Introduction to Psychology

Define Psychology

Psychology is a scientific discipline that studies mental states and processes and physical states and
behaviour in humans and other animals.

Psychology is the scientific study of:

 Behaviour of the animals and humans. (Dr. R Hamm.)

 Activities of individuals in relation to their environment. (Woodworth)
 Mental activity of an organism (Guilford)
 Positive science of behaviour (Watson)
 Deals with responses to any and every kind of situation that life presents with. (B. F. Skinner)

Outline the evolution of psychology as a scientific discipline

 Philosophy" means, "love of wisdom."

 Hippocrates, often referred to as the father of modern medicine, made substantial
contributions to the field of psychology. He believed that the brain was the central organ of
intellectual activity and that mental disorders were due to brain pathology.
 In ancient Greece… the philosopher-teacher Socrates and Plato:
o Mind is separable from body and continues existing even after the body dies
o Knowledge is innate—born within us (with us).
 Aristotle (384–322 b.c.):
o Derived principles from careful observations.
o Knowledge is not pre-existing
o It grows from the experiences stored in our memories
 Plato (429–347 b.c.) was a rationalist. He believed that the route to knowledge is through
thinking and logical analysis.
 Aristotle was an empiricist. He believed that we acquire knowledge via empirical evidence,
through experience and observation.
 A rationalist does not need any experiments to develop new knowledge.
 Empiricists would:
o Design experiments
o Conduct studies in which they could observe the behaviour and processes of interest
to them.
 René Descartes (1595–1650): Descartes said that introspective, reflective method as being
superior to empirical methods. “cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). He argued that
some knowledge was inborn in humans.
 John Locke: said that humans are born without knowledge and therefore must seek
knowledge through empirical observation. Locke’s term for this view was tabula rasa
(meaning “blank slate” in Latin). The idea is that life and experience give knowledge to us.
Study of learning was the key to understanding the human mind.
 Trephining used to allow the escape of evil spirits by cutting a hole in the head.
 The ritual of exorcism to cure psychological disturbance was practiced.
 This view of afflicted individuals as possessed by evil spirits became apparent from the 1486
book, Malleus Maleficarum.
  Johann Weyer (1515–1588), a German physician and writer who wrote under the Latin name
of Joannus Wierus. In 1583 he published a book, On the Deceits of the Demons, containing a
step-by-step rebuttal (disproving) of the Malleus Maleficarum.
 Franz Josef Gall, an 18th-century physician, argued that a trained observer could discern
intelligence, moral character, and other basic personality characteristics from the shape and
number of bumps on a person’s skull. His theory gave rise to the field of phrenology.
 1879 Leipzig, Germany: Wilhelm Wundt established first experimental laboratory.
 ‘Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into Its Laws and Consequences’ is a book by Francis Galton
about the genetic inheritance of intelligence. It was first published in 1869.
 1905 Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed the first IQ test.
 1921 Ivan Pavlov developed a theory of classical conditioning.
 1948 BF Skinner proposed the theory of Operant Conditioning.

Summarise the modern schools of psychology

 Structuralism (Understanding the Structure of the Mind):

o Founded by Wilhelm Wundt and his student Edward Bradford Titchener
o Aimed to find the units or elements that make up the mind as they believed that
conscious experiences can be broken down into basic components and that these
components can be studied and understood through introspection
o Focus: on analyzing the structure of mental experience rather than on
understanding the underlying causes of behavior.
o The techniques of introspection used, involved examining one's own conscious
experiences, and structural analysis, which involved breaking down experiences into
their component parts.
o This school mainly focussed on “what happens”” when we engage in mental activity.
 Functionalism (Understanding the Processes of the Mind):
o Founded by William James and other American Psychologist
o focused on functions of the mind and behavior.
o In 1890, William James published a book “The Principles of Psychology”.
o The focus was on understanding how behavior and mental processes help
individuals adapt to their environment.
o They used observational and comparative studies, as well as introspection to study
'How’ the mind works. They also used case studies and functional analysis to
understand the relationships between behavior, mental processes, and the
environment.
 Psychoanalysis
o Sigmund Freud -Founder of Psychoanalysis (1896)
o Emphasized influence of unconscious mind on behavior
o Freud gave the theory that unconscious thoughts, feelings and memories shape our
behaviour and personality
o Views human behavior as being largely determined by unconscious forces, such as
childhood experiences and repressed desires, and seeks to uncover these underlying
influences through techniques such as free association and dream analysis.
o Id, Ego, Superego
 Behaviorism:
 o Emphasizes the study of observable behaviors and the environment's role in shaping
behavior.
o Founded by psychologist John B. Watson
o The main premise of behaviorism is that behavior can be studied scientifically
without reference to mental processes and that behavior is learned through classical
and operant conditioning.
o Techniques: classical, operant and observational learning, experiments,
reinforcements, punishments, shaping, extinction, etc
o Behaviorism rejected the method of instrospection as it cannot be tested, observed
and checked.
o Behaviorism is not interested in the feeling of fear because it is not measurable but
pays attention to changes in heart rate and blood pressure which are the effects of
fear and can be measured.
o This theory is based on Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning.
 Gestalt Psychology:
o Founded by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler.
o Gestalt means form or configuration.
o Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and
behaviour as a whole.
o Gestalt psychologists said that the mind results from the whole pattern of sensory
activity and the relationships and organizations within their patterns.
o They used introspection, observation, and experimentation
 Humanistic psychology:
o When personality development focuses upon the development of self, it is called
humanism.
o It was developed by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
o Emphasizes unique qualities of human beings, such as self-awareness, free will, and
the capacity for personal growth.
o Humanistic psychologists view people as inherently positive and capable of making
their own choices, rather than as determined by unconscious forces or
environmental factors.
o Techniques: client-centered Therapy, self-actualization, empathy, non-directive
approach, unconditional positive regard, focused listening and reflection.
 Cognitive psychology
o Focus: study of mental processes; attention, language use, perception, problem
solving, memory, and thinking
o Emphasizes how people process and store information, rather than just looking at
observable behavior. It also considers how people use mental processes to
understand, interact with, and remember their environment.
o Key figures in this school include Ulric Neisser, George Miller, and Noam Chomsky.
o Techniques: Experiments, survey, self-report measures, brain imaging, reaction time
studies, thinking out aloud procedures.
 Evolutionary psychology
 Neuroscience/Biological psychology
Enumerate the different branches of psychology

1.Pure Psychology

Deal with formulation of principles, theories, methods etc. It is divided into:

 General psychology - Study of the basic principles, problems, and methods underlying the
science of psychology, including areas such as behavior, human growth and development,
emotions etc.
 Developmental psychology - studies how people grow, develop and adapt at different life
stages. These psychologists conduct research on the cognitive, emotional, and social
changes that occur across the lifespan.
 Physiological psychology - It is the study of the physiological bases of behavior. It focuses
on how the brain functions to control our learned and unlearned behaviors, as well as our
dreams, emotions, and cognitive processes.
 Abnormal psychology - concerned with mental and emotional disorders (as anxiety
disorders, phobias, depression etc.) and with certain incompletely understood normal
phenomena (as dreams and hypnosis)
 Social psychology - investigates all aspects of personality and social interaction, and the
influence of interpersonal and group relationships on human behavior.
 Cognitive psychology - study of human thought processes and cognitions. Cognitive
Psychology is the science of how we think. It's concerned with our inner mental processes
such as attention, perception, memory, action planning, and language.

2.Applied Psychology

The study and ability to solve problems within human behavior.

Uses research-based findings to address and resolve behavioral issues.

Example: clinical psychology, counseling psychology, forensic psychology etc

Applied psychology is divided into:

 Counselling psychology - Uses a broad range of culturally-informed and culturally-sensitive

practices to help people improve their well-being, prevent and alleviate distress and
maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to function better in their lives.
 Industrial and Organizational psychology - characterized by the scientific study of human
behavior in organizations and the work place. The specialty of Industrial Organizational
Psychology addresses issues of recruitment, selection and placement, training and
development etc.
 Clinical psychology - It focuses on Emotional and psychological problems, including serious
mental illness and crisis intervention, interpersonal or social problems and dysfunction.
Along with that, behavioral problems including substance abuse and dependence etc.
 Health psychology - Health psychology examines how biological, social and psychological
factors influence health and illness. They focus on aspects such as oncology, pain
management, rehabilitation and smoking cessation
 Sports psychology - uses psychological knowledge and skills to address optimal performance
and well-being of athletes. Sports Psychologist focus on issues such as - organizational and
systemic aspects of sport consulting, developmental and social issues related to sport
participation and biobehavioral bases of sport and exercise.
 Neuro psychology - The term neuropsychology refers broadly to the study of behavior, the
mind, and their relationship with the central nervous system. It looks at characterising the
degree and pattern of cognitive impairment as well as to provide an indication of how the
deficits might impact on functioning

What is introspection?

Introspection is the process by which someone examines their own conscious experience as
objectively as possible.

Introspection needs a trained observer and repeatable stimuli.

1. The subject gets direct immediate and intuitive knowledge about the mind.

2. The subject observes his own mental process based on the stimuli.

3. It is considered to be subjective way of doing research.

List the merits and demerits of introspection

Merits:

 Economical and simple

 Can be used anytime, any where
 It does not need any laboratory or apparatus.
 It provides direct knowledge of the mental experience of the individual

Demerits:

 The state of one’s mental processes is continuously changing.

 It cannot be used by children or people with mental defects
 Data collected cannot be verified.
 Cannot observe unconscious
 Data is highly subjective.
  Sometimes the patients may not have the insight to know about their conditions or language
to describe them accurately

 Most persons would not like to reveal their private experiences such as the feelings of guilt
and shame. The report in such cases would be distorted.

Explain the observation method in psychology

 This method involves collection of data by observing behaviour by someone other than
that person.
 For eg: When a nurse is asked to make an observational report on a patient with an
undiagnosed illness, she reports her observations such as the patient’s temperature,
pulse, facial expression, restlessness, etc.
 This method is also used in studying behaviour of children and animals.
 Stages of observation include
o Selection - selecting what aspects to observe
o Recording - to keep a record of the aspect observed in a particular format
o Analysis - Examining the elements or structure of the observed aspects in detail
 Types of observation are:
o Controlled Observations
 Controlled observations (usually a structured observation) are likely to
be carried out in a psychology laboratory.
 The researcher decides where the observation will take place, at what
time, with which participants, in what circumstances and uses a
standardized procedure. Participants are randomly allocated to each
independent variable group.
 Rather than writing a detailed description of all behavior observed, it is
often easier to code behavior according to a previously agreed scale
using a behavior schedule (i.e. conducting a structured observation).
 The researcher systematically classifies the behavior they observe into
distinct categories. Coding might involve numbers or letters to describe
a characteristic, or use of a scale to measure behavior intensity.
 The categories on the schedule are coded so that the data collected can
be easily counted and turned into statistics.

Merits of controlled observation Demerits of controlled

observation
Can be easily replicated by other Controlled observations can
researchers by using the same lack validity due to the
observation schedule. This means it Hawthorne effect/demand
is easy to test for reliability characteristics. When
participants know they are
being watched they may act
differently
The data obtained from structured 
observations is easier and quicker
to analyze as it is quantitative (i.e.
numerical)
Controlled observations are fairly 
quick to conduct which means that
 many observations can take place
within a short amount of time.

o Naturalistic Observations
 This technique involves studying the spontaneous behavior of
participants in natural surroundings. The researcher simply records what
they see in whatever way they can.
 In unstructured observations, the researcher records all relevant
behavior without system. There may be too much to record and the
behaviors recorded may not necessarily be the most important so the
approach is usually used as a pilot study to see what type of behaviors
would be recorded.

Merits of naturalistic Demerits of naturalistic

observation observation
By being able to observe the flow Findings lacking the ability to be
of behavior in its own setting generalized to wider society.
studies have greater ecological
validity.
Like case studies, naturalistic Natural observations are less
observation is often used to reliable as other variables cannot
generate new ideas. be controlled.
The researcher needs to be
trained
With observations, we do not
have manipulations of variables

o Participant Vs Non-participant Observations

Participant observation:
 In participant observation, the observer becomes a part of the group of
people being observed. The observer takes some time to establish a rapport
with the group so that they start accepting her/him as one of the group
members.
 However, the degree of involvement of the observer with the group being
observed would vary depending upon the focus of the study.
Non-participant observation:
○ The researcher may decide to observe the person or event from a distance.
The person being observed may not be aware that s/he is being observed
○ For ex: There are many ways of achieving this goal. You can install a video
camera to record the classroom activities, which you can see later and
analyse.
 Merits of participant vs non- Demerits of participant vs non-
participant observations participant observations
It is easier for the researcher to blend It can be difficult to get time / privacy
into the background compared to for recording. This is a problem as
participant observation, which should they may forget details and are
mean people act more naturally. unlikely to remember direct
quotations.
It should have better reliability than If the researcher becomes too
with participant observation because involved, they may lose objectivity
the research is less involved. and become bias. “Observer Bias”.
Thus, reducing the validity of their
data.
If observations are structured, it is
relatively easy to make comparisons.
They are generally cheaper and
quicker to do that with participatory
methods, because the researcher
does not have to get to know the
respondents.

Merits and demerits of Observation Method

Merits Demerits
Economical, natural and flexible. Problems of the past cannot be studied.
Data can be analyzed, measured, classified and Equipments required can be costly.
interpreted.
Data can be verified and is reliable. Requires more time, energy and money.
Useful in observing developmental Lacks repeatability.
characteristics.
Can be used on animals, children, mentally ill Cannot study opinions and attitudes.
and unconscious patients.

Explain the importance of Experimental method in the field of Psychology

 Experimental method was made popular by Wilhelm Wundt

 In this method, the psychologist studies under carefully controlled conditions, the effect of a
dependent variable of changes in an independent variable.
 The tremendous progress in psychology during the 20th century is due to this method.
 The experimental method controls all variables.
 The steps in an experiment are:
o Identifying a problem
o Formulation of hypothesis
o Distinguish between independent and dependent variables
o Arranging the environment and collecting data
o Analysis of the result
o Testing of the hypothesis by the result of the experiment
 The advantage of this method is that experiments are objective and can be repeated and the
results confirmed.