Kwame Nkrumah University of Science Technology Kumasi Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Introduction to Psychology Dr. Peter Dwumah

Topics • • • Understanding Psychology Learning Motivation Attitudes Social Perception Social Interaction and Psychological Disorders www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Topic 1 Understanding Psychology

Explanation of Psychology • Passer & Smith (2011) – Scientific study of behaviour and the mind • Lahey (2012) – Science of behaviour and mental processes www. knust. edu. gh

Relevance of studying Psychology • What are the relevance of psychological knowledge to a business administration student? www. knust. edu. gh

Perspectives in Psychology • • • Biological perspective Behavioural perspective Cognitive perspective Psycho-dynamic perspective Humanistic-existential perspective www. knust. edu. gh

Biological Perspective • Some psychologists: Karl Lashley, Donald O. Hebb • Relate overt behaviour to the body • Electrical and chemical happenings • Neuro-biological processes underlying behaviour and mental processes www. knust. edu. gh

Biological Perspective • • • Brain Nervous system Hormones Genes Egs www. knust. edu. gh

Behavioural Perspective • Some psychologists: John B. Watson, B. F Skinner • Concerned with activities of an organism that can be observed • Not the non-observable eg brain, hormones www. knust. edu. gh

Behavioural Perspective • People act because of – Learning histories – Situational influences – Rewards involved • Not necessarily conscious choice www. knust. edu. gh

Behavioural Perspective • Fundamental principle – Stimuli produces a response – Stimuli: events before a behaviour occurs – Response: behaviour itself – S-R Theory • Most behaviour is learned • Behaviour controlled from external stimuli www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Perspective • Some psychologists: Hermann Ebbinghaus, Elizabeth Loftus • Examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Perspective • Concerned with mental processes: – Perceiving -Remembering – Reasoning -Decision making – Problem solving www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Perspective • Study mental processes to understand what organisms do. • Human behaviour is controlled by the processing of information in perception and memory • Humans are information processors www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Perspective • Actions governed by thought • Investigate the ways in which we perceive and mentally represent the world • Attempt to study what is referred to as the mind www. knust. edu. gh

Psycho-dynamic Perspective • Developed by Sigmund Freud: psycho-analytic; psycho-analysis • Searches for causes of behaviour within the inner workings of our personality – Unique patterns of traits, emotions, motives www. knust. edu. gh

Psycho-dynamic Perspective • Analysis of internal and primarily unconscious psychological forces • Much of humans behaviour stem from unconscious processes www. knust. edu. gh

Psycho-dynamic Perspective • Unconscious process – Beliefs, fears and desires a person is unaware of but that influence behaviour • All humans actions have a cause www. knust. edu. gh

Psycho-dynamic Perspective • The cause is often some unconscious motive rather than the rational reason that may be given • Human behaviour is controlled by unconscious impulses www. knust. edu. gh

Humanistic-existential Perspective • Scholars include Carl Rogers, Roll May, Abraham Maslow • An individual’s principal motivational force is a tendency toward – growth – Self actualization www. knust. edu. gh

Humanistic-existential Perspective • Humanism – Stresses the human capacity for self fulfilment and the central roles of human consciousness, self awareness and the capacity to make choices www. knust. edu. gh

Humanistic-existential Perspective • Existentialism – Views people as free to choose and responsible for choosing ethical conduct www. knust. edu. gh

Humanistic-existential Perspective • Asserts that humans are free to determine our own behaviour. • Emphasized free will, personal growth and the attempt to find meaning in one’s existence • Freedom is both a source of pride and a great responsibility www. knust. edu. gh

Humanistic-existential Perspective www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • • • Clinical and counselling psychology School and educational psychology Developmental psychology Social psychology Environmental psychology www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • • Occupational psychology Personality psychology Experimental psychology Community psychology www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Clinical psychology – Specialize in helping people with psychological problems adjust to the demands of life – Eg-anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, mental illness etc – Use of structured interviews; psychological tests www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Clinical psychology – Techniques • Psychotherapy: systematic application of psychological knowledge to the treatment of problem behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Clinical psychology – Techniques • Behaviour therapy: application of principles of learning to the direct modification of problem behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Counselling psychology – Deal with clients experiencing adjustment problems – Eg making academic decisions, marital conflict, family conflict www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization Counselling psychology – Use of structured interviews; psychological tests – Techniques • Psychotherapy • Behaviour therapy www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • School psychology – Operates within school system – Identify and assist students who encounter problems that interfere with learning – Eg family problems, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities etc www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization School psychology – Use of interview: teachers, parents, students – Psychological tests: intelligence and achievement tests – Direct observation of behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Educational psychology – Operates within school – Optimizing classroom conditions to facilitate learning – Improvement in course planning – Instructional methods www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Developmental psychology – Referred to as human development – Study changes through out the life span – Physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization Developmental psychology – Influence of developmental stages on mental processes and behaviour – Study changes-physical, emotional, cognitive and social- that occur through the life span – Origins of developmental abnormalities, language development, adolescents conflict etc www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Social Psychology – Human interaction affects behaviour – Social interaction with people influence attitudes and behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization Social psychology – Mental processes and human interaction – Understand explain how feelings, thoughts and behaviour of people are influenced by the presence of others • Actual • Imagined • Implied – Topics include attitude formation, conformity etc www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Environmental psychology – Focus on ways in which mental processes and behaviour influence the physical environment – Ways in which physical environment influences mental processes and behaviour – Egs: effect of temperature; pollution, crowding etc www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization Occupational psychology – Functioning of organizations – Mental processes affect occupations. www. knust. edu. gh

Areas of specialization • Occupational psychology – Behaviour of people and groups at work – Increasing effectiveness and efficiency – Satisfaction at work www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Topic 2 LEARNING

Learning • Definitions • Atkinson et al (1993) – A relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from practice www. knust. edu. gh

Learning • Passer & Smith (2011) – A process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in an organism’s behaviour or capabilities www. knust. edu. gh

Learning • Not included are behaviour changes of an organism that are due to – Maturation (rather than practice) – Temporary conditions www. knust. edu. gh

Learning • Behaviourists’ understanding – Relatively permanent change in behaviour resulting from experience – Focus on behaviour change www. knust. edu. gh

Learning • Behaviourists’ understanding – Direct observable process – Measurable changes www. knust. edu. gh

Learning • Cognitive theorists’ understanding – Process by which organisms make relatively permanent changes in the way they mentally represent the environment as a result of experience www. knust. edu. gh

Learning • Cognitive theorists’ understanding – Internal – Not directly observable process – Evident by behavioural change www. knust. edu. gh

Kinds of Learning • Habituation – Simplest form of learning – Decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that becomes familiar due to repeated exposure www. knust. edu. gh

Kinds of Learning • Habituation – Decrease in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus – Serves an adaptive function – Eg noise, smell etc www. knust. edu. gh

Kinds of Learning • Habituation – An organism learns to recognize an event as familiar but does not learn anything about the relation (association) between the event and any other circumstances www. knust. edu. gh

Kinds of Learning • Classical conditioning www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • The process by which a normally neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus eliciting a response in an individual due to its association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar response www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Pavlov’s study of dog – Food – Salivating – Ringing bell www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Pavlov’s study – Food (UCS) Salivation (UCR) – Ringing bell (NS)----does not----Salivation (UCR) – Food Salivation + – Ringing of bell • Ringing bell (NS=CS) • Salivation (UCR=CR) www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Classical conditioning involves ways in which events are associated in producing change in attitude and behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Components of classical conditioning – Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) • A stimulus that elicits a response from an organism prior to conditioning. • What is the UCS in Pavlov’s experiment? www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Components of classical conditioning – Unconditioned response (UCR) • An unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus. • What is the UCR in Pavlov’s study? www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • The unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response are reflexive behaviour. • An automatic involuntary response to an external stimuli; not conditioned or learned www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Conditioned stimulus (CS) • A stimulus that comes to evoke a particular response (CR) after being paired with a stimulus that already elicited that response • What is the CS in Pavlov’s study? www. knust. edu. gh

Classical consitioning • Conditioned response (CR) – a learned response to a conditioned stimulus. – What is CR in Pavlov’s study? www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • For classical conditioning to occur the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus must be close together in time www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Conditioned responses in classical conditioning are not necessarily permanent responses • Responses can be unlearned or extinguished or extincted. www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Extinction – Dying out of conditioned response after repeated presentations of the CS unaccompanied by the UCS www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • The disappearance of a response may not necessarily mean it has been unlearned. • Spontaneous recovery may occur. www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • CC can produce – stimulus generalization – Stimulus discrimination www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Stimulus generalization – Occurs when an individual has the same conditioned response to a stimulus that is similar though not as the conditioned stimulus www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Stimulus generalization – An extension of a conditioned response from learning stimuli to similar stimuli – Eg fear from snake bite www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Stimulus discrimination – The ability to distinguish between similar stimuli and therefore produce different responses – Eg no fear when one sees a worm after snake bite. www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Types of classical conditioning – Delayed conditioning: • CC procedure in which the CS is presented before the UCS and left on until the response occurs www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Types of classical conditioning – Simultaneous conditioning • CC procedure in which the CS and UCS are presented at the same time. www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Types of classical conditioning – Trace conditioning • CC procedure in which the CS is presented and then removed before the UCS is presented www. knust. edu. gh

Classical conditioning • Types of classical conditioning – Backward conditioning • CC procedure in which the UCS is presented prior to the CS www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Another type of learning • Referred to as instrumental conditioning • Subject’s behaviour is instrumental in producing the outcome. www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Learning through consequences – Positive consequence – Negative consequence www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which an organism learns to engage in behaviour because of its effects. www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • OC is reliant upon the behaviour being reinforced either positively or negatively • Reinforcement determines whether the behaviour increases or decreases its likelihood of future occurrence www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Edward Thorndike and the law of effect • Elements/activities used – Cat, puzzle box, food/fish, pulling string, escape – After several times in the box, the cat eventually learned to trip the mechanism immediately to escape and get the reward www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • The cat’s behaviour was controlled by the consequence ie getting the food • Edward Thorndike and law of effect – Law of effect states that behaviours followed by positive outcomes are strengthened and behaviours followed by negative outcomes are weakened www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Edward Thorndike and law of effect – Response is stamped in or strengthened in particular situation by reward – Punishment stamps out responses; organisms learn not to engage in punished responses www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • B. F Skinner and Reinforcement • Elements/activities – rat; – Skinner’s box with a device delivering food when a bar is pressed – Eventually the rat was intentionally pressing the bar food as fast as it could www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • To understand a person, one must look outside the person. • Experiences of past and current consequences shape people’s behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Three (3) types of consequences to a response – Reinforcement – Punishment – Neutral www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Reinforcement – A consequence that increases the probability that a behaviour will occur – Reinforcement can be -Positive -Negative www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Positive reinforcement – Occurs when the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by a pleasant stimulus www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning – Presentation of a favourable event which increases the frequency of an operant – Operant is a voluntary response that is reinforced – Egs: smile increasing talking etc www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Negative reinforcement – Referred to as escape or avoidance learning – Relates to the removal of an unfavourable event that increases the frequency of an event www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning – A reinforcer that when removed increases the frequency of an operant. – Eg: nagging removed as a result of cleaning. www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the responses they are paired with • Reinforcement always strengthens a response • Terms positive and negative refer to whether something is presented or removed www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Positive reinforcement: something is added or obtained • Negative reinforcement: something is subtracted, avoided or escaped www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Punishment: – Is a consequence that decreases the probability that a behaviour will occur – An event that decreases the probability that the preceding response will be repeated www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Punishment can be positive and negative • Positive punishment – Referred to as aversive punishment – Involves actively applying aversive stimuli www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Positive punishment – A response is weakened by the subsequent presentation of a stimulus – Eg: spanking a child; touching hot stove. www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Negative punishment – Response cost – Loss of privileges to modify behaviour – A response is weakened by the subsequent removal of a stimulus, that’ll cost the person. www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Operant extinction – The weakening and eventual disappearance of response because it is no longer reinforced www. knust. edu. gh

Operant conditioning • Operant generalization – An operant response occurs to a new antecedent stimulus or situation that is similar to the original one • Operant discrimination – An operant response will occur to one antecedent stimulus but not to another www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • Kind of learning • Referred to as observational learning • Acquiring operants by observing others engage in them www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • Contribution by Bandura: social-cognitive theory • Just about everything humans do have been learned even personality • Not all behaviour is learned by trial and error with reinforcement. www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • Behaviour is learned or modified by watching models • Models: people regarded as successful, with whom others identify with; people we want to be like • Egs: parents, peers, celebrities, teachers etc www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • Learn fears, prejudices, likes, dislikes and social behaviour by watching others. • Learn desirable and undesirable behaviours. • SL can be highly adaptive www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • The modelling process and self-efficacy • Bandura views modelling as a four-step process that includes several cognitive factors – Attention: pay attention to model’s behaviour – Retention: retain information in memory for recall www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • Four step process – Reproduction: physically capable of reproducing model’s behaviour or something similar to it – Motivation: motivated to display the behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Social Learning • Self-efficacy is a key motivational factor in observational learning – Represents people’s belief that they have the capabilities to perform behaviours that will produce a desired outcome www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Topic 3 MOTIVATION

Explanation of Motivation • Motivation derived from Latin word ”movere” meaning ”to move” • Cherry (2008) – Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate behaviour. www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Motivation • Passer & Smith (2011) – Motivation is a process that influences the direction, persistence, and vigor of goal-directed behaviour. www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Motivation • Motivation activates and directs behaviour • Motivation changes one’s preferences or choices www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Motivation • Motives are defined as hypothetical states within organisms that activate behaviour and propel the organism toward goals www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Motivation • Why hypothetical? – Motives are not seen – Not measured directly. – Inferred from behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Motivation • Psychologists assume that behaviour does not occur at random. • It is caused • Assumed to be largely caused by motives. www. knust. edu. gh

Types of Motivation • Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation • Intrinsic motivation – Motivation that arises from within the individual – Motivation to engage in an act for its own sake – Love for the act – Eg prosocial behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Types of Motivation • Extrinsic motivation – Motivation that arises from outside of the individual – Motivation to engage in an act on the basis of rewards and punishments the act may bring. • Most of humans behaviour is motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Theoretical Perspectives – Instinct theory – Drive-reduction theory – Humanistic theory – Cognitive theory www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Instinct theory – Motivation by instinct – Instinct: • an inherited disposition to activate specific behaviour patterns that are designed to reach certain goals • An inherited characteristic, common to all members of a species, that automatically produces a particular response when the organism is exposed to particular stimulus www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Instinct theory – In-born activities – Genetically transmitted from generation to generation – Eg: self survival, love, hunger etc www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Drive-reduction theory – Organisms learn to engage in behaviours that have the effect of reducing drives – Primary and acquired drives • Primary drives: unlearned or physiological drives eg hunger, thirst, pain • Acquired drives: learned drives; acquired through experience eg drive for money (AD) to reduce hunger (PD) www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Humanistic theory – Behaviour motivated by conscious desire for personal growth; personal fulfilment – Eg tolerating pain, hunger etc for personal fulfilment www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Humanistic theory – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs • Physiological needs: food, drink • Safety needs: protection from the environment; security, housing, clothing www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Humanistic theory: cont’d – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: cont’d • Love and belongingness: acceptance through intimate relationships, social groups, friends • Esteem needs: approval, recognition, prestige, status • Self-actualization: fulfilment of unique potentials www. knust. edu. gh

Theoretical Perspectives of Motivation • Cognitive theory – Motivation as a result of mental representation of the world – Understanding of the world – Expectations from experience and reasoning – Achieving cognitive consistency www. knust. edu. gh

Social Motives • Social motives – Learned or acquired motives – Acquired through social learning – Arouse and prompt goal-directed behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Social Motives • Social motives – Henry Murray (1938) referred to social motives as psychological needs – Egs: money, achievement, social approval, power, aggression www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • Referred to as n-Ach • n-Ach relates to – the need to master, to accomplish difficult things – a striving for accomplishment and excellence www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • n-Ach – Intrinsic need for achievement – Taking pleasure in accomplishing goals for their own sake, not for rewards – Not extrinsic need for achievement www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • Achievement behaviour may stem from – Positively oriented motive for success – Negatively oriented motive to avoid failure ie fear of failure – n-Ach relates to the positive orientation toward success www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • Measurement of n-Ach – Why do some people achieve more than others? – Popular method: Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) by Henry Murray – TAT: Investigators show people pictures and ask them to tell a story about them. www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • Measurement of n-Ach: TAT cont’d – People are to indicate in the story – What led up to it? – What the characters are thinking or feeling? – What is likely to happen? www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • Behaviour of individuals with high n-Ach • People with high n-Ach – earn higher grades than people of comparable learning ability but have low n-Ach – more likely to earn higher salaries and promoted than low n-Ach people with similar opportunities www. knust. edu. gh

The Need for Achievement • People with high n-Ach – perform better at Maths problems – more likely to prefer challenges – see their fate as being in their own hands – more likely to find satisfaction on the job v. Age and sex differences in n-Ach v. Family, culture and n-Ach www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Topic 4 ATTITUDES

Explanation of Attitudes • Definitions – Myers (2010): a favourable or unfavourable evaluative reaction toward something or someone. – Feldman (2013): attitudes are evaluations of a person, behaviour, belief or concept • Attitudes are learned and have major impacts on behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Attitudes • Attitudes include: – Emotional component: the way you feel about something – Cognitive component: what you know or believe about something – Behavioural component: what you likely to do in relation to something www. knust. edu. gh

Explanation of Attitudes • Attitudes are a combination of emotional, cognitive and behaviour reactions to an object • Measuring attitudes – Use of attitude scale: Likert scale www. knust. edu. gh

Attitudes as Predictors of Behaviour • Notion that attitudes influence behaviour • Assumption of attitude-behaviour consistency • Positive attitude leads to incidence of the behaviour • Eg www. knust. edu. gh

Attitudes as Predictors of Behaviour • Behaviour often correlates with attitudes rather weakly • Why? www. knust. edu. gh

Attitudes as Predictors of Behaviour • Why? • Many variables other than attitudes influence behaviour. Examples – Affordability – Expectations of others • Attitude-behaviour problem exists. www. knust. edu. gh

Predicting behaviour from attitudes: Factors • Specificity: – Better predict specific behaviour from specific attitude than from general attitude www. knust. edu. gh

Predicting behaviour from attitudes: Factors • Strength of attitudes: – Strong attitudes are more likely to predict behaviour than weak attitudes www. knust. edu. gh

Predicting behaviour from attitudes: Factors • Vested interest: – People are more likely to act on their attitudes when they have a vested interest than when they do not www. knust. edu. gh

Predicting behaviour from attitudes: Factors • Accessibility – People are more likely to express their attitudes in behaviour when they are brought to mind www. knust. edu. gh

Origins of Attitudes • Conditioning – Occurs when people associate themselves or made to associate themselves with positive or negative indicators – Eg words • Positive words eg happy, gift, beautiful • Negative words eg ugly, failure www. knust. edu. gh

Origins of Attitudes • Observational learning – Attitudes learned through direct experience – May be stronger and easier to recall – Eg www. knust. edu. gh

Origins of Attitudes • Cognitive appraisal – Attitudes developed by evaluating and assessing information on the basis of evidence – Eg stereotypes www. knust. edu. gh

Functions of attitudes • Instrumental function – Attitudes held by people for practical or utilitarian reasons – Express specific instances of a person’s desire to obtain benefit or reward and avoid punishment – Eg. Smoking and relaxation; insulting and beating www. knust. edu. gh

Functions of attitudes • Knowledge function – Attitudes that help people to make sense and meaning of the world around them. – Helps in bringing order to the diverse information that must be assimilated in daily lives – Helps in organizing and processing information www. knust. edu. gh

Functions of attitudes • Value-expressive function – Attitudes help in expressing and reflecting self concept – Eg positive attitudes towards homosexuals because of values of diversity, personal freedom, tolerance etc www. knust. edu. gh

Functions of attitudes • Ego-defensive function – Helps in protecting people from threats to their self esteem – Eg negative attitude of a man towards outspoken ladies www. knust. edu. gh

Functions of Attitudes • Social adjustment function – Help in feeling part of a social community – Eg holding attitudes of a business, church, political party etc because their friénds, families and neighbours have those attitudes. www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Dissonance • Theory developed by Leon Festinger • CD is a state of unpleasant tension that people experience – when they hold contradictory attitudes or – when they behave in a way that is inconsistent with their attitudes www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Dissonance • Attitude-discrepant behaviour therefore occurs • People try to reduce this tension • How? www. knust. edu. gh

Cognitive Dissonance • Reducing tension. • How? – Change behaviour to match attitudes – Change attitudes to match behaviour – Adopt a new attitude that justifies the behaviour under certain circumstances www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Topic 5 SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Explanation of Social Perception • Definitions: – Barons et al (2006): SP relates to the way in which people seek to define the many characteristics and behaviours of themselves and others – Rathus (1993): SP studies the ways in which people form and modify impressions of others. www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Impression formation (IF) is important. • IF is the process by which one integrates various sources of information about another into an overall judgement www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Sources of information can be – Verbal – Non-verbal • Process of IF can be viewed as dynamic; that is changes over time; not static www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Process of IF can be viewed as integrative: – each information about a person is interpreted within the context of all other information available about the person www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • In IF there is the incidence of first impression (FI) • FI is impression formed about people one meets for the first time, correct or incorrect, which is influenced by the first information one learns about them www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Primacy effect – The tendency to evaluate others in terms of first impression • Recency effect – The tendency to evaluate others in terms of the most recent impression www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Why is first impression important? – People pay less attention to subsequent information about the individual – If first impression is unfavourable one may not spend enough time with the person to form an alternative view – Information received influences people’s interpretation of later information www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Stereotypes – Humans at times categorise people eg using physical features – Stereotypes are the beliefs associated with the different social categorisation www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation – Stereotypes are the generalised beliefs associated with the different categories – Fixed, conventional idea about a group – Provides information about individuals we do not know. www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation – Helps in making probability judgement – Risk of making faulty judgement – Prevents people from thinking thoroughly about other people and events www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Use of verbal behaviour – Communicating feelings and intentions with words – Examples: positive words, negative words www. knust. edu. gh

Social Perception: Impression Formation • Use of non-verbal behaviour – Communicating feelings and intentions without words – Examples: facial expression to determine anger, happiness, sadness; eye contact; body movement www. knust. edu. gh

Impression management (IM) • IM is the process by which individuals strive to present themselves in a favourable light (Kalat, 1993) • Make ourselves look better www. knust. edu. gh

Impression management • Impression management strategies – Use of behavioural matching: • do what the other person is doing eg – Conform to situational norms eg www. knust. edu. gh

Impression management • Impression management strategies – Show appreciation of others; complement people; – Use positive non-verbal cues § Note: IM techniques that work in one cultural setting may not work in another www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Topic 6 SOCIAL INTERACTION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Social Facilitation (SF) • SF is the process by which a person’s performance is increased when other members of a group engage in similar behaviour (Rathus, 1993). • Examples: bicycle riders; eating with others www. knust. edu. gh

Social Facilitiation • Robert Zajonc (1980) notes that simple responses, highly practiced responses, or instinctive responses (such as eating) were typically facilitated in the presence of others • Example: well-rehearsed speech www. knust. edu. gh

Social Facilitation • Robert Zajonc (1980) notes however that complex, newly learned responses were typically impaired in the presence of others • Example: not well-rehearsed speech; question and answer session www. knust. edu. gh

Social Facilitation • SF may be influenced by evaluation apprehension • Evaluation apprehension is the concern that others are assessing our behaviour. www. knust. edu. gh

Bystander Effect • Bystander effect states that individuals who observe an emergency are less likely to help when someone else is present than when they are alone • Kitty Genovese’s murder in New York in 1964 www. knust. edu. gh

Bystander Effect • Presence of others serves – To define the situation as non-emergency • State of pluralistic ignorance occurs: everybody in a group misleads others by defining the situation as nonemergency www. knust. edu. gh

Bystander Effect • To diffuse the responsibility for acting – Spreading or sharing of responsibility for a decision or behaviour within a group www. knust. edu. gh

Attribution • Attribution is a belief concerning why people behave in a certain way. • Attribution process is a process by which people draw inferences about the motives and traits of others. www. knust. edu. gh

Types of Attribution • Two types • Dispositional attributions – An assumption that a person’s behaviour is determined by internal causes – Eg attitudes, goals etc www. knust. edu. gh

Types of Attribution • Situational attribution – Assumption that a person’s behaviour is determined by external circumstances – Eg social pressure, socialization etc www. knust. edu. gh

Concepts in Attribution • Fundamental attribution error – The tendency to assume that others act predominantly on the basis of their dispositions even when there is evidence suggesting the importance of their situations www. knust. edu. gh

Concepts in Attribution • Actor-observer effect – The tendency to attribute our own behaviour to situational factors but to attribute the behaviour of others to dispositional factors www. knust. edu. gh

Concepts in Attribution • Self-serving bias – The tendency to view one’s successes as stemming from internal factors and one’s failures as stemming from external factors www. knust. edu. gh

Deciding on Attribution • Harrold Keller (1967) proposed the reliance on three (3) types of information in deciding on whether to make an internal or external attribution of someone’s behaviour www. knust. edu. gh

Deciding on Attribution • Consensus information – How a person’s behaviour compares with other people’s behaviour – Same as others: external attribution – Unusual: internal attribution www. knust. edu. gh

Deciding on Attribution • Consistency information – How the person’s behaviour varies from one time to the next. – Always friendly: internal attribution – Friendly at time: external attribution www. knust. edu. gh

Deciding on Attribution • Distinctiveness – How the person’s behaviour varies from one object or social partner to another – Friendly to most people but unfriendly to one person (external attribution for the unfriendly behaviour. www. knust. edu. gh

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Psychological Disorders • • Anxiety disorders Mood disorders Personality disorders Childhood disorders www. knust. edu. gh

Anxiety Disorders • Anxiety – The state of tension and apprehension that is a natural response to perceived threat • Anxiety disorders – occur when the frequency and intensity of anxiety responses are out of proportion to the situations that trigger them and the anxiety interferes with daily life www. knust. edu. gh

Anxiety Disorders • Four components of anxiety responses – Subjective-emotional component: including feelings of tension and apprehension – Cognitive component: including worrisome thoughts and a sense of inability to cope. www. knust. edu. gh

Anxiety Disorders • Four components (cont) – Physiological component: including increased heart beat, blood pressure, muscle tension, rapid breathing etc – Behavioural component: including avoidance of certain situations and impaired task performance. www. knust. edu. gh

Anxiety Disorders • Different forms – Phobic disorder – Generalized anxiety disorder – Panic disorder – Obsessive-compulsive disorder – Posttraumatic stress disorder www. knust. edu. gh

Anxiety Disorders • Phobic disorder – Phobias are strong and irrational fears of certain objects or situations • Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – Severe anxiety disorder that can occur in people who have been exposed to traumatic life events www. knust. edu. gh

Mood Disorders • Depression – Depression is a negative mood state. – Major depression: an intense depressed state that leaves a person unable to function effectively in life – Dysthymia: a less intense form of depression that has less dramatic effects on personal and occupational functioning. www. knust. edu. gh

Mood Disorders • Bipolar disorder – In bipolar disorder, depression (which is usually the dominant state) alternates with periods of mania. – Mania: a state of highly excited mood and behaviour www. knust. edu. gh