Concept Of Individuals Differences.

Concept Of Individuals Differences.

It must be clearly understood that whatever lies around us in the form of non-living or living being differ  from each other in so many aspects. These from each other in so many aspects. These differences and variations become more intense and   remarkable as we draw closer to human beings as one of the ultimate creation of the Almighty in the history of evolution. We as human beings quite distinctly differ size, shape, appearance, speed of reaction and innumerable other aspects of our personality make-up and behavior. Among us , some are healthy and jolly, while others are weak and irritable. Some are blue-eyed and black haired, while others are black eyes and gray hair. Some are know as girls or woman while others are termed as boys or men and etc. 

        These differences that are entitled as “individual differences.” in the languages of sociology and psychology. Two different explanations given for this term in the “Dictionary of education” by carter .B. Good (1959.p.172)

1.        Individual differences stand for “the variations or deviations among individuals in regard to a single characteristic or a number of characteristics.”

2.        Individual differences stand for “those differences which in their totality, distinguish one individual from another.” 

       The above two dictionary meanings of the term individual differences, now can help us in building the workable definitions with references to our discussion earlier in this chapter.

“ The  differences among individuals, that distinguish or separate them, from one another and make one and one as an unique individual in oneself, may be termed as individual differences”.

TYPES OF VARIETIES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Whatever physical or physiological differences among the human beings, they may be generally grouped or classified in two broad categories, namely (i) physical or physiological differences and (ii) physiological differences. While physical or physiological differences among us are related with the differences created on account of the differences or variations in terms of physical or physiological make –up of our bodies, physiological make-up or conditions generate differences among us In  terms of varying intellectual potentialities, interests, attitudes, aptitudes, emotional ,social and moral development etc.

These two broad classifications of individual differences may give birth to a number of sub categories like below,

·        Differences related to physical growth and development

·        Differences related to mental growth and development

·        Differences related to motor skills and abilities

·        Differences related to socialization and social development.

·        Differences related to morality and character development.

·        Differences related to aesthetic sense and artistic ability.

·        Differences related to diversified interests and aptitudes.

·        Differences in attitudes, beliefs and opinions

·        Differences with regard to value system and self concept.

·        Differences with regard to levels of aspiration, study habits and achievements.

·        Differences with regard to acquisition of psychomotor  skills.

·        Differences with regard to status of maturation and learning performance.

·        Differences with regard to overall development of the personality out of the individual differences listed above, let us discuss a few important ones.

Differences in interest

Interest is the central force that drives the whole machinery of the teaching-learning process. The thins in which a learner has its interest are attended well, learned properly retained for a long time and made use of a proper time. The reverse is also true. If one is not interested in one or the other aspect of learning, all the attempts of making him lean will serve no purpose. On similar lines, the term “interest” has been defined by crow and crow (1973) as:

“Interest may refer to the motivating force that implies us to attend to a person, a thing or an activity” (p.248). Like for serving our own individual interests, we are always inclined towards some persons, things or activities while not caring or attending to others along or the other time. In other words, our areas of interest show wide choices and diversities. We are interested in some and not in others and it is due to this that we can observe wide individual differences related to interests among the human beings. Just sit in the drawing room of a family and you will notice the diversity of interests when the members of the family begin to quarrel over watching one or the other television channel.

Differences in attitudes     

Attitudes is one of the important attributes of our behavior. Our behavior to a great extent depends on our attitude towards a thing idea, person or object that exists in our environment. As a matter of definition, we may here reproduce a definition given by Sorenson (1977).

“An attitude is a particular feeling about something, it, therefore involves a tendency to behave in a certain way in situations which involves that something, whether person. Idea or object. It is particularly rational and partially emotional and is acquired, not inherent in an individual.”

A particular feeling about something that makes our attitudes towards that very thing is almost an individual phenomenon. We always behave in a certain way when needed to respond to a particular thing, person, idea or object depending on the nature of our own attitude- positive, negative or indifferent formed towards that thing.

Differences in aptitudes          

We may find a strange pattern of similarities and dissimilarities commonalities and differences among individuals with regard to their possession of different types of aptitudes, in a simple way, may be considered a special ability or specific capacity besides the general intellectual ability which helps an individual to acquire a required degree of proficiency or achievement in a particular field. We may have reproduce definition of the term “aptitude” given by freeman. “An aptitude is a combination of characteristics indicative of an individual’s capacity to-------(with training) some specific knowledge, skill or set of organized responses. Such as the ability to speak a language, to become a musician, to do mechanical work”.

Difference in values                 

We have different values-materialistic, social, moral or spiritual-depending upon our own philosophy of life, environmental situations and circumstances. Here we may come across certain commodities and wide variation among human beings with respect to possession of varieties of values like economic, political, physiological, psychological or social and moral values. Simply said we may associate our values with our needs physical, physiological, psychological, social and spiritual. We always value a thing because we need it. Accordingly we are materialistic in our values because of our need to satisfy our materialistic desires. As soon as we are saturated or reasonably satisfied with the realization of our material needs, we may seek the realization of spiritual needs or search for inner peace, social integration and other essential psychological or human values. In this way, our needs decide or perception and value for a thing-object, idea and person.

Difference in level of Aspirations

            To achieve our acquire something, the most essential requirement is to have an aspiration for its achievement. One can’t achieve without aspiring for it. Aspiration is thus the key for wish fulfillment, progress and success in life. Everybody wants to achieve one or the other thing in life and therefore, it is quite appropriate to generalize that everyone of us has the urge of aspiration, we differ with regard to its level. While many of us demonstrate a very high level of aspiration for achieving things in their lives, a good large number is also found to have. A very low level of aspiration for achieving or avoiding failure.

Differences in self- concept

As a child grows and develops in age, he is sure to develop his ability of concept format about the things and events available in his environment. Besides the formation of concepts about the things other than his self, he is sure to form a concept about his self such concept about the self is termed as one’s self-concept. It reflects the images, considerations or judgment about ones abilities and limitations usually held by an individual not only for projecting himself before others but also for estimation of his self in his own eyes. It in this context that the term self concept has been defined by famous psychologist H.J.EYSENK (1971) in the following words.

            “The totality of attitudes, judgment and values of an individuals relating to his behavior, abilities and qualities may be referred to as his self concept”.

Difference in Study Habits:-

Children and even we adults are bound to differ and have wide variations in terms of study habits as listed as follows.

Ø They differ in terms of attitudes, belief and opinion about studying one or the other thing.

Ø They differ in terms of their interest and aptitudes for studying one or the other thing.

Ø They differ in their approaches and objectives served by studying different things.

Ø They differ in terms of the time devoted and attempts made for studying different things.

Ø They differ with respect to proper use of the results of their professional and future life.

  Differences in achievements :

        Individuals may be seen to differ in terms of their achievements in one or the other areas of the subject of study, professional courses, occupations and other various aspects of life. Some are seen to excel in one field or other while lagging behind in the rest, others may exhibit dominance in almost all the fields or failure everywhere at each occasion. In this way, we can observe various types of variations and diversities among human beings with regard to their achievements in life.

Differences in psychomotor skills

Individuals are found to differ with regard to development and acquisition of one or more types of skills. These differences are very much observable right from an early age in children. Some are very quick , efficient and methodical. In performing skilled tasks like jumping, running, skipping ,hopping , galloping ,climbing , dancing ,swimming ,reading ,writing ,drawing ,catering copying, drawing, handling laboratory equipment and working tools, experimenting, computing, surveying, measuring, sketching, stitching, sewing, cooking, washing, dry-clearing etc. Not only physical but mental, social, moral, ethical and  aesthetic development is properly linked with development of psychomotor abilities and skills.

Distribution of individual differences

It might be clear now that we all differ from one another in one way or the other in so many aspects. Answer to all such questions lies in the fact that distribution of almost all the things in nature follow the pattern of a normal curve. Height, weight, beauty, wealth, intelligence and similar other attributes of our personality are distributed in our population in a normal way. Let us discuss what does this normal distribution mean. For this, let us take simple practical instances from our day-to-day life. We find that most of us are quite average in terms of the possession of the attributes of our personality. As a result you will find that majority of us possess average weight, height, wealth, beauty, and intelligence etc. There  are very  few who are too fact or too thin. similarly white we seldom come across beauties like Noorjahan, Padmavati or clepetra, we als rarely find extremely applicable to the distribution of intelligence. Most of us have normal intelligence with IQ level ranging between 90 to 100. Person having IQs more than 140 or 150 (Genius) as well as possessing IQs less than 60 or 40 (imbeciles) are rarely found.

Educational Implications Of Individual Difference

It has helped the teachers to realize the following facts.

1.     In any group there are individuals who deviate from the norms of the group. Along with the average, the presence of very superior and extremely dull is equally possible in a class.

2.     Every teacher should try to have the desired knowledge of the abilities, capacities, interest , attributes, aptitudes, and other personality traits of his pupils and in the light of this knowledge should render individual guidance to children for the maximum utilization of their potentialities.

3.     It is wrong to expect uniformity in gaining proficiency or success in a particular field from a group of students on account of their subnormal intelligence, previous knowledge , back ground, lack of proper interest, aptitude and attitude etc. some students lay behind in one or the other area of achievement.

4.     All students cannot be benefited by a particular method of instruction and a uniform and rigid curriculum.

Role Of Schools In Meeting The Individual Difference  

Emphasizing this need, crow and write, “since we supposedly ARE teaching individuals, not groups of individuals, it is the function of school with in its budgetary personnel and curricular limitation to provide adequate schooling for every learner no matter how much he differs from every other learner.”

How we can accomplish this task is a pertinent question or learning experiences for every learner according to his individually is not a simple task. However, the following suggestions can prove help feel for the teacher in this direction. 

1.     Proper knowledge of the individual’s potentialities;- to know about  the abilities, capabilities, interests, aptitudes and  other personality traits of individual, pupils.

2.     Ability grouping;- The students in a class or area of activity can be divided into homogenous groups. Such division can be prove beneficial in adjusting instruction to varying individual differences.

3.     Adjusting curriculum;   to meet the requirements of varying individual differences among pupils, the curriculum should be as flexible and differentiated as possible.

4.     Adjusting the method of teaching.

5.     Adopting special programmers or methods for individualizing instruction, like Dalton plan, the Winnetka plan, the project method etc.

Causes of individual differences found in human beings may be attributed to their heredity endowment as well as to the environmental stimulation. However, their impact and role in creating such individual differences is so interwoven and inter mingled that it is quite reasonable to conclude that both heredity and environmental forces are responsible for generating as well as perpetuating all these differences. 

REVATHI.M.B

SOCIAL SCIENCE