syllabus wise note on EDU102: Childhood and Growing up

MODULE 1 - PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATION AND EMERGING LEARNER

 

1.1 Psychology- General And Applied- Definitions

 

What is Psychology?

 

Psychology is the study of all aspects of behaviour and mental processes. The word, ‘Psychology’ is derived from two Greek words, ‘Psyche’ and ‘Logos’. Psyche means ‘soul’ and ‘Logos’ means ‘science’. Thus, psychology was first defined as the ‘science of soul”. According to earlier psychologists, the function of psychology was to study the nature, origin and destiny of the human soul. But soul is something metaphysical. It cannot be seen, observed and touched and we cannot make scientific experiments on soul.

 

In the 18^th century, psychology was understood as the ‘Science of Mind’. William James (1892) defined psychology as the science of mental processes. But the word ‘mind’ is also quite ambiguous as there was confusion regarding the nature and functions of mind.

 

Modern psychologists defined psychology as the “Science of Consciousness”. James Sully (1884) defined psychology as the “Science of the Inner World”. Wilhelm Wundt (1892) defined psychology as the science which studies the “internal experiences. But there are three levels of consciousness – conscious, subconscious and the unconscious and so this definition also was not accepted by some.

 

William McDugall (1905) defined psychology as the “Science of Behaviour”, W.B. Pillsbury (1911) and J.B. Watson (1912) also defined psychology as the science of behaviour.

 

Behaviour generally means overt activities which can observe and measured scientifically. But one’s behaviour is always influenced by his experiences. So when we study one’s behaviour we must also study his experiences.

 

Psychology should, therefore, be defined as a “science of behaviour and experiences on human beings” (B.F. Skinner).

 

According to Crow and Crow, “Psychology is the study of human behaviour and human relationship.”

 

Branches of Psychology

 

Based on the nature of studies going on the field of psychology, it can be divided into two broad categories: Pure Psychology and Applied Psychology.

 

Pure Psychology formulates broad principles, brings out theories and suggests methods and techniques for the study of human behaviour, e.g., General Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, and Parapsychology etc.

 

Applied Psychology: Applied branch deals with the application of psychological principles and techniques for approaching the problems in different fields of life. The theories, principles and techniques generated through pure psychology is applied to solve the real-life situations to solve problems, e.g., Educational Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Industrial Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Military Psychology, Political Psychology etc.

 

 

1.2 Schools Of Psychology – Brief Description Of Behaviourism, Structuralism, Functionalism, Psycho-Analysis, Humanism, Gestalt Psychology, Nativism, Constructivism, Cognitive Neuro Science And Positive Psychology.

 

The different schools of psychology represent the major theories within psychology. Similar points of views and similar approaches to study human mind or behaviour constitutes a school of thought in psychology. The important schools of psychology are, behaviourism, structuralism, functionalism, psycho-analysis, humanism, gestalt psychology, nativism, constructivism, cognitive neuro science and positive psychology.

Behaviourism

 

Behaviourism refers to a group of psychologists who emphasise the objective study of behaviour or psychological problems and are less concerned with or ignore conscious processes. Behaviourism developed as a reaction against structuralism and functionalism during the early 1930’s in America. J.B.Watson was the founder of this school relying on the work of Pavlov. The later behaviourists were E.C.Tolman, C.L.Hull, E.R.Guthrie, and B.F.Skinner.

Behaviourism is an approach to psychology and learning that emphasizes observable measurable behaviour. The behaviourist theory of animal and human learning focuses only on objectively observable behaviours and discounts mental activities. Behaviour theorists define learning as a more or less permanent change in behaviour. In behaviourism, the learner is viewed as passively adapting to their environment. Two of the most famous behaviourist theorist were Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Classical Conditioning) and B.F. Skinner (Operant Conditioning).

 

Behaviourism, also known as behavioural psychology, is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviours are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviourists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our actions.

 

Contributions to Education:

 

•         Behaviourism has given innovative ideas in the field of education. Their contribution, programmed learning has revolutionised teaching-learning process

 

•         It emphasises rewards and reinforcement in teaching.

 

•         It deals effectively with backward and maladjusted pupils.

 

•         It shows the importance of motivation.

 

•         It shows the importance of environment in shaping behaviour.

 

•         It individualises instructional programmes.

 

•         Behaviourism does not take into account all the ways in which we learn.

 

•         Behaviourism does not take into account that learners all learn at different levels and speed.

 

•         Behaviourism does not recognise that children are able to create new learning patterns that are not related to stimulus and response techniques.

•         Behaviourism lacks the applicability to the more complex human behaviours of language and memory; these activities are not developed with behaviourist techniques.

•         Behaviourism does not take into account that each person has different motivations, attitudes and emotions and therefore what motivates one person to learn may not motivate everyone.

•         It attached all importance to the environment in shaping human behaviour and neglected the role of heredity.

 

Structuralism:

 

Wilhelm Wundt, a German Professor, is the father of structuralism. The other notable psychologists belonging to this school were Edward B. Titchener, Max Weber, and Gustav Fechner. Structuralism emphasises systematic study of mind through analysis of its components and structure by adopting introspection as the main technique. The mind is the total of various mental experiences such as thoughts, feelings, imagination, agony, joy, and sorrow. The consciousness is the sum total of mental experiences at a given time. There is no fundamental relationship between mind and body; but they are parallel to each other in such a way that for every event in mind there is a corresponding event in the body. This theory focuses on three components, i.e., the individual elements of consciousness, how they are organised into more complex experiences and how these mental phenomena are correlated with physical events.

Contributions to Education:

 

1.      Structuralism separated psychology from philosophy and metaphysics and developed it is an independent and organised discipline.

 

2.      It emphasised the systematic observation of the activities of the learner under controlled learning condition.

 

3.      It gave an experimental method for studying human behaviour, that is, experimental introspection.

 

4.      It initiated a spirit of science and experimentation in the field of education.

 

a)      Experimental introspection, the method suggested by structuralists to study mental phenomena, is unreliable, limiting and subjective.

 

b)     Structuralism is too concerned with internal behaviour, which is not directly observable and cannot accurately measure.

 

c)      It cannot be employed to study behaviour of children, the mentally defective, insane humans

 

(foolish, silly etc) and animals.

 Functionalism

William James is considered to be the founder of functional psychology. John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, Harvey A. Carr, and James Rowland Angell were also the main proponents of functionalism. Functionalism arose in the U.S. in the late 19th century as an alternative to structuralism. According to functionalism, mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are made of. Functionalism studies mind as its functions in adapting the individual to his environment. It examines the mental processes and how they relate to human behaviour. It focuses on the examination of the function and purpose of mind and behaviour. The belief is that the real task of psychology is to investigate the function of consciousness rather than its structure. Functionalism is also uses the method of introspection as a tool. It covers the mental processes like learning, perceiving, memory, thinking and personality. Functionalists believe that the mind and body are basically one, though they appear as distinct elements. The mental activities are the result of adjustment between the mind and body.

 

a)      Functionalism revolutionised the curriculum by replacing theoretically overloaded curriculum with subjects having practical utility.

 

b)     Study of various problems of the learner and their solution is emphasised by functionalism in education.

 

c)      It gave utmost importance to learning by doing and developed activity-oriented methods like project method for teaching and learning.

 

d)     It emphasised child-centred learning.

 

1.      The term function is variously used by different functionalists and they failed to define many important psychological concepts unanimously.

 

2.      Functionalism is teleological (of or relating to teleology, the philosophical doctrine that final causes, design, and purpose exist in nature) and eclectic (selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles).

 

3.      Like structuralists, functionalists also focused only on consciousness and neglected the unconscious facets of human mind.

 

4.      The idea that the function of mind is to aid man’s adjustment to environment is highly biological and neglected socio-cultural influences in the functioning of mind.

Psychoanalysis:

 

Psychoanalysis is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques related to the study of the unconscious mind, which together form a method of treatment for mental-health disorders. This school is created by Viennese (Austrian) neurologist Sigmund Freud and stemming partly from the clinical work of Josef Breuer. Freud stressed the study of human behaviour through the analysis of unconscious mental processes by using the method of free association and dream analysis. It focuses on understanding the unconscious motivation that drives the behaviour. The most important personalities who contributed to the school are Erik Erikson, Anna Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney etc.

 

The important doctrines of this school are:

 

1.   Human mind has three imaginary parts (layers) –

 

o        Conscious – contains memories, thoughts and desires of which we are aware at the

 

given moment

 

o        Sub (pre) conscious – which we are not aware at the present moment but which are

 

readily recallable through association and efforts.

 

o        Unconscious layer constitutes the larger part of mental life and deeper layer which contains all the repressed wishes, desires, feelings, drives, motives etc. The unconscious desires, which try to take possession of conscious layer are prohibited to do so by a mechanism known as the “Censor’.

 

2.      The dynamic aspects of mind are

 

o        Id (instinctive desire, pleasure principal),

 

o        Ego – I or the self (reality principle) and

 

o        Super-ego (moral and judicial aspect)

 

These three are the aspects of our complete self or personality.

 

3.      The theory of psycho –sexual development – includes five stages

 

o        The Oral Stage: The libidinal energies are focused on the mouth.

o        The Anal Stage: The libidinal energies are focused on the anus.

o        The Phallic Stage: The libidinal energies are focused on the penis or clitoris.

o        The Latent Stage: A period of calm in which little libidinal interest is present.

o        The Genital Stage: The libidinal energies are focused on the genitals.

4.      Personality driving forces –

 

o        Instincts (much of human behaviour was motivated by two driving instincts: the life instincts and death instincts.)

 

a.  Libido (part of id - is the driving force of all behaviour and it is the life instinct)

 

b.   Thanatos (means death, a Greek word) is death instinct relates to the impulse of destruction.

o        Freud discovered unconscious motivation which plays an important role in the process of learning.

 

o        Psychoanalysis has emphasised the importance of the early experiences of the child in the

 

process of education.

 

o        It stressed the importance of feelings and emotions in the process of education. Teachers and parents must give children ample opportunities to express, not hold up, their feelings.

 

o        It has thrown light on the causes of maladjustment and behavioural problems in child.

 

Limitations of Psychoanalysis:

 

o Freudian concepts like id, ego, superego, libido etc. are hypothetical construct which lack any scientific support.

o        Psycho analytical school over emphasised sexual world and neglected social experience in

 

the formation of personality.

 

o        The evidence generated in support of psychoanalytic approach is based on case-study on a small sample of neurotic middleclass women. The kind of case study, adopted by Freud, is non-scientific, and such it cannot be generalised to other people and settings.

 

o        Psychoanalysis does not permit inferences about cause and effect.

 

Humanism:

 

The American psychologist Abraham H. Maslow considered one of the leading architects of humanistic psychology. Otto Rank, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Rollo May are the eminent persons behind the school, regarded personal growth and fulfilment in life as a basic human motive. Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that rose to prominence in the mid-20th century in answer to the limitations of psychoanalytic theory and behaviourism. It emphasizes the study of the whole person. Humanistic psychologists look at human behaviour not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving. Humanism is relating to an approach which studies the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual. The humanistic approach is thus often called the “third force” in psychology after psychoanalysis and behaviourism

 

Humanistic psychology expanded its influence throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. Its impact can be understood in terms of three major areas:

 

1)   It offered a new set of values for approaching an understanding of human nature and the human condition.

 

2)  It offered an expanded horizon of methods of inquiry in the study of human behaviour.

 

3) It offered a broader range of more effective methods in the professional practice of psychotherapy.

 

•         Shifted the focus of behaviour to the individual / whole person rather than the unconscious mind, genes, observable behaviour etc.

 

•         Humanistic psychology satisfies most people's idea of what being human means because it values personal ideals and self-fulfilment.

 

•         Qualitative data gives genuine insight and more holistic information into behaviour.

 

•         Highlights the value of more individualistic and idiographic methods of study.

•         Ignores biology (e.g. testosterone).

 

•         Unscientific – subjective concepts (e.g. cannot objectively measure self-actualization.

 

•         Humanism ignores the unconscious mind.

 

•         Behaviourism – human and animal behaviour can be compared.

 

•         Qualitative data is difficult to compare.

 

•         Ethnocentric (biased towards Western culture).

 

•         Their belief in free will is in opposition to the deterministic laws of science.

 

 

Gestalt psychology (Gestaltism):

 

The term Gestalt is German in origin means form, pattern, structure, and configuration or integrated whole. Gestalt psychology was founded about 1912 by Max Wertheimer, a German psychologist. During the 1930's, Wertheimer and two colleagues Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler took the Gestalt movement to the United States. The Gestalt psychologists believed that mental experience was dependent not on a simple combination of elements but on the organization and patterning of experience and of one's perceptions (insights). Gestalt theorists followed the basic principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In viewing the "whole," a cognitive process takes place – the mind makes a leap from comprehending the parts to realizing the whole,

Sudden idea of finding a solution is called insight. For example, our mind might interpret a series of lines as a square, even though it has no complete lines; your mind fills in the gaps. Gestalt psychotherapists apply this logic to problem-solving to help patients.

 

 

Contributions to Education:

 

o        Gestalt school emphasised the importance of presenting the subject matter as a whole in the

 

class so as to make learning more meaningful.

 

o        Gestalt principles have found its application in the construction of curriculum, organisation of

 

syllabus, scheme of studies, work-plan etc.

 

o        Holistic methods of teaching, holistic evaluation, insight learning, interdisciplinary approach to the study of problems, comprehensive educational programmes etc. draw their inspiration

 

from the Gestalt school.

 

o        Gestalt  school emphasised that learning of  generalisations, laws, principles and theories

 

enable the student to apply the acquired knowledge in a new situation.

a.      It failed to explain learning beyond perceptual experiences.

 

b.      It failed to explain the strengthening of behaviour through practice.

 

c.      It could not fully explain how previous experience influence learning.

 

d.      In many occasions learning take place by trial and error. Gestaltists failed to explain this.

 

 

NATIVISM:

 

Nativism is the philosophical position that the mind or brain has certain innate structures present which play a role in the creation of knowledge. Experience or past experiences only have a limited effect on the formation of knowledge. "Nativism implies that the brain has certain structures which play a role in the creation and development of knowledge and that part of this process is simply innate.”

 

In psychology, nativism is a theory that says that most basic skills are hard-wired in the brain at birth. Blank slate or tabula rasa theories said that humans have almost no skills or abilities at birth: they learn these skills over the course of their life. Scientists who believe in nativism include Jerry Fodor, Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker. These psychologists believe that humans are born with a set of abilities for learning from the environment that help them to learn and acquire certain skills, such as language.

 

The nativist theory is a biologically based theory, which argues that humans are pre-programmed with the innate ability to develop language. Noam Chomsky is the main theorist associated with the nativist perspective. From a very early age, we're able to understand the basics of language. He developed the idea of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). LAD is a hypothetical area of the brain that explains how children can learn languages so quickly. The LAD is a language organ that is hardwired into our brains at birth. It allows them to understand the rules of whatever language they are exposed to.

 

 

Advantages:

 

1.  The Nativist's suggests the method of language development. Language emerges instinctively as the child matures. It is widely accepted that all children develop speech in the same way; language acquisition requires an innate predisposition towards language.

 

2.  Although the age at which each child goes through the stages can vary, it is accepted that language acquisition is linked to physical growth, social factors and the need to learn before a critical age.

 

3.  The Nativist theory explains the universal stages of speech, how children acquire language quickly and supports the role maturation plays in the development of speech and why speech and grammar develop as the child matures.

CONSTRUCTIVISM

 

Constructivism is basically a theory that we learn most effectively through experience. It is basically a theory about how people learn and based on observation and scientific study. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. Jean Piaget is considered one of the first constructivism theorists. This core has roots that extend back through many years and many philosophers, including Dewey, Hegel, Kant, and Vico. In Jean Piaget's research on child development, he said that play is important for the child to create new conclusions about his world. Educators such as Montessori, who supported the theory, believed that a child's hands-on experiences increased his learning ability. The essential core of constructivism is that learners actively construct their own knowledge and meaning from their experiences.

 

Constructivism is not a unitary theoretical position; rather, it is a continuum. The assumptions that underlie this continuum vary along several dimensions and have resulted in the definition and support for multiple types of constructivism. Typically, this continuum is divided into three broad categories: Cognitive Constructivism (Jean Piaget), Social Constructivism (Lev Vygotsky), and Radical Constructivism (Ernst von Glasersfeld).

 

Constructivism suggests that knowledge acquisition occurs among four assumptions:

 

1.  Learning involves active cognitive processing.

 

2.  Learning is adaptive.

 

3.  Learning is subjective, not objective.

 

4.  Learning involves both social/cultural and individual processes.

 

These four assumptions have led, indirectly, to eight primary pedagogical recommendations:

 

1.  Learning should take place in authentic and real-world environments.

 

2.  Learning should involve social negotiation and mediation.

 

3.  Content and skills should be made relevant to the learner.

 

4.    Content and skills should be understood within the framework of the learner’s prior knowledge.

 

5.  Students should be assessed formatively, serving to inform future learning experiences.

 

6.  Students should be encouraged to become self-regulatory, self-mediated, and self-aware.

 

7.  Teachers serve primarily as guides and facilitators of learning, not instructors.

 

8.    Teachers should provide for and encourage  multiple perspectives and representations  of

 

content.

 

1.      Constructivist teaching places more emphasis on sensory input, something that has long been overlooked by many traditional educators. Students need to be fully involved in the learning process, using all of their senses, not just their eyes and ears.

 

2.      Learners are not just passive participants in the classroom; they need to be actively involved in “the bigger picture" of the world around them.

 

3.      The constructivist teaching method has been used in special education settings for some time. It is quite effective for those students who have special needs like sensory processing disorder or those on the Autistic spectrum.

 

4.      A teacher is more of a guide for a learning journey and actively participates in the learning process with the students as well as encouraging them to challenge ideas.

 

 

Cognitive Neuroscience

 

The term 'cognitive neuroscience' was coined by George Miller and Michael Gazzaniga toward the end of the 1970s. Cognitive neuroscience is the study of how the brain enables the mind. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both psychology and neuroscience, overlapping with disciplines such

as physiological psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive activities are affected or controlled by neural circuits in the brain. Brain science explores how individual neurons operate and communicate to form complex neuronal architectures that comprise the human brain. Cognitive science uses the experimental methods of cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence to create and test models of higher-level cognition such as thought and language. Cognitive neuroscience bridges these two domains. It maps higher-level cognitive functions to known brain architectures and known modes of neuronal processing.

 

Cognitive neuroscience relies upon theories in cognitive science, coupled with neuropsychology, and computational modelling.

 

In the very late 20th century new technologies evolved that are now the mainstays of the methodology of cognitive neuroscience:

 

o        Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents occurring naturally in the brain, using very sensitive magnetometers.

 

o        Electroencephalography (EEG)  is  an electrophysiological monitoring  method  to  record

 

electrical activity of the brain.

 

o        Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a magnetic method used to stimulate small regions of the brain.

 

o     Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) is a functional neuroimaging procedure using MRI technology that measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area of the brain is in use, blood flow to that region also increases.

 

o        Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine, functional imaging technique that is used to observe metabolic processes in the body.

 

o        Single-photon  emission  computed  tomography (SPECT  or  SPET)  is  a nuclear  medicine

 

tomographic imaging technique using gamma rays.

 

•         Adaptive plasticity is the capacity of the brain to change at a neuro-physiological level in response to changes in the cognitive environment. Cognitive neuro-scientific understanding of this characteristic has implications for pedagogical issues concerned with learning, including the necessity of reinforcement and the problem of erroneous learning, and for curriculum issues of breadth and depth.

 

•         The most important implication for education is what teachers have long known: that repetition is necessary for effective learning. This in turn may hold implications for curriculum development.

 

•         Specificity is facilitated by objective oriented or context-facilitated activity. That is, learning is more efficient if the same synapses of the same neural circuit are stimulated for each instance of the same learning experience.

 

•         General principles of brain development and brain function have been applied to educational practice.

 

•         It stems the increasing of marginalisation of teachers as pedagogues.

 

^✓    Certain neuroscience research findings primarily from research into the visual system, rather than cognition and learning.

 

^✓    Education is a so-called "artificial science" that seeks to construct an ‘artifact’. Neuroscience, on the other hand is a so-called "natural science", concerned with the discovery of natural

principles that describe neural structure and function. This difference means that some goals set by education are simply impossible to answer using neuroscience research.

 

^✓    Cognitive neuroscience may offer detailed pictures of neural networks, but, just as a thermometer fails to measure pain, so a brain scan fails logically to measure understanding.

^✓     Neuroscience has discovered a great deal about neurons and synapses, but not nearly enough

 

to guide educational practice.

 

 

Positive Psychology

 

Positive psychology began as a new area of psychology in 1998 by Martin Seligman, though the term originates with Abraham Maslow, in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality. Positive psychology is a relatively new field of academic study with the first positive psychology summit taking place in 1999 and the first International Conference on Positive Psychology taking place in 2003.

 

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to succeed. Positive education is defined as education for both traditional skills and for happiness. The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within them, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. The focus of positive psychology is on personal growth

 

Positive psychology as a science is based on three pillars. The first is a positive life experience for individuals – exploiting positive emotions. Positive emotions are concerned with being content with one's past, being happy in the present and having hope for the future. The second pillar is a person’s positive physical properties – exploiting positive personality traits, mainly virtues and strengths, but also aptitudes. The third pillar is a positive society – exploiting positive social institutions, in particular those such as democracy, a strong family, and education which promotes positive development.

 

Seligman also briefly describes his formula for happiness in life is:

 

•         The pleasant life: a life that successfully follows the positive emotions about the present, past, and future.

 

•         The good life: using your signature strengths to obtain abundant satisfaction (through activities we like doing) in the main realms of your life.

 

•         The meaningful life: using your signature strengths and virtues in the service of something much larger than you are.

 

Implications to Education:

 

•         Positive psychology touches with the assumptions and practice of educational psychology.

 

•         It has in a range of contexts related to a wider concept of education – that of lifelong learning.

 

•         Positive psychology can be useful in education and become a reliable tool for definite increases in mental well-being.

 

•         Positive psychology would serve as a vehicle to increase satisfaction with life, to help children to learn, and to support them in their own development of creative thinking.

 

•         School can become a place to enable young people to achieve large-scale development, and increase their personal resources and their mental well-being.

 

•         School seems to be a perfect place for implementing positive initiatives for learning mental well-being.

•         Positive psychology implies that the rest of psychology is negative.

 

•         Positive psychology is too individualistic in focus and neglects relational phenomena.

 

•         Positive psychology is ethnocentric, and neglects cultural, social, economic, and situational context issues.

1.3 Meaning, Nature And Functions Of Educational Psychology. Relevance Of Educational Psychology To Teachers, Learners, Teaching And Learning

 

 

Educational psychology is that branch of applied psychology, in which the findings of psychology are applied in the field of education. It is the scientific study of human behaviour in educational setting.

 

According to Charles E. Skinner, “Educational psychology is a branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning”.

 

In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational Psychology is the science of Education”.

 

Education by all means is an attempt to mould and shape the behaviour of the pupil. It aims to produce desirable changes in him for the all-round development of his personality. The essential knowledge and skill to do this job satisfactorily is supplied by Educational Psychology. In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational psychology helps the teacher to understand the development of his pupils, the range and limits of their capacities, the processes by which they learn and their social relationships.”

 

Educational Psychologists is a technical expert in the field of education, supplies all the information, principles and techniques essential for understanding the behaviour of the pupil in response to educational environment and desired modification of his behaviour to bring an all-round development of his personality. Educational Psychology concerned primarily with understanding the processes of teaching and learning that take place within formal environments and developing ways of improving those methods. It covers important topics like learning theories; teaching methods; motivation; cognitive, emotional, and moral development; and parent-child relationships etc.

 

Nature of Educational Psychology

 

Its nature is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a Science of Education. We can summarize the nature of Educational Psychology in the following ways:

 

1.  Educational Psychology is a science. Science is a branch of study concerned with observation of facts and establishment of verifiable general laws. Science employs certain objective methods for the collection of data. It has its objectives of understanding, explaining, predicting and control of facts. Like any other science, educational psychology has also developed objective methods of collection of data. It also aims at understanding, predicting and controlling human behaviour.

 

2.  Educational Psychology is a natural science. An educational psychologist conducts his investigations, gathers his data and reaches his conclusions in exactly the same manner as physicist or the biologist.

 

3.  Educational psychology is a social science. Like the sociologist, anthropologist, economist or political scientist, the educational psychologist studies human beings and their sociability.

 

4.  Educational psychology is a positive science. Normative science like Logic or Ethics deals with facts as they ought to be. A positive science deals with facts as they are or as they operate.

 

Educational psychology studies the child’s behaviour as it is, not, as it ought to be. So it is a positive science.

 

5.  Educational psychology is an applied science. It is the application of psychological principles in the field of education. By applying the principles and techniques of psychology, it tries to study the behaviour and experiences of the pupils. As a branch of psychology it is parallel to any other applied psychology. For example, educational psychology draws heavily facts from such areas as developmental psychology, clinical psychology, abnormal psychology and social psychology.

 

6.  Educational psychology is a developing or growing science. It is concerned with new and ever new researches. As research findings accumulate, educational psychologists get better insight into the child’s nature and behaviour.

Thus, educational psychology is an applied, positive, social, specific and practical science. While general science deals with behaviour of the individuals in various spheres, educational psychology studies the behaviour of the individual in educational sphere only.

 

Functions of Educational Psychology:

 

1.     It studies Human Behaviour in educational situations. Psychology is the study of behaviour, and education deals with the modification of behaviour; hence, educational psychology pervades the whole field of education.

 

2.    It studies the Growth and Development of the child. How a child passes through the various stages of growth and what are the characteristics of each stage are included in the study of educational psychology.

 

3.  To what extent Heredity and Environment contribute towards the growth of the individual, and how this knowledge can be made use of for bringing about the optimum development of the child; form a salient feature of the scope of educational psychology.

 

4.   Educational psychology deals with the Nature and Development of the Personality of an individual. In fact, education has been defined as the all-round development of the personality of an individual; personality development also implies a well-adjusted personality.

 

5.  It studies Individual Difference: Every individual differs from every other individual. It is one of the fundamental facts of human nature which have been brought to light by educational psychology. This one fact has revolutionised the concept and process of education.

 

6.  It studies the nature Intelligence and its Measurement. This is of utmost importance for a

 

teacher.

 

7.  It Provides Guidance and Counselling: Education is nothing but providing guidance to the growing child.

 

8.  Afford a thorough knowledge of the nature of the child

 

9.  Provide an understanding of the nature aims and purposes of education.

 

10.  Acquire familiarity with the technical vocabulary and to further an understanding and an appreciation of the scientific procedures by which the data of educational psychology are obtained.

 

11.  Provide a significant knowledge of developmental process with particular emphasis upon the promotion, guidance and control of mental and moral aspects.

 

12.  Provide an understanding of the principles governing learning, together with knowledge of the techniques for guiding improvement in learning and their application to the practical problems in the classroom.

 

13.  Present the theories underlying the measurement and evaluation of mental abilities, aptitudes, achievements, interest and personality organization.

 

14.  Present the principles and conclusions regarding the prevention of all types of maladjustments together with the approved practices for achieving satisfactory adjustments.

 

Relevance of Educational Psychology to Teachers, Learners, Teaching and Learning

 

The relevance of educational psychology is ever-growing due to constantly researches in this field. The following factors will indicate the relevance of educational psychology:

 

1.  The Learner. The learner or the child is the central theme in educational psychology. The subject-matter of educational psychology is knitted around the learner. Therefore, the need of knowing the learner and the techniques of knowing the learner is must. The topics include – the innate abilities and capacities of the individuals, individual differences and their measurements, the overt, covert, conscious as well as unconscious behaviour of the learner, the characteristics of his growth and development and each stage beginning from childhood to adulthood.

 

2.  The Learning Experiences. Educational Psychology helps in deciding what learning experiences are desirable, at what stage of the growth and development of the learner, so that these experiences can be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction.

3.  Learning process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational Psychology moves on to the laws, principles and theories of learning. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning, ways and means of effective learning etc.

 

4.  Learning Situation or Environment. Here we deal with the environmental factors and learning situations which come midway between the learner and the teacher. Topics like classroom climate and group dynamics, techniques and aids that facilitate learning and evaluation, techniques and practices, guidance and counselling etc., for the smooth functioning of the teaching-learning process.

 

5.  The Teacher: The teacher is a potent force is any scheme of teaching and learning process. It discusses the role of the teacher. It emphasizes the need of ‘knowing thyself’ for a teacher to play his role properly in the process of education i.e., his conflicts, motivation, anxiety, adjustment, level of aspiration etc. It throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the characteristics of effective teaching etc. so as to inspire him for becoming a successful teacher.

 

6.  Evaluation of Learning Performances: It deals with the evaluation of the performance of the learners. It includes the use of statistical methods and techniques.

 

 

1.4 Methods And Tools Of Educational Psychology-Introspection, Observation, Interview, Questionnaire, Case Study, Survey, Sociometry, Checklist, Rating Scale, Cumulative Record And Anecdotal Record

 

The main objective of educational psychology is to help a teacher to understand his student’s behaviour in the educative process. A teacher may face different problems in the classroom as well as outside it. It is important that a teacher understands the significance of individual difference and solves the various problems of the classroom. Therefore, in order to achieve the objective of educational psychology some methods are adopted to collect data to know about a learner’s differences.

 

 

1.  Introspection

 

Introspection is the oldest method that was known to the early psychologists. Formerly, when psychology was closely linked to philosophy, the study of mind or consciousness was carried over by introspections. It is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. This method continued to be used as a reliable method of investigation in psychology till psychology gained ground as a positive science of behaviour. The term introspection is derived from two words “intro” and “spection”. ‘Intro’ means “within” and ‘spection’ means “looking” or “observing.” Thus introspection means “looking within” or “observing within” one self to experience one’s own mental state. It is a kind of self-observation or self-examination. One of the important features of introspection is that it provides direct and first-hand information about all that happens in the mind of

 

a  person.

 

Merits: -

 

•         Introspection is the easiest of all methods of educational psychology.

 

•         It does not need any tool or laboratory as the subject and the investigator is the same.

 

•         It is the most economical method and one which enables us to know about the mental state of an individual.

 

•         Introspection, as a method, has generated a lot of research and is used in almost all experimental students.

Demerits:

 

•         Introspection means looking into-one’s own emotions and feelings, so when one attempts to study one’s mental state, it disappears and therefore it is different to introspect the changing psychological experiences.

 

•         As the subject and investigator is same the introspection becomes subjective and biased and therefore the data may not be reliable and valid. The person may not consider certain facts.

 

•         The introspection method cannot be done by abnormal individuals and children.

 

•         A person should be highly trained and skilled to introspect properly.

 

 

 

2.   Observation (watching what people do) would seem to be an obvious method of carrying out assessment in psychology. It means the examination of something, especially for the purpose of collecting data. It refers to inspection of the overt behaviour of a person in appropriate situations. There are different types of observational methods.

 

a. Participant Observation

 

In participant observation, the researcher joins in and becomes part of the group they are studying to get a deeper insight into their lives. He is watching the events or situation or activities from inside by taking part in the group to be observed. He freely interacts with the other group members, participates in various activities of the group, acquires the way of life of the observed group or his own, and studies their behaviour or other activities not as an outsider but by becoming a member of that group.

 

Participant observations can be either covert or overt. Covert is where the study is carried out 'under cover'. The researcher's real identity and purpose are kept concealed from the group being studied. The researcher takes a false identity and role, usually posing as a genuine member of the group. On the other hand, overt is where the researcher reveals his or her true identity and purpose to the group and asks permission to observe.

 

b. Non-Participant Observation

 

Non-participant observation involves observing participants without actively participating. When the observer observes the group passively from a distance without participating in the group activities, it is known as non-participant observation. Here he does not try to influence them or take part in the group activities. This option is used to understand a phenomenon by entering the community or social system involved, while staying separate from the activities being observed.

 

However, purely non-participant observation is extremely difficult. One cannot penetrate into the heart of a matter without proper participation in it. One really cannot imagine a kind of relationship, when the researcher is always present but never participates. This situation is hardly conducive for both the observer and the group. A combination of both participant and non-participant method is sometimes selected.

 

c. Controlled Observation

 

Controlled observations (structured observation) are likely to be carried out in a psychology laboratory. The researcher decides where the observation will take place, at what time, with which participants, in what circumstances and uses a standardised procedure. Participants are randomly allocated to each independent variable group.

 

d. Uncontrolled observation

 

Uncontrolled observation (Naturalistic observation or unstructured observation) involves studying the spontaneous behaviour of participants in natural surroundings. The researcher simply records what they see in whatever way they can. Observing the behaviour of boys at play is an example for uncontrolled observation.

 

Compared with controlled/structured methods it is like the difference between studying wild animals in a zoo and studying them in their natural habitat.

3.  Interview is a technique of eliciting information directly from the subject in face to face contacts. It gives an opportunity to mutual exchange of ideas and information between the subject and the psychologist. After taking the subject into confidence, the psychologist tries to seek answer to his pre-planned questions. The interviewer in one-to-one conversation collects detailed personal information from individuals using oral questions. Quite often interviews will be recorded by the researcher and the data written up as a transcript (a written account of interview questions and answers) which can be analysed at a later date. Interviews are broadly classified into two – unstructured and structured.

 

Structured Interview

 

This is also known as a formal interview (like a job interview). The questions are asked in a set / standardized order and the interviewer will not deviate from the interview schedule or investigation beyond the answers received (so they are not flexible). These are based on structured, closed-ended questions. (Closed questions structure the answer by allowing only answers which fit into categories that have been decided in advanced by the researcher. The options can be restricted to as few as two (e.g. 'yes' or 'no', 'male' or 'female').

 

Unstructured Interview

 

These are sometimes referred to as ‘discovery interviews’ and are more like a ‘guided conservation’ than a strict structured interview. They are sometimes called informal interviews.

 

An interview schedule might not be used, and even if one is used, they will contain open-ended questions that can be asked in any order. Some questions might be added / missed as the interview progresses. (Open questions allow people to express what they think in their own words. Open-ended questions enable the respondent to answer in as much detail as they like in their own words. If to gather more in-depth answers from respondents, then open questions will work better. These give no pre-set answer options and instead allow the respondents to put down exactly what they like in their own words).

 

The major merits of interview:

 

•         More accurate information can be obtained.

 

•         Personal information can as well be obtained easily under this method.

 

•         Due to personal presence of the interviewer, there is flexibility in the inquiry.

 

•         Additional supplementary information can also be obtained.

 

•         The interviewer can usually control which person will answer the questions.

 

•         Generally non-response remains very low in this method.

 

•         Observation method can as well as applied to recording verbal answers to various questions.

 

•         Representative and wider distribution of sample is possible by using the method.

 

•         The interviewer contact the informants personally, they can exercise their intelligence, skill, tact etc. to extract correct and relevant information by cross examination of the information, if necessary.

 

•         The language of the interview can be adopted to the ability or educational level of the person interviewed and as such misinterpretations concerning questions can be avoided.

 

The main demerits of interview:

 

•         It is a very expensive method, especially when large and widely spread geographical sample is taken.

 

•         There remains the possibility of the bias of interviewer as well as that of the respondent.

 

•         This method is relatively more-time consuming, especially when the sample is large.

 

•         Certain types of respondents may not give true answers to the questions.

 

•         The presence of the interviewer on the spot may over-stimulate the respondent.

 

•         Training and supervising of the interviewers is more complex.

•         Systematic errors may arise.

 

4.  Questionnaire

 

A questionnaire is a tool for data collection, consisting of a series of questions for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Questionnaires provide a relatively cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining large amounts of information from a large sample of people. This is useful for large populations when interviews would be impractical.

 

Often a questionnaire uses both open-end or unstructured form of questions and closed or structured form of questions to collect data.

^▪          The responses are gathered in a standardised way, so questionnaires are more objective, certainly more so than interviews.

^▪          Generally, it is relatively quick to collect information using a questionnaire.

^▪          Potentially information can be collected from a large portion of a group.

^▪          Questionnaires, like many evaluation methods occur after the event, so participants may forget important issues.

^▪          Questionnaires are standardised so it is not possible to explain any points in the questions that participants might misinterpret.

^▪          Open-ended questions can generate large amounts of data that can take a long time to process and analyse.

^▪          Respondents may answer superficially especially if the questionnaire takes a long time to complete.

^▪          Respondents may not be willing to answer the questions.

 

 

5.  Case study is in-depth investigation of a single person, group, event or community. The case that is the subject of the inquiry will be an instance of a class of phenomena that provides an analytical frame within which the study is conducted and which the case illuminates and explains. Typically,

 

data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods (e.g. observations and interviews). The research may also continue for an extended period of time, so processes and developments can be studied as they happen. The case history supplies all the large and small facts related to his environment and heredity and in reality, the personality found out.

•         Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.

 

•         Provides insight for further research.

 

•         Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.

 

Limitations of Case Studies

 

•         Can’t generalize the results to the wider population.

 

•         Researchers' own subjective feeling may influence the case study (researcher bias).

 

•         Difficult to replicate.

 

•         Time consuming.

 

 

 

6.  Survey

 

A survey is a data collection tool used to gather information about individuals. Surveys are commonly used in psychology research to collect self-report data from study participants. A survey may focus on factual information about individuals, or it might aim to obtain the opinions of the survey takers. These research tools can be used to ask questions about demographic information about characteristics such as sex, religion, ethnicity, income, and collect information on experiences, opinions, and even hypothetical scenarios. This method makes use of various techniques of

collecting data such as tests, questionnaires, observation, interview, and use of statistics in analysing the data.

 

Advantages of Using Surveys

 

•         Surveys allow researchers to collect a large amount of data in a relatively short period.

 

•         Surveys are less expensive than many other data collection techniques.

 

•         Surveys can be created quickly and administered easily.

 

•         Surveys can be used to collect information on a broad range of things, including personal

 

facts, attitudes, past behaviours, and opinions.

•         Poor survey construction and administration can undermine otherwise well-designed studies.

 

•         The answer choices provided in a survey may not be an accurate reflection of how the participants actually feel.

 

•         While random sampling is generally used to select participants, response rates can bias the results of a survey.

 

•         The social desirability bias can lead people to respond in a way that makes them look better than they really are.

 

 

 

7.    Sociometry is a quantitative method for measuring social relationships. It is a technique of assessing the social relationships among members in a group through the measurement of the frequency of acceptance or non-acceptance between the individuals who constitute the group. It was developed by psychotherapist Jacob L. Moreno in his studies of the relationship between social structures and psychological well-being. Moreno defined sociometry as "the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them." In a class the children are asked to select those with whom they would like to play or work. Each child makes the choice and from this data teacher can construct a social map which is known as sociogram. Sociogram will help the teacher to identify the stars, cliques, mutuals and isolates. Stars are those who are chosen by many, cliques are those who are exclusively by themselves, mutuals are unit of two individuals and isolates are those who are chosen by nobody.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advantages:

 

•         The social map directly helps the teacher in the management of the class activities.

 

•         It will tell the teacher whether class is a well-knit or loosely-knit group

 

•         It will help teacher to prevent social mal adjustment in pupils, and to promote social unity.

 

Disadvantages:

 

•         The sociogram by itself is unable to reveal the reasons for social relationships.

 

•         It is not free from halo-effect.

 

•         It often results in the labelling of some children as maladjusted or inferior.

 

 

8.  Checklist is a selected list of words, phrases or sentences following which an observer records a check to denote the presence or absence of whatever being observed. Checklists are often presented

as lists with small checkboxes. A small tick or checkmark is drawn in the box after the item has been completed. When we want to assess whether some traits are present in the behaviour of an individual or not, we can use checklist method.

Advantages:

 

•         Easy, quick, and efficient

 

•         Don’t have to be trained to use it

 

•         Can use in presence of the child or later

 

•         Several observers can gather the same information to check for reliability

 

•         Focus on many behaviours at one time

 

•         Useful for curriculum planning for individuals

 

•         “Closed” in nature, can only observe what is stated in the checklist

 

•         Limited to “presence” or “absence” of behaviour

 

•         Lack of information about quality and duration of behaviour and a description

 

 

 

9.  Rating Scale is another method of measuring personality, in which we rate an individual of the possession or absence of certain traits on a certain scale. It is used to quantify an observation or it indicates the amount of particular psychological trait of characteristics possessed by an individual. A rating is a set of categories designed to elicit information about a quantitative or a qualitative attribute.

 

Advantages:

 

•         Standardization: The largest advantage and purpose of rating scales is the standardization they create. They provide a method to compare different objects, people, or things in a structured fashion—ranging from a quantitative to qualitative analysis.

 

•         Broad: Rating scales work as a general system; therefore, appraisals and assessments can be created for almost anything by altering a rating scale slightly.

 

•         Fairness: By providing a system that is fair, equality can be reached in a more successful manner than other systems of comparisons that are more subjective in nature.

 

•         Simple: The reason rating scales are so prevalent is that they are simple and easy to understand. They provide a significant amount of data and allow people to view it in a very clear and concise manner—making decisions easier. This simplicity and logic has contributed

 

to the popularity of rating scales.

•         One way to get around the ambiguity inherent in graphic rating scales is to use behaviour based scales, in which specific work related behaviours are assessed.

 

•         More validity comparing students’ ratings from a single teacher than comparing two students who were rated by different teachers.

 

 

10.     Cumulative Record is a confidential and systematic accumulation of significant factual information about an individual student while at school. Hence presenting a complete and growing picture of the individual concerned for the purpose of helping him during his long stay at school. It contains the results of different assessment and judgments held from time to time during the course of study of a student or pupil. It holds information regarding all aspects of life of the child or educed-physical, mental, social, moral and psychological. It seeks to give as comprehensive picture as possible of the personality of a child.

 

Advantages

 

•         The teacher understands the potential in each child and deals accordingly.

 

•         Recognition of the student’s mental capability.

•         If properly maintained can be used a great deal to improve the standard, health and personality of the students in school.

•         The entire data is of little use if not collected properly.

 

•         Sometimes the information becomes so, confusing as the information is collected by different teachers.

 

•           It does not serve its purpose if not done secretly and confidentially.

 

 

 

11.  Anecdotal Record is an observational method used frequently in classroom or learning settings in which the teacher summarizes a single developmental incident after the event has occurred. It is a report of informal teacher observation regarding his pupils. It contains a description of the student’s conduct and personality in terms of frequent, brief, concrete observation of the student made and recorded by the teacher. The recorded observations are intended to identify the child's current skill level, interests and skills to develop next. Anecdotal records should always be objective recordings of the student's actions and behaviours. The records should be written in a non-judgmental manner. With a collection of anecdotal records about a student, the child's developmental progress can be documented and teaching can be tailored to meet the student's individual needs.

 

Advantages

 

1.  Helpful in understanding the child’s behaviour in diverse situation

 

2.  Less time consuming

 

3.  No special training needed for the observer

 

4.    Observer can catch an unexpected incident no matter when it occurs, for it is usually

 

recorded afterwards.

Demerits

1.  A careless recording of behaviour will do more harm than good

 

2.  Depends on the memory of the observer;

 

3.  Difficult to use for research purposes.

 

1.5 CONCEPTS, PRINCIPLES AND STAGES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Meaning of Growth and Development

 

The aim of education is to bring desirable changes in the learner. The changes are taking place due to growth and development. Since the task of the teacher is to bring desirable changes in the child, knowledge of growth and development is of utmost important. ‘Growth’ and ‘Development’ are often used as synonymous terms. But, in fact, growth is different from development. Psychology defines “growth” as “the physical change that a particular individual undergoes.” On the other hand, psychology defines “development” as “the overall growth of humans throughout their lifespan.” Growth and Development are the important characteristics of a living organism. Development involves a series of progressive, orderly and meaningful changes leading to the goals of maturity. Normally Growth contributes to Development. In reality though ‘Growth and Development’ are different, but they are inseparable. Generally process of Growth and Development goes on simultaneously.

 

Difference between growth and development

 

Both growth and development are interrelated aspects of psychology. There are some basic differences as per their structure but it is difficult to separate them. They have some basic similarities also. In study of educational psychology study of their differences and similarities have equal importance for a teacher. Growth means an increase in size, height, weight, length etc. which can be measured. Development, on the other hand, implies change in shape, form or structure resulting in improved working or in functioning. Improved functioning implies certain qualitative changes leading to maturity.

	Growth	Development
1	Change of physical aspects of the	Overall changes and progressive changes of
	Organism	the organism
2	Cellular	Organisational
3	The change in shape, form, structure, size of	Structural change and functional progress of
	the body	the body
4	Stops at maturation	Continues till death of the organism
5	Quantitative in nature	Qualitative in nature
6	Observable	Not observable
7	Structural	Functional
8	Can be measured accurately	Subjective interpretation of one’s change
9	Growth may or may not bring	Development is possible without growth
	Development

 

Characteristics of Growth

 

1.      Growth proceeds more rapidly in the early years of life.

 

2.      The rate of growth is not uniform in the life of an individual.

 

3.      Growth is gradual but continuous

 

4.      It is cumulative in nature

 

5.      The speed of growth is not smooth

 

6.      It is a complex process

 

7.      Growth follows definite sequence and predictable pattern

 

8.      It takes place at different rates for different parts of the body

 

9.      There are wide individual differences in growth

 

10.  Both the pattern and rate of growth can be modified by conditions internal and external of the

 

body

 

Elizabeth B. Hurlock, in her book ‘Developmental Psychology: A Life-Span Approach’, defines “development is a progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly predictable pattern as a result of maturation and experience.” It tends to follow the following fundamental principles

 

1.  Development is a product of the interaction between heredity and environment

 

Development is a process resultant from a constant flux or interchange of energy within an organism and his environment. Hereditary forces inherent in the genetic constitution of the individual and environmental forces influence the development of the organism.

 

2.  Development follows a pattern

 

Though individuals differ in rate of growth and development but even then the development follows an orderly sequence in all individuals and shows high degree of similarity in the order in which various developments appear. Psychologists have reported several directional trends in the development.

 

i.            Cephalocaudal: development starts from head and proceeds towards foot.

 

ii.          Proximodistal: development starts from the centre line of the body to the outer parts, more

 

distant from it.

 

3.  Development is continuous

 

Development is a continuous process which begins from the time of conception in the womb of the mother and continues till death. But it should be kept into consideration that it is always smooth and gradual.

4.  Different aspects of development are interrelated

 

Different aspects of development are interrelated and interdependent. Child's early social behaviour is interrelated with his physical development. If the child is physically handicapped his social behaviours will be related.

 

5.  Development is an individualised process

 

All individuals develop in their own way. Each child has own rate of physical, mental, emotional and social development. If we observe six-year old children, we find great differences in their height, weight, social, emotional, and learning readiness.

 

6.  Development is cumulative and positive process

 

Development is a cumulative process. Certain changes impress the observer with their dramatic suddenness but actually these changes do not emerge all of a sudden. The child's first word, first step are the result of cumulative progress for the child has continuously been preparing for these functions. Each change is the culmination of his prior growth and experience.

 

7.  Development proceeds from the general to the specific

 

In all types of developments, we find the principle of mass-differentiation and integration. The world at the time of birth is a big buzzing blooming confusion for the child. Out of mass and undifferentiated, behaviour emerge more differentiated, refined behaviour and goal-directed response. We can take any development of the child begins from the birth cry, as mass response.

 

8.  Development is predictable

 

Knowing the rate of growth and development of a child it is possible to predict the range within which his/her matured development is going to fall.

 

9.  Development is spiral and not linear

 

The development at any stage never takes place with a constant or speedy pace. The child makes advancement during the particular period, followed by a period of rest to consolidate his/her development achieved till then.

 

10. Development is the product of maturation and learning

 

Maturation and learning play important roles in development of a human being. Maturation is the unfolding of the individual's inherent traits. Learning is development that comes from exercise and effort on the individual's part.

 

Stages of Growth and development

 

Life’s journey begins with conception in the womb of the mother. The approximate nine-month period spent in mother’s womb is known as pre-natal period. A child has its first contact with the external environment is called post-natal period. The specific titles, i.e. infant, child, adolescent, adult or old persons are the distinct stages of growth and development in the human life span.

 

Sl. No	Stages	Age span
a.	Infancy	From birth to two years
b.	Childhood	From the 3rd year to 12 years
		From the 3rd year to 6 years
(i)	Early childhood
		From 7th to12 years or in strict sense up to the onset of
(ii)	Late Childhood
		Puberty
c.	Adolescence	From the 13th year to 19 years or in a strict sense from onset
		of puberty till the attainment of maturity
d.	Adulthood	From the 20th year to 60 years or in strict sense from attaining
		maturity to the age one ceases to produce one's own kind
e.	Old age or ageing	From 61 years or in a strict sense from the end of the
		reproduction capability stage till death

During all these developmental stages, human beings exhibit typical behavioural characteristics in all dimensions of behaviour and personality makeup which are specific to each stage.

 

A widespread list of stages of human growth and development Prenatal (sperm fertilizes egg - birth)

 

•          Embryo (fertilization - 8 weeks after fertilization)

 

•         Zygote, the single cell stage which occurs after fertilization

 

•         Blastocyst, the stage prior to implantation, when the embryo is a hollow sphere

 

•         Post-implantation embryo, the period 1 – 8 weeks after fertilization (3 to 10 weeks’ gestation)

 

•          Fetus, (10th week of pregnancy - birth)

 

•         Childhood/Juvenile (Childbirth) (0 - 19)

 

•       Neonate (new born) (0 – 28 days)

 

•       Infant (baby) (0 month - 12 months)

 

•       Toddler (1 – 3 years)

 

•       Play age (3 – 5 years)

 

•       Primary school age (middle childhood also called prepubescence) (3-11)

 

•         Elementary school age (5 - 11)

 

•      Preadolescence (The child in this and the previous phase are called schoolchild (schoolboy or schoolgirl), when still of primary school age.) (9 – 11 years)

•       Adolescence (12 – 19 years)

 

•         Pre puberty (8-10 until 15-17^[

•         Adulthood (20+ years)

 

•       Young adulthood (20 – 39 years)

 

•       Middle adulthood (40 – 60 years)

 

•       Elder/Senior citizen (60+ years)

 

•         Death (unpredictable)

 

 

1.6 DIMENSIONS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT-PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

 

The objective of education is the complete development of the child. Hence it is necessary that the teacher should be possessed of the knowledge of different dimensions of development so that she may be able to determine whether the student is lagging behind in any aspect. The following are certain dimensions of human development:

 

a. Physical Development:

 

It is referring to a process which brings progressive changes in the external as well as internal body organs of an individual in order to increase their capacity to function. External changes are the gross changes in physical structure involve changes in terms of height, weight, and body proportions and changes in internal body organs includes functions of glands, nervous system, circulatory system, excretory system, reproductive system etc.

 

General characteristics of Physical Development:

 

1.      Physical development is very rapid during infancy (0to 2 years)

 

2.      Period of pre-childhood (3 to 6 years) is the period of fixation, that is, what is acquired in infancy is stabilised.

 

3.      Middle childhood (7 to 9 years) shows again a period of growth and development, but the rate of growth is low in comparison to infancy.

4.      Later childhood (10 to 13 years) is again a period of fixation.

 

5.      The first three years of adolescence (early adolescence) are marked as the years of rapid growth and development.

 

6.      Early adolescence followed by a period of slow growth.

 

7.      Physical growth ceases by the attainment of maturity.

 

The physical development of an individual is found influenced by both hereditary and environment factors. The following are some of the important factors affecting the physical growth and development:

 

1.      The traits and characteristics inherited at the time of conception.

 

2.      The physical as well as mental health of the mother during pregnancy.

 

3.      Nutrition received by the embryo within the womb of the mother.

 

4.      Conditions and care at the time of the delivery.

 

5.      Nutrition received by the child after the birth.

 

6.      Presence or absence of physical defects, illness and diseases

 

7.      The living conditions – physical, social and cultural

 

8.      The opportunities of recreation, self-expression, play, exercise, rest and sleep.

 

Educational Significance of Physical Development

 

Physical development influences the total make-up of an individual. The balanced functioning of the body system depends upon the balanced physical growth and development. The functioning of the body systems decides the interest, attitude and total behaviour of the individual. Hence knowledge of the process of physical growth and development help the teacher to achieve one of the most important aims of the educational process. Teacher must give children enough physical activities to influence their growth. Naturally children are really in need physical activities, which the teacher is required to plan in rhythmic patterns that improves the control of their muscles and the body. It can help the teacher to arrange the school programmes like curricular and co-curricular experiences, methods and technique of teaching, time-table, text books, teaching aids, seating arrangement, and learning environment etc.

 

 

Intellectual Development:

 

Intellectual development refers to the acquisition of the ability to reason and solve problems and the development of thinking continues across the lifespan. Defining thinking can be problematic, because no clear boundaries separate thinking from other mental activities. Thinking obviously involves the higher mental processes: problem solving, reasoning, creating, conceptualizing, categorising, remembering, planning, and so on. However, thinking also involves other mental processes that seem more basic and at which even toddlers are skilled—such as perceiving objects and events in the environment, acting skilfully on objects to obtain goals, and understanding and producing language. Yet other areas of human development that involve thinking are not usually associated with cognitive development, because thinking isn’t a prominent feature of them—such as personality and temperament.

 

The main theory of cognitive development was developed by Jean Piaget. Piaget broke childhood cognitive development into four stages spanning from birth through adolescence. The four stages that Piaget hypothesized were:

 

•            The sensory-motor stage (birth to 2 years):

 

During the sensory-motor stage, children’s thinking is largely realized through their perceptions of the world and their physical interactions with it. Their mental representations are very limited.

 

•            The preoperational reasoning stage (2 to 6 or 7 years):

During the preoperational stage, according to Piaget, children can solve not only this simple problem (which they actually can solve after 9 months) but show a wide variety of other symbolic-representation capabilities, such as those involved in drawing and using language. However, such 2- to 7-year-olds tend to focus on a single dimension, even when solving problems would require them to consider multiple dimensions.

 

•            The concrete operational reasoning stage (6 or 7 to 11 or 12 years):

 

During the concrete operations stage, and think logically in most situations. However, according to Piaget, they still cannot think in systematic scientific ways, even when such thinking would be useful.

 

•            The formal operational reasoning stage (11 or 12 years and throughout the rest of life)

 

In the formal operations period, children attain the reasoning power of mature adults, which allows them to solve the pendulum problem and a wide range of other problems. However, this formal operations stage tends not to occur without exposure to formal education in scientific reasoning, and appears to be largely or completely absent from some societies that do not provide this type of education.

 

A child who successfully passes through the stages progresses from simple sensory motor responses to the ability to classify and create series of objects and eventually to engage in hypothetical and deductive reasoning

 

Understanding how children think and learn has proven useful for improving education. Cognitive developmental research has shown that phonemic awareness—that is, awareness of the component sounds within words—is a crucial skill in learning to read. To measure awareness of the component sounds within words, researchers ask children to decide whether two words rhyme, to decide whether the words start with the same sound, to identify the component sounds within words, and to indicate what would be left if a given sound were removed from a word. Kindergartners’ performance on these tasks is the strongest predictor of reading achievement in third and fourth grade, even stronger than IQ or social class background. Moreover, teaching these skills to randomly chosen 4 and 5 year olds results in their being better reader’s years later.

 

Another educational application of cognitive developmental research involves the area of mathematics. Even before they enter kindergarten, the mathematical knowledge of children from low-income backgrounds lags far behind that of children from more affluent backgrounds.

 

Social development or socialisation implies the development of an individual, becomes a useful member of society or the group to which he belongs. Hurlock defines “social development means the attaining of maturity in social setting. It is the process whereby the biological individual is converted into human person.

 

 

Characteristics of Social Development: The following are the important characteristics of social development of an individual.

 

o        Social development begins with the infant’s first contact with other people. o Social development continues throughout life

 

o Social development is the net result of the child’s constant interaction with his social environment.

 

o  Social development helps in learning and acquiring social qualities of character.

 

o Social development enables the child to adjust himself to his social environment and to maintain social relationships.

 

Factors affecting the Socialisation:

 

The important factors affecting the social development are:

1.   The family

 

Family not only provides the hereditary transmission of basic potential for his development, but also the environmental conditions that shapes his attitudes and habits. Children who experience the security of loving parents and have strong attachments to their parents are better able to reach out to relate with others. According to attachment theory, children who enjoy a secure attachment relationship with their parents and caregivers use this relationship as a support to venture out and explore their environment. They reach out to others, return to the caregiver for support, and venture out again, going further into the world of social relationships. As the child confidently wanders out to test the social waters, he enlarges his social world, expands his social contacts, and is more likely to learn from experience in social interaction.

 

Parents who are social themselves serve as models for their children. Children may be able to use the image of their parents interacting with others in their own attempts to make and be friends with other children or to cooperate and share. Socially competent parents may affect their children’s social skill development in another way. Parents who are secure and competent offer children a model of security from which to build their own social skills. The nature of parent-child interactions is also related to a child’s development of social skills. Children who are raised in democratic families, where reasons are given along with the rules, are more likely to be socially active and open-minded.

 

2.    Peer group

 

Peers give a chance to develop many of the social skills we need as adults. Child will certainly experience moments when his friends' behaviour and/or values contradict the norms and values he obtained from his family. He has to learn to decide which norms and values to keep, reject, or use and follow in certain situations. These early friendships help children learn how to negotiate and relate to others, including their siblings and other family members. They learn from peers how to cooperate and socialize according to group norms and group-sanctioned modes of behaviour. The peer group can influence what the child values, knows, wears, eats, and learns. The extent of this influence, however, depends on other situational constraints, such as the age and personality of children and the nature of the group. Socialization is particularly important for children with disabilities, and it is the reason many programs include peers who are typically developing in special education programs or include children with disabilities in general education classrooms.

 

3.    The school

 

Once children are in a school setting, other factors affect their social development. Children must retain their individuality, yet they must give it up by putting the welfare and interest of the group before their own. At school, they find they must share not only materials, toys, and time but also the attention of the teacher. Here they learn to cooperate, see others’ viewpoints, and work together for the common welfare. In the school, the focus on social skill development is threefold, revolving around the development of the following:

 

1.      Self-concept. Children’s feelings about themselves are the foundation from which they learn to relate to and communicate with others.

 

2.      Prosocial skills. Being able to cooperate and share are necessary for forming solid relationships with others.

 

3.      Making and keeping friends. Children who relate to and communicate with others, sharing

 

and cooperating, are those who are accepted by their peers and can make and keep friends.

 

1.      Organise informal social functions in which students may come closer to each other and have an opportunity to understand interests and aspirations of each other.

 

2.      Arrange excursions and trips to provide more opportunity for informal conversations and close contact with each other.

3.      Organise group games, debates and seminars to train adolescents to participate in social activities.

 

4.      The mechanism of phrase and blame, reward and punishment should be carefully used to socialise the children.

 

5.      Ensure a safe and healthy social environment in which the children may absorb desirable values of freedom, equality, integrity, honesty etc.

 

6.      Community activities like camps, common meals, social services etc. should be frequently organised.

 

7.      Stories depicting self-sacrifices made by great men for the cause of general good may be told to children so that they are motivated to rise above petty gains and work for the betterment of humanity.

 

8.      Help children in the process of acquiring and strengthening social skills by providing models

 

of interactive skills, and set patterns for class interaction.

 

Emotional Development:

 

Emotional development is the emergence of a child's experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth through late adolescence. It also comprises how growth and changes in these processes concerning emotions occur. Emotion may be defined as the stirred-up condition of the organism involving internal and external changes in the body. C. V. Good defines emotional development as the process of psychic evolution that is the mature individual has progressed from infantile dependence to the capacity for assuming adult responsibility and forming adult love relationship. There are categorised two groups of emotions; positive (pleasant) emotions and negative (unpleasant) emotions.

 

Positive emotion may be considered as any feeling where there is a lack of negativity, such that no pain or discomfort is felt. Frederickson identifies the ten most common positive emotions as joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love.

 

Negative emotions can be described as any feeling which causes you to be miserable and sad. These emotions make you dislike yourself and others, and take away your confidence. Emotions which can become negative are hate, anger, jealousy and sadness. Yet, in the right context, these feelings are completely natural.

 

Emotional development refers to the changes in the manner in which the child expresses his emotions with the passage of time. Emotional development does not occur in isolation; neural, cognitive, and behavioural development interact with emotional development and social and cultural influences, and background also play a role. Various emotional development theories are proposed, but there is general agreement on age-related milestones in emotional development.

 

Social and emotional development are strongly linked and sometimes studied or reported in tandem. Parents and other caregivers play an important role in emotional development, but as a child's world expands, other people in the social context also play a part in emotional development.

 

 

Factors influencing Emotional development:

 

1.   Health and physical development

 

The physical development of the child implies the general health. There is a positive correlation the good health of the child and the development of healthy emotions. Any physical deficiency of the child results in emotional imbalances children with a weak health or illness are more subject to emotional disturbances in comparison to healthy children. The normal functioning of the glands is very important for a normal emotional development any disturbance i.e., increases or decrease in their secretion affects the physical development of the body and creates problem in proper emotional development.

2.   Mental development

 

The mental development includes the intelligence and other aspects of the mental make-up of the child. It is the intelligence of the child which enables him to adjust to new situations in life. An intelligent child with his various mental powers is able to exercise control according to situation and make proper use of emotions. A child has a lower intellectual level he has less emotional control in comparison to the average or intelligent child.

 

3.   Family

 

There are various types of relationships in the family. Each influences the emotional development of the child. Children generally imitate the emotional behaviour of their parents and elders. The treatment meted out to them by their parents and other members of the family influences their emotional development. A healthy cordial atmosphere at home develops positive emotions among children, whereas conflicts and tensions in the family relations give birth to negative emotions. The order of birth (first or the youngest child), the size of the family, the socio-economic status of the family, the attitude of the parents (neglect, pampered, overprotected) have a vital influence on the emotional development of children.

 

4.      School atmosphere

 

Teachers and the school environment play a determining role in the emotional development

 

of the child. The teacher is a hero for the child. He imitates his various ways of behaviour and emotional expressions. Thus the personality of the teacher influences the emotional development of the child. Children stay in the school for the major part of the day. A healthy atmosphere at this place results in a balanced emotional development of children. The physical facilities provided for children in the school, the organization of co-curricular activities, the general social life of the school, the attitude of teachers towards students etc. influence the emotional development of children.

 

5.      Peer group

 

In the school, children also meet many students of their own age. They call them their

 

‘chums’. The emotional behaviour of their Chums also influences their emotional behaviour. This relationship facilitates social development of the child and thereby his emotional development. Socially rejected or maladjusted children always face difficult emotional problems.

 

6.      The community and neighbourhood

 

There are various social bodies which have their influence on the emotional development of

 

the child.

 

(a)    The Neighbourhood. The child after leaving the portals of the family comes to the neighbourhood. A healthy cordial atmosphere in the neighbourhood enables the child to have a rational attitude towards social problems and a rational expression of his/her emotions. If the people in the neighbourhood exhibit their outbursts of emotions, the child also develops the same emotional trends.

 

(b)  The Community. Children belong to one community or the other. They consciously take the religious and general emotions of their community.

 

(c)  The Society. As the children grow up, they meet various members of society. This wider contact with people also influences their emotional development. If the people are brave, civilized and fearless children express their emotions in much the same way.

 

Role of the Teacher:

 

Teachers can help in bringing balanced emotional development of children.

 

1.      Emotional development depends upon physical and physiological development steps should be taken for the proper physical development of children.

 

2.      Home atmosphere exercises a good amount of influence over the emotional character of children.

3.      The interpersonal relationship in the school provide emotional security and a sense of belongingness to children.

 

4.      Provide diversified co-curricular activities for the full expression and outlet pent-up emotional energies of children.

 

5.      Adopt dynamic, progressive and child-centred methods of teaching.

 

6.      The children should get desired love and sympathy from the teachers.

 

7.      Teacher must put self-example before children for the refined emotional expressions and behaviour.

 

8.      Teacher should provide moral and religious education to all groups, and sex education to adolescents that will help them to attain emotional balance and tolerance.

 

Language development is a process starting early in human life. Some research has shown that the earliest learning begins in utero (in the uterus) when the foetus starts to recognize the sounds and speech patterns of its mother's voice and differentiate them from other sounds after birth. The first 3 years of life, when the brain is developing and maturing, is the most intensive period for acquiring speech and language skills. These skills develop best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and consistent exposure to the speech and language of others. There appear to be critical periods for speech and language development in infants and young children when the brain is best able to absorb language. If these critical periods are allowed to pass without experience to language, it will be more difficult to learn. The first signs of communication occur when an infant learns that a cry will bring food, comfort, and companionship. New born also begin to recognize important sounds in their environment, such as the voice of their mother or primary caretaker. As they grow, babies begin to sort out the speech sounds that compose the words of their language. By 6 months of age, most babies recognize the basic sounds of their native language. Infants start without knowing a language, yet by 10 months, babies can distinguish speech sounds and engage in babbling.

 

Children vary in their development of speech and language skills. However, they follow a

 

natural progression or timetable for mastering the skills of language. Skinner (1957) one of the

 

pioneers   of behaviourism,   said   language   development   by   means   of   environmental   influence.

 

Behaviourists believe that language behaviours are learned by imitation, reinforcement, and copying

 

adult language behaviours. Nativist theory believes that language is universal and unique to only

 

humans and that unless there are severe mental or physical limitations, or severe isolation and

 

deprivation,  humans  will  acquire  language. The  nativist  theorist  Noam Chomsky proposed  the

 

theory of Universal Grammar: an idea of innate, biological grammatical categories, such as a noun

 

category and a verb category that facilitate the entire language development in children and overall

 

language processing in adults. Chomsky also proposed that all humans have a language acquisition

 

device  (LAD).  The  LAD  contains  knowledge  of  grammatical  rules  common  to  all  languages.

 

Interactionists argue that language development is both biological and social. They said language

 

learning   is   influenced   by   the   desire   of   children   to   communicate    with   others.    The main

 

theorist associated with interactionist theory is Lev Vygotsky. His model, collaborative learning

 

explains  the  idea  that  conversations  with  older  people can  help children  both  cognitively  and

 

linguistically.

 

Implications

 

Language difficulties could be identified efficiently at school entry. This identification process should be an especially high priority for children who already show signs of behavioural difficulties, given the high incidence and low identification of language difficulties in this group. A foundation in spoken language competence is important for the successful achievement of academic and social competence. Children with poor language skills are therefore at risk for reading and psychosocial problems. Our school systems should be based on the need to develop the pupil's

abilities and to think independently and logically, and to communicate his ideas fearlessly, accurately and effectively.

 

1.7 ERICKSON’S VIEW OF PSYCHO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT - KOHLBERG’S VIEW OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

 

Erickson’s View of Psycho Social Development

 

Erik Erikson (1902 -1994), a German psychoanalyst heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud. Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development considers the impact of external factors, parents and society on personality development from childhood to adulthood. He postulated that the development of an individual is the result of his interaction with his social environment. According to Erikson’s theory, every person must pass through a series of eight interrelated stages over the entire life cycle.

 

1.        Infancy (Basic strength Drive and Hope) – Trust vs. Mistrust

 

2.        Toddler (Basic strength Self-control, Courage, and Will) – Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt

 

3.        Pre-schooler (Basic strength Purpose) – Initiative vs. Guilt

 

4.        Elementary school Child (Basic strength Competence) – Industry vs. Inferiority

 

5.        Adolescent (Basic strength Dedication and Faithfulness) – Identity vs. Role Confusion

 

6.        Young Adulthood (Basic strength Love) – Intimacy vs. Isolation

 

7.        Middle Adulthood (Basic strength Care) – Creativity vs. Stagnation

 

8.        Late Adulthood (Basic strength Wisdom) – Integrity vs. Despair

 

These eight stages, spanning from birth to death, are split in general age ranges.

 

1.      Infancy: (Birth-18 Months old.) Trust vs. Mistrust –

 

Hope During the first or second year of life, the major emphasis is on the mother and father’s

 

nurturing ability and care for a child, especially in terms of visual contact and touch. The child will develop optimism, trust, confidence, and security if properly cared for and handled. If a child does not experience trust, he or she may develop insecurity, worthlessness, and general mistrust to the world.

 

2.   Toddler / Early Childhood: (18 Months to 3 Years) Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt

 

The second stage occurs between 18 months and 3 years. At this point, the child has an opportunity to build self-esteem and autonomy as he or she learns new skills and right from wrong. The well-cared for child is sure of himself, carrying himself or herself with pride rather than shame. Children tend to be vulnerable during this stage, sometimes feeling shame and low self-esteem during an inability to learn certain skills.

 

3.   Pre-schooler: (3 to 6 Years) Initiative vs. Guilt

 

During this period, we experience a desire to copy the adults around us and take initiative in creating play situations. The most significant relationship is with the basic family. Equipped with the sense of trust and autonomy the child begins to take initiative in interacting with his environment. In the case the child is discouraged from taking the initiative by his parents and guardians not having faith in him, or is pulled down by unhealthy criticism, punishment or scolding for minor failures, the child is sure to develop a sense of guilt leading to hesitation, indecision and lack of initiative in planning and carrying out his life activities.

 

4.   Elementary school: (6 to 12 Years) Industry vs. Inferiority

 

During this stage, often called the Latency, we are capable of learning, creating and accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge, thus developing a sense of industry. This is also a very social stage of development and if we experience unresolved feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among our peers, we can have serious problems in terms of competence and self-esteem. As the world expands a bit, our most significant relationship is with the school and neighbourhood. Parents are no longer the complete authorities they once were, although they are still important. The teachers and the school environment thus play a very significant role in helping the child out of the industry versus inferiority crisis.

5.   Adolescent: (12 to 18 Years) Identity vs. Role Confusion

 

Up until this fifth stage, development depends on what is done to a person. At this point, development now depends primarily upon what a person does. An adolescent must struggle to discover and find his or her own identity, while negotiating and struggling with social interactions and “fitting in”, and developing a sense of morality and right from wrong. Some attempt to delay entrance to adulthood and withdraw from responsibilities (moratorium). Those unsuccessful with this stage tend to experience role confusion and disorder. Adolescents begin to develop a strong affiliation and devotion to ideals, causes, and friends. Teachers and parents can play a very constructive role in helping adolescents through this identity versus confusion crisis.

 

6.   Young adulthood: (18 to 35 Years) Intimacy vs. Isolation

 

At the young adult stage, people tend to seek companions hip and love. Some also begin to “settle down” and start families, although seems to have been pushed back farther in recent years. Young adults seek deep intimacy and satisfying relationships, but if unsuccessful, isolation may occur. Significant relationships at this stage are with marital partners and friends. The crisis of intimacy vs. isolation needs to be resolved by striking a balance between the two contradictory needs

 

– the need for intimacy and the need to maintain one’s individuality.

 

7.      Middle Adulthood: (35 to 65 years) Creativity vs. Stagnation

 

Career and work are the most important things at this stage, along with family.  Middle

 

adulthood is also the time when people can take on greater responsibilities and control. For this stage, working to establish stability and Erikson’s idea of generativity – attempting to produce something that makes a difference to society. As opposed to the sense of generativity, there is tendency to the individual to become egoistic and selfish. This leads to stagnation and personal impoverishment. Inactivity and meaninglessness are common fears during this stage. Major life shifts can occur during this stage. For example, children leave the household, careers can change, and so on. Some may struggle with finding purpose. Significant relationships are those within the family, workplace, local church and other communities.

 

8.      Late Adulthood: (65 to Death) Integrity vs. Despair

 

Erikson believed that much of life is preparing for the middle adulthood stage and the last

 

stage involves much reflection. As older adults, some can look back with a feeling of integrity (honour) - that is, satisfaction and fulfilment, having led a meaningful life and valuable contribution to society. Others may have a sense of despair during this stage, reflecting upon their experiences and failures. They may fear death as they struggle to find a purpose to their lives, wondering “What was the point of life? Was it worth it?”

 

Identity crisis: It is a state in which a person experiences uncertainty about who they really are and their proper role in life. The concept originates in the work of developmental psychologist Erik Erikson, who believed that the formation of identity was one of the most important parts of a person's life. He defined eight crisis stages that characterize our lives from birth through death. Identity achievement vs. identity diffusion is the fifth crisis that individuals experience as they navigate the potentially stormy years of adolescence. The crisis is one of heightened susceptibility to particular developmental changes associated with puberty. Teenagers experience rapid changes in body build, hormones, emotions, and cognitive abilities. Perhaps for the first time in life, they consider their roles in society, including their careers, values, and gender role.

 

The Strengths of Erikson's Theory

 

One of the strengths of psychosocial theory is that it provides a broad framework from which to view development throughout the entire lifespan.

 

It also allows us to emphasize the social nature of human beings and the important influence that social relationships have on development.

Researchers have found evidence supporting Erikson's ideas about identity and have further identified different sub-stages of identity formation.

 

Some research also suggests that people who form strong personal identities during adolescence are better capable of forming intimate relationships during early adulthood.

 

Limitations of Psychosocial Theory

 

One major weakness of psychosocial theory is that the exact mechanisms for resolving conflicts and moving from one stage to the next are not well described or developed.

 

The theory fails to detail exactly what type of experiences are necessary at each stage in order to successfully resolve the conflicts and move to the next stage.

 

Kohlberg's theory of moral development

 

Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, extended Piaget's work in cognitive reasoning into adolescence and adulthood. He felt that moral development was a slow process and evolved over time. Kohlberg believed that individuals made progress by mastering each stage, one at a time. A person could not skip stages. He also felt that the only way to encourage growth through these stages was by discussion of moral dilemmas and by participation in consensus democracy within small groups. Consensus democracy was rule by agreement of the group, not majority rule. This would stimulate and broaden the thinking of children and adults, allowing them to progress from one stage to another.

 

Pre-conventional level (4 to 10 years): The child at the first and most basic level, the pre conventional level, is concerned with avoiding punishment and getting needs met. This level has two stages and applies to children up to 10 years of age.

 

Stage I: The Punishment-Obedience stage. Children obey rules because they are told to do so by an authority figure (parent or teacher), and they fear punishment if they do not follow rules. Children at this stage are not able to see someone else's side.

 

Stage II: Self-interest orientation stage. The child will follow rules if there is a known benefit to him or her. Children in this stage are very concerned with what is fair. Children will also make deals with each other and even adults. They obey the orders of parents and elders because of rewards that are received.

 

Conventional level (10 to 13 years): Children in this level are concerned about being accepted by others and living up to their expectations. At this level they are interested in pleasing others by acting as good members of society. This level has two stages:

 

Stage III: The good boy/good girl orientation stage. Here, children do the right thing because it is good for the family, peer group, team, school, or church. They understand the concepts of trust, loyalty, and gratitude. They abide by the Golden Rule as it applies to people around them every day. Morality is acting in accordance to what the social group says is right and moral.

 

Stage IV: The social order maintaining orientation stage: Children and adults at this stage abide by the rules of the society in which they live. These laws and rules become the backbone for all right and wrong actions. Children and adults feel compelled to do their duty and show respect for authority. This is still moral behaviour based on authority, but reflects a shift from the social group to society at large.

 

Post-conventional level (age 13 and beyond): Some teenagers and adults move beyond conventional morality and enter morality based on reason, examining the relative values and opinions of the groups with which they interact. This level is characterised by two stages:

 

Stage V: Social contract orientation stage. Individuals in this stage understand that codes of conduct are relative to their social group. This varies from culture to culture and subgroup to subgroup. With that in mind, the individual enters into a contract with fellow human beings to treat them fairly and kindly and to respect authority when it is equally moral and deserved. They also agree to obey laws and social rules of conduct that promote respect for individuals and value the few

universal moral values that they recognize. Moral behaviour and moral decisions are based on the greatest good for the greatest number.

 

Stage VI: Universal ethical principles (Principled Conscience) stage. Individuals examine the validity of society's laws and govern themselves by what they consider to be universal moral principles, usually involving equal rights and respect. They obey laws and social rules that fall in line with these universal principles, but not others they deem as aberrant. Adults here are motivated by individual conscience that transcends cultural, religious, or social convention rules.

 

The Strengths of Kohlberg’s theory

 

Strength of Kohlberg’s theory is that it is empirical. Kohlberg closely followed Piaget’s workings and conducted a similar clinical scientific interviewing process with participants. He initiated a longitudinal study in which he interviewed his subjects every four years to test their level of moral judgment. Kohlberg’s research shows a consistent progress relevant to the ages given in his theory.

 

Another strength is developing a moral development for individuals in an organized society.

 

His theory can be used as a common ground that can serve as guidance for individuals.

 

Cross-cultural studies confirm that children of various cultures progress through Kohlberg’s pre-conventional level into the stages of the conventional level.

 

Theory reinforces the fact that as our thinking matures, our behaviour becomes less selfish and more caring (more “moral”.)

 

The limitations of Kohlberg’s theory

 

•         It focuses on reasoning rather than actually focusing on behavior.

 

•         Kohlberg does not take into account the cultural or religious differences in moral values.

 

•         Moral decision impacted social interactions.

 

•         The theory is concentrated on hypothetical moral development rather than on moral behaviour, culture, and gender.

 

1.8 PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS AND BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS OF CHILDREN:

 

A healthy growth of child needs to be satisfied with certain psychological needs. To understand and promote the growth of child, we need to understand his psychological needs:

 

1.      Attention: Pay attention to the child. As a child he likes to attract the attention. When ignore the child he will behave negatively to attract attention. Always be attentive to child.

 

2.      Acceptance: A child is happy when he is accepted. He knows how to behave in order to get the approval. Accept child unconditionally.

 

3.      Respect: A child needs to have self-respect and to be respected. When child does not respect himself and he is not being respected his self-esteem will be low and he feels helpless and down. The worst thing happen he will not have the confidence to live in life. Praise child whenever he does something right to boost his self-confidence.

 

4.      Belonging: Every one hopes to be part of a group. It is the same with child. He wants to have a place in a group. If he is rejected or bypassed it will affect his healthy development.

 

5.      Love: The emotional support and the love stimulate the child’s mental and physical growth.

 

Shower him with love and tender care.

 

6.      Achievement: It is the motive of child to learn something and to achieve success. Provide positive reinforcement in his quest for knowledge.

 

7.      Friendship: It is natural for child to make friends. Encourage child to socialize so that he learns to get along with others in a normal and healthy situation.

 

 

Behavioural Problems of Children

 

It is common for children to break the rules and go against the norms. Major behavioural problems of children are discussed below:

a. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):

 

It is as a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by a combination of inattentiveness, distractibility, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These children are restless, have a difficult time remaining in their seats in school, are easily distracted, have difficulty awaiting their turn, have difficulty in following the instruction and sustain attention, shift rapidly from one in completed activity to another task, encroach on others, often seem not to listen to what is being said and often engage in physically dangerous activities.

 

Improvement and good outcome is possible if the parents and teachers provide structured environment to the child and preserve the child’s self esteem. The children need to be provided with outdoor activities; play with minimal instruction would be beneficial. These children need a carefully planned discipline to be followed.

 

 

b. Conduct Disorder:

 

It is defined as persistent antisocial behaviour of children and adolescents that significantly impairs their ability to function in the social or academic area. The rate is much higher among boys than the girls. There are two clusters of symptoms in conduct disorder: aggressiveness and delinquency. Aggression may be directed towards people (e.g. peers) or animals or objects (destruction of property). Delinquency includes antisocial behaviours, such as lying, stealing, running away and truancy (the problem or situation of children being absent from school regularly without permission). The risk for conduct disorder is increased among offspring of parents who had conduct disorder. Also exposure to marital conflict and physical aggression, maternal depression, large family size combined with lower socioeconomic status, early loss of father due to divorce caused conduct disorder.

 

 

c. Oppositional Defiant Disorder:

 

This is commonly seen in adolescence, involves temper tantrums (a prolonged anger reaction in an infant or child, characterised by screaming, kicking, noisome (harmful) behaviour, and noisy or throwing himself/herself on the ground to get his/her way from parent/teacher/ caretaker/warden), continues arguing, defiance of rules, continual blaming of others and frequent use of obscene language.

 

 

d. Substance Abuse:

 

Substance abuse is the excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug. Substance abuse differs from addiction. Many people with substance abuse problems are able to quit or can change their unhealthy behaviour. Addiction, on the other hand, is a disease. It means one can’t stop using even it harm the person. A person under the influence of drugs and alcohol often behaves in ways that are out of character. Many substances lower people’s inhibitions, leading them to do and say things they normally would not do while sober.

 

Teachers can be role models for students and discourage them from abusing drugs. This is all the more important if young people do not have supportive families to guide them. Teachers can help build a child’s self-esteem and strengthen inter-personal skills. Show tolerance so that pupils can communicate their thoughts. Inspire confidence by encouraging children to accept them. Help them to distinguish between the helpful effects of medicines and the harmful consequences of taking illegal drugs.

MODULE 2 - COMPLEXITIES IN ADOLESCENCE 2.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENTS

 

Adolescence is the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood. The word adolescence is derived from Latin adolescere, meaning 'to grow up'. It is the period of rapid and revolutionary changes in the individual’s physical, mental, moral, emotional, spiritual, sexual and social outlook.

 

The distinguishing characteristics of this period are:

 

Rapid Physical Development: Adolescence is first of all a period of physical changes and development. Physiological development primarily converts the boy into a man and the girl into a woman and provides the basic for emotional, social, intellectual and economic maturity. The most important changes occur in the glandular system which has great influence not only on the physical development but also in the behavior and personality development of the adolescents. Bio-chemical changes in the body make the endocrine glands more active and there is increase in height, weight, changes in voice muscular growth, appearance of pubic hair, growth of hair on the face arms, legs etc. The most striking physical change in this growth period is attainment of puberty which leads to development of reproductive capacity. Respiratory, circulatory and digestive system are also developed that give more physical energy and vigor. All these changes often lead to confusion, feeling of inadequacy, insecurity and in some cases abnormal behavior. You must understand the fact that all the aspects of adolescent development are basically conditioned by physical changes.

 

Mental development in adolescence accelerates in many intellectual fronts. As compared with children, adolescents develop greater insight, better understanding and can perceive relationship more easily. They develop the ability to generalize and can think of the solution of more difficult problems. This indicates that the thought process becomes more logical, scientific and systematic during adolescence. It is an accepted fact that the ability of intelligence reaches its maximum at the age of 16 and 17 years. Memory power also develops tremendously and adolescents can retain facts for a longer period. They can anticipate the future needs and can plan for it. Another important change in intellectual orientation is the adolescent’s ability to identity with the circumstances and people outside his own immediate environment. The imitative tendency of childhood disappears during adolescence. The adolescents develop certain amount of independence in thinking and can critically examine the things to make the decision of his own.

 

Emotional immaturity: We have already said that adolescence is a period of “storm and stress.” Psychologists have regarded it as a period of heightened emotionality. Continuous physical changes mainly give rise to emotional uncertainty and instability. Emotions of anger, fear, shame, disgust give rise to variation in moods, nervousness, sensitiveness, stubbornness, disobedience etc. Sex drive is also a prolific source of emotional disturbance in adolescence. Beside these, adolescent’s striving for independence gives rise to emotional conflicts. Their ideas and views often appear contradictory with that of their parents and other members of the society. At many times, therefore, the adolescent suffer from emotional detachment from their parents and other members of the society. So they are very pone to emotional maladjustment.

 

Social Consciousness: The period of adolescence is preeminently a period of social development and adjustment. The most important social development during this period is the increased influence of the peer group. The type of peer group shapes the behavior of the adolescent to a great extent. His interests, attitudes and values are influenced by his peers. The adolescent boys and girls become self conscious about their place in society and they gradually enlarge their spheres of social activities and conducts. The adolescent tries to act in an independent manner but the parents often refuse to treat them like grownups which may lead to difficulties. An adolescent also develops sense of patriotism in his mind and wants to join any type of social services.

Moral Consciousness: The development of morality contributes a great to the general development of personality. Family is the main place where the adolescent receives the moral training and which exerts influence on his attitudes and behavior. As the child grows older his capacity for independent thinking develops. He can distinguish between right and wrong, true and false, virtue and vice and the desirable and the undesirable. Adolescents in general, cannot tolerate immoral or illegal activities. Interest in their own religion also develops. Their moral senses may make them God fearing but sometimes they also develop religions doubts, conflicts uncertainties regarding religious beliefs and practices etc. This may puzzle the thinking of the adolescents.

 

Hero-worshipping is a tendency of the adolescent stage. It means that the adolescents start to identify themselves with an ideal hero, whom they obey and follow. They admire and respect him. They organize their thoughts and activities in conformity with the ideal of the hero. The hero becomes the source of inspiration for the adolescents to aim for their future. For this reason, the adolescent should be encouraged to study biographies of great man so that they can shape their own life following the ideals of theses great men.

 

Hetero-sexuality: Hetero-sexuality is another important characteristic of the adolescents. It means the attraction for the opposite sex. Both the sexes develop greater interest for the opposite sex. Adolescents become very much eager to know about the opposite sex. But unfortunately the knowledge which they may receive be harmful for their mental and physical health. Many boys and girls suffer from worries because of the wrong information about sex and lack of proper guidance. All teachers, social workers and psychologists agree that sex education should be provided to the adolescents.

 

Creative imagination: During adolescence the imaginative faculty of an individual undergoes considerable development. Imagination added with intellectual elements become artistic and creative and finds expression in literature, art, poetry, fiction and even musical and artistic creations, indicating the power of their creative imagination. Imagination thus enriches and transforms experience and contributes to artistic appreciation and production during adolescence. Adolescents’ should be provided with opportunities for the development of their creative talents through music, dance, art and culture. Divergent thinking should be encouraged.

 

Development of personal Independence: One of the most important things that an adolescent wants is independence from the adult authority. It becomes important for the young persons to establish convictions about their identity. They develop faith in their own capability of doing things and demand self respect from the elder members of the society. They want psychological freedom and do not like adult interference in their own personal business and they want to take decision themselves. A sense of dignity, honour and freedom prevails in their thought, attitude and behavior.

 

2.2 NEEDS OF ADOLESCENCE

 

The basic needs of adolescents are divided into two groups – (a) Physiological needs and

 

(b)  Psychological needs.

 

Physiological needs: Need for activity

 

Activity of one kind or another is an integral part of the adolescent behavior. The physical changes of puberty, the greater muscular power and the surplus of energy, all contribute towards strengthening the need for activity. This surging need must be controlled and guided into the proper channels such as, dancing, swimming, playing football or other types of games and sports.

 

Need for sexual satisfaction

 

Sex development is a fundamental fact of adolescence. The sex instinct which had been lying dormant during childhood is reawakened. In the adolescence stage the young adolescent repeats 3 stages of sexual development –

a)  Auto – eroticism: the adolescent takes interest in his own body and he/she handles his own sex organs.

 

b)  Homo-sexuality: during the early period of adolescence boys love to mix with boys and girls with girls.

 

c)  Hetero – sexuality: this type of sexuality is found at the later stage of adolescence. The boys and girls are attracted towards the opposite sex.

 

Psychological needs: Need for freedom

 

The young adolescents also need freedom in their life. They do not like to maintain a strict routine life. They do not like disciplined life which is imposed on them by their parents. They love freedom regarding taking decisions related to their life.

 

Need for social life

 

This is an important need of the adolescent. They want the company of their equals. They love to live with their peers, which has a direct influence in their life. They want to talk, discuss and come to some conclusions. This goes a long way towards satisfying their social need. The young adolescent wants to be something among his friends and in the total social set up. They want the approval of their actions and recognitions in any form by their parents, class fellows, teachers and the community at large.

 

The security need

 

The adolescent depends on his parents for the satisfaction of these needs. He wants their affection and attention. He wants some ideals which may help him in the conduct of his life. He wants inspiration from a hero, whom he worships, and who can guide him. This need can be fulfilled if the adolescent is given opportunity of studying the biography of great men like Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore, Vivekananda, Lakshmibai, Sarojini Naidu etc. He will, derive strength and inspiration from them, imbibes ideals, formulates his life goal and strengthens his will and character.

 

The adventure need

 

Thirst for adventure is strong at this age. The adolescent wants to do something so that he is remembered by all. The answer is exploring something which others do not know. Sometimes he is misunderstood and sometimes misdirected. In the absence of proper direction it takes the form of aimless wandering, vagabonding, unsocial acts like strikes and demonstrations. Even the sexual acts mean a thrill and adventure for them. But properly directed adventure can be very much helpful for the adolescent’s social, mental, emotional and physical development.

 

Need for self dependence or need for a vocation

 

The young boys and girls want be independent at this stage. Boys and girls of high school age begin to think seriously about their future. Boys are usually more seriously concerned about an occupation than girls. Boys, typically, want glamorous and exciting jobs, regardless of the ability required or the chances for such jobs being available for them. They also want jobs with high prestige and of higher social status. But the girls, on the other hand normally show a preference for occupations with greater security and less demand on their time. In their vocational choice, they usually stress on service to others, such as teaching or nursing. By late adolescence, the adolescents are concerned about what they would like to do and what they are capable of doing. They are also concerned about how they can get the kind of job they want. Older adolescents have a growing realization of how much it costs to live and they also know what young people, just out of school, can expect to earn. As a result of this greater realism, they approach the choice of their careers with a more practical and more realistic attitude than they would when they were young.

2.3. PROBLEMS OF ADOLESCENTS (INFORMATION OVERLOADING, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, SUICIDALTENDENCIES, DEPRESSION, PSYCHO-SOMATIC DISEASES, SEX ABUSE ETC.)

 

Most problems of adolescence are due to failure in understanding the anatomical, morphological and psychological changes expected during adolescence. This mainly happens due to misleading and misguiding parents, teachers, friends, brother/sisters, ignorance of elders, half - informed or ill - informed friends, brothers, sisters, wrongful messages depicted through TV serials, advertisements, films and publications carrying partially or fully false information. Such perceptions can be anything in the range of studies, sex, society, married life, career, religion, politics, or any relevant subject. Every adolescent boy or girl is prone to such exposures - which ultimately are retained as perceptions in their minds to form their behavioural patterns. Hence there are various problems faced by the adolescents during the period.

 

Information Overloading

 

Information over loading is a serious problem. Information overload takes place when we are exposed to too much irrelevant information. This leads to an unnecessary overstimulation of the brain. Recent research suggests that the human brain is capable of storing as much information as the entire Internet, or more precisely, a petabyte (a unit of information equal to one thousand million million (1015) or, strictly, 250 bytes) of information. Furthermore, researchers have discovered that a brain cell uses 26 different ways to encode information.

 

As the amount of information increases, so too increases the information processing and the quality of decision making. However, after ea certain point is reached the decision maker has obtained more information than he can process, information over load has occurred and decision making ability decreases. Any information received beyond that point will not be processed, may lead to confusion and could have a negative impact on the individual’s ability to set priorities as well as remember previous information. It is not difficult to imagine the affect this has on both individuals and organization. The point where information processing has reached its peak, and just prior to declining, is the individual’s capacity for information processing. Mental health practitioners have a term for health related maladies connected to information overload. It is called information Fatigue Syndrome and includes the following symptoms. Poor concentration is happened due to the overloading of short term memory. Information overload occurs when the amount of input to a system exceeds its processing capacity. Decision makers have fairly limited cognitive processing capacity. Over time, information pollution or the exposure to multiple environmental sources of data leads to the overstimulation of the brain. Neurons get overloaded with data, numbers, deadlines, targets to be met, projects to be completed or simply useless details, and all this unnecessary information can ultimately destroy them. Consequently, a stressed and overloaded brain is at high risk of dementia (is the loss of cognitive functioning—thinking, remembering, and reasoning—and behavioural abilities) and other neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases). Consequently, when information overload occurs, it is likely that a reduction in decision quality will occur. Following are the mental and physical symptoms that indicate an Information Overload:

 

•         Increased blood pressure

 

•         Low mood or energy

 

•         A decreased cognitive performance which ultimately affects your decision-making skills

 

•         Finding it difficult to concentrate

 

•         Impaired vision

 

•         Diminished productivity

 

•         Strong compulsion to check emails, apps, voice mails, etc.

 

•         Insomnia (inability to sleep)

•         Vivid dreams

 

•         Tiredness

 

Substance Abuse

 

Delinquency and substance abuse have long been linked and this is particularly relevant for adolescents. It is often linked to drug and alcohol abuse as many of the behaviors and incidents associated with the crimes are committed when under the influence. Association with gangs, drug trafficking, prostitution, and growing numbers of youth homicides are often linked to adolescent substance abuse. Alcohol is illegal in most countries for youth under 18 years of age to consume or possess, as with possession of illicit substances for people of any age. When a youth is caught, severe penalties can be imposed. This can have significant implications for a person’s life, including the recording of the offense on their record for life adolescent boys are recognized as a vulnerable group to substance abuse. The present study has objective to study the biological profile and habit pattern of substance abuse. And today substance abuse is a growing problem in our country among the youth. Earlier considered to be a problem of street children vulnerable Teenage substance abuse often has lifelong consequences. Dependence on alcohol and hard drugs to deal with daily stresses reduce their responsible decision, working children and trafficked children, it has become a wide spread phenomenon affecting all segments of the society. Adolescent start drugs for several reasons, from curiosity, recreation, for pleasure, and as a need to cope with stress. In India approximately 5,500 children and adolescent start using tobacco products daily. Substance includes tobacco, beedi, cigarette, supari, pan masala, solvents, alcohol, opium, heroin, cocaine. Substance abuse increase serious adjustment problem including depression, anti-social behavior. To avoid this problem proper guidance and creating conductive environment to channelize energy of adolescents are needed Delinquency and substance abuse have long been linked and this is particularly relevant for adolescents. It is often linked to drug and alcohol abuse as many of the behaviors and incidents associated with the crimes are committed when under the influence.

 

Association with gang, drug trafficking, prostitution, and growing numbers of youth homicides are often linked to adolescent substance abuse. Various reasons causing to substance abuse, namely-

 

Jealousy

 

Conflict with Partner Conflict with family members Conflict over Money Emotional Trauma Violence

Cheating Separation Patterns Health Risks

 

 

Suicidal Tendencies

 

Suicide is the act of killing oneself. It means intentionally causing one’s own death.

 

Suicide is the second leading cause of death - following motor vehicle accidents - among teenagers and young adults. On average, adolescents aged 15 to 19 years have an annual suicide rate of about 1 in 10,000 people. Among youths 12 to 16 year of age, up to 10% of boys and 20% of girls have considered suicide. Gay and lesbian adolescents are more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

 

Causes

 

The teen years are an anxious and unsettling period as boys and girls face the difficulties of transition into adulthood. It is a period in life that is often confusing, leaving teens feeling isolated

from family or peers. Girls generally attempt suicide more often than boys, but boys are about 4 times more likely to die from the suicide attempt. This is because the methods that boys choose - often using firearms or hanging - are more lethal than those chosen by girls, namely drug overdoses or cutting themselves.

 

Many troubling and difficult situations can make a teen consider suicide. The same emotional states that make adults vulnerable to considering suicide also apply to adolescents. Those with good support networks (e.g., among family and peers, or extracurricular sport, social, or religious associations) are likely to have an outlet to help them deal with their feelings. Others without such networks are more susceptible during their emotional changes, and may feel that they're all alone in times of trouble.

 

Apart from the normal pressures of teen life, specific circumstances can contribute to an adolescent's consideration of suicide. It's especially difficult when adolescents are confronted with problems that are out of their control, such as:

 

•         divorce

 

•         a new family formation (e.g., step-parents and step-siblings)

 

•         moving to a different community

 

•         physical or sexual abuse

 

•         emotional neglect

 

•         exposure to domestic violence

 

•         alcoholism in the home

 

•         substance abuse

 

Many suicides are committed by people who are depressed. Depression is a mental health disorder. It causes chemical imbalances in the brain, which can lead to despondency, lethargy, or general apathy towards life. Almost half of 14- and 15-year-olds have reported feeling some symptoms of depression, which makes coping with the extensive stresses of adolescence all the more difficult. Symptoms of depression in youth are often overlooked or passed off as being typical "adolescent turmoil."

 

Another serious problem that can lead teens to suicide - or aid in their plans to end their lives - is the easy access many of them have to firearms, drugs, alcohol, and motor vehicles. For the general population, about 30% of suicides involve firearms. Of all firearm-related deaths that occur, about 80% are suicides.

 

Adolescent depression is a disorder that affects teenagers. It leads to sadness, discouragement, and a loss of self-worth and interest in their usual activities. Depression can be a response to many situations and stresses. In teenagers, depressed mood is common because of:

 

•         The normal process of maturing and the stress that occurs with it

 

•         The influence of sex hormones

 

•         Independence conflicts with parents

 

•         It may also be a reaction to a disturbing event, such as:

 

•         The death of a friend or relative

 

•         A breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend

 

•         Failure at school

 

•         Teens who are most likely to become depressed when they experience stressful events:

 

•         Have low self-esteem,

 

•         Very critical of themselves

 

Adolescent girls are twice as likely as boys to experience depression. A family history of

 

depression also puts teenagers at greater risk. Depression can change the way teenagers see themselves, their lives, and the people around them. Teenagers who are depressed usually see

everything more negatively. They can't imagine that any problem or situation can be solved in a positive way.

 

The World Mental Health Survey, which was supported by WHO, found that half of those who suffered from mental health problems, including depression, first experience symptoms at age

 

14.   In high-income countries, like the United States, fewer than half of adolescents with a mental health problem receive treatment.

 

Psycho-Somatic Diseases

 

The term ‘psychosomatic disorder’ is used for a physical disease that is thought to be caused or made worse by mental factors. ‘Psyche’ refers to the mind and ‘somatic’ refers to the physical signs and symptoms that are observed for the disease. Usually, most diseases are psychosomatic as they have mental and physical components. Psychosomatic disorders include diseases like eczema, stomach ulcers, hypertension, psoriasis, and even heart disease. In fact, a study concluded that depression and anxiety are directly responsible for diseases like myocardial infarction

 

Common symptoms seen in paediatric age group include abdominal pain, headaches, chest pain, fatigue, limb pain, back pain, worry about health and difficulty breathing. These, more frequently seen symptoms should be differentiated from somatoform or neurotic disorders seen mainly in adults. The prevalence of psychosomatic complaints in children and adolescents has been reported to be between 10 and 25%. These symptoms are theorized to be a response to stress. Potential sources of stress in children and adolescents include schoolwork, family problems, peer pressure, chronic disease or disability in parents, family moves, psychiatric disorder in parents and poor coping abilities. Characteristics that favour psychosomatic basis for symptoms include vagueness of symptoms, varying intensity, inconsistent nature and pattern of symptoms, presence of multiple symptoms at the same time, chronic course with apparent good health, delay in seeking medical care, and lack of concern on the part of the patient. A thorough medical and psychosocial history and physical examination are the most valuable aspects of diagnostic evaluation. Organic etiology for the symptoms must be ruled out. Appropriate mental health consultation should be considered for further evaluation and treatment.

 

Sex Abuse

 

Sexual abuse or violence against children and adolescents is defined as a situation in which children or adolescents are used for the sexual pleasure of an adult or older adolescent, (legally responsible for them or who has some family relationship, either current or previous), which ranges from petting, fondling of genitalia, breasts or anus, sexual exploitation, voyeurism, pornography, exhibitionism, to the sexual intercourse itself, with or without penetration. There is a presumption that children younger than 14 years are unable to give informed consent a generally accepted definition of sexual abuse is when a child engages in sexual activity for which he /she cannot give consent, is unprepared for developmentally, cannot comprehend, and/or an activity that violates the law or social taboos of society.

 

Symptoms of the Abused Adolescent

 

The research indicates that there are symptoms that present frequently in young survivors. These include the following:

 

•          Anxiety/Freezing: Adolescent who has been sexually abused often exhibit the polarity of anxiety/freezing behaviors. These youth are hyper vigilant, scanning the environment for threats to their safety; conversely they have learned to shut down their feelings.

 

•          Hypersensitivity: Young people growing up in violent or abusive environments tend to be hypersensitive to their surroundings. They flinch at sudden noises and are hyper aroused or over stimulated easily. They may experience acute fear in some situations and typically "stay on alert," which requires energy and takes a tremendous toll on their physical and mental well-being. They tend to carry a lot of tension in their bodies, so they may not

move as fluidly as other children. Many of these youth present somatic concerns, such as always having headaches or stomach pains.

 

•          Depression: Even the youngest children who have been abused exhibit characteristics of depression. They may have a flat affect, not make eye contact, or not laugh. There are many manifestations of depression, including self-mutilation, substance abuse, and eating or sleeping disorders.

 

•          Alcohol or Drug Use: While some young people may experiment with drugs or alcohol as a rite of passage, youth who were or are abused use substances to numb their feelings.

 

•          Problem Sexual Behaviors: Children who were sexually abused may become involved in sexual acting-out behaviors, particularly when they reach adolescence, a time of increasing biological urges and exposure to sexual education. Under normal conditions, sexual behavior develops gradually over time, with youth showing curiosity and then experimenting with themselves and others. When children are sexually abused, however, they are prematurely exposed to material they do not understand and cannot make sense of.

 

•          Aggression: Eventually, most abused children get angry and some begin to act aggressively, typically with smaller children. This is the victim-victimizer dynamic; abused children learn that the bigger, stronger person hurts or takes advantage of the smaller, weaker person. Youth who have been victimized are conditioned to believe that

 

when two people interact, one of them will be hurt. At each interaction with others, they may wonder who will be hurt this time. Some children adopt the victim role; others become the victimizers. In either case, they simply are playing out the roles that they have been conditioned to believe people play during interactions with others.

 

Forming an identity is a major developmental issue during adolescence. This process of individuation, however, is one that begins when children are very young and crystallizes in adolescence. For positive identity formation to occur in any human being, some basic things have to be attained, including the following:

 

•          Expressions of Love: Children have to feel that somebody cares about them.

 

•          Feelings of Significance: Children must feel that they are significant or important to someone.

 

•          A Sense of Virtue: Children must have a belief in their innate, inner goodness.

 

•          A Sense of Belonging: Children must feel connected to a family that provides them with a sense of stable belonging.

 

•          Mastery and Control: Children must experience feelings of mastery and personal power

 

and control.

Therapists have identified three stages to working with survivors of childhood abuse:

 

•          establishing the young person's safety, both in their home situation and with the therapist;

 

•          processing traumatic material; and

 

•          Fostering social reconnection.

 

 

2.4 MANAGEMENT OF ADOLESCENT PRO BLEMS – ROLE OF TEACHER

 

 

1. Teacher should understand their problems and help to solve them:

 

The problems and anxieties of adolescents are growing larger day by day. They cannot solve these problems without help of others. Teacher should play a role of friend, philosopher and a guide to provide help to adolescents. As a friend teacher should present him/herself to adolescents as a role model as a person. As a guide, teacher should provide them information's which parents refuse to give and which in society is not easily available to him. Specifically it means providing sex education and career education. Teacher can build interest club, hobby club,

subject club or activity club according to the needs of the students. Students should be put according to their interests.

 

2. Teacher should be an ideal person for them:

 

Every student wants to imitate the actions of his/her teacher. So a teacher should present an example of ideal person to their students. As for adolescents, they face the changes of childhood to adulthood. At this time many physical changes are found in them. During this period their growth spurts. A rapid increase in height and weight can be seen at this time. They suddenly catch up with adults in physical size and strength. These changes are the rapid development of the reproductive organs that signal sexual maturity. All the biological changes of physical maturity bring a new interest in sexuality. At this time they can attract towards opposite sex due to their changes feeling. Here teacher should present his ideal life so that students could learn from the life of his/her teacher. Teacher should behave positively and affectionately to them and teacher should show the practical use of human values in his/her own life. If teacher only speaks verbally about human values and does not follow them in his/her own life he/she cannot expect from adolescents to acquire them if their lives so. Teacher should present and make his personality balanced first and then try developing a balanced personality in adolescents.

 

3. Teacher's help in cognitive development:

 

Many important cognitive developments occur during this time. Teacher should provide them a range of issue and prowl of different kinds that could complicate and enrich the adolescent's. Adolescents also show an increasing ability to plan and think ahead. Adolescent begin to challenge everything, to reject old boundaries and categories. They become more creative and thinkers. Teacher should not force his/her own views or old principles on them. Teacher should provide them opportunity to judge the reality of views and provide them a chance to think broadly at different problem. Teacher should try to encourage their creativity. Teacher should understand the nature and needs of adolescents and then try to provide opportunity to them to develop their personality positively and aim fully. Teacher should provide them chats where they could express their views fluently as debate competitions, brainstorming, etc. In the end we can say that teacher should play a role of friend, guide, philosopher, facilitator and ideal person to provide help to adolescents in developing a balance personality. Teacher's responsibility in this regard is very important.

 

2.5 HELPING ADOLESCENTS FOR BETTER ADJUSTMENT

 

Any period of development is likely to be accompanied by many potential difficulties. Adolescence is a period of human development, during which a young person moves from dependency to independence and from being part of a family group to being part of a peer group and to standing alone as an adult in the years to come. They face many struggles and conflicts during this period which makes their reactions sometimes misunderstood by parents and friends. With confusion and unresolved conflicts, many adolescents may often find themselves trapped in situations which they are unable to cope with effectively, thereby becoming mentally strained. Some of the outstanding problems of Indian adolescence are the following:

 

Confusion with regard to somatic variation: Every adolescent has more or less difficult task of adjusting to somatic variation which may occur in connection with puberty. The follow of blood during menstruation in girls and nocturnal emission in boys creates worries and give birth to so many fears and anxieties. Since ours is a conservative society, youngsters are less informed about the physical changes that are occurring during puberty. Lack of scientific information about sex hygiene and philosophy make them to satisfy with crude and perverted knowledge about sex related matters. It creates guilt feeling and so many complexes in the minds of the children which makes them introverted and secretive.

 

Problems related with strengthening of sex-consciousness: The sudden awakening of sex instinct during adolescence results in intensification of sex consciousness. Adolescents are curious

to know about sex related topics and are seeking answers to their innumerable doubts in sexual matters. In our country most of the parents are illiterate and they do not have scientific knowledge of sex problems. Moreover, our social values are different from that of western countries, and hence parents hesitate to discuss sex problems with their children. So the adolescents resort socially unacceptable ways to quench their curiosity and to satisfy their sexual needs. There is also the misguiding of print and electronic media that finally results in sexual maladjustment in adolescents.

 

Adjustment difficulties with parents: Adolescents have a strong for freedom and independence. But often it is obstructed by parental oppositions. In Indian context, parental opposition may extend to such areas as choices of friends, choice of education, recreational interests, dress, life-style, our of going from and coming to the home, mode of behaviour etc. The conflict between parental norms of behaviour and peer group relationships often lead to friction in the relationship and adolescents find it difficult to adjust to the needs and demands of parents. Failure to adjust with the parents may result in revolting against parents and authority.

 

Childhood-Adulthood Conflict: In our society, the adolescent is considered as neither as a child nor as an adult. He has to depend his parents and elders for his physical and emotional needs. But at the same time he wants to hold independent views and opinions like an adult. He can very well manage his own affairs and resist any unnecessary interference from the part of elders. He begins to feel ashamed and embarrassed for the protection and care shown by the parents. He is often treated in an ambiguous manner by parents and teachers. Sometimes they expect him to behave as an adult and at other times, they treat him as a child. The poor adolescent is caught between the role of the child and the adult, which push him into confusion and tension.

 

Adjustment difficulties with school discipline: Most of the adolescents face a great problem in adjusting with school discipline. Sometimes schools expects too much from students who must submit to teachers who may be tyrannical sometimes. Schools should not implant habits of unquestioning obedience that inhibits the growth of young people towards true independence.

 

Adjustment difficulties with community: The adolescent is expected to find his place in a society marked by increasing social isolation and rapid technological changes. This changing world makes it difficult to anticipate and plan for adolescent life. They have difficulty in adjusting their capacity to the demands of the community. At this critical phase most adolescents react by withdrawing into a non-demanding and non-working world of pleasure and satisfaction.

 

The Ideal and Reality conflicts: It is during adolescence an adolescent move from being children to adults - perhaps the single most important and grandest set of changes - others may not know how they feel about themselves, but we should. The disparity between ideal and actual can produce confusion and mal-adaptation, or this disparity can be a source of motivation and aspiration for adolescents who are searching for identity. As the adolescence represents a fascinating transitional period, marked by the emergence of new found cognitive capacities and changing societal expectations.

 

Close relationships are crucial indicators of adjustment across the lifespan, and the adolescent years are no exception. Adjustment is a continuous process, not fixed or static state, in fact adjustment is defined as the continuous process of satisfying one’s desires, and it involves many aspect of behavior. Teachers should teach constructive ways for them to express their feelings. Teachers plays very important role in early diagnosis of mental health problems, giving reference to medical personal and also promotion of mental health among adolescents in their schools. Adolescents will spend their more time with their respective teachers. Teachers need more knowledge on adjustment problems and mental health of adolescents.

 

Children’s relationships with their teachers can be a crucially important influence, affecting students’ connection to school, motivation, academic performance, and psychosocial well-being. Students spend a great deal of time at school, and the classroom is the source of many

of their interpersonal relationships and activities. Although children’s social adjustment to school was initially examined primarily through relationships with classroom peers, research increasingly has highlighted the significance of student-teacher relationships. Adolescents are expected to strive to attain mature relations with age mates, learn to perform appropriate gender roles, ascertain autonomy, prepare for economic independence, make decisions on intimate relationships, and aspire to be responsible in community and to develop a set of values or morals. Responsive parental involvement, encouragement of psychological autonomy, and demands for age appropriate behaviour combined with limit setting and monitoring as seen in authoritative parenting contribute to good psychosocial, academic and behavioural adjustment.

 

2.6 STRESS AND COPING STRATEGIES

 

Adolescence is believed to be a period of great stress and storm as rapid physical and mental changes occur during this period. The period of adolescence it was well recognized as a period of ‘stress and storm’ as an adolescent has to undergo a lot of physical and mental changes during this stage. Apart from the home environment adolescents spend most of their time in their school or college environment. School environment, curriculum design, examinations and social support definitely would influence the level of stress experienced by the adolescents. The lifetime prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescents and young adults around the world is currently estimated to range from 5% to 70%, with an Indian study reporting no depression among college going adolescents.

 

Stress may be defined as any situation which tends to disturb the equilibrium between a living organism and its environment. In psychology, stress is a feeling of strain and pressure. Stress is a type of psychological pain. Small amounts of stress may be desired, beneficial, and even healthy. Positive stress helps improve athletic performance. It also plays a factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment. Excessive amounts of stress, however, may lead to bodily harm. Stress can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and mental illnesses such as depression.

Certain terms:

 

Stressor is anything that causes the release of stress hormones (e.g. Adrenaline, Cortisol, and Norepinephrine). There are two broad categories of stressors:

 

a. Physiological (or physical) stressors and

b. Psychological Stressors.

 

Distress is bad form of stress; usually high in intensity; often leads to exhaustion, fatigue, feeling burned out; associated with erosions in performance and health

 

Eustress is good form of stress; low to moderate in intensity; associated with positive feelings, as well as optimal health and performance.

 

Coping is the process of spending conscious effort and energy to solve personal and interpersonal problems. In the case of stress, coping mechanisms seek to master, minimize, or tolerate stress and stressors that occur in everyday life. These mechanisms are commonly called coping skills or coping strategies. All coping strategies have the adaptive goal of reducing or dealing with stress, but some strategies can actually be maladaptive (unhealthy) or merely ineffective. Maladaptive behaviours are those that inhibit a person’s ability to adjust to particular situations. This type of behavior is often used to reduce one’s anxiety, but the result is dysfunctional and non-productive. The term “coping” usually refers to dealing with the stress that comes after a stressor is presented, but many people also use proactive coping strategies to eliminate or avoid stressors before they occur. Personal choice in coping strategies is determined by personality traits and type, social context, and the nature of the stressor involved.

 

Here are seven ways to deal with stress:

 

1.      Keep a positive attitude – sometimes the way you think about things can make all of the difference. Your attitude can help offset difficult situations.

2.      Accept that there are events you cannot control – when you know there are times when you have given all that you can to a situation, it allows you to expend energy where it can be more effective.

 

3.      Learn to relax – purposeful relaxation, such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation and meditation is essential in training your body to relax. Relaxation should be a part of your daily regimen.

 

4.      Be active regularly – being active also helps your body more easily fight stress because it is fit.

 

5.      Eat well-balanced meals – staying on track with healthy eating habits is a great way to manage stress.

 

6.      Rest and sleep - your body needs time to recover from stressful events, so sleep is an important part of caring for yourself.

 

7.      Find your stressors and effective ways to cope with them - remember that you can learn

 

to control stress because stress comes from how you respond to stressful events.

 

 

The most common coping techniques identified in the American Psychological Association’s 2014, Stress in America survey:

 

•          listening to music

 

•          physical activity

 

•          reading

 

•          meditation

 

•          praying, going to church

 

•          yoga

 

•          getting a massage

Module 3 – Cognitive Processes

 

3.1 Concepts of sensation, perception, attention, concept formation and problem solving

 

Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight,

 

sound, and smell. This information is sent to our brains in raw form where perception comes into play. Sensations are the first stages in the functioning of senses to represent stimuli from the environment. Sensation is the process in which a sensory receptor is stimulated, producing nerve impulses that travel to the brain, which in turn interprets such impulses as a visual image, a sound, taste, odour, touch, or pain. The physical stimulus present in the environment emits energy that is absorbed by a sensory organ (known as transduction), causing sensation.

 

Absolute threshold: The smallest amount of a stimulus that a person can reliably detect. A threshold is the minimum amount of stimulation needed to start a neural impulse. In psychology, absolute threshold is the smallest amount of intensity from a stimulus that is detected by a person's senses. These senses include vision, hearing, taste, touch and smell.

 

Difference threshold: The minimal difference between two stimuli that people can reliably detect; also, called just-noticeable difference.

 

Perception is the way we interpret the sensations and therefore make sense of everything around us. Perception is a higher brain function about interpreting events and objects in the world. Perception refers to the occurrence when the brain performs organization of information it obtains from the neural impulses, and then begins the process of translation and interpretation. It is a vital process that helps us rationalize or make sense of the information related to the physical stimulus. Perception occurs when the brain processes information to give meaning to it, by means of emotions, memories, etc. Edmund Fantino and G.S.Renolds define, “perception is the organising process by which we interpret our sensory input.”

 

Characteristics of perception:

1.      Perception is a process

2.      Perception is the information extractor

3.      Perception is preparation to response

4.      Perception involves sensation

5.      Perception provides organisation

6.      Perception is highly individualised

Sensation and perception are elements that balance and complement one another. They

 

work together for us to be able to identify and create meaning from stimuli-related information. Without sensation, perception will not be possible, except for people who believe in extrasensory perception or ESP. And without perception, our sensations would remain to be "unknown" to us since there is no mental processing of what we sense.

 

Attention is a concept that refers to how we actively process specific information in our environment. According to Benjamin Dumvilli, “attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather than upon another." Ross defined “attention is the process of getting an object of thought clearly before the mind. Attention have certain characteristics:

 

1.      Attention is essentially a process, and not a product.

2.      It helps in our awareness or consciousness of our environment.

3.      This awareness or consciousness is selective.

 

4.      At any one time, we can concentrate or focus our consciousness on one particular object only.

 

5.      The concentration or focus provided by the process of attention helps us in the clear understanding of the perceived object or phenomenon.

 

6.      In the chain of the stimulus-response behaviour it works as a mediator.

7.      Attention is not merely a cognitive function but is essentially determined by emotional and

conative factors of interest, attitude and striving.

 

Attention allows to "tune out" information, sensations, and perceptions that are not relevant at the moment and instead focus energy on the information that is important. In some cases, attention might be focused on a particular thing, causing to ignore other things. In some instances, focusing attention on a primary target might result in not perceiving the second target at all.

 

There are different types of attention. Ross classifies attention in the following ways:

1.      Non-volitional or involuntary attention: This type of attention is aroused without the play of will or no conscious efforts on our part, e.g., mother’s attention towards her crying child.

 

2.      Volitional or voluntary attention: This type of attention is calls forth the exercise of will. It demands the conscious efforts on our part, e.g., answering questions in examination hall.

 

There are certain factors which produce and control the condition of attention. These factors are classified as external (objective), those that are found in the objects in one’s environment and internal (subjective), those that within the person himself.

 

1.      Nature of the stimulus: Effective stimulus be chosen for capturing maximum attention.

 

2.      Intensity and size of the stimulus: The strong stimulus and large object in environment is more likely to catch our attention.

 

3.      Contrast, change and variety: Change and variety strike attention more easily than sameness and absence of change. The factor contrast or change is highly responsible for capturing attention of the organism and contributes more than the intensity, size or nature of the stimulus. Novelty also attracts attention

 

4.      Repetition of stimulus: We may ignore a stimulus at first instance but when it is repeated several times, it captures our attention. Too much repetition of a stimulus may bring diminishing returns.

 

5.      Movement of the stimulus: A moving stimulus catches our attention more quickly than a stimulus that does not move.

 

B.       Internal factors:

A person will attend to a stimulus upon his interest, motives, basic needs, urges etc. also.

a.       Interest factors or conditions: We attend the objects in which we are interested and we do not attend to those in which we have no interest. A wise teacher is able to secure the attention of his students if he tries to make his lesson interesting by connecting it with the basic needs, drives and interests.

 

b.      Motives: The basic drives and urges, i.e. thirst, hunger, sex, curiosity, fear etc. of the individual are very important in securing attention.

 

c.       Mental set: Mental set is the tendency or bent of the whole mind. A person always attends to those objects towards which his mind has set so the attention is immediately directed towards the related objects.

 

It is essential to teachers to teach well and for the students to understand and learn well. When a learner is attentive to the class room activities one gets oneself completely ready and prepared. It puts into a state of alertness. An all-round alertness help the learner to receive the knowledge given by the teacher. Attention is responsible for bringing efficiency in learning. It increases their abilities, develops the acquired skills, aids to their power of memorisation and understanding. During attention, all energies are concentrated on a particular object or activity. This deep concentration and single aim help the learner to achieve desired success in the focussed activities. The sustaining of attention has a psychological effect.

 

 

Concept formation

 

A concept is an abstract idea representing the fundamental characteristics of what it represents. It is a generalization that helps to organize information into categories. For example, the concept "square" is used to describe those things that have four equal sides and four right angles. Thus, the concept categorizes things whose properties meet the set requirements. Concepts arise by sensation, perception, abstractions and generalisations from experience or the result of a transformation of existing ideas. Morgan defines, “Concept is a process of representing a common property of objects or events”.

 

Concept formation is the process by which a person learns to sort specific experiences into general rules or classes. The process of concept formation has three important phases.

 

1.   Perception: Experiences or learning in any form is the starting point of the process of concept formation. Our perceptions or imaginary experiences, formal or informal learning, provide opportunities for getting mental images of the objects, persons or events.

2.   Abstraction: The mind analyses the perceived images and synthesizes what is common to all, neglecting what is particular. This process of observing similarities and commonness is named as abstraction.

 

3.   Generalization: After making such observation in the form of abstraction for a number of times the child is able to generalize or form a general idea about the common properties of some objects or events. On account of this generalization, he will develop a concept about these things or events.

 

Problem solving

 

In cognitive psychology, the term problem-solving refers to the mental process that people go through to discover, analyse and solve problems. Reasoning, decision making, critical thinking, and creative thinking are subsets of problem solving, that is, kinds of problem solving. According to Mayer and Wittrock, problem solving is “cognitive processing directed at achieving a goal when no solution method is obvious to the problem solver”. So, problem solving is cognitive processing directed at transforming a problem from the given state to the goal state when the problem solver is not immediately aware of a solution method.

 

Problem solving is the highest level of learning in the hierarchy proposed by Gagne. There are a number of mental process at work during problem-solving. This involves all of the steps in the problem process, including the discovery of the problem, the decision to tackle the issue, understanding the problem, researching the available options and taking actions to achieve the goals.

 

John Bransford and Barry Stein advocated five steps that are basically associated with the task of problem-solving. They referred to these steps as ‘IDEAL’ thinking.

 

D                  =Defining and representing the problem

E                   =Exploring possible strategies

 

L                   =Looking back and evaluating the effects of one’s activities

 

Psychologists have studied the behaviour of human beings to understand the process of problem solving. The following are the steps involved in the process.

 

1.      Recognising the problem: The individual is confronted by some specific problem that require solution. The problem should arise out of the felt needs of the children.

 

2.      Defining the problem: To understand the problem, the learner starts analysing the situation and defines it in definite term.

 

3.      Collection of relevant data: The learner is required to collect al relevant information concerning the problem by all possible means. This will help to widen the span of knowledge relevant to the problem.

 

4.      Evaluating and organising the data: The collected information is then evaluated properly to identify the essential data which is then organised and classified systematically.

 

5.      Formulation of hypothesis: By studying the organised data the learner tries to think of the various tentative or possible solutions (hypotheses) of the problem in hand.

 

6.      Evaluation of hypothesis: The hypothesis formulated are evaluated and weighed one by one. Those hypotheses which are not correct or practicable are discarded and eliminated one by one finally reaching the best solution of the problem.

 

7.      Applying the solution: the best solution thus arrived at is then applied to solve the problem in hand. The validity of the inference can be further verified by utilising it in the solution of various similar problems.

 

a.       Atmosphere of freedom in the class by the teacher should be initiated.

b.      Motivation may be raised among the students which may help in problem solving

 

c.       Both co-curricular and curricular activities should be reoriented so that students will gather useful experiences

 

d.      Through teaching-learning process (method of instruction) problem solving mechanism can be strengthened.

 

e.       The teacher should encourage the divergent thinking among the students.

 

f.        The teacher should discuss problems of great variety among students to develop proper mental readiness to solve similar types of problem in future.

3.2 Thinking – types and assessment. Convergent thinking, divergent thinking, creative thinking (steps) – developing creative thinking in learners, Meta-cognition.

 

Human being is considered as a rational being because he/she is capable of thinking and reasoning. His superiority over other animals in learning and adjustment lies in his/her capacity for better thinking. Thinking is the action of using mind to produce ideas, decisions, memories, etc. In a broad sense, thinking includes all forms of cognitions, perceptions, imagination, memory and conception. Sometimes the term thinking is used to mean the process of problem solving. Ross defined “thinking is mental activity in its cognitive aspect or mental activity with regard to psychological objects.”

 

Nature of thinking:

1.      Thinking is essentially a cognitive activity

2.      It is always directed towards achieving some purpose

3.      Thinking is described as problem-solving behaviour

4.      There is mental exploration rather than motor exploration

5.      Thinking is a symbolic activity

6.      Thinking can shift immediately over a span of time and space.

Types of thinking

 

1.       Perceptual or concrete thinking: It is literal thinking that is focused on the physical world. It is the opposite of abstract thinking. People engaged in concrete thinking are focused on facts in the here and now, physical objects, and literal definitions. The term “concrete thinking” is, ironically, a metaphor - symbol (and a metaphor is a type of abstract thinking); concrete is a hard, physical substance and concrete thinking is focused on literal–and often physical–facts. A person who thinks only in concrete terms might think that the term “concrete thinking” means thinking literally about concrete.

 

2.       Conceptual or abstract thinking: It is the ability to calculate, sort, categorise, conceptualise, draw conclusions, or interpret and summarize complex ideas. It deals with theories and possibilities. It is regarded as superior to perceptual thinking.

 

3.      Creative thinking is a way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at first). It can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking. “Creative thinking is much more than using your imagination to crank out lots of new ideas. Creative thinking is a lifestyle, a personality trait, a way of perceiving the world, a way of interacting with other people, and a way of living and growing”, Gary Davis. In 1956 Benjamin Bloom with others developed a hierarchical listing, or taxonomy, annotating the complexity of the differences in varied levels of cognition - this work, known as Bloom’s Taxonomy, and it starts from simplest

 

forms of thinking progressing to those that are more complex as: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and lastly evaluation.

 

Convergence and divergence – two necessary types of thinking for being creative:

 

A great deal of effort has been put forth in defining creative problem-solving and how to do it. In this genre one of the more common definitions of creativity has to do with dissecting creative thought into a process of dual exchanges through the melding of two types of thinking — convergence and divergence. In this paired thinking, look for solutions or innovations the object is to go through a series of steps first diverging (expanding ideas) and then converging (narrowing possibilities) until a solution is found; a course of action resolved; and end foreseen; or a product conceptualized.

 

a.      Convergent thinking is a term coined by Joy Paul Guilford and it generally means the ability to give the "correct" answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity, for instance in most tasks in school and on standardised multiple-choice tests for intelligence. Convergent thinking is the type of thinking that focuses on coming up with the single, well-established answer to a problem. It emphasises speed, accuracy, and logic and focuses on recognizing the familiar, reapplying techniques, and accumulating stored information.

 

b.       Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It involves breaking a topic down into its various component parts in order to gain insight about the various aspects of the topic.

Divergent thinking typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing manner, such that the ideas are generated in a random, unorganised fashion. Following divergent thinking, the ideas and information will be organized using convergent thinking.

 

4.      Reflective thinking is a higher form of insightful thinking aiming at solving complex problems. It helps learners develop higher-order thinking skills by prompting learners to,

 

a)   relate new knowledge to prior understanding, b) think in both abstract and conceptual terms, c) apply specific strategies in novel tasks, and d) understand their own thinking and learning strategies.

 

5.      Reasoning is the process of thinking about something in a logical way in order to form a conclusion or judgment. It is a type of highly purposeful, systematically organised, controlled and selective thinking. There are two types of reasoning-

 

a.    Inductive reasoning is a logical process that constructs general propositions from specific examples, it goes specific to general. Inductive reasoning is often used in applications that involve prediction, forecasting, or behaviour. It draws inferences from observations in order to make generalizations. Even if all of the premises (grounds) are true in a statement, inductive reasoning allows for the conclusion to be false. Here’s an example: "Harold is a grandfather. Harold is bald. Therefore, all grandfathers are bald." The conclusion does not follow logically from the statements.

 

b.    Deductive reasoning constructs specific conclusions from general statement. Deductive reasoning, or deduction, starts out with a general statement, or hypothesis, and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. The scientific method uses deduction to test hypotheses and theories. A common form of deductive reasoning is the syllogism, an instance of reasoning, in which two statements — a major premise and a minor premise — reach a logical conclusion. In deductive reasoning, if something is true of a class of things in general, it is also true for all members of that class. For example, "All men are mortal. Ravi is a man. Therefore,

 

Ravi is mortal."  For deductive reasoning to be sound, the hypothesis must be correct.

It is assumed that the premises, "All men are mortal" and "Ravi is a man" are true.

Therefore, the conclusion is logical and true.

Steps in the Creative Thinking

 

Creativity does not just happen. It is a cognitive process that produces new ideas or transforms old ideas into updated concepts. The Creative Process Model, which explains how an individual can form seemingly random thoughts into an ideal combination or solution.

 

Preparation

 

During the preparation step of the creative process model, an individual becomes curious after encountering a problem. Examples of problems can include an artistic challenge or an assignment to write a paper. During this stage, may perform research, creates goals, organize thoughts and brainstorm as different ideas formulate.

 

Incubation

 

While the individual begins to process ideas, begins to synthesize them using imagination and begins to construct a creation. During this step, the individual does not actively try a find a solution, but continues to consider over the idea in the back of head.

 

Illumination

 

As ideas begin to mature, the individual has an epiphany regarding how to piece thoughts together in a manner that makes sense. The moment of illumination can happen unexpectedly.

 

Evaluation

 

After a solution reveals itself in an epiphany, the individual then evaluates whether the insight is worth the pursuit. He may make changes to his solution so it is clearer. He may consult with peers or supervisors regarding his insights during this step before pursuing it further. If he works with clients, he may seek a client's input and approval before moving on to the next step.

 

Implementation

 

The implementation of an idea or solution made when an individual begins the process of transforming thoughts into a final product. During this step, a painter may begin outlining shapes on a canvas with charcoal before applying oil paints to the medium. An individual may begin this step more than once in order to reach the desired outcome. For example, a graphic designer may open a new digital canvas if he did not have the scale calculated correctly on a previous work, and

he will continue to implement his ideas and make adjustments until he reaches a pleasing final product.

 

Developing creative thinking in learners:

 

Creativity can be promoted or cultivated and the following strategies can help teachers to promote or cultivate creativity in the classroom.

 

Emotional Connection

 

Many researches show that creativity can be cultivated best through emotional contacts. For instance, if teachers give project to the students related to community problems like domestic violence. It can help in sprouting creativity because of the human touch and hence emotional connection in it.

 

Classroom Environment

 

Classroom environment plays a crucial role in cultivating creativity and confidence in students. Teachers can make classroom environment where each student’s voice matters a lot. Getting involved with the students in the community is the best way to give push to their creativity. Here how teachers can make classroom environment more effective for their students.

 

•    Permit frequent discussion and interaction amid students in the classroom.

 

•    Make time for informal class opportunity for the students.

 

•    Memorize each student’s name meanwhile ensure every student knows everyone’s name.

Use of Different Models

 

Teacher can use various models to promote creativity in the students. A perfect model can help in:

 

•     Establishing connection amid the students' real lives and classroom.

 

•     Inspire innovation and create chances to resolve novel issues.

 

•     Lookout ways to spread learning prospects at classroom and home.

 

Risk-taking thinking or ability automatically prompts creativity. Therefore, teachers must encourage risk-taking approach in the students. Here some of the strategies that teacher can follow to enhance risk-taking ability in their students.

 

•      Offer safe environment that permits risk-taking

 

•      Arouse willingness in the students to try new ideas

 

•      Accept the mistakes made by students while trying new things

 

•      Talk to other teachers and discuss what worked and what not.

Active Learning

 

Active learning includes use of creative stuffs like games, concepts, maps and study materials. Active learning can only be encouraged when student enjoys the learning environment. Here are some ideas through which teachers can cultivate creative thought through active learning.

 

•      Create interactions that provide students a lot problem-solving opportunity

 

•      Give them a lot of opportunities for hands-on field work

 

•      Organize round-table discussion time to time on interesting topics

 

•      Permit students to create some of the question for their upcoming exam

 

In the 21^stcentury where technology is dominant in the education industry. Nowadays, we have access of many tools that develop creativity in the students and that available on free web technology, accessible for everyone.

 

Web Blogs: Blogs are the great platform to enhance creative writing, reading and thinking in the students. Teachers can encourage their students to use blogs to demonstrate their opinion about a particular topic or lesson.

 

Brainstorming and Mapping tools: Nowadays, a lot of tools and apps available over the web for brainstorming and mapping. Help your students to get the access of mind maps, puzzles, visual graphs and much more.

 

Infographics: Infographics are the best way to give wings to your student’s imagination and creativity. Using various tools available on the web, students can showcase their creativity using graphs.

 

Online Games: Online games endorse teamwork, creativity and cooperation among students. Some of the online games are specifically meant to education students to learn a specific lesson with fun.

Metacognition

 

Metacognition is "cognition about cognition", "thinking about thinking", or "knowing about knowing" and higher order thinking skills. It comes from the Greek root word "meta", meaning beyond and Latin word “cognitio” means thinking. The term metacognition is introduced by Flavell in 1979` It can take many forms; it includes knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for problem solving. There are generally two components of metacognition: knowledge about cognition, and regulation of cognition. Martinez defined ‘metacognition is the monitoring and control of thought.’

 

Metacognition involves thinking about one's own thinking process such as study skills, memory capabilities, and the ability to monitor learning. This concept needs to be clearly taught along with content instruction. Meta cognitive knowledge is about our own cognitive processes and our understanding of how to regulate those processes to maximize learning. Metacognition is an important aspect of student learning. It involves self-regulation, reflection upon an individual`s performance strengths, weaknesses learning and study strategies. It is a critical ingredient to successful learning. Some types of metacognitive knowledge would include:

 

•         Content knowledge (declarative knowledge) which understands one's own capabilities such as a student evaluating his/her own knowledge of a subject in a class. It is also notable that not all meta cognition is accurate. Studies have shown that students often mistake lack of effort with understanding in evaluating themselves and their overall knowledge of a concept.

 

•         Task knowledge (procedural knowledge) which is how one perceives the difficulty of a task which is the content, length, and the type of assignment. The study mentioned in Content knowledge also deals with the ability of one to evaluate the difficulty of the task related to their overall performance on the task. Again, the accuracy of this knowledge was skewed as students who thought their way was better/easier also seemed to perform worse on evaluations, while students who were rigorously and continually evaluated reported to not be as confident but still did better on initial evaluations.

 

•         Strategic  knowledge  (conditional  knowledge)  which  is  one's  own  capability  for  using

 

strategies to learn information. Young children are not particularly good at this; it is not until upper elementary where students start to develop the understanding of strategies that will be effective.

 

3.3 Forgetting- Causes of forgetting

 

According to N. L. Munn, “forgetting is the loss, permanent or temporary, of the ability to recall or recognise something learned earlier.” Forgetting is just the opposite side of remembering and essentially a failure in the ability of reproducing. The psychologist Ebbinghaus made a systematic work in studying the phenomenon of forgetting. He himself worked as a subject for the studies and described the results by sketching a curve of forgetting. He memorise a list of nonsense syllables and test himself at intervals 20 minutes to a month to see how much of the list

 

he remembered. The result as follows:
Time elapsed	Amount forgotten
20 minutes	47%
One day	66%
Two days	72%
Six days	75%
Thirty-one days	79%

 

He tried to plot the above data on a graph paper and it was named by him as curve of forgetting.

Types of forgetting

 

There are various types of forgetting, it may be broadly classifying as natural and morbid forgetting. In natural forgetting (normal forgetting), forgetting occurs with the lapse of time in a quite normal way without any intention of forgetting. In abnormal (morbid) forgetting one deliberately tries to forget something.

 

Forgetting also may be classified as general and specific. In general forgetfulness one suffers a total loss in one’s recalling some previous learning. In specific forgetfulness the individual forgets only one or other specific part of his earlier learning.

 

Causes of forgetting

There are various causes were suggested many psychologists for forgetting.

a.       Interpolated activity – The extent of forgetting depending upon the divergence of activities form the materials learned.

 

b.       Disuse – Any learnt activity or accumulated knowledge will be gradually forgotten if it is not regularly practised.

 

c.       Retroactive inhibition - Some learning tends to contradict some previous learning and the tendency entitled as retroactive inhibition.

 

d.      Repression – The pushing of the experience or thoughts into the unconscious mind.

 

e.       Factors affecting learning – All the factors affecting learning (i.e., method of learning, quantity of learning, speed of learning, instrument of learning) affect forgetting because forgetting is the unlearning of the learnt subject.

 

f.        Deficiency of thinking and repetition – Absence of mental thinking and repetition caused forgetting.

 

g.      Deficiency of mental set

h.      Brain injury – Depends upon the seriousness of injury forgetting rate also varied

i.        Use of stimulants – Forgetting will be increased accordingly the intoxicants used.

 

j.        Altered stimulus condition - If there is an association between the stimulus and the situation of the stimulus, then forgetting is facilitated by any change in the situation or condition of the stimulus.

 

Reminiscence is the recall of precious experience. It is a temporary rise in retention without intervening practice. It is generally concerned with past pleasant experiences.

 

3.4 Memory – Information processing –Atkinson-Shiffrin model of information processing. Memory is how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. In the first stage, the

 

information must be changed so that it may be put into the encoding process. Storage is the second memory stage or process. This entails that information is maintained over short periods of time. Finally, the third process is the retrieval of information that has been stored. Such information must be located and returned to the consciousness. Some retrieval attempts may be effortless due to the type of information, and other attempts to remember stored information may be more demanding for various reasons.

 

As types	Explicit memory
	Implicit memory
As stages	Sensory memory
	Short-term memory
	Long-term memory
As processes	Encoding
	Storage

 

Retrieval

 

Memory Conceptualized in Terms of Types, Stages, and Processes

 

As see in the table, psychologists conceptualize memory in terms of types, in terms of stages, and in terms of processes. There are two types of memory, explicit memory and implicit memory, and three major memory stages: sensory, short-term, and long-term (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). Also, there are three type of processes that are central to long-term memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

 

Explicit memory refers to knowledge or experiences that can be consciously remembered. As you can see in, there are two types of explicit memory: episodic and semantic. Episodic memory refers to the first-hand experiences that we have had (e.g., recollections of our high school graduation day). Semantic memory refers to our knowledge of facts and concepts about the world (e.g., that the absolute value of −90 is greater than the absolute value of 9).

 

Implicit memory refers to the influence of experience on behaviour, even if the individual is not aware of those influences. As you can see in, there are three general types of implicit memory: procedural memory, classical conditioning effects, and priming.

•         Procedural memory refers to our often-unexplainable knowledge of how to do things. When we walk from one place to another, speak to another person in English, dial a cell phone, or play a video game, we are using procedural memory. Procedural memory allows us to perform complex tasks, even though we may not be able to explain to others how we do them. There is no way to tell someone how to ride a bicycle; a person has to learn by doing it. The idea of implicit memory helps explain how infants are able to learn. The ability to crawl, walk, and talk are procedures, and these skills are easily and efficiently developed while we are children despite the fact that as adults we have no conscious memory of having learned them.

 

•         Classical conditioning effects, in which we learn, often without effort or awareness, to associate neutral stimuli (such as a sound or a light) with another stimulus (such as food), which creates a naturally occurring response, such as enjoyment or salivation. The memory for the association is demonstrated when the conditioned stimulus (the sound) begins to create the same response as the unconditioned stimulus (the food) did before the learning.

 

•         Priming, or changes in behaviour as a result of experiences that have happened frequently or recently. Priming refers both to the activation of knowledge (e.g., we can prime the concept of “kindness” by presenting people with words related to kindness) and to the influence of that activation on behaviour (people who are primed with the concept of kindness may act more kindly).

 

From an information processing perspective, there are three main process in the formation and recovery of memory:

 

•         Encoding or registration: receiving, processing and combining of received information (Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in the memory. Information can be encoded (changed) in three main ways:

 

•       visual (picture)

 

•       acoustic (sound)

 

•       semantic (meaning)

 

•         Storage: creation of a permanent record of the encoded information in short term or long term memory

 

•         Retrieval, recall or recollection: calling back the stored information in response to some cue

for use in a process or activity

 

Information processing is an approach to the goal of understanding human thinking in relation to how they process the same kind of information as computers. It arose in the 1940s and 1950s, after World War II. The most widely accepted theory is labelled the "stage theory," based on the work of Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). The focus of this model is on how information is stored in memory; the model proposes that information is processed and stored in 3 stages. The approach treats cognition as essentially computational in nature, with mind being the software and the brain being the hardware. The information processing approach in psychology is closely allied to the computational theory of mind in philosophy; it is also related, though not identical, to cognitivism in psychology and functionalism in philosophy. Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. Information-processing models helped re-establish mental processes that cannot be directly observed as a legitimate area of scientific research.

 

The Atkinson–Shiffrin model of Information processing (also known as the multi-store model or modal model) is a model of memory proposed in 1968 by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin. The model of memory is an explanation of how memory processes work. The model asserts that human memory has three separate components:

 

1.    Sensory memory (register), is there information enters and stores that has just perceived. This information last only milliseconds. There are two types of sensory memory:

 

a.       Iconic – visual memory which refers to the holding of an image that has been visually perceived

 

b.      Echonic – auditory memory refers to the representation of sounds that have just been perceived.

 

2.    Short-term memory (STM) also called working memory or short-term store, which receives and holds input from both the sensory register and the long-term store. It is a memory

system that holds limited amount of information for relatively short periods of time. It is called working memory relates what we are thinking about at any given moment in time. In Freudian term, this is conscious memory. It is created by our paying attention to an external stimulus, an internal thought, or both. It will initially last somewhere around 15 to 20 seconds unless it is repeated (called maintenance rehearsal) at which point it may be available for up to 20 minutes.

 

There are two major concepts for retaining information in STM: organization and repetition.

There are four major types of organization that are most often used in instructional design:

 

•         Component (part/whole) - classification by category or concept (e.g., the components of the teaching/learning model);

 

•         Sequential - chronological; cause/effect; building to climax (e.g., baking a cake, reporting on a research study);

 

•      Relevance - central unifying idea or criteria (e.g., most important principles of learning for boys and girls, appropriate management strategies for middle school and high school students);

 

•         Transitional (connective) - relational words or phrases used to indicate qualitative change over time.

 

Repetition or rote rehearsal is a technique we all use to try to "learn" something. However, in order to be effective this must be done after forgetting begins.

 

3.    Long Term Memory (LTM) or long-term store: It is a memory system for the retention of large amounts information over long periods of time. It is also called preconscious and unconscious memory in Freudian terms. LTM is much more stable than short term memory, probably because of a permanent structural change takes place in the brain, namely changes in synaptic strength. It is the final storing house for memorial information, the long-term memory store holds information until need again.

 

•       It generates rather than reproduces i.e., it is affected by perception and interpretation of the individual who is remembering.

 

•       Individual remembers according to schemata or scripts.

 

•       It is influenced by understanding what has been perceived

 

•       Some type of information is encoded in Long Term Memory more easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.5 Strategies for improving effective memorization

 

The following ten general strategies are offered to help students develop a more efficient and effective memory.

 

1.        Over-learning: it is an established fact that retention is greater when subject matter is well

 

learned. The better something is learned, the greater are its chances of survival despite interference due to learning other material. Over learning is the term used to describe practice that continues after a perfect recall has been scored. To improve retention, over learning is essential.

 

2.        Utilising as many senses as possible.

3.        Whole and part methods: One is may read a poem again and again from beginning till the end as a whole, this is called whole method. May the poem divided into parts and each part is memorised separately is called part method.

 

4.        Meaningfulness and organisation of subject matter: The most effective method to improve retention which teachers can be use is the method of making the subject matter meaningful.

 

5.        Use of mnemonic device: A mnemonic is defined as some device, which aids the memorisation of something. Mnemonic systems, when used by persons capable of rich visual memory, can result in incredible feats of memory. Acronym (an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word – UNO), acrostic (a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words), chunking (a way of dealing with or remembering information by separating it into small groups or chunks) are examples.

 

6.        Self-recitation: Recitation is helpful in the process of retention. The teacher, who is interested in improving the memory of the students, should keep into consideration self-recitation by the students.

 

7.        Formation of clear concept: Teacher can use to develop clear concepts with the help of various types of audio-visual material. The teacher should try to more than one senses in learning activity.

 

8.        Use of the principle of learning by doing: The learners should be encouraged to participate actively in the learning process and learning experiences acquired thus will be remembered for a long period.

 

9.        Provision for change and proper rest and it helps to relieve fatigue and monotony.

 

10.    Making use of SQ 4 R technique: A systematic approach to learning the desired material involving sequenced steps. i.e. survey, question, read, reflect, recite and review.

MODULE 4 - INTELLIGENCE AS A COGNITIVE VARIABLE IN LEARNING

 

4.1 Intelligence – Meaning and Definition –Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence. Concept of IQ, EQ And SQ., Strategies for Promoting EQ and SQ

 

Intelligence – Meaning

 

The English word intelligence is a translation for the Latin nouns intelligentia, which in turn stem from the verb intelligere, which means realization or understanding. Human intelligence is the intellectual capacity of humans, which is characterized by perception, consciousness, self-awareness, and volition (will). Intelligence enables humans to remember descriptions of things and use those descriptions in future behaviours. It is a cognitive process. It gives humans the cognitive abilities to learn, form concepts, understand, and reason, including the capacities use language to communicate, comprehend ideas, plan, problem solving, and to recognize patterns. Intelligence enables humans to experience and think.

 

Intelligence – Definition

 

Intelligence is defined as mental capability that involves the ability to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend complex ideas, to learn quickly and to learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smartness. In simple words, intelligence is nothing but thinking skills and the ability to adapt to and to learn from life’s everyday experiences. Intelligence can be defined as a combination of mental competencies and potentialities that includes the ability to (a) learn from experience and to (b) apply this knowledge, (c) formulate new understandings, and (d) construct solutions to novel problems encountered in new and challenging situations

 

Alfred Binet defines intelligence as the ability of an individual to direct his behaviour towards

 

a goal.

 

Jean Piaget defined, “intelligence is the ability to adapt to one’s surroundings.”

 

Intelligence is not acquired after sustained labour. It is a gift from nature. Intelligence is not memory. An intelligent person may have poor memory. Intelligence is not a skill which a worker acquires after planned practice. Intelligence is not a guarantee of a good behaviour of the individual.

 

Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence

 

Emotional intelligence involves understanding one’s emotions and addressing them in a healthy way that honours all concerned. EQ is an abbreviation for the term Emotional Quotient, and it is a measure of the emotional intelligence level of an individual, which differentiate between different feelings and use this intelligence to guide thinking and behaviour. The terms of emotional quotient used for the first time by Salovey and Mayer (1990), which referred to intelligence in what people recognize feelings, motivate and manage emotions in life. However, EQ has more specific function to control negative things. According to Wilding (2007) that emotional quotient or EQ is very important to human being as one solution for them to be success with other people. It is because emotional quotient or EQ contents of “high quality of soft skills”. Further, Goleman noted that, more emotionally intelligent persons are categorized as succeed at communicating whether interesting and affirm ways, that could others feel better in the job circumstances. Bar-On pointed out that, EI is also useful for group development since that large group of smooth and effective workers, knowing each other’s strength and weaknesses and always strong influence whenever possible.

 

Spiritual intelligence is defined as “the adaptive use of spiritual information to facilitate everyday problem solving and goal attainment.” At the end of the 1990s, research on neurology found that brain has another kind of intelligence, i.e., spiritual intelligence. This new intelligence with which we have access to deep meaning, fundamental values, and a sense of abiding purpose in our lives, and the role that this meaning, values and purpose plays in our lives, strategies, and thinking process. Then,

this newest intelligence is famous named by “spiritual quotient.” Spiritual quotient comes from the Latin word “spiritus,” and the meaning is “the vitalizing principle of an organism”. Besides, the alphabet “S” in SQ also derived from Latin “Sapientia” means “wisdom intelligence,” embracing all that we traditionally mean by wisdom as opposed to mere knowledge acquisition or to a rather mechanistic talent for solving problem. A person may have high SQ but have no faith in his or her religion or belief, and inversely, others may have low SQ although very religious. Religion based on, particular set of custom, beliefs and values, and usually depends on culture, and up bringing. However, spiritual quotient is hereditary capacity of the human brain, based on structures in the brain that gives us basic ability to form meanings, values, and beliefs in the first place; it means that, spiritual intelligence is “the soul’s intelligence.”

 

Concept of IQ, EQ and SQ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from one of several standardised tests designed to assess intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term intelligenzquotient in 1912. The ratio between mental age and chronological age is known as Intelligence Quotient or IQ. An individual’s level of intelligence is usually expressed in quantitative terms as a ratio between mental age and chronological age.

 

1. Chronological Age (C.A):

 

This is the physical age of a person counted from the date and time of his birth. It is counted in terms of years, months and hours etc.

 

2. Mental Age (M.A):

 

Binet conceived the idea of Mental Age (M.A.) to measure intelligence. Tests were made for different age levels. This is an index of intelligence rank. A child’s mental age can be measured from his performance on an intelligence test. If a test was passed by 60-90% of children of given age, Binet accepted it for that age level. A child who successfully perform all the tasks thus accepted for the five-year-old child is taken to have a mental age of five, whatever his Chronological Age (C.A.) may be. If he is five years old chronologically too he is rated as normal or average. A seven year old child having a M.A. of six is considered as mental deficient; but if he has a M.A. of eight then he is said to be above average in intelligence.

 

(The concept of mental age was earlier introduced by French psychologist Alfred Binet). This ratio is known as intelligence quotient or IQ. IQ is the quotient (proportion) of mental age (MA) divided by the chronological age (CA) usually expressed as a multiple of 100 to avoid fractions. The formula of intelligence quotient is:

 

IQ = MA x 100

 

CA

 

IQ is a device to express the exact relationship between the chronological age and mental age of the individual. An individual’s IQ scores, ignoring errors of measurement, remains the same from one age to all others unless there is change in ability level.

 

Limitations of IQ:

1.      IQ is not the quantity of a person’s intelligence. It is only an index that gives the relative brightness of the individual.

 

2.      All the tests do not yield an identical IQ. Consequently, none of the IQs indicated by any one test is completely reliable.

 

3.      The zero point in IQ scale is subjective rather than real and the various units are of unequal length. The difference between an IQ of 60 and 70 is not the same as the difference between an IQ of 110 and 120.

 

4.      Even when a person is examined by the same test a number of times, the IQ shows a change.

 

5.      IQ are not comparable from one test to another.

 

EQ (Emotional intelligence/Emotional Quotient)

 

"All learning has an emotional base." – Plato. Emotional intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. According to Bar-On, “Emotional intelligence is an array of no cognitive capabilities, competencies, and skills that influence one’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.” Emotional Intelligence is a term created by two researchers – Peter Salovey and John Mayer. The first published use of the term 'EQ' (Emotional Quotient) is an article by Keith Beasley in the British Mensa magazine. However, the term became widely known with the publication of Daniel Goleman's book: Emotional Intelligence – Why it can matter more than IQ (1995). Currently, there are three main models of EI:

 

1.      Ability model

 

2.      Mixed model

 

3.      Trait model

 

The ability model (Salovey and Mayer) claims that EI includes four types of abilities:

 

1.      Perceiving emotions – the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts—including the ability to identify one's own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.

 

2.      Using emotions – the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.

 

3.      Understanding emotions – the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.

 

4.      Managing  emotions  –  the  ability  to  regulate  emotions  in  both  ourselves  and  in  others.

 

Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals.

 

The mixed model introduced by Daniel Goleman, focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. Goleman's model outlines five main EI constructs:

 

1.      Self-awareness – the ability to know one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals and recognize their impact on others while using gut feelings to guide decisions.

 

2.      Self-regulation – involves controlling or redirecting one's disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.

 

3.      Social skill – managing relationships to move people in the desired direction

 

4.      Empathy – considering other people's feelings especially when making decision

 

5.      Motivation – being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement.

Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies within each construct of EI. Emotional competencies are not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that must be worked on and can be developed to achieve outstanding performance.

 

The Trait model

 

Konstantinos Vasilis Petrides ("K. V. Petrides") proposed a conceptual distinction between the ability based model and a trait based model of EI and has been developing the latter over many years in numerous publications. Trait EI is "a constellation of emotional self-perceptions located at the lower levels of personality." In lay terms, trait EI refers to an individual's self-perceptions of their emotional abilities.

 

Strategies for promoting EQ:

 

•       Embed social and emotional learning into teaching practices. Instead of doing a lesson specifically on social skills or emotions, try incorporating these lessons into what already teaching. For instance, in science if you are discussing molecules, you also could ask students what forms good partnerships. Include reading a book or discussing a history lesson about a socially challenging situation. Engage your students in a conversation about handling social problems. Then the lesson becomes about literacy, history and social and emotional learning.

 

•       Engage students in problem solving. Whether it’s helping solve a difficult math problem or developing a set of class rules at the beginning of the year, engage kids in all types of problem solving. Group projects are a useful way to teach students how to work together, which is a skill they will need in many areas of life.

 

•       Instill perseverance and determination. Self-motivation is a key component of social and emotional learning and a necessity for kids to accomplish things in life. While there are many students who will naturally strive to better themselves in some way, there are other students who need a little more coaching in this area. Remind students that to experience success they must put forward effort and perseverance. And if you see students making a really strong effort but still falling short of the grade, praise them for their hard work and encourage them to keep trying until they master it. Each student should be encouraged to set some goals so that they can feel a sense of accomplishment. This helps offset negative thoughts and encourages kids to dig deep and find the determination to succeed.

 

•       Model and impart respect. Learning to be respectful toward others is an important life lesson. Obviously, the polite use of language and encouraging children to imitate your behaviour is one of the best ways to model respect. Teacher also can model respect by being mindful and valuing children’s cultural and language backgrounds. Encourage students to do the same. They should learn to be respectful of one another even when they are different or disagree.

 

•       Incorporate character education. Character education encourages the development of ethical and responsible students. Teach students the importance of having good values, being honest, being trustworthy and taking responsibility for their actions. Give students opportunities to develop and hone these skills in the classroom. Discuss these skills during history lessons and during reading activities. Engage students in thinking about ways in which they can become more responsible or trustworthy in the classroom. Then, allow them to put those ideas into practice. Be sure to acknowledge ethical and honest behaviour, especially when students take responsibility for negative actions.

 

•       Encourage students to develop and share opinions. Teachers should seek their students’ opinions, allow them to initiate activities and be flexible when responding to their ideas. Doing so builds a sense of competency in the students and increases their desire to learn. They also are less

likely to struggle with envy and jealousy. Jealousy is often at the root of bullying, especially when it comes to relational aggression and mean girl behaviour.

 

•       Impart resiliency(elasticity). Research shows that students who are more resilient are more academically successful. They also bounce back quicker, are mindful of their opinions, and understand their beliefs, all of which gives them a strong sense of who they are. When resilient kids are bullied, they are less likely to suffer as many consequences as kids who are not resilient or secure in what they believe.

 

•       Stress empathy and caring behaviour. One way to encourage empathy, is to frequently challenge students to put themselves in another person’s shoes. Empathy helps kids develop positive relationships, which is the cornerstone of social and emotional learning. Encourage students to listen to others and ask them to try to understand how others might be feeling.

 

Spiritual intelligence is a higher dimension of intelligence that activates the qualities and capabilities of soul, in the form of wisdom, compassion, integrity, joy, love, creativity, and peace, which results in a sense of deeper meaning and purpose combined with improvements in a wide range of important life skills and work skills. Spiritual intelligence is a term used by some philosophers, psychologists, and developmental theorists to indicate spiritual parallels with IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient).

 

Danah Zohar coined the term "spiritual intelligence" and introduced the idea in 1997 in her book Rewiring the Corporate Brain. She (born 1945) is an American-British author and speaker on physics, philosophy, complexity and management. She proposed spiritual intelligence as an aspect of intelligence that sits above the traditional measure of IQ and the various notions of emotional intelligence, at the conscious level of meaning and purpose, and that is derived from the properties of a living complex adaptive system. (Howard Gardner, the originator of the theory of multiple intelligences, chose not to include spiritual intelligence amongst his "intelligences" due to the challenge of codifying quantifiable scientific criteria. Instead, Gardner suggested an "existential intelligence" as viable.) David B. King proposes four core abilities or capacities of spiritual intelligence:

 

1.    Critical Existential Thinking: The capacity to critically contemplate the nature of existence, reality, the universe, space, time, and other existential/metaphysical issues; also, the capacity to contemplate non-existential issues in relation to one's existence (i.e., from an existential perspective).

 

2.    Personal Meaning Production: The ability to derive personal meaning and purpose from all physical and mental experiences, including the capacity to create and master a life purpose.

 

3.    Transcendental Awareness: The capacity to identify transcendent dimensions/patterns of the self (i.e., a transpersonal or transcendent self), of others, and of the physical world (e.g., nonmaterialism) during normal states of consciousness, accompanied by the capacity to identify their relationship to one's self and to the physical.

 

4.    Conscious State Expansion: The ability to enter and exit higher states of consciousness (e.g. pure consciousness, cosmic consciousness, unity, oneness) and other states of dream at one's own discretion (as in deep contemplation, meditation, prayer, etc.).

 

What are some of the indicators of a highly developed SQ? Zohar cite the following:

 

•         The capacity to be flexible

 

•         A high degree of self-awareness

 

•         A capacity to face and use suffering

•         A capacity to face and transcend pain

 

•         The quality of being inspired by vision and values

 

•         A reluctance to cause unnecessary harm

 

•         A tendency to see the connections between diverse things

 

•          A tendency to ask Why or 'What if' questions and to seek fundamental answer Following are also some examples of practices we can embrace that will help develop our SQ:

 

1.   Adopt or deepen a contemplative practice. Contemplative practices include meditation, centering prayer, journaling, and spending time in nature. These practices help you to create an “observer mind” and to sense your connection to something greater than yourself.

 

2.   Study with a spiritual or religious teacher, or someone who seems to have a high degree of spiritual intelligence. It helps to get guidance from someone who may be a bit further down the path than we are, and who can help us to take a more conscious and mindful approach to our life and work. It is especially useful to have a guide like this during difficult times of transition.

 

3.   Read inspirational literature, spiritual or holy books, and/or inspiring poetry. There is an incredible amount of wisdom available in books these days, and it helps to read the words of inspired teachers who have made this journey before us. Often we find that when we have a particular dilemma or spiritual growth challenge that what we read in spiritual literature has direct application to the situation we are facing.

 

4.   Become involved in a community or fellowship of other spiritual seekers. Most of us begin our spiritual development as a quiet, inner, lonely path, and this has a lot of value as we go deeply within and begin to find our unique contribution in the world. But if we are to continue the development of our spiritual intelligence, there is much to be gained by being connected to a group of like-minded people who are also working on themselves. This tends to speed up our growth.

 

5.   Set intentions for your spiritual state of being when you wake up in the morning, and take inventory of your thoughts, actions, and state of being before you go to sleep at night. This type of daily practice reinforces your commitment to live your life from a place of spiritual values, such as compassion, forgiveness, joy, and creativity.

 

6.   Focus on being of service. An attitude of service is at the core of all the world's spiritual traditions, and it is what provides a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives. Take the time to examine who it is you serve, what gifts you have to offer, and what work you feel called to do. When you focus on being of service, your life provides countless opportunities for the development of your spiritual intelligence, and you are more likely to help others to develop their SQ as well.

 

 

4.2 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE – TWO FACTOR THEORY (SPEARMAN), PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES (THURSTON) STRUCTURE OF INTELLECT (GUILFORD) AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE (HOWARD GARDNER).

 

The theories of intelligence are grouped into four major theory types:

 

(1)  psychometric theories;

 

(2)  cognitive theories;

 

(3)  cognitive-contextual theories; and

 

(4)  biological theories.

 

Psychometric theories derive from studying individual differences in test performance on cognitive tests. Questions about the structure of human intelligence, including the importance of general intelligence, have dominated the psychometric theories.

 

•         Spearman’s Two Factor Theory

 

•         Bond Theory

 

•         Primary Mental Abilities

•         British Hierarchical Model

 

•         Fluid and Crystallized Ability

 

•         Three-Stratum Factor Analytic Theory of Cognitive Abilities

 

•         Structure of Intellect

 

Cognitive theories derive from studying the processes involved in intelligent performance. These processes range from the very simple (e.g., inspection time) to the fairly complex (e.g., working memory). Different theorists have focused on different processes (or aspects of these processes, such as processing speed).

 

•         Simple Sensory Testing

 

•         Inspection Time

 

•         Simple/Choice Reaction Time

 

•         Working Memory

 

•         Cognitive Correlates

 

•         Cognitive Components

 

•         Processing Speed and Aging

 

Cognitive-contextual theories emphasize processes that demonstrate intelligence within a particular context (such as a cultural environment). Major theories include Sternberg’s triarchic theory, Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, and Piaget’s theory of development.

 

•         Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

 

•         Multiple Intelligences

 

•         Piaget’s Stage Theory of Development

 

Biological theories emphasize the relationship between intelligence, and the brain and its functions. Numerous relationships have been found, but none have been elaborated into a detailed theory of the neuropsychology of intelligence.

 

•         Brain Size and Intelligence

 

•         EEG String Length and Intelligence

 

•         Glucose Metabolic Rate and Intelligence

 

•         Jensen’s Neural Oscillation Model

 

Spearman’s Two Factor Theory:

 

Charles Edward Spearman was born in London in 1863 and joined the army in 1883 and served as a much-decorated infantry officer in Burma and India. However, his early interest in philosophy led him to his desire to study psychology and, in 1897; he resigned from the army as a captain and continued his education. For the next ten years, Spearman studied experimental psychology in Germany. After earning his Ph.D. with Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig in 1906, he worked at the University of Würzburg and at the University of Göttingen.

 

Spearman developed commonly used statistical measures and the statistical method known as factor analysis. His studies on the nature of human abilities led to his "two-factor" theory of intelligence. Spearman proposed that his two-factor theory has two components. The general intelligence, g (general factor), influences the performance on all mental tasks, while specific intelligence, s (specific factor) influences abilities on specific problems. Regarding g, Spearman saw individuals as having more or less general intelligence, while ‘s’ varied from person to person on a task. The amount of g and s factors required in an activity will depend upon its nature. Hence, different activities would require different combination of g and s factors. The s factors are amenable to such influences as education and training, whereas g factor is largely innate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig: Spearman’s Two-Factor Theory or Eclectic Theory

 

There are a large number of specific abilities such as ability to draw inferences, ability to complete sentences, ability to code message etc. Different individuals differed both in their ‘G’ as well as ‘S’ factors. For e.g. an individual’s performance in literature is partly due to his general intelligence and partly due some specific aptitude for his language, i.e. G+S1. In mathematics, his performance may be the result of G+S2. In drawing, it may be due to G+S3 and in social sciences; it may be due to G+S4 and so on. Thus the factor ‘G’ is present in all specific activities.

 

Characteristics of ‘G’ Factor:

 

1.      It is universal inborn ability.

 

2.      It is general mental energy.

 

3.      It is constant.

 

4.      The amount of ‘g’ differs from individual to individual.

 

5.      It is used in every activity of life.

 

6.      Greater the ‘g’ in an individual, greater is his success in life.

 

Characteristics of ‘S’ Factor:

 

1.      It is learned and acquired in the environment.

 

2.      It varies from activity to activity in the same individual.

 

3.      Individuals differ in the amount of ‘S’ ability.

 

Educational Implications and relevance of Spearman’s Two –Factor Theory:

 

1.    The theory gives a better insight to the teacher about the nature of intelligence.

 

2.    The general ability differs from individual to individual.

 

3.    The specific abilities also differ from individual to individual.

 

4.  ‘S’ factor varies in degrees. Therefore, it can be modified by learning or habitual training

 

5.    A child requires different amounts of ‘G’ and ‘S’ factors for achieving success in different Subjects.

 

6.    We require a high quality of ‘G’ factor for our success in life.

 

7.    Both ‘G’ and ‘S’ have a high correlation.

 

8.    This theory could be used to guide, construction of a set of ability test

 

Primary Mental Abilities (Thurston)

 

Louis Leon Thurston was a U.S. pioneer in the fields of psychometrics and psychophysics’. His principal work, The Vectors of Mind (1935), presented method of factor analysis to explain correlations between results in psychological tests. Thurston developed a technique known as multiple factor analysis (MFA). MFA is a mathematical tool that detects patterns of correlations among the tests in the study. The theory divided general ability into seven distinct "clusters" of mental abilities. Therefore, the theory known as multifactor theory or group factor theory. Group factor theory (1937) saying that Intelligence is a cluster of abilities. These mental operations then constitute a group. Thurston acknowledged that his primary mental abilities correlated moderately with each other, proving the existence of one or more second-order factors. Though these seven primary mental abilities appear to be different, they are related to each other. They are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educational Significance and Implications

 

1.      Thurston contributed greatly to the measurement of attitudes. In psychology, the ‘Thurston scale’ developed in 1928 was the first formal techniques for measuring of attitudes.

 

2.      Thurston’s theory of intelligence was a major influence on later theories of multiple intelligences, such as those of Guilford, Gardner, and Sternberg.

 

3.      Thurston has been noted for developing a comparative judgment scaling technique. The rank scale can be used to rank all possible feelings related to an issue and to categorize people expressing an opinion based on the rank of that opinion. It is used today mainly in basic research.

 

4.      Thurston held that if the individual wants to perform any particular activity, one or more of these

factors or abilities are involved. Some of them are more important than others.

Guilford’s Structure of Intellect (Si Model)

 

Joy Paul Guilford (March 7, 1897 – November 26, 1987) was an American psychologist, one of the leading American exponents of factor analysis in the assessment of personality. He is well remembered for his psychometric studies of human intelligence and creativity. Guilford was an early proponent of the idea that intelligence is not a unitary concept. Based on his interest in individual differences, he explored the multidimensional aspects of the human mind, describing the structure of the human intellect based on a number of different abilities.

 

J.P. Guilford developed a model of intelligence (1966) using factor analysis. He outlines topography of the structure of intellect, providing an integrated rationale for describing the many dimension of intellectual performance. He suggests that there are three basic parameters along which any intellectual activity takes place. These are:

 

1.  Operations – the act of thinking

 

2.  Contents – the terms in which we think, and

 

3.  Products – the ideas we come up with.

 

Guilford identified 5 operations, 5 contents and 6 products. The maximum number of factors in terms of the different possible combination s of these will be 5x5x6 = 150.

1.  OPERATIONS: It consists of five major groups of intellectual abilities.

 

1.    Cognition: It refers to discovery, rediscovery or recognition.

 

2.    Memory: Simply remembering what was once known.

 

3.    Convergent Thinking: This type of thinking, by reasoning, results in useful solution to problems.

 

4.    Divergent Thinking: This is thinking in different directions, seeking and searching some variety and novelty.

 

5.    Evaluation: It is reaching decisions or making judgments about information.

 

2.  CONTENT: A Second way of classifying the intellectual factor is according to the kind of material or content involved. It involves five factors:

 

1.       Visual Content: It is concrete material which is perceived through our senses, i.e. size, form, colour, etc.

 

2.       Auditory Content: It consists of language, speech, sounds, music and words

 

3.       Symbolic Content: It is composed of letters, digits, and other conventional signs.

 

4.       Semantic Content: It is in the forms of verbal meanings or ideas which we get from others.

 

5.       Behavioural Content: It means social behaviour in society.

 

3.     PRODUCTS: When a certain operation is applied to certain kind of content as many as six kinds of products may be involved.

 

1.    Units: Understanding the meaning of words, visual, auditory and symbolic units.

 

2.    Classes: It means classification of words and ideas.

 

3.    Relations: It implies discovering relations of words and ideas.

 

4.    Systems: The ability to structure objects in space and to structure symbolic elements and to formulate problems.

 

5.    Transformation: The ability to look into the future lines of development or to suggest changes in the existing situations.

 

6.    Implications: The ability to utilize present information for future ends.

 

1.  This theory about the idea that the brain of a child is like a computer, who acquires, stores and uses information.

 

2.  It provides knowledge about the specific ability of the students to guide them in the right direction.

 

3.  SI Model is useful in finding out the reasons of the unsatisfactory performance of the students in spite of their adequate intelligence.

 

4.  This model points out that for understanding higher mental processes like thinking some drastic modifications could be needed in our curriculum or method of instruction.

 

5.  This model has explored 150 intellectual abilities and this enables us to find out whether we are paying sufficient attention to each one of them or not and if not how to improve.

 

6.  This model guides us to device enrichment programmes for the gifted children.

 

7.  It stresses that learning of specific skills should be our focus of attention.

 

8.  SI Model is very useful in constructing tests of various types for different age groups.

 

9.  This concept of Guildford will prove useful in our future research in the areas of learning, memory, problem-solving etc.

 

10.  This model discovered many abilities which were not known before.

 

11.  It is very useful for vocational training.

 

Multiple Intelligence (Howard Gardner)

 

Howard Gardner is a psychologist and Professor at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. Based on his study of many people from many different walks of life in everyday

circumstances and professions, Gardner developed the theory of multiple intelligences. He performed interviews with and brain research on hundreds of people, including stroke victims, prodigies, autistic individuals, and so-called "idiot savants."

 

Gardner defined the first seven intelligences in his 1983 book “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.” He added the last two in Intelligence Reframed in 1999. This theory has emerged from recent cognitive research and "documents the extent to which students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways," according to Gardner (1991). According to this theory, "we are all able to know the world through language, logical-mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences - the so-called profile of intelligences - and in the ways in which such intelligences are invoked and combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and progress in various domains."

 

Gardner's MI Theory challenged traditional beliefs in the fields of education and cognitive science. According to a traditional definition, intelligence is a uniform cognitive capacity people are born with. This capacity can be easily measured by short-answer tests.

 

According to multiple intelligences theory, not only do all individuals possess numerous mental representations and intellectual languages, but individuals also differ from one another in the forms of these representations, their relative strengths, and the ways in which (and ease with which) these representations can be changed. The nine intelligences are:

 

1.        Visual/Spatial Intelligence (Picture Smart): Spatial intelligence is the ability to think in three dimensions. Core capacities include mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation, graphic and artistic skills, and an active imagination. Children with the intelligence learn best visually and organizing things spatially. They like to see what you are talking about in order to understand. They enjoy charts, graphs, maps, tables, illustrations, art, puzzles, costumes - anything eye catching. think in terms of physical space, as do architects and sailors. Very aware of their environments. They like to draw, do jigsaw puzzles, read maps, daydream. They can be taught through drawings, verbal and physical imagery.

 

2.        Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart): It is the ability to think in words and to use language to express and appreciate complex meanings. Linguistic intelligence allows us to understand the order and meaning of words and to apply meta-linguistic skills to reflect on our use of language. Linguistic intelligence is the most widely shared human competence and is evident in poets, novelists, journalists, and effective public speakers. Children demonstrate strength in the language arts: speaking, writing, reading, listening. These students have always been successful in traditional classrooms because their intelligence lends itself to traditional teaching. using words effectively. These learners have highly developed auditory skills and often think in words. They like reading, playing word games, making up poetry or stories.

 

3.        Logical-Mathematical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart): It is the ability to calculate, quantify, consider propositions and hypotheses, and carry out complete mathematical operations. It enables us to perceive relationships and connections and to use abstract, symbolic thought; sequential reasoning skills; and inductive and deductive thinking patterns. Children with the intelligence display an aptitude for numbers, reasoning and problem solving. This is the other half of the children who typically do well in traditional classrooms where teaching is logically sequenced and students are asked to conform. They are able to handle chains of reasoning and recognize patterns and orders as in a scientist. Use activities that involve abstract

symbols/formulas, outlining, graphic organizers, numeric sequences, calculation, deciphering codes, problem solving.

 

4.        Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart): Bodily kinesthetic intelligence is the capacity to manipulate objects and use a variety of physical skills. This intelligence also involves a sense of timing and the perfection of skills through mind–body union. Athletes, dancers, surgeons, and craftspeople exhibit well-developed bodily kinesthetic intelligence. - Children experience learning best through activity: games, movement, hands-on tasks, building. These children were often labeled "overly active" in traditional classrooms where they were told to sit and be still. They use the body effectively, like a dancer or a surgeon. Keen sense of body awareness. They like movement, making things, touching. They communicate well through body language and be taught through physical activity, hands-on learning, acting out, role playing.

 

5.        Musical/ Intelligence (Musical Smart): Musical intelligence is the capacity to discern pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone. This intelligence enables us to recognize, create, reproduce, and reflect on music, as demonstrated by composers, conductors, musicians, vocalist, and sensitive listeners. Children have the intelligence learn well through songs, patterns, rhythms, instruments and musical expression. It is easy to overlook children with this intelligence in traditional education. show sensitivity to rhythm and sound. They love music, but they are also sensitive to pitch, melody, rhythm, and tone. They may study better with music in the background. They can be taught by turning lessons into lyrics, speaking rhythmically, tapping out time. They use activities that involve audio tape, music recitals, singing on key, whistling, humming, environmental sounds, percussion vibrations, rhythmic patterns, music composition, tonal patterns.

 

6.        Intra-personal Intelligence (Self Smart): It is the capacity to understand oneself and one’s thoughts and feelings, and to use such knowledge in planning and directing one’s life. Intra-personal intelligence involves not only an appreciation of the self, but also of the human condition. It is evident in psychologist, spiritual leaders, and philosophers. - Children are especially in touch with their own feelings, values and ideas. They may tend to be more reserved, but they are actually quite intuitive about what they learn and how it relates to themselves. understanding one's own interests, goals. These learners tend to shy away from others. They're in tune with their inner feelings; they have wisdom, intuition and motivation, as well as a strong will, confidence and opinions. They can be taught through independent study and introspection. They are the most independent of the learners.

 

7.        Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart): It is the ability to understand and interact effectively with others. It involves effective verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to note distinctions among others, sensitivity to the moods and temperaments of others, and the ability to entertain multiple perspectives. Teachers, social workers, actors, and politicians all exhibit interpersonal intelligence. Children who are noticeably people oriented and outgoing, and do their learning cooperatively in groups or with a partner. These children may have typically been identified as "talkative" or " too concerned about being social" in a traditional setting. They understand and interact with people, relationship as in a salesman or teacher, and think by bouncing ideas off of each other. These students learn through interaction. They use activities that involve group projects, division of labour, seminars, dialogues sensing others' motives, receiving/giving feedback, collaboration skills. They have many friends, empathy for others, street smarts.

 

8.        Naturalist Intelligence (Nature Smart): Children who love the outdoors, animals, field trips relating to the natural world, charting, mapping changes, observing wildlife, keeping journals or logs. Designates the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as

sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef. It is also speculated that much of our consumer society exploits the naturalist intelligences, which can be mobilized in the discrimination among cars, sneakers, kinds of makeup, and the like. More than this, though, these students love to pick up on subtle differences in meanings. The traditional classroom has not been accommodating to these children.

 

9.        Existential Intelligence: Children who learn in the context of where humankind stands in the "big picture" of existence. They ask "Why are we here?" and "What is our role in the world?" This intelligence is seen in the discipline of philosophy. They have Sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did

 

we get here.

 

Educational Impact of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

 

1.        All intelligences as equally important. This is in great contrast to traditional education systems which typically place a strong emphasis on the development and use of verbal and mathematical intelligences. Thus, the theory of multiple intelligences implies that educators should recognize and teach to a broader range of talents and skills.

 

2.        Teachers should structure the presentation of material in a style which engages most or all of the intelligences. By activating a wide assortment of intelligences, teaching in this manner can facilitate a deeper understanding of the subject material.

 

3.        All students will come into the classroom with different sets of developed intelligences. This means that each child will have his own unique set of intellectual strengths and weaknesses. These

 

sets determine how easy (or difficult) it is for a student to learn information when it is presented in a particular manner. This is commonly referred to as a learning style.

 

 

4.3 CATEGORIES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS – USES AND LIMITATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

 

Intelligence can be measured by using intelligence tests. They are standardised tools having acceptable reliability and validity. The intelligent tests are classified in two different ways:

 

1.  Classification based on the method of testing

 

a.  Individual Tests – only one individual is tested at a time.

 

b.  Group Tests: - a group of individuals is tested at the same time

 

2.  Classification based on the medium of testing

 

a.  Verbal Tests – they make use of language

 

b.  Non-verbal Tests - they make use of some activity or performance

 

1.  Classification based on the method of testing a. Individual Tests:

 

Individual tests of intelligence are those tests that are administered to a single individual at a time. Many of the tests in these scales require oral responses from the examinee. Individual intelligence tests are preferred by psychologist in clinics, hospitals and other settings where clinical diagnosis are made, and where they serve not only as measures of general intelligence but also as means of observing behavior in a standard situation.

 

E.g. 1. The Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale was developed by the French psychologist Alfred Binet, (the father of intelligence tests) and Theodore Simon in 1905. It was later revised in 1916. It is the first intelligence test and is generally administered in a school or clinical setting

 

2. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was designed by David Wechsler to test the intelligence of adult from 16-75 years.

3.  Bhatia’s Battery of Performance Intelligence Test developed by C.M.Bhatia.

 

Criticism:

 

These tests are particularly appropriate for testing individuals, but they are not financially feasible as they are expensive. In addition to this they are time consuming. Administration of such tests requires more experts training also.

 

b. Group Tests:

 

The group tests are administered upon a large number of examinees simultaneously. Such tests are more objective and less expensive. But in these tests no rapport between the subject and the examiner is established. Hence compared to individual tests, they are less useful for solving problems of individuals. Nevertheless, they have proved really useful for the purpose of educational and vocational guidance. a group of individuals is tested at the same time.

 

E.g.       1. A non-verbal group test of intelligence for secondary schools (A. Sukumaran Nair)

 

2.  The Group Test of General Mental Ability or Verbal Group Intelligence Test (J.S.Jalota)

 

3.  The Otis–Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT)

 

Difference between Individual and Group Tests

 

No.	Individual Test	Group Test
1.	Tests intelligence of an individual at a	Tests intelligence of a group at a
	Time	time
2.	Useful for children of every age	Not useful for children of lower
		age groups
3.	Time consuming	Time saving
4.	Uneconomic in terms of money and	Economic in terms of money and
	Labour	labour
5.	Administration is not easy	Administration is easy
6.	Interest of the individual is assured	Interest of the individual is not
		assured
7.	Results can be judged then and there	Results cannot be judged then and
		there

Criticism:

 

Group tests are more objective and less expensive. But in these tests no rapport between the subject and the examiner is established. Hence compared to individual tests, they are less useful for solving problems of individuals. Nevertheless, they have proved really useful for the purpose of educational and vocational guidance.

 

 

2.  Classification based on the medium of testing

 

a. Verbal Tests:

 

They make use of language: This denotes tests in which questions are asked or oral or in written form of a given language, for which answers also have to be given in oral or written language. These tests are not intended for, and cannot be used in the case of illiterates and small children, since such people lack linguistic ability.

2.  Army Alpha Test (Lewis Termin and Robert Yerkes)

 

b. Non-verbal tests/ Performance Tests of Intelligence.

These tests measure intelligence through some sort of performance of the individual. These make use of some activity or performance. These include tests that do not require the use of language, but could be manipulated using figures, pictures, blocks or even other objects. The performances are in the form of concrete activities that demand for the ability to see relations and solve problems. For measuring intelligence of persons with language handicap arising out of deafness or speech defect or cultural variations, this type of tests are widely used. Obviously, this is a non-verbal test.

 

Examples:          1. Army Beta Intelligence Test,

 

2.  Pidgon’s non-verbal tests

 

3.  Raven’s Progressive Matrices.

 

Their advantage is that they can be used for testing subjects who lack language ability.

 

 

Difference between Verbal test and Non-verbal test

 

	Sl.No.		Verbal Test				Non-verbal Test
	1.	It makes use of language				It  makes  use  of  pictures  and
						designs
	2	The    abilities    measured    are    verbal				The	abilities	measured	are
		reasoning,	memory	and	numerical	spatial	ability,	speed	and
		reasoning				induction
	3	It  cannot  be  used  for  testing  individuals				Individuals  who		lack  language
		who lack language ability				ability also can be tests by it.
	4	It is less expensive				It is more expensive
	5	The results of the tests are much affected				The results of the tests are less
		by schooling				affected by schooling
	6	Standardization is easy				Standardization is difficult
	7.	Administration and scoring are easy				Administration  and  scoring			are
						difficult
Abilities measured by intelligence tests

 

1.      Numerical reasoning

 

2.      Analogies

 

3.      Classification

 

4.      Spatial relations

 

5.      Logical selection

 

6.      Synonyms

 

7.      Practical judgement

 

8.      Verbal

 

9.      comprehension

 

10.  Memory

 

11.  Problem solving

 

1.      Intelligence tests are used for the purpose of making selection of suitable candidate for admission to courses that demand different levels of intelligence.

 

2.      Intelligence tests help the teacher to classify students into homogeneous groups for providing individualized instruction.

3.      Scores obtained in intelligence tests can motivate individuals to reach higher levels in the ladder.

 

4.      Intelligence tests help in revealing the potentialities of an individual and in this way make possible the prediction of one’s success in a particular field.

 

5.      Intelligence tests help to detect the exceptional children such as gifted, backward and mentally retarded. This in turn helps the teacher organize appropriate compensatory services.

 

6.      Intelligence tests help in the diagnosis of problematic behavior of the child.

 

7.      Intelligence testing has been proved to be very useful in psychological, sociological and

 

educational research.

 

1.      Intelligence tests label some students as superior and the others as inferior. This type of knowledge may create so many psychological problems.

 

2.      A teachers’ knowledge of the intelligence of his pupils may result in slackness on his part. He may put the entire responsibility of a pupil’s failure on his inferior intelligence, while an intelligent student may be left to work for himself.

 

3.       Intelligence tests results have been misused to uphold the theory of royal blood, segregation and sectarian outlook.

MODULE 5 - MOTIVATING THE LEARNER 5.1 Motivation – meaning and significance

 

Motivation is the very heart of the learning process. It brings the learner in the proper frame of mind for learning. Motivation derived from Latin word ‘movere’, which means to move. Atkinson defined, “motivation is the arousal of tendency to act or to produce one or more effects”. Motivation results from the interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors such as the

 

1.      intensity of desire or need,

 

2.      incentive or reward value of the goal, and

 

3.      expectations of the individual and of his or her peers. (There are different terms related to motivation.

 

• Need: To most psychologists, need is a psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a goal, giving purpose and direction to behaviour. Needs divided into two broad categories; biological and socio-psychological.

o  Biological needs - oxygen, food, drink, etc.

 

o Socio-psychological needs – freedom, security, love and affection, achievement, recognition, company, power, self-esteem, etc.

 

• Drive or urge: It indicates mental tension aroused by physical needs such as hunger, thirst etc. Physiological drives are psychological counterparts of physiological needs. The drive directs the behaviour in a definite direction according to the needs.

 

• Incentives: The elements in the environment which help to satisfy drives are called incentives. It insists, arouse and move to action or activate the activity. Positive incentives include praise, prize, smile etc., whereas negative incentives are pain, punishment etc.

 

• Goal: A goal is that state in an activity whose realisation results in the satisfaction of needs of the individual.

 

• Instincts: An instinct is an innate tendency to behave in a particular manner. It is called unlearned behaviour, because it arises from tendencies which exist in the mind of the individual at birth.

 

• Motives: It is a combination of thought, feeling or condition that causes one to act. According to William Thomas, there are four fundamental motives; a) desire for security, b) desire for response, 3) desire for recognition and 4) desire for new experience.)

The outstanding features of the concept of motivation:

 

1.  Motivation is a personal and internal feeling:

 

Motivation is a psychological phenomenon which generates within an individual.

 

2. Motivation is need based:

 

If there are no needs of an individual, the process of motivation fails. It is a behavioural concept that directs human behaviour towards certain goals.

 

3. Motivation is a continuous process:

 

Because human wants are unlimited, therefore motivation is an ongoing process.

 

4. Motivation may be positive or negative:

 

A positive motivation promotes incentives to people while a negative motivation threatens the enforcement of disincentives.

 

5. Motivation is a planned process:

 

People differ in their approach, to respond to the process of motivation; as no two individuals could be motivated in an exactly similar manner. Accordingly, motivation is a psychological concept and a complex process.

 

Significance of motivation:

 

Motivation has several effects on students’ learning and behaviour.

 

•       Motivation directs behaviour toward particular goals.

Motivation determines the specific goals toward which learners strive. Thus, it affects the choices students make.

 

•       Motivation leads to increased effort and energy.

 

Motivation increases the amount of effort and energy that learners expend in activities directly related to their needs and goals. It determines whether they pursue a task enthusiastically and wholeheartedly or apathetically and lackadaisically.

 

•       Motivation increases initiation of and persistence in activities.

 

Learners are more likely to begin a task they actually want to do. They are also more likely to continue working at it until they’ve completed it, even if they are occasionally interrupted or frustrated in the process. In general, then, motivation increases students’ time on task, an important factor affecting their learning and achievement.

 

•       Motivation affects cognitive processes.

 

Motivation affects what learners pay attention to and how effectively they process it. Motivated learners often make a concerted effort to truly understand classroom material—to learn it meaningfully—and consider how they might use it in their own lives.

 

•       Motivation determines which consequences are reinforcing and punishing.

 

The more learners are motivated to achieve academic success, the more they will be proud of a high grade and upset by a low grade. The more learners want to be accepted and respected by peers, the more they will value membership in the “in” group and be distressed by the ridicule of classmates.

 

•       Motivation often enhances performance.

 

Because of the other effects just identified—goal-directed behaviour, effort and energy, initiation and persistence, cognitive processing, and the impact of consequences—motivation often leads to improved performance. Students who are most motivated to learn and excel in classroom activities tend to be our highest achievers. Students who have little interest in academic achievement are at high risk for dropping out.

Following are the basic phases of the process of motivation.

 

1.    Need identification:

 

In the first phase of the process of motivation is the person feels certain need that is unsatisfied and hence he identifies that need. Then the unfulfilled need stimulates the person to search certain goal by creating tension in him. This tension acts as driving force for the accomplishment of the set goals which can satisfy the tension creating need.

 

2.    Exploring ways to fulfil the need:

 

In this phase of the process of motivation, different alternative ways are explored that can satisfy the unsatisfied need that is identified in the first phase. In fact, the unsatisfied need stimulates the thought processes of the person that direct him to adopt a certain course of action.

 

3.    Selecting goals:

 

In the third phase of the process of motivation, the goals are selected on the basis of identifying needs and alternative course of actions.

 

4.    Performance of the participant:

 

In the fourth phase of Motivation Process, the identified need stimulates the persons perform in a certain way that has already been considered by him. So the person performs certain course of action to the satisfaction of unsatisfied need.

 

5.    Rewards/punishments as consequences of performance:

 

If the consequences of the particular course of action followed by a person are in the form of rewards, then the person would be motivated to perform the same level of efforts for acquisition of similar rewards in future. Whereas when the anticipated results of the actions of a person employee lack the rewards, then he would not be willing to repeat his behaviour in the future.

6.    Reassessment of deficiencies of need:

 

When a person feels satisfaction for his certain unsatisfied need through the rewards of a certain line of action, then he again reassesses any further unsatisfied need and resultantly the whole process is repeated again.

 

5.2 Types of motivation,  Achievment                        motivation 

Types of Motivation

 

1.      Intrinsic motivation (Natural Motivation): It is associated with activities that are their own reward. It is a force within the individual and works from within the individual. This type of motivation has real value in the learning task as it creates spontaneous attention and interest and sustain it throughout. The intrinsic motivation is directly linked with the natural instincts, urges and impulses of the organism.

 

2.      Extrinsic motivation (Artificial Motivation): It is associated with activities that carry an external reward. It refers to forces outside the individual which are tied with environment. Extrinsic motivation has no functional relationship to the task. Usually extrinsic motivation is provided by incentives like praise, blame, rewards, punishments, marks, competitions etc. and

so it is also called incentive motivation.

 

These two motives often work together to determine the behaviour of the individual in direction and passion.

 

Achievement motivation:

 

It is the desire to accomplish difficult tasks and meet standards of excellence. Mc David defined achievement motivation as, “a system of goal direction in human activity that is closely related to competence, aggressiveness, dominance and pursuit of excellence.” The basis of achievement motivation is a person’s motive to achieve or what is called achievement motive. It refers to the degree to which a student desires to be successful. Students who have high achievement motivation work hard and perform well tasks.

 

The home, school, and society plays an important role in the development of achievement motive. Early training at home parental expectation, guidance to the child, social philosophy of the society, telling the story of great men and their achievements, proper environment in the class, teacher attitude, fixing independent responsibility, commitment and social climate, etc., develops achievement motive among students.

 

5.3 Strategies for enhancing motivation in learners

 

The following practical suggestions are effective to enhancing motivation in learners.

 

1.      Understanding the degree of maturation required for learning

 

2.      Bringing assignments within child’s experience

 

3.      Respect for personality

 

4.      Securing attention, creating interest, and enthusiasm

 

5.      Attitude of the teacher in motivation

 

6.      Praise and reproof (criticism) of learning

 

7.      Emphasis on positive guidance

 

8.      Clear assignments and definite goal

 

9.      Encouraging self-motivation among children

 

10.  Making unconscious and semiconscious needs and wants conscious

 

11.  Development of self-appraisal

 

12.  Developing values, ideals and life goals

 

13.  Setting a good model

 

14.  Emphasis on group dynamics

 

15.  Competition vs. cooperation

 

16.  Participation through participation

 

17.  Appealing to as many motives as possible and to the total personality

18.  Rewards to performance

 

19.  Knowledge of progress

 

20.  Effective repetition and active participation

 

5.4 Maslow’s theory of motivation

 

There are large number of theories of motivation, so there are different theoretical perspectives on motivation also.

 

• Instinct Theory - Behaviours are characteristic of a species and do not rely on learning Eg:

 o Freud - Theorized that instincts of sex and aggression create psychic energy or a feeling of tension

• Drive-Reduction Theory - Behaviours are reactions to drives; the main goal of action is to reduce tension

o  Hull - Theorized that rewards are pleasant because they reduce drive

▪          Primary drives - Hunger, thirst, and pain; do not need to be learned. Trigger tension and activate behaviour We learn responses to partially or completely reduce the drive

 

▪          Acquired drives - Acquired or learned through experience

•          Humanistic Theory - Behaviour is motivated in part by the conscious desire for personal growth; people will tolerate pain, hunger, and other sources of tension to achieve personal fulfilment

o  Self-actualization - Self-initiated striving to become what one is capable of being

o  Maslow’s theory of self-actualisation put forth that man’s basic needs are arranged in

a  “hierarchy”.

 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs –

The Maslow motivation theory is one of the best known and most influential theories on workplace motivation. Psychologist Abraham Maslow first developed his famous theory of individual development and motivation in the 1940’s. He suggested that human beings have a hierarchy of needs. That is, that all humans act in a way which will address basic needs, before moving on to satisfy other, so-called higher-level needs. He theorized that people would travel up the hierarchy through their lives so long as they did not meet insoluble social or environmental obstacles.

 

In order to better understand what motivates human beings, Maslow proposed that human needs can be organized into a hierarchy. This hierarchy ranges from more concrete needs - such as food and water - to more abstract concepts such as self-fulfilment. According to Maslow, when a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes our focus of attention. The five categories of needs according to Maslow are:

 

•         Physiological needs – such as hunger, thirst, elimination of fatigue, pain and sleep

 

•         Safety needs – such as security, protection from danger and freedom from pain.

 

•         Social needs (Love and belongingness needs) –such as friendship, giving and receiving love, engaging in social activities and group membership. The need for interpersonal relationships motivates behaviour.

 

•         Esteem needs – these include both self-respect and the esteem of others. For example, the desire for self-confidence and achievement, and recognition and appreciation.

 

•         Self-actualization – This is about the desire to develop and realize one’s full potential. Maslow believed that human beings have a strong desire to reach their full potential. In his own words: “a man’s desire for self-fulfilment, namely the tendency for him to become actually in what he is potentially: to become everything that one is capable of b

 

 Merits of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation:

 

Maslow theory has been widely appreciated due to following reasons:

 

(i)   Maslow’s theory of motivation helps the teachers in understanding how to motivate the

 

students.

 

(ii)  Maslow’s theory of motivation theory is very simple, common and easily understandable.

 

(iii)  It accounts for both inter-personal and intra-personal variations in human behaviour.

 

(iv)   Maslow’s theory of motivation theory is dynamic because it presents motivation as a changing force; changing from one level of needs to the other.

 

 

Criticisms of Hierarchy of Needs Theory

 

There are some criticisms of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory of motivation. These are-

 

1. No single motivation theory can bold up to any circumstance and Needs of all people is not uniform.

 

2. No supporting scientific evidence to prove the Maslow’s theory.

 

3. Failed to considered Culture influence.

 

4. Fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical, and are ontologically universal and invariant in nature - part of the condition of being human; poverty may result from any one of these needs being frustrated, denied or unfulfilled.

 

5. Criticism of Maslow’s pyramid as ethnocentric may stem from the fact that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs neglects to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social and intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and those raised in collectivist societies.

 

6. Maslow created his hierarchy of needs from an individualistic perspective, being that he was from the United States, a highly individualistic nation. The needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centred than those in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with self-actualization being the apex of self-improvement.

 

7. Several problems has Maslow’s pyramid. One of them is that needs, once they are met, do not simply disappear. Rather, certain environmental cues can make them come back.