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Introduction To Psychology 1st Lecture 2021

The document outlines the definition of psychology, goals of psychology, and common schools of thought in psychology such as structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, and behaviorism. It also provides brief definitions of key psychological terms.

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Weji Sh
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32 views17 pages

Introduction To Psychology 1st Lecture 2021

The document outlines the definition of psychology, goals of psychology, and common schools of thought in psychology such as structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, and behaviorism. It also provides brief definitions of key psychological terms.

Uploaded by

Weji Sh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1st lecture

Dr Gihan Salem
Outlines:
 Definition of psychology.
 Goals of psychology
 Common concurrent schools

Definition of Psychology:
 The word psychology comes from the Greek words that
mean “the study of soul” .

 One of the most recent definitions of Psychology


is, it is the science of behavior and mental processes.

 Psychology primarily studies WHO and WHAT we are,


WHY we act and think in a particular manner and what
is our potential as an individual.
Goals of Psychology

To Describe behaviours: what is the nature of behaviour.

To explain or understand why organism behave in certain ways: by Study


Overt or observable behaviour, as well as Covert behaviour – private mental
processes that cannot be directly observed or measured and must be inferred
from overt behaviour.

To predict how organism will behave in the future.

To control or for best regulate behavior.


Brief history of Psychology
 Several schools of thought have helped to shape the
field of psychology into what it is today. Some of these
include:

 Structuralism
 Functionalism
 Psychoanalysis
 Behaviourism
STRUCTURALISM

 Scientific psychology got its start In 1879


in Germany when physician , Wilhelm
Wundt established the first
“psychological” laboratory in Germany.
He is widely viewed as the founder of
psychology.
 He attempted to uncover the structure of
consciousness by breaking down mental
processes into their most basic
components.
 This was done through a process called
introspection.
 Wundt’s approach became known as
structuralism.

www.whatispsychology.biz
FUNCTIONALISM
 William James the American
physician and philosopher
argued that consciousness
cannot be broken down into
elements.

 He was concerned with ongoing


conscious experience and the
functions of behaviour and
mental processes.

 His views gave rise to another


branch of psychology -
functionalism

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PSYCHOANALYSIS
 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

www.whatispsychology.biz
BEHAVIOURISM
 Behaviourists held the view that
only overt behaviour can be
studied scientifically.

 They advocated the use of strict


experimental procedures in
psychology.
 Supported by B. F. Skinner, Ivan
Pavlov and John B. Watson

John B. Watson
www.whatispsychology.biz
Common concurrent schools:
There are lots of schools that study and practice
Counselling and Psychotherapy such as:
 Psychodynamic.
 Behaviour Therapy.
 Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).
 Rational Emotive Therapy (RET).
 Client- centered Therapy.
 Transactional Analysis Therapy.
Brief glossary
 conditionabnormal behavior: Behavior that causes people to experience
distress and prevents them from functioning in their daily lives.

 absolute threshold: the smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be


present for the stimulus to be detected

 conditioned response (CR): a learned response to a stimulus that was not


originally capable of producing the response.

 conditioned stimulus (CS): an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit


a conditioned response after it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus

 developmental psychology: branch of psychology devoted to identifying


and explaining the continuities and changes that individuals display over
time.
 developmental stage: a distinct phase within a larger sequence of
development; a period characterized by a particular set of abilities,
motives, behaviors, or emotions that occur together and form a coherent
pattern.

 emotional self-regulation: strategies for managing emotions or adjusting


emotional arousal to an appropriate level of intensity.

 encoding: the process by which external stimulation is converted to a


mental representation.

 synapse: the connective space (juncture) between one nerve cell (neuron)
and another.

 synaptogenesis: formation of connections (synapses) among neurons.

 learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral


potential) that results from one’s experiences or practice.
 memory span: a general measure of the amount of information that can
be held in the short-term store.

 negative reinforcer: any stimulus whose removal or termination as the


consequence of an act will increase the probability that the act will recur.

 neurons: nerve cells that receive and transmit neural impulses.

 operant conditioning: a form of learning in which freely emitted acts (or


operant) become either more or less probable depending on the
consequences they produce.

 operant learning: a form of learning in which voluntary acts (or operant)


become either more or less probable, depending on the consequences
they produce.
 perception: the process by which we categorize and interpret sensory
input.

 rehearsal: a strategy for remembering that involves repeating the items


one is trying to retain.

 secure attachment: an infant-caregiver bond in which the child welcomes


contact with a close companion and uses this person as a secure base
from which to explore the environment.

 secure base: use of a caregiver as a base from which to explore the


environment and to which to return for emotional support.

 selective attention: capacity to focus on task-relevant aspects of


experience while ignoring irrelevant or distracting information.
 Self: the combination of physical and psychological
attributes that is unique to each individual.

 self-concept: one’s perceptions of one’s unique


attributes or traits.

 self-esteem: one’s evaluation of one’s worth as a


person based on an assessment of the qualities that
make up the self-concept.

 sensation: detection of stimuli by the sensory receptors


and transmission of this information to the brain.
Conclusion

 Psychology has been part of every humans life.


 To maintain a healthy life and effective relationships we
need to understanding our psychology (behaviour) and
that of other.

 Neurons are the main block of the nervous system.


They have a major impact on our mental life.
Questions
Thank you

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