HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY AND

LIFE SKILL

2021
 CHAPTER ONE
Definition of Psychology And Related Concepts
The word "psychology" is derived from two Greek words psyche'
and ‗logos‟.
Psyche refers to mind, or soul
logos means study, knowledge
 "psychology" epistemologically refers to the study of the mind or
soul.
it is often represented by the Greek letter ᴪ (psi) which is read
as ("sy").
Psychologists define psychology differently based on their
intentions, research findings, and background experiences.
Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and the
underlying mental processes.
• In the above definition, there are three basic
aspects;
Science; psychology uses scientific methods to
study behavior and mental processes in both
humans and animals.
Psychologists do not study behavior with
commonsense rather they follow scientific
procedures and use empirical data.
Behavior ; refers to all of our outward or overt
actions and reactions, such as talking, facial
expressions, movement, etc.
Mental processes refer to all the internal, covert/hidden
activities of our minds, such as thinking, feeling,
remembering, etc.
 Goals of Psychology
As a science, psychology has four goals; description, explanation,
prediction, and control.
1.Description: involves observing the behavior and noticing
everything about it.
 What is happening? Where does it happen? To whom does it
happen?‘ And under what circumstances does it seem to happen?
E.g. a teacher might notice that a young girl is behaving badly in
classroom. She is not turning to her homework, her grades are
slipping badly, and she seems to have a very negative attitude
toward school.
2. Explanation: Why is it happening? trying to find reasons for
the observed behavior. E.g. by asking the teachers, parents,
classmates and testing the girl herself and also professionals one
can explain why the girl is doing all those things.

3. Prediction: prediction is about determining what will happen

in the future. E.g. based on the above example after studying the
girl's situation one can predict she will never be able to reach her
full learning potential or success.

4. Control: How can it be changed? Control or modify or change

the behavior from undesirable one (such as failing in school) to a
desirable one (such as academic success).
 Historical Background

• Psychology is relatively new field in the realm of the

sciences.

• It began as a science of its own in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany,

with the establishment of first psychology laboratory in the
University of Leipzig by Wilhelm Wundt.

• Wundt developed the technique of objective introspection

that scientifically examine mental experiences .
• Introspection is a process that involves looking inward to
examine one's own thoughts and emotions .
Cont..
Wundt is founder as well as ‘father of modern psychology’.

• After psychology use the scientific method different schools

of thought emerged.

• These schools of thought can be categorized as

early/old and

modern schools of thought.

 Early Schools of Psychology
• A school of thought is a system of thinking about a certain
issue. for example, about human behavior or mind.

1. Structuralism

 structuralism views psychology as a study of structure of

mind.

• It is an expansion of Wundt‘s ideas by his student named

Edward Titchener (1867-1927). Titchener is the founder of
structuralism.
Cont..
• The goal of structuralisms was to find out the units or

elements, which make up the mind such as; sensations,

images, and feelings.

• They used introspection method that look inward into

our consciousness.

• It is a procedure aimed at analyzing the mental

experience into three basic mental elements: images,

feelings, and sensations.

 2. Functionalism
• Functionalism views psychology as a study of function
of the mind.

• The founder of this school of thought is William James

(1848-1910), who was the first American psychologist
and the author of the first psychology textbook.

• They focused on how the mind allows people to

function in the real world. For instance how people
work, play, and adapt their surroundings.
• According to functionalists, psychological processes are
adaptive.
• They allow humans to survive and adapt successfully with
their surrounding.
3. Gestalt psychology
• Gestalt psychology views psychology as a study of the
whole mind.we experience things as unified wholes.
• Gestalt psychologists argued that the mind is not made up
of combinations of elements.
• The German word "gestalt" refers to form, whole,
configuration or pattern.
• They consider that, mind is result of the whole pattern of sensory
activity ,relationships and organizations within their pattern.

• They held that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Means
mind is greater than its parts (images, sensations, and feelings).
4. Behaviorism

• Behaviorists view psychology as a study of observable and

measurable behaviors.

• John B. Watson is the founder of behaviorism.

• According to Watson, we cannot define consciousness any better

than we can define the soul; we cannot locate or measure it.
therefore, it cannot be the object of scientific study.
 Three important characteristics of behaviorism
1. Conditioned response as the elements or building blocks of
behavior.
2. All behaviors are learned but not inherited and learners are
passive and reactive.
3. Focus on animal behavior.
5. Psychoanalysis

• Founded by Freud and believe that psychology study the

components of the unconscious part of human mind.
• The primary assumption of psychoanalysis is that ‘all people have
unconscious thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories’.
• He believed that unconscious is more important than our conscious
thoughts in determining how we react and respond to events.
• He also underscored that that conflicts and emotional traumas that
occurred in early childhood can be too threatening to be remembered
consciously.

• The unconscious which is contains hidden wishes, passions, guilty

secrets, unspeakable yearning, conflict between desire and duty.

• We are not aware of our unconscious thoughts but it appeared

through dreams, slip of tongue, apparent accidents and jokes.

• He used clinical case studies such as hypnosis and dream analysis as

a method to bring back unconscious mind to conscious.
Cont..

• These 5 schools basically differ in terms of three issues:

object, goal, and methods of study:

• object of study, i.e. what they studied (conscious mind,

unconscious mind, and observable behavior).

• goal –what they aimed. is it to analyze the components of

the mind or to observe the effect of the environment on
behavior.

• study methods- it may introspection, observation, clinical

case studies.
 Modern schools of psychology
Modern psychologists tend to examine human behavior
through several views. The views that predominate today are
1. Psychodynamic perspective
This perspective emphasizes the unconscious dynamics
within the individual such as inner forces, conflicts or
instinctual energy.
The psychodynamic approach emphasizes:
The influence of unconscious mental behavior on everyday
behavior
 The role of childhood experiences in shaping adult
personality.
e.g Early childhood events may cause some people to develop
a nail-biting habit.
The role of intrapersonal conflict in determining human
behavior.
 2. Behavioral Perspective
• It emphasizes the role learning experiences play in shaping the

behavior of an organism.

• It is concerned with how the environment affects the person‘s

actions.

• Behaviorists focus on environmental conditions (e.g. rewards, and

punishments) that maintain or discourage specific behaviors.

• View people as they are the subject to the environment, it mean that
they are influenced by their environment.

• They argued that psychology should study merely the overt

behavior rather than studying mental process.
 3. Humanistic Perspective

• According to this perspective, human behavior is not determined

either by unconscious dynamics or environment.

• Rather it emphasizes the uniqueness of human beings and focuses

on human values and subjective experiences.

• This perspective places greater importance on the individual‘s free

will.

• The goal of humanistic psychology was helping people to express

themselves creatively & achieve their full potential/self-
actualization (it refers developing the human potential until its
fullest stage).
 4.Cognitive Perspective
 it emphasizes what goes in people's heads; how people reason, remember,

understand language, solve problems, explain experiences and form

beliefs. This perspective is concerned about the mental processes.

The most important contribution of this perspective has been to show how

people's thoughts and explanations affect their actions, feelings, and

choices.

Techniques used to explore behavior include electrical recording of brain

activity, electrical stimulation and radioactive tracing of metabolic activity

in the nervous system.

 5. Biological Perspective
It focuses on studying how bodily functioning/genetics
affects behavior, feelings, and thoughts.

It holds that the brain and the various brain chemicals
affect psychological processes such as learning,
performance, perception of reality, the experience of
emotions, etc.

This perspective emphasizes that biology and behavior

interact in a complex way; biology affecting behavior and
behavior in turn affecting biology.
 6.Socio-cultural Perspective

• It focuses on the effects of social and cultural factors on

human behavior.

• They said that Fish cannot leave without water, human

behavior cannot be understood without social and cultural
environment that people "Swim" in every day.

• This perspective holds that humans are both the products

and the producers of culture.
 Branches/Sub Fields of Psychology

• Developmental psychology – It studies the physical, cognitive and

psychological changes across the life span.

• It attempts to examine the major developmental milestones that

occur at different stages of development.

• Personality Psychology – it focuses on the relatively enduring

traits and characteristics of individuals. study topics such as self-

concept, aggression, moral development, etc.

• Social Psychology –deals with people‘s social interactions,

relationships, social perception, and attitudes within certain society.

Cont..
Cross-cultural Psychology - examines the role of culture in

understanding behavior, thought, and emotion.

• It compares the nature of psychological processes in different

cultures, whether psychological phenomena are universal or culture-

specific.

• Industrial psychology – applies psychological principles in industries

and organizations to increase the productivity of that organization.

• Forensic psychology - applies psychological principles to improve the

legal system ( like police, testimony, criminal cases etc..).
• Educational Psychology - concerned with the application of
psychological principles and theories in improving the educational
process including curriculum, teaching and administration of
academic programs.

• Health Psychology - applies psychological principles to the

prevention and treatment of physical illness and diseases.

• Clinical Psychology:-is a field that applies psychological principles

to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorder.

• Counseling Psychology: - is a field having the same concern as

clinical psychology but helps individuals with less severe problems
 Research Methods in Psychology

Scientific method - a process of testing ideas through

systematic observations, experimentations, and statistical
analysis.

Theory - is an integrated set of principles about observed

facts that planned to describe and explain some aspects of
experience.

• Hypotheses - is a tentative prediction about the

relationship between two or more variables or phenomena.
cont...
Major Types Of Research Methods

1. Descriptive research - in this type of research, the

researcher simply records what she/he has systematically
observed.
Descriptive research methods include
naturalistic observation
case studies, and
surveys
cont..
Naturalistic observation: subjects are observed in their
natural environment to get a real picture of how behavior
occurs.

Limitations

1. Observer effect (animals or people who know they are

being watched may behave artificially)

2. Observer bias (the researcher may not observe

systematically or may observe behaviors that wants to
observe and ignores others)
Cont..
 Often involves counting behaviors, such as number of
aggressive acts or smiles.
 Psychologists conduct naturalistic observations at;
Football games
Day-care centers
College dormitories
Shopping malls
Restaurants etc
cont...
Case study: is a descriptive technique in which an individual is
studied in great detail.

• Its advantage is that it provides tremendous amount of data

about a single case or individual.

• The disadvantage : can‘t apply the results to other similar people.

Survey: is a descriptive research method used to collect data

from a very large group of people.

• it addresses hundreds of people with the same questions at

the same time
cont..
2. Correlational research - is a research method that
measures the relationship between two or more variables.
• A variable is anything that can change or vary –scores on a
test, temperature in a room, and so on.
• It shows the magnitude and direction of r/ship, but does not
prove causation.
• E.g. academic self-efficacy and academic achievement
(as the score of ASE increases the score of Academic
achievement also increases).
cont..

3. Experimental Research: it is a research method that

allows researchers to study the cause and effect relationship
between variables.

• Experiments involve at least one independent variable and

one dependent variable.

• Example; a researcher might be curious to know

the impact of music on stress:
Cont..
Independent Variable (IV):
 The variable which is manipulated by an
experimenter to see its effect on DV.
 Music is an IV in the above example
I. Dependent Variable (DV):
 The variable which changes as a
consequence of changes in the IV.
 Stress is DV in the above example
Types of groups in experimental research
1. Experimental group:
 A group comprising participants who
receive the experimental treatment in an
experiment.
2. Control group:
 A group in an experiment comprising
participants who don’t receive the treatment.
 Steps of Scientific Research
1. Defining the Problem: observing something attention catching

problem in the surrounding for explanation.

2. Formulating the Hypothesis; form an educated guess from your

observations and putting it into form of statement that can be tested.

3. Testing the Hypothesis - the researcher employs appropriate research

methods and collects sample data to accept or reject the proposed
statement/hypothesis.

4. Drawing Conclusions - is the step in which researcher attempts to

make generalizations or draw implications from tested relationship.

5. Reporting Results - the researchers would write up exactly what

they did, why they did, and what they found.
 CHAPTER 2
LEARNING AND THEORIES OF LEARNING
Definition of Learning
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as
a result of experience or practice.
The above definition emphasizes four attributes of learning;-

Learning is a change in behavior

This change in behavior is relatively permanent

It does not include change due to illness, fatigue and maturation.

 This permanent change in behavior is not because of biological

factors (like hormonal changes) rather because of
experience/practice.
 Characteristics of learning
Learning is continuous modification of behavior throughout life.

Learning is pervasive, it spreads into all aspects of human life.

 Learning involves the whole person socially, emotionally &

intellectually.
Learning is often a change in the organization of experiences.

Learning is responsive to incentives/motive.

Learning is an active process.

Learning is purposeful.

Learning depends on maturation, motivation and practice.

Learning is multifaceted
 Principles of Learning

There are important principles that explains how learning occurs effectively.

• Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to
learn.
• Students learn and retain information longer when they have meaningful practice/
exercise.
• Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant feeling and weakened
when associated with an unpleasant feeling.
• Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase.
• Things most recently learned are best remembered.
• The principle of intensity, it implies that a student will learn more from the real thing
than from a substitute.
• Individuals must have some abilities and skills that may help them to learn.
• Things freely learned are finest learn – if greater freedom enjoyed by individuals, it
create the higher intellectual and moral advancement
 Factors Influencing Learning
Motivation: The learner‘s motivation matters the
effectiveness of learning.
• When the motive of learning is high, the learner becomes
passionate.
Maturation: Neuro-muscular coordination is important for
learning a given task.
Example, The child has to be mature before she/he is able to
learn.
Health condition of the learner: The learner should be in
a good health status to learn.
Example- Sensory defects, malnutrition, toxic conditions of
the body, loss of sleep and fatigue hinder effective learning.
Psychological wellbeing of the learner: individual‘s
psychological states like worries, fears, feelings of
loneliness and inferiority hinders learning.

• Whereas self-respect, self-reliance, and self-confidence are

necessary for effective learning.

Good working conditions – conducive env’t play a role.

presence of fresh air, light, comfortable surroundings,
moderate temperature, absence of distractions like noise
and learning aids determine learning effectiveness.
Cont..
Background experiences: having background experiences
affect effectiveness of learning.

• All related facts and understandings from a previously

learned course should be taken to new learning.

Length of the working period: Learning periods should

neither be too short nor too long.

• Long learning time sets fatigue and reduces effectiveness in

learning. Short learning time doesn‘t allow adequate
practice needed to master a learning task
Cont..
Massed and distributed learning: Learning that spreads
across time with reasonable time gaps brings better results
compared with crowded learning.
 Theories of Learning
There are theories of learning that explain how new
behavior are learned as a result of experience. These are:

1. Behavioral learning theory – observable behavior

2. Social learning theory – observational learning

3. Cognitive learning theory – mental process

 Behavioral Theory of Learning
• Behavioral theory of learning believes that learning occurs as
a result of stimulus-response associations.
• Also emphasize on observable behaviors & consequence.
• There are two major behavioral theories of learning. They
are known as classical and operant Conditioning
1. Classical conditioning theory

The major theorist in classical conditioning was Russian

physiologist, Ivan Pavlov.

Classical conditioning focuses on the learning of making

involuntary emotional or physiological responses to stimuli
that normally can't elicit a response.
Classical conditioning: is when a neutral stimulus
gradually gain the ability to elicit a response because of its
former pairing with a natural/unconditioned stimulus.

Basic terms in Classical conditioning

Stimulus: a physical energy source that has an effect on a

sense organ, thus producing a response.
Response: an action, behavior, or reaction caused by a
stimulus.
The key element in classical conditioning is association.
This means that if two stimuli repeatedly experienced
together, they will become associated.
Brief overview of Pavlov’s Experiment
• Pavlov discovered classical conditioning almost accidentally.

• Initially, he had studying the role of salivation in digestion.

• He measured how much saliva can dog produce when he get

meat.

• After a few days in the experiment, Pavlov noticed that the

dogs in his laboratory started salivating. When the lab
attendant entered the room with the meat dish.
 Key terms in classical conditioning
1. Neutral stimulus: A stimulus that, before conditioning,
does not naturally bring about the response of interest.
2. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
This is a stimulus that naturally brings a response without
having been learned
Example; smell of food causes salivation
3. Unconditioned Response (UCR)
This is a response that is natural and needs no training
Example; salivation at the smell of food
4. Conditioned Stimulus (CS-Bell)
A stimulus that brings a response while paired with the
unconditioned stimulus (meat).
 Principles of Classical Conditioning
1. Generalization
This is when a similar stimuli to a conditioned stimulus
produce similar reaction/response.
E.g. The dog conditioned to salivate to a dinner bell also
salivate to a door bell, a telephone bell.
2. Stimulus discrimination

This is the process of distinguishing two similar

stimuli; the ability to differentiate between stimuli.
Example, the dog salivates only in response to the
dinner bell instead of the doorbell or the telephone bell.
3. Extinction
Refers to the decay or progressive decrease in the
strength of CR that results when the CS(bell) is no longer
followed by Unconditional Stimulus(meat).
Pavlov rang the bell repeatedly in a single session and
did not give the dog any food. Eventually, the dog stopped
salivating.
4. Spontaneous Recovery
• Refers returning to the original circumstances.
• After extinction, a CR may suddenly reappear even
 Steps of classical conditioning

1. Before conditioning

Pavlov began by sounding a tuning bell and

recording a dog’s response.
As expected, there was no salivation.

• At this point, the sounding of tuning bell was a

neutral stimulus (stimulus not connected to a
response)
2 .During Conditioning
He then rang a bell & just a few seconds later,
presented the dog with meat.
This pairing of bell & meat was done for a
number of times in a certain time interval.
At first the dog would salivate only when the
meat was presented,
But soon it began to salivate at the sound of
the bell.
NS (Bell)+ US (Meat)_____ UR (Salivation)
 3. After Conditioning

•After conditioning the dog continued to

salivate upon hearing the bell-sound, without
pairing it with meat.
CS (Bell)-----CR (Salivation)
 2. Operant/Instrumental conditioning

 voluntary response is strengthened or weakened,

depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences.

operant conditioning applies to voluntary responses, which

an organism performs deliberately to produce a desirable
outcome.

The organism operates on its environment to produce a

desirable result.
In operant conditioning:
A. Organisms learn to associate a behavior and its
consequence.
B. The consequence which follows the response
influences whether the behavior is likely or unlikely to
occur again.
Consequence lead to change in voluntary behavior.
Which is learning by consequence
Basic concept in operant conditioning

1. Reinforcement

Is anything that causes a response to be more likely to happen

again.

Reinforcement is a key element to explain how & why

learning has occurred.

E.g. If a teacher praises a student's correct responses

immediately and the student increases correct
responses, praise can be identified as a reinforce.
 Types of reinforcement
Based on the type of need it satisfy reinforcement can be
primary or secondary reinforcement.
1. Primary reinforcement:
 is a type of reinforcement that satisfies a basic need like
hunger.

Examples, Food, water, shelter

2. Secondary reinforcement:
 This reinforcers doesn’t satisfy basic needs directly but
associated with primary reinforces.

Examples include; money, success, power, praise,

 Types of Reinforcement
Based on the way they are used, there are two types of
reinforcement:
1. Positive reinforcement:
It strengthens a response by presenting something
pleasant after the response.
• Example; give additional money for workers

2. Negative reinforcement
This strengthens a response by reducing or removing
something unpleasant.
E.g. removing accuse letter from worker document.
 S c h e d u le so f re in f o rc e m e n t

Schedules of reinforcement: refer to the phenomenon when

and how a response is reinforced.

There are two types of reinforcement schedules

1. Continuous schedule of reinforcement:

 Reinforced every time when pleasant behavior occurs

2. Intermittent reinforcement schedule:

 reinforced intermittently or unevenly rather than
every time.
•There are two basic types of intermittent
reinforcement schedules:
•Interval schedule: it is based on the amount
of time that passes between reinforces (i.e.
reinforcing response following a lapse of time
from the previous reinforcement)
•Ratio schedule: based on the number of
responses given between reinforces (i.e.
reinforcing a portion of correct responses)

•Accordingly, there are four possible

intermittent reinforcement schedules.
 1. Fixed-Ratio Schedules (FR)

 A fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement occurs after

a fixed number of responses.

Example; Factory worker getting paid for every 100

number of items manufactured
2. Variable-Ratio Schedule:
 Presenting the reinforcement to subjects with varying
responses.
E.g. reinforcing a child first, After 2 response 2nd after 6 respons…..
 3. Fixed Interval Schedule
This is when a behavior is rewarded only if a fixed
amount of time has passed.
example:A teacher receives his salary every month.
A grade is assigned at the end of every
semester.
4. Variable-Interval Schedule (VI)
 This is where reinforcement is given to subjects
following a variable time lapse.
 In this case, subjects do not know when the next
reinforcement is due.
E.g. Student might be reinforced; after 5 min of appropriate
behavior ,3min ,10 min,2 min etc. so the time is varry.
 2.Punishment
• Punishment- is a stimulus that weakens the response or makes it
less likely to recur.

• Punishers can be any aversive (unpleasant) stimuli that weaken

responses or make them unlikely to recur.

Punisher may take two forms:

Pain and extreme heat or cold are inherently punishing known as
primary punishers.

Criticism, demerits, scolding, and bad grades are common

secondary punishers.
Types of punishment

The positive-negative distinction can also be applied to

punishment
1. Positive punishment
Refers to adding something unpleasant to the situation.
• Example; slapping, writing warning

2. Negative punishment
Refers removing something pleasant from the individual.

• Example; removing money, prohibiting children

to watch film they like
 When does punishment work?
1. Schedule of punishment: punishment is more
effective when it is delivered consistently.

2. Intensity of punishment: intensive physical

punishment in childhood is a risk factor for depression,
low self-esteem, violent behavior.

3. Immediacy: punishment should be immediate

4. Variation of the punishment: varying the type &

extent of the punishment enhances effect of
punishments.
 Cognitive Learning Theory
Cognitive learning may take in two forms:
1. Latent learning
2. Insight learning
Latent Learning

• Latent means hidden. latent learning, a learning that is not immediately

expressed..

• latent learning is learning that occurs but is not evident in behavior

until later, when conditions for its appearance are favorable.

• It is said to occur without reinforcement of particular responses and

seems to involve changes in the way information is processed.

• A great deal of human learning also remains latent until circumstances

allow or require it to be expressed
 Insight Learning
 It is a cognitive process whereby we reorganize our
perception of a problem.

 It doesn‘t depend on conditioning of particular behaviors

for its occurrence.

 Sometimes, for example, people even wake up from sleep

with a solution to a problem that they had not been able to
solve during the day.
Human beings who solve a problem insightfully usually experience a
good feeling called an 'aha' experience’
 Social (observational learning) theory

• According to Albert Bandura, The major part of human learning

consists of observational learning, which is learning by watching the
behavior of another person, or model.

Processes of Observational Learning

• Attention: the person must first pay attention to the model.

• Retention: the observer must be able to remember the behavior that

has been observed.

• Motor reproduction: the ability to replicate the behavior that the

model has just demonstrated.

• Motivation: learners must want to demonstrate what they have learned.

 Unit three
memory and forgetting
1. what is memory?

2. Are there different kinds of memory?

3. what are the processes of memory?

4. Is memory a place or a process?

 Meaning and Processes of Memory
Memory is an active system that receives information from
the senses, organizes and alters it to store, and then retrieves
information from the storage.

It is a process, but it also has a place in the brain as well.

Memory is the retention of information/what is learned
earlier over time.
It is the way in which we record the past for later use in
the present.

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

that form the bridges between our past and our present.
In sum, psychologists consider memory as the process by
which we encode, store, and retrieve information.

Three processes of memory

Memory process is the mental activities we perform to put

information into memory to keep it there, and to make use
of it later. This involves three basic steps: -
1, ENCODING: Putting it in

the first step in the memory system is to get sensory

information (sight, hearing, etc.) into a form that the brain
can use, this process is called encoding.

Encoding is the set of mental operations that people

perform on sensory information to convert that
information into a form that is usable in the brain’s
storage system.

 It is the process by which information is initially

recorded in a form usable to memory.
2. Storage: Keeping it in
The next step in memory is to hold the information for
some period of time, and this process is called storage.

The time will be different lengths, depending on the stage

of memory being used.

It is the location in memory system in which material is

saved.

Storage is the persistence of information in memory.

.

3. Retrieval: Getting it out

The last step in memory is retrieving the stored information

when needed for use.

The biggest problem may people have is retrieval, getting

the information they know out of storage.

Encoding Storage Retrieval

 Stages of memory
•Among the different models of memory the
“information processing model” takes center
stage in determining the stages of memory.
•Information processing theory uses as its model
for human thought the way that a computer
functions.
•The computer stores that information on a desk,
hard drive and then the data are retrieved out of
the storage as needed.
•According to information processing model,
there are three stages or types of memory.
 Stages/Structure of Memory
Memory structure is the nature of memory storage
itself;-
how information is represented in memory
how long it lasts and
how it is organized
There are three stages/types of memory systems
1. Sensory memory
2. Short term memory
3. Long term memory
 1. Sensory Memory or Sensory Register

Sensory Memory is the first stage of memory, the point at

which information enters the nervous system through our
senses (eyes, ears and so on)..

It is the entry way of memory and the first information

storage area.

Sensory memory acts as a holding bin, retaining information

until we can select items for attention from the stream of
stimuli attacking our senses.

It gives us a brief time to decide whether information is

 Two types of sensory memory

1. Iconic/visual Sensory Memory- remain in the visual

system for a maximum of one second.

Icon is the Greek word and it means “image”.

Visual sensations -are coded briefly by the sensory register as

image almost like photographs.

 Iconic Sensory Memory noticing something you saw after

some times past by memorizing what you saw.
2. Echoic/hearing Sensory Memory
 Echoic memory remain the auditory system for a slightly
longer time, by most estimates up to two second or so.

It is a brief memory of something a person has heard. A

good example of echoic memory is the “What?”
phenomenon.

The information stored in sensory memory is a fairly

accurate representation of the environmental information
but unprocessed.
 2. Short-term Memory /STM

• Short-term Memory- is a process when information

moves from sensory memory to the next stage of memory
through the process of selective attention.

• It is important in a variety of tasks such as thinking, reading,

speaking, and problem solving.

• short- term memory is sometimes known as working,

immediate, active and primary memory.

• STM memory holds information received from SM for up to

about 30 seconds by most estimates
 Short term memory is distinguished by four characteristics

It is active- information remains in STM only so long as the person is

consciously processing, examining, or manipulating it.

Rapid accessibility - Information in STM is readily available for use.

Preserves the temporal sequence of information- STM usually helps

us to maintain the information in sequential manner for a temporary
period of time. It keeps the information fresh until it goes to further
analysis and stored in LTM in meaningful way.

Limited capacity.- the number of items that short-term memory can

handle at any one time is small. on the average, people can hold about
seven pieces of information. with a normal range from five to nine items
The limited capacity of short term memory can also
be somewhat improved by the process of chunking.
•Chunking; is a process of grouping individual
bits of information.
Chunking is the grouping information into higher
order units that can be remembered as single units.
For example, the letters "b d e" constitute three
units of information while the word "bed" represents
one unit even though it is composed of the same
number of letters.
e.g. phone number …09 11…
 3. Long Term Memory (LTM)
• It is a memory system used for the relatively permanent storage of
meaningful information.

• The vast amount of information stored in LTM enables us to learn, get

around in the environment, and build a sense of identity and personal
history.

The capacity of LTM seems to have no practical limits. LTM stores

information for indefinite periods. It may last for days, months, years,
even a lifetime.

E.g. your name

• Basically there are two types of long-term memories: procedural

and declarative
1. Procedural (Non declarative/implicit LTM) : is
memory for skills it usually involves series of steps/
procedures.
• this is the memory of how to do things as condition-
action rules sometimes called production.
• It is a memory for skills that people know how to do,
like tying shoes and riding a bicycle.
• Production specify what to do under certain conditions.
Procedural learning may go slowly at first, but once the
masters the skills and will remember them automatically
for a long time.
2. Declarative/explicit LTM: declarative memory
is about all the things that people can know-the
fact and information that make up knowledge.
• There are two types of declarative long-term
memories: semantic and episodic.
• Semantic memory is about general knowledge
that any one has the ability to know. Most of this
information is what we learned in school or by
reading.
• The word semantic refers to meaning, so this
kind of knowledge is the awareness of the
meanings of words, concepts and terms as well
as names of objects, math skills and so on.
• Semantic memories like procedural memories are
relatively permanent. But it is possible to “lose the
way to” this kind of memory.
• Episodic memory- is memory of what has happened
to people each day, certain birthdays, anniversaries
that were particularly special, childhood events and
so on. They represent episodes from their lives.
• Unlike procedural and semantic long-term
memories, episodic memories tend to be updated and
revised more or less constantly.
• Episodic and semantic memories are forms of
explicit memory, memories that are easily made
conscious and brought from long-term storage into
short-term memory.
 Serial Position Effect
• The three-box model of memory is often raised to explain
interesting phenomenon called the serial position effect.
• If you are shown a list of items and are then asked
immediately to recall them, your retention of any particular
item will depend on its position in the list.
• That is, recall will be best for items at the beginning of the
list (the primacy effect) and at the end of the list (the
recent effect).
When retention of all the items is plotted, the result will be a
U-shaped curve.
E,g, A serial position effect occurs when you are introduced
to a lot of people at a party and find you can recall the
names of the first few people you met and the last, but
almost no one in between.
 Factors Affecting Memory

There are factors that influence memory process in

humans and presented as follows:
Ability to retain: This depends upon good memory
traces left in the brain by past experiences.
Good health: A person with good health can retain
the learnt material better than a person with poor
health.
Age of the learner: Youngsters can remember better
than the aged one‘s.
Maturity: Very young children cannot retain and
remember complex material.
Will to remember: Willingness to remember helps
for better retention.
Intelligence: More intelligent person will have better
memory than less intelligent person.
Interest: If a person has more interest, he will learn and
retain better.
Over learning: Experiments have proved that over learning
will lead to better memory.
Speed of learning: Quicker learning leads to better
retention,
Meaningfulness of the material: Meaningful materials
remain in our memory for longer period than for nonsense
material,
Sleep or rest: Sleep or rest immediately after learning
strengthens connections in the brain
 Forgetting
• What is forgetting?
• Why do people forget the already learnt information?

Forgetting refer to the apparent loss of information already

encoded and stored in the long-term memory.
Why forgetting
• There are a number of reasons for our failure to
remember among them:
• 1 Encoding failure (never entering long term memory):
information never having put into long term memory.
E.g. person’s name
• 2 Decay (fading away with time ): information disappears
with the passage of time if not used.
3.Motivated forgetting ( don’t remind me). Forgetting
through suppression or repression in order to protect
oneself from material that is too painful. E.g death of loved
friends , family.
 Theories of forgetting
we will see five theories of forgetting;-
1. Memory trace decay theory
•A memory trace is some physical change
in the brain, perhaps activity between
neurons. if these traces are not used, they
may decay/fading into nothing.
•When referring to long-term memory,
decay theory is usually called disuse,
and the phrases “use it or lose it” takes
on great meaning.
 2. Interference theory
• Interference theory : long-term memories may be
stored more or less permanently in the brain, those
memories may not always be accessible to attempt
retrieval because other information interferes.
• In the case of LTM, interference can come from two
different directions.
1. Proactive interference- is the tendency for older
or previously learned material to interfere with the
retrieval of newer, more recently learned material.
For example, when academic years are changed,
students are may write the old year on their
exercise book instead of the new one.
2. Retroactive preference- is a tendency for
newer/recently learned information to
interfere with the retrieval of older or
previously learned ones.
•For example, if a student wants to remember
things learned in the course given in the
previous semester, the new things which are
recently learned by the student may interfere
in trying to retrieve the previously learned
ones.
 3. Displacement Theory/New Memory for Old

This theory holds that new information entering memory can

wipe out/destroy old information, just as recording on an
audio or videotape will destroyed the original material.
4. Motivated (Deliberate)
Motivated forgetting ( don’t remind me).
 Forgetting through suppression or repression in order to
protect oneself from material that is too painful.
E.g. breakup with loved friends
people forget because they block from consciousness those
memories that are to threatening or painful to live with, this
self-protective process is called repression.
 5. Cue Dependent Forgetting
• when we need to remember, we rely/depend on retrieval cues/hints, items of

information that can help us find the specific information we‘re looking for.

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

for an entry in the mind‘s library.

• Cues present during the initial stage of learning help us to recall the content of

the specific learning materials in an easy manner.

• Cues that were present when you learned a new fact or had an experience are

apt to be especially useful later as retrieval aids.

 Amnesia
• It is the inability to remember events from the past
because of
psychological trauma –psychogenic amnesia or
physiological trauma – organic amnesia
The memory lose usually limited to a specific
period
• Retrograde amnesia: is inability to remember
happenings that preceded/before the traumatic
event producing the amnesia
• Anterograde amnesia: is the inability to remember
happenings that occur after traumatic event
 Improving Memory
There are better approach that increase memory
performances. these general guidelines are;-
Pay Attention: It seems obvious, but often we fail to
remember because we never encoded the information in the
first place. When you do have something to remember, you
will do better if you encode it.
Encode information in more than one way: The more
elaborate the encoding of information, the more memorable it
will be.
Add meaning: The more meaningful the material, the more
likely it is to link up with information already in long-term
memory.
Take your time: If possible, minimize interference by using
study breaks for rest or recreation. Sleep is the ultimate way
Cont..

Over learn: Studying information even after you think you

already know it- is one of the best ways to ensure that you‘ll
remember it.

Monitor your learning: By testing yourself frequently,

rehearsing thoroughly, and reviewing periodically, you will
have a better idea of how you are doing
 Chapter Four
Motivation and Emotion
What is Motivation?

• Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed

and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are
met.

• Motivation is defined as a force that energizes, sustains and directs

behavior toward a certain goal.

• The word motivation comes from the Latin word Mover, which
means “to move”.

• Motivation is what “moves” people to do the things they do.

 Types of motivation
• Intrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which a
person performs an action because the act itself is
rewarding or satisfying some internal manner.

• Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which an

individual performs an action because the action leads to
an outcome that is external to a person.

• For example, giving child money for every ‘A’ on a report

card, offering a bonus to an employee for increased
performance.
 Approaches /Theories to Motivation
The sources of motivation are different
according to the different theories of
motivation. Some of these theories are
Instinct approach to motivation
Drive-reduction
Arousal
Incentive
Cognitive, and
Humanistic.
 1. Instinct approaches to motivation
• One of the earliest theories of motivation focused on
biologically determined and innate patterns of behavior
called instincts.
• According to these theories, in humans the instinct is
responsible for behavior.
• Although they listed thousands of instinct,
• including curiosity, flight (running away), aggressiveness,
and acquisition (gathering possessions). But, none of these
theorists did more than give names to these instincts.
• Also there was no attempt to explain why these instincts
exist in humans.
• However, these approaches forced psychologists to realize
that some human behavior is controlled by hereditary
factors.
2. Drive-reduction approaches to motivation
• This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives.
•A need is a requirement of some material (such as food or water)
that is essential for survival of the organism.
• When an organism has a need, it leads to a psychological tension as
well as a physical arousal to fulfill the need and reduce the tension.
This tension is called drive.
• Drive reduction theory proposes just the connection between internal
psychological state and outward behavior.
• In this theory there are two kinds of drive: primary and secondary.
• Primary drives are those that involve survival needs of the body
such as hunger, thrust…
• Secondary /acquired drives are those that are learned through
experience such as money, fame, social approval…
• This theory includes the concept of homeostasis, or a tendency of
the body to maintain a steady /balanced state.
• One could think of homeostasis as the body‘s version of
a thermostat- that keep the temperature of a house at a
constant level and homeostasis does the same thing for
the body‘s functions.
• When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a
state of imbalance. This stimulates behavior that brings
the body back into balance or homeostasis.
• For example, if mister X‘s body needs food, he feels
hunger and the state of tension (arousal associated with
that need). He will seek to restore his homeostasis by
eating something which is the behavior stimulated to
reduce the hunger drive
 Eat Raised glucose

Lowered glucose Diminished

Don’t eat
hunger

Figure 1. Drive-reduction and homeostasis

Although drive-reduction theory works well to explain the actions

people take to reduce tension created by needs, it doesn’t explain all
human motivation. E.g. Why do people eat when they are not
hungry?
 3.Arousal approaches: beyond drive
reduction
Arousal approaches seek to explain behavior in
which the goal is to maintain/increase excitement.
According to arousal approaches to motivation, each
person tries to maintain a certain level of stimulation
and activity.
As with the drive-reduction model, this approach
suggests that if our stimulation and activity levels
become too high, we try to reduce them.
In contrast with the drive-reduction perspective, the
arousal approach also suggests that if levels of
stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to
increase them by seeking stimulation.
4. Incentive approaches: motivation's pull
• These approaches suggest that motivation arise from the
desire to attain external rewards known as incentives.
• whether grades, money, affection, food,-account for a
person‘s motivation.
• Many psychologists believe that the internal drives
proposed by drive-reduction theory work in a cycle with
the external incentives of incentive theory to ‘push’’ and
‘’pull’’ behavior, respectively.
• Hence, at the same time that we seek to satisfy our
underlying hunger needs (the push of drive-reduction
theory), we are drawn to food that appears very delicious
(the pull of incentive theory).
• Rather than contradicting each other, drives and incentives
may work together in motivating behavior.
5.Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind
motivation
Cognitive approaches to motivation suggest that motivation
is a result of people‘s thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and
goals.
• For instance, the degree to which people are motivated to
study for a test is based on their expectation of how well
studying will pay off in terms of a good grade.
• Cognitive theories of motivation draw a key difference
between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
• Intrinsic motivation causes us to participate in an activity
for our enjoyment rather than for any actual or concrete
reward that it will bring us.
• In contrast, extrinsic motivation causes us to do
something for money, a grade, or some other actual,
6. Humanistic approaches to motivation
• This approaches is based on the work of Abraham
Maslow.
• Maslow was one of the early humanistic psychologists
who rejected the dominant theories of psychoanalysis and
behaviorism, in favor of a more positive view of human
behavior.
• Maslow proposed that there are several levels of needs that
a person must strive to meet before achieving the highest
level of personality fulfillment.
• These needs are about five and in ranking order it is
called hierarchy.
• According to Maslow, self-actualization is the point
that is rarely reached at which people have satisfied
the lower needs and achieved their full human
potential.
• The needs includes both deficiency and growth needs.
• Deficiency needs are needs of the body, like water,
food…
• Growth needs are needs for desire to someone like
having friends, feeling good about oneself, and so on.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs consists of five levels of
needs in a pyramid that a person might achieve
procedurally. These are:
Physiological needs are located in the lowest level of the
pyramid and which are basic needs for survival. Example, air,
food, water…
Safety needs involve the need to be secure, safe, out of
danger.
Social needs (belongingness and love needs) needs for
friends, companions as well as to be accepted and part of a
group (family, friends, work)
Esteem needs the need to be respected as a useful, honorable
individual; it classified into two categories: (I) esteem for
oneself (dignity, achievement, independence) &(ii) the desire
for respect from others (e.g., status, prestige)
Self-actualization needs are needs that help a person to reach
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self actualization

Esteem needs

Social needs

Safety needs

Physiological needs
 Frustration
• Frustration: refers to the blocking of any goal directed
behavior from achievement/ successes.
Sources of frustration:
A. An environmental forces : environmental situation
might hinder our goal directed behavior. E.g. non
conducive environment
B. Personal inadequacy: setting unattainable goals can
be important source of frustration.
 Conflict of Motivation
Conflicts of motives: Conflict exits whenever a person
has opposing goals/achievements .
There are four types of motivational conflicts
1. Approach – approach conflict: occurs when
simultaneously/ equally attracted to two or more
desirable goals, but must chose one of them. Such
conflict cause little distress. ( e.g. learning public health/
psychiatry)
2. Avoidance – Avoidance conflict: such conflict
occurs when we are motivated to avoid each of two or
more equally unattractive choices, but must choose
one.(dying with car accident / with corona).
3. Approach- avoidance conflict: this kind of
conflict occurs , when the person is motivated
to both approach and avoid the same goal.
( marring poor young/ marring old reach)
4. Multiple – approach avoidance conflict.
These involve situation in which several options
exist, with each one containing both positive
and negative elements.
(work in rural area with good salary/ in urban
with bad salary)
 Emotion
• It is the “feeling” aspect of consciousness, characterized
by a certain physical arousal, certain behavior that
reveals the feeling to the outside world, and an inner
awareness of feelings.
• Therefore, from this short definition, we can understand
that there are three elements of emotion: the
physiology, behavior and subjective experience.
• The physiology of emotion- when a person experiences
an emotion, there is physical arousal created by the
sympathetic nervous system. e.g. The heart rate
increases, breathing becomes more rapid, the pupils of
the eye dilate, and the moth may become dry.
• The behavior of emotion- tells us how people behave
in the grasp of an emotion. There are facial
expressions, body movements, and actions that
indicate to others how a person feels.
• Facial expressions can vary across different cultures,
although some aspects of facial expression seem to be
universal.
• Subjective experience or labeling/classifying emotion
involves interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it
a label: anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, shame,
interest, surprise and so on
Sample facial expressions
 Theories of Emotion
1. James Lang Theory of Emotion
• James and Lang believed that emotion is result of the
physical arousal.
• Simply put, “I am afraid because a am aroused,” “I am
embarrassed because my face is red, “I am nervous
because my stomach is fluttering,” and “I am in love
because my heart rate increases when I look at her or
him.”

Stimulus

(e.g. Physiologic Emotion

snarling
dog)
al arousal
(fear )
 2. Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
• Physiologists Walter Cannon and (1927) and Philip
Bard (1934) theorized that the emotion and the
physiological arousal occur more or less at the same

time(simultaneously). Physiological
arousal
Stimulus
Sub-cortical
e.g. snarling brain activity
dog
Emotion
(fear)
 3. Schachter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal
Theory
• In their cognitive arousal theory, Schachter-Singer (1962)
proposed that two things have happen before emotion
occurs: the physical arousal and a labeling of the arousal
based on cues from the surrounding environment.
• Emotion is result of physiological arousal and cognitive
appraisal/ judgement.

Cognitive
Stimulus appraisal
Emotion
e.g. snarling
dog Physiological
arousal
 Chapter Five
Personality
what is personality?
• The word personality is derived from the word persona,
which has Greek and Latin roots and refers to the
theatrical masks.
• Personality is the unique way in which each individual
thinks acts and feels throughout life.
• Personality is also totality of everything about a person
emotional, mental, social and spiritual make up.
• Psychologists generally view personality as the unique
pattern of enduring thoughts, feelings, and actions that
characterize a person.
• Personality should not be equated with character and
temperament.
• Character denotes something ethical and moral
and refers to the standards of right and wrong;
• Temperament refers the enduring characteristics,
which each person is born, such as irritability or
aggressive and adaptability.
• But character and temperament are just one
aspect of personality.
• The term personality comes from Latin and
Greek word “persona” which means ‘mask’ . In
this sense it can be understood as an individual
seen by others.
 Theories of Personality
• Personality is still relatively young fields of
psychology; there are several ways in which the
characteristic behavior of human beings can be
explained.
• Here under we have about four major theories that
explain how personality developed.
These are ;-
•Psychoanalytic theory of personality
•psychosocial
•Humanistic
•Trait
Sigmund Freud
1. The Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
• Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality
development concerns about the unconscious mind of
human beings as a powerful and significant element over
the others.
• This perspective is also heavily focused on biological
causes of personality differences.
• He classified the mind into three parts:
• Conscious mind: presenting a tiny region of mind. It is all
the things of which a person is aware at any time.
• Preconscious mind: a level of the mind where all of the
information, events, concerns and thoughts that a person is
not aware at the moment but easily accessible to conscious
awareness are kept.
• Unconscious mind:is a part of the mind that
remains hidden at all times.
• Surfacing only in symbolic form in dreams and
in some of the behavior people engage in
without knowing why they have done so.
• It stores experiences such as traumatic, painful,
unfavourable & unpleasant.
• Accordingly the most important determining
factor of human behaviour.
 Freud’s Concept of Personality
There are three parts of personality:
ID: /if it feels good, do it.
Represents primitive desires
Refers of instinctual, biological urges of human
beings
Represent our animalistic nature, to seek
immediate gratification
Guided by pleasure principle, if needs are not
satisfied immediately, the result is a state of
anxiety or tension
 Ego: the executive director
Executive part of our personality, and the way
you your self to the world.
It is component of personality that is responsible
for dealing with the reality.
The ego does realistic and logical thinking and
formulate plans of action for satisfying needs.
Gratifies the Id demands in a socially acceptable
way and derives its psychic energy from Id.
 Super Ego: the moral watchdog
• It is the moral centre of personality.
Is the aspect of personality that holds all of our
internalized moral standards and ideas that we acquire
from both our parents, and society.
 Our sense of right or wrong . The main concern is
being whether the action is good or bad.
Provides guidelines for making judgments.
• There are two parts of super ego.
1. Ego Ideal: correct and acceptable behaviour that the
child has learned about from parents and others in the
society.
2. Conscience: part of personality that makes people pride
when they do right things and guilt/moral anxiety when
they do wrong thing.
• For Freud, our personality is the outcome of the
continual battle for dominance among the id,
ego and superego.
• This constant conflict between them is resolved
by psychological defense mechanisms.
• Some of the psychological defense mechanisms
are discussed below.
 Ego Defense Mechanisms
• Defense mechanisms are tactics used to manage the
conflict for dominance among the id, ego & superego.
• Repression: is a defense mechanism that involves
banishing/suppressing threatening thoughts, feelings,
and memories into the unconscious mind.
• Automatic process of “pushing down’’ of the painful
ideas, motives and memories in to the unconscious.
• Example: an Ethiopian husband who is defeated by his
wife will not remember/ talk it out again.
• Denial: refusal/reject to recognize or acknowledge a
threatening situation.
• Example; Mr. X is an alcoholic who denies/ doesn’t
accept being an alcoholic.
• Regression: involves reverting to immature
behaviors that have relieved anxiety in the past.
• To behave as if one were at earlier stages of
development when an adult behaves ,this is said
to have regressed to an earlier.
• Example: a girl/a boy who has just entered school
may go back to sucking her/his thumb or wetting
the bed.
• Rationalization: giving socially acceptable
reasons for one's inappropriate behavior.
• Example: make bad grades but states the reason
has the grading system of college.
•Displacement: expressing feelings toward a
person who is less threatening than the
person who is the true target of those
feelings.
•Example: Hating your boss but taking it out
on family members.
•Projection: the defense mechanism that
involves attributing one's own undesirable
feelings to other people.
•Example: a paranoid/suspicious person uses
projection to justify isolation and anger.
•Reaction Formation: defense mechanism that
involves a tendency to act in a manner opposite
of one's true feelings.
•Example: a person who acts conservation but
focuses on violence in their behavior.
•Sublimation: defense mechanism that involves
expressing sexual or aggressive behavior
through indirect and socially acceptable outlets.
•Example: aggressive person who plays football.

•A sexually impotent man may focuses on his

work and becomes productive .
 Stages of Psychosexual Development

Stage 1: Oral Stage (birth to 18

months)
• The erogenous zone is around the mouth.
• The infant gains gratification from oral activities;
such as sucking, biting and chewing.
• An infant is governed only by its drives (ID).
• Social conflict of this stage is weaning (taking the
mothers breast away from the child and drink from a
cup).
• If too late or early can result in too little or too much
gratification- then it leads to oral fixation.
•The oral character who is unfulfilled at this
stage, and whose mother refused to indulge/
under satisfied characterized by too aggressive
pessimist, greedy, suspicious and sarcasm.
•The overindulged oral character or excessively
satisfied become optimist, trusting/innocent,
and full of admiration.
•Over eating, drinking too much, chain smoking,
nail biting, tendency to be dependent and
optimistic (oral needs are overindulged)
 Stage 2: Anal stage (18 months –3 years)
• As the child becomes a toddler, the erogenous zone
moved to the area of anus.
• The child gets the greater deal of pleasure from both
with holding and then releasing their feces at will.
• This represents a classic conflict between the id
which derives pleasure from expulsion of bodily
wastes and the ego and super ego which represent
the practical and societal pressures to control bodily
functions.
• This is the time when the child gets parental
influence on toilet training success. this brings them
into conflict with their parents.
• Random elimination (as demanded by ID) incurs parental
displeasure, yet parental withholding elimination (as
requested by the parents) is denying demands of the ID.
• This conflict is resolved when Ego develops.
• At this stage; an infant who passes through the anal stage
successfully: & get too much gratification they
• will develop in to an adult who is flexible rather than rigid
on most traits.
• If parents were overemphasizing potty training, (under
indulged child)will develop, tidiness , clean ,organized
orderliness, a hot temper and destructiveness.
• Failure at this stage leads to anal fixation.
• If parents were neglectful about potty training the child
will be overindulged. in later personality the child become
i.e. messy, disorganized, careless, and unruly.
 Stage 3: Phallic stage (3-6Years)
• Major concerns;- sex organs are pleasure zone (phallus
means the image of penis)
• During this stage the child loves sexually the opposite sex.
• The child start “if you show yours, I will show you mine”
game.
• THE BOY will have desire to his mother and displace this
kind of feeling during the phallic stage is called OEDIPUS
complex
• The boy fears that the father discovers his son’s feeling
towards his mother and remove the source of the problem
(the son’s penis).this kind of worry is called CASTRATION
anxiety.
• THE GIRL .The girl is sexually attracted to her father and
such feeling is called ELECTRA complex.
• Girls become hostile towards their mother when
they feel their mother cheated them by not
giving penis, such envy called Penis Envy.
• Girls turn their desire to their fathers to at least
share the phallus of their fathers.
• Again repressing the feeling and identifying with
their mother resolve their conflict.
• Feminine sex roles are than imitated from the
mother.
• *Both over and under rejection lead to problems in
later personality development.
•Over indulgence leads to a later personality
like vanity /narcissism, pride, stylishness,
sociability
•Under indulgence or over rejection leads self
hatred, isolation, plainness, humility.
•This conflicts can also the cause of child to
be afraid of close relationship and weak
sexual identify .
•Freud stated that fixation may be a root of
homosexuals.
Stage 4: Latency Stage (6 – 12 years
/puberty)
pre-genital desires are repressed into
unconscious mind.
Attention shifts from sexual activities to
friendship and schooling.
Sexual desires turn into latent/hidden.
No fixation occurs as the Childs energy
are focused on peer activities and person
mastery of learning and physical skills.
 Stage 5: Genital stage ( 12 yrs on wards)
Sexual interest with opposite sex increase.
Adolescents can deal with sexual energy by
investing socially acceptable way such as forming
relationship.
Develop caring feeling towards others
Establish loving and sexual relationship and
progress in successful careers.
the central attention is on genital organs and
experience in the form of heterosexual relationship.
FIXATION: Frigidity(not wanting to have
sex), Impotence(unable to have/make sex) and
unsatisfactory relationship.
Summary
2. Erikson’s Theory of psychosocial
development
• Psychosocial development refers to changes in
emotional and social aspects of developments.
• The emotional development refers to changes in
feelings, conception and attitude of people
while the social development shows changes in
forming relationships with others.
• Erikson coined the term “Identity crisis” and is
best known for his eight-stage theory of
psychosocial development.
• According to Erikson, specific identity crisis
and its developmental resolution define each
stage.
•In each stage person experiences
psychosocial crisis which could
have a positive or negative outcome
for personality development.
•Successful completion of each stage
results healthy personality and
acquisition of basic virtues. If not …
•Erikson’s theory deals with
development across the entire lifespan
from infancy to adulthood.
Assumptions of Erikson includes:
1. There are eight stages
2. There is always crisis at each stage
3. The way we resolve crisis in any stage affects the next
Erikson’s theory is based on 5 important ideas. These
are
• People in general have the same basic needs.
• self development occurs in response to these needs.
• Development proceeds in stages.
• Each stage is characterized by a psychological challenge
that presents opportunities for development.
• Different stages reflect differences in motivation of an
individual.
 Eight stages of psychosocial development

• At this stage, the infant is uncertain about the world

and looks towards their primary caregiver care.
• If the they get appropriate attention/care they
develop thrust unless they develop mistrust.
• The child who is well-handled, nurtured and
loved develops trust, optimism and able to feel
secure even in threatened/dangerous situations.
• But the child who is badly handled becomes
insecure & develop mistrust, suspicion also
develop anxiety.
• The virtue /asset here is hope/ optimism.
• At this stage child develop a sense of personal control
over physical skills and a sense of independence.
• The child is developing physically and becoming more
mobile, and discovering that he/she has many skills and
abilities,
• Such as putting on clothes and shoes, playing
with toys, etc. Such skills illustrate the child's
growing sense of independence and autonomy.
• At this stage , children need independence ,
freedom and exploration. If this fulfilled
children feel autonomy and develop I can do
anything value.
• If not or overly protected they feel shame/doubt
and develop I can't do anything value.
• The virtue /asset here is will.
• At this stage children begin to ask many questions for
parents and teachers for knowledge grows. If the parents
discourage the child they feel guilt
• Also children begin to plan activities, make up games,
and initiate activities with others.
• At this stage children wants to practice and doing
everything like jumping ,running , practice of writing and
like .
• If this fulfilled, children develop a sense of initiative and
feel secure in their ability to lead others and make
decisions.
• Conversely, if this tendency is splashed, either through
criticism or control, children develop a sense of guilt.
• The virtue /asset here is purpose.
• Children are at the stage where learning to read and write to do things
on their own.
• If child encouraged for their initiative, they feel industrious (competent)
and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals.
• If initiative is discouraged, by parents or teacher, then the child begins
to feel inferior, doubting his own abilities and may not reach potential.
• This stage considered as elementary school
period. At this stage children must acquire
academic skill. They also begin to compare
their intellectual ability with those of their peer.
• If children acquire these skills and valued by
other they develop sense of
productivity/industry if not they feel inferiority.
• The virtue /asset is here competence.
Stage 5. Identity Vs Role confusion (12 –18 years)
•Identity is characterized by integration of
personal values with those society, a clear
sense of life in multiple life roles, and making
choices about the future.
•A healthy identity: one’s organization of
individual drives, abilities, beliefs and
experience into a consistent image of self.
•Role confusion: failure to establish an
individual identity and do not being sure about
themselves
• At this stage, adolescents search for a sense of
self and personal identity, through an intense
exploration of personal values, beliefs, and
goals.
• Adolescent rise a question of identity who am
I ? To whom I belong ? what is my role in
society? And seek to establish clear self identity
• If these question answered effectively they
develop identity if not they develop identity
confusion.
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of
fidelity /faithfulness.
Stage 6 Intimacy Vs Isolation (18/20- 25
years)
• The establishment of close interpersonal bonds is the major
tasks of this stage.
• adolescents form identities and start looking for mutual
close relationships/searching for one’s beloved
• If interpersonal bond made with other they develop
intimacy, if not they develop sense of isolation.
• Intimacy: develops when the person creates mature
relationship with partners. Long lasting r/ship.
• Isolation: inability to create intimate relationships.
• People who fail to resolve it successfully will live their
lives in isolation, unable to form truly intimate, lasting
relationships and isolated from society.
• The virtue /asset is here love.
Stage 7. Generosity Vs Stagnation/self-
absorption (35-60 years)Middle adulthood
• Primary developmental task is contributing to the
society and helping and guide next/future
generation.
• Generosity: is concern of establishing and guiding
the next generation &promote wellbeing of others.
• Adult life is characterized by the crises of the need
for individuals to overcome selfish, self-centered
concerns and to take an active interest in helping
and guiding the next generations.
• Stagnation: a dissatisfaction with the relative
lack of productivity, Parenting, education and
productive social involvement
• The virtue is here Care.
Stage 8. Integrity Vs Despair (above 65 years)
• At this stage people look back and ask “did my life have
meaning? Did my being here really matter?
• If they answer affirmatively and they made positive
contribution to society they attain integrity . If they answer
no they may express deep despair .
• Sense of satisfaction with life well lived.
• Integrity: when a person developed wisdom over a life time
and can look back and see a meaningful life .
• Despair: a sense of not accomplishing one’s goals or values
and it is too late to do anything about it.
• The virtue /asset /good quality here is wisdom.
Summary
 3. Humanistic theory of personality
• Humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
wanted psychology to focus on the things that make
people uniquely human, such as subjective emotions and
freedom to choose one’s own destiny.
Carl Rogers and Self-concept
• Rogers believed that human beings are always
striving/motivated to fulfill their innate capacities and their
genetic potential will allow them to become.
• This striving for fulfillment is called self-actualizing
tendency.
• Maslow believed that successful fulfillment of each stage
of need play a vital role in the development of personality.
• An important tool in human self-actualization self-concept.
 Self-concept & Positive Regards
self-concept is the image we develop about ourselves.
It is an organized concepts and values about self.
• Real Self : the actual self we already possessed and
• Ideal Self the imaginary self we would like to be in the
future.
• Rogers elevated that in the development of self positive
regard is very essential.
• Positive regard is warmth, affection, love and respect
that come from the significant others (parents, admired
adults, friends and teachers) in people’s experience.
• Positive regard is vital to people’s ability to cope with
stress and strive to achieve self-actualization.
 Conditional and Unconditional positive
regards
• unconditional positive regard/love- affection and respect
with out attached strings/preconditions,
• It is necessary for people to be able to explore fully and to
achieve self actualization.
• Conditional positive regard, which is love, affection,
respect and warmth that depend on doing what those
people want/ preconditions.
• For Rogers, a person who is in the process of self-
actualizing and experience a match between real and ideal
selves is a fully functioning person.
 3. The Trait Theory Of Personality
• Trait approach see personality as a combination of stable internal
characteristics that people display consistently over time and across
situations.

• Trait theorists seek to measure many personality characteristics that

they believe presented in everyone.

• These five dimensions have become known as the five-factor model or

the Big Five and represent the core description of human personality.

• These five trait dimensions can be remembered by using the acronym

OCEAN, in which each of the letters is the first letter of one of the five
dimensions of personality.
Openness refers to person’s willingness to try
new things and be open to new experiences.
Conscientiousness refers to the extent to which
a person is organized , careful and motivated.
Extraverts vs Introverts Carl Jung, believed
that all people could be divided into two
personality type Extraverts are outgoing and
sociable, whereas introverts are more solitary and
dislike being the center of attention.
Agreeableness refers to the basic emotional style
of a person, who may be easygoing, friendly and
pleasant.
Neuroticism refers to the extent to which person
emotionally instable or stable.
OCEAN /Big Five
 CHAPTER SEVEN
INTRODUCTION TO LIFE SKILLS
LIFE SKILLS are abilities for adaptive and
positive behavior that enable individuals to
deal effectively with the demands and
challenges of everyday life.
•It is also defined as “behavioral changes or
behavioral development approach designed to
address a balance of three areas: knowledge,
attitude and skills”
 Components of Life Skills
Critical thinking - involves, improved reasoning and thinking skills
in dealing with real life problems and assessing information and
arguments independently and appropriately in social contexts &
making life decisions.
Self-confidence – is the degree to which one can trust and rely on his or
her own abilities to perform certain activities.
Self-awareness – knowledge and understanding of one‘s strengthens
and weaknesses.

It also involves monitoring our inner worlds, thoughts, emotions, and

beliefs.
Self-esteem - the degree to which we perceive ourselves
positively or negatively; our overall attitude toward
ourselves.

Decision-making - Processes involved in combining and

integrating available information to choose, implement and
evaluate one out of several possible courses of actions.
Interpersonal relationships – the relationships a person
have with others persons.

Peer pressure resistance – individual‘s abilities and skills

to confront negative influences from his/her group
Knowing rights and duties – One‘s knowledge and
understanding of rights and duties of individuals,
groups, institutions and nations allowed to do or not
to do by law and/or a culture.
Problem solving – the process of identifying a
discrepancy between an actual and desired state of
affairs, difficulties, obstacles and complex issues
and then taking action to resolve the deficiency or
take advantage of the opportunity.
 Goals of Life Skills
• The goal of knowing and applying life skills is to lead
smooth and successful life at home, work place and in social
interpersonal relationship.
To reduce violent behavior self-destructive behavior;
To increased the ability to plan ahead and choose effective
solutions to problems;
Improve self-image, self-awareness, social and emotional
adjustment; increased acquisition of knowledge;
Improve classroom behavior; gains in self- control and
handling of interpersonal problems and coping with anxiety;
 improve constructive conflict resolution with peers,
impulse control and popularity
to take positive action to protect themselves and promote
health and positive social relationships.
Thankyou