Applied psychology
An understanding of knowledge and knowledge management (KM) can be best done in the background of
Oriental Psychology, Psychology of Consciousness and Integrative Psychology. Any attempt at understanding and
applying knowledge or knowledge management that ignores these disciplines would only end up in confusion as
can be seen by the current scene in KM.
To quote Prof.V.George Mathew:
?Consciousness has relevance for all sciences, as it is related to philosophical issues and the
model of man. It is empirical, but open to descriptive, theoretical and insightful understanding. In the
21st century psychology may well be redefined as the study of consciousness and all psychology
may be rewritten in that perspective. The study of consciousness may also serve to integrate many
areas of psychology and other sciences.?
We will not, however, pursue this historical path, but enter upon the opposite
one. We wish to discover the meaning of dreams as preparation for the study
of the neuroses. This inversion is justified, for the study of dreams is not only
the best preparation for that of the neuroses, but the dream itself is also a
neurotic symptom, and in fact one which possesses for us the incalculable
advantage of occurring in all normals. Indeed, if all human beings were well
and would dream, we could gain from their dreams almost all the insight to
which the study of the neuroses has led.
Thus it is that the dream becomes the object of psychoanalytic research—
again an ordinary, little-considered phenomenon, apparently of no practical
value, like the errors with which, indeed, it shares the character of occurring
in normals. But otherwise the conditions are rather less favorable for our
work. Errors had been neglected only by science, which had paid little
attention to them; but at least it was no disgrace to occupy one's self with
them. People said there are indeed more important things, but perhaps
something may come of it. Preoccupation with the dream, however, is not
merely impractical and superfluous, but actually ignominious; it carries the
odium of the unscientific, awakens the suspicion of a personal leaning
towards mysticism.
A certain excess in judgment may make us suspicious. The objections to the
dream as an object of research obviously go too far. The question of
insignificance we have already had to deal with in discussing errors. We said
to ourselves that important matters may manifest themselves through small
signs. As concerns the indefiniteness of the dream, it is after all a
characteristic like any other. One cannot prescribe the characteristics of an
object. Moreover, there are clear and definite dreams. And there are other
objects of psychiatric research which suffer from the same trait of
indefiniteness, e.g., many compulsion ideas, with which even respectable and
esteemed psychiatrists have occupied themselves. I might recall the last case
which occurred in my practice. The patient introduced himself to me with the
words, "I have a certain feeling as though I had harmed or had wished to
harm some living thing—a child?—no, more probably a dog—perhaps pushed
it off a bridge—or something else." We can overcome to some degree the
difficulty of uncertain recollection in the dream if we determine that exactly
what the dreamer tells us is to be taken as his dream, without regard to
anything which he has forgotten or may have changed in recollection. And
finally, one cannot make so general an assertion as that the dream is an
unimportant thing. We know from our own experience that the mood in which
one wakes up after a dream may continue throughout the whole day.
Motivation
Human beings spend most of their time during the day engaged in actions.
They drive cars, raise children, have vocations, spend time with hobbies, go on
vacations, gamble, take unnecessary risks, play, and so forth. Why do we do what
we do? This is the great question associated with the subject of motivation.
The word motivation is related to words such as motor, motion, and emotion.
(Emotion is discussed in chapter 8.) All of these words imply some form of activity, some kind of movement. And this is one of the principal features of life—a
kind of restless movement that appears to arise from sources within the organism.
These sources are called motives.
A motive is a state of physiological or psychological arousal that is assumed to
play a causal role in behavior. Physiological arousal refers to such states as hunger
and thirst. Psychological arousal refers to motives such as the need for achievement. The two factors, physiological and psychological, of course interact. For
example, a biological drive such as sex tends to interact with a psychological
motive such as the need to be loved.
It is important to note that from the point of view of psychology as a science, a
motive is an intervening variable. An intervening variable is a variable used to
explain behavior. It is assumed to reside within the organism and “intervene”
between stimulus and response. An intervening variable can’t be seen or otherwise
directly observed. It is inferred from studying behavior. If we see someone buying a
sandwich in a snack bar, we may infer that the individual is hungry. However, he or
she may in fact be buying the sandwich for a friend. The important point is that when
we act as investigators of the behavior of others, we do not experience their motives.92 PSYCHOLOGY
(a) The word motivation is related to words such as motor, motion, and emotion. All of
these words imply some form of activity, some kind of .
(b) From the point of view of psychology as a science, a motive is an .
Answers: (a) movement; (b) intervening variable.
Biological Drives: The Need for Food and Water
We would not do anything at all if we were not alive. That is why in some sense it
can be argued that the root cause of all behavior can be traced to a group of biological drives. Biological drives are inborn drives, and their principal feature is that
they impel us to attend to our tissue needs, to maintain ourselves as organisms. The
basic theme associated with biological drives is survival. We would die fairly quickly
if we did not follow the dictates of our biological drives on a fairly regular basis.
The biological drives are familiar. The following are frequently specified:
hunger, thirst, sleep, temperature, oxygen hunger, pain, and sex. Note that if the
word hunger appears without an adjective in front of it, then the word refers to the
hunger for food. Also note how any of the biological drives can act as a motive.
For example, if your temperature level is such that you feel cold, you might be
motivated to put a coat on.
Most of the drives direct us toward a stimulus. We seek food if we are hungry.
We seek water if we are thirsty. Pain is unlike the other drives in this particular
regard. Pain directs us away from a stimulus. It motivates us to escape from the
source of the pain.
Sex also has a unique status among the biological drives. The general theme
of the biological drives, as already noted, is survival. Usually we think of this as
the survival of the individual. However, in the case of sex, survival is generalized
beyond the individual. The long-run purpose of sex is to assure the survival of
the species.
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