Assignment Code: BPCC-131/TMA /2023-2024

Course Code: BPCC-131

Assignment Name: Foundations of Psychology

Year: 2023-2024

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Assignment One

Answer the following questions in about 500 words each. Each question carries 20 marks.

Q1) Discuss the three types of methods that are used in psychological research.

Ans) Methods of Research in Psychology

a) Descriptive Method:

Descriptive research design can be divided into three main categories. Case study, survey, and careful observation are them.

1. Case Study

   A small group or individual participates in a case study. Individuality is the premise. It details a person's conduct and emotions. One notable example of case study utilisation is Freud, who utilised it to acquire patient information for his psychoanalytic theory of personality.

   Jean Piaget developed the most fundamental cognitive development theory using case studies of his own children. According to Rokeach (1964), ‘The Three Christs of Ypsilanti: A Psychological Study' is a significant case study of three schizophrenic patients. Case study data are difficult to generalise, which is their fundamental drawback. The procedure is subjective and biased.

2. Survey

   In the survey approach, the researcher queries participants about the issue under investigation.

   A face-to-face interview, a telephone interview, an online interview, or a questionnaire may be used to perform this. The survey approach allows for the asking of numerous questions and the inclusion of numerous participants. However, the researcher must make sure that the participants are a sample (which is randomly chosen from a broad population of participants) that is representative of the group chosen. The survey approach also has the drawback that participants might not provide accurate responses that reflect their genuine opinions. This could also occur if the individual feels that the response is incorrect or not socially acceptable.

3. Systematic Observation

   Observation is crucial to studying behaviour. It gathers data systematically. The experimenter does not modify an independent variable on this method. The researcher just records natural environmental events/behaviours. The researcher tries to figure out why the behaviour is happening after several observations (s). The researcher seeks to comprehend behavioural variations and find logical explanations for them. Induction is when multiple observations are used to determine behaviour’s logical cause. From this, behaviour principles emerge. However, seeing behaviours might be challenging due to many factors, making derived observations challenging, unlike controlled experiments. Systematic observation is recommended alongside other data collection methods to supplement information. Naturalistic observation happens when human behaviour is observed in natural settings. Animal behaviour is largely studied using naturalistic observation. If the researcher wishes to investigate human behaviour in a mall, this can be used.

4. Experimental Method:

   Experimental approaches are needed for research. Theory and literature review make assumptions about observed phenomena. A hypothesis predicts a result. The experimenter tests the participant. The experimenter maintains certain events or behaviours to affect observation. Variable circumstances are shifting things, events, or conditions. Variable easily measured. Several variables exist. Experimentalists change independent variables that impact dependents. Learn how temperature impacts mood. Temperature and mood are independent and dependent. Personal response to stimulation is dependent.

   Many variables must be controlled to ensure the independent variable affects the dependent variable. The independent variable is modified while all other response or dependent variable components are controlled. Manager extrinsic factors affecting performance or dependent variable. Thus, outcomes may depend on regulated factors. The experimental design controls these unnecessary differences.

5. Correlational Method:

   Correlation is utilised while gathering data on two variables or samples of one variable. Score correlation is determined using this method. Correlation is gauged by the coefficient r. One to one is the correlation coefficient. Perfect correlation is +1. One point equals its equivalent pair point in the given set. greatest or perfect correlation. A perfect negative correlation of -1, however, indicates that raising one score lowers another. In that case, high scores in one set and low scores in the other are correlated. There is no score link if there is no correlation (r=.00). This indicates that two scores in different sets are unrelated to one another. Nothing to foresee here. We cannot predict behaviour based on the values of the second group if there is no association between the two sets of scores. Intelligent people may be miserable if IQ and happiness are unrelated. If the relationship is positive, intelligence improves happiness. Those with intelligence are less content if the association is negative.

Scattered graph displays correlations. One set of scores is displayed on the X-axis, and the other on the Y-axis. Scores are displayed in the scattergram for each metric as points. The scattergram makes it simple to determine the direction or strength of the link between two variables. The degree and direction of the association between the two variables are shown in the figure.

Q2) Elucidate the information processing model and different types of memory.

Ans) Information-processing Model

Cognitive approaches were built on the computer's information processing role from the 1960s. American psychologists Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin created the Atkinson-Shiffrin Model of Memory in 1968. This memory paradigm is quite similar to how computers store and retrieve data.

Several phases store information under this paradigm.

1. The Sensory Register or Memory: This gathers data from the surroundings via the numerous sensory receptors. In this case, the information is retained for just a few seconds at most. Only when attention is paid does the information move from the sensory register to the short-term memory.

2. Short-Term Store or Memory: Also called working memory. William James called it primary memory. Data is stored here for 20–30 seconds. The attended information is digested and repeated in this rehearsal buffer. Its storage capacity is limited. According to G. A. Miller (1956), working memory can carry seven things (plus or minus two), and one item may contain a lot of information. This strategy is called chunking, and a chunk represents the basic information maintained in working memory.

3. Long-Term Store or Memory: Information that has been well practised then transfers to long-term memory, while information that has not been practised is lost. In a long-term storage facility, the information is arranged in various ways for days, months, years, and possibly forever. The amount of information that can be stored in the long-term memory is infinite. Information kept in long-term storage is typically not forgotten, and if it is, it was either improperly retrieved or improperly arranged. Meaningful words, sentences, thoughts, and different life events make up the information that is maintained in long-term memory.

Types of Memory:

1. Semantic Memory: Semantic memory is world knowledge. It may cover culture, history, sports, music, etc. This memory type encodes, stores, and retrieves information based on its meaning. This also discusses how the information relates to other memory items. Effective information storage through meaning, logical structures, or semantics reduces forgetfulness (Quillian, 1966). Lexical memory is similar but distinct. It represents our language's words. Psycholinguists study lexical memory structure.

2. Sensory Memory: Sensory memory, often called ‘fleeting memory', is linked to perception. It records our perception for a short duration. Note that our sensory register is a memory system. Information from the environment initially reaches sensory memory, then goes to other memory systems as necessary. It can only store information for a fraction of a second for cognitive processing. Psychologists posit visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile sensory memories. The majority of literature focuses on iconic sensory memory, which includes visual and echoic visual and aural stimuli. Eidetic imagery, or photographic memory, is an uncommon capacity to access visual memories throughout time. Classic sensory memory tests were conducted by George Sperling (1960).

3. Episodic Memory: Epistolar memory refers to memories that are kept in relation to the moment they occurred. The many life events that have been encoded, saved, and retrieved as memories in the LTM and are connected to our unique individual experiences. They could make reference to things that happened to us in the past or at specific moments.

4. Autobiographical Memory(diagram): The word "history" makes it sound like it's about you. Autobiographical memory (AM) is correct, but constructive memory can sometimes change it. Do we remember the same things about our lives over time? Research shows that people in their middle years remember things from their youth and early adulthood more clearly than things that are happening now (Read & Connolly, 2007). Marigold Linton used Ebbinghaus's introspection in a famous study on AM in 1975 and 1982. Every day, she wrote down at least two things that happened. She looked at these memories to figure out who AM was.

5. False memory: The name gives the impression that it is a memory of nothing. It is described as a mental experience that is mistakenly regarded as a genuine account of a personal occurrence in The International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioural Sciences (2001). Pseudo memory is a common term for these vivid, very emotional restored memories. The majority of false recollections involve childhood sexual abuse or physical harm. According to research, memory can be affected by strong suggestion, such as that given during psychotherapy sessions. False memory syndrome is crucial in forensics and psychotherapy. According to a study, 20 percent of witnesses' memories were false (Mazzoni, Scoboria, and Harvey, 2010).

6. Flashbulb Memory: What were you doing when the news of 9/11 broke? What came to mind at first? Many people may still clearly recall 9/11. They vividly recalled their activities, the location of where they heard it, their feelings, and other details. What makes this memory unique? These vivid memories, according to Roger Brown and James Kulik (1977), are still present and accurate. People in India who recall the assassinations of Rajiv Gandhi or Indira Gandhi may have distinct memories of these occasions. Why are memories of experiences so distinct? Events' emotional intensity is one of the variables that studies have pinpointed (Bohannon, 1988). According to a different viewpoint, recounting experiences encourages frequent rehearsal, which over time produces memories that are more precise and vivid (Bohannon, 1988).

Q3) Define emotions. Explain the types and functions of emotions.

Ans) Definition:

The word "emotion" is derived from the Latin word "emovere," which meaning "stirred-up state." One of the main ideas that can be drawn from the aforementioned definitions is that there has been a change. This alteration may affect cognitive processes, physiological arousal, or both. It may also affect conscious experience. Changes can also be seen in a person's posture or in the outward emotion on their face.

Types of Emotions:

1. Happiness: When we are successful in accomplishing something that brings us happiness and pleasure. We are able to sense joy when we are pleased with our life and when we experience feelings of contentment, gratification, and happiness regarding them. It contributes to the preservation of both our bodily and emotional well-being. It is often communicated through smiling or engaging in positively reinforcing behaviours, such as laughing or becoming more active and energised.

2. Fear: Fear arises from any circumstance that makes one feel threatened or terrified for their safety. Fear is a vital component of survival since it drives a person to defend themselves. The heart rate and respiration rate rise, and the bodily muscles stiffen up. The individual is on guard and seeks to confront the terrifying scenario or flee from it. If the frightening circumstance is encountered repeatedly, it is seen as being substantially less dangerous. The person gradually becomes less sensitive to the frightening circumstance as a result.

3. Sadness: Another emotion that is characterised by feelings of misery, grief, and discontentment is sadness. Apathy may develop in the person as a result of frustration over personal setbacks or failures in life. The individual feels drab, depressed, and uninterested in the world around them. The individual is dejected and despondent. This could also result in depression if it goes on for a longer period of time. It can be shown by lowering the lips, sobbing, or acting sullenly with sagging shoulders.

4. Anger: When we fail to achieve our objectives, it frustrates us and makes us angry. A person may become enraged when someone acts unjustly toward them, insults them verbally, or physically harms them. Anger can be felt for a variety of causes, and it can be expressed in different ways depending on age and gender. Men display fury more than women do. There are several therapeutic strategies that can be used to assist someone modulate, control, and lessen the intensity of their anger.

5. Surprise: The sensation of surprise is fleeting but frequently rather intense. It is a reaction to an experience that might be frightening, surprising, gratifying, or unpleasant. It is a response. This may be accomplished by the person furrowing their brows, dilating their pupils, screeching, jumping, or opening their mouth. Other possible expressions include yelping or gasping audibly. The startling instances are the ones that stand out in one's memory in comparison to other occurrences.

6. Disgust: Disgust is a natural emotion that arises when we are exposed to unsanitary circumstances or environments that are offensive to the eye or smell. Typically, when someone is disgusted, they scrunch up their nose and move away from the irritating stimulus to avoid feeling the unpleasantness. People occasionally throw up or flee from an unpleasant stimulus. Sometimes we show disgust when we witness people engaged in immoral or repugnant activities. We may also show disgust when we witness anything abhorrent, hurtful, or unattractive to the eye.

Functions of Emotions:

1. Emotions Prepare An Individual for Action: Emotions act as a bridge between the circumstance and the person's response. For instance, if a person is crossing a road and suddenly notices a truck heading at him or her, the feeling that person would exhibit is dread, and it is connected to the physiological arousal.

2. Emotions Play a Role in Shaping of Future Behaviour of An Individual: We feel emotions, and those emotions lead to learning. So, for instance, we steer clear of circumstances that make us feel bad.

3. Emotions Help in Effective Interaction with Others: Verbal and nonverbal emotional cues may improve how effectively people engage with one another. Emotions serve as signals, making it easier for people to comprehend what another person is going through. This allows for the prediction of future behaviour in people.

Assignment Two

Answer the following questions in about 100 words each. Each question carries 5 marks.

Q4) Gestalt psychology

Ans) Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler, prominent psychologists of their time, laid the foundation for gestalt psychology in 1912 in Germany. Their work marked a significant departure from traditional reductionist approaches in psychology. Instead of breaking down mental processes into isolated elements, they focused on the holistic nature of human perception and cognition.

Gestalt psychology emphasized that our sensory experiences are not just a sum of individual sensations but are profoundly influenced by the organization and relationships within a perceptual field. This perspective encouraged a shift from atomistic thinking to the exploration of how the mind organizes information into meaningful patterns and structures.

Wertheimer, Koffka, and Kohler introduced organisational theory to mental processes by researching how people perceive and interact with their surroundings. Their investigations examined how people perceive and respond to complicated stimuli, showing how context, relationships, and the whole shape cognition.

Their research increased human vision and influenced cognitive psychology, visual arts, and problem-solving. Gestalt psychology's legacy reminds us that to understand the mind, we must analyse the dynamic interaction between individual elements and the overall organisation of experience.

Q5) Working memory

Ans) An Integrative Model Working Memory Atkinson and Shiffrin shortened STM. More research contradicted the short-term memory theory (STM). A further study found that STM is dynamic and stores and manipulates cognitive inputs. Working memory model by Baddeley & Hitch LOP (1974). (STM). Goldstein says working memory manages temporary information for complex tasks including comprehension, learning, and reasoning (2011).

The Baddeley working memory model includes the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, and episodic buffer (WM).

1. The central executive, as its name implies, is an executive in working memory. It controls cognitive operation in the phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, and episodic buffer. It decides which memories stay in long-term memory and which disappear.

2. The phonological loop stores language and sound. Phonological loop data decays in 2 seconds without practise. A phonological store stores knowledge temporarily, while an articulatory rehearsal process rehearses it to prevent degradation. Recalling a friend's phone number requires phonological loop.

3. The visuospatial sketch pad stores visual and spatial information. Use your visuospatial sketch pad to create mental images while listening to a narrative or solving a puzzle.

4. The episodic buffer combines information from the phonological loop, visual sketch pad, and long-term memory to create a unified representation. This component helps us understand received information.

   
   

Q6) Types of learning

Ans) Types of learning are as follows:

1. Motor Learning: A new motor skill or function is learned through motor learning through practise or experience. Our ability to perform motor tasks like walking, running, skating, driving, climbing, etc. is aided by this learning.

2. Verbal Learning: Communicating via words, music, pictures, etc. is necessary. Previous experiments employed meaningful and nonsensical nonsense syllables. The meaningless syllables XUY, ZER, and XUT were compared to LUV, LOS, and RUF, which had strong association values. McGeoch (1930) found that nonsense syllables with 100% connection value were harder to learn than three-letter words. Learning nonsense syllables became harder as the association value dropped.

3. Concept Learning: The learning process that classifies data by quality and trait. We learn concepts by calling a barking, four-legged, tail-bearing animal a "dog." We now know this breed is a "dog." Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin explored 1956 concept-formation cognitive interpretations. The experiment compared 81 cards by border number, figure colour, figure form, and figure number. Understand the experimenter's idea was the assignment. "All cards with one figure and two borders," etc.

4. Discrimination Learning: Discrimination learning is our ability to identify inputs and behave accordingly. Hull (1920) conducted one of the most influential discriminating learning studies on concept generation. Participants learned to recognise the characters' common features and use them to their advantage in different situations. Hull interpreted idea production using conditioned learning's selective discrimination, generalisation, and reinforcement.

   
   

Q7) Stages of perception

Ans) This section describes perceptual phases and variables affecting them.

Stage 1: Selection

The first perception stage is "selection". Our brain has limited capacity and cannot process all stimuli. Selecting or ignoring stimuli is unconscious or conscious. The selected stimulus is “attended stimulus”. Your interpretation of the two figures depends on how you organise the information, which depends on your attention. Consider the second figure. Some individuals focus on the white piece, interpreting it as two human faces, while others regard the black part as a vase. Individual differences in response reflect individual disparities in perception.

Stage II: Organization

This stage involves mentally organising stimuli. This happens unconsciously. Organization has been explained by many principles. Section 2.7 explores Gestalt organisation principles. This guide explains how people organise and interpret stimuli to create meaningful patterns.

Stage III: Interpretation

The ordered stimuli are given significance in the last stage. Experiences, expectations, needs, beliefs, and other factors influence stimulus interpretation. Thus, this level is subjective and different people interpret the same stimulus differently.

Q8) Differentiate between emotion and mood

Ans)

Q9) Drive-reduction model

Ans) Among the motivating strategies is drive theory. The body seeks to satiate a need to reduce both psychological and physical stress. Drive explains this tension (Hull, 1948). They are "push theories of motivation" because "the conduct is pushed towards goals by driving force within the person or animal" (Morgan, King, Weisz & Schopler 1996, pg. 269).

The drive reduction notion states that an organism creates a drive to exert itself in order to fulfil an unmet biological need (Feldman, 2015 pg. 288). Drive is a sense of tension or arousal that directs actions to satisfy requirements. prior definitions from this unit. There are primary and secondary drives. The main drivers are physical requirements like hunger, thirst, sleep, and sex. Secondary drives result from the knowledge and encounters that sparked an interest.

Taking career success as an example. They will be motivated to work by this additional incentive.

Homeostasis, which is defined as "the struggle of all organisms to maintain physiological equilibrium or balance around an ideal set point," must be studied under this paradigm (Feist and Rosenberg, 2015, p. 398). Keeping internal balance as a natural inclination of the organism is another definition (Feldman, 2015). If the body deviates from the ideal state or set point, it will make adjustments to get back to the set point and restore equilibrium.

Food, drink, sleep, body temperature, and other needs are controlled by homeostasis.

Primary drives' impact on behaviour is completely explained by drive reduction theory. It does not, however, address arousal-maintaining behaviours. It might not be useful in describing a teen's behaviour on a roller coaster or when riding a bike at top speed. Therefore, this paradigm is unable to capture intriguing behaviour.

Q10) Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence

Ans) The "Triarchic hypothesis of intelligence" was created by Robert Sternberg (1988a, 1997b).

The idea proposes three categories of intelligence. Contextual intelligence comes first, followed by creative intelligence and analytical intelligence. The capacity to adjust to environmental or situational needs is referred to as contextual intelligence or practical intelligence. It entails putting knowledge and information to use in the real world and skilfully adjusting to the circumstance.

Here, adaptation refers to both adjusting to your current environment and/or having the capacity to change it to suit your needs. Those who possess a high level of this intelligence are usually successful in life and street smart.

The capacity to generate original suggestions for approaches to a situation or a problem is referred to as creative intelligence. The capacity to create original ideas or solutions is known as experiential intelligence or creative intelligence. People with high levels of this intelligence are imaginative.

They have the capacity to draw on past knowledge to create novel inventions. The ability to think abstractly and evaluate a situation is a component of analytical intelligence. A conventional intelligence exam measures consequential intelligence, commonly referred to as analytical intelligence. People with this type of intelligence frequently perform well on IQ tests, which measure general intellect. These people excel at critical thinking and analysis, and they frequently perform well in academic settings and at school. Additionally, they have strong verbal and mathematical abilities.

Q11) Projective techniques

Ans) In contrast to inventory, projective methods are subjective. Projective methods circumvent the constraints of paper-and-pencil personality tests. Freud's unconscious impact on projective tests examines personality's intangibles. These strategies use standardised ambiguous or open-ended stimuli that the respondent must interpret. People project needs, concerns, and values onto stimuli when asked to describe them. In Rotter's incomplete sentences blank (Rotter, 1950), incomplete statements are simple and beneficial for assessing a person's overall adjustment or career recommendations.

In 1935, Henry Murray and Christina Morgan designed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which shows 20 ambiguous cards to participants. Participants must tell a storey about the image and protagonist, including the motive, emotions, and resolution. Writers typically relate to their characters, which allows the storey to mirror their thoughts, feelings, and view on life. Ink blots are used in the Rorschach test, another classic personality test (some black, others coloured). Each inkblot is on a different card, and the recipient must describe what they see, where they see it, what it is, and what it reminds them of. The more specific the respondent, the more the psychologist can interpret their personality. This is objectively scored using a standard scoring manual (Exner, 1993) that numbers each ink blot component. Due to their subjectivity, projective methods lack the validity and dependability of objective assessment methods.