Assignment Code: BPCS-184 / Asst /TMA /2021-22

Course Code: BPCS-184

Assignment Name: School Psychology

Year: 2021 – 2022 (July 2021 & January 2022 Sessions)

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

NOTE: All questions are compulsory.

Assignment One

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

3 x 20 = 60

Q1. Define school psychology. Discuss the role and functions of a school psychologist.

Ans) Children, youth, families, and all learners of all ages are the focus of School Psychology. School psychologists receive basic training to provide psychological assessment, intervention, prevention, health promotion, programme development, and evaluation services to children and youth in the context of schools, families, and other systems.

The International School Psychology Association defines school psychology as ‘the provision of psychological services to children and teenagers within the contexts of schools, family, and other settings that impact their growth and development'. Thus, school psychology strives to help children and adolescents achieve academically, socially, behaviourally, and emotionally.

A school psychologist is expected to perform the following responsibilities and functions:

1) Direct Services – School psychologists provide direct counselling to school pupils. The school psychologist's counselling services are beneficial in addressing concerns such as academic stress, school problems, and relationship challenges.

2) Assessment – School psychologists also perform evaluations and are trained in test administration, scoring, and reporting. Due to the lopsided psychologist-student ratio, several schools prefer visiting consultants to administer aptitude tests for higher secondary pupils. School psychologists often refer children and their families to outside mental health providers when a complete diagnosis is required.

3) Expert talks – School psychologists organise expert presentations to meet the needs of all parties. (1) School psychologists help students make better career choices by hosting career seminars and inviting professionals from various fields to speak with students. (2) School psychologists usually arrange for experts in time management and mediation to speak to board class pupils. (3) School psychologists as specialists for staff training. Parenting sessions on subjects such as ‘good touch, bad touch' or nutritionist talks on the correct food for early children's health and prevention of childhood obesity are also organised.

4) Prevention Services – School psychologists operate as community psychologists to establish primary and secondary preventive interventions for the benefit of school kids. For example, a school psychologist can establish a primary prevention programme to help reduce bullying by creating a more sensitive and supportive school atmosphere and helping young children develop empathy. Secondary preventative interventions can help identify bullies and victims early on and help them change their harmful behaviours.

5) Interventions – Schools prepare kids for a better life and career readiness. It has been emphasised for the last two decades to help school children develop life skills that would enable them to live a healthy and prosperous life. Interpersonal skills, critical thinking, decision making, stress management, and emotional management are some of the life skills taught at CBSE schools. A school phycologist is also a certified life skills instructor for the students.

6) Consultation – School Psychology is concerned with the psychological well-being of school pupils and so focuses on academic or behavioural issues. Instead of directly dealing with the child, the school psychologist assists the child's parents or teachers. These services are collaborative in nature since they actively include the child's parents and teachers in resolving issues. For example, a Grade IX girl is having an affair with a classmate, which worries her parents. The school psychologist might meet with the parents to help them deal with their daughter.

7) Inclusive Education – The school psychologist actively participates in special education services for children. To help fellow classmates establish a healthy attitude towards children with special needs, the school psychologist also assists parents in providing a shadow teacher if the need arises in the school setting. The school psychologist properly assesses children with special needs, refers them to outside experts, keeps track of their development, and effectively shares their background information as they proceed through the grades.

Q2. Explain specific learning disabilities. Discuss its early intervention and assessment.

Ans) Specific learning disability (SLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that negatively impacts a person’s ability to listen, speak, read, write, or make calculations. Since such disorders usually begin at an early age, it is easy to identify the learning difficulties in their childhood. However, some issues may not be recognized until adulthood.

Specific learning disabilities means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, speak, read, spell or to do mathematical calculations”.

SLD is an impairment of cognitive processing (heredity), a child with SLD will respond and improve substantially if the treatment starts at an early stage (environment). Early positive experiences and supportive environment can work wonders for the child with SLD. However, the reality is far from this ideal condition. Numerous studies report that SLD goes unrecognized majorly owing to the lack of awareness of the teachers as well as the parents. This lack of knowledge about the condition can further cause problems when the child’s sluggish progress in learning is considered a result of limited intellectual capacity and/or lack of interest and motivation.

Early Intervention and Assessment.

Starting from the preschool years itself, SLD goes unrecognized till the onset of formal schooling. The child with SLD is often brought by parents as self-referrals or via school referrals. Often described as “lazy” or “troublemakers”, these children fail to perform well academically as their age counterparts and often are subjected to punitive measures both at home and the school. The range of problematic behaviours reported in these referrals is varied, and it becomes important to ascertain that there is no presence of any comorbid disabilities. Comorbidities commonly coexisting with SLD include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety disorder, and various other emotional and behavioural disorders.

At present, there is no uniform screening procedure to be followed for referrals of children with SLD. Tools like Schwab Foundation for Learning and the checklist for LD in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Manual are commonly used to identify ‘at risk’ children. However, unfortunately in majority of the cases, the assessment tools are used as screening and identification purposes. Although children with SLD are referred primarily due to poor grades and/or behavioural problems, they must also be assessed on all areas like vision, hearing, general intelligence, motor abilities and the like. A complete assessment involves a battery of psychological tests that runs through several sessions, and detailed information from parents, teachers, and school records (for example, past student report cards and notebook work). Based on the observations, test reports, and interviews (with the child, parents, and teachers), an individualised educational plan is made for each child with SLD. This is designed based on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual child. More recently in December 2020, the NIMHANS Battery has been accepted as the diagnostic tool for SLD. Any individual who tests positive on this Battery will be considered to have benchmark disability (disability of more than 40 percent).

Q3. Explain Durganand Sinha’s ecological model of human development.

Ans) Durganand Sinha has provided an ecological model for comprehending the development of Indian youngsters. The child's basic ecosystem was viewed in terms of concentric layers. The higher and visible layers include elements like as home, school, peers, and so on, all of which interact with one another. It also has "surrounding layers" that influence the higher layer's elements but aren't fully visible.

The geographical environment, playing facilities, localities and density, and institutional framework supplied by class caste and other characteristics, as well as fodder and fauna, are all parts of the surrounding layer. Surrounding elements that interact with one another might result in a variety of situations for the development of different persons.

Durganand Sinha has provided an ecological model for comprehending the development of Indian youngsters. The child's basic ecosystem was viewed in terms of concentric layers. The higher and visible layers include elements like as home, school, peers, and so on, all of which interact with one another. It also has "surrounding layers" that influence the higher layer's elements but aren't fully visible. The geographical environment, playing facilities, localities and density, and institutional framework supplied by class caste and other characteristics, as well as fodder and fauna, are all parts of the surrounding layer. Surrounding elements that interact with one another might result in a variety of situations for the development of different persons. The facts in the environment have an impact on a person's lifespan, functioning, and experiences.

The child's ecology can be thought of as two concentric layers:

I) The upper and visible layer

Following Sinha’s ecological model, the upper and the more visible layer the immediate environment of the child that has a direct effect on the child’s development.

1. Home - overcrowding, available space, toys, technological devices use

2. Schools- quality of schooling, facilities made available.

3. Peer group - interaction, experiences and activities undertaken with peers.

2) Surrounding layers

These constantly influence the upper layer although the effect may not be clearly visible.

important factors:

1. geographical environment, overcrowding of the space outside the house, availability of facilities such as parks and other activities, population density.

2. institutional setting provided by class cast and other factors.

3. general amenities available to the child such as clean drinking water, electricity, means of entertainment

Both layers:

These interact with one another.

1)      May have different consequences in different people for development.

2)     The ecological environment can change at any point of time in a person's life.

3)     Therefore, functioning of a human being friend on their experiences and by studying the experiences we can understand the difference in functioning if a person.

Culture came to be considered as the context or system, and human behaviour as adaptive to this environment, with the creation of cross-cultural psychology in the 1960s, thanks to the efforts of Durganand Sinha. A significant collection that highlights how culturally appropriate psychology can only be developed and practised if individuals or groups are culturally understood.

Assignment Two

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

8 x 5 = 40

Q4. Identification of gifted children in India

Ans) In the year 2010, the process of identifying gifted youngsters was set in action.

Gifted education is defined as the education of children who excel in more than one academic or artistic field. "Students, children, or youth who show evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities," according to the National Association for Gifted Children's position statement. The first criterion for recognising gifted people is above-average ability. Individuals with an IQ of 130 or higher are considered gifted in terms of intelligence quotient (IQ).

Q5. Social anxiety disorder

Ans) Social anxiety disorder (or social phobia) is defined as “disabling fears of one or more specific social situations where the person fears being scrutinised and potentially judged by others or acting in an embarrassing or humiliating manner” (American Psychiatric Association). As a result, the person may either avoid or face the circumstance with great distress. There are two main categories of social anxiety disorder: performance oriented (like public speaking) and non-performance related (like dining in public or meeting new people). In children, the anxiety should occur in a peer-group environment. Anxiety during adult interactions should not be the main criterion. These children's nervousness or fear is frequently manifested by sobbing or tantrums or inability to talk in social circumstances. Excessive perspiration or flushing is another common symptom. Socially anxious children often refuse to attend school.

Q6. Causal factors of truancy

Ans) Truancy is the persistent absence from school without permission and is one of the major concerns facing schools today. It is well known that children who do not attend school perform poorly academically and have low self-esteem. This means "lower quality and economic status in adulthood." It also increases the child's likelihood of subsequent criminal conduct.

The media is the most influential factor in truancy. Factors such as family background, students, peer group, and school environment were found to contribute to truancy. Teacher influences were determined to be the least contributory to student absenteeism. Based on studies, youngsters should not be allowed to use electronic devices. An encouraging and friendly school and home environment can be provided for students.

Q7. Issues and themes in developmental psychology

Ans) There are several important issues and themes related to the history of developmental psychology.

1. Nature-Nurture Issue

Nature refers to the hereditary influences on human characteristics which include physical include physical characteristics, intellectual capacities, personality traits and patterns of social interactions. Nurture as a concept, encompasses all the environmental factors including physical and cultural environment that influences the developmental outcomes in an individual.

2. Early Experience vs. Later Experience

A second important consideration in developmental psychology involves the relative importance of early experiences versus those that occur later in life.

3. Continuous-Discontinuous Development.

A third major issue in developmental psychology is that of continuity. Does change occur smoothly over time, or through a series of predetermined steps?

Some themes in developmental psychology

1)      The Active Child. How the child's own actions contribute to their own development.

2)     Mechanisms of Development.

3)     Sociocultural Context.

4)     Individual Differences.

5)     Research and Children’s Welfare.

Q8. Information processing theory

Ans) Information processing theory is a method of studying cognitive development that arose from the American experimental psychology tradition. The hypothesis is predicated on the premise that rather than just reacting to stimuli, humans process the information they receive. This viewpoint considers how the mind functions in the same way that a computer does. In this way, the mind works like a biological computer, evaluating information from the outside world. The mind's machinery contains attention mechanisms for bringing information in, working memory for actively manipulating information, and long-term memory for passively keeping knowledge for future use, according to the conventional information-processing model for mental growth. This idea explains how children's brains mature as they grow, resulting in improvements in their ability to comprehend and respond to information acquired through their senses.

Q9. Rational emotive behaviour therapy

Ans) Rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) is a type of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) developed by psychologist Albert Ellis. REBT is an action-oriented approach that’s focused on helping people deal with irrational beliefs and learn how to manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviours in a healthier, more realistic way.

When people hold irrational beliefs about themselves or the world, problems can result. The goal of REBT is to help people recognize and alter those beliefs and negative thinking patterns to overcome psychological problems and mental distress. The aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioural problems and disturbances and to help people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. REBT posits that people have erroneous beliefs about situations they are involved in, and that these beliefs cause disturbance, but can be disputed with and changed.

Q10. Child rights in India.

Ans) The Constitution of India guarantees all children certain rights, which have been specially included for them. These include:

1)   Right to free and compulsory elementary education for all children in the 6–14-year age group (Article 21 A).

2)   Right to be protected from any hazardous employment till the age of 14 years (Article 24).

3)   Right to be protected from being abused and forced by economic necessity to enter occupations unsuited to their age or strength (Article 39(e)).

4)    Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and youth against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39 (f)).

Q11. Techniques and usage of art therapy

Ans) Art therapy is a sub-section within the larger field of psychotherapy. It is a form of intervention used in cases of mental illnesses, issues, or disorders, or any problems related to physical and mental development. In yet other cases, art therapy is used for understanding oneself. Therapy is administered by involving the use of the creative techniques of art media, both visual and otherwise, to help people better express themselves. Using art-based intervention techniques, psychological or mental disorders can be addressed, and even treated. It also helps in improving and maintaining an enhanced level of mental health. It is the discipline and therapy practice that provides an intersection between the two distinct fields of art and psychology.