Lecture no: 7 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Transcription

1 Lecture n: 7 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY The Humanistic Apprach and the Cgnitive Apprach The Humanistic Apprach: Faced with a chice between psychanalysis and behavirism, many psychlgists in the 1950s and 1960s sensed a vid in psychlgy s cnceptin f human nature. Freud had drawn attentin t the darker frces f the uncnscius, and Skinner was interested nly in the effects f reinfrcement n bservable behavir. Humanistic psychlgy emerged ut f a desire t understand the cnscius mind, free will, human dignity, and the capacity fr self-reflectin and grwth. An alternative t psychanalysis and behavirism, humanistic psychlgy became knwn as the third frce. It is the apprach that fcused n: The idea that peple are in cntrl f their life. The persn r the self and persnal grwth and develpment are t be emphasized. The humanistic apprach includes a number f ther theries with the same r similar rientatin e.g., existential and phenmenlgical psychlgy. Basic Assumptins f the Humanistic Apprach i. In rder t understand behavir we must cnsider the subjective experience f the persn. ii. Neither past experience nr current circumstances cnstrain the behavir f the persn. Humanistic Vs Psychdynamic & behavirist Appraches Humanistic apprach emphasizes the persn, the psychdynamic stresses uncnscius determinants, and the behavirists fcus upn external determinants. Humanistic apprach is mre ptimistic than the ther tw in the sense that it believes in the persn s ability and will. Accrding t the humanistic thinkers, limiting urselves t bservable behavir and external stimuli alne is ignring the thinking-feeling persn, and that is dehumanizing. Free will: Humans pssess the ability t make decisins abut their life Central Themes f Humanistic Apprach Human beings are capable f shaping their wn destiny. They can think and design their curse f actin and can fllw it in the way they like. Peple can vercme r minimize the envirnmental, and intrinsic influences Here and nw is imprtant. Whleness r cmpleteness f the persnality is imprtant rather than its separate, disintegrated, structural parts. Humanistic apprach emphasizes: Individual s freedm in directing his future Capacity fr persnal grwth Intrinsic wrth Ptential fr self-fulfillment cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 48

2 Emergence f the Humanistic Apprach Emerged in reactin t the perceived limitatins f psychdynamic theries, especially psychanalysis, as well as the staunch behavirist way f understanding and interpreting behavir Individuals like Carl Rgers and Abraham Maslw strngly felt that the appraches prevalent at that time culd nt adequately address issues like the meaning f behavir, and the nature f healthy grwth The funders f humanistic psychlgy asserted that peple need a value system----a system f understanding, r frame f rientatin----due t which life gets a meaning and purpse Carl Rgers: ( ) Brn in 1902 in Oak Park, Illinis, a suburb f Chicag, he underwent a strict upbringing as a child wh later turned ut t be rather islated, independent, and self-disciplined. Initially went t the University f Wiscnsin fr Agriculture majr but later became interested in the study f religin. Frm there he switched n t the clinical psychlgy prgram f Clumbia University, and received his Ph.D. in One f the funders f the humanistic apprach, Rgers was ne f the mst influential therapists in the 20th century. Research, even that cnducted after his death, revealed that Rgers was cited by mre therapists as a majr influence n their thinking and clinical practice than any ther persn in psychlgy -----including Freud. Rgers Apprach Primarily a clinical thery, based n years f Rgers experience dealing with his clients In its richness and maturity his thery matches that f Freud; a thery well thught-ut and lgical having brad applicatin. The thery emphasizes n a single factr frce f life which he calls the actualizing tendency i.e. built-in mtivatin present in every life frm t develp its ptentials t the fullest extent pssible. Rgers had the persn-centered apprach since the persn was the main figure f imprtance, He believed that the mst pwerful human drive is the ne t becme fully functining, Fully functining = a persn becmes all that he r she is capable f T be fully functining means experiencing: i. Optimal psychlgical adjustment ii. Optimal psychlgical maturity iii. Cmplete cngruence (a feeling f integratin when the self and the ideal self match; incngruence is a feeling f cnflict r unease experienced in case f a mismatch between the tw) iv. Cmplete penness t experience Main Cncepts i. Self: a fluid perceptual structure based n ne s experience f ne s wn being, ii. Ideal self: an Individual s gals and aspiratins, iii. Phenmenal field: an Individual s unique perceptin f the wrld, iv. Actualizing tendency: an innate drive reflecting the desire t grw, t develp, and t enhance ne s capacities, v. Need fr psitive regard: a need fr psitive scial cntacts like lve, vi. Cnditins f wrth: restrictins impsed n self expressin in rder t earn psitive regard, cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 49

3 Defenses: In case f an incngruity between ne's the ideal and the real self-defenses develp. Rgers talks abut nly tw defenses: Denial and Perceptual Distrtin, i. DENIAL: Blcking ut the threatening situatin altgether. Denial als includes what Freud called repressin. ii. Perceptual distrtin: Reinterpreting the situatin s that it appears less threatening, just like Freud's ratinalizatin Neurtics: are apart frm the real and the ideal. Becming mre incngruus, they find themselves in mre and mre threatening situatins, levels f anxiety becme greater, and they use mre and mre defenses... It becmes a vicius cycle that the persn eventually is unable t get ut f, at least n his wn Psychsis: Psychsis ccurs when a persn's defenses are verwhelmed, and their sense f self becmes "shattered" int little discnnected pieces. His behavir lacks cnsistency. Carl Rger s Psychtherapy Carl Rgers is best knwn fr his cntributins t therapy knwn as persn- centered/ Client- centered therapy/ Nn- directive therapy. Als knwn as the Rgerian Therapy. His main technique is Reflectin mirrring f emtinal experiences. Aim f the therapy: t help a persn grw and self-actualize. Rgers maintained that the therapist must pssess the fllwing qualities: i. Cngruence -- genuineness, hnesty, with the client ii. Empathy -- the ability t feel what the client feels. iii. Respect -- acceptance, uncnditinal psitive regard twards the client. Abraham Harld Maslw ( ) American psychlgist, and leading expnent f humanistic apprach. Gave cmprehensive thery f mtivatin. Fund the prevalent psychlgy t be t pessimistic and negatively riented. Key Pints f Maslw s Thery Psychlgy and the psychlgist shuld lk at the psitive side f the human beings. There must be mre t living than just being battered by a hstile envirnment, r by depraved instincts----which may actually be leading t self-destructin. Peple s needs are nt lw level and base. We have psitive needs that may becme neutral in the wrst cases, but will nt turn negative r base. Human behavir des respnd t needs but we will be wrng in saying that all ur needs are nly physilgical in nature Needs mtivate human actin; such needs are very few in number. cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 50

4 Maslw s Hierarchy f Needs Basically a stage thery. The needs at ne level have t be met in rder fr ne t mve n t higher rder. The needs at the lwest/primary/base level are the physilgical needs, whereas the highest rder needs are the self-actualizatin needs. Self-Actualizatin: Mst advanced human need based n the desire t grw and utilize ne s ptential up t the ptimal level. Self Actualizatin Needs Esteem Needs Lve And Belngingness Needs Safety Needs Physilgical Needs Categries f Needs Meta-needs Based n a desire t grw rather than fr meeting a deficiency: expressed in the need fr self actualizatin Deficiency needs The absence f the underlying requirements triggers these needs e.g. physilgical needs, lve needs, r esteem needs Interactins and needs f Behavir Physilgical needs: Fulfilled thrugh = hunger/fd: Pathlgy assciated = Overeating, Anrexia. Safety needs: Fulfilled thrugh = prfessin, jb; Pathlgy assciated = Phbias. Lve and belngingness: Fulfilled thrugh = Marriage, Friendship: Pathlgy assciated = Antiscial persnality. Esteem needs: Fulfilled thrugh = Awards, Hnrs, Schlarships; Pathlgy assciated = Depressin. Self-actualizatin needs: Fulfilled thrugh = Painting, writing, singing: Pathlgy assciated = Islatin, Alienatin, Cynicism. Criticism against Maslw s thery Althugh a cmprehensive and well frmed thery, it has been criticized at sme pints: Can we actually, fr all case, distribute and neatly rder these needs? There is little empirical evidence t supprt Maslw s way f ranking needs Extensins f Humanistic Apprach Existential Psychlgy (Jean Paul Sartre, Rll May) Frankl s Lgtherapy Psitive Psychlgy (Martin Seligman) cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 51

5 Cgnitive Apprach: Frm the 1920s thrugh the 1960s, behavirism dminated psychlgy in the United States. Eventually, hwever, psychlgists began t mve away frm strict behavirism. Many became increasingly interested in cgnitin, a term used t describe all the mental prcesses invlved in acquiring, string, and using knwledge. Such prcesses include perceptin, memry, thinking, prblem slving, imagining, and language. This shift in emphasis tward cgnitin had such a prfund influence n psychlgy that it has ften been called the cgnitive revlutin. The psychlgical study f cgnitin became knwn as cgnitive psychlgy. Cgnitive prcesses vs. cmputer: One reasn fr psychlgists renewed interest in mental prcesses was the inventin f the cmputer, which prvided an intriguing metaphr fr the human mind. The hardware f the cmputer was likened t the brain, and cmputer prgrams prvided a step-by-step mdel f hw infrmatin frm the envirnment is put in, stred, and retrieved t prduce a respnse. Based n the cmputer metaphr, psychlgists began t frmulate infrmatin-prcessing mdels f human thught and behavir. The pineering wrk f Swiss psychlgist Jean Piaget als inspired psychlgists t study cgnitin. During the 1920s, while administering intelligence tests in schls, Piaget became interested in hw children think. He designed varius tasks and interview questins t reveal hw children f different ages reasn abut time, nature, numbers, causality, mrality, and ther cncepts. Based n his many studies, Piaget therized that frm infancy t adlescence, children advance thrugh a predictable series f cgnitive stages. The cgnitive revlutin als gained mmentum frm develpments in the study f language. Behavirist B. F. Skinner had claimed that language is acquired accrding t the laws f perant cnditining, in much the same way that rats learn t press a bar fr fd pellets. In 1959, hwever, American linguist Nam Chmsky charged that Skinner's accunt f language develpment was wrng. Chmsky nted that children all ver the wrld start t speak at rughly the same age and prceed thrugh rughly the same stages withut being explicitly taught r rewarded fr the effrt. Accrding t Chmsky, the human capacity fr learning language is innate. He therized that the human brain is hardwired fr language as a prduct f evlutin. By pinting t the primary imprtance f bilgical dispsitins in the develpment f language, Chmsky s thery dealt a serius blw t the behavirist assumptin that all human behavirs are frmed and maintained by reinfrcement. Cgnitin means the knwn, knwledge, r the prcess f knwing Cgnitive apprach emphasizes n: i. Thughts ii. Feelings iii. Thinking iv. Values v. Expectatins etc; factrs that determine the persnality f the individual Main Emphasis: Fr a prper understanding f behavir, the cgnitive apprach emphasizes the rle f mediating prcesses in human behavir i.e., the prcesses that lie between the Envirnmental stimuli and the behaviral respnse Fcused n hw we remember, hw infrmatin prcessing takes place, hw decisin making appraisals are dne cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 52

6 Unlike the behaviristic apprach, this thery gives same imprtance t bth the internal state f the persn as well as the envirnmental events Internal events are referred as Mediatrs r Meditatinal Prcesses Areas f Special Interest Cgnitive apprach mainly fcuses n: i. Emtins ii. Scial behavir iii. Behavir mdificatin Cgnitive apprach includes the elements f psychlgy, linguistics, cmputer science and physilgy-- thus called a hybrid science. Elements f Cgnitive Mdel Internal prcesses= essential in understanding behavir Mediatrs= Wrk in a systematic and rganized way nt in terms f trial and errr Experiments n apes by German scientist Wlfgang Khler, discvered the use f insight by them in prblem situatins. Tlman talked abut the cgnitive maps (relatinship between stimulus) it is nt necessary t have an assciatin between stimulus and respnse, a persn can learn withut shwing any apparent respnse Bth Khler and Tlman played a vital rle in laying the fundatin f cgnitive apprach Emtins and Cgnitive Apprach Pineer: Stanley Schacter (1971) Accrding t him, emtins result frm the physilgical arusal as well as the cgnitive appraisal (evaluatin) f the situatin Arusal cmes first and is general in nature In rder t understand what ne is feeling i.e., the title/label f the emtin, and the meaning f ne s reactin in a particular setting the arusal is appraised cgnitively cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 53

7 Schacter s Thery f Emtins Stimulus elicit Incming car (Perceptin f Punding heart/perspiratin (arusal) I am afraid /ging t be hurt (cgnitive appraisal/ label Felt emtin Fear= emtinal arusal Richard Lazarus (1984) maintains that emtinal experience cannt be understd unless we understand hw what ges n in the envirnment is be evaluated. Emtin leads t cgnitin, and cgnitin in turn leads t emtinal experience. Experienced Emtin Cgnitin Cgnitive Apprach t Scial Behavir Jhn Dllard and Neal Miller (1950) first ever emphasized the imprtance f cgnitive prcesses in determining behavir Kelly s Persnal Cnstruct Thery: Develped by Gerge Kelly (1955.) Emphasis n hw a persn cgnitively cnstructs his wrld Persns develp their behavir cgnitively twards their wrld and develp attitudes and pinins accrdingly knwn as persnal cnstructs. The cnstructs then develp int a belief system f a persn. Mischel s Cgnitive Scial persnality Thery Walter Mischel was a student f Gerge Kelly. Accrding t him, hw a persn respnds t the envirnmental stimulus depends n the fllwing variables: i. Cmpetencies: What the persn knws What the persn can d Hw well the persn generate the cgnitive/ behaviral utcme ii. Encding Strategies: Ways f prcessing infrmatin iii. Expectatins: Anticipating the likely utcme (mainly psitive) iv. Persnal Values: Imprtance f ne s belief, als stimulus, peple, events etc v. Self regulatry system: maintaining rules fr better perfrmance Setting gals Evaluating perfrmances cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 54

8 Bandura s Cgnitive-Scial Learning Thery Given by Albert Bandura (1986). By cmbining the rules f learning, it emphasizes the cmplex human interactins in scial settings. Persn Behavir Envirnmental events Observatinal Learning Main cmpnent f scial-learning thery in which the persn makes changes in his wn behavir by watching/r imitating thers i.e., a mdel/ a super star/favrite persnality r cartn character. Effective in acquiring skills, attitudes, beliefs simply by watching thers. Cantr s Scial Intelligence Thery Given by Nancy Cantr and her clleagues (1987). Refers t the expertise, which a persn uses in different life situatins/ tasks. The thery explains several types f individual differences. i. Chice f Life Gal: Giving pririty/ imprtance t the mst imprtant gal at a particular pint f life. i.e., student -- Gd grades ii. Use f knwledge in scial interactins: Use f life experiences and expertise in prblem slving. Cgnitive Apprach in Behavir Mdificatin Negative and unacceptable behavir is mdified thrugh cnstructive strategies. Accrding t this apprach, persn s beliefs and attitudes effect the mtivatin and behavir f a persn In rder t mdify the behavir, reinfrcement techniques are used. Fr attaining the desired gal, realistic strategies are used with cntinuus feedback. Altering the Belief System: Psychlgists are f the view that psychlgical prblems arise due t the way peple perceive themselves in relatin with the peple they interact with. Main fcus f the therapist is t alter the irratinal belief system f a persn. Cause f Psychlgical Illness Illgical Reasning/ Beliefs i.e. Being perfect in every way Rigid Rules ccur autmatically after repeating several times I must bey the authrity False Premises If I can d whatever is required then I ll be recgnized by everyne cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 55

9 Cgnitive Thery fr Depressin Aarn Beck frmulated the therapy fr depressin patients. Therapist helps the depressive persn t change the faulty patterns f thinking thrugh prblem- slving techniques Believed that depressin reccurs in depressive patients because the negative thughts ccur autmatically f which they are nt aware. The therapist uses fur tactics: i. Challenging the patient s ill beliefs ii. Evaluating the cause f depressin iii. Attributing the cause t the envirnmental situatin/ event nt t the persn s in cmpetencies iv. Finding the alternative and effective slutins fr the cmplex prblems Ratinal-Emtive Behavir Therapy Develped by Albert Ellis (1962, 1977). Fcused n altering the irratinal beliefs int mre acceptable ways. Clients are frbidden t use shuld, must, ught etc. Cnfrntatin techniques are used which fcus n changing the attitudes thrugh ratinal reasning. Task is t prtect the self wrth, ptential t be self-actualized, by blcking the irratinal thinking patterns. In shrt, in the last few decades, researchers have made significant breakthrughs in understanding the brain, nervus system, mental prcesses such as the nature f cnsciusness, memry distrtins, cmpetence and ratinality, genetic influences n behavir, infancy, the nature f intelligence, human mtivatin, prejudice and discriminatin, the benefits f psychtherapy, and the psychlgical influences n the immune system. cpyright Virtual University f Pakistan 56