Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology PDF

**CHAPTER 1: Introduction To Psychology** **PSYCHOLOGY: ITS ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION** The origin of psychology dates back to 1870s. The term 'Psychology' is derived from two Greek words; Psyche means "soul or breath" and Logos means "knowledge or study" (study or investigation of something). The word...

**CHAPTER 1: Introduction To Psychology** **PSYCHOLOGY: ITS ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION** The origin of psychology dates back to 1870s. The term 'Psychology' is derived from two Greek words; Psyche means "soul or breath" and Logos means "knowledge or study" (study or investigation of something). The word 'Psychology' was not in common use before the nineteenth century, and the field of psychology did not actually become an independent science until the middle of the nineteenth century. Psychology emerged as an independent academic discipline in 1879, when a German Professor Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory at the university of Leipzig, Germany.Wundt is traditionally recognised as the founder, or father of the modern psychology, and 1879 is seen as the year that psychology finally emerged as a unique field. **DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY** Psychology has been defined in a number of ways by various authors. Psychologists had been debating on whether psychology should focus on "mind", "consciousness" or "behaviour". Let us look at how the definitions of psychology have come a long way over the past 130 years. **Early Definitions** Earlier, psychology was part of Philosophy. Ancient philosophers were interested in the study of the soul. Thus, it was first defined in terms of 'the science of soul'. However, since the term 'soul' has very wide and comprehensive meanings,it was considered as a vague term and was criticized severely, in the middle ages. There were questions regarding the physical existence, weight, and volume of soul.Thus, this definition was not accepted by psychologists. Next, psychology was defined in terms of 'the science of mind', by some ancient Greek philosophers. According to them, psychology was held as a branch of mental philosophy. Since this definition does not include overt behaviour of human beings and mind cannot be measured directly, this definition was also dropped by psychologists.Then, psychology was defined as 'the science of consciousness'. According to Bagga & Singh (1990), at one time during the history of Psychology, it was felt that the main business of Psychology was to the conscious experience. Consciousness makes us conscious or aware of the situation or a thing around us. This definition too is now obsolete and it has been rejected due to the following reasons: Consciousness cannot be studied objectively as it is more personal and subjective. Finally, modern Psychology has been defined as 'a science of behaviour.' In the early decades of twentieth century, Watson, the father of the school of 'Behaviourism', defined psychology as 'the study of behaviour'. According to Morgan et al. (1986), Watson rejected mind as the subject of psychology and insisted that psychology be restricted to the study of behaviour -- the observable (or potentially observable) activities of people and animals. Watson held that there are no essential differences between human and animal behaviour and that we can learn much about our own behaviour from the study of what animals do. Watson emphasised that nothing is innate and everything can be learned. **Current Definitions** Some of the more recent definitions of Psychology, in chronological order, are as follows: 1. Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour. It includes the application of this science to human problems. (Morgan et al., 1986) 2. The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Ciccarelli & Meyer,2006; Coon & Mitterer, 2007, 2008) 3. The science that studies behaviour and mental processes.( Rathus,2008) As is evident in the above definitions, study of behaviour (human and animal) has been emphasised in all of them. In addition, most authors have also included 'cognitive/mental processes' in their definitions of psychology. But, what is behaviour? We will now look at the nature and characteristics of behaviour. **Nature and Characteristics of Behaviour** Behaviour is a broad term and a complex phenomenon. In this section, we will discuss the nature and characteristics of behaviour. According to psychologists, behaviour is every thing or any thing that a human being or animal does that can be observed in some way. In other words, behaviour includes all actions and responses of organisms that can be measured directly or indirectly. Behaviour not only means bodily movements but also can include mental and cognitive processes such as feelings, attitudes, thoughts, emotions, and all other internal vents, which cannot be observed directly but can be measured indirectly through what people say (vocal behaviour) and how they react to different problems and situations. **PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE** Psychology has been defined as a science of behaviour. But is it a science like physics, chemistry, biology and zoology or some thing different? In this section we will look at some of the definitions of science. We will also discuss the nature and characteristics of science and understand psychology, as a science. Let us look at the following definition of science: *Science is a systematized body of knowledge gathered through carefully observing and measuring events (Morgan et al.,1986).* The sole aim of science is to classify, understand, and unify the objects and phenomena of the material world. By using a combination of accurate observation and experimentation, logic and intuition, scientists seek to understand the rules that govern all levels of the natural universe. **Characteristics of Science** Psychology studies behaviour in the same way that the other sciences study their subject matter and therefore shares a number of features with them. In common with other sciences, psychology, as a science, has the following characteristics, as described by Morgan et al. (1986). - ***Empirical observation*** Psychology, as a science, is first of all, and above all, empirical. That is to say, it rests on experiment and observation, rather than on argument, opinion, or belief. - ***Systematic approach and theory*** Data from observations and experiments are essential to science, but for them "to make some sense" in helping us to understand events, they must be ordered in some way. The scientist tries to find a limited number of principles which will summarize the data economically. Scientific theories are important tools for the organisation of data. - ***Definition of terms*** Careful definition of terms is essential to clear thinking in science. The procedure in psychology is to define concepts by relating them to observable behaviour (operational definition). When we define a concept operationally, we define it in terms of measurable and observable operations. For example, the concepts of length, height in physics, and concepts like intelligence, motivation, personality in psychology are defined in terms of observable operations, which can be performed to measure them. The above characteristics are common to all sciences including psychology. However, psychology is a different type of science (Social/Behavioural Science). The goals of psychology, like other sciences, are to describe, explain, predict and control (Coon & Mitterer, 2008) the phenomena it studies. Psychology, thus, attempts to describe, explain, predict and control behaviour and mental processes. The first goal of psychology is to describe the different ways that organisms behave.The second goal of psychology is to explain the causes of behavior.Psychology as a science of behaviour, attempts to explain the 'why' and 'how' of behaviour.Being able to describe and explain behavior helps psychologists reach the third goal, which is to predict behavior. The third goal of psychology is to predict how organisms will behave in certain situations. However, if psychologists can predict behavior,then they can often control behavior. The fourth goal of psychology is to control an organism's behavior. Psychologists can help people, learn to control undesirable behaviors by teaching better methods of self-control and ways to deal with situations and relationships. The knowledge of psychology can also be applied to solve various problems facing human beings, be it at home, society, work place or in the whole world. **BRANCHES AND FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY** So far, we have gained a general understanding of the nature of psychology by looking at its topics and perspectives. We can further our understanding by looking at what different kinds of psychologists do and at emerging fields of emphasis in twenty-first-century psychology.About half the people who have advanced degrees in psychology work in colleges and universities. In addition to teaching, they may devote much of their time to research or counseling. Other psychologists work in schools, hospitals or clinics, research institutes, government agencies, or business and industry. Still others are in private practice and offer their services to the public for a fee. We now turn to a brief description of some of the subfields of psychology. **1.Clinical Psychology**: Does psychotherapy; investigates clinical problems; develops methods of treatment. This field emphasises on the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of severe psychological disorders and emotional troubles. Clinical psychologists carry out research to find out better ways of diagnosing, treating, and preventing psychological disorders. They also rely heavily on standardised tests for identifying the causes of these disorders. They use psychotherapy, for which they are trained, for the treatment of mental disorders. But clinical psychologists are not authorised to prescribe drugs to treat behaviour disorders, as they do not have medical training. Also, they cannot refer a patient to a hospital, for care and treatment. Whenever there is a possibility of a medical disorder, a patient should be examined by a psychiatrist or other physician. 2. **Experimental Psychology:** Investigates all aspects of psychological processes like perception, learning, and motivation. The major research method used by these psychologists include controlled experiments. But, as Morgan et al. (1986) put it, experimental method is also used by psychologists other than experimental psychologists. For instance, social psychologists may do experiments to determine the effects of various group pressures and influences on a person's behaviour. So, in spite of its name, it is not the method that distinguishes experimental psychology from other sub-fields. Instead, experimental psychology is distinguished by what it studies---the fundamental processes of learning, and memory, thinking, sensation and perception, motivation, emotion, and the physiological or biological bases of behaviour. **3.Educational Psychology:** Investigates classroom dynamics, teaching styles, and learning; develops educational tests, evaluates educational programs. Investigates all aspects of educational process ranging from curriculum design to techniques of instruction to learning disabilities. This branch deals with broader problem of increasing the efficiency of learning in school by applying psychological knowledge about/of learning and motivation to the curriculum. Another specialised sub-field called School Psychology may be included in educational psychology. **4. Forensic Psychology:** Investigates problems of crime and crime prevention, rehabilitation programs, prisons, courtroom dynamics; selects candidates for police work. Forensic psychologists mostly work within the judicial system in such areas as assessing emotional and psychological state of under trials and victims, evaluation of rehabilitation programmes; eyewitness testimony and evidence; jury selection; and police training etc. **5۔Industrial/Organisational Psychology:** Investigates all aspects of behaviour in work setting ranging from selection and recruitment of employees, performance appraisal, work motivation to leadership. The first application of psychology to the problems of industries and organisations was selection and recruitment of employees by using intelligence, aptitude tests. Now a days, a number of companies are using modern versions of such tests in their programmes for hiring and selection of employees. Specialists in this field also apply psychology to problems related to management and employee training, leadership and supervision, communication, motivation, inter- and intra-group conflict within the organisation. They organise on-the-job training programmes for improving work environments and human relations in organisations and work settings. These psychologists are sometimes called personnel psychologists. **6.Environmental Psychology:** Studies the effects of urban noise, crowding, attitudes toward the environment, and human use of space. These psychologists act as consultants on environmental issues. It is evident from the above that the work of psychologists are varied, as there are many specialties within the field. Psychologists are highly trained in the knowledge, methods, and theories of psychology. They usually have a master's degree or a doctorate. These degrees typically require several years of postgraduate training. Psychologists may teach, do research, give psychological tests, or serve as consultants to business, industry, government or the military. In addition to their basic interest in research, many psychologists are engaged in applying this knowledge, to solve a variety of human problems. **Questions** 1\) The term psychology is derived from two Greek words: \...\...\...\...\...\........ and \...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\.... 2\) Psychology was first defined in terms of: a) Soul b) Mind c) Consciousness d) Behaviour 3\) Psychology is defined as the science of \...\...\...\...\...\....... and \...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\....... 4\) Topics included in Psychology are: a) Learning b) Memory c) Thinking d) All of them 5\) Physics is to Physical Sciences as Psychology is to \...\...\...\...\...\...... Sciences 6\) The goals of Psychology are to \...\...\...\...\...\....... , \...\...\...\...\........ , \...\...\...\...\... and \...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\... behaviour 7\) The first laboratory in Psychology was established in the year \...\...\...\.... 8\) The first laboratory in Psychology was established by \...\...\...\...\...\...\...\.... 9\) Psychology is the study of Human and \...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\....... behaviour.