nature and functions of educational psychology

1

I

Nature and Functions

of Educational

Psychology

2

Nature and Functions of Educational Psychology

A. Pretest

Instruction: Analyze the statement carefully. Inside the box put if the statement is correct

and x if it’s not.

1. One of the functions of educational psychology is to provide an understanding of the

nature aims and purposes of education.

2. Educational psychology possesses well organized , systematic and universally accepted

body of facts supported by the relevant psychological laws ad principle

3. Philosophy was defined as the “study of the soul”.

4. Philosophy is the scientific study of the activities of the individual in relation to his

environment

5. Sociological Psychology is a branch of psychology which deals with teaching and

learning.

6. Educational Psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual

from birth through old age.

7. Philosophy describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth

through old age.

8. Psychologists explore concepts such as perception, cognition, attention, emotion,

phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior, and interpersonal

relationships, including psychological resilience, family resilience, and other areas.

9. Classical conditioning was an early behaviorist model.

10. Biological psychology or behavioral neuroscience is the study of the biological substrates

of behavior and mental processes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_%28psychology%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain#Functions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_resilience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_resilience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning

3


Key to Correction

(PreTest)

1.

2.

3. x Psychology was defined as the “study of the soul

4. x Psychology is the scientific study of the activities of the individual in relation to his

environment

5. x Educational Psychology is a branch of psychology which deals with teaching and

learning.

6.

7. x Psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth

through old age.

8.

9.

10.

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B. Introduction

Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various

spheres of human activity, including relating to individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. Psychology differs from the other social sciences — anthropology, economics,

political science, and sociology — in that psychology seek to explain the mental processes and behavior of individuals. Whereas biology and neuroscience study the biological or neural processes and how they relate to the mental effects they subjectively produce, psychology is

primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior on a systemic level. The subfield of neuropsychology studies the actual neural processes while biological psychology

studies the biological bases of behavior and mental states.

Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior, mind and thought and the subconscious neurological bases of behavior. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of

individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. It is largely concerned with humans, although the behavior and mental processes of animals can also be part of psychology research,

either as a subject in its own right (e.g. animal cognition and ethnology), or somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology

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C. Content

What is Psychology?

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 18th century, psychology was understood as the ‘Science of Mind’. William James

(1892) defined psychology as the science of mental processes. But the word ‘minds ‘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.

(Thus psychology first lost its soul, then its mind and then its consciousness). At present

only its behavior exists. William McDugall (1905) defined psychology as the “Science of

Behavior”, W.B. Pillsbury (1911) and J.B. Watson (1912) also defined psychology as the

science of behavior.

Behavior generally means overt activities which can observe and measured scientifically.

But one’s behavior is always influenced by his experiences. So when we study one’s

behavior we must also study his experiences.

Psychology should, therefore, be defined as a “science of behavior and experiences on

human beings” (B.F. Skinner)

According to Crow and Crow, “Psychology is the study of human behavior and human

relationship’”.

What is Educational Psychology? `

Educational psychology is that branch of psychology in which the findings of psychology

are applied in the field of education. It is the scientific study of human behavior in

educational setting.

Thus educational psychology is a behavioral science with two main references

– human behavior and education. – In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational Psychology is

the science of Education”.

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Education by all means is an attempt to mould and shape the behavior 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.”

(In this way, the work of the Educational Psychologists resembles with that of an

Engineer, who is a technical expert. The Engineer supplies all the knowledge and skill

essential for the accomplishment of the job satisfactorily… for example, construction of a

bridge.). In the same way Educational Psychologists, who is a technical expert in the field

of Education, supplies all the information, principles and techniques essential for:

Understanding the behavior of the pupil in response to educational environment and

desired modification of his behavior to bring an all-round development of his personality.

In this way, it is quite reasonable to call Educational Psychology as a science and

technology of Education.

Thus, 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.

In short, it is the scientific discipline that addresses the questions: “Why do some students

learn more than others?” and “What can be done to improve that learning?”

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.

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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 behavior 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 behavior 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 behavior.

SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

The scope of educational psychology is ever-growing due to constantly researches in this

field. The following factors will indicate the scope of educational psychology:

1. The Learner. The subject-matter of educational psychology is knitted around the learner.

Therefore, the need of knowing the learner and the techniques of knowing him well. The topics

include – the innate abilities and capacities of the individuals, individual differences and their

measurements, the overt, covert, conscious as well as unconscious behavior 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 counseling etc. For the smooth functioning of

the teaching- learning process.

8

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. 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.

Though the entire scope of Educational Psychology is included in the above mentioned five key-

factors, it may be further expanded by adding the following:

A. It studies Human Behavior in educational situations. Psychology is the study of

behavior, and education deals with the modification of behavior; hence, educational

psychology pervades the whole field of education.

B. 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.

C. 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.

D. 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.

E. 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 revolutionaries the concept and process of

education.

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

a teacher.

G. It Provides Guidance and Counseling: Education is nothing but providing guidance to

the growing child.

We can conclude by saying that Educational Psychology is narrower in scope than

general psychology. While general psychology deals with the behavior of the individual in a

general way, educational psychology in concerned with the behavior of the learner in an

educational setting.

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D. Summary

There are various different approaches in contemporary psychology. An approach is a

perspective (i.e. view) that involves certain assumptions (i.e. beliefs) about human behavior: the

way they function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are

appropriate for undertaking this study. There may be several different theories within an

approach, but they all share these common assumptions perspectives and whether one approach

is correct and others wrong. Most psychologists would agree that no one perspective is correct,

although in the past, in the early days of psychology, the behaviorist would have said their

perspective was the only truly scientific one.

Each perspective has its strengths and weaknesses, and brings something different to our

understanding of human behavior. For this reasons, it is important that psychology does have

different perspectives to the understanding and study of human and animal behavior.

Behaviorism is different from most other approaches because they view people (and animals) as

controlled by their environment and specifically that we are the result of what we have learned

from our environment. Behaviorism is concerned with how environmental factors (called

stimuli) affect observable behavior (called the response).

The behaviorist approach proposes two main processes whereby people learn from their

environment: namely classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning

involves learning by association, and operant conditioning involves learning from the

consequences of behavior.Behaviorism also believes in scientific methodology (e.g. controlled

experiments), and that only observable behavior should be studies because this can be

objectively measured. Behaviorism rejects the idea that people have free will, and believes that

the environment determines all behavior. Behaviorism is the scientific study of observable

behavior working on the basis that behavior can be reduced to learn S-R (Stimulus-Response)

units.

Classical conditioning (CC) was studied by the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov.

Though looking into natural reflexes and neutral stimuli he managed to condition dogs to salivate

to the sound of a bell through repeated associated of the sound of the bell and food. The

principles of CC have been applied in many therapies. These include systematic desensitization

for phobias (step-by-step exposed to feared stimulus at once) and aversion therapy. B.F. Skinner

investigated operant conditioning of voluntary and involuntary behavior. Skinner felt that some

behavior could be explained by the person's motive. Therefore behavior occurs for a reason, and

the three main behavior shaping techniques are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement

and punishment. Behaviorism has been criticized in the way it under-estimates the complexity of

human behavior. Many studies used animals which are hard to generalize to humans and it

cannot explain for example the speed in which we pick up language. There must be biological

factors involved.

http://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Systematic-Desensitisation.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

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E. POST TEST

Instruction: Read the statement carefully and choose the best answer on the box. Write the

answer on the space provided.

__________________1. He believes that events in our childhood can have a significant impact

on our behavior as adults.

__________________2. A branch of psychology in which the findings of psychology are applied

in the field of education.

__________________3. He investigated operant conditioning of voluntary and involuntary

behavior.

__________________4. According to him “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.”

__________________5. An educational psychologist conducts his investigations, gathers his

data and reaches his conclusions in exactly the same manner as physicist or the biologist.

__________________6. The educational psychologist studies human beings and their

sociability.

__________________7. It is concerned with new and ever new researches.

__________________8. Normative science like Logic or Ethics deals with facts as they ought to

be.

__________________9. Classical conditioning (CC) was studied by the Russian psychologist.

__________________10. Behaviorism is the scientific study of observable behavior working on the basis that behavior can be reduced to learn _______________ units.

E.A Peel Educational Psychology is a Developing or Growing Science

B.F. Skinner Educational Psychology is a Natural Science

Sigmund Freud Educational Psychology is a Social Science

Ivan Pavlov Educational Psychology is a Positive Science

S-R (Stimulus-Response) Educational psychology

http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

http://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html

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Key to Correction

(Post test)

1. Sigmund Freud

2. Educational psychology

3. B. F. Skinner

4. E.A. Peel

5. Educational Psychology is a Natural Science

6. Educational Psychology is a Social Science

7. Educational Psychology is a Developing or Growing Science

8. Educational Psychology is a Positive Science

9. Ivan Pavlov

10. S-R (Stimulus Response)

Reference: http://seminarprojects.com/Thread-meaning-scope-functions-of-

philosophy-of-education-pdf#ixzz3GGs8cwwi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology#Behaviorism

http://johnparankimalil.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/meaning-nature-and-scope-of-

educational-psychology/

http://www.psychologistworld.com/behavior/stimulus-response-theory.php

http://seminarprojects.com/Thread-meaning-scope-functions-of-philosophy-of-education-pdf#ixzz3GGs8cwwi

http://seminarprojects.com/Thread-meaning-scope-functions-of-philosophy-of-education-pdf#ixzz3GGs8cwwi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology#Behaviorism

http://johnparankimalil.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/meaning-nature-and-scope-of-educational-psychology/

http://johnparankimalil.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/meaning-nature-and-scope-of-educational-psychology/

http://www.psychologistworld.com/behavior/stimulus-response-theory.php

12

II

Nature of Attitude of

Emotion

13

Nature of Attitude of Emotion

A. Pre-Test

Instruction: Analyze the statement carefully. Inside the box put if the

statement is correct and x if it’s not.

1. People need to maintain an organized, meaningful, and stable view of

the world.

2. People adopt attitudes that are rewarding and that help them avoid

punishment.

3. The "presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent.

4. Implicit measures tend to rely on self-reports or easily observed

behaviors.

5. Explicit measures are not consciously directed and are assumed to be

automatic

6. Knowledge provides us with general approach or avoidance

tendencies.

7. An attitude can be as a positive or negative evaluation of people.

8. Ego defensive used to express central values or beliefs.

9. Attitudes can be difficult to measure

10. Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and

attitude change.

14


A. Pre-Test Key to Correction

1. People need to maintain an organized, meaningful, and stable view of

the world.

2. People adopt attitudes that are rewarding and that help them avoid

punishment.

3. The "presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent.

4. Implicit measures tend to rely on self-reports or easily observed

behaviors.(Explicit)

5. Explicit measures are not consciously directed and are assumed to be

automatic. (Implicit)

6. Knowledge provides us with general approach or avoidance

tendencies.(Utilitarian)

7. An attitude can be as a positive or negative evaluation of people.

8. Ego defensive used to express central values or beliefs.

9. Attitudes can be difficult to measure

10. Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and

attitude change.

x

x

x

x

15


B. Introduction

To live in harmony with the world, humans have to in some contexts control the

environment and in other contexts they need to accommodate to the control of the environment.

In order for man to be able to do so, he first requires knowledge of the world he lives in. But the

world contains millions of objects and events -- enough to drive any person to his wits' end if he

were to study each of them individually. A hit-or-miss approach of ever freshly responding to

individual stimuli as and when they present themselves would keep us incompetent to the end of

time. As a feasible alternative, therefore, man has recourse to a parsimonious understanding: he

classifies the stimuli, gives them category names and simplifies his dealing with them. Thus, he

reduces the multiplicity by conveniently grouping the objects and phenomena and develops

general or category-specific orientations to knowing them and dealing with them. Attitudes, thus,

serve as a personal strategy or an informal and empirical theory, based on direct experiences and

communications from others, to help reduce the anxiety in acquiring a working knowledge of the

world.

We also strive to maximize success and minimize failures in our interaction with the

world. Therefore, we develop favorable attitudes toward those objects which we perceive will

facilitate success and unfavorable attitudes toward those which we perceive will hinder success

or lead to failure. Besides developing such positive and negative affects toward correspondingly

valenced objects, we also adopt the attitudes of peers, authority figures, etc. to conform and feel

accepted. Thus, attitudes help us lead an adjusted social life.

Attitudes help people to understand the world around them, to lead an adjusted life in the

world, to protect their self-esteem, and to express their fundamental values. An attitude may

perform one or more or even all of these functions. For example, you might develop a hostile

attitude toward a particular "clique" of fellow students for ego-defensive reasons. Quite soon this

attitude guides your selection of student acquaintances and friends and thus becomes

instrumental in fulfilling your need to belong to a peer group. It can also lead you to assert your

views and derive satisfaction from being able to take an open stand on issues. It can also

facilitate your further dealings with the group by disposing you to act in a clear-cut and well-

defined fashion rather than feel fresh and lost every time you encounter the group or any of its

members.

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C. Content

An attitude can be as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, events,

activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is a debate about precise

definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an attitude as "a psychological tendency that

is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor." Though it is

sometimes common to define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions

or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a measure of

favorability.

This definition of attitude allows for one's evaluation of an attitude object to vary from

extremely negative to extremely positive, but also admits that people can also be conflicted or

ambivalent toward an object meaning that they might at different times express both positive and

negative attitude toward the same object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual

can hold multiple attitudes toward the same object.

Whether attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) versus implicit (i.e.,

subconscious) has been a topic of considerable research. Research on implicit attitudes, which

are generally unacknowledged or outside of awareness, uses sophisticated methods involving

people's response times to stimuli to show that implicit attitudes exist (perhaps in tandem with

explicit attitudes of the same object). Implicit and explicit attitudes seem to affect people's

behavior, though in different ways. They tend not to be strongly associated with each other,

although in some cases they are. The relationship between them is poorly understood.

On the other hand, the Iterative Reprocessing (IR) Model takes an integrated approach to

understanding attitudes instead of distinguishing between implicit and explicit attitude.

According to the IR model (Cunningham & Zelazo, 2007; Cunningham, Zelazo, Packer, & Van

Bavel, 2007), attitudes are characterized as evaluation, which refers to process of unfolding an

emergent property of multiple processes during a period of time. According to the theory, it is

differences in information processing, not different attitudinal representations stored in discrete

memory systems that cause differences in evaluation (Van Bavel, Xiao, & Cunningham, 2012).

The IR model proposes a connectionist framework. In this frame work, attitudes are defined as

stable unit weights, whereas evaluations refer to the current pattern of activation of the units

(Cunningham et al., 2007). Unit weights consist of valence and intensity (Van Bavel et al.,

2012). Depending on the level of valence and intensity, the extent to which evaluation is

influenced by context, motivation, and goals will be different (Van Bavel et al. 2012).

17

Measurements

Many measurements and scales are used to examine attitudes. Attitudes can be difficult to

measure because measurement is arbitrary, meaning people have to give attitudes a scale to measure it against, and attitudes are ultimately a hypothetical construct that cannot be observed

directly.

Following the explicit-implicit dichotomy, attitudes can be examined through direct and indirect measures.

A. Explicit

Explicit measures tend to rely on self-reports or easily observed behaviors. These tend to

involve bipolar scales (e.g., good-bad, favorable-unfavorable, support-oppose, etc.). Explicit measures can also be used by measuring the straightforward attribution of characteristics to nominate groups, such as "I feel that baptists are....?" or "I think that men are...?" Likert scales

and other self-reports are also commonly used.

B. Implicit

Implicit measures are not consciously directed and are assumed to be automatic, which may make implicit measures more valid and reliable than explicit measures (such as self-

reports). For example, people can be motivated such that they find it socially desirable to appear to have certain attitudes. An example of this is that people can hold implicit prejudicial attitudes, but express explicit attitudes that report little prejudice. Implicit measures help account for these

situations and look at attitudes that a person may not be aware of or want to show. Implicit measures therefore usually rely on an indirect measure of attitude.

For example, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) examines the strength between the

target concept and an attribute element by considering the latency in which a person can examine two response keys when each has two meanings. With little time to carefully examine what the

participant is doing they respond according to internal keys. This priming can show attitudes the person has about a particular object.

Function

Another classic view of attitudes is that attitudes serve particular functions for individuals. That is, researchers have tried to understand why individuals hold particular attitudes or why they hold attitudes in general by considering how attitudes affect the individuals who

hold them. Daniel Katz, for example, writes that attitudes can serve "instrumental, adjustive or utilitarian," "ego-defensive," "value-expressive," or "knowledge" functions. The functional view

of attitudes suggests that in order for attitudes to change (e.g., via persuasion), appeals must be made to the function(s) that a particular attitude serves for the individual. As an example, the "ego-defensive" function might be used to influence the racially prejudicial attitudes of an

individual who sees themselves as open-minded and tolerant. By appealing to that individual's image of themselves as tolerant and open-minded, it may be possible to change their prejudicial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likert_scale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudicial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_Association_Test

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Katz_%28psychologist%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuasion

18

attitudes to be more consistent with their self-concept. Similarly, a persuasive message that threatens self-image is much more likely to be rejected.

Daniel Katz classified attitudes into four different groups based on their functions

1. Utilitarian: provides us with general approach or avoidance tendencies 2. Knowledge : help people organize and interpret new information 3. Ego-defensive : attitudes can help people protect their self-esteem 4. Value-expressive : used to express central values or beliefs

Utilitarian People adopt attitudes that are rewarding and that help them avoid punishment. In other words any attitude that is adopted in a person's own self-interest is considered to serve a utilitarian function. Consider you have a condo, people with condos pay property taxes, and as a

result you don't want to pay more taxes. If those factors lead to your attitude that " Increases in property taxes are bad" you attitude is serving a utilitarian function.

Knowledge People need to maintain an organized, meaningful, and stable view of the world.

That being said important values and general principles can provide a framework for our knowledge. Attitudes achieve this goal by making things fit together and make sense. Example:

I believe that I am a good person. I believe that good things happen to good people. Something bad happens to Bob. So I believe Bob must not be a good person.

Ego-Defensive This function involves psychoanalytic principles where people use defense

mechanisms to protect themselves from psychological harm. Mechanisms include:

Denial Repression Projection Rationalization

The ego-defensive notion correlates nicely with Downward Comparison Theory which holds the view that derogating a less fortunate other increases our own subjective well-being. We are more

likely to use the ego-defensive function when we suffer a frustration or misfortune.

Value-Expressive

Serves to express one's central values and self-concept. Central values tend to establish our identity and gain us social approval thereby showing us who

we are, and what we stand for.

An example would concern attitudes toward a controversial political issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-concept

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_repression

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalization_%28making_excuses%29

19

Change

Attitudes can be changed through persuasion and an important domain of research on attitude

change focuses on responses to communication. Experimental research into the factors that can

affect the persuasiveness of a message include:

1. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and

processes a message. One such trait is intelligence - it seems that more intelligent people

are less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied

in this category is self-esteem. Although it is sometimes thought that those higher in self-

esteem are less easily persuaded, there is some evidence that the relationship between

self-esteem and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate self-esteem

being more easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-esteem levels (Rhodes

& Woods, 1992). The mind frame and mood of the target also plays a role in this process.

2. Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness

and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of a perceived message has

been found to be a key variable here; if one reads a report about health and believes it

came from a professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one

believes it is from a popular newspaper. Some psychologists have debated whether this is

a long-lasting effect and Hovland and Weiss (1951) found the effect of telling people that

a message came from a credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-called

"sleeper effect"). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial. Perceived wisdom is

that if people are informed of the source of a message before hearing it, there is less

likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told a message and then told its source.

3. Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion.

Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes. When

people are not motivated to process the message, simply the number of arguments

presented in a persuasive message will influence attitude change, such that a greater

number of arguments will produce greater attitude change.

4. Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an individual's cognitive evaluation to help

change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented with the

data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion. In

the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to not look at the

content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that feature

celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts are used. In other cases film stars

are used for their attractiveness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curvilinear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_attraction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeper_effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive

20

Emotion and attitude change

Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change.

Much of attitude research emphasized the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or

situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns and political campaign advertising emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of

cognitive, affective and cognitive components. Attitudes are part of the brain’s associative networks, the spider-like structures residing in long term memory that consist of affective and

cognitive nodes.

By activating an affective or emotion node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined. In primarily affective networks, it is more difficult to produce cognitive counterarguments in the resistance to persuasion and attitude

change.Affective forecasting, otherwise known as intuition or the prediction of emotion, also impacts attitude change. Research suggests that predicting emotions is an important component

of decision making, in addition to the cognitive processes. How we feel about an outcome may override purely cognitive rationales.

In terms of research methodology, the challenge for researchers is measuring emotion and subsequent impacts on attitude. Since we cannot see into the brain, various models and

measurement tools have been constructed to obtain emotion and attitude information. Measures may include the use of physiological cues like facial expressions, vocal changes, and other body

rate measures. For instance, fear is associated with raised eyebrows, increased heart rate and increase body tension (Dillard, 1994). Other methods include concept or network mapping, and using primes or word cues in the era .

Any discrete emotion can be used in a persuasive appeal; this may include jealousy, disgust, indignation, fear, blue, disturbed, haunted,and anger. Fear is one of the most studied emotional appeals in communication and social influence research.

Important consequences of fear appeals and other emotion appeals include the possibility

of reactance which may lead to either message rejections or source rejection and the absence of attitude change. As the EPPM suggests, there is an optimal emotion level in motivating attitude

change. If there is not enough motivation, an attitude will not change; if the emotional appeal is overdone, the motivation can be paralyzed thereby preventing attitude change.

Important factors that influence the impact of emotion appeals include self efficacy,

attitude accessibility, issue involvement, and message/source features. Self efficacy is a

perception of one’s own human agency; in other words, it is the perception of our own ability to

deal with a situation. It is an important variable in emotion appeal messages because it dictates a

person’s ability to deal with both the emotion and the situation. For example, if a person is not

self-efficacious about their ability to impact the global environment, they are not likely to change

their attitude or behavior about global warming.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_influence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_change

21


D. Summary

The effects of attitudes on behaviours represent a significant research enterprise within

psychology. Two theoretical approaches have dominated this research: the theory of reasoned action and, its theoretical descendant, the theory of planned behavior, both of which are associated with Icek Ajzen. Both of these theories describe the link between attitude and

behaviour as a deliberative process, with an individual actively choosing to engage in an attitude-related behaviour. An alternative model, called MODE for "Motivation and Opportunity as

Determinants" was proposed by Russell H. Fazio, which focuses on motivations and opportunities for deliberative attitude-related behaviour to occur. MODE is a Dual process theory that expects deliberative attitude-behaviour linkages - like those modeled by the theory of

planned behaviour - only occur when individuals have motivation to reflect upon their own attitudes.

The theory of reasoned action (TRA) is a model for the prediction of behavioral

intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The subsequent separation of behavioral intention from behavior allows for explanation of limiting factors on attitudinal influence (Ajzen, 1980). The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Martin

Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1975, 1980), derived from previous research that started out as the theory of attitude, which led to the study of attitude and behavior. The theory was "born largely

out of frustration with traditional attitude–behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors" (Hale, Householder & Greene, 2003, p. 259).

The theory of planned behavior was proposed by Icek Ajzen in 1985 through his article "From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior." The theory was developed from the theory of reasoned action, which was proposed by Martin Fishbein together with Icek Ajzen in

1975. The theory of reasoned action was in turn grounded in various theories of attitude such as learning theories, expectancy-value theories, consistency theories, and attribution theory.

According to the theory of reasoned action, if people evaluate the suggested behavior as positive (attitude), and if they think their significant others want them to perform the behavior (subjective norm), this results in a higher intention (motivation) and they are more likely to do so. A high

correlation of attitudes and subjective norms to behavioral intention, and subsequently to behavior, has been confirmed in many studies.

A counter-argument against the high relationship between behavioral intention and actual

behavior has also been proposed, as the results of some studies show that, because of circumstantial limitations, behavioral intention does not always lead to actual behavior. Namely, since behavioral intention cannot be the exclusive determinant of behavior where an individual's

control over the behavior is incomplete, Ajzen introduced the theory of planned behavior by adding a new component, "perceived behavioral control." By this, he extended the theory of

reasoned action to cover non-volitional behaviors for predicting behavioral intention and actual behavior.

22


E. Post Test

Instruction: Read the statement carefully and choose the best answer on the box. Write the

answer on the space provided.

_________________1. This function involves psychoanalytic principles where people use

defense mechanisms to protect themselves from psychological harm.

__________________2. These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and

processes a message.

__________________3. It helps people organize and interpret new information

__________________4. A message can appeal to an individual's cognitive evaluation to help

change an attitude.

__________________5. It achieve this goal by making things fit together and make sense.

__________________6. These tend to involve bipolar scales (e.g., good-bad, support-oppose,

etc.).

__________________7. The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and

interpersonal attraction or attractiveness.

__________________8. It’s used to express central values or beliefs.

__________________9. It provides us with general approach or avoidance tendencies

__________________10. It is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude

change.

Cognitive Routes Emotion Ego Defensive

Explicit measures Value Expressive Knowledge

Message Characteristics Implicit Measures Utilitarian

Target Characteristics Source Characteristics Attitude





23


E. Post Test

(Key to Correction)

___Ego Defensive__ 1. This function involves psychoanalytic principles where people use

defense mechanisms to protect themselves from psychological harm.

Target Characteristics 2. These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and

processes a message.

Knowledge_ 3. It helps people organize and interpret new information.

Cognitive Routes____4. A message can appeal to an individual's cognitive evaluation to help

change an attitude.

Attitude ___5. It achieve this goal by making things fit together and make sense

_Explicit measures ___6. These tend to involve bipolar scales (e.g., good-bad, support-oppose,

etc.).

Source Characteristics 7. The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and

interpersonal attraction or attractiveness.

Value Expressive ____ 8. It’s used to express central values or beliefs

Utilitarian ________ 9. It provides us with general approach or avoidance tendencies

Emotion ______ 10. It is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude

change.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_%28psychology%29

http://arulmj.net/attitud1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis

http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/6531?e=portolesediashumrel_1.0-ch01_s03





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_%28psychology%29

http://arulmj.net/attitud1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis



24

III

NATURE AND

FUNDAMENTAL

EQUIPMENT OF THE

LEARNER

25

NATURE AND FUNDAMENTAL EQUIPMENT OF THE

LEARNER

A. PRE-TEST

Instruction: Analyze the statement carefully. Inside the box put if the statement is correct

and x if it’s not.

1. Behaviorism denies or ignores mental activity as the basis for learning.

2. The individual is in active relation with his environment.

3. Every creature that lives learns.

4. The only way to study learning is through some observable behavior.

5. Behavior has been found to be one of the main factors that influence learning.

6. The will to learn is always labeled as a factor determining the amount of learning.

7. Educational background of the learner is an important factor that affects his

learning.

8. Teacher’s knowledge related with his subject, his experience and ability has a

direct bearing on the learning of the students.

9. Teacher’s behaviors influence the learning of students directly.

10. Behavior is one of the basic principles for effective teaching, because no

purposeful learning can take place apart from it.

26


LEARNER

A. PRE-TEST

Key to Correction

1. Behaviorism denies or ignores mental activity as the basis for learning.

2. The individual is in active relation with his environment.

3. Every creature that lives learns.

4. The only way to study learning is through some observable behavior.

5. Behavior has been found to be one of the main factors that influence learning.

(intelligence)

6. The will to learn is always labeled as a factor determining the amount of learning.

7. Educational background of the learner is an important factor that affects his

learning.

8. Teacher’s knowledge related with his subject, his experience and ability has a

direct bearing on the learning of the students.

9. Teacher’s behaviors influence the learning of students directly.

10. Behavior is one of the basic principles for effective teaching, because no

purposeful learning can take place apart from it. (Motivation)

X

X

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LEARNER

B. Introduction

There are certain fundamental qualities of a learner that can be considered as the

learner’s equipment in order for him of for her to absorbed knowledge in learning. These

fundamental equipments are the learners cognitive as well as the learner’s appetitive faculties.

There are certain fundamental qualities of a learner that can be considered as the learner’s

equipment in order for him of for her to absorbed knowledge in learning. These fundamental

equipments are the learners cognitive as well as the learner’s appetitive faculties. These faculties

will naturally help or guide the learner as he dealt with the learning process.

The cognitive faculties of the learners included his or her five senses, his memory,

his imagination, as well as his intellect. All of these faculties is related to the basic operation of

the human brain and are necessary for the learning process. Through the learner’s five senses, the

learners can be able to see, to hear, to taste and to smell. He or she can be able to grasp different

information from his or her surrounding environment using these natural senses. With the

learner’s imagination, he or she can be able to form pictorial representation of material objects in

his or her mind. This ability is an important factor in the learning process.

The learner’s memory is one of the important factors in learning. With the use of

the memory, the learner can recall or retain post mental actions in his or her mind. The memory

serves as the storage of the prior knowledge of the learner. The learner’s intellect is also an

important factor in learning. With the use of the learner’s intellect, he or she can be able to form

concepts of ideas as he or she thinks as well make judgment from given information and reason

out. The appetitive faculty of the learner that can also be considered as equipment in learning

includes the feeling, the emotion as well as the learner’s rational will.

Using the learner’s feelings as well as his or her emotions, he or she can be able to

experience the pain or the joy, as well as the feelings of being happy, being sad or being angry to

a particular subject or situation. With his or her feelings, he can be able to identify and

experience the real feelings about a particular thing or situation. Using the learner’s rational will,

he or she has the capacity to think and choose what he or she thinks to be desirable according to

his or her own analysis. His or her rational will, will serve as a kind of guiding force or a main

integrating force in his or her character.

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LEARNER

C. CONTENT

NATURE OF LEARNING /CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING

All Living is Learning i.e, the individual is in active relation with his environment.

1. It results in Change in Behavior. We note a change in the planarian’s response to the light. It is a change of behavior influenced by previous behavior. It is any activity that

leaves a more or less permanent effect on later activity. 2. Learning is an Adjustment. Most learning in children consists in modifying, adapting,

and developing their original nature. In later life the individuals acquire new forms of behavior.

3. It comes about as a result of practice . This characteristic eliminates sources of change

such as illness and maturation. Potent effects of motivation on behavior are worth considerable here.

4. Learning is Universal. Every creature that lives learns. Man learns most. Human children have the longest period of immaturity and helplessness and hence the longer period for opportunity for learning. The human nervous system is very complex, so are

human reactions and so are human acquisition. 5. Learning is a relatively Permanent Change. After a rat wake up from his nap he still

remembers the path to the food. Even if you have been on a bicycle for years, in just a few minutes practice you can be quite proficient again.

6. Learning is Growth. It is never ending growth. At reach stage the learner acquires new

visions of his future growth and news ideals of achievement in the direction of his effort. Each achievement forms are basis of a fresh endeavor and thus the constant urge of his

soul to newer and higher ideals of work and achievement is progressively fulfil led. 7. Learning is not directly observable. The only way to study learning is through some

observable behaviour. Actually, we cannot observe learning; we see only what precedes

performance, the performance itself, and the consequences of performance.

FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING:

Learning is a comprehensive process. The success of this process depends not only upon

the effective teaching but also upon so many group factors. The factors related with the learner, the teacher, and the environment are seen responsible as a determinant of quantity, nature and speed of learning. The main factors that affect learning may be mentioned as below-

A) Factors belonging to the learner.

B) Factors belonging to the teacher. C) Environmental Factors.

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A) Factors belonging to the learner

The factors affecting learning related with the learner may be specified as under:-

1) The Child Himself:

Child is the pivot of any learning activity. All activities rotate around him. As the aim of education is all round development of child’s personality, from this point of view, the activities

based and carried on account of child’s needs, interests, attitudes, aptitudes, potentialities, capabilities, individuality, intelligence, etc. may be effective and of immense importance. Child is the basis of teaching- learning process, hence, ignorance of child at any stage will make all the

learning process futile and more imagination, nothing else. Hence, it is suggested that each and every activity related with the learning should be carried out in accordance with child’s interests,

needs and his physical and mental capacity. This all is possible only when the teacher has a deep insight to understand his pupil thoroughly.

2) His Intelligence:

Intelligence has been found to be one of the main factors that influence learning. The proof

for this factor is very commonly found in the class-rooms. The schools which are meant for children of average ability usually are not able to help a retarded child. The teacher does not have the time to spend on this child who needs more help than an average child. Similarly, these

schools are of no help to a child who is more intelligent than the average one. Cases have been found of a child indulging in delinquent acts simply because they are far above average in

intelligence but the school that they attend is poor in stimulation. As a result these children satisfy their intellectual curiosity by indulging in delinquent and thrilling tricks. So we may say that holding the conditions of learning constant, the level of intelligence of a child makes a

difference to the amount of their learning output on the class-room.

1) His Age:

The test of learning given to subjects of a wide range of ages have shown that

learning efficiency increases with age to a certain extent after which it stays stationary for some time and ultimately tends to decrease. This phenomenon can be understood easily if we keep in mind the developmental curves. Maturation of individual, experience also accounts for a

difference both of which are linked up with age. So we find that children are speedier and more efficient at learning tasks as they grow older. As we get into adulthood and old age we find the

output of the subjects going down because of the fact that though their experience has increased they cannot keep up the speed. So that when the tasks have a time limit on them, the older subjects cannot do so well as the younger subjects can. However, the experiment on learning is a

continuous process and it spreads order the whole life with a desire in the individual to learn more and more. The only difference that exists is caused by the type of tasks given for learning.

2) His Will to Learn:

The will to learn is always labelled as a factor determining the amount of learning. It is

believed that in order to be able to grasp and retain a certain material the individual must have an inner urge to learn, a drive that can motivate him into learning. This motivation is determined by

30

the interests, desires and the purpose of a particular individual. All these three are more or less developed with the help of a teacher. An intelligent and effective teacher teacher helps his pupils

in developing wide interests and habits, desire to pursue certain activities and at large a purpose in life. If a teacher is successful in helping his pupils to develop worthwhile interests and habits

and a desire to understand things, he has helped them in becoming good learners.

3) Guidance:

Usually trial and error is considered to be the method of learning. When faced with a new task an individual attempts it, in case it is a failure, he tries again, perhaps using a different technique

this time. After a few trials and errors he evolves the correct method of tackling the task. In practice we find that it allows the hit and miss method, a pupil wastes a great deal of his time and while facing failure, he goes through a certain amount of tension and frustration. A teacher,

through his guidance, can save his pupils a lot of frustration. He can help the child in making the right trials and avoiding the ones which would not yield any fruitful results. In the initial stages

of learning, a limited amount of guidance can help the student avoid unnecessary errors. The word “limited” is mentioned here because very often teachers are found to indulge in too much of guidance as far as the learning is concerned. The usual result of excessive guidance is failure

of the purpose. Proper guidance should aim at developing initiative in the learner and discourage the tendency to seek ready made solution.

4) Educational Background:

Educational background of the learner is an important factor that affects his learning. Student

may be backward from educational point of view as a general case or specific one. Some of the students are week in most of the subjects while some students are week in one or two particular subjects. The first category of the students is termed as general backwardness. While second

category of students is known as specifically backward. Educational background of generally backward students is more challenging than the educational background of specifically backward

children. It is vey common that if a particular student is week in any subject, he will feel difficulty in learning new knowledge of that subject. On the contrary if one possesses superior ability, beyond normally, it will be easier for him o gain new knowledge in a very comfortable

and effective manner. Thus, educational background contributes a lot in further learning.

5) Health Status of Child:

The health of the student should be very sound. A mal-nourished, ill or otherwise physically handicapped, cannot realize his potentialities as a learner. A pupil who is unhappy, discouraged

or otherwise does not possess the balanced emotional tone is sure to be handicapped in his learning attempts. It is the rightly said that “a sound mind rests in a sound body” from this point

of view a student should be physically and mentally fit so that he may learn easily and comfortably. Child’s attention, interests, concentration etc. have direct link with the physical and mental health level of the students. Any sort of mental illness or deficiency or abnormality,

physical illness or mental tension and frustration will affect directly students learning. Students who are physically and mentally feel tired very easily. They fail to concentrate upon their studies

for a long and get easily disturbed and depressed. They feel boredom and make very few efforts to get success in any activity. They feel complex and always complain of headache and other poor bodily symptoms. Thus, it is the first and foremost duty of the parents and the teachers to

take note of their ward’s physical and mental health seriously.

31

6) Motivation:

Motivation is one of the basic principles for effective teaching, because no purposeful

learning can take place apart from it. The human mind cannot absorb knowledge like a sponge. In order to learn, a person must do some activity. The urge to activity shows itself along different

instinctive tendencies. Successful motivation depends on the successful use of these natural powers and tendencies to action. The teacher who identifies and intensifies motives in learners, is able to arouse interest in them. He succeeds in setting up an excellent learning situation. It is said

that “as is the motivation, so is the learning”, or “learning will proceed best, if motivated”. These sentences clearly depict the importance of motivation in the process of learning. Thus, it is the

first and foremost duty of the teacher to create interest in the child before starting anything new. Because, in the absence of motivation all the efforts made by the teacher will go waste. Proper motivation helps in making the desire for learning strong.

Attitude of the Learner:

Learning has ever been the chief activity of man. Each generation after something new to cultural heritage hands it down to the succeeding generation. For several centuries the heritage has been so large and so important that society has given primarily to the school the task of

selecting, organizing and presenting to the children the most valuable situation possible. Life pattern of an individual in adulthood, his attitudes, habits, mental, moral and physical well being

is largely determined by the forces which were prevalent in childhood. Pope’s couplet says---- Tie education forms the common mind;

Just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined. Favorable or positive attitude is must to get success in any field of endeavour. Favourable

attitude towards the job or work makes one more active and enthusiastic. The same is related with the students’ classroom activities. If the student has positive attitude towards any subject he will grasp the knowledge imparted by the teacher interestingly and whole heartedly and on the

contrary, if he in not involved in the subject he will hate the subject, as well as the teacher of that subject. Liking for anything is must in learning. The same view is supported by Thorndike’s law

of learning namely, ‘ law of use or dis-use’. If the student has negative attitude towards the subject all efforts made by the teacher will go in vain. Thus, it is the first and foremost duty of the teacher to make positive attitude of the student towards his entire academic activities.

Factors belonging to the teacher:

1. Knowledge of subject:

Teacher’s knowledge related with his subject, his experience and ability has a direct bearing on the learning of the students. If a teacher does not possesses deep knowledge of his subject he

can’t give much enough to his students. On the contrary if a teacher has full command over his subject and has a mastery over the subject matter, he will be capable in giving new knowledge to

his student with full confidence and his teaching will be effective undoubtedly. Generally student like those teachers on the other hand, face very few disciplinary problems. On the other side, teachers who lack competency on their parts deal students in a negative manner and indulge

themselves in non-academic activities or cheap politics in the college campus. Good teachers are praised by their students like anything.

32

2. Teacher’s Behaviour:

Teachers behaviour influence the learning of students directly. A teacher should inherit all essential qualities of a good teacher. Sympathy, co-operation, objectivity, sweet tempered, polite

etc. are all such traits that should reflect in teacher’s behaviour always. These traits will help in making the environment of the school congenial and praise worthy. Student will feel relaxed in the company of such teachers and face with them difficulty in discussing their personal

problems. Apart from it, if a teacher is rough and tuff in his behaviour, the students will not like his subject, his company and will be compelled to leave the class and moreover they may turn to

be truants. Also, the teacher should be objective in his dealing with his students. He must be impartial, no subjective attitude. Because, if it all happens, the student will start hating their teaching and may develop a hatred attitude for him permanently in the near future. Thus, the

teacher should not be biased while dealing so many activities related with school and class-room teaching.

3. Knowledge of psychology:

Every teacher must have extensive knowledge of psychology without which he can neither know the student nor set the stage for learning. The elementary and secondary school teachers are most concerned with the psychology of childhood, psychology of adolescence and educational

psychology. The latter deals with the application of psychological facts in such a way that the educational growth of the individual is efficiently directed and controlled. So it is rightly said

that knowledge of educational psychology is must for a teacher. In this context it is quiet apparent that until a teacher does not acquire proper understanding of the principles of psychology, it is very difficult for him to make use of these principles in the field of education.

Hence it is quiet justified that he should have a deep knowledge of most common concepts of psychology such as process of child development, heredity, individual differences, motivation,

theories of learning etc. Making use of all these a teacher can make his teaching effective. Further, in the classroom situation he has to deal a variety of students at the same time. To gain mastery over such situations and to handle problems of individuals it is unavoidable for a teacher

to have a detailed knowledge of educational psychology otherwise he will be utmost failure with regard to so many classroom complex situations. It is only knowledge of psychology that makes

teacher fully competent and enthusiastic in dealing with his students.

4. Methods of Teaching:

The traditional methods of teaching were more formalized, conservative, teacher dominated as opposed to modern, more flexible pupil involved, learner centered methods. In modern era it is

now recognized that the subjects should be taught as activities. This activity principle was sponsored by Dewey. Teaching methods have a direct link with learning process. Consequently

each teacher has a unique method of teaching. Similarly, all the students cannot be taught by a single method. If the method of teaching is scientific in nature, if will help in making the teaching effective. Also the learning process will be easier and purposeful. Realizing this very

need of the students educationists have developed modern methods and techniques of teaching. Methods are Playway method, Learning by doing, Learning by observation, Project method,

Heuristic method, Discovery method etc. Apart from above methods a teacher has to adopt his unique teaching style. It is commonly seen that a teacher is academically and professionally sound but his teaching is not effective in the classroom. There may be so many reasons behind

33

the same but the most sensed factor is teacher’s personal problem orientation technique, in the absence of which a student does not keep pace with the teacher and hesitates in sharing his

personal problem with the teacher. Hence, personal rapport which the teacher is also needed for the success of teaching.

5. Knowledge of individual differences:

Knowledge of individual difference is must for a teacher. Each students has his own interests, attitudes, aptitudes, needs, potentialities, capabilities, values etc. and on account of these some students grasp the knowledge imparted by their teachers easily while some grasp with some

difficulty and some of the students totally fail to grasp anything given by the teacher. Generally a teacher has to face three types of students in his class- backward, normal, and gifted children. To

plan teaching accordingly the needs of these students or to satisfy the needs of all these students at the same time is really a difficult and challenging task for the teacher. To keep pace with this problem the teacher plans his teaching strategies keeping in mind the average children. This

helps a bit to backward as well as to the gifted children. Though both of these categories seem to be dissatisfied with this approach of the teacher. But, apart from it there is no proper channel for

the teacher that he may try. To go through such channels only knowledge of individual differences can help him to some extent.

6. Personality:

Good and appealing personality is the basis of successful and effective teaching. From this point of view the personality of the teacher must be very attractive and influencing. He must create an impression or put a stamp on his students keeping appropriate balance between his deeds and

actions. Students learn so many things indirectly from the teacher. It is thus that teacher is said to be the best motivator for his students. He forms an idol for his students. Students imitate his each and every part of his behavior gladly. So it is on the part of the teacher how he creates an

example for others. For this he has to be very much cautious in his behavior and has to exhibit all those traits through his personality that are welcomed most by most of the societal members.

Personality should be viewed as the entire qualitativeness of a person or as an integrated pattern of traits. Teacher should keep in his mind that personality is shaped by and inter –woven with the social environment and culture is the ground from which personality emerges. To shape students’

personality he should always borne in his mind that personality which is just a bundle of ideas, attitudes and intelligence depends a good deal on the people with whom the individual constantly

associates.

7. No care to foster individuality:

The aim of education should be to develop to the full of potentialities of every child in school in

accord always with the general good of society. It is also to develop each individual into a happy well coordinated personality with socially desirable qualities. It is to produce good citizens who will have sense enough to judge of public affairs, discernment enough to choose the right

officers, self control, enough to accept the decision of majority, honesty, enough to seek the general welfare rather than his own at the expense of the community, public spirit, enough to

face trouble or even danger for the good of community. It would be no exaggeration if we call traditional school a prison, the pupil’s prisoners and the teacher superintendent of the prison where every thing was teacher centered and subject centered, where no attention was paid

34

towards the psychology of child. The children, in the schools were just like parrots in the cage who were just like parrots in the cage who were made to cram certain bits of disorganized,

disconnected facts of knowledge which had no value in their later life.

8. Lack of personal contact between teacher and taught:

The size of classes in our schools is too large to permit close pupil and teacher contacts.

Therefore teacher cannot look towards the individual’s habits, attitudes aptitudes personal traits needs potentialities etc. The increase in the size of classes has considerably reduced personal contacts between teacher and students. Thus the training of character, inculcation of proper

discipline has been seriously undetermined. Teaching in our schools had an aim of imparting only factual knowledge through certain exercises in which the teacher was an expounder, drill

master and a disciplinarian and the child a passive recipient of verbal and visual impressions. It was assumed that the natural inclination of the child were against such subject matter. The intermediary factor which was used to bridge the gap between the teachers and taught was

discipline, an external force that made the child to memories that subject matter. There was nothing that could cater the intellectual, emotional and physical growth of the child. The child

could not develop into anything but a suppressed personally in the absence of proper rapport between the teacher and the taught.

9. No emphasis on Co-curricular Activities:

The purpose of traditional school was to import certain fragments of isolated knowledge through different subjects of the curriculum. All other activities were regarded as something for which the school was not legitimately responsible hence, were called extra curricular activities. But the

modern school aims at all round development of the child. The school is responsible for the education of the whole individual, his physical, mental, emotional, moral and social self. To realize this aim the importance of introducing certain activities having relation to different

subjects of curriculum become clear and hence named as co-curricular activities. Secondary Education Commission observes that, “The school has to formulate a scheme of hobbies,

occupations and projects that will appeal to, and draw out, the powers of children of varying temperaments and aptitudes.” The co-curricular activities satisfy the needs of young people, promote meaningful learning and develop them into good citizens.

10. Narrow Curriculum Approach:

Previously education in India was under foreign patronage. So it was divorced from our cultural, social and economic life. Secondary Education Commission writes – “The curriculum as

formulated and as presented through the traditional methods of teaching does not give the student insight into everyday world in which they are living. When they pass out of school they feel ill-

adjusted and cannot take their place confidently and competently in the community.” The education given in our schools is purely of academic nature. It could contribute towards the development of cognitive aspect of personality only whereas the non-cognitive aspect was

altogether ignored. The secondary Education commission observes that, “Education given in our schools is narrow and one sided and fails to train the whole personality of the student. For many

decades it has provided only academic instructions. The non-cognitive aspects of his personality – his practical aptitudes, his emotions, and his tastes were largely ignored.”

35


LEARNER

D. Summary

The fundamentals of effective assessment:

Twelve principles

The twelve principles below address practical assessment issues. They are united by a single idea: assessment is at the heart of the whole teaching and learning process.

1. Assessment should help students to learn.

2. Assessment must be consistent with the objectives of the course and what is taught and learnt.

3. Variety in types of assessment allows a range of different learning outcomes to be assessed. It

also keeps students interested.

4. Students need to understand clearly what is expected of them in assessed tasks.

5. Criteria for assessment should be detailed, transparent and justifiable.

6. Students need specific and timely feedback on their work - not just a grade.

7. Too much assessment is unnecessary and may be counter-productive.

8. Assessment should be undertaken with an awareness that an assessor may be called upon to justify a student's result.

9. The best starting point for countering plagiarism is in the design of the assessment tasks.

10. Group assessment needs to be carefully planned and structured.

11. When planning and wording assignments or questions, it is vital to mentally check their appropriateness to all students in the class, whatever their cultural differences.

12. Systematic analysis of students' performance on assessed tasks can help identify areas of the curriculum which need improvement.

36

NATURE AND FUNDAMENTAL EQUIPMENT OF THE LEARNER

E. Post Test

Instruction: Answer the crossword puzzle by analyzing the statement /questions given below.

Choose the appropriate answer inside the box.

N

L

I

D

R

A

A

E

T

L

A

1

BACKGROUND CHILD EDUCATION GUIDANCE

HEALTH INTELLECTUAL INTELLIGENCE

KNOWLEDGE LEARNING MOTIVATION

PERSONALITY TEACHERS

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

37

Analyze the following statement:

1. It is one of the basic principles for effective teaching, because no purposeful learning can take

place apart from it.

2. The __________ of the student should be very sound.

3. It has been found to be one of the main factors that influence learning.

4. It has ever been the chief activity of man.

5. Their knowledge related with his subject, his experience and ability has a direct bearing on the

learning of the students.

6. _______________ of individual difference is must for a teacher.

7. Good and appealing ____________ is the basis of successful and effective teaching.

. The aim of ___________ should be to develop to the full of potentialities of every child in

school in accord always with the general good of society.

9. A teacher, through his _______________, can save his pupils a lot of frustration.

10. Second category of students is known as specifically backward or educational __________.

38

NATURE AND FUNDAMENTAL EQUIPMENT OF THE LEARNER

E. Post Test

Key to Correction

References:

http://dgwaymade.blogspot.com/2010/09/nature-of- learning-or-characterisitics.html

https://education-teaching-careers.knoji.com/the-fundamental-equipment-of-the- learner- in-

learning/

http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/50300814.pdf

http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Class/est571go/learning.html

http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/07/

T H

P E R S O N A L I T Y

T

L

L

I

G

E

N

C

E

R

A

E

I T O N U C A D

N

N

G K A B R C U O D N

H E A

O M I V A T T O I

S R C H

E

E

L

G

W

O

N

K

A T E

1

2

N

I 3

4

5

6

7

8

E A C D U I G 9

10

http://dgwaymade.blogspot.com/2010/09/nature-of-learning-or-characterisitics.html

https://education-teaching-careers.knoji.com/the-fundamental-equipment-of-the-learner-in-learning/

https://education-teaching-careers.knoji.com/the-fundamental-equipment-of-the-learner-in-learning/

http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/50300814.pdf

http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/Class/est571go/learning.html

http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/07/

39

IV

INDIVIDUAL

DIFFERENCES

40

Individual Differences

A. Pre-Test

Instruction: Encircle the letter of the appropriate answer. TRUE if the statement is true and

FALSE if it is false.

1. Teachers found in high occupational levels usually provide good physical and intellectual

environments, which favor the speedy cultural development of their children.

2. The general results of all studies made point to the fact that the differences between sexes

are quite insignificant.

3. Psychology influences are intrinsic or innate.

4. Individual differences are essential whenever we wish to explain how individuals differ

in their behavior. In any study, significant variation exists between individuals.

5. Psychologist is furthermore concerned with individual differences resulting from the

differing degrees of maturity or growth, and those which previous education and training

have caused.

6. The evidence is clear that the degree to which the individual possesses different traits also

varies.

7. Teachers who are mentally deficient are generally advised to take up vocational courses.

8. Attitudes towards education and authority differ in each family, culture and class. Some

of these attitudes are favorable while others are unfavorable to education...

9. In school the differences that the children exhibit is the outcome of their different

families and their communities.

10. The individual's movements of the hand and feet and other physical abilities are seen to

be very individual, as they do not resemble another's to any great extent.

41


A. Pre-Test (Key to Correction)

1. Teachers found in high occupational levels usually provide good physical and intellectual

environments, which favor the speedy cultural development of their children.

Parents not Teacher FALSE

2. The general results of all studies made point to the fact that the differences between sexes

are quite insignificant.

TRUE

3. Psychology influences are intrinsic or innate.

Heredity not Psychology FALSE

4. Individual differences are essential whenever we wish to explain how individuals differ

in their behavior. In any study, significant variation exists between individuals.

TRUE

5. Psychologist is furthermore concerned with individual differences resulting from the

differing degrees of maturity or growth, and those which previous education and training

have caused.

Education not Psychologist FALSE

6. The evidence is clear that the degree to which the individual possesses different traits also

varies.

TRUE

7. Teachers who are mentally deficient are generally advised to take up vocational courses.

Pupils not the Teacher FALSE

8. Attitudes towards education and authority differ in each family, culture and class. Some

of these attitudes are favorable while others are unfavorable to education...

TRUE

9. In school the differences that the children exhibit is the outcome of their different

families and their communities.

TRUE

10. The individual's movements of the hand and feet and other physical abilities are seen to

be very individual, as they do not resemble another's to any great extent.

TRUE

42


B. Introduction

The significance of individual differences in education has long been recognized. The

extensive experimental work that has been undertaken, began by Galton and carried on up to the

present time, has so increased our knowledge concerning individual differences and has so

enhanced their significance to education that their existence and importance are now a matter of

general acceptance.

Now knowledge of these differences, their amount, interrelations, and causes, is very important and necessary in planning the education of a particular child. Exact knowledge of just

what differences do exist between individuals and of the causes of these differences is important. Education is furthermore concerned with individual differences resulting from the differing degrees of maturity or growth, and those which previous education and training have caused.

Education can only be made efficient with a minimum of effort, time, and expense by knowledge of which of the differences between people and the achievements of a given person are due to training, and which are due largely to the degree of maturity. Exact knowledge, not

opinion, along all these lines is essential, if progress is to be made. Individual differences must be kept in mind by the teacher if the needs of the individual pupil are to be met. It should be

remembered that physical and emotional differences must be met, as well as intellectual differences. The teacher must be familiar with many approaches to adjusting the learning situation to the individual needs of the pupil. Any program of instruction must take into

consideration the important facts about differences in individuals and traits.

There exists in any realm of activity a wide range in endowments of individuals. However, individuals cannot readily be classified into specific types since the various levels

merge gradually and are not sharply differentiated. The evidence is clear that the degree to which the individual possesses different traits also varies. The wide range of capacities, abilities, needs, and interests in any classroom necessitates a differentiated approach to instruction at all school

levels and in all areas of learning.

Until the differences among the pupils in a given class are recognized, instruction cannot be on a sound and systematic basis. A significant part of the dilemma in modern education has

been brought about by a failure to admit differences by treating all the pupils alike. The traditional methods of group teaching have tended to over-emphasize the similarities and to ignore the difference. To ignore the fact that people differ in ability, intelligence, interest, social

training, and strength, as well as in age and sex, would be a serious mistake.

If training is to be shifted to the nature and needs of the individual, care must be taken to keep the function of the school flexible and adaptable. No child in school can realize his

educational growth and development without a carefully planned and administered adjustment so wide individual differences that exist among pupils.

43


C. Content

All differences between individuals may be interpreted by the facts of heredity or nature,

environment or nurture, and training. The factors which are commonly designated as causative of

individual differences are as follows:

5 Main Causes of Individual Differences

1. Race:

The ethnologists have explained many of the supposed differences, and have been inclined to place the various races upon a

more equal footing with respect to inborn capacity. There may be some difference in behavior among different races, but there is little scientific evidence that

favors the theory of native differences in mental traits. The superiority of the Nordic stock in mental ability has been asserted by many, but recent and more accurate investigations tend to show that this so-called superiority is largely the result of environmental conditions.

In America the question of racial superiority has usually narrowed down to the rivalry

between the white race and the Negro race. That the white race is much superior to the Negro race cannot be considered absolutely final. Such conclusion must be tempered by a consideration

of the superior intellectual opportunities available to the white Americans.

Differences in mentality, reflecting influence of country and city life, is shown by the study of Negro mentality in relation to time lived in the city. Kleinberg’s study shows a distinct improvement in the test performance with increasing length of residence of Negroes in cities.

This study suggests that the superiority of city children over rural children is a direct con-sequence of better cultural opportunities. In causing differences in physical traits this factor is

prominent.

2. Sex:

The general results of all studies made point to the fact that the differences between sexes are quite insignificant. In detail, the exact

measurements of intellectual abilities show a relatively slight superiority of the women in receptivity of memory, and relatively slight superiority

of men in control of movement and in grasp of concrete mechanical situation. Investigations also show an apparent superiority of girls in language and a somewhat better showing of boys in logical processes. In interests, who cannot

be definitely measured, the difference would seem to be that women are more interested in people while men are more interested in things.

44

Difference in instinctive equipment is shown by the fact that women excel in the nursing impulses and men in the fighting impulses. As to physical equipment, men are much taller,

stronger, and bigger than women. However, girls grow more rapidly than boys, especially before adolescence. The girls reach physiological maturity earlier.

3. Heredity:

By heredity is meant the influence of factors inherent in the child himself from the time he is conceived. Research has shown that heredity proceeds according to certain laws. The first

laws of heredity were formulated by Galton who made the direct investigation on heredity. Gregor Mendel also formulated some

well-known laws of heredity. Heredity influences are intrinsic or innate. Individual differences in mental and physical traits are due to heredity and to environmental factors. Heredity as a cause of individual differences may be due either to remote

or immediate ancestry. G. R. Conklin has affirmed that although we inherit approximately equally from our parents, we also inherit unequally from our grandparents.

4. Maturity:

Differences in maturity of individuals have always been observed. The pupils in any grade present a considerable range of maturity.

The maturity of pupils varies along three lines of development, namely: chronological, ana-

tomical, and organic. The chronological aspect of maturity is that which is presented by differences in mental development considered in

terms of actual number of years. Anatomical growth is shown by different degrees of

development of the bones of the skeleton.

Studies made in this line have revealed differences of from two to three years in the anatomical development of the vital organs of

circulation and of reproduction. The organs most affected are the organs of the circulatory system

and those of reproduction.

Psychological studies reveal that girls mature earlier than boys. It is an accepted fact

that the development of an individual is determined by a long interplay of heredity and environment on him.

45

5. Social and economic status:

On the basis of data supplied by the

Army Alpha Test, people living in large centers of population are more intelligent than

those living in rural areas; higher intelligence is found along with better educational facilities.

Higher intelligence likewise exists in

those states which rank high in their economic condition. There exists a close relationship

between occupational socio-economic condition and the general level of intelligence.

Parents found in high occupational levels usually provide good physical and

intellectual environments, which favor the speedy cultural development of their children.

A considerable body of evidence is available to show that children belonging to the so-called higher social classes are superior in

intelligence to those of the lower classes.

The well-known theories formulated to explain individual differences are:

1. Theory of Correlation (Galton):

This theory explains that strength in one trait is closely correlated with strength in another trait, if these have many

elements in common. A person who stands high in one trait or ability stands high in another as well. A pupil who is generally proficient in Mathematics or English is equally

proficient in subjects like history, economics, and other studies.

This theory is otherwise known as the theory of Positive

Correlation. Positive Correlation also means correspondence among the abilities compared. Based on the studies made, the general tendency is for all types of desirable traits to

show some degree of positive correlation

46

2. Theory of Compensation:

This theory states that weakness in one trait is

compensated by strength in other traits. It has also been asserted that a good memory stands opposed to good reasoning; the strong bodies

inherit low mentally; that great artists have abnormal character.

In other words, this theory implies that great

strength in one trait implies a corresponding weakness in some other trait. Some studies have revealed that pupils who are weak in

abstract are generally skillful in the manipulation of things.

Pupils who are mentally deficient are generally

advised to take up vocational courses. The theory of compensation is otherwise known as the theory of negative correlation. In the

explanation of the facts of individual differences these two theories, correlation and

compensation, differ in their emphasis.

Both theories are the result of general observation and individual measurement. The first theory, based on the early work of Galton on inheritance, gives more importance to the existence of

similar capabilities in more than one subject of study whereas the second is partial to the presence of one definite capability limited and circumscribed within one subject of study.

Most psychologists believe, however, that on the average, strength in one trait implies strength in others; weakness in one implies weakness in others; and mediocrity in one trait implies

mediocrity in others. Applied to the guidance of the students in the process of their knowledge and understanding of these theories will greatly enhance the efficiency of instruction. Education,

to be of most worth, must be one that will be of most help and use to the individual.

Education has the responsibility of discovering the natural ability of the students in order to guide them in the selection of a course in which their individual differences will play to their advantage and make for efficiency and success.

There is no gainsaying the fact that one who chooses a career to which his individual inclination has led him will find ease and delight in his endeavor, and will very likely experience success. Recognition and appreciation of individual differences in the light of the theories of correlation

and compensation will greatly increase the effectiveness of education.

47

What are the Different Types of Individual Differences?

1. Average Intelligence:

The following brief description may serve to make individual differences a simple

concept that can easily be grasped. Individuals are seen differing in considerable measure in

respect of their general intelligence. It is not possible to send to schools children with an

intelligence quotient of below 50.Children with intelligence quotients between 50 and 70 can

learn only the very simplest tasks. Even the small schools trouble children whose intelligence

quotient varies between 70 and 80. Children between 75 and 90 I.Q. are considered morons and

they have considerable difficulty in progressing along with other children in their learning.

Generally, 40 to 60 per cent of the children in schools have I.Q.s. varying between 95 and

105, being the children with average intelligence who form the basis for the formulation of the

syllabus and curriculum as well as the method of teaching. Children who are either above or

below this level of intelligences require special educational methods and conditions. Children

with intelligence quotients varying between 115 and 120 are considered brilliant or intelligent.

2. Special Abilities

During the junior high school as well as the college stage, the individual's differences in

respect of special abilities, in addition to the general intelligence, are also important since special

professions and specialized fields of vocation all need certain specific abilities. Abilities of this

kind are concerned with mental, artistic, personality or motor ability.

3. Differences of Background

In school the differences that the children exhibit is the outcome of their different

families and their communities. Attitudes towards education and authority differ in each family,

culture and class. Some of these attitudes are favorable while others are unfavorable to

education. In either condition, the differences of attitudes results in differences among children.

Besides these attitudes, the child's emotional, social, aesthetic and moral development is

influenced by his family and the neighborhood.

4. Alacrity in Learning

Difference in the quickness or alacrity in learning is visible not only in children of

different ages but also among children in the same age group. This difference is dependent upon

their maturity and educational background. Differences in the alacrity of learning result in

benefits accruing from formal education.

48

5. Mental Age

Children of differing ages as well as children of the same age show differences in their

respective mental ages. Generally speaking, all students studying in the same class differ

according to their mental ages. It has been observed that in the age of 6, differences in mental

age range up to 5 years. Mental age and education are intimately related. The child's level of

education is determined according to his mental age

6. Motor Ability

The individual's movements of the hand and feet and other physical abilities are seen to

be very individual, as they do not resemble another's to any great extent. Till the individual

attains adulthood, his manual dexterity, rate of muscular movement and resistance to fatigue

develops continually. In this manner, the same individual in different ages and different

individuals in the same age group manifest considerable differences in manual dexterity.

7. Sex Differences

Makneimer and Terman discovered the following differences between men and women,

on the basis of some studies:

(i) Women have greater skill in memory while many have greater motor ability.

(ii) Female handwriting is superior while men excel in mathematical logic.

(iii) Women show greater skill in making sensory distinctions of taste, pain, smell, etc.,

while men show greater reaction and consciousness of size-weight illusion.

(iv) Possessing greater linguistic ability women are superior to men in languages,

similitude's, word building, compositions and use of long sentences etc. On the other

hand, men are superior in physics and chemistry.

(v) Women are more susceptible to suggestion while there are three times as many color-

blind men as there are women.

(vi) Women are better than men in mirror drawing. Faults of speech etc., in men were

found to be three times of such faults in women.

(vii) Young girls take interest in stories of love, fairy tales, stories of the school and home

and day-dreaming and show various levels in their play. On the other hand, boys

take interest in stories of bravery, science, war and scouting, stories of games and

sports, scouts stories and games of occupation and skill.

49

8. Nationality

Many studies have led to the conclusion that individuals of different nations differ in

respect of nature, physical traits, interest and personality, etc. Such a difference is only natural

since their cultural and geographic environment is distinctive.

9. Economic Situation

Economic differences are seen causing differences in the children's interests, tendencies

and character, etc.

10. Difference in Respect of Development

Difference in development is in evidence not only in individuals of different age groups

but also between individuals of the same age.

11. Differences Relating of Learning

In respect of learning, children manifest such differences as past experience and learning,

ability in the use of various kinds of apparatus, rate of learning, interest in learning, etc.

12. Difference of Interests.

As has been pointed out, the difference in sex leads to a difference in interests. Similarly,

factors such as family background, level of development, differences of nationality and race, etc.,

cause difference of interests.

13. Personality

Differences in respect of personality have led psychologists to much study, and on the

basis of this study individuals have been classified into many groups. Concerning these

classifications of the human personality, it should be remembered that although one specific

person may exhibit the main broad characteristics of one class of personality, he cannot be said

to belong to only that class of personality as the differences between various personalities are so

subtle and minute that it is not scientifically feasible to divide them into classes

50

Teacher's Advantage in Knowing Individual Differences

The objective of modern education is the complete development of the child. In this

connection, the teacher has the following advantage to derive from knowledge of individual

differences:

1. This can help him to form the proper attitude towards the brilliant and the dull-witted students.

It is only too evident that very good results cannot be expected from dull-witted or mediocre

students.

2. Any effort to bring all or a majority of the students in the class to the same level is futile since

some 50 or odd percentage of them will in variably remain below this level.

3. Improvements in atmosphere, method of teaching, and the apparatus of education cannot lead

to the satisfactory teaching of all students since their individual ability to learn differs widely.

4. Knowing the presence of individual differences the teacher is not perturbed at the failure of

some of his students since such failure is only to be expected from below-average students.

5. The teacher does not come to expect successes that are impossible. Individual difference

makes it clear that all aspects of the personality are mutually related and to develop any one

aspect it is essential that all the aspects be developed.

51


D. Summary

The actual term, learning style, did not appear until Thelen (1954) used it in discussing

group dynamics. Although Allport (1937) proposed the term, cognitive style, to mean ways of

living and adapting modulated by personality, we more commonly reserve that term for preferred

forms of brain activity associated with information acquisition and processing and consider

personality variables to represent another kind of learning style. However, the literature on

learning styles uses the terms learning style, cognitive style, personality type, sensory preference,

modality, and others rather loosely and often interchangeably.

Cognitive-style research in the 1920s and 1930s addressed such phenomena as perceptual

speed and flexibility. The field independence–field dependence (FI–FD) construct in the late

1940s started with Witkin's efforts to distinguish variations in proprioception and perception of

the vertical (Witkin and Goodenough, 1981). Later, researchers focused on processing styles

from the point of view of ego psychology, which was the origin of such cognitive style scales as

levelling–sharpening and impulsivity–reflectivity (Schmeck, 1988). In recent years, the influence

of personality variables on learning styles has increased greatly, using, for example the Five

Factor Personality Model (Busato, et al., 1999), temperament theory (Thomas and Chess, 1977),

and the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (e.g., Ehrman, 1996, Leaver, 1998 and Myers et

al., 1998).

All three of these models overlap in significant ways. The least known in SLA is the

concept of temperament (Thomas and Chess, 1977), which refers to biological differences in life

and learning. Rothbart and Derryberry (1981) defined it as constitutionally based individual

differences in reactivity and self-regulation (influenced over time by heredity, maturation, and

experience). It is generally identified with relatively stable traits across ages, situations, and

cultures (Rothbart and Derryberry, 1981).

For the most part, there have been few changes in the models used for learning styles

since the 1980s. These few include Sternberg's mental self-government model (Sternberg, 1994),

which comes from his study of pragmatic intelligence; this is a metaphor using the US

government's legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Another, beginning in the 1990s

(Ehrman, 1993, Ehrman, 1998b and Hartmann, 1991), is the use of Hartmann's

psychoanalytically based ego boundaries approach to address tolerance of ambiguity and

defensive style. Ehrman, 1996 and Ehrman, 1997 has reworked the field independence construct

by unpacking it into two interactive scales, field independence–dependence and field sensitivity–

insensitivity.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0346251X03000459#BIB107













52

Around the same time, Oxford, 1990 and Oxford, 1992 was developing her Strategy

Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), which uses factor analyses to group strategies into six

categories. Oxford (1990) identified six major groups of L2 learning strategies:

1.Cognitive strategies enable the learner to manipulate the language material in direct ways, e.g.,

through reasoning, analysis, note-taking, and synthesizing.

2.Metacognitive strategies (e.g., identifying one's own preferences and needs, planning,

monitoring mistakes, and evaluating task success) are used to manage the learning process

overall.

3.Memory-related strategies (e.g., acronyms, sound similarities, images, key words) help

learners link one L2 item or concept with another but do not necessarily involve deep

understanding.

4.Compensatory strategies (e.g., guessing from the context; circumlocution; and gestures and

pause words) help make up for missing knowledge.

5.Affective strategies, such as identifying one's mood and anxiety level, talking about feelings,

rewarding oneself, and using deep breathing or positive self-talk, help learners manage their

emotions and motivation level.

6.Social strategies (e.g., asking questions, asking for clarification, asking for help, talking with a

native-speaking conversation partner, and exploring cultural and social norms) enable the learner

to learn via interaction with others and understand the target culture.

References:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0346251X03000459

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/difference/2-well-known-theories-formulated-to-

explain-individual-differences/6036/

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/difference/5-main-causes-of-individual-

differences/6027/

http://www.journals.elsevier.com/learning-and-individual-differences/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0346251X03000459

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/difference/2-well-known-theories-formulated-to-explain-individual-differences/6036/

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/difference/2-well-known-theories-formulated-to-explain-individual-differences/6036/

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/difference/5-main-causes-of-individual-differences/6027/

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/difference/5-main-causes-of-individual-differences/6027/

http://www.journals.elsevier.com/learning-and-individual-differences/

53


E. Post Test

Instruction: Read the statement carefully and choose the best answer on the box. Match

column A with column B. Write the answer in the box provided.

A B

1. This theory states that weakness in one trait is

compensated by strength in other traits. A. Alacrity in Learning

B. Average Intelligence

C. Different in Respect

Development

D. Heredity

E. Maturity

F. Nationality

G. Personality

H. Race

I. Sex

J. Social and economic

status

K. Theory of Compensation

L. Theory of Correlation

2. Higher intelligence is found along with better educa-

tional facilities.

3. Anatomical growth is shown by different degrees of


4. cause of individual differences may be due either to

remote or immediate ancestry

5. Difference in instinctive equipment is shown by the fact

that women excel in the nursing impulses and men in the

fighting impulses.

6. The ethnologists have explained many of the supposed

differences, and have been inclined to place the various

races upon a more equal footing with respect to inborn

capacity.

7. Children with intelligence quotients between 50 and 70

can learn only the very simplest tasks.

8. Differences in respect of personality have led psychologists

to much study, and on the basis of this study individuals have

been classified into many groups.

9. A difference is only natural since their cultural and

geographic environment is distinctive.

10. Difference in development is in evidence not only in

individuals of different age groups but also between

individuals of the same age.

54


E. Post Test (Key to Correction)

Instruction: Read the statement carefully and choose the best answer on the box. Match

column A with column B. Write the answer in the box provided.

A B

K 1. This theory states that weakness in one trait is

compensated by strength in other traits. A. Alacrity in Learning

B. Average Intelligence

C. Different in Respect

Development

D. Heredity

E. Maturity

F. Nationality

G. Personality

H. Race

I. Sex

J. Social and economic

status

K. Theory of Compensation

L. Theory of Correlation

J 2. Higher intelligence is found along with better educa-

tional facilities.

E 3. Anatomical growth is shown by different degrees of


D 4. cause of individual differences may be due either to

remote or immediate ancestry

I

5. Difference in instinctive equipment is shown by the fact

that women excel in the nursing impulses and men in the

fighting impulses.

H

6. The ethnologists have explained many of the supposed

differences, and have been inclined to place the various

races upon a more equal footing with respect to inborn

capacity.

B 7. Children with intelligence quotients between 50 and 70

can learn only the very simplest tasks.

G

8. Differences in respect of personality have led psychologists

to much study, and on the basis of this study individuals have

been classified into many groups.

F 9. A difference is only natural since their cultural and

geographic environment is distinctive.

C

10. Difference in development is in evidence not only in

individuals of different age groups but also between

individuals of the same age.

55

V

PERSONALITY

ADJUSTMENT

56

PERSONALITY ADJUSTMENT

A. Pre Test

Instruction: Write TRUE if the statement is valid and FALSE if it is not. Write the answer in

the space provided.

___________1. Personality is the main agency for the development of attitudes, interests and

values and the teacher is its main agent

___________2. Self esteem and personality are likely to share common development roots and

examining the personality correlates of self esteem across the life span might

provide insight into the nature of self esteem and its development.

___________3. Values is a narrower term, refers to the ethical quality of behavior.

___________4. Personality and physique are related to each other, and any marked physical

abnormality is likely to have an effect on personality.

___________5. Self esteem and personality are likely to share common development roots and

examining the personality correlates of self esteem across the life span might

provide insight into the nature of self esteem and its development.

___________ 6. Psychologist is essentially and always an adjustment, whether it be breathing or

rescuing a child from a fire.

____________7. Education can be understood only through a detailed knowledge of the

psychological whole.

____________8. There are certain variables which affect their attitude towards modernization.

____________9. The nervous system functions as a whole, though each part under normal

conditions controls certain specific functions

____________10. Behavior cannot be regarded as a series of simple, invariable responses

resulting from specific stimuli.

57


A. Pre Test (Key to Correction)

FALSE 1. Personality is the main agency for the development of attitudes, interests and

values and the teacher is its main agent. (Education)

TRUE 2. Self esteem and personality are likely to share common development roots and

examining the personality correlates of self esteem across the life span might provide insight into

the nature of self esteem and its development.

FALSE 3. Values is a narrower term, refers to the ethical quality of behavior. (Character)

TRUE 4. Personality and physique are related to each other, and any marked physical

abnormality is likely to have an effect on personality.

TRUE 5. Self esteem and personality are likely to share common development roots and

examining the personality correlates of self esteem across the life span might provide insight into

the nature of self esteem and its development.

FALSE 6. Psychologist is essentially and always an adjustment, whether it be breathing or

rescuing a child from a fire. (Behavior)

FALSE 7. Education can be understood only through a detailed knowledge of the

psychological whole. (Behavior)

TRUE 8. There are certain variables which affect their attitude towards modernization.

TRUE 9. The nervous system functions as a whole, though each part under normal

conditions controls certain specific functions

TRUE 10. Behavior cannot be regarded as a series of simple, invariable responses resulting

from specific stimuli.

58


B. Introduction

Modernization can be achieved only by improving and extending education. Again

education both, the formal and informal is a mean of communication. The transmissible of

meaning has important functions, such as socialization, surveillance, consensus building, raising

expectations, focusing attention, broadening mental horizons, creating new attitudes, and values

arousing interest in innovation, teaching skills, and encouraging experimentation. Each of these

functions has relevance for programmed of modernization. Hence, the formal education if

imaginatively and purposefully employed can be a powerful instrument of Modernization. The

education today is linked with development. Education is the main agency for the development

of attitudes, interests and values and the teacher is its main agent. The class consists of different

types of students and they differ in their interest, IQ, attitude, achievement etc. Some students

change with the changing time, some don’t. There are certain causes behind this kind of

difference in attitude. The present study attempts to find out the causes which influence their

attitude and creates obstacles in the process of modernizing. There are certain variables which

affect their attitude towards modernization. Hence the present study investigates hew do the

SES, academic achievement, area etc. affect the adolescents’ attitude towards modernization.

Self esteem and personality are likely to share common development roots and examining

the personality correlates of self esteem across the life span might provide insight into the nature

of self esteem and its development. In addition to sharing a common underlying etiology, self

esteem and personality may directly influence each other. Self esteem may play a critical role in

shaping personality processes. Individual’s belief about them influence how they act in particular

situations, the goals they pursue in live, how they feel about life events and the ways in which

they cope with and adapt to new environments. Adjustment as an important psychological

variable can be defined as “an index of integration”, between need and satisfaction, promote or

demote self system, achievement motivation, social maturity and moral system. Hence, the major

attempt of present study was to study the impact of self esteem on personality and adjustment.

59


C. Content

Personality Psychology

By personality is meant the sum total of everything that constitutes a person's mental

make-up. Character, a narrower term, refers to the ethical quality of behavior. Character is the

steering apparatus; it includes the ideals, dispositions, even prejudices which all together swing

the total person one way rather than another. As psychologists, we are interested in

understanding both "good" and "bad" behavior—in fact, all behavior—and therefore we are

interested in the total personality, not character alone. Personality and physique are related to

each other, and any marked physical abnormality is likely to have an effect on personality. Some

of the major characteristics of a personality are:

(1) consciousness, or awareness, of what is going on,

(2) continual adjustment to the environment,

(3) striving toward goals, and

(4) functioning as a whole, not as an assemblage of isolated parts.

Man's traits are not separate one from the other, like neckties neatly arranged; they

are merged to form a whole. Behavior is essentially and always an adjustment, whether it be

breathing or rescuing a child from a fire. Adjustments are not textbook trivialities. They are

being made ceaselessly in the fundamental wants and needs of living organisms. Man is forever

wanting, and doing something about his wants. Much of our task in studying psychology will be

to learn how adjustments must change from time to time, how best to make these changes, how

to avoid maladjustments. Some futile adjustments are:

(1) bragging,

(2) teasing and cruelty,

(3) timidity and bashfulness,

(4) pouting and temper tantrums,

(5) jealousy,

(6) lying, and

(7) stealing.

Some adjustments which thwart development are:

(1) capitalizing a defect,

(2) rationalizing,

(3) self-absorption and daydreaming,

(4) expressionism, and

(5) flight into reality.

60

The importance of the nervous system in behavior is attested by the facts that

(1) without sensory organs we should be unaware of our environment; that

(2) drugs and illnesses which disturb the nervous system also affect mental life; that

(3) diseases which destroy the nervous system cause deterioration of mental life; that

(4) those organisms in the biological series which have the most complex nervous

systems also have the most complex behavior; and that

(5) under normal conditions muscles do not react at all unless stimulated by a nervous

impulse.

The nervous system is divided into four major parts:

(1) nervous matter in the head (cerebrum, cerebellum, and thalamus),

(2) brain stem and spinal cord,

(3) nerves connecting cerebro-spinal system with other organs, and

(4) the autonomic system, which controls vital processes, such as circulation and

breathing.

Neurons are of three functional types:

(1) sensory neurones,

(2) motor neurones, and

(3) association neurones.

The nervous system functions as a whole, though each part under normal conditions

controls certain specific functions. The nervous system gives us the means of making

adjustments and reaching specific goals. One's behavior can be explained only by relating it to

his total personality. It cannot be explained by relating it to the nervous system, except in so far

as that, apart from a nervous system, no behavior is possible. Response to external stimuli

involves four steps:

(1) reception,

(2) interpretation,

(3) preparation, and

(4) execution.

Behavior cannot be regarded as a series of simple, invariable responses resulting from

specific stimuli. Behavior can be understood only through a detailed knowledge of the

psychological whole. The psychological whole is simplest in involuntary reflexes; it becomes

progressively more complex in reflexes over which we can exercise conscious control, in

behavior dominated by the external situation, in consciously directed behavior, and finally, in

such activities as bravery, courage, etc. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights

reserved).

61

Six Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature

Biological Domain

Core assumption of biological approaches to personality is that humans are collections of biological systems, and these systems provide building blocks for behavior, thought, and emotion

Behavioral genetics of personality Psychophysiology of personality Evolutionary personality psychology

Intrapsychic Domain

Deals with mental mechanisms of personality, many of which operate outside conscious awareness

Classic and modern versions of Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, including work

on repression, denial, projection, and motives for power, achievement, and affiliation

Dispositional Domain

Deals with ways in which individuals differ from one another and, therefore, cuts across all other domains

Focus on number and nature of fundamental dispositions

Goal of those working in this domain is to identify and measure the most important ways in which individuals differ from one another

Also interested in the origin of individual differences and how these develop over

time

Cognitive-Experiential Domain

Focuses on cognition and subjective experience, such as conscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires about oneself and others

Self and self-concept Goals we set and strive to meet Emotional experiences, in general and over time

Social and Cultural Domain

Assumption that personality affects, and is affected by, cultural and social contexts

Much work on cultural differences between groups (e.g., in social acceptability of

aggression) Also much work on individual differences within cultures—how personality plays

out in the social sphere, including work on sex differences and gender differences in personality processes, traits, and mechanisms

62

At human nature level of analysis, all humans have common set of concerns they struggle with in the social sphere

Adjustment Domain

Personality plays key role in how we cope, adapt, and adjust to events in daily life Personality linked with important health outcomes and problems in coping and

adjustment

A Fissure in the Field

Gap within personality psychology has not yet been successfully bridged—the gap

between the human nature level of analysis, and the analysis of individual and group differences

This translates into a gap between grand theories of personality (human nature level of analysis) and contemporary research in personality (individual and group differences level of analysis)

Grand Historical Theories of Personality

Attempt to provide universal account of the fundamental psychological processes and characteristics of our species

Statements about the universal core of human nature lie at the center of grand

theories of personality, such as Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory

Contemporary Research in Personality

Most current personality research addresses ways in which individuals and groups differ, not human universals

Personality psychologists specialize in a particular domain, such as biological aspects of personality or how culture impacts personality

Bridging the Fissure: The Notion of Domains of Knowledge

One way to make sense of the vast amount of research in many different areas of personality is to appreciate that this research occurs along several key domains of knowledge

Domain of knowledge is a specialty area of science and scholarship, where

psychologists have focused on learning about specific and limited aspects of human nature

This specialization is reasonable, but we must strive to integrate diverse domains of knowledge to get the "big picture" of personality

63


D. Summary

Personality Defined

"Personality is the Set of Psychological Traits... And Mechanisms... Within the Individual...

That Are Organized and Relatively Enduring... And that Influence... His or Her Interactions with... and Adaptations to... the Environment."

Three Levels of Personality Analysis (1Human Nature

How we are "like all others" Traits and mechanisms of personality that are typical of our species and possessed

by nearly everyone

Individual and Group Differences

How we are "like some others" Individual differences refer to ways in which each person is like some other

people (e.g., extraverts, sensations-seekers, high self-esteem persons) Group differences refer to ways in which the people of one group differ from

people in another group (e.g., cultural differences, age differences)

Individual Uniqueness

How we are "like no others" Individual uniqueness refers to the fact that every individual has personal and

unique qualities not shared by any other person in the world

Individuals can be studied nomothetically or ideographically o Nomothetic research involves statistical comparisons of individuals or

groups, requiring samples of participants in which to conduct research; applied to identify and learn more about universal human characteristics or dimensions of individual or group differences

o Ideographic research focuses on a single person, trying to observe general principles that are manifest in a single life over time; often results in case

studies or psychological biography of a single person.

64


E. Post Test

Instruction: Enumerate the following; choose the best answer on the box. Write the answer on

the space provided.

A. Give at least 3 some adjustments which thwart development

1.

2.

3.

B. Response to external stimuli involves four steps

4.

5.

6.

7.

C. Give at least 3 some futile adjustments

8.

9.

10

absorption and daydreaming association capitalizing a defect

rationalizing self- expressionism flight into reality

execution bragging teasing and cruelty

timidity and bashfulness pouting and temper tantrums

jealousy lying stealing motor

reception interpretation preparation

65


E. Post Test

(Key to Correction)

A. Give at least 3 some adjustments which thwart development

(1) capitalizing a defect,

(2) rationalizing,

(3) self-absorption and daydreaming,

(4) expressionism, and

(5) flight into reality

B. Response to external stimuli involves four steps

(1) reception,

(2) interpretation,

(3) preparation, and

(4) execution.

C. Give at least 3 some futile adjustments

(1) bragging,

(2) teasing and cruelty,

(3) timidity and bashfulness,

(4) pouting and temper tantrums,

(5) jealousy,

(6) lying, and

(7) stealing.

References:

http://psycnet.apa.org/books/13261/004

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7398444

http://raijmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/6_32-37-Dr.-Hetal-T.-Patel.pdf

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00705871#page-1

http://www.psychforums.com/adjustment-disorder/topic15909.html

http://psycnet.apa.org/books/13261/004

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7398444

http://raijmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/6_32-37-Dr.-Hetal-T.-Patel.pdf

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00705871#page-1

http://www.psychforums.com/adjustment-disorder/topic15909.html

nature and functions of educational psychology

Education

x psychology

branch of psychology

x educational psychology

sociological psychology

biological psychology

study of behavior

behavior of individuals

biological bases of