Chapter 2

sensation and perception

 Chapter overview
 Psychological life begins with the activity of
knowing what is happening around
 Sensation and perception are the first important
dimensions of this intelligent life
 They are starting points for all of our other
psychological processes
 They supply the data for use of
 learning and remembering

 thinking and problem solving

 communicating with others, and

 experiencing emotions and

 being aware of yourself

 Without access to the environment through

sensation and perception, we would be like a
person in a coma devoid of any thoughts or feelings
 The meanings of sensation and perception
• Psychologists have traditionally differentiated
between sensation and perception
• Sensation is the process whereby stimulation of
receptor cells in the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and
surface of the skin sends nerve impulses to the
brain
• Sensations are closely tied to what is happening in
the sensory systems themselves
 The meanings of sensation and perception

• Color, brightness, the pitch of tone or a bitter taste are

examples of sensations

• The starting of point of sensations is a stimulus

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

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

• Sensation is therefore the process that detects the stimulus

from one‘s body or from the environment

How different is sensation from perception?
• More than sensations perceptual processes are
constantly at work to modify sensory input into
what are actually experiences
• Perception is the process that organizes sensations
into meaningful patterns
• It is the process whereby the brain interprets
sensations, giving them order and meaning
• Thus, hearing sounds and seeing colors is largely

a sensory process, but forming a melody and

detecting patterns and shapes is largely a perceptual

process
 The sensory laws

Sensory thresholds and sensory

adaption
• There are certain sensory laws that explain how

sensation works.

• Sensory threshold and sensory adaptation are the

two general laws of sensation

• Sensory threshold is the minimum point of intensity

a sound can be detected.

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

absolute threshold and the law of difference

threshold.
 The absolute threshold

• The minimum amount of stimulation a person can

detect is called the absolute threshold

 The difference threshold
• In addition to detecting the presence of a stimulus, you also detect changes in

the intensity of a stimulus

• The minimum amount of change that can be detected is called

difference threshold

• For example, a cup of coffee would require a certain amount of additional

sugar before you could detect an increase in its sweetness

• Similarly, you would have to increase the intensity of the sound from your

tape recorder a certain amount before you could detect a change in its volume

• Like the absolute threshold, the difference threshold for a particular

sensory experience varies from person to person and from occasion to

occasion.
 Sensory Adaptation
• if a stimulus remains constant in intensity, you will
gradually stop noticing it.
• For example, after diving into a swimming pool,
you might shiver. Yet a few minutes later you might
invite someone to join you saying, ―The water is fine.
• Sensory adaptation lets you detect potentially
important change in your environment while
• ignoring unchanging aspects of it
• Sensory adatation = habituation: is the tendency

to ignore a stimulus that occurs continuously in

the same way

• Habituationis is the decrease in response to a

stimulus that occurs after repeated presentations

of the same stimulus.

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

 Selectivity of perception, from perception, depth

perception, perceptual constancy, and perceptual illusion

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

many stimuli

• Yet you perceive a few of them.

• Attention is therefore the term given to the perceptual

process that selects certain inputs for inclusion in your

conscious experience, or awareness, at any given time,

What does this selectivity of perception imply?
• The selectivity of perception implies, among other
things, that our field of experience is divided into what is
known as: Focus‖ and Margin
• Events or stimuli that you perceive clearly are the focus
of your experience and other items or stimuli that you
perceive dimly or vaguely are in the margin of your
attention.
• You may be aware of items in the marginal field but only
• Paying attention is in general a function of two
factors: factors external to the perceiver and factors
internal to the perceiver
• External factors refer to factors that are generall y
found in the objects or stimuli to be perceived
• Some of the external characteristics of objects
that determine whether you are going to attend
them or not are size and intensity, repetition,
• Repetition is the second factor

• You are more likely to attend to stimuli that

repeatedly or

• frequently occur in your perceptual field.

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

occurs many times in a paragraph than when it occurs

 Repetition is, then, attention getting

 That is, by the way, why slogans, advertisings, and

announcement are repeated continuously to audiences and

spectators

 The other external factor in attention getting is

movement

 Moving objects tend to get your attention more than

 Psychological factors to attention
• Psychologists have identified two important
psychological factors:
Set or expectancy and
motives or needs.

• Set refers to the idea that you may be ―ready and

―Primed for certain kinds of sensory input
• Set, or expectancy, therefore, varies from
person to person.
• Motives and needs are the second psychological

factors influencing you as an observer.

• There are differences between you and your

friend in what you select to perceive as a result

of differences in your motives and needs.

• You and your friend attend to and organize

the sensory input in ways that match your

respective needs.

• People who are hungry, thirst, or sexually

aroused are likely to pay attention to events in the

environment, which will satisfy these needs.

 From perception
• sensations provide the raw materials that are to

be organized into meaningful patterns, shapes,

forms, and concepts or ideas or form perception

• The meaningful shapes or patterns or ideas that are

made out of meaningless sensations refer to form

perception

• To perceive forms (meaningful shapes or patterns),

need to distinguish a figure (an object) from its ground

 Figure-Ground Perception

• Figure-ground perception is the perception of

objects and forms of everyday experience as

standing out from a background.

• The ability to distinguish an object from its

general background is basic to all form

perception

• And gestalt psychologists stress that form

perception in an active, rather than a passive,

process like selectivity of perception.

 Contours in Form Perception

• You are able to separate forms from the

general ground only because you can
perceive contours. Contours are formed
whenever a marked difference occurs in
the brightness or color of the background
• For instance, if you look at a piece of paper
that varies continuously in brightness from
white at one border to black at the opposite
border, you will perceive no contour
• In perceiving the division at the place where
the brightness gradient changes abruptly,
you have perceived a contour
• In general, contours give shape to the
objects in our visual world because they
mark one object off from another or they
mark an object off from the general ground.
 Organization in form Perception

• When several objects are present in the visual field, we tend

to perceive them as organized into patterns or groupings.
• The Gestalt psychologists studied such organization
intensively in the early part of this century
• They emphasized that organized perceptual experience
has properties, which cannot be predicated from a simple
analysis of the components.
• In other words, Gestalt psychologist said ―the whole is
more than the sum of its parts.‖
• Organization in perception partially explains
our perception of complex patterns as unitary
forms, or objects
Laws of perceptual organization
 1. Proximity or nearness

• The laws of proximity says that items which

are close together in space or time tend to

be perceived as belonging together or forming

an organized group.
 2. Similarity

• Most people see one triangle formed by the dots

with its apex at the top and another triangle

formed by the rings with its apex at the bottom.

They perceive triangle because similar items such

as, the rings and the dots, tend to be organized

together.
 3. Continuation

• the tendency to perceive a line that

starts in one way as continuing in the same

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

Motivation

Maturation

Health condition

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

Good working conditions

 Theories of Learning and their Applications

There three major theories of learning

1. Behaviorist theory: Pavlov, Skinner,

Thordike,

2. Social learning: Albert Bandura

3. Cognitive learning: Jean Piaget,

 Behavioral Theory of Learning

Learning from stimulus-response associations

It emphasizes observable behaviors (think back the definition of

psych)
Focuses on consequences

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

There are two major behavioral theories of learning

1. Classical Conditioning: formulated by Evan Pavlove

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

Skinner
 Classical conditioning theory

 Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of

involuntary emotional or physiological responses to stimuli
that normally elicit no response
 e.g. fear, increased heartbeat, salivation or sweating
 Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a
neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is
paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that
response
 Classical conditioning (Contd.)
Basics of Classical Condition
1. Neutral stimulus: A stimulus that, before conditioning, does
not naturally bring about the response of interest
2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that naturally
brings about a particular response without having been
learned.
3. Unconditioned response (UCR): A response that is natural
and needs no training (e.g., salivation at the smell of food).
 Basics …..

4. Conditioned stimulus (CS): neutral stimulus that paired

with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response

similar with the unconditioned stimulu

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

previously neutral stimulus

 Classical conditioning (Contd.)
Hence, the theory of classical conditioning represents a
process in which a neutral stimulus, by pairing with a
natural stimulus, acquires all the characteristics of natural
stimulus
It is also called substitution learning b/c it involves
substituting a neutral stimulus in place of natural stimulus

Let us consider Pavlov’s experiment (Summary)

 Summary of classical conditioning procedure

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

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

1. Extinction: presenting the CS repeatedly without the UCS

(meat), the CR will diminish and eventually stop

2. Spontaneous recovery is the reemergence of an

extinguished conditioned response after extinction

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

stimulus has been conditioned to produce a particular

response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus begin

to produce the same responses

• Stimulus generalization happens when an

organism learns a response to one stimulus and

applies it to another similar stimulus

• Even though the stimuli may be different, the

familiarity that accompanies the initial learning

can be applied to other stimuli as well

• Stimulus generalization enables organisms to take

previous learning and apply it to new, but similar,

situations.

• The ability to utilize previous learning keeps the organism

from having to start over in the learning process.

• Generalizations can be less effective when the stimulus has

an element of newness unassociated with the familiarit

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

to understand and remember:

 Conditioned=learned.

 Unconditioned=not learned.

 An unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response.

 Unconditioned stimulus–unconditioned response pairings are unlearned and

untrained.

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

stimulus.

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

conditioned response pairing is a consequence of learning and training.

 An unconditioned response and a conditioned response are similar (such as salivation in

Pavlov’s experiment), but the unconditioned response occurs naturally, whereas the
 Operant/Instrumental conditioning

 Operant conditioning: Learning in which a voluntary response is

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

responses that are operatingon the environment

• These behavioral responses are either strengthened

(more likely to recur) or weakened (less likely to recur)

depending on whether the consequences of the response

are favorable or unfavorable.

 Unlike classical conditioning ( which depends on

the biological responses) operant conditioning

applies to voluntary responses (which an organism

deliberately performs in order to achieve a desired

outcome)

 In operant a behavior operates on the

 Example

If a person is playing the piano, that person is

operating on the environment (the keys on the piano)
in such a way as to produce music. The quality of the
music and comments from listeners are the
consequences that condition the person’s operant
performance at the piano. Well-played music elicits
social approval that reinforces the skills needed
 Operant…..
 Operant conditioning is learning in which a voluntary response is
strengthened or weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavorable
consequences
 It is a form of association learning in which the consequences of
behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s
occurrence
 Also known as instrumental conditioning because it is instrumental
in changing the environment and producing consequences
 In operant conditioning, the organism's response operates on the
environment and the environment, in turn, operates the organism's
response
 BASIC OPERATIONS

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

types of consequences
1) A neutral consequence 2) A reinforcement or 3) punishment
1. A neutral Consequence that does not alter the response
2. A reinforcement that strengthens the response by a
reinforcer
 BASIC OPERATIONS ……
1. Reinforcement
 A reinforcer is any event that increases the probability that the
behavior that precedes it will be repeated
 Reinforcers are the prime movers of operant conditionin
 Reinforcers that follow an operant behavior increase the
likelihood (reoccurance) a similar response (behavior) in the
future
There are two basic types of reinforcers
 Primary reinforcers: Food, water, light, stroking of the skin, and a
comfortable air temperature
 Secondary Reinforcers: . Money, praise, applause, good grades,
awards, and gold stars
 BASIC OPERATIONS ….
 Both primary and secondary reinforcers can be positive or
negative
 Positive reinforcement is the process whereby presentation of a stimulus
makes behavior more likely to occur again
 A positive reinforcer is a stimulus added to the environment that brings
about an increase in a preceding response.
For instance, if food, water, money, praise, or any number of other stimuli
follow a particular response, it is very likely that this response will occur
again in the future.
 Positive reinforcement can be given in natural or artificial ways.

 Unnatural praise and artificial rewards are not very effective in reinforcing
 Negative reinforcement is the process whereby elimination
of an aversive stimulus makes behavior more likely to occur
 A negative reinforcer refers to an unpleasant stimulus
whose removal from the environment leads to an increase
in the probability that a preceding response will occur again
in the future.
 The two main classes of behavior produced by negative
reinforcement are escape and avoidance.
 Escape responses are those operants that allow a person to
get away from aversive stimuli after the stimuli are present.
 Avoidance responses are those operants that allow a person to

prevent the occurrence of aversive stimuli beforethe aversive

stimuli appear.
 In other words, escape involves reacting after an aversive event
is present.
 Avoidance involves proacting,or taking preventative steps before
an aversive event arises.
 People react to getting a splinter in their finger by pulling it out;
they proact by putting on gloves before handling rough wood.
 Escape behaviors are usually learned before avoidance
behaviors
 Examples:
1. For e.g., if someone nags you all the time to study, but stops nagging when
you comply, your studying is likely to increase- e.g. escape learning,

avoidance learning

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

repeatedly find themselves in verbal arguments with each other.
They react by trying to escape the aversive situation through
marital counseling.
3. Other couples who see their friends having marital troubles may
proact by working on improving their communication and
resolving differences before problems arise, thereby avoiding some
arguments and possible long-term damage to their marriage.
 Generally,
• Better to understand as:
• There are two kinds of reinforcement: positive and
negative
• To reinforce means to strengthen;
• thus, both positive and negative reinforcement
strengthen behavior
• i.e. Both increase the likelihood that a subject will
repeat the behavior in the future.
• The critical difference between the two is that
positive reinforcement occurs with the addition of a
reinforcing stimulus. Negative reinforcement
 2. Punihment
• When an operant behavior is followed by a response
that reduces the frequency of a similar response in the
future, that stimulus is called punishment
• If a person receives a significant fine after driving
through a red light, the punishment is likely to reduce
the tendency to speed through red lights in the future
• Punishment produces the fastest reduction of the
behavior when it is strong, immediate, and not opposed
by reinforcement.
• There are two types of punishment: positive
punishment and negative punishment, just as
there are both positive and negative
reinforcement.
• In both cases, the term “positive” refers to
something that is added, whereas “negative”
implies something that is removed.
Explanation: “positve” & “negative”
• The terms “positive” and “negative” indicate
whether punishment occurs with the onset or
termination of the stimulus that follows the
operant.
• “Positive” indicates onset, and “negative” indicates
termination
• Positive punishment occurs when the onset of an

aversive stimulus suppresses behavior.

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

while carrying a cup to a nearby table, the onset of an

aversive stimulus (hot coffee) punishes the clumsy

act. This is considered a positive form of punishment.

• Negative punishment occurs when the termination
of a rewarding stimulus suppresses behavior.
• If a haphazard action results in your dropping and
losing an important document, the loss serves as
punishment for the act. Therefore the loss of a
positive reinforcer is a negative punishment.
 Negative reinforcement & punishment
• It is important to distinguish between negative reinforcement

and punishment.

• The two are not the same in operant conditioning.

• Punishment refers to a stimulus that decreases the

probability that a prior behavior will occur again.

• This differs from negative reinforcement, which increases

• Punishment does not cause behavior to be unlearned or forgotten.

• It merely suppresses the frequency of responding.

• Often the effects of punishment are only temporary.

• When the punishment no longer occurs, the rate of responding

usually increases.
• This phenomenon is called recovery.

• Recovery is fastest and most complete when the original

punishment was mild or infrequent and there is reinforcement for
reinstating the behavior.
• The milder the original punishment, the sooner a behavior is likely
to recover after the end of punishment.
• Positive punishment weakensa response or makes it
less likely to recur through the application of an
unpleasant stimulus.
• On the same track, but coming from the opposite
direction, is negative punishment.
• This consists of removing something that is
pleasant in order to weaken the response or make
it less likely to be repeated.
• Although Skinner recognized the role of punishment in
response to behavior, he was against using it because he did
not believe it had a permanent effect on altering behavior
except in extreme cases.
• Although it may initially stop the particular behavior in
question, Skinner believed that the prior response was likely
to reappear over time.
• In addition, punishment may actually cause a resulting fear
or anxiety to emerge that wasn’t present before the
application of the punishment.
 Note: Punishment
is a stimulus that weakens the response or makes it less
likely to recur
It is an undesirable event that follows a behavior it intends
to reduce/ weaken
Punishers can also be primary or secondary
primary punishers: Pain and extreme heat or cold
Secondary punishers: Criticism, demerits, catcalls, scolding,
fines, and bad grades
 The Pros and Cons of Punishment

 Immediacy –punishment follows immediately after the

behavior to be punished

 Consistency- using punishment evenly/steadily

 Intensity- use severe punishments

 The Pros and Cons (Contd.)
When punishment fails:
administering punishment inappropriately or mindlessly

recipient of punishment often responds with anxiety, fear or

rage
depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person or
circumstances
hard to punish immediately

Punishment conveys little information - instead of punishing it

may be reinforcing because it brings attention
 3. Schedules of reinforcement

Skinner discovered that reinforcement need not be given for each

response, but instead could be given after some number of responses
according to various schedules of reinforcement

A schedule of reinforcement refers to the specific

relationship between the number, timing, or frequency of
responding; and the delivery of the reward.
Once a behavior has been shaped, it can be maintained by various
patterns of reinforcement.
 Depending on the particular schedule, the reward may follow the
response immediately or have varying degrees of delay.
• Schedules are among the most powerful
determinants of behavior.
• All reinforcers and punishers are embedded in one
schedule or another and each schedule has its own
characteristic effects on behavior.
 Type of the schedule
• Reinforcement can be given for each occurrence of the
response or only for some of the responses.
• The two broad categories of schedules are continuous
and partial (also called intermittent) reinforcements.
• With continuous reinforcement, each response of a
particular type is reinforced.
• In a partial reinforcement schedule, only a portion of
the responses are reinforced.
• a continuous schedule of reward generally produces more
rapid conditioning or a higher level of responding than a
partial-reinforcement schedule.

• Though a continuous schedule may condition more rapidly,

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

• Extinction does tend to occur more quickly if a behavior

that has received continuous reinforcement is no longer
reinforced.
• There are again two broad types of partial-
reinforcement schedules: interval schedules, which
are based on the passage of time; and ratio schedules,
which are based on the number of responses.
• On an interval schedule, the first response made after
an interval of time has passed is reinforced.
• Responses made before that interval of time are not
reinforced. There are two types of interval schedules:
fixed and variable.
• In a ratio schedule, time is not a factor. Instead,
reinforcement is given only after a certain number
of responses.
• Ratio schedules also have two types: fixed and
variable.
 Examplary expression:
• A fixed-interval schedule applies the reinforcer
aftera specific amount of time.
• An example might be an employee who gets a raise
once at the end of each year but no increase in pay
during the course of the year.
• The reinforcer (increase in pay) comes only at a
predetermined time regardless of the employee’s
work performance during the year.
• Fixed intervals have built-in problems that manifest in
certain situations
• Using the example of the employee’s end-of-the-year raise,
the employee, knows when the reinforcement is to come,
• So he may tend to lower his performance immediately
after the reinforcement and tend to increase
performance right before the reinforcement period
• In fixed, therefore, resonse rate decrease (immediate
after) then increase as it approaches (for the secod round)
• In this case, the emplyee might improve his

performance near the end of the year to “look

good” when it comes time for the review that

determines the amount of pay raise

 Variable-interval
• Reinforcement is also controlled by the passage of
time in a variable-interval schedule
• In contrast to the fixed-interval (in which the
person knows the time the reinforcement will be
given) the person does not know when the
reinforcement will appear in a variable-interval
schedule.
 Examplary expression: interval
• An example of this schedule might be the supervisor
who checks an employee’s work at irregular
intervals.
• Because the employees never know when such
checks will occur, they must perform in a consistent
manner in order to obtain positive outcomes, such
as praise; or avoid negative ones, such as criticism
or loss of their job.
A response can be reinforced each time it occurs- a

procedure as continuous reinforcement or once a response

has become reliable reinforcing only some responses, not all

of them, a procedure called intermittent (partial) schedule of

reinforcement

There are four types of intermittent schedules

 1. Fixed-ratio schedules
• Reinforcement is determined in a very different manner
on a fixed-ratio schedule
• Here, reinforcement occurs only after a fixed number of
responses
• For example, some individuals are paid on the basis of
how many pieces of goods they produce
• a fixed-ratio schedule yields a high rate of response,
though there is a tendency for brief pauses immediately
 2. Variable-Ratio Schedule
• On a variable-ratio schedule, reinforcement occurs after

completion of a variable number of responses

• It is reinforcing a response after some average number of

responses, but with varying from reinforcement to reinforcement

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

how many responses are required before reinforcement will occur,

they usually respond at high and steady rates

 Example
• The person who repeatedly plays the slot machine
knows at some point the machine will have a
payoff, but they are not sure when it will occur.
• The anticipation that it could happen on the next
pull compels many to keep playing beyond the point
of good reason.
• Variable-ratio schedules also result in behaviors that
are highly resistant to extinction.
• This means that even in the absence of
reinforcement, the behavior might persist.
• In fact, resistance to extinction is much higher after
exposure to a variable-ratio schedule than to a
continuous-reinforcement schedule.
• This would help explain why gambling can be so
3. Variable-Ratio Schedule: reinforcing a response only after a

fixed amount of time has passed

4. Variable Interval Schedule: reinforcing a response only

after a variable amount of time has passed

 Generally, note that:
• Fixed-ratio schedule:

 produces high rate of responding;

 sometimes respone drops off just afters;

 response is less reistant to extniction = more exposed to extniction

• Variable ration:

 produces extreemly high steady rate of respondig;

 response is more resistant to extniction = the learned behavior is

mot easily extnicted
 4. Shaping
 Shaping is a technique that is used in behaviorism to train an
organism to perform a behavior that is completely new
 Shaping teaches a complex behavior by rewarding or reinforcing
each step of the learning process rather than the final outcome
 an operant conditioning procedure in which successive
approximations of a desired response are reinforced
 It is establishing novel behaviors by reinforcing responses that
gradually approach the behavior that is desired
 The concept of shaping breaks down the learning process
into smaller pieces.
• Shaping, then, helps the organism acquire or
construct new and more complex forms of
behavior from simpler behavior
• By the time shaping is complete, the reinforcement
need only be given at the completion of the desired
behavior in order for the behavior to recur
 Examples for shaping

Textbooks for students are often written using the

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

• It can also be learned backwards, beginning with the

last element and working toward the front.

• Sometimes the entire chain is learned simultaneously.

 Exapmles for chaining
• Backward chaining is often used with pilot trainees when using a
flight simulator. They practice landings first, followed by landing
approaches and then other flight specific behaviors such as midair
maneuvers. The purpose of the backward chaining is that landings
are the most difficult behavior to master in the chain and by
starting there, this behavior receives the most practice as the
behavioral links are put in place.

• Forward chaining might be used by physical therapists to teach

disabled individuals to transfer themselves from a wheelchair to
another chair or bed.
 Personal note
• Unlike classical conditioning, in which the original behaviors
are the natural, biological responses to the presence of a
stimulus such as food, water, or pain, operant conditioning
applies to voluntary responses, which an organism performs
deliberately to produce a desirable outcome. The term operant
emphasizes this point: The organism operateson its
environment to produce a desirable result. Operant
conditioning is at work when we learn that toiling
industriously can bring about a raise or that studying hard
 Applications of operant conditioning

• Conditioning study behavior: arranging effective

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

 Dealing with anxieties through conditioning: used to break

fear habits using use desensitization technique- initially
provide very weak form of conditioned stimulus, gradually
increasing the strength of stimulus
 Conditioning group behavior: reinforcement breaks
undesired and antisocial behavior of a group
 Applications of operant conditioning (Contd)

 Conditioning and Cognitive Processes: to bring a progress

of knowledge, reinforcing in the feedback form

 Shaping Complex Behavior: Controlling complex behavior

that exist in the form of a chain of small behaviors

 Social Learning Theory (observational learning)theory

A tendency for individuals to reproduce the actions, attitudes

or emotional responses displayed by real life or symbolized
models
As Bandura, three forms of reinforcement can encourage
observational learning
direct reinforcement: reproduce the behaviors of the model
vicarious reinforcement:
self-reinforcement
 Processes of Social learning

Bandura mentions four conditions that are necessary in the

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

 Learning occurs through observing other people

 Describing the consequences of behavior to increase

appropriate behaviors and decrease inappropriate ones

 Provides an alternative to shaping for teaching new behaviors

 Taking care to model appropriate behaviors but not

inappropriate behaviors

 To break down traditional stereotypes, exposing students to a

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

capable of accomplishing school tasks

 To set realistic expectations for academic accomplishments

 Helps to improve elf-regulation behavior

 Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognitive learning theory: An approach to the study of learning

that focuses on the thought processes that underlie learning
These mental processes affect individuals’ behavior and
personality
These theory deals with the mental mechanisms that mediate
the processing of information in some meaningful fashion.
It extends into the realms of memory, thinking, problem
solving and the use of language
 Forms of Cognitive learning

Examples:
• Latent learning - a hidden form of learning in which a behavior is not
manifested for the time being but it might appear when situations are
favorable
• Latent learning: Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not
demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it
• It involves changes in the way information is processed and occurs without
reinforcement and responses
• Insight learning - a sudden change in our perception that comes while
encounter and struggle with life challenging problem
 Note

• Clearly, not all learning is due to operant and

classical conditioning
 Recaptulations

 Behaviorsim learning theory

 Socila learning theory

 Cognitive learning theory

Bobo doll experiment
Conclusion of Bobo doll experiment
 CHAPTER FOUR

MEMORY AND FORGETTING

• Intelligent life does not exist without memory

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

and retrieve information,
• the ability to store and retrieve information over
time
• The initial process of recording information in a
form of usable to memory, is called encoding,
• is the first stage in remembering something.
• Memory is the retention of information/what is
learned earlier over time.
• It is the way in which we record the past for later
use in the present.
• Memory is a blanket label for a large number of
processes that form the bridges between our past
and our present.
• To learn about the nature of memory, it is useful to
separate the process from the structure.
Processes of Memory
 Encoding
• the term encoding refers to the form (i.e. the code) in
which an item of information is to be placed in memory.

• It is the process by which information is initially

recorded in a form usable to memory.

• In encoding we transform a sensory input into a form or a

memory code that can be further processed.

• The initial process of recording information in a form usable to

memory, a process called encoding, is the first stage in
remembering something.
• Encoding is the process by which we place the

things that we experience into memory

• Unless information is encoded, it cannot be

remembered
 Storage

• Storage is the process of holding information

in memory to be processed or used

 Retriveal
• Retrieval refers to the process of reactivating

information that has been stored in memory

• Storage is the persistence of information in memory

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

itself- how information is represented in memory

and how long it lasts and how it is organized.

• memory has three structures: Sensory

Memory/Sensory Register; Short-term Memory;

Long Term Memory

 Sensory Memory/Sensory Register

• Sensory memory refers to the brief storage of sensory

information.
• It is the entry way to memory.

• It is the first information storage area.

• Sensory memory acts as a holding bin, retaining information

until we can select items for attention from the stream of stimuli
bombarding our senses
• It can hold virtually all the information reaching our senses for a
brief time
 For instance,
• Visual images (Iconic memory) remain in the visual

system for a maximum of one second

• Iconic memory is sensory memory for visual information

• Auditory images (Echoic memory) remain in the

auditory system for a slightly longer time, by most

estimates up to two second or so.

• The information stored sensory in memory is a
fairly accurate representation of the environmental
information but unprocessed
• Most information simply decay from the register

• Some of the information that has got attention and

recognition pass on short-term memory for further
processing
 Short-term Memory
• is part of our memory that holds the contents of our
attention.
• Unlike sensory memories, short-term memories are not brief
replicas of the environmental message
• they consist of the by -products or end results of perceptual
analysis
• important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading, speaking,
and problem solving= are working memories
• terms used to refer to this stage of memory are working memory,
immediate memory, active memory, and primary memory
 The four characteristics of STM:
1. It is active
• consciously processing, examining, or manipulating
it
• Used workspace to process new information and to
call up relevant information from LTM
2. Accessibility
• Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is
readily available for use
3. Preserves the temporal sequence of information
• helps us to maintain the information in sequential
manner for a temporary period of time

4. Limited capacity
• the capacity of STM to be ―the magic number seven
plus or minus 2
• That is, on the average, people can hold about seven
pieces of information in STM at a time; with a normal
range from five to nine items.
• However, if we can only hold a maximum of about

nine digits in short-term memory, then

how can we remember larger amounts of information

than this?

 For instance, how can we ever remember a 10-digit

phone number long enough to dial it?

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

30 seconds by most estimates

• But it is possible to prolong STM indefinitely

by rehearsal- the conscious repetition of

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

• Declarative/ explicit memory

Semantic memory

Episodic memory

• Non-declarative/ implicit memor

 Declarative/ explicit memory

• refers to knowledge or experiences that can be

consciously remembered
• When we assess memory by asking a person to
consciously remember things, we are
measuring explicit memory
 Semantic memory

• Semantic memory- factual knowledge like the meaning

of words, concepts and our ability to do math.

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

the world.

• They are internal representations of the world,

independent of any particular context.

 Episodic memory

• the firsthand experiences that we have had.

• memories for events and situations from personal
experience.
• They are internal representations of personally
experienced events
• For example, recollections of our high school
graduation day
 Non-declarative/ implicit memory

• refers to a variety of phenomena of memory in which

behavior is affected by prior experience without
that experience being consciously recollected.
• One of the most important kinds of implicit memory
is procedural memory.
• It is the – “how to” knowledge of procedures or
skills: Knowing how to comb your hair, use a
pencil, or swim.
 Factors Affecting Memory
Eleven Factors
• Ability to retain:
• Good health:
• Age of the learner: young > old age
• Maturity: more mature > less mature
• Will to remember:
• Intelligence: more intelligent > less intelligent
• Interest: more interested > less interested to retain
• Over learning: over learning will lead to better
memory
• Speed of learning: Quicker learning leads to better
 Forgetting
• first studied by German psychologist Hermann
Ebbinghaus
• forgetting refer to the apparent loss of information
already encoded and stored in the long-term
memory
 Theories of Forgetting
• Psychologists have proposed five mechanisms to
account for forgetting:
decay,
replacement of old memories by new ones,
interference,
motivated forgetting, and
cue dependent forgetting.
 The Decay Theory
• holds that memory traces or engram fade with time if
they are not accessed now and then
• assumes that when new material is learned a memory
trace or engram- an actual physical change in the brain-
occurs
• the trace simply fades away with nothing left behind,
because of the passage of time
• Mostly decay occurs in sensory memory and short term
• the mere passage of time does not account so well
for forgetting in long-term memory.
• E.g. People commonly forget things that happened
only yesterday while remembering events from
many years ago
 Interference
• similar items of information interfere with one
another in either storage or retrieval
• The information may get into memory, but it
becomes confused with other information
• There are two kinds of interference: proactive
and retroactive.
• Proactive: information learned earlier interferes
with recall of newer material
• Retroactive: new information interferes with the
ability to remember old information
 New Memory for Old/ Displacement Theory

• holds that new information entering memory can

obliterate/wipe out old information: like
taperecoder,
• This theory is mostly associated with the STM: b/c
of the capacity for information is limited to seven
plus or minus chunks.
• But It cannot be associated with the LTM because
of its virtually unlimited capacity.
 Motivated Forgetting
• Think of the assumtion of Sigmund Freud
• people forget because they block from
consciousness: b/c they threatening or painful to
live with
• he called this self-protective process: Repression
technique
• currently, psychologists prefer to use a more
general term, motivated forgetting.
 Cue Dependent Forgetting
• Depending on retrieval cues: items of information
that can help us find the specific information we‘re
looking for
• When we lack retrieval cues, we may feel as if we
have lost the call number for an entry in the
mind‘s library.
• In long-term memory, this type of memory failure
Thank you

Any question?
 CHAPTER FIVE
MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS
 Learning Outcomes
• Define what motivation is

• Identify the two types of motivation

• Compare the different theories of motivation

• Explain the different types of conflicts of motives

• Define what emotion is

• Discuss the three elements of emotion

• Discuss the different theories of emotion

 Motivation

Definition and types of motivation

 Brainstorming

• Why do we do the things we do?

• What motivations underlie our behaviors?

• It a Latin word: Mover = to move

• Motivation: describes the wants or needs that direct

behavior toward a goal
• Motivation: is a factor by which activities are
started, directed and continued so that physical or
psychological needs or wants are met.
• Motivation: an internal state that activates behavior and
directs it toward a goal
• A motivation: is a driving force that initiates and directs
• need: biological or psychological requirement of an
organism
• drive: a state of tension produced by a need that
motivates an organism toward a goal
• Motivation, therefore, is what moves people to do the
things they do
• Motivation: an internal state that activates behavior and
directs it toward a goal
• Some motivations are biological, such as the
motivation for food, water, and sex.
• Some are personal and social motivations that can
influence behavior, including the motivations for
social approval and acceptance, the motivation to
achieve, and the motivation to take, or to avoid
taking, risks
Biological and social motives
 For example,
• when a person is relaxing in front of a television and
begins to feel hungry, the physical need for food may
cause the person to get up, go into the kitchen, and search
for something to eat. If hunger is great enough, the
person may even cook something.
• The physical need for hunger causes:
 the action (getting up),

 directs it (going to the kitchen), and

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

different types of motivation: now are 2

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

• Intrinsic motivation: engaging in activities because

they are personally rewarding or because they fulfill our

beliefs and expectations

• Extrinsic motivation: engaging in activities that either

reduce biological needs or help us obtain external

 Approaches to motivation (theories of
motivation)
• according to theories of motivation there are
different sources of motivation:
instinct,
drive-reduction,
 arousal,
incentive,
 cognitive, and
 humanistic.
 1. Instinct approaches to motivation
• One of the earliest theory of motivation

• focused on the biologically determined and innate patterns

of both humans and animals behavior: intrinsic

• Instincts: innate tendencies that determine behavior

• Both animals and humans governed by intrinsic

motivation:
 Example,
Human
Animals: shares

Build Reproductio
nests n

Agression
Migrating for territory
proection

Mating
• The early theorists and psychologists listed
thousands of instincts in humans including:
 curiosity,
flight (running away),
pugnacity (aggressiveness), and
acquisition (gathering possessions).

• However, none of these theorists did more than

give names to these instincts.
 2. Drive-reduction approaches to motivation
• This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives

• A need: is a requirement of some material that is

essential for the survival of the organism
• A need it leads to a psychological tension or physical
arousal to reduce the tension and fulfill the need = This
tension is called drive
• Drive-reduction theory proposes the connection
between internal psychological states and outward
behavior
• It proposed two kinds of drives; primary and
secondary
• Primary drives: are those that involve survival
needs of the body such as hunger and thirst,
• Secondary/ acquired drives: are learned through
experience or conditioning, such as the need for
money, social approval.
• It includes the concept of homeostasis: the tendency of the
body to maintain a steady-state
• When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a state of
imbalance.
• This stimulates behavior that brings the body back into
balance or homeostasis
• For example, if mister X‘s body needs food, he feels hunger
and the state of tension (arousal associated with that need).
He will seek to restore his homeostasis by eating something
which is the behavior stimulated to reduce the hunger drive
Drive-reduction and homeostasis
• Homeostasis: the tendency of all organisms to
correct imbalances and deviations from their normal
state
 3. Arousal approaches: beyond drive reduction

• These approaches seek to explain behavior in which the

goal is to maintain or increase excitement/eagerness.
• For these approaches to motivation, each person tries to
maintain a certain level of stimulation and activity.
• This approach suggests that if our stimulation/inspiration
and activity levels become too high, we try to reduce them
• if levels of stimulation and activity are too low, we will
try to increase them by seeking stimulation
4. Incentive approaches: motivation’s pull
• suggest that motivation stems from the desire to
attain external rewards, known as incentives
• the desirable properties of external stimuli:
whether grades, money, affection, food, or sex—
account for a person‘s motivation.
• It is believed that the internal drives proposed by
drive-reduction theory work in a cycle with the
external incentives of incentive theory to “push”
and “pull” behavior, respectively.
 5. Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind
motivation
• Suggest that motivation is a result of people‘s thoughts,
beliefs, expectations, and goals draw a key difference
between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation: causes to participate in an
activity for our enjoyment rather than for any actual
or concrete reward that it will bring indivual.
• Extrinsic motivation: causes to do something for
money, a grade, or some other actual, concrete
 For instances:
1. A teacher provides tutorial support for students in
her extra time because she loves teaching, intrinsic
motivation is prompting her; if she provides
tutorial support to make a lot of money, extrinsic
motivation underlies her efforts
2. If you study a lot because you love the subject
matter, you are being guided by intrinsic
motivation; if all you care about is the grade to get
6. Humanistic approaches to motivation
• Is based on the work of Abraham Maslow

• He was one of the early humanistic psychologists

• He was who rejected the dominant theories of

psychoanalysis and behaviorism
• He rejected these theories in favoring of a more positive
view of human behavior
• He Proposed a hierarchy of needs that spans the
spectrum of motives ranging from the biological to the
• As you recall from chapter one,therefore,
humanism embraces the notions of the self and free
will
• Arguing that people are free to choose their own
lives and make their own decisions,
 Among the major assumptions underlying humanism are
the following:
 human nature is inherently good;

 individuals are free and autonomous, thus they are capable of

making major personal choices;
 human potential for growth and development is virtually
unlimited;
 self-concept plays an important role in growth and development;

 individuals have an urge toward self-actualization;

 reality is defined by each person; and

 individuals have responsibility to both themselves and to others

• While many individuals have made important

contributions to humanistic psychology, two of the

most noteworthy contributors were Abraham

Maslow and Carl Rogers.

• Maslow discussed the concept of "self-

actualization," which he described as "the full use

• Rogers፡ his approach referred to as "client-

centered therapy"

• He noted that the major goal of therapy is to

help clients foster greater self-direction.

• According to Rogers, self-direction "means

that one chooses - and then learns from the

• He believed that all human beings need to feel

competent, to win approval and recognition, and to

sense that they have achieved something.

• He suggested that human behavior is influenced

by a hierarchy, or ranking, of five classes of

needs, or motives
• As him needs at the lowest level of the hierarchy
must be at least partially satisfied before people can
be motivated by the ones at higher levels.
• Maslow‘s five Hierarchies of needs for motives
from the bottom to the top are as follows (look at
the here under diagrams):
Or
OR
 Detail explanation for each:
1. Physiological needs: also called fundamental needs
• Are biological drives that must be satisfied to
maintain life
• These are biological requirements for human
survival, e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing,
warmth, sex, sleep.
• People have to satisfy these fundamental needs to
live
 2. Safety needs: also called psychological needs
• Is the urge to belong and to give and receive love, and the
urge to acquire esteem
• It the needs of protection from elements, security, order,
law, stability, freedom from fear
• Is the need to belong and to give and receive love, and the
need to acquire esteem through competence and
achievement
• A lack of love or esteem makes people anxious and tense.
 3. Love and belongingness needs:
social needs
• Involves feelings of belongingness
• It includes friendship, intimacy, trust, and
acceptance, receiving and giving affection and
love.
• Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends,
work)
 4. Esteem needs
• Is the need to be respected as a useful,
honorable individual; which
• Maslow classified esteem needs into two
categories:
esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery,
and independence) = bieng one’s self and
the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g.,
status, prestige)= needs to be respected by others
 5. Self-actualization needs
• Are at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy
• the pursuit of knowledge and beauty or whatever
else is required for the realization of one’s unique
potential
• Is the needs of realizing personal potential, self-
fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak
experiences
• A desire “to become everything one is capable of
Understanding the nature of the pyramid

• Why it is wider at the bottom and norrower

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

his nutritional requirements, it is quite unlikely that he

would spend an inordinate amount of time thinking

about whether others viewed him as a good person or

not.
• Instead, all of his energies would be geared toward
 Shared elements between the humanist and behaviorist
• Learning should focus on practical problem solving

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

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

process

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

suited to the individual

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

feedback a part of the learning process

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

and thus enhancing the value of advanced organizers or making clear the role
• Conflict of motives and
frustration
• Motivation and the importance of the decision,

people usually face difficulty choosing among the

motives

• When the decision is more important, the

number and strength of motivational pushes and

pulls are often greater, creating far more

 1. Approach-approach conflict
• Exists when we must choose only one of the
two desirable activities.
• Example, going to a movie or a concert
 2. Avoidance-avoidance conflict
• Arises when we must select one of two
undesirable alternatives.
• Someone forced either to sell the family home or to
declare bankruptcy
 3. Approach-avoidance conflict
• Happens when a particular event or activity has
both attractive and unattractive features,
• For example, a freshman student wants to start
dating but she, at the same time, is worried that this
may unduly consume her study time.
4. Multiple approach-avoidance conflict
• Exists when two or more alternatives each have both
positive and negative features
• Suppose you must choose between two jobs.

• One offers a high salary with a well-known company but

requires long working hours and relocation to a miserable
climate.
• The other boasts advancement opportunities, fringe
benefits, and a better climate, but it doesn‘t pay as much
Emotions
 Definitions of emotion
• the “feeling” aspect of consciousness, characterized by
certain physical arousal, certain behavior that reveals the
feeling to the outside world, and an inner awareness of
feelings.
• From this short definition, we can understand that there
are three elements of emotion: the physiology, behavior
and subjective experience.
• emotion: a set of complex reactions to stimuli involving
subjective feelings, physiological arousal, and observable
• Is a subjective, affective state that is relatively intense
and that occurs in response to something we experience
• emotiona response of the whole organism, involving (1)
physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and
(3) conscious experience
• It means, our emotional states are combinations of
physiological arousal, psychological appraisal, and
subjective experiences
• These are known as the components of emotion
 Element 1: The physiology of emotion

• when a person experiences an emotion, there is

physical arousal created by the sympathetic
nervous system
• Thus, the heart rate increases, breathing becomes
more rapid, the pupils of the eye dilate, and the
moth may become dry.
Examplary senario: symphathetic NS
• The sympathetic divisionof your ANS directs your adrenal glands
to release the stress hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and
norepinephrine (noradrenaline). Influenced by this hormonal
surge, to provide energy, your liver pours extra sugar into your
bloodstream. To help burn the sugar, your respiration increases
to supply needed oxygen. Your heart rate and blood pressure
increase. Your digestion slows, diverting blood from your internal
organs to your muscles. With blood sugar driven into the large
muscles, running becomes easier. Your pupils dilate, letting in
more light. To cool your stirredup body, you perspire.
 Element 2: The behavior of emotion
• tells us how people behave in the grip of an
emotion.
• There are facial expressions, body movements, and
actions that indicate to others how a person feels
• Frowns, smiles, and sad expressions combine with
hand gestures, the turning of one‘s body, and spoken
words to produce an understanding of emotion
 Element 3: Subjective experience or labeling emotion

• it involves interpreting the subjective feeling by

giving it a label: anger, fear, disgust, happiness,
sadness, shame, interest, surprise and so on.
• The label a person applies to a subjective feeling is
at least in part a learned response influenced by that
person‘s language and culture
Theories of emotion
 There are theories:

1. James- Lang Theory of Emotion

2. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

3. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory

 1. James- Lang Theory of Emotion
Philohized/theorized that:
• the theory that our experience of emotion awareness
of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing
stimuli.
• a stimulus of some sort (for example, the large
snarling dog) produces a physiological reaction.
• This reaction, which is the arousal of the “fight-or-
flight” ????
• believed that physical arousal led to the labeling of
the emotion (fear)
 2. Cannon-Bard theory of
emotion
• theorized that the emotion and the physiological arousal occur
more or less at the same time emotions arise from physiological
arousal.
• Cannon argued that the thalamus (part of the lower brain) is
the seat of emotion
• He was an expert in sympathetic arousal mechanisms,

• He did not feel that the physical changes aroused by

different emotions were distinct enough to allow them to be
• Certain, he said, experiences activate the thalamus,

and the thalamus sends messages to the cortex and

to the other body organs

• This theory states that the brain sends two reactions

-arousal and experience ofemotion.

• For him the sensory information that comes into the brain is sent
simultaneously (by the thalamus) to both the cortex and the organs
of the sympathetic nervous system.
• The fear and the bodily reactions are, therefore, experienced at
the same time-not one after the other.
• “I am afraid and running and aroused!”

• He was the first to describe the fight-or-flight reaction of the

sympathetic nervous system that prepares us for an emergency.
• Some of the signs of physiological arousal are measured in one of
the most famous applications of psychological knowledge- lie
detection
 3. Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory
• proposed that two things have to happen before emotion occurs: the
physical arousal and labeling of the arousal base on cues from the
surrounding environment.
• These two things happen at the same time, resulting in the labeling
of the emotion.
• For example, if a person comes across a snarling dog while taking a
walk, the physical arousal (heart racing, eyes opening wide) is
accompanied by the thought (cognition) that this must be fear.
• Then and only then will the person experience the fear of emotion.

• In other words, -I am aroused in the presence of a scary dog; therefore,

I must be afraid.‖
• bodily changes and thinking work together to
produce emotions.
• Physiological arousal is only half of the story.
• What you feel depends on how you interpret your
symptoms
• emotions are composed of two factors:
physiological and cognitive.
• In other words, physiological arousal is interpreted
Biological vs social motives
Theories of motivation: summary
Emotions:
T
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CHAPTER SIX

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

Shannon L. Alder
 Learning Outcomes
• Define personality

• Discuss the natures of psychoanalytic theory

• Identify the structures of personality

• Explain psychological defense mechanisms

• Explain the essence of the trait theory of personality

• Discuss the five factor model of personality

• Explain the essence of humanistic theory of

 Overview
• Personality has different meanings for theologians,
philosophers, and sociologists, and within psychology it has
been defined in many ways
• So is better begin by considering just one definition of
personality considered acceptable by many psychologists
today that says:

personality refers to more or less stable, internal factors that

make one person’s behaviour consistent from one time to
another, and different from the behaviour other people would
 Continued ….
• this definition consists of four major assumptions of
personality.
• These assumptions are that personality is stable,
internal, consistent and different.
 Stability assumption
• The assumption of stability corresponds to our everyday
experience: friends do not present radically different
personalities on every fresh meeting, but instead are
likely to be approximately the same from occasion to
occasion.
• Even when we are taken by surprise by an old friend’s
dramatic new image, we are usually able to fit the new
and old selves into a coherent whole, and to be
 Internality assumption
• Personality cannot be observed directly; it can only
be measured indirectly by making observations of
that which is available externally.
• For example, on the basis of a personality test; on
the basis of observations of their behaviour.
 Consistency assumption
• personality makes one person’s behaviour consistent
from one time to another.
• Consistency over time refers to the similarity
between a person’s behaviour on two different
occasions.
 Individual differences assumption
• personality makes a person’s behaviour different
from the behaviour other people would manifest in
comparable situations.
• people respond to the same situation in different
ways
 Meaning of Personality
• The word personality is derived from a Greek word, rooted in Latin
“persona”
• Refers to the theatrical masks worn by Greek actors

• Many define personality differently

• But psychologists generally view personality as the unique pattern

of enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions that characterize a person
• Psychologists agree that personality is fundamentally a matter of human
individuality, or ‘individual differences
• Personality is defined as an individual’s consistent patterns of feeling,
thinking, and behaving.
• Personality refers to the long-standing traits and
patterns that propel individuals to consistently think,
feel, and behave in specific ways.
• Ersonality includes all those relatively permanent
traits or characteristics that render some consistency
to a person’s behavior
• Our personality is what makes us unique individuals

• Our personalities are thought to be long term, stable,

 Careful that:
Personality should not be confused with:
• character: refers to value judgments made about a
person‘s morals or ethical behavior;
• It usually refers to those personal attributes that are relevant
to moral conduct, self-mastery, will-power, and integrity
• character is often assumed to be the result of socialization
experiences, aspects of the person’s psychological make-up
that depend on learning socially appropriate forms of self-
control and ‘prosocial’ conduct.
• Temperament: the enduring characteristics with
which each person is born, such as irritability or
adaptability.
• temperamental characteristics are commonly
assumed to have a biological basis,
• However, both character and temperament are vital
personalities
• Not all differences between people are differences of personality.

• We differ in our physical attributes, our ages, our nationalities,

and our genders, and none of these differences really seem to be
about personality.
• Of course, it is possible that these differences are in some way
relatedto personality, but they are not themselves differences of
personality
• So we must qualify our definition so that personality refers only
to psychological differences between people, differences having
to do with thought, emotion, motivation, and behaviour.
 Theories of Personality
• Personality is still a relatively young fields of psychology

• The specific questions psychologists ask and the methods they

use to investigate personality

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

the three ones

 psychoanalytic,

 trait and
 The psychoanalytic theory of personality
• psychoanalytic theory was formulated by Sigmund
Freud
• As Freud, ppersonality is formed within ourselves,
arising from basic inborn needs, drives, and
characteristics
• He argued that people are in constant conflict
between their biological urges (drives) and the
need to tame them
 Continued….
• Freud views that personality has three parts which
serves a different function and develops at
different times: the id, the ego, and the
superego.
• To Freud, the most primitive part of the mind was
das Es, or the “it,” which is almost always
translated into English as id
• a second division was das Ich, or the “I,” translated
as ego;
• a final province was das Uber-Ich,or the “over-I,”
which is rendered into English as superego.
• These provinces or regions have no territorial existence, of
course, but are merely hypothetical constructs.
• to Freud, the way these three parts of personality interact
with one another determines the personality of an individual
• The synergy of the three structures creates “normal” personality

• They interact with the three levels of mental life so that the ego
cuts across the various topographic levels and has conscious,
preconscious, and unconscious components, whereas the
superego is both preconscious and unconscious and the id is
completely unconscious.
 The ID personality
• A term derived from the impersonal pronoun meaning
“the it,” or the not-yet owned component of personality
• The id has no contact with reality, yet it strives
constantly to reduce tension by satisfying basic desires.
• its sole function is to seek pleasure then is said it serves
the pleasure principle
• Completely unconscious
• A newborn infant is the personification of an id
unencumbered by restrictions of ego and superego
• The infant seeks gratification of needs without
regard for what is possible (that is, demands of the
ego) or what is proper (that is, restraints of the
superego)
• Since the id has no direct contact with reality, it is
not altered by the passage of time or by the
• Besides being unrealistic and pleasure seeking, the
id is illogical and can simultaneously entertain
incompatible ideas.
• For example, a woman may show conscious love
for her mother while unconsciously wishing to
destroy her.
• These opposing desires are possible because the id
has no morality; that is, it cannot make value
judgments or distinguish between good and evil
 The ID ….
• the id is merely amoral/unethical
• All of the id’s energy is spent for one purpose—to
seek pleasure without regard for what is proper or
just
 In summary:
• the id is primitive, chaotic, inaccessible to
consciousness, unchangeable, amoral, illogical,
unorganized, and filled with energy received from
• basic drives and discharged for the satisfaction of
the pleasure principle.
 The ID: from your module:
• If It Feels Good, Do It

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

infant
• The id is a completely unconscious amoral part of the
personality that exists at birth, containing all of the
basic biological drives; hunger, thirst, sex, aggression,
• When these biological drives are active, one feels
increased physical and psychological tensions # Freud
called it libido
 The ID: from your module …..
• Libido is the instinctual energy that may come into
conflict with the demands a society‘s standards for
behavior
• High libidinal energy creates high unpleasant situation, so
the goal is to reduce the libido by fulfilling the drive
• For example Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty,

• this need for satisfaction is called the pleasure principle

• Pleasure principle is the desire for immediate
satisfaction of needs with no regard for the
consequences ∑ “if it feels good, do it.”
 The Ego personalit
• is the only region of the mind in contact with reality.

• It grows out of the id during infancy and becomes a

person’s sole source of communication with the external
world
• It is governed by the reality principle, which it tries to
substitute for the pleasure principle of the id
• As the sole region of the mind in contact with the external
world, the ego becomes the decision-making or executive
 The EGO …..
• because it is partly conscious, partly preconscious,
and partly unconscious, the ego can make decisions
on each of these three levels.
• Look at the nex Example:
A woman’s ego may consciously motivate her to choose excessively neat, well-

tailored clothes because she feels comfortable when well dressed. At the same

time, she may be only dimly (i.e., preconsciously) aware of previous

experiences of being rewarded for choosing nice clothes. In addition, she may

be unconsciously motivated to be excessively neat and orderly due to early

childhood experiences of toilet training

Thus, her decision to wear neat clothes can take place in all three levels of
• Tries to equally treat unrealistic demands of the id and the superego

• In addition to these two tyrants, the ego must serve a third master:
the external world (the reality)
• Thus, the ego constantly tries to reconcile the blind, irrational
claims of the id and the superego with the realistic demands of the
external world.
• Finding itself surrounded on three sides by divergent and hostile
forces, the ego reacts in a predictable manner: where it becomes
anxious (look at the next picture)
• It then uses repression and other defense mechanismsto defend
itself against this anxiety
• the ego becomes differentiated from the id when
infants learn to distinguish themselves from the
outer world
• While the id remains unchanged, the ego continues
to develop strategies for handling the id’s unrealistic
and unrelenting demands for pleasure
• At times the ego can control the powerful, pleasure-
seeking id, but at other times it loses control
 The synergy of id & ego
• Looks like a person on horseback

• The rider checks and inhibits the greater strength of the

horse but this possible by politeness the horse (its
mercy)
• Similarly, the ego must check and inhibit id impulses but
the ego has no its own power but borrows from the id
• b/c of the more poorly organized id, gives its power
 The ego: what your module says:
• The Executive Director

• deals with reality

• is mostly conscious and is far more rational, logical

than the id
• works on the reality principle

• i.e. It satisfies the demands of the id and reduce libido only

in ways that it will not lead to negative consequences
• b/c sometimes denies id’s drives based on the consequence
that will produce painful or too unpleasant
 The superego personality
• Represents the moral and ideal aspects of personality and is
guided by the moralisticand idealistic principlesas opposed
to the pleasure principle of the id and the realistic principle
of the ego
• The superego grows out of the ego, and like the ego, it has
no energy of its own.
• However, the superego differs from the ego in one important
respect: it has no contact with the outside world and
therefore is unrealistic in its demands for perfection
 The superego…..
• Superego: The Moral Watchdog
• Is the third and final part of the personality, the
moral center of personality
• Is the Latin, meaning “over the self”
• It develops as a preschool-aged child learns the
rules, customs, and expectations of society
 The superego ….
• The superego has two subsystems, the
conscienceand the ego-ideal
• the conscience results from experiences with
punishments for improper behavior and tells us what
we should not do,
• the ego-ideal develops from experiences with
rewards for proper behavior and tells us what we
should do.
 the ego ideal:
• The ego-ideal is a kind of measuring device.
• It is the sum of all the ideal or correct and
acceptable behavior that the child has learned about
from parents and others in the society
• All behavior is held up to this standard (i.e.
societal expectation, social standards) and judged
by the conscience.
 The conscience ego
• The conscience is part of the personality that makes

people pride when they do the right thing and guilt,

or moral anxiety when they do the wrong thing

 The superego…..
• A well-developed superego acts to control sexual
and aggressive impulses through the process of
repression.
• It cannot produce repressions by itself, but it can
order the ego to do so.
• The superego watches closely over the ego, judging
its actions and intentions.
 The superego ….
• Guilt is the result when the ego acts—or even
intends to act—contrary to the moral standards of
the superego.
• Feelings of inferiority arise when the ego is unable
to meet the superego’s standards of perfection.
• Guilt, then, is a function of the conscience, whereas
inferiority feelings stem from the ego-ideal
Relationship among
Id, Ego, and
Superego
• The development of the three divisions varies widely in
different individuals.
 For some people, the superego does not grow after
childhood;
 For others, the superego may dominate the personality at
the cost of guilt and inferiority feelings.
 For yet others, the ego and superego may take turns
controlling personality, which results in extreme
fluctuations of mood and alternating cycles of self-
confidence and self-deprecation.
• In the healthy individual, the id and superego are
integrated into a smooth functioning ego and
operate in harmony and with a minimum of conflict.
• What you have learned from the above
picture?????
 For the 1st person: ID > SUPEREG
• The id dominates a weak ego and a feeble

superego, preventing the ego from counterbalancing

its incessant demands of the id and leaving the

person nearly constantly striving for pleasure

regardless of what is possible or proper

For the 2nd person: SUPEREGO > ID
• With strong feelings of either guilt or inferiority

and a weak ego, will experience many conflicts

because the ego cannot arbitrate the strong but

opposing demands of the superego and the id.

 For the 3rd person: ID<EGO>SUPEREGO

• A strong ego that has incorporated many of the

demands of both the id and the superego, is
psychologically healthy and in control of both the
pleasure principle and the moralistic principle.
 Defense mechanisms
• Our personality is the outcome of the continual battle for
dominance among the id, the ego, and the superego
• Our personality uses defense mechanism to mange it

• DFs are unconscious tactics that either prevent threatening

material from surfacing or disguise it when it does
• DF is a certain specific means by which the ego unconsciously
protects itself against unpleasant impulses or circumstances
• They defend the ego from experiencing anxiety about failing in
its tasks
 Defense…
• Defense mechanisms are normal and universally used,

• But when carried to an extreme they lead to compulsive,

repetitive, and neurotic behavior.
• Because we must expend psychic energy to establish and maintain
defense mechanisms, the more defensive we are, the less psychic
energy we have left to satisfy id impulses
• It is the ego’s purpose/duety in establishing defense mechanisms

• It does it to avoid dealing directly with sexual and aggressive

implosives and to defend itself against the anxiety that
accompanies them
 Defense…
The principal defense mechanisms identified by Freud include
• Repression

• Denial

• Regression

• Rationalization

• Displacement

• Projection

• Reaction formation
 1. Repression

• involves banishing threatening thoughts, feelings, and

memories into the unconscious mind
• Whenever the ego is threatened by undesirable id impulses, it
protects itself by repressing those impulses; that is, it forces
threatening feelings into the unconscious
• In many cases the repression is then perpetuated for a lifetime.

• Eg. a young girl may permanently repress her hostility for a

younger sister because her hateful feelings create too much
anxiety.
 Cultural sayings

• አውቆ የተኛውን ብቀሰቅሱት አይነቃም፤

• Kan beekaa rafe yaaman hin dammaqu;

 2. Denial
• is refusal to recognize or acknowledge a
threatening situation
• i.e. Refusing to accept a reality
• if you refuse to accept the reality of something that
makes you anxious.
 Example for denial
Forexample, it is a stormy and frightening night, and
the local television and radio announcers are
advising citizens to take cover and observe the tornado
warnings in effect. Bekalu does not believe that his
town will get hit (he is in denial) and is severely
injured after failing to heed the warnings.
Mr. Geremew is an alcoholic who denies/ doesn‘t
accept being an alcoholic
"ይህ ህልም መሆን አለበት" ይባላል
“kun abjuu tahuu qaba” jedhama
 3. Regression:
• involves reverting to immature behaviors that have relieved
anxiety in the past
• Is means going back to an earlier and less mature pattern of
behavior
• Once the libido has passed a developmental stage during times
of stress and anxiety, revert back to that earlier stage
• Regressions are quite common and are readily visible in
children.
• For example, a completely weaned child may regress to demanding a
• Regressions are also frequent in older children and
in adults.
• A common way for adults to react to anxiety-
producing situations is to revert to earlier, safer,
more secure patterns of behavior and to invest their
libido onto more primitive and familiar objects.
• Example: a girl/a boy who has just entered school
may go back to sucking her/his thumb or wetting
 4. Rationalization
• Is giving socially acceptable reasons for one's
inappropriate behavior.
• Example: make bad grades but states the
reason as being knowledge rather than grade
oriented; and grades only showing superficial
learning.
 5. Displacement
• Involves expressing feelings toward a person who is less
threatening than the person who is the true target of those
feelings.
• Example: Hating your boss but taking it out on family
members
• For example, a woman who is angry at her roommate may
displace her anger onto her employees, her pet cat, or a stuffed
animal. She remains friendly to her roommate, but unlike the
workings of a reaction formation, she does not exaggerate or
 6. Projection
• Involves attributing one's undesirable feelings to
other people.
• When an internal impulse provokes too much
anxiety, the ego may reduce that anxiety by
attributing the unwanted impulse to an external
object, usually another person
• Example: a paranoid person uses projection to
justify isolation and anger.
• Paranoia is a mental disorder characterized by powerful

delusions of jealousy and persecution

• Projection, therefore, is talking as we hate something

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

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

where thay hate for the could not get the chance.

• Locally it is: “Dhabduun didduu of gootii”

• paranoia is always characterized by repressed homosexual
feelings toward the persecutor. Freud believed that the
persecutor is inevitably a former friend of the same sex,
• When homosexual impulses become too powerful,
persecuted paranoiacs defend themselves by reversingthese
feelings and then projecting them onto their original object
• e.g. for men, the transformation proceeds as follows.
Instead of saying, “I love him,” the paranoid person says, “I
hate him.”
 7. Reaction formation
• involves a tendency to act in a manner opposite
to one's true feelings.
• Reactive behavior can be identified by its
exaggerated character and by its obsessive and
compulsive form
• Example: a person who acts conservation but
focuses on violence in their behavior.
• Another example of a reaction formation can be
seen in a young woman who deeply resents and
hates her mother. Because she knows that society
demands affection toward parents, such conscious
hatred for her mother would produce too much
anxiety. To avoid painful anxiety, the young woman
concentrates on the opposite impulse-love. Her
“love” for her mother, however, is not genuine. It is
showy, exaggerated, and overdone.
 8. Sublimation
• involves expressing sexual or aggressive behavior through
indirect, socially acceptable outlets.
• is the repression of the genital aim of Eros by substituting a
cultural or social aim.
• The sublimated aim is expressed most obviously in creative
cultural accomplishments such as art, music, and literature, but
more subtly, it is part of all human relationships and all social
pursuits.
• Example: an aggressive person who loves playing football.
• Sublimationrefers to redirecting a forbidden desire into
a socially acceptable desire.
• For example, you may be so frustrated by your friend’s
arrogant attitude that you work extra hard at soccer
practice, pushing yourself to your physical limits.
• You have channeled your aggressive feelings into
physical activities.
 Projection vs reactionformation?
• Projection refers to a person seeing attributes of his
own personality in others.
• In Projection a person believes that impulses really
coming from within himself are coming from other
people.
• (He is jealous of his girlfriend but claims that
she’s the one who is jealous.)
• In Projection inner feelings are thrown, or projected,
outside the self and assigned to others.
• If a person thinks, for example, that others dislike
him when in reality he dislikes himself, he is said to
be projecting.
• This is a common mechanism, which you may have
used yourself from time to time.
Example
 Reaction formation
• involves replacing an unacceptable feeling or urge
with an opposite one.
 Generally, note that:
• defense mechanisms are not considered as inappropriate or
unhealthy unless we rely on them to an extreme level all of us
use defense mechanisms to manage our conflict and stress
• It may not be possible to get through life without such defenses

• But, excessive use may create more stress than it alleviates

• all defense mechanisms protect the ego against anxiety.

• They are universal in that everyone engages in defensive behavior

to some degree.
• Each defense mechanism combines with repression, and each can
be carried to the point of psychopathology
• Normally, however, defense mechanisms are
beneficial to the individual and harmless to society
• In addition, one defense mechanism-sublimation—
usually benefits both the individual and society
The trait theory of personality
• trait approach see personality as a combination of
stable internal characteristics that people display
consistently over time and across situation
• The trait approach to personality makes three main
assumptions:
1. traits are relatively stable, and therefore
predictable, over time
2. traits are relatively stable across situations = eg.
Bieng competent in tennis transfers to socer game
3. no two people are exactly alike on all traits =
individual difference
five-factor model or the Big Five theory
• Component of trait theory

• The five trait dimensions can be remembered by

using the acronym OCEAN
• O = Openness

• C = Conscientiousness

• E = Extraversion

• A = Agreeableness
 1. Openness
• person‘s willingness to try new things and be open
to new experiences
• People who try to maintain the status quo and who
don‘t like to change things would score less on
openness
 2. Conscientiousness
• a person‘s organization and motivation, with people
who score high in the dimension being those who
are careful about being in places on time and
careful with belongings as well.
• for example, Someone scoring low on this
dimension might always be late to important social
events or borrow belongings and fail to return them
or return in poor coordination.
 3. Extraversion
• first used by Carl Jung, who believed that all people
could be divided into two personality types:
extraverts and introverts.
• Extraverts are outgoing and sociable, whereas
introverts are more solitary and dislike being
the center of attention.
 4. Agreeableness
• refers to the basic emotional style of a person, who
may be easygoing, friendly and pleasant (at the
high end of the scale) or grumpy, crabby and hard to
get along with (at the low end).
 5. Neuroticism
• refers to emotional instability or stability.
• People who are excessively worried, overanxious
and moody would score high on this dimension,
whereas those who are more even-tempered and
calm could score low.
Humanistic theory of personality
• It is the works Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

• a central feature of personality is one’s self-concept—all the

thoughts and feelings we have in response to the question,
“Who am I?”
• If our self-concept is positive: we tend to act and perceive the
world positively.
• If it is negative: if in our own eyes we fall far short of our
ideal we feel dissatisfied and unhappy.
• A worthwhile goal for therapists, parents, teachers, and friends
is therefore, he ( Rogers) said, to help others know, accept, and
• Want psychology to focus on subjective emotions
and the freedom to choose one‘s destiny.
• people‘s inherent goodness and their tendency to
move toward higher levels of functioning instead of
seeing people as controlled by
 the unconscious (psychoanalysis approach),

 unseen forces (psychodynamic approaches), and

 a set of stable traits (trait approaches)

• It is this conscious, self-motivated ability to change
and improve, along with people‘s unique creative
impulses, that humanistic theorists argue make up
the core of personality.
 Carl Rogers:
• Self-Cconcept

• believed that human beings are always striving to

fulfill their innate capacities and capabilities and
to become everything that their genetic potential
will allow them to become.
• This striving for fulfillment is called self-
actualizing tendency.
• Therefore, self-concept is all our thoughts and
feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question,
“Who am I?”
 Carl….
• Image of oneself or self-concept leads to self-
actualization.
• self-concept based on what people are told by others
and
• how the sense of self is reflected in the words and
actions of important people in one‘s life, such as
parents, siblings, coworkers, friends, and teachers.
Carl said on two components of SELF
• Real: one‘s actual perception of characteristics,
traits, and abilities that form the basis of the striving
for self-actualization
• Ideal Self: the perception of what one should be or
would like to be
• ideal self comes from significant others in one‘s life
(models), most often the parents = to say ideal self
is the learned self
 Carl ……
• Rogers believed that when:
 the real self and the ideal self are very close or
similar to each other, people feel competent and
capable,
 there is a mismatch between the real and ideal
selves, anxiety and neurotic behavior can be the
result.
 Rogers’ Regards in self

• For Carl Rogers there are two regards

1. Conditional postive regard

2. Unconditional Positive regard

 Conditional postive regard

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

respect that comes from the significant others

(parents, admired adults, friends, and teachers) in

people‘s experience (life)

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

stress and to strive to achieve self-actualization.

 Unconditional Positive regard

• Unconditioned positive regard, or love, affection

and respect with no strings attached,
• It is necessary for people to be able to explore
fully all that they can achieve and become
• Unfortunately, some parents, spouses, and friends give
conditional positive regard, which is love, affection,
respect and warmth that depend, or seem to
depend, on doing what those people want.
 Self-actualization
• Is the humanist term for realizing one’s unique
potential
• self-actualization: is, the realization of our
potentialities as unique human beings.
• Self-actualization involves an openness to a wide
range of experiences, an awareness of and respect
for one’s own and other people’s uniqueness,
accepting the responsibilities of freedom and
 Self-actualization
• Self-actualization involves an openness to a wide
range of experiences, an awareness of and respect
for one’s own and other people’s uniqueness,
accepting the responsibilities of freedom and
commitment, a desire to become more and more
authentic or true to oneself, and an ability to grow.
• Therefore, both conditional and unconditional
positive regads are much important in self-
 Therefore, for the Rogerian’s:
• a person who is in the process of self-actualizing is:
 actively exploring his/her potentials and abilities
 experiencing a match between real and ideal selves

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

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

• Tirhas would have been a fully functioning person =

b/c of unconditional positive regard = personal
expectation = think of intrinsic motivation
 Self-actualization vs fully functioning
• Self-actualization is a goal that people are always striving to
reach
• fully functioning: an individual whose person and self coincide

• It is ablity to accept your person and become open to allyour

feelings, thoughts, and experiences and hence to other people.
• Fully functioning is an element of self-actualization

• i.e. only a person who is fully functioning is capable of

reaching the goal of self-actualization
• To be fully functioning is a necessary step in the process of
• The person and the self are one.
• So, the individual is free to develop all of his or
her potentialities
• Maslow listed several people that he considered to be self-
actualized people:
Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt
• Qualities of self-actualized person include creative,
autonomous and unprejudiced /fairness/unbais/evenhanded
• Self-actualized people have trust in their true feelings and
innermost needs rather than just going along with the crowd, a
description that certainly seems to apply in these three cases
HANS EYSENCK: DIMENSIONS OF

PERSONALITY
• he was an English psychologist

• He concluded that there are two basic dimensions of personality

1. stability versus instability

2. extraversion versus introversion.

• Stability refers to the degree to which people have control over
their feelings
• A person is emotionally stable who is easygoing, relaxed, well-
adjusted, and even-tempered
• At the anxiety (instability) dominated end of the spectrum is
the moody, anxious, and restless person.
Learn this: Two personality dimensions
• Extravert: an outgoing, active person who directs his or
her energies and interests toward other people and things
• Extravertsare sociable, outgoing, active, lively people.

• They enjoy parties and seek excitement.

• introvert: a reserved, withdrawn person who is

preoccupied with his or her inner thoughts and feelings
• who are more thoughtful, reserved, passive, unsociable,
and quiet.
• Eysenck added a third dimension: psychoticism
High
Self-centered
superego

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

people, who act without much thought.
• high superego: they tend to be socially sensitive,
high on caring and empathy, and easy people with
whom to work
Theories of Personality
 Theory Assumptions

Psychoanalytic
 Mian point: proposes that personality is made up of three components: the
id, ego, and superego;
 every personality has an unconscious component and that childhood
experiences, even if not consciously recalled, continue to influence peo ple’s
behaviors.
 The id, ego, and superego explain how the mind functions and how
instinctual energies are regulated.
Learning/
 Main point: Behaviorists are interested in how aspects of personality are
behvioral
learned
 Behaviorists believe that as individuals differ in their learning experiences,
they acquire different behaviors and different personalities.
 Albert Bandura believed that personality is acquired not only by
reinforcement but also by observational learning.
Humanistic
 Main point: personality stress the positive aspects of human nature
and Cognitive
 All human beings strive for self-actualization
 many people suffer from a conflict between what they value in themselves
 CHAPTER SEVEN

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

AND

TREATMENT TECHNIQUES
 Chapter Overview
• Mental illness is a disorder that affects mood, thinking and
behavior
Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety
disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive
behaviors
• Many people have mental health concerns from time to time.

• But, a mental health concern becomes a mental illness

when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress
and affect your ability to function
 Learning Outcomes
• Describe how psychological disorders are defined, as well as
the inherent difficulties in doing so.

• Identify the nature of Psychological disorders.

• Explain the causes of psychological disorders.

• Identify the different types, characteristic features of

psychological disorders.

• Explain different theories to explain the nature of

abnormality.
 Nature of Psychological Disorders
• People who exhibit abnormal patterns of
feelings, thinking and behavior most likely suffer
from some kind of psychological disorders
• Psychological disorder is a clinically recognizable
set of symptoms or behaviours associated in most
cases with distress and with interference with
personal functions
Criteria for psychologica disorder:
Three main criteria:
• abnormality,

• maladaptiveness, and

• personal distress.
 1. Abnormality
• Abnormal behavior is a behavior that deviates from the
behavior of the “typical” person; the norm
• When someone behaves in culturally unacceptable
ways and the behaviors a one exhibit violates the norm,
standards, rules and regulations of the society, this
person is most likely to have a ps ychological
problem
• Since abnormal behavior not sufficient context is great
 2. Maladaptiveness
• Maladaptiveness: lack skills to carry out day-to-
day activities
• a social, personal and occupational problem on
those who exhibit the behaviors

Cognitiv social
e
Amladapti
ve

Academi Psychologica
c
 Personal Distress

• Our subjective feelings of anxiety, stress, tension

and other unpleasant emotions determine whether
we have a psychological disorder
• These negative emotional states arise either by the
problem itself or by events happen that on us but is
not sufficient for the presence of psychological
disorder because of some distressed by their own
behavior
Causes of Psychological Disorders (Based on Perspectives)
 The Biological Perspective
• working of chemicals in the brain, called
neurotransmitters, may contribute to many
psychological disorders.
• For example, over activity of the neurotransmitter
dopamine, perhaps caused by an overabundance of
certain dopamine receptors in the brain,
• This links to the bizarre symptoms of schizophrenia.
 Psychological Perspectives

three psychological perspectives

• the psychoanalytic perspective,

• the learning, and

• the cognitive behavioral perspectives

 the psychoanalytic perspective

believed that the human mind consists of three

interacting forces:

• the id (a pool of biological urges),

• the ego (which mediates between the id and

reality), and

• the superego (which represent society‘s moral

• in Freud’s view, it is caused by the ego’s inability to
manage the conflict between the opposing
demands of the id and the superego
• It is the individuals’ failure to manage the
conflicting of:
 id’s sexual impulses during childhood VERSUS
society’s sexual morality to resolve the earlier
childhood (superego)
 Learning perspective

• arise from inadequate or inappropriate learning.

• People acquire abnormal behaviors through the

various kinds of learning
 Cognitive perspective
• Believe or not, the quality of our internal dialogue either
builds ourselves up or tear ourselves down and has
profound effect on our mental health
• Theme: self-defeating thoughts lead to the development of
negative emotions and self-destructive behaviors
• ways we think about events in our life determine our
emotional and behavioral patterns
• But our environmental and cultural experiences factor our
thinkng
 Types of Psychological Disorders
• Psychlogical disorder: is a condition
characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors.
• Psychopathology: is the study of psychological
disorders, including their symptoms, etiology
(i.e., their causes), and treatment
• Psychopathology: refer to the manifestation of
a psychological disorder
there are many types of
psychological disorders
including:
• mood disorder,
• anxiety disorder and
• personality disorder.
 Mood Disorder
• a serious change in mood from depressed to
elevated feelings causing disruption to life
activities
• Depressive disorder: is characterized by overall
feelings of desperation /worry/extreem
anxiety/nerviousness and inactivity.
• Elevated mood: characterized by mania or
hypomania
• Bipolar mood: is the cycling between both
depressed and manic moods
• Dysthymic disorder: is a lesser form of major
depression
• Cyclothymic disorder: is recognized less severe
form of bipolar disorder
Generally mood disorder include:

• Major Depression

• Dysthymic Disorder

• Bipolar Disorder and

• Cyclothymia.
 Major Depression
• also known as clinical depression

• is characterized by:
 depressed mood,

 diminished interest in activities previously enjoyed,

 weight disturbance,

 sleep disturbance,

 loss of energy, difficulty concentrating, and

 often includes feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of

suicide
 Dysthymia

• is often considered a lesser, but more persistent

form of depression.
• Its symptoms are similar but a lesser degree.
• as opposed to Major Depression it is steadier in
periods of normal feelings and extreme lows.
 Bipolar Disorder

• Previously known as Manic-Depression

• is characterized by periods of extreme highs called

mania and extreme lows as in Major Depression.

• Bipolar Disorder is subtyped:

 either I (extreme or hypermanic episodes) or

 II (moderate or hypomanic episodes)

• bipolar disorder is in which individuals are
excessively and inappropriately happy or
unhappy.
• These reactions may take the form of high
elation, hopeless depression, or an alternation
between the two.
 Anxiety Disorders
• Anxiety is a general state of dread or uneasiness that a person
feels in response to a real or imagined danger.
• anxiety: is a vague, generalized apprehension or feeling that one is
in danger
• Anxiety: is a normal reaction to stress

• People suffering from Anxiety disorders feel anxiety but not just
normal anxiety.
• They suffer from anxiety that is out of proportion to the situation
provoking it
• This intense anxiety interferes with normal functioning in everyday
• It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and
pay attention.
• Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of
nervousness or anxiousness, and involve excessive
fear or anxiety
• anxiety disorders are treatable and a number of
effective treatments are available
• Anxiety disorders can cause people into trying to
avoid situations that trigger or worsen their symptoms.
the primary feature is abnormal or
inappropriate anxiety that includes
• Panic Disorder,

• Agoraphobia,

• Specific Phobias,

• Social Phobia,

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

 Panic disorder
• Is a psychological disorder characterized by sudden
attacks of anxiety and terror, known as panic
attacks, that have led to significant behavioral
changes in the person’s life
• Symptoms: shortness of breath, heart palpitations,
trembling, dizziness, choking sensations, nausea,
and an intense feeling of dread or impending doom
Example of panic diorder: from an interview women

• When I was about 30 I had my first panic attack. I was driving

home, my three little girls were in their car seats in the back,
and all of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe, I broke out into a sweat,
and my heart began racing and literally beating against my
ribs! I thought I was going to die. I pulled off the road and put
my head on the wheel. I remember songs playing on the CD
for about 15 minutes and my kids’ voices singing along. I was
sure I’d never see them again. And then, it passed. I slowly got
back on the road and drove home. I had no idea what it was
 Phobias
• A phobia is a specific fear of a certain object,
situation, or activity that adversely affects an
individual’s functioning
• Most people learn to live with their phobias, but for
others the fear can be so debilitating that they go to
extremes to avoid the fearful situation.
 Agoraphobia

• is defined as anxiety about being in places or

situations from which escape might be difficult
or in which help may not be available.
• Means fear of the marketplace
 Specific/Simple and Social Phobias
• Specific phobias: are unreasonable fears of a
clearly identified object or situation
• Examples of specific phobias include animals,
blood, flying in a plane, or thunder and lightning
• social phobia: also known as social anxiety
disorder, which is an extreme discomfort in social
situations due to a fear of being negatively evaluated
by others or humiliating oneself
The Most Common Phobias
Kinds of phobia
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
• is a psychological disorder that when an individual
continuously experiences distressing or frightening
thoughts, and then engages in repetitive behaviors
• Obsessions: are unwanted and distressing repetitive
thoughts and
• Compulsions: are the repetitive behaviors done as
a way to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsession.
• Everyone has obsessions and compulsions
 Example of OCD: from star socer David Bekham
I have got this obsessive-compulsive disorder
where I have to have everything in a straight
line or everything has to be in pairs. I’ll put
my Pepsi cans in the fridge and if there’s one
too many then I’ll put it in another cupboard
somewhere. I’ve got that problem. I’ll go into a
hotel room. Before Ican relax, I have to move
all the leaflets and all the books and put them
in a drawer. Everythinghas to be perfect

(Dave Beckham as reported)

 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• feel stress and fear that cause distress and interfere with
their lives after having been exposed to a traumatic event
• People who have survived a terrible ordeal, such as torture,
sexual assault, imprisonment, abuse, natural disasters, or
witnessing the death of someone, may develop PTSD
• PTSD may begin months or even years after the event.
People with PTSD experience flashbacks or high levels of
anxiety or arousal along with re-experiencing the trauma
post-traumatic stress disorder generally is
disorder in which victims of traumatic events
experience the original event in the form of
dreams or flashbacks
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• a psychological disorder diagnosed in situations in

which a person has been excessively worrying about
money, health, work, family life, or relationships for
at least 6 months, even though he or she knows that
the concerns are exaggerated, and when the anxiety
causes significant distress and dysfunction
 Personality Disorders
• is a disorder characterized by inflexible patterns of
thinking, feeling, or relating to others that cause
problems in personal, social, and work situations
• Personality disorders tend to emerge during late
childhood or adolescence and usually continue
throughout adulthood
Personality disorder is categorized into three types:
• Characterized by odd or eccentric behavior
• Characterized by dramatic or erratic behavior
• Characterized by anxious or inhibited behavior.
 It is Reality based issue

You will probably think of people that you know who

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

will be further discussed

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

is so often associated with suicide, and the second, antisocial

personality disorder (APD), because it is the foundation of criminal

behavior

• Borderline and antisocial personality disorders are also good examples to

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

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

entails are mostly directed toward the self (e.g., suicide and self-

mutilation)
 Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
• is a psychological disorder characterized by a prolonged
disturbance of personality accompanied by mood swings,
unstable personal relationships, identity problems, threats of
self-destructive behavior, fears of abandonment, and
impulsivity.
• BPD is widely diagnosed as up to 20% of psychiatric
patients are given the diagnosis, and it may occur in up to
2% of the general population
• About three-quarters of diagnosed cases of BDP are women.
• People with BPD fear being abandoned by others,
show a clinging dependency on others, and engage in
manipulation to try to maintain relationships.
• They become angry if a partner limits the
relationship, but deny that they care about the person.
• As a defense against fear of abandonment, those
with BPD are compulsively social, but their
behaviors, including intense anger, demands, and
suspiciousness, repel people.
• APD, on the other hand, is a type of externalizing

disorder in which the problem behaviors focus

primarily on harm to others (e.g., lying, fighting,

vandalism, and other criminal activity).

• BPD has both genetic and environmental roots.

• In terms of genetics, research has found that those

with BPD frequently have neurotransmitter
imbalances and the disorder is heritable.
• In terms of environment, many theories about the
causes of BPD focus on a disturbed early
relationship between the child and his or her parents
• Some theories focus on the development of
attachment in early childhood, while others point to
parents who fail to provide adequate attention to the
child’s feelings.
• Others focus on parental abuse (both sexual and
physical) in adolescence, as well as on divorce,
alcoholism, and other stressors
• The dangers of BPD are greater when they are associated
with childhood sexual abuse, early age of onset, substance
abuse, and aggressive behaviors.
• The problems are amplified when the diagnosis is
comorbid, as it often is, with other disorders, such as
substance related disorders, major depressive disorder,
 Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)
• is a pervasive pattern of violation of the rights of others
and a tendency to violate those rights without being
concerned about doing so
• APD is about three times more likely to be diagnosed in
men than in women.
• To be diagnosed with APD, the person must be 18 years
of age or older.
• People having antisocial personality disorder are
sometimes referred to as “sociopaths” or “psychopaths.”
• People with APD feel little distress for the pain they
cause others
• They lie, engage in violence against animals and
people, and frequently have drug and alcohol abuse
problems
• They are egocentric and frequently impulsive, for
instance suddenly changing jobs or relationships
• The intensity of antisocial symptoms tends to peak