Psychology 4 Marks Question

It is possible to communicate effectively even without using verbal language through.

1. Body language: Body language is communication of all those messages that people exchange besides words.
2. Cluster: Factors such as gestures, postures, eye contact, clothing style, and body movement, all of them have to be considered together, that is in a cluster.
3. Congruency: A person’s background and past patterns of behaviour are also considered when we analyse body language. The consistency between current and past patterns of behaviour as well as harmony between verbal and non-verbal communication is termed as congruency.

Body language can encourage and discourage the conversation:
For example – We consciously wave at waiters or friends to catch their attention much of the use of body language occurs in conversing with others without conscious realisation.

The process of communication can be accidental (without intent), expressive (resulting from an emotional state of a person) or rhetorical (resulting from the specific goal of the communicator). Communication can also be divided as follows:

1. Intrapersonal communication.
2. Interpersonal communication.
3. Public communication.

Components of Human Communication: Communication includes the following Components:

1. Speaking: It involves the use of language in an appropriate manner which is precise and ear use of slang expressions and words unique to a culture can impede effective communication.
2. Listening: It Involves reception, attention, assignment of meaning and listener’s response the message given out.
3. Body language: It forms the non verbal aspect of communication and includes all those messages that people exchange in addition to words.

Counselling is a mean for planning the interview, analysing the counsellor's and client behaviour and assessing the developmental impact on the client. The counsellor depends on the perception of the client for the counselling process to take root. A counsellor tries to understand the feelings of the client regarding a problem as also the extend of understanding on part of the client vis-a-vis the problem or issue under consideration. The counsellor puts the facts of the problem on a back burner and instead works on the feeling of the client and her/his acknowledgement of the problem. Thus, counselling is a process whereby, the help-giver provides the client, an enavbling atmosphere which allows help to be given and recieved.
The important points about the process of counselling can thus, be listed as follows:

1. Counselling includes response to the feelings and actions of the clients.
2. Counselling is based on a promise of acceptance of the feelings of the client without being judgemental.
3. Privacy and confidentiality area the cornerstone of counselling. This is to be assured in an enabling physical setting.
4. The entire process is voluntary and no coecion is used.
5. Sensitivity on part of the counsellor is important for a proper understanding of both the verblal and non-verble caes during the counselling process.

Body language is composed of all those messages that people exchange besides words.

• Gestures.
• Postures.
• Eye contact.
• Clothing style.
• Body movement.

Example:

• Congruency/harmony between past communication & present communication between verbal and non-verbal.

Client-counsellor relationship is built on ethical practice. The American Psychological Association (APA) has developed a code of ethical conduct for behaviour and decision-making in actual clinical settings. And these ethics are as follows:

• Knowledge of ethical/ professional codes, standards, and guidelines; knowledge of statutes, rules, regulations, and case law relevant to the practice of psychology.
• Recognise and analyse ethical and legal issues across the range of professional activities in the clinical setting.
• Recognise and understand the ethical dimensions/ features of her/ his own attitudes and practice in the clinical setting.
• Seek appropriate information and consultation when faced with ethical issues.
• Practice appropriate professional assertiveness related to ethical issues.

Counselling provides a system for planning the interview, analysing the counsellor’s and client’s behaviour and determining the developmental impact on the client. In this section, we will discuss skills, concepts and methods that are designed to help develop concrete competencies. A counsellor is most often interested in building an understanding of the clients problem by focusing on what understanding the client has of her/ his problem and how s/ he feels about it. The actual or objective facts of the problems are considered less important, and it is considered more important to work on the feelings and their acknowledgement by the clients. The focus is more on the person and how s/ he defines the problem.
The following elements about counselling are common to the major theoretical approaches to counselling:

1. Counselling involves responding to the feelings, thoughts, and actions of the clients.
2. Counselling involves a basic acceptance of the client’s perceptions and feelings, without using any evaluative standards.
3. Confidentiality and privacy constitute essential ingredients in the counselling setting. Physical facilities that preserve this quality are important.
4. Counselling is voluntary. It takes place when a client approaches a counsellor. A counsellor never uses any kind of coercion for obtaining information.
5. Counsellors and clients both transmit and receive verbal and non-verbal messages during the process. Therefore, awareness and sensitivity to the nature of the message is an important prerequisite for a counsellor’s effectiveness.

Communication is a conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional process in which feelings and ideas are expressed as verbal and/ or non-verbal messages that are sent, received and comprehended.
Component of the Communication:

• The most important component of communication is speaking with the use of language.
• Language involves use of vocabulary which includes words by symbols.
• Communicator must know how to use words appropriately in organized and understandable form.
• It is necessary to be clear and precise.
• Communication takes place within a context and needs to consider the other's frame of reference.
• It is important for the speaker to adjust his vocabulary level and choice of words to fit the level of the listener.
• Slang expressions, words unique to a culture, euphemism can become obstacles in good communication.
• Listening may appear as a passive behaviour, as it involves silence. But this is far from true.
• Listening requires a person to be attentive, patient, non-judgmental and have the capacity to analyze and respond.
• It is an active process.
• Hearing and listening are not the same, hearing is biological mechanism. It involves reception of a message through sensory channels.

• Developing the skills of psychological testing is important since tests are important tools used for the assessment of individuals for various purposes. Proper training is required for administration, scoring and interpretation of tests.
• Psychologists study individuals, differences based on factors such as occupation, age, gender, education, culture, etc.

While using psychological test, following factors must be kept in mind:

1. An attitude of objectivity.
2. Scientific orientation.
3. Standardised Interpretation must be kept in mind. For example, in organizational and personnel work, in business and industry, where specialized tests are used to select individuals for specific jobs, it is essential to use actual performance records or ratings as a criterion for establishing validity of a test.

• Suppose the personnel department wants to know whether a certain psychological test can help it to identify potentiality of best stenographers.
• It must be established that the test differentiates among employees of several performance levels.
• It should be found the performance on the job of a newly employed worker selected on the basis of test indeed matches with his/ her test scores.