Skinner’s operant conditioning theory

The Concept of Operant Conditioning Theory

1. F. Skinner a renowned American psychologist- is often regarded as the founder of Operant Conditioning. However, the theory’s true father was Edward Thorndike. Operant conditioning is a method of learning that takes place through rewarding a certain behavior or withholding reward for undesirable behavior. Thus, an association is made between this behavior and its consequence.

Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a ‘Skinner Box’.

B.F. Skinner (1938) coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior.

• Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.
• Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforces can be either positive or negative.
• Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.

Positive Reinforcement:-

Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box. The box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

 

Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding. For example, if your teacher gives you £5 each time you complete your homework (i.e. a reward) you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.

Negative Reinforcement:-

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current being switched on.

These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.

Punishment (weakens the behaviour):-

In contrast to reinforcement, punishment is a process wherein a stimulus is presented after the display of behavior and causes the decline in the likelihood of behavior to reoccur. There are two types of punishments:

Positive punishment is the addition of something which causes the decrease in repeating the behavior that was displayed. Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs.

Example: A child teased his sister, making her cry so loud. The mother spanked him on his buttocks because of this. The child never teased his sister again.

Negative Punishment, on the other hand, is the removal of something which is favorable, in order to decrease the likelihood of the behavior to reoccur.

Example: A teenager is caught cheating in an examination. His parents then forbid him to use his car and also reduce his allowance. The teenager does not cheat in his present exams anymore.

The principles of Operant Conditioning go as follows:

• A positively reinforced behavior will reoccur.
• In order for responses to be reinforced, information should be presented in small chunks.
• Reinforcements are generalized across similar stimuli and will produce secondary conditioning.

 

Operant Conditioning Theory examples

• Children completing homework to earn a reward from a parent or teacher
• Employees finishing projects to receive praise or promotions.

 

Educational implications of operant conditioning theory

• Conditioning study behavior– Teaching is the arrangement of sources of reinforcement which expedite learning. For effective teaching teacher should arranged effective contingencies of reinforcement. Example: For Self learning of a student teacher should reinforce student behaviour through variety of incentives such as prize, medal, smile, praise, affectionate patting on the back or by giving higher marks.

 

• Conditioning and classroom behaviour: During learning process child acquire unpleasant experiences also. This unpleasantness becomes conditioned to the teacher subject and the classroom and learner dislike the subject and a teacher. Suitable behavioral contingencies, atmosphere of recognition, acceptance, affection and esteem helps child in approaching teacher and the subject. If student is not serious in study, teacher make use of negative reinforcement like showing negligence,  criticizing student etc. but if student is serious in study, teacher make use of positive reinforcement like prize, medal, praise and smile. Example: student having transistor in classroom neglected by the teacher indulged in talking with others for longer time. After long time student asked teacher till now you are receiving assignments, I will also submit you. Thus behaviour is conditioned.

 

• Managing Problem Behaviour: Two types of behaviour is seen in the classroom viz undesired behaviour and problematic behaviour. Operant conditioning is a behaviour therapy technique that shape students behaviour. For this teacher should admit positive contingencies like praise, encouragement etc. for learning. One should not admit negative contingencies. Example punishment (student will run away from the dull and dreary classes – escape stimulation.

 

• Dealing with anxieties through conditioning: Through conditioning fear, anxieties, prejudices, attitudes, perceptual meaning develops. Example of anxiety: 1.Signals on the road

2. Siren blown during war time
3. Child receiving painful injection from a doctor

Anxiety is a generalized fear response. To break the habits of fear, desensitization techniques should be used by a teacher. Initially teacher should provide very weak form of conditioned stimulus. Gradually the strength of stimulus should be increased.

 

1. Conditioning group behaviour: Conditioning makes entire group learn and complete change in behaviour is seen due to reinforcement. It breaks undesired and unsocial behaviour too.

Example: Putting questions or telling lie to teachers will make teachers annoyed in such circumstances students learn to keep mum in the class.

Asking questions, active participation in class discussion will make the teacher feel happy – interaction will increase and teaching learning process becomes more effective.

 

2.  Conditioning and Cognitive Processes: Reinforcement is given in different form, for the progress of knowledge and in the feedback form. When response is correct positive reinforcement is given.

Example: A student who stands first in the class in the month of January is rewarded in the month of December. To overcome this Programme instruction is used. In this subject matter is broken down into steps. Organizing in logical sequence helps in learning. Each step is build upon the preceding step. Progress is seen in the process of learning. Immediate reinforcement is given at each step.

 

3. Shaping Complex Behaviour: Complex behaviour exists in form of a chain of small behaviour. Control is required for such kind of behaviour. This extended form of learning is shaping technique. Smallest Behaviour is controlled at initial stage. On behalf of different contingencies next order of chain of behaviours is controlled.

Example: Vocabulary in English. Teaching spelling is mainly a process of  shaping complex form of behaviour.

Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory

 

Ivan Pavlov was a noted Russian psychologist who won a noble award in 1904 for his work in studying digestive processes. He observed and recorded information about the dogs and their digestion processes. As a part of his work, he began to study what triggers a dog to salivate.

It should have been an easy study: mammals produce saliva to help them break down food, so the dogs should have simply began salivating when presented with food.

But what Pavlov observed was that dog’s salivation process had a far reaching effect on the basis of which he gave a theory of classical conditioning.

The people who fed Pavlov’s dogs wore lab coats. Pavlov noticed that the dogs began to drool whenever they saw lab coats, even if there was no food in sight. Pavlov wondered why the dogs salivated at lab coats, and not just at food. He ran a study in which he rang a bell every time he fed the dogs. Pretty soon, just ringing a bell made the dogs salivate.

Pavlov said the dogs were demonstrating classical conditioning. He summed it up like this: there’s a neutral stimulus (the bell), which by itself will not produce a response, like salivation. There’s also a non-neutral or unconditioned stimulus (the food), which will produce an unconditioned response (salivation).

But if you present the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus together, eventually the dog will learn to associate the two.

After a while, the neutral stimulus by itself will produce the same response as the unconditioned stimulus, like the dogs drooling when they heard the bell. This is called conditioned response.

Classical Conditioning in Humans: The Little Albert Experiment

Behaviorist John B. Watson and Psychologist Ivan Pavlov conducted an experiment with a child of 9 months old. They had conducted experiments demonstrating the conditioning process in dogs.

This experiment came to be known as “Little Albert”. The name of the participant was “Albert B.” and after this experiment he came to be popularly known as Little Albert.

At the age of 9 months, the child was exposed to a series of stimuli like rats, monkey, rabbit, masks and burning newspaper. The boy’s reactions were noticed. The boy initially showed no fear of any of the objects he was shown.

The next time Albert was exposed the rat; Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer.

Naturally, the child began to cry after hearing the loud noise. After repeatedly pairing the white rat with the loud noise, Albert began to cry simply after seeing the rat.

The Little Albert experiment presents an example of how classical conditioning can be used to condition an emotional response.

Neutral Stimulus: The white rat

Unconditioned Stimulus: The loud noise

Unconditioned Response: Fear

Conditioned Response: Fear

Principles of Classical Conditioning Theory

1. Acquisition- Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthened. For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog to salivate in response to the sound of a bell. You repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the sound of the bell. You can say the response has been acquired as soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the bell tone. Once the response has been acquired, you can gradually reinforce the salivation response to make sure the behavior is well learned.
2. Extinction- Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear. In classical conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food (the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound of a whistle (the conditioned stimulus), it would eventually come to evoke the conditioned response of hunger. However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of food) was no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus (the whistle), eventually the conditioned response (hunger) would disappear.
3. Spontaneous Recovery- Spontaneous Recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period or period of lessened response. If the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no longer associated, extinction will occur very rapidly after a spontaneous recovery.
4. Stimulus Generalization- Stimulus Generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned. For example, if a child has been conditioned to fear a stuffed white rabbit, the child will exhibit fear of objects similar to the conditioned stimulus.
5. Discrimination- Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds.

 

Its Educational implications:-

1. Fear, love and hatred towards specific subjects are created through conditioning. For example, Mathematics teacher, with his or her defective method of teaching and improper behavior in the classroom maybe disliked by the learners. The learner’s develop hatred towards Mathematics due to teacher’s behavior.
2. The good method and the kind of treatment a teacher can bring desirable impacts upon the learners. The Learners may like the boring subject with the teacher’s role.
3. Use of audio and visual aids is vital. When a teacher want to teach a cat. He or she shows the picture of a cat along with the spellings. When teacher shows the picture at the same time he or she spells out the spellings, after a while when only picture is shown and the learners spell the word cat.
4. Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory can be used to develop good habits and elimination of bad habits and various kinds of phobias can be controlled through it.

Typical Learning Curve with educational implications

Learning process is not always similar. There is more progress in sometimes, sometimes less and sometime absolutely nil. So, we cannot find out the rate of learning. But, psychologists have attempted to measure the progress in learning. They described the progress in learning by drawing a line on the graph paper. This line is curve, and not straight. So, it is called Learning curve.

The first person to describe the learning curve was Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. Hefound that the time required memorizing a nonsense syllable increased sharply as thenumber of syllables increased. Psychologist, Arthur Bills gave a more detailed description oflearning curves in 1934. He also discussed the properties of different types of learning curves, such as negative acceleration, positive acceleration, plateaus.

DEFINITION

• According to Skinner, a learning curve is a progress representation of person’s improvement or lack of improvement in a given activity.
• Raimers et.al defined the learning curve as a method of partial learning of a given activity.
• A learning curve is a graphical representation of how learning takes place in a particular situation – S.K.Mangal.
• Learning curve refers to the graphical relationship between the amount of learning and the time it takes to learn.

In the learning curve there are two scales: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal scale is called x-axis and the vertical scale is called y-axis. For drawing the learning graphs we divided the horizontal scale (x-axis) into units of time or the numbers of trials required for learning and the vertical scale (y-axis) into units of achievement, material studied or problem solved, etc.

STAGES

Normally learning curve comprises of four stages.

• Initial stage- It is also called lad phase. In lag phase the learning is merely zero for first few practices.
• Steep up stage- This is the second stage. It is also called log or exponential phase. In this stage the learning is suddenly increased and rate of improvement is substantial.
• Intermediate stage-
• It is also called Stationary Phase. Now, there is no progress in learning or improvement is arrested. So, it is called Plateau. Skinner says ‘a plateau is a horizontal stretch indicative of apparent progress’. It places an important role in learning process because when such a stage is reached, a learning curve becomes almost flat.

Reasons for plateau in learning-

• Poor or faulty method of learning.
• Physical and mental fatigue or boredom
• Too much difficulty or complexity of the learning material
• Lack of proper motivation and loss of interest of the learner
• Poor and unfavorable environment
• Distraction and inattention of the learner
• Satisfaction of the learner with moderate achievement
• Final stage- This is the final stage. Here the learner has reach the maximum limit of the improvement.

 

Types of curves-

There are three types of learning curve based on the units which plotted.

• Concave curve- This learning curve is also called positively accelerated curve. It depicts slow initial improvement in learning that increases with time leading towards the mastery of learning materials. At the initial the rate of progress may be slower, but at the final the learning rate increases noticeably. This learning curve is often occurring in the learning situation. Here the task may be new one or difficult one to the student at the beginning. But with the increasing practice he is mastery over that at the end.
• Convex curve- This learning curve is also called negatively accelerated curve. It depicts rapid initial improvement in learning that decreases with time. At the initial the rate of progress maybe faster, but at the final the learning rate slows down noticeably. This learning curve is occurring in the learning situations where the task is simple or learner has had previous practice on a similar task.
• Cancave and convex curve- The third curve involves the combination of the first two concave and convex curves, is known as Concave-Convex Curve. It looks like an English letter ‘S’. So called S-shaped curve. In the beginning this is depending upon the nature of the learner, learning material and the learning environment. It is normally obtained where the situation the learner study the entire learning from zero performance to its mastery.

Characteristics of learning curve

• There is an initial improvement whether it is slow or rapid.
• No stage learning progress is uniform. There are various ups and downs (spurts) in the learning curve even a general acceleration is recorded.
• In between the beginning and end of the learning curve, there is no improvement in learning is called plateau (flat or stationary stage).
• At the final stage in the learning curve, we can find whether there is any little learning or no learning takes place.
• After reaching the stationary stage or plateau the learning curve again shows some improvement with spurts.

Educational implications

• The teacher should keep in his mind the individual differences of the learners.
• The teacher has to choose or use proper method of teaching and techniques and environment by the guidance of the learning curves of his students.
• The students may acquaint with their own progress in learning. It can give them the opportunity of self-appraisal.
• The unusual spurt reveals about the fatigue, poor motivation, poor method of teaching and other personality characters of the learner. The teacher can make use of his knowledge in studying the behaviour of the student and eliminate the plateau.

Efficient methods creating interest, making aware of the goals, moving simple to complex, providing motivation, minimizing the distraction factors are used to eliminate the plateau.

The Concept and Factors of Learning

 

Learning is a key process in human behavior. All living is learning. If we talk about a child the way in which he/she behaves, is what he/she has learnt from the surroundings. The individual is constantly interacting with and influenced by the environment. This experience makes him to change or modify his behavior in order to deal with the environment effectively.

The skills, knowledge, habits, attitudes, interests and other personality characteristics are all the result of learning.

Learning is defined as “any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of practice and experience”.

This definition has three important elements.

1. Learning is a change in behaviour—better or worse.
2. It is a change that takes place through practice or experience, but changes due to growth or maturation are not learning.
3. This change in behaviour must be relatively permanent, and it must last a fairly long time.

Characteristics of learning

• Learning is growth- The individual grows as he lives. This growth implies i both physical as well as mental development of the learner. The individual gains experiences through various activities. These are all sources of learning.
• Learning is adjustment-Learning enables the individual to adjust himself properly, with the new situations. The individual faces new problems and new situations throughout his life and learning helps him to solve the problems encountered by him.
• Learning is purposeful- All kinds of learning is goal-oriented. The individual acts with some purpose. He learns through activities. He gets himself interested when he is aware of his objectives to be realized through these activities. Therefore all learning is purposive in nature.
• Learning is experience- The individual learns through experiences. Human life is fall of experiences. All these experiences provide new knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes. Learning is not mere acquisition of the knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is also the reorganization of experiences or the synthesis of the old experiences with the new.
• Learning is both individual and social- Although learning is an individual activity, it is social also. Individual mind is consciously or unconsciously affected by the group activities. Individual is influenced by his peers, friends, relatives’ parents and classmates and learns their ideas, feelings and attitudes in some way or others. The social agencies like family, church, markets, and clubs exert immense, influence on the individual minds. As such, learning becomes both individual as well as social.
• Learning is the product of the environment- The individual lives in interaction of the society. Particularly, environment plays an important part in the growth and development of the individual. The physical, social, intellectual and emotional development of the child is molded and remolded by the objects and individuals in his environment.
• Learning affects the conduct of the learner- Learning is called the modification of behavior. It affects the learner’s behavior and conduct. Every learning experience brings about changes in the mental structure of the learner. Therefore attempts are made to provide such learning experiences which can mould the desired conduct and habits in the learners.
• Learning has to change behaviour;
• The change should be relatively permanent;
• The change should be as a result of experience;
• Learning is an internal process;
• Learning occurs under conditions of directed attention and deliberate effort; and
• Learning is distinct from biological maturation and imprinting

 

Process/ steps of learning

• Unconscious incompetence- The individual does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the deficit. . They may deny the usefulness of the skill. The individual must recognize their own incompetence, and the value of the new skill, before moving on to the next stage. The length of time an individual spends in this stage depends on the strength of the stimulus to learn.
• Conscious incompetence- At this stage, an individual does not know properly how to do something but still tries to do it. This is a stage where the person is mostly expected to make mistakes.
• Conscious competence- The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires concentration. It may be broken down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill.

Unconscious competence- The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it has become “second nature” and can be performed easily. As a result, the skill can be performed while executing another task. The individual may be able to teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned.

Sri Aurobindo/ Maharishi Arvind

Maharishi Arvind

Sri Aurobindo was born on August 15, 1872, in Calcutta, India. At the age of seven, he went to England for his education, but he returned to India in 1893. For the next fourteen years, he worked in the Princely State of Baroda, in various government departments and as a professor in Baroda College.

From 1905, Sri Aurobindo took to the practice of the spiritual discipline of yoga, initially as a means to enhance his capacity to bring India her independence. Subsequently, in 1910, he withdrew from politics and moved to Pondicherry to devote himself exclusively to the practice of yoga.

After gathering up in himself the essential elements of past spiritual experience, he moved on in search of a more complete realization, one which would unite the two poles of Spirit and Matter. During his forty years in Pondicherry, he worked out a new system of spiritual development which he called Integral Yoga.

The aim of this yoga is a spiritual realization which will not only liberate person’s consciousness, but will transform the basic nature and bring divinity into one’s life.

Among his many writings of the Pondicherry period, the best known are The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays of the Gita and Savitri.

In 1926, Sri Aurobindo withdrew to the seclusion of his room, but continued to maintain contact with disciples through a large correspondence and by giving darshan four times a year.

Sri Aurobindo passed into spirit on December 5, 1950, leaving his teachings for those who wish to use them to learn of the path to Divinity manifested in the material world.

Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy

1. The teachings of sri aurobindo relies on the ancient sages of India.
2. Behind the appearance of universe there is the reality of a being and consciousness, a self of all things, one and eternal.
3. All beings are united in that oneself and spirit but divided by separation of consciousness, an ignorance of true self and reality in the mind, life and body.
4. It is possible by a discipline to remove this veil of separative consciousness and become aware of the true self, the divinity within us and all.
5. Sri Aurobindo’s Vision of Future Existence- Maharishi Arvind believed that human life is not the final rung in the evolutionary scale. We might witness the emergence of a new species, one that is above and beyond the present human race as we know it. He said that if we try to overcome our limiting nature we would be able to rediscover the hidden spirit in life.

Aurobindo’s aims of education

• Education should create dynamic citizen so that they are able to meet the needs of modern complex life.
• Physical development and holiness are the chief aims of education. He not only emphasized mere physical development, but physical purity also without which no spiritual development is possible. In this sense physical development and purification are the two bases on which the spiritual development is built.
• To train all the senses hearing, speaking, listening, touching, smelling and tasting. According to him these senses can be fully trained when nerve, chitta and manas are pure. Hence, through education purity of senses is to be achieved before any development is possible.
• To achieve mental development of the child. This mental development means the enhancement of all mental faculties’ namely-memory, thinking, reasoning, imagination, and discrimination etc. education should develop them fully and harmoniously.
• Development of moral- Heart of a child should be so developed as to show extreme love, sympathy and consideration for all living beings. This is real moral development. Thus, the teacher should be a role model to his children that mere imitation can enable them to reach higher and higher stages of development.
• Development of conscience is another important aim of education that needs to develop by the help of teacher. Conscience has four level chitta, manas, intelligence, and knowledge. Aurobindo emphasized that the main aim of education is to promote spiritual development. According to him every human being has some fragment of divine existence within himself and education can scan it from each individual with its full extent.
• Curriculum Transaction

Aurobindo prescribed free environment for the child to develop all his latent faculties to the maximum and suggested all those subjects and activities should possess elements of creativity and educational expression. He wished to infuse a new life and spirit into each subject and activity through which the development of super human being could becomes possible. He laid down the following principle for curriculum-

• Curriculum should be in such a way which child find as interesting.
• It should include those entire subjects which promote mental and spiritual development.
• It should motivate children towards the attainment of knowledge of the whole world.
• It should contain creativity of life and constructive capacities
• Teacher-Taught Relationship– Sri Aurobindo believed that nothing can be taught. He explains that the knowledge is already dormant within the child and for this reason. The teacher is not an instructor or task-master; “he is a helper and a guide.” The role of the teacher “is to suggest and not to impose”.
• Discipline– Children should be provided with a free environment so that they are able to gain more and more knowledge by their own efforts. According to him any retrained and imposed environment stunt the growth and natural development.

What are the importances of Culture?

Importance of Culture

Man is not only a social animal but also a cultured being. Man’s social life has been made possible because of culture. Culture is something that has elevated him from the level of animal to the heights of man. Man cannot survive as man without culture. It represents the entire achievements of mankind. Culture has been fulfilling a number of function among which the following may be noted.

1. Culture is the Treasury of Knowledge- Culture provides knowledge, which is essential for the physical and intellectual existence of man. Birds and animals behave instinctively with environment. But man has greater intelligence and learning capacity. With the help of these, he has been able to adapt himself with environment or modify it to suit his convenience. Culture preserves knowledge and helps its transmission from generation to generation.
2. Culture Defines Situations- Culture defines social situations for us. It not only defines but also conditions and determines what we eat and drink, we wear, when to laugh, weep, sleep, love to like friends with, what work we do, what god we worship, what knowledge we rely upon, what poetry we recite and so on.
3. Culture Defines Attitudes, Values and Goods-Attitudes refer to the tendency to feel and work out in certain ways. Values are the measure of goodness or desirability. Goods refer to the attainments, which our values define as worthy. It is the culture, which conditions our attitude towards various issues such as religion, morality, marriage, science, family planning, positions and so on. Our values concerning private etc. are influenced by our culture.
4. Culture Decides Our Career-Whether we should become a politician or a social worker, a doctor, an engineer, a soldier, a farmer, a professor, an industrialist; a religious leader and so on is decided by our culture. What career we are likely to pursue is largely decided by our culture. Culture sets limitations on our choice to select different careers. Individuals may develop, modify or oppose the trends of their culture but they always live within its framework. Only a few can find outlet on the culture.
5. Culture Provides Behavior Pattern-Culture directs and confines the behavior of an individual. Culture assigns goals and provides means for achieving them. It rewards noble works and punishes the ignoble ones. It assigns him status. We see dream, aspire, work, strive to marry, enjoy according to the cultural expectation.
6. Culture Provides Personality-No child can get human qualities in the absence of a cultural environment. Culture prepares man for group life and provides him the design of living. It is the culture that provides opportunities for the development of personality and sets limits on its growth.
7. Culture Makes Man a Human Being-It is culture that makes the human, a man, regulates his conduct and prepares him for group life. It provides to him a complete design for living. It teaches him what type of food he should take and in what mariner, how he should cover himself and behave with his fellows, how he should speak with the people and how he should co-operate or compete with others.
8. Culture Provides Solution for Complicated Situation- Culture provides man with a set of behavior even for complicated situation. It has so thoroughly influenced that often he does not require any external force to keep himself in conformity with the social requirements. His action becomes automatic. Forming queues when there is rush at the booking window or driving left in the busy streets. In the absence of culture, he should have been baffled even at the simplest situations.
9. Culture Broadens the Out Looks of the Individual-Culture has given a new vision to individual by providing him a set of rules for co-operation of the individuals. He thinks not only his own self but also of the others. Culture teaches him to think himself a part of the larger whole, it provides him with the concept of family, state, nation and class and make responsible the co­operation and division of labor.

What is Socialization?

Nature of Socialization

Human infants are born without any culture.  They must be transformed by their parents, teachers, and others into cultural and socially adept animals.  The general process of acquiring culture is referred to as socialization.  During socialization, we learn the language of the culture we are born into as well as the roles we are to play in life.  For instance, girls learn how to be daughters, sisters, friends, wives, and mothers.  In addition, they learn about the occupational roles that their society has in store for them.  We also learn and usually adopt our culture’s norms through the socialization process.  Norms are the conceptions of appropriate and expected behavior that are held by most members of the society.  While socialization refers to the general process of acquiring culture, anthropologists use the term enculturation  for the process of being socialized to a particular culture.

Now some of the definitions for socialization are:-

Definitions of socialization

“Socialization” is defined as the process by which we acquire our social identities and internalize the values, norms, statuses, and roles of the social world.

“Socialization is the process whereby people learn the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture”

 

The newborn is merely an organism. Socialisation makes him responsive to the society. He is socially active. It prepares him to fit in the group and to perform the social roles. It sets the infant on the line of social order and enables an adult to fit into the new group. It enables the man to adjust himself to the new social order.

Socialisation stands for the development of the human brain, body, attitude, behaviour and so forth. The term socialisation refers to the process of interaction through which the growing individual learns the habits, attitudes, values and beliefs of the social group into which he has been born.

From the point of view of society, socialisation is the way through which society transmits its culture from generation to generation and maintains itself. From the point of view of the individual, socialisation is the process by which the individual learns social behaviour, develops his ‘self.

Agents of Socialization

 

The individual responds differently to different socialization patterns. The following paragraphs will help to explain the influences of socialization on an individual.

Family

The most important agent of socialization, family helps mold an individual. The family values, beliefs, religious inclinations and political views shape an individual’s outlook towards society. Parents are the biggest influence for the social development in children.

Schools

After family, schools are probably the most important influence on an individual. Schools help pass on knowledge, create awareness and inculcate the feelings of tolerance in individuals. The second step to socialization is schools where a child meets different children and learns to make out the right and wrong in society.

Community and Culture

Community and culture help pass on the religious views and cultural traditions in an individual. A community is the group where an individual meets people with similar ideologies and interact for personal and community growth.

Peers

Meeting like-minded people, making friends and hanging out together may seem like a teenagers life. But in fact, each and every individual in society loves to have social contact. Peers have great impact on an individual’s thoughts and line of thinking. An individual learns to behave in a manner that they think will be acceptable to their peers. Peer acceptance is an important part of socialization.

Mass Media

In today’s world, mass media is one of important ways of socialization. People are influenced by the social norms portrayed by the mass media. Political, religious and social views are enforced in a hard way through the repeated exposure and arguments put forth by the agents of mass media.

Through the above explanation, you will understand, that agents of socialization play an important role in an individual’s life. The different positive attributes fed by these agents create harmony in an individual that makes him feel confident and respect social etiquette. Without the norms and rules of a society, humans would have nothing to differentiate themselves from animal groups. I hope this article has help to shed some light on the concept of socialization.

Nature/ characteristics of socialization are as follows:-

1. It is process that involves two or more individuals.
2. It is a two way process which involves sender of the message and receiver of the message and also its feedback.
3. Socialization is continuous process. Socialization is a life-long process. It does not cease when a child becomes an adult. As socialization does not cease when a child becomes an adult, internalization of culture continues from generation to generation. Society perpetuates itself through the internalization of culture. Its members transmit culture to the next generation and society continues to exist.
4. The process of socialization starts from birth and continues till death. It never stops; however, the speed of socialization is different at different stages of life.
5. The socialization converts a human being into social being so that he might be able to play his role more effectively as a member of an organized group.
6. Healthy growth of personality is possible only due to the proper socialization.
7. The socialization of an individual belonging to one and the same society may be different from one another.
8. With the help of socialization cultures are transmitted not only from one generation to another but also from one culture to the other culture.

TYPES OF SOCIALIZATION

Primary socialization for a child is very important because it sets the ground work for all future socialization. Primary Socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. It is mainly influenced by the immediate family and friends. For example if a child saw his/her mother expressing a discriminatory opinion about a minority group, then that child may think this behavior is acceptable and could continue to have this opinion about minority groups.

Secondary socialization Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society. Basically, it is the behavioral patterns reinforced by socializing agents of society. Secondary socialization takes place outside the home. It is where children and adults learn how to act in a way that is appropriate for the situations they are in Schools require very different behavior from the home, and Children must act according to new rules. New teachers have to act in a way that is different from pupils and learn the new rules from people around them. Secondary Socialization is usually associated with teenagers and adults, and involves smaller changes than those occurring in primary socialization. Such examples of Secondary Socialization are entering a new profession or relocating to a new environment or society.

Anticipatory socialization Anticipatory socialization refers to the processes of socialization in which a person “rehearses” for future positions, occupations, and social relationships. For example, a couple might move in together before getting married in order to try out, or anticipate, what living together will be like] Research by Kenneth J. Levine and Cynthia A. Hoffner suggests that parents are the main source of anticipatory socialization in regards to jobs and careers.

Re-socialization Re-socialization refers to the process of discarding former behavior patterns and reflexes, accepting new ones as part of a transition in one’s life. This occurs throughout the human life cycle. Re-socialization can be an intense experience, with the individual experiencing a sharp break with his or her past, as well as a need to learn and be exposed to radically different norms and values. One common example involves re-socialization through a total institution, or “a setting in which people are isolated from the rest of society and manipulated by an administrative staff”. Re-socialization via total institutions involves a two step process: 1) the staff work to root out a new inmate’s individual identity & 2) the staff attempt to create for the inmate a new identity. Other examples of this are the experience of a young man or woman leaving home to join the military, or a religious convert internalizing the beliefs and rituals of a new faith. An extreme example would be the process by which a transsexual learns to function socially in a dramatically altered gender role.

Organizational socialization

Organizational socialization is the process whereby an employee learns the knowledge and skills necessary to assume his or her organizational role. As newcomers become socialized, they learn about the organization and its history, values, jargon, culture, and procedures. This acquired knowledge about new employees’ future work environment affects the way they are able to apply their skills and abilities to their jobs. How actively engaged the employees are in pursuing knowledge affects their socialization process.They also learn about their work group, the specific people they work with on a daily basis, their own role in the organization, the skills needed to do their job, and both formal procedures and informal norms. Socialization functions as a control system in that newcomers learn to internalize and obey organizational values and practices.

Social Interaction

A fundamental feature of social life is social interaction, or the ways in which people act with other people and react to how other people are acting.

Social interaction is the basis of the whole social order. Social group is the product of social interaction. There is interaction between birds and animals also. It is the real foundation of all social processes, structure, social groups and functions. In sociology social interaction is the gate of knowledge.

According to Merrill,” Social interaction is the general process whereby two or more persons are in a meaningful contact, as a result of which their behaviour is modified however slightly”.

According to Corkiness, “Social interaction is such a process which influences the overt behaviour or the state of mind of the individuals.”

It is a social process between two or more than two persons. It is always reciprocal in nature. It can be called a stimulus response condition among the individuals. Ehen two person talk to each other or respond to each other on telephone or internet, develop correspondence through letter, there is an interaction.

Ex: – A doctor attends a patient, a customer buys a thing from shopkeeper and a passenger gets ticket from the booking clerk. It means social relationship among individuals. It is a sort of action and reaction position among the people.

Human Rights

Meaning and importance of human rights

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

The study of human rights has assumed very significance as these are considered essential for the existence of human beings. International community has become conscious of their protection in the post-second world war period. The UNO has provided a concrete form these rights with its Declaration on Human Rights on 10th December 1948.

Characteristics of human rights

1. Human rights are founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each person.

2. Human rights imply that everyone should have them. People do not enjoy them as the member of a particular nation or of a community, rather as the member of the human society. So human rights are universally applicable to all without any discrimination on the grounds of caste, class, color, sex, religion etc.
3. Human rights are universal, meaning that they are applied equally and without discrimination to all people.
4. Human rights are inalienable, in that no one can have his or her human rights taken away; they can be limited in specific situations (for example, the right to liberty can be restricted if a person is found guilty of a crime by a court of law).
5. Human rights, as a comprehensive whole, include socio­economic, civil, political, cultural rights which are deemed to be essential for the human beings to lead a life of dignity.
6. Human rights are not absolute. Like all rights, they may also be restricted in the interest of public peace, social decency, political security and the like.

Some of the human rights are as follows: –

1. We are all free and equal. We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.
2. Don’t discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.
3. The right to life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.
4. No slavery – past and present. Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.
5. No Torture. Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.
6. Fair treatment by fair courts. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.
7. No unfair detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without a good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.
8. The right to trial. If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.
9. The right to privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters or bother us or our family without a good reason.
10. Freedom to move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.
11. Marriage and family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated.
12. Freedom of thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.
13. The right to democracy. We all have the right to take part in the government of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders.
14. The right to education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with others. Our parents can choose what we learn.
15. A free and fair world. There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.
16. Culture and copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the good things that “art,” science and learning bring.

Importance of human rights are:-

Importance of human rights: The importance of the human rights movement is that it tells people that one cannot call a society a good and a just society until all its citizens enjoy these human rights. The human rights laws aims at eliminating unjust discrimination against any human being.

The concept of Human rights is based on the principle of human solidarity, cooperation, and development and access of all to the common heritage of humankind.

The impact and importance of human rights are so deep and strong that the constitutions of India, Indonesia, Costa Rica and other countries incorporated many of the provisions of rights codified in the said Declaration in their respective constitutions. This may be treated as landmark the history of progress of civilization.

Women empowerment: The issue of Women empowerment and inequality have been taken up as a Human rights issue. Several institutions, organizations are working hard to create awareness among the masses. It is high time that every person within the society come forward in support women in her fight for justice. She should be treated at par with men all venues of social framework. Her position need to be elevated.

1. Achieve better outcomes for people: – Equality and human rights are core to achieving national and local performance outcomes which aim to improve the quality of life and opportunities for all people.
2. Improve performance: – The consideration of human rights and equality issues will assist in improving performance in delivering high quality public services as efficiently, effectively and economically as possible as they will ensure they are responsive to people’s individual circumstances at the point of delivery.
3. Demonstrate accessibility and accountability: – Where equality and human rights are assessed, based on evidence and the meaningful involvement of communities, stronger relationships will be built and it will be easier to demonstrate fairness, transparency, accessibility and accountability thereby enhancing public ownership and legitimacy in policy and decision making.
4. Ensure compliance with the law: – Proactively taking account of human rights and equality in the exercise of an organisation’s functions will provide it with assurances rather than assumptions that actions are fair, not arbitrary, and that they comply with the law. This helps to prevent violations before they require redress and thus reduce both legal and financial risks and expense.

Managing Diversity

To understand the concept of diversity, let’s begin talking about our own country ‘India’. India is a country which is known for its different cultures, languages, attires, dance forms, music, etc. What do we call these differences??

These differences are known as the diversity of our Indian culture. Even though there is difference but all lead to the same path which “Peace”. This diversity is also reflected at the workplaces.

Everyone is a unique person. Even though people have things in common with each other they are also different in all sorts of ways. Differences include visible and non-visible factors, for example, personal characteristics such as background, culture, personality, and work-style, size, accent, language and so on.

In broad terms, diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. It means respect for and appreciation of differences in ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, education, and religion.

Diversity is also reflected in the workplaces and schools. The individuals of different cultures come and meet each other under one roof so it becomes necessary to manage diversity at that place. So, therefore, diversity can be maintained in the following ways:-

• Emphasize communication:Ensure that all employees understand your policies, procedures, safety rules, and other important information. Work to overcome language and cultural barriers. Have key materials, such as safety information, translated when possible. Use pictures and symbols on warning signs so that everybody can understand.
• View employees as individuals:Avoid both positive and negative stereotypes. Don’t make assumptions about employees from different groups. Judge successes and failures individually. Respond promptly and firmly when employees express prejudices or stereotypes. Remind them of your policies that prohibit discrimination. Encourage employees to view co-workers as individuals and judge them on their work, not on personal factors.
• Encourage employees to work in diverse groups:Assure that work teams reflect the diversity of your workplace. Diverse work teams let employees get to know and value one another as individuals. Diverse teams also expand the experiences and views of all the workers on the team and help them recognize the strength of their combined talents and perspectives.
• Base decisions on objective criteria:Expect all employees of all backgrounds to meet required standards and perform to the best of their ability. Don’t set different criteria for different groups. Don’t make excuses or allow employees to make excuses for shortcomings. Base all employment actions, including discipline, on specific, performance-related criteria. Always focus on job-related issues, not personal issues, when dealing with employees.
• Be open-minded:Recognize, and encourage employees to recognize, that one’s own experience, background, and culture are not the only ones with value to the organization. Set an example of encouraging diversity by developing relationships with colleagues whose backgrounds differ from yours. Look for ways to incorporate diverse perspectives and talents into efforts to achieve organizational goals.

Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace

Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its challenges. Some of those challenges are:

1. Communication – Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack of teamwork, and low morale.
2. Resistance to change – There are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The “we’ve always done it this way” mentality silences new ideas and inhibits progress.
3. Implementation of diversity in the workplace policies – This can be the overriding challenge to all diversity advocates. Armed with the results of employee assessments and research data, they must build and implement a customized strategy to maximize the effects of diversity in the workplace for their particular organization.
4. Successful Management of Diversity in the Workplace – Diversity training alone is not sufficient for your organization’s diversity management plan. A strategy must be created and implemented to create a culture of diversity that permeates every department and function of the organization.
5. Gender Equality and Sexual Harassment- Cases such as gender inequality and sexual harassment against women are rising day by day. The need to maintain gender equality and prevent gender discrimination in aspects such as hiring, remuneration, promotions, and the like is another major diversity issue. Women were traditionally paid less than men, and the Equal Pay Act mandated equal pay for men and women doing the same job.

 

BIG5 factors

BIG5 Factors

Why do people respond differently to the same situations? In contemporary psychology, the Big Five factors of personality are five broad domains which define human personality and account for individual differences.

Many contemporary personality psychologists believe that there are five basic dimensions of personality, often referred to as the “Big 5” personality traits. The five broad personality traits described by the theory are extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism.

OCEAN

O	Openness
C	Conscientiousness
E	Extraversion
A	Agreeableness
N	Neuroticism

• Openness to experience– The extent to which a person is original and has broad interests and is willing to take risks. It includes one being imaginative, independent minded and has divergent thinking.
• Conscientiousness – The extent to which a person is careful, attentive and move forward inspite of failures. It include being responsible, orderly and dependable.
• Extraversion or positive affectivity– the tendency to experience positive emotional state and feel good about you and see the world around you positively. It includes being talkative, social and assertive.
• Agreeableness– the tendency to get along with others. It includes being good natured, cooperative and trusting.
• Neuroticism– the tendency to experience negative emotional state and feel low about you and see the world around you negatively. It includes being anxious, prone to depression and worries a lot.