 Years) Physical DevelopmentChildren grow more slowly than they did during infancy, early childhood orthan they will during adolescence. Variation in size, shape and rate ofmaturation is influenced by genetic as well as environmental factors.

School-age children can master almost any motor skill as long as it does notrequire adult strength and judgment. Increased strength and lung capacitygive children the endurance to improve their performance in skills such asswimming and running. They do enjoy exercising their developing skills of co-ordination and balance.

Cognitive DevelopmentDuring middle childhood, children become better able to understand and learnbecause of growth in their processing capacity, knowledge base, and memorycapacity. At this time they are in Piaget’s concrete operations stage. Theydevelop the ability to understand logical principles, including the conceptsof identity, reciprocity, and reversibility. Their ability to learn, rememberand process information improves. They can think faster.

Brain maturation, experience, motivation and instruction enhance theirthinking process. They understand concepts such as classification, seriation,

Learning activity

Discuss the environmental factors that contribute to variationsin physical growth during late childhood in your community.

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conservation, quantity etc. However, their understanding and logic is basedon real or concrete experiences.

Increased cognitive development makes it easier to acquire vocabulary.Understanding of language improves greatly. Most children become bilingual.

Psychosocial DevelopmentChildren’s understanding of themselves and others as well as what is right intheir relations with others improve. The peer group becomes increasinglyimportant and they become less dependent on their parents and more dependenton friends for help, loyalty and sharing of mutual interests. During the pre-school years, children create their own subcultures, with its own language,values, and codes of behavior. Parents and other family members continue toinfluence children significantly during this period.

6.8. Adolescence (12 – 19 Years) Physical DevelopmentAdolescence is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood. The onset of adolescence is marked by a period of fast-paced physical andintellectual changes. Normal children experience their first body changessometimes between the ages of 8 and 14. Puberty (period of sexual maturity)is initiated by the production of hormones in the brain. Four of the mostimportant hormones are gonadotropic releasing hormone, growth hormone,testosterone and oestrogen.

The individual’s sex, genes, body type, and stress all affect the age at whichpuberty begins, with girls and fatter children reaching puberty ahead of boysand leaner children. Growth spurt (accelerated growth) provides the firstevidence of puberty. The growth spurt involves gain in weight and thenheight. The body will appear disproportional since various parts of the bodybegin growth at different times. The growth spurt begins with the extremitiesfirst and then proceeds towards the torso (body trunk).

During puberty, all primary sex characteristics (sex organs) grow larger asthe young person becomes sexually mature. Menarche (the first menstrualcycle) in girls and spermarche (the first ejaculation) in boys are signs thatindicate reproductive potential although full fertility is not reached untilyears after these initial signs of maturity. Both sexes experience changes inthe secondary sex characteristics (breasts, voice, and facial and body hair).Individual differences are common.

Learning activity

Explain how the age at which puberty gins affect the adolescent,

socially and emotionally

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Cognitive DevelopmentAdolescents are in Piaget’s formal operations stage. Unlike young children,whose thoughts are tied to tangible reality, adolescents can build formalsystems and general theories that transcend (and sometimes ignore) practicalexperience. Formal thought involves hypothetical reasoning, induction,deduction and a capacity to reason about abstractions and judge the logicalcorrectness of a chain of reasoning.

Formal operations coincides with new forms of moral judgment – forms whichKohlberg calls post conventional because they involve a reliance not onconventional rules but on abstract ethical principles. However, teenagers donot always think at this advanced level. Egocentrism in their thinking helpsto account for their self-consciousness that is typical during this phase oflife.Psychosocial DevelopmentAccording to Erikson, adolescence is a time of searching; the objective is asense of identity, an answer to the question, “who am I?”. They have a taskof developing both their own uniqueness and their relationship to the largersociety, establishing a sexual, political, moral, ethnic, and vocationalidentity. In seeking a satisfying answer, adolescents may delay theircommitment to adult roles. Sometimes the pressure to resolve the identitycrisis is too great, and instead of exploring alternative roles, theyforeclose on their options, taking on someone else’s values wholesale.According to Erikson, foreclosure is a process in which they may seize theirparents’ values, or they may choose the values of a cult or hero. Others maytake on a negative identity. Some experience identity diffusion (confusion),making few commitments to goals, principles, or a particular self-definition.

Parents and peers have a significant influence on the adolescent. Theyinfluence their beliefs, values, ideals and so on. The peer group is a vitalsource of information and encouragement. The adolescent subculture provides abuffer between the world of children and the world of adults, allowing, forexample, a social context for the beginning of heterosexual relationships.Peer pressure can lead the adolescent into trouble. Friendships in earlyadolescence are with members of the same sex, but by late adolescence theyinclude members of the opposite sex.

6.9. Early Adulthood (20 – 35 Years)

Physical DevelopmentYoung adults grow stronger and healthier as their bodies reach adult size. Interms of overall health, as well as peak physical conditions, early adulthoodis the prime of life. With each year from 20 to 40, signs of senescence(signs of old age) become more apparent. All the body systems graduallybecome less efficient (though at different rates), and homeostasis takesincreasingly longer to reach. However, because of organ reserve (extra

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capacity to withstand moments of intense and prolonged stress) none of thesechanges are particularly troublesome or even noticeable for most young adults.

Some couples have fertility problems because: the mans sperms are insufficient in quantity or motility; of the woman’s failure to ovulate because of blocked fallopian tubes

(often caused by inflammatory diseases) and uterine problems (such asfibroids);

aging, though normal aging process is rarely a primary cause ofinfertility in early adulthood.

Young adults are more likely to abuse alcohol and illicit drugs than arepeople of any other age. Eating disorders are common especially among womenwho feel a compulsion to be thinner then their bodies tend to be.

Cognitive DevelopmentAccording to Berger (2001), researchers believe that adults are in a differenttype of thinking called postformal thought that picks up from where Piagetleft off. This is a type of thinking and reasoning that builds on the skillsof form operational thinking. The complex and ambiguous or conflictingdemands of daily life produce this type of thinking. It is a type of thinkingthat is well suited to coping with problems that may have no correctsolutions. Postformal thought is adaptive, integrating thinking processes andexperience in a contextual awareness.

At its most advanced, postformal thinking may be characterized as dialectical,capable of recognizing and synthesizing complexities and contradictions. Itinvolves flexibility and an ever-changing approach. The appearance of thisstage is gradual and is dependent on particular experiences and educationrather than on a universal, chronologically determined restructuring of mentalprocesses. Moral reasoning is influenced by postformal thinking. Educationtends to make people more flexible, thoughtful, and tolerant because itencourages them to feel less threatened by conflicting views.

Psychosocial DevelopmentAdult development appears to be characterized by two basic needs. The firstneed is for intimacy and is achieved through friendships and loverelationships. The second is for generativity and is usually achieved throughsatisfying work and/or parenthood. The primary source of intimacy isfriendship and is served by members of the same sex and of the opposite sex.

The deepest source of intimacy is found through sexual bonding with a mate.This bonding might involve cohabitation and/or marriage. Work is a majorsource of satisfaction and esteem. The pleasure of a job well done helps meetthe need to be generative. Work is an outlet of self-expression and a source

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of status. The labour market is changing radically and individuals shouldexpect to experience job changes and an increasing need for knowledge andflexibility within a diverse group of co-workers. To keep pace with changesin the workplace we are witnessing an influx of adult students in colleges.

6.10. Middle Adulthood (35 – 64 Years)

Physical DevelopmentVarious changes are experienced that include:

Wrinkles on the face; Less hair; Accumulation of fat, especially on the abdomen; Loss of hearing; Loss of visual acuity; Decline in all the body’s systems, which generally may not impair normal

functioning; Menopause (the woman’s menstrual cycle stops, ovulation ceases, and

levels of oestrogen are markedly reduced); Reduction of sexual responses.

Many middle age adults put their health at risk by smoking cigarettes,drinking alcohol excessively, eating poorly, gaining weight, and maintaining asedentary (inactive) life. Variations in health and the rate of aging can beaccounted for by:

Genetic factors Social and psychological factors Gender Socioeconomic status Social factors

Cognitive DevelopmentSome intellectual abilities improve with age, while others decline.Typically, Fluid intelligence (based on genetic factors) decreases. Reactiontime and speed of thinking slow down. On the other hand crystallizedintelligence (based on accumulated knowledge) increases. Sternbegerg (1988)proposed three fundamental forms of intelligence: analytic, creative andanalytical. It is believed that analytic and creative abilities decline withage, while practical intelligence improves with age. Analytic intelligence –consists of mental processes that foster efficient learning, remembering andthinking. These include planning, strategy selection, information processingand verbal and logical skills. Creative intelligence involves the capacity tobe intellectually flexible and innovative when dealing with new situations.Practical intelligence involves the capacity to adapt one’s behaviour tocontextual demands of a given situation. For example, managing familyconflicts and convincing members of an organization to do something.

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Adult intellectual competence is multidimensional, with some abilities (suchas short-term memory) declining with age but others (such as vocabulary)increasing. Adult intelligence tends to flourish in areas of the individualsinterests. The adult becomes an expert at tasks that were once difficult andmysterious. This is what is referred to a contextual intelligence.

Psychosocial DevelopmentAlthough middle age brings about personal and family changes, personality ischaracterized by stability than change. The stability of personality is partygenetic, partly the result of early life experiences and partly the result ofthe individual’s creation of an ecological niche (the lifestyle and socialcontext adults settle into which are compatible with their individualpersonality needs and interests). One personality change that occur is thenarrowing of the gap between masculine and feminine personality traits. Thismeans that there is a likelihood of loosening of rigid gender roles that allowboth men and women to explore feelings and behaviours previously reserved forthe other sex, such as men getting involved in cooking (Berger, 2001).

Middle-aged adults usually have rewarding relationships with their adultchildren and grandchildren, without the stress that responsibility for childrearing creates. Marriages tend to become less conflicted. Decreasing familyand work responsibilities may allow a couple to devote more time to eachother.

Work continues to be an important source of both stress and status in middleage. Many adults learn how to co-ordinate the demands of a partner, childrenand an employer. Many workers retire at the age of 55.

6.11. Late Adulthood (65 onwards)

Physical DevelopmentContrary to the stereotype that aging brings about a host of problems, most ofthe aged are happy, quite healthy, and active (Berger, 2001). Dependency onchildren and relatives is common in developing countries like Kenya. Primaryaging occurs throughout the life span, even from birth. It involves theuniversal and irreversible physical changes that occur to all living organismsas they grow older. There are changes in skin, hair and body shape. Mostolder people are somewhat shorter, weigh less than they did and they walkstiffly. Such changes may affect the self-concept of the older person.Vision is almost always impaired by late adulthood. Problems with hearingaffect about a third of the elderly.

Secondary aging involves changes caused by particular conditions and illness.Many elderly people do experience some chronic ailments. Many theoriesexplain the causes of aging:

Wear-and-tear theory assumes that as we use our bodies we wear them outjust as a machine wears out with extended use.

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Cellular theories assume that the DNA duplication and repair process areaffected by radiation and other factors, leading to an accumulation oferrors when new cells are made.

Decline in the immune system of elderly people increases vulnerabilityto disease. Reduction in the number of cells that attack bacteria,viruses and other destructive agents interferes with the body’s abilityto fight disease.

Genetic aging theory assumes that the maximum human life span is fixedby a genetic clock that switches the aging process on at some point.

Secondary aging can be controlled through diet and exercise.

Cognitive DevelopmentMemory fades in older age. Working memory (or short-term) is the first toslow down; long-term memory is more durable. Aging makes it difficult toaccess memory. Cognitive abilities decline with aging (Berger, 2001). Reactiontime decreases, physical and intellectual activity can halt or reverse some ofthe cognitive slowdown that occur in old age.

Dementia is characterized by memory loss – at first, minor lapses, then moreserious forgetfulness, and finally such extreme losses that recognition ofclosest family members fades. One major cause of dementia is Alzheimer’sdisease. In addition, ministrokes that occur when impairment of bloodcirculation destroys portions of the brain can cause dementia. Some otherpeople become more responsive to nature, more interested in creativeendeavours and more philosophical as they grow older. Though not confirmed,wisdom is thought to increase in life as a result of experience.

Psychosocial Development Different theories focus on development in late adulthood.

Self-theories emphasize the core self, or the search to maintain one’sintegrity and identity. According to Erikson, individuals seekintegrity that connects them with the human community. Identity theorysuggests that people try to maintain a sense of themselves.

Stratification theories emphasize that social forces especially thoserelated to a person’s social stratum or social category, limitindividual choices and affect the ability to function. Many societiestend to segregate their oldest citizens, giving them limited roles,compelling them to retire, offering fewer lifesaving medical treatmentetc.

Disengagement theory assumes that aging makes a person’s social sphereincreasingly narrow, resulting to role relinquishment, withdrawal andpassivity.

Activity theory holds that the elderly remain active in a variety ofsocial spheres – with relatives, friends and community groups. If theydo disengage and withdraw, they do so unwillingly. The more active the

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elderly are, and the more roles they play, the greater theirsatisfaction and the longer their lives.

Participation in community activities or in politics enhances the health andwell being of the elderly. Social support from spouse, friends or familymembers is important at old age. As the elderly grow frail care by a familyor from a nursing home will be necessary.

6.12. Summary Human development explores how and why we change, and how and why we

remain the same as we grow older. Theoretical perspectives that help us understand how development occurs

include, the psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, sociocultural andepigenetic system theories.

At the time of conception, the genes from both parents determine thetraits to be inherited. These include personality patterns,intellectual potential, mental illness, height, body shape etc. Fromthe moment of conception and throughout life, the environment influencesgenetic tendencies.

Prenatal development is influenced by teratogens such as alcohol, drugs,cigarettes, diseases and nutrition.

Growth is very rapid within the first two years of life. From two to 6 years growth and development in fairly rapid. Between 7 and 11 years development slows down. During the adolescence stage growth and development peaks up again.

Adolescence is perhaps one of the challenging and complicated period oflife to describe. Major physical, cognitive, psychological and socialchanges that take place during the adolescence stage affect adolescentsin different ways.

During early adulthood, individuals are at the prime of their lives interms of health and physical conditions.

Between 20 and 35 years of age we are in the postformal period ofcognitive development. The need for intimacy is fulfilled by sexualbonding and friendship with other people.

The middle age years (35 – 64) are characterized by changes indevelopment that include health problems, decline in intellectualpowers, decline in sexual responsiveness, physical changes, loss ofvisual acuity etc.

Late adulthood (65 years and beyond) is characterized by major changessuch as deficits in vision and hearing, memory loss, impaired ability toprocess information and social dependency.

Learning activities and revision questions1. What is the main focus of the study of human development?2. Identify three developmental theories and give their major

assumptions.3. Briefly explain how heredity and environment influence development.4. What major developments occur during the period of the embryo?

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5. Explain how nutrition affects development during pregnancy and in theearly years.

6. Explain the major achievements in cognitive development up to theadolescence stage.

7. What factors trigger the onset of puberty?8. What are the main changes that characterize physical development

during adolescence?9. Why is identity formation difficulty for majority of adolescents

today?10. What are the likely physical changes that occur during middle and

late adulthood.11. What is the difference between primary and secondary aging?

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TOPIC 7: INTELLIGENCE

7.1. IntroductionIn this topic, we are going to discuss the concept of intelligence. We willexamine the meaning of the term, some of the methods devised to assess it,intellectual differences among individuals and its relevance to the learningprocess. There may be no doubt that in your experience as a student therewere learners whom you considered to be very bright or intelligent and othersless intelligent or dull. This judgment could have been based on academicachievement; but is intelligence synonymous with high academic achievement?By the time you go through this topic you will have an idea about thecompetencies to expect in learners to be able to judge whether they areintelligent or not.

7.2. Definition of intelligenceWhat is Intelligence? Intelligence has been one of the most difficultconcepts to define in psychology. Different psychologists have defined theterm intelligence differently. Davis (1983:434) defines intelligence as “theability to learn quickly, solve problems, understand complex and abstractissues, and generally behave in reasonable, rational and purposeful manner”.Huffman et al, (1995:245) defines it as the cognitive abilities employed inacquiring, remembering and using knowledge of one’s culture to solve everydayproblems and to readily adapt to and function in both a changing and stableenvironment. According to Wechsler (1975), intelligence refers to the globaland aggregate capacity of an individual to think rationally, to actpurposefully and to deal effectively with his/her environment.

Although these three definitions are more comprehensive than others, a look atwhat psychologists thought to be the components of intelligence will give us abetter understanding of what it is. For a long time psychologists could notagree on what abilities an intelligence test should measure.

Spearman (1927) proposed that intelligence is composed of a single factor or ageneral cognitive ability that enables people to reason, solve problems and dowell in all areas that require cognition (Huffman et al., 1995). He calledthis general ability the g factor. Thurstone (1938) proposed that

Learning ObjectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Define intelligence and state various components of intelligence. Explain the various uses of intelligence tests. Explain how intelligence is assessed. Discuss the implications of intelligence on the learning process.

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intelligence is composed of seven distinct primary mental abilities (PMA) thathe believed were independent of each other. They included: verbal comprehension/ability world fluency numerical perceptual speed memory spatial (to do with space) ability reasoning.Later Paul Guilford (1967) identified as many as 120 intellectual abilities.

Raymond Cattel proposed that intelligence consists of two components, namelycrystallized and fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence refers to theknowledge and experience a person accumulates during his life and is assessedby tests of vocabulary and information (Mwamwenda, 1995). This kind ofintelligence increases with age, but may decline during old age. Fluidintelligence, which is innate, includes a person’s ability to reason,discriminate and engage in abstract thinking. It is genetic and consists ofour capacity for learning new knowledge and solving problems.

In 1983, Howard Gardner proposed the theory of multiple intelligence. Hepostulated that intelligence consists of the following abilities: Abilities in language. Mathematical-logical reasoning Visual and spatial thinking. Musical. Body kinesthetic skills (e.g., dancing and athletic abilities). Intrapersonal skills (e.g. self knowledge) Interpersonal skills or social competence (leadership and social abilities

including the ability to show interest in others and to interacteffectively with them).

He felt that some people tend to excel in some areas of intelligence than inothers. Therefore, intelligence testing should consist of assessing aperson’s strengths in different areas rather than coming up with a single IQscore (Gardner, 1986).

Perhaps now you understand why psychologists have had difficulties in definingthe term intelligence. Different psychologists had different views on what itis. Although many views on the components of intelligence existed, manycontemporary psychologists believe that intelligence is composed of manydifferent abilities but not one general ability. In view of this, our schoolsystem should provide learning environments tailored to students’ uniquestrengths and learning styles. For example, schools for performing arts,science, technology and so on.

7.3. Measuring intelligence

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Intelligence tests are used to measure a person’s level of intelligence.These tests provide a mental age (MA) which when divided by a person’schronological age (CA) and then multiplied by 100 gives an intelligentquotient (IQ) measure (i.e., a score or an index of intelligence). Thus, `todetermine/calculate a persons’ intelligence quotient, mental age is divided byhis chronological age and then the ratio is multiplied by 100 to eliminatedecimals. Chronological age is one’s actual age in years or his/her physicalage. Mental age is a type of score expressing mental development in terms ofthe age level at which a child is performing. For example, if a 10 year oldboy does as well on an intelligence test as the average child of 12 years, hismental age is 12. In this example, the boy’s IQ would be calculated asfollows:

IQ = MA x 100 = 12 x 100 = 1.2 X 100 = 120 CA 10

If MA equals CA, IQ will be 100 points, that is, the IQ for an average person.A person below average will have an IQ score of less than 100 points while aperson above average will have an IQ score of above 100 points.

Like many other psychological traits, intelligence seems to be normallydistributed in the population in such a way that most people make scores inthe middle range while only a few people make very high or very low scores.Thus, the average IQ of a randomly selected group of people on most testswould be about 100. This produces a bell-shaped distribution, a curve whichstatisticians call a normal curve (see figure 6).

Figure 6. Normal distribution curve of IQ

Approximately two-thirds (about 68 percent) of the population score between 85and 115. Only about 2.8 percent score either above 130 or below 70. At theextremes of intelligence are the mentally gifted and the intellectuallygifted.

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Table 4. Classification on the basis of IQIQ Score Description130 – 145 Gifted120 – 129 Superior 110 – 119 Bright normal 85 – 109 Average 70 - 84 Borderline 55 - 69 Mildly mentally retarded 40 - 54 Moderately mentally retarded 25 - 39 Severely mentally retarded 0 - 25 Profoundly mentally retarded

As you can see from table 3, individuals who score less than 70 are consideredto be mentally retarded. Some of the causes of mental retardation include: Down’s syndrome that involves an extra chromosome 21 in the body’s cells.

The person will have three rather than a pair of the 21st chromosome. Extreme environmental deprivation in the early years of life. Genetic inheritance. Prenatal environmental factors during pregnancy such as malnutrition,

drugs, chemicals and radiation. Birth injury.However, in many cases there may be no known cause for the mental retardation.

7.3.1. IQ testsThere are many different kinds of IQ tests and each approaches the measurementof intelligence from a different perspective. Let us have a look at some ofthe IQ tests that have been used.

The revised Stanford – Binet TestThis test is administered individually and measures mental age for the ages 1– 14 years. It is among the best known and most widely used measure ofintelligence. It consists of a wide variety of different subtests graded indifficulty so as to correspond to various age levels. It measures fourseparate areas: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract/visualreasoning and short-term memory.

Examples of questions asked of 6 year olds are; "A bird flies; a fish ", "An inch is short; a mile is ".

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for ChildrenThe Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC – R where R stands forrevised in 1974) can be administered individually (one test taker one testgiver) to children between 6 and 16 years of age. It consists of 12 subtestsdivided into two parts, verbal tests and performance tests. The six verbalsubtest measure information, comprehension, arithmetic, similarities,vocabulary and digit span. The six performance subtests comprise picture

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completion, picture arrangement, block design, object assembly, coding andmazes. Digit span and mazes are not used to measure normal children(Mwamwenda, 1995).

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)This is a group test of intelligence. Group tests are usually paper-and-pencil or computer administered tests that can be given to a large group atone time. The CogAT yields verbal, quantitative and non-verbal scores.

Otis-Lennon School Ability TestThis is another example of a paper-and-pencil test. It is used to assessschool related ability. This test measures vocabulary, reasoning and numericability.

The Army Alpha TestThis is one of the oldest paper-and-pencil tests to be administered, toinductees in the U.S.A. army during World War I. It measured cognitiveabilities such as mathematical reasoning, analogies and critical judgment.Other group tests include, the California Test of Mental Maturity, the Schooland College Ability Test and the Differential Aptitude Test.

Some of these tests and other traditional intelligence tests have beencriticized as being culturally biased or unfair to individuals from ethnic andsocial groups outside the white middle class population. As a result of this,black Americans were said to be less intelligent than the whites. In othercases, children were placed in classes for the mentally retarded on the basisof testing conducted in a language other than their native one (Lefrancois, 1997).

Such biases led to an attempt to devise culture-free or culture-fairintelligence tests (measures that do not disadvantage certain groups). Thesetests avoid questions that depend on a particular cultural background. Thisis because heredity and cultural environment are believed to contributetowards one’s measured intelligence. Thus, performance in a particularintelligence test may depend on the culture one has been raised in.

7.4. Uses of IQ testsAlthough IQ tests are not widely used in Kenya, they have a variety of uses.IQ tests can be used for the following purposes: to predict academic achievement. to hire and promote employees. to predict career success. to identify children with special needs such as the mentally gifted and

retarded. to diagnose learners with learning difficulties or problems. The symptoms

of such difficulties include frustrations, anxiety, emotional disturbances,underachievement and disruptive behaviour.

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to assign pupils to special programmes and institutions, for example,admitting students into certain programmes in the university.

assessment of maturational and developmental factors so as to predictsuccess at elementary school level, for example, the Wechsler IntelligenceScale for Children.

to determine whether individuals are functioning up to their intellectuallevels.

The various uses in which IQ tests have been previously put into show thatthey can be used to supplement our national examinations in decision makingabout learners.

7.5. Implications to the teacherThe knowledge about a learners’ approximate level of intelligence andcapabilities can assist you as a teacher to: predict the academic performance of the learner. However, IQ scores may

not predict academic success 100 percent because other factors mayintervene such as, motivation, home environment and lack of learningfacilities.

help learners to choose a career. help learners to choose subjects. realize that a conducive environment is necessary to foster intellectual

development especially in the early years of life. realize and appreciate the fact that there are individual differences among

learners. plan learning activities for children of different abilities and especially

the extreme cases. For example, mentally gifted children may become boredwith class work designed for normal children and therefore need extra,advanced and challenging learning activities. On the other hand, childrenwho are not mentally gifted may not cope with class work designed fornormal children and therefore may need remedial teaching or recommendationfor placement in special classes.

realize that a child may be gifted in a special way other than having ahigh IQ. For example, a child may be gifted in mechanical aptitude,artistic talent, musical talent, athletic potential and so on. In such acase, as a teacher you will create opportunities to help the child todevelop his/her special talents.

7.6. Summary Theorists have differed in their definition of intelligence. Among other

definitions, Davis (1983) defines it as “the ability to learn quickly,solve problems, understand complex and abstract issues and generally behavein a reasonable, rational and purposeful manner”.

intelligence consists of the cognitive abilities employed in acquiring,remembering and using knowledge of one’s culture to solve everyday problemsand readily adapt to and function in both changing and stable environment(Huffman et al, 1995).

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psychologists have differed on the components of intelligence. Some feltthat it is composed of few abilities whereas others proposed manyabilities.

IQ tests may not measure overall intelligence, rather, most of them aredesigned to measure verbal and quantitative abilities needed for schoolsuccess.

people with IQs of 70 and below are identified as mentally retarded whilepeople with IQs of 130 and above are identified as gifted.

Causes of mental retardation include genetic and environmental factors.For some cases of mental retardation there may be no known cause.

IQ tests can be used to:- predict academic success.- identify learners with learning difficulties.- assign learners to special programmes, etc.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Define intelligence and explain why psychologists found it difficult to

define the concept of intelligence.2. List some of the components of intelligence that psychologists thought

an intelligence test should capture.3. Giving an example, explain how intelligence is assessed.4. What is a “culture free” or “culture fair” test of intelligence?5. What causes mental retardation?6. Discuss the various uses you would recommend for intelligence tests if

they were to be introduced and extensively used in the Kenyan educationsystem.

7. Discuss the implications of the knowledge of learners’ intelligence fora teacher

8. Differentiate between fluid and crystallized intelligence.9. Discuss evidence for both genetic and environmental influences on

intelligence.

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TOPIC 10: SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

10.1. INTRODUCTIONLearning is a process that involves absorbing information through varioussensory modalities and interpretations of the sensory input to make/drawmeaning out of it. In your learning experiences you might have noticed thatyou easily forget information that you hear, but what you hear, see, touch ormanipulate, smell and taste may take long before it is erased from yourmemory. Psychologists and teachers are interested in studying the concepts ofsensation and perception because of their importance in the learning-teachingprocess. In this topic you will learn how our sensory organs gather sensoryinformation and convert it into signals the brain can understand and how thesensory input is organized and processed to make sense out of it.

10.2. SensationBehaviour as we know it, our own private experiences and the reportedexperiences of others would be impossible without some way of knowing aboutthe world around us. Through the sense of smell, touch, vision, taste andhearing we learn about the world. To appreciate the importance of the sensoryprocess in behaviour, imagine what it would be without one or more of yoursenses.

Sensation can be defined as the process of receiving, translating andtransmitting raw data from the external and internal environments to thebrain. The process of sensation involves the entering of raw sensory datafrom the senses to the brain. To experience sensation, our sense organs(eyes, nose, tongue, ears, skin) must detect stimuli and convert them into alanguage the brain can understand.

10.2.1. Sensory processingOur senses are capable of detecting a wide range of stimuli out of which theyselectively attend to some and ignore others that are not important. Thisprocess is called sensory reduction, in which the sensory system filtersincoming sensation by analyzing their relative importance before it sends aneural impulse to the brain. Our sensory organs contain cells calledreceptors that receive and process sensory information from the environment.Through a process called transduction, the receptors convert the stimulus into

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Define sensation and perception. Explain the factors that affect attention and

sensation. Explain how you can draw and keep the learners

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neural impulses, which are sent to the brain. The receptor cells found ineach sensory organ reduce the amount of information we receive, otherwise thebrain would be overwhelmed by the amount of information detected at any onegiven time.

The brain differentiates between incoming sensations such as smell and soundthrough a process called coding. Coding is a process through which aparticular sensory input is converted into a specific sensation. The codingfor a specific sensation depends on the number and type of sensory cells thatare activated, on the precise nerve that is stimulated and ultimately the partof the brain that the nerve stimulates.

The different neural impulses travel by different routes and arrive atdifferent parts of the brain. For example, visual messages are channeled tothe occipital lobes in the brain.

10.2.2. Stimulus detection and discriminationThe smallest/weakest intensity of a stimulus that must be present for it to bedetected is known as absolute threshold. A stimulus is energy that produces aresponse in an organism. Stimuli vary in both type and intensity. Differentstimuli activate different sense organs. Difference threshold is the smallestmagnitude of difference in stimulus energy that a person can detect. It isalso known as a just noticeable difference. For example, in a test of hearingloss, a tone generator is used to produce sounds of different intensities andpitches. The earliest point at which you can hear the tone indicates theabsolute threshold or the smallest magnitude of sound you can detect. To testyour difference threshold, you are supposed to indicate/respond when younotice a difference with small variations in volume. By noting your hearingthreshold and comparing it to that of people with normal hearing, a specialistcan determine whether you have a hearing loss and if so the extend of theloss.

Sensory thresholds exist not only for hearing but also for vision, taste,smell and the skin senses. People with sensory impairment have thresholdsthat differ from the norm. Among individuals with no sensory difficultiesthere is a considerable range in sensitivities. Moreover, the sensitivity ofan individual can vary from moment to moment, depending on his or herphysiological state. For example, sickness and certain drugs can change aperson’s normal threshold. The presentation of learning materials should bedone in such a way that pupils with the lowest levels of thresholds are ableto get what is being communicated.

10.2.3. Sensory adaptationWhen a constant stimulus is presented to you for a length of time, the sensoryorgans begin to adapt and your response to the stimulus decreases. Thisprocess in which response to a sensory system to continuous stimulationdecreases is known as sensory adaptation. This process allows you to operate

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efficiently in a wide range of stimulus intensities and makes you more alertto novel stimuli. For example, when you enter a room with a distinctive odor,the smell is very noticeable at first, but soon it fades. Similarly, if youenter a room from outside it will appear dark at first, but after sometime youwill adapt and see it as less dark.

All sensory systems display adaptation but some, such as, smell and touchadapt quickly whereas others such as the sense of pain, adapt very slowly.Sense receptors in the body are designed to be sensitive to changes instimulation. Children in schools located in towns where they are exposed toconstant noise readily adapt and are able to concentrate in learning, almostunaware of what is happening outside.

Each of the sensory principles we have discussed, that is, reduction,transduction, coding, thresholds and adaptation apply to all the senses, yeteach sense is uniquely different. In this topic we will not discuss thedetails of each sense. However, if you are interested in learning more abouthow each sensory organ functions you can refer to any psychology or biologybook in any of the libraries close to you.

Attention is a process closely related to sensation and is important in theprocess of learning because learners who pay attention gain from the learningexperience. Attention can be defined as the ability to process part ofincoming sensations and ignore everything else. It is the selection ofincoming messages or focusing on some stimulus. Attention is selective orvoluntary. Your brain’s processing capacity is limited and cannot cope withall the incoming information and hence the selection. Selective attentionmeans that you give priority to the more important stimuli for furtherprocessing while you ignore the less relevant ones. When you attend to onemessage, it prevents others from entering through. For example, a learnercannot be able to hear what his/her desk mate is trying to whisper to him/herand at the same time hear what the teaching is saying. It is not possible toattend to two conversations at the same time. However, the learner may beable to pick part of what the desk mate is saying and what is beingcommunicated by the teacher because attention constantly shifts from onestimulation to another.

Factors affecting attentionLet us now look at some of the factors that affect our attention to sensorystimulation. These include external and internal factors.

External factors Intensity: The intensity of a stimulus such as, loud noise, bright

colours, strong odours and high pressure on the skin will attract moreattention. Thus, as a teacher you should use stimuli of adequateintensities such as bright colours and audible voice while teaching to keepthe learners attention focused.

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Novel stimulus: New and different, irregular or unusual stimulus or eventwill catch our attention quickly, such as a new method of teaching.

Variable or changing stimulus: Changes in stimulus will attract alearner’s attention, such as change in tone, charts and teaching aids. Asa teacher, you should vary your modes of teaching oftenly to involve manysensory modalities if possible for effective learning.

Regularity: Regularity implies emphasis in the stimulus being presented.If a stimulus is presented regularly it will attract more attention. Forinstance, if you repeat something for a long time it may attract theattention of your learners and stick in their minds.

Habitual or conditioned stimulus: A conditioned stimulus will catch ourattention easily. For example, if your name is mentioned in a conversationby people, you will pick it faster than anybody else because you areconditioned to it. Teaching from the known to the unknown and usingfamiliar examples from the learners’ environment can catch and keep theirattention focused.

Cueing: Cues are hints or signals that draw our attention to the mostimportant aspects of a particular issue. When teaching you canoccasionally use cues, such as “Take note of “, “Pay more attention to”, or“Pay special attention to…”. You can also highlight areas in your lessonthat require more attention from your learners.

Internal factorsThese are internal factors that are unique to a person. In most cases, theyare physical and mental predispositions that determine how sensitive andattentive we are in a particular issue. These factors include the following: Interest: Things that we are interested in tend to draw our attention and

keep it focused. For example, learners’ attention and concentration willbe high in a topic or subject they are interest in.

Motives or needs: Needs such as, the need for food, water, fresh air,recognition and so on will detract our attention from what we are doing.The attention will be focused on how these needs can be satisfied.

Fatigue: A lot of mental or physical activity depletes (lessens) ourenergies and the whole body becomes sluggish in response. When your bodyis exhausted, your response rate to stimuli is reduced. As a teacher youshould not go beyond the learners’ attention span and you should be able tonotice when learners are tired and allow them a break or change thelearning activity.

Arousal: Attention is affected as arousal (alertness) increases up to acertain point. Our arousal starts from a threshold (the minimum level atwhich stimulus can be detected) and increases up to an optimum from whereit flattens and then declines. Thus, our attention to a particularstimulus varies with the level of arousal. You may have realized that whenyou are revising for your examination in the previous day, yourconcentration is very low at the beginning, then it picks and when youbegin getting tired, it diminishes.

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Attention needs: This includes curiosity, exploration and manipulation.Human beings are curious and explorative by nature. If learners arecurious and interested in a subject they will tend to be very attentive.

Expectation: Attention is drawn to those ideas and activities we leastexpect or sometimes vice versa. Introduction of new topics, discussionsand method of presentation may make your learners to be more attentive.

10.2.4. Implications to the teacherTo draw and sustain the attention of learners, you should: Discover the interests of your learners. You need to know what draws their

attention and how long they can keep their attention focused. Giveexamples that relate to their interests when teaching.

Select materials and plan lessons that focus learners’ attention to themost important aspects of the lessons. Spend more time on the mostimportant points and use more examples to explain the points. Underline orhighlight the important points in your notes.

Highlight topics that merit special attention. Vary the presentation to include more sensory modalities. Prepare learners in advance by communicating the goals of the lesson in

advance. Minimize distractions by reducing unnecessary competing stimuli, such as

irrelevant charts in the classroom, and books or other materials unrelatedto the subject.

Use questions to focus learners’ attention to the main points of thelesson.

Move at a pace that will hold the learners attention. If the pace isoverly quick, attention is lost. If it is too slow, learners become boredand inattentive. As you teach, you should watch out for signs ofinattention such as, increased movement, gazing out of the window,fidgeting or chatting

Take learners’ attention span into consideration. Younger children have ashorter attention span than older children and brighter students seem toattend to lessons for a longer period of time than less bright ones (Kaplan,1990).

10.3. PerceptionThe processes of sensation and perception are intimately related and difficultto separate but there is a distinct difference. Earlier in this topic wedefined sensation as the process of receiving, translating and transmittingraw data from the environment to the brain. Perception is the process inwhich the brain interprets the sensations it receives, giving them order andmeaning. According to Huffman et. al. (1995), it is the process of selecting,organizing and interpreting sensory data into usable mental representations ofthe world. It is hard to separate sensation from perception, because thefirst, quickly and effortless leads to the second.

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After receiving and selectively attending to stimuli, the sensations areanalysed or organized and interpreted in the light of past experience withsimilar stimuli. Normally, our perceptions agree with our sensations, butthere are times when they do not. This results in an illusion. Illusions arefalse impressions of the physical world that can be produced by actualphysical distortions, as in desert mirages or by errors in the perceptualprocess, as in the illusion shown in figure 7.

Figure 7. Horizontal – vertical illusion

Is x longer than y? The horizontal line may be perceived as shorter than thevertical one, but measurements will give a different answer.

Perception consists of three basic processes: the selection, organization andinterpretation of incoming sensations. Now we are going to examine theseprocesses and see how they enable us to perceive our world.

10.3.1. SelectionThe first step in perception is selection in which we choose the stimuli towhich we will attend to. In almost every situation there is an excess ofsensory messages, but through the process of selection, the brain sorts outthe important messages and discards the rest. This process is known asselective attention. For example, you cannot be able to listen to two peopletalking to you at the same time. There are three factors involved inselection decision: physiological factors, stimulus factors and psychologicalfactors.

Physiological factorsOne of the major physiological factors in selection is the presence ofspecialized cells in the brain called feature detectors (or feature analyzers)that respond only to certain sensory information. Thus, the basic mechanismsfor perceptual selection are built into the brain. However, a certain amountof interaction with the environment is apparently necessary for feature

x

y

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detectors to develop normally. Deprivation of sensory stimulation early inlife can affect our responsiveness to the environment later in life.

Another physiological factor important in selecting sensory information ishabituation. Habituation is the tendency to ignore environmental factors thatremain constant. The brain seems to be “prewired” to pay more attention tochanges in the environment than to stimuli that remain constant. If you haveever worked in a room (such as a library) with a wall clock, you might havethought that it was ticking very hard at first, but after a period of time youcould hardly notice its ticking. This happens because you become habituatedto the regularity of the sound.

Stimulus factorsWhen given a wide variety of stimuli to choose from, we automatically selectthe stimuli that are novel, intense, moving, contrasting or repetitious.Parents and teachers often use these attention-getting principles, butadvertisers have developed it into a fine art. When you watch a television,you ////////may notice that the advertisements are louder and brighter thanwhat you have been watching. Advertisers are aware that the most importantfactor in sales in getting people’s attention. In learning, it is importantto get learner’s attention and to keep it focused to the learning activity.

Psychological factorsCertain psychological factors explain why you attend to some stimuli and notto others. Motivation and personal needs are examples of these factors. Whatwe choose to perceive is largely determined by our current level ofsatisfaction or deprivation. For example, when you are in town and feelinghungry you are more likely to notice hotels than other business premises. Alearner who is keen on passing well and getting a good job is likely to beinterested in learning.

10.3.2. OrganizationAfter selecting incoming information, we organize it into patterns that willhelp us to understand the perceived stimulus. In organization, we assemblethe selected sensation into usual patterns or shapes. Raw sensory data arelike the parts of a radio. They must be assembled into a meaningful waybefore they are useful.

Form perceptionGestalt psychologists were the first to research on how sensory impressionsare organized by the brain. The German word gestalt means “whole” or“pattern”. The gestalt movement was founded by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffkaand Wolfgang Kohler who believed that form perception is impossible tounderstand simply by analyzing the many sensations that are registered in thebrain when we sense something. Gestaltists emphasized the importance oforganization and patterning in enabling us to perceive the whole stimulusrather than perceiving its discrete part as separate entities. They argued

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that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. A given object cannot beunderstood by analyzing one aspect at a time. It can be understood by havinga global picture of it. For example in figure 8, what is perceived is not anumber of isolated dots, but a rectangle.

Figure 8. Global perception

In music, individual notes are combined to produce something new and melodiousthat did not exist before.

Gestaltists developed a number of laws of organization that specify how weperceive form. Some of these laws are the law of figure and ground, the lawof proximity, the law of similarity, the law of closure and the law ofcontinuity.

The law of figure and groundThis law assumes that perception consists of two aspects: the figure, whichstands out, has a definite shape or pattern and is clearly outlined, and theground which is more indistinct; vague or unclear and has no fixed form orshape. In perception, we tend to distinguish between these two. In a givenenvironment, you may focus your attention on a certain aspect, which will thenbecome the figure and the rest is the background within which the figure issituated. The ground could become the focus of attention, in which case thefigure will be transformed into ground and the ground will be transformed intothe figure. The determining criterion is the degree to which attention isfocused on one rather than the other. In figure 9, it may be difficult to seethe figure and ground simultaneously.

0000000 00 00 00 0

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Figure 9. Law of figure and ground. (when you look at this figure you maysee a vase or two faces depending on your perspective.

Figure 10. Do you see the white horses and riders? Now look for the blackhorses and riders!

When you read this material, your eyes are receiving sensations of black linesand white paper, but your brain is organizing this sensation into letters andwords that are perceived against a backdrop of white pages. The letters andwords constitute the figure and the pages constitute the ground. The figurehas meaning and stand in front of the rest.

The law of proximityAccording to this law, elements that are physically close together areperceived as belonging together or as a single unit. For example, in figure11, there appear to be three horizontal rows. On the right, the groupingappears to be in vertical columns.

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Figure 11: On the left, there appear to be three horizontal rows. On theright, the grouping appears to be in vertical columns.

The law of similarity

This law assumes that stimuli that are similar in size, shape, colour or formtend to be perceived as belonging together. For example, in figure 10, thetriangles within the square on the left seem to form a pattern. Therefore, itappears as though there is one large triangle within the square. On the rightside, we switched two of the shapes. Although there are the same number oftriangles, people are less likely to perceive them as a single whole. However,the three smaller triangles in a row now tend to be perceived together as aunified whole.

Figure 12. The law of similarity

The triangles within the square on the left seem to form a pattern. Therefore,it appears as though there is one large triangle within the square. On theright side, we switched two of the shapes. Although there are the same numberof triangles, people are less likely to perceive them as a single whole.However, the three smaller triangles in a row now tend to be perceivedtogether as a unified whole.

The law of closureThis law proposes that we tend to complete incomplete figures so that theyhave a consistent overall form or shape. In perception, we tend to fill ingaps. In figure 13, we see complete circles although they are incomplete.

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Figure 13. The law of closure

Figure 14. Another example of closure

In Figure 14, we see three black circles covered by a white triangle, eventhrough it could just as easily be three incomplete circles joined together.Our minds react to patterns that are familiar, even though we often receiveincomplete information.

The law of continuityThis law states that patterns or objects that continue in one direction tendto be perceived as belonging together. Thus, perception tends towardscontinuity. In figure 15, we see a square instead of 13 dots.

Figure 15. The law of continuityIn figure 16 below, we perceive the figure as two crossed lines instead of 4lines meeting at the centre.

0 0 0 00 00 00 0 0 0 0

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Figure 16. Another example of continuity

Now that we have an overview of the laws of organization, we will now look atthe principle of perceptual constancy which explains how we perceiveconsistency in the environment.

Perceptual constanciesAlthough we are particularly alert to changes in our sensory input, we manageto perceive a great deal of consistency in the environment. The ability toperceive constancy in our environment makes this possible. The principle ofperceptual constancy refers to the ability to perceive the environment asremaining the same even with changes in sensory input. We perceive objects asconstant in size, shape, colour and other properties despite changes in theirretinal images. Perceptual constancies are based on prior learning/knowledgeand experience with the same objects.

Size constancyThis is the process in which the perceived size of an object remains the same,even though its retinal image changes. For example, the image of a departingcar rapidly becomes smaller, but you do not perceive the car as shrinking insize.

Colour constancyThis is the tendency for the colour of an object to be perceived as remainingthe same even when the amount of light changes. For example, red will beperceived as red whether in a dark room or lit room.

10.3.3. InterpretationThe third major process involved in perception is interpretation. Afterselecting incoming sensory messages and organizing them into patterns, thebrain uses this information to explain and make judgment about the externalworld. The interpretation of sensory information is influenced by severalfactors, including early life experiences, perceptual expectations, culturalfactors, personal motivations and frame of reference. Let us briefly look atthese factors.

Early life experiencesHow did you come to perceive the world as you do? Perceptual processes are amatter of learning. Babies enter the world with little or no ability to seeform, perceptual constancies and so forth. Through development and learningexperiences they come to perceive the world as adults do. Thus, early lifeexperiences influence the process of interpretation.

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Perceptual expectationsIn our daily lives, our expectations often bias our perceptions especiallywhen incoming sensations are ambiguous. In such a case, we perceive what wethink we should perceive. For example, consider the husband who is expectingan important phone call, he will hear the telephone ring in the night whilehis wife does not. The wife on the other hand, may be more likely to hear thebaby crying than the telephone ringing.

Motives and needsIndividual differences in our motives and needs affect perception. Often weattend to and organize sensory inputs in ways that match our needs. Forexample, when we are hungry, thirsty or sexually aroused we are likely to payattention to events in our environment which will satisfy these needs.

10.3.4. Implications to learning How can what you have learnt about perception be useful to you as a classroomteacher? You can enhance learning among your pupils by putting into practicewhat you have learnt about perception by: Providing pupils with the whole situation. Pupils need to be encouraged to

look at the situation as a whole before attempting to find a solution to aproblem. The details of the problem should be examined from the wholerather than the other way round.

Organizing learning materials in a certain structure/pattern for bettermental activity or understanding. For example, ordering materials fromsimple to difficult.

Teaching from known to the unknown since perception depends on previouslearning and experience.

Providing children with adequate background information, which is necessaryin problem solving or in perceiving new relationships.

Taking into account perceptual differences among learners. Depending onthe level of development and intellectual ability, learners may perceiveproblems differently.

Avoiding false perception among learners by providing adequate visual andauditory teaching materials and information. Adequate learning materialsand experiences will enhance understanding.

Relating learning with the learner’s real world experiences.

10.4. Summary Sensation is the process of receiving, translating and transmitting data

from the external environment to the brain. Perception is the process of selecting, organizing and interpreting sensory

data into mental representations of the world. Sensory processing includes reduction, transduction and coding. Transduction is the conversion of physical stimuli into neural impulses and

it occurs at the receptors in our sensory organs. Each sensory system is specialized to code its stimuli into unique sets of

neural impulses that the brain interprets as light, touch and so on.

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The three basic process of perception are selection, organization andinterpretation.

Learning activities and revision questions.1. Differentiate between sensation and perception.2. Distinguish between absolute and difference threshold.3. Discuss the phenomenon of sensory adaptation.4. Discuss psychology’s contribution to our understanding of perception.5. Describe perceptual constancies.6. Name the body senses and make brief notes on each of them.7. Explain transduction, reduction and coding in sensory processing.8. Describe the role of selection in the process of perception.9. Discuss some of the factors that can affect learners’ attention in the

classroom.10. Explain how you can draw and sustain the attention of learners in a

double lesson of 80 minutes.11. Explain how the process of sensation and perception are involved in

reading this module.

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TOPIC 11: EMOTIONS

11.1. IntroductionHave you ever felt very anxious and tense when sitting for an importantexamination, or an interview, very excited, very nervous or very shy? Allthese and many others are feelings we experience everyday. Such feelings mayhave an impact on how we respond to the environment and our behaviour ingeneral. For example, you might have not been able to recall learnt materialin an examination because you were too tense and anxious but after theexamination, when you are relaxed, the material flows in your mind though toolate for the examination. By the time you read this topic you will understandwhat emotions are and their effects on behaviour.

11.2. Definition of emotionEmotion can be defined as a stirred-up or an aroused state of an individualthat involves mental, physical, physiological, situational and habitualfactors. This definition is similar to the one given by Huffman, Vernoy andVernoy (1995) that refers to emotion as “feelings or affective responses thatresult from physiological arousal, thoughts and beliefs, subjective evaluationand bodily expression”. An understanding of the following four components ofemotions will give you a better picture of what emotions are and what theyinvolve.

i) The physiological component: This involves active changes in thephysical body. When the body is emotionally aroused, the heart rateaccelerates, pupils dilate, respiration increases and so on.

ii) The cognitive component: Emotions are generated partly by ourcognitive appraisal of a given situation. Our thoughts, beliefs andexpectations are important in determining the type and intensity of ouremotional response. For example, depending on our cultural backgroundwe may have beliefs about emotions that are inappropriate and thereforecannot be expressed openly. Thus, some emotions are supposed to besuppressed while healthy ones can be expressed.

iii) The Behavioural component: This involves the various forms ofexpression that emotions may take or the outward observable signs ofemotional feelings. For example, facial expressions, bodily postures

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to Define emotion. Explain the components of emotions. Discuss various emotions. Explain the effect of emotions on behaviour.

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and gestures, tone of voice and so on. These expressions communicateemotions from one person to another.

iv) The subjective experience: This is the private, subjective experienceof having an emotion. It includes elements of pleasure, displeasure,intensity of feeling and complexity. What one person may experience aspleasurable may be boring or aversive to another. If you observe abridegroom crying during the happy moments of a wedding, it is likelyto be an expression of joy and not sadness. In such a case, theobserved expression would be different from the subjective or personalfeeling of the person expressing the emotions.

Emotions have an impact on the behaviour of the person experiencing them andthe perceptions and responses of others. Our perceptions of the emotionalexpression of others make us to respond appropriately.

If you want to ask for a favour from your friend or parent, you are likely toassess their emotional mood before you make your request. If they appearhappy, you will feel free to make your request. If they appear moody orannoyed, you are likely to postpone the request until an appropriate time.Before the ban of corporal punishment in schools, you may have read in thenewspapers about teachers who out of anger would punish pupils to the extendof seriously injuring them. The effects of emotions on the individual andbehaviour will be discussed later in this topic.

11.3. The physiology of emotionStudies of the physiological component of emotion have found that mostemotions involve a general, non-specific arousal of the nervous system. Inour earlier discussion on the nervous system we saw that the limbic system,frontal lobes of the brain, the hypothalamus and mainly the autonomic nervoussystem trigger the physiological reactions involved in emotions. We mentionedthat the limbic system and in particular the hypothalamus seem to play asignificant role in emotions such as fear, anger, aggression and sexualdesire.

If you have ever felt very frightened while walking in darkness, your limbicsystem must undoubtedly have been aroused. Your emotion of fear would havethen led to the behavioural reaction of running or preparing to fight. Suchmotor responses would be programmed by the frontal lobes, which organize andexecute responses from the hypothalamus (Huffman, et al., 1995).

11.3.1. The autonomic nervous systemAlthough the limbic system and the frontal lobes play important roles inemotional behaviour, the most obvious and easily recognized signs of emotionalarousal are produced by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Such signsinclude, increased heart rate, increased respiration, sweating, trembling anddry mouth. The autonomic system is part of the peripheral nervous systemwhich controls automatic bodily functions such as heart beat and breathing

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which are beyond our voluntary control. It affects organs such as the heartand blood vessels, the digestive system, the reproductive organs, glands(e.g., the adrenal and gonads) and so on. Each of these organs has an ongoingactivity independent of the autonomic nervous system, but input from theautonomic system modulates this activity, increasing or decreasing it. Bymodulating the organs’ activity, the autonomic system coordinates theirfunctioning to meet the needs of the whole organism and prepares the body forchanges.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systemsThe ANS has two major divisions, the sympathetic nervous system and theparasympathetic nervous system. The bodily changes that occur in emotions areproduced by these two systems. The sympathetic system produces the observablesymptoms of emotion. It prepares the body for emergency action. When one isemotionally aroused, this system becomes active and increases heart rate,respiration, muscle tension, blood pressure, dryness of mouth, pupil dilationand so on. In general, it readies the body for action and is active in manyemotions such as fear, anxiety and anger.

In emotion, the sympathetic system causes the discharge of the hormonesepinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). Adrenalinecirculates in the blood system and helps to mobilize blood sugar (glucose)into the blood and thus makes energy available to the brain and muscles andalso causes the heart to beat faster. Norepinephrine helps to constrictperipheral blood vessels thus increasing blood pressure.

The parasympathetic nervous system controls resting behaviour and is activewhen we are relaxed. It influences activity related to the protection,nourishment and growth of the body for example digestion. In other words, itdoes things that help to build up and conserve the body’s storage of energy.For example, it decreases the heart rate, reduces blood pressure, divertsblood into the digestive tract, constricts bronchi and so on. After a verystrong emotion, the parasympathetic system may overreact and lower bloodpressure too much. This is why some people become dizzy or faint at the sightof blood and other similar shocks. In general, the effects of theparasympathetic system are opposite the effects of the sympathetic system.

11.4. Theories of emotionWhat causes emotional arousal? Several theories attempt to explain how webecome emotional. These include the James–Lange theory, the Cannon-Bardtheory, the facial feedback hypothesis and the Schachter’s two factor theory.11.4.1. James-Lange theoryAccording to ideas originated by psychologist William James and later expandedby a physiologist Carl Lange,, emotions depend on the feedback from the body.Figure 17 summarizes their idea about how emotions are activated.

Perception of emotion Provoking stimuli

(see a lion)

Body responds(heart palpitates)

Emotion occurs (fear)

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Figure 17. James-Lange theory: The emotion occurs when the body is aroused.

Contrary to popular opinion, which say we cry because we are sad, James wrote,“we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because wetremble “(James, 1890) cited from Huffman et. al., (1995:249). According to theJames-Lange theory, your bodily response of trembling is a reaction to aspecific stimulus such as seeing a lion. The theory suggests that, youperceive an event, your body reacts and then you interpret the bodily changesas a specific emotion. William James suggested that your perception ofautomatic arousal (Palpitating heart, dry mouth) as well as actions (running,yelling) and changes of facial expression (crying, smiling) produce what wecall “emotion”. In short, bodily changes cause emotions. If there are nochanges, there are no emotions. This theory is not widely accepted.

11.4.2. Cannon-Bard theoryWalter Cannon and Philip Bard proposed a theory that holds that, felt emotionand the bodily reactions in emotion are independent of each other, both aretriggered simultaneously. According to this theory, we first perceivepotential emotion-provoking situation in the environment (seeing a lion), thenthe lower brain areas such as the thalamus are activated. These lower brainareas then send output to the body and the cerebral cortex. Messages to thecortex produce the experience of emotion (fear), while messages to theautonomic nervous system produce bodily changes (heart palpitation, running,dry mouth). In their view, the arousal, subjective feeling and cognitive-experience occur simultaneously and are independent of each other. This isillustrated clearly in figure 18.

Figure 18. Cannon-Bard theory

Body responds (Heart

Perception of emotion-provoking stimuli (you

Emotion occurs (fear)

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11.4.3. Facial feedback hypothesisThe facial feedback hypothesis proposed that changes in facial expressionproduce or intensify emotional reactions. The facial expressions provideinformation about what emotion is being felt. Thus, when you find yourselfsmiling you must be happy (see figure 19).

Figure 19. Facial feedback hypothesis

Facial changes correlate with an intensity of emotions. They also cause orinitiate the emotion itself. Contractions of the various facial muscles sendspecific messages to the brain , identifying each basic emotion. Thus, wefeel happy because we smile. May be you have felt depressed after listeningto a friend’s problems because your unconscious facial mimicry of their sadexpression may have created similar physiological reactions in your own body.

11.4.4. Cognitive labeling theoryThis theory maintains that the emotion we feel is due to the interpretation ofan aroused body state. According to Schachter and Singer (1962), it is howthe physiological arousal is interpreted and labeled that determines thespecific emotions experienced. For example, if one cries at a wedding, weoften interpret the emotions as joy, but if he/she cries at a funeral, welabel it as sadness. An illustration of this theory is given in figure 20.

Figure 20. Cognitive labeling theory

According to this theory, the cognitive (thinking), subjective (evaluating),and physiological arousal components are all necessary to emotionalexperiences. However, some basic or simple emotions (such as fears and anger)do not necessarily seem to initially require conscious cognitive processes.On the other hand, complex emotions (such as jealousy, grief, love,embarrassment) seem to require several cognitive elements.

Perception of emotion provoking

Facial expressions change (eyes

EmotionOccur (fear

Perception of emotion provoking stimuli

Body responds (heart palpitates

Brain labels body respons

Emotionoccur

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11.5. Gender differencesOur culture often trains boys from an early age that crying is for girls andthat it is unmanly to show fear and vulnerability. According to researchcited by Omulema and Sindabi (2000:134) on adult college students it was foundthat on four of the five basic emotions (joy, love, fear, sadness and anger)women report more intense and more frequent emotions than men. The fact thatmen ‘outperformed’ women on anger is also a reflection of early training.Males are socially trained to compete and fight, while women are encouragedtoward “soft” emotions such as joy, love, fear and sadness.

Women not only experience “soft” emotions more intensely and frequently, theyalso read emotions better and are more responsive in both positive andnegative situations. This sensitivity may help to explain why both men andwomen report that their friendships with women are usually more intimate,nurturing and accepting.

11.6. Common emotionsSome of the common emotions that you may encounter is your day-to-dayexperiences with people and learners include the following:Fear: Fear is the tendency to run away or to avoid certain situations,especially painful ones. It is a response to real and sometimes to imaginaryor subjective danger or situation. Fear is more closely related to anxiety,but it is more intense and specific. It can be aroused by unexpected events(death, failure in exams, ill health), material objects (snakes, animals),social failure and so on. Many fears especially among children are irrational(e.g., fear of classmates, darkness, speaking in public, exams, strangersetc), and disruptive to the individual. However, the irrational fear which isalso known as phobia tends to decrease with the advancing age of children. Asa teacher, if you notice this kind of fear among children you should try tofind out its cause and discuss it with the child to help him/her to cope withit.

Anxiety: Anxiety is fear caused by uncertainty about something imaginary orreal. It is a response to a vague subjective danger. Prolonged and extremeanxiety is detrimental to the individual. It can cause diseases like highblood pressure, dermatitis (skin disease), and ulcers. Moderate anxiety mayhave positive motivational value to the individual. Moderately anxiousindividuals tend to perform highly in tasks that require competence. On theother hand, too low anxiety and excessive anxiety may lead to poor performancein tasks that require competence.

Some of the factors that can cause anxiety are: an environment that is inconsistent, unjust and harsh. feelings of inadequacy. Uncertainty about the future, and so on.

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Anger: Anger is a disruptive and an unhealthy emotion which is a learnedresponse to environmental stimuli. It can be caused by frustration of goaldirected behaviour, failure to achieve success in examinations, being unfairlytreated and so on. Anger is a dangerous emotion that must be periodicallyvented (expressed) to prevent a destructive build up of tension and stressthat may have detrimental effects on the body. It can be vented by allowingthe individual to express feelings of anger freely.

Pleasure: This is a positive constructive emotion which involves the feelingof enjoyment, satisfaction and happiness. It is the feeling of gratificationafter fulfilling a need or reaching a goal. The emotion of pleasure producesrelaxation to the body. Activities that satisfy your needs such as security,accomplishment, adventure, belonging and physical satisfaction give you afeeling of pleasure.

Affection: Affection is an emotion characterized by a feeling of fondness,liking and attachment to others. People respond positively to qualities thatunderlie affection such as sympathy, kindness, patience, courtesy and interestin others (Hammachek, 1968). In school, genuine affection arises from ateacher’s sincere interest in children and an understanding of theirabilities, problems and limitations.

Aggression: Aggression is an emotional behaviour aimed at hurting otherpeople. The term applies to feelings of anger and hostility. Aggression isoften associated with thwarting or blockage of a motive or goal directedbehaviour. It may be expressed directly (direct aggression) by attackingobjects or persons perceived to be the cause of difficulties. In other casesit may be expressed indirectly (indirect aggression) by venting hostility onless threatening objects or persons other than the cause of frustration. Forexample, when students are dissatisfied with the school administration whichthey cannot face directly they may direct their anger towards school property.In school, aggressive children can be taken care of through counselling wherethey are allowed to talk about their difficulties.

11.7. Effects of emotionsEmotions have positive as well as negative effects on the life and behaviourof an individual. Emotions act as a source of motivation to behaviour. Forexample, emotions such as fear, love, anxiety and anger may act as motivesthat direct people to engage in goal-directed behaviour. The fear of failurein an examination can motivate a learner to study hard so as to pass. Thefear of burning in eternal fire in hell could be considered as the drivingforce behind being a devoted Christian.

Mild levels of emotional arousal tend to produce alertness and interest in thetask at hand. At very low levels of arousal the nervous system may notfunction fully and sensory messages may not get through. Usually peopleperform at their optimum at moderate levels of arousal. At high levels of

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emotional arousal, performance may decline because the nervous system isresponding to too many stimuli at once and therefore the appropriate set ofresponses is prevented from dominating.

Other emotions, particularly positive ones act as a source of enjoyment andrelaxation to our lives. They add pleasure and excitement to life. Lifewould be dreary without the feelings that add colour and spice to living.For example, we anticipate parties and dates with pleasure. Emotions of joy,affection and excitement make us feel relaxed. In learning, children willenjoy learning activities that are interesting and exciting.

Emotions can also act as a source of strength and endurance to the body. Youcan do unusual work under emotional excitement which appears difficult innormal conditions. For example, if you are chased by a dog you can jump afive feet high wall which you cannot under normal circumstances. You can alsoendanger your life to save a loved one. In learning, children who love theirsubjects and teachers may work for many hours without showing signs offatigue. What we have said seems to mainly center on the positive effects ofemotions on behaviour. Emotions also have damaging effects on the behaviourof the individual. Intense emotions may result in decrease in performance.Imagine that you are in the wilderness with only one match stick that mustlight for you to prepare a meal. Chances are that you will not succeedbecause you will be too anxious and nervous.

Constant emotional tensions may cause insomnia (lack of sleep), restlessness,fatigue, headache, lack of appetite and so on. Excessive emotional stress canaffect memory and cause memory lapses. May be you can recall an occasion inwhich you were unable to recall learnt information while taking anexamination, but immediately you are out of the examination room and relaxedyou were able to do so. This is similar to a situation where logical thinkingmay be distorted when one is emotionally stressed. Prolonged emotional stressand experiences can disturb the total personality of an individual and maylead to neuroticism. In learning, constant emotional pressure can disturb thechild’s learning ability and also affect concentration.

11.8. Summary Emotion refers to feelings or affective responses that result form

physiological arousal, thoughts and beliefs, subjective evaluation andbodily expression.

The basic components of emotions are- The physiological (increased heart rate, respiration rate and so on)- The cognitive (thoughts, beliefs and expectations).- The behavioural (facial expressions and bodily gestures).- The subjective (evaluation of intensity, pleasure versus displeasure

and so on.

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Bodily changes that occur in emotion are mainly produced by the autonomicnervous system which has two divisions; the sympathetic andparasympathetic.

The positive effects of emotions include:- motivation of behaviour/activity.- source of pleasure and excitement to the individual.- source of strength and endurance to the body.

The negative effects of emotions include:Fatigue, insomnia, stress, irritability, lack of concentration, memory

lapses and neuroticism.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Define emotion.2. Identify the four components of emotion and describe the physiological

changes that occur during emotional arousal.3. Contrast the James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories of emotion.4. Discuss the emotions of fear, anxiety, affection and aggression.5. Discuss the role of the autonomic nervous system in emotional arousal.6. Discuss the various effects of emotions on behaviour.7. Explain how emotional arousal may affect learning and academic

performance.8. What can you learn about students through their emotional aggressions?

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TOPIC 12: DRIVES AND MOTIVATION

12.1. Introduction Motivation is increasingly becoming important in many aspects of our lives; inschools, learning, working environment, families etc. What do schools in yourcommunity do to increase efficiency among teachers and to make learnersimprove their academic achievement? What makes workers in the private sectorto be hard working and more productive than those in the public sector? Whatare some of the things that parents do to encourage their children to excel inschool? Why do students of the same ability perform differently? These andother similar questions can be answered by understanding motivation and thefactors that energize an individual to engage in certain behaviours. In thistopic we will discuss the concepts of drives and motivation, which explain theforces behind our behaviours. In our discussion we will also look at theoriesof motivation and the implication of motivation on the learning-teachingprocess.

12.2. Definition of drives and motivationA drive is a motive or a force within the individual that activates behaviourand directs it towards a goal. A drive can also be defined as thepsychological representation of internal need states, for example, hunger,thirst etc. Many behaviours begin with a need (lack or deficiency within theindividual) which causes a psychological sate/drive to develop.

Motivation can be defined as the process of initiating, sustaining anddirecting behaviour toward a particular goal. It can also be defined as theinternal factors within an individual that arouse, maintain and channelbehaviour toward a desired goal. Motivation is what gets you going, keeps yougoing, and determines where you are going (Sulivan, 2006). It is thebiological, emotional, cognitive or social forces that activate and directbehavior.

Motivation cannot be directly observed, but can only be inferred frombehaviour. Motivation is an energizer or a driving force, a desire or an urgethat causes an individual to engage in a certain behaviour. Such inner forcesare referred to as drives. Our behaviours are purposeful in the sense that

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Define drive and motivation. Differentiate between primary and secondary motives. Differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Explain the various theories of motivation and their implications to learning. Motivate learners adequately.

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they have a cause and effect. In other words, our behaviours are motivatedeither externally or internally.

Motivation explains why we do what we do. It explains the basis of behaviourand it is therefore important to learning psychologists and teachers.

As mentioned in the introduction, motivation is increasingly becomingimportant in the process of learning and in many spheres of our lives such asin the employment sector, families and so on. It is being emphasized as oneof the most effective methods of enhancing learning after realizing thatforcing children to learn does not always work. Children who are motivated towork, for example, by rewarding may perform better than those who are coarsedto do so. You may be aware of some of the means used by school managements tomotivate learners and teachers so as to improve academic performance. Forexample, prize-giving functions are organized annually to reward pupils andteachers for their good performance. In some schools, teachers are paid forextra teaching and are provided with free tea and lunch to motivate them towork harder.

In the employment sector, especially the private sector, workers are givenincentives like good pay, free medical care, free ride to and from work, freeeducation for their children, sponsored holidays, etc, to motivate them towork harder. Supervision and threats to workers may not produce good results.In families, parents reward their children for good performance in school tomotivate them to work harder.

A model of motivation: Motivated behaviour begins with a need (e.g., need forfood, water, air etc). The need causes a psychological state called a driveto develop. The drive activates a response/behaviour or a series of actionsdesigned to attain a goal that will satisfy the need. Meeting the needtemporarily ends the motivational sequence. A simple model of motivation isshown in figure 21.

Figure 21. A model of motivated behaviour

12.3. Types of motives

Need Drive Response Goal

Need reduction

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Psychologists distinguish between primary and secondary or learned motives.Let us look at the difference between these two major types of motives.

Primary motives: These are motives that are based on the biological needs ofan organism that must be met for survival. They are guided by the biologicalfunctioning of the organism and include such needs as the need for food,water, oxygen, pain avoidance, regulation of body temperature, sleep,elimination of body waste and so on. How do these needs arise? When there isan imbalance in the body, tension is created by the body’s demand forconstancy or homeostasis. When this happens, the brain sends signals thatdirect activity/behaviour to restore homeostasis.

Secondary motives: Secondary motives are also referred to as acquired orlearned motives. These are motives that are learned as one matures and comesinto contact with learning experiences in the environment. These account forthe great diversity of human activities. They are associated to primarymotives in that, in an attempt to satisfy some of our secondary motives ourprimary drives are met. For example, we work for money to satisfy our basicneeds such as the need for food and shelter. Examples of secondary motivesinclude the need for affiliation, love, social approval, self-esteem,knowledge, self-actualization and money.

12.4. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivationAfter knowing the difference between primary and secondary motives now we aregoing to look at two types of motivation, that is, intrinsic and extrinsicmotivation.Intrinsic motivation: This is motivation that comes from within theindividual rather than the presence of external rewards. It is motivationthat derives from the enjoyment or satisfaction of engaging in an activity.For example, if you enrolled in this course because you are interested inlearning as much as you can or acquiring knowledge for the sake of it, you areintrinsically motivated. Examples of intrinsic motivators are: curiosity,exploration, interest and manipulation drives. All these are drives that canmake you engage in an activity.

Intrinsic motivation can sustain interest to learn for a long time and promotecreativity. The learner will be motivated in learning because he/she derivessatisfaction by doing so or because the learning activity is rewarding initself. Failure to engage in an activity that is intrinsically motivating mayresult to internal psychological tensions that will drive the individual toaction. Children who are intrinsically motivated tend to do better than thosewho are externally motivated (Gottfriend, 1983) because intrinsic motivation ismore effective than external motivation. Intrinsic motivation also has long-term effect on behaviour.

Extrinsic motivation: This is motivation based on obvious external rewardsrather than inherent satisfaction of the activity. It is the desire to

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perform an activity because of external rewards or the avoidance of punishmentor something unpleasant. Examples of extrinsic motivators are pay, money,grades, approval, avoidance of pain, food etc. For example, if you arestudying this module to fulfill your degree requirements or to attain a degreeso that you can get a promotion or earn more money, you are extrinsicallymotivated.

Extrinsic motives can sustain interest in learning if used carefully orsparingly, but if used excessively they may interfere with the effort to learnbecause pupils will not learn if there are no obvious immediate rewards. Thustheir effect in learning may be short lived.

The use of extrinsic incentives can affect intrinsic motivation. For example,when children are rewarded for performing tasks that they enjoy, theirintrinsic motivation may be reduced. This is called the overjustificationeffect-the loss of interest that occurs when an individual shifts from anintrinsic to extrinsic motivational orientation (Kaplan, 1990). The rewardsundermine the intrinsic interest in the activity.

12.5. Theories of motivationIn this section we will consider several theories of motivation whichpsychologists interested in the subject have developed. These theories fallinto two major general categories – biological and psychological.

12.5.1. Biological theoriesThe biological theories of motivation look for inborn processes that controland direct behaviours. For the purpose of our discussion we will look at twoof these theories – the instinct and drive – reduction theories.

Instinct theory:Do human beings have instincts that motivate behaviour? Instincts arebehavioural patterns that are unlearned or inborn, uniform in expression anduniversal in a species (Huffman et al., 1995). Human beings have instincts such asrepulsion, self-assertiveness, fear, curiosity, parenting, aggression and soon. This theory suggests that there is some inborn genetic component tomotivation. We act or behave the way we do because we are naturallypredisposed to behave that way. For example, some psychologists have assertedthat men are instinctually aggressive and women have the maternal instinct.Men are said to be destroyers while women are builders. For example, it ismainly men who go to war while women perform the domestic and more nurturingjobs.

Drive-reduction theoryThis theory assumes that motivated behaviour begins with a physiological need(a lack or deficiency). The need produces a drive or an aroused psychologicalstate directed toward satisfying the need. It suggests, that, internaltensions produced by the body’s demand for homeostasis, push the organism

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toward satisfaction of the original drive. The organism learns which specificactions to perform to meet the desired goal. Under this approach, secondarymotives may have a basis in the basic physiological needs. For example, weacquire education so that we can get a job to earn money that will enable usto satisfy our basic needs. There are also non-homeostatic motives thatinfluence behaviour. For example, the sex and reproductive desires do notcontribute to individual balance or survival but they are necessary to thesurvival of the species. The drive-reduction theory helps to explain why weeat, sleep, avoid pain, engage in sexual behaviour and so on, but it may notadequately explain behaviours that do not seem to be related to biologicalneeds. For example, why people are motivated to seek contact with others.

12.5.2. Psychological theoriesThe instinct and the drive-reduction theories have difficulties in explainingnon-biological drives. For example, they may not explain why we continue toeat even when our biological needs are completely satisfied, or why wecontinue to acquire and work for money when we have enough of it to meet ourbasic needs. Such questions can be answered by theories that emphasizepsychological and cognitive factors.

Incentive theoryThe incentive theory assumes that motivation results from environmental orexternal stimuli that “pull” the organism in certain directions. Motivatedbehaviour under this theory is said to follow a goal directed sequence wherebya biological need produces a drive (a state of psychological arousal), inwhich the individual is ready to respond to a relevant stimulus known as anincentive. The incentives serve as rewards for the behaving organism anddetermine whether one is going to act or not. It assumes that due to certaincharacteristics of the external stimuli (goal), the individual is motivated toperform some actions to obtain the desired goals or act in some ways to avoidor eliminate the undesirable events. Thus, the attractiveness orundesirability of the goal trigger behaviour. For example, if you arepresented with a very delicious meal you may continue eating even when you arenot hungry. Incentives that may motivate behaviour are objects like money,grades, contentment, recognition, praise and so on.

In conclusion, we can say that behaviour is dependent upon the anticipatedoutcomes, attractiveness of the goal and also the likelihood of achieving thegoal.

This theory can be used to enhance learning by: setting achievable goals so that learners can anticipate to succeed if they

work diligently. Such goals serve as incentives telling students about the long-term benefits (incentives) of learning like

getting into a well paying job. As a teacher you can invite professionalsto talk to students and serve as models to be imitated.

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rewarding students in one way or another. This will make them work hard soas to be rewarded.

creating a conducive learning classroom/school environment. By so doinglearners will be motivated to be in school.

setting attractive or desirable goals. establishing fixed goals that can act as incentives to learning. making learning interesting/attractive. By so doing learners will hate to

miss school.

The value/expectancy theoryHave you ever felt that you wanted to achieve something in life but becauseyou don’t have the means to do so you feel there is no need to strive towardsthat goal? The value/expectancy theory explains how our mental appraisal,thoughts and expectations determine whether we will be motivated towards agoal or not. This theory assumes that if a goal is attractive and valued butyou do not expect to succeed no matter how hard you work, your motivationtowards that goal will be low. On the other hand, if you value a goal andexpect to achieve it, your motivation to work hard towards it will be high.For example, if a learner wants to become a doctor and knows that he/shecannot score the grade required for admission to that course in the universityhis/her motivation towards this goal will be low and vice-versa. Thus, ourmotivation towards various goals depends greatly on our expectations onwhether it is possible to achieve them or not.

Attribution theoryThis theory looks at motivation in terms of how we ascribe (perceive) thecauses of our success and failure. The way we perceive the causes of ourbehaviour affects our later behaviour and motivation towards a certain goal.Causal attribution can be understood or explained in various dimensions: When success is attributed to internal and stable factors (such as ability,

effort, task difficulty) that are relatively fixed, the individual willexpect to succeed later at the same task the next time it is presented. Insuch a case motivation will be high and the person will continue to strive.

When success is attributed to external or unstable factors (such asfavoritism, luck etc) the individual will have little or no expectation ofsuccess later and his/her motivation towards the goal may be low. Theexpectation may be that, without those factors success may be impossibleand therefore there is no need to work hard.

If failure is ascribed to stable or uncontrollable factors (such as lowability) the expectation of future success and motivation will be low.

If failure is ascribed to unstable or controllable factors (such asillness, lack of preparedness) the expectation of future success andmotivation will be high and the person will tend to work harder (Lefrancois,1997). Thus, the factors we attribute to our success or failure determineshow motivated towards the goal we will be in future.

12.5.3. The motivational hierarchy theory

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You might have wondered why some people buy expensive cars, clothes and livein very expensive houses when they can be comfortable with cheaper ones.Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory has an answer to this behaviour. Maslow’stheory accounts for both biological and psychological needs and integratesmany of the motivational concepts discussed earlier. This theory is based onthe belief that we all have numerous needs that complete for expression.

Maslow made an attempt to categorize and prioritize motives. According tohim, needs differ primarily on the basis of prepotency, or relative strengthand the stronger needs such as hunger and thirst must be satisfied before onecan move on to higher needs such as safety, belonging and self-actualization.If the lower needs are not fully satisfied, they must be at least partiallysatisfied before higher needs can influence behaviour. Therefore, accordingto Maslow some needs are more basic or more powerful than others. Maslow alsonoted that we are constantly striving to satisfy our basic needs. When oneset of needs is satisfied we turn our attention to the next set of needs.

Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs with basic physiological needs at thebottom and self-actualization at the top (see figure 22).

Figure 22.Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow saw the higher needs as weaker than the more prepotent biological needsthat are essential for survival. Once freed from the lower needs, we aredrawn to satisfy those needs that will help us to grow and developpsychologically. Let us look at the various categories of needs and see howthey influence behaviour.

Categories of Maslow’s needsThe original version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs proposed seven sets ofneeds that included cognitive and aesthetic needs (not indicated in figure

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17). The more common version argues that human needs can be organizedhierarchically into five sets as indicated in figure 17.

The lower-order needs, which are also referred to as deficiency needs includephysiological needs, safety needs and love needs. These needs arise inresponse to lack or deficiency in the person’s life. The higher-order needsinclude self-esteem and self-actualization and are often referred to as growthneeds which implies the psychological growth that occurs as we satisfy theseneeds.i) Physiological needs: These include the need for food, water, oxygen,

shelter, pain avoidance, temperature regulation, sex etc. These arethe most proponent needs and are necessary for our survival. Asmentioned earlier, the need for sex does not contribute to the survivalof the individual person, but it is necessary for the survival of thespecies. Its deprivation unlike the other needs will not lead to thedeath of the individual but to the extinction of the human species.

Deprivation of these needs causes physiological imbalance that causes aperson to respond to the environment. According to Maslow, when theseneeds are deprived for a long time, other needs fail to appear orrecede in the background. If you are deprived of these needs you willbe motivated to do something and you will be preoccupied by ideas onhow to satisfy them. May be you have heard the saying that “one cannotlove God or his/her neighbour on an empty stomach.” When physiologicalneeds are met, safety needs becomes the next dominant force.

ii) Safety needs: Safety needs are concerned with maintaining order andsecurity. They include the need to feel secure and safe. People feelthe need for structure, law and order which give them a feeling ofsafety. Some people by their own nature are unable to go beyond safetyneeds and are stuck at this level. They are very much concerned aboutsafety and they hoard money, purchase buildings and land to make surethat their future is safe. Among the needs for marrying in Africa isto have children who will take care of you when you are old and weak.Certain events such as family fights, separation, divorce, illness ordeath of a family member can make a child’s concern for safetyparamount and affect concentration in learning.

iii) Belonging and love needs: These include needs of making intimaterelationships with other members of the society, being an acceptedmember of a group, needing a familiar environment as a family and soon. Basically it is the need to be close to others and to be loved.Love needs help to satisfy the sex and maternal drives. These needsexplain why we affiliate ourselves to social groups, such as, churches,clubs, societies, welfare associations and so on. For example, you maybe aware of people who regularly go to church but do not strictly

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practice the Christian faith. Their behaviour is motivated by the needto associate with others but not what they belief.

iv) Self-esteem needs: When belonging needs are satisfied, esteem needstake centre stage. They include the need for recognition, self-respect, reputation, status, self-regard, social success, fame,prestige, appreciation and so on. When these needs are satisfied, weget a feeling of self-confidence and worth and a sense of adequacy. Ifthey are not satisfied we get a feeling of inferiority, weakness,inadequacy and helplessness. For example, a person who is quite securein the satisfaction of his/her lower needs may be discriminating aboutthe kind of work he/she gets. The quality of work fulfils the need forself-respect and the need to feel good for himself/herself. Supposingyou get a job as a teacher with a basic salary of Kshs.15,000 andanother one as a toilet cleaner with a Non-government organization(NGO) with a basic salary of Kshs.50,000, which one will you settlefor. Your choice may depend on the level at which you are operating.

Self-esteem needs explain why some people settle for very expensiveand luxurious items such as cars, houses and clothes that give them afeeling of prestige. Status symbols that give a feeling of self-esteem are things such as the possession of money, land, a house,titles of honour and so on.

v) Self-actualization: Self-actualization involves the desire to becomewhat one is capable of becoming or the desire to fulfill one’spotential. When a person who is talented in something like music, artor athletics does not attain perfection he/she will experiencepsychological tension if his/her lower needs have been satisfied.Examples of self-actualized people are great politicians (e.g., NelsonMandela, Indira Gandhi), musicians, scientists, human rights activists(e.g., Martin King Luther Jnr.) and so on. Maslow estimated that,self-actualization is attained by only about one percent of thepopulation. This is because, in most cases our lower needs remainunsatisfied and because growth needs are delicate and not easy tonurture. Growth needs require an environment in which people canexpress themselves freely and explore. In addition, whereas thesatisfaction of lower needs reduces tension and stress, thesatisfaction of higher needs may increase tension and stress. Forexample, it is easier to be a follower than to be a leader which ismore challenging.

EvaluationMaslow’s need motivation theory is not well supported by evidence. Murrel(1979) points out that very little research has been carried out to testMaslow’s theory. This implies that the choice of needs was somehow arbitrary(based on personal opinion). The order of progression is not universally

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fixed, that is, it is not followed all the time and sometime fulfillment ofthe needs may overlap. The higher needs may not always wait until the lowerneeds are satisfied. Some people aim for self-actualization even when theirphysiological needs are not fully met. People who are hungry, sick or livingin war torn areas still show strong social ties and high self esteem (Huffmanet al, 1995).

There is no real way of measuring self-actualization. Muchinsky (1993)states that Maslow’s theory is more philosophical than empirical, which meansthat it is extremely hard to test. However, despite the shortcomings,Maslow’s arrangement of needs gives us a general overview of the majormotives and explanation to motivated behaviour.

Educational implication of Maslow’s hierarchy of needsMaslow’s theory of motivation is applicable in the school and classroomsetting. Children whose basic or physiological needs (such as the need forfood, water, fresh air etc) are not met will not be able to concentrate inclass. Instead, they will be preoccupied with ideas on how to have theseneeds met. As a teacher you can encourage parents to ensure that most of thebasic needs of their children are met. For instance, parents can ensure thattheir children bring with them a snack for lunch. Where possible, the schoolcan try to have children needs provided for, for example, through theintroduction of feeding programmes.

Similarly, children whose safety needs are not met will not be able toconcentrate in class. The school should ensure that pupils are protectedagainst security threatening factors such as severe disciplinary teachers,bullying by peers and so on. A secure environment both in school and home isimportant for children to develop a sense of security.

As a teacher you should show acceptance and love to your learners to satisfytheir need for affection or affiliation. This can be done by showinginterest and concern in them. For example, learning their names and usingthem frequently and also knowing their home backgrounds. This is importantbecause a child who feels unwanted/unaccepted may do anything to gainacceptance, even if it means misbehaving in class. Sometimes, a child whomay be identified as a troublemaker or difficulty may be seeking attention,recognition or acceptance. Teachers should discover and encourage the fulluse of the child’s potential for the enhancement of self-esteem and self-actualization. You should assign pupils work that matches their intellectualability, because when they do it well, it will boost their self-esteem.Pupils who achieve in class activities should be praised and those who failshould be assisted (Mwamwenda, 1995). You should realize that esteem needs,underlie the child’s effort to excel in school (e.g., in games, exams, clubsetc) so as to get the pride and prestige that goes with success. Thus, youshould encourage learners to use their capabilities fully.

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As a teacher you should encourage learners to think and explore so as tosatisfy the curiosity and cognitive needs which are part of the seven sets ofneeds originally proposed by Maslow. The unsatisfied needs of the teacheralso are likely to affect the learning-process. Therefore, they should alsobe considered. A teacher who is poorly paid or working in an insecureenvironment will not be motivated to teach. This partly explains why someprivate primary schools in the country perform better in examinations thanpublic schools because teachers are motivated by being paid well and rewardedfor the good results. The poorly paid teacher may do other things to makeends meet. For example, private tuition and business after school.Otherwise, different schools admit children of more or less the same abilityand the teachers are of more or less the same level of training and yetperform differently due to how the learners and teachers are motivated amongother factors.

12.6. Summary A drive is a motive or force within the individual that activates

behaviour. Motivation is the process of activating, maintaining and directing

behaviour toward a particular goal. Primary motives depend on internal physiological needs, such as the need

for food and water. Secondary motives are motives that are acquired as the individual interacts

with the environment such as the need for money, love and self-esteem. Intrinsic motivation originates from within the individual whereas

extrinsic motivation is based on external rewards. Different theories of motivation give different explanations concerning the

factors that motivate behaviour. Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs in which the basic

physiological needs must be satisfied before a person can attempt tosatisfy higher needs.

Use of incentives, creating interest in learning and the satisfaction ofvarious learners’ needs are important in learning.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Define the term drive and motivation.2. Briefly explain what motivated you to enroll in this course.3. Giving relevant classroom examples differentiate between primary and

secondary motives.4. List all the needs that you think are important to you.5. (a) Differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

(b) Explain how you can use intrinsic and extrinsic motives to enhancelearning.

6. Describe the instinct and drive-reduction theories of motivation.7. Discuss Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and explain how it combines both

biological and psychological aspects of motivation.8. (a) What is the major premise of Maslow’s theory of motivation?

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(b) Explain the implications of Maslow’s theory of needs to thelearning-teaching process.

9. Explain how motivation is based on human physiological needs.10. Describe the incentive and the value/expectancy theories of motivation

and explain their implications to learning.11. Explain how adequate are need theories in explaining motivation in

learning.12. Collect a set of advertisements for schools and programmes in other

institutions of learning from newspapers or any other source and makea list of the type of information given to attract potentialapplicants.

13. List the reasons why you think should motivate people to work.14. How is the sex drive different from other motives?15. Why did Maslow organize his hierarchy of needs in the way he did?16. Visit a school within your local area and find out what methods are

used to motivate learners and teachers.

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TOPIC 13: HUMAN LEARNING

13.1. IntroductionThe educational process is mostly all about learning. Therefore, it is vitalfor any prospective teacher to have a good knowledge about learning and howit takes place. In this topic we will examine the major theories of learningand how it takes place. We will also look at the implications of the varioustheories of learning on the learning-teaching process.

13.2. Definition of learningLearning is a key process in human behaviour. It plays an important role ineverything we do. It plays a key role in the language we speak, ourattitudes, customs, our beliefs, our personality traits and so on. Learningis the primary reason for the existence of schools and a means through whichsocialization takes place. Man and learning are inseparable. Withoutlearning or the capacity to learn you would not be able to speak, read thisinformation, know your name and where you live. Thus, much of our behaviouris a product of the learning process.

In general, learning can be defined as any relatively permanent change inbehaviour that occurs as a result of practice or experience. (Morgan et al.,1986:140). This definition emphasizes three important elements. Learning is a change in behaviour, good or bad. Learning is a change in behaviour that takes place through practice or

experience. This means that there are certain behaviours that may not bethe result of learning. For example, temporary changes caused by fatigue,disease, drugs, injury or motivation. Changes due to growth or maturationare also not learning. Although all these can alter behaviour, none ofthem qualifies as learning because the observed change cannot come as aresult of practice. In other words, the change is not subject totraining. Maturational behaviours such as the standing or walking of ababy are as a result of physiological maturation and emerge naturally.

The change in behaviour must be relatively permanent to qualify aslearning. In other words, it must last for a fairly long time.

One important question we need to ask ourselves is how do we determinewhether learning has occurred. The definition of learning indicates that the

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Define learning. Discuss various theories of learning. Explain the implications of various theories of learning on the learning

process. Explain how reinforcement can be used effectively to enhance learning.

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evidence of whether learning has occurred is in terms of change in behaviour.By observing a person after a learning experience you would not be able totell whether learning has taken place or not because it is not directlyobservable. A person’s behaviour can be compared on the basis of what theperson knows at point A before any learning activity had been presented tohim/her and what he/she knows at point B after he/she has been exposed to alearning experience. If a difference is observed between point A and B, itcan be inferred that learning has taken place. For example, before youproceed on reading this topic look at the review questions at the end andfind out whether you can answer them or not. After reading through the topiclook at the questions again. If you are able to answer them correctly thenthat is enough evidence that some learning has occurred. What you did notknow at point A is known at point B.

13.3. Types of LearningLearning can mean different things to different people although we have givena general definition of what it is. Learning for the behaviourist meansassociating a new stimulus with a new response. Learning from a cognitivepoint of view can mean forming new connections in memory or building anetwork of new associations in memory (Brain, 2002).

Within the educational system, those developing the curriculum have oftenfound it useful to distinguish between types of learning. Bloom identifiedthree main types: Cognitive learning (to do with thinking) Affective learning (to do with feelings) Psychomotor (to do with movement skills)These types are important and are applied in the development of a curriculum.

Education at higher levels focuses mainly on cognitive learning. Bloomsubdivided the cognitive domain into six areas: knowledge, comprehension,application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Gagne et. al. (1988) arguedthat intellectual skills can be separated into knowledge skills andunderstanding skills.

A distinction can also be made between verbal learning and motor learning.Verbal learning involves the use of language and symbols. Motor skills arelargely non-verbal. Motor skills can be defined as a sequence of habitualresponses; the order of which is partially or wholly determined by sensoryfeedback from preceding responses. They tend to be retained considerablybetter than the verbal learning. Perhaps you might have observed how wellyou can play football, swim, ride a bicycle or draw, after years withoutpractice. In contrast, you may not be able to recall much of what youlearned in secondary school (Omulema & Sindabi, 1999).

Although a general knowledge of various types of learning may be necessaryfor a teacher, for the purpose of this course we shall confine our

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discussions to the behavioural and cognitive domains of learning. We willdiscuss these under various theories of learning.

13.4. Theories of learningDifferent psychologists have developed different theories in an attempt toexplain how learning takes place. A theory can be defined as aninterrelated set of concepts or statements developed in an attempt to explaina body of data and generate testable hypotheses. A theory explains what wealready know or suspect. Theories are useful in giving us a basis for makingpredictions. Learning theories will provide you with knowledge on thevarious types of learning and how learning takes place.

13.4.1. Classical conditioningIvan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist developed a learning theory known asclassical conditioning. The word “classical” means , of the first type.Pavlov’s (1927) theory is one of the first theories of learning and thereforeis referred to as classical. Classical conditioning as we are going to seein our explanation of the theory is a learning procedure in which a neutralstimulus (that does not elicit a response) is paired with a stimulus thatnaturally elicits a response until the originally neutral stimulus elicitsthat response.

Pavlov noticed that the dogs in his laboratory began to salivate when theywere about to be fed, even before they could see or smell the food. Someeven salivated at the sight of the pan where their food was kept or at thesight of their keeper or even when they simply heard his footsteps. Thissuggested to Pavlov that these stimuli had somehow become signals for thefood itself. The dogs had learned that when the signals are present, foodwill soon follow.

This observation led Pavlov to carry out a series of experiments. Theexperiments involved ringing a bell or sounding a buzzer – neither of whichordinarily lead to salivation – and then immediately presenting the dogs withfood, a stimulus that naturally leads to salivation. Pavlov found that afterthe procedure is repeated many times, the bell or the buzzer alone began toelicit salivation. This demonstrated that learning has occurred, since thedogs were able to respond to a neutral stimulus that they had not respondedto prior to its repeated pairing with food. The basic principle is toassociate an existing and established behaviour with a new one for effectiveresults.

Let us look at the technical terms used in classical conditioning. The foodpresented to the dog is referred to as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Itis called unconditioned stimulus because it involves no learning. Thesalivation which occurs in response to the food is called the unconditionedresponse (UCR). It is called the unconditioned response because the dog doesnot have to learn to respond to the food by salivating. Salivating is a

Before conditioning. Neutral stimulus (bell) No response

Natural stimulus (food)

Salivation (UCR)

During conditioning. Neutral stimulus (bell) + Food

(UCS) Salivation (UCR)

After conditioning. Neutral stimulus (bell becomes CS)

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natural or an instinctive behaviour for the dog. The neutral stimulus (soundof the bell or buzzer) which lost its neutrality after conditioning isreferred to as the conditioned stimulus (CS). It is called a conditionedstimulus because the dog has been conditioned/trained to respond to the soundof the bell. The salivation that occurs in response to the sound of the bellis called the conditioned response (CR). This information is summarizeddiagrammatically in figure 23.

Before Conditioning. Neutral Stimulus (bell) Noresponse

Natural stimulus (food) UCS Salivation (UCR)During conditioning. Neutral stimulus (bell) + Food (UCS)

Salivation After conditioning. Neutral stimulus (bell becomes CS)Salivation (CR)

Figure 23. Summary of Classical conditioning.

The essential feature of classical conditioning is that a previously neutralstimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a certain response. Pavlov assumedthat many physiological and emotional reactions are acquired this way.

Let us consider another example of classical conditioning taken from humanlearning. When you take an infant to the hospital for the first time, it mayshow no response towards the nurse or it may respond happily to the nurse.After getting an injection, the baby will respond by crying. After a numberof visits to the hospital the baby will cry on seeing the nurse or any othermedical staff in white overalls. This is demonstrated in Figure 24.

Figure 24. An example of classical conditioning

Before conditioning - Nurse No response

- Injection (UCS) Crying (UCR)

During condition - Nurse + injection/pain (UCS)

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Classical conditioning has been used to explain phobic behaviour, such as, thefears or reluctance to learn a certain subject, or a feeling of being unableto learn a certain subject, or a feeling of being unable to do so. Forexample, many students suffer from Maths anxiety because of having hadunpleasant experiences, such as failing when learning Mathematics.

For effective conditioning to occur, the conditioned stimulus (CS) shouldprecede the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) very closely. This is necessary forthe new association to be established.

Several trials are necessary for conditioning to occur. However, someresponses may be learned with only one trial. For example, an intenselypainful response like getting burnt does not require many trials before youget conditioned to fear fire.

Characteristics of classical conditioningIt is necessary to be familiar with the following characteristics ofconditioning which may also be termed as principles of learning since theytend to occur in other types of learning as well.i) Reinforcement: Reinforcement is anything or event which, when

presented immediately after a behaviour increases the frequently ofthat behaviour in the future. A CS – UCS pairing constitutesreinforcement in classical conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus(food) will strengthen the association between the conditionedstimulus (bell) and the response (salivating). In addition, hungerto the dog is a reinforcer to the response, otherwise it may bedifficult for conditioning to occur if the dog is not feeling hungry.

ii) Extinction: Is the weakening and disappearance of a learned responsewhen reinforcement is withheld. If reinforcement is withheld, thatis, if the conditioned stimulus is presented alone repeatedly, itloses its power to elicit the conditioned response. When you ringthe bell several times without giving the dog the food, there willcome a time when it will not respond. The conditioned responsebecomes extinct.

iii) Spontaneous recovery: Is the reappearance of a previouslyextinguished response. When the conditioned stimulus is presentedalone repeatedly, it loses the power to elicit the conditionedresponse; however, after a delay period (hours or days) the CSregains its power to elicit the CR. Thus, it is difficult for alearned response to disappear completely.

iv) Generalization: Generalization refers to a process in which aconditioned response to a stimulus is generalized to similar categoryof stimuli. For example, the fear of nurse by infants may be

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generalized to anybody in a white overall. The fear of mathematicsby some students may be generalized to other subjects that involvecalculations such as physics, economics and so on.

v) Discrimination: This is a process whereby a subject learns torespond to only one stimulus and not to others. Discrimination takesplace when the target stimulus is the only CS that is paired with theUCS. In Pavlov’s experiment, each time a specific tone was soundedthe dog was presented with the meat powder. Whenever a similar butdifferent tone was sounded, no UCS was presented. Eventually the doglearned to discriminate between tones and salivated only to thetarget tone.

Educational implicationsIs classical conditioning relevant to you as a teacher? As a prospectiveteacher your interest in this theory would certainly be the application of thetheory to learning and human behaviour in general.

If the teacher’s initial encounter with his pupils is characterized on his/herpart by smiles, greetings and identifying pupils by name, they will lookforward to going to school everyday. Thus, if pupils experience school as afriendly place, where they are treated with kindness, love and warmth theywill love to be there and develop a positive attitude towards learning.Students who experience success in school will respond to new learning taskswith confidence and a relaxed attitude rather than anxiety.

On the other hand, if pupils associate schooling with hostility, cruelty,punishment and indifference they are likely to hate being in school. This mayexplain why some children absent themselves from school or drop out of school.

The same principles of association could apply to various subjects, some ofwhich are hated and others liked. Failing or passing in a particular subjectand the way the teacher relates with his/her pupils will determine theattitudes of pupils towards that particular subject.

Many emotions can be explained in terms of classical conditioning. Emotionssuch as fear, anger and love become associated with new objects or occasionsthrough conditioning. Something present at the time the emotion isexperienced takes on the capacity for arousing that emotion. For example, astudent may learn to be very anxious and fearful or even physically sickduring tests because they have been associated with failure and possibly withpunishment or ridicule at home.

In Pavlov’s experiments the dog was deprived of food for some time andtherefore hunger was the motive for the subsequent behaviour. As we have seenearlier, motivation is an important aspect of learning. Motivation can begenerated by teaching subjects in an interesting, challenging and curiosity –

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arousing manner. It can also be achieved through being friendly to learnersand ensuring that they experience a certain amount of success in whatever theydo in school.The dog in Pavlov’s experiment learned the new response because it receivedreinforcement for the response. Reinforcement in the classroom can facilitatelearning. Learners can be reinforced through rewarding, praise for good workand so on.

Generalizing the learnt response to similar category of stimuli is a majorfeature of classical conditioning. The purpose of education is to facilitatethe transfer of learning. As a teacher you should ensure that learners areable to transfer what they learn to similar situations within the classroom orin real life.

Another important element in classical conditioning is the concept ofextinction. Revision and reinforcement may prevent learners from forgettingwhat they have learned. Most of the behaviours we observe in learners comeabout as a result of learning and reinforcement. If for some reason thebehaviour is undesirable, it can be unlearned by eliminating or controllingthe reinforcing factors.

13.4.2. Operant conditioningWhat makes behaviours, desirable or undesirable, to persist? The answer tothis question lies in operant conditioning whose major proponent was B.F.Skinner. Operant conditioning is a mode of learning in which the frequencyof a behaviour is increased or decreased depending upon its consequences.Unlike classical conditioning, in which the original behaviours are thenatural, biological responses to the presence of some stimulus such as food,water or pain, operant conditioning applies to voluntary responses, which theorganism performs deliberately in order to produce a desirable outcome. Theterm operant emphasizes this point. The organism operates on its environment,producing certain outcome/results that determine whether the behaviour willrecur or not. It is also called instrumental conditioning because thebehaviour of the organism is instrumental or facilitative in achieving acertain outcome or a goal. The organism is instrumental or responsible forgenerating reward for its activity or behaviour.

Skinner’s experimentIn developing his theory, Skinner conducted many experiments using animalssuch as rats and pigeons. In one experiment, a rat was placed in what isknown as a Skinner box or an operant chamber. Within the box was a fooddelivery mechanism with a press bar and some food pellets. The food-deprivedrat is free to move within the confined area. In search of food, the ratwould move within the box and accidentally or out of curiosity presses the barand as a result, some food pellets drop out. After gaining this outcome, therat would continue with its apparently random activity and eventually it wouldpress the bar again and obtain more food pellets. As time passed, the rat

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pressed the lever more and more frequently and finally it learned toconsistently operate the lever to obtain food.

According to Skinner, what stimulated the bar-pressing behaviour of the ratwas not very important. What is significant is that the rat pressed(response) the bar and as a result received food (reinforcement). Whether ornot the rat will repeat the behaviour is determined by the consequences of thebehaviour. If the consequences are negative, the chances are that thebehaviour will be avoided. On the other hand, if the consequences arepleasant, the behaviour will be repeated and sustained for as long as it isreinforced.There are many real-life examples of operant conditioning. Some of these aresummarized in figure 25.

Stimulus Operant(reinforcement/punishment)

Consequence Implication

Teacher promisestrip for good behaviour

Students misbehave

Trip cancelled/Withdraw

Students are less likely to misbehave beforefield trips

Teacher announces a test

Student studies diligently

Student score anA

Student is likely to study harder in future

Invitation for ajob interview

Carries a charm in interview

Passes interviewand gets a job

Charm carrying behaviour increases

Teacher Students talk inClass

Teacher shortensstudents’ break

Students are less likely to talk in class

Figure 25. Examples of operant conditioning.

Now that you know what operant learning is, let us look at reinforcement whichis probably the most important aspect of this type of conditioning.

ReinforcementReinforcement is any action or event that increases the probability that aresponse will be repeated. From what we have discussed about operantconditioning, it is clear that a person’s behaviour can be controlled throughreinforcement. In order to sustain a particular desirable behaviour, thefrequency of reinforcement must be increased, whereas to suppress undesirablebehaviour reinforcement must be decreased and finally eliminated.

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Types of reinforcementPositive reinforcement involves giving a reward. For examples, if a child ispraised for some behaviour such as setting the table, the consequences of theaction (praise) is desirable or pleasant and the child is likely to repeat thebehaviour.

Negative reinforcement on the other hand, is the removal of an unpleasant orannoying stimulus in order to strengthen behaviour. For example, a child mayavoid going to school because he/she is punished. The child repeats thebehaviour (not going to school) to avoid the unpleasantness (being punished).Another relevant example, is that of withholding punishment if students showtremendous improvement in their work. This may motivate them to work evenharder. Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the probability ofthe behaviour recurring.

Primary reinforcement is a reinforcement that strengthens behaviour throughthe satisfaction of a basic physiological need such as hunger, thirst, sleepand so on. Secondary reinforcement on the other hand, is reinforcement thatstrengthens behaviour because it satisfies a psychological need. Someexamples of secondary reinforcements are praise, money, medals, certificates,free time etc.

Schedule of reinforcement According to the operant conditioning theory, behaviour can be controlledthrough reinforcement. If you want to sustain a particular behaviour you canincrease the frequency of reinforcement and to suppress undesirable behaviouryou can decrease the frequency of reinforcement. The process wherebybehaviour is reinforced is referred to as a schedule of reinforcement. Thereare two major types of reinforcements, namely continuous and intermittent orpartial reinforcement.

Continuous reinforcementContinuous reinforcement involves rewarding an organism every time it makes acorrect response. This schedule is very effective when an organism islearning new behaviour. It facilitates the mastery of a behaviour fairlyquickly. Continuous reinforcement is advantageous in the sense that itaccelerates the acquisition of new behaviour or learning. The disadvantage isthat when reinforcement is withdrawn, the newly acquired behaviour may becomeextinct. However, it may not be possible to reinforce every correct response.

Intermittent reinforcementIntermittent reinforcement involves rewarding the organism after it has mademore than one correct response. In this type of reinforcement you candetermine the number of responses to be made before you give reinforcement.

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Normally, it is more effective after the person has acquired some mastery overa given behaviour.

Intermittent reinforcement has an advantage in that behaviour acquired throughthis schedule of reinforcement lasts longer, since the subject is in suspenseand anticipates being rewarded for the behaviour in due course. Thedisadvantage is that, it is less effective for initial learning, when theindividual needs constant reinforcement.

Intermittent reinforcement is divided into four schedules of reinforcement,namely; fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable ratio and variable intervalschedules of reinforcement. Fixed ratio and variable ratio schedules referto the number of responses to be made before reinforcement is administered.Fixed interval and variable interval schedules refer to the time which elapsesbefore reinforcement is administered.

Fixed ratio (FR) scheduleThis is a type of schedule in which a predetermined number of responses mustbe made before reinforcement is administered. For example, you may reinforcea pupil for every ten correct responses to an assignment. You can also giveclass assignments for every two topics covered. A similar reinforcement isused in construction work, where a contractor is paid on completion of theentire work. The time it takes to finish the work is not important, it is theamount of work done that matters.

As the proportion decreases, the subject responds at a higher rate and viceversa. If reinforcement is withheld for a long time the response may becomeextinct.

Fixed interval (FI) scheduleThis type of reinforcement is used after a certain period of time has elapsed.For example, as a teacher you may decide to administer a monthly test on allthe work covered. This is reinforcement in the sense that students will workhard in preparation for such a test. What is important here is the time butnot the amount of work covered. A more familiar example is payment at the endof every month. Usually, not much attention is given to the amount of workcompleted during this period; what matters is that workers have worked for agiven period.

The response rate gradually increases just before the end of each successiveinterval. For example, when a teacher administers a test every Friday, pupilsusually study hard on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Variable ratio (VR) scheduleThis is a type of schedule in which the number of responses beforereinforcement is given is varied. For example, learners can be given a testafter completing one topic, then the next fifteen and so on. Gambling and

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slot-in machines, lottery games and raffles are based on this type ofreinforcement. You are never sure when you will win. In the classroom,surprise or unannounced tests are based on this schedule of reinforcement,which keeps learners studying since they do not know when they will be tested.

After the first reinforcement, there is no indication when the nextreinforcement will appear. Thus, behaviour reinforced on a variable ratioschedule is hard to get extinct. However, it is more effective with smallratios.

Variable interval (VI) scheduleThis is a reinforcement schedule in which the time period betweenreinforcement is varied. Thus, the time interval between reinforcement isvaried. Reinforcement may be given on an average of five hours or days orweeks. The subject in this case does not know when the reward will arrive interms of time. This schedule keeps the subject working at a steady pacebecause he/she has no idea when the reinforcement will come. For example, ifas a student of introduction to Psychology you know that you will be havingoccasional quizzes but you never know when they will be given, you are morelikely to study at a constant rate and try to keep up with your readingassignments.

In conclusion, we can say that continuous reinforcement is used to acquire aresponse in the first place and then partial reinforcement, especiallyvariable schedules are used to maintain it at a high rate.

PunishmentPunishment is not really part of operant conditioning, but knowing what it is,is important in understanding the concept of reinforcement. Punishment isany consequence of a response that decreases the probability that a responsewill be repeated. It is an aversive stimulus, which follows a response andfrequently serves to suppress it. There are two types of punishment –positive and negative punishment.

Positive punishment refers to the application of an aversive (undesirable)stimulus in order to decrease a response. For example, caning a child todecrease unwanted behaviour. Negative punishment on the other hand refers tothe removal of a desired stimulus in order to decrease a response. Forexample, deducting marks for late assignments. Although it is less effectivethan reinforcement in changing behaviour it is occasionally used by teaches.It is less useful in learning and as a mode of changing behaviour for severalreasons: Punishment does not show a child what the desired behaviour is. Punishment has a tendency to cause frustration which can lead to anger and

aggression to the punished individual. The punished behaviour may be rewarding in itself and therefore it might

persist in spite of the punishing consequences. For example, a behaviour

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that you disapprove as a teacher may earn the child approval from peers andtherefore it may persist.

Punished behaviour does not completely disappear. Punishment only inhibitsor blocks the response/behaviour for as long as it is consistent but onceit is halted the behaviour may reappear.

The punisher may be seen in a negative light and may not be cooperated within future. If this is the teacher, this later non-cooperation can be aproblem.

Punishment is not an alternative to the punished response, and therefore itis effective when a positive alternative behaviour is rewarded at the sametime as the unwanted one is punished. For example, if you punish latenessyou should reward punctuality.

The punished individual may learn avoidance behaviour. For example, apupil may learn to lie or to be absent from school to avoid punishment.

Punishment can result to learned helplessness, which is a tendency toquietly submit to punishment which one has been unable to escapepreviously. In such a situation the person will give up any attempts toavoid the punishment, which is seen as something constant and unavoidable.

The punisher may serve as a conditioned stimulus and come to be feared.For example, learners may dislike your subject and hate you if you punishthem constantly.

Rewards are more useful in the classroom because they show children what thedesired behaviour is. Moreover, rewarding often involves positive actions, somodeling and imitation are desirable consequences. In addition, the childdevelops a positive relationship with the person rewarding and if this is theteacher, it can be useful. However, for reinforcement to be effective, itshould: come immediately after the correct response, otherwise it may not be

associated with the behaviour if it is delayed. This is especiallyimportant when working with younger children.

be appropriate for the individual child. A reinforcer may be rewarding toone child and not to another and be rewarding at one time and not another.For example, giving a child exercise books when the parents can afford themat home may not be motivating. Rewarding a child with Kshs.100 for scoringan A when the parents give him/her Kshs.5,000 for pocket money may not beeffective.

be varied. For example, using praise, approval, edible reinforcers,tangible reinforcers and so on.

be made contingent (given only when the desirable behavour is exhibited)upon a specific desired behaviour. Reinforcing learners when they have notshown the desired behaviour may not be effective. Sometimes teachers andparents promise or give incentives to children so that they can work hardin school.

Although we are saying that reinforcement may be more effective thanpunishment, punishment may also be effective if:

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administered immediately after the behaviour. If delayed, it may not beassociated with the undesirable behaviour.

it is intense enough to deter the individual from repeating the behaviour.Mild punishment may not have an effect on the undesirable behaviour.

the punisher suggests possible alternative behaviours. The person beingpunished should be told the desired behaviours.

used consistently. It should not be used in some occasions and not others. it comes after and not before the undesired behaviour. There are occasions

when teachers and parents give very restrictive rules in anticipation ofundesirable behaviour.

Now that we have discussed operant conditioning and how it places emphasis onreinforcement, let us look at some of the educational implications that can bedrawn from this theory of learning.

Educational implicationsThe principles of operant conditioning are applicable in the teaching-learningprocess in various ways. The emphasis of operant conditioning is theimportance of reinforcement as the factor underlying the learning of newresponses/behaviours. Therefore, children are likely to learn effectively iftheir responses are rewarded in one way or another. As a teacher you canreinforce pupils through approval, praise, giving them marks for their workand showing acceptance and interest on them.

As a teacher you can use any of the various schedules of reinforcementdiscussed earlier for effective learning. Teachers often unknowinglyreinforce undesirable behaviour by giving them undue attention. For example,giving attention when a child throws a tantrum or shows off in class may bereinforcing in itself.

Operant conditioning has been extensively used in behaviour shaping. Shapinginvolves reinforcing an organism every time its behaviour comes close to thedesired behaviour until such a time when it masters the desired behaviour.This means reinforcing the progress towards desirable behaviour, the teachercan use shaping by breaking down the final complex behaviour that the pupil isexpected to master into steps or sub-skills until the whole chain is mastered(Mwamwenda, 1995:194).

The principles of operant conditioning can also be used to weaken undesirablebehaviour. This can be done through non-reinforcement or by ignoring thebehaviour. It can also be done by reinforcing the desired behaviour which isintended to replace the undesirable one.

On the basis of the operant conditioning principles, Skinner developed theidea of programmed learning. Programmed learning is personalized instructionin which students read a section of a text, then test themselves on thematerial. They continue on the next section or review the previous one,

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depending on the results of the text. The advantages of programmed learningare that: Success is emphasized and easy to achieve. Learning is structured and ordered. Feedback is given immediately.

The Cognitive-developmental approach to learningThe cognitive-development approach to learning looks at how thinking developsand how this development is related to learning. Some kinds of learning mustinvolve higher-order processes in which people’s thoughts and memories and theway they process information account for their behavioural responses. One ofthe most recognized scholars within this approach is Jean Piaget.

Piaget drew attention to the ways children think. He focused on cognitiveprocesses, and in particular the development of reasoning and logicalthinking. However, his emphasis was very clearly on development, but manyresearchers have directly applied his ideas to learning.

Piaget proposed that there are qualitative differences in reasoning amongchildren in different levels of cognitive development. Pupils at variousdevelopmental stages think differently and have varied abilities to processinformation. In his cognitive development theory of children, Piaget studiedhow children think, develop their notion of time, space, mathematics andreality. His ideas have been applied in curriculum development and classroominstruction.

Basic conceptsPiaget differentiated between thee types of knowledge:i) Physical knowledge: This is knowledge about objects acquired through

acting on them and observing the results of the actions. Suchactions include, touching, looking, lifting, throwing, listening andso on. This knowledge is obtained through the process of discovery.

This implies that children acquire knowledge about the physicalattributes of objects by actively manipulating them. Thus, the childmust have experience with concrete items which the teacher canprovide.

ii) Logic-mathematical knowledge: This is knowledge acquired throughcreating and inventing relationships between objects and symbols. Itis the type of knowledge involved in understanding mathematicsconcepts. This knowledge is involved when children classify objects(e.g., round ones and square ones), compare them (e.g., bigger orsmaller), and evaluate different points of view. It is gainedthrough invention.

iii) Social-arbitrary knowledge: This is knowledge acquired throughinteraction with other people. For example, language, values, rules

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and morals. It also involves learning customs and facts. This isthe type of knowledge that can be incorporated in education

Cognitive developmentLearning rests on development and Piaget argues that the school’s main taskis to promote thinking and reasoning. You may be aware of the age limits setby various primary schools for admitting children to class one. In manypublic schools the age is seven years. Among other reasons, this is becauseat this age children are assumed to be mentally mature enough to cope withlearning. Development is defined by four principle factors which we aregoing to discuss. i) Maturation: Maturation refers to the unfolding of the genetic planof life.

This master plan acts as a time-table that determines when certainchanges/events will occur. Maturation is important in learning. Forexample, the child must be mature to learn how to walk, talk andprocess information mentally.

ii) Experience: Development is facilitated by the active interaction ofthe child with his/her environment.

iii) Social transmission: Social transmission refers to the informationand customs that are transmitted from parent and other people in thechild’s environment. This is what is commonly meant by education andlearning.

iv) Equilibration: This is the process by which children seek balancebetween what they know and what they are experiencing. When childrenare faced with information that calls for a new and differentanalysis or activity, they enter a state of disequilibrium(imbalance). When this occurs, they must change the way they dealwith the information to establish a new, more state of equilibrium.

Piaget believed that as the brain matures it develops concepts, which hecalled schemas. Schemas are ways of looking at the world and they develop aswe interact with the world. A baby’s schemas are very basic, but as the babymanages to interact with the environment it assimilates new information. Weorganize past experiences and provide a framework for understandingsubsequent experiences.

At first, schemas are physical and include sucking, looking and touching.Later, schemas become more symbolic, internal and mental. By adulthood, wehave built a limitless number of schemas that range from, how to make a meal,to what it means to be in love.

The process of building schemas is an adaptive one in which our schemas arecontinually being refined as a result of our experiences. Adaptation can beunderstood in terms of adjustment. As the forces in the environment change,so must the individual’s ability to deal with them. Adaptation involvesassimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of absorbing

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new information into existing schemas. For example a child who sees a cartonbox and uses it as a motor van has assimilated the carton box into his/herstructure and knowledge of a motor van.

The process of accommodation involves modifying internal existing schemas tofit new information or to meet the requirements of the new experience. Forexample, a child who is used to picking light objects with one had is facedby the task of picking a heavier one, he/she will accommodate and use his/hertwo hands. It is through these processes that a child learns, according toPiaget.

Stages of cognitive developmentPiaget argued that children’s cognitive development could be understood asoccurring in four major stages, each of which is qualitatively different fromthe others. Children develop their cognitive abilities in stages, and eachstage represent a different way in which they reason and deal with the world.

In the first stage (0-2 years), that is, the sensorimotor period, infantsexplore their world through the senses and motor activities. To the child,objects are real when they are being experienced, when they are out of sitethey cease to be. As they develop, they gradually develop a sense of objectpermanence that is, the idea that things do not disappear when they are outof view.

In the second stage, the preoperational stage (2-7 years), children can usesymbols and language. A child can use something to represent or symbolizeanother, for example, a piece of wood to symbolize a motor vehicle. Thisability is evident in pretend play. The greatest achievement in this stageis the use of symbolic thought.

Children at this stage cannot classify, seriate, solve problems that requireknowledge of conservation or reverse process. They concentrate on only onedimension at a time and judge everything on the basis of its appearances.They are egocentric, that is, they believe that everyone see things fromtheir point of view. At the beginning of the stage, they are animistic,that is, they believe that everything is animate or has life. This animismbecomes less evident as they reach the age of four or five.

The third stage is the concrete operational stage (7-11 years), during whichmany of the limitations of the preoperational stage slowly fade. Children atthis stage can observe, reverse operations, classify and seriate. They dealwith concrete objects rather than abstractions. In their thinking, they mustbe able to see or imagine objects. For example, terms like democracy andjustice are too abstract for them, although they may understand democracy interms of voting and majority rule, and justice in terms of fairness (that is,in terms of concrete things). They become less egocentric, that is, theybegin to understand that other people see the world differently than they do.

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This is because they interact with others and share thoughts and verify theirviews of the world. They can take the perspective of the other person andimagine what others think of them and feel.

In the fourth stage, formal operations (from 11 or 12 years onwards) teensgradually develop the ability to use scientific logic, deal with abstractionsand separate what is real from what is possible. They develop the ability touse hypothetical deductive logic, that is, the ability to form a hypothesis,scientifically test it and draw conclusions using deductive logic. Piaget’sideas on cognitive development will be discussed in more details in the nextmodule, but what we have said is adequate for the purpose of this topic.

Educational implicationThe cognitive-developmental approach to learning is very relevant to theteaching-learning process because it explains how children learn and processinformation at different levels of cognitive development. Children indifferent developmental stages have different abilities and are different inthe way they process information during learning. With this in mind, as ateacher you can facilitate effective learning through: considering the child’s level of cognitive development when formulating

lessons and curricula. appreciating the fact that children develop at their own rate. A child may

enter and leave a particular stage at different times other than the agelimits proposed by Piaget. In addition, some children in the same stagemay be more advanced than others.

helping children to develop their thinking and reasoning abilities. providing children with opportunities to explore and try new things,

especially in the concrete operational stage. allowing children to experiment for better understanding. actively involving children in learning. Children develop their reasoning

through experiences that stimulate thinking. Things like games, socialinteractions, puzzles, problems and experimentation are experiences thatstimulate thinking and learning in children.

using concrete examples when teaching elementary/primary school children. providing concrete examples to children in secondary school who are in

transition from concrete operational stage to the formal stage. Appreciating the need to wait for cognitive maturity before introducing

certain concepts. As a teacher you should not ask children to learnsomething they are not developmentally ready for.

Social learning theoryThe social learning theory suggests that we learn through imitation andmodeling. Social learning is also known as observational or imitationlearning. Most of our behaviour such as speech patterns, beliefs, values andeating habits are acquired through watching and imitating other people. Youngchildren are able to use language fluently even before they go to school.This happens without any explicit effort by parents to teach them their mother

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tongue. Their social interaction with parents, peers and adults facilitatelearning through imitation. The psychologist who is mostly associated withthis theory of learning is Albert Bandura.

Social learning may take place in any context and it may concern social,emotional, moral intellectual or physical behaviour. Children pick upbehaviour, consciously and unconsciously every day by watching parents, peers,teachers and others. Every behaviour observed by children has the potentialof being modeled. Bandura carried a lot of experiments in this area andconcluded that, we learn through; direct reinforcement (for example, praise),direct imitation and vicarious conditioning or reinforcement. Vicariousreinforcement happens when we see others rewarded or punished for a particularaction and then we increase or decrease our behaviour as if we had receivedthe consequences ourselves. For example, a pupil may work very hard afterobserving another one being rewarded for good work. In your school life youmight have heard teachers say that they want to give disobedient students avery severe punishment so that it can serve as a deterrent to others who maybe contemplating such behaviour.

In his studies, Bandura demonstrated that children were more aggressive afterwatching an aggressive model, a film of an aggressive model or a cartoondepicting violence than they were after viewing a non-aggressive model, or nomodel at all (Bandura and Walters, 1963). Now that you have known what sociallearning is and how it takes place, let us look at some of the factors thatfacilitate social learning.

Factors facilitating social learningSome of the factors that promote the occurrence of social learning are: Attention: We must pay attention to the model to be able to learn the

behaviour. However, to a lesser degree social learning may take place onthe basis of incidental or subconscious attention.

Memory: The behaviour being observed must be processed mentally and storedin long term memory. Once stored in memory information can be easilyretrieved. If the observed information is not successfully processed andstored in memory, then the observed behaviour cannot be reproduced.

Mental Skills: Practice/rehearsal may be necessary for the observedbehaviour to be reproduced perfectly. For example, skills like driving,riding, typing, drawing and so on require practice.

Reinforcement: If a model is rewarded for a particular behaviour, thechances of the behaviour being modeled are higher, since the observershares the model’s reward vicariously (Mwamwenda, 1995).

Identification: A child must feel the need to identify with someone whomay be the parent, a figure of authority, a peer, a hero and so on formodeling to be effective. Usually people like to identify themselves withcertain individuals in the society, and as far as possible behave like theperson being imitated.

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The status of a model: Models of high social status are more likely to becopied. A student leader or a popular student is modeled more frequentlythan an ordinary student. A teacher is modeled by learners more frequentlythan fellow pupils.

Nurturant Model: The behaviour of a model who is perceived to be warm,friendly, considerate and caring is more likely to be modeled than that ofa model who is uncaring and indifferent (Mwamwenda, 1995).

Consistency of behaviour: If the behaviour is consistent it is more likelyto be imitated.

Educational ImplicationsAs a teacher you can facilitate social learning in a classroom through: Being a good model to your learners: From the teacher, pupils learn about

kindness, cleanliness, generosity, selfishness, neatness, self-discipline,disorganization and so on.

Vicarious reinforcement: Punishing a student who is misbehaving in classcan deter other students from engaging in similar behaviour. Approval ofpupil’s behaviour or performance can set an example for other students whowish for similar approval.

Being Nurturant: If you are a nurturing teacher, you are likely to bepopular and modeled by your learners. In addition, learners are likely toenjoy your subject and likely to work hard to please you and receive yourapproval.

Making learners to work together in small groups: If this is done, thosewho excel will serve as models to the others.

The latent learning theoryThis theory is associated with Edward Tolman. Tolman felt that a significantamount of learning consists of latent learning, that is, learning that takesplace in the absence of any reward and remains hidden until some future timewhen it can be retrieved. For a moment think about how much you know aboutyour immediate environment. You may not be conscious about this knowledgeuntil a stranger asks you for direction to a specific place. Latent learningoccurs in the absence of any reward and remains hidden until it is needed.This kind of learning is cognitive in nature since there is no reward orpurpose for learning (Huffman et al, 1995). Tolman proposed that people andanimals learn to navigate in their environment by creating cognitive maps(mental images of an area that a person has navigated) of the area. Thus, welearn information that remains latent until there is sufficient reason toretrieve it. For example, we read newspapers, watch television and readnovels and later use the information in exams, assignments and discussions.

Educational implicationsThe school curriculum at any level of schooling forms a small fraction of theknowledge that is useful to the learner and what we expect him/her to acquire.For this reason, teachers/schools should provide opportunities for latentlearning through provision of newspapers, novels, textbooks, tours, public

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lectures, television, radio, films and so on. All these provide a chance tolearn about life in general and to acquire general knowledge. Some of thegeneral knowledge acquired may be relevant to various academic subjects.

13.5. Summary Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from

practice or experience. Classical conditioning is a learning procedure in which a neutral stimulus

is paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response until theoriginally neutral stimulus elicits that response. A neutral stimulus doesnot normally cause any particular reflex or response. In classicalconditioning it is paired with a stimulus that naturally causes a response.

Operant conditioning is a mode of learning in which the frequency of abehaviour is increased or decreased depending upon its consequences.

Reinforcement is any action or event that increases the probability that aresponse will be repeated.

Negative reinforcement occurs when something bad or aversive is removed toincrease the response rate.

Punishment is anything that is likely to cause a decrease in a response,positive reinforcement occurs when something desirable is given or added toincrease the response rate.

Positive punishment occurs when something bad or aversive is given todecrease the response.

Negative punishment occurs when something good/pleasant is removed todecrease the response rate.

Continuous schedule of reinforcement consists of subjects beingreinforcement for each response. A partial schedule of reinforcementconsists of subjects being reinforcement for some, but not all responses.

Social learning is a type of learning that takes place through observingand imitating the behaviour of a model.

A model is a person who serves as an example to another. Latent learning is a type of learning that takes place in the absence of

any reward and remains hidden until some future time when it can beretrieved. It occurs without a specific intention/purpose.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Define learning.2. Using examples, explain the criteria used by psychologists to

distinguish between behaviour resulting from learning and otherbehaviours.

3. Give definitions of the following terms: Positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement. Punishment. Schedules of reinforcement. Behaviour shaping

4. Discuss the usefulness of operant conditioning to learning.

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5. Describe classical conditioning and explain its implications to thelearning-teaching process.

6. Define extinction and spontaneous recovery.7. Explain generalization and discrimination for classical conditioning.8. What is the cause of learnt helplessness?9. Explain how superstitious behaviours such as carrying charms whenever

one is going for a job interview, develop according to the operanttheory of learning.

10. Discuss the developmental-cognitive view of learning.11. Explain the processes involved in learning through observational

learning.12. Explain how the latent learning theory accounts for learning. What

are its implications to the learning process.13. Giving relevant classroom examples, distinguish between classical and

operant conditioning.14. Using the social learning theory, explain how students develop

negative attitudes towards certain subjects and courses in school.15. Explain how you can use the operant learning theory to modify

undesirable behaviour among your learners.16. Define and give a classroom example of generalization.17. Make a list of the reinforcers used in schools that you know in your

immediate environment.18. Which schedules of reinforcement are the most effective? Which are

the most common in your society?19. Compare the effect of reinforcement and punishment on controlling

behaviour.

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TOPIC 14: MEMORY

14.1. IntroductionIn the previous topic we looked at learning. In this topic we will discussmemory which is part and parcel of the learning process. This is partlybecause unless past experience can be remembered, it is not possible toconclude that learning took place. Memory is very important in our livesbecause without it we will not be able to get to places, make progress inschool work, remember our names and so on. We think and reason usingremembered facts (Mwamwenda, 1995). Without memory you will not be able to passthe examination after reading this module. By the time you work through thismodule you will notice that there are three types of memory that operate indifferent stages/levels and discover why we remember some things and why weforget others.

14.2. The three stages of memoryHow is information processed before it is permanently stored in our memory?You may have noticed that there is no day that passes without forgettingsomething, such as where you placed your keys or pen, a telephone number youwanted to call, learnt material during an examination and so on. You may bealso amazed by how sometimes you are able to vividly remember experiences youhad very many years ago, such as, your first day in school, the name of an oldfriend, the streets of a town and so on. The knowledge on different levels ofmemory and why we fail to access memorized information will make youunderstand why sometimes you are able to remember information and some othertimes to forget. Researchers have identified at least three distinct stagesof memory; sensory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Let us now lookat these stages of memory.

14.2.1. Sensory memoryThis is memory at the level of our senses. Our sensory organs are capable ofretaining what impinges on them, but only for a very short time, perhaps for a

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Differentiate between sensory, short term and long-term memory. Explain how information is processed in the three levels of memory. Explain the role of memory in learning. Discuss various theories of forgetting. Explain how memory is measured. Explain how memory can be enhanced. Discuss the implications of the knowledge on memory on the learning

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fraction of a second or more. Immediately after we experience something, oursensory system contains for a brief moment an image of the incominginformation, even after the stimulus has disappeared. If you look at anobject within your vicinity and close your eyes immediately, you will noticethat you are seeing an image of the object. The information in sensory memoryis temporary, lasting for about a half a second. It involves a continuedexcitement of the sense organ itself. Any information that is registered insensory memory is available to be selected for attention and for processinginto a more permanent type of memory, that is, short-term memory (STM) orlong-term memory (LTM). Figure 26 shows how information is processed forpurposes of retention.

Figure 26. Information processing for retention in memory (Source: Mwamwenda, 1995:235)

Any information encountered in the environment enters the sensory register, socalled because it is believed that the information is stored as it isreceived, without any major changes in its form. Many of the sensory stimuliwhich enter the sensory register are not processed and only those which areprocessed proceed to the next chamber, which is the short-term memory.

14.2.2. Short-term memoryInformation received from the sensory register in its raw form is processed inthe short-term memory, in which it is retained for a short while. The STM

Environment Stimuli

Sensory register/s

Short-termmemory

Long-term memory

DiscardedInformation

Forgotten informa

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consists of what is in our immediate awareness at any given time. For thisreason STM is often called working memory. It is a working memory in thesense that it consists of what you have in mind at the present time.Information that enters the STM is either processed for further storage in amore permanent way or is ignored.

In STM, new materials are evaluated, organized and combined with newinformation and previous one taken from storage places. STM has a verylimited capacity. According to Miller (1956) most of us can retain sevenseparate items (plus or minus two) at a given time. Items here can benumbers, words or letters. Our immediate consciousness is limited to thiscapacity and as additional items of information come in, they push out somethat are already there.

Unless the new information is very vivid and simple, we need rehearsal to keepit in STM. In rehearsal, the information is practiced in one way or another.For example, the event is repeated several times like saying a telephonenumber again and again. The aim of rehearsing is to keep the materialavailable until it can be used or until it can be stored in some integratedfashion.

14.3.2. Long-term memoryThe long-term memory has an unlimited capacity and duration. Information inLTM can be stored for as long as we live. LTM is the final storage forinformation. The transfer of material to LTM requires a process known asencoding, which involves the preparation or organization of information in auseful and meaningful way so that it can be easily remembered. Theinformation needs to be organized so that it can be easily available forfuture reference and can be updated by new information.

During the transfer of information from STM to LTM, incoming information is“tagged” or encoded to be filed in the appropriate place. If it is notproperly encoded and stored in may not be accessible later. Some of the workof memory organization and filling apparently occurs during sleep in which ourrecent additions to LTM are reviewed, improved and systematically tagged (Crickand Mitchison, 1983).

In addition to any specific memory organization processes that occur duringsleep, sleep and rest may also enhance our ability to recall what we havelearned because there is less interference from addition from new information.You may have noticed that when you revise for an examination and have a goodrest/sleep you are able to recall better than when you revise throughout thenight or up to the last minute.

Because of the nature of LTM, our memories can include additions to, omissionsto and revision of the original event. What we remember is not a perfect copyof the original event. When the information is being stored, the meaning of

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the item is more important than its exact physical form. For example, at theend of this topic you will be able to answer any question on STM and LTMcorrectly without recalling the exact wording in the module.

In the organization of information in the LTM, material seems to be filed incategories and sub-categories as a network with several pathways to reach apiece of information. The organized material is thus easily remembered. Forexample, an attempt to remember a piece of information may trigger memory ofrelated information because related material appear to be filed together(Huffman et al., 1995).

14.4. Memory retrievalMemory retrieval is the process of returning LTM contents to STM for analysisor awareness. Sometimes a cue may be necessary in the memory retrieval. Acue is a stimulus or hint that can trigger/begin a retrieval process from LTM.For example, you might have walked to the bedroom to pick something only toforget after getting there, but when you return to the sitting room youremember because you get the necessary cue.

Research has found that when thinking or the retrieval process is leftunfinished, the brain will keep on working on the problem unconsciously untilan answer is obtained, psychologists call this the Zeigarnik effect (Bonello,1982 & Zeigarnik, 1927). The unfinished problem motivates us to find asolution. Unconsciously, perceptual processes continue to select things thatgive us further information about the problem and we continue to search thecategories of our memories until we find the information we need. Forexample, you may have met somebody whom you thought you knew his/her name verywell, only to fail to recall, but days later you recall his/her nameeffortlessly.

14.5. Theories of forgettingWhy do we forget what we have learned? Forgetting is the inability to recall,recognize or relearn at an improved rate. Forgetting may be due to storagefailure, in which the memory trace was never satisfactorily created orconsolidated initially. It may also be due to retrieval failure, in which thememory trace is present but an adequate cue for evoking it is lacking.Several theories have been formulated to explain how it occurs Let us now lookat some of these theories.

14.5.1. Decay theoryThis theory assumes that memory disappears or deteriorates with the passage oftime. There appears to be decay or fading of memory traces of information dueto the continuous metabolic processes of the brain. The traces of informationthat were learned slowly disintegrate and become extinct as time lapses.Because we have a limited capacity for processing information rehearsal canprevent decay. However, as we may agree with this theory, it doesn’t explainwhy sometimes we are able to remember things we learned long time ago.

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14.5.2. Consolidation theoryThis theory assumes that memory trace needs undisturbed period of time to befirmly fixed. Certain conditions occurring soon after an experience caneradicate the memory before it becomes permanent. Physical and emotionalshock can cause forgetting of recent events possibly due to the disruption ofnormal neural functioning. For example, people who suffer brain injury maynot remember what happened before an accident even though their memory of thedistant past is normal. The accident disrupts immediate memories before theyhave a chance to consolidate.

14.5.3. Interference theoryThis theory proposes that forgetting occurs as a result of what happensbetween point A, when the information is learnt and point B, when the personis required to recall what he/she learned a while ago. We forget somethingbecause other information blocks its retrieval. This type of forgetting iscommon with similar materials. There are two types of interference effect,namely retroactive inhibition and proactive inhibition.

Retroactive inhibition: Retroactive inhibition involves forgetting somethingbecause information learned afterward interferes with it. For example, when achild goes to school and starts to learn a second language say, Kiswahilihe/she may have difficulties in remembering his/her mother tongue.

Proactive inhibition: Proactive inhibition involves forgetting somethingbecause information learned previously or earlier interferes with it. Forexample, if you learn the gospel of Luke and afterwards learn the gospel ofJohn, you may have difficulties recalling the contents of the latter which maybe very similar to that of the first one. The pronunciation of words in asecond language is sometimes heavily interfered with learning of a firstlanguage.

14.5.4. Motivated forgetting theoryThis theory assumes that we wish to forget something unpleasant or somethingthat would cause pain, anxiety or embarrassment. In such cases theinformation is not forgotten because it is still in the LTM and could beremembered if the protective mechanism were overcome. In short, we forgetcertain experiences as a matter of choice.

14.5.5. Retrieval failure theoryThis theory assumes that memories stored in LTM are never forgotten but ratherare momentarily inaccessible as a result of interference, emotional state andlack of adequate cues. Sometimes we may require the setting in which welearnt to be able to recall. For example, learners may recall better if theyare tested in the room they were taught. We may fail to recall something at aparticular moment, but when conditions are different the information comesback more or less automatically. Research shows that you may be able to

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remember information when you are in the emotional state in which the learningoccurred (Gordon Bower, 1981). This is what is called state-dependent memory.For example, subjects who had been sad during learning may remember betterwhen they are sad during recall.

Thus, forgetting is a temporary rather than a permanent phenomenon accordingto the retrieval failure theory. It is like being unable to find somethingbut not loosing it. This type of forgetting can be explained best by what isknown as a tip of the tongue (TOT) experience, that is, an understanding thatyou know something but you cannot get to it.

14.6. Exceptional memoriesSome people are able to remember things so vividly that they are said to havea photographic memory. The technical term for this ability is called eideticmemory. This ability is rare and is inborn. Instead of using a selectionprocess that concentrates on the most important aspects of incominginformation, the person with a photographic memory stores all the information.

14.7. Methods for measuring memoryi) Recall: This method requires a person to reproduce correctly what

he/she has previously learned.ii) Recognition: Recognition is discrimination between seen and unseen

materials, items and objects. This is common in multiple choice testsin which you are required to identify the correct answer out of thedistracters.

iii) Relearning: The difference between the number of trials oropportunities required to learn the material initially and the numberof trials required to relearn is considered to be an index ofretention. The index is often referred to as a saving score. Forexample, relearning material that was once learnt may require 10 trialswhile learning the material afresh may require 20 trials. Thus, 10 isthe index of retention. However, improved ability may account for theimproved score.

14.8. How to improve memoryVarious methods can be used to improve our ability to retain information inLTM. Let us briefly look at these methods.i) Recitation: This method involves repeating to yourself what you have

learnt. Recitation forces you to practice retrieving information asyou learn.

ii) Summarizing and paraphrasing of the major points helps to enhancememory.

iii) Overlearning: overlearning means practicing beyond the point ofmastery. Degrees of overlearning are expressed as percentages. Forexample, if it takes 10 trials to learn (master) a task and youpractice for five more trials, this is 50 percent overlearning, 10extra trials is 100 percent overlearning. However, overlearning will

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depend on the learner’s ability, motivation, interest and subjectmatter. Overlearning is beneficial with material that must beremembered for a long time. More and more practice makes whatever islearned to become more and more automatic, for example, riding ordriving.

iv) Chunking: Chunking means grouping a set of items into subgroups foreasy recall. This reduces the number of items to be remembered. Forexample, trying to memorize the telephone number –0721205873, you mayreduce the chunks to be recalled as 0721, 205, 873 or as 07,21,20,58and 73.

v) Spaced Practice: Spaced practice is superior then massed or continuouspractice. We should have breaks instead of studying continuously.This allows the mind to process and store the information.

vi) Sleep/rest: Sleeping or resting after studying reduces interferenceand enhances memory consolidation. Thus, study schedules should haveample breaks between subjects.

vii) Review: Reviewing of learned material involves going over the majorconcepts again.

viii) Organization: If the material you are learning is well organized, itwill be easy to remember. One way of organizing information is bybreaking it into smaller units and trying to link these to each otherin the way they relate to each other so that remembering one unit canlead to remembering yet another unit.

ix) Cueing: Cues such as, highlighting the key concepts or terms can helpin recall.

x) Mnemonic device: These are strategies used to aid memory. Theyinvolve organizing information visually or verbally for easyremembering. They can be special phrases or symbols, which may be usedto group information. For example, trying to recall the order of thecolours of the rainbow by relating them to a person’s name Roy G. Biv(red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) or putting theinformation to be remembered in a story narrative, for example, if youwere to recall the days in each month, you will do it easily using thenarrative, “Thirty days have September, April, June and November, allthe rest have 31 days, except February which has 28 days and 29 in eachleap year.”

14.9. Educational implicationsAs a teacher, to help learners improve their memories on what they learn youshould: not overload them because of the short duration and processing capacity

of STM. allow them enough time to rehearse what they have learned. ensure that the speed of instructing matches their abilities to process the

information.

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help them to encode material by encouraging them to attend to the mostimportant areas of the lesson or text reading. This can be accomplished bythe use of clear instructional objectives.

provide them with questions before the lesson and review the questions atthe end of the lesson or topic.

properly organize learning materials for easy encoding and remembering.For example putting related materials together.

show them how different facts and concepts are linked to each other. Thisis because memory is organized in networks wit related concepts beingstored together.

realize the fact that prior knowledge on material will make learning easy.You should ascertain what pupils know before you start teaching. If littleis known you should provide the base.

if possible present the material using more than one modality. Forexample, presenting a picture of the tree you are describing. Involvementof most of our senses in learning helps retain what is learned.

teach students how to use mnemonic devices. advice students to study in a quiet place to avoid interference or

attention diversion. advise learners to periodically review the learning material. The learner

can arrange to review what he/she has learned weekly or fortnightly. Thiscan make retention more effective than cramming a week or so before anexamination.

if possible ensure overlearning which can improve memory.

14.10. Summary Memory is the process by which we encode, store and retrieve information. Human beings have three different kinds of memory: sensory memory, short-

term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM). Sensory memory is the memory that occurs within our senses while incoming

messages are being transmitted to the brain and lasts for only a fractionof a second.

Short-term memory involves memory for current thoughts. It can hold aboutseven items for about 30 seconds or so.

Long-term memory is more permanent memory where information is stored forfuture use.

Retrieval is the process of getting information out of long-term memory. Forgetting can be caused by decaying, interference, distortion, repression,

failure of consolidation of information or retrieval failure. People with eidetic (photographic) memory can retrieve a detailed copy of

the original image from LTM. Forgetting can be minimized by overlearning, periodic review, rehearsal and

so on.

Learning activities and revision questions1. Describe the three stages of memory.2. Explain how information is processed in the three levels of memory.

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3. What is state-dependent memory?4. Discuss the following theories of forgetting.

Decay theory. Consolidation theory. Interference theory. Motivated forgetting theory. Retrieval failure theory.

5. What is eidetic memory?6. Explain three ways of measuring memory.7. Explain the methods you can advise learners to use to improve their

ability to retain information in long-term memory.8. Discuss what you can do as a teacher to help your learners to improve

their memories9. What are some things we can do to reduce the influence of inhibition on

memory?

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TOPIC 15: ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR

15.1 Introduction

Have you ever encountered someone suffering from mental abnormality? Have youheard the saying that every market has a mad person? Or the saying that everyone of us is mad, only that we differ in terms of the degree of madness?These and other related questions can easily be understood and explainedthrough an understanding of Clinical Psychology. Mental health is as importantas physical health in the teaching learning process. The learner cannotfunction effectively unless he/she is in good mental health. Thus, as ateacher you need to be familiar with health mental functioning and abnormalbehaviour.

15.2 Definition of Clinical PsychologyBefore we define abnormal psychology let us look at clinical psychology, whichis a branch of psychology that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal behaviour. Clinical psychology involves applying psychological knowledge in the clinicalcontext. Applied psychology involves taking psychological theories andprinciples that have been derived from careful study, and applying them toproblems. In the case of the clinical psychologist, those problems concernabnormal behaviour. Resnick, (1991) defines clinical psychology as beingconcerned with maladjustment, disability and discomfort, assessment anddiagnosis.

Clinical psychologist deal with issues that include, depression, anxiety,psychosis, personality disorder, addictions, learning disability, and sexualdifficulties, diagnosis, psychotherapy, and consultancy.

It is important to distinguish between clinical psychologists andpsychiatrists. Psychiatrists are doctors specialising in the field of mentalillness- they are medically trained and can prescribe medicine while clinical

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to:

Define abnormality Describe the DSM classification system Discuss different mental disorders Explain how abnormal behaviour develops Distinguish between different therapeutic approaches to

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psychologists are not medically trained and cannot prescribe medicine.Clinical psychologists have a background in neuroscience and psychology.

Another profession often involved with problems of mental disturbance iscounselling psychology. Counseling psychologists specialize in “talkingcures” - ways of helping people to come to terms with their problems bytalking through them and learning new ways of understanding them. This oftenoverlaps with the role of the clinical psychologist, but counselingpsychologists are more likely to work with normal or moderately maladjustedpeople.

15.3 Research methods used in studying abnormal behaviourVarious methods are used to study abnormal behaviour, some of which may be unique to mental disorders.

ObservationsPsychologists often gather systematic details in their daily work. Forexample, during an interview, they can ask a question in different ways andobserve the effect. Subjects are also observed in their natural habitatswithout noticing that they are being observed.

Case studiesThey are intensive explorations of one particular individual or situation. Inclinical psychology, this is usually one individual who is undergoing treatment. Interviews, test results and transcripts of treatment sessions canbe used as source material for the case study, as well as medical histories, diaries and letters.

Advantages A lot of rich data can be gathered, which is hard to get in any otherway. Provide useful description of rare events and can highlight distinctivemethods of treating patients.

Disadvantages Hard to generalise findings because only one person is being studied Cannot draw cause and effect conclusions It is time consuming.

Epidemiological research This refers to the study of the incidence, prevalence and distribution of anillness. Incidence refers to how many new cases develop in a given timeperiod. Prevalence refers to the overall number of cases there arealtogether. Distribution refers to whether the number of cases reported isgoing up or down. It is mainly done using surveys and interviews. It may

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also involve documentary research such as statistics on illness records. Forexample, you can use diagnostic interview to find out the estimate andprevalence of mental disorders in a one-year period.

Advantages Useful in identifying groups at risk Enables identification of general patterns in large amounts of data.

Disadvantages Difficulties in diagnosing an illness can lead to unreliable data Cause and effect relationship may be difficulty to establish Problems in locating cases. Not all cases may be counted Social desirability factors might influence people’s answers.

Co relational methodsInvolve finding the extent to which two variables are related. Two sets ofobservations are needed to give us two sets of scores to correlate variables.For example, correlating personality scores with ratings for anxiety. Themain problem with correlation is that, although it can show a relationship, itdoes not show causality. Some other factors not studied may cause theobserved behaviour.

Advantages No risk is exposed to study subjects. Correlations can be used as a first check for possible causes.

Disadvantages Correlation between two variables does not mean that one causes the other.

Experiments Experiments involve manipulation of variables with careful controls.Controls make sure that only the independent variable (the one that is ofinterest) is changed or manipulated. So if the dependent variable (the onewhich is being measured as a result of the manipulation) actually changes, itcan be claimed that the reason for that change was the change in theindependent variable.

Advantages Cause and effect can be established Results can be easily replicated.

Disadvantage Careful controls mean that the situation is unlikely to be natural so the

results might not be worth much.

In conclusion, the range of methods of research used by clinical psychologistsare similar to the range of research methods used by other psychologists. The

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mains difference is that, their research take place in a natural setting- thatis, in the context of psychiatric hospitals, clinics, or other types ofinstitutions rather than in a Laboratory.

15.4 Definition and classification of mental disordersAbnormalityAbnormality means anything that is not normal. This definition covers a widerange of abnormalities. It is hard to define what we mean by “abnormal”because: There is no absolute distinguishing line between normal and abnormal No single definition is enough to take into account all the different types

of behaviour that might be called abnormal There is no shared characteristic of all that we call abnormal - things

that are abnormal can have nothing at all in common.

There are several ways in which people have tried to define abnormality.

Statistical deviationAnything that happens infrequently can be defined as abnormal. What is normalis what usually happens. This means that any behaviour that does not conformto established standards is abnormal. For example, a child whose IQ issignificantly low or high can be considered as abnormal. A single figure canbe used as a cut off point. Any individual falling below the figure can bediagnosed as abnormal.

Social deviation Deviation from social norms is another way of defining abnormality. Forexample, if a child who has behaved normally starts to behave strangely (suchas becoming obsessively religious) then he/she can be referred to apsychiatrist.

Subjective distressIf someone feels that they have a problem, and is so serious that it isdisturbing their day-to-day living, this can be used to diagnose abnormality.For example, if you are suffering from anxiety, then someone can say theanxiety is unnecessary. The sufferer is in need of help. Thus, if the personsuffering psychologically or physically and is in need of help then he/she canbe said to be abnormal.

Disability or dysfunction If behaviour is causing a problem, it can be diagnosed as abnormal. If it iscausing a dysfunction, then treatment would be needed. The key feature isthat the behaviour prevents normal functioning.

Abnormality as the absence of normality. If “normality” is defined, thenabnormal means not fitting that definition. It is estimated that 20% ofpeople have a psychological disorder (Myers et al., 1984).

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The DSM classification systemClinical psychologists often work with people who have been diagnosed ashaving some kind of mental illness or psychiatric disorder. If anabnormality has to be treated it must be diagnosed. Correct diagnosis isimportant for appropriate treatment. Psychiatric diagnosis means classifyingthe problem that any particular person is displaying. Several classificationsare used by professionals. One of the most well-known of these is the DSM

system,whichstandsfor the

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental Disorders, published by theAmerican Psychiatric Association. DSM-IV defines a disorder as a syndrome orpattern that is associated with present distress or disability, or andimportant loss of freedom or risk of suffering.

Table 5 Condensed version of DSM-IVAxis I: Clinical disorders or other conditions that may be a focusof Clinical attention

Disorders usually diagnosed in infancy, childhood oradolescence (for example, pervasive developmentaldisorders).

Delirium, dementia and amnestic and other cognitivedisorders.

Mental disorders due to general medical conditions. Substance-related disorders (for example, alcohol abuse,

cocaine dependency). Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Mood disorders (e.g., major depression, bipolar disorder Anxiety disorders (e.g., agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress

disorder). Somatoform disorders (e.g., hypochondriasis) Factitious disorders Dissociative disorders (e.g., dissociative identity

disorder). Sexual and gender identity disorder (e.g., vaginismus,

fetishism). Eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa). Sleep disorders (e.g., narcolepsy) Impulse control disorders (e.g., Kleptomania) Adjustment disorders Other conditions that may be of clinical attention (for

example, bereavement).

Learning activityDiscuss behaviours that have been considered asabnormal in your community.

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Axis II: personality disorders and mental retardation Personality disorders (e.g., antisocial, dependent,

paranoids Mental retardation

Axis III: General medical conditions that are potentiallyrelevant to the understanding or management of the individual’smental disorder

Axis IV: psychosocial and environmental problems

Problems with primary support group Problems related to the social environment Educational problems Housing problems Economic problems Problems with access to health care services Problems related to interaction with the legal system and

crime Other psychosocial and environmental problems.

Axis V: global assessment of functioning (GAF) scale Code Description 91-100 Superior functioning in a wide range of activities.81-90 Absent or Minimal symptoms (e.g., mild anxiety before an

exam), Good functioning in all areas, interested and involvedin a wide rangeof activities, socially effective, generally satisfiedwith life, no more than everyday problems or concerns.

71-80 if symptoms are present, they are transient,expectable reactions topsychological stressors.

61-70 Some mild symptoms51-60 Moderate symptoms 41-50 Serious symptoms (e.g., suicidal ideation, frequent

shoplifting) or anyserious impairment in social, occupational or schoolfunctioning (e.g., no friends, unable to keep a job).

31-40 some impairment in reality testing or communication.21-30 Behaviour is frequently influenced by delusion orhallucinations.11-20 Some danger of hurting self or others1-10 Persistent danger of severely hurting self or others

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(e.g., recurrent violence) or persistent inability to maintain minimalpersonal hygiene or Serious suicidal act with clearexpectations of death

0 Inadequate information.

Source: American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental Disorders 4th edition.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is almost always made according to some classification system.Diagnosis brings with it certain treatments

Examples of diagnostic categories

The major diagnostic categories are in axes I and II of DSM-IV. They include:

Disorders first diagnosed in infancy, childhood or adolescence.Example, are learning disorders, attention, deficit/hyperactivitydisorders and separation anxiety disorders.

Substance related disorders. For example, ingestion of alcohol, opiatesand cocaine.

Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. These includedistinguishing between different types of schizophrenia.

Mood disorders. These include major depressive disorder, mania andbipolar disorder.

Anxiety disorders. These include phobias, panic disorders, generalizedanxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumaticstress disorders.

Somatoform disorders. These are illnesses that seem to have no physicalcause but serve a psychological purpose. For example, pain disorders,hypochondriasis, and body dysmorphic disorder.

Dissociative disorder. For example, dissociative amnesia ordissociative fugue.

Sexual and gender identity disorders. For example, paraphilias andsexual dysfunctions.

Sleep disorders such as insomnia or narcolepsy.

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Eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa

Other disorders such as factitious disorders, adjustment disorder,impulsive control disorders, personality disorders.

Advantages of diagnosis

Diagnosis communicates a great deal of information Patients diagnosed as having the same disorder can be compared Causes for mental illness can be looked for Diagnoses usually suggest treatment. However, with wrong diagnosis,

wrong treatment can be administered.

Reliability of diagnosisIf different psychologists give the same diagnosis to the same individual,then the diagnosis can be said to be reliable. Diagnosis by differentpsychiatrists sometimes does not agree. Possible reasons for unreliability indiagnosis include:

Patients giving different psychiatrists different information Insufficient evidence gathered Use of unstructured interviews Failure to gather all relevant information.

Validity of diagnosisA categorization system is valid if it predicts what is happening in realityand if it is useful.

A diagnosis is valid if: Laboratory studies support the conclusions. For example, identifying

symptoms that accompany the disorder. Family studies suggests that a particular disorder runs in families Follow-up studies have indicated reliability. For example, by using a

test-retest method There is clinical description that can go beyond the actual symptoms.

For example, if people of the patient’s age suffer from the samedisease.

The particular set of problems is different from other disorders, andthe differences are noticeable.

Cultural factors in diagnosis What is considered abnormal in one culture may not be so in another

culture. Diagnostic tests may not be well understood by people from different

cultures Attitudes towards testing Testing bias.

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15.5 Approaches and therapiesMany different treatments and therapies are used to tackle mental problems.There are many different paradigms in psychology. A paradigm is a set ofbasic assumptions about how something is thought about, how data is gathered,and what influences there might be. Paradigm in psychology is sometimescalled an approach.

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The medical/biological approachThe medical approach to mental illness assumes that there is a disease to betreated. This includes aetiology – the study of what causes the disease – aswell as the underlying genetic and biochemical factors. It assumes that thereis an illness, comparable to a physical illness. It looks at the disease andthe disruption of biological functioning. For example, depression is thoughtto arise sometimes from-problems in neural transmission, and anxiety disorderfrom a problem in the autonomic nervous system.

Behaviour genetics

Behaviour genetics involves the study of genes and how genes account fordifferences in behaviour. Some disorders may come from a geneticpredisposition. Family, adoption and twin studies are used to study geneticinfluence on mental illness.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry of mental illness involves the study of the nervous system, theways the neurones communicate and act within the nervous system, and howneurotransmitters work. Abnormal behaviour can stem from problems inneurotransmitter activity.

Biological approaches to treatment

Psychology and Mental illness

Social approachFocus on cultural factors, rolesand norms

Cognitivedevelopmentalapproach focus onmaturational processes

Cognitive approach Focus on thinking process

Physical approachFocus on biology, genetics

Learning approach

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Treatment will have a biological basis if it is thought that abnormalbehaviour is caused by either a genetic predisposition or a biochemicalimbalance. Altering bodily functioning may correct the problem or alleviatethe symptoms. For instance, drugs can be administered to alter theneurotransmitter balance or to mimic a neurotransmitter that is deficient.Phenylketonuria (PKU), for example, is caused by a lack of an enzyme that letsthe body mobilize phenylalanine into tyrosine, and produces mentalretardation. The lack of enzyme is genetic in origin and can be correctedthrough a diet low in phenylalanine. Another example is administeringDiazepam (Valium) to reduce tension in anxiety disorders or using other drugssuch as lithium to treat bipolar disorder. Some “biological” treatmentsinclude intervening at a physical level and affecting how the neurones work,such as giving electroconvulsive shock treatment (ECT) for severe depression.

Criticism of the biological model of mental illness

Much of the data is qualitative and not quantitative Symptoms of a physical disease are objective and can be measured,

whereas the symptoms of a mental disease are subjective and cannot

Mental illness does not usually have just one specific set of symptom,and the same physical disease might give different symptoms in differentpeople.

The psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approach

The main point of this paradigm is that problems come from unconsciousconflicts and forces. Defence mechanisms are used (unconsciously) to allowthe individual to avoid facing up to their unconscious conflicts. Mentalillness is thought to occur when the energy used in maintaining defencemechanisms is giving an individual problems. The main method of treatment isto release the unconscious conflicts, getting behind the defence mechanism,and making thoughts and memories conscious. The idea is that when they havecome to conscious awareness there will be no problem because the individualwill learn more open ways of working through their problems and coming toterms with them, and as a result will have freed themselves.

Treatment is by psychoanalysis which includes transference andcountertransference Transference is where the person undergoing treatment (theanalysand) transfers their feelings on to the therapist; countertransferenceis where the therapist may transfer feelings on to the analysand.

The behavioural approach

Two types of learning within the behavioural approach are classicalconditioning and operant conditioning. A third type is the social learningtheory.

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Assumptions

Learning comes from surroundings and environment Experiences shape a person’s behaviour, attitudes and beliefs

Mental illness can be understood in terms of a person’s learning andexperiences

Treatment of mental illness is about changing the person’s behaviour,that is, re-learning new ways of acting.

Mental health problems are maladaptive behaviours accruing as a resultof inappropriate learning experiences.

If behaviour is changed, mental health will improve

Behaviour can be changed through behaviour modification and behaviourtherapy.

The cognitive approach

The cognitive approach involves looking at thinking and cognitive processes,and ways in which people structure information. This approach assumes thatmental problems come from inappropriate attributions, beliefs, and badthoughts or maladaptive thinking.

Cognitive- behavioural therapy

Cognitive-behavioural therapy involves the use of cognitive restructuring tochange the way the person thinks about life, and therefore change his/herbehaviour and emotions (Davison, 1966).

Rational–emotive behaviour therapy

Ellis (1962) proposed a different sort of cognitive behavioural therapy. Hesuggested that irrational beliefs cause maladaptive behaviour. People havemistaken assumptions and, therefore, put pressure on themselves to achievethings they cannot achieve. For example, a woman might think everyone mustlike her, or a man might think he must always be perfect. A learner mightthink that he/she must excel even when she/he does not have the ability.Rational-emotive behaviour therapy aims to get people to think morerationally. For example, to admit that they can make mistakes or they lackthe ability to accomplish a given task...

Cognitive therapy

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Beck (1967) put forward a form of cognitive therapy, emphasizing how peopledistort their experience. For example, someone who is depressed is likely toremember or notice only the bad things that happen in a day, and to ignore ordiscount the positive ones. Beck developed a form of therapy which aimed atencouraging people to change the way they see themselves and the way theyinterpret what happens to them. Thus, cognitive therapy is concerned with theattributions and explanations that people use to explain what is happening tothem.

The humanistic approach

The humanistic approach focuses on personal growth, and not so much on mentaldisorder. Mental disorder occurs when personal growth is interrupted orstopped for some reason.

The humanistic paradigm:

Emphasise free will See the most important part of someone’s world as being their own view

of it

Focus on an individual’s strength, and not their weaknesses

Encourage personal growth rather than relieving distress.

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are some of the major proponents of thehumanistic approach. For the humanists:

Human nature is basically good Everyone has a need to self-actualise, that is, to realise his or her

full potential, or strive to do so.

Mental problems arise when the striving to self-actualisation becomesblocked in some way.

Humanistic therapies have generally been regarded as more appropriate forpeople with neurotic or anxiety disorders than for those with psychoticproblems such as schizophrenia.

Client-centred therapy

Rogers proposed a therapy called client-centred therapy. Rogers assumed thathealthy people are innately good, effective and can become aware of theirbehaviour as goal directed and self-directive. He argued that therapistsshould create a situation where the individual can become healthy. To do sopeople need to become effective, aware of their behaviour, and able to directtheir own goals. The person has to do this for himself and the therapist has

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to create the situation in which this becomes possible. The therapist hasthree core qualities:

Genuineness, which means no façade: the therapist must act normally andhonestly.

Unconditional positive regard, which means there are no conditionsattached by the therapist to the client, in terms of how the therapistsees him/her. For example, the therapist should like and regard theclient as a person of worth irrespective of what he or she does or say.

Accurate empathetic understanding. This means being able to see throughthe eyes of the client and share in their feelings.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy covers all treatments involving psychological techniques, suchas talking, listening and exploring thinking. The fact that someone paysattention to the individual is what helps rather than the therapy itself.This is like a placebo effect, where someone is given a sugar pill instead ofthe drug they think they are taking, but they still improve, presumablybecause of psychological reasons. However, Lambert et al. (1986) studied theeffects of psychotherapy and found that factors such as warmth, trust andencouragement do have a lasting effect, and this is more than a simple placeboeffect. Although some clients may improve with psychotherapy, others maydeteriorate.

Thesocial

approach-community psychology

This paradigm places emphasis on a social approach to mental disorders. Forexample, some researchers claim that schizophrenia is a result of socialdeprivation.

Community psychology

Community psychology emphasises the role of the environment, both in creatingproblems and in helping to solve them. Problems are seen as developing from aninteraction between the individual, the social setting and the systems. Itdeals with prevention as well as problem solving. It has strong links withhealthy psychology. It takes into account the person’s cultural background.Community psychology focuses on diversity and differences between people

Learning activity

1. Explain how patients of mental illness weretreated in your communities.

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rather than social norms. For community psychology, it is the interactionthat is important.

Community psychology has grown in response to social needs resulting from“care in the community” programmes and other social trends. Some of thefactors that led to its growth include:

Pressure on treatment facilities. Mental hospitals were seen as costlyand inefficient. Socially oriented mental professionals wantedalternatives.

Personnel shortage

Questions about psychotherapy

Questions about the medical model. Social environmental factors werethought to be important in determining mental problems and treatment.

Emphasis on the environment. It was realised that social andenvironmental factors such as poverty, pollution, and crowding hadeffects on people’s mental health

Community care aims to provide an environment that will enable patients toresume a responsible place in society. For example, it involves settings uphalfway houses where hospitalized patients can learn the skills needed forindependent living. Day hospitals are used too. Community care also involvescrisis intervention - trying to reach people who would previously have beendiagnosed as mentally ill and hospitalized before they reached a stage wherethings became too extreme. Crisis intervention reduces the number of caseshospitalized (Ducker & Stubblebine, 1972).

15.6 Specific mental disorders

15.6.1 Anxiety disorders

They are classified as neuroses. These are mental disorders where there isdysfunction. The dysfunction takes the form of an exaggeration of certainbehaviours or symptoms which occur normally in just about everyone. Theperson is still in touch with reality, and knows that they have a problem.

Anxiety disorders are closely associated with stress. Anxiety is comparablewith fear which is a response to something specific. Anxiety is more generalunease. It is non-specific. Some anxiety is normal-up to a point. It becomesa problem when it interferes with the person’s normal everyday functioning.Symptoms of anxiety disorders include; tension, nervousness, sweating, heartpalpitations, dizziness, trembling and concentration problems.

Anxiety disorders and symptoms

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Generalized anxiety disorder. Excessive anxiety that occurs on mostdays for a period of months. The anxiety usually centers on issues likework and school. Symptoms include: fatigue, difficulty inconcentrating, muscle tension and sleep disorders.

Simple or specific phobia. This is persistent, excessive, unreasonablefear about an object.

Social phobia. Anxiety in response to social situations

Panic attack, is a feeling of overwhelming fear that occurs suddenly andunexpectedly. Symptoms include; sweating, fear of losing control,trembling, shaking and shortness of breath.

Agoraphobia – fear of being in open places, or places where escape isdifficult. It often includes fear of the fear itself.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Obsessions are recurrent,persistent, inappropriate thoughts, and compulsions are repetitive actsthe person feels obliged to perform such as washing hands.

Post-traumatic stress (PTSD)-persistent experiencing of a traumaticevent. Symptoms include sleep disturbances, difficult in concentratingand an exaggerated startle response

Theories of anxiety

Biological theories

Anxiety is linked to physiological states and in particular the state ofarousal. The autonomic nervous system prepares the body for a flight or fightreaction. Both hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in this reaction,which is a natural response to perceived threat. Usually the parasympatheticpart of the autonomic nervous system allows the body to return to its calmerstate. However, if this does not happen, and the alarm emergence reactioncontinues, then stress is the result.

Genetic factors play a role. We are predisposed to react to some situationswith fear. Human beings appear to be prepared by the process of naturalselection to fear certain things that are likely to harm them. We seem tohave a genetic tendency to develop certain phobias although learning plays arole.

Another genetic feature in the development of anxiety disorders has to do withthe fundamental temperament you are born with. Some studies suggest that somechildren are born with the trait of nervousness, or with a readiness to becomenervous (Kegan et al., 1988). It is possible that some people are born with

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anxiety- related temperaments. Those who are socially inhibited early in lifemay be more likely to develop anxiety disorders later (Brain, 2002).

Anxiety disorders seem to be common in some families than others. In generalthere seem to be genetic factors involved in anxiety disorders.

Table 6: Example of fears

Label fear ___________________

Acrophobia Heights

Aichmophobia pointed objects

Ailurophobia cats

Algophobia pain

Arachnophobia spiders

Astrophobia storms:Thunder and lightning

Autophobia oneself

Claustrophobia closed spaces; confinement

Euphobia good news

Gephyrophobia Bridges

Hematophobia blood

Hydrophobia water

Linonophobia string

Nyctophobia darkness

Ophidiophobia snakes

Pyrophobia fire

Thanatophobia death

Xenophobia strangers

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Another biological explanation for anxiety concerns endocrinological andneurotransmitter factors, that is, hormones and brain chemicals. It isthought that some people may lack substances needed for calm. For example,there are receptors specific to benzodiazepines, which are the chemicals thatseem to have a calming effect on people with anxiety. It is thought thatthose with anxiety disorders may lack the natural equivalent ofbenzodiazephine. The neurotransmitter GABA is also thought to be related toanxiety disorders. Beta-blockers have been effectively used to treat manykinds of anxiety disorders.

Psychodynamic theories

Freud distinguished between objective, moral and neurotic anxiety.

Objective anxiety- the reason for the anxiety is located in the externalworld. For example, being anxious because someone is pointing a gun at you.The object (gun) is likely to cause fear.

Moral anxiety-The superego causes anxiety/worry. For example, an anxietyabout being punished if one’s behaviour is not moral or up to standard wouldbe an example of the internalized strictness of the superego creating anxiety.Another good example is that of students who suffer text anxiety.

Neurotic anxiety- arises when a person tries not to give in to anuncontrollable urge to do something harmful or socially unacceptable.Repression keeps the urges temporarily under control. Repressions keep theurges unconscious and the person may experience anxiety or panic attacks as aresult.

Separation in the early year’s life may lead to anxiety disorders later inlife. For example, it has been suggested that those with social phobia arereliving early mother –child relationships.

Behavioural theories

Behavioural theories suggest that classical conditioning principles, operantconditioning, or modelling lead to learnt anxiety. A student acquires phobiaof maths due to associating it with failure (classical conditioning). Astudent acquires school phobia due to bullying in school – avoiding somethingunpleasant is reinforcing (operant conditioning). One may learn to respond tosituations with anxiety after observing others behave the same (modelling).

Cognitive theories

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Anxiety is a dysfunctional way of seeing the world. People with unhealthyemotional lives have irrational thought, or make consistently irrationalattributions. These are often self-defeating. For example, if a personthinks that they must always be the best, they may become anxious about takingpart in a competition for fear of failure.

Social factors

These include:

What a person thinks he/she ought to be (self-image/personal standards). Worry about conformity with social norms and rules

Socialization into fear and anxiety

Treatment of anxiety disorders

Psychodynamic approach – insight therapies

The psychodynamic approach suggests that the defence mechanism of repressionprevents the expression of unconscious impulses, and this leads to anxiety.Insight therapy involves gaining of insight or understanding of what theclient’s problem is, so that they can work effectively to reduce theiranxiety. Psychodynamic psychotherapy appears to be more effective for clientsdescribed as neurotic (Svartberg and Stiles, 1991). However, the client needsto be in a position to think about himself rationally in order to gaininsight. Children may not be able to gain sufficient insight into the workingof their unconscious minds. Thus, psychotherapy may not be suitable forchildren.

Humanistic approach-existential therapy

Frank (1960) developed a method of existential therapy known as “Logotherapy”which focused on anxiety disorder and phobias. He believed that anxiety arosefrom excessive anticipatory anxiety, and that the anticipation of problemsgave the client their unwanted symptoms. In this therapy the client wishesfor exactly what is feared (known as paradoxical intervention). One examplehe used was a young medical student who began trembling whenever the anatomyinstructor entered the room. Using logotherapy she decided to tremble onpurpose whenever the occasion arose, but found she could not. The problempersists by continually anticipating it.

Behavioural therapies

Anxiety and phobia are maladaptive in that they are dysfunctional for theindividual.

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Systematic desensitization involves gradually introducing the person to thefeared object, perhaps by starting with a picture. The aim is to replace thefear response with relaxation response. It is a slow process and a veryeffective one.

Implosion therapy involves flooding the client with the feared object. Forexample, someone scared of cars, when crossing streets may be placed in a roomsurrounded by large video screens showing cars coming at them. The idea isthat the individual cannot maintain the alarm response for very long, becauseit is so physiologically demanding, and so the physical symptoms of theiranxiety will decrease. The client learns to replace the fear response with acalmer behaviour. These two therapies use classical conditioning.

Behaviour modification is an example of operant conditioning in which theperson is rewarded with something whenever they overcome an obstacle. Forexample, fear of lifts might be overcome if the individual is rewarded step-by-step as they get near a lift, then when they can do this comfortably, thenwhen they get in one. Behaviour modification makes use of operant classicalconditioning known as behaviour shaping or successive approximation.Behavioural therapies may not tackle the underlying causes of the anxiety.

Cognitive-behaviour therapies

Recognise the importance of the client’s cognitive functioning as well astheir behaviour. Examples are the rational–emotive behaviour therapy andcognitive therapy techniques. The therapist aims at providing structure andguidance so that the client can review their thinking for themselves, andrealise that it needs to be altered. The therapist gives the client“homework” to practice changing their thinking patterns and encourages him toexplore the attributions and assumptions they habitually make, so that he/shecan see what needs changing. This approach is becoming popular.

Biological treatments

Biological treatments for anxiety disorders are based on the use of drugs.Alcohol may relief anxiety, although the harm it may cause overweighs itsbenefits. Tranquillizers used to treat anxiety disorders include barbituratesand benzodiazepine substances. Benzodiozepines inhibits the activity of thenervous system. Beta-blockers and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors arealso used.

15.6.2 Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is classified under psychosis. Psychoses are mental disorderswhere the individual is not in touch with reality. Schizophrenia is aspecific sort of psychosis, characterized by thought, language and behaviourdisturbances. There is more than one type of schizophrenia. Blenler (1911)

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introduced the term “schizophrenia” split (schism) of the mind (phrenos). Itimplies splitting of cognition from emotion.

Table 7: Schizophrenic disorders and symptoms

Disorders SymptomsAffective disturbances apathy, lack of pleasure,

inappropriate feelings and emotions

Perceptual disturbances heightened sensations, hallucinations

Behavioural disturbances peculiar mannerisms, facial expressions, reduced movements, inappropriate social behaviours,lack of motivation

Disturbances of language and thought

Loose association of ideas, lackof coherence, conceptual difficulties with thinking, poorspeech, etc

Adapted from: Brain (2002)

Different people with schizophrenia present different symptoms. Patients do not recognize that they are ill or that what they are doing is wrong and therefore they cannot communicate their feelings. Speech is disorganized. Five different kinds of schizophrenia have been identified:

Paranoid Catatonic Disorganised Undifferentiated or simple, and Residual schizophrenia

Paranoid Preoccupation with one or more delusions or frequent auditory

hallucinations Absence of prominent schizophrenic symptoms such as disorganised speech

or behaviour, catatonic behaviour, or flat or inappropriate affect.

Catatonic Immobility (including waxy flexibility or stupor) Excessive motor activity (seemingly purposeless) Extreme negativism (resistance, rigidity of posture) or mutism Posturing (peculiar voluntary movements, bizarre positions) Repetition of speech sounds.

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Disorganized Disorganized speech and behaviour Flat or inappropriate affect

UndifferentiatedMeets criteria for schizophrenia but does not meet criteria for catatonic, paranoid or disorganized sub-types.

Residual No longer active symptoms of schizophrenia, and does not meet criteria

for any sub-type. Continuing evidence of disturbance indicated by two or more symptoms of

schizophrenia in mild forms.

Incidence of schizophreniaIt is the most common mental illness (Brain, 2002) and is found in every culture in all parts of the populations. It is estimated that about 1% of people, in all population in all countries, develop schizophrenia. It affects all cultural groups, but tends to be generally found more in the poorer sections of a community.

Causes of schizophreniaGenetic inheritanceFamily and twin studies have shown that there are some elements of heritability in schizophrenia (Gottesman, 1991; Torrey, 1992 & McGue, 1992). However, the exact chances of developing schizophrenia are not yet known.

Brain abnormalities The result of brain scan suggests that schizophrenics may have differences in brain structure from “normal” people. Two differences have been suggested using neuroimaging (scanning).

It is possible that the ventricles are enlarged Another brain difference is the reduced size of the prefrontal cortex,

areas of the temporal lobe, and areas such as the anterior hippocampus-amygdala.

There is evidence of reduced blood flow, for example, in the frontal areas, which suggest impaired functioning. Problems of cognitive functioning appear to be connected with schizophrenia.

Biochemical factorsGiving medication to the patient helps in some cases of schizophrenia. This suggests that there may be a biochemical factor. Phenothiazine drugs reduce symptoms of schizophrenia, and they are known to work by blocking dopamine receptors. It has been thought that schizophrenia results from excess dopamine in the brain

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The second reason for the dopamine hypothesis was the observation that drugs, which increase dopamine activity, make the symptoms worse. However, not all those with schizophrenia respond to drugs that block dopamine receptors. The drugs may work with some symptoms, but not all.

Family interactions The existence of family conflicts have been associated with schizophrenia(Laing, 1967). This fitted with some of Freud’s ideas which suggested thatschizophrenia is a regression to a primitive state because of conflict. Theearly perspectives emphasized the role of the mother; but later approacheslooked at the family as a whole, leading to family process theories as anexplanation for schizophrenia. Researchers looked at the hidden messages orinconsistent communications in family life. Bateson et al. (1956) identifiedone of the disturbed communications in families which is known as double blind(a situation in which whatever the child or young person does is wrong).Inconsistent and conflicting messages carried out over years can produceconsiderable psychological disturbance which may lead to schizophrenia. Inrecent years, emphasis on family difficulties has shifted from disturbedcommunication to the lack of expressed emotion in such families. Somefamilies are high in expressed emotion while others are low in expressedemotion (Brain, 2002).

The diathesis- stress approach

This model includes both “nature” and “nurture” explanations. Diathesisrefers to a vulnerability or predisposition to schizophrenia that may comefrom genetic and other biological causes. Stress refers to factors in the

environment, which mean that normal coping mechanisms are not enough, so thata vulnerable or predisposed person becomes overstretched. Stressors herecould be family interactions, job difficulties, problematic relationships,poverty and other social issues.

It is therefore, a combination of genetic predisposition with environmentalstressors which appear to be responsible for the onset of schizophrenia in theindividual.

Treatment of schizophrenia

Learning activity

Interview people from different communities and come up with a list of factors thought to cause mental illness.

Identify those that are biological and those that are environmental.

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Biological treatments – the physiological approach

Biological treatments have focused on the use of drugs. The first drug usedto treat schizophrenia (1952) was chlorpromazine- an anti - psychotic orneuroleptic drug. It reduces hallucinations and delusions. Other neurolepticdrugs are now available.

Disadvantages to drug based therapy are that:

Drugs simply mask the problem rather than actually treating it. Drugsmay not work with some patients.

Discontinuation may lead to relapses

Drugs may have serious side effects.

Psychoanalysis – the psychoanalytic approach

Delusions and thought disorders can be seen as defences against anxiety, or asevidence of repression or regression. Psychoanalysis, including transference,can perhaps make sense of the apparently irrational thoughts of theschizophrenic. However, psychoanalysis is more effective with neuroticdisorders than with psychotic problems because it relies on the person gaininginsight into their problem, and this is often not practicable withschizophrenic patients.

Psychotherapy - the humanistic approach

Laing (1967) suggested that schizophrenics should be treated in safe,supportive therapeutic communities rather than in clinical settings such ashospitals. There they will be able to receive psychotherapy, and the stress-free environment would also help them to recover.

Cognitive therapy – the cognitive approach

Improving cognitive functioning has been thought to be useful in therapy. Forexample, improving language skills and attention has been found to besuccessful (Liberman and Green, 1992).

Social skills training programmers – the social approach

Skills training programmes focus on helping people with schizophrenia tointerpret communications from others correctly, and to identify ways to solvesocial problems. The main focus is on independent living skills, and ways toidentify the emotions of others. Social skills training do not focus on thecauses of schizophrenia.

15.6.3 Mood disorders

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These are disorders of feeling, also known as affective disorders. There aretwo main types of affective disorders.

Unipolar depression Bipolar depression

Unipolar depression is where the person has one consistent, recurrent state-generally that of being depressed. Types of unipolar disorder include:

Reactive depression Dysthymic disorder

Major depressive disorder etc.

Bipolar disorder is where the person experiences more than one emotionalstate as part of their problem. For example, they are sometimes manic andsometimes depressed. Bipolar means having two extremes, or “poles” so manicdepression is two-sided and known as bipolar, whereas straight forwarddepression is one-sided, and known as unipolar.

Depression involves resistant negative moods, depleted energy, the altering ofsleep habits, and altered motivation and behaviours. Depression becomes aproblem when it leads to dysfunctional behaviour and persists. Majordepressive disorders include:

Psychotic depression, where there is departure from reality Melancholic depression, where there are several physical symptoms

Seasonal affective disorder, where depression occur as a result ofpersistent environmental conditions such as cold weather.

Bipolar disorders include both depression and mania. Mania refers to anenergetic state in which the person shows increased activity and oftenexpresses grandiose beliefs along with excessive behaviour.

Causes of mood disorders

Biological causes of depression

Genetic influence – Family and twin studies suggest a heritability factor inunipolar and bipolar disorders. However, genetic transmission is higher inbipolar than in unipolar disorders (Brain, 200). Note that, a disorder may betransmitted through family learning rather than through genetic influence.This is particularly likely with moods and emotional reactions, since youngchildren learn behaviour in response to irritations and frustrating situationsby imitating the adults around them.

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Neurotransmitters. It is thought that neurotransmitter functioning ordysfunctioning may be a cause of depression. Dopamine is thought to beimportant in regulating mood activity.

Hormonal activity. Hormones are chemicals in the bloodstream which act tomaintain emotional states, and they are closely linked with neural, or brainactivity. The hypothalamic - pituitary - adrenal system produces cortisol – ahormone that prepares the body for stress. If depressed people are given asynthetic cortisol they react abnormally to challenges. Another cause ofdepression is lack of self-worth. Carl Rogers found that many of his clientshad become so because they had an unrealistic ideal self which they could notlive up to. As a result, they felt they were constant failures and easilybecome depressed.

Psychological causes for depression

Reactive depression- This is depression that occurs in response to aparticular set of events, such as a bereavement or divorce. It can be short-term or it might last for long time. If it lasts long the person might berequired to seek treatment. Seligman (1975) identified a characteristicattributional style that is associated with people who had long-termdepression. When they give reasons why things had happened to them, they tendto make attributions which are:

Global (applying generally to everything than just to one particularsituation)

External

Stable (that is, likely to persist for a long time)

Uncontrollable

As a result, the person experiences Learned helplessness which leads to aapathy and a sense of hopelessness and hence depression.

Treatment of mood disorders

Mood disorders can be treated physiologically or psychologically. The generalapproach used to understand the disorder informs the treatment being used.For instance, if the disorder is thought to come from an imbalance ofneurotransmitter chemicals in the brain, drugs that can adjust balance wouldbe considered for treatment. If the disorder is thought to arise fromhabitual depressive thought patterns, then therapy which aims to change thosethought patterns would be considered more appropriate.

Biological treatments

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The most common treatment for unipolar disorders is medication, such astricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and the newerselective serotonin inhibitors such as Prozac. These increase levels ofserotonin in the brain by inhibiting its reuptake. These drugs may beeffective in some cases and not all.

Bipolar disorders are generally treated with Lithium carbonate, which has beenfound to suppress the mood swings and produce a more “flattened” level ofemotional response. If the drug is stopped the condition will recur.

Drugs address the physical symptoms and not the causes and therefore they maybe effective with mild or moderately severe depression. Lithium carbonate caneasily produce dependency.

In some cases, and especially in the cases of severe depression, psychiatristshave found that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be more effective thanmedication at least in the short - term. Its effects may wear off after time,and then the depression often returns. It appears that the amnesia producedby the effects of the ECT allows the person to forget his/her problemstemporarily, and so allows them a short period of relief from their habitualdepressive actions and ways of thinking.

Psychological treatment

For reactive disorders, time is the best healer. The depression lessens overtime as the individual gradually becomes used to the situation. When habitualnegative thought patterns have developed, cognitive therapy can help theperson to re-learn positive ways of thinking and therefore get a grip on theirdepression.

Helping the person to become more active and in control of their life can alsobe an important psychological treatment to prevent relapses, in cases ofrecurrent depression. Rational-emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) has also beenused to deal with the problem.

Carl Rogers saw depression as arising from conditional positive regard fromparents. He used client-centred therapy, which offers the client arelationship based on unconditional positive regard to help the client workthrough the personal conflicts and feelings of inadequacy which led to thedepression. This raises the client’s sense of self-esteem and removes thecause of their depression.

However, many types of depression may result from problems which are beyondour control (e.g., poverty, chronic illness etc.) and therefore it may not be

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possible to remove them by psychotherapy. Thus, there is a limit to howeffective psychological interventions can be.

15.6.4 Eating disorders

There are two main types of eating disorder: Anorexia nervosa and bulimianervosa which generally start before adulthood. In rare occasions adultsdevelop eating disorders for the first time.

Anorexia nervosa is an illness that stems from an intense fear of becomingfat, and a distorted body image. Symptoms include:

Dramatic weight loss Obsessions and neuroses

A need for personal control

Depression

Low oestrogen levels

Negative attitudes towards sexual activity

Anorexics see themselves as fat, and refuse to maintain their normal bodyweight. Anorexia nervosa is more common in females than in males. It is aserious mental problem which in extreme cases can cause death (Brain, 2002).The most likely age for the onset is between 14 and 18 years.

Bulimia nervosa is characterized by binge eating, where there is littlecontrol over how much is taken in. Typically, these binges will be followedby self-induced vomiting, fasting, vigorous exercise, or excessive use oflaxatives as the bulimic person tries to prevent weight gain by getting rid ofthe calories. It is common among young people. For bulimia to be diagnosedas a disorder in need of treatment, the general criteria operated byclinicians is that there should have been at least two binges (eating sprees)a week, over a period of three months.

Anorexia and bulimia seem to be related and about half of those with anorexiashow some sign of bulimia, as they often use bingeing and purging techniquesrather than simple fasting. Bulimia occurs more in women than in men and theaverage age for onset is 18 years.

Cause of eating disorders

Biological factors

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Malfunctioning of the hypothalamus is a possible cause of both anorexia andbulimia. The hypothalamus influences feelings of satisfaction and is thoughtto regulate eating habits. Experiments with animals carried out in the 1960sshowed that lesions in particular part of the hypothalamus could produce over-eating, to the extent that the animal became obese, while lesions in anotherarea of the hypothalamus produce self-starvation, with the animal eating toofar little to maintain its body weight. It has also been suggested thatanorexia and bulimia may result from genetic factors. Family and twin studiesseem to support this hypothesis.

Psychological factors

It is thought that the physical changes, and the challenges, that come withadolescence could be a cause of anorexia. Body fat increases duringadolescence, and concerns about weight are important for the individual at thesame time. In a society in which advertising models and pop stars are allvery slim, concerns about weight are common among young people.

Early psychoanalytic explanations see the starvation involved in anorexia asbeing symbolic of sexual conflicts. For example, anorexia girls are denyingearly childhood fear of impregnation by the father. More modernpsychoanalytic explanations argue that girls with anorexia had problems withtheir early mother- child relationship. As a result they did not develop asense of ownership of their own bodies and attempt to regain control over itthrough not eating. Thus, the disorder is the disturbed mother-childrelationship.

One of the more popular modern explanation for anorexia, and for bulimia too,lies in disturbed interactions within the family.

Minuchin et al. (1978) suggested that the family system in which the individualwith anorexia lives can be marked by enmeshment, or overcloseness. Individualmembers lack separate identities in an enmeshed family, and a child may not beable to develop independence in the way that it should. Refusing to eat is akind of rebellion by the child which enables him/her to assert a kind ofindependence. So anorexia might be an act of rebellion in order to gainindependence from an enmeshed family.

There are also family links with bulimia. It has been found that familieswith anorexia and bulimic daughters tend to show more “ignoring” and “wallingoff” behaviours, rather than more positive ones of “helping” and “trusting”.It has been suggested that the eating disorders come from having families withsuch negative behaviours.

The learning approach assumes that avoiding food is a way of getting attentionfrom parents and others. The individual learns that not eating bringsattention and thus, the fasting behaviour is reinforced. Social learning

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theory provides an explanation in the way thin models give explanations andhelp to shape an adolescent’s body image. The cultural ideal of beauty ischanging and becoming thinner. This pressurises girls to become thinner/slimmer.

Cognitive explanations suggest that anorexics have distorted thinking. Forexample, they make incorrect cognitive evaluations such as thinking that theyare fat when they are really extremely thin. Those with bulimia seem to ignorehunger signals, and simply eat when they have the opportunity to eat. Thediathesis-stress model propose that there may be physiological or personalitypredispositions which require the necessary environmental stressors for thedisorder to develop.

Treatment of eating disorders

Medical treatments include:

Antidepressants for bulimics Appetite stimulants for anorexics

Psychoanalytic treatment tries to uncover problems with early-mother infantrelationships. However, it is difficult to test how effective this method isbecause it covers such indirect symptoms and sources.

Behaviour modification programmes try to change eating habits by using rewardsas reinforcement, so that the person will start to eat more.

Cognitive therapies try to help the patient to change faulty thinkingpatterns, and also challenge any faulty body image. This method works.

15.7 Summary

Clinical psychologist deal with issues that include, depression,anxiety, psychosis, personality disorder, addictions, learningdisability, and sexual difficulties, diagnosis, psychotherapy, andconsultancy.

Methods of studying abnormal behaviour include observations, casestudies, epidemiology, and experiments.

Any behaviour that deviates from the normal, affects one’s day-to-dayfunctioning and causes a problem is considered abnormal.

Different theories in Psychology inform diagnosis and therapy of variousmental disorders.

The medical/biological approach assumes that there is a disease to betreated. There are underlying genetic and biochemical factors to mentalillness

Biological approaches to treatment assume that altering bodilyfunctioning may correct the problem or alleviate the symptoms. For

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instance, drugs can be administered to alter the neurotransmitterbalance or to mimic a neurotransmitter that is deficient.

The psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approach assumes that problems comefrom unconscious conflicts and forces and that mental illness occur whenthe energy used in maintaining defence mechanisms is giving anindividual problems. The main method of treatment is to release theunconscious conflicts, getting behind the defence mechanism, and makingthoughts and memories conscious.

The behavioural approach assumes that mental illness can be understoodin terms of a person’s learning and experiences and treatment changingthe person’s behaviour, that is re-learning new ways of acting.Behaviour can be changed through behaviour modification and behaviourtherapy.

The cognitive approach proposes that mental problems come frominappropriate attributions, beliefs, and bad thoughts or maladaptivethinking. Therapy involves the use of cognitive restructuring to changethe way the person thinks about life, and therefore change his/herbehaviour and emotions.

The humanistic approach believes that mental disorder occurs whenpersonal growth/striving to self-actualisation is interrupted or stoppedfor some reason. Psychotherapy covers all treatments involvingpsychological techniques, such as talking, listening and exploringthinking. The fact that someone pays attention to the individual iswhat helps rather than the therapy itself.

Community psychology emphasises the role of the environment, both increating problems and in helping to solve them. Community care aims toprovide an environment that will enable patients to resume a responsibleplace in society.

Anxiety disorders are closely associated with stress. Anxiety is moregeneral unease and is non-specific. Some anxiety is normal-up to apoint. It becomes a problem when it interferes with the person’s normaleveryday functioning.

Schizophrenia is classified under psychosis. Psychoses are mentaldisorders where the individual is not in touch with reality.Schizophrenia is a specific sort of psychosis, characterized by thought,language and behaviour disturbances.

Mood disorders are disorders of feeling, also known as affectivedisorders. There are two main types of affective disorders, unipolardepression and bipolar depression

There are two main types of eating disorder, anorexia nervosa andbulimia nervosa which generally start before adulthood (between the ageof 14 and 18). In rare occasions adults develop eating disorders for thefirst time.

Anorexia nervosa is an illness that stems from an intense fear ofbecoming fat, and a distorted body image.

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Bulimia nervosa is characterized by binge eating, where there is littlecontrol over how much is taken in. Typically, these binges will befollowed by self-induced vomiting.

Revision questions

1. Discuss the possible causes of two mental disorders2. Differentiate between unipolar and bipolar depression

3. Define clinical psychology

4. Differentiate between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist

5. Explain any two research methods used in the study of abnormal behaviour.

6. What is abnormality?

7. List mental disorders as identified in the DSM IV

8. Explain how patients with mental disorders were treated in the communitywhere you come from

9. a) Explain how the following approaches account for mental illness:

(i) Cognitive

(ii) Biological

(iii) Psychodynamic

(iv) Behavioural

(v) Humanistic

(vi) Social

b) How do the above approaches treat patients?

10 a) Briefly explain the following mental disorders

(i) Anxiety(ii) Schizophrenia

(iii) Mood disorders

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(iv) Eating disorders

b) What are the causes of the above disorders?

c) Outline the following methods of treating the disorders in “a”above:

(i) Biological treatment(ii) Psychological treatment

TOPIC 16: SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND GROUP DYNAMICS

16.1. Introduction As social beings, much of what we do is influenced by our interaction withother people. Our values, attitudes, preferences, morals, decisions and so onare not completely independent of our social relationships with others.Learning in the school takes place in a social context. The socialenvironment in which learning takes place does not only affect learning butalso the behaviour of the learners. For this reason, it is necessary toconclude this module by looking at the topic on social behaviour and groupprocesses.

Social behaviour is studied under social psychology, which is the scientificstudy of how interaction among people affects the individual’s behaviour andthought. On the other hand, group dynamics refers to the various socialprocesses that take place when people are interacting or working in groups.They include the ways that social roles and group norms affect how we behave,issues concerning conformity, co-operation, cohesiveness and so on. Sincesome aspects of the topic will be covered in a later module we shall be asbrief as possible.

Learning objectivesAt the end of this topic you should be able to: Explain how behaviour is influenced by group situations. Explain social perception. Discuss social conformity. Explain how attitudes are formed and changed. Explain how the social environment of the school and community affect learning

and the behaviour of learners.

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16.2. Group normsGroup norms are rules governing group behaviour. Such rules are establishedand enforced by the group. Norms also refer to the common beliefs on thegroup regarding appropriate behaviour for members. They specify how membersare expected to behave. Each group has norms that develop over the time ofthe group’s interaction. Norms determine group effectiveness and they help tomaintain cohesion (togetherness). All groups have norms, set either formallyor informally.

Norms also include a description of the sanctions or punishment to be appliedwhen behaviour does not coincide with them. Sanctions regulate theperformance and functions of individual members in a group. Norms may beformally stated or held by members at an unconscious level. At all levelsthere are implicit (unstated) and explicit (stated) norms.

16.2.1. Types of norms i) Written rules: Some norms are codified as in bylaws and code ofethics. Rules are formally written statements intended to be taken asgroup regulations and enforced by organizational sanctions.ii) Explicitly stated norms: These are stated verbally and are easily

recognized by members. They are not in written form. For example, asa new employee, you may note that workers dress in a suit and a tie andyou behave accordingly.

iii) Non-explicit or informal norms: These are silent norms thatinfluence members’ behaviour. For example, the sitting order in ameeting, the chairperson sits in a particular area and so are the othermembers. As a social group, teenagers dress in a particular way.

iv) Norms beyond awareness: These are norms that are unconsciouslyrepresented. For example, we say hello to new comers and in manyAfrican communities, you do not visit your close friends empty handed;you carry something in your basket.

Now that we have looked at norms that govern social behaviour in groupsituations, we are going to discuss conformity (going along with group normsor the behaviour of others), some of the factors that influence conformity anddifferent types of conformity.

16.3. ConformityConformity means to act in accordance with the norms of the group and to be inharmony and agreement with the members. Conformity involves the way we areinfluenced by others on the basis of what they do. The assumption is thatsimilar behaviour will elicit approval and dissimilar behaviour will elicitdisapproval from members. In a group, members share similar goals, havecompatible needs and follow the group’s procedure.

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In a typical group, not all members conform to the same degree, because notall members hold identical commitments to the group. The degree of conformityis influenced by the following factors:- Personality characteristics: In most cases, women tend to conform more

than men, the less intelligent more than the more intelligent, thesubmissive more than the dominant and the apprehensive more than theaggressive.

Cohesiveness: Cohesiveness is the attraction of the group for its members.Members of cohesive groups conform more than members of groups that areless attractive to members.

Continued desired membership: If membership to a group is desired you aremore likely to conform to the group’s norms.

Expectation of sanctions: Sanctions expected will influence conformity togroup norms. For example, if punishment is expected from non-conformitythen conformity will be high. Expectation of isolation by peers maygreatly increase the desire to conform.

Group size: If the group membership is too large, cohesiveness decreasesand you may have splinter groups.

Crisis situations: Any crisis may increase conformity. For example,during a strike, students may be more united than even before. Any attacksor threat from outside makes the group tight and reduces deviant behaviour.

Different types of conformity have been identified: Normative conformity/influence, in which you agree with the group because

you believe that the group is more knowledgeable than you are. In thiscase, you are responding to informational pressure – that the informationthe group gives is the right information.

Informational conformity/influence, in which you agree with the groupbecause you believe that the group is more knowledgeable than you are. Inthis case, you are responding to informational pressure – the informationthe group gives is the right information.

Compliance, in which you conform to achieve favourable reaction or rewardfrom the group and to avoid a negative reaction or punishment. You maycomply in the presence of the group but deny support and complain about thegroup’s activity in private.

Identification, in which you act in accordance with the group’s desireseven though you do not believe in what is being done. In this case youconform because you obtain satisfaction by doing so. For example, you maygo to church because parents or the society expects you to and because itmakes you happy even though you do not believe in God. Or you may identifywith the University you have enrolled for a degree course although you maynot be happy with most of the things going on.

Internalization, in which you have strong commitment to the group norms.Internalization represents both public conformity – for the good of thegroup and private conviction of what you believe. This type of conformity

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agrees with your personal value system. For example, you may go to churchbecause you believe in Christianity and what Christians do.

16.4. ObedienceJust like conformity obedience is another form of social influence. Itinvolves going along with a direct command, usually from someone in a positionof authority. In obedience, you comply with the demands of an authorityfigure. While conformity deals with the psychological need for acceptance byothers and going along with them, obedience has to do with the social powerand status of an authority figure in a hierarchical situation. Obedience isaffected by direction from somebody in higher authority.

16.5. Group cohesivenessIdentify groups, which you are a member and think of how strongly you feelattracted to them. You may notice that you feel more attracted to some thanothers. Group cohesiveness is the attraction of a group for its members. Thegreater the attractiveness, the higher the cohesion. Group cohesiveness is animportant aspect of group effectiveness. Members of cohesive groups conformmore to group norms than members in groups that are less attractive tomembers. When a group is cohesive, the positive forces of attraction outweighthe negative forces of repulsion away from the group.

Attraction towards a particular group is affected by various factors: Individual needs: When a group does not satisfy your needs, it will no

longer be attractive to you. Change of needs: When needs change and the group cannot fulfill the new

and old needs, it will no longer be attractive. For example, if you join achurch so that you can have a Christian marriage, membership thereafter maybe undesirable after attaining the goal. Thus, any reduction in theability of a group to meet a members needs will decrease the attractivenessof the group to him or her.

Changes in the group: If there are changes in the group that enhance itsability to meet the needs of the members, the attractiveness of the groupis increased. For example, increased financial status may make a groupmore attractive to its members.

16.5.1. How to increase cohesivenessTo increase group cohesiveness, the group should:

Be more need satisfying Increase interaction among members. For example, having lunch together

and going for a trip together. Less interaction may lead to decrease incohesiveness.

Develop a strong identity. For example, class discussion group can namethemselves; have a group symbol, and so on.

Take time to deal with personal needs of individual members. Forexample, class members can visit and help a sick pupil.

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Encourage both agreement and disagreement to create an atmosphere ofopenness.

Recognize contribution of the members towards the group’s goals and thenreward individual members.

Increase its prestige to bring to each member a feeling of higherstatus. For example, doing community work may give a group high status.

16.5.2. Cohesiveness and productivity More cohesive groups are more productive than less cohesive groups. The moreattractive the group is to members, the more membership is valued, the moremembers can influence each other, and the more committed members will be. Inshort, group solidarity implies efficiency.

16.5.3. Group task and cohesivenessWhen is it likely for a group to be united, when dealing with an easy ordifficulty task? Conformity increase as the task becomes more difficult.However, it increases to a certain point. When the task becomes so difficult,conformity decreases and the group’s attractiveness lessens. Members may arguethat they are not getting anywhere and as a result give up.

Very easy tasks may be too boring to members making them to lose interest.When the task is too easy it can be handled by one member instead of the wholegroup. If the task is complex and requires an expert knowledge, an expertshould do it. However, this decreases the participation of members. Allmembers should be able to play a part in a group task for it to remaincohesive. Classroom tasks should be designed in such a way that all thelearners are able to participate effectively and experience some degree ofsuccess.

16.6. Group decision makingInstead of an individual decision, we tend to opt for a committee, since weassume that any group decision will be more cautious, conservative and “middleof the road” than an individual one.

16.7. Group polarizationGroup polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions thatare more extreme than the decision each individual would have made. Groupswill tend to make more daring and risk decisions than an individual. This isbecause of the attitude that, if anything goes wrong it will not be theindividual to blame but the entire group. Group polarization results fromsharing similar information that strengthens your views and arguments aboutthe issue at hand.

16.7.1. Group think Groupthink refers to a situation in which a group does not go through theevaluative process of considering alternatives when coming to a decision, butacts hastily and without discussion. Groupthink tends to occur in highly

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cohesive groups where it is generally the norm to arrive at an early prematuredecision (Brain, 2002). In-groupthink there is deterioration of mentalefficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment that results from in–grouppressures. It is characterised by strong pressure to change the views of thosewho refuse to support the group’s ideas. Defective or erroneous decisions arelikely to result from groupthink. In groupthink, you are pressurized toconform if the majority holds a different opinion. Sometimes the majorityopinion may not be right. To deal with this problem, outsiders can be broughtin to put an alternative viewpoint. Another strategy is to have one or moremembers playing the role of “devils advocate”, which means that they voice analternative view even if they do not believe it. Symptoms of groupthink include:

Illusion of invulnerability, in which as group members we see ourselvesas invincible (too strong to be wrong). We have faith in the group andso ignore possible disastrous outcome of our decisions.

Illusion of morality, in which we see the group as morally correct andsee ourselves as the “good guys” against “the rest”.

Shared negative stereotypes, in which there is less likelihood ofcontradicting views in the group because members have developed similarbeliefs.

Collective rationalization. In which members explain away anything thatgoes against what is being decided.

Self- censorship, in which members suppress their own doubts. Illusion of unanimity, in which members think that the decision is a

consensus even when held opposing views are not voiced. When opposingviews are not voiced members think no one disagrees.

Direct conformity pressure, in which direct pressure is put on a personwith opposing view to agree with the majority.

Mudguards, in which particular members insulate the group from anynegative input.

16.8. Attribution Perhaps your performance in the form four Kenya Certificate of SecondaryEducation (KCSE) examinations was below your expectations. If this was so,what reasons did you have for the low performance? Attribution refers to theway we give a cause to something like failure in an examination. Internalattribution means we see the cause as coming from within us. For example, wemight see failure as being caused by our low ability. External attributionmeans giving an external cause for something. For example, we might seefailure as being caused by bad luck or lack of preparation.

Attribution theory looks at the way in which we evaluate our success andfailure. The causes that we attribute to our failure or success can affect ourperformances, our hopes for the future, our actual achievement, our motivationand our future participation. We attribute causes not only to our ownbehaviour but also to that of others. This in turn can affect our behaviour.

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Weiner (1972) developed a model involving four categories of casualattributions – ability, effort, task difficult, and luck

Ability and task difficulty are seen as relatively stable/permanentattributions, whereas effort and luck are unstable/changeable. The four casualattributions can also be categorized into either internal or external. Abilityand effort are internal, whereas task difficult and luck are external. In1986, Weiner added further dimensions called “Locus of Control,” whichconsiders how far an individual feels that the cause was within their control.For example, if you think that your success was due to the task being simpleand because you had luck then your satisfaction will be low. On the otherhand, if you think you did well by trying hard at a difficult task, then yoursatisfaction will be high. Thus, if you attribute success to external control,your satisfaction is reduced. If you attribute failure to internal control youwill tend to blame yourself.

In learning we may attribute our success or failure to both internal andexternal factors. High achievers think that they are successful because ofpersonal disposition and high ability (internal factors), and are motivated tocontinue. They attribute failure to external factors such as difficulty andare motivated to continue. Low achievers attribute failure to external factorssuch as luck and ascribe failure to internal factors such as lack of abilityand are less motivated to continue.

16.8.1. Social facilitationSocial facilitation refers to the effect others have on our performance (Brain,2002). Usually we react differently when other people are present. With anaudience of others we tend to perform better in well – practiced skills(Zajonc, 1965). In contrast, when we are not good at something, we do it lesswell with an audience. Thus, being part of the group will itself affect ourperformance. Being in the presence of a group leads to an arousal response orsome sort of stress. When this arousal is activated, we may do worse in agroup that when alone. Thus the presence of others impairs the acquisition ofnew responses and facilitates the emission of well learned behaviour.

16.8.2. Social loafing Social loafing refers to the way an individual can refuse to co-operate in agroup, and contribute less when in a group than when acting as an individual(Brain, 2002:153). Occasionally we do less when working in a group than whenworking alone. Social loafing seems to occur more when we do not think ourcontribution is being measured and when the task are simple. With more complextasks or when we believe that our contribution is known, social loafing islikely to occur (Comer, 1995). Social loafing can be decreased if people cansee that their personal input is being measured or taken note of in some way.For example, when you do your assignment individually you are likely to havemore input than when you are doing it in a group.

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When things are going well we tend to assume that our contribution is notnecessary. This is called the “free rider theory”. If we perceive other groupmembers are engaging in social loafing we are likely to it too. Thisexplanation for social loafing may link to what is known as the “sucker-efforttheory” ( Kerry, 1983). This theory suggests that if you think that others arenot putting their maximum effort, you feel taken in by them, and your workperformance falls to match theirs.

16.9. DeindividuationDeindividuation is the loss of individuality that occurs when we becomesubmerged in a group and feel relatively anonymous. It generally occurs inlarge groups. In a crowd, responsibilities for actions and the consequences ofactions can be shelved because the individual can not be identified and heldresponsible. Deindividuation implies that behaviour become impulsive,irrational, and inhibited. Deindividuation can lead to more aggressiveantisocial behaviour. Thus, in crowds we may behave in a way we would notbehave when alone.

16.10. Leadership and groupsWhat is leadership? Leadership is the ability to lead a group towards theattainment of its goals (Brain, 2002:368). Thus, a leader is someone who uses hisor her influence to help the group to reach its goals. This is the person withthe greatest amount of power and social influence who contributes the mosttowards group goals. Some leaders emerged from within the group, and othersare leaders because of their role, such as the teacher, the supervisor of awork group, or manager. The style of leadership is of great importance to thedecision and success of the group. Sometimes appointed leaders are not thetrue leaders of the group, because their leadership is not effective. Now thatwe have defined leadership, let as look at some of the approaches that havebeen advanced about leadership.

The trait approach: this approach assumes that leaders are born and not made.It holds that all great leaders possess similar personality traits ofcharacteristics that are responsible for the leaders’ ability to leadeffectively and that people who do not have these leadership characteristicscannot be good leaders. The approach talk of “a natural leader” and viewsleadership as part of one’s personality that differentiates those who have itfrom those who do not.

This view is a bit controversial because training may make one a moreeffective leader. According to Klopf(1989), there is lack of consistency inthe finding of researches done to account for this approach. However, there isresearch evidence to show that effective leaders tend to be a bit taller, moreintelligent, have a strong dominance need, are sociable, are moreenthusiastic, are more fluent, and have greater self-confidence. Althoughthese traits are necessary, they may not determine who can lead effectivelyand therefore it may be impossible to predict or select a leader using them.

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To select a leader, we should focus on the task at hand and skills and a goodworking relationship with members. In short, there is not one specific traitthat characterizes leaders and therefore this approach may not have a verystrong support.

The styles approach: this approach focus on the behaviour of a person inleadership position, that is, the manner of style in behaving when one isacting r functioning as a leader. There are different styles: authoritarian,strict supervisory, democratic, permissive, laissez-faire, and leaderless.Each of these styles represents a different degree of influence or control.

(i) Authoritarian style: this is a style in which as a leader you dictateand others follow. Using this style implies that you have little faithin group members to act responsibly. Techniques of reward andpunishment become necessary since members will not find satisfaction ina goal they have not been involved in selecting, the members aredependent upon the leader because they have no opportunity to expressinitiative, creativity, or responsibility. Without the leader, thegroup is likely to fall apart because it is dependent on him.

The limiting of personal freedom will result in hostility, resentment,dislike, and anxiety. Members may have little interest in the group’sactivities and will work as long as they have to do it.The leader who uses this style:

Dominates and directs Decides all issues Encourages no participation Assumes all responsibility Maintains wide social distance from members Defines goals and imposes them to the members Initiates all activity Manipulates member to do his/her wishes Makes major plans alone Serves as the ultimate agent and judge of rewards and punishments for

the individual members and hence the fate of each member within thegroup.

Encourages segregated group structure with minimum intercommunication.

(ii) Strict supervisory style: This is a milder version of the authoritarianstyle. As a leader using this style, you are likely to be morefriendly and considerate than a person using the authoritarian style.The leader believes strongly in the personal responsibility attached tohis or her role and gives orders and direction to a lesser degree thanthe authoritarian leader.

(iii) Democratic style: This style represents less control and morefreedom than the two styles just described but not complete freedom and

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subsequent absence of control. The difference is not in terms of the amountof power but, rather, in the nature of the leader’s role in the groupstructure. Leaders who use the democratic style:

shares control with group members asks for contribution from participants makes objective and constructive criticism encourages group initiative and allows the group to diagnose its own

needs and plan its own experiences delegates responsibility participates in group activity has close relationship with members does not make decisions for the group believes that every member can make a sound decision and positive

contribution helps to provide a sense of direction for the group allows expression of individual differences because no one’s opinion is

considered ultimate or final with this style of leadership. If theleader is absent the group can carry on efficiently because there ishigh interest in group goals. Members learn to operate independentlywithout strict supervision.

(iv) Laissez-Faire style: This style is also known as the permissive style.The leader’s participation is minimal. The leader leaves the group wholly on itsown to create its own sense of direction. This results to little work outputdue to lack of co-operation. The emphasis in group personal involvement orconcern with the goals. A leader who uses this style:

operates as an observer allows complete member freedom does not impose restrictions on members does not participate with the group

(v) Leaderless style: The leaderless style represents the absence of anycontrol

by any one person. A leaderless group has no single person fulfilling theleadership role. Different members may play the role of a leader at varioustimes. Instead of having a single leader, leadership is widely shared amongmembers. Very few groups become leaderless. Such groups may accomplish verylittle.

As the leader of a class you can apply any of these leadership stylesdepending on the situation and the task being undertaken. The question shouldnot be which style of leadership is best but rather, when a particular styleof leadership is best.

The functional approach

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This approach defines leadership as the performance of functions that help thegroup to reach its goals, maintain itself in good working order, and adapt tochanges in the environment. This approach makes several assumptions:

Any member may become a leader by taking actions that serve groupfunctions.

A leader in one group does not automatically emerge as a leader inanother group. If the purpose, activities, or membership changes, theleader may change.

Groups are unique and therefore a leader in one group may not fit inanother group.

The leadership function may be fulfilled by different membersperforming a variety of relevant behaviour functions.

Leadership functions should be distributed so that relevant expertisecan emerge and be used.

Thus, a group would require a leader who is best suited to the task at hand.For example, as a teacher you may be an effective leader in the classroom butnot in games or in your local church.

The interactional approachThis approach assumes that leadership is an aspect of group interaction ratherthan a characteristic possessed by few individuals. Leaders arise from groupmembers and they become leaders because they represent a more effective meansof meeting the group’s goals than do other group members. The approach mainlyfocuses on leadership behaviours and can interpret leadership to meancommunication behaviour of any individual that activates a group towards agoal (Klopf, 1989). Thus, leadership is part of a group’s interactional processas is membership.

A leader should be a person who has the knowledge and skills that can help thegroup to meet its goals. This may require change of leadership fromsituations to situation depending on the problem faced. Thus, leadership canbe assumed by anyone. A new leader can emerge if the group faces a newproblem.

According to this approach, leadership may reside in more than one person andcan be shared among more than one person depending on the tasks to beperformed. In this way the single leader may be more than a person-in-chargeand not always performing the leadership role. In the classroom and schoolsituations, different students can lead different activities depending ontheir personality characteristics and how knowledgeable they are in differentareas.

The contingency approachThe contingency approach looks at how environment, leadership styles, andsituations interact. There are two theories that fall within the contingency

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approach – Fieldler’s contingency model and House’s path-goal theory ofleadership.

Fieldler’s contingency model of leadership effectiveness: According tofielder (1967), effective leadership depends on how far the situation givesthe leader control and on the leader’s behavioural style. What the leaderdoes must fit with the situation. Fieldler held that there are two mainstyles – task oriented and relationship oriented. He believed that these wererelatively stable traits – a leader would either always be task oriented(focusing on getting the job done) or always relationship oriented (focusingon maintaining good relationship with the working group). Task-orientedleaders are effective if the work situation is either highly favourable orhighly unfavourable. Relationship-oriented leaders are most effective whenthe situation is neither highly favourable nor highly unfavourable. Asituation that is favourable for a leader would involve good position power(leader’s power over subordinates), good leader-member relations, and a cleartask structure. On the other hand, an unfavourable situation would involvebad position power, poor leader-member relations, and an unclear taskstructure (Brain, 2002).

In favourable situations, relationships are already good so a task-orientedleader can succeed. In unfavourable situations, a task oriented leader hasnothing to lose, and will get the task done in a difficult situation.However, in the middle situation, a relationship-oriented leader can persuadethe members to perform better, and will be a better choice of a leader. It isin the middle situations that problems between individuals may arise, so therelationship-oriented leader is best equipped to deal with the situation.

Path-goal theory: this theory sees the leader as a guide who helps the groupthrough problems and blocks to achieve their goals. The goals involve jobsatisfaction, which the leader helps the group to attain, so worker motivationis an important part of the theory.To help the group to attain the goals, including satisfaction and motivation,the leader can adopt one of four categories of behaviour:

Directive behaviour: - the leader provides instructions for getting thejob done.

Achievement-oriented behaviour: - the leader sets challenging goals andmeasures outcome.

Supportive behaviour: - the leader is caring towards the workers andmakes the work environment friendly.

Participative behaviour: - the leader takes an active role, and takessuggestions from workers.

Directive and achievement-oriented behaviours are both task-oriented and alsoknown as initiating behaviours (Brain 2002). Supportive and participativebehaviours are both relationship-oriented or consideration behaviours. Insome situation directive behaviour may be best. For example, where the task

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is complex and the members lack experience. In other situations, supportivebehaviours are better. For example, where the task is routine and the membersdo not need direction.

16.10.1. PowerWhat is power? Power is the ability to successfully influence others. Poweris influence. It involves the ability to influence one or more persons insome way. As a teacher you have the power to influence learners in one way oranother. There are different types of power, which you can use to exert thisinfluence.

Types of PowerReward power: One has reward power over other group members if he/she has theability to deliver positive consequences or remove negative consequences inresponse to their behaviour. The control of resources valued by othersconfers power on the possessor. Resources here include money, praise, grades,control of promotions, control of access to a desired position, and so on.Members believe that the person can dispense the reward. For example, as ateacher you have reward power over pupils, you can praise, show appreciation,and assign grades.

In some conditions the reward power can backfire. Too many rewards may makegroup members to become suspicious that they are being bribed or conned sothat they can conform and then they will turn against the source of the power.

Coercive power: The ability to punish others constitutes coercive power. Youhave this type of power if you can mete out negative consequences or removepositive consequences in response to the behaviour of group members. Rather,you have control over resources that cause unpleasant or aversive experiences.For example, withholding acceptance and approval, using social punishmentssuch as, blaming, scolding, ignoring and rejecting, and applying actualpunishment.

Much of the influence that comes from coercion is in the form of threat. Tobe effective, the possessor of power has only to threaten to punish, and notactually punish. However, one has to punish eventually or in some occasions.Coercive power causes the group to avoid the possessor and to dislike him/her.Sometimes it may lead to increased resistance and therefore does not alwayswork.

Expert power: This is power based on expertise or knowledge. It involves thecapacity to influence others through the possession of certain knowledge orskills. Its effectiveness depends upon the feeling that the possessor doeshave the special knowledge or skills. Members of the group must perceive theknowledge as useful. For example, teachers, doctors, lawyers, electricians,and politicians have expert power. By the virtue of being a teacher you willhave this type of power to influence learners.

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Referent power: This is power based on characteristics or traits that areattractive to others. Referent power implies admiration or charismatic power.Group members respect and desire to identify with the possessor of referentpower. They want to be like him/her and therefore do what he/she wants out ofrespect, liking, and want to be liked. Charisma is a term used to refer tothe appeal exuding from physical attraction/personality traits, beauty, fameor status (Klopf, 1989). For example, Kenyatta the first president ofindependent Kenya had this type of power. This type of power is importantbecause the possessor does not have to be present or even attempt to use it inorder for it to be effective. It is more natural. Some teachers may possesthis type of power.

Legitimate power: This is the formal power invested in a particular role(e.g., teacher, principal, president, prime ministers, or a parent) regardlessof the personality of the particular occupant. The possessor of legitimatepower is accepted as an agent of an establishment. It usually involves a codeor standard that permits the possessor to influence others. Such codes/lawsgives the possessor legitimate power over group members. For example, as ateacher you have legitimate power to teach and to administer reward andpunishment among learners. This type of power may be effective within theestablishment only, if one is out of the establishment power has to come fromelsewhere.

As a teacher, you may notice that a combination of several of these types ofpower may work best depending on the situation. Sometimes rewards may workwhile at other times expertise, legitimacy, or threats may work best.

16.11. AttitudesWhat are attitudes?An attitude is a disposition (tendency) to respond favourably or unfavourablytoward some person, thing, place, event, idea, or situation (often called anattitude object) according to Wortman et al. (1999). In other words,attitudes are feelings and thoughts that encourage us to act as if we like ordislike something. We all have attitudes towards just about everyone andeverything. Attitudes are hypothetical constructs which cannot be directlymeasured or observed but must be inferred from behaviour. Attitudes arelearned through interaction with our social environments.

Attitudes have three components: What we think or believe about something(the cognitive component), how we feel about it (the emotional component), andhow we act toward it (the behavioural component).

Sometimes the three components may be consistent with one another whereas insome other times they may not. For example, although many people know andbelieve that AIDS kills, not all practice safe sex.

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Why are people’s thoughts and feelings sometimes at odds with their behaviour?If we know something is dangerous, why do we sometimes do it? Althoughattitudes can exert a strong influence on behaviour, many other factors suchas, social norms and values as well as specific circumstances can pressurizeus to act in a particular way. For example, many teenagers may believe insafe sex but feel embarrassed to acquire or carry condoms. The result of thismay be unprotected sex, sexually transmitted diseases and unwantedpregnancies.

Adequate knowledge about something enhances clarity and strength of beliefsand feelings. When we are adequately knowledgeable about something we aremore likely to act in ways that match our views. When knowledge has beengained from first hand experience, it is more likely to influence ourbehaviour. Kraus (1995) identified a number of factors that predictedattitude-behaviour consistency. He found that attitudes are better predictorsof behaviour when they are:

stable over time. held with a high degree of certainty. consistent with the person’s affect (emotional reaction) toward a

behaviour. formed as a result of direct experience. Easily remembered.

Attitudes are acquired through: Direct contact with the object of the attitude – like participation in a

political party that practices the political ideals you cherish. Interaction with others holding the attitude. For example, if you live

with drug abusers, you are likely to become one of them. Child rearing practices. For example, if your parents belong to a

particular religious group, you are likely to adapt the same religion.Attitude changeEvery day advertisers spend thousands and thousands of Kenya shillings in anattempt to change our attitudes as consumers towards various products. Whatfactors make us change our attitudes? Persuasive communication is one of theapproaches used to change attitudes. Persuasive communication is a messageconsciously intended to persuade or to make us change or promote attitudechange. There are four steps in the process of persuasion:

attention (the message must be attended to). comprehension (the message must be understood). acceptance(the message must be accepted). Retention (the message must be retained and remembered).

According to various studies quoted by Brain (2002) and Wortman et al.,(1999), various factors affect how well attitudes are changed by persuasivecommunication:

Experts are believed more than non-experts. Rapid speakers are believed more than slow speakers.

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Messages that are not thought to persuade us are better believed. Popular and attractive speakers are better believed. People with low self-esteem are more easily persuaded. Messages involving fear persuade people more easily. Simple messages persuade more easily if someone is not paying full

attention. Presenting both sides of a message is more effective if the audience is

hostile. People are more easily persuaded if the speaker is similar to the

receiver in some way, especially if the message is about likes anddislikes. When the message is about facts, speakers that are dissimilarare believed more.

Messages coming from someone who seems honest and sincere are morepersuasive.

People who desire attention and approval of others are more susceptibleto messages that they believe promote a desirable self-image.

People who hold contradicting or clashing thoughts are likely to changeone or both to reduce the inconsistency.

In short, we can conclude by saying that although attitudes are relativelystable dispositions, they are subject to change especially through persuasivecommunication. Examples of attempted persuasion are many in our societytoday. For instance, advertisers, politicians, educators, religiousorganizations, and others actively seek to alter our attitudes and opinions.

16.12. Summary The study of how interactions among people affect the individual’s

behaviour and thought is called social psychology. Group dynamics refers to the various social processes that take place

when people act and work together. Some of the social processes includeissues concerning conformity, cooperation, cohesiveness, social roles,and so on.

Group norms are rules governing group behaviour. They specify howmembers are expected to behave.

Conformity refers to changes in behaviour in response to real orimagined pressure from others or acting in accordance with the norms ofthe group.

Obedience involves giving in to a command from others. Group cohesiveness is the attraction of a group to its members.

Attraction towards a group is affected by; individual needs, change ofneeds, and changes in the group.

More cohesive groups are more productive than less cohesive groups. Group polaralization refers to the tendency for a group to make

decisions that are more extreme than each individual would have madealone. Groups tend to make more risk and daring decisions than anindividual.

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Groupthink is a dangerous type of thinking that occurs when the group’sdesire for agreement overrules its tendency to critically evaluateinformation. In groupthink there is deterioration of mental efficiency,reality testing, and moral judgment that result from in-group pressures.

Attribution refers to the way we give a cause to behaviour. Internalattribution means we see the cause of the behaviour as coming fromwithin us while external attribution means giving an external cause forsomething.

Social facilitation refers to the effect others have on our performance.Being in the presence of others may activate us to do better in tasks weare confident in doing or worse if we are not confident.

Social loafing refers to the way an individual can refuse to cooperatein a group, and contribute less when in a group than when acting as anindividual.

Deindividualism is the loss of individuality that occurs when we becomesubmerged in a group and feel relatively anonymous.

Leadership is the ability to lead a group towards the attainment of itsgoals. A leader is someone who uses his/her influence to help the groupto reach its goals. The various perspectives to leadership include thetrait, styles, functional, interactional, and contingency approaches.

Power is the ability to successfully influence others. There aredifferent types of power that include; reward power, coercive power,expert power, referent, and legitimate power.

An attitude is a tendency to respond favourably or unfavourably toward aperson, thing, place, event, idea or situation (often called an attitudeobject).

Attitudes have three components: the cognitive, the emotional, and thebehavioural.

Persuasive communication is one of the approaches used to change ourattitudes.

Learning activities and revision questions1. What is a group?2. Define conformity and explain the factors that influence members of a

group to conform to group norms.3. Explain the factors that affect group cohesiveness.4. Define the term group think and explain its symptoms.5. What are attitudes?6. Explain the concepts of

a. social loafingb. social facilitationc. deindividuationd. power

2. Explain the following approaches of group leadership:a. Trait approachb. Styles approachc. Functional approach

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d. Interactional approach3. Discuss the various types of power that you can apply as a teacher to

exert influence among your learners.

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