Psychology 4 Marks Question

1. According to behaviourists, the structural unit of personality is the response. Personality can be best understood as a response of an individual to the environment.
2. Theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and observational learning view learning and maintenance of behaviour differently and explain development of personality from different perspectives.
3. If a particular response is positively reinforced or rewarded then we repeat it again in similar situations and this results in a habit.
4. Observational learning theory emphasizes social learning.
5. Behaviourists believe in data which they feel are definable, observable and measurable.

Humanistic approach to personality:
Rogers believed that all human beings are fully-functional beings and feeling of fulfillment is the main motivational force.
Basic Assumptions:

• Behaviour is goal directed and worthwhile.
• All human beings have an innate tendency to choose adaptive and self actualizing behaviours.

According to Rogers there are two types of self:

• Real Self - What I am?
• Ideal Self - What I want to be?

Congruence between the two leads to development of balanced integrated personality:

• Unconditional positive regard develops adaptive behaviour which enhances self esteem and self efficacy to self actualize.
• According to Maslow everybody wants to self actualize and attain their highest potential.
• Focus on survival needs reduces him/ her to the level of animals and focus on higher needs leads to self actualization.

1. According to behaviourists, the structural unit of personality is the response. Personality can be best understood as a response of an individual to the environment.
2. Theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and observational learning view learning and maintenance of behaviour differently and explain development of personality from different perspectives.
3. If a particular response is positively reinforced or rewarded then we repeat it again in similar situations and these results in a habit.
4. Observational learning theory emphasizes social learning.
5. Behaviourists believe in data which they feel are definable, observable and measurable.

Erickson's concept of identity crisis:
It is Post-Freudian approach. Erickson's theory lays stress on rational conscious ego processes in personality development. In his theory development is viewed as life-long process and ego identity is granted a central place in this process. His concept of identity crisis of adolescence age has drawn considerable attention. Erickson argues that young people must generate for themselves perspective and a direction that can give them a meaningful sense of unity and purpose.

Humanistic approach to personality - proposed by Rogers:

• Fully functioning person - fulfilment is the motivating force for personality development.
• Two assumptions by Rogers.
  • Behaviour is goal-directed or worthwhile.
  • People use adaptive self-actualizing behaviour.
• Discrepancy between the real self and ideal self often results in unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
• An atmosphere of unconditional positive regard must be created in order to ensure enhancement of people's self-concept.
• This theory emphasises the significance of positive aspects of life.

According to Abraham Maslow.

• Optimistic and positive view of man.
• Attainment of self-actualization.

Techniques of behavioural analysis used in personality assessment:
Techniques of behavioural analysis:

1. Interview.
2. Observation.
3. Ratings.
4. Nomination.
5. Situational test.

Explanation of personality development by Alfred Adler and Karen Horney:
Alfred Adler - Lifestyle and social interest - feeling of inferiority and superiority.
Alfred Adler's theory is known as individual psychology.

• The central human motive is that of striving for superiority.
• Human behaviour is purposeful and goal-directed.
• Each one has capacity to choose and create such goals.
• Our personal goals are sources of motivation for us.
• Alfred Adler's view – every individual suffers from 'feeling of inferiority' that are experienced during infancy and childhood. During childhood, child is helpless and depends on others for help and support Karen Horney - Optimism.

Karen Horney advocated a far more optimistic view of human life with emphasis on Human Growth and Self-actualisation. She emphasised on the importance of social relationships in personality development.

• Psychological disorders were caused by disturbed interpersonal relationship during childhood.
• Basic anxiety - refers to the feeling of a child being isolated and helpless in a potential hostile world.

Behaviours rating is used for the assessment of personality in educations and industrial setting.

1. Generally, taken from people who know the assessor intimately.
2. They put the individual into categories according to the behavioural qualities using descriptive adjectives.
3. Sometimes raters show biases in the form of:

1. Halo effect.
2. Middle category bias.

Humanistic approach to personality - Proposed by Rogers:

1. Fully functioning person - Fulfilment is the motivating force. for personality development.
2. Two assumptions by Rogers.

1. Behaviour is goal - Directed or worthwhile.
2. People use adaptive self - Actualising behaviour.

3. Discrepancy between the real self and ideal self often results in unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
4. An atmosphere of unconditional positive regard must be created in order to ensure enhancement of people's self-control. The client centered therapy creates this condition.
5. Maslow has given the concept of self-actualisation.
6. This theory emphasises the significance of positive aspects of life.

Defence mechanism - ways of resolving conflicts by distorting the reality, unconsciously. It is regulated by the ego. E.g. rationalisation.Alternate Answer
Ways in which the ego unconsciously copes with unacceptable id impulses as in repression, projection etc.
Repression - Anxiety provoking behaviour or thoughts are totally dismissed by the unconscious. Person becomes totally unaware of that desire or wish which is repressed.
Denial - In denial a person totally refuses to accept reality.

• Proposed by Rogers.

1. Fully functioning person-fulfilment is the motivating force for personality development.
2. Two assumptions by Rogers-

1. Behaviour is goal-directed and worthwhile.
2. People use adaptive, self-actualising behaviour.

3. Discrepancy between the real self and ideal self after results in unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
4. An atmosphere of unconditional positive regard must be created in order to ensure enhancement of people’s self-concept. The client-centred therapy creates this condition.
5. Maslow has given the concept of self-actualisation.
6. This theory emphasises the significance of positive aspects of life.

Projective techniques - Based on psychodynamic theory, were developed to assess unconscious motives and feelings, based on the assumption that a less structured or unstructured stimulus/situation will allow the individual to project his/her own feelings, desires and needs onto that situation.
Features:-

• Stimuli are relatively or fully unstructured.
• Person is not aware of the purpose of assessment.
• No correct or incorrect answers.
• Response reveals a significant aspect of personality.
• Scoring and interpretation are lengthy and subjective.

Techniques:

• The Rorschach Ink blot test.
• The Thematic apperception test.
• Rosenzweig’s picture - Frustration study.
• Sentence completion test.
• Draw a person test.

Methods used for psychological assessment:

1. Psychological test.
2. Interview.
3. Case study.
4. Observation.
5. Self-Report.

Self-Report: Method proposed by Allport. A method in which a person provides factual information about himself/Herself and/Or opinions, beliefs etc. That he/She has. For self report - Interview, Questionnaire, Psychological Test or Personal Diary can be used.
Objective measure, objective reporting of one’s own feelings w.r.t various items. It is accepted at face value. Scored in quantitative terms and interpreted on the basis of the. norms developed for the test.

Type Approach: This approach attempts to comprehend human personality by examining certain broad patterns in the observed behavioural characteristics of individuals. Each behavioural pattern refers to one type in which individuals are placed in terms of the similarity of their behavioural characteristics with that pattern.
Trait Approach: This theory focuses on the specific psychological attributes along which individuals tend to differ consistent and stable ways. e. g. one may be less shy than other, less friendly or more friendly, shyness and friendliness represent traits and the individual can be rated accordingly.

Behavioural Approach:

• Behaviourists believe in data.
• Anything which is not observable, empirical and scientifically verifiable cannot be subject matter of Psychology.
• All characteristics of personality are learned or can be unlearned. We learn through association (classical conditioning), reward and punishment (operant conditioning), modelling (observational learning).
• Response is the structural unit of personality.
• Each response is a behaviour which is emitted to satisfy a specific need.
• Core tendency that organises the behaviour is the reduction of biological needs. This is accomplished through responses (behaviours) that are reinforced.

Defence mechanisms is a way of reducing anxiety by distorting reality of which the individual is not aware, regulated by ego. Some defence against anxiety is normal and adaptive but people who use these mechanisms to such an extent that reality is truly distorted, develop various forms of maladjustments.Repression Anxiety provoking behaviours or thoughts are totally dismissed by the unconscious.

Erickson concept of identity crisis:

• He was a post-Freudian.
• Human beings are social beings.
• Development is viewed as a lifelong process.
• Identity is granted as a central place in this process (personality development).
• He argued that due to identity crisis young people must generate for themselves a central perspective and a direction that can give them a meaningful sense of unity and purpose.

Trait Approach focuses on:

• specific psychological attributes along which individuals tend to differ in consistent and stable ways. e.g. a person may be shy etc.
• can be explained by anyone Trait Theory e.g. Allport, Cattell, etc.

Type Approach attempts to comprehend human personality by examining certain broad patterns In the observed behavioural characteristics of individuals.

• Each behavioural pattern refers to one type in which individuals are placed in terms of similarity of their behavioural characteristics with that pattern. These are broad categories.
• can be explained by any Type Theory e.g. Tridosha or Sheldon etc.

Self-Report Measures:
These are fairly structured measures often based on theories.
They require subject to give verbal responses using some kind of rating scale. Direct form of assessment measures only conscious part of personality.

• The responses are accepted at face value and scored in quantitative terms.
• Goals of the test may be revealed.
• E.g. 16 PF, MMPI.

Problems:

• Social desirability.
• Acquiescence.

A defense mechanism is the act or technique of coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable or negative impulses. Defense mechanisms, which are unconscious, are not to be confused with conscious coping strategies. Sigmund Freud was one of the first proponents of this construct. Defense mechanisms may result in healthy or unhealthy consequences depending on the circumstances and frequency with which the mechanism is used. In Freudian psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms are psychological strategies brought into play by the unconscious mind to manipulate, deny, or distort reality in order to defend against feelings of anxiety and unacceptable impulses to maintain one’s self schema. These processes that manipulate, deny, or distort reality may include the following: repression, or the burying of painful feeling or thought from one’s awareness even though it may resurface in a symbolic from: identification, incorporating an object or thought into oneself; and rationalization, the justification of one’s behavior and motivations by substituting “good” acceptable reasons for the motivations. Generally, repression is considered the basis for other defense mechanisms.
Healthy persons normally use different defences throughout life. An ego defense mechanism becomes pathological only when its persistent use leads to maladaptive behaviour such that the physical or mental health of the individual is adversely affected. The purpose of ego defence mechanisms is to protect the mind/self/ego from anxiety and/or social sanctions and/or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.
Projection is a defense mechanism that involves talking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he or she does not like you. Projection works by allowing the expression of the desire or impulse, but in a way that the ego cannot recognise, therefore reducing anxiety.

Behaviours rating is used for the assessment of personality in educations and industrial setting.

1. Generally, taken from people who know the assessor intimately.
2. They put the individual into categories according to the behavioural qualities using descriptive adjectives.
3. Sometimes raters show biases in the from of:
   1. Halo effect.
   2. Middle category bias.

Self-Report Measures - by Allport.

1. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) - Hathway and Mckinley.

1. For psychiatric diagnosis and identifying varieties of psycho- pathology.
2. Consists of 567 statements in 10 subscales.

2. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ).

1. To assess 2 dimensions of personality.

1. Introverted - Extraverted.
2. Emotionally stable - Emotionally unstable.
3. Psychoticism (added later).

2. These dimensions are characterised by 32 personality traits.

3. Sixteen personality factor questionnaire (16 PF)-By Cattell.

1. Test provides with declarative statements.
2. Subject responds to a specific situation by choosing from a set of given alternatives.
3. Useful in career guidance, vocational exploration and occupational testing.

Personal self: leads to an orientation in which one feels concerned primarily with oneself. e.g. personal freedom. achievement and responsibility. comfort etc.
Social self emerges in relation with others, emphasises family and relationship. e.g. cooperation. unity, affiliation. sacrifice or sharing.
Social self is also called familial and relational self.

Limitations of Behavioral Ratings
Limitations are

1. Halo effect - Raters often display certain biases regarding different traits, most are greatly influenced by a single favourable or unfavourable trait. This often forms the basis of a rater’s over all judgement of a person.
2. Middle category or extreme response bias - A tendency to place individuals either in the middle of the scale (middle category bias) by avoiding extreme positions or in the extreme position (extreme response bias) by avoiding middle categories on the scale).

Arihant wants to become a singer even though he belongs to a family of doctors. His family ‘claims’ to love him, but disapproves of his choice of career.
This fact warrants my attention towards an important terminology given by Carl Rogers, i.e., unconditional positive regard.
As the desire of Arihant to become a singer is contradicted by his family, it results in a situation of negative social conditions which will reduce his level of self-concept and self-esteem.
His inability to fulfil his goal will prevent him from becoming a ‘fully functioning person’. Moreover, his conception of an ‘ideal self involves him being a singer, while his ‘real self is not one due to familial pressure. This discrepancy between the real and ideal self results in dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
The provision of unconditional positive regard which includes empathy, love and warmth irrespective of other factors is necessary for Arihant.
According to Rogers, a person attains self-actualization only when people have reached their own fullest potential.
His inability to pursue singing will not allow self-actualization to occur which will prevent his psychological health and well-being.