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Introduction To Psychology: Presented By: Ms. Mishal Fatima (Visiting Faculty)

This document provides an introduction to the field of psychology. It defines psychology as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology is considered a science because it uses objective and systematic methods to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and thinking. The document then outlines several major branches of psychology, including abnormal, developmental, cognitive, social, and clinical psychology. It also discusses several influential schools of thought in psychology such as structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis. Finally, it briefly introduces cognitive, biological, and social-cultural perspectives within psychology.

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Hamxa Ameer
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120 views25 pages

Introduction To Psychology: Presented By: Ms. Mishal Fatima (Visiting Faculty)

This document provides an introduction to the field of psychology. It defines psychology as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology is considered a science because it uses objective and systematic methods to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and thinking. The document then outlines several major branches of psychology, including abnormal, developmental, cognitive, social, and clinical psychology. It also discusses several influential schools of thought in psychology such as structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis. Finally, it briefly introduces cognitive, biological, and social-cultural perspectives within psychology.

Uploaded by

Hamxa Ameer
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction to

Psychology
Presented by: Ms. Mishal Fatima
(Visiting faculty)
What is Psychology?
 Psychology comes from the root words psyche, or mind,
and logos, or study

Psychology is defined as the ‘scientific study of behavior
and mental processes’.
Why is Psychology a Science?
Psychology is an objective and systematic
study of how people behave and think.
Its goals are to describe, explain, predict,
and control behavior and mental processes.
Branches of Psychology
Abnormal Psychology Developmental Psychology
General Psychology Educational Psychology
Biological Psychology Experimental Psychology
Cognitive Psychology Forensic Psychology
Comparative Psychology Health Psychology
Cross-Cultural Psychology Personality Psychology
Social Psychology
Abnormal Psychology

• *study unusual pattern of behavior.


General Psychology: *study human
development, emotions, motivation, learning,
senses, perception, thinking, memory,
intelligence.
• Biological Psychology: Behavioral
neuroscience, also known as biological
psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology
is the application of the principles of biology
(in particular neurobiology), to the study of
physiological, genetic, and developmental
mechanisms of behavior in humans and non-
human animals.
• Cognitive Psychology:
Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes
such as "attention, language use, memory, perception,
problem solving, creativity, and thinking."
Cross- Cultural Psychology: Cross-cultural
psychology is the scientific study of human behavior
and mental processes, including both their variability
and invariance, under diverse cultural conditions.
Developmental Psychology: Developmental
psychology is the scientific study of changes that
occur in human beings over the course of their
lifespan.
• Educational Psychology: Educational
psychology is the branch of psychology
concerned with the scientific study of
human learning.
• Health Psychology: Health psychology is the study of
psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness,
and healthcare.

• Social Psychology: the branch of psychology that deals with


social interactions, including their origins and their effects on
the individual.
Counseling psychology
differs from clinical psychology in that it is
focused more on normal developmental issues
and everyday stress rather than
psychopathology. Counseling psychologists are
employed in a variety of settings, including
universities, hospitals, schools, governmental
organizations, businesses, private practice, and
community mental health centers.
Clinical psychology Clinical psychology is the
application of psychological science and research to the
understanding, treatment, and assessment of health problems,
particularly emotional, behavioral and mental health problems.
It has traditionally been associated with psychological treatment
and psychotherapy.
Experimental Psychology: the branch of psychology
concerned with the scientific investigation of the
responses of individuals to stimuli in controlled
situations.
Forensic Psychology: Forensic psychology is
the intersection between psychology and the
justice system.
• Personality Psychology: Personality
psychology is a branch of psychology that studies
personality and individual differences. It studies
enduring psychological patterns of behavior,
thought and emotion, commonly called an
individual's personality. extraversion—introversion
neuroticism—emotional stability psychoticism
Industrial and organizational Psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology (I/O) is among
the newest fields in psychology. Industrial Psychology
focuses on improving, evaluating, and predicting job
performance while Organizational Psychology focuses
on how organizations impact and interact with
individuals.
School of Thoughts
• Structuralism
• Functionalism
• Humanism
• Behaviorism
• Gestalt
• Psychoanalysis
Structuralism
• regarded as the first school of thought in psychology.
• focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic
components.
• Wilhelm Wundt (Father of psychology), Edward Titchener.
• used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the
human mind.
Functionalism
• Formed reaction to the theories of structuralism
• Influenced by the work of William James.
•  John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.
• focused on the purpose of consciousness and behavior.
Behaviorism
• Dominant school of thoughts during the 1950s.
• Based on the work of John Watson, B.F Skinner and Ivan Pavlov.
• Believed all behaviors can be explained by the environmental causes
rather than the internal forces.
• Focused on overt behaviors
Gestalt
• Gestalt psychology – founded by Max Wertheimer
• Focused on studying mental processes and behaviours as
„wholes‟ rather than trying to separate them into discrete
functions or parts.
• Held the view that “the whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.”
Humanism
• Humanistic psychologists argued that humans are not
helplessly controlled by unconscious or environmental
forces – we have free will, goals, aspirations, and other
positive motives which should be studied.
•  Influenced by Carl Rogers.
Psychoanalysis
• Sigmund Freud founder of psychodynamic.
• Emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior.
• While other theorists tried to explain varying aspects of conscious
experience, Sigmund Freud argued for the role of the unconscious and
other internal processes in human behaviour and mental disorders.  His
work formed the foundation of psychoanalytic theory
• He believed human mind was composed of three elements id, ego
superego.
Cognitive Approach

• Concerned with mental processes, such as


perceiving, remembering, reasoning, deciding,
and problem solving.
•  States that “Only by studying mental processes
can we fully understand what people do.
Biological Approach

Concerned with how the brain and nervous system underlie


behavior & mental processes.
 Attempts to relate behavior to electrical and chemical events
taking place inside the body
 The Nervous System (brain) and the Endocrine System are
studied to determine the biological causes of behavior.
Social Cultural perspective
• The sociocultural perspective maintains that behavior and mental
processes are shaped not only by prior learning experiences (the
behavioral perspective) or intra-psychic forces (for instance, the
unconscious) but also by the social or cultural context.
Thank You

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