Psychological Foundation PDF

SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHT PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION  HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY Philosophical interest in behavior and the mind dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, and India The...

SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHT PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION  HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY Philosophical interest in behavior and the mind dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, and India The discipline of psychology developed until the mid-1800s, when it evolved from the study of philosophy and began in German and American labs A young science with its experimental roots in the 19th century  DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY The term psychology derives from the Greek roots psyche (means the soul or mind) and logos (means word); literally the study of mind or soul Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. As a scientific discipline, psychology attempts to provide an understanding of how and why organisms behave as they do. Areas of study: humans & animals (behavior or observable response), heredity & environment, conscious & unconscious, normal & abnormal (by level of distress and how maladaptive or disruptive behavior is for the person or society), age range (across the life span) and theory or applied (application of psychological principles to specific problems)  EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY founders of psychology as a science and academic discipline in the 19th century were Wilhelm Wundt (Structuralism) and William James (Functionalism). Wundt, a German scientist who was the first person to be referred to as a psychologist , viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience, and believed that the goal of psychology was to identify components of consciousness and how those components combined to result in our conscious experience Wundt used introspection (“internal perception”), a process by which someone examines their own conscious experience as objectively as possible, making the human mind like any other aspect of nature that a scientist observed  EARLY SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS Wundt’s version of introspection used only very specific experimental conditions in which an external stimulus was designed to produce a scientifically observable (repeatable) experience of the mind (Danziger, 1980) - attempt to understand the structure or characteristics of the mind known as structuralism Wundt fall short of his efforts to train individuals in the process of introspection, a process that remained highly subjective, and there was very little agreement between individuals William James, first American psychologist who espoused a different perspective on how psychology should operate  EARLY SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS James was introduced to Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and accepted it as an explanation of an organism’s characteristics – natural selection leads to organisms that are adapted to their environment, including their behavior Adaptation means that a trait of an organism has a function for the survival and reproduction of the individual For James, psychology’s purpose was to study the function of behavior in the world, and as such, his perspective was known as functionalism Focused on how mental activities helped an organism fit into its environment EARLY SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS EARLY SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY: STILL ACTIVE AND ADVANCED BEYOND EARLY IDEAS THE FIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL DOMAINS Psychologists agree that there is no one right way to study the way people think or behave The various schools of thought that evolved continued to shape the way we investigate human behavior Introduction to Careers in Psychology SERVICE PROVIDERS TO INDIVIDUALS Clinical Psychology - with a specialty in understanding and helping people with psychological problems Psychiatry - branch of medicine that deals with emotional disturbances Other Mental Health Professionals – Psychoanalyst, Clinical Social Worker, Counseling Psychologists, Forensic Psychologists SERVICE PROVIDERS TO ORGANIZATIONS Industrial/Organizational Psychology - The psychological study of people at work Human Factors – specialist or ergonomics, attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so that ordinary people can use it efficiently and safely Military Psychologists - provide clinical and counseling services to soldiers dealing with highly stressful experiences School Psychology - specialists in the psychological condition of students