GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Unit 2
Introduction to Psychology

OUTLINE
Nature and Definition of Psychology
Nature and Definition of Behavior
History and Forerunners in Psychology
Theories, School of Thought and Perspectives in Psychology
Branches and Opportunities in Psychology
Methods of Psychological Research

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PSYCHOLOGY
Definiton
 Derived from the Greek words psyche (soul) and logos (study)
 It is the scientific study of behavior of living organisms with special attention to human behavior.
 It belongs to the behavioral science that seeks to discover general truth about social behavior.

Psychology as a Science
 Psychology is a science because it employs scientific methodologies. The characteristics of a scientific method
are the ff.
a) Objectivity – means freedom from bias and prejudices. The findings or result gathered by the
researcher is not influenced by his subjective ideas.
b) Explicit Procedures – Procedures of the researcher are clear and thus can be verified, tested,
and duplicated by future researchers.
c) Recording – worthy research works are for future researchers to evaluate, verify, disseminate,
and even to refute findings.
Goals
1. Description – describes how organisms behave
2. Understanding – explains cause/s of a certain behavior
3. Prediction – predicts how organism will behave in the future
4. Control – altering conditions that influence behavior in a predictable way

BEHAVIOR

Definition
 Activities that can be observed objectively such as the reactions of the muscles and the glands, as well as the
organized patterns of responses as a whole.
 it includes internal processes such as thinking, feeling, and other reaction that cannot be directly observed but
can be inferred from external behavior.
 Any related action or reaction under specified circumstance is called a behavior.

Classification of Behavior
a) Overt or Extrinisic Behavior – consists of responses which are publicly observable
b) Covert or Intrinsic – refers to responses which cannot be directly observed.

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Fundamental Characteristics of Behavior
a) Follows an orderly pattern. Even if there is change in a person’s life, there is a degree of order and regularity in
its nature. The change pattern can be understood.
b) Knowable. Human behavior can be empirically observed. Therefore, it can be investigated.
c) Knowledge of human behavior is tentative but superior to ignorance. We must pursue knowledge not only for
its own sake but also to enable us to improve human conditions.
d) Natural phenomena have natural cause. All natural events have natural causes. Science rejects the belief that
supernatural forces cause events.
e) Nothing is self-evident. Truth could only be claimed and established when they are demonstrated objectively.
Scientists never rely on traditional, subjective beliefs. They are skeptical and critical in their approach to truths
Rational criticism is the core of any scientific enterprise.

History and Forerunners of Psychology

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
 Belived that at birth, the mind is a tabula rasa (blank sheet) and that the experience once encounters during
one’s lifetime are impressed on the mind.
 Suggested the 3 principles of memory: similarity, contrast and contiguity
 Postulated that human behavior was subject to rules and laws
Democritus (around 400 B.C.)
 According to him, we could think of behavior in terms of body and mind
 Behavior is influenced by external stimulation
Socrates (around 400 B.C.)
 He advised Plato to “Know thyself”, which has remained one of the mottoes of psychological thought ever since.
 He claimed that we could not attain reliable self knowledge through our senses because senses do not exactly
mirror reality

Aristotle and other early writers were not scientific in their investigations and depended more on common sense,
speculation and insight. Psychology then is a branch of philosophy.

St. Agustine
 Considered the next great precursor of modern psychologist because of his skill in introspection and his great
curiosity about psychological phenomena which includes observation on young infants and crowds at chariot
races.
Rene Descartes(1595-1650)
 He introduced the concept of reflex action, which has occupied a significant place in psychology.
Philip Melanchton
 He first used the term psychology (psychologia – Latin) to title some academic lectures in 1530. He needed an
expression to distinguish that part of “pneumatology” concerned with the human soul apart from parts
concerned with angels, devils and god.
Charles Bonnet
 By the 1750’s, he was quite comfortable using the term psychology to refer to the psychological conditions of
mental activity
1693
 Psychology made its first recorded appearance in the English language in the dictionary of physiological terms
Wilhelm Wundt
 He established the first psychological laboratory in 1879
 Founder of modern experimental psychology

William James
 Dean of American Psychology
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 SCHOOL OF THOUGHT AND PERSPECTIVES

Schools of Thought of Psychology

Structuralism
 Developed in Germany by Wilhelm Wundt and later Edward Bradford Titchener in the 19 th century
 The structuralists were primarily concerned with discovering the structure of mind.
 They believed that the mind is made up of building blocks in the form of various types of sensation and
perception, and that these building blocks could be discovered through introspection or looking into one’s own
mind.

Functionalism
 Founded in United States by William James, Stanley Hall, James McKeen Cattell, James R. Angell, John Dewey
and Harvey Carr.
 Most important contribution of functionalism was changing the focus of psychology to learning, motivation and
thinking, and veered away from the structuralists’ emphasis on individual perception and sensations.
 The functional psychologists developed technique of longitudinal research, which consists of interviewing,
testing and observing one person over a long period of time. This system permits psychologist to observe and
record the person’s development and how he reacts to different circumstances.

Psychonalysis
 Freud’s attempted to find the cause and cure of personality disorder. He postulated on the existence of
unconscious mental processes which influenced an individual’s behavior in various indirect ways.
 The psychoanalytic theory stresses the role of motives and cravings, often hidden and repressed in the
subconscious or unconscious mind, which results in abnormal behavior. Freud asserted that the sex urges in the
unconscious constitute the main human drive. This is known as the “libido theory”.
 Psychoanalysis, the method of treatment, emphasizes free association. This is letting the patient freely associate
on his thoughts and experiences, and with the help of the psychiatrist, analyzes the causes of difficulty.
 Between 1911-1912, Freud’s adherents, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler, had split their ideas and theories. Carl Jung
regarded personality as the strongest force in determining human behavior and that men and women are either
extroverts or introverts, and his school is sometimes called the “analytical school”.
 Alfred Adler believed that the strongest human urge the unconscious attempts of the individual to overcome the
feeling of inferiority. The theory is known as “individualism”.

Behaviorism
 This was founded by John B. Watson. Watson criticized both structuralists and the functionalists for their use of
introspection as technique. He argued that the psychologist should use only objective method and that their
observations and measurements should be in a form which could be checked and verified by other
psychologists.
 Watson studied what people did and what they said, hoping to be able to predict and control their actions and
words. He was not concerned with studying human consciousness. For him, thinking was simply talking to
oneself silently, therefore, thinking cold be studied by observing a person’s subvocal speech through the
movement of certain muscles in the throat.

Gestalt (Pattern or Configuration)

 Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kokler and Max Wertheimer founded Gestalt school and maintained that psychology
should study the whole pattern of behavior or experience or the perception of organized configuration.
 Its fundamental principle states that the whole is more than the sum of all its parts. They put more importance
on the study of the over-all pattern of any experience than the elements which made it up.
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  With its emphasis on the study of human perception, and with the use of both introspection and observation,
the Gestalt psychologists contributed much to the understanding of learning, memory and problem-solving.

Humanistic
 Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom of choice
and decision making, as well as their potential for personal growth.

Cognitive
 Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky and Herbert Simon focused on thought and mental processes. Human behavior
cannot be fully understood without analyzing how people acquire, store and process information.

Biological
 James Olds and Roger Sperry theorized that much of human and animal behavior can be explained in terms of
bodily structure and biochemical processes.

Purposivism
 William McDougall conducted his research on this at the Duke University of Durham, North Carolina.
 He believed that object, movements and behavior have definite purpose, and that the ductless glands in people
produce hormones which give them purpose.
 Because purposivism placed an importance on hormones in life, it was called “hormic” psychology.

Five Basic Perspective of Human Behavior

Psychoanalytic Perspective – based on the work of Sigmund Freud. This approach emphasizes the influence of the
unconscious mind. It also emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences.

Behavioral Perspective – focuses on objective and observable behavior. This approach stresses the role of the external
environment, particularly the pattern for rewards and punishment, in shaping and governing our actions.

Cognitive Perspective –views human as rational problem solvers whose actions are governed by conscious thought and
planning. The emphasis of this approach is on the ways in which people perceive and mentally process incoming
information, evaluate it, and decide how to respond to it.

Humanistic Perspective – this approach sees people as having the capacity to choose how to think and act and to control
their own destiny. According to humanistic theories, all human beings are motivated by tendency towards growth, the
development of their potential and “self-actualization” but need a supportive environment for this to occur.

Biological Perspective – attempt to understand human thought, emotion, behavior, and motivation in terms of the
physical processes which take place in the body. It views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning.

BRANCHES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN PSYCHOLOGY

Major Branches of Psychology

1. Experimental and Physiological Psychology– investigate basic behavioral and nervous system processes.
2. Developmental Psychology – deals with the behavioral development over the entire life span.
3. Personality Psychology – studies relationship between personality and behavior, especially individual
differences
4. Social Psychology – studies behavior of people in groups
5. Educational School Psychology – investigates how people learn in educational settings
6. Industrial / Organizational Psychology – studies relationship between people and their jobs.
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 7. Clinical Psychology – develops ways of studying, diagnosing, and treating abnormal behavior; includes
community psychology, which aims to prevent mental disorder.
8. General Psychology – Considers underlying principles of human behavior. This includes the study of how and
why people behave as they do, and the principles of the structural and functional mechanisms of the human
body.
9. Comparative Psychology – Studies behavior and mental processes of the different species. Activities of both
human beings and animals are compared and differentiated in relation to genetic and evolutionary theory. This
is also known as animal psychology.
10. Abnormal Psychology – Deals with the etiology or cause of personality defects or which behavior deviates from
the average reaction.
11. Differential Psychology – Study of the differences and similarities among individuals, social groups, and races.
12. Dynamic Psychology – Scientific interpretation of mental phenomena emphasizing internal drives and motives as
the cause of behavior.
13. Legal Psychology – The application of the principles of human behavior in law or any legal proceedings. Lawyers
in their professional practices use principles of psychology when analyzing testimonies and pieces of evidence,
examination of witnesses, and study of delinquents and criminals.
14. Vocational Guidance – Is applied in the scientific selection of a suitable employment or vocation, particularly
aimed at helping students choose their occupation or careers.
15. Mental Hygiene – This refers to the systematic practice of measure on the prevention of mental illness and the
preservation of mental health.

Other Current Opportunities or Specialties for Psychologists

1. Health Psychologist – specializes on the promotion and maintenance of health, prevention and treatment of
illness; may also conduct teaching and research which are related to stress and illness. They may work hand in
hand with health physicians and other paraprofessionals like nurses and public health officials.
2. Sports Psychologist – Focuses on social, mental and emotional problems of athletes.
3. Community Psychologist – Attempts to improve the quality of life or individual in a community through
intervention at a social system level.
4. Consumer Psychologist – Studies motivation, perception and learning to understand decision-making and
behavior of consumers.
5. Behavior Analyst – Focuses on the application of basic facts and principles that arise out of experimental studies
of humans and animals, such as researches on addiction, energy wasting, self destruction, and nonclinical type
of research.
6. Ergonomist – Studies human engineering, how people interact with machine system in terms of the limitation
and capabilities of the human operator.

METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

1. Introspection – is a method of mental self-analysis wherein the psychologist studies himself, records his feelings
and experiences, analyzes these and later interprets them. This method was introduced by St. Augustine.
Certain problems in psychology, particularly those concerned with the intrapersonal
phenomena, can be studied only by introspection. Because the study is based on personal experience,
the results may not be very objective and reliable.

2. Observation – is the most widely used method in the study of behavior.

Uncontrolled or Informal Observation – does not follow any particular scope of behavior to be observed. It is
casual, and the psychologist is free to observe any activity that arises without formally recording such behavior.

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 Naturalistic Observation – is the observation of things as they naturally happen. Other investigators call this
field-study method, wherein critical observation are made of nature “in the raw”

Controlled or Formal Observation – follows certain rules, factors or controls in gathering materials, in order to
draw the best conclusion. Certain requirements or specifications limit the activity of the observer.

3. Life-History Method – is the extensive study of individuals by tracing the development of a particular form of
behavior. Life-history method are of three basic forms:

Daybook Method – sometimes called diary of development, is a careful recording of day to day activities. This is
particularly used in child study and development.

Clinical Method – contains information concerning the emotional and personality adjustment of a person. This is
also called case history method. All possible data are gathered from the individual, the parents and other who
know the person. These are studied by the clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, or social worker to
discover the cause of some social adjustment problem and how to solve it.

Biographical Method – is the analysis of the records of people’s lives as written by themselves or others.

4. Survey Method or Group Method – uses data obtained from respondents through written questionnaires or
interviews. The respondents are chosen so as to constitute a representative sample. This method is used in
obtaining norms, surveys or opinion polls.

5. Experimental Method – is the study of behavior inside the laboratory under controlled conditions. It involves
variables which can be measured quantitavely. Variables may be either independent or dependent.

Independent Variable – is a condition which is set or selected by the experimenter.

Dependent Variable – is the subject’s behavior whose value depends upon the values or changes in the
independent variable

The experimental method also has limitations, that is why it can’t be used in every case. It is artificially arranged
by the scientist that it can sometimes interfere with the very thing it attempts to examine.

6. Statistical Method – statistics is the science that deals with the collecting and handling of numerical data and
making inferences from such data. It is needed for understanding the tests utilized to appraise individuality, as
in intelligence tests, personality tests and other kinds of appraisal devices.

Statistical analysis enables psychologist to study the various processes involved in performing complex tasks,
which is done by a procedure known as factor analysis.

Reference:

1. Gaerlan, Josefina, et.al., GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 5TH Ed., Ken Inc., 2000
2. Carson-Arenas, Dr. Aggie, INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY: Understanding Human Behavior, Rex Printing Co.,
2004