Assignment Code: BPCG-171/Asst/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: BPCG-171

Assignment Name: General Psychology

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status" Verified by Professor

Total Marks: 100

NOTE: There are three Sections in the Assignment. You have to answer all questions in the Sections.

Assignment - I

Answer the following in about 500 words each. 20x2=40

Q1) Describe the nature and principles of human development. 20

Ans) Whether environmental or inherited factors contributed to the child's eventual development of the behaviour. Psychologists attach a lot of emphasis to this topic. One of the oldest arguments in both philosophy and psychology concerns the relative contributions of environment and inherited. The proportional influence of learning and inheritance on an individual's behaviour is the topic of this discussion.

An individual's development is influenced by both hereditary characteristics and environmental factors, while it is unclear how much of an impact each has. In fact, it may be said that an individual's circumstances determine how much of their behaviour is influenced by environmental and hereditary variables. The majority of psychologists today concur that development is the result of the interaction between these two forces. Puberty is one example of a development feature that is distinctly biological. However, environmental factors including diet and nutrition might have an impact on when puberty starts.

The principles of human development are as follows:

1. Development is Lifelong: According to this presumption or theory, every age group contributes equally to growth, and no age group or developmental stage has a greater overall influence on a person's course of life than another. Therefore, unlike what other theorists have said, development occurs continuously throughout one's life.

2. Development is Multidimensional: Development cannot occur in just one dimension; rather, it is the outcome of development in all dimensions, which is what is meant by the term "multidimensionality" (physical, personality, cognitive, and social).

3. Development is Multidirectional: According to this premise, there isn't a single, predetermined path for development. Development does not imply perpetual expansion; rather, it may at any given time be a combined representation of both growth and decline.

4. Development is Highly Plastic: Our ability to adapt and change is referred to as plasticity. This implies that talents and abilities can be acquired throughout the course of a lifetime. Plasticity might differ from person to person.

5. Development is influenced by Multiple Interacting Factors: There are several interrelated factors that can influence developmental process rather than a single factor that can affect developmental trajectory. Age-graded effects, history-graded influences, and non-normative influences are three of these elements, according to Baltes.

Age-graded Influences: Age-grade designates a particular age range, such as that of infants, adolescents, adults, etc. Due to similar biological changes, people in the same age group experience similar things. However, because of common social norms and ideals, such as starting school at age five or obtaining a driver's licence at age eighteen, their experiences may be comparable.

History-graded Influences: Your experiences are influenced by the era of your birth. Examples include conflict, any natural disaster, economic boom or bust, and technical advancements. People born and raised in the same period tend to be similar in many respects because of these history-graded impacts.

Non-normative Influences: The influences mentioned above are normative or shared by a lot of people. The loss of a parent, a divorce, or the onset of a sickness are examples of occurrences that can only be experienced by one or a small number of people.

Q2) Elaborate upon the theories and assessment of intelligence. 20

Ans) The different theories of intelligence are as follows:

Spearman Theory of Intelligence: Decent grades in other subjects as well. He made the hypothesis that there is a common component that influences all of your activities as a result of this discovery. He argued that all cognitive or mental activity is made up of two elements, the "generic" or "g" factor and the "specific," or "s" factor, using a statistical technique known as "factor analysis." Your intelligence is therefore the sum of your "g" and "s" factors. The "s" factor influences your performance on a specific or particular mental activity, whereas the "g" factor effects all types of mental tasks.

Higher "g" factor individuals are smarter than average. An individual's overall intellect score serves as their "g" factor.

Thurstone Theory of Intelligence: Thurstone asserted that there is no "g" component in his critique of Spearman's theory of intelligence. Instead, intelligence is a collection of fundamental mental skills.

There are basically seven PMA and all are independent of each other:

1. Word Fluency: Ability to think or use words rapidly, such as in the task of anagrams.

2. Verbal Comprehension: The capacity to accurately understand the meaning of a term, concept, or idea.

3. Spatial Ability : Ability to manipulate patterns and forms of objects in space visually.

4. Perceptual Speed: Tendency to perceive details quickly in every stimulus accurately.

5. Numerical Ability: One’s ability to solve a numerical problem quickly and accurately.

6. Inductive Reasoning: Ability to observe facts and making a general rule out of it.

7. Memory : Ability to memorise and recall quickly and accurately.

Sternberg Theory of Intelligence: There are three forms of intelligence namely,

1. A conventional intelligence exam measures consequential intelligence. People who possess this type of intellect frequently perform well on IQ tests. 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.

2. 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.

3. The term "contextual intelligence" refers to the capacity for environmental or situational adaptation. It entails putting knowledge and information to use in the real world and skilfully adjusting to the circumstance.

Gardner Theory of Intelligence: Gardener challenged the conventional belief that intelligence is the ability to reason logically. The "capacity to solve issues or fashion goods that are of relevance in a given cultural setting or community," in his words, is what constitutes intelligence.

The assessment of intelligence are as follows:

1. Individual Tests: A test that can be given to one person at a time is called an individual test.

2. Group Tests: A exam that can be given to multiple people simultaneously is referred to as a group test.

3. Verbal Tests: The type of test that requires language use in order to succeed is known as a verbal test. Initially, almost all IQ tests relied solely on language, but it was later discovered that these exams are useless for those who are illiterate, young children who haven't fully mastered the language, and those who have speech difficulties.

4. Non-Verbal Tests: A nonverbal intelligence test gauges a person's capacity for visual analysis and problem-solving without the use of words.

5. Culture-Fair Tests: Every culture differs from the next in terms of its values, language, expectations, needs, and experiences in the environment. Because of this, psychologists developed tests that are free of any cultural biases to evaluate individuals from other cultures.

6. Cultural Biased Tests: It was observed that even after making the testing entirely nonverbal, the influence of culture could not be totally removed. Since "culture free" tests are no longer employed, only the phrase "cultural fair" is.

Assignment - II

Answer the following questions in about 250 words each. 10x3= 30

Q3) Discuss the stages of development. 10

Ans) Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development are as follows:

Stage I: Oral Stage (birth to 18 months): During this phase, pleasure comes through the mouth. Children are entirely dependent on their parents, particularly the mother. They use sucking and swallowing to get pleasure and comprehend their surroundings. Fixation at this early oral stage may be caused by over- or under-gratification, which could later result in adult behaviours like binge eating, drinking, or smoking. Later on in this stage, children begin to enjoy biting and chewing.

Stage II: Anal Stage (18 months to three years): Children must for the first time control and postpone the release of urine and faeces in order to comply with the demands of their society during this stage. During this stage, children find pleasure in their bowel and bladder movements.

Stage III: Phallic Stage (three to five years): They are able to distinguish between men and females at this time. It includes feelings of lust for the father, rivalry for the mother, and the danger of punishment from the mother for harbouring these feelings.

Stage IV: Latency Stage (six to twelve years): During this stage, sexual energy is directed on social, athletic, and educational pursuits. As a result, the opposite gender shows little to no attention.

Stage V: Genital Stage (thirteen years to adulthood): In this stage, the sexual energy is once more present. Developing a mature, intimate relationship with the opposite sex will be made easier with the successful completion of earlier phases. While during adulthood, unresolved issues from earlier psychosexual stages will begin to manifest, making it harder to develop meaningful intimate relationships with the opposite sex.

Q4) Explain the Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. 10

Ans) The Kohlberg’s theory of moral development has three levels as follows:

Level 1: Pre-conventional Morality

It consists of the first two moral growth phases. Here, morality is assessed using adult norms and the effects of an action.

1. Stage I (Obedience and Punishment Orientation): If an activity results in punishment from the state, it is immoral.

2. Stage II (Individualism and Exchange): In this stage, which is motivated by self-interest, youngsters initially realised that various people could have different opinions. If a decision is in the person's best interests, it is regarded as ethically right.

Level 2: Conventional Morality

The third and fourth stages make up this level. At this stage, kids begin to internalise how society values judging morality.

1. Stage III (Good Interpersonal Relationship): When evaluating moral values, the actor's intention is more crucial. The actor will be deemed ethically correct if their goal is to win the society's or others' favour.

2. Stage IV (Maintaining the Social Order): Moral judgement is based on one's obligation, the law, and the social order.

Level 3: Post Conventional Morality

Individual viewpoints are prioritised over social rules and order in this context. People evaluate morality in light of fundamental fairness and human rights.

1. Stage V (Social Contract and Individual Rights): In this stage, an individual or youngster comprehends that many communities and individuals may hold various beliefs and legal systems. Laws of the society should be modified to reflect changes in the needs of the community and the passage of time.

2. Stage VI (Universal Principles): People evaluate an actor's moral character using some universal truths that go beyond the laws and conventions of society.

Q5) Explain the process of thinking. 10

Ans) The process of thinking includes:

Pictures in Your Mind: Mental Imagery: Let's say your friend informed you he saw a stunning golden bird with a colourless beak in his garden. If you focused on his description carefully enough, you might create a mental picture of that bird. Your mental picture of the bird is an example of what is referred to as a "mental image" or "mental imagery," which is the mind's representation of stimuli that the senses are not now perceiving.

Concept: "A notion is the set of attributes we connect with a specific class; it represents the complete class." For instance, our idea of a "vehicle" contains features like four wheels, a gasoline engine, steering, and seats. By grouping information into digestible categories, concepts assist us in decreasing the conceptual complexity of our reality. Additionally, it assists us in creating concept prototypes. A prototype is the greatest possible example of the concept or the usual implementation of the concept.

Propositions: A proposition is a type of mental representation; however, it is not verbal or visual. It alludes to the fundamental significance of the connections between concepts. It is the smallest assertion that can be determined to be true or incorrect, to put it another way. Trees are green, for instance. The smallest proposition coded with two arguments is represented by this statement (are, trees, green). Our mental representations may appear to us as images, but they are actually epiphenomena—secondary and derivative phenomena that arise as a result of other, more fundamental cognitive processes. Propositional theory states that our mental images match a proposition's abstract form the most.

Assignment - III

Answer the following questions in about 100 words each. 6x5=30

Q6) Applications of psychology in clinical and health. 6

Ans) The applications of psychology in clinical and health are as follows:

1. Clinical Psychology: Psychotherapy is provided by clinical psychologists, who also research clinical issues and create treatment plans. The diagnosis, aetiology, and treatment of serious psychological disorders and emotional problems are emphasised in this subject. For determining the origins of these diseases, they also place a lot of reliance on standardised exams. They treat mental illnesses with psychotherapy, for which they have received training.

2. Counselling Psychology: Their career centres on offering clients personal counselling while also conducting research on emotional problems and counselling techniques. They help those who need assistance with a particular issue, such as how to plan a career or how to improve interpersonal skills.

3. Health Psychology: The goal of health psychologists is to investigate the variables influencing health behaviour and apply psychological concepts to advance wellness and ward off disease. Health psychologists are aware that how we feel and act has a big impact on how healthy we are.

Q7) Theories of Cognitive Development. 6

Ans) The theories of cognitive development are as follows:

Jean Piaget’s Theory

The stages of cognitive development in children are described by Piaget's hypothesis. Changes to the cognitive process and abilities occur during cognitive growth. According to Piaget, early cognitive development entails action-based processes that subsequently lead to modifications in mental processes.

Key Concepts of Piaget’s Theory:

1. Schemas: Schemas are categories of knowledge that aid in our interpretation and comprehension of reality.

2. Adaptation: Piaget believed that adaptation was primarily a biological phenomenon. Even those without a nervous system or brain can adapt. The two components of the adaptation process are assimilation and accommodation.

3. Assimilation: Assimilation is the process of incorporating new information into our pre-existing schemas.

4. Accommodation: In order to adjust for new knowledge or experiences, current schemas, or ideas, must be modified. This method may also result in the creation of new schemas.Equilibration: All youngsters, according to Piaget, attempt to create a balance between assimilation and accommodation. This is done through a process he dubbed equilibration.

Vygotsky’s Theory

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, and Jean Piaget's contemporary, put forth the "Socio Cultural Theory," a theory of cognitive development.

Key Principles:

1. The development of children's cognition is greatly influenced by their society and culture.

2. The sign language or the societal language serves as a tool for knowledge acquisition.

3. Other people's opinions, particularly those of adults and those with more expertise, have the power to influence how children develop their cognitive abilities.

Q8) Humanistic approach to personality. 6

Ans) The humanistic method, also referred to as the "third force" or "third approach" in psychology, emerged as a response to the negative view of human behaviour held by psychoanalysts and behaviourists.

Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow suggested that humans have a natural desire to reach their highest degree of potential. the individuals who, in accordance with Maslow, have attained the state of fulfilment by realising their fullest potential. He contends that the fundamental essence of humans cannot be grasped because early philosophers concentrated on the negative aspects of human personality. He emphasised that we need to change our attention to healthy folks in order to understand people in their genuine colours.

Carl Roger: Focus on Self

Counselling psychologist Carl Roger expanded the humanistic theory of personality. He came up with his notion by studying his clients' actions. He observed that his client's life consistently revolves around the concept of "self." His theory therefore centres on the idea of the self. He asserts that there are essentially two different types of selves: an ideal self and an actual self. The idea of one's ideal self is the person they hope to become. While one's inner perception of who they truly are is their genuine self.

Q9) Assessment of personality. 6

Ans) There are various techniques to assess personality and these techniques can be broadly categorized into the following:

Self-Report Measures: In this approach, a participant is directly questioned about various aspects of herself or himself, and an assessment of her or his personality is formed in light of the responses. The questions are designed and based on some theory (referred to as items in psychometrics parlance). A rating scale is used to quantitatively record responses for each item. A norm table created for the test is then used to interpret the overall score achieved.

Projective Techniques: This is a deceptive method of assessing personality. The psychoanalytical perspective states that since unconscious processes shape the majority of our personality, we should only use an indirect measure of personality to gauge it. The foundation of every projective exam is the projection theory, a Sigmund Freudian defence mechanism. The fundamental tenet of this technique is that people tend to project their sentiments, emotions, and desires onto unclear or unstructured inputs and situations.

Q10) Emotional and social intelligence. 6

Ans) The science of controlling oneself and interacting with others is known as emotional and social intelligence. The "Ability to change one's behaviour on the basis of knowledge of one's own emotions and attunement to others' feelings" is how it is best described.

As a result, it combines the three elements of awareness, attunement, and adaptability. Understanding one's own internal processes is known as awareness, while attunement is the ability to observe others and use those findings to develop cognitive and emotional empathy. And adaptability is using awareness and attunement to select the best helpful reaction under the circumstances. At Socialigence, we define emotional intelligence as the combination of awareness and attunement, and social intelligence as the combination of attunement and adaptation. They come together to form "Emotional & Social Intelligence" in this way.