Role of Psychology in Understanding the Child PDF

# Role of Psychology in Understanding the Child ## 1. Role of Psychology in Understanding the Child Man is a societal creature with complex behaviour and inquisitive nature. This inquisitiveness leads him to 'know' about himself, other people and the nature of human life. This curiosity also gives...

# Role of Psychology in Understanding the Child ## 1. Role of Psychology in Understanding the Child Man is a societal creature with complex behaviour and inquisitive nature. This inquisitiveness leads him to 'know' about himself, other people and the nature of human life. This curiosity also gives rise to various questions such as: why does an individual feel lonely? Why does an individual forget? What makes someone creative? What makes someone help others? How do human beings receive stimuli from their environment and form perceptions about such stimuli? How do organisms learn and remember experiences? How do they differ in their characteristics? How do people cope with various problems in life? and so on. Each question leads to more questions, so to provide answers to these numerous questions one requires knowledge of psychology. As society is getting more and more complex, understanding of psychology has become indispensable or holds a vital position in solving human problems. In educational process teacher needs to find out and try to understand the answers of above mentioned questions due to their relevance in teaching-learning process. ### 1.1 What is Psychology? Psychology is both an applied and academic in nature that studies the human mind and behaviour. Humans usually exhibit moods of joy and anger, have different learning abilities and interact differently. When all these happen, there is an eagerness to find the circumstances that are surrounding these actions and make judgment accordingly. Thus Psychology affects every facet of human life. The term psychology has its origin from two Greek words: "psyche" means 'soul", "logos" means 'a rational discourse' or 'science'. Thus psychology is the "Study or Science of Soul". ## 2. Historical Background of Psychology To write the history of psychology is to write a history of a soul, which is no less than the story of humankind from the beginning. Early psychology was a part of Philosophy and was never considered as science. But in real sense, psychology as a discipline dates back to the work of Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers. Psychology had its formal beginning when Wilhelm Wundt established his psychological laboratory in Leipzig Germany in 1879. In his theories, he said that mind and soul are said to be the beginning of Psychology. As psychology started its own journey apart from philosophy various philosophers and psychologists gave their own views about the term psychology. Morgan, a Philosopher said, "Psychology is the scientific study of activities of an individual." Boring said, "Psychology is the study of human nature." Then, Robbinson said, "Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour." According to Aristotle, "Psychology is the science of soul." Titchner, rejecting this view said, "Psychology is the science of mind." Wielhelm, then said, "Psychology is the science of consciousness." J.B.Watson did not accept this view and said, "Psychology is the science of behaviour." ### What is soul? A soul is the in corporeal essence of a person. It is the person's moral or emotional nature or sense of identity. Soul is a being which lives in the body and with the end of life it leaves the body. The first attempt at defining psychology is owed to the Greek Philosophers (400 B.C.) who considered psychology as a science of soul, spirit and life. Defining psychology as the science of soul has been rejected by the modern psychologists, since soul is a non concrete idea. Soul can neither be perceived nor can its nature and function be studied by scientific methods. Thus what is soul and how can it be studied? The inability to find clear answers to such questions led some ancient Greek philosophers to define psychology as the "study of the mind". ## 3. Psychology - The Science of Mind ### What is mind? Mind is the intellectual or rational faculty in man; the understanding the intellect; the power that conceives, judges or can give reasons. French philosopher Descartes (1596-1650) and the British philosopher Locke considered psychology as the science of mind. Although the word ‘mind’was less mysterious and vague than 'soul', yet it also faced the same question, How can mind be studied? Therefore definition of psychology as the science of mind was not acceptable, as mind is an ambiguous concept as the soul. It is not at all possible to carry on scientific observation and experimentation on mind. This definition also does not include the explicit behaviour of man. Therefore, psychology as the science of mind has been discarded. The failure to define the term 'soul' and 'mind' influenced the philosophers and psychologist to search for other suitable definitions. William James in his book 'Principles of psychology' published in 1890 defines psychology as "the description and explanation of state of Consciousness as such" ## 4. Psychology -The Science of Consciousness ### What is Consciousness? Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as the awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, alertness, having a sense of selfhood, and as the executive control system of the mind. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) who established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany defined psychology as the science of immediate experience with consciousness. According to him, the description and explanation of the state of consciousness is the task of psychology which is usually done by 'introspection'- the process of looking within. But the definition of psychology as the science of consciousness was not acceptable because mental life does not consist only of consciousness. There are also unconscious and subconscious mental processes which influence human behaviour in various ways without one's knowledge. ## 5. Psychology - The Science of Experience ### What is experience? Experience is the accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from direct participation in events or activities. It is to exercise or to train by practice. Titchner (1867-1927), defines psychology as the science of conscious experience. The mind is nothing but the sum total of the conscious experiences as perceived by a person. The subject matter of psychology is the study of such conscious experiences which constitutes mind through introspection. Being entirely subjective, the introspection method for the study of the conscious experience was an unscientific method. Therefore the definition of psychology as the science of experience was not accepted. ## 6. Psychology - Study of Behaviour ### What is behavior? Behavior refers to the actions and mannerisms of organisms in concurrence with their environment, which includes other organisms around as well as the physical environment. It is a response of the organism to various stimuli whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert and voluntary or in voluntary. Behaviour is classified in three categories according to its content: a. Cognitive behavior where the dominance is of knowing or thinking. For example: solving problems. b. Affective behavior where the dominance is of feelings. For example: the emotional experiences of; anger, fear, jealousy, etc. c. Conative behavior where the dominance is of motor activities. For example: cycling, playing hockey, etc. Watson (1878-1958), an American psychologist brought about a revolution in psychology called 'Behaviourism'. He defined psychology as "the science of behaviour." He believed that observable behaviour, not inner experiences, are the only reliable source of information. He argued that psychology is to be regarded as a science and as a science it is to limit itself to the study and analysis of overtly observable events. He chiefly looked for connections between observable behaviour and stimuli from the environment. Thus psychology is the science of behaviour, the activities of animate creature, which can be observed and measured in an objective way. Behaviourism introduced by John. B.Watson in 1913 stressed the importance of the environment in shaping an individual's behaviour. In fact, Watson believed he could produce almost any response by controlling an individual's environment. Watson and the other behaviourists realized that human behaviour could also be changed by conditioning. The behaviourist movement was greatly influenced by the famous theory of conditioning given by the Russian physiologist Ivan P. Pavlov. During the mid-1900's, the American psychologist B. F. Skinner gained much attention for behaviourist ideas. In his book 'Walden Two' (1948), Skinner describes how the principles of conditioning might be applied to create an ideal planned society. There are various environmental and individual factors that influence human behavior. - Emotions - Social Environment - Physical Environment - Thoughts **Figure: 1.1 Factors influencing behaviour** Behavoiur (B) is the product of the interaction of individual and her/his perceived (P) environment (E). It can be represented by a simple equation i.e. B = f (P,E) **Behaviour (B)=a function (f) of the Person (P) and the Environment (E)** Thus psychology involves the study of man's invisible world with relations to behavior and brain activities. A more correct name for the modern subjects of psychology would be "people control" because this subject involves how to alter thoughts, attitudes and behavior. This in a nutshell is the purpose of behaviorism. ## 7. Definitions of Psychology Some of the well-known definitions of psychology are as under: 1. According to Garrison and others, "Psychology is concerned with observable human behaviour". 2. According toSkinner, "Psychology is the science of behaviour and experience." 3. According to Woodworth, "Psychology deals with the activities of the individualin relation to his environment." 4. According to Munn, "Psychology today concerns itself with the scientific investigation of behaviour." 5. Oxford American Dictionary, "The study of the mind and how it works." 6. American Heritage Dictionary, "The emotional and behavioral characteristics of an individual or group." 7. According to Waston, "Psychology is the positive science of behavior." 8. According to Guilford, "Psychology is the science of mental activity of organism." Following conclusions can be drawn after analyzing the above definitions: a. Psychology is regarded as a science, which seeks to comprehend, predict and control the behaviour of man in a more scientific way. b. It is a positive science. It is a logical way of knowing, explaining, controlling and improving behaviour. c. It is a branch of natural science. d. It is a science of human behaviour and not of matter. Therefore itcannot be a pure science like Mathematics and Chemistry. e. It studies memory, imagination, thinking, learning, intelligence and other sensory experiences and develop principles and theories about them. ## 8. Meaning of the Term Behaviour The term 'behaviour' is taken in its totality, connoting a wide and comprehensive meaning. "Any manifestation of life is activity," says Woodworth (1948), and behaviour is a collective name for these activities. Therefore, the term 'behaviour' includes all the motor or conative activities like walking, swimming, dancing etc.; cognitive activities, e.g., thinking, reasoning, imagining etc., and affective activities like feeling happy, sad, angry, etc. This includes not only the conscious behaviour and activities of the human mind but also the subconscious and unconscious and hence covers not only the overt but also the covert behaviour involving all inner experiences and mental processes. It is not limited to the study of human behaviour. The behaviour of animals, insects, birds and even plants also comes within the purview of Psychology. Therefore, when we talk about the study of behaviour in Psychology, we mean the study of behaviour of all living organisms. In a nutshell then, the term behaviour refers to the entire life activities and experiences of all living organisms. ## 9. Nature of Psychology It is an accepted reality that the nature of Psychology is quite scientific. This fact has been properly recognized by eminent psychologists and thinkers as may be inferred from the definitions of Psychology, in terms of the scientific study or science of behaviour, already given. Let us, however, try to analyze why Psychology should be called a science. In general, we may term a subject scientific, if it: 1. possesses a body of facts which can be supported through universal laws and principles; 2. emphasizes the search for truth; 3. does not believe in hearsay, stereotypes or superstition; 4. believes in cause and effect relationships; 5. adopts the method of objective investigation, systematic and controlled observation and a scientific approach; 6. stands for the generalization, verifiability and modification of the observed results or deduced phenomena; 7. helps in predicting future developments; and 8. is able to turn its theory into practice by having an applied aspect. Let us summarize the nature of psychology in the light of the above-mentioned criteria. 1. Psychology possesses a well-organized theory which is supported by the relevant psychological laws and principles. 2. It has its applied aspect in the form of various branches of applied psychology like industrial, legal, clinical and educational psychology. 3. It believes that every behaviour has its roots, and factors causing, influencing or nurturing it. 4. Subjective ideas and opinions are not considered significant in the study of behaviour in psychology. It emphasizes the search for truth by advocating objectivity, reliability and validity in the assessment of behaviour. 5. The methods and techniques employed in the study of behaviour in psychology are quite scientific. Steps like the analysis of behaviour, formulation of hypotheses, objective observations or controlled experimentation, deduction, verification and generalization of the results etc. provide the solid base for the scientific method and approach in psychology. 6. The results of the study of behaviour are always open to verification under similar conditions by other experimenters and observers. These results may be accepted, modified, or altered in the light of the latest data and findings. 7. The established facts, principles and laws of behaviour in Psychology enjoy universal applicability in practical life, in other bodies of knowledge and future researches in its own sphere. 8. An appropriate description and quantification of behaviour is possible through psychology. We may make dependable predictions about the organism in the light of its studied behaviour. On the basis of the above characteristics, it may be established beyond doubt that Psychology qualifies as a science. Its nature is quite scientific and not philosophical or esoteric as it used to be in the olden days. ## 10. What Kind of Science is Psychology? We can divide all the sciences into two broad categories - the positive and the normative. While physical and life sciences are termed as positive sciences, may be needed for the study of their activities and experiences and know that the may be needed for the study of life activities are countless, and no limit can, therefore, be imposed upon the fields of operation and application of Psychology. ## 11. Branches and Fields of Psychology For the sake of convenience and specialised study psychology may be divided into different branches. First, we divide it into two broad categories, namely, Pure Psychology and Applied Psychology. Pure psychology provides the framework and theory of the subject. Its contents deal with the formulation of psychological principles and theories and it also suggests various methods and techniques for the analysis, assessment, modification and improvement of behaviour. In applied psychology, the theory generated or enunciated through pure psychology finds it practical expression. Here we discuss the application of psychological rules, principles, theories and techniques with reference to real-life situations. The above-mentioned pure and applied aspects of psychology can be further grouped into various branches. Let us first consider some of the branches of pure psychology. ### Branches of Pure Psychology - **General Psychology**: This is a relatively large field of psychology which deals with the fundamental rules, principles and theories of Psychology in relation to the study of behaviour of normal adult human beings. - **Abnormal Psychology**: This is the branch of psychology which describes and explains the behaviour of normal people in relation to their environment. The causes, symptoms and syndromes, description and treatment of the abnormalities of behaviour form the subject matter of this branch. - **Social Psychology**: This branch of psychology deals with group behaviour and inter-relationships of people among themselves. Group dynamics, likes and dislikes, interests and attitudes, social distance and prejudices of the people in their personal and social relationships are studied by this branch. - **Experimental Psychology**: This branch of psychology describes and explains the ways and means of carrying out psychological experiments along scientific lines under controlled or laboratory situations for the study of mental processes and behaviour. It takes up animals, birds and human beings as the subjects of these experiments. - **Physiological Psychology**: This branch of psychology describes and explains the biological and physiological basis of behaviour. The internal environment and physiological structure of the body, particularly the brain, nervous system, and functioning of the glands in relation to the conative, cognitive and affective behaviour of human beings comprise its subject matter. - **Parapsychology**: This new branch of psychology deals with extra-sensory perception, precognition, cases of claimed rebirth, telepathy and allied phenomena. - **Geopsychology**: This branch or field of psychology describes and explains the relation of physical environment, particularly weather, climate, soil, and landscape with behaviour. - **Developmental Psychology**: This branch or field of psychology describes and explains the processes and products of growth and development in relation to the behaviour of an individual from birth to old age. For added convenience, it is further sub-divided into branches such as Child Psychology, Adolescent Psychology and Adult Psychology. ### Branches of Applied Psychology - **Educational Psychology**: This is the branch of applied psychology which seeks to apply the psychological principles, theories and techniques to human behaviour in educational situations. The subject matter of this branch covers psychological ways and means of improving all aspects of the teaching-learning process including the learner, the learning process, learning material, learning environment and the teacher. - **Clinical Psychology**: This branch of applied psychology describes and explains the causes of mental illness or abnormal behaviour of a patient attending a clinic or hospital and suggests individual or group therapy for the treatment and effective adjustment of the affected person in society. - **Industrial Psychology**: This branch of applied psychology seeks application of the psychological principles, theories and techniques for the study of human behaviour in relation to the industrial environment. It studies the topics and the ways and means of ascertaining the tastes and interests of consumers, advertising and sale of products, selection, training and placement of personnel, solution of labour problems, establishment of harmonious relations between the employers and the employees, strengthening the morale of the workers and increasing production etc. - **Legal Psychology**: It is the branch of applied psychology which studies the behaviour of clients, criminals, witnesses etc. in their respective surroundings with the application of psychological principles and techniques. It contains the subject matter for improving the ways and means of detection of crimes, identification and apprehension of false witnesses and other complex issues. The root causes of any crime, offence, dispute or legal case can be properly understood through the use of this branch of psychology and subsequently proper corrective and rehabilitative measures can be decided upon. - **Military Psychology**: This branch of psychology is concerned with the use of psychological principles and techniques in the field of military activities. How to maintain the morale of the soldiers and citizens during wartime, how to fight the enemy's propaganda and intelligence activities, how to secure recruitment of better personnel for the armed forces, and how to improve the fighting capabilities and organizational climate and leadership in the armed forces are some of the various topics that are dealt with by this branch of psychology. - **Political Psychology**: This branch of psychology deals with the use of psychological principles and techniques in studying politics and deriving political gains. The knowledge of the dynamics of group behaviour, judgment of public opinion, qualities of leadership, psychology of propaganda and suggestion, the art of diplomacy etc. are some of the key concepts that find place in the subject matter of Political Psychology. In short, Psychology, by studying, explaining and understanding behaviour has proved quite useful in many walks of our life. Its use and scope in our daily life are varied. For instance, it has: - contributed significantly to the improvement of the processes and products of education; - highlighted the importance of good behaviour to the patients, removed a lot of superstitions and provided valuable therapies in the field of medicines; - underlined the importance of the knowledge of consumer psychology and harmonious inter-personal relationship in the field of commerce and industry; - helped in detection of crime and dealing with criminals; ## 12. Systems or Schools of Psychology and Their Bearing on Education ### Introduction As we have already seen, psychology owes its origin to philosophy. However, as time elapsed psychologists attempted to discard the approaches and methods based on speculation and provided a scientific base to the subject for the study of behaviour. These efforts gave birth to a number of schools or systems of psychology such as structuralism, functionalism, behaviourism, Gestaltism, psychoanalysis, individual psychology, analytical psychology, humanist psychology, transpersonal psychology and cognitive psychology, etc. The emergence of these systems or schools of thought not only influenced the development of various trends and approaches for assessment of behaviour but also affected the processes and products of education. In the present chapter we aim to briefly trace the history of evolution of the different systems of psychology to show their impact or bearing on education. ### Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920), a German Professor, was mainly responsible for the evolution of this school of psychology. He opened the world's first psychological laboratory in Leipzig in 1879 with the sole purpose of the systematic study of the mind. For this, he focused his experiments on conscious experience involving one's thoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions and ideas. As he focused his attention on the analysis of the components of consciousness (the supposed structure of the mind), his approach to psychology is called as structuralism. Wundt and his students conducted experiments in the laboratory by using the art of introspection or self-observation. The subjects were usually asked to report exactly what they were experiencing at the moment when they were exposed to stimuli such as light, colour, sound or the feel of an object. The psychologists performing the experiments also acted as subjects for the observations and recording of their own perceptions and feelings and then presenting their analyses of the activities of the mind. The Leipzig laboratory produced most of the leading psychologists. One of its well-known products was Edward Bradford Titchenet (1867-1927), a British by birth, who became professor of psychology at Cornell University. According to him, psychology may be regarded as the science of consciousness or the study of experience. Consciousness or experience can be broken or analysed into three basic elements: physical sensations, feelings and images such as memories and dreams. For example, when we report the perception experiences of a banana, we try to combine visual sensation (what we see) with feelings (our like or dislike for the banana) and with images (past experiences with other bananas). Through his studies Titchener concluded that the structure of the human mind was made up of more than 30,000 separate sensations, feelings, and images, and nothing else. In this way, Wundt and his followers like Titchener, known as structuralists, tried to provide a systematic study of the mind through the study of its structure (identifying the basic units of consciousness or experience along with the combinations in which they occur) by adopting introspection as the main technique. ### Criticism Structuralism is criticised on the following grounds: 1. As a system of psychology, structuralism is regarded as very limited system which is unable to cover all aspects of human behaviour. The isolation of such important topics as motivation, individual differences and abnormal behaviour 'etc., clearly reveals the limited scope of this system. 2. According to this system, function involves structures, and structures of the mind can be explained through its parts, not its process. Such explanation involving the division of the human mind into individual elements, as Paplia and Olds (1987) have observed, may appear quite unnatural and untenable. For example, it is difficult for a structuralist to say "this is an apple" because (a) such a statement fails to analyze the apple into its various elements that it is small, round, green or red in colour, smooth-skinned, etc.; and (b) because referring to the object simply as an apple rather than in terms of the elements that an observer could see would be interpreting the object, not describing it. 3. The introspection method used by the structuralists for studying behaviour can neither be regarded as objective, reliable nor valid since each introspectionist may be found to describe his own sensory experiences in his own subjective way. This was the reason why Titchener, the structuralist, doubted if psychology could ever be a science of behaviour and according to him biology alone could be a science of behaviour. ### Merits of Structuralism and Its Contribution to Education 1. Structuralism helped in establishing psychology as an independent and organised discipline by separating it from philosophy and metaphysics. 2. It provided introspection as a method of studying behaviour. Despite criticism, introspection is still regarded as one of the important methods for studying behaviour. What goes on inside one's mind during the course of a mental act can be experienced or explained only by the individual himself, and introspection is the only suitable technique that can be employed in extracting such reports. Consequently, studies in Educational Psychology can benefit from the use of this method. 3. Structuralism is credited with having taken the initiative in establishing the first psychological laboratory and employing the technique of systematic observation of the activities of the mind. It has resulted in making psychology a subject of scientific study and experimentation. What we find today in the field of psychology and Educational Psychology in terms of laboratory as well as field experiments can then safely be claimed as a positive contribution of the school of structuralism. ### Functionalism William James (1842-1910), the father of psychology in USA, is regarded as one of the pioneers of the functional school of psychology. Strongly influenced by the Darwinian theory and his own interest in anatomy, physiology and medicine, he adopted a biological approach to the study of the mind and led the field away from structuralism. He declared that something was definitely wrong in Wundt's and Titchener's approach. He claimed that consciousness or experience cannot be broken up into elements, and there is no way to separate ideas, thoughts, sensations or perceptions. Structuralism does not reveal anything about what the mind really does or how it goes about doing it. Knowing the composition or structure of the mind is not as important as understanding its activities or functions. Therefore, William James, through his doctrine of functionalism, advocated the theory of mental life and behaviour. He considered the mind to be a recent development in the evolutionary process, the function of which was to aid man's adjustment to his environment. The consciousness or mental life, according to him, is a continuous and flowing unity, a stream that carries the organism in its adaptation to the environment. Our minds are constantly forging associations, revising experiences, starting, stopping, jumping back and forth in time for adding to our functional abilities to adapt to our environment. Elaborating his viewpoint, he further concluded that habits are nothing but functions of the nervous system. When we repeat an activity a number of times, our nervous systems are altered so that the next time we engage in it we do so automatically without much conscious thought. During the subsequent years in the 19th and 20th centuries, ideas propagated by William James were consolidated on a more scientific footing by functionalists like John Dewey (1859-1952), James Rowland Angell (1869-1949), J.M. Cattell, Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) and R.S. Woodworth (1869-1962). ### Merits of Functionalism and its Contribution to Education Functionalism, regarded as a more scientific and more practical system of psychology than structuralism, helped in making the system of education as practicable and useful as possible by the following contributions: 1. It laid emphasis on functionability of the coments of the curriculum by advocating that only those things should be taught to the children which they could apply in everyday life. 2. The methods and techniques of learning were made more functionable through the ideas propagated by this system. Functionalists like Dewey felt that the emphasis of education and teaching methods should not be on the subject matter but on the needs of the students. Such learner-centred approaches in the methods of teaching opened the way for the discovery of new methods and devices in the teaching-learning process. 3. This system widened the scope of psychology and educational psychology by developing a variety of new methods beyond introspection for studying behaviour mainly based on scientific enquiry, systematic data collection and objective interpretation and by including in its sphere the study of many useful topics not covered by structuralism. 4. The field of measurement and evaluation related to psychology and education has also been enriched by functionalism with the introduction of certain valuable techniques and devices like the questionnaire, inventory, mental tests, and various other means for the objective description of behaviour. 5. Functionalism opened the way for the study of psychology in terms of the adjustment of the organism to its environment. The study and problems of the individual, normal as well as abnormal, were incorporated in the subject matter of psychology and educational psychology. 6. Functionalism paved the way for applied research in response to the application of psychology to the practical problems, particularly in the field of educational psychology. John Dewey, a strong advocate of functionalism, proved the relevance of the psychology of learning and motivation etc., by establishing his own school and integrating theory with practice. Such practical attempts combined with the theoretical ideas have been responsible for revolutionizing the modern system of education to a great extent. ### Behaviourism John B. Watson (1878-1950) put forward an entirely new doctrine, named behaviourism which was quite contrary to structuralism and functionalism. He concluded that the whole idea of consciousness is absurd. Consciousness cannot be proved by any scientific test, for consciousness cannot be seen, touched, or exhibited in a test tube. Even if it exists it cannot be studied scientifically, because admitedly it is subjected only to private inspection. Therefore, if we intend to make psychology a science of behaviour, we should concentrate only on the observable and measurable behaviour. We have to discard altogether not only the concept of consciousness but also all mentalistic notions like soul, mind, mental life, images and ideas, etc. Consequently, behaviourism as a method of studying behaviour focused its attention totally on the overt or observable behaviour. For this purpose, it tried to reduce all of man's activity, including his thinking, feeling and volition to the level of that behaviour which could be observed and objectively recorded. Thus a behaviourist is not interested in the feeling of fear (because it is not measurable) but pays attention to the changes in heart rate and blood pressure which are the effects of fear and can be objectively measured. The theory of behaviourism as propagated by Watson was in fact based on the findings of the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), the propagator of the theory of classical conditioning. In his classic experiment, Pavlov conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell by substituting that sound for the sight and smell of meat and concluded that all behaviour is a response to some stimulus in the environment. Watson tried to apply this approach in the field of human behaviour. In the famous experiment with an 11-month old baby named Albert, he conditioned the baby's behaviour to fear a rat by substituting the rat with a sudden loud noise. He concluded that behaviour is merely the response to some environmental stimulus. How we behave and why we behave in a particular way can be successfully demonstrated and explained through habit formation or conditioning. Thus conditioning through environmental influences and not hereditary endowments or innate differences is responsible for shaping the behaviour of a child. Behaviourism, thus, tried to project human beings as little more than rather complex machines which respond in a particular fashion to a particular kind of stimulus. The behaviour of an individual may, thus, be supposed to be controlled by environmental forces, and not by hereditary endowments or innate differences. His strong convictions about the stimulus response automatization and environmental influences made Watson assert boldly in 1926: Give me a dozen healthy infants, well informed and my own specified world to bring them up in and I will guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select-doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors. The doctrine of behaviourism propounded by Watson and his disciples, thus, ushered a new era in the field of psychology by making it somewhat materialistic, mechanistic, deterministic and objective like most of the physical and natural sciences. However, it suffered from a number of drawbacks, limitations and shortcomings. For this reason it has been subjected to criticism and has been modified and refined in a number of ways by contemporary psychologists like Lashley, Tolman, Hull and Skinner. While Lashley devoted himself to neuro-physiology and Tolman believed in purposive behaviourism, B.F. Skinner, a leading American behaviourist of the present age, emphasized a system of learning known as operant conditioning, quite different from the type of conditioning advocated by Pavlov and Watson. The task of behaviour modification he advocated and the teaching machines he popularized by using the principles of reward, wield significant influence in the fields of psychology, education and medicine. ### Merits of Behaviourism and its Contribution to Education 1. Behaviourists in the study of behaviour rejected the notions of structuralists for figuring out what people were feeling or seeing or the functionalists' notion of how and why they were thinking. Instead, they focused on what was actually being done by the people and observed by the observer or investigator. In this way, they introduced the scientific method for studying behaviour, which is essentially based on the objective observation of the behaviour and the events. Behaviourism thus helped in replacing introspective measures with the scientific and objective measures. 2. Behaviourists, while giving second, place to hereditary characteristics, highlighted the role of environment in shaping and modifying the behaviour of children. It helped in revolutionizing all the programmes and methods related to education, training and rehabilitation by emphasizing a greater need to provide the best possible learning situations and environment for better growth and development of the child. 3. The approach to dealing with abnormal and mentally sick persons as well as delinquent, maladjusted, backward and problem children was also drastically changed on account of the experimental findings of the behaviourists. In particular, the techniques of shaping behaviour and the behaviour modification programmes advocated by the behaviourists ushered a new era into this field. 4. Since behaviourists did not believe in entities like the 'mind', and the mind-body problem, the mental approach to human behaviour was altogether discarded. As a result, all concepts related to the doctrine of mentalism like sensation, emotion, perception were dropped from psychology and education texts, giving way to new concepts like stimulus, response, habits, learning, and conditioning. 5. Behaviourism helped in extending the scope of educational psychology to include the study of animals as a way to learn more about human nature. 6. Behaviourism advocated the use of reinforcement, and rewards (in place of punishment and unpleasant-experiences) as inducement for the acquisition of desirable behaviour and for giving up the undesirable. 7. Behaviourism highlighted the role of motivation and definition of the aims and purposes in learning and shaping of behaviour. 8. Behaviourism gave rise to new ideas and innovations in the field of learning and instruction like programmed learning and individualized self instructional programmes involving teaching machines and computer-assisted instruction. ### Gestalt Psychology The reaction against structuralism and functionalism was not confined to the USA. In Germany it gave birth to a new school called Gestalt psychology, quite distinct from behaviourism. The most prominent members of this school were Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967), and Kurt Lewin (1890-1947). 'Gestalt' is a German word, the nearest English translation of which is configuration or, more simply, an organised whole in contrast to a collection of parts. Therefore, Gestalt psychology is opposed to the atomistic and molecular approach to behaviour. According to it, an individual perceives the thing as a whole and not as a mere collection of its constituents or elements. To a Gestalt psychologist, the meaning of sensation or perception is always related to the total situation, and perception always involves a problem of organisation. A thing is perceived as a relationship within a field which includes that thing, the viewer, and a complex background incorporating the viewer's purpose and previous experiences. Gestaltists also rejected the mechanistic approach to behaviour as advocated by the behaviourists through a simple stimulus-response connection. They asserted that a sort of organisation definitely exists between the stimulus and response which helps in forming a new gestalt or an organised whole. For example, when one looks at a tree what one sees is a tree. Even though a tree consists of colour, brightness and a form but when perceived by the mind all these components become a pattern, or a gestalt. The Gestaltists further claim that when the components of a thing are brought together by the mind, something new (even more valuable and comprehensive than the original components) may emerge, reinforcing the statement: "the whole is different from the sum of its parts". As a result, human behaviour is characterized as an intelligent behaviour rather than a simple stimulus-response mechanism. An individual perceives the situation as a whole and after seeing and evaluating the different relationships in relation to the available environment, takes the proper decision in an intelligent way although quite often he does so impulsively. Gestalt psychology used the term 'insight' to describe this type of human behaviour and summarized the behavioural process as consisting of the following three steps: 1. Perception of the situation as a whole. 2. Seeing and judging the relationships between various factors involved in the situation. 3. Taking an immediate decision and behaving accordingly. Gestalt psychology, in this way, stood in strong opposition to traditional psychology comprising structuralism, functionalism and behaviourism. Specifically, it deplored the brick and mortar concept of structuralism-i.e. elements, or 'bricks' bound by association or 'mortar and were equally dissatisfied with the stimulus-response conditioning or machine-like explanation of human behaviour. ### Merits of Gestalt Psychology and its Contribution to Education 1. Gestaltists maintained that the whole is always greater than its constituents or parts. This proposition influenced the field of education in many aspects as we now discuss. (a) In the construction and organisation of the curricula and syllabi, due consideration is being given to the Gestalt principle. The concerned subject matter of a particular subject is always organised as a whole and the curriculum comprising