Chapter One: Essence of Psychology

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
Define psychology
Show historical roots of psychology as a science
Point out the goals of psychology
Identify early schools and modern perspectives of psychology
Discuss the basis of differences among perspectives of
psychology
Identify subfields of psychology
Differentiate the major research methods in psychology
Explore the major steps of scientific research in psychology
1.1. Definition of Psychology and Related Concepts

 The word "psychology" is derived from two Greek words

'psyche' and -logos‟.

 Psyche refers to mind, soul or sprit while logos means study,

knowledge or discourse.

 Therefore, by combining the two Greek words the term

"psychology" epistemologically refers to the study of the
mind, soul, or sprit and it is often represented by the Greek
letter ᴪ (psi) which is read as ("sy").
 Cont’d
 The widely agreed definition of psychology
 Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and the
underlying mental process
 In the above definition, there are three aspects

Science : psychology uses scientific methods to study

behavior and mental processes in both humans and animals.

Behavior: refers both overt actions and reactions and

covert behavior.
Mental processes: refer to all the internal,
covert activities of our minds, such as
thinking, feeling, remembering, etc.
Figure 2 Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior.
1.2. The four goals of psychology
A. Description: It involves observing the behavior and
noticing everything about it. It is a search for answers for
questions like:
 What is happening?
 Where does it happen?
 To whom does it happen?
 Under what circumstances does it seem to happen?.

Eg. A teacher might notice that a young freshman boy in his

general psychology classroom is behaving oddly. He is not
turning to his homework, his results are slipping badly, and he
seems to have a very negative attitude toward the course.
 Cont’d

B. Explanation (Why is it happening?)

 Explanation is about trying to find reasons for the observed behavior. This
helps in the process of forming theories of behavior.

 It is explanation of a set of observations or facts.

C. Prediction(forecasting about what will happen in the future)

 Will it happen again?

 It is about determining what will happen in the future.

 In the above example, the case of the freshman boy, the psychologist or
counselor would predict (based on previous research into similar situations)
that this boy may never be able to reach her full learning potential.
 Cont’d
D. Control: How can it be changed?
 In the example above, certain learning strategies can be used to
help the girl so that she will be successful in her academic
endeavor.
 How can it be changed?
1.3. Historical Background and Major Perspectives in
Psychology
 Relatively psychology is young discipline about 125 years
old.

 It began as a science of its own in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany,

with the establishment of a psychology laboratory in the
University of Leipzig by Wilhelm Wundt.

 Wundt developed the technique of objective introspection to

scientifically examine mental experiences.

 Wundt as its founder or "father of modern psychology .”

1.3.1. Early schools of psychology

 A school of thought is a system of thinking about a certain

issue, say, for example, about human behavior or mind.

 You may, for example, think that human behavior is all the
result of inheritance(biological approach), or you, may,
instead, say it is all the result of interaction with the
environment (an environmental approach ).

 There are five such early schools of psychology.

 1.Structuralism

 structuralism views psychology

as a study of structure of mind.

 It is an expansion of Wundt‘s
ideas by his student named Edward
Titchener (1867-1927).

 Titchener is the founder of structuralism.

 The goal of structuralists was to find out the units or elements,

which make up the mind such as; sensations, images, and feelings.

 The best-known method used by them was introspection -looking

inward into our consciousness.
 2. Functionalism ( study of function of the mind)

 William James (1848-1910), who was the first American

psychologist and the author of the first psychology textbook was
the founder.
 Unlike Wundt and Titchener, James focused on how the mind
allows people to function in the real world; how people work,
play, and adapt to their surroundings, a viewpoint he called
functionalism.
 He developed many research
methods other than introspection
including questionnaires, mental tests
and objective descriptions of behavior.
 According to functionalists, psychological processes are
adaptive. They allow humans to survive and to adapt
successfully to their surroundings.
3.Gestalt psychology (study of the whole mind)

 Max Wertheimer and his colleagues founded this school of thought

in Germany in the 20th century.

 Gestalt psychologists argued that the mind is not made up of

combinations of elements.

 The German word "gestalt" refers to form, whole, configuration or

pattern.

Figure Closure suggests that we will perceive a complete circle and

rectangle rather than a series of segments.
 According to them "the whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.”

 Generally what is common to all the three schools of though

is the fact that they all try to examine the human mind;
which is an internal, no-visible, and hidden experience of
human beings.

 This has led to the birth of a new paradigm of thought about

psychology called behaviorism.
4.Behaviorism

 Behaviorists view psychology as a study of observable and

measurable behaviors.
 John B. Watson , E. Thorndike and F. Skinner were proponents

 For Watson, psychology was the study

of observable and measurable behavior
and nothing more about hidden mental
processes.
As to Watson, behaviorism had three other important
characteristics in addition to its focus on behavior;

conditioned response as the elements or building blocks of

behavior,
learned rather than unlearned behaviors,
and focus on animal behavior.

 He believed that all behaviors are learned but not inherited

and learners are passive and reactive (they are not initiating
their learning but they respond when the environment
stimulates them).
They used experimental observation as a means of
study
5. Psychoanalysis

 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is the founder of psychoanalysis.

 Psychology studies about the components of the unconscious

part of the human mind.

 As a physician, Sigmund Freud became convinced that some of

the physical illnesses of his patients didn‘t have medical or
bodily causes; but non-physical or emotional causes.
 Freud argued that conscious
awareness is the tip of the
mental iceberg beneath the
visible tip lays the
unconscious part of the
mind.

 He used clinical case studies

(hypnosis and dream analysis) as
a method.
1.3.2. Modern schools of psychology
A. Psychodynamic perspective –

 Emphasizes the unconscious dynamics within the individual such as

inner forces, conflicts or instinctual energy. The psychodynamic
approach emphasizes:

 The influence of unconscious mental behavior on everyday behavior

 The role of childhood experiences in shaping adult personality
 The role of intrapersonal conflict in determining human behavior

 Psychodynamic perspective tries to dig below the surface of a person's

behavior to get into unconscious motives; psychodynamists think of
themselves as archaeologists of the mind.
 2. Behavioral Perspective
 It emphasizes the role of learning experiences in shaping the
behavior of an organism.

 It is concerned with how the environment affects the person‘s

actions.

 Behaviorists focus on environmental conditions (e.g. rewards, and

punishments) that maintain or discourage specific behaviors.

 The behavioral perspective is sometimes called the "black box"

approach in psychology because it treats the mind as less useful
in understanding human behavior and focus on what goes in to
and out of the box, but not on the processes that take place inside.
 Stimuli Response
Mental
process

 This means, behaviorists are only interested in the effects of

the environment (input) on behavior (output) but not in the
process inside the box.
3. Humanistic Perspective

 According to this perspective, human

behavior is not determined either by
unconscious dynamics or the environment.

Rather it emphasizes the uniqueness of human beings and focuses

on human values and subjective experiences.

 This perspective places greater

importance on the individual‘s free will.

 The goal of humanistic psychology was helping people to

express themselves creatively and achieve their full potential or
self-actualization (developing the human potential to its fullest).
4.Cognitive Perspective

 It emphasizes what goes on in people's heads; how people reason,

remember, understand language, solve problems, explain
experiences and form beliefs.

 This perspective is concerned

about the mental processes.

 show how people's thoughts and explanations affect their actions,

feelings, and choices.

 Techniques used to explore behavior from a cognitive perspective

include electrical recording of brain activity, electrical stimulation
and radioactive tracing of metabolic activity in the nervous
system.
5. Biological Perspective-
 It focuses on studying how bodily events or functioning of the
body affects behavior, feelings, and thoughts.
 It holds that the brain and the various brain chemicals affect
psychological processes such as learning, performance,
perception of reality, the experience of emotions, etc.

 This perspective emphasizes that biology and behavior interact

in a complex way; biology affecting behavior and behavior in
turn affecting biology.
6. Socio-cultural Perspective
 It focuses on the social and cultural
factors that affects human behavior.

E.g. Social psychologists examine how group membership affects

attitudes and behaviors, why authority and other people (like
spouse, lovers, friends, bosses, parents, and strangers) affect each of
us.

 Cultural psychologists also examine how cultural rules and

values (both explicit and unspoken) affect people's development,
behavior, and feelings.
 Summary of School of psychology

School of Description Important contributors

psychology

Structuralism Uses the method of introspection to identify the basic Wilhelm Wundt, Edward B. Titchener
elements or “structures” of psychological experience

Functionalism Attempts to understand why animals and humans have William James
developed the particular psychological aspects that they
currently possess
Psychodynamic Focuses on the role of our unconscious thoughts, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler,
feelings, and memories and our early childhood Erik Erickson
experiences in determining behavior
Behaviorism Based on the premise that it is not possible to John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner
objectively study the mind, and therefore that
psychologists should limit their attention to the study of
behavior itself

Cognitive The study of mental processes, including perception, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Sir Frederic
thinking, memory, and judgments Bartlett, Jean Piaget

Social-cultural The study of how the social situations and the cultures Fritz Heider, Leon Festinger, Stanley
in which people find themselves influence thinking and Schachter
behavior
1.4. Branches/Sub Fields of Psychology

 Developmental psychology – studies the physical, cognitive and

psychological changes across the life span.

 Personality Psychology - it focuses on the relatively enduring

traits and characteristics of individuals. Personality
psychologists study topics such as self-concept, aggression,
moral development, etc.

 Social Psychology - deals with people‘s social interactions,

relationships, social perception, and attitudes.

 Cross-cultural Psychology - examines the role of culture in

understanding behavior, thought, and emotion.
 Cont’d

 Industrial psychology – applies psychological principles in

industries and organizations to increase the productivity of that
organization.

 Forensic psychology - applies psychological principles to

improve the legal system (police, testimony, etc..).

 Educational Psychology - concerned with the application of

psychological principles and theories in improving the
educational process including curriculum, teaching, and
administration of academic programs.

 Health Psychology - applies psychological principles to the

prevention and treatment of physical illness and diseases.
 Cont’d

 Clinical Psychology:-is a field that applies psychological

principles to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of
psychological disorders.

 Counseling Psychology: - is a field having the same concern

as clinical psychology but helps individuals with less severe
problems than those treated by clinical psychologists.
1.5. Research Methods in Psychology

A. Basic terms
 Scientific method - a process of testing ideas through
systematic observations, experimentations, and statistical
analysis.
 Theory - is an integrated set of principles about observed
facts that is intended to describe and explain some aspects
of experience.
 Hypotheses - is a tentative proposition about the
relationship between two or more variables or phenomena.
E.g. Females have high self - confidence in making
decisions than males.
Figure The scientific method of research includes proposing hypotheses,
conducting research, and creating or modifying theories based on results
B. Major types of research methods

There are three major types of research methods: descriptive, correlational

and experimental research methods.
1. Descriptive research - in this type of research, the researcher simply
records what she/he has systematically observed.

Naturalistic observation
Case study
Survey

Naturalistic observation
 2. Correlational research -is a research method that measures the
relationship between two or more variables.
Eg. The relation b/n self-esteem and academic achievement

Figure Examples of Scatter Plots

Some examples of relationships between two variables as shown in scatter plots.
Note that the pearson correlation coefficient (r) between variables that have
curvilinear relationships will likely be close to zero.
r= range from+1to-1 including zero
3. Experimental Research

It is a research method that allows researchers to study the cause

and effect relationship between variables.
Eg.
Independent and dependent variables

When psychologists set up an

experiment, they think, “If I do X,
then my participants will do Y.”
The “X” represents the independent
variable. The “Y” represents the
dependent variable.
 Comparison of research methods
Method Uses Limitation
1. Descriptive To create a snapshot of the Does not assess relationships among
current state of affairs variables. May be unethical if participants
do not know they are being observed.

 Naturalistic Reveals phenomenon as Generalizability

observation they occur out side of the observer effect
laboratory. Can’t establish causation
 Case study Reveals individual  Generalizability
psychological dynamics  Can’t establish causation
 Survey Reveal attitudes or self- Self-report bias.
reported behavior of Can’t establish causation
large sample of people.
2. Correlation Reveals relationship  Cannot be used to draw inferences
between variables as they about the causal relationships between
exist in nature. and among the variables.

3. Experimental Demonstrate causal  Results may not apply other cases.

relationship  Cannot experimentally manipulate
many important variables. May be
expensive and time consuming.
 C. Steps of scientific research

 Step one - Defining the Problem

 Step two - Formulating the Hypothesis
 Step three - Testing the Hypothesis
 Step four - Drawing Conclusions
 Step five - Reporting Results
Questions for discussion
1. Compare and contrast the five early schools of thought in
psychology.
2. Compare and contrast the modern psychological perspectives.
3. Please reflect on the relationship between the goals of psychology
and the three types of research methods using examples.
4. Mention the steps of conducting research in psychology.
5. A psychologist is interested in exploring the effect of tutorial
support on students‘ academic performance and assign students
into two groups. Students in group one get the tutorial support and
those in group two do not. In this example, what is the
a) Dependent variable
b) Independent variable
c) Control group
d) Experimental group
//////////////////END OF CHAPTER ONE////////////////