Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 3
What is Psychology? .................................................................................................................................. 4
Psychology as a Discipline: .................................................................................................................... 4
Psychology as a Natural Science:........................................................................................................... 4
Psychology as a Social Science: ............................................................................................................. 4
Understanding Mind & Behaviour............................................................................................................. 4
Popular Notions about the Discipline of Psychology ................................................................................. 4
Evolution of Psychology............................................................................................................................. 5
Development of Psychology in India ......................................................................................................... 6
Branches of Psychology: ............................................................................................................................ 7
Themes of Research & Applications .......................................................................................................... 8
Basic vs Applied Psychology ...................................................................................................................... 9
Psychology & Other Disciplines ................................................................................................................. 9
Psychologists at Work.............................................................................................................................. 10
Psychology in Everyday Life ..................................................................................................................... 10
Introduction:-
How Psychology was defined over a period of time:-

• Earlier it was derived from two Greek words Psyche meaning soul & logos meaning science or
study of a subject.
• Later it is defined as a scientific discipline which deals with processes underlying human
experience & behaviour.
• Finally “Psychology is defined formally as a science which studies Mental processes,
Experiences & Behaviour in different contexts.

Mental Processes: - When we say experiences are internal to the experiencing person, then we
refer to states of consciousness or awareness or mental processes. We use our mental processes
when we think or try to solve a problem, to know or remember something.

Experiences:- Things & feelings people experience through their lifetime, Experiencing Love or
hate or struggle changes your Mental processes & the way you take on life & others around you.

Behaviour:- Behaviours are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in. How you
react to certain situations on the basis of your Mental processes & Experiences is Behaviours.
Behaviours are of two types:-

Overt Behaviour – Which is visible – Throwing things in anger is an overt behaviour

Covert Behaviour – Which is not visible. – Planning silently to take a revenge is a covert
behaviour

Some Psychologists study behaviour as an association between stimulus (S) or response (R). Both
stimulus and response can be internal or external.

Stimulus – What make you react to certain situation?

Response – How you reacted to certain situation.

Ex - A girl winking at you is the stimulus, and you approaching her for a Date is a response (External)

Ex - You want to earn a lot of money is the stimulus & you working hard to get that is a response.
(Internal)
What is Psychology?

Psychology as a Discipline: Psychology studies behaviour, experience and mental processes. It seeks
to understand and explain how the mind works and how different mental processes result in different
behaviours.

Psychology considers itself as a discipline, which focuses largely on biological principles to explain
human behaviour. It assumes that all behavioural phenomena have causes which can be discovered if we
can collect data systematically under controlled conditions.

Psychology as a Natural Science: Psychology was influenced by Descartes and later on by the
developments in physics has grown by following what is called a hypothetico-deductive model. The
model suggests that scientific advancement can take place if you have a theory to explain a phenomenon.

Using the above approach psychologists have developed theories of learning, memory, attention,
perception, motivation and emotion, etc.

Psychology as a Social Science: Psychology is recognised more as a social science because it studies
the behaviour of human beings in their socio-cultural contexts. Humans are not only influenced by their
socio-cultural contexts, they also create them. Psychology as a social science discipline focuses on
humans as social beings.

Thus, psychology is a social science with focus on the individuals and communities in relation to their
sociocultural and physical environment.

Understanding Mind & Behaviour

What is mind? Is it the same as brain? It is true that mind cannot exist without brain, but mind is a
separate entity.

Example – Mental Imagery Techniques

Popular Notions about the Discipline of Psychology

Every day, almost every one of us acts like a psychologist. We try to understand why someone behaved in
the manner in which s/he did and come up with ready explanations.

There are various notions about Psychology that may be right or not like:-

• If we want some worker to perform better than s/he has in the past, we know that we will need to
push her/him.
• Maybe even use a stick because people are basically lazy.
• Men are more intelligent than women or women cause more accidents than men.

Example:- Study performed by Dweck (1975) – Why some students give up too easily wwhen faced with
a difficult problem or failure while some don’t.
Evolution of Psychology
1. Introspection or Structuralist (Wilhelm Wundt): Introspection was a procedure in which
individuals or subjects in psychological experiments were asked to describe in detail, their own
mental processes or experiences.

2. Functionalist (William James): William James believed that instead of focusing on the structure
of the mind, psychology should instead study what the mind does and how behaviour functions in
making people deal with their environment. Functionalists focused on how behaviour enabled
people to satisfy their needs.

3. Gestalt psychology: Gestalt psychologists argued that when we look at the world our perceptual
experience is more than the sum of the components of the perception. In other words, what we
experience is more than the inputs received from our environment.
For example, light from a series of flashing bulbs falls on our retina, we actually experience
movement of light. When we see a movie, we actually have a series of rapidly moving images of
still pictures falling on our retina. Thus, our perceptual experience is more than the elements.

4. Behaviourism (John Watson): John Watson rejected the ideas of mind and consciousness as
subject matters of psychology. He defined psychology as a study of behaviour or responses (to
stimuli) which can be measured and studied objectively.

5. Sigmund Freud suggested human behaviour as a dynamic manifestation of unconscious desires

& conflicts. He founded psychoanalysis as a system to understand and cure psychological
disorders.

6. Cognitive Perspective: Aspects of Gestalt approach & structuralism were combined and led to the
development of cognitive perspective which focuses on how we know about the world. Cognition
is the process of knowing. It involves thinking, understanding, perceiving, memorising, problem
solving and a host of other mental processes by which our knowledge of the world develops,
making us able to deal with the environment in specific ways.

7. Constructivism: Modern cognitive psychology views human beings as actively constructing their
minds through their exploration into the physical and the social world. This view is sometimes
called constructivism.
Russian psychologist Vygotsky suggested that mind is a joint cultural construction and emerges as
a result of interaction between children and adults.

pg. 5
Development of Psychology in India

1915 - Calcutta University – First syllabus of experimental psychology & Psychology laboratory.

1916 – Calcutta University – First Department of Psychology.

1938 – Calcutta University – First Department of Applied Psychology.

1922 - Professor G. Bose established Indian Psychoanalytical Association.

Today 70+ universities in India offer courses in psychology.

Branches of psychology:-
1. Cognitive Psychology: investigates mental processes involved in acquisition, storage,
manipulation, and transformation of information received from the environment along with its
use and communication. The major cognitive processes are attention, perception, memory,
reasoning, problem solving, decision-making and language.

2. Biological psychology: Biological Psychology focuses on the relationship between behaviour and
the physical system, including the brain and the rest of the nervous system, the immune system,
and genetics.

3. Developmental Psychology: Developmental Psychology studies the physical, social and

psychological changes that occur at different ages and stages over a life-span, from conception to
old age.

4. Social Psychology: Social Psychology explores how people are affected by their social
environments, how people think about and influence others.

5. Cross-cultural and Cultural Psychology: Cross-cultural and Cultural Psychology examines the
role of culture in understanding behaviour, thought, and emotion.

6. Environmental Psychology: Environmental Psychology studies the interaction of physical factors

such as temperature, humidity, pollution, and natural disasters on human behaviour.

7. Health Psychology: Health Psychology focuses on the role of psychological factors (for example,
stress, anxiety) in the development, prevention and treatment of illness.

8. Clinical & Counselling Psychology: Clinical and Counselling Psychology deals with causes,
treatment and prevention of different types of psychological disorders such as anxiety,
depression, eating disorders and chronic substance abuse.

9. Industrial/Organisational Psychology: Industrial/Organisational Psychology deals with

workplace behaviour, focusing on both the workers and the organisations that employ them.
Industrial/organisational psychologists are concerned with training employees, improving work
conditions, and developing criteria for selecting employees.

10. Educational Psychology: Educational Psychology studies how people of all ages learn.
Educational psychologists primarily help develop instructional methods and materials used to
train people in both educational and work settings. They are also concerned with research on
issues of relevance for education, counselling and learning problems.
11. Sports Psychology: Sports Psychology applies psychological principles to improve sports
performance by enhancing their motivation.
 12. Other Emerging branches of Psychology: The interdisciplinary focus on research and
application of psychology has led to the emergence of varied areas like -
a. Aviation Psychology
b. Space Psychology
c. Military Psychology
d. Forensic Psychology
e. Rural Psychology
f. Engineering Psychology
g. Managerial Psychology
h. Community Psychology
i. Psychology of women
j. Political Psychology

Themes of Research & Applications

Theme 1: Psychology like other sciences attempts to develop principles of behaviour and mental
processes

• Understanding & Explanation of behaviour & mental events

• Draw conclusions which are supported by data
• Design & conduct experiments or studies under controlled environment
• To develop general principles about behaviour & mental processes
• Conclusions drawn from these studies apply to everybody

Theme 2: Human behaviour is a function of the attributes of persons and environment

• Kury Lewin (B=F(PE)

• Behaviour is the product of person & his environment.
• Each person varies in Intelligence, interest, values, aptitude & other characteristics.
• Different psychology focus on individual differences
• Core Psychological processes are universal
• Heredity vs Environment.

Theme 3: Human behaviour is caused

• All human behaviour can be explained in terms of causes which are internal or external
• Not only one cause

Theme 4: Understanding of human behaviour is culturally constructed

 • Most of the theories or models are Euro-American in Nature & doesn’t help in
understanding other cultures like Asian, African.
• Feminists claim that psychology offers a male perspective & ignores female perspective.

Theme 5: Human behaviour can be controlled and modified through the application of psychological
principles
• To improve quality of life
• Interventions in the life of needy people that has made this subject Popular
• Diagnose & resolve problems via various branches of Psychology.

Basic vs Applied Psychology

Basic psychology provides us with theories and principles that form the basis of application of psychology and
applied psychology provides us with different contexts in which the theories and principles derived from
research can be meaningfully applied.

Psychology & Other Disciplines

Any discipline, which deals with people, would definitely recognise the relevance of the knowledge of
psychology. In studying brain and behaviour, psychology shares its knowledge with neurology, physiology,
biology, medicine and computer science.

In studying human behaviour (its meaning, growth and development) in a socio-cultural context, psychology
shares its knowledge with anthropology, sociology, social work, political science and economics.

In studying mental activities involved in creation of literary texts, music and drama, psychology shares its
knowledge with literature, art and music.

Philosophy – Until 19th century, the concern was what is the nature of the mind or how do humans come
to know their motivations and emotions were the concerns of philosophers. In the later part of the 19th century,
Wundt and other psychologists adopted an experimental approach to these questions and contemporary
psychology emerged. Despite the emergence of psychology as a science, it greatly draws from philosophy,
particularly with respect to methods of knowing, and various domains of human nature.

Medicine - Doctors have realised that the maxim, healthy body requires a healthy mind, is actually true. A
large number of hospitals now employ psychologists. The role of psychologists in preventing people from
engaging in health hazardous behaviours.

Economics, Political Science & Sociology- American economists have used data on consumer sentiments to
predict economic growth.

Computer Science- From the very beginning, the effort of computer science has been in mimicking the human
mind. One can see it in terms of how a ‘computer’ is structured, its memory organised, sequential and
simultaneous (read parallel) processing of information.

Law & Criminology- A skilled lawyer and a criminologist requires knowledge of psychology to understand
the nature of crime & asks right questions or presents right facts before court.
Mass Communication- The print and the electronic media have entered in our lives in a very big way. They
have a major influence on our thinking, attitudes and our emotions. If they have brought us closer together,
they have also reduced cultural diversities. The impact of media on the formation of attitudes of children and
their behaviour is a domain where both these disciplines come together. Psychology also helps in developing
strategies for better and effective communication.

Music & Fine Arts- Music and psychology have converged in many areas. Scientists have made use of music
in raising work performance. Music and emotions is another area in which a number of studies have been
carried out.

Architecture & Engineering- Spacious & Comfortable rooms or architecture gives peace to human brain &
behaviour.

Psychologists at Work
Clinical psychologists specialise in helping clients with behavioural problems by providing therapy for
various mental disorders and in cases of anxiety or fear, or with stresses at home or at work. They work either
as private practitioners or at hospitals, mental institutions, or with social agencies.

Counselling psychologists work with persons who suffer from motivational and emotional problems. The
problems of their clients are less serious than those of the clinical psychologists.

Community psychologists generally focus on problems related to community mental health. They work for
mental health agencies, private organisations and state governments.

School psychologists work in educational systems, and their roles vary according to the levels of their
training. For example, some school psychologists only administer tests, whereas others also
interpret test results to help students with their problems.

Organisational psychologists render valuable help in dealing with problems that the executives and
employees of an organisation tend to face in their respective roles.

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