Faculty of Pharmacy

Psychology

NPH111

Handout

1
 CONTENTS

I. Introduction to psychology
1
 Definition 1
 Psychology as a science
2
 Using empirical methods 3

II. Learning and cognition 4

 Classic conditioning
4
 Operant conditioning
6
 Modelling 8
 Social cognitive learning 10
 Attribution 11
 Culture and attribution
12

III. Memory 15
 Acquisition, storage and retrieval
15
 Explicit memory 17
 Implicit memory 18
 Types of memory 18

2
IV. Motivation and emotions
20
 Emotions 20
 Motivations 22
 Types of motives 23
 Emotion management
25

V. Personality 27
 The trait approach to studying personality
27
 The big five 27
 Psychodynamic theories of the personality: The role of the unconscious
29
 The Id, Ego, and Superego
30
 Mechanisms of defense: Freudian psychodynamic theory
32

VI. Consciousness
35
 Introspection and the functions of consciousness
35
 Translating thoughts into words
36
 The cognitive unconscious
38

3
  The function of consciousness
40
 Varieties of consciousness
41
 The sleep and wake cycle 42
 Dreams
43

VII. Human Cognitive Development

47
 Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
47
 Self-schema 48

I. INTRODUCTION Greek words: “psyche” meaning

life, and “logos,” meaning
TO PSYCHOLOGY explanation. Psychology is a
popular major for students, in the
Psychology is the scientific media, and in our everyday lives.
study of mind and behavior. The Psychologists are always portrayed
word “psychology” comes from the as those who provide personal

4
advice to individuals with personal
or family difficulties. Crime dramas Most psychologists work in
and others feature the work of research laboratories, hospitals,
forensic psychologists who use and other field settings where they
psychological principles to help study the behavior of humans and
solve crimes. And many people animals. For instance, they study
have direct knowledge about such diverse topics as anxiety in
psychology because they have children, the interpretation of
visited psychologists, for instance, dreams, the effects of caffeine on
school counselors, family thinking, how birds recognize each
therapists, and religious, or other, how people from different
marriage counselors. cultures react differently in
We all have an idea about negotiation, and the factors that
what psychology is and what lead people to engage in violence.
psychologists do, because we are
frequently exposed to the work of Other psychologists study
psychologists in our everyday lives. such topics as alcohol and drug
Psychologists are the ones who abuse, memory, emotion, hypnosis,
always focus on conceptions and and what makes people aggressive
motivations. They do work in or helpful, prejudice, culture, and
forensic fields, and provide religion. Psychologists also work in
counseling and therapy for people schools and businesses, and they
in distress. There are hundreds of use a variety of methods, including
thousands of psychologists in the observation, questionnaires,
world, and most of them work in interviews, and laboratory studies,
other places, doing work that to help them understand human
people are probably not aware of. behavior.

5
 our own behavior and that of
Psychology as a Science others. We may even collect data
(i.e., any information collected

Despite the difference in their through formal observation or

interests, areas of study, and measurement) to aid us in this

approaches, all psychologists have undertaking. It has been argued

one thing in common: They rely on that people are “everyday

scientific methods. Research scientists” who conduct research

psychologists use scientific projects to answer questions about

methods to create new knowledge behavior. When we perform poorly

about the causes of behavior, on an important test, we try to

whereas psychologist-practitioners, understand what caused our failure

such as clinical, counseling, to remember or understand the

industrial organizational, and material and what might help us do

school psychologists, use existing better the next time. When our

research to enhance the everyday good friends break up, despite the

life of others. fact that they appeared to have a

The science of psychology is friendship, we try to determine

important for both researchers and what happened. When we

practitioners. We all have an contemplate the rise of deviant

interest in asking and answering acts around the world, we try to

questions about our world. We investigate the causes of this

want to know why things happen, problem, the situation around

when and if they are likely to deviants, and others’ responses to

happen again, and how to them.

reproduce or change them. Such The results of these

knowledge enables us to predict “everyday” research projects can

6
teach us many principles of human crimes are often extremely
behavior. We learn through confident in their identifications of
experience that if we give someone the perpetrators of these crimes.
bad news, he or she may blame us But research finds that
even though the news was not our eyewitnesses are no less confident
fault. We learn that people may in their identifications when they
become depressed after they fail at are incorrect than when they are
an important task. We see that correct. People may also become
aggressive behavior occurs convinced of the existence of
frequently in our society, and we extrasensory perception (ESP), or
develop theories to explain why the predictive value of astrology,
this is so. These insights are part of when there is no evidence for
everyday social life. In fact, much either. Furthermore, psychologists
research in psychology involves the have also found that there are a
scientific study of everyday variety of cognitive and
behavior. motivational biases that frequently
The problem, however, with influence our perceptions and lead
the way people collect and us to draw erroneous conclusions.
interpret data in their everyday In summary, accepting
lives is that they are not always explanations for events without
particularly thorough. Often, when testing them thoroughly may lead
one explanation for an event us to think that we know the
seems “right,” we adopt that causes of things when we really do
explanation as the truth even when not.
other explanations are possible and
potentially more accurate. For Using empirical methods
example, eyewitnesses to violent

7
All scientists, whether they are
physicists, chemists, biologists, II. LEARING &
sociologists, or psychologists, use
empirical methods to study the COGNITION
topics that interest them. Empirical
methods include the processes of Learning is defined as the
collecting and organizing data and relatively permanent change in
drawing conclusions about those knowledge or behavior as a result
data. The empirical methods used of experience. One might think of
by scientists have developed over learning in terms of what he/ she
many years and provide a basis for needs to do before an upcoming
collecting, analyzing, and exam or new skills that he/ she
interpreting data within a common acquires through practice, but
framework in which information these changes represent only one
can be shared. We can label the component of learning. In fact,
scientific method as the set of learning is a broad topic that is also
assumptions, rules, and procedures used to explain a wide variety of
that scientists use to conduct other psychological changes.
empirical research. Learning can describe how a
person acquires a psychological
disorder such as Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder.
Learning is perhaps the most
important human capacity.
Learning allows us to create
effective lives by being able to
respond to changes. We learn to

8
avoid touching hot stoves, to find Conditioning is just one type
our way home from school, and to of learning. In this chapter, we will
remember which people have consider learning through insight,
helped us in the past. Without the cognition, and observation. In each
ability to learn from our case, we will see not only what
experiences, our lives would be psychologists have learned about
remarkably dangerous and the topics, but also the important
inefficient. The principles of influence that learning has on
learning can also be used to many aspects of our everyday
explain a wide variety of social lives.
interactions, including social
dilemmas in which people make Classical conditioning
important decisions about how to
behave. In the early part of the 20th
The study of learning is century, Russian physiologist Ivan
closely associated with the Pavlov (1849–1936) was studying
behavioral perspective of the digestive system of dogs when
psychology. Two early leaders in he noticed an interesting
the behaviorist school are John B. behavioral phenomenon: The dogs
Watson and B. F. Skinner. These began to salivate as soon as the
psychologists focused their lab technicians who normally fed
research entirely on behavior, them entered the room.
excluding mental processes. For Pavlov realized that the dogs
behaviorists, learning is a process were salivating because they knew
of conditioning which means that that they were about to be fed; the
the response to a specific stimulus dogs had begun to associate the
can be learned. arrival of the technicians with the

9
food that soon followed their
appearance in the room.
With his team of researchers,
Pavlov began studying this process
in more detail. He conducted a
series of experiments in which,
over a number of trials, dogs were
exposed to a sound immediately
Pavlov had identified a
before receiving food.
fundamental associative learning
He systematically controlled
process called classical
the onset of the sound and the
conditioning. Classical conditioning
timing of the delivery of the food,
refers to learning that occurs when
and recorded the amount of the
a neutral stimulus becomes
dogs’ salivation. Initially the dogs
associated with a stimulus that
salivated only when they saw or
naturally produces behaviour. After
smelled the food, but after several
the association is learned, the
pairings of the sound and the food,
previously neutral stimulus is
the dogs began to salivate as soon
sufficient to produce the behaviour.
as they heard the sound. The
Psychologists use specific
animals had learned to associate
terms to identify the stimuli and
the sound with the food that
the responses in classical
followed.
conditioning.
 Unconditioned stimulus (US)
is something that triggers a
naturally occurring response.
 Unconditioned response (UR)
is the naturally occurring

10
 response that follows the In Pavlov’s experiment, the
unconditioned stimulus. sound of the tone served as the
Some examples of the US-UR initial neutral stimulus. It became a
pairs include: conditioned stimulus after learning
because it produced a conditioned
o Shivering (UR) to cold (US) response. Note that the
o Blinking (UR) to a bright light unconditioned response and the
(US) conditioned response are the same
behaviour. In Pavlov’s experiment,
Notice how all of these it was salivation. The
responses are reflexive and unconditioned and conditioned
unlearned, which is why we refer to responses are given different
them as being unconditioned. names because they are produced
• Neutral stimulus (NS) is by different stimuli.
something that does not naturally Operant conditioning
produce a response.
• Conditioned stimulus (CS) is a In classical conditioning the
once neutral stimulus that has organism learns to associate new
been repeatedly presented prior to stimuli with natural, biological
the unconditioned stimulus and responses such as salivation or
evokes a similar response as the fear. The organism does not learn
unconditioned stimulus. something new but rather begins
• Conditioned Response (CR) is the to perform in an existing behavior
acquired response to the in the presence of a new signal.
conditioned stimulus, which was Operant conditioning, on the other
the formerly neutral stimulus. hand, is learning that occurs based
on the consequences of behavior

11
and can involve the learning of new door and exited to their prize, a
actions. Operant conditioning scrap of fish. The next time the cat
occurs when a dog rolls over on was constrained within the box it
command because it has been attempted fewer of the ineffective
praised for doing so in the past, responses before carrying out the
when a schoolroom bully threatens successful escape, and after
his classmates because doing so several trials the cat learned to
allows him to get his way, and almost immediately make the
when a child gets good grades correct response.
because her parents threaten to Observing these changes in
punish her if she doesn’t. In the cats’ behavior led Thorndike to
operant conditioning the organism develop his law of effect, the
learns from the consequences of its principle that responses that create
own actions. a typically pleasant outcome in a
Psychologist Edward L. particular situation are more likely
Thorndike (1874–1949) was the to occur again in a similar situation,
first scientist to systematically whereas responses that produce a
study operant conditioning. In his typically unpleasant outcome are
research Thorndike (1898) less likely to occur again in the
observed cats that had been situation.
placed in a “puzzle box” from The essence of the law of
which they tried to escape. At first effect is that successful responses,
the cats scratched, bit, and because they are pleasurable, are
swatted haphazardly, without any “stamped in” by experience and
idea of how to get out. But thus occur more frequently.
eventually, and accidentally, they Unsuccessful responses, which
pressed the lever that opened the produce unpleasant experiences,

12
are “stamped out” and (usually called Skinner boxes) to
subsequently occur less frequently. systemically study learning.
When Thorndike placed his cats in A Skinner box (operant
a puzzle box, he found that they chamber) is a structure that is big
learned to engage in the important enough to fit a rodent or bird and
escape behavior faster after each that contains a bar or key that the
trial. Thorndike described the organism can press or peck to
learning that follows reinforcement release food or water. It also
in terms of the law of effect. contains a device to record the
animal’s responses. The most basic
of Skinner’s experiments was quite
similar to Thorndike’s research with
cats. A rat placed in the chamber
reacted as one might expect,
rushing about the box and sniffing
and clawing at the floor and walls.
Eventually the rat chanced upon a
lever, which it pressed to release
pellets of food. The next time
The influential behavioral around, the rat took a little less
psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904– time to press the lever, and on
1990) expanded on Thorndike’s successive trials, the time it took to
ideas to develop a more complete press the lever became shorter and
set of principles to explain operant shorter. Soon the rat was pressing
conditioning. Skinner created the lever as fast as it could eat the
specially designed environments food that appeared. As predicted
known as operant chambers by the law of effect, the rat had

13
learned to repeat the action that completing his homework
brought about the food and cease represents positive reinforcement,
the actions that did not. whereas taking aspirin to reduce
Skinner studied, in detail, the pain of a headache represents
how animals changed their negative reinforcement. In both
behavior through reinforcement cases, the reinforcement makes it
and punishment, and he developed more likely that behavior will occur
terms that explained the processes again in the future.
of operant learning. Skinner used
the term re-inforcer to refer to any Modelling
event that strengthens or increases
the likelihood of a behavior and the
The idea of latent learning
term punisher to refer to any event
suggests that animals, and people,
that weakens or decreases the
may learn simply by experiencing
likelihood of a behavior. And he
or watching. Observational learning
used the terms positive and
(modeling) is learning by observing
negative to refer to whether
the behavior of others. To
reinforcement was presented or
demonstrate the importance of
removed, respectively. Thus
observational learning in children,
positive reinforcement strengthens
Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1963)
a response by presenting
showed children a live image of
something pleasant after the
either a man or a woman
response and negative
interacting with a Bobo doll, a
reinforcement strengthens a
filmed version of the same events,
response by reducing or removing
or a cartoon version of the events.
something unpleasant. For
The Bobo doll is an inflatable
example, giving a child praise for
balloon with a weight in the bottom

14
that makes it bob back up when you would be correct. Regardless
you knock it down. In all three of which type of modeling the
conditions, the model violently children had seen, and regardless
punched the clown, kicked the doll, of the gender of the model or the
sat on it, and hit it with a hammer. child, the children who had seen
The researchers first let the the model behaved aggressively—
children view one of the three just as the model had done. They
types of modeling, and then let also punched, kicked, sat on the
them play in a room in which there doll, and hit it with the hammer.
were some really fun toys. To Bandura and his colleagues had
create some frustration in the demonstrated that these children
children, Bandura let the children had learned new behaviors, simply
play with the fun toys for only a by observing and imitating others.
couple of minutes before taking Observational learning is
them away. Then Bandura gave the useful for animals and for people
children a chance to play with the because it allows us to learn
Bobo doll. without having to actually engage
in what might be a risky behavior.
Monkeys that see other monkeys
respond with fear to the sight of a
snake learn to fear the snake
themselves, even if they have been
raised in a laboratory and have
never actually seen a snake. As
Bandura put it, “the prospects for
If you guessed that most of
[human] survival would be slim
the children imitated the model,
indeed if one could learn only by

15
suffering the consequences of trial witness their parents being violent
and error. For this reason, one does or who are themselves abused are
not teach children to swim, more likely as adults to inflict
adolescents to drive automobiles, abuse on intimate partners or their
and novice medical students to children, and to be victims of
perform surgery by having them intimate violence. In turn, their
discover the appropriate behavior children are more likely to interact
through the consequences of their violently with each other and to
successes and failures. The costlier aggress against their parents.
and hazardous the possible
mistakes, the heavier is the Social cognitive learning
reliance on observational learning
from competent learners.
Cognition- is the process of
Although modeling is
acquiring and using knowledge.
normally adaptive, it can be
Social cognition—the part of
problematic for children who grow
human thinking that helps us
up in violent families. These
understand and predict the
children are not only the victims of
behavior of ourselves and others—
aggression, but they also see it
and consider the ways that our
happening to their parents and
judgments about other people
siblings. Because children learn
guide our behaviors toward them.
how to be parents in large part by
As members of a social species, we
modeling the actions of their own
humans are exquisitely adjusted to
parents, it is no surprise that there
each other. Many of our everyday
is a strong correlation between
behaviors—what we eat, how we
family violence in childhood and
dress, what kind of music we like,
violence as an adult. Children who
and how we think about current

16
events—are shaped by the people polite. If the salesman recommends
around us. Even when we are not the Macintosh rather than the Dell,
directly associating with other your purchase may depend on
people, we are often thinking about whether you believe the salesman
them, making plans involving is sincere or, for that matter,
them, and maybe even fantasizing knowledgeable. In these cases and
about them—not to mention most others, how we respond to
obeying (or breaking) their laws, other people depends on how we
using their products, reading their think about and interpret their
books, watching their television actions. This crucial process of
shows, and speaking their interpreting and thinking about the
languages. In other words, most of social world is referred to as social
our thoughts, feelings, and cognition.
behaviors are shaped by the social
world—often without us even Attribution
noticing.
We don’t respond to all these People everywhere spend a lot of
influences in a mechanical or time and energy observing the
reflexive fashion, however. Instead, people around them and asking,
our responses to the social world “Why did she (or he) do that?”
depend to an enormous extent on Psychologists call the process of
how we interpret others’ behaviors answering this question causal
and how others interpret ours. This attribution, and the study of how
is evident in the fact that if Mary people form attributions is one of
smiles at you, your reaction will be psychology’s central concerns.
quite different if you think she was Thinking about the world often
flirting as opposed to merely being requires us to go beyond the

17
information we are actually given. others arrive? If the answer to both
We draw inferences from the of these questions is yes, then her
observations we make, to reach smile does co-vary with your
broader conclusions about the arrival, and so is probably best
world. understood as a result of her
People make attributions in feelings about you. If it turns out,
roughly the same way that though, that Mary smiles just as
scientists track down the causes of broadly when greeting others, then
physical events. For a scientist, an we have to come up with a
effect (such as an increase in gas different explanation.
pressure) is attributed to a Causal attributions can be
particular condition (such as a rise divided into two broad types—
in temperature) if the effect occurs those that focus on factors external
when the condition is present but to the person (e.g., Mary smiled
does not occur when the condition because the situation demanded
is absent. In other words, the that she be polite) and those that
scientist needs to know whether focus on the person herself (e.g.,
the cause and the effect co-vary. Mary smiled because she is
When people try to explain friendly). Explanations of the first
the behavior of others, they use a type are called situational
similar co-variation principle. This attributions and involve factors
means that, to answer the question such as other people’s
“Why did Mary smile at me?” we expectations, the presence of
have to consider when Mary smiles. rewards or punishments, or even
Does she smile consistently the weather. Explanations of the
whenever you walk into the room? second type, dispositional
Does she refrain from smiling when attributions, focus on factors that

18
are internal to the person, such as behavior of others, biases that can
traits, preferences, and other sometimes lead them to overrule
personal qualities. the evidence.
These biases come from
many sources, including the culture
in which someone lives. Every
person is a part of many cultures—
those defined by race, nationality,
and ethnicity, and also those
defined by gender, socioeconomic
status, personal preference, urban
background (e.g., city dwelling or
rural dwelling), and economy (e.g.,
agricultural or industrial). This
Culture and
diversity means that cultures differ
attribution
on many dimensions, but there is
reason to believe that one
How do people choose attributions
dimension is especially important—
for the behaviors they observe?
whether a culture is more
Some argue that people are
individualistic or more collectivistic.
sensitive to the evidence they
As the name suggests,
encounter, just as a scientist would
individualistic cultures cater to
be, and draw their conclusions
the rights, needs, and preferences
according to this evidence. It turns
of the individual. The majority
out, however, that this is not quite
cultures (e.g., middle-class, of
right, because people have strong
European heritage) of the United
biases in the way they interpret the
States, Western Europe, Canada,

19
and Australia are individualistic. In Most of the world’s cultures are
these cultures, people tend to view collectivistic, including many of
themselves and others as those of Latin America, Asia, and
independent entities—that is, as Africa. In collectivistic cultures,
fundamentally separate from people tend to view themselves
others and their environment. They and others as interdependent—that
also generally think that people is, as fundamentally connected to
behave according to their internal the people in their immediate
thoughts, feelings, needs, and community and to their
preferences, and not according to environment. They usually think
outside influences, such as other that people behave according to
people’s expectations or the the demands of a situation or the
demands of a situation. To expectations of others, and not
emphasize their independence and according to their personal
distinctiveness, people in preferences or proclivities. People
individualistic cultures often strive still have their own dreams,
to stand out by achieving personal desires, and life plans, of course,
goals. They still feel obligated to but they are more likely to create
their families and communities, but those plans according to the wishes
regularly override these social and expectations of others, and to
obligations in order to pursue their change them when the situation
own paths. demands.
Collectivistic cultures, on The pattern of attributions is
the other hand, stress the quite different, though, in
importance of maintaining the collectivistic cultures. In one study,
norms, standards, and traditions of Hindu Indians and European
families and other social groups. Americans were asked to discuss

20
articles about other people’s
actions. Consistent with other
research, the European Americans’
comments included twice as many
dispositional explanations as
situational explanations. The Hindu
Indians showed the opposite
pattern. They gave twice as many
situational explanations as
dispositional explanations. As an
illustration, one of the articles used
in the study described an accident
in which the back wheel of a
motorcycle burst, throwing the
passenger off the motorcycle, and
the driver had done little to help
the hurt passenger. Overall, the
Americans typically described the
driver as “obviously irresponsible”
or “in a state of shock,” whereas
the Indians typically explained that
it was the driver’s duty to be at
work or that the other person’s
injury must not have looked
serious.

21
 Memory, defined as the ability
to store and retrieve information
over time. Memory and cognition
work together to help us interpret
and understand our environments.
Memory and cognition represent
the two major interests of cognitive
psychologists. The cognitive
approach became the most
important school of psychology
during the 1960s, and the field of
psychology has remained in large
part cognitive since that time. The
cognitive school was influenced in
large part by the development of
the electronic computer, and
although the differences between
computers and the human mind
are vast, cognitive psychologists
have used the computer as a
model for understanding the
workings of the mind.

Acquisition, storage and

retrieval
III.MEMORY

22
Each of us has a huge number of acquisition. For example, imagine
memories. We can recall what we meeting someone at a party, being
did yesterday, or last summer. We told his name, and moments later
can remember what the capital of realizing that you don’t have a clue
France is, or what the chemical what his name is—even though you
formula is for water. We remember just heard it! This common (but
how to ride a bicycle and how to embarrassing) experience is
throw a baseball. probably not the result of ultra-
These examples—remembering rapid forgetting. Instead, it’s likely
episodes, remembering general to stem from a failure in
facts, and remembering skills or acquisition. You were exposed to
procedures—actually draw on the name but barely paid attention
different memory systems; but it to it and, as a result, never learned
also turns out that the various it in the first place.
types of memory have some things The next aspect of
in common, so let’s begin with the remembering is storage. To be
common elements. remembered, an experience must
Any act of remembering leave some record in the nervous
requires success at three aspects system. This record—known as the
of the memory process. First, in memory trace—is squirreled away
order to remember, you must learn and held in some enduring form for
something—that is, you must put later use. One question to be asked
some information into your here is how permanent this storage
memory. This point seems obvious, is: Once information is in storage,
but it deserves emphasis because does it stay there forever? Or does
many failures of memory are, in information in storage gradually
fact, failures in this initial stage of fade away? The final aspect of

23
remembering is retrieval, the choice exam, and in fact multiple-
process through which you draw choice testing in the classroom
information from storage and use probes your ability to recognize
it. Sometimes, retrieval takes the previously learned material. In
form of recall— a process in which contrast, exams that rely on essays
you retrieve information from or short answers emphasize recall.
memory in response to some cue
or question. Differences between Brains
and Computers
Trying to answer a question
Neuropsychologists have identified a
like “What is Sue’s boyfriend’s
number of differences between human
name?” or “Can you remember the memory and computer memory:
last time you were in California?”  In computers, information can be
requires recall. A different way to accessed only if one knows the
exact location of the memory. In
retrieve information is through
the brain, information can be
recognition. In this kind of retrieval,
accessed through spreading
you’re presented with a name, fact, activation from closely related
or situation and are asked if you concepts. The brain operates
have encountered it before. “Is this primarily in parallel, meaning that
it is multitasking on many different
the man you saw at the bank
actions at the same time. Although
robbery?” or “Was the movie you
this is changing as new computers
saw called Memento?” are are developed, most computers are
questions requiring recognition. primarily serial—they finish one

Recognition can also be tested with task before they start another.
 In computers, short-term (random-
multiple items: “Which of these
access) memory is a subset of
pictures shows the man you saw
long-term (read-only) memory. In
earlier?” This latter format the brain, the processes of short-
obviously resembles a multiple-

24
 term memory and long-term
memory are distinct.
 In the brain, there is no difference
between hardware (the mechanical
aspects of the computer) and
software (the programs that run on
the hardware). In the brain,
synapses, which operate using an
electrochemical process, are much
slower but also vastly more
complex and useful than the
transistors used by computers.
 Computers differentiate memory
(e.g., the hard drive) from
Psychologists conceptualize
processing (the central processing
memory in terms of types, in terms
unit), but in brains there is no such
distinction. In the brain (but not in of stages, and in terms of
computers) existing memory is processes. There are two types of
used to interpret and store memory, explicit memory and
incoming information, and
implicit memory, and then we have
retrieving information from
the three major memory stages:
memory changes the memory
itself. sensory, short-term, and long-term.
 The brain is self-organizing and Our discussion will focus on the
self-repairing, but computers are three processes that are central to
not. If a person suffers a stroke,
long-term memory: encoding,
neural plasticity will help him or her
storage, and retrieval.
recover. If we drop our laptop and
it breaks, it cannot fix itself.

Explicit Memory

25
When we assess memory by asking that involves bringing from
a person to consciously remember memory information that has
things, we are measuring explicit previously been remembered. We
memory. Explicit memory refers to rely on our recall memory when we
knowledge or experiences that can take an essay test, because the
be consciously remembered. There test requires us to generate
are two types of explicit memory: previously remembered
episodic and semantic. Episodic information. A multiple-choice test
memory refers to the firsthand is an example of a recognition
experiences that we have had memory test, a measure of explicit
(e.g., recollections of our high memory that involves determining
school graduation day or of the whether information has been seen
fantastic dinner we had in New or learned before.
York last year). Semantic memory Your own experiences taking
refers to our knowledge of facts tests will probably lead you to
and concepts about the world (e.g., agree with the scientific research
that the absolute value of −90 is finding that recall is more difficult
greater than the absolute value of than recognition. Recall, such as
9 and that one definition of the required on essay tests, involves
word “affect” is “the experience of two steps: first generating an
feeling or emotion”). Explicit answer and then determining
memory is assessed using whether it seems to be the correct
measures in which the individual one. Recognition, as on multiple-
being tested must consciously choice test, only involves
attempt to remember the determining which item from a list
information. A recall memory test seems most correct. Although they
is a measure of explicit memory involve different processes, recall

26
and recognition memory measures memory buffer that lasts only very
tend to be correlated. Students briefly and then, unless it is
who do better on a multiple-choice attended to and passed on for
exam will also, by and large, do more processing, is forgotten. The
better on an essay exam. purpose of sensory memory is to
give the brain some time to
Implicit Memory process the incoming sensations,
and to allow us to see the world as

While explicit memory consists of an unbroken stream of events

the things that we can consciously rather than as individual pieces.

report that we know, implicit

memory refers to knowledge that b. Short-Term Memory

we cannot consciously access. Most of the information that gets

However, implicit memory is into sensory memory is forgotten,

nevertheless exceedingly but information that we turn our

important to us because it has a attention to, with the goal of

direct effect on our behavior. remembering it, may pass into

Implicit memory refers to the short-term memory. Short-term

influence of experience on memory (STM) is the place where

behavior, even if the individual is small amounts of information can

not aware of those influences. be temporarily kept for more than

a few seconds but usually for less
than one minute. Information in
Types of memory
short-term memory is not stored
permanently but rather becomes
a. Sensory memory refers to
available for us to process, and the
the brief storage of sensory
processes that we use to make
information. Sensory memory is a

27
sense of, modify, interpret, and c. Long-term memory
store information in STM are known If information makes it past short
as working memory. Although it is term-memory it may enter long-
called “memory,” working memory term memory (LTM), memory
is not a store of memory like STM storage that can hold information
but rather a set of memory for days, months, and years. The
procedures or operations. Imagine, capacity of long-term memory is
for instance, that you are asked to large, and there is no known limit
participate in a task such as this to what we can remember.
one, which is a measure of working Although we may forget at least
memory. Each of the following some information after we learn it,
questions appears individually on a other things will stay with us
computer screen and then forever.
disappears after you answer the
question: Short-term memory is
limited in both the length and the
amount of information it can hold.
Peterson and Peterson (1959)
found that when people were
asked to remember a list of three-
letter strings and then were
immediately asked to perform a
distracting task (counting IV. MOTIVATIONS &
backward by threes), the material
was quickly forgotten, such that by EMOTIONS
18 seconds it was virtually gone.

28
 Emotions an adaptive role: We care for
infants because of the love we feel

When we experience emotions or for them, we avoid making a left

strong motivations, we feel the turn onto a crowded highway

experiences. When we become because we fear that a speeding

stimulated, the central nervous truck may hit us, and we are

system provides us with energy to particularly nice to Mandy because

respond to our environment. The we are feeling guilty that we didn’t

liver puts extra sugar into the go to her party. But emotions may

bloodstream, the heart pumps also be destructive, such as when a

more blood, our pupils widen to frustrating experience leads us to

help us see better, respiration lash out at others who do not

increases, and we begin to sweat deserve it.

to cool the body. We experience

these responses as arousal.
An emotion is a mental and
physiological feeling state that
directs our attention and guides
our behavior. Whether it is the thrill
of a roller-coaster ride that elicits
an unexpected scream, the flush of
embarrassment that follows a
public mistake, or the horror of a
potential plane crash that creates
an exceptionally brilliant response
in a pilot, emotions move our
actions. Emotions normally serve

29
 The most fundamental through their nonverbal
emotions, known as the basic communication, that is,
emotions, are those of anger, communication that does not
disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, involve words. Nonverbal
and surprise. The basic emotions communication includes our tone
have a long history in human of voice, walk, posture, touch, and
evolution, and they have facial expressions, and we can
developed in large part to help us often accurately detect the
make rapid judgments about emotions that other people are
stimuli and to quickly guide experiencing through these
appropriate behavior. Because they channels. Some Common
are primarily evolutionarily Nonverbal Communicators shows
determined, the basic emotions are some of the important nonverbal
experienced and displayed in much behaviors that we use to express
the same way across cultures, and emotion and some other
people are quite accurate at information (particularly liking or
judging the facial expressions of disliking, and dominance or
people from different cultures. submission). Just as there is no
In addition to experiencing “universal” spoken language, there
emotions internally, we also is no universal nonverbal language.
express our emotions to others, The most important
and we learn about the emotions of communicator of emotion is the
others by observing them. This face. The face contains 43 different
communication process has muscles that allow it to make more
evolved over time, and is highly than 10,000 unique configurations
adaptive. One way that we and to express a wide variety of
perceive the emotions of others is emotions. For example, happiness

30
is expressed by smiles, which are cartoon. They found that the
created by two of the major cartoons were rated as more
muscles surrounding the mouth amusing when the pen was held in
and the eyes, and anger is created the “smiling” position—the
by lowered brows and firmly subjective experience of emotion
pressed lips. In addition to helping was intensified by the action of the
us express our emotions, the face facial muscles. These results, and
also helps us feel emotion. others like them, show that our
The facial feedback behaviors, including our facial
hypothesis proposes that the expressions, are influenced by, but
movement of our facial muscles also influence our affect. We may
can trigger corresponding smile because we are happy, but
emotions. we are also happy because we are
smiling. And we may stand up
straight because we are proud, but
we are proud because we are
standing up straight.

Motivations

Fritz Strack and his Motivations are closely

colleagues (1988) asked their related to emotions. A motive is a
research participants to hold a pen driving force that initiates and
in their teeth (mimicking the facial directs behavior. Some motivations
action of a smile) or between their are biological, such as the
lips (similar to a frown), and then motivation for food and water. But
had them rate the funniness of a there are a variety of other

31
personal and social motivations other people is about getting them
that can influence behavior, to move in the direction you want
including the motivations for social them to go in order to achieve a
approval and acceptance, the result.
motivation to achieve, and the Motivating yourself is about
motivation to take, or to avoid setting the direction independently
taking, risks. In each case we and then taking a course of action
follow our motivations because that will ensure that you get there.
they are rewarding. As predicted People are motivated when they
by basic theories of operant expect that a course of action is
learning, motivations lead us to likely to lead to the attainment of a
engage in particular behaviors goal and a valued reward – one
because doing so makes us feel that satisfies their needs and
good. wants. Well-motivated people
A motive is the activation of engage in flexible behaviour – in
goal oriented behaviour, a reason the majority of roles there is scope
for doing something. Motivation is for individuals to decide how much
concerned with the strength and effort to exert.
direction of behaviour and the Such people may be self-
factors that influence people to motivated, and as long as this
behave in certain ways. means they are going in the right
The term ‘motivation’ can direction to attain what they are
refer variously to the goals there to achieve, then this is the
individuals have, the ways in which best form of motivation.
individuals chose their goals and
the ways in which others try to Types of Motives
change their behaviour. Motivating

32
Most of us, however, need to be motivation can be enhanced by job
motivated to a greater or lesser or role design. According to an
degree. There are two types of early writer on the significance of
motivation, and a number of the motivational impact of job
theories explaining how it works as design (Katz, 1964): ‘The job itself
discussed below. The two types of must provide sufficient variety,
motivation are (1) intrinsic sufficient complexity, sufficient
motivation and (2) extrinsic challenge and sufficient skill to
motivation. Intrinsic motivation can engage the abilities of the worker.’
arise from the self-generated In their job characteristics model,
factors that influence people’s Hackman and Oldham (1974)
behaviour. It is not created by emphasized the importance of the
external incentives. It can take the core job dimensions as motivators,
form of motivation by the work namely skill variety, task identity,
itself when individuals feel that task significance, autonomy and
their work is important, interesting feedback. Extrinsic motivation
and challenging and provides them occurs when things are done to or
with a reasonable degree of for people to motivate them. These
autonomy (freedom to act), include rewards, such as
opportunities to achieve and incentives, increased pay, praise,
advance, and scope to use and or promotion; and punishments,
develop their skills and abilities. such as disciplinary action,
Deci and Ryan (1985) withholding pay, or criticism.
suggested that intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivators can have an
is based on the needs to be immediate and powerful effect, but
competent and self-determining will not necessarily last long.
(that is, to have a choice). Intrinsic

33
 The intrinsic motivators, There are various views on
which are concerned with the human motivations. The most
‘quality of working life’ (a phrase popular among these is given by
and movement that emerged from Abraham H. Maslow (1968; 1970).
this concept), are likely to have a He attempted to portray a picture
deeper and longer-term effect of human behaviour by arranging
because they are inherent in the various needs in a hierarchy.
individuals and their work and not His viewpoint about motivation is
imposed from outside in such very popular because of its
forms as incentive pay. theoretical and applied value which
is popularly known as the “Theory
of Self-actualisation.” Maslow’s
model can be conceptualised as a
Maslow’s Hierarchy of pyramid in which the bottom of this

Needs hierarchy represents basic

physiological or biological needs
which are basic to survival such as
hunger, thirst, etc. Only when
these needs are met, the need to
be free from threatened danger
arises. This refers to the safety
needs of physical and
psychological nature.
Next comes the need to seek
out other people, to love and to be
loved. After these needs are
fulfilled, the individual strives for

34
esteem, i.e. the need to develop a Emotion Management
sense of self-worth.
The next higher need in the Effective emotion management is
hierarchy reflects an individual’s the key to effective social
motive towards the fullest functioning in modern times. The
development of potential, i.e. self- following tips might prove useful to
actualisation. A self-actualised you for achieving the desired
person is self-aware, socially balance of emotions:
responsive, creative, spontaneous, • Enhance self-awareness: Be
open to novelty, and challenge. aware of your own emotions and
S/he also has a sense of humour feelings. Try to gain insight into the
and capacity for deep interpersonal ‘how’ and ‘why’ of your feelings.
relationships. • Appraise the situation
Lower level needs objectively: It has been proposed
(physiological) in the hierarchy that emotion is preceded by
dominate as long as they are evaluation of the event. If the
unsatisfied. Once they are event is experienced as disturbing,
adequately satisfied, the higher your nervous system is activated
needs occupy the individual’s and you feel stressed. If you do not
attention and effort. However, it experience the event as disturbing,
must be noted that very few people then there is no stress. Hence, it is
reach the highest level because you who decides whether to feel
most people are concerned more sad and anxious or happy and
with the lower level needs. relaxed.
• Do some self-monitoring: This
involves constant or periodic
evaluation of your past

35
accomplishments, emotional and carefully. In the company of happy
physical states, real and indirect and cheerful friends you will feel
experiences. A positive appraisal happy in general.
would enhance your faith in • Have empathy: Try
yourself and lead to enhanced understanding other’s feelings too.
feeling of wellness and Make your relationships meaningful
contentment. and valuable. Seek as well as
• Engage in self-modeling: Be the provide support mutually.
ideal for yourself. Repeatedly • Participate in community service:
observe the best parts of your past Help yourself by helping others. By
performance and use them as an doing community service, you will
inspiration and motivation to gain important insights about your
perform better in the future. own difficulties.
• Perceptual re-organization and
cognitive restructuring: Try viewing
the events differently and visualize
the other side of the coin.
Restructure your thoughts to
enhance positive and reassuring
feelings and eliminate negative
thoughts.
• Be creative: Find and develop an
interest or a hobby. Engage in an
activity that interests and amuses
you.
• Develop and nurture good
relationships: Choose your friends

36
 V. PERSONALITY

The Trait approach to

studying personality

The trait approach to the study of

personality assumes that the
differences among people can be
captured by talking about what
traits a person has—whether he is
friendly or not, helpful or not,
formal or not. Unlike states, which
are temporary (e.g., being angry at
this moment), traits are relatively
enduring (e.g., being generally hot-
headed), and, as a result, trait
labels allow us to summarize what
someone is like, often in a single
word, and serve as a basis for
making predictions about what she
is likely to do in the future. The
trick, however, is to figure out
which traits to use in forming a
description of a person that
succinctly captures who he is but

37
also is precise enough to predict uncommon words. Raymond
his actions. Cattell, one of the pioneers in this
Think about one of your close arena, gave this kind of shortened
friends. How would you describe list of words to a panel of judges,
this person to others? Shy? asking them to use these words to
Confident? Bashful? Fun-loving? rate a group of people they knew
Notice how many words come to well. Their ratings were compared
mind. Indeed, if we want to to find out which terms were
describe how people differ from redundant. This process allowed
one another, we seem to have a Cattell to eliminate the redundant
nearly endless supply of terms to terms, yielding what he thought
work with. But do we really need all was the 16 primary personality
of these terms? Or can we reduce dimensions.
the list, perhaps by eliminating Subsequent investigators
redundant or rarely used terms, to presented evidence from further
reveal a (much smaller) set of basic analyses that several of Cattell’s
personality traits? dimensions still overlapped, so
they reduced the set still further.
The Big Five Others argued that this was too
severe a reduction, and, over time

An English dictionary contains a consensus has emerged around

almost 18,000 personality-relevant five major personality dimensions

terms. To reduce this list to as the basis for describing all

manageable size, early trait personalities; this has led to a

theorists put many of these words personality system appropriately

to the side simply because they named the Big Five.

were synonyms, slang, or just

38
 What do these dimension
labels mean? Extraversion means
having an energetic approach
toward the social and physical
world. Extraverted people often
feel positive emotion and tend to
agree with statements like “I see
myself as someone who is
outgoing, sociable,” while people
who are introverted (low in
extraversion) tend to disagree with
these statements. Neuroticism
The Big Five dimensions are
means being prone to negative
extraversion (sometimes called
emotion, and its opposite is
extroversion), neuroticism
emotional stability. This dimension
(sometimes labeled with its
is assessed by finding out whether
positive pole, emotional stability),
people agree with statements like
agreeableness, conscientiousness,
“I see myself as someone who is
and openness to experience. These
depressed, blue.” Agreeableness is
dimensions seem useful for
a trusting and easygoing approach
describing people from childhood
to others, as indicated by
through old age in many different
agreement with statements like “I
cultural settings. The Big Five traits
see myself as someone who is
even seem useful in describing the
generally trusting.”
personalities of other species,
Conscientiousness means
including chimpanzees, dogs, cats,
having an organized, efficient, and
fish, and octopus.
disciplined approach to life, as

39
measured via agreement with Psychodynamic Theories of
statements like “I see myself as Personality: The Role of
someone who does things
the Unconscious
efficiently.” Finally, openness to
experience refers to
One of the most important
unconventionality, intellectual
psychological approaches to
curiosity, and interest in new ideas,
understanding personality is based
foods, and activities. Openness is
on the theorizing of the Austrian
indicated by agreement with
physician and psychologist
statements like “I see myself as
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), who
someone who is curious about
founded what today is known as
many different things.” Notice that
the psychodynamic approach to
the Big Five—like Cattell’s initial
understanding personality. Many
set of 16 dimensions— is cast in
people know about Freud because
terms of personality dimensions,
his work has had a huge impact on
and we identify someone’s
our everyday thinking about
personality by specifying where he
psychology, and the
falls on each dimension.
psychodynamic approach is one of
This allows us to describe an
the most important approaches to
infinite number of combinations, or,
psychological therapy. Freud is
to put it differently, an infinite
probably the best known of all
number of personality profiles
psychologists, in part because of
created by different mixtures of the
his impressive observation and
five basic dimensions.
analyses of personality. As is true
of all theories, many of Freud’s
ingenious ideas have turned out to
be at least partially incorrect, and

40
yet other aspects of his theories experienced a traumatic
are still influencing psychology. experience when they were
Freud was influenced by the children.
work of the French neurologist Freud and Charcot also found
Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893), that during hypnosis the
who had been interviewing patients remembering of the trauma was
(almost all women) who were often accompanied by an
experiencing what was at the time outpouring of emotion, known as
known as hysteria. Although it is no catharsis, and that following the
longer used to describe a catharsis the patient’s symptoms
psychological disorder, hysteria at were frequently reduced in
the time referred to a set of severity. These observations led
personality and physical symptoms Freud and Charcot to conclude that
that included chronic pain, fainting, these disorders were caused by
seizures, and paralysis. Charcot psychological rather than
could find no biological reason for physiological factors. Freud used
the symptoms. For instance, some the observations that he and
women experienced a loss of Charcot had made to develop his
feeling in their hands and yet not in theory regarding the sources of
their arms, and this seemed personality and behavior, and his
impossible given that the nerves in insights are central to the
the arms are the same that are in fundamental themes of
the hands. Charcot was psychology.
experimenting with the use of In terms of free will, Freud
hypnosis, and he and Freud found did not believe that we were able
that under hypnosis many of the to control our own behaviors.
hysterical patients reported having Rather, he believed that all

41
behaviors are predetermined by
motivations that lie outside our
awareness, in the unconscious.
These forces show themselves in
our dreams, in neurotic symptoms
such as obsessions, while we are
under hypnosis, and in Freudian
“slips of the tongue” in which
people reveal their unconscious
desires in language. Freud argued
that we rarely understand why we
do what we do, although we can
make up explanations for our Id, Ego, and Superego
behaviors after the fact. For Freud
the mind was like an iceberg, with Freud proposed that the mind is
the many motivations of the divided into three components: id,
unconscious being much larger, but ego, and superego, and that the
also out of sight, in comparison to interactions and conflicts among
the consciousness of which we are the components create personality
aware (Figure 11.8 “Mind as (Freud, 1923/1943). According to
Iceberg”). Freudian theory, the id is the
component of personality that
forms the basis of our most
primitive impulses. The id is
entirely unconscious, and it drives
our most important motivations,
including the sexual drive (libido)

42
and the aggressive or destructive The ego is the largely conscious
drives. According to Freud, the id is controller or decision-maker of
driven by the pleasure principle— personality. The ego serves as the
the desire for immediate intermediary between the desires
gratification of our urges. The id is of the id and the constraints of
why we smoke cigarettes, drink society contained in the superego.
alcohol, tell mean jokes about We may wish to scream, yell, or hit,
people, and engage in other fun or and yet our ego normally tells us to
harmful behaviors, often at the wait, reflect, and choose a more
cost of doing more productive appropriate response. Freud
activities. believed that psychological
In stark contrast to the id, the disorders, and particularly the
superego represents our sense of experience of anxiety, occur when
morality and ought. The superego there is conflict or imbalance
tells us all the things that we among the motivations of the id,
shouldn’t do, or the duties and ego, and superego.
obligations of society. The When the ego finds that the
superego strives for perfection, and id is pressing too hard for
when we fail to live up to its immediate pleasure, it attempts to
demands we feel guilty. In contrast correct for this problem, often
to the id, which is about the through the use of defense
pleasure principle, the function of mechanisms—unconscious
the ego is based on the reality psychological strategies used to
principle—the idea that we must cope with anxiety and to maintain
delay gratification of our basic a positive self-image. Freud
motivations until the appropriate believed that the defense
time with the appropriate outlet. mechanisms were essential for

43
effective coping with everyday life,  Reaction formation:
but that any of them could be Transforming anxiety-
overused. producing thoughts or
feelings into their opposites
Mechanisms of Defense- in consciousness.

Freudian Psychodynamic  Regression: Returning to

more primitive levels of
Theory
behavior in defense against
anxiety or frustration.
 Repression: Blocking a
 Denial: Refusing to admit
threatening idea, memory, or
that something unpleasant is
emotion from consciousness.
happening, or that a taboo
 Projection: Attributing one’s
emotion is being
own unacceptable feelings
experienced. Denial blocks or
and impulses to someone
distorts perception;
else.
repression blocks or distorts
 Displacement: Directing
memory.
one’s emotions, especially
anger, toward things,
animals, or other people that
are not the real object of
one’s feelings.
 Sublimation: A special case
of displacement in which the
displacement of emotions
serves a higher cultural or
socially useful purpose, as in
creation of art or inventions.

44
 4. Sixteen-year-old Tom had started using
drugs, and the changes in his behavior
made it pretty obvious, but Tom’s parents
didn’t believe the school principal when
she called to talk with them about the
problem.

5. Many people who were interred in

concentration camps were unable to recall
events that happened in the camp during
their captivity.

6. Lucy dresses in provocative clothes and

Practice uses suggestive language although she
fears that she is unattractive.
Identify the defense mechanism
being used in the following 7. Mark behaves like a stereotypical “he-
statements: man,” but he is actually anxious and
insecure about his gender identity.
1. After receiving a low grade on an exam,
Phil slams the door as he leaves the
classroom.

2. George feels that his younger son,

Gary, is unattractive and not very smart.
He accuses his wife of picking on Gary and 8. Marie wears those youthful clothes and
favoring their other son. fad haircuts. She apparently can’t see that
she doesn’t look 30, or even 40, anymore.
3. After Sue Ann’s baby brother was born,
she began to talk baby-talk and to suck 9. Trixie was homesick and anxious when
her thumb like she did when she was she moved into the dormitory and started
younger. her first year in college. She began to

45
sleep with her old teddy bear again which parent child conflict is a major
because it made her feel better. theme.

10. Jason frequently visits bookstores, 14. John has a lot of unconscious hostility
explaining that he wants to see the type of toward his father, but he is outwardly very
bad people who buy the silly trash affectionate toward him and tells other
bookstores sell. people that he and his father have a
wonderful relationship.
11. Jack has had a really hard day at the
office. He is particularly angry at his boss, 15. Kay takes advantage of other people
Carlotta, because he found out today that when she thinks she can get away with it.
he had been passed over for a promotion. People rarely take advantage of Kay
When Jack gets home, his wife, Joellen, because it is her belief that others will
asks him what he would like for dinner and cheat you if they can, and she makes it
he yells at her for “bothering him with her business to see that they don’t get an
stupid questions.” opportunity.

12. Ms. Norton wrote a letter to her 16. Most people who know Sandy know
mother inviting her to spend the winter that he hates men. However, her mother
with them even though Mr. Norton stopped speaking to her best friend
objected to having his mother-in-law because the friend told her that “parents
“picking at him” all winter. Ms. Norton should recognize and accept their
gave the letter to Mr. Norton to mail and children’s orientation.”
he carried it in his coat pocket for almost a
month before Ms. Norton found it. He 17. During an argument, Sally told her
claimed that he “just forgot.” husband that he was stingy. When he
mentioned this several years later, she
13. Patricia has a lot of anger at the way didn’t recall ever having said such things.
her verbally and physically abusive father
treated her during her childhood. She has 18. Whenever Ann and Tim have an
never confronted him about this. However, argument, Ann goes to her parents’ house
she has written a best-selling novel in and tearfully tells them how mean Tim is
to her. Her parents comfort her and assure

46
her that they know the problem is not the
fault of “their little girl.”

19. Michael is probably the biggest gossip

in the office, but he frequently accuses
others of talking too much and spreading
rumors.

20. After a fight with her best friend,

Penelope finds herself driving too fast and VI. CONSCIOUSNESS
cutting off other drivers.

Introspection and the

Answers:
Functions of
1. displacement Consciousness
2. projection
Consciousness is defined as our
3. regression
subjective awareness of ourselves
4. denial
5. repression and our environment. The
6. reaction formation 7. reaction formation experience of consciousness is
8. denial 9. regression fundamental to human nature. We
10. projection 11.
all know what it means to be
Displacement
conscious, and we assume
12. repression 13. Sublimation
14. Reaction formation 15. Projection (although we can never be sure)
16. Denial 17. Repression that other human beings
18. Regression 19. Projection experience their consciousness
20. Displacement
similarly to how we experience
ours.

47
 The study of consciousness exists in the brain, not separate
has long been important to from it. In fact, psychologists
psychologists and plays a role in believe that consciousness is the
many important psychological result of the activity of the many
theories. For instance, Sigmund neural connections in the brain,
Freud’s personality theories and that we experience different
differentiated between the states of consciousness depending
unconscious and the conscious on what our brain is currently
aspects of behavior, and present- doing.
day psychologists distinguish The study of consciousness
between automatic (unconscious) may be psychology’s most difficult
and controlled (conscious) endeavor. This is not because we
behaviors and between implicit are methodologically useless, or
(unconscious) and explicit lack the right high-tech tools.
(conscious) memory. Some Instead, it is a direct consequence
philosophers and religious of what consciousness is—namely,
practices argue that the mind (or our moment-by-moment
soul) and the body are separate awareness of ourselves, our
entities. For instance, the French thoughts, and our environment.
philosopher Rene Descartes (1596– Crucially, this awareness is entirely
1650) was a proponent of dualism, “personalized.”
the idea that the mind, a This awareness is an entirely
nonmaterial entity, is separate private matter. You cannot
from (although connected to) the experience someone else’s
physical body. In contrast to the consciousness, nor they yours, and
dualists, psychologists believe that this raises a thorny issue: How can
consciousness (and thus the mind)

48
we find out about the nature or the looking at what we can learn from
contents of consciousness? introspection. We’ll then turn to the
limits and find out what we can
learn from them.

Translating Thoughts into

Words

Introspections are an enormously

valuable source of evidence and

As mentioned above, we’ll are used in formal investigations as

start with what seems to be the well as in a range of day-to-day

most straightforward procedure, in settings. But there are many things

which we ask people to introspect that we can’t learn by asking

—to look within themselves and people to introspect. In some

then describe their subjective cases, this is because introspectors

experience. Introspection is a may choose not to reveal what

useful method for psychology, but they’re really thinking. Suppose a

there are clear limits on what it can friend asks you, “Does this dress

tell us. At the same time, though, make me look fat?” or “Did you like

these limits on introspection are the pie I baked for you?” If you put

interesting on their own. As we’ll a higher value on diplomacy than

see, they provide information on honesty, your answers will be

about the role of consciousness no and yes—even if that’s not what

within the broader fabric of our you think. In other cases, you may

mental lives. Let’s get started by want to be honest in reporting your

49
thoughts and experiences but you
simply don’t have the vocabulary.
For example, imagine you’re
trying to convey in words exactly
what your mother looks like. You’re
likely to fail in this task because
In many other settings,
most of us lack the descriptors we
people do seem able to find words
might need to capture the exact
that can convey their thoughts; but
curve of our mother’s chin or the
there’s still a problem here, one
precise shape of her eyes.
that philosophers sometimes
Likewise, imagine that you’ve met
convey by means of the inverted
some poor soul who has never
spectrum: Imagine that some
eaten chocolate and you’re trying
people are born with a strange
to tell her what chocolate tastes
mutation that makes their color
like. You might mention that it’s
vision the inverse of yours. When
sweet, although usually with bitter
they look at a ripe tomato, they see
overtones; you might mention
a color that—if you experienced it
other foods that taste similar to
—you’d call “violet”. Their
chocolate. Despite these efforts,
experience when they look at a
though, you might end up saying,
banana is the same as the
“If you want to know what
experience that you’d have when
chocolate tastes like, you’ll just
looking at a pair of blue jeans.
have to try it for yourself.”
When they look at a clear sky (one
that you would consider to be
blue), they see a color that—if you

50
experienced it—you would count as call tomatoes red and bananas
yellow. yellow—just like we do. He would
How could we tell whether agree that orange and yellow seem
someone has an inverted similar to each other (although his
spectrum? We could—at least in inner experience would be what we
principle—examine the photo call blue and purple). He would
pigments in the person’s eyes and agree that certain colors seem to
the neural response in his visual be the opposites of each other—
cortex. Perhaps those tests would red and green, for example
tell us that biologically, his visual (although his inner experience
system responds to various would be what we call violet and
wavelengths the same way green). No matter what test we
everyone else’s does. But does that construct, his responses to color
mean his subjective experience is and descriptions of color will match
the same as ours? To answer this ours.
question, we’d need to know The inverted-spectrum
exactly how biological responses problem is of course a contrived
translate into subjective and peculiar case, but similar
experiences—but we don’t. problems arise in many other
Therefore, we can’t rely on settings. For example, if you say
someone’s biology to tell us if they that mosquito bites hurt, and I say
have an “inverted spectrum” or they itch, is this because we have
not. We also can’t rely on different experiences in response
someone’s behavior to tell us to these bites or because we mean
whether he suffers from this odd different things by the word itch?
visual problem. After all, from a There’s no way to know. Likewise,
young age, he’d have learned to if you claim that your headaches

51
are excruciating and I don’t be inadequate as a way of
describe mine that way, does this describing consciousness—a
mean your headaches are worse profound limitation on what we can
than mine? Or, perhaps, do you hope to learn from anyone’s self-
mean something different by the report.
word excruciating? Again, there’s
no way to know. The Cognitive Unconscious
To put these points more
broadly, the problem here is that Introspection is limited for another
conscious experiences are ineffable reason: There are many things
—an old-fashioned term meaning going on in our minds that we are
“utterly indescribable.” The just not aware of. These
problem exists not because people unconscious events, by definition,
are shy or somehow oblivious to are not detectable through
their own conscious states. Instead, introspection, and so cannot be
conscious states are ineffable revealed via self-report. For
because there’s often no way to example, what was your first-grade
ensure that your words, in teacher’s name? Odds are good
describing your conscious that the answer to this question
experience, mean the same thing just popped into your mind, and
as anyone else’s words. Do you that event leads us to ask: How did
mean the same thing by “blue” as you manage this memory retrieval?
they do? How about “itchy” or How did you locate this bit of
“excruciating”? information within the vast
With no way to answer these warehouse of long-term memory?
questions, we have to accept that In fact, we have reason to
the words themselves will forever believe you needed several steps

52
to find this information; but you the considerable support
have no awareness of those steps machinery that makes our ordinary
—all you’re aware of is the sought- perception, memory, and thinking
after name. Likewise, look around possible.
the room in which you’re sitting. Let’s be careful, though, not
You can see various familiar to confuse the cognitive
objects, and you’re immediately unconscious with the idea that
aware of the size, shape, and many people have of the
position of each one. Your unconscious mind—an idea derived
perception of the world requires from the thinking of Sigmund
several types of activity on your Freud. According to Freud, the
part—you must parse the input, unconscious mind is, in effect, an
separate figure from ground, and adversary to the conscious mind:
make inferences about aspects of Each of these opponents has its
the environment that are partly own needs, its own goals, and its
hidden from your view. However, own style of operation. The
you’re unaware of all this activity; unconscious mind, in this view, is
indeed, we used the term constantly striving to assert itself
unconscious inference to describe while the conscious mind is
some aspects of your perception. constantly on guard against the
What you are aware of is just the unconscious mind’s actions.
“output” from these various This Freudian conception is
processes—the perceptual world as markedly different from the way
you consciously experience it. modern scholars understand the
Considerations like these highlight cognitive unconscious. They
the role of the cognitive believe instead that the cognitive
unconscious—the name given to unconscious is in no sense an

53
adversary to conscious experience. your awareness. You, the user, are
Indeed, it seems misleading to aware of only the initial mouse
speak of these as two separate click and then the resulting images.
“minds,” each with its own identity Put differently, you’re completely
—although that style of speaking is unaware of the process that brings
reasonable when discussing the the images to your screen; you’re
Freudian view. Instead, the conscious only of the product
cognitive unconscious is—as we’ve created by that process—the
said—merely the term we give for images themselves.
the broad set of background In the same way, you’re
operations that make our usually unaware of the processes
experience possible. that make your experience
Here’s an analogy. Let’s say possible. You’re aware only of the
you’re sitting at your computer, product created by those
surfing the Internet, and you click processes, and most of the time
your mouse on a link. Your that’s exactly what you want. You
computer has to translate your want to know what objects
mouse click into a numerical surround you; you generally have
address, seek out the content at no reason to care about the
that address, download the content processes that helped you perceive
onto your computer, and then and identify these objects. You
translate the HTML code or Java want to recall a past event, and
script to activate pixel patterns on you generally have no reason to
your screen and thus create the worry about exactly how you’re
images you see on the web page. gaining that information. In these
All of these operations take place and many other examples, the
“behind the scenes,” outside of cognitive unconscious provides you

54
with the information you need other words, the cognitive
while keeping the support unconscious is not under our direct
machinery appropriately in the control. Instead, the cognitive
background. unconscious is, in many settings,
simply guided by habit and so
The Function of performs the same operations now

Consciousness that it has performed in the past. In

other settings, the cognitive
unconscious is guided by cues in
We’ve now seen several indications
the situation itself—stimuli that
of just how much can be
indicate what the current response
accomplished without
should be.
consciousness, and we’ve also
This absence of direct control
considered some cases in which
is often just what we want, because
people think they know what’s
our habits generally serve us well
going on in their own minds but are
and we usually do want to respond
wrong. Can we, from this base,
in a fashion guided by current
gain some insights into when
cues. Moreover, by relying on the
consciousness is needed, and what
cognitive unconscious, we exploit
difference it makes if a process
processes that are, as we’ve said,
unfolds under conscious
fast and effortless. But what if, in
supervision rather than in the
some circumstances, we want to
cognitive unconscious?
resist past habits or present
The answers to these
temptations? What if our current
questions hinge on the fact that
goals require that we launch some
the cognitive unconscious involves
action that’s novel? In such cases,
processes that are fast and
we need to exercise executive
effortless, but also automatic. In

55
control so that we can inhibit our explains why we aren’t conscious
habits, redirect our thoughts, and (despite considerable brain
reset our priorities. And executive activity) during sleep, and likewise
control, it turns out, may require why an anesthetized patient isn’t
consciousness. conscious. But sleep and
We note, though, that anesthesia are just two of the ways
consciousness doesn’t guarantee our conscious state varies. It’s
control. Sometimes we are aware often alleged that hypnosis also
of what we’re doing and would creates an altered state of
prefer to do something else, but we consciousness, and that various
still give in to the temptation of the religious practices can as well.
moment. (This is, for just one Many drugs—including several
example, the familiar situation of drugs taken for recreational
the dieter who’s aware that the purposes—also change a person’s
second helping of pie is a bad idea conscious state. Let’s take a closer
but takes it anyhow.) Even so, look at these variations in
consciousness is essential for conscious experience, starting with
executive control—a necessary first the variation that every person
step toward directing our own experiences virtually every day:
mental lives. the contrast between being asleep
and awake.
VARIETIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The workspace hypothesis, it SLEEP AND WAKE CYCLES

seems, helps us understand some
of the variations in conscious Whatever the source, we can track
experience. In particular, it the brain’s arousal by means of an

56
electroencephalogram, or EEG—a around even if shaken or shouted
recording of voltage changes at. Some people enter this
occurring at the surface of the confused half-sleep, half-aware
scalp. These voltage changes state spontaneously, and this
reflect electrical activity in the accounts for such sleep
cortex just beneath the scalp. disturbances as sleepwalking.
Depending on his or her age,
a sleeper typically spends about 20
to 30 minutes in slow-wave sleep.
After that, the nature of sleep
changes dramatically as the person
enters REM sleep. His heart rate
and respiration rate quicken,
almost as if he were awake and
exercising. His eyes start to move
Across all four sleep stages, in a distinctive way—periodic
your heart rate and breathing slow bursts of jittering back and forth
down. Your eyes drift slowly and in under closed eyelids. These are the
an uncoordinated way. By the time rapid eye movements (REM) that
you reach stage 4, you’re virtually give this sleep state its name.
immobile, often curled into a fetal According to nearly all
position, and hard to wake up. physiological signs, a person in
Indeed, trying to wake someone up REM sleep seems like he should be
from slow-wave sleep takes awake and alert. But even so, the
sustained effort; the person person is sound asleep; in fact, this
protests, seems disoriented, is the sleep stage in which the
mumbles incoherently, or thrashes person is least sensitive to external

57
stimulation. Also during this sleep this pattern of alternating REM and
stage, the person’s skeletal non-REM sleep periods continues
muscles show a sudden paralysis. throughout the night. An average
In fact, if someone happens to night includes 4 to 5 REM periods,
wake up during a REM period, he’s gradually increasing in length, and
susceptible to a frightening but the final REM period of the night
harmless stage known as sleep lasts up to 45 minutes.
paralysis, in which the muscular
paralysis of REM sleep persists for DREAMS
a few moments past awakening,
leaving the person conscious but When we’re in slow-wave sleep, we
temporarily unable to move. seem to be in a state of diminished
Notice, then, that REM sleep awareness. We’re certainly not
is characterized by a series of oblivious to the world around us,
contrasts: The brain is active, but and stimuli such as loud noises, a
the body is immobile. The cortex is firm shaking, or a bright light in our
energized, but the skeletal muscles eyes will awaken us. Less intense
are completely inactive. Because of but meaningful stimuli can also
these contrasts, REM sleep is wake us up; the classic example is
sometimes also called paradoxical a mother awakening when she
sleep. The first REM period of a hears her baby cry. Even if we
night’s sleep is the shortest; and don’t wake up, we remain sensitive
once it’s complete, people move to some aspects of our
back through lighter stages of environment. Notice, for example,
sleep toward deeper stages. After that even though we roll around
another 90 to 100 minutes, a while sleeping, we manage not to
second REM period ensues, and roll out of bed—and so apparently

58
we’re somehow sensitive to how these dreams, people use different
close we are to the mattress terms than they do when reporting
edges! the dreams associated with REM
There is, however, a part of sleep. The REM sleep reports tend
the sleep state in which we seem to be pictorial, depicting episodes
acutely aware—but we are aware that include the dreamer as a
of events on an internal stage, character and that seem more or
rather than events from the outside less real while the dream is under
world. We’re referring, of course, to way. In contrast, when awakened
dreams. Dreaming is strongly from slow-wave sleep, people tend
associated with REM sleep, and to give only scarce summaries,
when people are awakened from noting that they were only
this stage of sleep, at least 80% “thinking about something” or that
(and in some studies more) report their dreams were “boring.” They
that they were just dreaming. This rarely relate the kind of colorful,
is true even of participants who event-filled drama we usually think
claim they have “never dreamed.” of as a dream.
Apparently these people do dream, Does this mean that we
even if they typically don’t recall actually dream differently in REM
their dreams when they wake up. sleep than in slow-wave sleep? It’s
Plainly, dreaming is strongly hard to decide, because
associated with REM sleep, but it participants awakened from slow-
also seems to occur in other sleep wave sleep tend to be lazy and
stages. If people are awakened disoriented while those awakened
from slow-wave sleep, about half of from REM sleep are quickly alert.
them report that they had just So it’s at least possible that the
been dreaming. In talking about different kinds of dream reports are

59
reflecting the different states of the to have just spent 15 minutes in
just-awakened sleepers rather than REM, and so on.
the nature of the dreaming itself. Dream reports also indicate
Focusing just on REM dreams, that dreams tend to showcase a
though, what do people dream range of relatively ordinary current
about? Our evidence comes from life preoccupations—including the
the dream reports of just- emotional events of life but also
awakened dreamers. The contents the mundane episodes of one’s
of these reports vary enormously, daily routine. Dreams likewise tend
but make it clear that events in to include familiar places and
dreams do not—as some people objects, people we’ve recently
suppose—flash instantaneously encountered, or activities we have
before the dreamer. Instead, recently engaged in—including, of
events in dreams seem to take course, activities that filled the
about as long as they would in real hours just before sleep. In one
life. We know this because, when study, researchers had people
people awake from dreams, we can spend several hours playing soccer
ask them, as part of their dream before going to bed; many of the
report, to estimate how long they participants reported dreaming
had just been dreaming. These about running and rotating, just as
estimates tend to be quite accurate they do in the game.
— and so someone who recalls, Dreams are not, however,
say, 5 minutes of a dream is likely mere replays of daily events.
to have just spent 5 minutes in Instead, our dreams often
REM sleep; someone who recalls 15 introduce weird or illogical
minutes of dream content is likely elements. Thus we might dream
about being naked in public places,

60
or about flying—without, of course, out of every 100 dream characters
the aid of an airplane. Despite are murdered—a proportion far
these peculiar features, though, exceeding real-life homicide rates.
the dream content seems perfectly What can we learn about
natural while it’s under way; it’s consciousness by studying sleep
only when we’re awake that the and dreams? At the very least,
dream seems strange. sleep provides a compelling
In addition, people’s dreams reminder that our conscious state
tend to reveal similar themes from varies—it has different degrees of
year to year, even over decades. alertness as a function of our own
Some people regularly dream internal status. Sleep also reminds
about illness, others dream about us that consciousness is irregular;
fighting, and others dream about for some portions of the day, we
romance. But some themes show aren’t conscious. This seems to be
up in nearly everyone’s dreams. true during sleep, but it’s also true
For example, for almost everybody, when we’re awake. (Consider the
dreams contain bad outcomes relatively common experience of
more often than good ones, and suddenly realizing, after 30 miles
more negative emotions (fear, of highway driving, that you
worry, embarrassment) than haven’t been aware of the passing
positive ones. Thus, people dream miles at all. You were driving on
about failed efforts, missing autopilot—steering, maintaining
appointments (or exams), or being your speed, and so on; but you had
attacked or chased. Dreams also “zoned out” and have no
seem to include more aggressive recollection of the last half hour.)
interactions than friendly ones. In Sleep and dreaming also
fact, according to one estimate, 2 remind us of the sheer difficulty of

61
studying conscious experience. skeptical about this particular self-
Notice, for example, that we have report because—as mentioned
plausible assumptions about why earlier—we know that some people
we sleep; but there’s no assert they never dream, but these
widespread agreement. Likewise, same people reliably report dreams
the activation-synthesis notion if we manage to awaken them
strikes many researchers as a during an interval of REM sleep. In
promising account of why we this case, their self-report of never
dream, but the debate continues dreaming is patently incorrect,
about whether this proposal is highlighting for us the challenge of
correct. And we still have many relying on people’s descriptions of,
unanswered questions about why and their memories of, their mental
people’s dreams have the contents states in general and their
they do—and why so many people nighttime states in particular.
have dreams of flying (for
example), or being chased. Why is Drug-Induced Changes in
this research so difficult? It’s partly Consciousness
because the study of sleep and
dreaming often must depend on
Meditation is one way to change
what people recall and report
the quality of conscious
about their sleep and their dreams.
experience; medication is another.
Self-report data are always
Many psychoactive drugs change
worrisome, but the problem is
aspects of one’s experience—so
magnified when the self-report is
that antidepressants can decrease
offered by a tired, disoriented, just-
someone’s sense of apathy or
awakened sleeper. What’s more,
sadness; analgesics can decrease
we have powerful reason to be
how much pain someone is feeling.

62
Other drugs have broader effects Development refers to the
and seem to change the very physiological, behavioral, cognitive,
nature of our experience. This is and social-emotional changes that
certainly true for many of the occur throughout human life, which
illegal drugs taken for recreational are guided by both genetic
purposes; indeed, the change in predispositions (nature) and
consciousness is often the reason environmental influences (nurture).
why people use (and abuse) these
drugs.
Piaget’s Theory of
Cognitive Development

VII. HUMAN
COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT Neurological changes during
childhood provide children the

63
ability to do some things at certain in fundamentally different ways led
ages, and yet make it impossible to his stage model of cognitive
for them to do other things. This development.
fact was made clear through the Piaget argued that children
work of the Swiss psychologist Jean do not just passively learn, but also
Piaget. During the 1920s, Piaget actively try to make sense of their
was administering intelligence worlds. He argued that, as they
tests to children to determine their learn and mature, children develop
logical thinking. While testing schemas or patterns of knowledge
children, Piaget became intrigued, in long-term memory that help
not so much by the answers that them remember, organize, and
the children got right, but more by respond to information.
the answers they got wrong. Piaget
believed that the incorrect answers ……………………
that the children gave were not
mere shots in the dark, but rather SELF-SCHEMA
represented specific ways of For each of us, our sense of self is
thinking unique to the children’s a key aspect of our personality,
developmental stage. and each of us has a set of beliefs
Just as almost all babies learn about who we are and who we
to roll over before they learn to sit should be, and a body of
up by themselves, and learn to knowledge about our values and
crawl before they learn to walk, our past behaviors. This knowledge
Piaget believed that children gain about ourselves constitutes, for
their cognitive ability in a each person, a self-schema. This
developmental order. His insights schema is not just a passive record
that children at different ages think of our prior experiences; instead,

64
the schema actively shapes our Moreover, given this important role
behaviors, perceptions, and for these narratives, it cannot be
emotions. surprising that these narratives are
For example, a person might resistant to change, and, in fact,
have a schema of himself as a studies have shown that even
smart person who does well at people with negative self-concepts
school. This self-schema will make cling to these views, and seek out
certain situations, such as others who will verify these views.
academic tests, seem more Information relevant to our self-
important and consequential. The schema is also given a high
self-schema will also guide many of priority. For example, in several
his choices, such as opting to studies, people have been shown a
attend a more rigorous college series of trait words and asked to
rather than a “party school” or make simple judgments regarding
spending the extra hour polishing a these words (e.g., is the word in
term paper rather than heading off capital letters? Is it a positive
to get coffee with friends. The self- word? Does it describe me?). When
schema is not just a random list of asked later to remember the traits
characteristics. Instead, it is a that they previously saw,
highly organized (although not participants were more likely to
always entirely consistent) recall words presented in the “Does
narrative about who one is. it describe me?” condition than in
McAdams and colleagues the other conditions, suggesting
refer to such personal narratives as that material encoded in
personal myths—in essence, relationship to the self is better
“stories” that provide a sense of remembered.
direction and meaning for our lives.

65
 These findings are supported what he calls a promotion focus.
by neuroimaging studies that show When we have this sort of focus,
the portions of the medial we actively pursue valued goals—a
prefrontal cortex are particularly pursuit that results in pleasure. In
active when people are engaged in contrast, when we compare our
self-referential processes (as actual self to our ought self, we
compared to when they are making become motivated to avoid doing
judgments about how the words harm, and we develop what is
are written, whether the words are called a prevention focus. This kind
good or bad, or even whether they of focus is associated with feelings
are characteristic of a friend. of relief.
Interestingly, people seem to have ………………………
schemas not only for whom they
are now, their actual selves, but
also for who they may be in the Furthermore, Piaget thought
future—mental representations of that when children experience new
possible selves. These include a things, they attempt to reconcile
sense of the ideal self that one the new knowledge with existing
would ideally like to be (e.g., schemas. Piaget believed that the
someone who saves others’ lives), children use two distinct methods.
and the ought self that one thinks He called these methods
one should be (e.g., someone who assimilation and accommodation.
never lies or deceives others). When children employ assimilation,
When we compare our actual self they use already developed
to our ideal self, we become schemas to understand new
motivated to narrow the distance information. If children have
between the two, and we develop learned a schema for horses, then

66
they may call the striped animal Piaget’s most important
they see at the zoo a horse rather contribution to understanding
than a zebra. In this case, children cognitive development, and the
fit the existing schema to the new fundamental aspect of his theory,
information and label the new was the idea that development
information with the existing occurs in unique and distinct
knowledge. Accommodation, in stages, with each stage occurring
contrast, involves learning new at a specific time, in a sequential
information, and thus changing the manner, and in a way, that allows
schema. the child to think about the world
When a mother says, “No, using new capacities. The first
honey, that’s a zebra, not a horse,” developmental stage for Piaget was
the child may adapt the schema to the sensorimotor stage, the
fit the new stimulus, learning that cognitive stage that begins at birth
there are different types of four- and lasts until around the age of 2.
legged animals, only one of which It is defined by the direct physical
is a horse. interactions that babies have with
the objects around them. During
this stage, babies form their first
schemas by using their primary
senses, that is they stare at, listen
to, reach for, hold, shake, and taste
the things in their environments.
During the sensorimotor
stage, babies’ use of their senses
to perceive the world is so central
to their understanding that

67
whenever babies do not directly internally represent the world
perceive objects, as far as they are through language and mental
concerned, the objects do not images and move into the
exist. Piaget found, for instance, preoperational stage. During
that if he first interested babies in this stage, new language skills and
a toy and then covered the toy with symbolic thinking fuel an explosion
a blanket, children who were of communication and "pretend"
younger than 6 months of age play. However, the child's
would act as if the toy had understanding of events is intuitive
disappeared completely. They rather than based on logical
never tried to find it under the reasoning. The thinking is
blanket, but would nevertheless preoperational meaning that the
smile and reach for it when the child lacks the ability to operate on
blanket was removed. Piaget found or transform objects mentally. In
that it was not until about 8 one study that showed the extent
months that the children realized of this inability, De Loache showed
that the object was merely covered children a room within a small
and not gone. Piaget used the term dollhouse. Inside the room, a small
object permanence to refer to the toy was visible behind a small
child’s ability to know that an couch. The researchers took the
object exists even when the object children to another lab room, which
cannot be perceived. Children was an exact replica of the
younger than about 8 months of dollhouse room, but full-sized.
age do not understand object When children who were 2.5 years
permanence. old were asked to find the toy, they
At about 2 years of age, and did not know where to look. They
until about 7 years of age, children were simply unable to make the

68
transition across the changes in vocabulary when addressing a
room size. Three-year-old children, younger child or an older adult.
on the other hand, immediately This indicates some awareness of
looked for the toy behind the the views of others. However,
couch, demonstrating that they more recent developmental
were improving their operational psychologists have challenged
skills. Piaget’s belief in the ego-centrity of
The inability of young young children, and instead
children to view transitions also support theory of mind or the
leads them to be egocentric or ability to take another person’s
unable to readily see and viewpoint, which increases rapidly
understand other people’s during early childhood. In one
viewpoints. Piaget’s classic demonstration of the development
experiment on egocentrism of theory of mind, a researcher
involved showing children a three- shows a child a video of another
dimensional model of a mountain child (let’s call her Anna) putting a
and asking them to describe what a ball in a red box. Then Anna leaves
doll that is looking at the mountain the room, and the video shows that
from a different angle might see. while she is gone, a researcher
Children tend to choose a picture moves the ball from the red box
that represents their own, rather into a blue box. As the video
than the doll’s view. continues, Anna comes back into
By age 7 children are less the room. The child is then asked
self-centered. However, even to point to the box where Anna will
younger children when speaking to probably look to find her ball.
others tend to use different Children who are younger than 4
sentence structures and years of age typically are unable to

69
understand that Anna does not by adding. For example, 2+3 = 5,
know that the ball has been so 5 - 3 should = 2.
moved, and they predict that she An important milestone
will look for it in the blue box. By 5 during the concrete operational
years of age the majority of stage is the development of
children realize that different conservation or the
people can have different understanding that changes in the
viewpoints, and although she will form of an object do not
be wrong, Anna will nevertheless necessarily mean changes in the
think that the ball is still in the red quantity of the object. Children
box. younger than 7 years generally
The concrete operational think that a glass of milk that is tall
stage, occurring at around 7 years holds more milk than a glass of
of age, is characterized by more milk that is shorter and wider, and
frequent and more accurate use of they continue to believe this even
logical transformations and when they see the same milk
operations. In addition, the child poured back and forth between the
can think more logically about glasses. This is because young
physical reality. A fourth grader children exhibit centration
understands that transforming a whereby they focus only on one
ball of clay from a snake to a ball dimension (the height of the liquid
does not change the amount of in the glass) and ignore the other
clay. School age children dimension (the width of the glass).
understand operations can be However, when children reach the
reversed, so they can learn to concrete operational stage, their
check their subtraction problems abilities to understand such
transformations make them aware

70
that, although the milk looks observe what difference that
different in the different glasses, particular change makes. They
the amount must be the same. learn to use deductive reasoning,
Children in the stage of concrete such as “if this, then that,” and
operations decenter and use a they become capable of imagining
process called reversibility or the situations that “might be,” rather
understanding that some things than just those that actually exist.
that have been changed can be They can test hypotheses mentally
returned to their original state to rather than through trial and error.
think about transitions and achieve Piaget’s theories have made
conservation. a substantial and lasting
At about 11 years of age, contribution to developmental
children enter the formal psychology. His contributions
operational stage, which is include the idea that children are
marked by the ability to think in not merely passive receptacles of
abstract terms and to use scientific information, but rather actively
and philosophical lines of thought. engage in acquiring new
Children in the formal operational knowledge and making sense of
stage are better able to the world around them. This
systematically test alternative general idea has generated many
ideas to determine their influences other theories of cognitive
on outcomes. For instance, rather development, each designed to
than haphazardly changing help us better understand the
different aspects of a situation that development of the child’s
allows no clear conclusions to be information-processing skills.
drawn, they systematically make Furthermore, the extensive
changes in one thing at a time and research that Piaget’s theory has

71
stimulated has generally supported References
his beliefs about the order in which
cognition develops. Piaget’s work P. Corr, P. and G. Matthews, G.;
has also been applied in many “The Cambridge Handbook of
Personality Psychology.”
domains. For instance, many
Cambridge: Cambridge University
teachers make use of Piaget’s Press, (2009).
stages to develop educational
H. Glietman, J. Gross, and D.
approaches aimed at the level for Reisberg, Psychology, 8th Edition.
which children are developmentally New York: W.W. Norton &
prepared. Company, (2011).

Over the years, Piagetian D. Schultz, and E. Schultz,

ideas have been refined. For “Theories of Personality, 9th
Edition”, Sydney: Wadsworth
example, it is now believed that
publishing, (2009).
object permanence develops
C. Stangor and J. Walinga,
gradually, rather than more
“Introduction to Psychology – 1st
immediately, as a true stage model Canadian Edition”, Victoria, B.C.:
would predict, and that it can BC Campus, (2014).
sometimes develop much earlier
than Piaget expected.

72