PSY 210: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY.

Course Purpose
To equip students with knowledge about educational psychology.
Expected Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Distinguish general psychology from educational psychology.

2. Describe methods of enquiry in psychology

3. Determinants of human behavior

4. Describe personality structure and personality types

5. Explain different types learning

6. Distinguish sensation from perception

7. Explain different types of human motivation

8. Describe factors that influence attitude

9. Factors that affect memory and forgetting

10. Identify problems in classroom and how to manage them

i
Introduction
Educational psychology course is offered to 2ND year B.Education students during the
first semester of the academic year. It is taught in 14 weeks. It exposes students to
various concepts, principles and theories of psychology with special emphasis of their
applications to learning and school situations.
Learning and Teaching Methods :Lecture method, discussion and research

Course Assessment and Evaluation

Type Weighting
End of semester Examination 70%
Continuous Assessment 30%
Total Marks 100%

Course Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methods of inquiry in psychology
3. Human formation growth and development.
4. Determinants of personality.
PSY 210: INTRO. TO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY PREPARED BY : DR.A.W.MAINA (PhD) 1.
 5. Learning
6. Memory and forgetting
7. Motivation
8. Attitude and attitudinal change
9. Sensation and perception

TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY.

Nature and Definition of Modern Psychology

Psychology is a relatively young science. It is about the same age as the oldest living human being,
which is about 125 years. Nevertheless, it was Rudolf Goeckle (1590) who used the word psychology
for the first time. Therefore, psychology has a long past but a short history. However, it was Wilhelm
Wundt (1879) who established the first ever psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany that led to the
separation of psychology from philosophy (see school of structuralism in the next block)

The word psychology is derived from a combination of two Greek words “Psyche” and “logos”. Pysche
means “soul” and logos means “knowledge”. Thus psychology literally came to be known as “the study
of the soul”. The early thinkers (philosophers) ascribed the mental activities of human being to a power
that was not tangible and which was hidden from the outer senses. They called this intangible power
the soul. The soul was the main concern of both philosophy and religion.

The definition above was found to be inadequate for several reasons. First, it was rejected because
Aristotle and his associates could not satisfactorily explain the relation of soul and to the body.
Secondly, it “was rejected to dualism nature that involves the study of physical and spiritual matters.
Later on the word soul was replaced by the term mind. So psychology came to be known as “the study
of science of the mind”. Early Greek philosophers who were opposed to the earlier definition of
psychology held this definition. However, this definition did not last because by calling itself a science, it
was not automatic whether psychology was a positive or normative science. Finally, the thinkers who
used the term mind did not agree on its nature.

Psychology was later defined as “the science of consciousness”. In the view of James Sully, psychology
has to do with the inner world and has to employ introspection as its method. Wilhelm Wundt (1879)
was of the opinion that psychology being the study of consciousness deals with internal experience
which includes sensation, perception, thinking, reasoning and problem solving behaviors.

This definition was later on discarded on the ground that social thinkers who used the word

PSY 210: INTRO. TO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY PREPARED BY : DR.A.W.MAINA (PhD) 2.

consciousness did not agree on its nature. Secondly, the definition did not include unconsciousness
and sub consciousness levels of the mind.

Later on, psychology was defined as the science of human behavior. Watson, the founder of the school
of behaviorism, defined psychology as “a science of behavior”. William McDougal defined it as “a
positive science of the conduct of living beings”. However, these definitions faced some criticisms.
Firstly, by merely calling it a science, it is not clear whether psychology is a positive or normative
science. Secondly, Watson took a very sense of behavior. Behavior as Watson saw it, was merely
stimulus – response (S-R) connection.

In the words of Woodworth, psychology is “the scientific study of human behavior and all activities in
relation to its environment”. Psychology, in the view of Woodworth, is a positive science because it
studies facts. The psychological judgments are factual. It is not concerned with values, thought or
axiological judgment.

It can be realized from the foregoing explanations that the definition of psychology has gone through
various changes during the short period that it has existed. In the 1980s, 1990s and perhaps in the 21”
Century, psychology has been explicitly defined as “the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes”. The definitions that are going to be given below are therefore some of the definitions of
modern psychology.

Baron (1996) defined psychology as “the science of behavior and cognitive processes”. Rathus (1993)
defined psychology as “a scientific study of behavior and mental processes”. Rod Plotnik (1996) defined
psychology as “the systematic, scientific study of behavior and mental processes”.

There are three key terms common in the above definitions” science, behavior and mental processes.
Psychology is considered as a science psychologists main concern is to understand people’s behavior
through carefully controlled observations. It is a positive science because it uses those methods, which
are strictly scientific, and which give us knowledge that can be verified everywhere. It is therefore based
on generalizations drawn on the basis of factual data analyzed and compared. Therefore, psychology
can be distinguished front mental philosophy on the basis of its methods. It became a science when the
earlier psychologists began to perform experiments, make observations and seek evidence more or less
like in pure or natural sciences.

The second term “behavior” refers to all overt actions that can be observed directly such as speaking,
laughing, facial expressions, etc.

Lastly, but by no means the least, “mental process” refer to experiences and higher mental/cognitive

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processes such as sensation, perception, learning, memory, intelligence, emotions, imaginations, etc.

However, many psychologists particularly behaviorists (Pavloy, Skinner, Watson) would restrict the
periphery of psychology to overt behavior such as the pressing of a lever, eating, mating, turning right or
left, etc. Cognitive psychologists (Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kholer and Kurt Koffka) on the other hand,
would confine the scope of psychology to the mental framework of the world around us by emphasizing
understanding, problem solving behaviors, biases, perception etc. Social psychologists such as
Bandura and Walter would confine the scope of psychology to observable social learning activities. In
all, the various schools of psychology do not clearly agree upon the scope of psychology.

Branches of psychology

a) Basic psychology
ü General psychology – deals with fundamental rules and theories of psychology.
ü Abnormal psychology – behavioral of abnormal persons in relation to their environment.
ü Social psychology – deals with group behavior
ü Experimental, physiological, and developmental, psychology.

b) Applied Psychology
ü Industrial psychology – study of human behavior in industrial environment.
ü Clinical psychology – deals with mental illness, insanity, behavior of patients in hospitals.
ü Political psychology – political propaganda, diplomacy.
ü Military psychology – techniques of sustaining the morale of soldiers e.g. Sadam war, Kenyan
flag Vs USA flag on bodabodas.
ü Legal psychology behavior of litigants, witnesses, criminals – use lie detectors to measure
heartbeat.

Definition of Education Psychology

Educational psychology is a very broad field of applied psychology that utilizes the theories, methods,
and instruments of psychological science for educational purposes. It is a combination of two different
fields: education and psychology. Perhaps it is better to explain these two fields: education is a field of
study that deals with training and giving instructions especially to children and young people in schools
and colleges our universities that are designed to give knowledge and develop required skills.

On the other hand, psychology in its broadest sense it the study of behavior, that is, everything that

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people to do or do not do and why they do or not do it. Educational psychology is the scientific study of
human behavior by which it can be understood, predicted and directed by education to achieve goals of
life. It helps the teacher to foster harmonious development of the students into sensitive and reflective
human beings, productive and creative persons.

As much as educational psychology is considered a science, it is not so exact a science as physics,

chemistry or biology. However, it does represent a great body of facts and theory about how youngsters
develop and progress, how they react to their environment, how they learn and how they can be taught.
It helps teachers to practice teaching as both a science and an art, adapting what science offers to one’s
knowledge in relation to one’s student’s individual needs and characteristics.

Educational psychology seeks to apply psychological principles theories and techniques to human
behavior in educational settings. It covers all aspects of learning, teaching processes to shape the
behavior of learners e.g. punishment, rewards (reinforcements) e.g. flower the weak learner to capture
their attention or give them simple tasks that they can easily perform.

Aims and importance of Education Psychology

(i) The aims of educational psychology may be expressed as the development of wholesome
personality and continuous growth through:
ü Increasing ability for intelligent self – direction in changing social order.
ü Increasing ability for discriminative social functioning.
(ii) The general aim is to assist the teacher in understand human nature; this would enable the
proper growth of learners and will help in giving direction to learning activities. This would
motivate learners to adapt themselves to the social environment and then they will be
capable of discharging their social responsibilities. Thus this branch of psychology aims at
assisting teachers in providing facts and generalization in their work to help learners to
develop harmonious and reflective personalities. The following are some of the specific
importance of educational psychology:-
∙ It helps psychologists, teachers, development psychologists, etc to understand the
nature of classroom learning and the learning processes of children in general.
∙ It assists in developing positive attitudes and values in teachers about educational
problems. Hence, teachers are expected to gain knowledge in relation to what is to
be learned by learners or the extent to which social behavior can be improved.

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 ∙ It assists teachers in treating their learners with empathy and understanding as well
as to study the behavior of learners objectively.
∙ It assists teachers who are impartial, considerate and sympathetic to understand
and analyze the behavior of learners.
∙ It helps teachers to realize that social relationships are of utmost importance in the
process of education. When teachers organize their activities well, then they will be
in a position to promote the social sense in their learners. Such teachers assist
learner’s participation in group activities.
∙ It helps teachers get information, skills and techniques that they can use in
analyzing their own and other’s behaviours.
∙ It furnishes teachers with the right methods of teaching their subject matter to
learners at different levels.
∙ It assists teachers to organize materials to be taught. Hence, teachers are able to
select and organize their subject matter in a proper manner due to insight into
learner’s mental framework.
∙ It furnishes teachers with the understanding of the nature of their work. Educational
psychology provides an insight into problems which teachers face in their
profession.
∙ It assists teachers to have the knowledge of individual differences among learners.
This is important in class as well as out of class since no two individuals are the
same. The knowledge of individual differences will enable teachers to plan and
adjust his/her strategies to suit needs and interests of learners so that they realize
their potentials. It also assists to adapt their teaching according to the learner’s
mental requirements by using different teaching methods.
∙ It helps in understanding how children change as they grow up and the forces that
contribute to this change or make children become maladjusted.
∙ Helps in understanding the roots of social difficulties encountered by many of today’
s adolescents, for instance problems that cause them to drop out of school.
∙ Last but no means least, to provide sound methods of measuring and evaluating the
performance of learners objectively and to make an assessment of the native
intelligence of learners.
Focal Area of educational psychology

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There are three focal areas in education that concern educational psychologists as well as teachers that
we shall explain in this section.

The learner

In any learning situation, the learner occupies the first place. Without learners, teaching activities
cannot take place. The term learner simply means pupils or students whom individually or collectively
make up the classroom setting. Teaching in the classroom to a larger extent depends on the
personalities, emotional state, developmental stages, cognitive development, and psycho – social
problems of learners in the classroom. Thus, for teaching to be effective a teacher must have in depth
knowledge about these qualities in addition to the potentialities of the learners.

The learning process

The learning process is the means by which people acquire changes in their behaviour, improve
performance, reorganize their thinking or reasoning, discover new ways of solving problems, new
concept formation, etc. All the activities that one does in the process of acquiring new information,
ideas, skills, techniques and habits can best be described as the learning process. The learning process
can be directly observed as in when learners learn how to write, draw, solve arithmetic; talk etc, or it can
as well be indirectly observed as in thinking, reasoning, remembering, problem solving and perception.
What concerns educational psychologists is the way in which this learning process takes place. They
are eager to find out and know what happens when students learn and why they learn.

The learning situation

This refers to the learning environment in which learning takes place and in which learners find
themselves. All the situational factors and personal factors that surround learning activities form a
learning situation. These may include the classroom setting, the emotional climate of the classroom,
school and the attitude the community has towards the school activities. In some situations, learning is
facilitated when teachers have a sympathetic attitude, when classrooms are well ventilated, sitting
arrangement is conducive, and learners have affection towards each other. On the other hand, in some
situations, the learning process is impeded when the teacher is harsh, a learner has unsyphathetic
colleagues, the community is unsymphathetic and school surrounding is unconducive and the school
authority does not care about the welfare of learners. Therefore, the educational psychologist is
interested in finding out which environment positively facilitates learning and which does not.

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TOPIC 2: METHODS OF INQUIRY IN PSYCHOLOGY

This refers to the difference methods of gathering information related to the process of education. Its
main objective is to develop skills and competencies in order to understand, control and predict the
behavior of learners at different levels of learning.

Methods:

1. Experimental research

In the method the process of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and
research plan mapped out. In experimental research, performance of the control group (Dependent
Variable; DV) and the experimental group (Independent Variable; IV) are compared. The aim of this
differential treatment is to discover if the (IV) has an effect on the behaviour in question (DV). In
experimental research, there are two types of experiments; laboratory and field experiments.

a) Laboratory experiment is one where the researcher arranges to carry out measurements on the
subjects in a specially isolated room or with apparatus that affords control over disturbances
like noise/other interviewing variables that may interfere with the behavior under study. In
laboratory experiment, the behaviour of the subject is observed outside its natural setting.
Laboratory method is also known as microscope method. For example, in operant conditioning,
Skinner confined the rats/pigeons in a box (Skinner box). The rats could be observed receiving
reinforcement after stepping on a mechanical lever. When dealing with human beings as
subjects, the laboratory observation takes many forms e.g. in studies on sensation and
perception human beings are confined in a dark or quiet room to study how the environment
affects them.

b) In field study method a researcher goes to the field to investigate the problem, to contact people
and visit the spot so that he has first-hand knowledge of the problem which he is to subject from
its natural habitat does not occur. The data is collected through observation so that the
interference with the natural behavior of the subject is minimized. The method is important for
problems which need first hand study.

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Advantages of experimental methods

a) Is not biased since the findings rely on experiments

b) Is objective since apparatus/machines are used.

c) The results can easily be replicated/verified.

d) Less time consuming

e) In field experiment there is no interference with the natural behavior of the subject

f) First-hand information is obtained.

Disadvantages of experimental methods

v Material and instruments involved are expensive.

v Require trained personnel with skills to handle the instruments.

v Laboratory setting may affect the behavioral patterns of the subject locked up in the laboratory.

v Difficult to change mental inclinations and attitude of the individual subjected to the laboratory
experiments.

v Difficult to carry out deeper analysis.

v Difficult to work in unhygienic conditions such as during heavy rainfalls in deserts, jungles or
during war.

v Some respondents may be un cooperate

2. Survey

In this method the researcher is expected to go to the field to conduct a survey about anything. It is
opposed to experimental method in the sense that, in this method there is no need to have controlled
situations. It is aimed at finding out relative incidence of certain variables in the entire population. In
survey research, small percentage of population called sample are studies extensively with a view to

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making predictions as to how the entire population is likely to behave. Sampling procedures are
therefore of great value in determining the outcome of a survey research. The method is used to study
social conditions, relationships and behaviour of people.

It uses interview and self-administered questionnaires as a method of data collection. It is used for
descriptive explanatory and analytical.

Advantages of survey method

v A large amount of data and information can be collected easily.

v When conducted properly, surveys can provide accurate results in relation to human behaviours
such as values, attitudes and beliefs of a large population.

v It also helps in organizing social data and also to preserve the unitary character of the subject
which is being studied.

Disadvantages of survey method

v With the use of sample to represent the entire population, it is practicable to go deeper into the
facts revealed in the survey.

v Is expensive in terms of resources and time.

v Special experience/skills are required to be conversant with study design, sampling techniques
and construction of the questionnaire.

v The subjects are lifted from social context to respond to the researcher’s questions in a manner
that may not be comparable with actual behavior, feelings and attitudes in real life situations.

3. Introspection

Introspection means self-observation. It involves looking within one self to experience one’s own mental
state. It was developed by structuralists who defined psychology as the study of conscious experiences
of the individual. Structural psychologist’s included Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Telchner. They referred
to psychology as a task that attempts to understand the structures of the mind and not its functions.

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They see behaviour as a whole. To them, introspection is a process of examining one’s own mental
process of thought, feelings and motives. Is the opposite of retrospection (replying back). Here the
individual introspects, observes, analyses and reports his/her own feelings.

Advantages of introspection

v Allows the individual to look into his/her own mind and report what he/she discovers i.e. it is
always first foremost and always.

v It is the easiest and the most readily available method to the individual i.e. involves no use of any
apparatus and at no cost.

v Deals directly with the nature of experience itself and the laws of mental process i.e. the
theoretical part of the laws and conditions of mental process.

v Has generated research resulting into the development of more objective research methods i.e.
has heuristic value.

Disadvantages of introspection

v It is difficult to introspect continually due to changing psychological experiences i.e.

introspection changes to retrospection.

v It’s not possible to expect an individual to attend to the workings of his own mind during a
mental process e.g. in an emotional state such as anger or fear.

v Data collected by introspection is highly subjective.

v Influence of pre- conceptions is always present i.e. the introspected can deliberately lie and hide
facts to mislead the experimenter.

v It cannot be applied to children, animals and abnormal people since it requires highly skilled and
trained workers to introspect.

v Introspection cannot introspect the introspective activity i.e. it cannot be the subject, action and
object at the same time.

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TOPIC 3: HUMAN FORMATION, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Introduction.

The single cell that is the beginning of human life is created when a sperm moves to fertilize an egg
(ovum). The sperm and ovum are collectively referred to as germ cells because they are the basis for
growth just like germinating flower seeds. Each of these germ cells contains 23 chromosomes, half the
usual number. Chromosomes are threadlike particles contained in the cell nucleus. Germ cells develop
in reproductive organs, namely, testis in male and ovaries in female. An average of about 100 million
sperms are produced in every 4-5 days whereas the ovaries contain an average of 400,000 eggs of
which 300-400 are released after every 28 days.

Genes are units of hereditary transmission that determine the traits that make each individual unique

Antenatal Growth

∙ Life begins at conception when the female ovum fuses with the male sperm after successful
coitus (successful sexual intercourse).
∙ The two cells (sperm and ovum), normally called gametes, fuse into a single cell called zygote.
∙ Each of the gametes has 23 chromosomes giving rise to 46 chromosomes that make up the
zygote.
∙ Consequently, a process of cell division called mitosis (multiplication of cells) starts. The
dividing cells get embedded on the uterine wall – a process called implantation. Meiosis –
division/duplication of ordinary body cells.
∙ Finger – like projections develop around the developing cluster and the liquid filled sac
(amniotic bag) enables the child to float.
∙ After 4 weeks, the finger – like projections interact with the cells of the uterus to form the

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 placenta and umbilical cord.
∙ After 270 days (40 weeks) the child is born.

Sex determination

1. The 23rd chromosomes of the female and male cells contain the sex and sex – related traits.
2. Normally the male gamete has XY chromosomes while the female has XX.
3. Fusion between male X and female X chromosomes result into a female offspring while fusion
between male Y and female X result in a male offspring.
4. It is therefore the man who determines the sex of the baby although he may have not control
over it.
5. Occasionally, the female may procedure two ripe ova and if these are fertilized by two separate
sperms, they develop into fraternal twin (none identical twins).
6. On the other hand, if a fertilized ovum splits into two cells that develop independently, the
resultant offspring are identical twins.
7. A study conducted by MacMillan (1971) and Stern (1973) found that the chance XY and XX is in
the ratio 60:40 i.e. for every 150 males conceived, there are 100 females.
8. However, males are miscarried more often during the 1st trimester (first 3 months) such that at
birth there are 106 male babies to 100 females. Why the difference?
1. The Y chromosome swims after faster because it is smaller and lighter unlike the X
chromosome which is larger and heavier.
2. The Y chromosome is more resistant to adverse bio-chemical conditions present in
the intra – uterine environment.

NB: Couples may conceive the desired sex by altering the bio – chemical conditions of the women’s
productive tract. Less acidic environment (alkaline) favours the conception of male babies.

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Definitions of terms: -

Growth

∙ It is the change in physical structure as a result of multiplication of cells

∙ It is the quantitative increase in size and structure.

Development

∙ It is the sequential and continuous process both quantitatively and qualitatively resulting into
integrating functions.
∙ It is achieved through growth and interaction with the environment.

Maturation

∙ It is the unfolding and ripening of the characteristics an potentialities present at birth.

∙ Maturation is determined by genes.
∙ Isatomical and chemical changes that instantly go on all the time in the individual. Has no
control.

Spermatozoa

∙ Greek meaning seed/living being.

∙ The Y gene in male sperm has small head and lighter compared to X gene in female sperm with
larger head and heavy. Thus the Y sperm swims faster, therefore stands higher chances to
fertilize the egg, but is not always the case;
∙ Lactic acid present in the Vagina may inhibit Y more than X sperm, although the sperm has a life
cycle of 48 hours in the female reproductive tract, but the male sperm may survive for about 6
hours.

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Ways of increasing chances of male sperm fertilization

∙ Need for abstinence to increase male sperm count.

∙
th
Timing of ovulation – in normal menstruation cycle of 28 days, ovulation takes place on the 14
-+ 2 days. To get a male offspring copulation should take place on the 14th day but not earlier or
later.
∙ Regulate the lactic acid by washing the vaginal tract.
∙ Apply deep penetration particularly during ejaculation.

WHY A TEACHER SHOULD STUDY DEVELOPMENT

1. Teachers deal with children from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds and
hence need to understand those children well.
2. Teachers deal with children with different characteristics at different stages of development
and thus need to understand those characteristics and know how best to deal with them.
3. A teacher is an agent of society and is responsible for bringing about desirable behaviour in
children.
4. A teacher is able to look at the past to explain the present and predict the future.
5. It gives an understanding of various experiences both at home and the immediate environment
and how these experiences can be harnessed to improve learning.
6. To know the potentialities as well as the capacities of every child.
7. An understanding of growth and development make guidance meaningful and effective.

PRINCIPLES GOVERNING DEVELOPMENT

i) Development is a product of the interaction between the individual and the environment i.e.
nature versus nurture.
ii) Development follows an orderly sequence – although different from individual to another, it is
similar. The main trends are:-
a) Cephalocaudal – development proceeds from the head towards the limbs.
b) Proximodistal – development proceeds from the centre (proximo: head 2nd week to 2nd
month) part of the body outwards (distal: limps appear in 8th week).
c) Locomotion – involves creeping, crawling, walking and running. Time may vary but the
sequence is the same for infants across cultures.
iii) Development is a continuous process which starts from conception to death. It is not always
smooth and gradual i.e. there are moments of spurts and lulls.

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 iv) development starts from bilateral to unilaterial e.g. up to 2 ½ years of age, the infant used both
hands with equal ease but after 2 ½ years hand preference starts.
v) Different aspects of development are interrelated i.e. a child’s early social behaviour is
interrelated with his/her physical development.
vi) Development is individualized process. Each child has his/her own rate of physical, mental,
emotional and social development
vii) Development is cumulative in nature. Each change is the culmination of prior growth and
experience. There is no suddenness.
viii) Development proceeds from general to the specific e.g. a newly born baby only communicates
through crying but later on will indicate the source of discomfort.
ix) Rate of development differs in male and female child i.e. girls mature earlier than boys.

PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT

a) Development as maturation
Physical changes are important for development to take place. Teachers must therefore plan different
learning activities for learners depending on their level of maturity.

b) Development as learning
Development is an accumulation of learning experiences which an individual acquires in the process of
his/her interaction with the environment.

c) Development as synthesis
Development is not a single process but a series of events e.g. according to Jean Piaget, it involves: -

-Maturation -Experiences -Social Transmission- Equilibration – i.e. assimilation, and

- Accommodation of the experience.

TOPIC 4: DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

Definition

The term is derived from Greek word “persona” which means a mask worn by Greek actors to create an
impression to the audience. Personality is a unique pattern of psychological and physical process which
controls ones behavior, thoughts and makes one distinctly different.

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Catell, R.B. (1970) defines personality as that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a
given situation. Personality is concerned with all the behavior of the individual both over and under the
skin, public and private, intrinsic and extrinsic dispositions. Catell views personality as a complex and
differentiated structure of traits (continuous dimensions of a person’s variability). Catell divided traits
into three modalities;

Dynamic traits- those that sets an individual into action towards some goal

Ability traits- concerned with the effectiveness with which an individual reaches a goal.

Temperament traits- concerned with the constitutional aspects of ones response to a situation such as
speed, emotional reactivity, mood swings etc

Gordon Wilard Allport (1937) defines personality as the dynamic organization within the individual of
those psycho-physical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment.

Key elements in Allport,s definition of personality include;

Dynamic organization emphasizes that fact that personality is constantly developing and at the same
time there is a system that binds it together and relates various components of personality.

Pyscho-physical implies that personality is either exclusively mental or exclusively neural.

Determine means that personality is made up of determining tendencies that play an active role in the
individual’s behavior, i.e personality is something and does something.

Allport presented the structure of personality in terms of traits (neuro-psychic structures that have the
capacity to stimulate both adaptive and expressive behavior and enduring characteristics like mental
(creativity), social (obedience) and physical (physique). He developed a list of 3,000 trait like words
which he organized into 3 level traits namely;

Cardinal trait- Is the trait that is dominant and shapes the person’s behavior. It is rear in that most people
lack a single theme that shapes their lives. Individuals with cardinal trait are highly focused, driven and
motivated towards pursuance of a particular goal in life e.g. Wangari Maathai’s commitment for green
environment, Mandela’s commitment to see a united and free South Africa.

Central trait- Is the general character found in some degree in every person. They are the basic building
blocks that shape most of our behavior though is not overwhelming like cardinal traits. They include
honesty, obedience, patience and trust.

Secondary trait- Are characteristics seen only in certain circumstances, they provide a complete picture
of human complexity.

Components of personality developed by Guilford (1979)

Morphology- the body structure or external appearance, it gives clues of levels of temperament

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(endomorphic, mesomorphic and ectomorphic).

Physiology- concerns heart rate, glandular secretion, bile secretion etc. A person is described as
restless, impulsive or nervous basing on physiological functions.

Interest- Generalized behavior or attraction towards certain activities.

Attitudes- it is a tendency to favor or not favor certain social objects, events etc.

Needs-the tendency to strive towards need satisfactions

Aptitude- it is the tendency to perform at a certain level of excellence. Individuals have different levels of
aptitude hence favor certain types of activities.

Temperament-it is the tendency to react in a certain manner to a situation e.g. being cheerful,
withdrawal, depressed, sociability etc.

Determinants of Personality

a)Biological/nature/genetic factors

-Heredity/genetic traits sets the foundation for personality development, i.e sex, temperament, muscle
composition and biological rhymes

-Body physique, a person’s body structure determines personality. Short and fat (endomorph, sociable
even tempered relax), heavily built /muscular (mesomorph, aggressive, assertive, risk takers), slender/
fragile (ectomorph, linear, nervous, introverted, restrained), hair colour, red- short tempered, hostile,
slanted eyes, shy; disabled, hostile, egocetric etc.

-Body chemistry, levels of temperament is due to chemical elements in different people. Nervous
personality is due to excess nervous fluid, sanguine thought to have excess blood, choleric, excess bile,
phlegmatic excess phlegma and melancholic excess spleen

-Inherited disorders caused by chromosomal anomalies results to Down syndrome, klinefelter, Turner’s
syndrome etc.

b) Environmental/nurture factors

- Culture; the values, norms, beliefs passed through the socialization process. Sex roles teach the girls to
be submissive while the boys are taught to be assertive and aggressive. Similarly societal stereotypes
greatly influence the character/personality of an individual.

- Home environment/ family; family warmth, support and nurturance may determine the kind of
experiences that influence personality development. abusive parents may lead to the development of
children with low self-esteem, insecure with aggressive tendencies on the other hand authoritative

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parents with warm receptivity lead to development of an individual who have high self-esteem,
controlled temperament and stable/predictable. The birth order is presumed to influence an individual’s
personality; first borns are likely to be independent, assertive authoritarian, mean and conservative.
Second borns are likely to be sociable, outgoing and cooperative. Last borns are likely to be lazy,
uncooperative, and irresponsible, dependent and mean. Similarly an only child is normally mean,
uncooperative and attention seekers.

- School; autocratic administration may produce aggressive, hostile individuals. Bullying in schools may
lead to development of low self-esteem. A democratic atmosphere may lead to cooperative,
self-controlled and decisive individuals.

- Religion; religious affiliations/experiences may impact an individual’s personality. Consider the

conversion of Saul to Paul.

- Peer influence, peers act as models for both desirable and undesirable behavior. The formation of
cliques and gangs and the desire to belong to a popular group makes individuals to behave in a
particular manner.

- Mass media; individuals emulate the celebrities as depicted in the movies adverts etc.

- Physical environment, situational/ work environment; harsh environment may lead to a hostile,
short-tempered and warlike individual. Crowded homes or workplace may generate individualism,
tension, anxiety etc.

Personality traits

Personality traits may be described as the general permanent personality characteristics that an
individual may exhibit. According to Allport, Cattell and Eysenk there is a tendency to label an individual
based on a specific mode of behavior which he displays in a wide variety of circumstances.
Psychologists tend to categorize personality traits into three, Introverts, extroverts and ambiverts.

i. Introverts

∙ Inward looking and focus on their own thoughts and feelings.

∙ They live in the future and value their own personal standards.

∙ Interested in the forces of nature, good at making discoveries.

∙ They are cautious.

∙ They like details are withdrawn, shy and generally avoid people. Most scientists and
philosophers are generally introverts.

ii. Extroverts

∙ Outgoing, social, friendly and carefree.

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 ∙ Respond immediately to the stimuli/act on the spur of the moment/impulsive.

∙ They are emotionally spontaneous and impulsive. They are talkative, live in the present
and value possessions and success.

∙ They are interested in the visible, tangible world of concrete reality.

∙ They are practical; action oriented and easily makes decisions.

∙ They choose occupations that allow close association with people e.g. social workers,
politician, teachers etc.

iii. Ambiverts

∙ They are neither extroverts nor introverts. They exhibit both characteristics dependent on
the situation.

∙ They are more of a mixture of introversion and extroversion.

Theories of Personality

a) Erik Erikson theory of psycho-social development

The theory emphasizes the interaction of the child with the society. It concerns the following;

-Imposition of the social controls

-Acquisition of what is expected

The way the world will treat the child and the he or she will respond to the world.

Erickson (1963) proposes that a person goes through eight stages in the process of development from
infancy to old stage as follows:

1. Basic trust vs. Mistrust. (0-2yrs)

The child is confronted with the crisis termed trust versus mistrust. It depends upon the mother or
caretaker for satisfaction of its need. The way the child is nourished, handled protected and kept safe
and comfortable at this stage may provide the baby with a sense of security or insecurity, a feeling of
trust and mistrust in the mother, caretaker and environment.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. (2-4yrs)

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The child engages in exploring his environment with its strength and limitations for achieving a sense of
autonomy or independence. Children that are denied the opportunity to develop a sense of independence
by over-protective, harsh or restrictive parents begins to doubt their ability and begin to feel
embarrassed or ashamed in the presence of others. The child need to be helped to strike a balance
between conflicting needs of his social environment in order to acquire a sense of autonomy and a
sense of doubt and shame for adequate development of his personality.

3. Initiative vs. Guilt (4-6yrs)

Initiative indicates that the child feels sure enough of itself to undertake positive action of its own e.g.
dress oneself and feed oneself). Failure to solve problems at this stage of autonomy will delay initiative
or create guilt and fear.

4. Industry vs. Inferiority (6-11yrs)

If the initiative was successfully solved, the child will produce action and develop attributes of industry.
Feeling of inferiority develop when the child fear all tasks and withdraws his energies from the tasks.

5. Identity vs. Role confusion. (12-19 yrs- Adolescence) The adolescent enters a stage in which the key
problems are identity and role clarity. He no longer knows who he is and what role he is to play until he
resolves this; he or she goes through a phase of confusion. Role confusion hampers a sense of identity.

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (20-45yrs- early adulthood)

After being aware of his own identity, he is in a position to establish an intimate relationship with
someone of the opposite sex. Failure to achieve intimacy leads to feelings of isolation. Majority may
resort to suicide attempts, aggressive behavior etc.

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation (45-65 yrs - Middle adulthood)

The stage involves the achievement of a productive, creative, helping personality. One also generates
and fulfills roles e.g. teaching, counseling, and helping. With stagnation, generativity does not take place.

8. Ego-integrity vs. Despair (65+yrs- old age)

One has a wide view of self. Is about understanding of what you are and what you have done. The
individual appreciates others efforts without feeling inadequate, embarrassed or inferior. With ego
integrity, one openly declares and talks of life well spend while without any achievement to look at,
despair reigns as old age advances.

Educational implications

Bonding and attachment between parents and infants helps infants to develop a sense of security, they
are likely to be sociable and make friends easily. This assists the learner adjust to the school and

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classroom situation.

The teacher should facilitate learner’s initiative to deter the development of guilt and inhibition. Allow the
learner to choose activities to engage in. The teacher should be reserved in rebuking the learner in order
to facilitate freedom of exploration for learning purposes.

Teachers should create chance for the learner to experience success in a learning activity. For instance
set questions of varying difficult levels to accommodate the slow learners and the gifted learner this is
likely to enhance industry.

During the adolescent stage the learner experiences identity crisis/confusion therefore the teacher
ought to offer guidance, friendship and genuine concern. Assist the learner to explore goals and
opportunities in careers, hobbies, sports, music and clubs. The adolescent should be encouraged to
think independently and to take responsibility of the consequences of their actions. This may assist the
learner to cope with challenges associated with the stage and therefore develop a healthy, mature and
integrated personality.

Teachers should train the learner to assist others and contribute to the well-being of others within the
class, school and outside the school. The teachers should be good role models for the learner to
emulate.

b) Psychoanalytic Theory

Personality is driven by psychic energy present at early years of growth and development and instinctual
characteristics namely life instinct (eros) and death instinct (thanatos). Freud proposed the structure of
personality as id, ego and superego.

1) Id: is present at birth, primitive, instinctual, childish and unconscious portion of personality that obeys
the pleasure principle and avoidance of painful experiences. It is characterized by irrational, illogical
demands, and emotional reactions e.g. a child crying when certain needs are not met.

2) Ego: Develops due to socialization. It mediates between the id, the superego and the reality. It is
governed by reality principle. It withholds the demands of the Id until they are gratified in socially
acceptable and legitimate ways e.g. a person should rationalize before acting to fulfill certain needs. It
acts like the executive/ traffic controller by mediating, executing and reconciliatory functions between
the id and superego.

3) Superego: Is the third and highest level of personality which contains both self and society rules of
conduct. Superego has two parts namely; the stern conscious acquired from parents through
socialization and the second is the self-ideal acquired through interaction with the society. It is guided
by morality principle, working like internal parent.

It is formed when the child learns to identify with parents and society members. It incorporates and

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idealizes notions of what the parents are like i.e. strive to meet set of socially approved behaviors, i.e. it
functions like social conscience hence when one is guilt learns to seeks forgiveness. The superego
demands that ego and id obey ethical standards no matter how stern they may be. It expects perfection
and obedience to establish moral codes. The values, beliefs attitudes and morality a person learns from
his parents become internalized and forms part of his philosophy of life and personality.

Psycho-sexual stages of Personality Development

Freud came with five stages of psycho-sexual development.

1. Oral stage (0-1 year)

At birth the child’s mouth is the principal region of pleasure. Most of the child’s activities are centered
around the mouth. Sucking of breasts, fingers and tongue are pleasurable activities. Depending on the
fixation at this stage the child grows into an adult with oral personality characteristics like having desire
for smoking, eating, drinking, chewing gum, and being sarcastic etc.

2. Anal stage (1-3 years)

The Child’s stimulation is focused on elimination functions through either holding back (anal
retentiveness) or anal expulsion of body wastes. Fixation (conflict that persists beyond the development
period in which they first occur) it may occur under strict toilet training. This may result to over
perfectionism, stinginess, overly neat etc. If toilet training was liberal, the child grows to become an adult
who is generous, creative, and productive. Persons who fixated at this stage may exhibit unusual rigidity,
orderliness, punctuality or sloppiness (messiness)

3. Phallic stage (3-5 years)

It is the third and final stage of infantile sexuality. Masturbation begins during this stage. The boys play
with their genital organs and develop sexual interest with the mother. This is referred to as Oedipus
complex. Because of fear of castration by the father identification with the father develops. Fixation may
lead to an adult who hates men, becomes gay, develop aggressive activities like fighting etc.

The girl learns that she lacks the penis. This makes her develop penis envy as she feels inferior. She
perceives her mother as a love rival and longs to overthrow her so that she takes over the father for
sexual relationship (Electra complex). Fixation leads to desire for lesbianism, castration of men and
general hatred for women. Failure to be gratified at this stage may lead to improper sexual role
behaviors and failure to develop conscience may occur.

4. Latency stage (5 years - puberty)

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Sexual instincts remain dormant with the lowering of libido. The focus is shifted to acquisition of cultural
skills and identification with gender roles. Children play with same gender children.

5. Genital stage (Adolescence)

Sexual interests are awakened towards member of opposite sex. It is the beginning of adult sexuality.
Adolescents develop heterosexual relationships. Identification with opposite gender persons, engage in
career and marital plans.

Ego Defence Mechanisms

A Defence mechanism is a strategy people use unconsciously to safeguard themselves against threats
on their personality/ a habitual method of overcoming unpleasant circumstances, reaching goals,
satisfying motives, relieving frustration and maintaining equilibrium. Individuals use ego defence
mechanisms in the face of a psychological threat. While it is normal to use Defence mechanisms once in
a while, overreliance on the mechanisms may not augur well to the individual’s mental/psychological
health/well-being.

∙ Denial

It is the rejection of an intolerable reality by denying its existence.

∙ Projection

It is where an individual blames others for their personal shortcomings/failures e.g the student
blames the teacher for his/her failure of the exams.

∙ Rationalization

It is where the individual justifies their beliefs/actions by giving reasons other than those which
motivated them. Sour grapes approach is whereby when an individual fails to attain a cherished
goal they assign a negative attribute to the goal e.g ‘passing an exam is not classy’ after failing a
test. The sweet lemon approach is where an unsatisfactory/bitter outcome is sweetened to
maintain a psychological balance e.g. ‘After all I will still earn’.

∙ Compensation

It is the tendency to make up a deficiency in one area by excelling in another given area e.g. a
week student in class being active in sports.

∙ Overcompensation

It refers to where the individual makes exaggerated efforts to conceal a weakness.

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 ∙ Repression

It is an attempt by an individual to push in the unconscious unpleasant/ painful

experiences/thoughts. Events /thoughts that make one feel inferior, ashamed, guilty or anxious
are repressed.

∙ Regression

It is a relapse to childish behavior in the face of a threatening situation/frustrating

circumstances e.g. temper tantrums in adults.

∙ Reaction formation

It is also called reversal formation. It involves expressing the opposite of what we actually feel e.
g. a man who subconsciously dislikes the mother goes to a great extend to show concern and
care to cover up the fact that inwardly he really doesn’t like her, a situation where the superego
condemns/moralizes against.

∙ Displacement

This is where unacceptable feelings about a person/situation are transferred from their true
target to safe target on which ones frustration or anger can be safely vented e.g. angry with your
boss vent your spleen on your wife or children.

∙ Sublimation

This entails channeling our perceived irrational/socially unacceptable energy into a

constructive/ creative activity e.g. channeling our aggressive tendencies into aggressive sports
like rugby.

∙ Fantasy

This is a situation where an individual retreats into daydreaming to alleviate anxiety/ frustration.

∙ Hysteria

Sudden physical ailment or disability sets in when in a conflict/difficult circumstance e.g.

Uncontrolled shaking during exam, blindness, or loss of voice.

Educational implications of psycho-analytic theory

∙ Find out as much background information on children which may assist in understanding their
behavior.

∙ Encourage children to express their feeling and concerns in order to reduce anxiety and
discomfort.

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 ∙ Assist the students to use their ego and superego in decision making i.e. where there is a
temptation to fight, steal or gratify a need let them reason with themselves.

∙ Train the students to use their ego and superego in the acquisition of values, strong characters
and morals.

∙ Advocacy to protect children from painful/traumatic experiences during early childhood years
because they are likely to interfere with their personality/proper development in later years.

∙ Students who over rely on Defence mechanism should be assisted to accept reality and be
equipped with coping skills.

Personality disorders

The tern personality disorder is also referred to as psychological disorder/abnormal psychology.

It refers to maladaptive behavior that is detrimental to the individual and society. Personality
disorder represents all the traits that deviate negatively from the societal norms. It worth noting
that there is something abnormal in all normal people (McMahon, McMahon & Romano, 1995).
Personality disorders can be grouped into two categories, neurotic and psychotic disorders.

Neurosis

This is an emotional disturbance characterized by exaggerated use of avoidance behavior and

Defence mechanism against anxiety. It is considered a mild personality disorder which can be
managed by medical intervention. There are different types of neurotic disorders.

Anxiety neurosis/disorder

It is a general feeling of worry and apprehension. It is the most common neurotic condition.
Free-floating anxiety is a condition where an individual is afraid but cannot point out the real
cause. Symptoms of anxiety are sweaty palms, constriction of throat, erratic breathing,
palpitation of the heart and general perspiration.

These may be accompanied with insomnia, loss of appetite and inability to calm down. Types of
anxiety disorders;

∙ Panic disorder; it is a type of anxiety disorder in which one cannot relax and is plagued by
frequent and overwhelming attacks of anxiety. This may be associated with long term period of
feeling insecure and helpless. It is associated with a physical or chemical defect in an individual.

∙ Phobic disorders; it is a type of anxiety in which a person becomes disabled and overwhelmed
by fear in the presence of certain objects or circumstances. Specific phobia is centered on a
particular object or situation. Agoraphobia refers to the fear of leaving a familiar environment.

∙ Obsessive-compulsive disorder; obsession refers to an endless preoccupation with some type of

urge or thought while compulsion is a ritualized behavior that a person repeatedly acts out.

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 Obsessive-compulsive disorder refers to a situation where an individual has recurring thoughts
(obsession) about performing a certain act over and over (compulsion).

∙ Post-traumatic stress disorder; it is an anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to

traumatizing or terrifying ordeal. The victim of such events feels intense fear, horror or
helplessness. Victims of rape, war, PEV, natural calamities, death of a loved one. The victims
have distressing thoughts, unwanted images and nightmares in relation to the traumatic
experience.

Mood disorders

∙ Depression; It is a category of neurotic disorder characterized by ones depressive or manic

emotional state. Dysthymic disorder refers to a moderate form of depression; symptoms include
lethargy (lack of energy), general unhappiness, loss of interest in activities and people, loss of
sense of humor and feelings of low self-worth. Severe depression is characterized by an
extremely low emotional state; the symptoms include low appetite, insomnia, lethargy, sense of
hopelessness, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts.

∙ Mania; this is a mood disorder characterized by extreme agitation, restlessness, rapid speech
and poor concentration. Some individuals may have delusions that they have special power or
influence.

∙ Bipolar disorders; the individual exhibits manic depression, it is characterized by swing between
depression and mania.

Causes of mood disorders

Chemical defect in the brain, it has been established that serotonin a brain chemical that
activate the brain in normal people. Manics tend to have higher content of serotonin while
depressives commonly have a low content.

Psychotic disorders

It is a severe mental disorder characterized by difficulty in emotional responses, disorganized

thought process and distorted perceptions of the world. Symptoms of psychosis are; serious
distortion of mental processes (thought disorder), seeing or hearing things that are not there
(hallucinations), inaccurate beliefs about themselves (delusion) and inappropriate emotional
responses e.g. no response to an interesting event/laugh at tragic events. Schizophrenic
disorders;

∙ Schizoid personality disorder; symptoms, few social relationship lead a solitary life, odd and
eccentric behavior, they may exhibit catatonic behavior which is characterized by peculiar
postures or stupor.

∙ Schizotypal personality disorder/paranoid schizophrenia; symptoms, unable to form

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 interpersonal relationships, cognitive/perceptual distortions, eccentric behavior e.g. weird
apparel, exaggerated emotions, persecution syndrome and delusion of grandeur.

Other personality disorder

∙ Antisocial personality disorder/sociopath/psychopath; the individual is constantly in conflict

with the law and seem to have no consciences. They are liable to committing heinous crimes
without any indication of concern, guilt or anxiety.

∙ Borderline/ histrionic personality disorders; symptoms, dramatics/piercing their bodies,

emotional and erratic behavior, tremendous need for attention from others, dressing unusually,
self-destructive behavior to manipulate others.

Factors influencing personality disorders

∙ Environmental factors; family atmosphere of brutal alcoholic parents, abusive parenting,

neglected children etc.

∙ Hereditary factors, genetic/biological influence.

∙ Chemical factor abnormally high dopamine has been detected in schizophrenics while serotonin
is associated with mania and depression.

Interventions

∙ Mild tranquilizers may be used in some cases of neurosis.

∙ Psychotherapy can be used to assist individuals suffering from obsessive-compulsive and

neurotic anxiety.

∙ Use of antidepressants and tranquilizers for manic-depressive reactions alongside

electroconvulsive treatment.

∙ Coping/life-skills for PTSD, exposure therapy, cognitive therapy (change irrational thoughts &
beliefs)

∙ Spiritual therapy.

Educational implications

Teachers should be aware of the symptoms of the personality disorders identified in order to
institute relevant intervention. Mild conditions can be handled at school level through guidance and
counseling while severe cases may be referred for medical intervention and psychotherapy. The
teacher provides relevant information about the conditions to the school community so that they
may appropriate interact with individuals who may exhibit such characteristics/reduce

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 stigmatization. They can organize support and advocacy groups to stand up for individuals with
personality disorders within and outside school.

TOPIC 5: LEARNING

Nature and definition of Learning

Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior (motor, cognitive and affective) due to
experience and practice.

∙ It comprises a change in behavior.

∙ It may be overt/ covert.

∙ The change in behavior may be of enduring nature.

∙ It depends on experience and practice.

Types of learning

Classical/respondent learning/conditioning

It is based on Ivan Pavlov’s stimulus-response experiment/theory. According to the theory individuals

learn to associate neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus. This leads to the individual responding to
the neutral stimulus as if it is the meaningful stimulus. Learning therefore occurs due to association. In
Pavlov’s case the dog learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food and therefore salivated with
no food in sight when the bell was rung.

Before conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) food Unconditioned response (UCR)

Salivating

Neutral stimulus (bell) no response (no salivating)

During conditioning

Neutral stimulus (bell) + UCS (food) UCR (salivating)

After conditioning

Conditioned stimulus (CS) bell Conditioned response (CR) salivating

Factors influencing classical conditioning

i) Greater conditioning results from a greater intensity of the UCS and greater pairing of the CS and UCS
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ii) Conditioning is greater when the interval between the CS and UCS is shorter. Stimulus generalization
occurs when there is conditioned response to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.

iii) Extinction occurs through the gradual disappearance of the conditioned response when the
conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without being paired with the unconditioned stimulus.
Extinction inhibits but does not eliminate CR,

iv) Spontaneous recovery occurs in the case where CS is reintroduced and the CR is elicited.

Principles of classical conditioning

∙The principle of reinforcement indicates that positive reinforcement is necessary for conditioning to
take place.

∙The principle of extinction indicates that when the reinforcement is withdrawn then the leant
response disappears/weakens.

∙ Principle of spontaneous recovery which points out that a learnt response can reappear without
the presence of reinforcement.

∙ Principle of stimulus generalization involves the dog responding to another similar stimulus in
the same way it responded to the conditioning stimulus.

∙ Principal of discrimination refers to the ability to discriminate/differentiate between different

stimuli and only respond to a specific stimulus.

∙ Principle of reconditioning refers to the process whereby a response that has been completely
forgotten is brought back by training or conditioning again.

Educational applications

∙ Create a warm, loving and caring atmosphere in the classroom to facilitate learning.

∙ Use interesting and appealing methods and situations to reduce learners fear and dislike of
certain subjects and topics.

∙ Teachers should avoid beating/abusing children this leads to fear and dislike of subjects
associated with the teachers.

∙ The principle of generalization can be used to help learner transfer knowledge, skills and
attitudes from one topic to another or one subject to another.

∙ The principle of discrimination between stimuli can be used to assist children in

differentiation between concepts.

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 ∙ The principle of extinction indicates that the teacher should continuously reinforce what has
been learnt through constant revision and exercises.

∙ Undesirable behavior can be eliminated by discontinuing conditioned stimulus.

Operant conditioning theory

It is also referred to as instrumental conditioning. The theory is based on the work B. F.

skinner who argued that some forms of human behavior can be occasioned by another type
of conditioning. Emphasis is put on the work done (operation) to get a particular response.
Operant learning is a process that makes it more likely for a behavior to be performed again
by the use of reinforcement. Reinforcement is a process of strengthening a behavior so that
the behavior occurs more frequently. Positive reinforcement entails presenting a pleasant
stimulus (rat stepping on a lever and food drops into the box) or a word of praise to a learner
for exhibiting the desired behavior, while negative reinforcement entails the removal of a
painful/ unpleasant stimulus which results in the increase of the occurrence of a behavior
(rat stepping on the lever to turn off an electric shock) e.g. a learner doing the assignment to
avoid being scolded.

Factors to be considered in reinforcement

∙ Primary reinforcers are rewarding in themselves, all things that satisfy the basic needs are
primary reinforcers e.g. food, water air etc.

∙ Secondary reinforcers are those whose value have to be learned through association with
other reinforcers e.g. money.

∙ Continuous reinforcement; a desired response is reinforced every time it occurs however it

is a rare phenomenon in real life.

∙ Partial/intermittent reinforcement; this entails reinforcing some desired behavior while at

other times no reinforcement is given for the same behavior. Though partial reinforcement
tends to slow down learning it produces persistence reducing a likelihood of extinction.
There are four types of partial reinforcement: fixed interval schedule, fixed ratio schedule,
variable interval schedule and variable ratio interval schedule. Fixed interval schedule;
reinforcement is presented after a standard interval or time e.g. after every two weeks. Fixed
ratio schedule; reinforcement after a specific number of responses e.g. every time one gets
10 sums correct. Variable interval schedule; reinforcer comes after a time period of
unpredictable length e.g. CATs given without warning. Variable-ratio interval schedule;
reinforcement comes after an unpredictable number of responses e.g. sometimes a reward
for doing 10 sums next time for 20 sums and next for 15sums etc.

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 Educational application

∙ Teachers should reward the learner for exhibiting a desired response or behavior. Verbal
praises should be given for answering a question or participating in a classroom activity.

∙ Teachers ought to show empathy and approval for the learner; this encourages the
learner to be responsive to school activity.

∙ New forms of learning should be continuously reinforced while mastery of a skill should
be subjected to partial reinforcement.

∙ The teacher should prepare well for the lessons and present the subject matter in an
interesting style which acts as reinforcement to the learners.

∙ Instructional objectives must always be written in measurable and behavioral terms.

∙ Reinforcement should be immediate in order to have an effect on behavior e.g. feedback

on exams or CATs and immediate revisions assists in the learning process.

Observational learning theory

It is also referred to as social learning/learning through modeling. The advocates of observational

learning are Bandura, Dollard and Miller. In this process learning results from watching a model perform
a behavior. Learning by observation or modeling can lead to the development of new behavior or
changing the frequency of already learned behavior. Research has demonstrated that children are more
likely to do what they have observed models in society do i.e. parents, teachers, siblings, movie actors
etc.

Factors facilitating social learning

∙ Attention; it entails the person seeing, hearing and experiencing the behavior to make it part of
him/herself.

∙ Storage of the behavior in memory so that it can be recalled at will.

∙ Practicing or repeating the behavior observed facilitates mastery of the behavior/skill.

∙ Vicarious reinforcement; if an individual observes the model being rewarded for a particular of
the behavior then they may imitate the behavior that was rewarded.

∙ Identification with a role models behavior, attitudes, systems of values and beliefs which may be
adopted as guiding principles of life.

∙ Status of the role model; people of higher status and who are in a position to punish or reward
are more likely to be modeled than people of low status.

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 ∙ A nurturant role model perceived to be warm, friendly, considerate and caring is more likely to be
modeled than a model that is uncaring and indifferent.

Educational application

∙ Parents and teachers need to be good role models in all areas they should be constantly aware
that children copy the dressing, walking and talking styles.

∙ Teachers should invite good role models preferably from the community to come to school for
motivational and inspirational talks.

∙ Parents and teachers need to be caring and nurturant to facilitate proper modeling and learning.
Learners are likely to understand better subjects of teachers they admire and are role models

∙ Subjects deemed to be a challenge to girl students such as mathematics and physics should
have female teachers to act as models.

∙ Learners can be put in groups to demonstrate to each other the skills/behavior that is to be
learned.

∙ Unacceptable behavior ought to be reprimanded openly to facilitate observational learning

similarly acceptable behavior should be rewarded openly for the same reason.

Cognitive learning theory

According to the cognitive theory the thoughts and interpretation of information received from the
environment produces behavior. Jean Piaget a recognized cognitive theorist held the view that people
organize their thoughts to make sense and adapt their thinking to include new ideas and experiences
and provide additional information. Gestalt psychologists such as Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Lewin and Kurt
Koffka criticized behaviorists for being too dependent on overt behavior to explain learning. According to
cognitive theorists learning is the organization of sensations and perceptions into meaningful
information. Insight, mental pictures and cognitive maps are key aspects in cognitive learning theory.

Learning by insight involves understanding of the problem which comes as a result of grasping the
interrelationship of what is being perceived from the environment. Insight in essence is a sudden and
often novel realization of the solution to a problem. Kohler illustrated the principle of learning by insight
using a chimpanzee called Sultan who was placed in a cage. A short stick was placed inside the cage,
outside the cage was placed a long stick followed by a banana that were out of reach of the chimps
arms. At first the chimp tried to use the short stick to reach the banana to pull it in but it was
unsuccessful. The chimp then dropped the short stick and paused to survey the situation. Then
suddenly in the “Aha” moment it jumped up grabbed the short stick and used it to pull in the long stick
which it used to reach the banana. It is observed that once a problem is solved through insight, transfer

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of the knowledge to a similar situation is highly probable/likely.

Educational application

∙ Teachers should use examples and diagrams to illustrate points during class sessions to
facilitate learning by insight formation of cognitive maps.

∙ Teachers can employ the Socratic method of questioning to encourage thinking and reasoning
among the learners e.g. Mark 12:13-17(paying taxes to Caesar).

∙ Learner to be given an opportunity for trial and error alongside analysis of results to establish
the appropriate steps in solving a given problem.

∙ Give learners hints and clues and let them figure out the procedure to solve the problem.

∙ The teacher should carry out many demonstrations to illustrate the procedure and let the learner
try out.

∙ Learner should be provided with a natural environment to explore and learn through experience.
Learner should be provided with an environment that challenges them in order to develop their
problem solving skills.

∙ Teachers should ensure that the learning activities are commensurate with the learner’s age.
The learning activities should captivate the learner’s imagination helping the learner to remain
focused.

∙ Teachers ought to integrate testing with the task and not treat testing as a separate activity.

∙ Teachers should encourage divergent thinking among learners by impressing on them the fact
that there are many ways of arriving at a solution. Reflective thinking should also be
encouraged, in order for the learner to understand their own thinking process.

∙ The teacher ought to create a variety of experiences so that the learner can develop a clear
picture of the multiple representation of reality and facilitate the acquisition of many concepts.

Factors affecting learning

∙ Heredity lays the foundation of intellectual potential. Children inherit different intellectual
abilities/talents from their parents. Children may also inherit disorders which may interfere with
their learning.

∙ Individual differences in terms of intelligence and talents, sex differences (girls considered
better in verbal skills while boys are better in spatial skills). Age difference, different exposure,
difference in attention span and temperament. Difference in learning styles (auditory learners,
visual learners and kinesthetic learners).

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 ∙ Maturation; less effort is required when learning is matched to maturation level or introduced
just before the level appropriate level of maturation.

∙ Learning readiness, the psychological, social and emotional preparedness of a child/individual

may impact learning e.g. joining school/university too early.

∙ Motivation and incentives; use of praise, approval and rewards. A motivated individual learns
more easily.

∙ Remembering and forgetting influenced by intelligence, nature of what is learnt how it was learnt
and the significance attached to what was learnt.

∙ Social and physical environment of the family; nutrition status, access to medical services, love
and security parenting styles etc.

∙ The social and physical environment of the school; facilities available, cordial/hostile teacher
student relationships, cordial/hostile student-student relationship.

Transfer of learning

McMahon, McMahon and Romano (1995) describe transfer of learning as a learning process in which
learning/leant skill/knowledge is moved from one task to another based on similarities of the tasks. It
entails the influence of past learning on subsequent learning and performance in a new situation.

Types of transfer of learning

∙ Positive transfer; this is a situation where learning in one task is applied to another similar task/
learning a particular skill in a specific task assists in doing another similar task.

∙ Negative transfer refers to a situation where learning a particular task hinders or interferes with
learning a new task or interferes with an already learned task.

∙ Near transfer refers to transfer of skills and knowledge between similar contexts.

∙ Far transfer refers to transfer of skills and knowledge between contexts that appear unrelated.

∙ Low road transfer refers to developing/learning some knowledge or skill such that it becomes
automatic for example playing a keyboard/steering a car. It is common on learning motor skills.

∙ High road transfer involves cognitive understanding and conscious analysis and application of

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 strategies to different situations.

∙ Vertical transfer refers to the state where knowledge of previous topic/skill/information is

essential to learn a new topic.

∙ Horizontal transfer is the state where knowledge of a previous topic is not essential but helpful
to learn new topic.

∙ Literal transfer is an intact knowledge transfer to a new task; the learned skill or knowledge does
not require modification to be applied to the new task.

∙ Figural transfer entails the use of modified skill/general knowledge to learn about a problem; it
entails figuring out how the knowledge/skill one has can be applied in the current
situation/adjusted to solve a current problem.

TOPIC 6: MEMORY AND FORGETTING

Definition of memory and forgetting

Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain and later retrieve
information. Forgetting refers to an increase in errors when trying to bring material back from
memory. Forgetting typically involves a failure in memory retrieval, the information may be in
your long term memory but you are unable to retrieve and remember. Remembering may be
defined as the process of retrieving from memory what was learnt.

Processes of memory storage

The three key processes involved in memory are encoding, storage and retrieval. Atkinson-
Schifrin (1968) outlines three stages of memory; sensory memory, short term memory, and long
term memory.

Sensory memory

It is the earliest stage of memory. Sensory information from the environment is stored for a very
brief period of time approximately half-second for visual information and 3 or 4 seconds for
auditory information. Attention is paid to certain aspects of sensory memory allowing some
information to transit to the next stage- short term memory.

Short term memory

It is also referred to as active/working memory. It refers to the information that is in the current
awareness. Paying attention to the sensory memories generates the information in the short
term memory. Most of the information stored in active memory will be kept for approximately 0
to 30 seconds. While most of the short term memories are quickly forgotten, attending to the

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 information allows it to continue to the next stage-long term memory.

Long term memory

Long term memory refers to the continuing storage of information. The information is largely
outside the awareness but can be called into working memory to be used when needed. Some of
the information is fairly easy to recall while other memories are much more difficult to access.

Factors affecting forgetting

∙ Lack of attention. Failure to concentrate and focus on the relevant information leads to poor
encoding thereby inhibiting the retrieval of the information later on.

∙ Poor motivation and lack of interest in the information leads to poor encoding, consequently the
storage of the information is ineffective and the retrieval of the information is likely to be
impeded.

∙ Infrequent retrieval/ use of the information. If the information is not constantly retrieved for use
it may increase the rate of forgetting.

∙ Absence of cues in the current situation.

∙ Continuous/mass learning which results in an overload of information.

∙ Anxiety levels; learning in an environment that heightens anxiety may interferes with the
encoding process

Theories of forgetting

The interference theory of forgetting

According to the theory forgetting is the result of different memories interfering with one another.
The more similar two or more events are to one another the more likely interference will occur.
Distinctive or unique events are less likely to suffer from interference.

Serial position effect refers to the tendency to recall the first and last items of list unlike the
items in between which are more likely to be forgotten.

Retroactive interference happens when newly acquired information interferes with old
information stored in memory. For example a teacher trying to learn the names of a new class of
students might find it difficult to recall the names of the students in her/his previous class. The
new information interferes with the old information.

Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information makes it difficult to store
new information. For instance, learning a new phone number might be more difficult because
the memory of the old phone number interferes with the new information.

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 The decay theory of forgetting

According to the trace decay theory of memory, the formation of new memories results in
physical and chemical changes in the brain that result in a memory ‘trace’. Information in short
term memory lasts approximately 15-30seconds and if it is not rehearsed the neurochemical
memory trace quickly fades.

According to the trace decay theory of forgetting, the events that happen between the formation
of a memory and the recall of the memory have no impact on recall. Instead, trace theory
proposes that the length of time between the memory and recalling that information determines
whether the information will be retained or forgotten .If the time interval is short, more
information will be recalled. If a longer period of time passes more information will be forgotten
and memory will be poorer

Retrieval failure theory - Two of the basic reasons for failure in memory retrieval are related to
encoding failures and lack of retrieval cues. A common reason why we don’t remember
information is because it never made it into long term memory in the first place.Encording
failures sometimes prevent information from entering long term memory. Essentially there was a
failure in the storage process.

The cue-dependent theory of forgetting

Other researchers have suggested that sometimes information is actually present in memory
but that it cannot be recalled unless retrieval cues are present. These cues are elements that
were present at the time that the actual memory was encoded.

Application to school situation

∙ The teacher should provide learners with experiences that help them to use all their senses of
sight, touch, smell and test which makes it easy to recall information.

∙ Teachers should distribute practice and rehearsal sessions within the learning process in order
to improve retention of information.

∙ Teachers should establish which prior learning could interfere with the learning of new material
and have a strategy on how to present the information.

∙ Teachers should encourage learners to categories things learnt in order to easily recall the bulk
of the information that has been acquired during the learning process.

∙ Learners should be encouraged to analyze the physical appearance of words so that they can
remember them easily.

∙ Teachers should encourage the leaners to use mnemonic devices in order to easily recall the
large amount of information that has been learnt.

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 ∙ Use of discovery methods and interactive teaching method are more favourable to effective
storage and retrieval of information.

TOPIC 7: MOTIVATION.

Nature and Importance of Motivation

The term motivation is derived from a Latin word moveers which means to move. In essence motivation
is considered as a process of arousing movement in an organism. It is a process that makes an
organism to act (Ingule, Rono & Ndambuki, 1996).According to McMahon,McMahon & Romano, (1995)
motivation is a drive to seek a goal. Kabiru and Njenga (2011),state that motivation is the psychological
process that arouses and maintains a behavior towards a goal.

Nature of motivation

Motivation is instigated, which implies that an internal or external force starts of a sequence of the
behavior.

Motivation is directional; in essence a motivated behavior makes the organism to move in a particular
direction either towards a goal that brings satisfaction or away from a source pain.

Motivation is selective, a motivated person only perceives, that which is relevant to his/her wants and
needs.

Motivation is satiable; when the goal has been achieved and homeostasis attained the organism no
longer pays attention to the need until its resurgence occurs.

Motivation is believed to result from drives; drive is defined as the force that pushes an organism into
action in order to reach a goal (McMahon, McMahon & Romano, 1995). Drives create an internal force
within an organism that pushes it to do something in order to fulfill a need. Drives may be instinctive or
rational. Instinctive drives are physical drives and include hunger, thirst, sexual and maternal drives (low
level needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). Rational drives are basically spiritual and intellectual (high
level needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

Types of Motivation

Extrinsic or external motivation

This refers to the desire to perform an action in order to gain an external reward or a material reward.
The learner may be motivated to work hard because a good grade will earn him/her a monetary award or
verbal raise from the teacher, parents or fellow students.

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Intrinsic motivation or internal motivation

This refers to a desire that comes from within a person. It is a desire to perform a behavior for its own
good. In essence the individual performs the task because he/she derives satisfaction from merely
performing the task not necessarily looking out for an external reward.

Importance of Motivation

Motivation energizes and sustains behavior; it instigates action in an organism and supplies the energy
to sustain the behavior.

Motivation directs and regulates behavior. It makes us move in in a particular direction towards the goal.

Motivation is goal oriented it aims at attaining a particular goal. It persists until the goal is attained.

Abraham Maslow’s “Need Hierarchy Theory”

One of the most widely mentioned theories of motivation is the hierarchy of needs theory put forth by
psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow saw human needs in the form of a hierarchy, ascending from
the lowest to the highest, and he concluded that when one set of needs is satisfied, this kind of need
ceases to be a motivator.

The theory can be summarized as follows:

∙ Human beings have wants and desires which influence their behavior. Only unsatisfied needs
influence behavior, satisfied needs do not.

∙ Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of importance, from the basic to the complex.

∙ The person advances to the next level of needs only after the lower level need is at least
minimally satisfied.

∙ The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness and psychological
health a person will show.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

∙ Physiological needs

These are important needs for sustaining the human life. Food, water, warmth, shelter, sleep,
medicine and education are the basic physiological needs which fall in the primary list of need
satisfaction. Maslow was of an opinion that until these needs were satisfied to a degree to
maintain life no other motivating factor can work.

∙ Security or safety needs

These are needs to be free of physical danger and of fear of losing a job, property, food or

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 shelter. It also includes protection against any emotional harm.

∙ Social or belongingness needs

People are social beings hence they need to belong and be accepted by others. People try to
satisfy their need for affection, acceptance and friendship.

∙ Esteem needs

According to Maslow once the belonging need has been satisfied people tend to want to be held
in esteem both by themselves and by others. These kinds of need produce such satisfaction as
power, prestige status and self-confidence. It includes both internal esteem factors like,
self-respect, autonomy and achievements and external esteem factors such as status,
recognition and attention.

∙ Need for self-actualization:

Maslow regards this as the highest need in his hierarchy. It is the drive to become what one is
capable of becoming; it includes growth, achieving one’s potential and self-fulfillment. It is to
maximize ones potential and to accomplish something.

Self - actualization

Esteem needs

Social needs

Security seseand safety needs

Physiological needs

As each of these needs are substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. From the
standpoint of motivation, the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified, a
substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So if you want to motivate someone, you need to

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understand what level of the hierarchy that person is on and focus on satisfying those needs or needs
above that level.

Maslow’s need theory has received wide recognition, particularly among practicing managers. This can
be attributed to the theory’s intuitive logic and ease of understanding. However, research does not
validate this theory. Maslow provided no empirical evidence and other several studies that sought to
validate the theory found no support for it.

Strategies to Promote Motivation in Learning Situations

Teachers should be aware of the learner’s physiological needs; food and water ought to be available to
facilitate teaching and learning processes. Provision of free or subsidized lunch programs, well
ventilated classrooms and dormitories, supply of clean water should be given priority in school.

Teachers ought to carefully design a course outline. The course outline should have statements of
objectives and the importance of the subject matter. This motivates the learner since the teachers
expectations are clearly brought out.

The teacher ought to vary the teaching methods; lecture method should be basically avoided with more
emphasis given to interactive methods such as discussions, experiments, student presentations and use
of computers.

Teachers should create assignments that are appropriately challenging; assignments that are either too
easy or too difficult are likely to demotivate the learner. If the assignments are too difficult the learner
may give up all together and if they are too easy they loss value or essence.

The teacher should make the lesson relevant by making reference to the environment and current issues
that directly affect the learner or situations encountered by the learner on a daily basis.

The teacher should show enthusiasm for the subject and the entire teaching activity because the
learners are likely to emulate their teachers approach.

Lessen the competition spirit in class and cultivate a collaborative/cooperative spirit whereby the
learners are willing to help one another. Divide the learners into groups and give group assignments.

Communicate an expectation of success in order to build the learners confidence in the teacher and in
themselves. Indicate your competence in the subject matter and your confidence in the ability of the
learner to excel in tests and examinations.

Provide constructive and timely feedback, this helps the learner to make necessary corrections. Marked
scripts should be returned to the learners in the shortest time possible and revision of the question
should be immediate.

Teachers should plan for visits or excursions which motivate the learners as they learn from real life

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exposure and experiences. The trips also break classroom monotony and make the learning activities
interesting and captivating.

It is imperative that teachers provide remedial/individual attention to slow learners and help them
recognize the linkage between effort and achievement.

TOPIC 8: ATTITUDES

An attitude is a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object. It is a
predisposition towards a person, object or group or people in a positive or negative manner. In the
absence of forces of change, the individual’s attitudes towards certain objects will remain the same
(they are persistent). For example, a teacher who has a negative attitude towards work and tends to
avoid it whenever possible will not change unless some forces in him or her and in the work place exert
a strong influence on him or her to effect a transformation.

Characteristics of attitudes

∙ Are judgmental / evaluative

∙ Are enduring / long lasting

∙ Are irrational and subjective

Sources of attitudes

Attitudes are learned and not inherited. A person acquires attitudes in the course of his experience and
maintains them when they are reinforced. They are acquired in one or more of the following different
ways:

i) Direct experience with the object. This results from a personally rewarding or punishing
experience with an object. The learner may have a firsthand experience with a harsh/hostile
math teacher and therefore develop a negative attitude towards math teachers/math subject.

ii) Association: Attitudes towards one object is associated with another object whose
attitudes have been previously formed e.g. a student has a negative attitude towards math he
/she associates physics with math and therefore the negative attitude towards math is
transferred to physics.

iii) Learning from others: Attitudes may develop from what a person is told or taught by
others about an object. For example a form one student is told by a form three student that
chemistry is difficult and he therefore assumes a negative attitude towards chemistry. Generally,
attitudes which are acquired through personal experience tend to be more resistant to change
than those learned from association or from others.

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Components of attitudes

The attitude is made up of three related psychological factors:

∙ Emotional/Affective component

Emotions are personal feelings about an object: likes or dislikes of it. The tendency varies from
weak to strong. For example, the emotional components of one advancing in education or
career vary in their intensity. Similarly, one may like his or her career, be indifferent towards the
responsibilities of the job, and moderately dislike some of the career requirements. Learner may
feel happy, excited and relaxed during a lesson if they have a favorable attitude towards the
subject/feel depressed, tense and uncomfortable during a lesson if they have an unfavorable
attitude towards the subject.

∙ Behavioral/Conative component

This is a person’s tendency to behave towards the object in certain ways. For example, giving a
wide smile or nodding because of seeing a person you approve or hearing something you
approve. Learner may actively participate and answer questions in class because they have a
positive attitude towards the subject teacher or subject matter.

∙ Cognitive component / Informational component

The informational component is made up of the beliefs and information a person has about an
object. Regardless of whether an individual’s information or beliefs are accurate, or inaccurate,
these recognitions are part of his attitudes e. g. black people are stupid, Math is difficult.
Cognitive component is fact oriented because it is based on a particular prior knowledge.

NB: Of the three components, behavioral component is observable. Emotional feelings of likes or
dislikes cannot be directly observed, but can be inferred from behavior such as facial expressions,
conversational approach or avoidance. One also cannot directly observe cognitive components but can
only infer them from behavior such as verbal discussions.

Formation of attitudes

Attitudes are learnt but not inborn. They are learnt through socialization, media, and cultural acquisition
e. t. c. Factors influencing attitude formation include:-

Psychological factors

We develop positive attitudes towards objects that satisfy our needs. For example, children’s needs are
mostly fulfilled by their mothers. Mothers give the child basic needs, warmth, love and affection. Thus,
children form positive attitude towards their mother. Conversely, people will form negative attitudes
towards objects or individuals who expose them to painful or dangerous experiences.

Early experiences

Negative attitude may develop when a person had been subjected to painful experiences. For example,
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a child may become rebellious towards authority such as the teacher, parent or prefect due to past
conflict experiences.

Family Relationships

Unhealthy / antagonistic family life involving parents makes the child to become hostile, whereas
peaceful family relationship promotes non-violence attitude among children.

Interaction with neighbors: The child acquires either positive or negative attitude depending on the
neighborhood. For example, children in schools that hail from lovely, warm and friendly neighborhood
are likely to be popular, kind, non-aggressive, confident and outgoing.

Cultural factor

People develop certain attitude based on cultures they come from. For instant, Luos in Kenya are
considered to be arrogant while coastal tribes are regarded to be peaceful and friendly. The reason is
that different cultures facilitate different attitudes since they are a manifestation of our mode of life,
thinking, daily routine, religion etc.

Role of parents

Parents influence formation of attitude through control of rewards and punishment. For example, smiles
send messages of approval while frowns are a sign of disapproval of certain behavior of the child.
Parents set initial benchmark of good or bad attitudes by exposing children to them. Children adapt bad
habits, gossips of out-groups, uncivilized behavior from their parents. This influences formation of
negative attitudes towards other people.

Peer Pressure

Peer group or pressure is an important source of attitude formation. Stereotypes which perpetuate
intergroup hostility or conflict as a product of peer group.

Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement or rewards elicit positive attitudes. This is because individuals will tend to
develop positive attitude towards objects, strategies that lead them to receive rewards. Vicarious
learning, positive experiences, use of rewards and unconditional stimulus elicits good feelings.
Punishing undesirable behavior also helps to mold desirable behavior.

Theories of attitude change

∙ Dissonance theory by Festinger (1957)

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 Dissonance refers to inconsistence between two or more cognitive elements. It describes a state of
tension that exists when we hold inconsistent cognitions. For example, a person who drinks alcohol
but discourages others from drinking because it is harmful to health may develop dissonance in his
cognition that results into unpleasant feelings or tensional experiences. For such a person to attain
a state of stability and get rid of discomfort he needs to change his attitude to conform to overt
behavior.

According to Festinger, the greater the dissonance, the more one strives to reduce it. This can be
done by telling a lie, resorting to private opinion or believing one thing and doing another different
one.

∙ Balance theory by Heider

Heider asserted that people form attitudes as a result of a drive in the mind to organize opinion,
perceptions and beliefs to be in balance with the environment. For example, when people we
like or admire share some attitudes with us, there is a balance and all seems to be well with us.
When someone we like experiences contrary attitude in relation to a given aspect, we become
anxious, concerned and depressed. Thus, imbalance exists creating tension. To reach a state
of balance the following option are available;

∙ We need to be tolerant,

∙ We need to ignore the differences

∙ We need to change our feelings in positive and acceptable manner

Persuasion

It is a traditional approach of changing attitude. For example, manufacturing industries use

persuasion to attract people towards buying new products on the market. They strive to create a
positive picture of the product through advertisements, packaging and other related promotion
services.

Changing attitude through persuasion entails: use of experts, use of popular or influential sources
like electronic and print media, the approach normally target people with relatively low self-esteem
such individuals are more likely to be influenced to change their attitudes/convictions.

Functions of attitudes

Attitudes serve four different functions for an individual:

∙ The knowledge function.

An attitude can help a person to organize and make sense of his or her knowledge, experiences and
beliefs. It can provide definiteness and stability to what he perceives by serving as a standard or
frame of reference for judging events or objects e.g. a student’s attitude towards his or her

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 education will influence his response to education.

∙ Instrumental/Adjustive/Utilitarian function

An attitude may develop because; either the attitude or the object of the attitude is instrumental in
helping the individual to obtain rewards or to avoid punishments. In some cases, the attitude is a
means to an end. For example, a head teacher may develop favorable attitudes towards salaried
parents because they pay fees promptly and develop negative attitude towards parents who are
peasants because they are fees defaulters.

∙ Value expressive function

Attitudes may give positive expression to a person’s central values. For example, students whose
central value in school is co-curricular will develop positive attitude towards teachers who engage
them in co-curricular.

∙ The Ego-defensive function

Attitudes may serve to protect one’s ego from pleasant or threatening knowledge about oneself or
one’s environment. Accepting threatening information can produce anxiety which can be reduced
through developing certain attitudes to distort or block out such information e. g. The learner may
develop negative towards a teacher to cover up his/her poor performance or the inability to perform
well in the subject.

How attitudes interact with facts

Attitudes are never stable due to interaction with other facts:

Accommodation facts: this is where attitudes take in facts that already exist in the system without
threatening the system’s attitudes e.g. knowing that failure to prepare for examination will lead to
failure but you go ahead to ignore.

Assimilation fact: Is where facts are incorporated into the attitude because they conform or support
the attitude e.g. stereotyping a certain group as being arrogant and the fact that one of them is
arrogant confirms the attitude.

Annihilation fact: Is where an attitude interacts with a fact that is inconsistent with the attitude. In
this case, facts can be distorted if they are opposed to a strongly held attitude. As such the attitude
distorts / annihilates a real fact e.g. you like a certain teacher but who gives up teaching the subject
that made you like that teacher.

Application to school situation

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 ∙ Positive attitudes of learners to the learning environment, teacher and subjects enhance learning.
The use of learner centered methods, and establishment of a friendly atmosphere creates a
positive attitude towards learning.

∙ Teachers should be friendly and create a pleasant environment for positive interactions and
formation of positive attitudes.

∙ Learners are likely to have a positive attitude towards subjects they think are easy and develop a
negative attitude towards subjects that they consider difficult. Therefore, teachers should
communicate to the learner the fact that all subjects can be learnt and present the subject
matter in a simple manner/style.

∙ Learners with positive attitudes are more successful than those with a negative attitude.
Teachers and parents should therefore encourage the learner to focus on the positive side of
situations/circumstances.

∙ Parents and teachers should be good role models by having integrity and working hard, so that
learners may develop a positive attitude towards hard work and discipline in academic work and
life in general.

∙ Parents should talk positively about the school and the teachers so that the learner develops
positive attitude to the school and teachers.

∙ Parents and teachers should be aware of the influence of their attitudes on the learner, the
attitude of the parent or teacher towards the learner may inspire or discourage the learner.

TOPIC 9: SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

Definition of sensation

Sensation is the process that detects stimuli from our bodies and the environment/it is the process
of receiving information from the environment. It is the process of being aware of information
coming through our senses (sight/vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell). Sensory receptors detect
the stimuli and convert them to neural impulses.

Definition of perception

Perception is the process of organizing information received through our senses into meaningful
patterns/ it is the process of assembling and organizing sensory information to make it meaningful.
It can be viewed as a process through which our brains give meaning to the information we receive
through our senses.

Types of sensation and perception

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 A. Visual perception

This refers to the ability of the brain to interpret messages received from the eyes. It organizes
visual sensations into meaningful patterns.

Types of visual perception

1. Visual acuity; this is the ability to see and differentiate meaningfully and accurately the objects
seen in the environment.

2. Visual discrimination; the ability to identify differences and similarities of what is seen eg shape,
color or materials.

3. Visual memory; the ability to remember what one has seen.

4. Depth perception; the ability to judge relative distance of objects in relation to their depth.

5. Form perception; the ability to observe the unique structure of objects, it is helpful in recognition
of numbers, letters, words etc.

6. Figure-ground/foreground and background visual perception; the ability to distinguish whatever

we see from our surroundings.

7. Perceptual-motor integration; it involves the eye-hand coordination and the eye-foot coordination.

8. Visual closure; the ability to perceive whatever message reaches our eyes as a whole e.g.
completion of an incomplete picture or word.

9. Visual sequencing; it is the ability to arrange objects, letters or numbers in a logical pattern or
sequence.

10. Visual seriation/ordering; the ability to arrange objects and numbers according to a given
criteria e.g. smallest to largest, tallest to shortest etc.

11. Motion perception; the ability to perceive movement of objects.

12. Spatial perception; this is the ability to understand the spatial relationships of all that is in the
environment. For example, being able to tell left from right, ability to understand directions such
as forward, backwards, away etc.

13. Perceptual constancy; the ability to perceive objects as relatively stable and unchanging despite
the changing sensory information e.g. a cup remains a cup even if the color changes or shape.

Factors influencing visual perception

∙ Maturation

∙ Experience

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 ∙ Culture

∙ Visual illusion/mirage

∙ Alcohol

∙ Sight defects (myopic, hyperopic)

∙ Diseases such as trachoma/color blindness

∙ Accidents causing eye injuries

B. Hearing /auditory perception

Audition is the sense of hearing which provides us with information about objects that are a
distance. Sound is produced by vibrations which travel through medium such as water, air etc.

Types of auditory perception

1. Auditory discrimination; the ability to hear differences and similarities of sounds. It is necessary
in acquiring both spoken language and being able to read.

2. Auditory memory; this is the ability to remember sounds. It is equally useful in acquisition of
spoken language skills and reading skills.

3. Auditory sequencing; this is the ability to remember words of rhymes and songs as they follow
one another.

4. Auditory closure; this is the ability to fill in a missing section of a spoken word or sentence after
hearing part of it. Useful in knowing what is said in the midst of distractions.

5. Auditory analysis and synthesis; the ability to know the phonetic sounds of letters which assists
in writing, reading and spelling words.

6. Sound localization; it is the process by which an individual determines the location of the sound.

Factors affecting hearing and auditory perception

∙ Inherited hearing impairment

∙ Intra uterine diseases such as German measles

∙ Accidents that damage the ear drum

∙ Exposure to loud noise that damage the ear drum

∙ Wax accumulation in the ear

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 ∙ Damage to auditory nerves/cortex during birth or after birth may lead to loss of ability to
perceive sound frequencies.

C. Smell or olfaction perception

This is the ability to interpret the messages received from the nose. The nose can differentiate
pleasant smells like perfume and unpleasant smells like rotten eggs. Odors can affect a person’s
mood or arouse memories of certain events. The cilia in the nasal cavity collect molecules of
odor and an electrical signal is sent to the olfactory bulbs that sent a code to the brain for
interpretation.

Taste or gustatory perception

It is the ability to tell the differences of what the tongue has tasted. It includes the ability of the
brain to interpret the message received from the tongue to differentiate between sweet, sour,
bitter and salty taste, similarly smooth, rough or crumby texture and hot warm or cold
temperature.

Skin or cutaneous perception

It is the ability of the brain to interpret the message received from the skin through touch. The
ability to differentiate texture on the basis of smooth, hard rough etc., hot, warm or cold
temperature and things that cause pain.

Factors influencing perception

∙ Intellectual abilities; cognitive and intellectual abilities influence the way people perceive things.
Cognitive perception styles include; field-dependent people (perceive the environment as a
whole rarely pay attention to details). Field-independent people (perceive various aspects of the
environment as separate entities pay attention to every part of the environment). Levelers rarely
pay attention to details they look at the total object. Sharpeners are good at perceiving details in
an object.

∙ Maturation; as the sensory organs mature with age one is able to perceive more.

∙ Distance of objects

∙ Past experiences; our past experiences influence the way we interpret information and therefore
the way we receive issues.

∙ Learning; interaction and association with situations and objects influence your perception of

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 the same.

∙ Level of formal education; being more accommodative, broad minded and ready to accept
changes, e.g. the way superstition and witch craft are perceived by literate and illiterate people
may be different.

∙ Hunger and thirst; food and water taste sweeter when you are hungry or thirsty as compared to
when one is satisfied.

∙ Culture; Africans frown upon public display of affection e.g. kissing, holding hands while the
Europeans perceive it as acceptable. The cultural values and morals may influence an individual’
s perception of certain activities

∙ Personality; the sanguine is likely to view issues more positively compared to

phlegmatic/melancholic.

∙ Drug and substance abuse; alcohol and other drugs interfere with the person’s ability to see and
coordinate muscles.

∙ Age; the generation gap and the accompanying differences and conflicts point out the different
ways in which the old and the young perceive circumstances and objects.

∙ Gender; women and men tend to have a different perception on issues; most women may view
money in terms of spending while men view it in terms of investing.

∙ Health; the state of health influence one’s perception of food, beautiful scenery and the future.

∙ Modernization; perception is influenced by changes in society over time e.g. wearing of trousers
by women was frowned upon some time back but now it is an accepted phenomenon.

Application of sensation and perception to school situation

∙ Use of concrete materials in learning, these provides opportunity to use all the senses.

∙ Encourage the learner to explore, manipulate and observe the environment.

∙ Use realia/real objects if they can be safely brought to class.

∙ Take students on tours or field trips to break classroom monotony and increase attentiveness.

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 ∙ Use pictures/films/video to illustrate points and situations,

∙ Teachers should vary the tones and pitch of their voices to increase and auditory sensation and
perception.

∙ Teachers should move in class to catch the attention of the learner

Filter theory of perception

It was advanced by Ronald Broadbent. According to the theory an individual receives lots of
information but does not attend to all except to that which he/she wants to attend to. Essentially
individuals filter/select what they feel is important by paying attention to it and ignoring what is
perceived as not being relevant/important. The theory has two perspectives.

∙ Early selection theory; it has three steps which entails the senses receiving the information,
individual analyses and gives meaning to the information and makes an appropriate response
based on the perceptual analysis. The diagram below illustrates the early selection process.

Sensory Perceptual Selection of

registration analysis Response

∙ Late selection theory has two stages perceptual analysis and selection of relevant information
and the eventual selection of the appropriate response. The process is illustrated in the in the
diagram.

Perceptual Selection of
analysis & Response

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the attention that a stimulus receives, the intrinsic factors
include readiness to respond, state of arousal and the properties attributed to the object. The
extrinsic factors are; physical properties of the stimulus e.g. intensity of the sound or light, change
of movement e.g. teacher moving around in class to keep the learner attentive. The novelty of an
object attracts more attention. The repetition of something over and over again may draw attention
to it. Contrasting items are likely to receive more attention than items that are seemingly similar.

Gestalt principles of perceptual organization

This refers to the law of perception as advance by gestalt psychologists such as Max Wertheimer,
Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka. Gestalt is a German word that means an organized whole or

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 configuration. The purpose of perceptual organization is to give meaning to the stimulus. According
to Gestalt principles there is a tendency to modify what is perceived into a ‘good’ form. The aim is to
make it striking and easy to perceive and remember as much as possible. The following are Gestalt
laws/principles of perceptual organization;

1. Law of similarity; similar things are grouped together. Things tend to be perceived in a
pattern if they are similar to each other in some way e.g.

+0+

+0+

+0+

+0+

The tendency is to see a column of circles and two columns of crosses not four rows of
circles and crosses. Learner may apply the principle by noting the similarity in problems
encountered and using a similar approach to solve.

2. Law of proximity states that things tend to be perceived as a pattern if they are near to each
other e.g.

The lines are perceived as three pairs with an extra line. The teacher may apply the principle
by administering Continuous Assessment Tests (CATs) at close intervals in order for the
students to draw the association.

3. Law of closure; this is an organizing tendency to complete an incomplete pattern.

Figures/forms tend to be perceived as closed even if they are not.

The figures are perceived as complete even though they are not. The principle may be used in class by
giving points to summarize or make conclusions.

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 4. Law of good continuity; the law points to the natural opposition to break the continuous flow
of a line, pattern or design in the perceptual awareness. We see a semi-circle and straight
line rather than a curved line suddenly straightening or a straight line suddenly curving.

The law may be applied in classroom situation by reviewing the previous lesson to help build on
what has already been learnt .

5. The law of pragnanz/figure ground; it is known as law of ‘good form’ this is the law that
differentiates perceptual field into form i.e. objects from the rest of the environment. The law
can be applied in class by use of different colors to highlight main points/ illustrate the key
points. Use of red pens to mark the learners work.

6. The law of symmetry/constancy; this law points out that symmetrical forms are considered
more stable than the asymmetrical forms. Symmetrical forms are easily perceived and
remembered.

Application to school situation

o Students should be exposed to various methods of problem solving and be encouraged

to try and suggest new methods,

o No subject should be taught in isolation of the other if they must have meaning. Teacher
should point out the interrelationship of subjects and the relationship between the
subject content and real life situations.

o In teaching and planning lessons similar items should follow each other closely so as to
have meaning.

o Learning does not start with the elements but whole series and proceeds by analysis
and finding relationship

o Learning does not necessarily entail understanding all aspects but any small degree of
grasping a concept/idea is considered as a step towards learning.

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 #THE END #

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