Introduction to PSYCHOLOGY

Presented By: Ayush Shrestha

Content:• Nature Of Psychology

• History of Psychology

• Similarities & Difference with other social science

• Perspectives of Psychology

• Scientific Method & Psychological Research

Nature of psychology: It is a scientific process as: It possesses a well organized theory which is supported by

relevant laws and principles .

Believes in roots, factors of causing, influence and nurturing of behavior.

Uses scientific methods & techniques for solid base.

Stands for generalization, verifiability & modifications of the observed results or deduced phenomena.

Contains true universal applicability in practical life & also predictability for future development.

Emphasizes the research for truth by advocating objectivity, reliability & validity in assessment of behavior.

History Of PSYCHOLOGY:• The word psychology was derived from two Greek words

‘Psyche’ & ‘Logos’. Psyche SoulLogos Discourse

• Defining psychology has gone through many stages before reaching the modern definition and the stages are:• Philosophical Stage• Structural Stage• Behaviorist Stage

Philosophical Stage (Soul/Mind)

• Aristotle(384-322 B.C)

Theorized about learning & memory,motivation & emotion, perception & personality.

Used the term “psyche” to refer to the essenceof life.

• Plato(427-347 B.C):

Defined psychology as a science of soul.

• Psychology was not distinguished from philosophy.

• Psychology was never established as a science.

• Criticisms:

Greek philosophers did not have any clear definition of mind & its nature.

The word “mind” did not have any independent branch and was regarded a part of mental philosophy.

Psychology as the ‘science of mind’ was not clear whether it was a positive or normative sentence.

The study of mind talked only about covert behavior and not overt behavior.

Soul has no physical existence.

Structural Stage (Consciousness): • In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt established the first

psychological laboratory at Leipzig University inGermany becoming the “Father of experimentalpsychology.

• Wundt regarded psychology as the science of internal and immediate experience i.e. as the science of consciousness.

• His basic tool was introspection

• Edward Titchner, expanded Wundt’s work and worked to determine the structure of mind through controlled introspection, describing elements of experience which was later on called structuralism.

• This method laid emphasis on a foundation toward making psychology a true science.

• Criticisms:

Consciousness is selective to individuals’ motive.

It is personal; one has to rely on other person’s reporting which may be socially colored and not revealing the truth.

It is a continuous activity; it cannot be broken into units for study.

It is very dynamic and changing, which is why we cannot bring the same state of mind again and study.

Behavioral Stage:• J.B. Watson rejected the ideas of structuralism and

based is approach to psychology on behavior.

• He felt it was impossible to study consciousness because only outward behavior could be measuredand scientifically understood.

• He redefined psychology as the “ science of observable behavior.

• According to Watson, we cannot observe a sensation, feeling, or thought but we can observe peoples’ behavior as they respond to different situation.

• He believed behavior is complex and capable of analysis into simple stimulus-response unit.

Criticism:• Every detail study of human behavior is not possible to study.

• Behaviorism takes behavior in a very narrow sense; Watson viewed it as a stimulus-response (S-R) unit, when it should have been as stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) unit.

• The behavior of an organism is obvious & natural in nature condition but changes when they sense that they are being observed.

Similarities & Difference with other social science:

1. Sociology & Psychology –• Sociology focuses on society as a whole whereas psychology focuses

on individuals .

• Psychology values social & cultural influences on human beings which are the major subject matter of sociology.

• The relationship between sociology & psychology is so strong that Karl Pearson asset that the two are not separate science.

• For example, both sociology & psychology study drug addiction but sociology focuses on financial aspects and structure of society leading to drugs whereas psychology gives emphasis on causes of drugs on individuals.

Sociology

• Studies the society as a whole.

•Analyses social process.

• Concern with social forms & the structure within which the behavior of man takes place.

• Sociology is an observational process.

•Focuses on society view point.

Psychology

• Studies the behavior of individuals.

• Analyses mental process of man.

• Concern with behavior of individuals as such.

•Psychology is as an experimental process.

• Focuses on final view point.

2. Anthropology & Psychology:

• Anthropology is the science of man while psychology is the science.

• Anthropology studies physical & cultural aspect of man.

• Psychological knowledge helps an anthropologist in understanding the root causes of human behavior in different cultures & anthropological studies help the psychologist in calculating the influence of cultural environment of human behavior.

• Anthropologists have shown how human behavior differs in different cultural environments.

Anthropology

•Science of holistic study of man.

•Not interested in individual behavior & personality.

•A division of anthropology studies human activities.

•Field study is applied.

•Studies about man from primitive time to present time.

Psychology

• Science of behavior & mental processes.

•Interested in individual behavior & personality.

• Analyses human’s mental processes & social activities.

•Practical methods is applied.

•Studies only living beings.

Perspectives of Psychology:

1. Psychodynamic Perspective:

► Developed by Sigmund Freud (1933).

► As a tool to study abnormal behavior.

► As a treatment procedure to help neurotic disease.

► To understand about unconscious mind.

► Early childhood experience influence on personality development.

2. Humanistic Perspective:

► Developed by Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers & Viktor Frankl during 1950/60s.

► Focuses on freedom in controlling human behavior differently.

► Human have a basic powerful inborn tendency to grow & improve to their fullest potential & a desire to take control of their own lives.

► Least scientific but more philosophical.

► Develop psychology theory.

3.Cognitive Perspective:

► It covers the higher intellectual processes as perceiving, believing, thinking, remembering, knowing, deciding, problem solving & so on.

► Thus, it is a mental process in which the information is obtained. Processed-transformed=stored-retrieve-&-used.

► It examines thinking.

► Thus, cognition plays a vital role in guiding behavior.

► It presents a system`s viewpoint in explaining the behavior mechanism.

4.Behavioral Perspective: (John B.Watson, 1920) :

► According to Watson, one could gain a complete understanding of behavior by studying & modifying the environment in which people operate.

►He believe that it was possible to elicit any desired type of behavior by controlling a person’s environment.Thus, he says that “ Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, & my own specified world to bring them up in & I’ll guarantee to take any at random & train him to become any type of specialist I might select-doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, & yes, even beggar-man & thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors”

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5.Socio-Cultural Perspective:

• ► Explains how our personality, believe, attitudes, skill & values are shaped by our culture, ethnicity, gender, religion & other socio-culture factors.

►It concerned with how people interact, are interdependent & inter-coordinate with each other to influence & to be influenced by

each other.

► It not only encourages cultural & social factors but also promotes the understanding of cultural relativity.

► It discourages people to be judgmental/analytical to describe one culture as good or the other bad.

6.Evolutionary Perspective: By Charles Darwin (1859):

► Focuses on the role of physical str. & behavior play in adaptation process of an individual to the environment

►. It has 3 components. i.e. Variation Inheritance Selection

7. Biological Perspective:► Every human behavior is related to physiological changes with the body.

► The working relationship between the body, behavior & mental processes is the focus of biological perspective.

► Most drugs influence over emotion & behaviors by altering levels of neurotransmitters (physiology) in body.

► Heredity also influence on personality & abilities of individual.

► According to behavior genetics, genes & environment influences individual differences.

► According to Karl Lashley, fatigue, lower motivation & poorer recall cause/affect on forgetting.

Scientific Method: Approach for systematically acquire knowledge and understanding about

behavior & other phenomena of interest of individual. It can be illustrated in following steps:

1. Identifying questions of interest stemming from-→ behavior & phenomenon requiring explanation.→ prior research findings→ curiosity, creativity, insights

2. Formulate an explanation-→ specify a theory &→ develop a hypothesis

3. Carry out research- designed to support or refute the explanation→ devise an operational definition of hypothesis→ select a research method→ collect the data→ analyze the data

4. Communicate the findings-New questions are build on from previous findings or, produce due to curiosity, creativity or, insight of the researcher\observer. Once a question has been identified or, selected, the next step of scientific method is to develop the theory to explain the observed phenomenon.

After this, the next step is to devise a way of testing the theory by creating the hypothesis.

“A hypothesis is a prediction stated in a way that allows it to be tested”→ Hypotheses are stemmed from theories which help to test the

underlying soundness of the theories.Thus, hypothesis is the tentative generalization whose validity remains to be tested.

Hypothesis must be restated in a way that will allow it to be tested which involves the creating an operational definition.

“An operational definition is the translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable procedures that can be measured & observed”

Research Methods in Psychology:1. Descriptive Methods:

In this method, skilled & experienced researcher naturally describes the organism’s behavior more objectively & systematically. Where the researcher should be free of bias & prejudice.

I) Case study: It is the oldest method in Psychology to reveal the depth for diagnosis

& treatment of psychological disorders.

It is the observation at a particular time to find the cause & development of particular behavior.

II) Survey (Sur/Sor: - Over + Veeir/Veoir: - seeing): Survey means to take a look over something from a high place. It is a

quantitative research method in which direct observation of phenomenon is done to collect the information. Where information can be collected through mail or telephone. & survey should be representative.

III) Naturalistic Observation: It is the observation of the events on the field in their natural

conditions without disturbing the events. It consists of following types:Participant Observation Non-participant Observation

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IV) Prediction: The goal of psychology is to predict the behavior & mental process by

the statistical correlation measurement of two variables.

Correlation are of two types:Positive CorrelationNegative Correlation

2.Experimental Methods:

Psychology being a behavioral science, effect of experimental changes on behavior can be observed. This can be carried out as:

Variables:It is an event or condition which can be measured & have different values i.e. varies quantitatively.

The types of variables are:

Independent variable: It effects on behavior & might be a stimulus presented, a drug administered, a new method of training etc.

Dependent variable: It is the behavior or response of the individual towards the stimulus whose value directly depend on the independent variables. i.e. as the independent variable varies its value also automatically varies.

3. Control:

• In an experiment only specified independent variables are allowed to change or vary & other factors that affect the dependent variables are kept constant.

• There are two common strategies to control are: Control Group Design Control Group Baseline

4. Replication:

• Essential part of experimental method that can be performed under proper conditions in which any experiment is carried out many times under the same conditions to achieve the same result.

• If the result is same over and over again, then its accuracy can be sure.