ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGICAL
PROCESS
B.Sc. in Counselling Psychology
CORE COURSE
II SEMESTER
(2011 Admission onwards)
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
Calicut University P.O. Malappuram, Kerala, India 673 635
School of Distance Education
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
Study Material
CORE COURSE
B.Sc. in Counselling Psychology
II Semester
ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESS
Prepared &
Scrutinised by : Prof. (Dr.) C. Jayan
Department of
Psychology
University of
Calicut
Layout:
Computer Section, SDE
©
Reserved
CONTENTS
PAGE
MODULE 1
MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
5
MODULE 2
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INTELLIGENCE
21
MODULE 3
PERSONALITY NATURE AND DEFENITION
42
MODULE 4
CONSCIOUS BEHAVIOUR
58
MODULE 5
HIGHER COGNITIVE PROCESSES
71
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Module 1
MOTIVATION AND EMOTION
Motivation
Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-orientated behavior.
Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for
humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal
behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation. According to various
theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain
and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and
resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be
attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or
avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with
either volition or optimism. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.
NATURE OF MOTIVATION
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation has been studied by social and educational psychologists
since the early 1970s. Research has found that it is usually associated with
high educational achievement and enjoyment by students. Intrinsic motivation
has been explained by Fritz Heider's attribution theory, Bandura's work on selfAdvanced Psychological Process
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efficacy, and Ryan and Deci's cognitive evaluation theory. Students are likely to
be intrinsically motivated if they:
attribute their educational results to internal factors that they can control (e.g.
the amount of effort they put in),
believe they can be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results
are not determined by luck),
are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve
good grades.
Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the performer. Money is the most
obvious example, but coercion and threat of punishment are also common
extrinsic motivations.
While competing, the crowd may cheer on the performer, which may motivate
him or her to do well. Trophies are also extrinsic incentives. Competition is in
general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others,
not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity.
Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to
overjustification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one
study demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were)
rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time
playing with the drawing materials in subsequent observations than children
who were assigned to an unexpected reward condition and to children who
received no extrinsic reward.
Classification of Motives
According to Maslow, motives are of the following types:
1) Physiological
2) Security
3) Affiliation/ Belongingness
4) Esteem
5) Self- Actualisation
These motives are well explained in his Need Hierarchy Model
The need hierarchy model
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An interpretation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid
with the more basic needs at the bottom.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by
Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow
subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate
curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental
psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.
Maslow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane
Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally ill or
neurotic people, writing that "the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and
unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple
philosophy." Maslow also studied the healthiest 1% of the college student
population.Maslow's theory was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation
and Personality.
Representations
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with
the largest and lowest levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for selfactualization at the top, also the needs for people.
Deficiency needs
The lower four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called "deficiency
needs" or "d-needs": physiological (including sexuality), security of position,
friendship and love, and esteem. With the exception of the lowest
(physiological) needs, if these "deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives
no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense.
Physiological needs
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For the most part, physiological needs are obvious—they are the literal
requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met (with the
exception of clothing, shelter, and sexual activity), the human body simply
cannot continue to function.
Physiological needs include:
Breathing
Food
Homeostasis
Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals,
including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the
elements. The intensity of the human sexual instinct is shaped more by sexual
competition than maintaining a birth rate adequate to survival of the species.
Safety needs
With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take
precedence and dominate behavior. These needs have to do with people's
yearning for a predictable orderly world in which perceived unfairness and
inconsistency are under control, the familiar frequent and the unfamiliar rare.
In the world of work, these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as
a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual
from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable
disability accommodations, and the like.
Safety and Security needs include:
Personal security
Financial security
Health and well-being
Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts
Love and Belonging
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human
needs are social and involve feelings of belongingness. This aspect of Maslow's
hierarchy involves emotionally based relationships in general, such as:
Friendship
Intimacy
Family
Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes
from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups,
professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections
(family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants).
They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the
absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness,
social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can often
overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of
the peer pressure; an anorexic, for example, may ignore the need to eat and
the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.
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Esteem
All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and selfrespect. Also known as the belonging need, esteem presents the normal
human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage
themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the
person a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a
profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an
inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others.
They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. Note, however,
that many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of
themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must
first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression
can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.
Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow
noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower
one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition,
fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-respect, the
need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and
freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more on inner
competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to
an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.
Maslow stresses the dangers associated with self-esteem based on fame and
outer recognition instead of inner competence.
Self-actualization
“What a man can be, he must be.” This forms the basis of the perceived need
for self-actualization. This level of need pertains to what a person's full
potential is and realizing that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the
desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one
is capable of becoming. This is a broad definition of the need for selfactualization, but when applied to individuals the need is specific. For example
one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent, in
another it may be expressed athletically, and in another it may be expressed in
painting, pictures, or inventions. As mentioned before, in order to reach a clear
understanding of this level of need one must first not only achieve the previous
needs, physiological, safety, love, and esteem, but master these needs. Below
are Maslow’s descriptions of a self-actualized person’s different needs and
personality traits.
Maslow also states that even though these are examples of how the quest for
knowledge is separate from basic needs he warns that these “two hierarchies
are interrelated rather than sharply separated” (Maslow 97). This means that
this level of need as well as the next and highest level are not strict, separate,
levels but closely related to others and this is possibly the reason that these
two levels of need are left out of most textbooks.
Criticisms
In their extensive review of research based on Maslow's theory, Wahba and
Bridgewell found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or
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even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all. Chilean economist and
philosopher Manfred Max-Neef has also argued fundamental human needs are
non-hierarchical, and are ontologically universal and invariant in nature—part
of the condition of being human; poverty, he argues, may result from any one
of these needs being frustrated, denied or unfulfilled.
The order in which the hierarchy is arranged (with self-actualisation as the
highest order need) has been criticised as being ethnocentric by Geert
Hofstede.
He was also heavily criticized for his limited testing of only 100 students.
Marketing
Courses in marketing teach Maslow's hierarchy as one of the first theories as a
basis for understanding consumers' motives for action. Marketers have
historically looked towards consumers' needs to define their actions in the
market. If producers design products meeting consumer needs, consumers will
more often choose those products over those of competitors. Whichever
product better fills the void created by the need will be chosen more
frequently, thus increasing sales. This makes the model relevant to
transpersonal business studies.
Techniques for Assessment of Motivation
Where a resume can trace an individual's history, and a personality profile can
categorize a person by traits, only by understanding motivation can we clearly
see where an individual's talents, desires and potential lie. Personal
motivations in categories like temperament, aptitude and vocational interests
can be identified and rated according to their intensity. By charting these
motivations, we can provide an understanding of the intricacies that keep
individuals happy, thriving and effective in their work.
There are many techniques available to assess motivation, some of them are
‘Motivation Assessment Scale’ and ‘Assessment of Motivation and Potential
For Personal and Professional Development ’
Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) as an additional way to find out why
people’s problem behaviors persist by assessing the influence of social
attention, tangibles, escape, and sensory consequences on problem behavior.
The MAS is a sixteen item questionnaire that assesses the functions or
motivations of behavior problems. The sixteen items are organized into four
categories of reinforcement (attention, tangible, escape, and sensory)
described in the previous section. The MAS asks questions about the likelihood
of a behavior problem occurring in a variety of situations (e.g., when presented
with difficult tasks).
"In addition, using this scale does not involve making behavior problems
worse, a feature that has obvious advantages. It is hoped that through the use
of the MAS, people with severe behavior problems will have greater access to
positive interventions."
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MAPP (Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential) is a tool used to create
more productive and efficient organizations. It is based on a comprehensive
and integrated personal inventory for understanding motivation and
potential…it allows employers to make the most successful employees
benchmarks for others…it enables businesses to hire more thoughtfully and
accurately and to build healthier and more efficient teams…it facilitates wise
promotion decisions…it can target specific areas for training…it reduces
turnover by accurately matching individuals to their positions. And, in turn, it
helps keep employees satisfied and productive.
Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential gives companies an unprecedented
glimpse into what makes individuals who they are and who they can be.
Combine the MAPP™ of many employees, and one has access to a digital
talent pool that can help utilize people in the best way possible, whether a
business is growing and changing, merging, reorganizing or downsizing. It
provides powerful insight needed for building stronger organizations.
Motivation and Learning
The Behaviorist Model
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the behaviorist model had become the dominant
model in psychology (Greeno, Collins, and Resnick, 1996). According to that
model, learning was the development of associations between stimuli and
responses or stimuli and other stimuli through the act of pairing and the
delivery of contingencies based on responses. Behaviorism was a very
important movement for psychology at the time, even though it had rejected
much of the work that had gone before it as unscientific. The reasoning was
that in order for psychology to be a science, it had to focus on repeatable,
verifiable, observable events that everyone could agree had taken place. There
was no advantage to resorting to no observable mediating events like thinking
because environmental consequences were capable of explaining even very
complex chains of behavior (Skinner, 1953).
Though the model may seem a bit drastic in retrospect, it was an important
step in psychology’s attempt to be accepted as a science. Adopting the
scientific criteria of observation and replication meant that psychology was
trying to move away from speculative and mysterious causes of behavior into a
more positivist approach that identified verifiable cause and-effect
relationships. Instructional Implications. During its tenure as the dominant
theory, behaviorism provided a lot of good information and ideas about the
causes of learning. The purpose of instruction under behavioral models was to
increase the frequency of correct responses and minimize errors. Learners
were fairly passive participants in the whole process. They merely responded
and experienced the consequences of the response. Positive consequences
increased the response’s probability; negative consequences decreased it. The
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instructor organized the learning environment to ensure that correct responses
were likely to occur, and when they did, they were rewarded. Incorrect
responses were either punished or ignored and as a result lost strength.
The Cognitive Model
In the 1970s and 1980s, the ideas of cognitive psychology began to resurface
in the field. The initial versions of cognitive theory were still fairly mechanistic
and continued to revolve around the concept of associations among stimuli,
but now the focus was on mental associations, which could only be inferred
from external responses made by the learner (Anderson, 1983). Learners were
still somewhat at the mercy of environmental input, but at this point, the
influence of the learner began to be considered. This influence was primarily a
result of the effects of the learner’s prior knowledge and existing schemata
(concepts) on the storage and organization of
new information, so it was not as if the learner was actively directing his or her
learning yet. Storage of new information in memory could still theoretically
occur without active direction by the learner. In a fairly simplistic way,
incoming information could bounce around in the learner’s consciousness until
it was matched with the same or a similar pattern already stored in memory, at
which point the memory pattern was either strengthened or modified to
accommodate the new information. These cognitive theories focused on
learning as a structuring and restructuring of memory. Information coming in
from the environment received the learner’s attention and as a result entered
consciousness (working memory), where it was held briefly until either
processed into long-term memory, discarded as unimportant, or displaced by
incoming information. These theories, called information processing theories,
were most useful in advising teachers how to design instruction that would
benefit this form of learning; they were not very useful in classroom or
behavior management. Instructional Implications. The goal of instruction under
this paradigm is to organize the presentation of new information so that it can
be easily stored in memory.
Emotion
Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality and disposition,
and motivation. The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French word
émouvoir. This is based on the Latin emovere, where e- (variant of ex-) means
'out' and movere means 'move'. The related term "motivation" is also derived
from movere.
No definitive taxonomy of emotions exists, though numerous taxonomies have
been proposed. Some categorizations include:

'Cognitive' versus 'non-cognitive' emotions

Instinctual emotions (from the amygdala), versus cognitive emotions
(from the prefrontal cortex).

Categorization based on duration: Some emotions occur over a period of
seconds (for example, surprise), whereas others can last years (for
example, love).
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A related distinction is between the emotion and the results of the emotion,
principally behaviors and emotional expressions. People often behave in
certain ways as a direct result of their emotional state, such as crying, fighting
or fleeing. If one can have the emotion without the corresponding behavior,
then we may consider the behavior not to be essential to the emotion.
Neuroscientific research suggests there is a "magic quarter second" during
which it's possible to catch a thought before it becomes an emotional reaction.
In that instant, one can catch a feeling before allowing it to take hold.
The James-Lange theory posits that emotional experience is largely due to the
experience of bodily changes. The functionalist approach to emotions (for
example, Nico Frijda and Freitas-Magalhaes) holds that emotions have evolved
for a particular function, such as to keep the subject safe.
Nature of Emotion
There are basic and complex categories, where some basic emotions can be
modified in some way to form complex emotions (for example, Paul Ekman). In
one model, the complex emotions could arise from cultural conditioning or
association combined with the basic emotions. Alternatively, analogous to the
way primary colors combine, primary emotions could blend to form the full
spectrum of human emotional experience. For example interpersonal anger
and disgust could blend to form contempt. Robert Plutchik proposed a threedimensional "circumplex model" which describes the relations among
emotions. This model is similar to a color wheel. The vertical dimension
represents intensity, and the circle represents degrees of similarity among the
emotions. He posited eight primary emotion dimensions arranged as four pairs
of opposites. Some have also argued for the existence of meta-emotions which
are emotions about emotions.
Another important means of distinguishing emotions concerns their occurrence
in time. Some emotions occur over a period of seconds (for example, surprise),
whereas others can last years (for example, love). The latter could be regarded
as a long term tendency to have an emotion regarding a certain object rather
than an emotion proper (though this is disputed). A distinction is then made
between emotion episodes and emotional dispositions. Dispositions are also
comparable to character traits, where someone may be said to be generally
disposed to experience certain emotions, though about different objects. For
example an irritable person is generally disposed to feel irritation more easily
or quickly than others do. Finally, some theorists (for example, Klaus Scherer,
2005) place emotions within a more general category of 'affective states'
where affective states can also include emotion-related phenomena such as
pleasure and pain, motivational states (for example, hunger or curiosity),
moods, dispositions and traits.
The neural correlates of hate have been investigated with an fMRI procedure.
In this experiment, people had their brains scanned while viewing pictures of
people they hated. The results showed increased activity in the medial frontal
gyrus, right putamen, bilaterally in the premotor cortex, in the frontal pole, and
bilaterally in the medial insula of the human brain. The researchers concluded
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that there is a distinct pattern of brain activity that occurs when people are
experiencing hatred.
Theories
Theories about emotions stretch back at least as far as the Ancient Greek
Stoics, as well as Plato and Aristotle. We also see sophisticated theories in the
works of philosophers such as René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and David
Hume. Later theories of emotions tend to be informed by advances in empirical
research. Often theories are not mutually exclusive and many researchers
incorporate multiple perspectives in their work.
Somatic theories
Somatic theories of emotion claim that bodily responses rather than
judgements are essential to emotions. The first modern version of such
theories comes from William James in the 1880s. The theory lost favour in the
20th century, but has regained popularity more recently due largely to
theorists such as John Cacioppo, António Damásio, Joseph E. LeDoux and
Robert Zajonc who are able to appeal to neurological evidence.
James-Lange theory
William James, in the article 'What is an Emotion?' (Mind, 9, 1884: 188-205),
argued that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily
changes. The Danish psychologist Carl Lange also proposed a similar theory at
around the same time, so this position is known as the James-Lange theory.
This theory and its derivatives state that a changed situation leads to a
changed bodily state. As James says "the perception of bodily changes as they
occur is the emotion." James further claims that "we feel sad because we cry,
angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and neither we cry, strike,
nor tremble because we are sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be."
This theory is supported by experiments in which by manipulating the bodily
state, a desired emotion is induced. Such experiments also have therapeutic
implications (for example, in laughter therapy, dance therapy). The JamesLange theory is often misunderstood because it seems counter-intuitive. Most
people believe that emotions give rise to emotion-specific actions: i.e. "I'm
crying because I'm sad", or "I ran away because I was scared". The JamesLange theory, conversely, asserts that first we react to a situation (running
away and crying happen before the emotion), and then we interpret our
actions into an emotional response. In this way, emotions serve to explain and
organize our own actions to us.
The James-Lange theory has now been all but abandoned by most scholars.
Tim Dalgleish (2004) states the following:
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“
The James-Lange theory has remained influential. Its main contribution is the
emphasis it places on the embodiment of emotions, especially the argument
that changes in the bodily concomitants of emotions can alter their
experienced intensity. Most contemporary neuroscientists would endorse a
modified James-Lange view in which bodily feedback modulates the experience
of emotion."
”
The issue with James-Lange theory is that of causation (bodily states causing
emotions and being a priori), not that of the bodily influences on emotional
experience (which I would argue is still quite prevalent today in biofeedback
studies and embodiment theory).
Neurobiological theories
Based on discoveries made through neural mapping of the limbic system, the
neurobiological explanation of human emotion is that emotion is a pleasant or
unpleasant mental state organized in the limbic system of the mammalian
brain. If distinguished from reactive responses of reptiles, emotions would then
be mammalian elaborations of general vertebrate arousal patterns, in which
neurochemicals (for example, dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin) step-up
or step-down the brain's activity level, as visible in body movements, gestures,
and postures.
For example, the emotion of love is proposed to be the expression of
paleocircuits of the mammalian brain (specifically, modules of the cingulate
gyrus) which facilitate the care, feeding, and grooming of offspring.
Paleocircuits are neural platforms for bodily expression configured millions of
years before the advent of cortical circuits for speech. They consist of preconfigured pathways or networks of nerve cells in the forebrain, brain stem
and spinal cord. They evolved prior to the earliest mammalian ancestors, as far
back as the jawless fish, to control motor function.
Presumably, before the mammalian brain, animal life was automatic,
preconscious, and predictable. The motor centers of reptiles react to sensory
cues of vision, sound, touch, chemical, gravity, and motion with pre-set body
movements and programmed postures. With the arrival of night-active
mammals, circa 180 million years ago, smell replaced vision as the dominant
sense, and a different way of responding arose from the olfactory sense, which
is proposed to have developed into mammalian emotion and emotional
memory. In the Jurassic Period, the mammalian brain invested heavily in
olfaction to succeed at night as reptiles slept—one explanation for why
olfactory lobes in mammalian brains are proportionally larger than in the
reptiles. These odor pathways gradually formed the neural blueprint for what
was later to become our limbic brain.
Emotions are thought to be related to activity in brain areas that direct our
attention, motivate our behavior, and determine the significance of what is
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going on around us. Pioneering work by Broca (1878), Papez (1937), and
MacLean (1952) suggested that emotion is related to a group of structures in
the center of the brain called the limbic system, which includes the
hypothalamus, cingulate cortex, hippocampi, and other structures. More recent
research has shown that some of these limbic structures are not as directly
related to emotion as others are, while some non-limbic structures have been
found to be of greater emotional relevance.
Prefrontal Cortex
There is ample evidence that the left prefrontal cortex is activated by stimuli
that cause positive approach. If attractive stimuli can selectively activate a
region of the brain, then logically the converse should hold, that selective
activation of that region of the brain should cause a stimulus to be judged
more positively. This was demonstrated for moderately attractive visual stimuli
and replicated and extended to include negative stimuli.
Two neurobiological models of emotion in the prefrontal cortex made opposing
predictions. The Valence Model predicted that anger, a negative emotion,
would activate the right prefrontal cortex. The Direction Model predicted that
anger, an approach emotion, would activate the left prefrontal cortex. The
second model was supported.
This still left open the question of whether the opposite of approach in the
prefrontal cortex is better described as moving away (Direction Model), as
unmoving but with strength and resistance (Movement Model), or as unmoving
with passive yielding (Action Tendency Model). Support for the Action Tendency
Model (passivity related to right prefrontal activity) comes from research on
shynes[ and research on behavioral inhibition. Research that tested the
competing hypotheses generated by all four models also supported the Action
Tendency Model.
Homeostatic Emotion
Another neurological approach, described by Bud Craig in 2003, distinguishes
between two classes of emotion. "Classical emotions" include lust, anger and
fear, and they are feelings evoked by environmental stimuli, which motivate us
(in these examples, respectively, to copulate/fight/flee). "Homeostatic
emotions" are feelings evoked by internal body states, which modulate our
behavior. Thirst, hunger, feeling hot or cold (core temperature), feeling sleep
deprived, salt hunger and air hunger are all examples of homeostatic emotion;
each is a signal from a body system saying "Things aren't right down here.
Drink/eat/move into the shade/put on something warm/sleep/lick salty
rocks/breathe." We begin to feel a homeostatic emotion when one of these
systems drifts out of balance, and the feeling prompts us to do what is
necessary to restore that system to balance. Pain is a homeostatic emotion
telling us "Things aren't right here. Withdraw and protect."
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Cognitive theories
There are some theories arguing that cognitive activity—in the form of
judgments, evaluations, or thoughts—is necessary for an emotion to occur.
This, argued by Richard Lazarus, is necessary to capture the fact that emotions
are about something or have intentionality. Such cognitive activity may be
conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual
processing.
An influential theory here is that of Lazarus: emotion is a disturbance that
occurs in the following order: 1.) Cognitive appraisal—The individual assess the
event cognitively, which cues the emotion. 2.) Physiological changes—The
cognitive reaction starts biological changes such as increased heart rate or
pituitary adrenal response. 3.) Action—The individual feels the emotion and
chooses how to react. For example: Jenny sees a snake. 1.) Jenny cognitively
assesses the snake in her presence, which triggers fear. 2.) Her heart begins to
race faster. Adrenaline pumps through her blood stream. 3.) Jenny screams and
runs away. Lazarus stressed that the quality and intensity of emotions are
controlled through cognitive processes. These processes underlie coping
strategies that form the emotional reaction by altering the relationship
between the person and the environment.
There are some theories on emotions arguing that cognitive activity in the form
of judgements, evaluations, or thoughts is necessary in order for an emotion to
occur. A prominent philosophical exponent is Robert C. Solomon (for example,
The Passions, Emotions and the Meaning of Life, 1993). The theory proposed
by Nico Frijda where appraisal leads to action tendencies is another example. It
has also been suggested that emotions (affect heuristics, feelings and gutfeeling reactions) are often used as shortcuts to process information and
influence behaviour.
Perceptual theory
A recent hybrid of the somatic and cognitive theories of emotion is the
perceptual theory. This theory is neo-Jamesian in arguing that bodily responses
are central to emotions, yet it emphasises the meaningfulness of emotions or
the idea that emotions are about something, as is recognised by cognitive
theories. The novel claim of this theory is that conceptually based cognition is
unnecessary for such meaning. Rather the bodily changes themselves perceive
the meaningful content of the emotion because of being causally triggered by
certain situations. In this respect, emotions are held to be analogous to
faculties such as vision or touch, which provide information about the relation
between the subject and the world in various ways. A sophisticated defense of
this view is found in philosopher Jesse Prinz's book Gut Reactions and
psychologist James Laird's book Feelings.
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Affective Events Theory
This a communication-based theory developed by Howard M. Weiss and Russell
Cropanzano (1996), that looks at the causes, structures, and consequences of
emotional experience (especially in work contexts). This theory suggests that
emotions are influenced and caused by events which in turn influence attitudes
and behaviors. This theoretical frame also emphasizes time in that human
beings experience what they call emotion episodes—a "series of emotional
states extended over time and organized around an underlying theme". This
theory has been utilized by numerous researchers to better understand
emotion from a communicative lens, and was reviewed further by Howard M.
Weiss and Daniel J. Beal in their article, Reflections on Affective Events Theory
published in Research on Emotion in Organizations in 2005.
Cannon-Bard theory
In the Cannon-Bard theory, Walter Bradford Cannon argued against the
dominance of the James-Lange theory regarding the physiological aspects of
emotions in the second edition of Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and
Rage. Where James argued that emotional behaviour often precedes or defines
the emotion, Cannon and Bard argued that the emotion arises first and then
stimulates typical behaviour.
Two-factor theory
Another cognitive theory is the Singer-Schachter theory. This is based on
experiments purportedly showing that subjects can have different emotional
reactions despite being placed into the same physiological state with an
injection of adrenaline. Subjects were observed to express either anger or
amusement depending on whether another person in the situation displayed
that emotion. Hence, the combination of the appraisal of the situation
(cognitive) and the participants' reception of adrenaline or a placebo together
determined the response. This experiment has been criticized in Jesse Prinz's
(2004) Gut Reactions.
Component process model
A recent version of the cognitive theory regards emotions more broadly as the
synchronization of many different bodily and cognitive components. Emotions
are identified with the overall process whereby low-level cognitive appraisals,
in particular the processing of relevance, trigger bodily reactions, behaviors,
feelings, and actions.
Physiological Correlates of Emotions
Recent sensor development enables wireless capture of context information,
i.e., body and environmental data, in an unobtrusive way. Collected data is
provided to mobile systems, which in turn respond intelligently, providing
meaningful services to the user. Within the European project e-SENSE, the
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affective state of the users is one component of context capture. To develop
algorithms for emotion inference, an experiment was conducted in which five
different emotional states were induced. Heart rate, electrodermal activity,
breathing rate, and skin temperature were utilized to measure the respective
emotional states. Self-assessment ratings were applied for manipulation check
and comparison with the collected physiological data. Results show that at
least three of the four measures seem promising for detecting differences in
affective states and support a dimensional model of affect.
Among the theories for categorizing or structuring emotions, two approaches
have been widely accepted. The discrete or categorical approach claims the
existence of a set of universal, ‘basic emotions’ that can be distinguished
clearly from one another and form the basis for all other emotions we might
experience. Studies performed in search of physiological patterns specific to
basic emotions concentrated mainly on activities of the autonomous nervous
system (ANS) and characteristic speech signal changes. ANS-related studies
and many others) showed very interesting results each on its own, but until
now no distinct fixed patterns for the proposed six basic emotions could be
found. The results of the studies are controversial and the variables measured
do not seem to allow a clear distinction between different emotions.
The other approach proposes two or more major dimensions, which enable the
description of different emotions and the distinction between them . According
to the dimensional view, emotions are mainly characterized by their valence
and arousal. whereas the arousal dimension spans between the two poles
sleepy/calm for very low arousal and aroused/excited for very high arousal.
Valence and arousal have proven to be the two main dimensions, accounting
for most of the variance observed. Cowie et al. proposed the application of
additional dimensions for emotions that share the same degrees of arousal and
valence, but are perfectly distinguishable in everyday life. For fear and anger a
dominance or control dimension would support the distinction between the two
emotions. For psycho-physiological studies the dimensional model has a high
face validity, since physiological data is continuous and should correspond well
to the dimensions proposed. The most commonly used physiological
parameters applied in studies based on the dimensional model are skin
conductance level (SCL), facial electromyogram (EMG) and heart rate (HR), but
speech parameters have also been examined. Lang found linear increases of
Galvanic skin response as an indicator of SCL with the level of overall arousal.
Burch und Greiner predict the same for electrodermal responses.
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Module 2
INTELLIGENCE
Definition of Intelligence
"An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are
valued within one or more cultural settings ( Gardner, 1983/2003, )"
Intelligence derives from the Latin verb intellegere; per that rationale,
“understanding” (intelligence) is different from being “smart” (capable of
adapting to the environment). Scientists have proposed two major “consensus”
definitions of intelligence:
Intelligence A very general mental capability that, among other things,
involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly,
comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not
merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it
reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings
“catching on”, “making sense” of things, or “figuring out” what to do.
Nature versus nurture
"Nature versus nurture" is a term coined by the English Victorian polymath
Francis Galton regarding the influence of heredity and environment on social
careers. Galton was influencedby the book The Origin of the Species written by
his cousin, Charles Darwin. The concept embodied in the phrase has been
criticizedfor its binary simplification of two tightly interwoven parameters, as
for example an environment of wealth, education and social privilege are often
historically passed to genetic offspring.
The nature versus nurture debates concern the relative importance of an
individual's innate qualities ("nature", i.e. nativism, or innatism) versus
personal experiences ("nurture", i.e. empiricism or behaviorism) in determining
or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits.
The view that humans acquire all or almost all their behavioral traits from
"nurture" is known as tabula rasa ("blank slate"). This question was once
considered to be an appropriate division of developmental influences, but since
both types of factors are known to play such interacting roles in development,
many modern psychologists consider the question naive - representing an
outdated state of knowledge. Psychologist Donald Hebb is said to have once
answered a journalist's question of "which, nature or nurture, contributes more
to personality?" by asking in response, "Which contributes more to the area of
a rectangle, its length or its width?"
For a discussion of nature versus nurture in language and other human
universals, see also psychological nativism.
Scientific approach
To disentangle the effects of genes and environment, behavioral geneticists
perform adoption and twin studies. Behavioral geneticists do not generally use
the term "nurture" to explain that portion of the variance for a given trait (such
as IQ or the Big Five personality traits) that can be attributed to environmental
effects. Instead, two different types of environmental effects are distinguished:
shared family factors (i.e., those shared by siblings, making them more similar)
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and nonshared factors (i.e., those that uniquely affect individuals, making
siblings different). To express the portion of the variance due to the "nature"
component, behavioral geneticists generally refer to the heritability of a trait.
With regard to the Big Five personality traits as well as adult IQ in the general
U.S. population, the portion of the overall variance that can be attributed to
shared family effects is often negligible. On the other hand, most traits are
thought to be at least partially heritable. In this context, the "nature"
component of the variance is generally thought to be more important than that
ascribed to the influence of family upbringing.
In her Pulitzer Prize-nominated book The Nurture Assumption, author Judith
Harris argues that "nurture," as traditionally defined in terms of family
upbringing does not effectively explain the variance for most traits (such as
adult IQ and the Big Five personality traits) in the general population of the
United States. On the contrary, Harris suggests that either peer groups or
random environmental factors (i.e., those that are independent of family
upbringing) are more important than family environmental effects.
Although "nurture" has historically been referred to as the care given to
children by the parents, with the mother playing a role of particular
importance, this term is now regarded by some as any environmental (not
genetic) factor in the contemporary nature versus nurture debate. Thus the
definition of "nurture" has expanded to include influences on development
arising from prenatal, parental, extended family, and peer experiences, and
extending to influences such as media, marketing, and socio-economic status.
Indeed, a substantial source of environmental input to human nature may arise
from stochastic variations in prenatal development.
Heritability estimates
While there are many examples of single-gene-locus traits, current thinking in
biology discredits the notion that genes alone can determine most complex
traits. At the molecular level, DNA interacts with signals from other genes and
from the environment. At the level of individuals, particular genes influence the
development of a trait in the context of a particular environment. Thus,
measurements of the degree to which a trait is influenced by genes versus
environment will depend on the particular environment and genes examined.
In many cases, it has been found that genes may have a substantial
contribution, including psychological traits such as intelligence and personality.
Yet these traits may be largely influenced by environment in other
circumstances, such as environmental deprivation.
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This chart illustrates three patterns one might see when studying the influence
of genes and environment on traits in individuals. Trait A shows a high sibling
correlation, but little heritability (i.e. high shared environmental variance c2;
low heritability h2). Trait B shows a high heritability since correlation of trait
rises sharply with degree of genetic similarity. Trait C shows low heritability, but
also low correlations generally; this means Trait C has a high nonshared
environmental variance e2. In other words, the degree to which individuals
display Trait C has little to do with either genes or broadly predictable
environmental factors—roughly, the outcome approaches random for an
individual. Notice also that even identical twins raised in a common family
rarely show 100% trait correlation.
A researcher seeking to quantify the influence of genes or environment on a
trait needs to be able to separate the effects of one factor away from that of
another. This kind of research often begins with attempts to calculate the
heritability of a trait. Heritability quantifies the extent to which variation
among individuals in a trait is due to variation in the genes those individuals
carry. In animals where breeding and environments can be controlled
experimentally, heritability can be determined relatively easily. Such
experiments would be unethical for human research. This problem can be
overcome by finding existing populations of humans that reflect the
experimental setting the researcher wishes to create.
One way to determine the contribution of genes and environment to a trait is
to study twins. In one kind of study, identical twins reared apart are compared
to randomly selected pairs of people. The twins share identical genes, but
different family environments. In another kind of twin study, identical twins
reared together (who share family environment and genes) are compared to
fraternal twins reared together (who also share family environment but only
share half their genes). Another condition that permits the disassociation of
genes and environment is adoption. In one kind of adoption study, biological
siblings reared together (who share the same family environment and half their
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genes) are compared to adoptive siblings (who share their family environment
but none of their genes).
Some have rightly pointed out that environmental inputs affect the expression
of genes (see the article on epigenetics). This is one explanation of how
environment can influence the extent to which a genetic disposition will
actually manifest. The interactions of genes with environment, called geneenvironment interaction, are another component of the nature-nurture debate.
A classic example of gene-environment interaction is the ability of a diet low in
the amino acid phenylalanine to partially suppress the genetic disease
phenylketonuria. Yet another complication to the nature-nurture debate is the
existence of gene-environment correlations. These correlations indicate that
individuals with certain genotypes are more likely to find themselves in certain
environments. Thus, it appears that genes can shape (the selection or creation
of) environments. Even using experiments like those described above, it can be
very difficult to determine convincingly the relative contribution of genes and
environment.
Interaction of genes and environment
In only a very few cases is it fair to say that a trait is due almost entirely to
nature, or almost entirely to nurture. In the case of most diseases now strictly
identified as genetic, such as Huntington's disease, there is a better than
99.9% correlation between having the identified gene and the disease and a
similar correlation for not having either. On the other hand, Huntington's
animal models live much longer or shorter lives depending on how they are
cared for (animal husbandry). At the other extreme, traits such as native
language are environmentally determined: linguists have found that any child
(if capable of learning a language at all) can learn any human language with
equal facility.
When traits are determined by a complex interaction of genotype and
environment it is possible to measure the heritability of a trait within a
population. However, many non-scientists who encounter a report of a trait
having a certain percentage heritability imagine non-interactional, additive
contributions of genes and environment to the trait. As an analogy, some
laypeople may think of the degree of a trait being made up of two "buckets",
genes and environment, each able to hold a certain capacity of the trait. But
even for intermediate heritabilities, a trait is always shaped by both genetic
dispositions and the environments in which people develop, merely with
greater and lesser plasticities associated with these heritability measures.
Heritability measures always refer to the degree of variation between
individuals in a population. These statistics cannot be applied at the level of
the individual. It is incorrect to say that since the heritability index of
personality is about .6, you got 60% of your personality from your parents and
40% from the environment. To help to understand this, imagine that all
humans were genetic clones. The heritability index for all traits would be zero
(all variability between clonal individuals must be due to environmental
factors). And, contrary to erroneous interpretations of the heritibility index, as
societies become more egalitarian (everyone has more similar experiences)
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the heritability index goes up (as environments become more similar,
variability between individuals is due more to genetic factors).
A highly genetically loaded trait (such as eye color) still assumes
environmental input within normal limits (a certain range of temperature,
oxygen in the atmosphere, etc.). A more useful distinction than "nature vs.
nurture" is "obligate vs. facultative" —under typical environmental ranges,
what traits are more "obligate" (e.g., the nose —everyone has a nose) or more
"facultative" (sensitive to environmental variations, such as specific language
learned during infancy). Another useful distinction is between traits that are
likely to be adaptations (such as the nose) and those that are byproducts of
adaptations (such the white color of bones), or are due to random variation
(non-adaptive variation in, say, nose shape or size).
IQ debate
Evidence suggests that family environmental factors may have an effect upon
childhood IQ, accounting for up to a quarter of the variance. On the other hand,
by late adolescence this correlation disappears, such that adoptive siblings are
no more similar in IQ than strangers.
Moreover, adoption studies indicate that, by adulthood, adoptive siblings are
no more similar in IQ than strangers (IQ correlation near zero), while full
siblings show an IQ correlation of 0.6. Twin studies reinforce this pattern:
monozygotic (identical) twins raised separately are highly similar in IQ (0.74),
more so than dizygotic (fraternal) twins raised together (0.6) and much more
than adoptive siblings (~0.0).
Personality traits
Personality is a frequently cited example of a heritable trait that has been
studied in twins and adoptions. Identical twins reared apart are far more similar
in personality than randomly selected pairs of people. Likewise, identical twins
are more similar than fraternal twins. Also, biological siblings are more similar
in personality than adoptive siblings. Each observation suggests that
personality is heritable to a certain extent. However, these same study designs
allow for the examination of environment as well as genes. Adoption studies
also directly measure the strength of shared family effects. Adopted siblings
share only family environment. Unexpectedly, some adoption studies indicate
that by adulthood the personalities of adopted siblings are no more similar
than random pairs of strangers. This would mean that shared family effects on
personality are zero by adulthood. As is the case with personality, non-shared
environmental effects are often found to out-weigh shared environmental
effects. That is, environmental effects that are typically thought to be lifeshaping (such as family life) may have less of an impact than non-shared
effects, which are harder to identify. One possible source of non-shared effects
is the environment of pre-natal development. Random variations in the genetic
program of development may be a substantial source of non-shared
environment. These results suggest that "nurture" may not be the predominant
factor in "environment"
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Advanced techniques
The power of quantitative studies of heritable traits has been expanded by the
development of new techniques. Developmental genetic analysis examines the
effects of genes over the course of a human lifespan. For example, early
studies of intelligence, which mostly examined young children, found
heritability measures of 40 to 50 percent. Subsequent developmental genetic
analyses have found that genetic contribution to intelligence increases over a
lifespan, reaching a heritability of 80 percent in adulthood.
Another advanced technique, multivariate genetic analysis, examines the
genetic contribution to several traits that vary together. For example,
multivariate genetic analysis has demonstrated that the genetic determinants
of all specific cognitive abilities (e.g., memory, spatial reasoning, processing
speed) overlap greatly, such that the genes associated with any specific
cognitive ability will affect all others. Similarly, multivariate genetic analysis
has found that genes that affect scholastic achievement completely overlap
with the genes that affect cognitive ability.
Extremes analysis, examines the link between normal and pathological traits.
For example, it is hypothesized that a given behavioral disorder may represent
an extreme of a continuous distribution of a normal behavior and hence an
extreme of a continuous distribution of genetic and environmental variation.
Depression, phobias, and reading disabilities have been examined in this
context.
For highly heritable traits, it is now possible to search for individual genes that
contribute to variation in that trait. For example, several research groups have
identified genetic loci that contribute to schizophrenia (Harrison and Owen,
2003).
Moral difficulties
Some observers believe that modern science tends to give too much weight to
the nature side of the argument, in part because of social consciousness.
Historically, much of this debate has had undertones of racist and eugenicist
policies — the notion of race as a scientific truth has often been assumed as a
prerequisite in various incarnations of the nature versus nurture debate. In the
past, heredity was often used as "scientific" justification for various forms of
discrimination and oppression along racial and class lines. Works published in
the United States since the 1960s that argue for the primacy of "nature" over
"nurture" in determining certain characteristics, such as The Bell Curve, have
been greeted with considerable controversy and scorn.
Philosophical difficulties
Are the traits real?
It is sometimes a question whether the "trait" being measured is even a real
thing. Much energy has been devoted to calculating the heritability of
intelligence (usually the I.Q., or intelligence quotient), but there is still some
disagreement as to what exactly "intelligence" is.
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Biological determinism
If genes do contribute substantially to the development of personal
characteristics such as intelligence and personality, then many wonder if this
implies that genes determine who we are. See Genetic determinism and
Biological determinism.
Myths about identity
Within the debates surrounding cloning, for example, is the far-fetched
contention that a Jesus or a Hitler could be "re-created" through genetic
cloning. Current thinking finds this largely inaccurate, and discounts the
possibility that the clone of anyone would grow up to be the same individual
due to environmental variation. For example, like clones, identical twins are
genetically identical, and unlike the hypothetical clones share the same family
environment, yet they are not identical in personality and other traits.
History of the nature versus nurture debate
Traditionally, human nature has been thought of as not only inherited but
divinely ordained. Whole ethnic groups were considered to be, by nature,
superior or inferior. Since the late Middle Ages, intellectuals increasingly
attributed differences among races, classes and genders to socialization
(nurture), rather than to innate qualities (nature). In the 20th century, the
Nazis pursued an agenda based on the concept of human nature as defined by
one's race. The Communists, on the other hand, largely followed Marx's lead in
defining the human identity as subject to social structures, not nature. In
scientific circles, this conflict led to ongoing controversy of sociobiology and
evolutionary psychology.
The emergence of Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a key factor in corporate
recruitment has led psychologists, researchers and educationalists to
reevaluate their traditional views of intelligence and to explore ways of testing
and measuring EI dimensions. The American psychologist Daniel Goleman has
been an influential figure in bringing EI to the attention of researchers and
alerting employers and others to the importance of this fundamental area of
enquiry. To date there have been a number of serious attempts to test and
measure EI, notably the 'Geneva Appraisal Questionnaire' (2002), which was
produced by the Geneva Emotion Research Group, and the earlier 'BarOn
Emotional Quotient Inventory' (1997), which is marketed by Multihealth
Systems (MHS) in Canada. In addition to these models there are many less well
known instruments available on-line, many of which claim to produce an
Emotion Quotient (EQ) for individuals engaging with the tests, though very few
of the instruments include a visible scoring system or the type of information
that is required to validate or give credibility to the assessment.
This article aims to consider the areas and dimensions that comprise the EI
concept and presents a new model, the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire
(EIQu), which places individuals into one of twelve sectors on a polar graph and
identifies their strengths and weaknesses on a range of EI factors. It is
envisaged that the EIQu will become a significant means of measuring EI for
the purposes of psychometric testing, recruitment and educational psychology.
Theories of Intelligence
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While intelligence is one of the most talked about subjects within psychology,
there is no standard definition of what exactly constitutes 'intelligence.' Some
researchers have suggested that intelligence is a single, general ability, while
other believe that intelligence encompasses a range of aptitudes, skills and
talents.
The following are some of the major theories of intelligence that have emerged
during the last 100 years.
Louis L. Thurstone - Primary Mental Abilities:
Psychologist Louis L. Thurstone (1887-1955) offered a differing theory of
intelligence. Instead of viewing intelligence as a single, general ability,
Thurstone's theory focused on seven different "primary mental abilities"
(Thurstone, 1938). The abilities that he described were:

Verbal comprehension

Reasoning

Perceptual speed

Numerical ability

Word fluency

Associative memory

Spatial visualization
Charles Spearman - General Intelligence:
British psychologist Charles Spearman (1863-1945) described a concept he
referred to as general intelligence, or the g factor. After using a technique
known as factor analysis to to examine a number of mental aptitude tests,
Spearman concluded that scores on these tests were remarkably similar.
People who performed well on one cognitive test tended to perform well on
other tests, while those who scored badly on one test tended to score badly on
other. He concluded that intelligence is general cognitive ability that could be
measured and numerically expressed (Spearman, 1904).
Howard Gardner - Multiple Intelligences:
One of the more recent ideas to emerge is Howard Gardner's theory of multiple
intelligences. Instead of focusing on the analysis of test scores, Gardner
proposed that numerical expressions of human intelligence are not a full and
accurate depiction of people's abilities. His theory describes eight distinct
intelligences that are based on skills and abilities that are valued within
different cultures.
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The eight intelligences Gardner described are:

Visual-spatial Intelligence

Verbal-linguistic Intelligence

Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence

Logical-mathematical Intelligence

Interpersonal Intelligence

Musical Intelligence

Intra personal Intelligence

Naturalistic Intelligence
J.P. Guilford - Structure of Intellect
Structure of Intellect is a general theory of human intelligence.
This is a three-dimensional model in which Guilford identified three
fundamental components of intelligence. These were
1. Operations (five kinds)
2. Contents (five kinds)
3. Products (six kinds)
Guilford's Model of the Structure of Intellect
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According to Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SI) theory, an individual's
performance on intelligence tests can be traced back to the underlying mental
abilities or factors of intelligence. SI theory comprises up to 150 different
intellectual abilities organized along three dimensions—Operations, Content,
and Products.
Operations dimension
SI includes six operations or general intellectual processes:
Cognition—The ability to understand, comprehend, discover, and become
aware of information.
Memory recording—The ability to encode information.
Memory retention—The ability to recall information.
Divergent production—The ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem;
creativity.
Convergent production—The ability to deduce a single solution to a problem;
rule-following or problem-solving.
Evaluation—The ability to judge whether or not information is accurate,
consistent, or valid.
Content dimension
SI includes three broad areas of information to which the human intellect
applies the six operations:
Figural - Concrete, real world information, tangible objects -- things in the
environment. It includes visual—Information perceived through seeing,
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auditory—Information perceived through hearing and kinesthetic—Information
perceived through one's own physical actions.
Symbolic—Information perceived as symbols or signs that stand for something
else; e.g., Arabic numerals or the letters of an alphabet, musical and scientific
notations..
Semantic-Which is concerned with verbal meaning and ideas. Generally
considered to abstract in nature.
Behavioral—Information perceived as acts of people. (This dimension was not
fully researched in Guilfords project and remain theoretical and is generally not
included in the final model that he proposed for describing human
intelligence.)
Product dimension
As the name suggests, this dimension contains results of applying particular
operations to specific contents. The SI model includes six products, in
increasing complexity:
Units—Single items of knowledge.
Classes—Sets of units sharing common attributes.
Relations—Units linked as opposites or in associations, sequences, or
analogies.
Systems—Multiple relations interrelated to comprise structures or networks.
Transformations—Changes, perspectives, conversions, or mutations to
knowledge.
Implications—Predictions, inferences, consequences, or anticipations of
knowledge.
MEASURES OF INTELLIGENCE
Evolution of Intelligence Tests
Interest in intelligence dates back thousands of years, but it wasn't until
psychologist Alfred Binet was commissioned to identify students who needed
educational assistance that the first IQ test was born.
Alfred Binet and the First IQ Test
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During the early 1900s, the French government asked psychologist Alfred
Binet to help decide which students were mostly likely to experience
difficulty in schools. The government had passed laws requiring that all
French children attend school, so it was important to find a way to identify
children who would need specialized assistance.
Faced with this task, Binet and his colleague Theodore Simon began
developing a number of questions that focused on things that had not been
taught in school such as attention, memory and problem-solving skills. Using
these questions, Binet determined which ones served as the best predictors
of school success. He quickly realized that some children were able to answer
questions that were more advanced than older children were generally able
to answer, while other children of the same age were only able to answer
questions that younger children could typically answer. Based on this
observation, Binet suggested the concept of a mental age, or a measure of
intelligence based on the average abilities of children of a certain age group.
This first intelligence test, referred to today as the Binet-Simon Scale,
became the basis for the intelligence tests still in use today. However, Binet
himself did not believe that his psychometric instruments could be used to
measure a single, permanent and inborn level of intelligence (Kamin, 1995).
Binet stressed the limitations of the test, suggesting that intelligence is far
too broad a concept to quantify with a single number. Instead, he insisted
that intelligence is influenced by a number of factors, changes over time and
can only be compared among children with similar backgrounds (Siegler,
1992).
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
After the development of the Binet-Simon Scale, the test was soon brought
to the United States where it generated considerable interest. Stanford
University psychologist Lewis Terman took Binet's original test and
standardized it using a sample of American participants. This adapted test,
first published in 1916, was called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and
soon became the standard intelligence test used in the U.S.
The Stanford-Binet intelligence test used a single number, known as the
intelligence quotient (or IQ), to represent an individual's score on the test.
This score was calculated by dividing the test taker's mental age by their
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chronological age, and then multiplying this number by 100. For example, a
child with a mental age of 12 and a chronological age of 10 would have an IQ
of 120 (12 /10 x 100).
The Stanford-Binet remains a popular assessment tool today, despite going
through a number of revisions over the years since its inception.
Intelligence Testing During World War I
At the outset of World War I, U.S. Army officials were faced with the
monumental task of screening an enormous number of army recruits. In
1917, as president of the APA and chair of the Committee on the
Psychological Examination of Recruits, psychologist Robert Yerkes developed
two tests known as the Army Alpha and Beta tests. The Army Alpha was
designed as a written test, while the Army Beta was administered orally in
cases where recruits were unable to read. The tests were administered to
over two million soldiers in an effort to help the army determine which men
were well suited to specific positions and leadership roles (McGuire, 1994).
At the end of WWI, the tests remained in use in a wide variety of situations
outside of the military with individuals of all ages, backgrounds and
nationalities. For example, IQ tests were used to screen new immigrants as
they entered the United States at Ellis Island. The results of these mental
tests were inappropriately used to make sweeping and inaccurate
generalizations about entire populations, which led some intelligence
"experts" to exhort Congress to enact immigration restrictions (Kamin, 1995).
The Wechsler Intelligence Scales
The next development in the history of intelligence testing was the creation
of a new measurement instrument by American psychologist David
Wechsler. Much like Binet, Wechsler believed that intelligence involved a
number of different mental abilities, describing intelligence as, "the global
capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal
effectively with his environment" (1939). Dissatisfied with the limitations of
the Stanford-Binet, he published his new intelligence test known as the
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) in 1955.
Wechsler also developed two different tests specifically for use with children:
the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Wechsler
Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI). The adult version of the
test has been revised since its original publication and is now known as the
WAIS-III.
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The WAIS-III contains 14 subtests on two scales and provides three scores: a
composite IQ score, a verbal IQ score and a performance IQ score. Subtest
scores on the WAIS-III can be useful in identifying learning disabilities, such
as cases where a low score on some areas combined with a high score in
other areas may indicate that the individual has a specific learning difficulty
(Kaufman, 1990).
Rather than score the test based on chronological age and mental age, as
was the case with the original Stanford-Binet, the WAIS is scored by
comparing the test taker's score to the scores of others in the same age
group. The average score is fixed at 100, with two-thirds of scores lying in
the normal range between 85 and 115. This scoring method has become the
standard technique in intelligence testing and is also used in the modern
revision of the Stanford-Binet test.
Verbal Intelligence Tests
Verbal intelligence is the ability to analyze information and solve problems
using language-based reasoning. Verbal intelligence test measures the verbal
intelligence of the individuals.
Verbal tasks may involve concepts such as:

Concrete or abstract ideas; or

Internalized language-based reasoning.
Verbal tasks involve skills such as:

The ability to listen to and recall spoken information;

Understanding the meaning of written or spoken information;

Solving language based problems of a literary, logical, or social type;
Understanding the relationships between language concepts and
performing
language analogies or comparisons; and


The ability to perform complex language-based analysis.
Verbal reasoning is important in most aspects of school work. Reading and
language arts tasks required verbal reasoning skills. Even the more abstract
courses such as math and physics require verbal reasoning skills, as most
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concepts are either introduced orally by the teacher or introduced in written
form in a textbook.
Verbal reasoning is typically assessed in a full intellectual assessment of IQ.
Basic verbal reasoning may also be evaluated through brief intelligence tests
and language assessment.
Nonverbal Intelligence Tests
Nonverbal Intelligence is an intelligence test that measures nonverbal abilities.
The CTONI's tasks are designed to remove verbal intelligence from the
assessment of a child's reasoning abilities.Nonverbal Intelligence Tests - In
general, nonverbal assessments attempt to remove language barriers in the
estimation of a student's intellectual aptitude. This is especially helpful in
assessing students without speech or who have limited language ability, those
with deafness or who are hard of hearing, and those with English language
limitations. To accommodate students with speech or language limitations, the
student can be administered either orally or by using pantomime.
Individual and Group IQ Tests
Individual intelligence tests
There are two major types of intelligence test, those administered to
individuals and thsoe administered to groups.
The two main individual intelligence tests are the:

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

Wechsler tests, i.e. WISC for children and WAIS for adults These are individual
intelligence tests which require one-on-one consultation with the child. The
tests involve various verbal and non-verbal subtests which can be combined to
give an overall IQ, but which also provide valuable separate subtest scores and
measures based on the behavioural responses of the child to the test items.
Some of the content of these tests is clearly culture-loaded, hence there is the:

Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children - a more recent test which
attempts to minimize cultural bias. The test also attempts to separate
crystallised and fluid intelligence.
Group intelligence tests
Group-administered intelligence tests involve a series of different problems
and are generally used in mass testing situations such as the military and
schools. Examples of group tests are:

Multidimensional Aptitude Battery

The Cognitive Abilities test

Scholastic Assessment Tests
There has been a trend towards the use of multiple choice items. Many of
theses tests have separately timed sub-tests. A major distinction made
between types of items is verbal and non-verbal. In recent years there has
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been a trend away from verbal and mathematical items towards non-verbal
represented problems in pictures.
Part of the reason for shifting away from verbal-based tests, in particular, is the
issue of culture-loading.
Advantages of group tests:

can be administered to very large numbers simultaneously

simplified examiner role

scoring typically more objective

large, representative samples often used leading to better established
norms
Disadvantages of group tests:
 examiner has less opportunity to establish rapport, obtain cooperation,
and maintain interest

not readily detected if examinee tired, anxious, unwell

evidence that emotionally disturbed children do better on individual than
group tests

examinee’s responses more restricted

normally an individual is tested on all items in a group test and may
become boredom over easy items and frustrated or anxious over difficult
items

individual tests typically provide for the examiner to choose items based
on the test takers prior responses - moving onto quite difficult items or
back to easier items. So individual tests offer more flexibility.
In performance tests, the subject actually executes some motor activity; for
example, he assembles mechanical objects. Either the quality of performance
as it takes place or its results may be rated.
Emotional intelligence
 Emotional intelligence (EI) describes the ability, capacity, skill or, in the
case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived grand ability to identify,
assess, manage and control the emotions of one's self, of others, and of
groups. Different models have been proposed for the definition of EI and
disagreement exists as to how the term should be used. Despite these
disagreements, which are often highly technical, the ability EI and trait EI
models (but not the mixed models) enjoy support in the literature and
have successful applications in different domains.

The earliest roots of emotional intelligence can be traced to Darwin's
work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and second
adaptation. In the 1900s, even though traditional definitions of
intelligence emphasized cognitive aspects such as memory and problemsolving, several influential researchers in the intelligence field of study
had begun to recognize the importance of the non-cognitive aspects. For
instance, as early as 1920, E.L. Thorndike used the term social
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intelligence to describe the skill of understanding and managing other
people.

Similarly, in 1940 David Wechsler described the influence of nonintellective factors on intelligent behavior, and further argued that our
models of intelligence would not be complete until we can adequately
describe these factors. In 1983, Howard Gardner's Frames of Mind: The
Theory of Multiple Intelligences introduced the idea of multiple
intelligences which included both Interpersonal intelligence (the capacity
to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people)
and Intrapersonal intelligence (the capacity to understand oneself, to
appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations). In Gardner's view,
traditional types of intelligence, such as IQ, fail to fully explain cognitive
ability. Thus, even though the names given to the concept varied, there
was a common belief that traditional definitions of intelligence are
lacking in ability to fully explain performance outcomes.

The first use of the term "emotional intelligence" is usually attributed to
Wayne Payne's doctoral thesis, A Study of Emotion: Developing
Emotional Intelligence from 1985. However, prior to this, the term
"emotional intelligence" had appeared in Leuner (1966). Greenspan
(1989) also put forward an EI model, followed by Salovey and Mayer
(1990), and Goleman (1995). The distinction between trait emotional
intelligence and ability emotional intelligence was introduced in 2000.

As a result of the growing acknowledgement by professionals of the
importance and relevance of emotions to work outcomes, the research
on the topic continued to gain momentum, but it wasn't until the
publication of Daniel Goleman's best seller Emotional Intelligence: Why It
Can Matter More Than IQ that the term became widely popularized.
Nancy Gibbs' 1995 Time magazine article highlighted Goleman's book
and was the first in a string of mainstream media interest in EI.
Defining emotional intelligence
 Substantial disagreement exists regarding the definition of EI, with
respect to both terminology and operationalizations. There has been
much confusion regarding the exact meaning of this construct. The
definitions are so varied, and the field is growing so rapidly, that
researchers are constantly amending even their own definitions of the
construct. At the present time, there are three main models of EI:

Ability EI models

Mixed models of EI
Trait EI model
Measurement of Emotional Intelligence

The ability-based model
Salovey and Mayer's conception of EI strives to define EI within the confines of
the standard criteria for a new intelligence. Following their continuing research,
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their initial definition of EI was revised to "The ability to perceive emotion,
integrate emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions and to regulate
emotions to promote personal growth."
The ability based model views emotions as useful sources of information that
help one to make sense of and navigate the social environment. The model
proposes that individuals vary in their ability to process information of an
emotional nature and in their ability to relate emotional processing to a wider
cognition. This ability is seen to manifest itself in certain adaptive behaviors.
The model claims that EI includes four types of abilities:
1. Perceiving emotions – the ability to detect and decipher emotions in
faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts—including the ability to
identify one's own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic
aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of
emotional information possible.
2. Using emotions – the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various
cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The
emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her
changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.
3. Understanding emotions – the ability to comprehend emotion language
and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For
example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be
sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to
recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.
4. Managing emotions – the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves
and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness
emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended
goals.
The ability-based model has been criticized in the research for lacking face and
predictive validity in the workplace.
Measurement of the ability-based model
Different models of EI have led to the development of various instruments for
the assessment of the construct. While some of these measures may overlap,
most researchers agree that they tap slightly different constructs. The current
measure of Mayer and Salovey's model of EI, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso
Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is based on a series of emotion-based
problem-solving items. Consistent with the model's claim of EI as a type of
intelligence, the test is modeled on ability-based IQ tests. By testing a person's
abilities on each of the four branches of emotional intelligence, it generates
scores for each of the branches as well as a total score.
Central to the four-branch model is the idea that EI requires attunement to
social norms. Therefore, the MSCEIT is scored in a consensus fashion, with
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higher scores indicating higher overlap between an individual's answers and
those provided by a worldwide sample of respondents. The MSCEIT can also be
expert-scored, so that the amount of overlap is calculated between an
individual's answers and those provided by a group of 21 emotion researchers.
Although promoted as an ability test, the MSCEIT is most unlike standard IQ
tests in that its items do not have objectively correct responses. Among other
problems, the consensus scoring criterion means that it is impossible to create
items (questions) that only a minority of respondents can solve, because, by
definition, responses are deemed emotionally "intelligent" only if the majority
of the sample has endorsed them. This and other similar problems have led
cognitive ability experts to question the definition of EI as a genuine
intelligence.
In a study by Føllesdal, the MSCEIT test results of 111 business leaders were
compared with how their employees described their leader. It was found that
there were no correlations between a leader's test results and how he or she
was rated by the employees, with regard to empathy, ability to motivate, and
leader effectiveness. Føllesdal also criticized the Canadian company MultiHealth Systems, which administers the MSCEIT test. The test contains 141
questions but it was found after publishing the test that 19 of these did not
give the expected answers. This has led Multi-Health Systems to remove
answers to these 19 questions before scoring, but without stating this officially.
Mixed models of EI
The model introduced by Daniel Goleman focuses on EI as a wide array of
competencies and skills that drive leadership performance. Goleman's model
outlines four main EI constructs:
Self-awareness – the ability to read one's emotions and recognize their impact
while using gut feelings to guide decisions.
Self-management – involves controlling one's emotions and impulses and
adapting to changing circumstances.
Social awareness – the ability to sense, understand, and react to others'
emotions while comprehending social networks.
Relationship management – the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others
while managing conflict.
Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies within each construct of EI.
Emotional competencies are not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities
that must be worked on and can be developed to achieve outstanding
performance. Goleman posits that individuals are born with a general
emotional intelligence that determines their potential for learning emotional
competencies. Goleman's model of EI has been criticized in the research
literature as mere "pop psychology" (Mayer, Roberts, & Barsade, 2008).
Measurement of the Emotional Competencies (Goleman) model
Two measurement tools are based on the Goleman model:
The Emotional Competency Inventory (ECI), which was created in 1999, and
the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI), which was created in
2007.
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The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal, which was created in 2001 and which can
be taken as a self-report or 360-degree assessment.
The Bar-On model of Emotional-Social Intelligence (ESI)
Bar-On defines emotional intelligence as being concerned with effectively
understanding oneself and others, relating well to people, and adapting to and
coping with the immediate surroundings to be more successful in dealing with
environmental demands. Bar-On posits that EI develops over time and that it
can be improved through training, programming, and therapy. Bar-On
hypothesizes that those individuals with higher than average EQs are in
general more successful in meeting environmental demands and pressures. He
also notes that a deficiency in EI can mean a lack of success and the existence
of emotional problems. Problems in coping with one's environment are thought,
by Bar-On, to be especially common among those individuals lacking in the
subscales of reality testing, problem solving, stress tolerance, and impulse
control. In general, Bar-On considers emotional intelligence and cognitive
intelligence to contribute equally to a person's general intelligence, which then
offers an indication of one's potential to succeed in life. However, doubts have
been expressed about this model in the research literature (in particular about
the validity of self-report as an index of emotional intelligence).
Measurement of the ESI Model
The Bar-On Emotion Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), is a self-report measure of EI
developed as a measure of emotionally and socially competent behavior that
provides an estimate of one's emotional and social intelligence. The EQ-i is not
meant to measure personality traits or cognitive capacity, but rather the
mental ability to be successful in dealing with environmental demands and
pressures. One hundred and thirty three items (questions or factors) are used
to obtain a Total EQ (Total Emotional Quotient) and to produce five composite
scale scores, corresponding to the five main components of the Bar-On model.
A limitation of this model is that it claims to measure some kind of ability
through self-report items (for a discussion, see Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts,
2001). The EQ-i has been found to be highly susceptible to faking (Day &
Carroll, 2008; Grubb & McDaniel, 2007).
The trait EI model
Petrides and colleagues (see also Petrides, 2009) proposed a conceptual
distinction between the ability based model and a trait based model of EI. Trait
EI is "a constellation of emotional self-perceptions located at the lower levels of
personality". In lay terms, trait EI refers to an individual's self-perceptions of
their emotional abilities. This definition of EI encompasses behavioral
dispositions and self perceived abilities and is measured by self report, as
opposed to the ability based model which refers to actual abilities, which have
proven highly resistant to scientific measurement. Trait EI should be
investigated within a personality framework. An alternative label for the same
construct is trait emotional self-efficacy.
The trait EI model is general and subsumes the Goleman and Bar-On models
discussed above. The conceptualization of EI as a personality trait leads to a
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construct that lies outside the taxonomy of human cognitive ability. This is an
important distinction in as much as it bears directly on the operationalization of
the construct and the theories and hypotheses that are formulated about it.
Measurement of the trait EI model
There are many self-report measures of EI, including the EQ-i, the Swinburne
University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT),the Schu EI model, none of these
assess intelligence, abilities, or skills (as their authors often claim), but rather,
they are limited measures of trait emotional intelligence (Petrides, Furnham, &
Mavroveli, 2007). One of the more comprehensive and widely researched
measures of this construct is the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire
(TEIQue), which is an open-access measure that was specifically designed to
measure the construct comprehensively and is currently available in many
languages.
The TEIQue provides an operationalization for Petrides and colleagues' model
that conceptualizes EI in terms of personality. The test encompasses 15
subscales organized under four factors: Well-Being, Self-Control, Emotionality,
and Sociability. The psychometric properties of the TEIQue were investigated in
a study on a French-speaking population, where it was reported that TEIQue
scores were globally normally distributed and reliable.
The researchers also found TEIQue scores were unrelated to nonverbal
reasoning (Raven's matrices), which they interpreted as support for the
personality trait view of EI (as opposed to a form of intelligence). As expected,
TEIQue scores were positively related to some of the Big Five personality traits
(extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness) as well as
inversely related to others (alexithymia, neuroticism). A number of quantitative
genetic studies have been carried out within the trait EI model, which have
revealed significant genetic effects and heritabilities for all trait EI scores.
Module 3
PERSONALITY NATURE AND DEFENITION
Personality
Almost everyday we describe and assess the personalities of the people
around us. Whether we realize it or not, these daily musings on how and why
people behave as they do are similar to what personality psychologists do.
While our informal assessments of personality tend to focus more on
individuals, personality psychologists instead use conceptions of personality
that can apply to everyone. Personality research has led to the development of
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a number of theories that help explain how and why certain personality traits
develop.
Components of Personality
While there are many different theories of personality, the first step is to
understand exactly what is meant by the term personality. A brief definition
would be that personality is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. In addition to this,
personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent
throughout life.
Some of the fundamental characteristics of personality include:
Consistency - There is generally a recognizable order and regularity to
behaviors. Essentially, people act in the same ways or similar ways in a
variety of situations.

Psychological and physiological - Personality is a psychological
construct, but research suggests that it is also influenced by biological
processes and needs.

Impact behaviors and actions - Personality does not just influence
how we move and respond in our environment; it also causes us to act in
certain ways.

Multiple expressions - Personality is displayed in more than just
behavior. It can also be seen in out thoughts, feelings, close relationships,
and other social interactions.

Psychoanalytic Approach
Much of what causes our personality takes place in our Unconscious:
thoughts, feelings, wishes, and drives that operate below our level of conscious
awareness. We don't consciously know they exist.
What’s in the unconscious mind can be revealed in several ways:
o
Dreams
o
Slips of the tongue
At birth, our personality consists of the Id.
Id: the completely unconscious part of the mind, without morals or
logic, driven by two instincts:

Eros, the life instinct: the instinct to gratify biological urges including
food thirst, physical comfort, and sexual pleasure.

Libido: sexual motivation, part of Eros
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
Thanatos, the death instinct: the instinct to destroy others and
oneself
The id is made of the battling forces of Eros and Thanatos.
The id is ruled by the Pleasure Principle: the drive to immediately increase
pleasure, reduce tension, and avoid pain.
The id tries to satisfy its needs through:
Primary process thinking: forming a mental image of the object the id desires
and satisfying the desire through the mental image.
o
Want food: imagine a cake.
o
Want drink: imagine a soda.
o
Want a certain person: imagine them, or have a dream about them.
Ego: the partly conscious part of the mind that organizes behavior, is
logical, and makes plans to satisfy the Id in safe, realistic ways. The
ego develops in the first few years of life.
Reality Principle: the attempt by the ego to find safe, realistic ways of
meeting the needs of the id.
The ego is that part of the personality that adapts the person to the real world:
o
It makes plans to take care of the Id’s needs.
o
Modifies the Id’s needs to make them possible to satisfy
o
Represses or hides the Id’s needs if they are impossible to satisfy
Over time, society’s demands become accepted as an “internal voice”
in the child. This is the superego.
Superego: the moralistic component of personality, that judges one’s
actions, thoughts, and feelings according to society’s rules and
attempts
to
reach
perfection.
True punishment comes from the superego:
o
Guilt
o
Anxiety
o
Shame
o
Inferiority
The superego also provides rewards for attempting to be perfect:
o
Pride
By adolescence everyone has a personality structure
consisting of:

An Id, with instinctive drives for sex and destruction
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
A Superego, which is very judgmental and makes us feel guilty because
of our secret desires

An Ego, which tries to be practical and satisfy the needs of the Id without
causing guilt or shame or anxiety from the Superego.
The Ego tries to take care of the Id's needs without causing guilt from the
Superego.
Sometimes this is possible. Sometimes it's impossible.
Humanistic Approach
Humanism: An Introduction
Humanism is a philosophical movement that emphasises the personal worth
of the individual and the centrality of human values. The Humanistic
approach rests on the complex philosophical foundations of existentialism,
and emphasizes the creative, spontaneous and active nature of human
beings. This approach is very optimistic and focusses on noble human
capacity to overcome hardship and despair.
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
The idea that we are responsible for our own lives, embodied in
existentialism, is exemplified in the work of Carl Rogers. However Rogers
approach was extremely OPTIMISTIC. Rogers believed that “The organism has
one basic tendency and striving- to actualize, maintain, and enhance the
experiencing organism” (1951, p. 487).
Rogers believed that all people have a tendency toward growth =
‘Actualization’. The need to maintain and enhance life. The goal of existence
is to satisfy this need. This desire to preserve and enhance oneself is on one
level:
Physical = staying alive by eating, keeping warm, avoiding physical danger
etc. On a higher level:
Psychological = self-actualization is about testing and fulfilling our
capabilities: seek out new experiences, master new skills, quit boring jobs
and find more exciting ones etc.
In the course of pursuing self-actualization, people engage in what Rogers
called the organismic valuing process. Experiences that are perceived as
enhancing to oneself are valued as good and are therefore sought after.
Experiences perceived as not enhancing are valued as bad and are avoided.
In other words, we know what’s good for us!
Rogers used the term Fully Functioning Person for someone who is selfactualizing. These people are OPEN TO EXPERIENCING THEIR FEELINGS, don’t
feel threatened by those feelings no matter what they are. They trust their
own feelings. They are open to the experiences of the world. They live lives
full of meaning, challenge and fulfillment.
According to Rogers, the main determinant of whether we will become selfactualized is childhood experience. Rogers believed that it is crucial for
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children to receive positive regard, that is affection and approval from the
important people in their lives, particularly their parents. Rogers believed it is
important for us to receive unconditional positive regard, that is affection and
acceptance with no strings attached. Often however, according to Rogers this
regard is conditional, it comes with strings attached. To be loved and
approved the child must be well-mannered, quiet, assertive, boyish, girlish,
whatever. These things are incorporated as conditions of worth. If the
conditions are few and reasonable then the child will be fine but if the
conditions of worth are severely limiting then self-actualization will be
severely impeded. According to Rogers, external conditions of worth come to
control more and more of a person's behaviour. We even start to apply these
conditions to ourselves. This pattern of self-acceptance and self-rejection is
called conditional self-regard. Eventually, a gap opens between a person’s
actions and his or her true self. The person automatically covers over the split
with perceptual distortions, denying the conflict between self and reality.
Rogers felt that theses distortions can become so severe that they may lead
to personality breakdown.
Rogers: Self congruence
Rogers is sometimes called a self-theorist. He assumed that the self doesn't
exist at birth but that infants gradually differentiate self from non-self. The
self is constantly evolving.
One way of looking at the self is to look at the ideal self and the actual self:
The ideal self is the person you’d like to be
The actual self is what you are now or even what you THINK you are because
remember from this perspective it’s all about subjective perceptions.
When you are self-actualized then there is congruence (i.e. harmony or
agreement) between the real and the actual selves. That is you become more
like the self you want to be.
There’s a second kind of congruence and that is between the actual self and
experience. That is the experiences in life should fit with the type of person
you think you are. So there will be incongruity if you think you’re generous
but find yourself being mean to someone or if you think your ruthless and you
find yourself being soft and mushy. If you think you’re clever and do badly in
a test there will be incongruence.
Incongruence is bad and means there is a breakdown in your unitary sense of
self. Incongruence leads to anxiety, whether the incongruence is between
actual & real self or between actual self and experience. Rogers believed we
defend ourselves against incongruence or even the perceptions of
incongruence.
Rogers: Incongruence and Defenses
This concept of defenses is very similar to the psychodynamic concept.
Rogers assumes 2 main categories of defenses:
1. DISTORTION OF EXPERIENCE: An example is rationalization: creating a
plausible but untrue reason for why something is the way it is. OR another
distortion of experience is when you try to change you perception of an event
from what you really know it to be: you go out with someone other than your
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partner but tell yourself that it doesn’t matter because your partner won’t
mind.
2. PREVENTING THREATENING EXPERIENCES FROM REACHING AWARENESS AT
ALL: Denial serves this function.
Ultimately, defenses are there to maintain the congruity or integrity of self.
Defenses protect and enhance our self-esteem.
Ed Deci (1975) - Self-Determination (Autonomy)
Rogers’ ideas are echoed in a more recent theory of self-determination
proposed by Ed Deci (1975) and expanded upon by Deci and Richard Ryan
(1980, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1995).
Some actions we perform are done to gain payment or to satisfy someone
else (their pressures or demands on us). These are known as CONTROLLED
actions (or introjected regulation). These are “should”, “ought”: behaviour
done to avoid guilt or anxiety, gain self-approval, etc.
Some actions we perform are done so because they have intrinsic value to
the person, These are known as SELF-DETERMINED actions (identified
regulation). This is behaviour which is accepted as personally meaningful and
valuable We stay interested in performing a behaviour if it’s self-determined.
e.g. you’re more likely to stick with this course and study hard if you are
doing it because it has intrinsic value for you, rather if it’s what your parents
want you to do or even if it’s because you think it will result in a good job and
therefore you pressure yourself.
There’s a wealth of evidence that shows that promising someone rewards for
working on an activity can undermine people’s interest in them (intrinsic vs
extrinsic motivation). However, sometimes the presence of reward can
increase motivation. Deci argues that this is because reward has 2 aspects: a
controlling (non self-determined) aspect and an informational aspect. The
informational aspect tells you something about your skills. If the reward is
telling you you’re competent then it increases your motivation but if the
reward implies conditions of worth then the controlling aspect is more salient
and motivation decreases.
In other words, people are motivated by self-determination and autonomy.
WHY a person has various motivations to do things, rather than what the
aspirations are, is the key to self-actualization.
Maslow (1970, 1987) - Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow began his psychological research studying basic motivations
of animals, but then shifted his focus to the higher motivations of human
beings. Abraham Maslow, like Rogers, focussed on the positive. He was
interested in the qualities of people who get the most out of life. He was
interested in what motivates them (but his view of motivation was very
different from what we looked at in the dispositional perspective).
Hierarchy of Needs
He viewed human needs or motives as forming a hierarchy.
1. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: At the bottom are the basic, primitive needs for
air, food, water - those things we HAVE to have to survive
2. SAFETY AND PHYSICAL SECURITY NEEDS: shelter from weather, protection
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against tigers etc. Very important but not QUITE as important as the
physiological needs.
3. LOVE AND BELONGINGNESS NEEDS: Companionship, acceptance from
others (like Rogers’ positive regard), affection.
4. ESTEEM NEEDS: needs for a sense of mastery and power. Need for
appreciation from others.
5. SELF ACTUALIZATION: similar use of the term to the way Rogers used it.
“The tendency to become whatever you’re capable of becoming”: The
highest of human motives. In trying to describe the process of selfactualization, Maslow focused on moments when self actualization was
clearly occurring. Maslow used the term “peak experiences” to refer to
moments of intense self-actualization. At these moments people feel
connected to their surroundings and aware of all the sounds and colours
around them. There’s a loss of a sense of time as the experience flows around
you. You may feel awe, wonder or even ecstasy. This is similar to what
Csikszentmihalyi (chick-sent-me-high) calls “flow” but he sees it not so much
as joy or ecstasy but rather as a period of intense concentration, with a
slightly elevated mood when time flows by very quickly.
Motives WEAKEN as go from the more primitive to the higher needs (up the
pyramid). In general you need to deal with lower level needs before you can
move onto other needs.
Maslow: Self-Actualizing People
 Characteristics of self-actualized people according to Maslow (1968):

efficient and accurate in perceiving reality

are accepting of themselves, of other people and of nature

are spontaneous in thought and emotion, rather than artificial

are problem-centred - are concerned with the eternal philosophical
questions of humankind

are independent and autonomous

have a continued “freshness of appreciation” of ordinary events

often experience “oceanic feelings” that is a sense of oneness with
nature

identify with all of humanity and are democratic and respectful of
others

form very deep ties but only with a few people

appreciate for its own sake the process of doing things

have a philosophical, thoughtful, non-hostile sense of humour

have a childlike and fresh creativity and inventiveness

maintain an inner detachment from the culture in which they live
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
may appear temperamental or ruthless as they are strong and
independent people guided by their own inner visions

Maslow suggested that from his observations “probable” self-actualizers
included:

Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, William James, Albert Schweitzer,
Aldous Huxley, Baruch Spinoza, Abe Lincoln

Studies have shown that only approximately 1% of people selfactualize. Most others live between ‘love and belongingness’ needs and
‘self-esteem’ needs. Self-actualization is of course the weakest of
needs, and is easily impeded. Some people have a fear of selfknowledge & entering into state of uncertainty. Sometimes cultural
norms stifle us e.g. ‘manly’. Many people feel the need for a balance
between safety and freedom.
Maslow: Transpersonal Psychology (1971)
Maslow proposed a ‘higher psychology’ which he called Transpersonal
psychology = beyond human. Toward the end of his life, Maslow made a
distinction between two different kinds of self-actualizers. The type I’ve just
described and others he called “transcendent self-actualizers”. These people
focus on mystical, ecstatic, spiritual states, cosmic awareness, unitive
consciousness, etc. Self-actualization becomes the most important aspect of
their lives. They are motivated by beauty, truth, unity, religiosity. All
experience is sacred to them.
Maslow: Problems of measuring self-actualisation
Maslow used interviews, observations, biographical studies, self-report
questionnaires and projective tests to “measure” self-actualization. It was and
is a very loose approach to measurement. It’s hard for theorists to agree
precisely WHAT self-actualization is and HOW to measure it. In other words
it’s not been tightly defined and operationalised. The concept of self
actualization provides some very interesting insights but it is hard to actually
verify self-actualization scientifically. One scale, the Personal Orientation
Inventory (POI) by Shostrom (1974), is a self-report measure of selfactualization . research using this measure finds the scale has various validity
and reliability weaknesses but does at least capture some aspects of a
“healthy” personality (e.g. Burwick & Knapp, 1991).
Therapeutic Approach
While humanistic and existential psychology both stress freedom, they
understand it slightly differently. For humanists, freedom is liberation from
limiting conditions of worth: once achieved that will lead to self-actualization
Rogers ‘Client-centred Therapy’ (1951)
The best known and probably the most popular humanistic therapy is Rogers
“client-centred therapy”. Remember that Rogers believed that human beings
are intrinsically good and are motivated to self-actualize. Self-actualization
may be impeded by conditions of worth so they need to be removed.
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REMOVING these conditions of worth is the way to solve people’s problems.
Client centred therapy is the means to that end. Treatment is focussed on the
INDIVIDUAL. The therapist tries to see the world through the client’s eyes so
that the client will come to see his or her view of reality as having value. The
therapist empathizes with the client and offers unconditional positive regard
i.e. UNLIMITED ACCEPTANCE. By doing this, the therapist hopes to induce the
client to accept the totality of his or her experience and thus facilitate
unconditional positive SELF-regard.
The therapist “hears” the client by mirroring back the message they are
getting from the client. They restate the content and state the feelings they
are picking up from the client. This process helps the client clarify their
feelings and not to feel threatened when doing so. The touchstones of this
approach are EMPATHY, INTUITION, and UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD.
Ultimately the client is responsible for his or her own growth - the therapist
just helps to facilitate this process. .
Therapeutic Approach: ‘Group-based Growth and Therapy’
Other types of “therapy” based on the phenomenological approach to
personality (whether existential or humanistic) are group-based therapies.
These growth groups offered something lacking in everyday life at work,
school, church, and within the community. Some examples of various groups
based on this tradition are:
 Encounter Groups

Gestalt Groups

Sensitivity Training Groups

Marathon Groups

Sensory Awareness Groups, Body Awareness Groups, Body Movement
Groups

Creativity Workshops

Team Building Groups

Experiential Education (e.g. Adventure programs)
Many of these groups are not really therapy as such but are just meant to be
beneficial to all. Encounter groups, which were very popular in the 60s are
given this name because the group helps people encounter the reality of their
own experiences more directly.
Although each type of group is different there are some important similar
features:
 Encouraging people to get in touch with their feelings

Encouraging people to get in touch with their sensory experiences

Encouraging people to act out fantasies, impulses and feelings within
the group atmosphere of mutual trust (safe place for change and
growth) and unconditional positive regard
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
They offer social support, empathy, encouragement, feedback

Exploration of possible new ways of being socially, psychologically, and
physically. The idea being to transfer this growth to the rest of life.

Generally, this type of therapy is more likely to be beneficial than not
but not as good as individual therapy. Better if the leaders use caring
rather than confrontation. Group leaders need to be properly trained or
there can be negative effects. Not marvellous for people experiencing
SEVERE psychological distress.

The dark side to this process is deindividuation - absorption in the
group and a lessened sense of individuality. This is the possible
outcome of some of these groups. Deindiviuation has a number of
negative consequences such as aggressive and antisocial behaviour
Trait and Type Approach
Trait Approach
A major weakness of Sheldon's morphological classification system and other
type theories in general is the element of oversimplification inherent in placing
individuals into a single category, which ignores the fact that every personality
represents a unique combination of qualities. Systems that address personality
as a combination of qualities or dimensions are called trait theories. Wellknown trait theorist Gordon Allport (1897-1967) extensively investigated the
ways in which traits combine to form normal personalities, cataloguing over
18,000 separate traits over a period of 30 years. He proposed that each person
has about seven central traits that dominate his or her behavior. Allport's
attempt to make trait analysis more manageable and useful by simplifying it
was expanded by subsequent researchers, who found ways to group traits into
clusters through a process known as factor analysis. Raymond B. Cattell
reduced Allport's extensive list to 16 fundamental groups of inter-related
characteristics, and Hans Eysenck claimed that personality could be
described based on three fundamental factors: psychoticism (such antisocial
traits as cruelty and rejection of social customs), introversion-extroversion, and
emotionality-stability (also called neuroticism). Eysenck also formulated a
quadrant based on intersecting emotional-stable and introverted-extroverted
axes.
Type Approach
Perhaps the earliest known theory of personality is that of the Greek physician
Hippocrates (c. 400 B.C.), who characterized human behavior in terms of four
temperaments, each associated with a different bodily fluid, or "humor." The
sanguine, or optimistic, type was associated with blood; the phlegmatic type
(slow and lethargic) with phlegm; the melancholic type (sad, depressed) with
black bile; and the choleric (angry) type with yellow bile. Individual personality
was determined by the amount of each of the four humors. Hippocrates'
system remained influential in Western Europe throughout the medieval and
Renaissance periods. Abundant references to the four humors can be found in
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the plays of Shakespeare, and the terms with which Hippocrates labeled the
four personality types are still in common use today. The theory of
temperaments is among a variety of systems that deal with human personality
by dividing it into types. A widely popularized (but scientifically dubious)
modern typology of personality was developed in the 1940s by William
Sheldon, an American psychologist. Sheldon classified personality into three
categories based on body types: the endomorph (heavy and easy-going),
mesomorph (muscular and aggressive), and ectomorph (thin and intellectual or
artistic).
Biocultural and Sociocultural Determinants
Personality is the outcome of a continuous personal quality development
process. The role of personality becomes clear in a particular situation.
Personality is recognised in a situation. It is the result of personal quality
interaction in a particular condition. The major determinants of personality of
an individual are given below:
Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical
stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and
reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are
generally considered to be either completely or substantially influenced by who
your parents were; that is, by their biological, physiological, and inherent
psychological makeup. The contribution of heredity to personality development
is vividly clear for developing external appearance, behaviour, social stimuli,
self inner awareness, organising traits, etc.
Brain has a great impact on personality. The psychologists are unable to prove
empirically the contribution of human brain in influencing personality. Father
and children generally adopt the same type of brain stimulation. The
differences are caused by environment. Electrical stimulation of brain (ESB)
and split brain psychology (SBP)are the outcome of genetic transmision. The
are helpful in moulding employee's behaviour. ESB is used for motivating
employees towards better performances. Managers are trained to use SBP for
mobilising employees for proper behaviour.
Perhaps the most outstanding factor that contributes to personality is the
physical stature of an individual. An individual's external appearance is proved
to be having a tremendous effect on personality. For example, the fact that a
person is short or tall, fat or thin, handsome or ugly, black or whitish will
undoubtedly influence the person's effect on others and in turn will affect the
self-concept. A person's physical characteristics may be related to his approach
to the social environment, to the expectancies of others, and to their reactions,
to him. These in turn may have impact on personality development.
Personality is a result of the combination of four factors- physical
environment, heredity, culture and particular experiences.
Geographical
environment
sometimes
determines
cultural
variability. Man comes to form ideas and attitudes according to the
physical environment he lives in. To the extent that the
environment determines cultural development and to the extent
that culture in turn determines personality a relationship between
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personality and environment becomes clear.Montesque in 18th
century claimed that the bravery of those blessed by a cold
climate enables them to maintain their liberties. Great heat
enervates courage while cold causes certain vigor of body and
mind. The people of mountain as well as deserts are usually bold,
hard and powerful. However physical conditions are more
permissive and limiting factors than causative factors. They set
the limits within which personality can develop. Hereditary is
another factor determining human personality.
Some of the similarities in man’s personality are said to be due to his common
heredity. Every human group inherits the same general set of biological needs
and capacities. These common needs and capacities explain some of our
similarities in personality. Man tends to resemble his parents in physical
appearance and intelligence. However heredity does not mould human
personality alone and unaided. We can assume that there are genes for normal
personality traits just as there are genes for other aspects of human life and
functioning. Heredity only furnishes the materials out of which experience will
mould the personality. Experience determines the way these materials will be
used. An individual may be energetic because of his heredity but whether he is
active on his own belief or on behalf of others is a matter of his training.
There can be little doubt that culture largely determines the types of
personality that will predominate in the particular group. According to some
sociologists personality is the subjective aspect of culture. They regard
personality and culture as two sides of same coin. Spiro had observed the
development of personality and the acquisition of culture are not different
processes but one and the same learning process. Personality is an individual
aspect of culture while culture is a collective aspect of personality. Each culture
produces its special type or types of personality. A given cultural environment
sets its participant members off from other human beings operating under
different cultural environments. According to Frank culture is a coercive
influence dominating the individual and molding his personality by virtue of the
ideas, conceptions and beliefs which had brought to bear on him through
communal life. The culture provides the raw material of which the individual
makes his life. The traditions, customs, mores, religion, institutions, moral and
social standards of a group affect the personality of the group members. From
the moment of birth the child is treated in ways which shape his personality.
Every culture exerts a series of general influences upon the individuals who
grow up under it. It can be summed up that culture greatly moulds personality.
The individual ideas and behavior are largely the results of cultural
conditioning. However it should not be concluded that culture is a massive die
that shapes all that come under it with an identical pattern. All the people of a
given culture are not of same cast. Personality traits differ within any culture.
Personality is not totally determined by culture even though no personality
escapes its influence. It is only one determinant among others.
Personality is also determined by another factor the particular and unique
experiences. There are two types of experiences one those that stem from
continuous association with one’s group, second those that arise suddenly and
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are not likely to recur. The type of people who meet the child daily has a major
influence on his personality. The personality of parents does more to affect a
child’s personality. The social rituals ranging from table manners to getting
along with others are consciously inculcated in the child by his parents. The
child picks up the language of his parents. Group influences are relatively
greater in early childhood. This is the period when the relationships of the child
with the mother, father and siblings affect profoundly the organization of his
drives and emotions, the deeper and subconscious aspects of his personality.
Group interaction moulds the child’s personality. It may also be inferred that
personality is a matter of social situations. It has been shown by social
researchers that a person may show honesty in one situation and not in
another. The same is true for other personality traits also. Personality traits
tend to be specific responses to particular situations rather than general
behavior patterns. It is a dynamic unity with a creative potential.
Heredity, physical environment, culture and particular experiences are thus the
four factors that explain personality –its formation, development and
maintenance. Beyond the joint influence of these factors however the relative
contribution of each factor to personality varies with the characteristic or
personality process involved and perhaps with the individual concerned.
Techniques of assessment
The major Assessment methods areThe interviewRating scales ,Self-report
tests,Personality inventories, Projective techniques, Behavioral assessment,
Cognitive assessment, Bodily assessment, Personal factsReliability and validity
of assessment methods & Clinical Evaluation.
Self-report Tests
A self-report inventory is a type of psychological test in which a person fills out
a survey or questionnaire with or without the help of an investigator. Selfreport inventories often ask direct questions about symptoms, behaviors, and
personality traits associated with one or many mental disorders or personality
types in order to easily gain insight into a patient's personality or illness. Most
self-report inventories can be taken or administered within five to 15 minutes,
although some, like the MMPI, can take up to three hours to fully complete.
Problems with Self-report Tests
The biggest problem with self-report inventories is that patients may
exaggerate symptoms in order to make their situation seem worse, or they
may under-report the severity or frequency of symptoms in order to minimize
their problems. For this reason, self-report inventories should be used only for
measuring for symptom change and severity and should never be solely used
to diagnose a mental disorder. Clinical discretion is advised for all self-report
inventories.
Many personality tests, such as the MMPI or the MBTI are designed to make it
very difficult for a person to exaggerate traits and symptoms. However, these
tests suffer from the inherent problems associated with personality theory and
testing, in that personality is a fluid concept that can be difficult to define. Most
personality inventories are based on a particular personality theory.
Popular Self-Report Tests
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
16 PF

Beck Anxiety Inventory

Beck Depression Inventory

Beck Hopelessness Scale

California Psychological Inventory

Geriatric Depression Scale

Hirschfeld Mood Disorder Questionnaire

Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

Major Depression Inventory

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Projective test
An inkblot from the Rorschach inkblot test, the most well-known and widely
used of the projective tests
In psychology, a projective test is a personality test designed to let a person
respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hidden emotions and
internal conflicts. This is different from an "objective test" in which
responses are analyzed according to a universal standard (for example, a
multiple choice exam). The responses to projective tests are content
analyzed for meaning rather than being based on presuppositions about
meaning, as is the case with objective tests. Some criticisms of projective
tests include that they rely heavily on clinical judgement, lack reliability and
validity and many have no standardized criteria to which results may be
compared, however this is not always the case. These tests are used
frequently, though the scientific evidence is sometimes debated. There
have been many empirical studies based on projective tests (including the
use of standardized norms and samples), particularly more established
tests. The criticism of lack of scientific evidence to support them and their
continued popularity has been referred to as the "projective
paradox".Projective tests have their origins in psychoanalytic psychology,
which argues that humans have conscious and unconscious attitudes and
motivations that are beyond or hidden from conscious awareness.
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The terms "objective test" and "projective test" have recently come under
criticism in the Journal of Personality Assessment. The more descriptive "rating
scale or self-report measures" and "free response measures" are suggested,
rather than the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests," respectively.
Theory
The general theoretical position behind projective tests is that whenever a
specific question is asked, the response will be consciously-formulated and
socially determined. These responses do not reflect the respondent's
unconscious or implicit attitudes or motivations. The respondent's deep-seated
motivations may not be consciously recognized by the respondent or the
respondent may not be able to verbally express them in the form demanded by
the questioner. Advocates of projective tests stress that the ambiguity of the
stimuli presented within the tests allow subjects to express thoughts that
originate on a deeper level than tapped by explicit questions. Projective tests
lost some of their popularity during the 1980s and 1990s in part because of the
overall loss of popularity of the psychoanalytic method and theories. Despite
this, they are still used quite frequently.
Common variants
.The best known and most frequently used projective test is the Rorschach
inkblot test, in which a subject is shown a series of ten irregular but
symmetrical inkblots, and asked to explain what they see. The subject's
responses are then analyzed in various ways, noting not only what was said,
but the time taken to respond, which aspect of the drawing was focused on,
and how single responses compared to other responses for the same drawing.
For example, if someone consistently sees the images as threatening and
frightening, the tester might infer that the subject may suffer from paranoia.
Thematic apperception test
Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in
which an individual views ambiguous scenes of people, and is asked to
describe various aspects of the scene; for example, the subject may be asked
to describe what led up to this scene, the emotions of the characters, and what
might happen afterwards. The examiner then evaluates these descriptions,
attempting to discover the conflicts, motivations and attitudes of the
respondent. In the answers, the respondent "projects" their unconscious
attitudes and motivations into the picture, which is why these are referred to
as "projective tests."
Draw-A-Person test
The Draw-A-Person test requires the subject to draw a person. The results are
based on a psychodynamic interpretation of the details of the drawing, such as
the size, shape and complexity of the facial features, clothing and background
of the figure. As with other projective tests, the approach has very little
demonstrated validity and there is evidence that therapists may attribute
pathology to individuals who are merely poor artists. A similar class of
techniques is kinetic family drawing.
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Sentence completion test
Sentence completion tests require the subject complete sentence "stems" with
their own words. The subject's response is considered to be a projection of
their conscious and/or unconscious attitudes,personality characteristics,
motivations, and beliefs.
Other Measures
Behavioural observation & interview
Behavioural observation is the act of noting and recording something, such as
a phenomenon, with instruments and reaching at an inference or a judgment
that is acquired from or based on observing.
In an interview the individual under assessment must be given considerable
latitude in “telling his story.” Interviews have both verbal and nonverbal (e.g.,
gestural) components. The aim of the interview is to gather information, and
the adequacy of the data gathered depends in large part on the questions
asked by the interviewer. In an employment interview the focus of the
interviewer is generally on the job candidate’s work experiences, general and
specific attitudes, and occupational goals. In a diagnostic medical or
psychiatric interview considerable attention would be paid to the patient’s
physical health and to any symptoms
Module 4
CONSCIOUS BEHAVIOUR
Consciousness
Consciousness is variously defined as subjective experience, or awareness,
or wakefulness, or the executive control system of the mind. It is an umbrella
term that may refer to a variety of mental phenomena. Although humans
realize what everyday experiences are, consciousness refuses to be defined,
philosophers note (e.g. John Searle in The Oxford Companion to Philosophy):
"Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our
consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and
most mysterious aspect of our lives."—Schneider and Velmans, 2007
Consciousness in medicine (e.g., anesthesiology) is assessed by observing a
patient's alertness and responsiveness, and can be seen as a continuum of
states ranging from alert, oriented to time and place, and communicative,
through disorientation, then delirium, then loss of any meaningful
communication, and ending with loss of movement in response to painful
stimulation.
Consciousness in psychology and philosophy has four characteristics:
subjectivity, change, continuity and selectivity. Philosopher Franz Brentano has
suggested intentionality or aboutness (that consciousness is about something).
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However, within the philosophy of mind there is no consensus on whether
intentionality is a requirement for consciousness.
Consciousness is the subject of much research in philosophy of mind,
psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience and
artificial intelligence. Issues of practical concern include how the presence of
consciousness can be assessed in severely ill or comatose people; whether
non-human consciousness exists and if so how it can be measured; at what
point in fetal development consciousness begins; and whether computers can
achieve a conscious state.
Daydreaming
A daydream is a visionary fantasy experienced while awake, especially one of
happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions. There are so many different
types of daydreams that there is still no consensus definition amongst
psychologists. While daydreams may include fantasies about future scenarios
or plans, reminiscences about past experiences, or vivid dream-like images,
they are often connected with some type of emotion.
While daydreaming has long been derided as a lazy, non-productive pastime,
daydreaming can be constructive in some contexts. There are numerous
examples of people in creative or artistic careers, such as composers, novelists
and filmmakers, developing new ideas through daydreaming. Similarly,
research scientists, mathematicians and physicists have developed new ideas
by daydreaming about their subject areas.
History
Daydreaming was long held in disrepute in society and was associated with
laziness. In the late 1800s, Toni Nelson argued that some daydreams with
grandiose fantasies are self-gratifying attempts at "wish fulfillment". In the
1950s, some educational psychologists warned parents not to let their children
daydream, for fear that the children may be sucked into "neurosis and even
psychosis".
In the late 1960s, psychologist Jerome L. Singer of Yale University and
psychologist John S. Antrobus of the City College of New York created a
daydream questionnaire. The questionnaire, called the Imaginal Processes
Inventory (IPI), has been used to investigate daydreams. Psychologists Leonard
Giambra and George Huba used the IPI and found that daydreamers' imaginary
images vary in three ways: how vivid or enjoyable the daydreams are, how
many guilt- or fear-filled daydreams they have, and how "deeply" into the
daydream people go.
Recent research
Eric Klinger's research in the 1980s showed that most daydreams are about
ordinary, everyday events and help to remind us of mundane tasks. Klinger's
research also showed that over 75% of workers in "boring jobs", such as
lifeguards and truck drivers, use vivid daydreams to "ease the boredom" of
their routine tasks. Klinger found that less than 5% of the workers' daydreams
involved explicitly sexual thoughts and that violent daydreams were also
uncommon.
Israeli high school students who scored high on the Daydreaming Scale of the
IPI had more empathy than students who scored low. Some psychologists, such
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as Los Angeles' Joseph E. Shorr, use the mental imagery created during their
clients' daydreaming to help gain insight into their mental state and make
diagnoses.
Other recent research has also shown that daydreaming, much like nighttime
dreaming, is a time when the brain consolidates learning. Daydreaming may
also help people to sort through problems and achieve success. Research with
fMRI shows that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving become
activated during daydreaming episodes.
Therapist Dan Jones looked at patterns in how people achieved success from
entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Peter Jones to geniuses like Albert
Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci. Jones also looked at the thinking styles of
successful creative people like Beethoven and Walt Disney. What he found was
that they all had one thing in common. They all spent time daydreaming about
their area of success.
Sports psychologists have used this knowledge for years without making the
connection to daydreaming. They would have sports people visualise success.
Studies have shown that those that use visualisation outperform those that use
practice alone.
Nowadays it is understood that visualisation or guided imagery is the same
state of mind as daydreaming.
States of Consciousness & Extended States of Consciousness
Man lives in 3 relative states of Consciousnes- waking, dreaming & dreamless
sleep known in Sanskrit as Jagrata, Swapna & Sushupti. Now there is a
Transcendental state of Consciousness known as the Fourth (Tureeya) & there
are
still
higher
states
of
Consciousness.
Seven States of Consciousness
1.
Waking
2.
Dreaming (REM sleep)
3.
Dreamless Sleep (non- REM)
4.
Transcendental Consciousness (TC)
5.
Cosmic Consciousness (CC)
6.
Glorified State of Cosmic Consciousness (GC)
7.
Unified State of Cosmic Consciousness
Cognitive Phenomena can be classified as "complex" phenomena because they
typically involve the spontaneous emergence of "concepts" or "ideas" which
are formulated out of "thoughts" or "feelings" that are holistic in nature. Unlike
colorful distortions of raw perception from our sensory cortices or the
emergence of primal impulses from our emotional brain, Cognitive Phenomena
are typically defined in terms of "expanded states" of consciousness, the
production of "novel memes," and the shifting or shattering of the "paradigms"
through which we view reality. Cognitive Phenomena are tied closely to both
concepts of self as well as the basic logic and language functions of the brain
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(which would be located in the prefrontal cortex), but they also rely on areas of
our brain responsible for more intuitive, loosely-associative interpretations of
data. Because of this, Cognitive Phenomena may seem cryptic, paradoxical,
and grand in scope; the states are often described in spiritual terms of mystical
awareness and metaphysical awakening; and reports from users all over the
world often use the same language metaphors to describe various states of
"expanded consciousness." And since Cognitive Phenomena emerge into both
the "mind" and into the culture arena as fully-formed as experiential
"concepts" or "ideas," they are arguably the most powerful, transformative,
and easy-to-translate artifacts of the psychedelic experience.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is a mental state (state theory) or imaginative role-enactment (nonstate theory) usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction,
which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary instructions and
suggestions. Hypnotic suggestions may be delivered by a hypnotist in the
presence of the subject, or may be self-administered ("self-suggestion" or
"autosuggestion"). The use of hypnotism for therapeutic purposes is referred to
as "hypnotherapy."
The words 'hypnosis' and 'hypnotism' both derive from the term "neurohypnotism" (nervous sleep) coined by the Scottish surgeon James Braid around
1841. Braid based his practice on that developed by Franz Mesmer and his
followers ("Mesmerism" or "animal magnetism"), but differed in his theory as
to how the procedure worked.
Contrary to a popular misconception - that hypnosis is a form of
unconsciousness resembling sleep - contemporary research suggests that it is
actually a wakeful state of focused attentionand heightened suggestibility, with
diminished peripheral awareness. In the first book on the subject,
Neurypnology (1843), Braid described "hypnotism" as a state of physical
relaxation accompanied and induced by mental concentration ("abstraction").
Characteristics
Skeptics point out the difficulty distinguishing between hypnosis and the
placebo effect, proposing that hypnosis is so heavily reliant upon the effects of
suggestion and belief that it would be hard to imagine how a credible placebo
control could ever be devised for a hypnotism study..
It could be said that hypnotic suggestion is explicitly intended to make use of
the placebo effect. For example, in 1994, Irving Kirsch proposed a definition of
hypnosis as a "nondeceptive mega-placebo," i. e., a method which openly
makes use of suggestion and employs methods to amplify its effects..
Definitions
The earliest definition of hypnosis was given by Braid, who coined the term
"hypnotism" as an abbreviation for "neuro-hypnotism", or nervous sleep, which
he opposed to normal sleep, and defined as:
A peculiar condition of the nervous system, induced by a fixed and abstracted
attention of the mental and visual eye, on one object, not of an exciting nature.
Braid elaborated upon this brief definition in a later work:
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…the real origin and essence of the hypnotic condition, is the induction of a
habit of abstraction or mental concentration, in which, as in reverie or
spontaneous abstraction, the powers of the mind are so much engrossed with
a single idea or train of thought, as, for the nonce, to render the individual
unconscious of, or indifferently conscious to, all other ideas, impressions, or
trains of thought. The hypnotic sleep, therefore, is the very antithesis or
opposite mental and physical condition to that which precedes and
accompanies common sleep …
Braid therefore defined hypnotism as a state of mental concentration which
often led to a form of progressive relaxation termed "nervous sleep". Later, in
his The Physiology of Fascination (1855), Braid conceded that his original
terminology was misleading, and argued that the term "hypnotism" or
"nervous sleep" should be reserved for the minority (10%) of subjects who
exhibited
amnesia,
substituting
the
term
"monoideism",
meaning
concentration upon a single idea, as a description for the more alert state
experienced by the others.
Since it can not (or has not) been defined in scientific terms. It can not be
subjected to the scientific method for confirming its existence as more than a
theory.
Meditation
Meditation is a holistic discipline by which the practitioner attempts to get
beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or
awareness. The term can refer to the process of reaching this state, as well as
to the state itself. Meditation is a component of many religions, and has been
practiced since antiquity. It is also practiced outside religious traditions.
Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual and nonspiritual goals including achieving a higher state of consciousness or
enlightenment, increasing one's compassion and lovingkindness, receiving
spiritual inspiration or guidance from God, achieving greater focus, creativity or
self-awareness, and simply cultivating a more relaxed and peaceful frame of
mind.
Eastern meditation techniques have been adapted and increasingly practiced
in Western culture resulting in some opposition from organizations such as the
Catholic Church.
In spirituality and religion
There are literally hundreds of types of meditation styles.
Meditation has been defined as: "self regulation of attention, in the service of
self-inquiry, in the here and now."
Meditation can be practiced while walking or doing simple repetitive tasks.
Walking meditation helps break down habitual automatic mental categories,
"thus regaining the primary nature of perceptions and events, focusing
attention on the process while disregarding its purpose or final outcome." In a
form of meditation using visualization, such as Chinese Qi Gong, the
practitioner concentrates on flows of energy (Qi) in the body, starting in the
abdomen and then circulating through the body, until dispersed. Some
meditative traditions, such as yoga or tantra, are common to several religions.
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Buddhism
Buddhist meditation is fundamentally concerned with two themes:
transforming the mind and using it to explore itself and other phenomena.[47]
The historical Buddha himself, Siddhartha Gautama, was said to have achieved
enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree. In Buddhist mythology,
there have been twenty eight Buddhas and all of them practiced meditation to
make spiritual progress.
All Buddhist traditions recognize that the path to Enlightenment entails three
types of training: virtue (sīla); concentration (dhyāna); and, wisdom (paññā).
Thus, meditative process alone is but one aspect of the path to Enlightenment.
A traditional Buddhist explanandum distinguishes two classes of meditation
practices, samatha and vipassana, which together will lead one all the way to
enlightenment. The former consists of practices aimed at developing the ability
to focus the attention single-pointedly; the latter includes practices aimed at
developing insight and wisdom through seeing the true nature of reality. The
differentiation between the two types of meditation practices is not always
clear cut, which is made obvious when studying practices such as anapanasati
which could be said to start off as a shamatha practice, but goes through a
number of stages, and ends up as a vipassana practice.
Theravada Buddhism emphasizes the meditative development of mindfulness
(sati, see for example the Satipatthana Sutta) and concentration (samadhi, see
kammatthana), as part of the Noble Eightfold Path, in the pursuit of Nibbana
(Nirvana). Theravada buddhism was the original practice, and uses a style of
individuality by which each person is seen as different; therefore each person's
path to Nirvana may also differ. Traditional popular meditation subjects include
the breath (anapana) and loving-kindness (mettā).
One particularly influential school of Buddhist meditation in the 20th century
was the Thai Forest Tradition which included such notable practitioners of
meditation as Ajahn Thate, Ajahn Maha Bua and the Ajahn Chah.
Anapanasati, or watching the breath, has been practiced since the time of The
Buddha. In this type of meditation one simply turns the attention to each
breath. Sometimes the breaths are counted on the inhalation (or sometimes
the exhalation is chosen as well), "1... 2... 3... 4...," up to ten and then the
practitioner begins from 1 again. Sometimes the breaths are simply watched
without counting. When the attention goes to something else it is gently
brought back to the breath; If the count is lost then the practitioner simply
starts from 1 again. This type of meditation has been shown to improve the
ability to sustain one's attention to any stimuli as well as improving executive
functioning and slow the natural aging process of the brain.
Sometimes, in a certain style of calm abiding, a practitioner will concentrate on
an object such as a candle flame or the statue of The Buddha. Meditation on a
concept, such as the temporary nature of reality, is also sometimes practiced.
Meditation in Tibetan Buddhism grew up as an integral part of religious life,
alongside other practices like mantra recitation, study of sacred literature,
hand mudras, prostrations, and so forth. All Tibetan schools share the
preliminary practice of Ngondro. From there one begins either with Dzogchen
in the Nyingma path or with Mahamudra in the Kagyu lineage. There is a fairly
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wide consensus among lamas of both the Nyingma and Sarma schools that the
end state of dzogchen and mahamudra are the same. The result of these
practices is to awaken to the sky-like nature of mind, the primordial, pure,
nondual state, the unchanging awareness which underlies the whole of life and
death, and then to abide in this state until complete and precious
Enlightenment is attained.
Also in Tibetan Buddhism there are other forms of meditation including mettā,
or compassion meditation, where one generates a state of boundless
compassion (recognized in science as self-induced high-amplitude gamma
synchrony) and simultaneously increases the compassion one has for others,
or, in other words, trains, "the mental expertise to cultivate positive emotion
alters the activation of circuitries previously linked to empathy and theory of
mind in response to emotional stimuli." There is also the practice of Tonglen
where one takes on the suffering and stress of others while radiating happiness
and success to others, and the practice of Tummo wherein monks learn to
generate enough body heat so that others have seen these practitioners, fully
submerged beneath icy lakes, cause steam to rise from the surface of the
water. Tibetan Buddhism is considered part of the Vajrayana and Mahayana
traditions.
In Japanese Mahayana schools, Tendai (Tien-tai), concentration is cultivated
through highly structured ritual. Especially in the Chinese Chán Buddhism
school (which branched out into the Japanese Zen, and Korean Seon schools),
ts'o ch'an meditation and koan meditation practices allow a practitioner to
directly experience the true nature of reality (each of the names of these
schools derives from the Sanskrit dhyana, and translates into "meditation" in
their respective languages). The esoteric Shingon sect shares many features
with Tibetan Buddhism. The Japanese haiku poet Basho saw poetry as a
process of meditation concerned with the art of describing the brief
appearances of the everlasting self, of eternity, in the circumstances of the
world. We get a sense of this ethical purpose in his writing at the
commencement of his classic work Narrow Roads to the Deep North. In a more
lonely and perhaps more profound pilgrimage than Chaucer depicted in the
Canterbury Tales, Basho reflects on mortality in intermingled poetry and prose
as he journeys north from shrine to shrine.
It has been argued that meditative traditions of Buddhism (which predated the
recorded birth of Jesus by 500 years and were present in Asia Minor and
Alexandria during Jesus' life), influenced the development of some aspects of
Christian contemplative faith (Buddhism and Christianity).
Jainism
Meditation has been one of the core spiritual practices undertaken by the Jains
since the era of first Tirthankar Lord Rishabha. All the twenty four Tirthankars
have practiced deep meditation before attaining enlightenment. They are all
shown in meditative postures in the images or idols. Lord Mahaveer practiced
deep meditation for twelve years and attained enlightenment.
The Oldest Jain Canon (4th Century BCE) describes meditation of Mahavira
before attaining kevala Jnana:
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Giving up the company of all householders whomsoever, he meditated. Asked,
he gave no answer; he went, and did not transgress the right path.(AS 312) In
these places was the wise Sramana for thirteen long years; he meditated day
and night, exerting himself, undisturbed, strenuously. (AS 333) And Mahavira
meditated (persevering) in some posture, without the smallest motion; he
meditated in mental concentration on (the things) above, below, beside, free
from desires. He meditated free from sin and desire, not attached to sounds or
colours; though still an erring mortal (khadmastha), he wandered about, and
never acted carelessly.(AS 374-375)
After more than twelve years of austerities and meditation, Mahavira entered
the state of Kevala Jnana while doing shukla dhayana, the highest form of
meditation:
The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira passed twelve years in this way of life; during
the thirteenth year in the second month of summer, in the fourth fortnight, the
light (fortnight) of Vaisakha, on its tenth day called Suvrata, in the Muhurta
called Vigaya, while the moon was in conjunction with the asterism
Uttaraphalguni, when the shadow had turned towards the east, and the first
wake was over, outside of the town Grimbhikagrama, on the northern bank of
the river Rigupalika, in the field of the householder Samaga, in a north-eastern
direction from an old temple, not far from a Sal tree, in a squatting position
with joined heels exposing himself to the heat of the sun, with the knees high
and the head low, in deep meditation, in the midst of abstract meditation,he
reached Nirvana, the complete and full, the unobstructed, unimpeded, infinite
and supreme best knowledge and intuition, called Kevala.
The Jains use the word Samayika, a word in the Prakrit language derived from
the word samay (time), to denote the practice of meditation. The aim of
Samayika is to transcend the daily experiences of being a "constantly
changing" human being, Jiva, and allow for the identification with the
"changeless" reality in the practitioner, the Atma. If the present moment of
time is taken to be a point between the past and the future, Samayika means
being fully aware, alert and conscious in that very moment, experiencing one's
true nature, Atma, which is considered common to all living beings. To live in
samayik is called living in the present. The Samayika takes on special
significance during Paryushana, a special eight- or ten-day period (depending
on the sect) practiced by the Jains. One of the main goal of Samayika is to
inculcate the quality of equanimity. It encourages to be consistently spiritually
vigilant. Samayaika is practiced in all the Jain sects and communities.
Acharya Mahaprajna, the 10th Head of Jain Swetamber Terapanth sect ,
formulated a well organized meditation system known as preksha meditation in
the 1970s. With this, he rediscovered the Jain Meditation techniques available
in ancient Jain scriptures. The system consists of the perception of the breath,
body, the psychic centres, psychic colors, thought and of contemplation
processes which can initiate the process of personal transformation. A few
important contemplation themes are - Impermanence, Solitariness,
Vulnerability. It aims at reaching and purifying the deeper levels of existence.
Regular practice is believed to strengthen the immune system and build up
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stamina to resist against ageing, pollution, viruses, diseases. Meditation
practice is an important part of the daily lives of the religion's monks.
The kayotsarg method is found to be very useful by many Jains. It is the
process of complete relaxation with high degree of self awareness.
Contemplation is a very old and important meditation technique. The
practitioner meditates deeply on subtle facts. In agnya vichāya, one
contemplates on seven facts - life and non-life, the inflow, bondage, stoppage
and removal of karmas, and the final accomplishment of liberation. In apaya
vichāya, one contemplates on the incorrect insights one indulges into and that
eventually develops right insight. In vipaka vichāya, one reflects on the eight
causes or basic types of karma. In sansathan vichāya, when one thinks about
the vastness of the universe and the loneliness of the soul.
There exists a number of meditation techniques such as pindāstha-dhyāna,
padāstha-dhyāna, rūpāstha-dhyāna, rūpātita-dhyāna, savīrya-dhyāna, etc. In
padāstha dhyāna one focuses on Mantras. A Mantra could be either a
combinations of core letters or words on deity or themes. There is a rich
tradition of Mantra in Jainism. All Jain followers irrespective of their sect,
whether Digambara or Svetambara practice Mantra. Mantra chanting is an
important part of daily lives of Jain monks and followers. Mantra chanting can
be done either loudly or silently in mind.
Judaism
There is evidence that Judaism has had meditative practices that go back
thousands of years. For instance, in the Torah, the patriarch Isaac is described
as going (lasuach) in the field a term understood by all commentators as some
type of meditative practice (Genesis 24:63), probably prayer.
Similarly, there are indications throughout the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible) that
meditation was central to the prophets. In the Old Testament, there are two
Hebrew words for meditation: hāgâ (Hebrew
H
), which means to sigh or murmur,
but also to meditate, and sîḥâ (Hebrew), which means to muse, or rehearse in
one's mind.
The Jewish mystical tradition, Kabbalah, is inherently a meditative field of
study. The Talmud refers to the advantage of the scholar over the prophet, as
his understanding takes on intellectual, conceptual form, that deepens mental
grasp, and can be communicated to others. The advantage of the prophet over
the scholar is in the transcendence of their intuitive vision. The ideal
illumination is achieved when the insights of mystical revelation are brought
into conceptual structures. For example, Isaac Luria revealed new doctrines of
Kabbalah in the 16th Century, that revolutionised and reordered its teachings
into a new system. However, he did not write down his teachings, which were
recounted and interpreted instead by his close circle of disciples. After a
mystical encounter, called in Kabbalistic tradition an "elevation of the soul"
into the spiritual realms, Isaac Luria said that it would take 70 years to explain
all that he had experienced. As Kabbalah evolved its teachings took on
successively greater conceptual form and philosophical system. Nonetheless,
as is implied by the name of Kabbalah, which means "to receive", its exponents
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see that for the student to understand its teachings requires a spiritual
intuitive reception that illuminates and personalises the intellectual structures.
Corresponding to the learning of Kabbalah are its traditional meditative
practices, as for the Kabbalist, the ultimate purpose of its study is to
understand and cleave to the Divine. Classic methods include the mental
visualisation of the supernal realms the soul navigates through to achieve
certain ends. One of the most well known types of meditation in early Jewish
mysticism was the work of the Merkabah, from the root /R-K-B/ meaning
"chariot" (of God).
In modern Jewish practice one of the best known meditative practices is called
"hitbodedut" (alternatively transliterated as "hisbodedus"), and is explained in
Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and Mussar writings, especially the Hasidic method of
Rabbi Nachman of Breslav. The word derives from the Hebrew word "boded"
meaning the state of being alone. Another Hasidic system is the Habad method
of "hisbonenus", related to the Sephirah of "Binah", Hebrew for understanding.
This practice is the analytical reflective process of making oneself understand
a mystical concept well, that follows and internalises its study in Hasidic
writings.
New Age
New Age meditations are often influenced by Eastern philosophy, mysticism,
Yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism, yet may contain some degree of Western
influence. In the West, meditation found its mainstream roots through the
social revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, when many of the youth of the day
rebelled against traditional belief systems as a reaction against what some
perceived as the failure of Christianity to provide spiritual and ethical guidance.
New Age meditation as practiced by the early hippies is regarded for its
techniques of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious
thinking. This is often aided by repetitive chanting of a mantra, or focusing on
an object. Many New Age groups combine yoga with meditation where the
control of mind and breathing is said to be the highest yoga.
In Zen Yoga Aaron Hoopes talks of meditation as being an avenue to touching
the spiritual nature that exists within each of us.
At its core, meditation is about touching the spiritual essence that exists within
us all. Experiencing the joy of this essence has been called enlightenment,
nirvana, or even rebirth, and reflects a deep understanding within us. The
spiritual essence is not something that we create through meditation. It is
already there, deep within, behind all the barriers, patiently waiting for us to
recognize it. One does not have to be religious or even interested in religion to
find value in it. Becoming more aware of your self and realizing your spiritual
nature is something that transcends religion. Anyone who has explored
meditation knows that it is simply a path that leads to a new, more expansive
way of seeing the world around us.
Among the meditation techniques identified as "New Age" are Sahaja Yoga,
Transcendental Meditation, Natural Stress Relief, 5Rhythms, Transmission
Meditation, and Theta Healing.[97]
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Sikhism
In Sikhism, the practices of simran and Nām Japō encourage quiet meditation.
This is focusing one's attention on the attributes of God. Sikhs believe that
there are 10 'gates' to the body; 'gates' is another word for 'chakras' or energy
centres. The top most energy level is called the tenth gate or dasam dwar.
When one reaches this stage through continuous practice meditation becomes
a habit that continues whilst walking, talking, eating, awake and even sleeping.
There is a distinct taste or flavour when a meditator reaches this lofty stage of
meditation, as one experiences absolute peace and tranquility inside and
outside the body.
Followers of the Sikh religion also believe that love comes through meditation
on the lord's name since meditation only conjures up positive emotions in
oneself which are portrayed through our actions. The first Guru of the Sikhs,
Guru Nanak Dev Ji preached the equality of all humankind and stressed the
importance of living a householder's life instead of wandering around jungles
meditating, the latter of which being a popular practice at the time. The Guru
preached that we can obtain liberation from life and death by living a totally
normal family life and by spreading love amongst every human being
regardless of religion.
In the Sikh religion, kirtan, otherwise known as singing the hymns of God is
seen as one of the most beneficial ways of aiding meditation, and it too in
some ways is believed to be a meditation of one kind.
Taoism
Taoism includes a number of meditative and contemplative traditions, said to
have their principles described in the I Ching, Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu and
Tao Tsang among other texts. The multitude of schools relating to Qigong,
Neigong, Internal alchemy, Daoyin and Zhan zhuang is a large, diverse array of
breath-training practices in aid of meditation with much influence on later
Chinese Buddhism and with much influence on traditional Chinese medicine
and the Chinese as well as some Japanese martial arts. The Chinese martial art
T'ai Chi Ch'uan is named after the well-known focus for Taoist and NeoConfucian meditation, the T'ai Chi T'u, and is often referred to as “meditation
in motion”.
"The Guanzi essay 'Neiye' (Inward training) is the oldest received writing on
the subject of the cultivation of vapor and meditation techniques. The essay
was probably composed at the Jixia Academy in Qi in the late fourth century
B.C."
Often Taoist Internal martial arts, especially Tai Chi Chuan are thought of as
moving meditation. A common phrase being, "movement in stillness" referring
to energetic movement in passive Qigong and seated Taoist meditation; with
the converse being "stillness in movement", a state of mental calm and
meditation in the tai chi form.
In a Western context
"Meditation" in its modern sense refers to Yogic meditation that originated in
India. In the late nineteenth century, Theosophists adopted the word
"meditation" to refer to various spiritual practices drawn from Hinduism,
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Buddhism, Sikhism and other Indian religions. Thus the English word
"meditation" does not exclusively translate to any single term or concept, and
can be used to translate words such as the Sanskrit dhāraṇā, dhyana, samadhi
and bhavana.
Meditation may be for a religious purpose, but even before being brought to
the West it was used in secular contexts, such as the martial arts. Beginning
with the Theosophists, though, meditation has been employed in the West by a
number of religious and spiritual movements, such as Yoga, New Age and the
New Thought movement, as well as limited use in Christianity.
Meditation techniques have also been used by Western theories of counseling
and psychotherapy. Relaxation training works toward achieving mental and
muscle relaxation to reduce daily stresses. Jacobson is credited with
developing the initial progressive relaxation procedure. These techniques are
used in conjunction with other behavioral techniques. Originally used with
systematic desensitization, relaxation techniques are now used with other
clinical problems. Meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback-induced relaxation are
a few of the techniques used with relaxation training. One of the eight
essential phases of EMDR (developed by Shapiro), bringing adequate closure to
the end of each session, also entails the use of relaxation techniques, including
meditation. Multimodal therapy, a technically eclectic approach to behavioral
therapy, also employs the use of meditation as a technique used in individual
therapy.
From the point of view of psychology and physiology, meditation can induce an
altered state of consciousness, and its goals in that context have been stated
to achieving spiritual enlightenment, to the transformation of attitudes, and to
better cardiovascular health.
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness, (ASC) also named altered state of mind,
is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave
state. The expression was used as early as 1969 by Charles Tartand describes
induced changes in one's mental state, almost always temporary. A
synonymous phrase is "altered states of awareness".
It can be associated with artistic creativity.
Causes
Accidental/pathological
An altered state of consciousness can come about accidentally through, for
example, fever, infections such as meningitis,[5] sleep deprivation, fasting,
oxygen deprivation, nitrogen narcosis (deep diving), psychosis[6], temporal lobe
epilepsy or a traumatic accident.
Intentional/recreational/religious
An ASC can sometimes be reached intentionally by the use of sensory
deprivation, an isolation tank, sleep deprivation, lucid dreaming, hypnosis,
meditation, prayer, or disciplines (e.g. Mantra Meditation, Yoga, Sufism, dream
yoga, or Surat Shabda Yoga).
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It can also be attained through the ingestion of psychoactive drugs such as
alcohol and opiates, but more commonly with traditional hallucinogens of
indigenous cultures, plants such as cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms, peyote,
ayahuasca, or datura (though less common and much more lethal). Other
modern hallucinogens that some attempt to use for a similar purpose are (D)methorphan, Salvia divinorum, LSD-25, subsituted phenethylamines,
substituted tryptamines, and substituted amphetamines such as those listed in
the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL by Dr. Alexander Shlugin, a former forensic and
analytical organic chemist of the Drug Enforcement Administration. These
drugs are often noted as "designer drugs" by authorities and professionals or
as "research chemicals" by the hallucinogen-use and distribution underground,
as an attempt to avoid prosecution under the Federal Analogue Act.
Another effective way to induce an altered state of consciousness is using a
variety of Neurotechnology such as psychoacoustics, binaural beats, light and
sound stimulation, cranial electrotherapy stimulation, and such; these methods
attempt to induce specific brainwave patterns, and a particular altered state of
consciousness.
Module 5
HIGHER COGNITIVE PROCESSES
Basic Thought Processes
Thoughts are forms created in the mind, rather than the forms perceived
through the five senses. Thought and thinking are the processes by which
these imaginary sense perceptions arise and are manipulated. Thinking allows
beings to model the world and to represent it according to their objectives,
plans, ends and desires. Similar concepts and processes include cognition,
sentience, consciousness, ideas, and imagination.
Definition
Representative reactions towards stimuli from internal chemical reactions or
external environmental factors (this definition precludes the notion that
anything inorganic could ever be made to "think": An idea contested by such
computer scientists as Alan Turing (see Computing Machinery and
Intelligence)). The word comes from Old English þoht, geþoht, from stem of
þencan "to conceive of in the mind, consider".
In common language, the word thinking covers numerous diverse
psychological activities. It is sometimes a synonym for "tending to believe,"
especially with less than full confidence ("I think that it will rain, but I am not
sure"). At other times it denotes the degree of attentiveness ("I did it without
thinking") or whatever is in consciousness, especially if it refers to something
outside the immediate environment ("It made me think of my grandmother").
Biology
A neuron (also known as a neurone or nerve cell) is an excitable cell in the
nervous system that processes and transmits information by electrochemical
signalling. Neurons are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal
cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves. A number
of specialized types of neurons exist: sensory neurons respond to touch, sound,
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light and numerous other stimuli affecting cells of the sensory organs that then
send signals to the spinal cord and brain. Motor neurons receive signals from
the brain and spinal cord and cause muscle contractions and affect glands.
Interneurons connect neurons to other neurons within the brain and spinal
cord. Neurons respond to stimuli, and communicate the presence of stimuli to
the central nervous system, which processes that information and sends
responses to other parts of the body for action. Neurons do not go through
mitosis, and usually cannot be replaced after being destroyed, although
astrocytes have been observed to turn into neurons as they are sometimes
pluripotent.
Psychology
Psychologists have concentrated on thinking as an intellectual exertion aimed
at finding an answer to a question or the solution of a practical problem.
Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that investigates internal
mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language. The school
of thought arising from this approach is known as cognitivism which is
interested in how people mentally represent information processing. It had its
foundations in the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler,
and Kurt Koffka, and in the work of Jean Piaget, who provided a theory of
stages/phases that describe children's cognitive development.
Cognitive psychologists use psychophysical and experimental approaches to
understand, diagnose, and solve problems, concerning themselves with the
mental processes which mediate between stimulus and response. They study
various aspects of thinking, including the psychology of reasoning, and how
people make decisions and choices, solve problems, as well as engage in
creative discovery and imaginative thought. Cognitive theory contends that
solutions to problems take the form of algorithms—rules that are not
necessarily understood but promise a solution, or heuristics—rules that are
understood but that do not always guarantee solutions. Cognitive science
differs from cognitive psychology in that algorithms that are intended to
simulate human behavior are implemented or implementable on a computer.
In other instances, solutions may be found through insight, a sudden
awareness of relationships.
In developmental psychology, Jean Piaget was a pioneer in the study of the
development of thought from birth to maturity. In his theory of cognitive
development, thought is based on actions on the environment. That is, Piaget
suggests that the environment is understood through assimilations of objects
in the available schemes of action and these accommodate to the objects to
the extent that the available schemes fall short of the demands. As a result of
this interplay between assimilation and accommodation, thought develops
through a sequence of stages that differ qualititatively from each other in
mode of representation and complexity of inference and understanding. That
is, thought evolves from being based on perceptions and actions at the
sensorimotor stage in the first two years of life to internal representations in
early childhood. Subsequently, representations are gradually organized into
logical structures which first operate on the concrete properties of the reality,
in the stage of concrete operations, and then operate on abstract principles
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that organize concrete properties, in the stage of formal operations. In recent
years, the Piagetian conception of thought was integrated with information
processing conceptions. Thus, thought is considered as the result of
information processing mechanisms that are responsible for the representation
and processing of information. In this conception, speed of processing,
cognitive control, and working memory are the main functions underlying
thought. In the neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development, the
development of thought is considered to come from increasing speed of
processing, enhanced cognitive control, and increasing working memory.
Psychoanalysis
"Id", "ego", and "super-ego" are the three parts of the "psychic apparatus"
defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; they are the three
theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is
described. According to this model, the uncoordinated instinctual trends are
the "id"; the organized realistic part of the psyche is the "ego," and the critical
and moralizing function the "super-ego."
The unconscious was considered by Freud throughout the evolution of his
psychoanalytic theory a sentient force of will influenced by human desire and
yet operating well below the perceptual conscious mind. For Freud, the
unconscious is the storehouse of instinctual desires, needs, and psychic drives.
While past thoughts and reminiscences may be concealed from immediate
consciousness, they direct the thoughts and feelings of the individual from the
realm of the unconscious.
For psychoanalysis, the unconscious does not include all that is not conscious,
rather only what is actively repressed from conscious thought or what the
person is averse to knowing consciously. In a sense this view places the self in
relationship to their unconscious as an adversary, warring with itself to keep
what is unconscious hidden. If a person feels pain, all he can think of is
alleviating the pain. Any of his desires, to get rid of pain or enjoy something,
command the mind what to do. For Freud, the unconscious was a repository for
socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or desires, traumatic memories, and
painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of psychological
repression. However, the contents did not necessarily have to be solely
negative. In the psychoanalytic view, the unconscious is a force that can only
be recognized by its effects—it expresses itself in the symptom.
Sociology
Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact. Scholars in
this interdisciplinary area are typically either psychologists or sociologists,
though all social psychologists employ both the individual and the group as
their units of analysis.
Despite their similarity, psychological and sociological researchers tend to
differ in their goals, approaches, methods, and terminology. They also favor
separate academic journals and professional societies. The greatest period of
collaboration between sociologists and psychologists was during the years
immediately following World War II. Although there has been increasing
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isolation and specialization in recent years, some degree of overlap and
influence remains between the two disciplines.
The collective unconscious, sometimes known as collective subconscious, is a
term of analytical psychology, coined by Carl Jung. It is a part of the
unconscious mind, shared by a society, a people, or all humanity, in an
interconnected system that is the product of all common experiences and
contains such concepts as science, religion, and morality. While Freud did not
distinguish between an "individual psychology" and a "collective psychology,"
Jung distinguished the collective unconscious from the personal subconscious
particular to each human being. The collective unconscious is also known as "a
reservoir of the experiences of our species."
In the "Definitions" chapter of Jung's seminal work Psychological Types, under
the definition of "collective" Jung references representations collectives, a term
coined by Lucien Lévy-Bruhl in his 1910 book How Natives Think. Jung says this
is what he describes as the collective unconscious. Freud, on the other hand,
did not accept the idea of a collective unconscious.
Philosophy
Philosophy of mind is a branch of modern analytic philosophy that studies the
nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties,
consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the
brain. The mind-body problem, i.e. the relationship of the mind to the body, is
commonly seen as the central issue in philosophy of mind, although there are
other issues concerning the nature of the mind that do not involve its relation
to the physical body.
The mind-body problem
The mind-body problem concerns the explanation of the relationship that exists
between minds, or mental processes, and bodily states or processes. The main
aim of philosophers working in this area is to determine the nature of the mind
and mental states/processes, and how or even if minds are affected by and can
affect the body.
Our perceptual experiences depend on stimuli which arrive at our various
sensory organs from the external world and these stimuli cause changes in our
mental states, ultimately causing us to feel a sensation, which may be
pleasant or unpleasant. Someone's desire for a slice of pizza, for example, will
tend to cause that person to move his or her body in a specific manner and in
a specific direction to obtain what he or she wants. The question, then, is how
it can be possible for conscious experiences to arise out of a lump of gray
matter endowed with nothing but electrochemical properties. A related
problem is to explain how someone's propositional attitudes (e.g. beliefs and
desires) can cause that individual's neurons to fire and his muscles to contract
in exactly the correct manner. These comprise some of the puzzles that have
confronted epistemologists and philosophers of mind from at least the time of
René Descartes.
Concept
There are prevailing theories in contemporary philosophy which attempt to
explain the nature of concepts (abstract term: conception). The
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representational theory of mind proposes that concepts are mental
representations, while the semantic theory of concepts (originating with
Frege's distinction between concept and object) holds that they are abstract
objects. Ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not
necessarily appear to the mind as images as some ideas do. Many
philosophers consider concepts to be a fundamental ontological category of
being.
A concept is a cognitive unit of meaning—an abstract idea or a mental symbol
sometimes defined as a "unit of knowledge," built from other units which act as
a concept's characteristics. A concept is typically associated with a
corresponding representation in a language or symbology such as a single
meaning of a term.
The meaning of "concept" is explored in mainstream cognitive science,
metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. The term "concept" is traced back to
1554–60 (latin conceptum - "something conceived"),but what is today termed
"the classical theory of concepts" is the theory of Aristotle on the definition of
terms.
Origin and acquisition of concepts
A posteriori abstractions
John Locke's description of a general idea corresponds to a description of a
concept. According to Locke, a general idea is created by abstracting, drawing
away, or removing the common characteristic or characteristics from several
particular ideas. This common characteristic is that which is similar to all of the
different individuals. For example, the abstract general idea or concept that is
designated by the word "red" is that characteristic which is common to apples,
cherries, and blood. The abstract general idea or concept that is signified by
the word "dog" is the collection of those characteristics which are common to
Airedales, Collies, and Chihuahuas.
In the same tradition as Locke, John Stuart Mill stated that general conceptions
are formed through abstraction. A general conception is the common element
among the many images of members of a class. "...[W]hen we form a set of
phenomena into a class, that is, when we compare them with one another to
ascertain in what they agree, some general conception is implied in this mental
operation" (A System of Logic, Book IV, Ch. II). Mill did not believe that
concepts exist in the mind before the act of abstraction. "It is not a law of our
intellect, that, in comparing things with each other and taking note of their
agreement, we merely recognize as realised in the outward world something
that we already had in our minds. The conception originally found its way to us
as the result of such a comparison. It was obtained (in metaphysical phrase) by
abstraction from individual things" (Ibid.).
For Schopenhauer, empirical concepts "...are mere abstractions from what is
known through intuitive perception, and they have arisen from our arbitrarily
thinking away or dropping of some qualities and our retention of others."
(Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. I, "Sketch of a History of the Ideal and the
Real"). In his On the Will in Nature, "Physiology and Pathology," Schopenhauer
said that a concept is "drawn off from previous images ... by putting off their
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differences. This concept is then no longer intuitively perceptible, but is
denoted and fixed merely by words." Nietzsche, who was heavily influenced by
Schopenhauer, wrote: "Every concept originates through our equating what is
unequal. No leaf ever wholly equals another, and the concept 'leaf' is formed
through an arbitrary abstraction from these individual differences, through
forgetting the distinctions...
By contrast to the above philosophers, Immanuel Kant held that the account of
the concept as an abstraction of experience is only partly correct. He called
those concepts that result of abstraction "a posteriori concepts" (meaning
concepts that arise out of experience). An empirical or an a posteriori concept
is a general representation (Vorstellung) or non-specific thought of that which
is common to several specific perceived objects (Logic, I, 1., §1, Note 1).
A concept is a common feature or characteristic. Kant investigated the way
that empirical a posteriori concepts are created.
The logical acts of the understanding by which concepts are generated as to
their form are: (1.) comparison, i.e., the likening of mental images to one
another in relation to the unity of consciousness; (2.) reflection, i.e., the going
back over different mental images, how they can be comprehended in one
consciousness; and finally (3.) abstraction or the segregation of everything else
by which the mental images differ ... In order to make our mental images into
concepts, one must thus be able to compare, reflect, and abstract, for these
three logical operations of the understanding are essential and general
conditions of generating any concept whatever. For example, I see a fir, a
willow, and a linden. In firstly comparing these objects, I notice that they are
different from one another in respect of trunk, branches, leaves, and the like;
further, however, I reflect only on what they have in common, the trunk, the
branches, the leaves themselves, and abstract from their size, shape, and so
forth; thus I gain a concept of a tree.
– Logic, §6
Kant's description of the making of a concept has been paraphrased as "...to
conceive is essentially to think in abstraction what is common to a plurality of
possible instances..." (H.J. Paton, Kant's Metaphysics of Experience, I, 250). In
his discussion of Kant, Christopher Janaway wrote: "...generic concepts are
formed by abstraction from more than one species."
A priori concepts
Kant declared that human minds possess pure or a priori concepts. Instead of
being abstracted from individual perceptions, like empirical concepts, they
originate in the mind itself. He called these concepts categories, in the sense of
the word that means predicate, attribute, characteristic, or quality. But these
pure categories are predicates of things in general, not of a particular thing.
According to Kant, there are 12 categories that constitute the understanding of
phenomenal objects. Each category is that one predicate which is common to
multiple empirical concepts. In order to explain how an a priori concept can
relate to individual phenomena, in a manner analogous to an a posteriori
concept, Kant employed the technical concept of the schema.
Conceptual structure
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It seems intuitively obvious that concepts must have some kind of structure.
Up until recently, the dominant view of conceptual structure was a
containment model, associated with the classical view of concepts. According
to this model, a concept is endowed with certain necessary and sufficient
conditions in their description which unequivocally determine an extension.
The containment model allows for no degrees; a thing is either in, or out, of the
concept's extension. By contrast, the inferential model understands conceptual
structure to be determined in a graded manner, according to the tendency of
the concept to be used in certain kinds of inferences. As a result, concepts do
not have a kind of structure that is in terms of necessary and sufficient
conditions; all conditions are contingent (Margolis:5).
However, some theorists claim that primitive concepts lack any structure at all.
For instance, Jerry Fodor presents his Asymmetric Dependence Theory as a
way of showing how a primitive concept's content is determined by a reliable
relationship between the information in mental contents and the world. These
sorts of claims are referred to as "atomistic", because the primitive concept is
treated as if it were a genuine atom.
Conceptual content
In cognitive linguistics, abstract concepts are transformations of concrete
concepts derived from embodied experience. The mechanism of
transformation is structural mapping, in which properties of two or more source
domains are selectively mapped onto a blended space (Fauconnier & Turner,
1995; see conceptual blending). A common class of blends are metaphors. This
theory contrasts with the rationalist view that concepts are perceptions (or
recollections, in Plato's term) of an independently existing world of ideas, in
that it denies the existence of any such realm. It also contrasts with the
empiricist view that concepts are abstract generalizations of individual
experiences, because the contingent and bodily experience is preserved in a
concept, and not abstracted away. While the perspective is compatible with
Jamesian pragmatism (above), the notion of the transformation of embodied
concepts through structural mapping makes a distinct contribution to the
problem of concept formation.
Schema
A schema (pl. schemata), in psychology and cognitive science is:

A mental structure that represents some aspect of the world.

A structured cluster of pre-conceived ideas.

An organized pattern of thought or behavior.

A specific knowledge structure or cognitive representation of the self.

A mental framework centering around a specific theme, that helps us to
organize social information.

Structures which organize our knowledge and assumptions about
something and are used for interpreting and processing information.
A schema for oneself is called a "self schema". Schemata for other people are
called "person schemata". Schemata for roles or occupations are called "role
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schemata", and schemata for events or situations are called "event schemata"
(or scripts).
Schemata influence our attention, as we are more likely to notice things that fit
into our schema. If something contradicts our schema, it may be encoded or
interpreted as an exception or as unique. Thus, schemata are prone to
distortion. They influence what we look for in a situation. They have a tendency
to remain unchanged, even in the face of contradictory information. We are
inclined to place people who do not fit our schema in a "special" or "different"
category, rather than to consider the possibility that our schema may be faulty.
As a result of schemata, we might act in such a way that actually causes our
expectations to come true.
The concept of schemata was initially introduced into psychology and
education through the work of the British psychologist, Sir Frederic Bartlett
(1886–1969). This learning theory views organized knowledge as an elaborate
network of abstract mental structures which represent one's understanding of
the world. Schema theory was developed by the educational psychologist R. C.
Anderson. The term schema was used by Jean Piaget in 1926, so it was not an
entirely new concept. Anderson, however, expanded the meaning.
People use schemata to organize current knowledge and provide a framework
for future understanding. Examples of schemata include Rubric (academic),
social schemas, stereotypes, social roles, scripts, worldviews, and archetypes.
In Piaget's theory of development, children adopt a series of schemata to
understand the world.
Imagery and Cognitive map
Imagery is a set of mental pictures or images. The use of vivid or figurative
language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. Psychologists often use it as a
technique in behavior therapy in which the patient uses pleasant fantasies to
relax and counteract anxiety.
Cognitive maps, mental maps, mind maps, cognitive models, or mental models
are a type of mental processing composed of a series of psychological
transformations by which an individual can acquire, code, store, recall, and
decode information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in
their everyday or metaphorical spatial environment.
The credit of the creation of this term is given to Edward Tolman. Cognitive
maps have been studied in various fields, such as psychology, education,
archaeology, planning, geography, architecture, landscape architecture , urban
planning and management. As a consequence, these mental models are often
referred to, variously, as cognitive maps, mental maps, scripts, schemata, and
frames of reference.
Put more simply, cognitive maps are a method we use to construct and
accumulate spatial knowledge, allowing the "mind's eye" to visualize images in
order to reduce cognitive load, and enhance recall and learning of information.
This type of spatial thinking can also be used as a metaphor for non-spatial
tasks, where people performing non-spatial tasks involving memory and
imaging use spatial knowledge to aid in processing the task. The oldest known
formal method of using spatial locations to remember data is the "method of
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loci". This method was originally used by students of rhetoric in ancient Rome
when memorizing speeches. To use it one must first memorize the appearance
of a physical location (for example, the sequence of rooms in a building). When
a list of words, for example, needs to be memorized, the learner visualizes an
object representing that word in one of the pre-memorized locations. To recall
the list, the learner mentally "walks through" the memorized locations, noticing
the objects placed there during the memorization phase.
The neural correlates of a cognitive map have been speculated to be the place
cell system in the hippocampus and the recently discovered grid cells in the
entorhinal cortex.
Tolman believed that we learn by trial and error. When we are successful, we
remember and create cognitive maps of the places and circumstances (or
context). The proof for this came from experiments with rats in a maze
performed by Tolman in the 1940s:
1. It seems the rats explore the maze for no other reason than for the fun of
it.
2. If they know the maze well they will find their way even if the maze is
filled with water and the rats are forced to swim in order to find their way
to food.
Tolman's is more complex than learning theory, which is based on reward and
punishment as motivators. Behaviorists like Watson & Pavlov would see the
nervous system as rather simple, and according to them learning is formed by
reward and punishment. Metaphorically the brain is like a simple switchboard.
Albert Bandura and G.H. Mead would add that imitating others (having role
models) is also a motivator for learning. Tolman is talking about cognitive
behaviorism, which is an important part of cognitive therapy today.
The rats in the maze seem to learn even if they are not rewarded for it, and
they also remember what they learn. This is a school of thought nowadays
known as field theory. This group believes that in the course of learning
something like a field map of the environment gets established in the rat's (or
person's) brain. You could argue that the rat in running a maze is exposed to
stimuli and is finally led as a result of these stimuli to the responses which
actually occur. However the intervening brain processes are more complicated,
more patterned and often, pragmatically speaking, more autonomous than do
the stimulus-response psychologists. Although it's most likely that the rat is
bombarded by stimuli, it's very likely that the nervous system is surprisingly
selective as to which of these stimuli it will let in at any given time. Learning
gives us a better chance to evaluate the future and survive .
The maps in the brain cannot be seen; we can only see the consequences of
learning. The brain makes connections far more complex than those possible to
see in a microscope or a scanner. Reductionism and Occams razor are
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excellent topics to read about if you want to learn more about how brain and
learning relate to each other. It's a known fact that the human brain becomes
more complex and interrelates in new ways during childhood and adolescence.
The "central office" (the Brain) itself is far more like a map control room than it
is like an old-fashioned telephone exchange. The stimuli, which are allowed in,
are not connected by just simple one-to-one switches to the outgoing
responses. Rather, the incoming impulses are usually worked over and
elaborated in the central control room into a tentative, cognitive-like map of
the environment. And it is this tentative map, indicating routes and paths and
environmental relationships, which finally determines what responses, if any,
the animal will finally release.
The map here is known to most people. However, it is upside down. Rotate the
picture in your mind (or stand on your head) and you will see Africa. Now
where is the Republic of South Africa? You know the map and you can use that
knowledge. You just rotate the map in your mind and there you have it.
Attempting to teach such a concept to an animal would prove difficult. If you
reorganize knowledge and learn a lot from it, it is Gestalt learning or an Aha
moment (Aha-Erlebnis). Sometimes you have to combine knowledge in new
ways.
Finally, it is also important to note how these maps are relatively narrow and
strip-like, or broad and comprehensive. Both strip-maps and comprehensivemaps may be either correct or incorrect in the sense that they may, when
acted upon, lead successfully to the animal's goal. The differences between
such strip maps and such comprehensive maps will appear only when the rat is
later presented with some change within the given environment. Then, the
narrower and more strip-like the original map, the less will it carry over
successfully to the new problem; whereas, the wider and the more
comprehensive it was, the more adequately it will serve in the new set-up. In a
strip-map the given position of the animal is connected by only a relatively
simple and single path to the position of the goal. In a comprehensive-map a
wider arc of the environment is represented, so that, if the starting position of
the animal be changed or variations in the specific routes be introduced, this
wider map will allow the animal still to behave relatively correctly and to
choose the appropriate new route.
Language
A language is a system of signs (indices, icons, symbols) for encoding and
decoding information. Since language and languages became an object of
study (logos) by the ancient grammarians, the term has had many and
different definitions. The English word derives from Latin lingua, "language,
tongue," with a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root of *dnghû-, "tongue," a
metaphor based on the use of the physical organ in speech.[1] The ability to use
speech originated in remote prehistoric times, as did the language families in
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use at the beginning of writing. The processes by which they were acquired
were for the most part unconscious.
In modern times, a large number of artificial languages have been devised,
requiring a distinction between their consciously innovated type and natural
language. The latter are forms of communication considered peculiar to
humankind. Although some other animals make use of quite sophisticated
communicative systems, and these are sometimes casually referred to as
animal language, none of these are known to make use of all the properties
that linguists use to define language.
The term “language” has branched by analogy into several meanings. The
most obvious manifestations are spoken languages such as English or Spoken
Chinese. However, there are also written languages and other systems of
visual symbols such as sign languages. In cognitive science the term is also
sometimes extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and
using language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation and
usage of systems of symbols, each pairing a specific sign with an intended
meaning, established through social conventions.
In the late 19th century Charles Sanders Peirce called this pairing process
semiosis and the study of it semiotics. According to another founder of
semiotics, Roman Jakobson, the latter portrays language as code in which
sounds (signantia) signify concepts (signata). Language is the process of
encoding signata in the sounds forming the signantia and decoding from
signantia to signata.
Concepts themselves are signantia for the objective reality being conceived.
When discussed as a general phenomenon then, "language" may imply a
particular type of human thought that can be present even when
communication is not the result, and this way of thinking is also sometimes
treated as indistinguishable from language itself. In Western philosophy,
language has long been closely associated with reason, which is also a
uniquely human way of using symbols. In Ancient Greek philosophical
terminology, the same word, logos, was a term for both language or speech
and reason, and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes used the English word
"speech" so that it similarly could refer to reason, as presented below.
The properties of language
Arbitrary symbols
A key property of language is that its symbols are arbitrary. Any concept or
grammatical rule can be mapped onto a symbol. In other words, most
languages make use of sound, but the combinations of sounds used do not
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have any necessary and inherent meaning; they are merely an agreed-upon
convention to represent a certain thing by users of that language. For instance,
the sound combination nada carries the meaning of "nothing" in the Spanish
language and also the meaning "thread" in the Hindi language. There is
nothing about the word nada itself that forces Hindi speakers to convey the
idea of "thread", or the idea of "nothing" for Spanish speakers. Other sets of
sounds (for example, the English words nothing and thread) could equally be
used to represent the same concepts, but all Spanish and Hindi speakers have
acquired or learned to correlate their own meanings for this particular sound
pattern. Indeed, for speakers of Slovene and some other South Slavic
languages, the sound combination carries the meaning of "hope", while in
Indonesian, it means "tone".
This arbitrariness applies to words even with an onomatopoetic dimension (i.e.
words that to some extent simulate the sound of the token referred to). For
example, several animal names (e.g. cuckoo, whip-poor-will, and katydid) are
derived from sounds made by the respective animal, but these forms did not
have to be chosen for these meanings. Non-onomatopoetic words can stand
just as easily for the same meaning. For instance, the katydid is called a "bush
cricket" in British English, a term that bears no relation to the sound made by
the animal. In time, onomatopoetic words can also change in form, losing their
mimetic status. Onomatopoetic words may have an inherent relation to their
referent, but this meaning is not inherent; thus they do not violate
arbitrariness. For instance, an English speaker may describe a dog's bark as
"ruff" or "bow-wow," as to where the Japanese would describe it as "wan-wan."
Related symbols
The meanings of signs may be arbitrary, but the process of assigning meaning
is not; it is the activity of the entire society; individuals are not allowed to
change them arbitrarily, even though they may contribute some new
meanings. A continuous thread of socially recognized meaning requires that
the allowed meanings of individual signs be related. The relatedness of signs
was formally recognized by Charles W. Morris, who divided semiotics into three
fields, based on "the three dimensions of semiosis:"
"...syntactics studies the relation between a given sign vehicle and other sign
vehicles, semantics studies the relations between sign vehicles and their
designata, and pragmatics studies the relation between sign vehicles and their
interpreters....
These types of relatedness allow a finite set of signs to be combined into a
potentially infinite number of meaningful utterances.
Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the
psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use,
comprehend and produce language. Initial forays into psycholinguistics were
largely philosophical ventures, due mainly to a lack of cohesive data on how
the human brain functioned. Modern research makes use of biology,
neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, and information theory to study
how the brain processes language. There are a number of subdisciplines with
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non-invasive techniques for studying the neurological workings of the brain; for
example, neurolinguistics has become a field in its own right.
Psycholinguistics covers the cognitive processes that make it possible to
generate a grammatical and meaningful sentence out of vocabulary and
grammatical structures, as well as the processes that make it possible to
understand utterances, words, text, etc. Developmental psycholinguistics
studies children's ability to learn language.
Areas of study
Psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary and is studied by people in a variety of
fields, such as psychology, cognitive science, and linguistics. There are several
subdivisions within psycholinguistics that are based on the components that
make up human language.
Linguistic-related areas:

Phonetics and phonology are concerned with the study of speech sounds.
Within psycholinguistics, research focuses on how the brain processes
and understands these sounds.

Morphology is the study of word structures, especially the relationships
between related words (such as dog and dogs) and the formation of
words based on rules (such as plural formation).

Syntax is the study of the patterns which dictate how words are
combined together to form sentences.

Semantics deals with the meaning of words and sentences. Where
syntax is concerned with the formal structure of sentences, semantics
deals with the actual meaning of sentences.

Pragmatics is concerned with the role of context in the interpretation of
meaning.
Psychology-related areas:

The study of word recognition and reading examines the processes
involved in the extraction of orthographic, morphological, phonological,
and semantic information from patterns in printed text.

Developmental psycholinguistics studies infants' and children's ability to
learn and process language, usually with experimental or at least
quantitative methods (as opposed to naturalistic observations such as
those made by Jean Piaget in his research on the development of
children).
Theories
Theories about how language works in the human mind attempt to account for,
among other things, how we associate meaning with the sounds (or signs) of
language and how we use syntax—that is, how we manage to put words in the
proper order to produce and understand the strings of words we call
"sentences". The first of these items—associating sound with meaning—is the
least controversial and is generally held to be an area in which animal and
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human communication have at least some things in common (See animal
communication). Syntax, on the other hand, is controversial, and is the focus of
the discussion that follows.
There are essentially two schools of thought as to how we manage to create
syntactic sentences: (1) syntax is an evolutionary product of increased human
intelligence over time and social factors that encouraged the development of
spoken language; (2) language exists because humans possess an innate
ability, an access to what has been called a "universal grammar". This view
holds that the human ability for syntax is "hard-wired" in the brain. This view
claims, for example, that complex syntactic features such as recursion are
beyond even the potential abilities of the most intelligent and social nonhumans. (Recursion includes the use of relative pronouns to refer back to
earlier parts of a sentence ("The girl whose car is blocking my view of the tree
that I planted last year is my friend.")) The innate view claims that the ability
to use syntax like that would not exist without an innate concept that contains
the underpinnings for the grammatical rules that produce recursion. Children
acquiring a language, thus, have a vast search space to explore among
possible human grammars, settling, logically, on the language(s) spoken or
signed in their own community of speakers. Such syntax is, according to the
second point of view, what defines human language and makes it different
from even the most sophisticated forms of animal communication.
The first view was prevalent until about 1960 and is well represented by the
mentalistic theories of Jean Piaget and the empiricist Rudolf Carnap. As well,
the school of psychology known as behaviorism (see Verbal Behavior (1957) by
B.F. Skinner) puts forth the point of view that language is behavior shaped by
conditioned response. The second point of view (the "innate" one) can fairly be
said to have begun with Noam Chomsky's highly critical review of Skinner's
book in 1959 in the pages of the journal Language. That review started what
has been termed "the cognitive revolution" in psychology.
The field of psycholinguistics since then has been defined by reactions to
Chomsky, pro and con. The pro view still holds that the human ability to use
syntax is qualitatively different from any sort of animal communication. That
ability might have resulted from a favorable mutation (extremely unlikely) or
(more likely) from an adaptation of skills evolved for other purposes. That is,
precise syntax might, indeed, serve group needs; better linguistic expression
might produce more cohesion, cooperation, and potential for survival, but
precise syntax can only have developed from rudimentary—or no—syntax,
which would have had no survival value and, thus, would not have evolved at
all. Thus, one looks for other skills, the characteristics of which might have
later been useful for syntax. In the terminology of modern evolutionary biology,
these skills would be said to be "pre-adapted" for syntax (see also exaptation).
Just what those skills might have been is the focus of recent research—or, at
least, speculation.
The con view still holds that language—including syntax—is an outgrowth of
hundreds of thousands of years of increasing intelligence and tens of
thousands of years of human interaction. From that view, syntax in language
gradually increased group cohesion and potential for survival. Language—
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syntax and all—is a cultural artifact. This view challenges the "innate" view as
scientifically unfalsifiable; that is to say, it can't be tested; the fact that a
particular, conceivable syntactic structure does not exist in any of the world's
finite repertoire of languages is an interesting observation, but it is not proof of
a genetic constraint on possible forms, nor does it prove that such forms
couldn't exist or couldn't be learned.
Contemporary theorists, besides Chomsky, working in the field of theories of
psycholinguistics include George Lakoff and Steven Pinker.
Methodologies
Behavioral
Much methodology in psycholinguistics takes the form of behavioral
experiments incorporating a lexical decision task. In these types of studies,
subjects are presented with some form of linguistic input and asked to perform
a task (e.g. make a judgment, reproduce the stimulus, read a visually
presented word aloud). Reaction times (usually on the order of milliseconds)
and proportion of correct responses are the most often employed measures of
performance. Such experiments often take advantage of priming effects,
whereby a "priming" word or phrase appearing in the experiment can speed up
the lexical decision for a related "target" word later.
Such tasks might include, for example, asking the subject to convert nouns
into verbs; e.g., "book" suggests "to write," "water" suggests "to drink," and so
on. Another experiment might present an active sentence such as "Bob threw
the ball to Bill" and a passive equivalent, "The ball was thrown to Bill by Bob"
and then ask the question, "Who threw the ball?" We might then conclude (as
is the case) that active sentences are processed more easily (faster) than
passive sentences. More interestingly, we might also find out (as is the case)
that some people are unable to understand passive sentences; we might then
make some tentative steps towards understanding certain types of language
deficits (generally grouped under the broad term, aphasia).
More recently, eye tracking has been used to study online language
processing. Beginning with Rayner (1978) the importance and informativity of
eye-movements during reading was established. Tanenhaus et al., have
performed a number of visual-world eye-tracking studies to study the cognitive
processes related to spoken language. Since eye movements are closely linked
to the current focus of attention, language processing can be studied by
monitoring eye movements while a subject is presented with linguistic input.
Neuroimaging
Until the recent advent of non-invasive medical techniques, brain surgery was
the preferred way for language researchers to discover how language works in
the brain. For example, severing the corpus callosum (the bundle of nerves
that connects the two hemispheres of the brain) was at one time a treatment
for some forms of epilepsy. Researchers could then study the ways in which
the comprehension and production of language were affected by such drastic
surgery. Where an illness made brain surgery necessary, language researchers
had an opportunity to pursue their research.
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Newer, non-invasive techniques now include brain imaging by positron
emission tomography (PET); functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI);
event-related potentials (ERPs) in electroencephalography (EEG) and
magnetoencephalography (MEG); and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
Brain imaging techniques vary in their spatial and temporal resolutions (fMRI
has a resolution of a few thousand neurons per pixel, and ERP has millisecond
accuracy). Each type of methodology presents a set of advantages and
disadvantages for studying a particular problem in psycholinguistics.
Computational
Computational modeling e.g. the DRC model of reading and word recognition
proposed by Coltheart and colleagues is another methodology. It refers to the
practice of setting up cognitive models in the form of executable computer
programs. Such programs are useful because they require theorists to be
explicit in their hypotheses and because they can be used to generate
accurate predictions for theoretical models that are so complex that they
render discursive analysis unreliable. Another example of computational
modeling is McClelland and Elman's TRACE model of speech perception.
Issues and areas of research
Psycholinguistics is concerned with the nature of the computations and
processes that the brain undergoes to comprehend and produce language. For
example, the cohort model seeks to describe how words are retrieved from the
mental lexicon when an individual hears or sees linguistic input.
Recent research using new non-invasive imaging techniques seeks to shed
light on just where certain language processes occur in the brain.
There are a number of unanswered questions in psycholinguistics, such as
whether the human ability to use syntax is based on innate mental structures
or emerges from interaction with other humans, and whether some animals
can be taught the syntax of human language.
Two other major subfields of psycholinguistics investigate first language
acquisition, the process by which infants acquire language, and second
language acquisition. In addition, it is much more difficult for adults to acquire
second languages than it is for infants to learn their first language (bilingual
infants are able to learn both of their native languages easily). Thus, sensitive
periods may exist during which language can be learned readily. A great deal
of research in psycholinguistics focuses on how this ability develops and
diminishes over time. It also seems to be the case that the more languages
one knows, the easier it is to learn more.
The field of aphasiology deals with language deficits that arise because of
brain damage. Studies in aphasiology can both offer advances in therapy for
individuals suffering from aphasia, and further insight into how the brain
processes language.
Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a kind
of reasoning that allows for the possibility that the conclusion is false even
where all of the premises are true. The premises of an inductive logical
argument indicate some degree of support (inductive probability) for the
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conclusion but do not entail it; i.e. they do not ensure its truth. Induction is
employed, for example, in the following argument:
All of the ice we have examined so far is cold.
Therefore, all ice is cold.
or,
The president looks uncomfortable
Therefore, the president is uncomfortable.
(Note that mathematical induction is not a form of inductive reasoning.)
Strong and weak induction
The words 'strong' and 'weak' are sometimes used to praise or demean the
goodness of an inductive argument. The idea is that you say "this is an
example of strong induction" when you would decide to believe the conclusion
if presented with the premises. Alternatively, you say "that is weak induction"
when your particular Weltanschauung does not allow you to see that the
conclusions are likely given the premises.
Strong induction
All observed crows are black.
Therefore:
All crows are black.
The conclusion of this argument is not certain. Though all crows that we have
observed are black, it is logically possible that there is a white crow. However,
though the conclusion is not certain given the premises, it is nevertheless
highly likely. We have very good reason to accept it, though it is not
indefeasible. So we call this argument an instance of strong induction.
Weak induction
Consider this example:
I always hang pictures on nails.
Therefore:
All pictures hang from nails.
Here, the link between the premise and the conclusion is very weak. Not only is
it possible for the conclusion to be true given the premise, it is even very likely
that the conclusion is false. Not all pictures are hung from nails; moreover, not
all pictures are hung. Thus we say that this argument is an instance of weak
induction.
Types of inductive reasoning
Generalization
A generalization (more accurately, an inductive generalization) proceeds from
a premise about a sample to a conclusion about the population.
The proportion Q of the sample has attribute A.
Therefore:
The proportion Q of the population has attribute A.
Example
There are 20 balls in an urn, either black or white. To estimate their respective
numbers you draw a sample of 4 balls and find that 3 are black, one is white. A
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good inductive generalisation would be: there are 15 black and 5 white balls in
the urn.
How great the support is which the premises provide for the conclusion is
dependent on (a) the number of individuals in the sample group compared to
the number in the population; and (b) the degree to which the sample is
representative of the population (which may be achieved by taking a random
sample). The hasty generalization and biased sample are fallacies related to
generalisation.
Statistical syllogism
A statistical syllogism proceeds from a generalization to a conclusion about an
individual.
A proportion Q of population P has attribute A.
An individual X is a member of P.
Therefore:
There is a probability which corresponds to Q that X has A.
The proportion in the first premise would be something like "3/5ths of", "all",
"few", etc. Two dicto simpliciter fallacies can occur in statistical syllogisms:
"accident" and "converse accident".
Simple induction
Simple induction proceeds from a premise about a sample group to a
conclusion about another individual.
Proportion Q of the known instances of population P has attribute A.
Individual I is another member of P.
Therefore:
There is a probability corresponding to Q that I has A.
This is a combination of a generalization and a statistical syllogism, where the
conclusion of the generalization is also the first premise of the statistical
syllogism.
Argument from analogy
Some philosophers believe that an argument from analogy is a kind of
inductive reasoning.
An argument from analogy has the following form:
I has attributes A, B, and C
J has attributes A and B
So, J has attribute C
An analogy relies on the inference that the attributes known to be shared (the
similarities) imply that C is also a shared property. The support which the
premises provide for the conclusion is dependent upon the relevance and
number of the similarities between I and J. The fallacy related to this process is
false analogy. As with other forms of inductive argument, even the best
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reasoning in an argument from analogy can only make the conclusion probable
given the truth of the premises, not certain.
Analogical reasoning is very frequent in common sense, science, philosophy
and the humanities, but sometimes it is accepted only as an auxiliary method.
A refined approach is case-based reasoning. For more information on
inferences by analogy, see Juthe, 2005.
Causal inference
A causal inference draws a conclusion about a causal connection based on the
conditions of the occurrence of an effect. Premises about the correlation of two
things can indicate a causal relationship between them, but additional factors
must be confirmed to establish the exact form of the causal relationship.
Prediction
A prediction draws a conclusion about a future individual from a past sample.
Proportion Q of observed members of group G have had attribute A.
Therefore:
There is a probability corresponding to Q that other members of group G
will have attribute A when next observed.
Bayesian inference
Of the candidate systems for an inductive logic, the most influential is
Bayesianism. This uses probability theory as the framework for induction.
Given new evidence, Bayes' theorem is used to evaluate how much the
strength of a belief in a hypothesis should change.
There is debate around what informs the original degree of belief. Objective
Bayesians seek an objective value for the degree of probability of a hypothesis
being correct and so do not avoid the philosophical criticisms of objectivism.
Subjective Bayesians hold that prior probabilities represent subjective degrees
of belief, but that the repeated application of Bayes' theorem leads to a high
degree of agreement on the posterior probability. They therefore fail to provide
an objective standard for choosing between conflicting hypotheses. The
theorem can be used to produce a rational justification for a belief in some
hypothesis, but at the expense of rejecting objectivism. Such a scheme cannot
be used, for instance, to decide objectively between conflicting scientific
paradigms.
Edwin Jaynes, an outspoken physicist and Bayesian, argued that "subjective"
elements are present in all inference, for instance in choosing axioms for
deductive inference; in choosing initial degrees of belief or prior probabilities;
or in choosing likelihoods. He thus sought principles for assigning probabilities
from qualitative knowledge. Maximum entropy a generalization of the
principle of indifference – and transformation groups are the two tools he
produced. Both attempt to alleviate the subjectivity of probability assignment
in specific situations by converting knowledge of features such as a situation's
symmetry into unambiguous choices for probability distributions.
Cox's theorem, which derives probability from a set of logical constraints on a
system of inductive reasoning, prompts Bayesians to call their system an
inductive logic.
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Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning, also called Deductive logic, is reasoning which
constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive arguments are
attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises.
A deductive argument is valid if the conclusion does follow necessarily from
the premises, i.e., if the conclusion must be true provided that the premises
are true. A deductive argument is sound if its premises are true. Deductive
arguments are valid or invalid, sound or unsound, but are never true or false.
An example of a deductive argument:
1. All men are mortal
2. Socrates is a man
3. Therefore, Socrates is mortal
Deductive reasoning is sometimes contrasted with inductive reasoning.
Deductive logic
Deductive arguments are generally evaluated in terms of their validity and
soundness. An argument is valid if it is impossible both for its premises to be
true and its conclusion to be false. An argument can be valid even though the
premises are false.
This is an example of a valid argument. The first premise is false, yet the
conclusion is still valid.
1. Everyone who eats steak is a quarterback.
2. John eats steak.
3. Therefore, John is a quarterback.
This argument is valid but not sound. For a deductive argument to be
considered sound the argument must not only be valid, but the premises must
be true as well.
A theory of deductive reasoning known as categorical or term logic was
developed by Aristotle, but was superseded by propositional (sentential) logic
and predicate logic.
Deductive reasoning can be contrasted with inductive reasoning. In cases of
inductive reasoning, it is possible for the conclusion to be false even though
the premises are true.
Mental Imagery
Mental imagery (varieties of which are sometimes colloquially refered to as
“visualizing,” “seeing in the mind's eye,” “hearing in the head,” “imagining the
feel of,” etc.) is quasi-perceptual experience; it resembles perceptual
experience, but occurs in the absence of the appropriate external stimuli. It is
also generally understood to bear intentionality (i.e., mental images are always
images of something or other), and thereby to function as a form of mental
representation. Traditionally, visual mental imagery, the most discussed
variety, was thought to be caused by the presence of picture-like
representations (mental images) in the mind, soul, or brain, but this is no
longer universally accepted.
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Very often, imagery experiences are understood by their subjects as echoes,
copies, or reconstructions of actual perceptual experiences from their past; at
other times they may seem to anticipate possible, often desired or feared,
future experiences. Thus imagery has often been believed to play a very large,
even pivotal, role in both memory (Yates, 1966; Paivio, 1986) and motivation
(McMahon, 1973). It is also commonly believed to be centrally involved in
visuo-spatial reasoning and inventive or creative thought. Indeed, according to
a long dominant philosophical tradition, it plays a crucial role in all thought
processes, and provides the semantic grounding for language. However, in the
20th century vigorous objections were raised against this tradition, and it was
widely repudiated. More recently, it has once again begun to find a few
defenders.
Creativity
Creativity is the ability to generate innovative ideas and manifest them from
thought into reality. The process involves original thinking and then producing.
The process of creation was historically reserved for deities creating "from
nothing" in Creationism and other creation myths. Over time, the term
creativity came to include human innovation, especially in art and science
and led to the emergence of the creative class.
Etymology
Creativity comes from the Latin term creō "to create, make". The ways in which
societies have perceived the concept of creativity have changed throughout
history, as has the term itself. Originally in the Christian period: "creatio" came
to designate God's act of Ex nihilo, "creation from nothing." "Creatio" thus had
a different meaning than "facere" ("to make") and did not apply to human
functions. The ancient view that art is not a domain of creativity persisted in
this period.
History of the term and the concept
A shift occurred in modern times. Renaissance men had a sense of their own
independence, freedom and creativity, and sought to give voice to this sense.
The first to actually apply the word "creativity" was the Polish poet Maciej
Kazimierz Sarbiewski, who applied it exclusively to poetry. For over a century
and a half, the idea of human creativity met with resistance, due to the fact
that the term "creation" was reserved for creation "from nothing." Baltasar
Gracián (1601–58) would only venture to write: "Art is the completion of
nature, as if it were a second Creator..."
The ancient Greek concept of art (in Greek, τέχνη, téchnē—the root of
"technique" and "technology"), with the exception of poetry, involved not
freedom of action but subjection to rules. In Rome, this Greek concept was
partly shaken, and visual artists were viewed as sharing, with poets,
imagination and inspiration.
Although neither the Greeks nor the Romans had a word that directly
corresponded to the word "creativity," their art, architecture, music, inventions
and discoveries provide numerous examples of what today would be described
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as creative works. The Greek scientist of Syracuse, Archimedes experienced
the creative moment in his Eureka experience, finding the answer to a problem
he had been wrestling with for a long time. At the time, the concept of "genius"
probably came closest to describing the creative talents that brought forth
such works.
By the 18th century and the Age of Enlightenment, the concept of creativity
was appearing more often in art theory, and was linked with the concept of
imagination.
The Western view of creativity can be contrasted with the Eastern view. For
Hindus, Confucianists, Taoists and Buddhists, creation was at most a kind of
discovery or mimicry, and the idea of creation "from nothing" had no place in
these philosophies and religions.
In the West, by the 19th century, not only had art come to be regarded as
creativity, but it alone was so regarded. When later, at the turn of the 20th
century, there began to be discussion of creativity in the sciences (e.g., Jan
Łukasiewicz, 1878–1956) and in nature (e.g., Henri Bergson), this was
generally taken as the transference, to the sciences, of concepts that were
proper to art.
Creative process
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading mathematicians and
scientists such as Hermann von Helmholtz (1896) and Henri Poincaré (1908)
began to reflect on and publicly discuss their creative processes, and these
insights were built on in early accounts of the creative process by pioneering
theorists such as Graham Wallas (1926) and Max Wertheimer (1945).
However, the formal starting point for the scientific study of creativity, from
the standpoint of orthodox psychological literature, is generally considered to
have been J.P. Guilford's 1950 address to the American Psychological
Association, which helped popularize the topic and focus attention on a
scientific approach to conceptualizing creativity and measuring it
psychometrically.
In parallel with these developments, other investigators have taken a more
pragmatic approach, teaching practical creativity techniques. Three of the
best-known are:

Alex Osborn's "brainstorming" (1950s to present),

Genrikh Altshuller's Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ, 1950s to
present),

and Edward de Bono's "lateral thinking" (1960s to present).
Creative thought
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Creative thought is a mental process involving creative problem solving and
the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing
ideas or concepts, fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious
insight.
From a scientific point of view, the products of creative thought (sometimes
referred to as divergent thought) are usually considered to have both
originality and appropriateness.
Although intuitively a simple phenomenon, it is in fact quite complex. It has
been studied from the perspectives of behavioral psychology, social
psychology,
psychometrics,
cognitive
science,
artificial
intelligence,
philosophy, aesthetics, history, economics, design research, business, and
management, among others. The studies have covered everyday creativity,
exceptional creativity and even artificial creativity. Unlike many phenomena in
science, there is no single, authoritative perspective or definition of creativity.
And unlike many phenomena in psychology, there is no standardized
measurement technique.
Creativity has been attributed variously to divine intervention, cognitive
processes, the social environment, personality traits, and chance ("accident",
"serendipity"). It has been associated with genius, mental illness, humor and
REM sleep. Some say it is a trait we are born with; others say it can be taught
with the application of simple techniques. Creativity has also been viewed as a
beneficence of a muse or muses.
Although popularly associated with art and literature, it is also an essential part
of innovation and invention and is important in professions such as business,
economics, architecture, industrial design, graphic design, advertising,
mathematics, music, science and engineering, and teaching.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the ambiguity and multi-dimensional nature of
creativity, entire industries have been spawned from the pursuit of creative
ideas and the development of creativity techniques.
Creativity has been associated with right or forehead brain activity or even
specifically with lateral thinking.
Some students of creativity have emphasized an element of chance in the
creative process. Linus Pauling, asked at a public lecture how one creates
scientific theories, replied that one must endeavor to come up with many
ideas, then discard the useless ones.
Another adequate definition of creativity, according to Otto Rank, is that it is an
"assumptions-breaking process." Creative ideas are often generated when one
discards preconceived assumptions and attempts a new approach or method
that might seem to others unthinkable.
Understanding and enhancing the creative process with new technologies
A simple but accurate review on this new Human-Computer Interactions (HCI)
angle for promoting creativity has been written by Todd Lubart, an invitation
full of creative ideas to develop further this new field.
Groupware and other Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW)
platforms are now the stage of Network Creativity on the web or on other
private networks. These tools have made more obvious the existence of a
more connective, cooperative and collective nature of creativity rather than
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the prevailing individual one. Creativity Research on Global Virtual Teams is
showing that the creative process is affected by the national identities,
cognitive and conative profiles, anonymous interactions at times and many
other factors affecting the teams members, depending on the early or later
stages of the cooperative creative process. They are also showing how NGO's
cross-cultural virtual team's innovation in Africa would also benefit from the
pooling of best global practices online. Such tools enhancing cooperative
creativity may have a great impact on society and as such should be tested
while they are built following the Motto: "Build the Camera while shooting the
film". Some European FP7 scientific programs like Paradiso are answering a
need for advanced experimentally-driven research including large scale
experimentation test-beds to discover the technical, societal, and economic
implications of such groupware and collaborative tools to the Internet.
On the other hand, creativity research may one day be pooled with a
computable metalanguage like IEML from the University of Ottawa Collective
Intelligence Chair, Pierre Levy. It might be a good tool to provide an
interdisciplinary definition and a rather unified theory of creativity. The creative
processes being highly fuzzy, the programming of cooperative tools for
creativity and innovation should be adaptive and flexible. Empirical Modelling
seems to be a good choice for Humanities Computing.
If all the activity of the universe could be traced with appropriate captors, it is
likely that one could see the creative nature of the universe to which humans
are active contributors. After the web of documents, the Web of Things might
shed some light on such a universal creative phenomenon which should not be
restricted to humans. In order to trace and enhance cooperative and collective
creativity, Metis Reflexive Global Virtual Team has worked for the last few years
on the development of a Trace Composer at the intersection of personal
experience and social knowledge.
Metis Reflexive Team has also identified a paradigm for the study of creativity
to bridge European theory of "useless" and non-instrumentalized creativity,
North American more pragmatic creativity and Chinese culture stressing more
creativity as a holistic process of continuity rather than radical change and
originality. This paradigm is mostly based on the work of the German
philosopher Hans Joas, one that emphasizes the creative character of human
action. This model allows also for a more comprehensive theory of action. Joas
elaborates some implications of his model for theories of social movements
and social change. The connection between concepts like creation, innovation,
production and expression is facilitated by the creativity of action as a
metaphore but also as a scientific concept.
The Creativity and Cognition conference series, sponsored by the ACM and
running since 1993, has been an important venue for publishing research on
the intersection between technology and creativity. The conference now runs
biennially, next taking place in 2011.
Social attitudes to creativity
Although the benefits of creativity to society as a whole have been noted,
social attitudes about this topic remain divided. The wealth of literature
regarding the development of creativity and the profusion of creativity
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techniques indicate wide acceptance, at least among academics, that
creativity is desirable.
There is, however, a dark side to creativity, in that it represents a "quest for a
radical autonomy apart from the constraints of social responsibility".In other
words, by encouraging creativity we are encouraging a departure from
society's existing norms and values. Expectation of conformity runs contrary to
the spirit of creativity. Sir Ken Robinson argues that the current education
system is "educating people out of their creativity".
Nevertheless, employers are increasingly valuing creative skills. A report by
the Business Council of Australia, for example, has called for a higher level of
creativity in graduates. The ability to "think outside the box" is highly sought
after. However, the above-mentioned paradox may well imply that firms pay lip
service to thinking outside the box while maintaining traditional, hierarchical
organization structures in which individual creativity is not rewarded.
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process
that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Considered the most
complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as
higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of
more routine or fundamental skills. Problem solving occurs when an organism
or an artificial intelligence system needs to move from a given state to a
desired goal state.
Problem-solving techniques

Abstraction: solving the problem in a model of the system before
applying it to the real system

Analogy: using a solution that solved an analogous problem

Brainstorming: (especially among groups of people) suggesting a large
number of solutions or ideas and combining and developing them until
an optimum is found

Divide and conquer: breaking down a large, complex problem into
smaller, solvable problems

Hypothesis testing: assuming a possible explanation to the problem and
trying to prove (or, in some contexts, disprove) the assumption

Lateral thinking: approaching solutions indirectly and creatively

Means-ends analysis: choosing an action at each step to move closer to
the goal

Method of focal objects: synthesizing seemingly
characteristics of different objects into something new

Morphological analysis: assessing the output and interactions of an entire
system

Reduction: transforming the problem into another problem for which
solutions exist
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
Research: employing existing ideas or adapting existing solutions to
similar problems

Root cause analysis: eliminating the cause of the problem

Trial-and-error: testing possible solutions until the right one is found
Creative problem solving
Creative problem solving is the mental process of creating a solution to a
problem. It is a special form of problem solving in which the solution is
independently created rather than learned with assistance.
Creative problem solving always involves creativity. However, creativity often
does not involve creative problem solving, especially in fields such as music,
poetry, and art. Creativity requires newness or novelty as a characteristic of
what is created, but creativity does not necessarily imply that what is created
has value or is appreciated by other people.
To qualify as creative problem solving the solution must either have value,
clearly solve the stated problem, or be appreciated by someone for whom the
situation improves.
The situation prior to the solution does not need to be labeled as a problem.
Alternate labels include a challenge, an opportunity, or a situation in which
there is room for improvement.
Solving school-assigned homework problems does not usually involve creative
problem solving because such problems typically have well-known solutions.
If a created solution becomes widely used, the solution becomes an innovation
and the word innovation also refers to the process of creating that innovation.
A widespread and long-lived innovation typically becomes a new tradition. "All
innovations [begin] as creative solutions, but not all creative solutions become
innovations." Some innovations also qualify as inventions.
Inventing is a special kind of creative problem solving in which the created
solution qualifies as an invention because it is a useful new object, substance,
process, software, or other kind of marketable entity.
Techniques and tools
Many of the techniques and tools for creating an effective solution to a
problem are described in creativity techniques and problem solving.
Creative-problem-solving techniques can be categorized as follows:

Creativity techniques designed to shift a person's mental state into one
that fosters creativity. These techniques are described in creativity
techniques. One such popular technique is to take a break and relax or
sleep after intensively trying to think of a solution.

Creativity techniques designed to reframe the problem. For example,
reconsidering one's goals by asking "What am I really trying to
accomplish?" can lead to useful insights.

Creativity techniques designed to increase the quantity of fresh ideas.
This approach is based on the belief that a larger number of ideas
increases the chances that one of them has value. Some of these
techniques involve randomly selecting an idea (such as choosing a word
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from a list), thinking about similarities with the undesired situation, and
hopefully inspiring a related idea that leads to a solution. Such
techniques are described in creativity techniques.

Creative-problem-solving techniques designed to efficiently lead to a
fresh perspective that causes a solution to become obvious. This
category is useful for solving especially challenging problems. Some of
these techniques involve identifying independent dimensions that
differentiate (or separate) closely associated concepts. Such techniques
can overcome the mind's instinctive tendency to use "oversimplified
associative thinking" in which two related concepts are so closely
associated that their differences, and independence from one another,
are overlooked.
The following formalized and well-known methods and processes combine
various creativity and creative-problem-solving techniques:

TRIZ, which is also known as Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TIPS),
was developed by Genrich Altshuller and his colleagues based on
examining more than 200,000 patents. This method is designed to foster
the creation and development of patentable inventions, but is also useful
for creating non-product solutions.

Mind mapping is a creativity technique that both reframes the situation
and fosters creativity.

Brainstorming is a group activity designed to increase the quantity of
fresh ideas. Getting other people involved can help increase knowledge
and understanding of the problem and help participants reframe the
problem.

Edward de Bono has published numerous books that promote an
approach to creative problem solving and creative thinking called lateral
thinking.

The Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS) is a six-step method
developed by Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes that alternates convergent and
divergent thinking phases.
A frequent approach to teaching creative problem solving is to teach critical
thinking in addition to creative thinking, but the effectiveness of this approach
is not proven. As an alternative to separating critical and creative thinking,
some creative-problem-solving techniques focus on either reducing an idea's
disadvantages or extracting a flawed idea's significant advantages and
incorporating those advantages into a different idea.
Creative-problem-solving tools typically consist of software or manipulatable
objects (such as cards) that facilitate specific creative-problem-solving
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techniques. Electronic meeting systems provide a range of interactive tools for
creative-problem-solving by groups over the Internet.
References:
1. Baron,R.A.(2002), Psychology(5th ed), India Pearson Education, Asia.
2. Hilgard, E.R, Atkinson, R.C & Atkinson, R.I.(1990), Introduction to
Psychology(7th ed), Oxford & IBH Publising company, New Delhi.
3. Zimbardo, P.G. & Weber, A.L.(1997), Psychology, Harper Collins, N.Y.
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