Module 1: An Introduction to

Psychology

What you will learn:

An introductory definition of general psychology
What psychologists do
The main branches of psychology
How psychology is applied in the real world
The history of general psychology and the key founders
Psychology in the UK specifically

1.1 Introduction
Psychology is an interesting field which
covers a wide range of topics; each with
their own unique practical applications.

This module serves as the introduction to this vast

discipline, which will form a foundational knowledge for the
following modules, which will cover several specific
psychologies, research methods and psychology at work.

However, this module will introduce psychology as a whole,

describe what a psychologist is and provide a brief outline of
the five psychologies to be covered in the following modules
(social, cognitive, educational, biological and
developmental).

A basic historical outline will also be provided, as will a

shortened list of founding fathers of psychology.
Fact

Psychologists have recognised over

400 types of phobias
Source: The Daily Mail 2001

1.2 What is Psychology?

The basic definition of psychology is the
scientific study of the human brain and the
influences that lead to how an individual
thinks, feels and/or acts.

It looks at all forms of behaviour, including those that are

manifested in the conscious and unconscious states. Its
overarching goal is to be able to positively contribute to
society, in terms of understanding the link between the human
brain and the behaviours of an individual or group of
individuals.

As an academic field, there are endless research

possibilities, which can be both narrowed and general in
scope. It is also widely cross-referenced between related
fields such as human development, health and the world of
sports. It does this primarily by looking at the social
behaviours and cognitive processes of humans in relation to
these focus areas.

In a clinical application, psychological theories and concepts

are used in the assessment and treatment of those suffering
from any number of mental problems. It also aims to understand
the underlying causes of human behaviour and their change over
time.

Psychology, on the whole, employs both objective and logical

approaches to the observation, measurement and analysis of
human behaviour. These observations are often supported by
theories that indicate various interpretations, explanations
and predictions about the ways in which an individual
interacts with the world around them.

1.3 What do Psychologists Do?

The role of a psychologist is quite varied
depending on the branch of psychology they
are interested in.

Psychology is the study of how humans think, act and feel,

therefore it is the duty of a psychologist to do just that –
explain the current and changing behaviours of an individual
and/or group. In other words they apply the knowledge obtained
from the theoretical part of psychology to a more practical
one.

Psychologists typically take on one of three pathways –

teaching, research or the practical application.
Those who engage in the teaching aspect are usually found
within the university setting and are more often than not
linked to the research side of things.

Researching psychologists would seek to better understand the

relationships between behaviour and mental processes, or an
individual and another, or a group. In terms of mental
processes, a psychologist might look at the application of
theories on attention, cognition, emotions, intelligence,
motivation and personality, amongst others.

Psychologists within the clinical field offer a number of

therapeutic services. They can be found in clinics, school
settings (not just at the university level) and other forms of
medical facilities.

The potential roles of a psychologist will be covered in

greater detail within the final module of this course.

1.4 The Main Branches of Psychology

There are numerous branches of psychology;
each with their own specialisation in terms
of how they explain or understand human
behaviour.

While it would be impossible to cover them all within this

course, five of the most predominant forms will be explored
throughout. This section will briefly outline social,
cognitive, educational, biological and developmental
psychology.

Social psychology
Social psychology is the branch that looks at how an
individual interacts within their social environment or
society. Just like in psychology as a broader topic, the
social discipline seeks to understand how an individual
behaves in terms of their thoughts, actions and feelings in
relation to society or group settings. Social psychology is
both a practical and research driven field.

Some of the biggest contributions to social psychology have

been:

Social identity theory – how one views themselves in

relation to others
Drive theory – the behavioural motivations of an
individual when in a group setting
Attribution theory – how one justifies or understands
the behaviour of others

Social psychology will be explained in further detail in

Module 2.

Cognitive psychology
The study of how one’s mind processes information is known as
cognitive psychology.
Within this branch of psychology, the brain is often compared
to a computer processing program, as they work in much the
same way. Cognitive psychology is mainly a research-based form
of psychology.

Within the field of cognitive psychology, while it will be the

focus of Module 3, there have been many discoveries that have
helped to explain how one processes new information. Some of
the processes covered in cognitive psychology are language,
memory, problem-solving and reasoning, and concept formation.
Each of these look at a specific method of processing and/or
recalling information, which influence the behaviour of an
individual or group.

Educational psychology
Educational psychology looks at the learning stages of humans
of all ages. It is frequently confused with developmental
psychology or believed to only concern those in the childhood
and adolescence stages of life. It looks specifically at the
cognitive and behavioural characteristics of learning and the
processes that best suit specific learning outcomes or
challenges. Although a more academic component is necessary in
this field of psychology, it tends to be more of a practical
application, with many educational psychologies working within
an education system.

There are four perspectives of educational psychology; the

cognitive, constructivist, developmental and behavioural
perspectives. Each of these highlights a different way of
understanding how people learn.
A more in-depth look at educational psychology will be the
basis of Module 4.

Biological psychology
The fourth branch of psychology to be covered within this
course is that of biological psychology. This form of
psychology will be the focus of Module 5 and is often defined
as the application of biological terms to the field of
psychology as a means of understanding human behaviour.
Biological psychology is a research-based study, the outcomes
of which are then later applied on a practical level.

There are five key features of biological psychology, all of

which help to shape the understanding of human behaviour in
biological terms.

These features are recognised as adaptation, natural selection

and evolution, heredity, reductionism and socio-biology.
Concepts of monism and dualism are also used within this
discipline to help understand how the mind and body work in
relation to each other.

Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology looks at the changes in human
behaviour over the course of a lifetime. Focused predominantly
in the realm of research, developmental psychology uses life
stages to explain human behaviour and how an individual
interprets the world around them as they grow.

Attachment theory and ecological systems theory are used to

explain human behaviour at various points in an individual’s
life. But, this form of psychology also uses several different
life stages to explain these behaviours as well.

These life stages include:

The life stages of developmental psychology – considers

all aspects of life from in-uteri to death
The life stages of moral development – focused on how an
individual develops a sense of right and wrong
The life stages of psychosocial development – consists
of eight different life stages and the desirable traits
acquired at each

Module 6 will explore the topic of developmental psychology in

greater detail.

Activity 1: Psychological Branch Library

Estimate time: 20 minutes

So far five branches of psychology have been introduced and

will be looked at in greater detail in the coming modules. In
this activity, you must spend a few minutes looking at other
types of psychologies. Once you have three to five other
branches, reflect on the following questions.

How easy was it to identify additional psychologies?

What do they entail?
Were there any that you found that were linked to one of
the five already acknowledged within this module? If so,
how?
Were the additional branches clinical or academic in
 nature?
What are the practical applications of each?
How do they help to shape the overall understanding of
human behaviour?
Were there any other perspectives that these
psychologies offered?

1.5 A Brief History of Psychology

The history of psychology is one that is
ever-changing and quite interesting.

Module 8 will explore some of the more fascinating points of

the discipline’s history, along with highlighting how the
practice has changed over time. This section, however, will
look at the history of psychology in terms of its initial
development, rather than how specific concepts and theories
came to be. This will be achieved by outlining four aspects of
psychological history: the early years, the formalisation of
psychology, psychology in the UK and modern psychology.

The early years

The beginnings of psychology are rooted in philosophy.
Starting with Ancient Egypt, the Greeks and the Romans,
philosophers at this time have been shown to question the idea
of the mind and the motives that make a person act. Plato and
Aristotle are the most notable Greek philosophers quoted and
linked to the development of this sort of thinking. Both will
be mentioned on several occasions throughout the following
modules.

It is also of value to note that the earliest stages of

psychology were often referred to as a form of study that
seeks to understand the soul. This, of course, falls under the
Christian way of thinking, as opposed to the line of
postulation that was established under Greek philosophical
terms.

The formalisation of psychology

The term “psychology” was coined and first used in 1590,
although it did not gain mainstream usage and attention until
many years later, in 1732. This, however, does not mean that
the formal forms of psychology were practiced at this point,
but rather the concept of the thinking self was beginning to
gain recognition.

The study of psychology as a discipline did not begin until

1879. This is when it was officially recognised as a
scientific study, therefore gaining the funding and attraction
needed to build the field to what it is today.
This same inaugural study was conducted by German researcher,
Wilhelm Wundt. He is best known for founding the first lab
used solely for psychological research in Germany, and as the
first man to categorise himself as a psychologist. Further
information on Wundt will be provided in Module 3, which
covers cognitive psychology. This period is best known as the
development of experimental psychology.

Following the emergence of experimental psychology, naturally

the field of applied psychology also began to develop. This
led to the creation of educational theory and the application
of psychology into several fields, such as the legal system
and business in 1890. Sigmund Freud introduced psychoanalysis
in 1896 and the beginnings of mental testing was initiated
throughout this same decade.

Fact
 The levels of anxiety faced by a
psychiatric patient in the 1950s is comparable to that of a
high school student at present.
Source: Psychology Today 2008

Psychology in the UK
The British were much slower to catch on to the field of
psychology than most of Europe and the United States. However,
this does not mean that there is not a significant history at
all.

In 1876, the first psychology journal was published in the UK.

Mind was founded by Alexander Bain and edited by George Croom
Robertson. The publication focused on various aspects of
psychology, including experimental psychology and the
challenge it presented to the former idea of mental
philosophy. Despite its British origins it was filled with
articles written almost exclusively by American researchers.

Nearly ten years later, in 1884, a researcher by the name of

Francis Galton opened the first anthropometric laboratory.
Here individuals were tested on a number of attributes – both
physical and perceptual. This was followed by an introduction
of a psychology department and lectureship at the University
of Cambridge in 1897.
In the early 1900s two significant things happened in terms of
British contributions to the history of psychology. First, the
British Psychological Society was founded in 1901, although
initially as the Psychological Society until it changed its
name five years later. Secondly, James Ward and W.H.R. Rivers
co-founded the British Journal of Psychology in 1904. Both
contributions have enabled the field of psychology to grow and
reach wider audiences.

Modern psychology
Following the early 20th century contributions, modern
psychology has also presented numerous findings and the
emergence of new theories, concepts and even branches of
psychology. Many of these will be covered in the following
modules, when discussing the more specific topics of
psychological disciplines.

Take a Quick Recap Test

1.6 The Founders of Psychology

The foundation of psychology has been
described, as have several of the branches
of this field, but, there are many
individuals that have helped to give
psychology the name it has earned over the
years.

These individuals have contributed to the development of

psychology in ways that have helped to shape and broaden its
scope, while paving a way for future research. Throughout the
following modules other important psychologists will be
introduced. Below are just a few of the founding contributors
of the discipline, including Sir William Hamilton, Sir Francis
Galton, Ivan Pavlov, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Spearman.

Sir William Hamilton

Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856) was a moral philosopher.
While he did not practice psychology, per se, he was
instrumental in changing the term mental philosophy to what it
is known as today – psychology. Mental philosophy was the
original study of the mind, however, it lacked the more
scientific approach that psychology was able to give it.

Sir Francis Galton

Anthropometric lab practices were mentioned in the previous
section. This is the result of Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911),
who is best known for the development of tests that could
provide information on the physical and perceptual traits of
an individual or group of individuals.

Galton was not a psychologist, even though his studies were

closely tied to the practice. Yet, he had several other
contributions to psychology aside from his work on
anthropometrics. He is also recognised as being the first
researcher to use a statistical method when conducting a study
of human beings in terms of inheritance and intelligence. From
this work, Galton introduced new methods of obtaining data in
the research setting. These are now known as questionnaires
and surveys.

Galton was also the person to coin the term eugenics (a

practice that seeks to improve the quality of the human
population through genetics). He was also the first person to
introduce and discuss the impacts of nature versus nurture.

Ivan Pavlov
The next contributor is Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Pavlov was a
Russian researcher who had a primary interest in animal
sciences, or more specifically the digestive glands of dogs.
He is also known for his cross-over research which led to the
application of psychology to both humans and animals.
One of the most significant contributions to come from Pavlov
in terms of psychology, was his work on classical
conditioning, or the procedures that he developed to test this
theory. Classical conditioning is a set of processes that are
learned by a living being (such as a human or animal). As dogs
were in his primary focus of study, it made sense that he
would look at how a biological stimulant could be paired with
a previously neutral, or unimportant, one. An example of
classic conditioning is a dog associating the sound of a bell
to feeding time. This works much in the same way as a dog
thinking the sound of a can being opened would mean he was
about to be fed.

Sigmund Freud
Perhaps the most easily recognisable name in the field of
psychology is none other than Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud
is known for his over-the-top studies, most of which fell
under the category of psychoanalysis. He is, in fact, the
creator of this area of psychology, which is a method of
psychotherapy, and claimed to be a neurologist first and a
psychoanalyst second. He indicated that this practice was
useful in treating symptoms and manifestations of
psychopathology using conversation between a psychoanalyst and
their patient.

Freud held beliefs about the mind and basic brain functions
related to human behaviour, which stemmed from his own
clinical observations. This led to assumptions based on
interpretive methods and introspection.
He also focused much of his research on trying to understand
and resolve problems related to unconscious conflict and
mental distress.

Charles Spearman
The contributions of Charles Spearman (1863-1945) will be the
final note of this section.

Spearman was a British psychologist that is best known for his

use of statistics, as well as introducing the concept of
factor analysis. Factor analysis is a method in statistics
that is used to describe variables within a study in terms of
those observed, unobserved, or linked to others. These
variables are known as factors. He is also recognised for his
contributions, because of the Spearman’s rank correlation
coefficient. The former theory was developed while he was
researching a two-factor theory of intelligence, of which the
study received publication in 1901.

Aside from this, Spearman felt that everyone is born with a

certain degree of intelligence. He believed that intelligence
could be narrowed down to a number, which would correlate to a
specific skill, thus leading to an understanding of how skills
or traits can influence each other, be it positively,
negatively, or on a neutral basis.

Activity 2: Founding Father Library

Estimated time: 20 minutes

The people that have influenced the beginnings of psychology

were identified as founding fathers. Of course, not all of
these important contributors were included in this module, nor
will they all be covered throughout the course. Take a few
minutes to research additional contributors before answering
the questions below. Hint: consider the psychologies you
looked at in the first activity.

Who were the influencers you identified?

What were their contributions?
How did these new perspectives help to shape the wider
discipline of psychology?
Do you think the discipline could have proceeded without
this input?
Were there any female contributors?
Why do you think it is more difficult to identify female
 psychologists, especially in contemporary psychology?
Were there any team type contributors?
If so, was one team member more recognised for their
discovery than the others?
Why do you think that was the case?

Assignment
An Introduction to Psychology

Time: 30+ minutes

Hopefully, you took in as much of the information in this

module as possible. To find out how well you have done,
complete the following worksheet.

Download the worksheet below and complete.

Download Worksheet (PDF)

Module Summary
Serving as the introduction to the course, this first module
sought to provide a basic level of understanding on the topic
of psychology. This included a definition of psychology, which
was indicated as the study of the human brain and how an
individual thinks, acts and feels, and a description of the
difference between the academic and clinical applications of
this field.

Understanding what a psychologist does followed the previous

section by highlighting the three typical roles as being in
the capacity of a teacher, researcher or practitioner.

The main branches of psychology were discussed, the five to be

covered in the following five modules were touched on. These
included social, cognitive, educational, biological and
development psychology.
A brief history of psychology was provided and broken into
four difference sections – the early years, the formalisation
of psychology, psychology in the UK and modern psychology.

Finally, the founders of psychology were outlined along with a

summary of their contributions. These significant
psychologists were Sir William Hamilton, Sir Francis Galton,
Ivan Pavlov, Sigmund Freud and Charles Spearman.

The history and key contributors will continue to be expanded

upon in the coming modules. However, upon completion of this
module, one should have the level of knowledge required to
proceed with the remainder of the course.

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