Introduction To Psychology PDF

Ms. Sana Fatima Associate Clinical Psychologist Lecturer IoBM/BUKC × The science that deals with mental processes and behaviour. × From the Greek psyche, (mind) logos (study), the study of the nature and functions of the mind and of human behaviour × Psychology is that bra...

Ms. Sana Fatima Associate Clinical Psychologist Lecturer IoBM/BUKC × The science that deals with mental processes and behaviour. × From the Greek psyche, (mind) logos (study), the study of the nature and functions of the mind and of human behaviour × Psychology is that branch of philosophy which studies the human mind or soul. × By the mind or soul is meant the thinking principle, that by which we feel, know, and will, and by which my body is animated.  × WHY THIS COURSE? × HOW IS IT RELATED TO YOUR FIELD? × Understanding Basic Psychological & Scientific Principles. × About critical thinking process × Effective dealing within the workplace × Understanding relationships and well being × Understanding human behavior for productive outcomes × Psychology, as a science, attempts to help you hone critical thinking skills × Critical thinking: the active application of a set of skills to information to understand and evaluate that information. × Evaluating reliability and usefulness of something × Involves maintaining an attitude of skepticism, recognizing internal biases, logical thinking, asking the right questions, making observations. × Important to have this skill in a world full of competing and often misleading “facts” (Conoway – “alternative facts”) Gain insight into the mind Understanding of people Understanding yourself Is it a science? Or an Art? × It employs the scientific method for gathering knowledge and information (research); otherwise, the research will not be considered authentic, reliable, or scientifically valuable. × Scientific method is a systematic and organized series of steps that scientists adopt for exploring any phenomenon in order to obtain accurate and consistent results. These steps involve × observation, × description, × control, and × replication × “Psychology is the systematic study of thoughts, feelings and behavior”. × A “science” that looks at all processes related to the human mind and behavior. × An Art of studying the abstract part of human behavior × Emotions × Physiological and biological components, × Thoughts × Memory × Perceptions × Personalities etc × Psychological thought, no matter how scientific, evolves within a sociocultural context. The psychologies of diverse countries, such as Russia, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States, have evolved in quite different ways. Main goal of psychology is understanding human behavior and mental processes Describe & Explain: To develop an understanding of the nature of, and of the relationship between behavior and mental processes (what and why) Prediction & Application: To apply this understanding to real life situations and, on the basis of this understanding, predict for the future Control: To employ the scientific approach for developing this understanding (by determining cause and effect), so we can gain some control. × Psychiatrists: They are × Psychologists: They physicians who specialize typically have PhDs or in the treatment of PsyDs. They are experts psychological disorders. in research, assessment, Not all psychiatrists have and therapy, all of which extensive training in is verified through psychotherapy, but as supervised internship. MDs they can prescribe medications. × Proof of “trephining” from at least 6500 BC × Such evidence suggests that man sought explanations of human behavior, and tried to control it according to the explanation he believed in. × Ancient explanations centered on the supernatural: gods, evil spirits, demons etc × The roots of psychology can be traced to the great philosophers of ancient Greece (300 BC onwards). × The most famous of them, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, posed fundamental questions about mental life: × What is consciousness? × Are people inherently rational or irrational? × Is there any such thing as free choice? × Before the 19th century, issues related to the mind were explored in a philosophical context.  Structuralism × Beginnings of Psychology: Wundt, Fechner, Ebbinghaus × Mainstream structuralism: Titchener  The Major thinkers structuralists Structuralism Structuralism is associated with used techniques widely regarded structuralism such as introspection as the first include Wilhelm introspection to school of Wundt and analyze the inner thought in Edward processes of the psychology. Titchener. human mind. This outlook The focus of focused on structuralism breaking down was on reducing mental mental processes into processes down the most basic into their most components. basic elements.  The Strengths and Criticisms of Structuralism Structuralism is important because it is the first major school of thought in psychology. The structuralist school also influenced the development of experimental psychology. Strengths By today’s scientific standards, the experimental methods used to study the structures of experimental methods the mind were too subjective—the use of introspection led to a lack of reliability in results. Other critics argue that structuralism was too concerned with internal behavior, which is Criticism not directly observable and cannot be accurately measured.  Functionalism × Influences: Darwin and Galton × Forerunner: William James × Mainstream Functionalists: G. Stanley Hall, James McKeene Cattell, Angell, Woodworth, Carr, Dewey × Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. × There are some different functionalist thinkers associated with this outlook including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr. × Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist thinkers were instead interested in the role that these processes play.  Strengths and Criticisms of Functionalism Functionalism was an important influence on psychology. It influenced the development of behaviorism and applied psychology. Functionalism also influenced the educational system, especially with regards to John Dewey’s belief that children should learn at the level for which Strength they are developmentally prepared. Functionalism was criticized perhaps most famously by Wundt. "It is literature. It is beautiful, but it is not psychology," he said of functionalist William James’ The Principles of Psychology. Criticism Psychoanalysis × Psychoanalysis Founder: Sigmund Freud × Psychodynamic theorists: Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Anna Freud, Murray, Karen Horney Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This school of unconscious mind thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego, and the superego the id, the ego, and the superego. The id consists of primal urges while the ego is the component of personality charged with dealing with reality. The superego is the part of personality that holds all of the ideals and values we internalize from our parents and culture. Freud believed that the interaction of these three elements was what led to all of the complex human behaviors. Anna Freud Freud's school of thought was enormously influential, but Anna Freud also generated considerable debate. This controversy Carl Jung existed not only in his time, but also in modern discussions of Carl Jung Freud's theories. Erik Erikson Erik Erikson Other major psychoanalytic thinkers include:  Strengths and Criticisms of Psychoanalysis While most psychodynamic theories did not rely on experimental research, the methods Erikson's theory of psychosocial stages and theories of psychoanalytic thinking contributed to the development Freud's psychosexual stage theory. of experimental Freud's psychosexual stage psychology. theory. psychosexual Freud's Many of the theories of personality developed by psychodynamic thinkers are still influential Strength today, including Erikson's theory of psychosocial stages and Freud's psychosexual stage theory. Psychoanalysis opened up a new view on mental illness, suggesting that talking about problems with a professional could help relieve symptoms of psychological distress. Freud's theories overemphasized the unconscious mind, sex, aggression and childhood experiences. Many of the concepts proposed by psychoanalytic theorists are difficult to measure and Criticism quantify. Most of Freud's ideas were based on case studies and clinical observations rather than empirical, scientific research.  Behaviourism × John B. Watson, Tolman, Hull, Guthrie, Skinner, Thorndike Behaviorism became a Behaviorism suggests that The behavioral school of dominant school of all behavior can be explained psychology had a thought during the 1950s. by environmental causes significant influence on the rather than by internal course of psychology, and It was based upon the many of the ideas and forces. Behaviorism is work of thinkers such as: focused on observable techniques that emerged John B. Watson behavior. Theories of from this school of thought Ivan Pavlov learning including classical are still widely used today. B. F. Skinner conditioning and operant Behavioral training, token conditioning were the focus economies, aversion of a great deal of research. therapy and other techniques are frequently used in psychotherapy and behavior modification programs.  Strengths of behaviorism Behaviorism is based on observable behaviors, so it is sometimes easier to quantify and collect data when conducting research. Effective therapeutic techniques such as intensive Strengths behavioral intervention, behavior analysis, token economies, and discrete trial training are all rooted in behaviorism. These approaches are often very useful in changing maladaptive or harmful behaviors in both children and adults.  Criticism of behaviorism Many critics argue that behaviorism is a one-dimensional reinforcement and punishment approach to understanding human behavior. They suggest that behavioral theories do not account for free will reinforcement and punishment and internal influences such as moods, thoughts, and feelings. criticism Also, it does not account for other types of learning that occurs without the use of reinforcement and punishment. Moreover, people and animals can adapt their behavior when new information is introduced even if that behavior was established through reinforcement. Cognitive Psychology × Socio-Cognitive theorists: Albert Bandura, Julian Rotter × Mainstream Cognitive Theorists: Miller, Neisser  One of the most influential theories of this school of thought was the stages stagesof cognitive development of cognitive development theory stages of cognitive development proposed by Jean Jean Piaget. Piaget. Cognitive psychology began to emerge during the 1950s, partly as a response to behaviorism. Critics of behaviorism noted that it Cognitive psychology is the Cognitive psychology failed to account for how school of psychology that internal processes impacted studies mental processes behavior. This period is including how people think, sometimes referred to as the perceive, remember and "cognitive revolution" as a learn. As part of the larger wealth of research on topics field of cognitive science, this such as information branch of psychology is processing, language, related to other disciplines memory, and perception including neuroscience, began to emerge. philosophy, and linguistics. The Gestalt School × Forerunners: Ernst Mach, Christian Von Ehrenfels, Oswald Külpe × Founder: Max Wertheimer. × Other mainstream Gestalt Psychologists: Koffka, Kohler, Lewin × Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. × This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism. × Instead of breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest elements, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of experience. × According to the Gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Humanistic School × Main contributors: Maslow, Rogers Humanistic psychology Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth and the self-actualization concept of self-actualization. While early schools of thought were primarily centered on abnormal human behavior, humanistic psychology differed considerably in its emphasis on helping people achieve and fulfill their potential. Humanistic psychology remains quite popular today and has had a significant positive psychology influence on other areas of psychology including positive psychology. This particular branch of psychology is centered on helping people living happier, more fulfilling lives. Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow Major humanist thinkers include: Carl Rogers Carl Rogers  Strengths of humanistic psychology One of the major strengths of humanistic psychology is that it emphasizes the role of the individual. This school of psychology gives people more credit in controlling and determining their state of mental health. It also takes environmental influences into account. Rather than focusing solely on our internal thoughts and desires, humanistic Strengths psychology also credits the environment's influence on our experiences. Humanistic psychology continues to influence therapy, education, healthcare, and other areas. Humanistic psychology helped remove some of the stigma attached to therapy and made it more acceptable for normal, healthy individuals to explore their abilities and potential through therapy.  Criticism of humanistic psychology Humanistic psychology is often seen as too subjective; the importance of individual experience makes it difficult to objectively study and measure humanistic phenomena. How can we objectively tell Criticism if someone is self-actualized? The answer, of course, is that we cannot. We can only rely upon the individual's own assessment of their experience. Another major criticism is that observations are unverifiable; there is no accurate way to measure or quantify these qualities. Existential Psychology × Influences: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus and Heidegger × 1st Generation: Rollo May, and Viktor Frankl × 2nd Generation: Irwin Yalom × The most popular one-sentence summary is "existence precedes essence". Existential psychology is based on theories of existentialism. Existentialism is centered on particular givens of existence: That humans exist without any apparent cause or reason That humans have freedom and with that freedom comes responsibility That humans are isolated That death is unavoidable Meaninglessness.  Following the writings of Jean- Influence of Existentialist Paul Sartre and other existential philosophers, many humanistic Philosophers on Humanistic Psychology psychologists adopted the existential view of the importance of being and the meaning of life. THANKYOU