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The Psychology of Work and Organisations

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The Psychology of Work and Organisations

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Michael A. West and Stephen A. Woods (2010),The Psychology of Work and Organizations 3rd edition, Cengage Learning EMEA

https://g.co/kgs/QNTPvw

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The purpose of this module is to develop a critical appreciation of the strengths and limitations of key psychological theory and research in the area of lifespan development, and develop knowledge and understanding of a range of psychological issues relevant to children's, adolescent's and adult's lives.

Boyd, & Bee, H. L. (2015). Lifespan development. (Seventh edition / Denise Boyd, Helen Bee.). Pearson.

https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/1mo2uan/alma991000942989707361

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Positive Psychology Advanced

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This module builds on the biological approaches to Psychology introduced in the second year Biological Psychology module PSY2011. It introduces newer and more complex material with a view to developing students? knowledge, understanding and critical appreciation of the theories and methods applied in these approaches.

Gazzaniga, & Reuter-Lorenz, P. A. (2010). The cognitive neuroscience of mind a tribute to Michael S. Gazzaniga.
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/geaab5/alma991001532069707361

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The purpose of this module is to consider some of the key topics within Psychology from the perspective of Critical Psychology and Discursive Psychology (eg research methods, clinical and abnormal Psychology, Social Psychology). This module examines the role of Psychology in the development and maintenance of the established order in society, and the ways in which psychology has been shaped by the historical, economic, personal and social context in which it operates.

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The purpose of this module is to develop an understanding and critical appreciation of relevant theory, research and practice within Educational Psychology, and provide the opportunity for advanced study of the psychology of education with practical experience of applying such knowledge in an educational context.

Cline, Gulliford, A., & Birch, S. (2015). Educational psychology (Second edition.). Routledge.
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/geaab5/alma991000919539707361

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Psychology of Spirituality, Religion and Wellbeing

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Psychology of Spirituality, Religion and Wellbeing

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The purpose of this module is to explore the unique contribution to Psychology provided by the related fields of Transpersonal Psychology and the Psychology of religion. This is achieved by a combination of rigorous academic inquiry with a structured experiential programme of personal, interpersonal, cultural and social development. Transpersonal Psychology and the Psychology of religion are concerned with important aspects of human experience related to spirituality, religious experience and behaviour, personal happiness and wellbeing, with Transpersonal Psychology emphasising experiential and transformative approaches and the Psychology of religion emphasising an application of mainstream psychological approaches and normative descriptions. The module offers students the opportunity to engage fully in a process of personal, transpersonal and social development (Integral Transpersonal Development / ITD) designed for this module.

Fontana. (2003). Psychology, religion, and spirituality. BPS Blackwell.
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/geaab5/alma991000435029707361

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The purpose of this module is to build on, and extend, the knowledge acquired by students at levels four and five. It will examine, critically, the impact of positive psychological processes in families, organizations and communities and evaluate how these may help or hinder the development of individual and collective strengths.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/applied-positive-psychology/product/HD_301129847?pscid=ps_ggl_OOS+-+Performance+Max+BOOKS+-+2022_&crm_event_code=20REUWWS08&gclid=CjwKCAiAioifBhAXEiwApzCztnc9MZ97BlhKsvtDl6jI84QIRI1zy0PnSSiP2B6RwWM6Nqn-lfa_OxoCcVEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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Product details page for Applied Positive Psychology is loaded.

Description

This exciting new textbook, written by leading academics in the UK, offers the very first authored title on applied positive psychology for university courses.

Consisting of the latest cutting-edge theory and research in the subject and structured around a pioneering multidimensional model of wellbeing, this book will provide you with the knowledge and tools to apply positive psychology in many areas of life. These include interventions aimed at developing mental and physical functioning, to recommendations for enhancing relationships and reshaping organisational structures. The book shows how these practices can be successfully deployed in diverse real-world settings, from the classroom to the workplace. Key features include: Learning objectives set out at the start of each chapter Practice essay questions throughout and quizzes to test your knowledge at the end of each chapter Useful measurement tools and recommendations for research Summary boxes and suggested further reading and resources Case studies and 'Reflection' boxes that invite you to explore topics in greater depth and relate findings to your everyday life. This book will be essential reading for all students with an interest in or studying a course in applied positive psychology, and is strongly recommended to students taking a wider course in positive psychology and the psychology of happiness and wellbeing.

In very good condition with slight marks on page edges.

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notificationsNetworkError Product details page for Applied Positive Psychology is loaded. This exciting new textbook, written by leading academics in the UK, offers the very first authored title on applied positive psychology for university courses.

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The purpose of this module is to expand knowledge and understanding on the perspective of forensic psychology drawing upon theoretical and practical understandings.

Masson. (2016). Inside forensic psychology (Masson, Ed.). Praeger.
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/geaab5/alma991001510858807361

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The purpose of this module is to explore in depth two areas of psychology concerned with the important, yet often poorly understood areas of experimental parapsychology and the psychology of anomalous experience

David Groome, & Ron Roberts. (2016). Parapsychology: The Science of Unusual Experience. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315689678
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/162hv8k/cdi_informaworld_taylorfrancisbooks_9781315689678

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The purpose of this module to build on curriculum provided in Psychology in Practice (PSY1001) surrounding the Health Psychology profession and application of theoretical models from Health Psychology and allied professions (e.g. medicine). Health Psychology advances the health care system and aids formulation of policy, alongside focusing service provisions for individuals and communities.

Phillips, & Pitts, M. (1998). The psychology of health : an introduction (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203441749
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/geaab5/alma991001520684507361

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This module builds on and expands students' prior knowledge of psychological theory and research methodology acquired at levels 4 and 5. It aims to foster the development of expertise in a specific area of psychology and the skills necessary to plan, conduct and write a review of a substantial body of scientific literature. Students will produce a report which should enable a reader to understand the main direction of research under review, the nature of the body of work undertaken in the area, the critical issues addressed and the extent to which they have been resolved. It should also inform the reader of the issues or problems outstanding, point to gaps in the coverage of the subject and advise on areas for further study and research. The module will, therefore, develop students' ability to synthesise and critically evaluate current knowledge on a psychological issue, and to work independently to high standards of scholarship.

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This module aims to explore contemporary understandings of mental health and experience of individuals with mental health disorders. The module explores social, ethical, and scientific issues around the field of mental health and offers an environment for students to engage in critical analysis and debate.

Cromby, Harper, D., & Reavey, P. (2013). Psychology, mental health and distress. Palgrave Macmillan.
https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/permalink/44NORTH_INST/geaab5/alma991001511577207361

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The dissertation builds on and expands students' prior knowledge of research methodology acquired at levels 4 and 5. It aims to foster the development of expertise in methodology and skills in the planning, conduct and write-up of research reports. This form of independent, experiential learning will require students to ask logical questions to diagnose and define problems, generate and implement solutions and evaluate the effectiveness of their action-outcomes. It therefore develops in the students the ability to work independently, and to reflect on the research process.

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Research methods (2022)
https://www.simplypsychology.org/research-methods.html

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Research methods in psychology are systematic procedures used to observe, describe, predict, and explain behavior and mental processes. They include experiments, surveys, case studies, and naturalistic observations, ensuring data collection is objective and reliable to understand and explain psychological phenomena.

Sampling is the process of selecting a representative group from the population under study.

A sample is the participants you select from a target population (the group you are interested in) to make generalisations about.

Representative means the extent to which a sample mirrors a researcher's target population and reflects its characteristics.

Generalisability means the extent to which their findings can be applied to the larger population of which their sample was a part.

Volunteer sample: where participants pick themselves through newspaper adverts, noticeboards or online.

Opportunity sampling: also known as convenience sampling, uses people who are available at the time the study is carried out and willing to take part. It is based on convenience.

Random sampling: when every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected. An example of random sampling would be picking names out of a hat.

Systematic sampling: when a system is used to select participants. Picking every Nth person from all possible participants. N = the number of people in the research population / the number of people needed for the sample.

Stratified sampling: when you identify the subgroups and select participants in proportion to their occurrences.

Snowball sampling: when researchers find a few participants, and then ask them to find participants themselves and so on.

Quota sampling: when researchers will be told to ensure the sample fits with certain quotas, for example they might be told to find 90 participants, with 30 of them being unemployed.

Variables

Experiments always have an independent and dependent variable.

The independent variable is the one the experimenter manipulates (the thing that changes between the conditions the participants are placed into). It is aassumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable.

The dependent variable is the thing being measured, or the results of the experiment.

Operationalization of variables means making them measurable/quantifiable. We must use operationalization to ensure that variables are in a form that can be easily tested.

For instance, we can't really measure 'happiness' but we can measure how many times a person smiles within a two hour period.

By operationalizing variables, we make it easy for someone else to replicate our research. Remember, this is important because we can check if our findings are reliable.

Extraneous variables are all variables, which are not the independent variable, but could affect the results of the experiment.

It can be a natural characteristic of the participant, such as intelligence levels, gender, or age for example, or it could be a situational feature of the environment such as lighting or noise.

Demand characteristics are a type of extraneous variable that occurs if the participants work out the aims of the research study, they may begin to behave in a certain way.

For example, in Milgram's research, critics argued that participants worked out that the shocks were not real and they administered them as they thought this was what was required of them.

Extraneous variables must be controlled so that they do not affect (confound) the results.

Randomly allocating participants to their conditions or using a matched pairs experimental design can help to reduce participant variables.

Situational variables are controlled by using standardized procedures, ensuring every participant in a given condition is treated in the same way

Experimental Design

Experimental design refers to how participants are allocated to each condition of the independent variable, such as a control or experimental group.

Independent design (between-groups design): each participant is selected for only one group. With the independent design, the most common way of deciding which participants go into which group is by means of randomization.

Matched participants design: each participant is selected for only one group, but the participants in the two groups are matched for some relevant factor or factors (e.g. ability; sex; age).

Repeated measures design (within groups): each participant appears in both groups, so that there are
exactly the same participants in each group.

The main problem with the repeated measures design is that there may well be order effects. Their experiences during the experiment may change the participants in various ways.

They may perform better when they appear in the second group because they have gained useful information about the experiment or about the task. On the other hand, they may perform less well on the second occasion because of tiredness or boredom.

Counterbalancing is the best way of preventing order effects from disrupting the findings of an experiment, and involves ensuring that each condition is equally likely to be used first and second by the participants

If we wish to compare two groups with respect to a given independent variable, it is essential to make sure that the two groups do not differ in any other important way.

Experimental Methods

All experimental methods involve an IV (independent variable) and DV (dependent variable).

are conducted in a well-controlled environment, not necessarily a laboratory, and therefore accurate and objective measurements are possible.Lab Experiments

The researcher decides where the experiment will take place, at what time, with which participants, in what circumstances, using a standardized procedure.

Field experiments are conducted in the everyday (natural) environment of the participants. The experimenter still manipulates the IV, but in a real-life setting. It may be possible to control extraneous variables, though such control is more difficult than in a lab experiment.

Natural experiments are when a naturally occurring IV is investigated that isn't deliberately manipulated, it exists anyway. Participants are not randomly allocated, and the natural event may only occur rarely.

Case Study

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a person, group, event, or community. It uses information from a range of sources, such as from the person concerned and also from their family and friends.

Many techniques may be used such as interviews, psychological tests, observations and experiments. Case studies are generally longitudinal: in other words, they follow the individual or group over an extended period of time.

Case studies are widely used in psychology and among the best-known ones carried out were by Sigmund Freud. He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.

Case studies provide rich qualitative data and have high levels of ecological validity. However, it is difficult to generalize from individual cases as each one has unique characteristics.

Correlational Studies

Correlation means association; it is a measure of the extent to which two variables are related. One of the variables can be regarded as the predictor variable with the other one as the outcome variable.

Correlational studies typically involve obtaining two different measures from a group of participants, and then assessing the degree of association between the measures.

The predictor variable can be seen as occurring before the outcome variable in some sense. It is called the predictor variable, because it forms the basis for predicting the value of the outcome variable

Relationships between variables can be displayed on a graph or as a numerical score called a correlation coefficient.

If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other, then this is known as a positive correlation.

If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other, then this is known as a negative correlation.

A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables.

After looking at the scattergraph, if we want to be sure that a significant relationship does exist between the two variables, a statistical test of correlation can be conducted, such as Spearman's rho.

The test will give us a score, called a correlation coefficient. This is a value between 0 and 1, and the closer to 1 the score is, the stronger the relationship between the variables. This value can be both positive e.g. 0.63, or negative -0.63.

A correlation between variables, however, does not automatically mean that the change in one variable is the cause of the change in the values of the other variable. A correlation only shows if there is a relationship between variables.

Correlation does not always prove causation, as a third variable may be involved.

Interview Methods

Interviews are commonly divided into two types: structured and unstructured.

Structured interviews are formal. The interview situation is standardized as far as possible. Structured interviews are formal, like job interviews.

A fixed, predetermined set of questions is put to every participant in the same order and in the same way.

Responses are recorded on a questionnaire, and the researcher presets the order and wording of questions, and sometimes the range of alternative answers.

The interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee.

Unstructured interviews are informal, like casual conversations. A general conversation normally precedes them, and the researcher deliberately adopts an informal approach in an attempt to break down social barriers.

There are no set questions, and the participant can raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant and ask them in their own way. Questions are posed about participants' answers to the subject

Unstructured interviews are most useful in qualitative research to analyze attitudes and values.

Though they rarely provide a valid basis for generalization, their main advantage is that they enable the researcher to probe social actors' subjective point of view.

Questionnaire Method

Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone, or post.

The choice of questions is important because of the need to avoid bias or ambiguity in the questions, 'leading' the respondent or causing offense.

Open questions are designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the subject's own knowledge and feelings. They provide insights into feelings, opinions, and understanding. Example: "How do you feel about that situation?"

Closed questions can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" or specific information, limiting the depth of response. They are useful for gathering specific facts or confirming details. Example: "Do you feel anxious in crowds?"

Postal questionnaires seem to offer the opportunity of getting around the problem of interview bias by reducing the personal involvement of the researcher.

Its other practical advantages are that it is cheaper than face-to-face interviews and can be used to contact many respondents scattered over a wide area relatively quickly.

Observations

Covert observation is where the researcher doesn't tell the participants that they are being observed until after the study is complete. There could be ethical problems or deception and consent with this particular observation method.

Overt observation is where a researcher tells the participants that they are being observed and what they are being observed for.

Controlled: behavior is observed under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g., Bandura's Bobo doll study).

Natural: Here, spontaneous behavior is recorded in a natural setting.

Participant: Here, the observer has direct contact with the group of people they are observing. The researcher becomes a member of the group they are researching.

Non-participant (aka "fly on the wall): The researcher does not have direct contact with the people being observed. The observation of participants' behavior is from a distance

Pilot Study

A pilot study is a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate the feasibility of the key s teps in a future, full-scale project.

A pilot study is an initial run-through of the procedures to be used in an investigation; it involves selecting a few people and trying out the study on them. It is possible to save time, and in some cases, money, by identifying any flaws in the procedures designed by the researcher.

A pilot study can help the researcher spot any ambiguities (i.e. unusual things) or confusion in the information given to participants or problems with the task devised.

Sometimes the task is too hard, and the researcher may get a floor effect, because none of the participants can score at all or can complete the task - all performances are low.

The opposite effect is a ceiling effect, when the task is so easy that all achieve virtually full marks or top performances and are "hitting the ceiling".

Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and
lifespan. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time.

In cohort studies, the participants must share a common factor or characteristic such as age, demographic, or occupation. A cohort study is a type of longitudinal study in which researchers monitor and observe a chosen population over an extended period.

Triangulation means using more than one research method to improve the validity of the study.

Reliability

Reliability is a measure of consistency, if a particular measurement is repeated and the same result is obtained then it is described as being reliable.

Test-retest reliability: assessing the same person on two different occasions which shows the extent to which the test produces the same answers.

Inter-observer reliability: the extent to which there is an agreement between two or more observers.

Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis is a systematic review that involves identifying an aim and then searching for research studies that have addressed similar aims/hypotheses.

This is done by looking through various databases and then decisions are made about what studies are to be included/excluded.

Strengths: Increases the conclusions' validity as they're based on a wider range.

Weaknesses: Research designs in studies can vary so they are not truly comparable.

Peer Review

A researcher submits an article to a journal. The choice of the journal may be determined by the journal's audience or prestige.

The journal selects two or more appropriate experts (psychologists working in a similar field) to peer review the article without payment. The peer reviewers assess: the methods and designs used, originality of the findings, the validity of the original research findings and its content, structure and language.

Feedback from the reviewer determines whether the article is accepted. The article may be: Accepted as it is, accepted with revisions, sent back to the author to revise and re-submit or rejected without the possibility of submission.

The editor makes the final decision whether to accept or reject the research report based on the reviewers comments/ recommendations.

Peer review is important because it prevent faulty data from entering the public domain, it provides a way of checking the validity of findings and the quality of the methodology and is used to assess the research rating of university departments.

Peer reviews may be an ideal, whereas in practice there are lots of problems. For example, it slows publication down and may prevent unusual, new work being published. Some reviewers might use it as an opportunity to prevent competing researchers from publishing work.

Some people doubt whether peer review can really prevent the publication of fraudulent research.

The advent of the internet means that a lot of research and academic comment is being published without official peer reviews than before, though systems are evolving on the internet where everyone really has a chance to offer their opinions and police the quality of research.

Types of Data

Quantitative data is numerical data e.g. reaction time or number of mistakes. It represents how much or how long, how many there are of something. A tally of behavioral categories and closed questions in a questionnaire collect quantitative data.

Qualitative data is virtually any type of information that can be observed and recorded that is not numerical in nature and can be in the form of written or verbal communication. Open questions in questionnaires and accounts from observational studies collect qualitative data.

Primary data is first-hand data collected for the purpose of the investigation.

Secondary data is information that has been collected by someone other than the person who is conducting the research e.g. taken from journals, books or articles.

Validity

Validity means how well a piece of research actually measures what it sets out to, or how well it reflects the reality it claims to represent.

Validity is whether the observed effect is genuine and represents what is actually out there in the world.

Concurrent validity is the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure and obtains close results. For example, a new intelligence test compared to an established test.

Face validity: does the test measure what it's supposed to measure 'on the face of it'. This is done by 'eyeballing' the measuring or by passing it to an expert to check.

Ecological validity is the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalized to other settings / real life.

Temporal validity is the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalized to other historical times.

Paradigm - A set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline.

Paradigm shift - The result of the scientific revolution: a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline.

Objectivity - When all sources of personal bias are minimised so not to distort or influence the research process.

Empirical method - Scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experience.

Replicability - The extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers.

Falsifiability - The principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue.

Statistical Testing

A significant result is one where there is a low probability that chance factors were responsible for any observed difference, correlation or association in the variables tested.

If our test is significant, we can reject our null hypothesis and accept our alternative hypothesis.

If our test is not significant, we can accept our null hypothesis and reject our alternative hypothesis. A null hypothesis is a statement of no effect.

In Psychology, we use p < 0.05 (as it strikes a balance between making a type I and II error) but p < 0.01 is used in tests that could cause harm like introducing a new drug.

A type I error is when the null hypothesis is rejected when it should have been accepted (happens when a lenient significance level is used, an error of optimism).

A type II error is when the null hypothesis is accepted when it should have been rejected (happens when a stringent significance level is used, an error of pessimism).

Ethical Issues

Informed consent is when participants are able to make an informed judgment about whether to take part. It causes them to guess the aims of the study and change their behavior.

To deal with it, we can gain presumptive consent or ask them to formally indicate their agreement to participate but it may invalidate the purpose of the study and it is not guaranteed that the participants would understand.

Deception should only be used when it is approved by an ethics committee, as it involves deliberately misleading or withholding information. Participants should be fully debriefed after the study but debriefing can't turn the clock back.

All participants should be informed at the beginning that they have the right to withdraw if they ever feel distressed or uncomfortable.

It causes bias as the ones that stayed are obedient and some may not withdraw as they may have been given incentives or feel like they're spoiling the study. Researchers can offer the right to withdraw data after participation.

Participants should all have protection from harm. The researcher should avoid risks greater than those experienced in everyday life and they should stop the study if any harm is suspected. However, the harm may not be apparent at the time of the study.

Confidentiality concerns the communication of personal information. The researchers should not record any names but use numbers or false names though it may not be possible as it is sometimes possible to work out who the researchers were.

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Saul Mcleod, PhD
Educator, Researcher

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Research methods in psychology are systematic procedures used to observe, describe, predict, and explain behavior and mental processes. They include experiments, surveys, case studies, and naturalistic observations, ensuring data collection is objective and reliable to understand and explain psychological phenomena.

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Evolutionary Theory:
Buss, D. M. (2023). Evolutionary theories in psychology. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/ymcbwrx4

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The Psychology of Learning and Teaching in Educational Settings

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The Psychology of Learning and Teaching in Educational Settings

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Educational Psychology:
https://education.wsu.edu/graduate/edpsych/overview/

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Educational Psychology.....advancing theory and methods to better learning and performance.

Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn and retain knowledge, primarily in educational settings like classrooms. This includes emotional, social, and cognitive learning processes. Areas of focus might include teaching, testing and assessment methods, psychometrics, classroom or learning environments, and learning, social, and behavioral problems that may impede learning, technology in learning. Graduates work as professors, education specialists, learning analysts, program evaluators, and find positions in research institutions, school systems, the testing industry, government agencies, and private industry.

The mission of Educational Psychology at WSU is to produce successful professionals in educational psychology who have strong methodological skills, understanding of researchable topics, the ability to develop a research program, effectively communicate and work with a wide variety of professionals, and skills to understand nuance and ambiguity in the work environment.

We train students within educational psychology to be excellent consumers and producers of research in order to address challenging educational problems. These students gain a deep understanding of learning theory and methods to allow them to contribute to both theory and practice in the domain in which they select to work. The work in such areas may be awarded, for example, by the ability to make contributions to the improvement of educational settings (e.g., schools, universities), to have a direct influence on individuals through the development of programs, methods, and tools to meet their needs, or to provide information to individuals who shape policy. Thus, we seek individuals who will first meet challenging academic standards for entrance and show promise for success in the exciting field of educational psychology.

Our programs

Our program offers two degree options with a specialization in Educational Psychology; the Master of Arts (M.A.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) . The M.A. and Ph.D. programs culminate with the writing and oral defense of a formal thesis or dissertation. Students pursuing a master's degree can expect to complete the program in two years and doctoral students can expect to finish in three to five years beyond the master's degree.

The core requirements in Research, Evaluation, Measurement, Learning and Cognition provide students with a solid academic foundation. Programs afford some flexibility to tailor course work to individual student preferences and research options. Through faculty and student partnerships across campus, the program provides an exciting, interdisciplinary atmosphere for course and field study.

Graduates in educational psychology can expect employment in private firms, school districts, universities, business, industry, or state agencies. For example, graduates work for: test companies as researchers, university as professors and researchers, and assessment offices across the United States.

Our Ph.D. program equips students with the knowledge of learning theories and strong methodological, evaluation and assessment skills to conduct research on diverse issues relevant to education and beyond. Students are expected to integrate theoretical understanding with research and internship opportunities offered by the university to solve educational problems and improve policy and practice. The Educational Psychology faculty are committed to mentoring graduate students to develop their own body of research, publish in top tier journals, present at conferences and gain career-related skills. Students can also obtain research methods certificates while completing their master's work in the Learning and Performance Research Center as well as research laboratories directed by Educational Psychology faculty.

For more information, you can email us at edpsych.coe@wsu.edu or complete this short survey and a faculty member will contact you.

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Educational Psychology Overview | College of Education | Washington State University

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About us Educational Psychology.....advancing theory and methods to better learning and performance. Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn and retain knowledge, primarily in educational settings like classrooms. This includes emotional, social, and cognitive learning processes.

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Biological and Cognitive Psychology: Mechanisms of the mind

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Biological and Cognitive Psychology: Mechanisms of the mind

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Biopsychology:
https://dictionary.apa.org/biological-psychology

Cognitive Psychology:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html

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A trusted reference in the field of psychology, offering more than 25,000 clear and authoritative entries.

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Social Developmental Psychology:
http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/developmental-psychology/social-development/

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Social development is the change over time in an individual's understanding of, attitudes concerning, and behavior toward others; for example, a developmental change in how people behave with members of the other gender or their understanding of what friendship entails. These changes are perceived to occur due to socialization processes as well as physical and cognitive maturation. Socialization, however, is not a unidirectional influence, where society simply affects the individual. Instead, relationships are perceived as bidirectional. That is, the parent affects the child's development, as well as the child impacting the parent's. Initial relationships may be the most important as they serve as models of what infants and children should expect in their future relationships. Over the course of the life span, relationships with parents, siblings, peers, and romantic partners play integral roles for social development.

Because these relationships do not exist in a vacuum, they are affected by the social and cultural contexts in which they exist. Cultural, ethnic, and religious differences affect the manner in which people interact with each other and subsequently children's development within those contexts. Individuals' gender and social economic standing (SES) also affect how they think, feel about, and behave toward others, as well as how other people respond to them.

Initial Relationships

John Bowlby, a prominent ethologist, proposed that infants develop attachments to their primary caregivers. He argued that attachments are reciprocal relationships; the infants become attached to their caregivers and the caregivers become attached to the infants. Attachments are theorized to serve an evolutionary purpose because they increase the likelihood that the caregivers will protect and care for the infant. Attachments between infants and caregivers develop gradually over time as the infants and caregivers improve their ability to read and respond to each other's signals. Typically, infants form clear-cut attachments to familiar caregivers by 7 months of age.

Attachments provide children with emotional support. The child is able to use the familiar caregiver as a secure base from which to explore his or her surroundings. Because infants look to their familiar caregivers for support, they are more willing to explore their environment when their caregivers are present than when they are absent. Caregivers also serve as sources of comfort when the infants become distressed.

Bowlby proposed that infants grow to understand what their caregivers are like and how they typically respond when the infants are stressed. These initial working models, or expectations concerning social relationships, are theorized to guide their expectations about future relationships during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. If infants had warm relationships with their caregivers and their needs were met, they may expect positive relations with others. However, if these relationships were negative, they may expect to be hurt by others and become more defensive in future relationships.

Mary Ainsworth, a contemporary of Bowlby's, developed the "strange situation" to examine the quality of children's attachments to their caregivers. In this test, 1-year-old infants encounter a number of stressful situations, from interacting with strangers to having their caregivers leave. The children are classified into different attachment styles based on how they cope with these situations.

Children with secure attachments are distressed at separation, but are easily comforted when their caregiver returns, and are more willing to explore when the caregiver is present. Three categories of insecure attachments have been observed. Children with an avoidant attachment style tend to be unresponsive to their caregivers when they are present and display little distress at separation. These children are slow to respond or avoid the caregivers when they return. Children who display resistant attachment styles seek closeness to their caregivers and often fail to explore their environment. They are very distressed at separation and frequently display angry, resistant behavior at reunion. Finally, abused infants usually display a disorganized/disoriented attachment style. These infants often are afraid of their caregivers and display a combination of avoidant and resistant behaviors.

An important determinant of attachment style is the quality of care the infants receive. Mothers of securely attached children tend to be warm, sensitive to their children's signals, and encourage their children to explore the world. Mothers of insecurely attached children provide less sensitive parenting. Mothers of resistant children often provide inconsistent feedback; sometimes they are enthusiastic and other times they ignore the children. These babies become anxious and resentful as they realize they cannot count on their mothers for support and comfort. Two patterns of parenting styles are related with avoidant babies. Mothers of avoidant infants often overstimulate their children or are unresponsive to the babies' signals and express negative attitudes toward them. In both cases, infants learn that they can reduce negative stimulation by avoiding the parent. Whereas infant characteristics, such as being premature or having a difficult temperament, may make an insecure attachment more likely, caregiver qualities seem to be more important for attachment than the infant's qualities.

Because of cross-cultural differences in child rearing, the percentage of children who fall into the secure and insecure attachment styles varies across cultures. For example, German culture promotes independence in their children and discourages clingy behavior. Not surprisingly, German infants tend to display more avoidant attachment than do babies raised in the United States. In Japanese culture, parents rarely leave their infants in the care of strangers. Therefore, Japanese children tend to display greater separation anxiety and more resistant attachment than do children raised in the United States.

There is significant evidence to support Bowlby's claim that early attachments influence subsequent social relationships. During the preschool years, children who were classified as securely attached tend to be more sociable with their peers and have more friends and more positive interactions with peers than do insecurely attached children. In middle childhood, children who had secure attachments have better relationships with peers and closer friendships than insecurely attached children. Furthermore, there are intergenerational effects of attachment. Adults' attachments to their parents are correlated with how their children are attached to them. This likely occurs because the parents' attachment style affects how they behave with their children. Typically the best outcomes occur when the children are securely attached to both parents and the worst outcomes are when both attachments are insecure. For the quality of the attachment to be maintained, it is necessary that sensitive caregiving continue throughout childhood.

Parenting Styles

In addition to warm, responsive parenting, Erik Erikson and others have claimed that a second dimension of parenting, the amount of demands and controls the parents place on their children, also plays an integral role in children's and adolescents' social development. Parents can be categorized as being either high or low on each of these dimensions (Table 1).

In the 1960s and 1970s, Diana Baumrind conducted extensive research on how parents interact with their children. She observed three patterns of parenting styles. Authoritative parents display high levels of warmth and affection and place demands on their children. These parents tend to be responsive to their children's thoughts and feelings, and encourage age-appropriate independence while placing controls on their actions. Whereas authoritarian parents also place high levels of control on their children, they display low levels of warmth. These parents tend to impose many rules and expect compliance from their children. They often rely on punitive or coercive measures to obtain obedience. Permissive parents place few demands on their children but are warm and caring toward their children. Parents often take this approach if they lack the confidence to control their children or feel it is best if the children make their own decisions. Developmental psychologists Eleanor Maccoby and John Martin added the fourth category, uninvolved parenting. These parents display little warmth and place few demands or expectations on their children.

Table 1 Classifications of Parenting Styles

Children raised by authoritative parents have the best social and academic outcomes. They have high selfesteem, are successful in school, and are well liked by their peers. Children raised in authoritarian households tend to have average social and cognitive competencies and during adolescence tend to be more conforming to their peers. Children raised by permissive parents tend to have low cognitive and social competencies. They often are immature and lack self-control and are more likely to get involved with delinquent behavior than children whose parents set controls for them. The worst outcomes are associated with uninvolved parenting. These children tend to perform poorly in school, display aggressive behavior during childhood, and are at risk for delinquent behavior as adolescents.

Because these findings are correlational, the outcomes are not necessarily due to the parenting style. It is possible that easy-going, intelligent children elicit more authoritative parenting than do difficult children. As stated earlier, whereas parents influence their children, the children also impact the parents.

Working-class parents are more likely to take an authoritarian approach to parenting, and tend to display less warmth than do middle-class parents. In addition, they are less likely to reason with, negotiate with, or foster curiosity and independence in their children. These differences can be explained by the power differences in blue and white-collar occupations. Working-class parents tend to have little power in the outside world and have to defer to their bosses. This leads to a perception of the world as hierarchical. These parents therefore stress obedience to their children, because it is a skill that will help them survive in a bluecollar world. Middle and upper-class parents also attempt to teach their children skills that will help them negotiate their futures. These parents focus on instilling initiative, curiosity, and creativity because these skills are relevant in a white-collar environment.

Siblings

The longest-lasting relationships most people have are with their siblings. Older siblings typically assume dominant roles, such as determining which activities to engage in, or how they should be played. They tend to initiate both more prosocial and combative behavior than younger siblings. Younger siblings are more likely to imitate their older brothers and sisters. As siblings age, the importance of birth order lessens and the relationship becomes more egalitarian by early adolescence.

A number of factors affect sibling relationships, including the genders of the siblings, the age gap between them, and their relationship with their parents. Although same-sex siblings tend to be closer than brother and sister pairs, the most conflict is seen in brother-brother relationships. By middle childhood, girls tend to report more warmth and intimacy in their sibling relationships than do boys. This trend continues into adulthood, where sister relationships tend to be the strongest and most intimate. Siblings whose ages are close together tend to display more warmth and closeness but also more conflict during childhood. This occurs because there are more direct comparisons and more frequent conflict over resources or perceived unequal treatment when the age gap is small.

The treatment children receive from their parents also influences their relationship. When parents favor one child, not only does sibling antagonism increase, but the least-favored child is also at risk for adjustment difficulties. The greatest problems occur when the children believe their parents care more about one child than another.

Sibling rivalry begins with the arrival of the new baby. This typically leads to a decline in positive interactions between mothers and the older children, such as joint play, cuddling, and talking. However, negative interactions, such as restrictive and punitive behavior, increase in frequency. This can lead to jealousy if the older children associate these changes with the baby.

Sibling rivalry tends to increase when the younger child reaches 1½ to 2 years of age. The younger siblings can now try to hold their own by hitting back or getting the parents' attention. Sibling rivalry continues increasing into middle childhood and is usually more intense when the children are the same gender or are close in age. Sibling rivalry declines during adolescence as the siblings develop their own social worlds and the frequency of their interactions with each other decreases.

There are a number of positive aspects to sibling relationships. First, they can provide social support. Older children can provide emotional support when their younger siblings are dealing with uncertain situations. Sisters play an important social support role, because relationships with sisters are more intimate. Second, older children can serve as models or tutors to their siblings. They can help their younger siblings master cognitive, physical, or social tasks through direct instruction or modeling behavior. Both older and younger siblings benefit from the tutoring. Children who tutor their siblings tend to do better on academic aptitude tests then same-age children who do not have these experiences. Third, interactions with older siblings aid in younger children's social cognitive development. This helps younger children develop social skills and enhance their emotional understanding and perspective-taking abilities.

Peer Relationships

Parents both directly and indirectly influence their children's peer relationships. Parents choose which neighborhoods they live in, which schools and religious services they attend, and whether or not they participate in after-school programs. These decisions affect who their children's potential peers are. Furthermore, they act as gatekeepers or booking agents in scheduling play dates for young children. Parents also serve as positive or negative role models of how to act toward others, and they can actively coach how to deal with peers. Finally, the parenting style they employ is related to peer sociability. Children raised by authoritative parents tend to have better social skills than those raised by authoritarian or uninvolved parents.

This is important because children's social skills strongly affect their popularity. Popular children tend to be calm, outgoing, and friendly. They act prosocially and are rarely disruptive or aggressive. In addition, they tend to have better perspective-taking skills than their peers. Two patterns of social interaction styles have negative consequences for popularity. Hostile, impulsive children tend to be poor perspective takers and often interpret other children as having a hostile intent. Because of this perspective, they are more likely than others to respond to other children's behavior with aggression. Children with this interaction style are at risk for becoming delinquent adolescents.

A subset of withdrawn children are passive and socially awkward. These children are aware that others dislike them and expect their peers to treat them poorly. They are very sensitive to negative feedback because this information supports their belief that they are disliked. Because of this, they tend to have a submissive interaction style and withdraw from social interactions. Subsequently, they often feel lonely and are at risk for depression and low self-esteem. However, not all children who have low rates of interactions with others are socially inept. Some of these children are socially well adjusted but just have a preference for interacting with only a few friends.

Physical appearance also impacts popularity, because attractive children tend to be more popular than their unattractive peers. The timing of the onset of puberty is influential as well. Boys who mature early tend to be more popular than later maturing boys. As early maturers are bigger and stronger than their peers, they excel in sports, which boosts their social status. In contrast, early maturing girls tend to be slightly less popular than later developing girls. Because these girls are the first in their cohort to reach puberty, they are likely to be teased, especially by the boys.

Gender differences in peer relationships begin much earlier than the onset of puberty. During early childhood, children begin to show preferences for playing with their own gender. Girls prefer to play with other girls by age 2, and boys start to prefer playing with other boys the following year. Young children not only prefer same-sex playmates, they also actively avoid the other gender. Because children segregate along gender lines, boys and girls live in different social worlds. Among other distinctions, boys and girls differ in their style of play, toy choices, what they do with their friends, and how they deal with conflict.

Boys are more active and aggressive, and are more likely to engage in rough-and-tumble play than girls. Furthermore, boys tend to play in larger groups and play more competitive games than do girls. Boys' groups tend to develop dominance hierarchies with power plays to determine where each child stands in the group. Because boys are concerned with their status within the group, their communication often focuses on dominance. When conflict arises, such as a fight over toys, they are likely to use verbal or physical aggression to resolve it.

In contrast to boys, girls are more vocal and nurturing. They are more likely to play with only one or two best friends. These friendships tend to be emotionally close and intimate. Typically, girls claim to have closer friendships than boys do from middle childhood on. When conflict does occur, girls are likely to compromise and try to work things out. When girls act aggressively, it is more likely to be an attempt to hurt someone's social relationships than to cause physical harm.

Children base their friendships on shared activities- the people they do things with. By adolescence, friendships become more focused on trust and intimacy, especially for girls. Adolescent girls turn to their friends for emotional support and understanding. Although adolescent boys disclose more to their friends than they did as children, they primarily continue to base their friendships on shared recreational activities.

In addition to the changes in the intimacy of friendships, a number of other changes occur in the transition to adolescence. Both the size of peer groups and their gender makeup change from childhood to adolescence. Cliques, which are small groups of approximately five or six friends who spend most of their time together, develop during preadolescence. Clique members usually are similar in terms of their gender, age, grade, and ethnic background. Larger reputation-based groups, called crowds, emerge in adolescence. Crowds are mixed gender groups that can contain multiple cliques. Crowd members tend to share similar norms, values, and interests. A crowd, such as jocks or brains, not only provides a group identity to adolescents but also a status level within the peer context.

Australian ethnographer Dexter Dunphy proposed a model of how peer group structures change during adolescence. Initially, boys and girls are relatively isolated from each another because they mainly associate with members of their same-sex cliques. In Dunphy's second stage, crowds begin to form as boys' and girls' cliques begin to interact at an intergroup level. Dating ensues between the higher status boys and girls in the third stage. These individuals serve as models for romantic relationships as well as mentors for the other members of their cliques. Crowds become fully developed in the fourth stage, as the youth begin to interact with members of the other sex at an interpersonal level. Finally, in the last stage, crowds begin to disintegrate, leaving loosely associated groups of couples.

There is considerable support to the premise that these changes in peer group structure influence dating and romantic relationships. Youth who had close other-sex friends during early adolescence are more likely to be integrated in mixed-sex social networks in mid-adolescence. This, in turn, is related to an enhanced likelihood of being in a romantic relationship. Furthermore, interactions with other-sex peers are associated with social and romantic competence.

Dates in early adolescence tend to be superficial and often occur in group settings. Whereas early dating relationships provide an opportunity to engage in leisure activities and explore sexual feelings, attachment and caregiving are not central to these relationships. According to B. Bradford Brown, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin, youth focus less on the qualities of their romantic relationships and more on characteristics of themselves during this phase of adolescent dating. This initial foray into dating provides adolescents with an opportunity to gain confidence in their ability to relate to the other gender and to view themselves as capable dating partners.

In the next developmental phase, youths focus on how their romantic relationships will be perceived by their peers. For status reasons, simply having a romantic partner may be more important than the relationship itself. Whereas a relationship can enhance an adolescent's status, it is important that the relationship be with the "right" type of partner. Dating the wrong person or performing non-socially accepted dating behaviors could damage a youth's social status.

Youth subsequently orient away from how their relationships are viewed by others toward a focus on the relationship itself. This occurs when they become more confident in their ability to interact in romantic relationships as well as more accepting of their reputation and social status among their peers. At this point, true attachments to romantic partners can be formed. Because these relationships are more emotionally intense and intimate, they tend to be more satisfying then those in the previous phases. In late adolescence or early adulthood, a third shift is proposed toward a focus on whether to form a long-term commitment to the romantic partner.

Adolescents with withdrawn or aggressive interaction styles may face problems developing healthy romantic relationships. Withdrawn adolescents may have difficulty entering into same-sex cliques and subsequently into mixed-sex peer groups. Thus, these youth are likely to lack the learning environment provided by informally dating within the peer group. This becomes problematic when they begin to date because they lack a support network to explore ideas related to romantic relationships and they may have problems developing the right level of intimacy with romantic partners.

Aggressive youth face a different set of problems. Although these teenagers have a peer group, it consists of other delinquent youth. Therefore, their romantic partners often display antisocial behaviors as well. Because these adolescents have developed aggressive interaction styles, their romantic relationships are at risk for psychological and physical aggression. In addition, they tend to engage in earlier sexual activity than their peers.

Maturing early also places adolescents at risk because they tend to begin romantic relationships earlier than on-time or late-maturing adolescents. Early maturing girls tend to date older boys who frequently have a delinquent orientation. This places these girls at risk for both deviance and early sexual activity. Unfortunately, not only do early-maturing girls typically engage in sexual activity prior to their peers, but they also are at a higher risk for acquiring sexually transmitted diseases and becoming pregnant.

Adult Relationships

In Brown's fourth phase of romantic relationships, people search for partners to whom they can commit long term. Finding a marriage partner seems to be beneficial, because people who are married tend to be happier, healthier, and wealthier than unmarried people. One explanation for this effect is that people with these qualities are more likely to get married. However, there seem to be actual benefits to marriage because people who have lost their marriage, such as widowed and divorced individuals, tend to do worse than single individuals. This finding implies that the benefits of marriage are not solely due to a self-selection effect.

In terms of emotions and psychological well-being, men seem to benefit from marriage more than women do. More men report being happily married than do women, and being married is related to gains in men's physical and emotional health. For women, relationship quality is more important than just whether or not they are married. Marriage seems to be beneficial for women if the relationship is going well; however, if the relationship is going poorly, women tend to suffer more than do men. One possible reason for this gender difference is that men are more likely than women to only have their spouse as a significant outlet for emotional intimacy and social support.

Gender differences also are observed in other family relationships. Because women seem to be better at kin-keeping skills, such as calling, sending birthday cards, and visiting, family relationships involving women tend to be closer than those involving men. Because they tend to have poorer kin-keeping skills, men are at greater risk for losing intimacy with their children after a divorce. This gender difference also is observed when examining adults' relationships with their parents. Daughters are more likely than sons to provide direct social support and care to elderly parents. When sons are the primary caregivers, they tend to be managers of care rather than direct providers.

People's longest-lasting relationships are with their siblings. Sibling relationships tend be more important early and late in life. During early and middle adulthood, sibling relationships become more secondary because adults tend to focus on their families and careers. Siblings become a more important source of support in late adulthood. Strong relationships with sisters during late adulthood seem to be protective against depression, but close relationships with brothers do not. The positive impact of relationships with sisters is probably due to the high levels of intimacy in these relationships.

People's relationships with their peers also change throughout adulthood. The number of friends people have tends to decline after young adulthood as their family and career concerns take precedence. However, the number of close, intimate friendships tends to remain stable throughout adulthood. As in earlier stages of life, women's friendships tend to be more intimate friendships than men's. Whereas women often discuss personal issues with their friends, men are more likely to engage in leisure activities.

Community Effects

About 20% of U.S. infants and children live in families below the poverty threshold. Children and adolescents growing up in poor neighborhoods are more likely to deal with crowded housing, poor-quality schools, inadequate nutrition and health care, and the presence of violence and drugs in their community than those from middle or upper-class neighborhoods. Thus, it is not surprising that living in a low-SES neighborhood is related to negative outcomes on a wide range of variables. Children in these neighborhoods are at greater risk than those in middle or high SES neighborhoods for poor physical health; lower intellectual attainment and poor school performance; social, emotional, and behavioral problems; and engaging in crime, delinquency, and high-risk sexual behavior. Typically, the worst outcomes are for children and adolescents living in extreme or enduring poverty.

Three theories have been proposed to explain the effects of poverty on child and adolescent outcomes. The first model is that the quality, quantity, and diversity of community resources, such as schools, social services, recreational and social programs, and employment, mediate well-being. The second model is that parent attributes and characteristics of the home environment mediate the relationship between the parents' and children's well-being. Because these parents are often under economic hardship and stress, their ability to provide quality parenting to their children is negatively influenced. A number of studies have found that parental stress is related to low warmth and harsh parenting. High parental warmth and monitoring of the children seem to be protective factors against the negative effects of low-SES environments. The third model is that formal and informal community institutions act to monitor the residents' behavior in line with social norms. However, in poor neighborhoods, especially where there are high rates of single parents, there tends to be less social organization and subsequently higher rates of crime and vandalism. This is compounded because when there are low levels of neighborhood monitoring, peer groups tend to have negative effects on adolescent outcomes.
References:

1. Adams, G. R., & Berzonsky, M. D. (Eds.). (2003). Blackwell handbook of adolescence. Oxford, UK:

2. Adolescence Directory On-Line, http://education.indiana.edu/cas/adol/adol.html

3. Bornstein, M. , Davidson, L., Keyes, C. L. M., & Moore, K. A. (Eds.). (2003). Well-being: Positive development across the life course. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

4. Brody, H. (1998). Sibling relationship quality: Its causes and consequences. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 1-24.

5. Darling, (1999, March). Parenting styles and its correlates. Champaign: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Retrieved from http://www.kidneeds.com/diagnostic_categories/articles/parentcorre01.htm

6. Durkin, K. (1995). Developmental social psychology: From infancy to old age. Oxford, UK

1. Furman, W., Brown, B., & Feiring, C. (1999). The development of romantic relationships in adolescence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

2. Gifford-Smith, E., & Brownell, C. A. (2003). Childhood peer relationships: Social acceptance, friendships, and peer networks. Journal of School Psychology, 41, 235-284.

3. Lerner, R. M., & Steinberg, L. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

4. Luthar, S. S. (Ed.). (2003). Resilience and vulnerability: Adaptation in the context of childhood adver Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

5. Smith, P. , & Hart, C. H. (Eds.). (2002). Blackwell handbook of childhood social development. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

6. University of Minnesota, Center for Early Education and Dev (n.d.). Attachment and bonding. Retrieved from http://education.umn.edu/ceed/publications/early report/winter91.htm

7. Walsh, F. (Ed.). (2003). Normal family processes: Growing diversity and complexity (3rd ). New York: Guilford.

8. Zimmer-Gembeck, J. (2002). The development of romantic relationships and adaptations in the system of peer relationships. Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(Suppl. 6),216-225.

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Social development is the change over time in an individual's understanding of, attitudes concerning, and behavior toward others; for example, a developmental change in how people behave with members of the other gender or their understanding of what friendship entails. These changes are perceived to occur due to socialization processes as well as physical and ...

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This module aims to develop students intra-and-inter-personal skills through exploring positive psychology theory and application and increasing self-awareness. Throughout the module, you will gain understanding for how these are experienced, how we relate to them, and what psychology has begun to understand about them.Positive psychology in the classroom can also have practical benefits. Students who feel supported and engaged will be more focused in class, will connect better with their teachers and classmates, and will achieve better academic outcomes. The themes that are explored in positive psychology include gratitude, happiness, curiosity, courage, altruism, and the meaning of life.

Boniwelll, I. (2012)

Positive Psychology In a Nutshell: The Science of Happiness (3rd edition) – Boniwell, I.

https://nelson.northampton.ac.uk/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma991001470617107361&context=L&vid=44NORTH_INST:44NORTH_INST&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,positive%20psychology%20in%20a%20nutshell&offset=0

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Personality & the Fundamentals of Psychology

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Personality & the Fundamentals of Psychology

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Personality Psychology:
https://mypages.unh.edu/jdmayer/what-personality-psychology

Fundamental Psychology:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074767/

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Preamble

How is personality defined?

The big questions of personality of personality psychology (also: a narrated slideshow),

What is the field of personality psychology

Who are personality psychologists?

A bit of history for those who are interested

Preamble

One of the missions of our laboratory has been to develop, expand and promote a new unified vision of personality psychology, loosely described under the label, "The Personality Systems Framework," and reported on further on this site.

During much of the later 20th century, personality psychology was often viewed as a field of competing "grand theories," proposed by such individuals as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, and Hans Eysenck, often with poor empirical validation and few ways of resolving conflicts among them. Indeed, it is still taught in that way today in many institutions although there are better alternatives.

By promoting a unified framework for the discipline's teaching and research we hope to improve and to promote the field by clarifying its central concerns and strengths.

A key part of the philosophy behind our theoretical work is that it is important to begin with both an understanding of the history of the discipline of personality psychology and an understanding of its empirical strengths and diversity today. In part, this helps identify natural areas of agreement that can provide a basis for a unified look at the discipline.

How Is Personality Defined?

Asserting the Definition of Personality

There are many areas of agreement within the discipline -- for example, there is widespread agreement as to the definition of personality.

Personality concerns the most important, most noticeable, parts of an individual's psychological life. Personality concerns whether a person is happy or sad, energetic or apathetic, smart or dull. Over the years, many different definitions have been proposed for personality. Most of the definitions refer to a mental system-a collection of psychological parts including motives, emotions, and thoughts. The definitions vary a bit as to what those parts might be, but they come down to the idea that personality involves a pattern or global operation of mental systems. Here are some definitions:

"Personality is the entire mental organization of a human being at any stage of his development. It embraces every phase of human character: intellect, temperament, skill, morality, and every attitude that has been built up in the course of one's life." (Warren & Carmichael, 1930, p. 333)

(In an acknowledged overstatement...) "Personality is the essence of a human being." (Hall & Lindzey, 1957, p. 9, characterizing statements by Gordon Allport)

"An individual's pattern of psychological processes arising from motives, feelings, thoughts, and other major areas of psychological function. Personality is expressed through its influences on the body, in conscious mental life, and through the individual's social behavior." (Mayer, 2005)

In the 2007 meeting of the Association for Research in Personality, a Presidential Panel was concerned with, "The Future of Personality Psychology". One participant on that panel raised a concern over whether definitions of personality were vague and contradictory. That was surprising as there really does appear to be a fairly wide consensus that personality is the study of a person's overall psychological system. Perhaps one reason for the sense that definitions of personality diverge is because other psychologists -- those who are not personality psychologists -- often misunderstand our field and define the field in mistaken ways. The article entitled Asserting the Definition of Personality (PDF), describes this state of affairs.

The Big Questions of Personality Psychology

Personality psychology had its origins in people who sought answers to big quesitons. A 2007 article from the laboratory surveyed the intellectual history of the big questions that inspired the discipline, and 20 questions were identified that were most important to the field. Of these, four in particular seemed especially pertinent.

To hear a bit about the study, try this audio-narrated slide show in powerpoint.

Narrated slide show: The Big Questions of Personality

A diagram of some very important central questions placed them into four groups like this:

Figure adapted from Mayer, J. D.

What Is the Field of Personality Psychology?

Personality Psychology as a Scientific Discipline

Personality psychology is the scientific discipline that studies the personality system. The discipline seeks to understand a person's major psychological patterns and how those patterns are expressed in an individual's life. Personality psychologists conduct scientific research on personality, teach about personality (usually at the college and university level) and participate in the broader discipline of psychology.

Thinking About the Problem

Different answers are possible to the question "Why Study Personality?" Here is one answer that can help you understand something of what personality and its study is about.

Each of us, as human beings, influences much that is within us and around us. Each of us has many psychological attributes-feelings, thoughts, motivations, and the like. It is our personality that orchestrates our psychological qualities.

Our feelings-strong or slight-determine some of how we act and react. Our thoughts guide us and influence others, who may be entertained by our wit or attracted to our wisdom.

Our sense of self helps inform us of how to make choices among alternatives-choices that may help us grow, or, that may harm us.

This personality of ours slowly and persistently influences how we feel, what we do, who we are, and how we influence the world around us.

Most of us can't help but wonder how our personality works, how our personality came to be-and what it might mean for our future.

We also wonder about the personalities of others-how they are the same or different from us.

Personality psychology concerns what our personalities are, how they work, and what they can mean to our own and others' futures.

The discipline of personality psychology helps answer some of these questions. If such questions interest you, you may want to learn more.

Who Are Personality Psychologists?

Contemporary Personality Psychologists

Personality psychologists are psychologists who are interested in the study of how an individual's major psychological subsystems-motives, emotions, the self, and others- function together to create a person's life patterns.

Today, most personality psychologists have Ph.D.'s in psychology-usually with a specialization in personality, social, or clinical psychology. That was not always the case, however, and some earlier personality psychologists have been trained in medicine and other fields.

Today, many personality psychologists work in colleges and universities, where they teach courses in personality psychology and related areas, and conduct research on personality and how it influences people's lives.

Another group of personality psychologists work in organizational settings, where they often may be found in departments of Human Resources. In such roles, they may attempt to understand, for example, the particular personality traits that will help individuals work successfully at a particular job.

Still other personality psychologists work as consultants to organizations, helping with the selection and retention of key personnel.

Finding Out More About Contemporary Psychologists

If you are interested in seeing brief descriptions of contemporary personality psychologists, and visiting their web pages, you can find these from the web site maintained by the Association for Research in Personality. Click here to go to the member profiles for many of these individuals.

Other psychologists with interest in personality psychology can be found on the Social Psychology Network. To find them (the list will partly overlap with the ARP list), go to the Membership List area of the SPN web site- and, using the search box at the top, enter the term "personality."

Of course, for either the ARP or SPN sites, if you have the name of a psychologist you are particularly interested in, you can search for that name.

Personality Psychologists in History:

The Grand Theorists of the Early-to-Mid 20th Century

When people think of personality psychologists, certain names often come to mind: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, and others. These individuals were highly prominent theorists and researchers of human nature in the early-to-mid 20th century. They sometimes are referred to as the Grand Theorists of the field.

Today, there certainly are eminent theorists of personality, but the field no longer depends on grand theorists for its mission(s). Rather, it is focussed today on research about how the personality system operates.

Finding Out More About Grand Theorists

If you are interested in finding out more about grand theorists from an online source, a great resource is Professor C. George Boeree's on-line and open-access textbook, "Personality Theories."
A Bit of History for Those Who Are Interested: Some Rationales for the Field Described in Early Textbooks
Some ideas about why to study personality also can be found in the textbooks of the field. Among the earliest (if not the earliest) textbook in the United States was Roback's (1928) " Psychology of Character." He writes:

The announcement of courses on personality, which at one time would have been greeted not without a perceptibly amused expression, is now rather welcomed by educators... (Roback, 1928, p. ix)

Roback wrote before the institutionalization of the word "personality," often preferring the term "character" -- though he recognizes "personality" as a somewhat broader term. In a sequence of passages, Roback notes that personality, especially the portion of personality referred to as character, is a moral possession of an individual.

...The most general use of the word "character" in everyday life is invariably colored with moral predicates...The popular mind has never distinguished more than two kinds of characters. They were either good or bad, strong or weak, noble or base, of a high or low type;...To say that a man has no character is a euphemistic equivalent for the expression that he has a low type of character...(Roback, 1928, p. 6)

. ...the more strongly moralists emphasized the cardinal importance of character for ethics...the more were experimental psychologists inclined to dispose of the whole matter with a word or two... (Roback, 1928, p. 7)

...The ethical and pedagogical aspects that deal with character-building and for the most part contain horatory appeals in behalf of the moral life do not enter here...It is quite obvious that the theoretical examination of character must antedate both these inquiries, and especially the latter. (Roback, 1928, p. 7)

All told, it seems to me that Roback is interested in character development and character building. To do so, however, he argues, a scientific study -- that is, of personality -- must take precedence.

Gordon Allport read and benefitted from Roback's work (his assistance is acknowledged by Roback).

Nine years later, Allport's own book introduced a new reason for a study of personality. Allport addressed, not the public's need for the science, but rather his scientific colleagues' need.

...As a rule, science regards the individual as a mere bothersome accident. Psychology, too, ordinarily treats him as something to be brushed aside so the main business of accounting for the uniformity of events can get under way. The result is that on all sides we see psychologists enthusiastically at work upon a somewhat shadowy portrait entitled, "the generalized human mind."...It seems unreal and esoteric, devoid of locus, self-consciousness, and organic unity -- all essential characteristics of the minds we know.

...[A] new movement within psychological science has gradually grown up. It attempts...to depict and account for the manifest individuality of mind. This new movement has come to be known (in America) as the psychology of personality. (Allport, 1937, p. vii)

Why was such a new movement needed? Allport summarized some of the arguments others had made.

Without the co-ordinating concept of Person (or some equivalent such as Self or Ego), it is impossible to account for, or even to depict, the interaction of mental processes upon one another. Memory affects perception, desire influences meaning, meaning determines action, and action shapes memory; and so on...

The phenomenon of mental organization can have no significance unless it is viewed as taking place within a definite framework...the personal life. (Allport, 1937, p. 550).

Again, continuing in relation to the discipline of psychology more generally, Allport argues that the psychology of personality can make these contributions (Allport, 1937, pp. 550-566), which I have summarized as follows:

develop general laws as to how an individual's uniqueness comes about

predict a person's behavior on the basis of his/her individual characteristics

discover the individual person's own point of view of who she or he is

discover the parts of personality

discover the structure that holds those parts together

give preference to certain concepts -- e.g., ego-system, trait, life-history -- that recognize a person's individuality
discover common traits

codify knowledge as to the nature of human nature

turn interpersonal impressions into more reliable knowledge

adequately represent the individual in science, and provide that individual with respect

Henry Murray and the Harvard Guidance Clinic (Murray, 1938) had this to say:

Man is to-day's great problem. What can we know about him and how can it be said in words that have clear meaning?...The point of view adopted in this book is that personalities constitute the subject mattter of psychology, the life history of a single man being the unit with which this discipline has to deal. (Murray, 1938, p. 3)

We judged the time had come when systematic, full length studies of individuals could be made to bring results. And more than this, indeed, it seemed a necessary thing to do. For if the constituent processes of personality are mutually dependent, then one must know a lot to comprehend a little. (Murray, 1938, p. 5)

Reasons could be readily advanced for such studies besides the essential ones that knowledge is per se a final good and that man is of all objects the most inviting. There are many who believe that an understanding of human nature is the great requirement of this age; that modern man is 'up against it,' confused, dissatisfied, despairing and ready to regress; that what he needs is the power to change and redirect himself and others; and that possession of this special power can only be won through knowledge. If it is true, as some reasonable men affirm, that culture -- the best of man's high heritage -- is in jeopardy, and that to save and further it man, its creator and conserver, must be changed -- regenerated or developed differently from birth -- then the immediate requisite is a science of human nature. (Murray, 1938, p. 35)

References

Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Company.

Hall, C. S., & Lindzey, G. (1957). Theories of personality. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Mayer, J. D. (2005). A classification of DSM-IV-TR mental disorders according to their relation to the personality system. In J. C. Thomas & D. L. Segal (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of personality and psychopathology (CHOPP) Vol. 1: Personality and everyday functioning. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Murray, H. A. et al. (1938). Explorations in personality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Roback, A. A. (1928). The psychology of character, with a survey of temperament. New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, & Company, Inc.

Warren, H. C., & Carmichael, L., Elements of human psychology (Rev. Ed.; Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1930), p. 333/Cited in Allport, Pattern & growth in personality (1937/1961, p.36).

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Preamble How is personality defined? The big questions of personality of personality psychology (also: a narrated slideshow), What is the field of personality psychology Who are personality psychologists?

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The purpose of this module is to provide students with a broad understanding of psychology by introducing four core areas (social, developmental, cognitive and biological psychology). Students will develop critical thinking and evaluative skills of psychological material by focusing on theory, empirical research and real-life examples.

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This module introduces students to applications of psychological knowledge in the real world. It aims to help students acquire knowledge and understanding of theory and research relating to key topics in Applied Psychology and to develop the critical skills necessary to the evaluation of different approaches within Applied Psychology.

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The purpose of this module is to provide a fundamental introduction to research design, analysis and interpretation in psychology. Students need to understand common methods of investigation, in order to appreciate the source and context of theories and research findings encountered in specific subject areas studied in other psychology modules.

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The purpose of this module is to promote reflective critical thinking and evaluation skills using a wide variety of psychological materials, and develop student confidence in evaluating and conducting Psychological research.

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The purpose of this module is to be personally relevant to students? psychological studies and enable them to start to build psychological literacy - using psychological skills and knowledge to solve real-world problems and interact ethically and responsibly with others.