BSC 101

General psychology
Academic year 2014/2015
Level 1
Semester: 2
Facilitator : t.c ramaili-letsie
 NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY

DEF.
It is simply the study of behavior and mental
processes
It attempts to explain why:
 People respond the way they do to stimuli
around them e.g. why are certain individuals
are physically aggressive
 Helps us to draw general principles about
people’s experiences e.g. Why generally do
people laugh when they experience a happy
moment and why they cry when they
experience sadness.
 It also enables us to understand and appreciate
individual’s personal experiences that make
them unique e.g. people will experience
differently a similar situation and respond to it
as individuals.
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

As early as the seventeenth century there were

already some work on psychology by the ancient
Greek psychologists, but the birth of scientific
formal psychology as an academic discipline
generally dates to the 19th century.
In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt set up his first
experimental laboratory devoted to studying
psychological phenomena in Leipzig,
Germany.
His aim was to study the building blocks
(structure) of the mind
He considered psychology to be the study of a
conscious experience, the perspective that came
to be known as structuralism.
It assumes that in order to understand the
experience it must be broken down into its
smaller components (odour, taste, brightness,
contours) and attempts be made to understand
how each component contribute to the total
experience.
 He studied this conscious experience through a
procedure called introspection, where participants
were given smaller stimulus e.g. bright coloured
objects and asked to write details of experiences
they drew from them.
 This approach was later questioned by other
psychologists on the basis that there were a few
ways of objectively confirming the accuracy of
introspection and again other inner experiences
such as emotional experiences were difficult to
describe.
Gestalt psychology-Max Wertheimer &Hermann
Ebbinghouse
This is another theory that displaced
structuralism
Its emphasis is on how perception is organized
It explains that rather than drawing perception of
experience from its elements it would be easier
to understand it as a whole, that is the whole is
different from the sum of its parts, people’s
perception or understanding is greater & much
more meaningful than the elements that make up
such a perception. E.g. people’s perception of
one’s behavior is much more important than
what led to such behavior
Functionalism-William James
 This approach replaced structuralism
 Instead of focusing on the mind structure it
concentrates on what the mind does and how
behavior functions
 Functionalists attempt to explain the role behavior
plays in allowing people to adapt to their
environment e.g. how does an emotion in the form
of anxiety/ stress prepare a person for an
examination→ achievement or failure
WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN
PSYCHOLOGY
While the field of psychology like many other
professions seemed to have been dominated by
the males, in the 19th century, emancipation of
women paved the way for several women to
contribute into this discipline despite all the
difficulties they encountered.
Margaret Floy Washburn
 First woman to receive a doctorate in psychology
 Her work was on animal behavior
Leta Stetta Hollingworth
 The first psychologist to focus on child development
and women issues
 She revoked a common understanding that women’s
abilities periodically declined during parts of the
menstrual cycle
Mary Calkeins
 Studied memory in the early 20th century
 The first female president of the American Psychological
Association
Karen Horney
 Worked on social and cultural factors behind personality
 June Etta Downey
 Led the study of personality traits
 The first woman to be Head of Department of Psychology
at the State University
Anna Freud
Daughter of Sigmund freud
She contributed in the treatment of abnormal
behavior
Mamie Phipps Clark
Pioneered the work on how children of colour
grew to recognize racial differences
 
PERSPECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGY
Biological/Physiological/Neuroscience
This perspective explores the influence of human
physiology on the mind and behavior e.g. how
certain behaviors are inherited from parents
(genetics), the influence of the nervous and
endocrine systems on the behavior.
Psychodynamic Perspectives
 This perspective argues that behavior is motivated
by the inner forces and conflicts that we are not
aware of consciously or have no control over e.g.
dreams and slips of tongue indicate the true inner
feelings that are in our subconscious mind
 They are actually thoughts, images and feelings that
we hide either because we are guilty or ashamed of,
when they come out they can lead to aggression or
prejudice.
 Cognitive perspective

 Focuses on how people think, understand

comprehend and represent the world outside to
themselves
 Most importantly how do our ways of thinking
about the world influence our behavior? A person
who thinks the world is unfair to him is likely to be
aggressive.
 Under this perspective we study sensation,
perception, memory, learning, thinking &
intelligence 
Behavioral perspective – Watson B. John &
Skinner B.F.
It focuses on observable behavior that can be
objectively measured .Behaviorists believe that a
person’s behavior is directly related to his
environment therefore a change in behavior can
be elicited by manipulating the environment.
Humanistic approach-Carl Rogers &
Abraham Marslow
This perspective argues that it’s not the inner
forces, biological forces or environmental
influences that model one’s behavior but that
each individual has got a natural ability to strive
for growth, development, self actualization and
be in control of their behavior and life for as
long as they are given an opportunity to do so.
It emphasize free will to decision making about
one’s life and behavior, free choices about
determining one’s destiny without relying on
societal standards
It encourages people to have a free will of
defining their destiny in self fulfillment and self
actualization
 BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF PSYCHOLOG

It is dependent on the two communication

systems of the body: nervous and endocrine
systems
 The nervous system

The basic units of the nervous system

(neurons)
There are trillions of them in the body
Their most important function in the body is
communication with other cells
They transmit information in the form of
electric impulses, received from the
environment, across long distances to various
parts of the body or relay the nervous system
messages to any target cells.
Neurons are held in place (supported) by glial
cells, which also nourish, insulate and help
repair damage
 STRUCTURE OF THE NEURON

The cell body

 contains the nucleus
The dendrites
Receive messages from other neurons
Axon
Carries messages received by dendrites from the
cell body to other neurons
Myelin sheath
Insulates neurons to prevent short circuiting
It also increases the speed of impulses through
the axons, so axons that transmit crucial
messages have more /greater myelin.
Terminal buttons
Send messages to other neurons
Structure of a neuron
Pathway of a message through the neuron
 It is one way
 Sending neuron → dendrites→ cell body → axon →
terminal buttons → another neuron
How the neuron fires
 The neuron is first found in its resting state
 It has negative electric charges owing to the
presence of negatively charged ions inside the
neuron than out side
 When the message arrives at the neuron, its
membrane momentarily admits positively charged
ions in at the rate of 100 million ions /second.
 When these ions reach a critical level, the neuron
fires, sending an action potential along the axon
 The areas behind the action potential remain
negatively charged → failure of the neuron to fire in
succession, but have to go on resting state again
The speed of an action potential is determined
by:
Size of the axon- thin axons transmit 2miles/h,
long and thick axons 225miles/h
Thickness of the myelin sheath
The rate of firing of neurons also differ and it is
dependant on the intensity of the stimulus, e.g. a
bright light or loud sound will lead to a higher
rate of firing than a dull colour or sound.
The space between the sending and the receiving
neurons is called a synapse.
When the impulse reaches the terminal buttons
of the sending neuron, those buttons release a
chemical carrier called a neurotransmitter. Its
function is to take the message across the
synapse to the dendrites of a receiving neuron.
Each neurotransmitter has to fit into the
appropriate receptor of the receiving dendrites
like the jigsaw puzzle
The neurotransmitter is likely to deliver either an
excitatory or inhibitory response
The excitatory message will cause the neuron to
fire
The inhibitory message will inhibit its action
potential
The messages will be delivered at same time but
the decision of the neuron either to fire or be
inhibited will be dependant on the concentration
of the neurotransmitter/message
Once the neurotransmitter has served its
purpose it is absorbed by the terminal buttons-
re-uptake or deactivated by the enzymes.
Given the excitatory or inhibitory
responsibilities of a neurotransmitter their
excess or deficiency can produce significant
behavior changes.
The same neurotransmitter can produce an
excitatory message on one part of the brain
while it inhibits another
NAME PLACE ACTION FUNCTION DEFICIENCY PROBLEM
FOUND
ACETYL CNS & EXICITATORY CONTROLS MUSCLE DEFICIENCCY –ALZEIMER-
CHOLINE PERIPHERA IN CNS, MOVEMENT HYPERSECRETION-
L INHIBITORY IN UNCONTROLLED MUSCLE
OTHER PARTS MOVEMENTS
GLUTAMIDE CNS EXCITATORY REGULATES -
MEMORY
DOPAMINE BRAIN EXICITATORY& VOLUNTARY SCHETZOPHRENIA-
INHIBITORY MOVEMENTS,ATTEN DEFICIENCY-PARKINSON’S
TION & LEARNING DISEASE
GAMA AMINO CNS INHIBITORY EATING,AGGRESSIO ITS EFFECTS POTENTIATED
BUTERIC ACID N & SLEEP BY ALCOHOL &
TRANQUILIZERS
SEROTONIN CNS INHIBITORY CONTROLS
EATING,MOOD,SLEE
P,PAIN,AGGRESSION
,DEPRESSION
&STRESS
ENDOPHINS CNS INHIBITORY BLOCKS PAIN

NORADRENALIN BOTH EXCITATORY BP,PULSE, USEFUL DEFICIENCY-DEPRESSION

NEUROTRA IN CRISIS
NSMITTER
&
HORMONE
ORGANIZATION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
NERVOUS SYSTEM

PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

SOMATIC DIVISION AUTONOMIC DIVISION BRAIN & SPINAL

CORD

SYMPATHETIC DIVISION PARASYMPATHETIC DIVISION

 
 THE SPINAL CORD

Leaves the brain at the base of the skull

Runs down the spinal column
Transmits messages between the brain and the
rest of the body
It has spinal nerves
It can autonomously control other behaviors
such as the reflexes
 REFLEXES
They are automatic involuntary responses to
stimulus that are protective in nature
While the initial response is initiated in the
spinal cord, they are later relayed to the brain
and interpreted there, except for sneezing that is
initiated and interpreted in the brain
Reflexes carry three kinds of neurons
Sensory (afferent neurons)
Transmit information from the periphery to the
CNS
Motor (efferent neurons)
Transmit information from the CNS to the
muscles and glands
 Interneuron

Connect sensory and motor neurons 

Injury to the spinal cord or spinal nerves is likely
to result in paralysis which will be dependant on
the level of injury e.g.
Quadriplegia- loss of voluntary muscle
movement to all parts of the body below the
neck.
Paraplegia –loss of voluntary control of muscle
movement in the lower half of the body
 THE BRAIN

Structure
It has got two hemispheres
The left hemisphere controls the right side of the
body while the right hemisphere controls the left
side of the body
Lateralization-dominance of one hemisphere of
the brain to specific functions e.g. language is
lateralized in the left hemisphere
Hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain
The hindbrain is part of the central core(old brain),is
made up of:
the medulla
Pons
Cerebellum
Medulla
Controls vital functions such as breathing and heart
beat
 The pons

A link between two halves of the cerebellum

It contains a bundle of nerves
Transmit motor information
Coordinates muscles
Integrates movement between the left and right
sides of the body
It also regulate sleep
 The cerebellum

 Found above the medulla& behind the pons

 It controls bodily balance
 It monitors feedback from muscles and ensures that
their placement, movement &tension are coordinated
 It is also involved in intellectual functions such as
decision making
Extending from the medulla, through the pons,
midbrain, and fore brain is a bundle of nerves called
the reticular formation
 It controls sleep, arousal and attention
Hidden in the forebrain is the thalamus
 It relays messages about the senses to the higher
centres of the brain for interpretation and back to the
cerebellum and the medulla
Below the thalamus is the hypothalamus
 Its function is to maintain the homeostasis-
monitoring nutrients in the body and maintaining a
constant body temperature
 Also regulate eating , self protection and sexual
activity
The limbic system (pleasure centre)
It has three structures:
 Amygdala
Hippocampus
Fornix
The limbic system controls emotions and self
preservation e.g. eating, aggression and
reproduction
An injury to this part of the brain is likely to
bring about opposites effects on the characters
e.g. an aggressive person might be docile , while
the docile might be aggressive
It also plays an important part in learning and
memory-those with brain surgery are likely to
have a problem remembering or learning new
information
 The cerebral cortex( the new brain)

Responsible higher cognition, thinking, and

other complex processes such as evaluation and
complex judgment
It is convoluted to enable it to fit into the skull
It has got four sets of lobes that are separated by
the deep grooves called salci
The lobes are as follows
 Frontal lobe
 Parietal lobe
 Temporal lobe
 Occipital lobe
It has got three major functional areas which
serve specialized functions
1.Motor area
It is located in the frontal lobe
It is responsible for the body’s voluntary
movements
 Each part of the body has got a corresponding a
corresponding part on the motor area
 Movements that require precision such as a
finger grasp hold a larger area of the motor area
that they that are general and do not require any
form of precision
2. Sensory area
 Relates sensory organs with the brain
 There are three major areas sensitive to
different sense organs
 somato -sensory
 Found in the parietal lobe
 Facilitates ability to sense pressure and touch
Auditory area
Found in the temporal lobe
Responsible for sense of hearing
Visual centre
Found in the occipital lobe
Responsible for the sense of sight
3. The association areas
This portion of the cerebral cortex is responsible
for higher mental processes such as thought ,
language, memory, speech and rationale
judgment
Damage to this area is likely to bring about
defective cognition ,failure to recall and even
irrational decision making.
Injury to other parts of the association areas is
likely to cause apraxia-failure to integrate
activities in a logical manner
Others develop problems with language- aphasia
Broca’s aphasia-named after a French physician
Paul Broca , who discovered it
The speech in this condition is halting, laborious
and ungrammatical
Wernicke’s aphasia-named after Carl Wernicke
who discovered it
People suffering from this condition have a
problem producing language as well as
understanding other’s speech
 THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

 Encompasses all other parts of the nervous system

other than the brain and the spinal cord
 Made up of neurons
 Consists of the somatic and autonomic divisions
which are a link between the CNS, muscles, glands
and any other organs
Somatic division
 Controls voluntary movements and general
communication from the sense organs to the CNS
Autonomic division
Functions involuntarily to control the vital
organs of the body such as the heart, blood
vessels, stomach, lungs and any other organs
whose response is not under voluntary control
The autonomic division is further divided into
sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions
Sympathetic division
Activates body systems and prepares them for
stressful situations in the form of flight or fight
e.g. ↑ heart rate, breathing, sweating and
dilation of the pupils
This division is mainly under the influence of
adrenalin and noradrenalin
Parasympathetic division
Mainly located at the cranial and sacral nerves
Calms the body by inhibitory mechanisms after
it has responded to sympathetic stimulation and
after the threat has been overcome e.g. constricts
the pupils, ↓ the heart rate and breathing
It enables the body to conserve energy for
emergency responses
 ENDOCRINE INFLUENCE

This is another system other than the nervous

system that integrates and coordinates the body
and play a role in behavior
Communication through this system is via the
blood stream from endocrine (ductless) glands
The chemical messengers are hormones
The endocrine gland is not fully independent but
is also regulated by the CNS
 Important hormones

Pituitary hormones
Adenohypophysis/ anterior pituitary gland
Growth hormone( somatotrophic hormones)
Responsible for growth processes
Hypo secretion leads to dwarfism-which are
usually intellectually normal and have features
that are proportionately reduced
Hyper secretion in childhood leads to gigantism
If it happens in adulthood it leads to acromegally
Other hormones of the anterior pituitary gland
have stimulating effects on other glands
Thyrotrophin –stimulates the thyroid gland to
release its hormones
Adrenocorticotrophin –stimulates the secretion
of hormones by the adrenal cortex
Gonadotrophin-stimulates secretion of sex
hormones by the sex glands
 THYROID HORMONES

Thyroxine
Plays an important role in body metabolism
Iodine is necessary for its formation
Its hypo secretion leads to hypothyroidism
If it occurs in childhood and is not treated it
leads to a cretinism (cretinin dwarf) which
presents with :
 mental retardation

 rough facial features

 dirty yellow complexion

 underdeveloped secondary sex characteristics

 Increased body mass
 Brittle hair that falls out

 Depression

 Defective short term memory

 Poor concentration
 Hyper secretion leads to hyperthyroidism (grave’s
disease, basedow’s disease or exophthalmia goiter)
characterized by:
 weight loss due to increased metabolic rate
 Bulging eyes
 Enlargement of the thyroid gland
 Insomnia
 Increased heart rate
 Tension
 Tremors
 Irritability, anxiety &restlessness
In adulthood it leads to myxedema characterized
by:
 hypersensitivity to cold, owing to a low
metabolic rate and low temperature
 Fatigue
Parathyroid glands
 They secrete parathormone/ parathyroid hormone
 This hormone regulates calcium and phosphate ions
in the body
 Hypo parathyroidism leads to increased muscular
excitability → involuntary muscular contractions
 Hyperparathyroidism result in decalcification of the
skeleton leading to brittle bones that break easily
 Pancreatic hormones

Insulin and glucagon

They are both secreted by the islands of langerhans
They function antagonistically
When the blood glucose is high , insulin secretion is
increased to avail glucose to the cells and when the
blood glucose is low, glucagon is released to convert
glycogen into glucose
Hypo secretion of insulin leads to diabetes mellitus
while excessive secretion leads to hypoglycaemia
Adrenal glands
Adrenal cortex
Secretes adrenocortical hormone /steroids
Plays a vital role in reaction to stress
Also act as source of sex hormone
 Hypersecretion leads to Cushing’s syndrome
characterized by:
 Muscle weakness
 General fatigue
 Low sex drive
 Obesity
 Depression
 Anxiety and irritability
 Adrenogenital syndrome
 Musculinization of females (virilism) or
overemphasis of male masculine characteristics
 Excessive oestrogen secretion leads to
feminism of males (feminism) or overemphasis
of female characteristics in females
Hypo functioning leads to Addison’s disease
characterized by:
 darkening of the skin,

 digestive problems,

 low BP, apathy,

 confusion,

 restlessness, and concentration problems.

Adrenal medulla secretes both epinephrine and
nor epinephrine
Gonads
They secrete oestrogen and progesterone
secreted by the ovaries
Androgen testosterone by the testes
 GENETIC INFLUENCE OF BEHAVIOR

It studies the effects of heredity on behavior

Seeks to answer whether traits such as cognitive
abilities, personality traits, sexual orientation and
some psychological disorders have some genetic
predisposition
Genetic material is attached to the chromosomes
 DEVELOPMENT

Physical development
Conception occurs when the ovum and the
spermatozoa unite resulting in a one celled
organism called a zygote.The first two weeks of
its development is called the germinal period.
 The zygote contains 23 pairs of chromosome ,each
gamete contributing half. Chromosomes contain the
hereditary material contained in genes. Genes
determine one’s developmental characteristics such
as height, colour of eyes gender etc.
 sex linked genetic material are both from the mother
and the father, x from the female and y from the
male .
XX=female, XY=male.
The zygote begins to develop into an embryo by
mitotic cell division from 4 wks to 8wks this
period is called the embryonic period. This is a
crucial period of development as organs are
being laid up though still primitive
From 8 wks to term the developing organism is
called a fetus
16-18 wks the mother feels the first fetal
movements
22 wks is the age of viability, the baby can
survive outside the uterus if born prematurely
Gestational period is 40wks and babies born
before 38wks are said to be preterm babies
Factors determining pre-& post term development
Genetic influence
 A number of congenital abnormalities and diseases
emanate from defective genetic material such
conditions include :
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
 Children born with this disease lack an enzyme
necessary for their development, therefore poisons
accumulate in their bodies leading to profound
mental retardation
Sickle cell anaemia
An inherited disorder of red blood cells. The
cells become abnormally shaped, like a sickle.
Typical characteristics: poor appetite, swollen
stomach, jaundice and cognitive difficulties
Tay sachs disease
Genetic condition resulting in inability of the
body to break down fats
Down syndrome
 Chromosomal disorder whereby the zygote receives
an extra chromosome leading to mental retardation
Environmental influences
Maternal nutrition
 Mothers who are malnourished cannot provide
adequate nutrition to their babies who are dependant
on their mothers for micro-nutrients ,which they
capture via the umbilical cord
Maternal emotions
Mothers who are anxious and tense during the
last months of pregnancy tend to have babies
that are irritable, do not sleep or feed well
Maternal illnesses
Maternal conditions such as rubella, syphilis,
diabetes mellitus, hypertension and HIV can
have detrimental impacts on the baby
Maternal use of drugs
Because of the teratogenicity of drugs mothers need to
take only drugs that are prescribed by the physician,
avoid over counter drugs ,illegal and addictive drugs as
they can harm the baby
Alcohol and nicotine
Babies born of mothers who abuse alcohol are likely to
develop fetal alcohol syndrome and withdrawal
symptoms after birth.
Nicotine on the other hand constricts maternal blood
vessels rendering the feto-maternal unit insufficient in
providing nutrients and oxygen to the baby
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Attachment
An emotional bond that occurs between the child
and an important individual involved in his/her
life
According to Konrad Lorenz(1966) the first
evidence of attachment is imprinting, the process
whereby a newly born baby follows the
movements of the first moving object-usually the
mother
Attachment is also enhanced by comfort hence
mothers tend to bond more with children than
fathers because they respond positively to them
and attend to their signals such as crying,
smiling, clinging by cuddling ,hugging and
rocking them. This responsiveness increase the
likelihood that a child will securely attach to an
individual
Constant interaction also helps attachment
Measuring attachment
Mary Aimsworth developed an attachment test
called Aimsworth stranger situation
She measured the responses of babies in the
presence of the mother, when the mother leaves
and when she comes back as opposed to stranger
 The babies’ responses were varying depending on
the degree of attachment
 Babies who had attached securely to their mothers
showed signs of distress when they leave the room,
run to them when they return but shy away from a
stranger as she comes in
 Other children may be avoidant, these babies are not
distressed by their mothers’ departure nor do they
acknowledge them as they return because of poor
attachment
Another group of babies become ambivalent,
they become anxious just before the mothers’
departure, cry as they leave, acknowledge them
as they return but also kick and hit her
Another group of babies may be disorganized
/disoriented –they respond inconsistently and in
a contradictory manner, they would cry when not
expected to e.g. when the mother comes in or
smile to a stranger
Consequences of attachment on a child’s
development
Children who attached securely tend to be more
socially and emotionally competent, capable and
playful
They how less psychologically difficulties than
their counterparts
They are able to establish more meaningful
romantic relationships in future
If fathers are involved in parenting the child
tend to form multiple attachments though
fathers usually engage in a more physical level
e.g. rough play. Other significant figures that a
child is likely to attach to are nannies, grand
parents or any other primary care givers
Social relationships with peers
At 2yrs they become independent and engage in
solo play, even if they play side by side the focus
is not on each other but on individual toys, no
social interaction
 At school going age they engage in more patterns of
social interaction. They engage in more elaborate
games involving teams and rigid rules. The games
are more purposeful than just fun e.g. competitive.
 They also learn group dynamics e.g. inferring others
thoughts and feeling, respect, communication,
physical and emotional control such as avoiding to
hit a playmate who fights and smiling even in the
phase of disappointment
Parenting styles and social development
According to developmental psychologist Diana
Boumand there are four main styles of parenting
Authoritarian parents
They are rigid, punitive and demand
unquestioning obedience from their children e.g.
in my house this is what is done or else.
Children’s social development under this style
They tend to be unsociable, unfriendly and
relatively withdrawn
Permissive parents
Even though they are generally warm, they have
little to do with their children. They give them
inconsistent guidance that is liberal too. E.g. a
child would wake up without making her bed
and they would respond by saying it would be
nice if you make your bed but its okay.
 Children’s social development under this style
They tend to be immature, moody, dependant
and with low self control
Authoritative parents
They are firm, set limits with their children. They
explain and reason with their children as they grow
They set clear goals for them and encourage them
to be independent
Children’s social development under this style
They acquire high social skills; they are likable, self
reliant, independent and cooperative


Uninvolved parents
They show little interest in their children and are
emotionally detached
Children’s social development under this style
They feel unloved, emotionally detached and
their physical and cognitive development is
impeded
Observational learning (Albert Bandura)
Refers to learning by observing another
person /model
Both positive and negative behaviors can be
learned by observation
Bandura states that observational learning takes
place in four steps
Step 1
Paying attention and perceiving the most critical
features of another person’s behavior
Step2
Remembering the behavior
Step3
Reproducing the action-occurs mostly if the
model was rewarded than punished
Step 4
Being motivated to carry out the behavior
independently in future
While learning can occur through operant
conditioning not all behaviors are appropriate for
trial and error e.g. procedures that are
detrimental to patient’s life cannot be learned
through trial and error but by observational
learning
Children learn most of unbecoming behaviors
through observational learning of media e.g.
television
 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Refers to a process whereby a child’s
understanding of the world changes in relation to
his/her age and experience
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
He states that children cognitive development
proceeds through a series of four steps in a fixed
order
He asserts that the stages differ both in the
quantity and quality of information, knowledge
and understanding acquired
The child will be able to move from one stage to
another when she has reached a certain level of
maturation and exposed to certain experiences
e.g. it would be wrong to expect a 5yrs old to
understand sexuality as she/he has not been
exposed to sexual experiences
Stages of cognitive development (Piaget’s)
Sensory- motor stage-birth to 2yrs
A child’s understanding of the world is based
primarily on touching, sucking, chewing,
shaking and manipulation of objects
They have little competence in representing the
environment by using images and language
They lack object permanence, that is an
understanding that an object still exist in mind
even if it is out of sight, therefore object
permanence is a critical development at this
stage
Pre-operational stage-2 to 7 yrs
The most important development at this stage is
language development
They develop internal representational systems
that enable them to be descriptive; describe
people, events and feelings. They can even use
symbols to describe objects
Despite the fact that their understanding is
better than in the sensory-motor stage it is not as
qualitative as adults
They have egocentric thoughts; seeing things
from their own perspective and expects others to
do so e.g. a 4yr old playing hide and seek would
hide her face with her hands and expect not to be
seen because she doesn’t see.
They have not yet mastered the principle of
conservation; knowledge that quantity is
unrelated to arrangement and a change in
shape/physical appearance of objects e.g.
Volume in an object does not change merely
because of a change in shape or configuration
Concrete operational stage 7to 12yrs
They master the principle of conservation
They learn to think logically and begin to
overcome some egocentric characteristics
They also learn the principle of reversibility
They only understand things that are concrete
but fail to map out abstract and hypothetical
perspectives
Formal operational stage 12yrs to adulthood
 Their thinking starts to be abstract, formal and
logical
 They can now use logical thinking to solve
problems using systematic rational plans
 They examine factors and their effects
 Most individuals at this age do not develop fully up
to the characteristics of this stage , probably because
of the underdevelopment of their geographical
location , extend of technology use and other
motivators
 Ausubel’s assimilation theory of meaningful
learning ?????????
 MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

His focus was on moral reasoning
He states that there are three levels of moral
development with in which there are six steps;
two in each
LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION STAGES
REASONING
PRECONVENT AGE 4-10 STAGE 1-PUNISHMENT –OBEDIENCE ORIENTATION
ION CHILDREN TEND TO THEY JUDGE HOW GOOD OR BAD THEY ARE ON THE BASIS OF REWARDS /OR
HAVE MORAL DECISIONS PUNISHMENTS GIVEN BY PARENTS
THAT ARE EGOCENTRIC THEY PERCEIVE RULES AS ABSOLUTE & OUGHT TO BE OBSERVED REGARDLESS
BECAUSE THEY ARE OF CIRCUMSTANCES
IMMATURE AND LACK THEY PERCEIVE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE IN RELATION TO THEIR USEFULNESS
EXPERIENCE TO THEM
THEY REFRAIN FROM UNBECOMING BEHAVIORS BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID
OF BEING CAUGHT
STEP 11-INSTRUMENTAL –RELATIVIST ORIENTATION
WHAT IS RIGHT IS WHAT MAKES A PERSON HAPPY THEREFORE THEY WILL
REFRAIN FROM DOING BAD LEST IT BE DONE UNTO THEM

CONVENTION ADOLESCENTS & STEP 111-GOOD BOY –NICE GIRL ORIENTATION

AL ADULTS THEY AVOID UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR IN ORDER TO IMPRESS UPON THEIR
REASONING MORAL REASONING IS PARENTS THAT THEY ARE GOOD
MORE SOCIOCENTRIC - THEY DO GOOD, NOT BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN THE GIVEN MORAL
TAKING INTO PRINCIPLES BUT IN ORDER TO WIN OTHER’S APPROVAL
CONSIDERATION THE THEY CONFORM TO THE OPINION OF THE MAJORITY THEREFORE WILL MAKE
INTERESTS OF OTHERS IN MORAL JUDGMENTS GUIDED BY THE MOTIVES FOR A GIVEN BEHAVIOR
THE COMMUNITY STEP 1V-LAW &ORDER ORIENTATION
THERE IS A STRONG THEY USE LAW AS A GUIDING PRINCIPLE TO AVOID CERTAIN BEHAVIORS THAT
DESIRE TO CONFORM TO ARE FORBIDDEN BY THE LAW
SOCIAL NORMS THEY DO SO BECAUSE A PERSON’S ACCEPTANCE IN THE SOCIETY IS
DEPENDANT ON CONFORMITY TO ITS LAWS.
IF THESE LAWS ARE NOT OBSERVED AND OBEYED CHAOS WILL ENSUE

POST – HIGHEST LEVEL OF STEP V-SOCIAL CONTRACT ORIENTATION

CONVENTION MORAL REASONING THEY RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE SITUATIONS WHERE LAWS MAY BE
AL IT IS NEITHER BROKEN AND THAT LAWS THAT ARE UNFAIR MUST BE ALTERED
REASONING EGOCENTRIC NOR SOCIO- ASSERTS THAT RULES SHOULD INVOLVE AGREEMENT AND BE FOR THE
CENTRIC PURPOSE OF PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS
THE PERSON AT THIS VIEWS SOCIETY AS A SOURCE OF LAW THEREFORE A FORCE THAT IS VESTED
LEVEL IS AUTONOMOUS WITH THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ITS LAWS
IN MORAL JUDGMENT STAGE VI-UNIVERSAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLE ORIENTATION
WHICH MAY NOT HIGHEST STAGE OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT. PRINCIPLES ARE BASED ON HUMAN
NECESSARILY BE GUIDED LIFE. THERE IS AN ABIDING INTEREST IN THE EQUALITY OF PEOPLE AND HUMAN
Gilligan’s theory of moral development
He recognized the shortcomings of kohlberg’s
theory
He pointed out the fact that this theory did not
differentiate morality in terms of gender as it
plays a vital role in moral development
He asserts that men view morality primarily in
terms of broad principles; justice & fairness,
while women see it in terms of responsibility,
willingness to sacrifice in order to help certain
individuals within a particular relationship-why
would a woman fail to report rape of her child
by her husband?
Compassion forms a central factor in women’s
moral development
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND
DEVELOPMENT
Language
 Communication of information through symbols
arranged according to systematic rules
 It displays one’s thinking and understanding of the
world around them
 Language development rests upon the basic structure
called grammar, which is a system of rules that
determine how thoughts are expressed
Grammar deals with three major elements of
language:
Phonology-study of smallest units of language
called phonemes
Phonemes determine our pronunciation and
understanding of language e.g. fat vs. fate
Syntax
Rules that indicates how words and phrases can
be combined to form sentences.
A change in such words and phrases may create
a different meaning altogether or fail to make
sense e.g.
 Example

Mpho kidnapped the boy, Mpho, the kidnapped

boy, the boy kidnapped Mpho.
Semantics
Meaning of words and sentences
Language acquisition
The bubbling period
A child makes meaningless sounds that are not
language specific
It occurs from 3 months to 1 yr
Single word period
 Occurs from 1 yr
 They start with consonant sounds e.g.
 B-baba
 D-da
 M-mama
 P-papa 
 They chronologically add words until they have an
expanded vocabulary
Telegraphic speech
Occurs at 2yrs
They can produce sentences but in a telegraphic
manner whereby words which are not critical to
a message are omitted e.g. I play ball, dog chase
me
This telegraphic speech becomes less as the
child grows up and develops early grammar at 3
yrs
They have now learned the semantics of
language i.e. tense, plural but they over
generalize e.g. if they are taught that plural
adds‘s’ he will do in all words e.g. woman-
womans, sheep-sheeps
The learning theory approach
It states that language acquisition follows the
principles of reinforcement and conditioning
A child who is rewarded, e.g. given a hug upon
mastery of a sound or word appropriate to
speech will be motivated to speak
This theory states that the more parents speak to
their children the more proficient such children
are going to be in language use.
Children of parents who speak higher levels of
linguistics tend to show a greater rate of
vocabulary growth, vocabulary use and general
intellectual achievement than those of parents
who speak simple language
The theory however fails to explain how children
acquire language rules
 
Classical conditioning (Pavlov)
He made an experiment with dogs, observing
their gastrointestinal behavior upon introduction
of several stimuli
Before conditioning
He first introduced a bell (neutral stimulus) upon
which the dogs did salivate but were rather
startled
He then introduced meat (unconditioned
stimulus) and dogs responded by salivating
(unconditioned response. This response is not
associated with learned behavior but occur
naturally.
During conditioning
He then ran the bell a few seconds before
feeding the dogs with meat. This was aimed for
the dogs to associate the bell (neutral stimulus)
with the meat (still unconditioned stimulus at
this point), therefore the response of salivation at
this point is also unconditioned
After conditioning
After several pairings of the bell and the meat,
the dog had learned that the ringing of the bell
brings about a reward in the form of food, hence
the bell changed from a neutral stimulus to a
conditioned stimulus, such that the dog would
salivate (now a conditioned response) at the
sound of the bell without meat (now a
conditioned stimulus).
Classical conditioning is also applicable to
humans e.g. a child who was abused by a man in
red clothes will react at the sight of any red
clothing even in the absence of a man, or a
person who witnessed another drowning in a
flooded river would react with grief even at the
sight of a river even if it is calm.
Extinction
A decrease in the frequency of the previously
conditioned response until it eventually
disappears
To produce extinction one needs to end the
association of the conditioned stimuli and
unconditioned stimuli e.g. ring the bell but do
not provide food, the response will continue but
decline in frequency until it eventually stops.
The response that went extinct can be recovered
by re-emergence or spontaneous recovery , a
phenomenon underlying the difficulty at which
addictive behaviors are overcome e.g. a
recovering alcoholic will experience the re-
emergence of the need for alcohol once she sees
alcohol or a similar bottle
Discrimination and generalization.
Stimulus generalization occurs when a
conditioned response follows stimulus that is
similar to the original conditioned stimulus, the
similar the stimuli are the more generalization is
to occur
Stimulus discrimination
The ability to differentiate between two stimuli
because they are sufficiently distinct from one
another and do not evoke the conditioned
response e.g. when one could generalize that
both the dog and the lion are mammals he can
not respond to the dog with the same fear as to
the lion.
 OPERANT CONDITIONING (B.F. SKINNER)

He asserts that animals learn how to manipulate

their environment for their own benefit. This he
discovered in his experiment with hungry rats in
a box ( skinner’s box)
At first the rat was wandering in random fashion
in the box and accidentally pressed the lever,
which in turn gave out a food pellet. The rat at
this stage did not associate the pressing of the
lever with the food pellet (reward) the rat learned
after repeated cycles that it is only rewarded with
the food pellet when it presses the lever therefore
continually pressed the lever until it was
satisfied
The process that leads the rat to continually press
the lever is called reinforcement, that is the
process by which a stimulus increase the
probability that the preceding behavior will be
repeated
The food pellet is the reinforcer , which is the
stimulus that increases the probability of the
preceding behavior
Types of reinforcers
Primary reinforcer
They satisfy biological needs and work naturally
without prior experience e.g. food, warmth,
relief of pain etc
Secondary reinforcers
They become reinforcers because of their
association with primary reinforcerts e.g. money
as it enables us to purchase food.
Reinforcers can also be positive or negative
Positive reinforcer
A stimulus is added to the environment, which
brings about an increase in the preceding
behavior e.g. when one is paid after hard work
this will increase the probability of her working
harder.
Negative reinforcer
An unpleasant stimulus whose removal will
increase the probability that a preceding
behavior/response will be repeated
e.g. relieving an itchy skin by applying an
emollient will increase the probability that that
such an emollient will be applied again
Schedules of reinforcement
Refers to timing as well as the frequency of
reinforcement following a desired behavior
Continuous reinforcement
Occurs when the behavior is reinforced every
time it occurs, learning in this instance is rapid
by extinction is also quick once reinforcement
stops.
Partial or intermittent reinforcement
Behavior is not reinforced at all times but
sometimes after it has occurred, the learned
behavior last longer after the reinforcement stops
Schedules that consider the frequency of
reinforcement are said to be fixed or variable
ratio schedules
Those that take in to account the time lapse
between reinforcement are said to be fixed or
variable interval schedules
Fixed interval schedules
A schedule that provides reinforcement only after a
fixed time period has elapsed e.g. wages being given
only after two weeks. The overall rates of response
are very low and increase only when the time for
reinforcement draws near e.g. student evaluation
occurring only at the end of a semester will lower
the rate of study at the beginning of the semester
and after the examination, the rate will increase only
near the exam time
Variable interval schedule
The time between reinforcement is not specific but is
varied around the average e.g. unscheduled quizzes
every three weeks. This schedule is used to
overcome the problems of fixed interval schedule as
it keeps students on their toes all the time as they
would not know when the quiz will be administered.
Discrimination and generalization of stimulus is also
applicable in operant conditioning.
A fixed ratio schedule
Reinforcement is given only after a specific number
of responses has been made e.g. when an insurance
broker has brought two clients 1:2 or 1 rand given
for every 5 packets of zimba sold 1:5
A variable ratio schedule
Reinforcement occurs after a varying number of
responses rather than a fixed number e.g.,
telemarketers or insurance brokers will secure a
client after varying attempts or calls
Punishment versus reinforcement
Reinforcement increase the probability that the
preceding behavior will be repeated while
punishment decrease such probability
Types of punishment
Positive punishment
 An unpleasant stimulus is applied to decrease the
probability that the unbecoming behavior will be
repeated e.g. spanking the child for stealing sugar or
a jail sentence for a criminal activity
Negative punishment
Removal of something pleasant in order to
decrease an unbecoming behavior e.g.
withholding a vacation outing for a student who
is not performing well academically will
decrease the poor performance
Disadvantages of punishment
 It is ineffective particularly if it is delivered long
after the undesired behavior
 There are other alternatives to bypass punishment
e.g. if parents withdraw the use of a family car by a
teenager for an unbecoming behavior , he can take a
ride with a friend
 It conveys to the recipient that physical aggression
is permissible therefore he is likely to learn an
aggressive behavior from it
Punishment is given in an emotional state
therefore can result in physical harm
Those who punish are likely to be feared rather
than respected
It reduces self esteem for the recipient unless he
understands the reasons for it
It does not convey the information about the
alternative desired behavior
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Personality
The pattern of enduring characteristics that
produce consistency and individuality in a
person
Levels of personality
The preconscious level
 Contains those life experiences that can be brought
to consciousness if sufficient attention is paid to
them e.g. one is not conscious of the existence of
his/her bank account until the need to withdraw
money diverts his/her attention to the bank
account 
Conscious level
 Being actively aware of what is going on around
you here and now
Unconscious level
Stores ideas, memories, feelings, beliefs and
experiences that have been repressed, therefore
are not readily available to the conscious level.
They resurface at the convenient time in the
form of dreams, fantasies and slip of tongues.
According to Freud slips of tongues are not an
error but express the truths that are repressed
therefore the unconscious never lies
Structure of personality
 It is classified into three interacting components
that exist throughout life
Id
 First level of personality
 The personality at this level is at the primitive
level, characterized by intuition
 It is inborn, raw and chaotic
 It is not in touch with reality
It is irrational, uninhibited, demanding
Its function is to reduce tension created by
primitive drives (energy)
This is enabled by the pleasure principle
which seeks immediate reduction of tension
and maximizes satisfaction regardless of, time
and place
It is governed by emotions
Ego
The second level of personality structure
Also referred to as the executive of the
personality
It strives to balance the selfish desires of id
with the realities of the objective world
It represents the individual‘s image of
conscious self
It is ruled by the principle of reality, though it
shares the sentiments of pleasure with it , it
however is rational and can withhold the
pleasure until it can be gratified in a socially
acceptable and legitimate means taking into
consideration the appropriateness of time and
place
It plans and makes decisions of higher order
It mediates between the id and super ego
Super ego
3rd and highest level of personality structure
Develops as a result of influences from parents,
teachers and significant others involved in
one’s socialization
It uses social and moral values to guide
behavior regardless of circumstances
It includes the conscience that guides behavior
and consequently rewards acceptable behavior
(pride, self love and virtue)& punishes
undesirable behavior (guilt, & embarrassment)
The super ego is also unrealistic as it is a
perfectionist
Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality
development
 He indicated that an individual’s social setting has
a great influence on his/ her personality
 Social interaction plays a vital role in the
development of personality
 He identified eight stages of social development
 one has to resolve problems in one stage before
proceeding to another
Trust versus mistrust (0-2yrs)
A newly born baby receives care, love & food
consistently from the mother, he/she sense a
link between the external world and self hence
tend to develop trust , however if these needs
are not met properly he is likely to develop
mistrust and this is likely to continue into
adulthood
Autonomy vs. doubt and shame
This stage results in children either managing
or failing to control their environment.
Parents and significant others play a vital role
in shaping this child’s personality.
If they allow their children to explore, support
and encourage them as they do so, these
children tend to be autonomous.
Contrary to this, parents who are
overprotective, permissive or overly critical of
a child’s mistakes as well as failing to
recognize a child’s competency make their
develop shame and doubt themselves
Initiative vs. guilt 3-6yrs
This is also referred to as a crisis stage
It happens when a child’s desire to act independently
conflicts with guilt from the unintended
consequences of such actions e.g. a child who
attempts to bath herself and unintentionally
overturns the bath tub and water flows under the
carpets. The mother’ reaction to these consequences
can either resolve this crisis or aggravates it.
If she understands and become supportive the
attempt is likely to be repeated leading to
independence, but if she scolds the child she
will feel guilty and loose her autonomy and
independence.
 
Industry vs. Inferiority 7-12 yrs
Successful personality development requires that children
be able to experience success in performing tasks, which
assists in solidifying their sense of competence and industry.
These tasks are learned either in formal or informal
education.
failure to attain competency lead to a feeling of inferiority
e.g. a child who attains competency in school work as well
as in social skills accumulates industry while one who fails
develop a sense of inferiority.
Identity vs. Role confusion 14-21yrs
Adolescents undergo physiological changes
and become physically and sexually mature.
These changes have a great impact on their
personality development.
They are faced with a challenge of establishing
their responsibility and role identity in the
society.
This is attained by defining one’s sex role and
suitable occupation in the society.
Failure to establish role identity at this stage is
likely to lead to conflict, indecisiveness,
anxiety, loneliness and confusion.
If a person does not resolve it is likely to lead
to stagnation in this stage-that is spending
longer time in this stage than expected.
Intimacy vs. Isolation 20 -35yrs
This is an early adulthood stage that is
characterized by marriage and work
People venture into establishing serious
relationships with others and their success is
reliant on whether they have managed to
establish their identity or not.
Those who have a strong sense of identity tend
to enjoy intimate relationships→ marriage or
permanent friendships, while those who failed
to establish their identity resort to isolation and
loneliness.
 Love is a special feature of this stage, which
unify forces between spouses or even friends
Adult generativity vs. Stagnation 35-55yrs
This stage is characterized by productivity,
procreation, creativity, caring for children and
preparing them for their generation.
Failure to attain these characteristics leads pre-
occupation with own needs without goals to
achieve → stagnation
Integrity vs. Despair
People who have reached this stage lead a meaningful
life, have wisdom, tend to relax and look back at their
past, that is stages they have gone through and their
achievements.
This is where adults make conclusions about whether
they lived a worth life or not.
Failure to attain this stage and the previous stages on
time leads to despair e.g. one will be paying children’s
school fees with pension
Psycho-analytic theory of personality
development sigmund fraud
He describe personality development from a
series of five psycho-sexual stages, during
which there is a conflict between individuals'
own sexual urges and societal demands
**sexuality in this contest denotes pleasure not
lust
He asserts that an individual must resolve the
conflicts at the particular stage before moving to
another , failure of which will result in in
fixations or regression
Fixation-developing no further than the current
stage
Regression-resorting to operate at the earlier
stage where needs were satisfied, as the current
stage is frustrating
Fixation may be caused by either over-
indulgence or ignoring the needs at that
particular stage
He attempts to link the difficulties of a
particular childhood stage with specific
characteristics in adult personality
Psycho-sexual stages
Oral stage 0-18 months
The baby’s mouth at this stage is the focal point of pleasure
They suck, bite or eat anything that comes into their mouths
Weaning the baby will therefore become the main conflict
of this stage
Fixation may occur if a child is fed every time he exhibits
discomfort(over-indulgence) or if the feeding schedule is
disrupted by delays (ignoring)
Typical adult characteristics
Oral interest at adult age manifested by eating
all the time, talking, smoking and chewing
gum
Anal stage 12-18months up to 3yrs
Emphasis is on toilet training
Focal point of pleasure is now the anus
A child solicit pleasure from expulsion or
retention of feaces
Fixations occurs if toilet training is overly
demanding (over-indulgence)
Typical adult characteristics
Unusual rigidity
Orderliness
Extreme disorderliness
Sloppiness
Phallic stage 3-5yrs
Focal point of pleasure is the genitalia
The difference between a male and female are
salient
This stage is characterized by fondling of the
genitalia
A male develops an oedipal conflict and has to
over come it by identifying with the same sex
parent
Oedipal conflict
The boy child develop intimate attraction towards the
mother and want to compete with his father for this intimacy
He however fears that the father might retaliate and punish
him by cutting off his penis (castration anxiety), he
therefore resolves this by repressing his feelings for the
mother and identifying with the father
Identification is a process of wanting to be like a person as
much as possible, emulating the person’s behavior and even
adopting similar values and beliefs
The girl child develop an electra complex
The child’s warm relationship with the mother is
severed when she realizes that she does not have a
penis
This makes her feel inferior and jealous, thus
develops penis envy
She starts hating the mother who has the same
genital organ and beliefs her mother is responsible
for her castration and missing penis
She longs to overthrow her and develops an
intense sexual interest for the father
She later resolves this conflict by identifying with
the same sex parent ,the mother
Failure to resolve conflicts at this stage leads to
improper sex role and failure to develop a
conscience
It also influences the choice of future spouses and
relationships with teachers
Latency period 6yrs to adolescence
It is characterized by dormant sexual interest
Interest is on establishing nonsexual
relationships with peers of the same sex
More energy is directed towards play ,school
work and peer relationships
The child internalize the societal rules ,norm,
value sand skills
Genital stage
Sexual feelings re-emerge
Focus is now on mature adult sexuality characterized by
sexual intercourse
The vagina replace the clitoris as the focal point of
pleasure
They are not groomed in social norms, values and beliefs
which guide their actions and choices
They are now interested in planning their careers and
family
Personality types and traits
Traits
consistent personality characteristics that are
displayed by individuals in different situations
Traits are generally applicable across board but
what differs is the degree at which on exhibit a
particular trait as opposed to the other
 It is difficult to explain traits in one common
understanding as there are numerous personality traits,
some more pronounced and useful than others,
therefore there are several theorist who attempted to
describe traits
Alliport’s trait theory
Categorizes traits into three most basic
dimension
Cardinal traits
They direct most of people’s activities e.g.
selfless vs. selfish, boldness vs. warmth
Central traits
They form the core of one’s personality and
guide social behavior e.g. honesty, sociable,
trustworthy
Secondary traits
Do not affect behavior generally but are
applicable in some situations
Cattel and eysenck factor analysis theory
They both used the factor analysis where by
participants would be given a an assignment to
describe their personalities and the variable
they put forward be analyzed to reveal more
general patterns
Eysenck however concluded that personality
can be described in three major dimensions:
Neurotism
Relates to emotional stability e.g.
 Anxiety
 Depression
 Guilt
 Self esteem,
 tense,
 Relaxed
Psychotism
Relates to the degree to which reality is
distorted e.g.
 Aggression
 Cold
 Egocentrism
 Impersonal
 Impulsive
The big five personality traits
Developed by various researchers who reached a
common understanding
Openness to experience
Spectrum ranging from;
 Independence vs. conforming (dependant)
 Imaginary vs. practical
 Diversity( preference for variety) vs. routine
orientation
Conscientiousness
Spectrum ranging from;
 Careful vs. careless
 Disciplined vs. impulsive
 Organized vs. disorganized
Extraversion
Spectrum ranging from;
 Talkative vs. quiet
 Fun loving vs. sober
 Sociable vs. retiring
Agreeableness
Spectrum ranging from;
 Sympathetic vs. Fault finding
 Kind vs. cold
 Appreciative vs. unfriendly
Neurotism (emotional stability)
Spectrum ranging from;
 Stable vs. tense
 Calm vs. anxious
 Secure vs. insecure
Factors determining personality
Environment
Social norm and values do shape one's
personality as they prescribe acceptable
behavior expected by the society
Learning
As skinner indicates in his theory of operant
conditioning personality traits can be modified
by reinforcement
Bandura also beliefs that observational
learning does influence personality as some
personality traits can be learned through
repeated observation
Self esteem and self concept
A person with a high self esteem and an
appropriately defined self concept is likely to
be more stable emotionally and sociable than a
person with low self esteem and self concept
Biological influences
Some personality traits are running in a family
as inheritance while others are caused by
abnormal physiological processes e.g. a person
with the disorders of the limbic system is likely
to be aggressive
Childhood behaviors
Temperament is an innate predisposition that
include mood and general activity ,some
irritating adult personality traits emanate from
an irritable childhood temperament
Defense mechanisms
These are unconscious strategies that people
use to overcome anxiety, by concealing the
source of anxiety from them and others
Such anxiety provoking sources are either fled
or explained away
Repression
The primary defense mechanism in which an unpleasant or
unacceptable impulse is pushed back into the unconscious
The individual avoid confronting the anxiety but ignore its
existence
E.g. repressing anxiety producing childhood experiences
such as sexual abuse
Blocked impulses do not mean they have disappeared ,
they have a way of surfacing in the form of slips of tongue
and dreams
Regression
Reverting to the previous stage of development
because one cannot cope with the demands of the new
stage
A student may hope to be demoted in the previous
grade because he is not coping with an advanced grade
Other forms of regression include bed wetting or
unexplained crying at the age where toilet training and
language are expected to be fully developed
Rationalization/intellectualization
Giving self-justifying reasons for behavior that
is considered unacceptable instead of those that
are real and threatening e.g. a student who
failed the examination might explain this
performance by saying she was not taught or
the teacher was not good, while the reality is he
did not assert an effort on his studies
Sublimation/ Compensation
Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable
thoughts, feelings and behaviors e.g. an aggressive person
opting to be a soldier, or watching wrestling or boxing
match to hide one’s aggressive impulses
Displacement
Redirecting the unwanted impulses from a more
threatening person to a weaker one or objects e.g. a student
displacing his/her anger at the teacher to a desk and kick it
Identification
Associating one' elf with a prominent and
popular character in order to enjoy those
characteristics vicariously
e.g. associating with a beauty queen in order to
feel beautiful too
Reaction formation
Unconsciously expressing unwanted impulses
as their opposite e.g. a violent man presenting a
caring front phase
Projection
Attributing one’s undesirable characteristics on
others e.g. a student who cheats in tests may
accuse others of doing so
STRESS
One’s reaction /response to a threatening or
challenging event
A little bit of stress is necessary to sustain life
as it is a stimuli for performance
However excessive stress and failure to cope &
adapt bring about physical and psychological
symptoms
Stress is non-specific and individualized as
people are likely to react differently to the
same stressor
The reaction is dependant on the rate, length
and intensity of the stressor as well as
individual perception of the event as
threatening together with inability to cope
 Causes of stress
• may be:
 personal
 Impersonal
 Background
 Impersonal causes
 One does not have a direct bearing and control on the stressor but
suffer the impacts
 One type of impersonal stress is cataclysmic events, which are
strong stressors that occur suddenly and affect many people at the
same time
 Cataclysmic events may be natural e.g. a recent earth quake in Haiti
 or evoked e.g. the September ,11 2001 terrorist attack in America
 Natural cataclysmic events are less stressful than the evoked
Because:
 There are clear resolutions to them e.g. safe lives ,re-build the area etc
 Once they are over ,people are assured that the worst is over, they are not
looking over their shoulders for lingering danger
 Stress is shared in solidarity manner with those who also experienced the
same e.g. Madagascar-tsunami and Haiti-earthquake ,thus offering social
support and first hand understanding of what they are experiencing
 Evoked cataclysmic events like terrorism and piracy on the contrary produce
considerable stress because :
 One never knows when subsequent attacks will strike as they are likely
 Heightened terror alerts further increase stress
 Personal stress
 This includes major life events e.g. loss of the loved ones, loss of a job,
major personal failure e.g. in studies, fall of a big business venture,
marriage etc
 The stress is usually immediate but it is expected to taper off
 It is Likely to result in post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) ,with
episodes usually triggered by innocent stimulus that mimic those stressful
events e.g. an advert of a coffin on television is likely to evoke
PTSD(flush backs) in a person who has just buried a loved one
 Background stressors/daily hassles
 Refers to every day annoyance that irritates individuals and put them
under stress e.g. being stuck in traffic, cuing for too long to receive a
service, an irritating spouse dissatisfaction with a job task overloading etc
Adaptation to stress
 Occurs through general adaptation syndrome-a series of steps
denoting a person’s response to stressors
 alarm and mobilization
 Occurs when a person realizes the stressor he/she mobilizes the
resources to confront the threat/stressor through the help of the
sympathetic nervous system
 Resistance
 Occurs when the stressor is persistent
 All energy is geared at fighting the stressor
 An individual resists the urge to give in to stress
 Exhaustion
 If the resistance is inadequate the individual gives in to stress and see no
point of fighting anymore
 Energy reserves are depleted
 The person’s ability to adapt to the stressors decline to a point whereby
negative consequences in the form of physical or psychological reactions
set in
 Psycho physiological/psychosomatics
 Increase in BP
 Peptic ulcers
 Indigestion
 Headaches
 Pain in the back and shoulders
 Skin rashes
 Constant fatigue &constipation
 Psychological
 Prolonged anxiety
 Tension
 Depression
 Anger
 Frustration
 Irritability
 Indecisiveness
 Impaired judgment
 Suicidal ideations
 Management of stress
 Stress is managed by employing the coping mechanisms
 These are efforts to control, reduce or tolerate the stressors
Types of coping mechanism
 Emotional focused coping
 Managing emotions in the face of stress and seeking to change one’s
perception of the stressor
 It is used when the problem is perceived to be unchangeable
 Problem focused coping
 Attempts are made to modify the source of stress, which may lead to
a change in behavior and greater control over the source of stress
other than learned helpless
 The following can be employed within this two types:
 Avoidant coping
 Use of wishful thinking or redirect energy to unacceptable behavior
e.g. drug abuse or overeating
 Defense mechanism
 Unconsciously reducing anxiety by concealing the source of stress
e.g. rationalization or emotional insulation
 Employing a hardy personality
 An optimistic attack at stress using commitment to challenge and
control stress
 The hardies are often resilient to stress despite unpleasant blows.
 Soliciting social support
 One cope better if she /he knows that he /she is valued
 Turning a threat into a challenge
 Lessening the magnitude of a threat by making it less threatening
 Change goals
 A person who is failed academically can re-direct his goals to
motivational speaker
 Physical activity
 Pro-active approach to anticipated stress e.g. planning a hectic
day
MEMORY
 The process by which information is encoded, stored, and
retrieved
 Encoding
 refers to recording of information in a form usable to the memory
 Encoding is analogous to the key board of the computer
 Storage
 maintenance of information stored in a memory , recall becomes
difficult if information is not properly stored-analogous to
hardware
 Retrieval
 bringing into awareness information saved in a memory-
analogous to soft ware e.g. word, excel &PowerPoint
Memory stores
 Sensory memory
 An initial momentary storage of information before it is passed on
to the short term memory
 Sensory stimuli here is raw and meaning less
 It lasts only for seconds, if information is not transferred into the
short term memory in seconds, it is lost forever
 Each sense has got a corresponding sensory memory e.g.
 Iconic-visual –lasts for less than a second
 Echoic-auditory-lass for two to three seconds
 Even though sensory memory is very shot it stores information to
precision
 Short term memory
 Stores information from the sensory memory
 It gives this information meaning
 Maximum retention length is relatively short 15-20 seconds
 It has got also an incomplete representational capability-
holding only seven items /chunks
 A chunk is a meaningful group of stimuli that can be stored as
unit in the short term memory
 to aid storage of large chunks in the short term memory they
must be broken down to three or four digits e.g. an electricity
token
 Long term memory
 store information from the short term memory
 Information is stored in files that are coded (cues) for easy
retrieval
 It has got a component called a memory module which
represent certain memory systems in the brain e.g. the
hippocampus (encodes information) and the amygdala
(retrieval of emotional memories)
Types of long term memory
 Declarative memory
 Stores factual information e.g. names ,faces, figures, dates etc
Declarative memory is further divide into
 Semantic memory
 Memory of general knowledge and facts about the world e.g. five continents
of the world
 The fact that people remember because they have got memory
 Episodic memory
 Memory of specific events that occurred at a certain time e.g. my first day at
school, independence day for Lesotho
 Episodic memory relates to the when and how of semantic memory
 e.g. 4th October (episodic) is the when of general information that Lesotho is
independent(semantic)
 Procedural memory
 Memory for skills and habits
 It is the how part of memory e.g. how to drive, how to admit a patient

Factors facilitating memory

 Recognition
 It entails two sets of information
 The stimulus
 The information about the stimulus that is already stored in the pre-existing cognitive
structure
 In order for one to recognize a nurse (stimulus) she must information in the pre-existing
cognitive structure that relates to the nurse e.g. white uniform, needle and syringe
 When studying one is likely to recognize a word if the spelling pattern is familiar, thus
foreign words would not be recognized
 Rehearsal
 Refers to selection of the information received in the sensory region for further
processing
 This can be achieved by repeating or reciting as many times as necessary, vocally
or sub vocally any information such that it can stay longer in the short term
memory or be stored in the long term memory
Types of rehearsal
 Maintenance rehearsal
 Rehearsing material that need to be remembered only for short period of time e.g.
a registration number
Elaborate rehearsal
 Used when material needs to be remembered for a long time hence must be stored
in the long term memory
 It links new and old information and attempt to relate the two
 Organization
 Information is retained well in the long term memory if it is organized
 Information can be organized in to small units that are linked together in a way that
remembering one unit will lead to remembering other related units
****Meaningfulness*****
 If there is an inherent /latent meaning to the information ,it tends to be retained
 Information becomes meaningful if it relates to the re-existing cognitive
structure(what is already known)
 Activity
 Retention of information is directly related to its active use
 Discussion or talking to self about the material enhance retention of information and
thus learning
 A concept discussed in class is likely to be remembered more that material read
individually on it
 Attention
 The process of selecting important information for further processing
 This part of information is likely to be retained as part of one’s permanent
experience when any other insignificant information is dropped instantly
Theories of remembering
Remembering
 Ability to retrieve information from the memory stores
 Recollection /reintegration
 A form of remembering where by one is expected to remember both the
event and its specific detailed information e.g. when remembering
independence day the details of the proceedings of that day should be
remembered too
 Recall
 Reproducing a piece of information or skill that one has come
across or learned before
 The details are not necessary e.g. objective testing of students
requires that they recall information but not in a detailed
manner
 The amount of information recalled is indicative of how much
one has remembered out of the total amount of information
learned .to aid recall, one is given cues
Recognition
 Ability to remember something or an experience of the past as presented to you
because of its familiarity
 Recognition is largely dependant upon appropriate observation of the
experience as it occurred especially when there is a resemblance between the
current experience and the previous e.g. identifying the perpetrator on a parade
 Students are expected to recognize the most appropriate response on a multiple
choice question because of the familiarity of the information carried by those
responses
 Relearning
 Instead of testing recall, recollection or recognizing things, the material is
presented to a person again to see if learning will occur in a more faster rate than
at the first exposure. Expectation is for learning to take place in a shorter period
signifying retention and eased remembering
 Forgetting
 Failure to retrieve information from the memory stores
 Passive decay(fading of physiological memory traces)
 According to this theory people forget certain experiences because a
lot of time has passed since they made use of such experiences, the
brain upon recognizing this simply fades the memory traces that
imprinted such experiences beyond the point of retrieval
 Systematic distortion of memory trace
 In this case forgetting occurs at the time of delivering the information
and later when it has to be remembered a reinvention is made not the
explicit way it happened. Students often reinvent information on
answering questions on material that they did not pay attention to
 Interference effect
 Forgetting occurs as a result of what happens between point a & b
following delivery of material
 It takes two forms
Retroactive inhibition
 New information displaces and fades old information
Proactive inhibition
 In this case there is a tendency to recall old information at the expense
of new information .
 old information interferes with new information every time one tries to
recall new information old information resurface and submerge the
new experience
 Failure to recall and acknowledge the current intimate partner because
every time one tries memories of the ex surface and submerge those of
the current relationship
 Motivated forgetting /repression
 Memories are forgotten because they are suppressed and
pushed to the unconscious level as they evoke unpleasant
feelings such as anxiety or guilt
 Such memories are not decayed, distorted or interfered with,
they are forgotten by choice, therefore they can resurface
anytime when conditions are suitable
MOTIVATION
 factors that direct and energize the behavior of animals and
other organisms
 Initially motivation was thought to be directed by instincts;
which are inborn patterns of behavior that are biologically
determined rather than learned. This theory was later on
disputed by the fact that not all these instinctual behaviors can
be generally seen in all species and there was no delineated
number of instincts known.
Drive reduction approach
 It suggests that lack of some basic biological requirements will
drive an individual to obtain such a requirement
 Drive –motivational tension or arousal that energizes behavior to
fulfill a need e.g. sex is regarded as a drive that enables
fulfillment of a need for procreation
 Drives that relate to biological needs e.g. hunger, thurst,sleep, sex
etc are referred to as primary drives, while those drives that
emanate from prior learning and experience e.g. A desire to
achieve economically or academically are referred to as
secondary drives
 These needs are usually satisfied by reducing the underlying need
e.g. we cannot reduce hunger unless we eat thus reducing
The arousal approach
 Goes beyond drive reduction but explain motivation as a balance
factor.
 It explains behavior in which the goal is to maintain or increase
excitement
 It states that all people strive to maintain a certain level of
stimulation and activity. If the level of stimulation and activity goes
down one tries to increase it by seeking stimulation, if it is too high
one tries to reduce it to optimum?????
 This suggests that people differ, level of activity that may be
optimum for one may not be so for the other. Risk takers have a high
optimum level of stimulation-bungy -jumpers , criminals ,gamblers.
The incentive approach
 Explains that motivation arise from the desire to receive an external valued goal –
incentive
 e.g. a student is motivated to harder academically by the desire to be awarded the best
student or performer
 This theory works better with the drive reduction approach as not all behaviors are
motivated by the desire for an incentive.
 The drive reduction theory is a push strategy, while the incentive approach is the pull
strategy
Cognitive approach
 Asserts that motivation is a product of thoughts, expectations and goals
e.g. people assert their efforts on certain activities because they think are valuable or they
expect a positive outcome from them
 This theory draw a distinction between two types of motivation; intrinsic motivation and
extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation
 Seeks to satisfy our inner self /enjoyment rather than receive
concrete, tangible rewards e.g. some nurses work hard because
they love nursing (intrinsic motivation) while others do so
because they want to make more money(extrinsic motivation)
 Intrinsic motivation is much more effective because it is not drive
by external factors, therefore behaviors motivated intrinsically are
likely to continue even when extrinsic factors are withdrawn
 It would be much more motivating for a manager to recognize and
complement excellent performance than to give the excellent
performer money.
Basic motives
Motive
 Internal processes that cause or make a person seek things for
survival and development e.g. hunger is a motive that enable us
to seek food.
Motives can be
 biological- e.g. thirst and hunger
 Social-more dependant on social approval and are a
consequence of social experience e.g. a motive to respect.
They are more dependant on learning than biological drives
 Cognitive-These are motives that emanate from thought
processes
Survival motives& homeostasis
 These are mostly biological drives .
 . They are referred to as survival because they sustain the life of an
individual and enable the organism to survive.
 These include food, water, oxygen, rest, sleep sex , temperature control etc

 Homeostasis
 A primary drive that enables the body to maintain a steady internal
environment . It uses feedback mechanism like a thermostat
 There are receptors all over the body which monitor factors such as
temperature, fluid and electrolyte balance as well as nutritional status.
Whenever there is a shift in this ideal state the body automatically adjust to
return them to an optimal state.
MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
 He is a humanistic theorist
 He believes that motivation emanates from the human’s drive to satisfy
basic needs
 He classified these needs into two categories and placed them in a
hierarchy in order of priority
 The first category of needs are said to be deficiency needs, named so
because their deficiency in relation to the need motivate individuals. These
include:
 Basic /primary physiological needs include food, water , shelter, sex and
sleep, and are placed at bottom of the hierarchy
 He asserts that individuals must first satisfy the primary needs before
striving to attain higher order needs
 Next are safety and security needs; which see individuals
trying to seek non-threatening predictable and socially
satisfying environment, both physically and psychologically
e.g. financial security, job security, physical security etc
 Next are the needs for love and belonging , that is the need to
obtain and give affection, the need for affiliation, belong to a
social group and be accepted.
 they are followed by the esteem needs, that is the need to
develop sense of worth and feeling good about oneself,
appraising self positively as well as striving for sincere respect
and approval from others
 These are followed by the second category of needs called growth
needs/ maintenance needs/ higher order needs.
 These are not redressing deficiency but focus on psychological
development/growth
 They will only be attended to once the deficiency needs are satisfied
These include:
 Cognitive needs-human tendency to seek information and
understanding
 Esthetic needs-one appreciation for beauty and grooming
 Lastly are the higher order needs, self actualization. A state of self
fulfillment where people realize their highest potential
INTELLIGENCE
 One’s capacity to understand the world around him /her ,think rationally
and use resources at his /her disposal effectively to overcome challenges
and solve problems that she/he faces
 Intelligence is said to be either general or specific
 General intelligence
 Inborn capability to solve cognitive and social problems, it’s a gift not a
learned behavior
 Specific intelligence
 Specialized abilities in specific areas e.g. mathematics, musical, linguistic
or interpersonal intelligence
 Where specific abilities share a common ability this is referred to as the
group factor
( g-factor)
factors that influence intelligence
Biological factors
 Heredity
 Intelligence is believed to be inherited
 This is evident where studies have shown that identical twins who grew apart
in different environments still attain relatively similar IQ scores
 Again in research where by animals would be bred to produce a more brighter
species
 again where close blood relatives would have similar or close range score of
IQ.
 Environment
 genetics only cannot be attributed to the development of intelligence as the
environment also plays a major role in influencing intelligence
 This is evident in the role that nutritional supplements given to
pregnant mothers have on the intellectual development of the fetus
 Also children who are malnourished tend to perform lower in IQ tests
than those who are well nourished
 Home environment
 A stimulating home environment where children are enabled to
explore tend to increase the IQ scores of children than those from dull
and non stimulating environments
 Family composition
 The smaller the family the more intelligent the children as they receive
enough attention and stimulation than children who come from large
families who may be deprived of such attention and stimulation
Social factors
 Social interaction
 The more social interaction at home or any institution of
socialization the higher the IQ scores
 Cultural differences
 culture and the way people are socialized play a vital role in
intellectual capabilities and differences, hence why
psychologists attempted to develop culture specific intelligence
tests
 Gender differences
 This is not generally considered in general tests as it does not
related to their biological disposition of being boys or girls, but
more cultural and environmental factors. It is however evident
in specific areas of intelligence e.g. boys being more intelligent
in mathematics than girls
 This is attributed to the fact that mathematics is stereotyped as
a male domain
 Teachers and parents have higher expectations for a male child
therefore give them more encouragement in this subject
Types of intelligence
 Fluid intelligence
 Refers to information processing capabilities, reasoning ,
abstract thinking and memory. It declines with age
 Crystallized intelligence
 Refers to information , knowledge and skills accumulated
through learning and experience and that they can apply in
problem solving
 It increases with age but declines at a very late stage.
measuring intelligence
 Use of IQ tests
 Stanford Binnet scale
 This scale designed by Lewis Terman uses the basis of Binnet -
Simon who explained that children gain more intelligence as they
grow up.
 This led to the concept of Mental Age which compares a child’s
intellectual capability with that of children of the same age children
who have high intelligence than the child of their average age
group would have a higher mental age than their chronological age,
while those that are less intelligent than a child of their average age
group would have a mental age lower than their chronological age
calculating the mental age of an 8 years old child
MA= 9+( ½ x 12)+ ( 1/3 x 12)+(1/4 x12)
=9+13 months
=10yrs+ 1 month

Intelligent Quotient (IQ)

IQ= MA
------- Χ 100
CA
 Grading of intelligence according to the IQ
IQ SCORE DESCRIPTIVE CATEGORY

140+ EXTREMELY GIFTED

130-140 HIGLY GIFTED
120-130 GIFTED
110-120 HIGH AVERAGE
90-110 AVERAGE
80-90 LOW AVERAGE
70-80 BORDERLINE MENTAL
RETARDATION
50-70 MILD MENTAL RETARDATION
35-55 MODERATE MENTAL RETARDATION

20-40 SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION

BELOW 20 PROFOUND MENTAL RETARDATION
 The IQ tests are only applicable to children below the age of 16 as mental
age do not improve beyond this hence give false impression of an adult’s IQ.
 Therefore Deviation IQ tests were devised to measure adult IQ
 The distribution of scores at each chronological age are obtained and those
who obtain the average are given an IQ of 100
 The IQ’s of other individuals are obtained by statistical calculation and are
based on how much they deviate from the mean hence the term deviation IQ
 Those who score above the mean for their age group will have IQs greater
than 100
 Those who score below this average of their age will have IQs below 100
 The actual score will depend on far above or below the mean does an
individual’s performance falls
Other tests related to intelligence
 Achievement test
 Used to determine a person’s level of knowledge in a given
area
 Aptitude tests
 Designed to predict ability in a particular line of work e.g. the
licensure or for admission into a college