SULLIVAN’S

THEORY OF
THINKING
 GROUP 3

BAHAUDDIN ZAKARIYA UNIVERSITY MULTAN

INSTITUTE OF FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION

COURSE NAME : NUTRITION AND

PSYCHOLOGY

COURSE CODE : HNAD303

COURSE INSTRUCTOR : MAM AQIBA-TU-SAHAR

GROUP MEMBERS:

NOOR-UL-AIN ASLAM (35)

WANEEZA ZULFIQAR (39)
MALIKA RIAZ (36)
IQRA ASLAM (41)
AQSA ANJUM (14)
IRFA SABIR (40)
 Sullivan's interpersonal theory

OVERVIEW:
 People develop their personality within a social context

Without other people, humans would have no personality

Development rests on the individual’s ability to establish

intimacy with another person.

 Anxiety can interfere with satisfying interpersonal

relations.
Healthy development entails
experiencing intimacy and lust
toward another same person.
 Definition

It is a theory which is based on

the belief that people's
interactions with other people,
especially significant others,
determine their sense of
security, sense of self, and the
dynamisms that motivate their
behavior.
• Sullivan placed a lot of focus on
both the social aspects of personality
and cognitive representations. He
evolved a theory of personality that
emphasized the importance of
interpersonal relations. Personality
manifests itself in the individual
behavior in relation to others.He
insisted that personality’s shaped
almost entirely by the relationships
we have with other people.
Sullivan’s principal contribution to
personality theory was his
conception of developmental stages.
Levels of Cognition

• Sullivan recognized three levels of cognition, or ways of

perceiving things:
• prototaxic
• parataxic
• syntaxic
 LEVEL OF
COAGINITION
Prototaxic mode

 Prototaxic experience is the

discrete series of momentary
states of the sensitive
organism. It is the same as the
stream of consciousness, the
raw sensations, images, and
feelings that flow through the
mind of a sensate being.
Parataxic mode:

• It is seeing casual relationship between

events that occur simultaneously but are not
logically related.
Example :
• You think of a friend and the friend arrives
at your door at the same time. Your thinking
of your friend and his arrival happens
simultaneously but are not logically
connected. Your thinking did not cause the
arrival of your friend. This concept is
similar to ‘Synchronicity’ explained by Carl
Jung.
Syntaxic mode:

• It consists of consensually validated symbols activity which is

the meaning agreed upon by a group of people as the meanings
of words and numbers have been done. Words and numbers are
universally understood by everyone because of the meanings
we have given to them.
For example:
The number ‘one’ will signify a
single item. Similarly, a child
evaluates his or her own
thoughts and feelings against
those of others and gradually
learns relationship patterns in his
or her society; self-attitudes are
shaped by the reactions of
significant others to the child.
 Stages of Development

• Sullivan contends that personality

is not determined at an early stage
and that it may change at any
time as new interpersonal
relations develop; he saw
interpersonal development as
taking place over seven stages,
from infancy to mature
adulthood.
• Personality changes can take
place at any time but are more
likely to occur during transitions
between stages.
Infancy (Age: birth to 2year):
• The child begins the process of developing.

Childhood (Age-1-5):
• The development of speech and improved communication is
key in this stage of development.
Juvenile (Age- 6-8):
• The main focus as a juvenile is the
need for playmates and the beginning
of healthy socialization.

Preadolescence (Age-9-12):
• During this stage, the child’s ability
to forma close relationship with a
peer is the major focus. This
relationship will later assist the child
in feeling worthy and likable. Without
this ability, forming the intimate
relationships in late adolescence and
adulthood will be difficult.
Early Adolescence (Age-13-17):

• The onset of puberty changes this need for friendship to a need

for sexual expression. Self worth will often become
synonymous with sexual attractiveness and acceptance by
opposite sex peers.
Late Adolescence (Age-18-22
or 23):

• The need for friendship and need

for sexual expression get
combined during late
adolescence.. In this stage a long
term relationship becomes the
primary focus. Conflicts between
parental control and self-
expression are commonplace and
the overuse of selective
inattention in previous stages can
result in a skewed perception of
the self and
Adulthood (Age-23 on
wards)
The struggles of adulthood
include financial security,
career, and family. With success
during previous stages,
especially those in the
adolescent years, adult
relationships and much needed
socialization become easier to
attain. Without a solid
background, interpersonal
conflicts that result in anxiety
become more commonplace.
Conclusion:

Sullivan does not deal with thinking exclusively. His

concept of modes is more or less a view of cognitive
organization in general, a process by which the
individual perceives and experiences the environment,
which necessarily includes thinking.
THANK YOU