Area covered
The biological basis for behavior:
The basis for individuality
How does chromosome affect the basis for individuality?
Each chromosome contains gene which are also responsible for the basis of individuality. (The process is explained below)
How do genes affect the basis of individuality?
Mental Health
Attitude of society
Socioeconomic Influence
a. The span of development- Infancy and childhood, Adolescence, maturity and old age.
b. Individual difference- the distribution of traits, Individual traits.
c. The biological basis for behavior- The basis for individuality, pattern of development, Input process, Central process, output.
d. Personality- Personality development, mental health, Retirement interest and attitudes.
e. Social and culture, factors- attitudes of society, socioeconomic influences.
INTRODUCTION
“The child is the father of the
man” is a famous saying of William Wordsworth.
The saying highlights the fact that adult patterns or the way an adult
behaves are formed very early in the individual’s life . This very fact justifies the reason for
students of behavioral science to be interested in learning how an individual
develops through the span of his life.
Why should individuals in business be interested in development patterns?
-
Business depends on people
-
The decisions that are made depend on the
knowledge of people and what they can do at particular times during their
lifetime
-
Helps individuals in business to better understand present behavior of
individuals
- Helps individuals in business to cope with
behavioral problems by becoming aware about such problems.
Nature vs Nurture (Heredity vs Environment)
There is not any single factor
that determines our personality. A number of biological and environmental
factors shape our behavior.
a. Nature
(heredity)
The biological foundation of
behavior explains how behavioral attributes are inherited from parents
genetically. Often heard statements like ‘he is just like his father’ and ‘she
immediately looses temper like her mother’ reflect that there is strong belief
that human behavior is somehow inherited genetically from parents. Behavioral scientists argue that an
individual’s behavior is partly influenced by parental transmission of
chromosomes. Researches have discovered that almost fifty percent of human
behavior and personality traits are genetically inherited.
b. Nurture
(Environment)
The next important force that
exerts on building personality traits and behavior is the environment. Where the individual grows up, his or her
national culture, value systems, group, memberships and life experience are
environmental forces that exert influence in building personality traits and
behavior.
SPAN OF DEVELOPMENT:
Introduction
The development of an individual
goes through different stages. When a
behavioral scientist views the long span of an individual’s existence he tries
to understand what people at all ages are like, what they can do, and how they
are affected. As people develop through
different stages in life they accumulate experience. Knowledge of this
accumulating experience helps behavioral scientist in understanding of people’s
behavior and predicting the future activity.
The process of development begins
after birth but the development of can be affected by factors such as heredity.
Thus, process of development is influenced before the birth. What ever
influences our development before birth is heredity factor and whatever
influences our development after birth is environment factor.
STAGES OF SPAN OF DEVELOPMENT
Stages of development have been
identified in various ways by investigators. Some of the findings are:
- Traditionally the designations for span of
development have been identified as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood,
and old age.
-
Legal institutions have also tried to impose
span of development. For example, in Nepal people are allowed to vote only
after the age of 18.
-
Erikson (1963) has tried to explain span of
development along psychoanalytic lines.
Regardless of the interpretation
and findings of different investigators we can analyze the span of development
in three major stages. They are:
- Infancy
and Childhood
- Infancy and childhood represents first years of
life. Different researchers have tried
to find out the impact of first years of life in individual behavior.
- Sigmund Freud highlighted that the adult
personality pattern is a result of problems in the early childhood. Though
Freud did not work with children, his contribution stimulated other researchers
to study the impact of infancy and childhood problems in adult personality
pattern.
- Piaget, who had a strong
biological background, proposed four stages of development: sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. According to
Piaget,
- During the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2) infants develop their ability to coordinate motor actions with sensory activity. At the start of this stage, children's behavior is dominated by reflexes, but by the end of it, they can use mental images. Also during this stage, children acquire the concept of object permanence, realizing that objects still exist even when the objects are not present.
- During the preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7 years), children improve in the use of mental images and symbolic thought. Most of the thinking of children of this age, however, is egocentric (self-centered).
- During the concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11 years), children begin to develop many concepts and to organize the concepts into classes and categories.
- During the formal operational stage (ages 11 years and beyond), children learn to use and to manipulate abstract symbolic concepts, develop and mentally test hypotheses, and work mental problems. That is, they can reason.
- Adolescence
- The transition from early development period to the one we call adolescent is not clear cut. A convenient dividing line is the attainment of puberty. But since the stage of puberty comes at different times for different people, the line between childhood and adolescence is hard to draw.
- Adolescence is the transition period from childhood to adulthood, a period that brings sometimes tumultuous physical, social, and emotional changes. Adolescence begins with the onset of puberty and extends to adulthood, usually spanning the years between 12 and 20. Puberty is the period during which the reproductive system matures, a process characterized by a marked increase in sex hormones.
- Physical development d in adolescence: Physical development in adolescence includes a growth spurt as the body fills out, voice changes (especially in males), and an increase in sex hormones. Secondary sex characteristics, such as breasts in females and beards in males, appear. Girls' first menstruation ( menarche) usually occurs between the ages of 11 and 14.
- Social development in adolescence: According to Erik Erikson, appropriate social development in adolescence requires solving the major challenge of ego-identity vs. role diffusion. To resolve this life crisis, adolescents must form an ego-identity, a strong sense of “who I am and what I stand for,” or they may suffer role diffusion (running from activity to activity), with the increased likelihood of succumbing to peer pressure.
- The period when a person is no longer a child though not yet an adult is often pictured as stressful one. In certain primitive culture the passage from childhood to adulthood is achieved without stress and strain.
- Maturity
and Old Age
- Stage of maturity begins when individuals are
admitted to full membership in the group. During the maturity stage the
performance on test of mental ability reaches a peak. During the maturity stage
the physical development of an individual proceeds at a slackening pace to
about the age of 25. The sensorimotor
abilities are at their highest in the maturity stage. Reaction time, speed, and
adaptability to new situation are best at this stage.
Individual Difference
In order to identify individual
differences there should be measurement of some kind. The measure may be of a
very objective and precise nature or it may be a very casual one. It may be
obtained through observation, in an interview or by means of a ‘test’. The understanding of individual difference
helps to apply the knowledge of such differences in education, industry, and in
broader functioning of community scene.
The distribution of traits:
Most human traits are distributed
along a continuum, with most people in the middle and fewer at either extreme.
The resulting curve is called the normal curve of distribution. The curve shown below depicts the I.Q. score
of adults. The shaded portion, which
lies between standard deviation -1 and 1, represents about two-third of the
total population.
As we move further from middle of
the score we get fewer individuals. This shows that to get IQ score of 100 is
not unusual but to get the score of 150 or
50 unusual. Thus, there are very few individuals who have IQ score of
150.
The example of IQ score can be
extended to study other traits of individual such as height and weight . The law of normal distribution applies to all
the traits of individuals. So when we analyze the individual differences of
people there is likelihood of finding more people (about 2/3) with the average
of each trait and very few people who have the extreme of such trait. For
example: A person of 5 feet 10 inches
may seem tall but when he is put in a crowd of people he will not be regarded as
tall because he will only have average height within the crowd. But a person
with height of 7.5 feet will stand out in crowd.
Individual Traits:
Meaning
of trait
In behavioral science, Trait theory is a major
approach to the study of human personality and their pattern of behavior. Trait
theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be
defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion. According to
this perspective, traits are relatively stable over time, differ across
individuals (e.g. some people are outgoing whereas others are shy), and
influence behavior.
Humans have different traits.
Considering the organization and use of different traits over the years,
there are some categories of traits which are now familiar and useful. Most workers in personnel or related
activities consider the following traits to be the important ones:
a)
Mental ability
b)
Mechanistic aptitude
c)
Psychomotor skills
d)
Interests
e)
Personality
f)
Scholastic aptitude
g)
Achievement
h)
Clerical abilities, and language ability
While measuring traits the terms
(traits) may be separable on a conceptual basis but in practice it may be
confusing. Ability refers to a
present state or condition of the individual. It relates to what he is able to
do at the time of test. Aptitude refers to capacity of the individual
for a particular kind of activity and is future oriented in that it attempts to
assess his level of performance at some late time. Achievement is what a
person has accomplished in a specific area.
In practice the distinction of
ability, aptitude and achievement is not easy. A test of mental ability , for
instance, may be a measure of scholastic aptitude because later performance in
school is likely undoubtedly based on mental ability. It may also be true that
aptitude for most managerial tasks may be shown by present mental ability
measures. An achievement test can also serve as a predictor of future
performance.
Personality test measures those
dimensions of an individual that play a role in his reaction to life situation.
“Personality” generally includes motives and tendencies of individual. According to Robbins, Personality is the sum
total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others.
Interest patterns may be
considered as part of personality but are thought to be important enough to be
measured separately. The activities an individual would prefer to pursue can
bear some relationship to his later effectiveness on the job. Other things
being equal, interest in the activities required in the task should lead to
greater effectiveness in it.
The biological basis for behavior:
Most human traits or
characteristics have a firm biological basis. The fundamental mechanisms are in
the genetic pattern of parents.
The basis for individuality
Each individual has billions of
cell in his body, and each cell is much like another in fundamental
structure. The nucleus, or center, of
the cells contains 23 pairs, or 46 in all, of tiny, rod like bodies called
chromosomes. Each chromosome contains countless tiny body called genes. Each
chromosome and each gene in chromosome are paired to provide the
characteristics of a person.
How does chromosome affect the basis for individuality?
A new individual is formed when
male germ cell (sperm) interacts with female cell germ cell (ovum). The male
germ cell has only 23 chromosomes and the female germ cell also has only 23
chromosomes (They are split, not in pairs). When a male cell interacts with
female cells there is pairing of these chromosomes and a new individual is
formed. Thus a new individual has the characteristics of both parents.
Chromosomes also affect the basis
of individuality as they are responsible for determination of sex of new
individual. Each cell of male and female has a pair of sex determining chromosomes
(that is, out of 23 chromosomes, 21 are regular chromosomes and two chromosomes
are responsible for determination of sex). In female the sex determining
chromosome are of regular size and are called X chromosomes. Thus a female has
two X chromosomes. However a male has X chromosome and Y chromosome that are
responsible for determination of sex.
Each chromosome contains gene which are also responsible for the basis of individuality. (The process is explained below)
How do genes affect the basis of individuality?
Each chromosome contains countless tiny bodies called genes. When male
and female chromosomes combine, the combination of genes also takes place. The
pairing of genes is complicated. The
male genes and female genes do not equally contribute to the characteristics of
new individual. Genes can be of two
types:
-
Dominant genes
-
Recessive genes
The characteristics that appear
in a new individual is represented by the dominant genes. For example, brown
eyes are dominant trait while blue eyes are recessive so that when a grown gene
is paired with blue gene, the new individual has brown eyes. Blue eyes come
about only when two blue genes are paired. Other characteristics appear in the
same fashion. Hair color, color blindness, hearing etc. are also affected by
genes.
Genes are complex packets of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The chain of DNA molecules carries a code for its
own reproduction and the production of enzymes. DNA molecules can produce
various types of ribonucleic acids (RNA). One of these RNA is a ‘messenger
RNA’. The messenger RNA contains genetic information for the process of
building new individual.
Explain
input process, central process, and output as the biological bases on the
behavior
The behavior of individuals is
affected by the input, central process and output. The following figure shows a
system model of behavior:
Input process
Information receiving, or
sensation, serves as a basis for behavior.
Though the input process does not impact overall functioning of
behavior, it affects the way formation of behavior pattern of an individual.
Individuals receive sensory input
from five sense organs. We will briefly analyze the input process of each of
these organs.
·
Eye (Visualization)
Eye can see visual image through
transmission of electromagnetic radiation. Light comes through pupil and it
falls on the retina. Visual acuity
(ability to see clearly) changes as the person‘s age increases/changes.
Chapains (1950) tested the visual acuity of a group of people from the age of 5
to 79. The result showed a rise in the visual acuity up to the age of 15,
leveling off until age of 50 and a decline after the age of 50. Visual defects and blindness increase
considerably after the age of 80.
·
Ear (Audition)
Ear receives stimulation which
has three characteristics: frequency (pitch), intensity (loudness) and
complexity(timbre or tonal quality). The ear is the mechanism that transforms
the physical pressure of the sound waves into psychological experience. The
sound waves enter the ear canal and strike the eardrum. It has been noted that
as people grow old their audition capacity tends to decrease. Older persons are
not sensitive to to higher frequency tones as younger people.
·
Nose (Smell)
Nose identifies odor. Though odor
cannot be clearly defined, Crocker (1945) identified four major types of
industrial odor which include acid, burnt, fragrant and caprylic. Smell seem to show some anatomical changes
with age, but the exact nature of changes has not been pinpointed.
·
Skin (Skin senses, touch)
The skin senses show some decline
in sensitivity with age. Sherman and Robilland (1960) noted a 20% difference in
the pain sensitivity between those in their 20’s and those above 65. But after 70 the skin sensitivity declines
drastically. The study also found out that women were more sensitive to pain
than were man.
·
Tongue (Taste)
Tongue receives sensory input
through taste buds. A tongue has four different types of receptors for sweet,
salt, sour and bitter. Each of these aspects of taste has its own kind of
receptor or taste buds. Cooper (1959) studied the impact of age on taste. He found out that there is no change in the
taste acuity up to the age of 50
Central Process
Central Process refers to the
cognitive process through which we give meaning to sensory input. The cognitive
processes are probably the most critical functions in behavior. The components
of central process are:
- Perception
Perception is a process by which
individuals give meaning organize and
interpret their sensory input in order
to give meaning to the environment. It is a process ( a cognitive process), it
is the base of every individual’s behavior, it differs from person to person,
and it is not always based on reality. It plays a crucial part in
organizational life and it is the complex mental process and it affects human
behavior. Perception is shaped by the perceiver, the target being perceived and
the perception environment.
Crook et al. (1958) found no
difference in visual perception between the age of 20 and 50 when the
conditions were optimum. When illumination or time was reduced, the difference
between young and old were insignificant.
- Learning
Learning is a process within the
organism which results in the capacity of changed performance which can be
related to experience rather than maturation-(Ribeaux and Poppleton 1978).
Human beings learn from books, experience and conscious attention. With the help of learning individuals change
their behavior positively or negatively.
In the organizational setting, individual learning changes the behavior
at work and increases the ability to work.
U.S. Department of Labour (1963)
found very few areas of difference between old and young workers in learning
procedure. Bowers (1952) found that,
while older workers learned less readily, there was no difference between young
and old in job knowledge, accuracy and reliability.
- Mental ability
Mental ability refers to the
intellectual functioning of an individual.
. Jones and Conard (1933) tested people between 10 and 60 in New England
village. Mental ability was found to increase to a peak at age 16 and decline
somewhat to 60.
- Concept formation
The process of forming concepts
involves representing the common aspect of object or situation. For example,
different people have developed different concept regarding time, life, fruits
etc. A child of eight years may think if
anything is moving than it has life, whereas an adult may have different concept
formation about life. The concept
formation is affected by age and
experience.
- Problem solving
Problem solving is the ability to
analyze the problem, identify alternatives to solve the problem and selecting
the optimum solution to solve the given problem. Chown (1961) states that the young people
have more superiority over older individuals in problem solving as the younger
individuals have willingness and
flexibility to analyze the problem.
- Language
Language is one of the component of
central process. Studies have shown that
there is a positive relationship between language ability and skills. Language
ability increases along with the age. By
nine months the child can imitate sound, and when he is one year old, he can
the exciting first word. There is
increase in the size of vocabulary as a child grows- the more intelligent the
child the better the language ability.
Output: Psychomotor
activities
Output refers to the psychomotor
activities. Psychomotor activities are those actions involving some voluntary
movement of the body ranging from manual dexterity to more complex coordination
f limb and trunk movement. Psychomotor
refers to simple movements such as grasping as well as to complex acts involved
in the assembly of complicated piece of machinery. The psychomotor action of
older people is slower generally than that of younger people.
The psychomotor skills show a
change over the life of an individual in terms of speed and/or timing. The psychomotor skills are also influenced by
personality, mental ability, and social and cultural factors. Increase in
experience also increases the psychomotor skills.
Personality
Meaning
To most psychologists and students of behavior, personality refers to
the study of characteristic traits of an individual, relationship between these
traits, and the ways in which a person adjusts to other people and situations.
“Personality is the relatively
stable pattern of behaviors and consistent internal states that explain a
person’s behavioral tendencies.” – MCShane, 2001
“Personality is the sum total of
ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others.” – Robbins
The personality of an individual is affected by the following factors:
a)
Personality Development
b)
Mental health
c)
Retirement
d)
Interest and attitude
e)
Social and Cultural factors- attitude of society,
socioeconomic influence
Personality Development
In the early formative years the
shaping of the personality of the individual is done by many forces, the
primary ones originating within the family. Since the family is the greatest
source of socialization, the direct contact within the family is significant,
for more than one generation. Bowlby
(1952) maintains that the lack of normal home life in a child makes for a bad
parent. Apparently, an important feature
in the development of personality is stimulation from the contact with and
warmth from loved ones. With less affection, less strength of character
develops. Stronger super-ego control comes with growth under supervision.
Punishment may show effects that are undesirable.
Rigidity and rejection in
discipline can lead also to over dependency in the child. When parents for independence on child it may
be seen as rejection. Too much and too long continued nurturance, however, can
lead to dependency as well. McClelland (1953) found a positive relationship
between an achievement need and independence training in the culture.
Mental Health
Different survey carried out in
different period of time has shown relationship between age and mental health.
Hollingshead carried out a study and he found a high peak at about age 35 for
neuroses[1]. The
study also found out that there is steep increase in psychotic[2]
involvement with increase in age.
Retirement
The effect of retirement on
personality can be significant. The impact of retirement on personality is not
same for everyone. Some workers may be active and alert until forced to retire.
Then illness or senility[3] may
set in as a result of their being unable to cope with enforced boredom.
According to research carried out by Reichard (1962), the retired people are
less defensive than individuals who are about to retire. Those individuals who adapted well with
retirement continued to seek out healthy social relationship as they had in the
past. Life for them produced even less stress than earlier.
Interest and attitude
Interest and attitude also change
as the individual grow up. As the age increases people are less interested in
competitive activities and they have less excitement. The time duration of watching television
usually remains unchanged but the interest in television programs tend to
change. As people grow they develop interest in variety of programs or in game
programs. The difference in interest and attitude of young people can be
differentiated in terms of sex. Boys find more appeal in football, fishing,
marbles, bicycles, and machinery, while girls play hopscotch, sew, and play at
cooking.
Social and Cultural Factors
Socioeconomic forces in society
at large shape the individual in his move toward maturity and affect his/her
outlook and that of others toward him in his old age. The major components of
social and cultural factors include:
Attitude of society
The societies in which
individuals and group exist have their own picture of ‘typical’ behavior. The society expects people to be sagacious[4] and
achievement oriented as people mature. Speed and excitability is associated
with youth. In our society the elder male has been the one who occupies a
position of responsibility, and legal restriction. No infant can be involved in
commercial transaction (as per the business law). Political participation is
also allowed only after an individual reaches a given age threshold.
The attitude of societies towards
individual of different age group also affects personality. For example
teenagers are not seen as reliable by the society.
Socioeconomic Influence
The socioeconomic influence also
affects the personality. Parents are apt
to raise their children in the same way they were raised. The socioeconomic
influence on personality development can be analyzed as follows:
- Child
Rearing practice
-
Parents in higher socioeconomic levels adopt
those practices of rearing children which have been promoted by ‘experts’
-
Lower class families , in general, seem to
exercise less control over aggression and sexual expression
-
Discipline is more physical in lower class
families whereas there is greater use of reasoning in high class family
-
Equalitarian atmosphere is fostered in high and
middle class families but lower class families have more rigid authoritarianism
- Beyond
the family
Beyond family an
individual interacts with social groups. He becomes a part of social class and
social stratification. Membership in social groups may provide a base for a
better personality. Generally, the higher the social class level, the more the
person expects and greater are his attainment.
High morale is associated with high economic status. People at lower
economic class were less happy with their work as their work did not provide
them much respect (Kutner 1965)
- Mental illness
The socioeconomic
condition of an individual also affects the mental illness. Hollingshead and
Redlich(1958) found a relationship between class placement and type of mental
illness. Psychoses were most often diagnosed in the lower classes.
- Physical disability
The lower income
groups show a higher disability rate.
Older people with lower economic condition are more prone to physical
disability. Thus the status of physical
disability is affected by socioeconomic condition of individuals.
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