Introduction to General Psychology

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Introduction to General Psychology

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

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Introduction to General Psychology

Introduction to General Psychology

Author:
Publisher: www.oer.avu.org
English

This book is corrected and edited by Al-Hassanain (p) Institue for Islamic Heritage and Thought

VIII. specific objectives

The specific objectives in this section are tailored to purposely highlight what is expected after you have gone through each unit in the module.

Unit One

The Learning Objectives of this unit are for you to:

UNIT ONE: Learning Objective (s)

Introduction to General Psychology. Define Psychology.

State the different schools of Psychology. Identify the different branches of Psychology.

Identify the contributions of Psychology to Education.

Welcome to Unit One of this module on General psychology. It is our hope that you will enjoy going through this module and benefit from it by making use the materials in the module to help the learners benefit from your teaching abilities.

Educational Psychology has been taught as a subject in teacher education colleges, where teachers like you are the knowledge, values and skills of how to become an effective teacher, who is capable of using the principles and practices of Educational psychology to become an effective, competent and conscientious in the class. The teacher of educational psychology is that one with the understanding that the knowledge gained gives the teacher insights into the problems that occur every now and then in the teaching-learning process, and thereafter be able to develop useful professional skills and competencies to face the classroom challenges and/or problem with confidence. This means that Educational psychology is taught to teachers to prepare them to achieve the goals of teaching. In the end the teachers are able to understand, control and predict the outcomes of their teaching, and the behaviors of the learners.

Meaning and definition of Psychology

Educational psychology is a branch of Psychology. What is then Psychology? The word psychology comes from Greek word “psyche” (mind) and ‘logo’ (study). These two words literally taken, means the science of the mind/mental processes. From this statement, we can then deduce that psychology is the study of the mental processes. As an independent area of study, it only acquired the status very recently. Early psychology was regarded as the study of the soul (in the Christian sense of the term). Psychology has grown over the years to take in a number of dimensions. For example, it has become both an applied and academic discipline, which studies human mind and behavior. So those who specialize in the subject do research with the focus of seeking to understand and explain thoughts, emotion, and behavior. Psychology has also assumed other areas of application in human life. Such areas include mental health treatment, performance enhancement, and self-help.

The definition we have given above however remains in vogue. This is because there are always controversies over the meanings of words like psychology, more so when we are dealing with issues of the human mind, especially the processes that take place inside the mind. We see that human beings always engage in a number of purposeful activities from morning to evening. And as they keep themselves busy, interaction with the environment is inevitable. This interaction, coupled with environmental influences makes us sometime take psychology to be a discipline that studies consciousness or immediate experiences. Again this may be limited and opened to rejection, because it is a very minute portion of a human being.

It is also important at this juncture to have a look at the origin, development of Psychology over a period of time, until it has assumed a status of scientific discipline today.

Psychology emerged in the early times, in the times of the Greeks, from where the words ‘psyche’ and ‘logos’ originated. During the 17th century, the French philosopher by the name of Descartes introduced the idea of dualism, which asserted that the body and the mind are two entities that interact to form what we call today ‘human experience’. It was at this state in time that psychology was separated from Philosophy. As a separate discipline, it started to use scientific methods of investigation to study and draw conclusions about human beings, especially the thoughts and behavior.

Psychology as a separate discipline took roots in the mid-1800 when a German physiologist called Wilhelm Wundt employed a scientific research method to investigate reaction time. His by this time focused on the connection between the science of physiology and human thoughts and behavior. Through the labo- ratory, he established in 1879 at Leipzig, psychology for the first time assumed a separate position as distinct field of study from Philosophy, with the attention of understanding the human consciousness. This brought about a radical change and approach to the meaning, definition and application of Psychology. Thereafter all experimental studies concentrated on studying internal mental processes. The word Introspection becomes fashionable in the study of the human mental pro- cesses. Though controversies prevailed over the word introspection as a method of study of mental processes, Wundt’s method of study paved the way for future experimental studies. His method of study of course provoked other interested scientists, especially his students like Edwards Titchener who became the father of Structuralism, which we shall examine later in the module. A number of Schools of Thoughts in psychology thereafter emerged in Germany and United States of America.

Concluding Remarks

As a way of wrapping up on what we have so far said about psychology as a dis- cipline or what it is all about, its origin, historical development and status today, the following are some of the points we can deduce on Psychology as a field of study.

• Psychology today is regarded as a scientific field of study because it uses methods, materials and approaches and principles like other physical sciences (e.g. Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics etc.) to conduct experi- ments and come out with scientifically valid, reliable and verifiable facts and/or solutions to human problems.

• It seeks to clarify, explain, describe, interpret and evaluate facts concer- ning human behavior and mental processes in order to determine what govern their occurrences, hence achieving the following aims of Psycho- logy:

- Measurement and description of behavior.

- Understanding and explanation of behavior

- Improvement of behavior and conduct of society.

• Psychology as a subject of study is mainly concerned with the following:

- Activities that generate knowledge, e.g. seeing, thinking, perception.

- Emotion related issues, e.g. Laughter, crying, wellness, and feeling.

- Interpersonal relationships among individuals.

- Individual differences and personality.

- Human resource management and utilization, motivation, and personnel selection/placement.

- Normal/Abnormal behavior (psychological treatment, testing, treatment and rehabilitation.

- Guidance and counseling services to communities

(e .g in schools, mental institutions, careers and educational, orientation, and adaptation).

- Measurement and Evaluation of behavior (e.g. testing and grading of learners, promotion and validation of programs).

Schools of thought in psychology

Welcome to this section of the reading which is introducing you to what is commonly known as the Schools of Psychology. Some people at times call it the Systems of Psychology.

As a reminder, you recall in the reading in the Introduction, you read that the psychological laboratory that was established by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 in Lei- pzig caused some controversies among his students who questioned his methods of study of human mental processes. The outcomes of his methods made other scientists interested in the field of psychology start off with independent methods of studies of their own.

In this presentation, you are going to learn more about these different schools of thought as far as the study of psychology was at the time. We are going to start with that which was founded by Wilhelm Wundt’s student, who was known as Edward B. Titchener (1867-1927).

It is very important that students come to understand the systematic development that has taken place in Psychology to the understanding of human behavior; in as far as learners are concerned. By doing this it makes it easy for the classroom teacher can easily take advantage and effect necessary changes. It may not be very easy for the teacher to know precisely how each of these different schools can or can not contribute to positive changes in the teaching-learning process. An attempt is going to be made in the presentation in a way that makes it possible for you as a teacher fish out those points you think are relevant and/or contributive to your professionalism as a teacher.

Structuralism

Structuralism as an approach to the study of internal mental processes is attri- buted to Edward B. Titchener (1867-1927), who incidentally was a student of Wilhelm Wundt.

Like his teacher and mentor, Edward B.Titchener was also interested in studying the mental processes along the line he was tutored in. He started by giving another definition of Psychology as the analytic study of the generalized adult normal human mind through introspection. To him the subject of Psychology is the immediate experiences of human beings. Therefore this meant that the main occupation of practicing psychologist is to work hard and to discover the elements and the manner in which they are compounded. This then formed the foundation of his approach, which became known as ‘structuralism’. Structuralism became very popular in Germany in the 1890’s among young psychologists. Instead of following the path of Wundt, ‘structuralists’ as they later became known; it sought to explain mental processes by studying the elements. This is because the subject matter of psychology is consciousness, and it can only be understood in terms of the structures or in terms of what it does.

The argument Titchener advanced was that it is possible to study psychology and the consciousness by breaking it down into minute parts and then systematically studying them. This definitely entails breaking up the brain and then embarking on studying the consciousness. To Titchener, consciousness is the sum total of a person’s experiences at any given time. The mental elements are then the focus of any study. Later, he divided psychology into a number of parts, which he code-na- med the various areas as child, animal, abnormal and human psychology. Despite the different areas, he strongly believed and advocated that the main objective of psychology is to study and understand human mind and structure that is by isolating elemental processes from the complexity of consciousness.

Limitations

A field of study like structuralism certainly proved its worth and also brought wraths against it. Today, psychologists look at structuralism as a historical relic. They consider it to be too narrow for any meaningful scientific field of study, because it fails to embrace all aspects of human behavior. Secondly, psychologists consider it to be anti-people’s abilities and prevent people from acting independently and consciously. Thirdly, they consider the objects and consciousness under structuralism not easily subjected to any controlled experimentation in the same way as behavior is. For example, introspection is limited and can not be subjected to any scientific investigation in a laboratory situation.

Learning Points

Despite all its limitations, structuralism has some points that can be useful in a classroom situation, more so to the teacher.

• Structuralism has contributed to the science of psychology in the context of its scientific methods of investigations. This means that one must conduct a study through careful collection and analysis of data before reaching any conclusion. The classroom teacher can also im- prove teaching-learning activities through careful collection of data, by conducting simple classroom based experimentations on aspects of teaching-learning activities through careful introspections, observation and interview, and then interpreting the findings logically.

• The teacher can also conduct elements of meta-cognition of his/her thoughts, especially those that have implications on the contents of his/her lessons.

Functionalism

Welcome to the presentation on another School of Thought. This time it is called ‘Functionalism’.

The development of functionalism as an approach to the understanding of the internal mental processes started in the United States of America, and was led by William James (1842-1910), at the University of Harvard. Again this movement was in reaction to the limitations of the methods of study developed by Edward B. Titchener and Wilhelm Wundt.

Functionalism advocated that engagement with activity is very important to the explanation of what goes inside the mental processes. This is likening to what takes place in a school situation when learners are actively doing some work. This means that functionalism is an approach that looks at thinking as taking place when a problematic situation prevails. Thinking only takes place when an organism is thwarted by some external force or obstacle.

Unlike structuralism which advanced that the systematization and explanation of elements that occur via nervous structures and a mentalist approach to the problem of human behavior and experiences, functionalism advanced that the brain is the physical devices with mental substrates that perform computations on inputs which produce behaviors. This definitely is a movement far away from what had been postulated other psychologists, the likes of Wundt and Titchener. William James was concerned with the effective functions of the brain through its organization or what is now known as ‘software programs’.

William James said in his study that mental states are constituted by their casual relationships to one another and to sensory inputs and behavioral outputs. This was a direct reaction to Edward Titchener’s ideas.

In summary, William James advanced the following points:

• Psychology as a science was to focus on the usefulness of mental abili- ties, for example in things like learning or in perception. This actually formed the foundation of his functionalism.

• Consciousness is an everyday thing or occurrences, which is in direct contrast which the elemental approach of Wundt.

• The number of publications he made on the subject of functionalism made it possible to open up more rooms for other psychologists interes- ted in mental processes, in particular human behavior.

Learning Points

The ideas of William James about functionalism have some practical relevance to Education and in particular to a practicing teacher:

• Behavior is very adaptive. This means that teachers in schools should endeavor to assist learners adapt easily to school situations or environ- ment. The society in which the children are fond should likewise teach them proper adjustment mechanisms.

• Conducive environment is needed always for any meaningful adapta- tion and/or adjustment.

• Learner must always be supplemented with a lot of practical activities.

So those in charge of curriculum construction or development must always take that into account.

• Teaching must always take into account the different ages of the lear- ners, including their interests.

• The use of tests and other devices for assessing the progress the learner are making is greatly encouraged in school situations.

• Learners are the center of learning activities and teachers are to take note and do it.

• It is possible to conduct scientific studies in schools for the purpose of improving teaching and learning both by the teacher and learners.

Behaviorism

Welcome to another topic, which this time is about ‘Behaviorism’.

This is a topic attributed to J.B. Watson (1878-1958), came out to popularize behaviorism, which indeed revolutionize psychology as an objective study of behavior; animal and human beings. He gave the definition as being on the proposition that all things which organisms do like acting, thinking and feeling should be regarded as behaviors. This means that behaviors can indeed be descri- bed scientifically without recourse to internal physiological events of hypothetical constructs, such as the mind.

The points that were raised by Watson were actually against those that were pos- tulated by Structuralism. The points in his views are that psychology needs to be objective in its approach to the study the mental processes and behaviors, unlike the mentalist approach of Titchener and his associates. He defined psychology as the science of behavior (hence behaviorism). The task of any psychologist is to establish the laws of behavior. The theories or conclusions that are developed to explain behavior should have observable correlates, but that there are no philosophical differences between observable processes and privately observable processes (such as thinking and feelings). Introspection was outright rejected by Watson and his colleagues as a method of study of internal mental processes. To avoid falling into the traps of introspection, Watson concentrated only on experimental methods in attempting to study human behaviors. The reliance on experimental method attracted a lot of followings. Among them are personalities like Skinner, who is known as the father of operant conditioning. Others like Hull, who developed the hypothetical-deductive method in reductive theory of learning, and of course the re-enforcement in learning situation. Guthrie also was another person who was fascinated by the ideas of Watson. He proposed a theory of behavior based on a single law. Any time a response occurs, it is linked with each of the stimulus elements present at the time, the response is made.

Watson produced a very powerful, pure and descriptive behaviorism and attracted many followers. Some of the ideas have implications for education today.

Learning points

Behaviorism today has a number of good points that can be applied in teaching- learning situations.

• There are good points in the psychology of learning and motivation.

Teachers are called upon to take note of the contributions of behavio- rism to the profession.

• Other areas of psychology can be meaningfully used for promoting positive learning, e.g. emotion, and child behavior.

• Programmed learning has become fashionable in classroom teaching.

• Conducive learning environment is paramount in teaching-learning situation.

• Behavior is learnt because the organism is in perpetual contact with it.

• Learners are the center of the teacher’s attention when teaching in class.

• Rewards are very important in teaching-learning task, and teachers are to take note of that.

Summary

Watson’s main points:

• Psychologists to concentrate on measurable and observable behaviors (behaviorism).

• Defined psychology as the science of behavior, and therefore the main task of a psychologist is to establish the laws of behavior.

• Environment has influence on behavior of an organism.

Psychoanalysis

Welcome to yet another very important topic in the School of Thought in Psy- chology. This time we shall concentrate our thoughts on one individual, whose name is Sigmund Freud (1856-1936).

Sigmund Freud is known as the father of Psychoanalysis. He was as most people say a prolific writer who during his most active life spanning over 45 years wrote, developed and revised his theories many times. However controversial his theory is his influence on the profession of counseling and psychotherapy has been quite enormous and controversial. Because of his commitment to his studies and/or research work, he was characterized by his contemporaries as a meticulous scientist, and a workaholic. He qualifies as medical doctor and was later to be influenced by two important mentors. The first mentor was called Charcot, who under his

tutelage, Sigmund Freud came to develop a lot of interest in hypnosis, hysteria and the sexual basis of mental disturbances. The second mentor was Josef Breuer, who had developed techniques in treating women who had problems of fainting and serious coughing ailments. From the experiences he gained from his two mentors, Sigmund Freud was later to develop his interest in and methods of treatment called Psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis means several things to many people. It can mean a system or school of psychology. It may also mean a theory of personality, a method of psychiatric therapy based on the theory that mental illness functions on both conscious and unconscious levels, treatment by psychoanalysis involving the interpretation of dreams and the patient’s free association of ideas. So in the context of this module, psychoanalysis is presented as a system of psychology and discussed in relation to the theory of personality as developed by Sigmund Freud himself.

Freud’s main ideas center on the premise that the greater part of our personality lies buries in the unconscious. To him our mental phenomenon is comparable to an iceberg floating on the surface of the ocean, whose greater part portion remains under the surface of the water. The meaning behind this statement is that we cannot proceed to study human behavior by merely observing his/her overt behavior because most of the repressed desires, thoughts and feelings re- main in the unconscious, yet continue to influence our behavior. He attributed three qualities to mental processes: conscious, pre•conscious and unconscious. Conscious here relates to our being aware of a phenomenon at a given moment. Pre-conscious is the aggregation of of experiences we are able to attend to. Un- conscious is the phenomenon we are unaware of and is not accessible except under special circumstances.

To translate his theoretical propositions, Sigmund Freud developed a unique structure of psyche consisting of the id, ego and super ego. He called this the ‘Psyche Structure’. The id comprises all that is inherited or present at birth. To him, the id is the source of all mental energy in an individual. The id is governed by the principle of hedonism.

Main characteristics of the Id

According to Sigmund Freud, the id consists of the following:

• It is unconscious in nature and has no direct contact with reality.

• It is dominated by pleasure principle and always strives to avoid pain.

• It is abnormal in the sense that it contains no social value or morality

• It is illogical.

• It contains repressed desires, thoughts and feelings.

• It is a reservoir of libido. The life and death instinct passes through it, promotes primitive habit formation and is the seat of all instincts.

The Ego

The ego develops from the id to counteract the pressures emanating from it. The ego

operates on the reality principle and the main characteristics are the following:

• It is logical in nature and largely conscious.

• Always strives for satisfaction.

• It deals with reality of the environmental conditions and therefore pre- serves the person.

• Because it obeys reality principle, it differentiates between subjective experiences and the nature of things within the external environment.

• It censors dreams.

• It acts as intermediary between forces of instinctive pressure, external reality and control from super ego.

Super Ego

This is the last psychic entity. According to Sigmund Freud, it is the internalized version of parental or other authority figures. Super ego is known also as the vehicle for the ego ideal.

According to Sigmund Freud, the following are the main characteristics of super ego:

• Represents the influence acquired from other persons, parents, authority within the society.

• It is a differentiated part of the ego.

• It is largely inaccessible to the ego.

• It is largely not found in the conscious, but in the ego.

• It is always in contact with the id.

• It is the outcome of the child’s co-existent desires i.e. to love and to be loved.

• It is a moral critic that maintains in the ego an unconscious guilt sense.

• It blocks the impulses that which violates the social norms.

Learning Points

Today psychoanalysis as propounded by Sigmund Freud has a number of practical points relevant in educational practice, which classroom teachers can make use of in their teaching assignments. The following are some of the points which can aid teaching activities

• The theory and practice of education revolutionized to the extent that the unconscious motivation plays an important part or role in the process of learning. • Foundation of freedom in education has been laid, because psychoanalysis advocates for the importance of total develop- ment of an individual’s personality. • Emotion is an important ingre- dient in the process of education and/or learning of an individual.

• Teachers play significant role in the life of students, by foe example influencing their behavior, forms positive attitudes towards life and colleagues and promotion of pro-life social skills.

• Curricular activities are given due importance in schools and as avenues for propping up feelings that are instantly released. • Teachers are able

to understand the origin, development and possible causes of malad- justment in children. • Early childhood education given due attention by educational planners, curriculum developers and implementers and teachers, especially of lower classes.

Children are given opportunities to express their emotion and motives freely during learning activities. Respect for children’s experiences and utilization during teaching-learning sessions, and teachers must always have this in mind.

• Teachers need to express love, sympathy and affection to children du- ring teaching. By doing this the teacher is actually promoting develop- ment of positive attitudes in children towards life in general.

• Teachers to avoid reliance on punishment and other negative re-enforce- ments during teaching-learning activities, because they create problems to emotional stability of children.

Gestalt School of Psychology

We are now going to look at the last school of thought about psychology. This time we focus on the school that has been called Gestalt school of psychology.

Gestalt school of psychology developed as a movement against the theory of behaviorism and conditioning. As a gestalt school in its present form, is a de- velopment from psychologists with the focus on how humans create meaning out of the perceptual stimuli which abound in the environment. The movement became known as the Warburg School of imageless thoughts. Max Wertheimer became well known in this school and he conducted a number of experiments about holistic nature of human experience and the primacy of figure-ground relationships.

The basic principle in Gestalt Psychology is holism or lacking separateness. Trans- lated in practical terms, the essence is that human beings cannot be separated from their environment, nor can they be divided into parts. So physical and psychological functioning is inherently related: thoughts, feelings and physical sensation are all part of the unified being.

Max Wertheimer was later joined by other psychologists, namely Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler in the University of Frankfurt.

Main features of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt is a German word literally meaning ‘whole’ or ‘pattern’. So in a simple day-to•day language, the word can mean ‘form’, ‘shape’ or ‘configuration’. The principle ideas contained in this school of thoughts are the following

• Whole is important in as far as determining the behavior is concerned, because it is from the whole that the other parts can respond accordin- gly. We always perceive the whole and not its parts. This definitely goes against the elementalistic psychology that had earlier emphasized the importance of parts. • Phenomenological approach. Gestalt approach to the understanding of human behavior is antiposivitic, and therefore moralistic to human behavior. • Human behavior cannot be quanti- fied. Instead, Gestalt psychology emphasized qualitative assessment of human behavior.

• The measuring instruments or tools used in studying human behavior are unreliable, unpredictable and not valid. This view is in direct oppo- sition to ideas advocated by behaviorism. They introduced the concept of organization as opposed to the stimulus-Response (S-R) dyad.

Laws of Perception

1. Pragnanz. Our perception organization is always as good as the prevailing conditions allow. This has implications for promotion of motivation in an individual.

2. Proximity, closure and Similarity. Gestalt laws also follow the three prin- ciples. Proximity makes objects be perceived as a unity where they are observed in close proximity. The principle of similarity states objects that are observed in like color or forms will be perceived as assuming a group

formation. Closure means that the mind has a tendency to complete imper- fect wholes into perfect and closed forms. A dynamic variation of the laws of pragnanz is the principle of closure which operates in our perception, thoughts, action and memories.

• Insight. Gestalt psychologists developed the theory of learning by insight. Productive thinking focuses on the importance of perceiving meaningful wholes, grasping relations and finally acquisition of insight.

• Psychological isomorphism. This theory was developed from Quantum Theory (in Physics) and when translated to psychology means physical and mental. The brain functions tend to take the form of specific molar events corresponding to those structures that are found in our experien- ces.

Learning Points

Today Gestalt psychology as advocated by Wertheimer and his colleagues has been found to have practical applications in actual teaching-learning situations. The following are some of the main points, which can be meaningfully utilized by classroom teachers.

• The present environment where teachers and learners are found plays an important part in the development of personality. Teachers, school administrators must endeavors to create conducive environment for enjoyment of learning.

• Social learning in the classroom be taken note of and made use of in instructional activities. For consolidation of learnt materials among the learners.

• Gestalt psychologists have provided new approaches to problem solving and learning. Goals and purpose have important place in individual goals. Goals and purpose activate the learners.

• School administrators, teachers and the learners must work as an orga- nized whole to improve teaching and learning process in school.

• Learners’ views are important in the promotion of teaching-learning activities. Teachers are obliged to take note and respect the views from the learners.

Unit Two: The Learning Objectives of this unit are for you to:

Unit Two: Learning Objectives

Define the terms Education and Educational Psychology. State the connections between Education and Psychology. List the contributions of Educational Psychology to the practice of Education.

List the benefits of Educational Psychology to a classroom teacher.

Readings and Useful Links:

1. Educational psychology-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_psychology

2. Introduction to Educational Psychology-Psychology Wiki-a-Wiki http://psychology.wiki.com/wiki/Introduction_to_educational_psyc

3. Definition of Psychology by Gene Zimmer http://www.sntp.net/psychology_definition.htm

4. Contributions of Psychology to Education by Edward L. Thorndike http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Thorndike/education.htm

5. Educational psychologist (2000), 35(4) pp257-270

Educational Psychology in Teacher Education by Anita Woolfolk http://

leaonline.com/do/abs/10.1207/S15326985EP3504_04Abstract

6. Psychology as a Science http://www.allfreeessays.net/student/Psycho- logy_A_Science.html

7. Psychology as a Science (Chapter one) by Alfred H. Funch and Cathe- rine S. Milar

http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/01/04713832/047138201.pdf

Unit Three: The Learning Objectives of this unit are for you to:

Unit Three: Learning Objectives

Identify the different methods of study in Educational Psychology.

List the advantages and disadvantages of each method of study

Reading # 2

Introduction to Educational Psychology-PsychologyWiki-a Wikia

http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Introduction_to_educational_

psych.(Retrieved: 16th Nov, 2007).

Wikipedia (Answers.com) History of Psychology http://www.answers.com/

topic/history_of_psychology (Retrieved: 16th Nov 2007)

Answers.com Educational Psychology http://www.answers.com/educational

+psychology?cat=technology

(Retrieved: 16th Nov 2007)

Dr. C. George Boeree. Quantitative Methods http:/webspace.ship.educ/cp- boer/genpsyqua/meth.html

(Retrieved: 18th Nov 2007)

Unit Four: The Learning Objectives of this unit are for you to:

Unit Four: Learning Objectives

• Equip teacher with skills and knowledge for effective teaching.

• Equip the teacher with skills of guidance and counseling for the learners who may need the services.

• Conduct out measurement and evaluation of teaching-learning activities in school.

• Equip the teacher with skills of test construction.

• Enable the teacher grade learners at every end of learning activity conducted.

• Enable the teacher cater for individual differences among the learners.

• Equip the teacher with skills in curriculum construction and/or revision.

• Conduct effective classroom discipline and management

• Equip the teacher with skills to conduct further research into the field of Education.

• Enable the teacher predict the outcomes of educational activities.

IX. Teaching and learning activities

Pre-assessment

Pre-assessment exercise in this module is to help you test your knowledge as far as General Psychology is concerned. You are requested to try answering these multiple questions before checking in the answers given at the end of this module.

Rationale

By making an effort to try answering these multiple question items, you are in- directly evaluating the progress you are making in grasping the subject matters of general Psychology and Educational Psychology. So go ahead and give this a trial and see what comes out of the exercise.

Pre-assessment

Title of Pre-assessment: Multiple Choice Questions Exercise

To provide an opportunity for you the learner on what you have so far done in this module, the following objective test items are presented as a revision exercise. It is intended to provide some background readings on some of the basic concepts and ideas needed for successful learning of this module.

You are particularly advised to go through all the items before checking at the possible answers at the end of the exercise. After that you can find out how you have progressed, and of course try also to look up more information from the sources given in the references.

1. When we talk about Psychology, we are actually referring to;

a) Understanding behavior

b) Environment of an organism c) Study of the mind

d) The activities of the teacher in the class

2. ...........actually forms part of Psychology

a) Perception, cognition, behavior and teaching b) Perception, behavior, cognition and emotion c) Soul, behavior, cognition and perception

d) Cognition, behavior, emotion and answering

3. Psychology helps in the understanding of

a) Processes that go in the mind of a person b) More about body movement

c) In becoming clever or intelligent in class work d) how discoveries are made

4. Which is the best definition of Educational Psychology?

a) The study of children in learning situation

b) The systematic study of the development of an individual within educa- tional setting.

c) The science of behavior

d) Critical outlook and curiosity to examine common sense and traditional belief about learning.

5. Educational Psychology helps a teacher to

a) Foster harmonious development of learners into responsible and active citizens

b) Go for further studies

c) To become more reasonable and understanding d) To become effective in interacting with peers

6. ………has defined behavior as an action which can be seen and observed in an objective way

a) Plato

b) Froebel

c) Pestalozzi d) Watson

7.Psychology comes from the Greek word which means the study of ………. a) Human body

b) Human life

c) Soul

d) Thinking

8.Identify the odd word from the list given

a) Educational Psychology helps a teacher understand problem of children in learning situation

b) Educational Psychology helps teachers counsel children they teach

c) Educational Psychology helps school inspector be effective in motoring progress in primary schools

d) Educational Psychology helps teacher understand group dynamics

9. Look at the following statements (a….b). Which ones are appropriate ob- jectives to Educational Psychology? (Circle the correct ones)

a) To provide teachers with skills related to teaching

b) To instill in teachers the urge for professional growth

c) To provide teacher with guidelines for solving problems in teaching- learning process

d) To assist teachers give effective punishments to children for wrong doing in schools

10. The main objective of ………… is to assist teachers develop necessary skills and competencies to understand, control, and predict behaviors of learners in educative process at different levels.

a) Human Psychology

b) Developmental Psychology c) General Psychology

d) Educational Psychology

11. …………established a laboratory of Psychology and started to conduct systematic experimental studies in Psychology in 1879 in Germany

a) W.Wundt b) I. Pavlov

c) J.S. Skinner d) Guthrie

12. The word Introspection as used in psychology means…………

a) The study of the consciousness b) Self observation

c) Feelings and motives

d) Nature of an individual’s experiences

13. When a teacher carries out a systematic study of a group of children over an extended period of time (e.g. two years), this is known as ……..

a) Longitudinal study b) Clinical case study

c) Cross-sectional study d) Differential survey

14. Which statement is not true?

a) Experimental method is the most systematic procedure in solving pro- blems

b) Experimental method is objective and precise information

c) The findings from experimental method are easily verified in other investigations under different conditions

d) Experimental method provides innovative ideas for further experimen- tations

15.……………greatly emphasized the importance of activated in schools a) John Dewey

b) William James

c) Albert Bandura

d) Hull and Tolman

16.The Need Achievement Theory of Motivation was postulated by …….. a) Abraham Maslow

b) David McClelland

c) Ivan Pavlov

d) Albert Bandura

17. What motivates a distance learner to study hard is due to ……. a) Intrinsic motivation

b) Self-drive

c) Self-esteem

d) Extrinsic motivation

18. Psychoanalytic theory of motivation emphasizes ……. a) Unconscious motive

b) Overt behavior patterns

c) Relationship patterns d) Socialization practices

19. Social Learning Theory emphasizes ……. a) S-R relationships

b) Modeling

c) Integration

d) Positive re-enforcement

20. Which of these is not a function of motivation?

a) Energizes and sustains behavior b) Directs and regulates behavior

c) Selects behavior and directs it toward a goal d) Terminates achievement motive

Answer Key

1. C

2. B

3. A

4. B

5. A

6. D

7. C

8. C

9. D

10. D

11. A

12. B

13. A

14. C

15. A

16. A

17. A

18. A

19. B

20. D

Pedagogical Comments For Learners

Thank you very much for the effort you have put in to go through this simple exercise. If the outcome of the effort you have put in has made you score ten and above, you are doing well. Any score above seventeen, you are doing very well and encouraged to maintain the diligence in your studies. On the other hand, any score below ten, you need to work extra hard in order to successfully complete the course.