Chapter One: Essence of Psychology
Chapter One: Essence of Psychology
ESSENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
1.1. DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY
AND RELATED CONCEPTS
o Questions
What comes to your mind when you hear about the word
psychology?
Have you ever heard about, read or listened to anything
related to psychology?
What was its content about?
Did you appreciate it? Why?
What do you expect from the course in psychology?
Cont.…
oThe word "psychology" is derived from two Greek words 'psyche'
and ‘logos’.
Psyche refers to mind, soul or sprit
logos means study, knowledge or discourse.
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.
Cont.…
2. Functionalism- functionalism views psychology as a study of
function of the mind. William James (1848-1910)
James focused on how the mind allows people to function in the real
world; work, play, and adapt to their surroundings.
Developed methods including questionnaires, mental tests and objective
descriptions of behavior.
Cont.…
3. Gestalt Psychology: Gestalt psychology views psychology as a study
of the whole mind. Max Wertheimer and his colleagues in the 20th
century.
The German word "gestalt" refers to form, whole, configuration or pattern.
Mind should be thought of as a result of the whole pattern of sensory activity and the
Gestalt psychologists acknowledge consciousness.
"the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Means mind is greater than its parts
oQuestions
Discuss how the old schools of psychology differ in terms of their object
of study, their goal, and method of analysis?
1.3.2. Modern schools of psychology
views.
Psychodynamic,
Behavioral,
Humanistic,
Cognitive,
Biological, and
Sociocultural perspectives.
Cont.…
oPsychodynamic perspective –
It emphasizes the role learning experiences play in shaping the behavior of an
organism.
Behaviorists focus on environmental conditions (e.g. rewards, and punishments) that
oHumanistic Perspective-
According to this perspective, human behavior is not determined either by unconscious
Rather it emphasizes the uniqueness of human beings and focuses on human values and
subjective experiences.
Cont.…
oCognitive Perspective-
form beliefs.
oBiological Perspective-
it focuses on studying how bodily events or functioning of the body affects
It focuses on the social and cultural factors that affects human behavior.
1.4. Branches/sub fields of psychology
o Developmental psychology
It studies the physical, cognitive and psychological changes across the life
span.
o Personality Psychology
attitudes.
Cont.…
o Cross-cultural Psychology - examines the role of culture in
understanding behavior, thought, and emotion.
It compares the nature of psychological processes in different cultures,
with a special interest in whether or not psychological phenomena are
universal or culture-specific.
o Industrial psychology –
psychological principles to improve the legal system (police, testimony, etc..).
oEducational Psychology
concerned with the application of psychological principles and theories in improving the
programs.
oHealth Psychology
applies psychological principles to the prevention and treatment of physical illness and
diseases.
oClinical Psychology:
is a field that applies psychological principles to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
of psychological disorders.
Cont.….
Counselling 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
o Questions
what science, and the scientific method in particular, is
focused on?
Definition of terms
o Scientific method - a process of testing ideas through
systematic observations, experimentations, and statistical
analysis.
Types of Research
Based on the purpose of the study, there are two
types of research:
A. Applied Research - research for the purpose of
solving practical problems (typically the fourth
goal: to control behavior).
B. Basic Research - research conducted for the
purpose of advancing knowledge rather than for
practical application (typically three goals:
description, explanation, prediction).
B. Major types of research methods
1. Descriptive research
• Correlational research method mainly refers to discovering relationships, not causes and
effect.
Experiments involve at least one independent variable and one dependent variable.
Independent variable - is the manipulated, influential, experimental factor.
Dependent variable - is the factor (behavior) that is measured in an experiment.