Lingayen Technological Institute

HANDOUT IN GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Prepared by: Sherry Lyn F. Lamsen-Orjalo

SEMI-FINAL COVERAGE

LEARNING AND MEMORY
Learning is a mental activity by means of which,
knowledge, skills, habits, attitudes and ideals are
acquired, and utilized, resulting in the progressive
adaptation and modification of conduct and
behavior. It is a relatively permanent change in
behavior that occurs as a result of experience in the
environment.
THREE POSSIBLE WAYS OF LEARNING:
1. One can learn by direct exposure to the events
by experiencing the events, by acting and seeing
the consequences of his actions.
2. One can learn things vicariously, by watching
others experience the events.
3. One can learn through language, either by being
told directly or by reading.
THEORIES OF LEARNING:
I. Association Theories
- Learning results from the formation of
connections between stimuli and observable
responses
a. Classical Conditioning Theory
- Learning in which previously neutral
stimulus is paired with an unconditioned
stimulus to elicit a conditioned response
Reflexive behaviors are elicited or brought
about, by stimulus; each time the stimulus
occurs, so does the reflexive response: food
in mouth leads to salivation, a tap on the
knee leads to a knee jerk, etc.
Phobias are results of classical conditioning.
Ivan Pavlovs experiment
b. Operant Conditioning Theory
- Refers to that form of learning in which
the consequences of behavior lead to
changes in the probability of its
occurrence
B.F. Skinners experiment
Major Classes of Consequences of Behavior
Positive reinforcement refers to any
consequence of behavior that leads to
an increase in the probability of its
occurrence.
Negative reinforcement refers to the
removal or avoidance of a negative
event as the consequence of behavior.
Escape conditioning is an operant
conditioning in which the behavior is
reinforced because it causes a
negative event to cease.
Avoidance conditioning is an
operant conditioning in which the
behavior is reinforced because it
prevents something negative that
would normally happen from
happening.
Punishment is a consequence of
behavior that leads to a decrease in the
frequency of behavior.
II. Cognitive Theories
- Learning is a reorganization of a number of
perceptions and the forming of new
relationships
a. Insight Learning
- Learning from recognition of previously
unseen relationships
- Wolfgang Kohlers experiment
b. Modelling or Observational Learning:
Learning by Watching Others
- Learning comes from observing the
behaviors of others
- Albert Banduras experiment
TRANSFER OF LEARNING ability to apply what has
been learned in one situation to situations that are
in some way similar. It is used to indicate the
outcomes or effects of learning that may be used
advantageously in further learning and in the
performance of life tasks. It involves the application
of concepts, principles, values, attitudes, and skills
learned previously to new learning tasks and
problems both within the school and also in life
situation.
TYPES OF TRANSFER:
1. Positive learning in one situation
facilitates learning in another situation.
2. Negative occurs when learning in one
situation has a detrimental effect on learning in
another situation.
3. Zero indicates that training in one
subject, tasks, or situation produces no
observable influence or change in efficiency in
the second subject or situation.
Memory involves acquiring, retaining, and retrieving
information.
Remembering is the ability to retrieve stored
information and bring it into consciousness.
Forgetting is a failure to retrieve the information.
BASIC TYPES OF MEMORY:
1. Episodic Memory memory for particular
events (episodes) of ones own life
2. Semantic Memory memory that concerns the
meaning of words and concepts
3. Procedural Memory memory that involves the
learning of skills or how to do things.
BASIC MEMORY PROCESSES:
1
st
: Encoding information must be put into memory
by putting sensory information into acoustic codes
(information as sequences of sounds), visual codes
(stimuli as pictures), or semantic codes (general
meaning)
2
nd
: Storage maintaining information in the system
over a time.
3
rd
: Retrieval process of finding information stored
in memory and bringing it into consciousness.
* If any of these processes fails to operate properly,
forgetting will occur.
STAGES OF MEMORY:
1. Sensory Memory sensory receptors picks up
information from the environment.
Iconic Memory refers to the sensory register
for visual images.
Echoic Memory refers to the sensory register
for auditory items.
Eidetic Memory, commonly called
photographic memory, go far beyond
recognizing recently seen pictures; they
have automatic, long-term, detailed, and
vivid images of virtually everything they have
seen.
2. Short-term Memory temporarily holds
information in consciousness.
3. Long-term Memory information may remain
indefinitely in the consciousness. It involves the
storage of information for much longer periods.
STRATEGIES FOR REMEMBERING:
Recall is the ability to retrieve information from
long-term memory with few cues.
Recognition is the measure of memory based on
the ability to select correct information among
the options provided.
Relearning is a measure of memory based on the
length of time it takes to relearn forgotten
material.
Chunking is perceiving related items as larger
unit or cluster.
Rehearsal involves some kind of verbal process,
either saying the information aloud or repeating
it to yourself.
Mnemonic (memory tricks) was derived from
the Greek word mneme which means memory.
Mnemonic devices, then are memory aids that
allow one to make better use of the cognitive
capacities he has.
CAUSES OF FORGETTING:
1. Decay Theory assumes that memory traces
erode or decay with the passage of time.
2. Interference Theory states that forgetting
occurs because other memories interfere with
the storage or retrieval of information.
a. Proactive interference is created by
memories from prior learning
b. Retroactive interference is created by
memories from later learning
3. Reconstruction Theory explains forgetting as a
change in the structure of memory that makes it
inaccurate or difficult to retrieve. It also suggests
that memory traces do not fade or become
blocked by interference, but gradually change
over time.
4. Freuds repression theory (motivated
forgetting) states that people often push
unacceptable, anxiety provoking thoughts and
impulses into their unconsciousness so as to
avoid confronting them directly.


COGNITION
Cognition is a process of knowing. It involves
thinking, concept formation, problem solving and
decision-making.
Thinking refers to the cognitive processes which
takes place as we process information from our
senses and information already present in memory.
KINDS OF THINKING:
I. Associative thinking includes undirected and
uncontrolled thinking.
a. Autistic thinking is called daydreaming. It is
thinking which is governed by personal
needs or by the self. It excludes reality and is
characterized by extreme preoccupation
with ones own thoughts and fantasies.
b. Night dreaming is due to unconscious
impulses and it aims to gratify or satisfy a
drive.
c. Imagination is the process of creating
objects or events without the benefit of
sensory data. It involves the creation of new
objects as a plan for the future, or it may
take a fanciful form strongly dominated by
autistic or wishful thinking.
II. Directed thinking is thinking oriented towards a
goal as in reasoning.
a. Critical thinking refers to a systematic
thinking in which all assumptions underlying
conclusions or ideas are subjected to careful,
detailed analysis.
b. Creative thinking is a highly imaginative and
rare form of thinking in which the individual
discovers new relationships and solutions to
problems and may produce an invention or
an artistic creation.
Concept formation is a process in which a person
interacts with his environment and organizes the
mass of stimuli that he is experiencing. From this
organization, he interprets the environment and acts
on the basis of this interpretation.
Problem-solving is a process of thinking that is
directed toward the solution of a problem.
Decision-making is a special kind of thinking which
involves problem-solving. It is the process of
choosing between various courses of action or
alternatives.

INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence refers to the cognitive ability of an
individual to learn from experience, to reason well,
to remember important information, and to agree
with the demands of daily life.
SEVEN TYPES:
1. Linguistic Intelligence involves reading, writing,
listening, and talking.
2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence involves
most scientific thinking, including solving logical
puzzles, deriving proofs, and performing
calculations.
3. Spatial Intelligence involves moving from one
location to another or determining ones
orientation in space.
4. Musical Intelligence involves singing,
composing, conducting, or performing on a
musical instrument.
5. Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence involves ones
body or its various parts to perform skillful and
purposeful movements.
6. Intrapersonal Intelligence involves
understanding ones self and having insights into
ones thoughts, emotions, and actions.
7. Interpersonal Intelligence involves
understanding other people and ones relations
to others.

FINAL COVERAGE

MOTIVATION
Motivation is an internal condition initiated by
drives, needs or desires and producing a goal-
oriented behavior.
MASLOWs HIERARCHY OF NEEDS


EMOTION, FRUSTRATIONS and CONFLICTS
Emotion is a subjective feeling or response generally
accompanied by a physiological change and usually
associated with a change in behavior.
Classification:
1. Pleasant vs. Unpleasant
2. Basic vs. Derived
3. Intense vs. Mild
4. Positive vs. Negative
Basic Aspects or Components:
1. Arousal refers to the series of physiological
changesprimarily in the autonomic nervous
systemthat takes place when an individual has
an emotion.
2. Expression refers to behavioral acts that are
elicited by the emotion.
3. Experience subjective feeling that
accompanies the emotion the individuals
perception and realization of emotional state.
Frustration refers to the unpleasant feelings that
result from the blocking of motive satisfactionthat
is, the feelings we experience when something
interferes with our wishes, hopes, plans and
expectations.
Sources of Frustrations:
1. Physical obstacles
2. Social circumstances
3. Personal shortcomings
4. Conflicts between motives
Conflict refers to the simultaneous arousal of two or
more incompatible motives, resulting in an
unpleasant emotions.
* As a source of frustration, it is the most common of the
four sources.
Basic Types of Conflicts:
1. Approach-approach conflicts exists when a
person is motivated to engage in two desirable
activities that can be pursued simultaneously.
2. Avoidance-avoidance conflicts arises when a
person faces two unattractive situations, and
avoidance of one forces exposure to the other.
3. Approach-avoidance conflicts is created when
one event or activity has both attractive and
unattractive features. Acting to attain the
desirable features requires exposure to the
undesirable ones as well as avoiding the negative
features means giving up something desirable.
4. Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts can be
seen in a situation in which a choice must be
made between two or more alternatives, each of
which has both positive and negative features.

GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT
Growth refers to an increase in the size of bodily
parts or of the organism as a whole. It signifies
quantitative changes.
Development is defined as the orderly and
sequential changes that occur with the passage of
time as an organism moves from conception to
death. It involves those processes that are
biologically programmed within the organism and
those processes in which the organism is changed or
transformed through interaction with the
environment. It is also referred to as gradual growth
which indicates changes in character. It refers to the
qualitative changes in the individual.
Nature vs Nurture
Nature refers to a persons experiences in the
environment.
Nurture refers to a persons inherited
characteristics.
Stages of Development
Refer to pp. 198-199 of General Psychology with Drug Education
by Cornista and Lupato, 2004.

PERSONALITY
Personality consists of all the relatively stable and
distinctive styles of thought, behavior, and
emotional response that characterize a persons
adaptations to surrounding circumstances. It refers
to the sum total of the typical ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that makes each person unique.
The word personality comes from the Latin word
per and sonare, which literally means to sound
through. Apparently, the word persona came from
these two words, which means an actors mask
through which the sound of his voice was projected.
Classification of personality:
A. Based on body type (William Sheldon)
1. Endomorph
2. Mesomorph
3. Ectomorph
B. Based on behavior (Carl Jung)
1. Introverts
2. Extroverts
C. Based on body chemistry and endocrine
balance (Galen)
1. Sanguine
2. Phlegmatic
3. Melancholic
4. Choleric


Good luck and God bless you!