Behavioural Science - Complete lecture notes PDF

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BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE Meaning of terms Principles of human psychology Principles of sociology DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY Meaning of terms Gender and heredity Heredity and human behavior Individual differences at birth Development of perception and language Intellectual development Personality development LEARNING AND MOTIVATION Meaning of terms Principles of leaning Theories of motivation and problem solving Remembering and forgetting Efficiency in learning Learning and problem solving Language, thinking, and problem-solving NORMAL AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR Meaning of terms Causes of normal and abnormal behavior Frustration and conflict Emotions Drives and motives Personality theories Personality traits and disorders SOCIOLOGY IN THE COMMUNITY Meaning of terms

Man as a member of society Formation of attitudes Group dynamics Effect of the environment on human behavior Process of instituting change CONCEPTS OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES IN PROVISION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH Meaning of terms Role of behavioral sciences in community health Concepts of behavioral sciences Application of concepts of behavioral sciences STRESS MANAGEMENT Meaning of terms Signs and symptoms of stress Causes of stress Effects stress Coping mechanisms of stress Management of stress EMERGING TRENDS

MEANING OF TERMS The scientific study of human and animal behavior Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through the study of the past, controlled and naturalistic

observation of

experimentation and modeling.

the

present,

Examples

and of

disciplined behavioral

scientific sciences

include psychology, psychobiology, anthropology, and cognitive science. Generally, behavior science deals primarily with human action and often seeks to generalize about human behavior as it relates to society It is a branch of science (such as psychology, sociology, or anthropology) that deals primarily with human action and often seeks to generalize about human behavior in society

Behavioral sciences include two broad categories: neural — Information sciences and social — Relational sciences. Information processing sciences deal with information processing of stimuli from the social environment by cognitive entities to engage in decision-making, social judgment, and social perception for individual functioning and survival of the organism in a social environment. These include psychology, cognitive science, psychobiology, neural networks, social cognition, social psychology, On the other hand, Relational sciences deal with relationships, interaction, communication networks, associations, and relational strategies or dynamics between organisms or cognitive entities in a social system. These include fields like sociological social psychology, social networks, dynamic network analysis, agent-based model, and microsimulation.

Differentiation from social sciences Behavioral sciences abstract empirical data to investigate the decision processes and communication strategies within and between organisms in a social system. This involves fields like psychology, social neuroscience ethology, and cognitive science. In contrast, social sciences provide a perceptive framework to study the processes of a social system through the impacts of social organization on structural adjustment of the individual and of groups. They typically include fields like sociology, economics, public health, anthropology, demography, and political science.[1]

Behavioral science, any of various disciplines dealing with the subject of human actions, usually including the fields of sociology, social and cultural anthropology, psychology, and behavioral aspects of biology, economics, geography, law, psychiatry, and political science. The term gained currency in the 1950s in the United States; it is often used synonymously with “social sciences,” although some writers distinguish between them. The term behavioral sciences suggest an approach that is more experimental than that connoted by the older term social sciences.

The concept that a non-discriminatory understanding may be established to appraise the factors motivating managers and the employees as well as the desired results may be attained, is closely linked with this phenomenon. Since it addresses the human dimension of work, the behavioral management theory is often called the human relations movement. Thus, behavioral science is of great importance to business management. A few concepts concerning behavioral science are concisely discussed hereunder. Motivation - Motivation can be defined as to make someone want to achieve something or to make someone willing to work hard to do it. It is the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to do a particular task. Motivation causes a feeling of enthusiasm and interest and commitment. It is to create goal-oriented behavior among the employees and managers. It implicates a drive towards action. A framework originated from the needs is a good starting point to figure out how people chose certain behaviors. It is considered a key to organizational expansion since a highly motivated subordinate or a manager works more effectively and efficiently than the one who is not. According to Young, “Motivation is the process of arousing action, sustaining the activity in progress, and regulating the pattern of activity.” The motivational technique is very much useful to business management, as it inspires the employees towards working by adding excitement or interest. Attitude - Attitude is of much value and significance in the attainment of organizational goals. Enhancement of a positive attitude is necessary for both managers and the employees. Just as the advancement of an organization rests on a proficient manager, so performs the employees largely depend on the managerial style - which in itself is a reflection of the attitude of a manager. Better, the managerial style, more efficient will be the performance of the employees. It is conspicuous in light of this concept that a management control system is ineffective unless a manager has a positive attitude. A positive attitude provides positive results for the entire organization. There is a need for altering the attitude- to make it positive to move on the path of success. However, there is usually a choice as to which attitude should be chosen, that is, positive or negative. Perception- Perception is a psychological process that lets one interpret the sensory stimulation into meaningful information about the environment. The same world is viewed differently by individuals depending upon their personalities, needs, experience, and so on. Similarly, an organizational control system is perceived by a manager and his subordinates in their ways. We

often form our opinions based on what we perceive while it is not necessary at all, times that what we perceive is what lies in the reality. The reality may be different from what is perceived. Therefore, the real situation is different from the perceived one and that which is perceived may involve inaccurate information. Hence, the need is to develop perceptual abilities to establish positive thinking that may be proven advantageous in the attainment of organizational goals.

PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY The principles are organized into five areas of psychological functioning: cognition and learning; motivation; social and emotional dimensions; context and learning; and assessment. ... Below is a review of the principles and potential applications for their use

Stream of consciousness Stream of consciousness is arguably James' most famous psychological metaphor. He argued that human thought can be characterized as a flowing stream, which was an innovative concept at the time due to the prior argument being that human thought was more so like a distinct chain. He also believed that humans could never experience the same thought or idea more than once. In addition to this, he viewed consciousness as completely continuous. Emotion James introduced a new theory of emotion (later known as the James–Lange theory), which argued that emotion is instead the consequence rather than the cause of the bodily experiences associated with its expression. In other words, a stimulus causes a physical response and an emotion follows the response. This theory has received criticism throughout the years since its introduction, but regardless, it still has its merits. Habit Human habits are constantly formed to achieve certain results because of one's strong feelings of wanting or wishing for something. James emphasized the importance and power of human habit and proceeded to conclude. James noted that the laws of habit formation are unbiased; habits are capable of causing either good or bad actions. In addition, once either a good or a bad habit has begun to be established, it is very difficult to change. Will

One question troubled James during his crisis, which was whether free will existed. "The most essential achievement of the will, when it is most 'voluntary', is to attend to a difficult object and hold it fast before the mind..." The effort of attention is thus the essential phenomenon of will."

PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY Sociology is a self-reflective discipline (separate from psychology) that identifies and analyzes the on-going process of social construction actively producing and creating our reality and social world. Like other social sciences (e.g. anthropology, political science, and psychology), it is rooted in a set of principles that mold our sociological perspective, and ultimately our research. Sociologists guide their work according to the following set of principles: 1. Social interaction is the basis for the construction of societies. 2. How we interact with one another reflects what we believe and what we value as group members. 3. Societies are organized into distinct social units (e.g. family, government, education, and religion) that tell us what the rules are. 4. Our patterns of behavior reveal unequal social relationships. 5. Social change is a necessary and essential part of our survival. 6. We must attempt to explain our social behavior. 7. We must strive to provide evidence that supports our claims about social behavior. 8. We can use our scientific work to improve the human social condition. Each principle overlaps with an aspect of another principle. For example, our unequal social relationships are linked to what we believe about one another as individuals and members of social groups. We can, and often do, generate false beliefs about one another that can lead to prejudice and discrimination. We must attempt to explain this social behavior and gather proof of its existence and harmful effects. Our research can be utilized to raise awareness about social inequality and minimize its presence in our lives. Whether your interest rests in gaining a basic understanding of how societies operate, or you desire to investigate a particular social issue, sociology is the right discipline to guide your inquiry.

2. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Developmental psychology is a scientific approach that aims to explain growth, change, and consistency though the lifespan. Developmental psychology looks at how thinking, feeling, and behavior change throughout a person’s life. Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change throughout their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. Developmental psychologists aim to explain how thinking, feeling, and behaviors change throughout life. This field examines change across three major dimensions: physical development, cognitive development, and socioemotional development. Within these three dimensions are broad ranges of

topics

including motor

acquisition, social

skills, executive

change, personality,

emotional

functions, moral

understanding, language

development, self-concept,

and identity

formation. Developmental psychology examines the influences of nature and nurtures on the process of human development, and processes of change in context and across time. Many researchers are interested in the interactions among personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors, including the social context and the built environment. Ongoing debates

include

biological essentialism vs. neuroplasticity and stages

of

development vs.

dynamic systems of development.

GENES AND HEREDITY Heredity also called inheritance or biological inheritance is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information of their parents. Through heredity, variations between individuals can accumulate and cause species to evolve by natural selection. The study of heredity in biology is genetics. In humans, eye color is an example of an inherited characteristic: an individual might inherit the "brown-eye trait" from one of the parents.[1] Inherited traits are controlled by genes and the complete set of genes within an organism's genome is called its genotype.[2] The complete set of observable traits of the structure and behavior of an organism is called its phenotype. These traits arise from the interaction of its genotype with the environment.[3] As a result, many aspects of an organism's phenotype are not inherited. For example, suntanned skin

comes from the interaction between a person's phenotype and sunlight; [4] thus, suntans are not passed on to people's children. However, some people tan more easily than others, due to differences in their genotype:[5] a striking example is people with the inherited trait of albinism, who do not tan at all and are very sensitive to sunburn.[6] Heredity, the sum of all biological processes by which particular characteristics are transmitted from parents to their offspring. The concept of heredity encompasses two seemingly paradoxical observations about organisms: the constancy of a species from generation to generation and the variation among individuals within a species. Constancy and variation are two sides of the same coin, as becomes clear in the study of genetics. Both aspects of heredity can be explained by genes, the functional units of heritable material that are found within all living cells. Every member of a species has a set of genes specific to that species. These sets of genes provide the constancy of the species. Among individuals within a species, however, variations can occur in the form each gene takes, providing the genetic basis for the fact that no two individuals (except identical twins) have the same traits.

The set of genes that an offspring inherits from both parents, a combination of the genetic material of each, is called the organism’s genotype. The genotype is contrasted to the phenotype, which is the organism’s outward appearance and the developmental outcome of its genes. The phenotype includes an organism’s bodily structures, physiological processes, and behaviors. Although the genotype determines the broad limits of the features an organism can develop, the features that develop, i.e., the phenotype, depend on complex interactions between genes and their environment. The genotype remains constant throughout an organism’s lifetime; however, because the organism’s internal and external environments change continuously, so does its phenotype. In conducting genetic studies, it is crucial to discover the degree to which the observable trait is attributable to the pattern of genes in the cells and to what extent it arises from environmental influence.

Heredity is the passing on of characteristics from one generation to the next. It is the reason why offspring look like their parents. It also explains why cats always give birth to kittens and never puppies. The process of heredity occurs among all living things including

animals, plants, bacteria, protists, and fungi. The study of heredity is called genetics and scientists that study heredity is called geneticists. Through heredity, living things inherit traits from their parents. Traits are physical characteristics. You resemble your parents because you inherited your hair and skin color, nose shape, height, and other traits from them. Cells are the basic unit of structure and function of all living things. Tiny biochemical structures inside each cell called genes carry traits from one generation to the next.

What is a gene? A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Genes are made up of DNA. Some genes act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. However, many genes do not code for proteins. In humans, genes vary in size from a few hundred DNA bases to more than 2 million bases. The Human Genome Project estimated that humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. Every person has two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. Most genes are the same in all people, but a small number of genes (less than 1 percent of the total) are slightly different between people. Alleles are forms of the same gene with small differences in their sequence of DNA bases. These small differences contribute to each person’s unique physical features.

Heredity and Human Behavior All traits depend both on genetic and environmental factors. Heredity and environment interact to produce their effects. This means that the way genes act depends on the environment in which they act. ... So in PKU, a single gene can dramatically affect behavior: it is a genetically influenced process. All traits depend both on genetic and environmental factors. Heredity and environment interact to produce their effects. This means that the way genes act depends on the environment in which they act. In the same way, the effects of the environment depend on the genes with which they work. That children tend to resemble their biological parents is ambiguous evidence; the fact that such evidence is plentiful — agreeable parents tend to have agreeable kids, aggressive parents tend to have aggressive kids, and so on — does not make it any less ambiguous. The problem is that most kids are

reared by their biological parents. The parents have provided both the genes and the home environment, so the kids' heredity and environment are correlated. The prince has inherited not only his father's genes but also his father's palace, his father's footmen, and his father's Lord High Executioner (no reference to living political figures is intended).

Overall, genetics has more influence than parents do on shaping our personality. Molecular genetics is the study of which genes are associated with which personality traits. The largely unknown environmental influences, known as the nonshared environmental effects, have the largest impact on personality. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AT BIRTH Individual differences are a cornerstone subject area in modern psychology. In many ways, it is the "classic" psychology that the general public refers to - it refers to the psychology of the person - the psychological differences between people and their similarities. ... People vary on a range of psychological attributes. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AT BIRTH

For example, the individual differences approach largely focuses on things such as personality differences, and abnormality. A main strength of the individual differences perspective is that it can provide useful in improving the experiences of people with mental health problems. According to the dictionary of education. Individual differences stand for the variation...