Introduction to

Psychology
Module 2

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Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Be familiar with the definition of Psychology
• Understand the “Scientific Methods”
• Understand why Psychology is a science and evidence based
practice for counselling
• Be familiar with the historical roots of Psychology & Counselling
• Understand the different research methods used by Psychologists

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What is Psychology?

•Psychology is the scientific

study of behavior and mental
processes.
• Behavior – outward or overt
actions and reactions
• Mental processes – internal,
covert activity of our minds
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What is Psychology?
•Psychology is a science.
• Prevent possible biases from
leading faulty observations
• Precise and careful
measurement
• Originated from the fields of
biology and philosophy.
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Psychology as a Science
• As a science, psychology uses
systematic approaches to observe,
describe, predict and explain
human behavior and mental
processes.

• All research in psychology is based

on scientific method.
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Why Psychology considered a science?

Psychologists uses the empirical approach

which means, their information is based on
evidence gathered from experiments and
careful observations.

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Why is Psychology considered an
experimental science?

• Any assumptions must be supported by evidence.

• It is not enough to argue that something is true just because
someone says it is.
• Psychologists and other scientists make it their business to be
skeptical of claims that lack actual scientific evidence.
• Psychologists use a variety of research methods to study behavior and
mental processes.

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Psychology as a Science

• Psychologists observe, describe, explain, predict and sometimes even

control behavior and mental processes to better understand the
human psyche.
• Psychology is anchored by both scientific research and theory.
• Research is the testing of ideas (hypotheses and theories) through
various research methods.
• Theory is a statement or set of statements that attempt to explain
why things are the way they are and happen the way they do.

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Psychologist
• Psychologists are scientists who work
in a variety of fields, all of which
include the study of behavior and
underlying mental processes.
• Psychiatrists CAN prescribe
medication; psychologist CANNOT.

• Since the early 2000s, some states

have begun allowing psychologists
to prescribe mental-health-related
drugs, but this is relatively rare.

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Sub-fields
1. Basic Research
1. Experimental Psychologist
2. Applied Psychology
1. Industrial/Organizational Psychologist
2. Sports Psychologist
3. Engineering Psychologist
4. School Psychologist
5. Rehabilitation Psychologist
6. Clinical Psychologist
7. Psychiatry

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BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Psychologists conduct two major types of
research.
1. Basic Research
2. Applied Research

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BASIC RESEARCH
• Basic Research, which often occurs in university
laboratories, focuses on collecting data to support
theories.
• The goal of basic research is not to find solutions to
specific problems, but rather to gather knowledge
for the sake of knowledge.
• Explorations of human sensory abilities, trauma, and
memory are examples of basic research.
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APPLIED RESEARCH
• Applied Research, on the other hand focuses on changing behaviors
and outcomes, and often leads to real-world applications.
• This type of research has helped generate behavioral interventions for
children with sensory issues and autism, natural disaster response
planning, as well as keyboard layout and improved typing
performance.
• Applied research may use findings from basic research for ideas and
inspiration, but it is often conducted in natural settings outside the
laboratory and its goals are more pragmatic or practical.

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MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY
• Researchers report that students often have misconceptions about the
field of psychology and psychological concepts, (Landau & Bavaria,
2003).

• Most of the average person knows about psychology comes from the
popular media, which fails to present an accurate portrayal of the field,
its practitioners, and its findings.

• Frequently, guests who are introduced as “psychologists” or “therapists”

by television talk show hosts really aren’t psychologists as defined by the
leading psychological organizations.
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COMMON MISCONCEPTION ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY

• Psychology is simply common sense, meaning it is just a

collection of knowledge that any reasonably smart person
can pick up through everyday experiences.

• Common sense is an important ability that helps us survive

and adapt, but it should not take the place of scientific
findings.

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THE GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. Describe
• Describe or report what is observed.
2. Explain
• Organize and understand observations of behaviors.
3. Predict
• Predict behaviors or outcomes.
4. Control
• Use research findings to shape, modify and control
behavior.
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ROOTS, SCHOOLS, AND PERSPECTIVES OF
PSYCHOLOGY

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Questions to ponder

• What is the connection between body and mind?

• How do we obtain knowledge?
• Where does knowledge reside?

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 Philosophy and Physiology
Early Philosophers and Physicist

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Plato (427-347 BCE)
• An ancient Greek Philosopher, student of
Socrates.
• Plato believed that truth and knowledge
exist in the soul before birth, that is,
humans are born with some degree of
innate knowledge.
• Plato raised an important issue
psychologists still contemplate: the
contribution of nature in the human
capacity for cognition.

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Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
• An Ancient Greek Philosopher
• Aristotle, one of Plato’s renowned
students, eventually went on to challenge
his mentor’s basic teachings.
• Aristotle believed that the human being is a
composite of body and soul and that the
soul cannot be separated from the body.
• Aristotle believed that we know reality
through our perceptions, and we learn
through our sensory experiences, an
approach now commonly referred to as
empiricism.
• Empiricism is the idea that all learning comes from only
experience and observations.

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Cont…..
• Aristotle has been credited with laying the foundation for a scientific
approach to answering questions, including those pertaining to
psychological concepts such as emotion, sensation, and perception
(Slife,1990; Thorne & Henley, 2005).
• Ultimately, he believed knowledge is the result of our experiences,
Aristotle paved the way for scientists to study the world through their
observations.
• This notion that experience (nurture) plays an all-important role in how we
acquire contradicts Plato’s belief that it is inborn (the result of nature).
• Today, psychologists agree that nature and nurture both play important
roles, and current research explores the contribution of each through
studies of heredity and environmental factors.
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Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
• A French Philosopher
• Famous for saying, “I think, therefore, I am”
• He believed that most everything else was uncertain,
including what he saw with his own eyes.
• He proposed that the body is like a tangible machine,
and the mind has no physical substance.
• The body and mind interact as two separate entities, a
view known as dualism.
• He proposed that the eye and other body parts
worked like machines. The mind, was separate and
intangible.
• Descartes’ work allowed for a more scientific approach
to examining thoughts, emotions, and other topics
previously believed to be beyond the scope of the
study.

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Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887)
• A German physicist
• He is the founder of psychophysics, a set of
methods for empirically relating measured
sensory stimulus to reported sensation.
• Fechner reasoned that by studying the physical
ability to sense stimuli, we are simultaneously
conducting experiments on the mind.
• In other words, we can understand how the mind
and body work together by studying sensation.
• Fechner is considered one of the founders of
physiological psychology, and his efforts laid the
groundwork for research on sensation and
perception (Benjamin, 2007; Robinson, 2010).

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Psychology is born

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Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
• Physiologist and Philosopher
• Founded the first Experimental Psychology
Laboratory, at the University of Leipzig in
Germany in 1879.
• He is considered the “Father of Psychology”.
• Defined psychology as the science of human mind
and consciousness.
• Used the method of objective introspection to
identify the basic mental elements.
• For Wundt, introspection involved effortful
reflection on the sensations, feelings, and images
experienced in response to a stimulus, followed
by reports that were objective, meaning free of
opinions, beliefs, expectations, and values.
• Introspection is self-examination of conscious
activities.

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Major Schools of Thought in Psychology
• Structuralism
• Functionalism
• Psychoanalysis
• Behaviorism
• Gestalt Psychology
• Humanistic Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

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STRUCTURALISM- WILHELM WUNDT
Definition: School of Psychology that stresses the
basic units of experience and combinations in which
they occur.

Wilhelm Wundt:
• Physiologist and Philosopher
• Founded the first experimental psychology
laboratory in 1879, Leipzig, Germany.
• Argued that the mind must be studied objectively
and scientifically.
• Main concern was with techniques used for
uncovering natural laws of the human mind. HE
WAS IN SEARCH FOR THE BASIC UNIT OF THOUGHT.

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STRUCTURALISM- EDWARD TITCHENER
• English Psychologist, student of the Leipzig lab
• Titchener refined Wundt’s technique of
introspection and to study sensation.
• He defined this as the study of the structure
of the conscious mind.
• He translated Wundt’s major work “Principles
of Physiological Psychology” into English.
• He considered himself as “true Wundtian” all
his career.
• He viewed that human conscious experience
could be understood by breaking it down into
components:
 Physical sensations (lights and sounds)
 Affection of feelings
 Images (memory and dreams)

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TITCHENER’S APPROACH
1. Train subjects in introspection and
reporting techniques.
2. INTROSPECTION: looking inside
oneself and try to describe what’s
going on – understanding oneself.
3. Train observers introspected and
reported what they experienced.
4. Try to formulate general theories
based on their subject’s reports.

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PSYCHOANALYSIS- SIGMUND FREUD
(1856-1939)
• Sigmund Freud focused much of his attention
on the “abnormal” aspects.
• He believed that behavior and personality are
influenced by the conflict between one’s
inner desires (such as sexual and aggressive
impulses) and the expectations of society – a
clash that occurs for the most part
unconsciously or outside of awareness (Gay,
1988).
• The psychoanalytic perspective is used as an
explanatory tool in many of psychology’s
subfields.
• Freud worked on his new theories of the
unconscious mind.
• He is considered as the “Father of
Psychoanalysis”.

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BEHAVIORISM- IVAN PAVLOV (1849-1936)
• A Russian scientist, a psychologist
by training.
• He developed an experiment
testing the concept of the
conditioned reflex (classical
conditioning).
• He trained a hungry dog to salivate
at the sound of a bell, which was
previously associated with the sight
of food.
• Pavlov noted that the animals
salivated naturally upon the
presentation of food.

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BEHAVIORISM- JOHN B. WATSON (1878-1958)
• An American Psychologist.
• He established behaviorism, which
viewed psychology as the scientific study
of behaviors that could be seen and/or
measured.
• Consciousness, sensations, feelings, and
the unconscious were not suitable topics
of study, according to J.B. Watson.
• Thought that human behavior is a result
of conditioning or a result of past
experiences and environmental
influences.
• Claimed he could take any child and train
him to become any type of specialist.

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BEHAVIORISM- B.F. SKINNER (1904-1990)
• One of the most influential psychologists during
1930s.
• Finished his Master’s degree in Psychology in
Harvard (1930) then got his Doctorate in 1931.
• Studied in a specific field of psychology
(behaviorism). Studied the relationship between
behaviors and their consequences.
• He is the Father of Operant Conditioning. A type of
learning that occurs when behaviors are rewarded
or punished.
• Skinner acknowledged that mental processes such
as memory and emotion might exist, but they are
not topics to be studied in psychology.
• Believed the field of psychology should strive for
knowing when behavior happens and when it can
be controlled.

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