The topic selection Crisis

Most students come to me asking the same old question

"Can you suggest me a good topic for my research project?".

Well, today let me share certain views on how to " select a good topic"

To begin with, most often the choice of the topic becomes a big turning point in your life. How? As a part of project, you are supposed to read a lot of literature in the topic, and psychology is a topic that becomes interesting as you read more. Hence most often, your future projects, either in Post Graduate or even PhD projects, would be more or less on the topic you selected in lower classes. 

Also, most often, the interest in topic, becomes a lead in selecting specialization for higher courses. Person who did a OB project, most often end up doing a higher studies in OB. So yes, selection of topic is very important.

There are few points you should have in mind, when you finalise the research topics. Let me enlist it one by one-

1. The topic should ask a real question. If not, you will soon loose interest in the topic. For example, if your topic is, Intelligence and Scholastic achievement, its quite obvious what the result would be. Hence, you don't tend feel that drive to work for it, and instead you start cooking up results as the results are quite obvious.

2. The topic should have a 'wow' element if possible. Because most often psychology projects are seen with much interest among your friends and family, and they would surely ask, what are you "actually" studying about. So choose a topic, which will make them say "wow"

3. Research as part of course work always come in time frame. Most often you get 4-6 months time. Hence make sure the sample you choose is readily available. Don't pick a sample that is too few to get. College students, School students, etc are safe as they are available in bulk for data collection.

4. Always keep an eye on the tools to measure the topics you pick. Most often you come up with a awesome topic only to realise there is no scale or tool to measure it. Developing a scale is always an option, but given the lack of time, its advised not to try that.

Keeping all these in mind,  let me give a general rule to develop a research topic.

Step 1- Finalise on which area/population you want to work on. Psychology has many diverse fields like Abnormal, Organizational, Social etc. Any particular area might have attracted your interest. Its always safe to focus on that area.
     Also, a particular population might have attracted you- like school students, widows, elderly, single parents. Always focus on that population.

Step 2- Find an issue-  Since you have squared into the area/ population, try to find out any issues they are focusing. For example, if its school students, find some issue these students face like stress, depression, etc. An easy way to find such issue is to google. Or any standard text book, which talks about that area. While going through many issues in that population, you will finally find one, and that's your Dependent Variable.

Step 3- Finding Independent Variables
     Since you have finalised on the issue, search for various other factors that you think has an effect on the issue. For example, If you finalised "Academic Stress in students", look for various possible causes for " Academic Stress in Students" you will get plenty of such causes, and even you can suggest few causes using common sense like Parenting style, study habits etc. From the lot, pick one or two variables, that you think is most relevant in the sample you have finalised. And that becomes your independent variable/variables.

Step 4-
    Look if there are proper tools to measure the variables, or if it is measurable at all. Once you made this confirmation check, you can link the variables and sample together and make it a project title. Here, thr title becomes, " Effect of parenting styles on stress among school children " (assuming the study is experimental)

Step 5-
   Get a final confirmation from your guide. As they are always the better informed.

Many students complaint research project was a hectic experience. But that mostly because kids approach it with a preset mindset. Believe me, the work you did on the research project would be the most beautiful memory you will have about your college/course life.

Happy Re-searching :)

Role of Heredity and Environment in Individual Differences

No man is created equal. He differs from one to another is various aspects

Heredity and Environment—

Some events in life, such as achieving sexual maturity, are mostly governed by heredity. Others, such as learning to swim or use a computer, are primarily a matter of environment. But which is more important, heredity or environment? Let’s consider some evidence on both sides of the nature-nurture debate.

 

Heredity

Heredity (“nature”) refers to genetically passing characteristics from parents to children. An incredible number of personal features are set at conception, when a sperm and an ovum (egg) unite.

Genes are small areas of DNA that affect a particular process or personal characteristic. Sometimes, a single gene is responsible for an inherited feature, such as eye color. Most characteristics, however, are polygenic (pol-ih-JEN-ik), or controlled by many genes working in combination. Genes may be dominant or recessive. When a gene is dominant, the feature it controls will appear every time the gene is present. When a gene is recessive, it must be paired with a second recessive gene before its effect will be expressed.

Various areas where heredity has an influences in creating individual differences are-

1.   Human growth sequence- 

 

Its the  overall pattern of physical development. To a degree, genetic instructions affect body size and shape, height, intelligence, athletic potential, personality traits, sexual orientation, and a host of other details.  Heredity determines eye color, skin color, and susceptibility to some diseases.

2.   Temperament-     

Difference in temperament is evident even in newborns. This is the physical core of personality. It includes sensitivity, irritability, distractibility, and typical mood. About 40 percent of all newborns are easy children, who are relaxed and agreeable. Ten percent are difficult children, who are moody, intense, and easily angered. Slow-to warm-up children (about 15 percent) are restrained, unexpressive, or shy. The remaining children do not fit neatly into a single category

3.   Intelligence-

The closer two people are on a family tree, the more alike their IQs are likely to be.

4.   Personality-

  

 Twins and Traits indicate that personality is hugely influenced by heridity. For two decades, psychologists at the University of Minnesota have been studying identical twins who grew up in different homes. Medical and psychological tests reveal that reunited twins are very much alike, even when they are reared apart. Typically, they are astonishingly similar in appearance, voice quality, facial gestures, hand movements, and nervous tics, such as nail biting. Separated twins also tend to have similar talents. If one twin excels at art, music, dance, drama, or athletics, the other is likely to as well— despite wide differences in childhood environment.

Environment

Environment (“nurture”) refers to the sum of all external conditions that affect a person. The environments in which a child grows up can have a powerful impact on development. Humans today are genetically very similar to cave dwellers who lived 30,000 years ago. Nevertheless, a bright baby born today could learn to become almost anything—a ballet dancer, an engineer, a gangsta rapper, or a biochemist. But a baby born 30,000 years ago could have only become a hunter or food gatherer. In short, environmental forces guide human development, for better or worse, throughout life.

1.   Sensitive Periods

These are times when children are more susceptible to particular types of environmental influences. Events that occur during a sensitive period can permanently alter the course of development. Certain events must occur during a sensitive period for a person to develop normally. For example, forming a loving bond with a caregiver early in life seems to be crucial for optimal development. Likewise, babies who don’t hear normal speech during their first year may have impaired language abilities 

2.   Prenatal Influences

 

The impact of nurture actually starts before birth. Although the intrauterine environment (interior of the womb) is highly protected, environmental conditions can affect the developing child. For example Teratogens- Anything capable of causing birth defects is called a teratogen. Sometimes women are exposed to powerful teratogens, such as radiation, lead, pesticides etc can cause mental retardation in children.

3.   Intelligence-

 

a.    Strong evidence for an environmental view of intelligence comes from families having one adopted child and one biological child. Such children have shown strikingly similar IQ levels.

b.    Children adopted by parents of high or low socio-economic status- As you might predict, children who grow up in high-status homes develop higher IQs than those reared by lower-status parents. In one study, striking increases in IQ occurred in 25 children who were moved from an orphanage and were eventually adopted by parents who gave them love, a family, and a stimulating home environment. Once considered mentally retarded and unadoptable, the children gained an average of 29 IQ points. A second group of initially less “retarded” children, who stayed in the orphanage, lost an average of 26 IQ

c.    A particularly dramatic environmental effect is the Flynn effect, the fact that 14 nations have shown average IQ gains of from 5 to 25 points during the last 30 years (Dickens & Flynn, 2001; Flynn, 1990). These IQ boosts, averaging 15 points, occurred in far too short a time for genetics to explain them. It is more likely that the gains reflect environmental forces, such as improved education, nutrition, and living in a technologically complex society

Nature-Nurture Interactions

The outcome of the nature-nurture debate is clear: Heredity and environment are both important. Heredity gives us a variety of potentials and limitations. These, in turn, are affected by environmental influences, such as learning, nutrition, disease, and culture. Thus, the person you are today reflects a constant interaction, between the forces of nature and nurture.

 

1.   Reciprocal Influences

Because of differences in temperament, some babies are more likely than others to smile, cry, vocalize, reach out, or pay attention. As a result, babies rapidly become active participants in their own development. Growing infants alter their parents’ behavior at the same time they are changed by it. The reverse also occurs: Difficult children make parents unhappy and elicit more negative parenting (Parke, 2004).

Twin Studies indicate that the IQ scores of fraternal twins are more alike than those of ordinary brothers and sisters. identical twins, who develop from a single egg and have identical genes and grow up in the same family have highly correlated IQs. This is what we would expect with identical heredity and very similar environments.

Personality in relation to OB

 

Personality in relation to OB

Personality can be thought as the sum total of ways in which individual reacts to and interacts with each others. It is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits

Personality traits

Personality traits are general behavioral characteristics. Researchers for long believe these traits can helping employee selection, matching people to jobs, and in guiding career development decisions. For example if certain personality traits could perform better on specific jobs, management could use personality tests to screen the desired employees.

Two personality tests are widely used in employee selection.

1.   The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator-

Most widely used personality assessment in the world. Total 100 questions.  Asks what a person feels in particular situation. On the basis of their responses, they are classified as-

a.    Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I)- Extroverted people are outgoing and active. Introverted are reserved and shy.

b.    Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)- Sensing people are practical and prefer routine and order. They focus on details.  Intuitive people looks into the big picture and rely on unconscious.   

c.    Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F) - Thinking type use reason and logic to handle problems. Feeling type rely on personal value and emotions.

d.    Judging vs. Perceiving (J or P) - Judging type want control and prefer their world to be ordered and structured. Perceiving type are flexible and spontaneous.

The classification is combined into 16 personality types. Each type has one of the personality trait from a,b,c, and d. For example one personality type is- INTJ. Various Combinations and their behavior charecteristics are given below. (Just learn one or two for example)

2.   The Big Five Model-

Highly supported by evidence. Five basic dimensions of personality according to Big Five Model are-

 

 there is a relatively consistent relationship between

1.    Conscientiousness and Employee citizenship behavior.

2.    Extraversion with managerial efficiency.

3.    Openness to training efficiency.

4.    Neuroticism with job satisfaction.

5.    Agreeableness with Group membership and team building.

Personality Traits that influence OB

1.    Core Self Evaluation-

People with positive core self evaluation see them as effective, capable and control their environment. People with negative core self evaluation dislike themselves.Two elements that determines an individuals core self evaluation are-

a.    Self Esteem- degree of liking or disliking themselves and degree to which they think they are worthy or unworthy as people.

b.    Locus of Control-   people with internal locus of control believes that they can control what happens to them. External locus of control people believe that what happens to them is controlled by outside forces.

Positive core self evaluation leads to better job satisfaction.

2.    Machiavellianism

An individual high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes end can justify means. High Mach- manipulate more, win more, can be persuaded less.

Efficiency of Mach people depends on nature of job.

3.    Narcissism

People with narcissism have heightened sense of self importance, requires excessive admiration, has sense of entitlement and has a sense of arrogance. Narcissist are often rated as less effective at their jobs particularly when it comes to helping others.

4.    Self Monitoring

Individuals high in self monitoring shows considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external, situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situation. High self monitors tend to pay closer attention to the behavior of others and are more capable of confirming. They receive better performance rating, more likely to emerge leaders, and show commitment to their organizations.

5.    Risk Taking

Risk taking refers to the willingness to take chances. High risk taking managers take more rapid decisions and use less information in making their choices. Risk taking on organizational set up and its productiveness depends upon the nature of job. For example, a stock trader need to take risk, but a person in explosives manufacturing company cannot afford it.

6.    Type A and Pro active personalities

Employee’s could be classified into two on the basis of activity levels. They are type A and Type B personalities-

Type A employes are found more in capitalistic countries.

Cognitive Development ( Part 1 of 3)

Coginition-

Refers to all inner processesand products of the mind that leads to knowing. It includes all mental activicties- attending, remembering, symbolizing, catagorizing, planning, reasoning, problem solving, creating, fantasizing. Other species have camouflage, feathers and fur coats. We stand out in our extraordinary mental capablities.

Children move from a simpler to more complex coginitive skills, ie, cognitive skills are not developed in one day. This chapter intend to learn how these coginitive skills develop stage by stage.

Jean Piaget, a zoologist by education, proposed a theory with biological favour. According to Piaget, human infants does not start out as coginitive beings. Instead, out of their perceptual and motor activicties, they build and refine psychological structures. Piaget viewed children as discovering, or constructing virtually all knowledge about their world through their own activicties. Hence his approch is called a constructivistic approch to cognitive development.

Basic Characteristics of Piaget’s Stages-

 Piaget believed that children move through 4 stages in course of cognitive development. These stage sequence has three important charecteristics.

a.    Stages provide general theory of development, in which all aspects of coginition change in an integrated fashion, following a similiar course.

b.    Stages are invarient- they always occur in fixed order.

c.    The stages are universal- they are assumed to characterize children everywhere.

But he did mention that individualistic difference can affect in speed at which development takes place.

Piaget’s Ideas About Coginitive Change-

Schemes- Organized way of making sense of an experience. These schemes change with age. At first, schemes are sensorymotor action patterns. A 6 months old baby’s throwing scheme is different from that of an 18 month baby.

Mental Representation- Internal description of information thst mind can manipulate. At a later stage, than just acting on objects, toddler shows evidence of thinking before he acts. Generally they are two kinds-

a.    Images- mental pictures of objects, people, spaces.

b.    Concepts- Catagories in which similiar objects or events are grouped together.

According to piaget, two processes causes change from sensorymotor to higher stages. They are-

1.   Adaptation-

Adaptation involves building schemes through direct interactions with the environment. It consists of two complimentary activicties-

a.    Assimilation- We use our current scheme to interpret the external world.

b.    Accomodation- We create new schemes or adjust old one’s after noticing that our way of thinking does not capture

According to Piaget, balance between assimilation and accomodation varies over time. When they assimilate, they are in a state of coginitive equlibrium. But when drastic changes happens, accomodation is needed and it changes into a state of 

disequilibrium.

2.   

Organization-

This process takes place internally, apart from direct contact with the environment. Once child forms new schemes, they rearrange them, linking them with other schemes to create a strongly interconnected coginitive system.

Stage 1

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years)

The basic concept is that infants and toddlers think with their eyes, ears, hands and other sensorimotor equipments. They cannot yet carry out many activicties inside their head.

At birth infants know little about their world that they cannot purposefully explore it. The circular reaction provides special means of adapting their first schemes. It involves stumbling onto a new experiences caused by baby’s own motor activicty. 

The reaction is circular as infant tries to repeat the event again and again. As a result, a sensorimotor response that first occured by chance becomes strengthened inro a scheme. At the first circular reaction is focussed on infants own body, later it turn outwards.

There are 6 substages in Sensorimotor Stage-

1.    Reflexive Schemes (0-1)- New born reflexes

2.    Primary Circular Reactions (1-4)- Simple motor habits centered around the infants own body

3.    Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8)- Actions aimed at repeating intresting effects in the surrounding world; imitating of familiar words

4.    Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8-12 mnths)- Intentional or goal-directed behaviors, ability to find a hidden object

5.    Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18)

6.    Mental representation (18-24)-

Repeating Chance Behaviors-

When babies enter substage 2, they start to gain voluntary control over there actions through primary circular reactions, ie, repeating chance behaviors largely motivated by basic needs. Eg- sees hands touch, open and close.

During substage 3, infants sits up and become skilled at reaching for and manipulating object. Using secondary circular reactions, they try to repeat intresting events that are caused by their own actions.  Eg-playing with swinging toy.

Intentional Behavior-

In substage 4, infant combine schemes into more complex action sequences. Hence, the behaviors that lead to new schemes are no longer random but intentional. Intentional behaviors involve coordinating schemes delibrately to solve simple problems. Eg- Object hiding task- showing object and hiding, babies find it, which is major advancement in coginitive development

                                  Finding hidden objects indicate that child have begun to master object permanence ie, understanding object continue to exist even when out of sight. But awareness is still not complete because babies make A not B search error- if they reach several times for an object at first hiding place (A), and see it moved to second (B), they will still search for it in first hiding place (A). Also infants can better anticipate events in substage 4.

                                  In substage 5, toddlers repeat behaviors with variation, provoking new outcomes. Eg- Push objects from table some forcefully, some slowly.

Mental Representation

                                  In substage 6, sensorimotor development completes with formation of mental representation. One sign of this capacity is that 18-24 month olds arrive at solutions to problem suddently, rather than through trial and error method. This representaation results in several other capacities.-

a.    Invisible displacement-

                        Finding a toy moved while out of sight.

b.    Deferred Imitation-

                        The ability to remember and copy the behavior of models who are not present.

c.    Make believe play-

                        Children acting out everyday and imaginary activicties.