PEACE IN CONSCIOUSNESS: RABINDRIK PSYCHOTHERAPY APPROACH

PEACE IN CONSCIOUSNESS: RABINDRIK PSYCHOTHERAPY
APPROACH

What is peace ?
Peace is the equilibrium state across layers of consciousness. This definition is limited to consciousness of individual and group.

What is equilibrium ?
A state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced. Our consciousness is filled with opposing forces. Disequilibrium occurs when the opposing forces over power others. After disequilibrium resilience occurs to maintain equilibrium.


PEACE IN CONSCIOUSNESS: RABINDRIK PSYCHOTHERAPY APPROACH

What is Peace?

Peace is when people are able to resolve their conflicts without violence and can work together to improve the quality of their lives. Peace is when everyone lives in safety, without fear or threat of violence, and no form of violence is tolerated in law or in practice.

PEACE PSYCHOLOGY

Peace Psychology is a subfield of Psychology and Peace Research that deals with the psychological aspects of peace, conflict, violence, and war. Peace psychology can be characterized by four interconnected pillars: (1) research, (2) education, (3) practice, and (4) advocacy.

UNIT OF ANALYSIS
Peace psychology research focuses on peace in individual and group levels. Peace research in group level assumes that
peace is not merely the absence of personal (direct) violence and war (= negative peace), but also the absence of structural (indirect) and cultural violence (= positive peace).


STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

Structural violence means
deprivation of a group's political participation or access to professional employment.
      Direct violence refers to events that harm or kill individuals or groups as contrasted with structural violence which is manifest in social inequalities. In structural violence, hierarchical relations within and between societies privilege those who are on top while oppressing, exploiting and dominating those who occupy the bottom. Like direct violence, structural violence also kills people but does so slowly, by depriving people of basic necessities. There are important psychological reasons why people tolerate and rationalize structural violence and we identify some of these reasons in this volume. We examine structural violence within societies but also include in our analysis the problem of militarization, which contributes to structural violence globally, most often depriving those with the fewest resources, usually women, children and indigenous people.

Cultural violence refers to aspects of a culture that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence, and may be exemplified by religion and ideology, language and art, empirical science and culture.

PEACE PSYCHOLOGY

A. To Freud, peace is rooted from two instincts –eros and thanatos. Eros leads to peace motivation and thanatos  inhibits it.

B. William James:  Morton Deutsch (1995) referred to William James as the first peace psychologist in an article that appeared in the first issue of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.

C.1986, Ralph K. White published an important volume on "Psychology and the Prevention of Nuclear War" which helped identify some of the content of peace psychology. The destructive consequences of mutual enemy images was focal in the book and approaches to peace emphasized tension reduction strategies.

D.  In 1990, institutional support was forthcoming when the American Psychological Association recognized a new division, the Division of Peace Psychology (Division 48).

E.Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century" edited by D. Christie, R. Wagner, and D. Winter (2001) is now available from Prentice Hall.
       DANIEL J. CHRISTIE is Professor of Psychology at Ohio State University. He is a former president of the Division of Peace Psychology of the American Psychological Association, and serves on the editorial board of its journal. His research explores children's perceptions of violence, models of intercultural sensitivity, and structural peacebuilding. He teaches courses in psychology and international studies at the OSU Marion campus, has served as president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, and does applied work on local and international programs that enhance the educational and economic opportunities of minority and indigenous ethnic groups.



PEACE IN CONSCIOUSNESS : CURRENT STUDY

Consciousness is awareness of present environment or surroundings. Consciousness has three layers- Murto, Raag and Saraswat. Murto layer includes ability to sense, perceive;Raag layer includes ability to feel, to learn, to think, to memorize. Saraswat layer includes ability to harmonize self and environment. The harmony provides peace.
















Advocates of Peace psychology focus on the psychological aspects of the formation, escalation, reduction, and resolution of conflicts in society at large. To Freud, peace is rooted from two instincts –eros and thanatos. Eros leads to peace motivation and thanatos  inhibits it.  Throughout history, above and beyond the fray of competing political parties or rival economic powers, differences in race, gender, ethnicity, language, one constant force has remained: the enduring strength of human values. No matter who we are, or where we come from, we seek to find fulfilment and peace in life. Values on peace are our road markers. Value is  "an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence". (Rokeach, 1973). One value creates conflict with other values.


This suggests presence of desirable and undesirable values. Hofstede (2010) has noted differences in desirable and undesirable value preference by cultures.  Noble Laurate, Rabindranath Tagore, suggested universal values in the songs. By analysis of his songs,  three layers of consciousness – murta (objectivism), raag (emotion) and saraswat (the harmony with surroundings and the peace) are observed. This paper will focus on how the word 'Peace' flows across layers of consciousness and how it resolves the conflict by Rabindrik Psychotherapy. Rabindrik psychotherapy refers to the way of self-awakening with therapeutic postulates extracted from the literary works of Rabindranath Tagore. It is the paradigm shift in changing disequilibrium state of consciousness through self-awakening. It is not mere understanding own ability, personality traits etc. It is the awakening of self. When individual is able to awaken the self, he becomes independent to make own decision. So there will be total independence and feeling of freedom. Rabindrik psychotherapy is free from labeling. It gives emphasis on performing arts therapy to reconstruct the cognition when there is any cognitive dysfunction. In Rabindrik psychotherapy, psychotherapist facilitates the environment and client him or her self can customize the situation through Rabindrik performing arts. In Rabindrik psychotherapy client never labels him or herself and can not think how he or she is recovered.Rabindrik psychotherapy assumes that consciousness is composed of three layers - Murta, Raag and Saraswat. Attention, sensation, perception are adversely affected when murta layer is deformed or disoriented. Feelings and emotions affect our cognitions in Raag layer. Saraswat layer minimizes errors in cognition, emotion and strengthens harmony with environment. Saraswat layer provides feeling of peace, and negative entropy. The layers are dynamic.  Dynamicity is determined by the changes in the physical environment or in the psychological field. Any change causes vibration and vibration starts to move across layers. Impact of vibration on consciousness depends on the strength, duration, properties of vibrating agents, resiliency, and acceptability of consciousness. Rabindrik therapist customizes dynamicity in the consciousness through positive vibration followed by consciousness diagnostics. Rabindrik psychotherapist must be proficient with (a) consciousness layer dynamics, (b) therapeutic postulates, (c) customization and precautions in therapy.  This paper will focus on these three things with case studies.

Questionnaire reliability and validity estimation

ESTIMATING RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF QUESTIONNAIRE: LECTURE NOTES

Debdulal Dutta Roy

Psychology Research Unit

Indian Statistical Institute

203, B. T. Road

Kolkata - 700108

Questionnaire is not mere set of questions rather it is a device to assess individual differences. Any good questionnaire has following characteristics:
1. It is made of set of questions or items having good discrimination power
2. It should measure response consistency by time and internal structure
3. It measures what it intends to measure
4. It is free from subjectivity. There is uniformity in instructions, scoring and evaluation
5. It has norm for assessment of individual differences

B. QUESTIONNAIRE IN EPIDEMIOLOGY
1.  Questionnaire is a device to assess individual differences in responses through set of questions. A good questionnaire must be reliable and valid.
2.  Question is unit of questionnaire. Questionnaire measures some construct or the abstraction of concept. The set of questions measure some characteristics of questionnaire.
3.  Questionnaire is of two types : uni and multidimensional.  Sometimes construct is defined by multiple dimensions.  In that case,  questionnaire becomes multidimensional.  And it is uni dimentional when construct is measured with single characteristics.  For example,  socio-economic status may be measured with only level of income and sometimes it is measured with housing conditions besides level of income.
4.  Questionnaire can be administered through paper pencil format and sometimes through computer assisted instruction. In paper pencil format, supportive interview can be provided when responder can not follow meaning of questions.
5. Each item includes two things - item stem and responses.
6. Number of items in the questionnaire depends on scope of construct, dimensionality, Error probability,respondent characteristics and time allocated for data collection.
7. One item should not measure multiple construct. Therefore, item stem should be simple sentence with single finite verb
8. For respondents with less intelligence, or with highly inhibitive temperament, item stem should not be complex.
It should be easy to understand.
Researcher can use        Interrogative sentences  with yes and no response categories.
9. In bio-medical research questionnaire is useful on Epidemiological survey. Three types of data can be provided. These are Descriptive Epidemiology, Analytical epidemiology and Evaluation epidemiology.
9.1 Descriptive Epidemiology: Descriptive Epidemiology determines the distribution of a disease. It describes the health problem, its frequency, those affected, where, and
when. The events of interest are defined in terms of the time period, the place and the
population at risk.
9.2 Analytical epidemiology compares those who are ill with those who are not in order
to identify the risk of disease or protective factors (determinant of a disease). It
examines how the event (illness, death, malnutrition, injury) is caused (e.g.
environmental and behavioural factors) and why it is continuing. Standard
mathematical and statistical procedures are used.
Example: Investigating an outbreak of an unknown disease in a displaced
population settlement.
9.3 Evaluation epidemiology examines the relevance, effectiveness and impact of
different programme activities in relation to the health of the affected populations.
Example: Evaluating a malaria control programme for displaced populations.
Item

                               Reliability

Reliability refers to the consistency of scores obtained by the same persons when re-examined with the same questionnaire on different occasions, or with different sets of equivalent items, or under other variable examining conditions (Anastasi, 1990). It indicates the extent to which individual differences in questionnaire scores are attributable to “true” differences in the characteristics under consideration and the extent to which they are attributable to chance errors.  Reliability of a questionnaire is given by the proportion of true variance resulting from the presence of specific situation under consideration and error variance resulting from the presence of some factors irrelevant to the present situation. Four principal techniques are used for measuring the reliability of questionnaire scores: 

Test – retest reliability:  Reliability is tested by repeating the identical questionnaire on the second occasion. In this technique, the error variance may result in part from uncontrolled testing conditions, such as extreme changes in weather, sudden noises and other distractions. To some extent, however, they arise from changes in the condition of the questionnaire takers themselves, such as illness, emotional strain, worry, recent experience of pleasant or unpleasant nature and the like. Pearson’s Product moment correlation coefficient can be used to assess test – retest reliability when the sample size is large. 

Alternate – form reliability: Instead of repeating the same questionnaire on second occasion, a parallel form having the same characteristics of the original form is administered in successive session. The error variance in this case represents fluctuations in performance from one set of items to another. Under this condition, the reliability coefficient becomes an index of equivalence of the two forms of the questionnaire. This method is satisfactory when sufficient time has intervened between the administration  of the two forms to weaken or eliminate memory and practice effects. In developing alternate forms, care must be exercised to match the materials for content, difficulty and form; and precautions must be taken not to have the items in the two forms too similar. If possible, an interval of at least two to four weeks should be allowed between administration of the test. 

Split-half reliability: In this method, the questionnaire scores is divided into two equivalent halves and reliability coefficient is measured between these two halves following Spearman-Brown prophecy formula:

Spearman-Brown prophecy formula = ((2+reliability coefficient of the half-test)/(1+ reliability coefficient of the half-test))

Any difference between a person’s scores on the two halves represents the error variance.  This type of reliability coefficient is sometimes called a coefficient of internal consistency, since only a single administration of a single form is required. The split-half method is employed when it is not possible to construct parallel forms of the test nor advisable to repeat the test itself. This method  has few advantages – (a) collection of data in one occasion and (b) assessing good internal consistency. This method can not be used when sample items in both halves are not correlated.  This is not applicable where in statements were arranged in terms of the order of difficulty.

Rational equivalence: This technique is applicable when responses are binary in nature as Yes, No. It stresses the inter-correlation coefficients of the items in the questionnaire and the correlation coefficients of the items with the questionnaire as a whole. It utilizes a single administration of a single form and is based on the consistency of responses to all items in the questionnaire (inter-item consistency). This inter-item consistency is influenced by two sources of error variance: (i) content sampling (ii) heterogeneity of the behavior domain sampled.  The formula is given below:

r_tt = (n/(n-1)) X ((s²t- åpq) / s²t)

in which,

r_tt= reliability coefficient of the whole test

n= number of items

s_t= the SD of the total scores

p= proportion of the group giving ‘yes’ responses

q= (1-p)= the proportion of the group giving ‘no’ responses

When questionnaire responses are not dichotomous but multiple in nature. In stead of rational equivalence, the useful method is Cronbach’s coefficient alpha (Cronbach, 1951).

Cronbach’s coefficient alpha

Perhaps it is the most pervasive of the internal consistency indices. If all items are perfectly reliable and measure the same thing (true score), then coefficient alpha is equal to 1. The formula of alpha is below:

 α= (k/(k-1)*[1- ^Σ(s²_i)/(s² _sum]

α = coefficient alpha

s²_i ⁼ the variances for the k individual items;

s² _{sum =} variances for the sum of all items;

Alpha varies with inter correlation among the items Box 1.3. Dutta Roy (2000) noted increase in alpha value when item total correlation coefficient was high and significant. This suggests that alpha denotes internal structure of test.  

                                Validity

Content validity: It involves systematic examination of the questionnaire content to determine whether it covers a representative sample of the behavior domain to be measured. Content validity is built into a questionnaire from the outset through the choice of appropriate items. The preparation of items is preceded by a thorough and systematic examination of relevant materials as well as by consultation with subject-matter experts. 

Construct validity: Construct is an abstraction consists of a set of propositions about its relationship to other variables – other constructs or directly observable behaviour. The extent to which the questionnaire measures a theoretical construct for which the questionnaire has been  developed is called construct validity. There are different techniques for assessing construct validity as factorial, convergent and divergent validity.

Convergent validity: In case of factorial validity, item correlation with extracted factors was studied. This is made within the measures of questionnaire. But in case of convergent validity, the extracted construct is valid or not is tested using other measure assessing same construct. 

Divergent validity: It indicates that the results obtained by this instrument do not correlate too strongly with measurements of a similar but distinct trait. For example, a questionnaire measures global work satisfaction should relate more closely to other general work satisfaction scales than to measure of specific facets of job satisfaction. Instead of correlation, ANOVA can be used to assess divergent or discriminative validity of questionnaire.

Criterion related  validity: It indicates the effectiveness of a questionnaire in predicting an individual’s performance in specified activities. Performance on the questionnaire is checked against a criterion, a direct and independent measure of that which  the questionnaire is designed to predict. The criterion measure against which the questionnaire is validated may be obtained at approximately the same time as the questionnaire scores or after a stated interval. On the basis of these time relations between criterion and questionnaire the 1985 Testing Standards differentiate between predictive and concurrent validation. 

Predictive validity: It means prediction from the questionnaire to any criterion situation or in the more limited sense of prediction over a time interval. It describes how closely scores on a questionnaire correspond (correlate) with behavior as measured in other contexts in future.

Source: Dutta Roy, D. (2009). Principles of Questionnaire Development with Empirical Studies

http://www.amazon.in

Experimental and Quasi-experimental design for B.Stat (psy)

Experimental Design : The framework of an experiment 

SOME BASIC CONCEPTS:

1. Independent and Dependent variables
2. Extraneous variable
3. Control
4. Confounded relationship
5. Research hypothesis
6. Experimental and Control group
7. Treatments
8. Principles of experimental design
8.1 Replication
8.2 Randomization
8.3 Local control



The method to assess effect of independent variable (manipulated by researcher) on dependent variable in controlled conditions (making other variables constant or controlled in order to  prevent them from influencing the dependent variable and confusing the result.

Types of experiments:

True experiment:    In a true experiment, subjects are randomly assigned to the treatment conditions (levels of the independent variable). The only differences in the groups would be due to chance. True experiments are excellent for showing a cause-and-effect relationship.

There are three criteria that must be met in a true experiment

1. Control group and experimental group
2. Researcher-manipulated variable
3. Random assignment

Quasi-experiment:  

Quasi-experiments are sometimes called natural experiments because membership in the treatment level is determined by conditions beyond the control of the experimenter (subjects are already in the box). An experiment may seem to be a true experiment, but if the subjects have NOT been randomly assigned to the treatment condition, the experiment is a quasi- experiment (quasi = seeming, resembles).

Teaching Pedagogy for B.Stat Students

Pedagogy (etymology and pronunciation) is the discipline that deals with the theory and practice of education; it thus concerns the study and practice of how best to teach.

PSYCHOINFORMATICS: A NEW PARADIGM OF RESEARCH IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

Workshop:
School Psychology is a field that applies principles of educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, Organizational psychology, community psychology, and applied behavior analysis for crisis intervention. Crisis intervention is an integral part of school psychology. School administrators view school psychologists as the school’s crisis intervention “experts”. Crisis events can significantly affect a student’s ability to learn and function effectively. As noted by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP, 2007) and the American Psychological Association (APA, 2007), school psychologists adhere to the scientist-practitioner framework and make decisions based on empirical research. Their researches are not necessarily directed toward development of theory rather to systematic inquiry to find effective solutions to real life crisis. Any crisis occurs in random fashion. Psychoinformatics is new paradigm of research where in researcher deals with randomly occured behaviour. It follows data driven rather hypothesis driven model. Hypothesis driven model fails to gauge random behaviour and controls researcher's thinking. It is more suitable for theory development.
     Psychoinformatics  is  a technique through which we can mine data in any form and can develop pattern based on  relations among data. The pattern finally reflects specific psychological phenomena.  Sometimes, researcher finds unique phenomenon of psychology as this approach follows here and now rather earlier notions. It uses computer databases to store, retrieve and assist in understanding psychological phenomenon. Psychoinformatics  entails the creation and advancement of databases, algorithms, computational and statistical techniques and theory to solve formal and practical problems arising from the management and analysis of  psychological  data. Data warehouse, data retrieving, data mining, pattern recognition  and discovery of knowledge are five basic principles of psychoinformatics. This tutorial session will focus on following topics:

1. Research paradigms of school psychology
2. Paradigm shift from hypothesis to data driven model
3. Five principles of Psychoinformatics and its application in school psychology.

Time: 2 hours
Pedagogy: Lecture and Case study.
Ref:
1. Dutta Roy,D.(2010). Psychoinformatics: Innovation in mining randomized data. PSYBER NEWS: International Psychology Research Publication,1,1,23-31.
2. Dutta Roy,D.(2006). Development of picture drawing test to assess consciousness layers of tribal children of Tripura, Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology,32, 1, 20-25
3. Dutta Roy, D. and Paul, M. (2002). Reading motivation of children in grades III and IV,Indian Educational Review, 38,1,43-51.
4. Tutorial: Psycho-informatics: model for measuring randomized behaviour : Measuring behaviour, 2012, Utrecht, Netherlands. http://www.measuringbehavior.org/mb2012/tutorial-psycho-informatics-model-measuring-randomized-behaviour






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School Psychology is a field that applies principles of educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and applied behavior analysis for crisis intervention. Crisis intervention is an integral part of school psychology. School administrators view school psychologists as the school’s crisis intervention “experts”. Crisis events can significantly affect a student’s ability to learn and function effectively. As noted by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP, 2007) and the American Psychological Association (APA, 2007), school psychologists adhere to the scientist-practitioner framework and make decisions based on empirical research. Their researches are not necessarily directed toward development of theory rather to systematic inquiry to find effective solutions to real life crisis. Psychoinformatics is new paradigm of research where in researcher deals with randomly occured behaviour.





 Usually, inquiry follows hypothesis driven model. Hypothesis driven model fails to gauge random behaviour. It is more suitable for theory development. But School psychology aims at crisis intervention. It is problem focused. Psychoinformatics is paradigm shift in Psychological research.

With rapid, randomized-digitalized and non-digitalized information explosion, problems of psychology are moving from bounded psychology arena to unbounded psychology. Bounded psychology refers to knowing psychology through responses controlled by the experimenter or test constructor. Knowing psychology through randomized responses or data is called unbounded psychology. Knowing psychology through predetermined hypotheses limits our knowledge to pre-assumed psychological traits. This causes serious problem to gauge all determinants of individual differences in behaviour. Psychoinformatics  is  a technique through which we can mine data in any form and can develop pattern based on  relations among data. The pattern finally reflects specific psychological traits. It uses computer databases to store, retrieve and assist in understanding psychological information. Psychoinformatics  entails the creation and advancement of databases, algorithms, computational and statistical techniques and theory to solve formal and practical problems arising from the management and analysis of  psychological  data. Data warehouse, data retrieving, data mining, pattern recognition  and discovery of knowledge are five basic principles of psychoinformatics. This tutorial session will focus on following topics:


Paradigm shift in psychological research;

Importance of psychoinformatics;

Basic assumptions, techniques and measurement tools in data mining and pattern recognition;

Case studies on digitalized (internet based training data) and non-digitalized data (poem of Rabindranath Tagore, pictures drawn by ethnic minority children and psychiatric case history).

Memory and Forgetting

Memory may be defined as the processes by which information is encoded, stored and retrieved.

There are three basic stages of memory process. They are as follows:

1. Encoding- Modifying information so that it can be placed in memory.
2. Storing-Maintenance of information over time .
3. Retrieval-The location of stored information and its return to consciousness.

Kinds of Memory:
Endel Tulvin,(1985,1991) classifies memory according to the kind of information they hold: Episodic, semantic, and procedural.
Episodic memory -Episodic memories are memories of the events that happen to a person or take place in his or her presence.
Semantic memory- General knowledge is referred to as semantic memory. Semantics concerns meanings. 
Procedural memory- Procedural memory is also referred to as skill memory. It means knowing how to do things. 

Iconic memory-Iconic memory refers to the sensory register that briefly holds mental representations of visual stimuli.
Echoic memory- It refers to the sensory register that briefly holds mental representations of auditory stimuli. 


Information Processing Theory:

Humans process informations following the information processing model. Information processing model includes three main components- sensory memory, working memory and long term memory. Sensory and working memory enable people to manage limited amounts of incoming information during initial processing, whereas long-term memory serves as a permanent repository for knowledge.

Figure 3. The Information Processing Model of Memory (Based on Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968)
[Ref. Stevens Handbook of Experimental Psychology (2002) 3rd Edition, Volume 2: ‘Memory and Cognitive Processes’. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; pp 10].

This multi store memory model is later expanded upon by Baddeley and other co-workers and has become the dominant view in the field of working memory (Figure 4).

Sensory Memory:
Sensory memory processes incoming sensory information for very brief periods of time.The amount of information held at any given moment in sensory memory is limited to 5-7 discrete elements such as letters of the alphabet or the digits. Thus, if a person viewed 10 letters simultaneously for one second, it is unlikely that more than 5-7 of those letters would be remembered. The main purpose of sensory memory is to screen incoming stimuli and process only those stimuli that are most relevant at the present time. Information that is highly relevant may receive some degree of controlled conscious processing. Controlled processing in sensory memory would be likely further to reduce the limited amount of information that can be processed at any given moment. 

Working Memory:
After stimuli enter sensory memory, they are either forwarded to working memory or deleted from the system. Working memory is a term that is used to refer to a multi-component temporary memory system in which information is assigned meaning, linked to other information, and essential mental operations, such as inferences, are performed. 

Figure 4 Baddley's working memory model

The original model of Baddeley & Hitch was composed of three main components; thecentral executive which acts as supervisory system and controls the flow of information from and to its slave systems: the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The slave systems are short-term storage systems dedicated to a content domain (verbal and visuo-spatial, respectively). In 2000 Baddeley added a third slave system to his model, the episodic buffer. This component is a third slave system, dedicated to linking information across domains to form integrated units of visual, spatial, and verbal information with time sequencing (or chronological ordering), such as the memory of a story or a movie scene. The episodic buffer is also assumed to have links to long-term memory and semantical meaning.


Baddeley suggests that the central executive acts more like a system which controls attentional processes rather than as a memory store.  This is unlike the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketch pad, which are specialized storage systems. The central executive enables the working memory system to selectively attend to some stimuli and ignore others. Baddeley (1986) uses the metaphor of a company boss to describe the way in which the central executive operates.  The company boss makes decisions about which issues deserve attention and which should be ignored.  They also select strategies for dealing with problems, but like any person in the company, the boss can only do a limited number of things at the same time. The boss of a company will collect information from a number of different sources.If we continue applying this metaphor, then we can see the central executive in working memory integrating (i.e. combining) information from two assistants (the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketch pad) and also drawing on information held in a large database (long-term memory). The central executive is the most important component of the model, although little is known about how it functions.  It is responsible for monitoring and coordinating the operation of the slave systems (i.e. visuo-spatial sketch pad and phonological loop) and relates them to long term memory (LTM). The central executive decides which information is attended to and which parts of the working memory to send that information to be dealt with.

The phonological loop is assumed to be responsible for the manipulation of speech based information, whereas the visuo-spatial sketch pad is assumed to by responsible for manipulating visual images. The model proposes that every component of working memory has a limited capacity, and also that the components are relatively independent of each other.

The visuo-spatial sketch pad (inner eye) deals with visual and spatial information. Visual information refers to what things look like. It is likely that the visuo-spatial sketch pad plays an important role in helping us keep track of where we are in relation to other objects as we move through our environment (Baddeley, 1997).

As we move around, our position in relation to objects is constantly changing and it is important that we can update this information.  For example, being aware of where we are in relation to desks, chairs and tables when we are walking around a classroom means that we don't bump into things too often!

The sketch pad also displays and manipulates visual and spatial information held in long-term memory. For example, the spatial layout of your house is held in LTM. Try answering this question: How many windows are there in the front of your house?  You probably find yourself picturing the front of your house and counting the windows. An image has been retrieved from LTM and pictured on the sketch pad.

Evidence suggests that working memory uses two different systems for dealing with visual and verbal information. A visual processing task and a verbal processing task can be performed at the same time. It is more difficult to perform two visual tasks at the same time because they interfere with each other and performance is reduced. The same applies to performing two verbal tasks at the same time. This supports the view that the phonological loop and the sketch pad are separate systems within working memory.

Memory experiment
Rules for Non-Sense Syllables

1. Each syllable should consist of two consonants with a vowel in between.
2. Vowels in order: a, e, i, o, u, should not be used in this order.
3. The first and last consonant of same syllable or two consecutive syllable or first and last consonant of a syllable of list should never be the same. 
4. Letters q, w, x, y, z should not be used.
5. H should not be used to end a syllable.
Syllables should be devoid of any association. C and K, G and J should not be used together in a syllable.

Rules for immediate memory span
1. Zero should not be used in a number.
2. No two consecutive numbers should be placed adjacent to each other. 
3. There should not be repetition of any digit in a number.
4. There should be no arithmetic or geometric relationship between the numbers.
5. Inter-stimulus gap should be at least two seconds.
6. The digits should be read out in a monotonous tone at the rate of one digit per second.

Distance perception cues and factors

Repeated practice and exercise facilitate adequate development of outer layer of consciousness. Dutta Roy (2006) has noted poor development of outer layer among the tribal children living in the hills of Tripura. They were not exposed to training on drawing.

ILLUSION: Illusions are misperceptions resulting from misinterpretation of sensory information. Illusions are also known as false perceptions.

Muller-Lyer illusion: The Muller-Lyer illusion is one of the most famous of illusions. It was created by German psychiatrist Franz Muller-Lyer in 1889.It is  a geometric illusion in which two lines of equal length appear unequal depending on whether angular lines forming arrowheads at each end point toward or away from each other. The Müller-Lyer illusion is based on the Gestalt principles of convergence and divergence: the lines at the sides seem to lead the eye either inward or outward to create a false impression of length.
  

Perception of distance and depth:  Perception of space also refers to the perception of size and distance. The problem emerges from the fact that the image of the three dimensional world is projected on the two dimensional retina. This raises the question: From the two dimensional image, how do we perceive the three dimensional world? Distance perception is based on set of monocular and binocular cues.

Monocular cues: Monocular cues provide depth information when viewing a scene with one eye.

Motion parallax 

When an observer moves, the apparent relative motion of several stationary objects against a background gives hints about their relative distance.  Nearby things pass quickly, while far off objects appear stationary.

Monocular Cues are also called pictorial cues because they include the kind of

depth information found in the photographs and paintings. These cues are extensively

used by the artists in their paintings. These cues are

a. Interposition

b. Aerial perspective

c. Linear perspective

d. Lights and Shadows

e. Familiar size

f. Texture-Density Gradient

Let us consider these cues briefly.

(a) Interposition: When an object (A) partially blocks another object (B), the

object blocked is perceived farther away than the object blocking it (See Fig.

5.10). This cue develops early in the children.

(b) Aerial perspective: When you look at buildings in the city, buildings close

by look clearer and their boundaries (contours) are well defined in comparison

to distant ones, which look gray and hazy. The buildings, trees, and other

objects that look hazy are perceived far away in comparison to those which

look clear.

(c) Linear Perspective: When parallel lines recede into the distance, as rail

road tracks, they converge towards a point in your retinal image. Further, the farther away two objects are in the visual field, the closer they will appear to be to each other. On the other hand, the two objects nearer to us appear further apart from each other. This cue appears much later in children.

(d) Lights and Shadows : We are often aware of the source and direction of

light. It is generally from above, as sunlight. The shadows cast by one object

on another can indicate which object is farther away.

(e) Familiar Size: Because you know the height of your friend, you can judge

the distance at which he is standing. This is possible because we always store

the memory image of objects that we see. When we look at an object which

is away from us we can interpret the distance form the retinal image by taking

into account the familiar size. You can do this activity. Take a playing card and

present it to your friend at a distance of 10 ft from him. Ask him to judge the

distance at which the card is placed. He will be quite accurate in judging the

size of the playing card. Because he is familiar with the size of the card, which

is always of the same (standard) size.

(f) Texture-Density Gradient : Look at the ploughed field, the nearer surface

looks rough and as we extend our vision farther away the texture gets finer.

Similarly, if you look at the grass nearby, you will be able to see the blades of

grass clearly, but as you extend your vision to a distant point the ground looks

as if painted green and the blades of the grass are no more visible. This texture

gradient is a cue to distance. The objects lying on a surface that look fine and

smooth in texture are perceived at greater distance than those objects on a

rough surface.

Binocular cues ppt: http://www.slideshare.net/duncale/edu290-depth-perception-presentation
the file

Eye cues

a. Accommodation: The image of the external objects is focused on the retina with

the help of lens in the eye. The lens is adjusted by the Ciliary muscles to focus

far and near objects on the retina. The ciliary muscle changes the convexity of the lens so that the image of the object is clearly focused and this process is called accommodation. If the object is relatively at a distance (more than 2 meters or so) the ciliary muscle is relaxed. When the object comes nearer and nearer the muscle contracts more and more, making the lens more convex. The degree of contraction of the ciliary muscle, signaled to the brain through Kinesthetic impulses is a possible cue of distance. That is, if the object is farther away from the viewer, the ciliary muscle is relaxed and when the object is nearer the ciliary muscle is tense. The extent of contraction in the ciliary muscle fed back to the brain is the cue of accommodation.

b. Convergence: When you read the letters of this printed line, you converge

your eyes (with the help of six intra-ocular muscles located outside each eye)

to bring the image in both eyes to fall on the fovea of each eye for fusion and

clear vision. The extent of convergence achieved is signaled to the brain and this

provides a cue to distance. For example, if the object is nearer the angle of

convergence will be large and as the object goes farther away the angle of

convergence decreases. For objects at a far away distance the eyes are more or

less parallel. The extent of convergence achieved is fed back to the brain and it is a cue to distance.

(ii) Binocular Cues : These cues are:

a. Double images

b. Binocular disparity

a. Double images: You have already learnt that when we fixate our eyes on an

object in space, fusion takes place and we see one object. However, when we

fixate on an object, all other objects nearer or farther than the fixation point fall on the non-corresponding points and produce double images.You can try this phenomenon. Take two pencils, hold them vertically in a line in front of your nose, one nearer and the other farther away. Now, fixate your eyes on the nearer pencil, the image of this pencil falls on the corresponding points.

FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION

At any particular time there are many competing stimuli out there which will gain

our attention and result in perceptual organization. The stimulus characteristics are important, as are our own internal needs, motivations, and our specific sociocultural back ground in which we have been reared. All these factors, stimulus variables and internal factors peculiar to an individual, determine how our perceptions are organized. In the following section you will learn how the stimulus and internal factors determine what we perceiv

i. Context and Set-effects

ii. Needs and motives

iii. Social and Cultural factors.

i. Context and Set-effects

A given stimulus may provide radically different perceptions because of the

immediate context. The context creates an expectation in our brain (top-down

phenomenon) that influences our perception at a particular moment. For example,

in noisy conditions you are verbally provided with a sentence “eel is moving”. You

will perceive the word “eel” as "wheel" because of the context provided by the

later part of the sentence. Similarly provide a stimulus verbally “eel the orange”. You will perceive the word “eel” as peel. This is because the later word “orange” provides an expectation for the perception of earlier word.

Perceptual sets also influence our perceptions. Perceptual set refers to our mental expectancies and predispositions to perceive one thing and not another. Perceptual set can influence what we hear as well as what we see. Broadly speaking our educational, social, and cultural experiences shape what we perceive. In other

words, our learned assumptions and beliefs help us in organizing our perceptions.

For example, if we hold very strong beliefs about God, the temple is perceived as

a place that gives us peace, love, solace, affection, and a satisfying experience.

Similarly, stereotypes (a generalized belief about a group of people) help us to

perceive persons we meet first time. Much of our social interaction is determined

by the stereotypes we hold about individuals and groups.

(iii) Needs and Motives

We have seen above that immediate Context and perceptual sets affect our

perceptions. Similarly, personal variables, like needs, emotions, values, personality,etc. influence our perceptions. An example will demonstrate the effect of need state on the perception of an individual. Two men, a hungry and another thirsty, go to a restaurant and the waiter hands over to each a menu for obtaining order. It was found that, at a quick glance, the hungry man could see eatable items in the menu and the thirsty drinks. This example supports the hypothesis that need states of individuals affect their perceptions. It has been found that emotions, motivation, and personality factors influence our perceptions. For instance, while studying the effect of reward and punishment on the organization of one’s perception, it was found that children perceived significantly more often rewarded aspects of the figure-ground stimuli in comparison to the punished.

(iii) Social and Cultural factors

Perceptual learning and development takes place in the context of socio-cultural

environment. Our perceptions reflect the effect of past learning and, therefore, if learning and socialization takes place in a particular socio-cultural background it will be reflected in our perceptions. A large number of studies support the hypothesis that culture influences our perceptions. It has been found that the Africans living in dense forests displayed greater illusion in the Vertical – Horizontal figure and Western-Urbans in the Muller –Lyer figures. The differences have been explained due to their experiences in different culture. So, it should be clear to you that cultural background influence the individual to perceive the world differently.