Pre-class activity L-2

Introduction:

Psychology is concerned with almost all aspects of our lives. That is why, everyone is interested
to know about psychology. But, there are many misconceptions about psychology. Many people
think that psychology deals with treating mad people. Some others feel that psychologists can read
your mind just by looking at you or your face/forehead. They tend to equate psychologists with
astrologers, gemologists, numerologists, palmists or graphologists, who claim to solve your
problems of life and predict your future.

You might have heard the terms ‘psychology’, ‘psychological’, ‘mental’ etc., but do you know
what is the meaning of psychology and how did it evolve? Is psychology a ‘science’ or ‘art’? What
is science and what are its characteristics? What is the subject matter of psychology? In this unit
you will find answer to these and many more such questions.

By studying psychology, you will be able to understand what psychology is and what it is not.

Origin & Evolution:

The origin of psychology dates back to 1870s. The term ‘Psychology’ is derived from two Greek
words; Psyche means “soul or breath” and Logos means “knowledge or study” (study or
investigation of something). The word ‘Psychology’ was not in common use before the nineteenth
century, and the field of psychology did not actually become an independent science until the
middle of the nineteenth century.

Psychology emerged as an independent academic discipline in 1879, when a German Professor

Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory at the university of Leipzig, Germany.
According to Bolles (1993), Wundt was a medical doctor by training and early in his career, he
was fortunate to work with some of the great physiologists of the nineteenth century. Fittingly, his
laboratory was established during the time he spent as a professor of philosophy. (Remember, the
intellectual roots of psychology lie at the union of philosophy and physiology). Wundt is
traditionally recognised as the founder, or father of the modern psychology, and 1879 is seen as
the year that psychology finally emerged as a unique field. Prior to Wundt, it was not possible to
major in psychology, because there were no official psychologists or psychology departments.
Wundt started studying the structure of mind which meant the immediate (conscious) experience,
the contents and processes of subjective experience such as sensations, thoughts, feelings and
emotions.

Thus, formally, psychology was recognised as an independent science in 1879.

Definitions:
Psychology has been defined in a number of ways by various authors. Psychologists had been
debating on whether psychology should focus on “mind”, “consciousness” or “behaviour”. Let us
look at how the definitions of psychology have come a long way over the past 130 years.
Early Definitions
According to Bagga & Singh (1990), the term Psychology was first used by Rudolf Goeckle, in
1950. They have chronologically given the definitions of psychology.
Earlier, psychology was part of Philosophy. Ancient philosophers were interested in the study of
the soul. Thus, it was first defined in terms of ‘the science of soul’. However, since the term ‘soul’
has very wide and comprehensive meanings,
it was considered as a vague term and was criticized severely, in the middle ages. There were
questions regarding the physical existence, weight, and volume of soul.
Dandapani (2004) states that “people were rather naïve to believe in esoteric terms such as Soul,
Mind and Consciousness. It was believed, and rightly so, that every human being is endowed with
a Soul that would remain sublime at all times. To a philosopher soul is the firm foundation upon
which ethical values are erected. Realisation of one’s soul was considered the chief mission of
life……….. Definition of Psychology as the study of soul became unacceptable
primarily because no convincing proof or evidence of the precise nature of soul was furnished. It
was discarded because of its METAPHYSICAL nature. It was found inadequate to satisfy the
canons of science;…….”.

Thus, this definition was not accepted by psychologists.

Next, psychology was defined in terms of ‘the science of mind’, by some ancient Greek
philosophers. According to them, psychology was held as a branch of mental philosophy. Since
this definition does not include overt behaviour of human beings and mind cannot be measured
directly, this definition was also dropped by psychologists.

Then, psychology was defined as ‘the science of consciousness’. According to Bagga & Singh
(1990), at one time during the history of Psychology, it was felt that the main business of
Psychology was to the conscious experience. Consciousness makes us conscious or aware of the
situation or a thing around us. This definition too is now obsolete and it has been rejected due to
the following reasons:

Consciousness cannot be studied objectively as it is more personal and subjective.

Second objection came from the fast developing branch of the abnormal psychology which brought
the study of unconscious part of our mind within the province of Psychology.
The term consciousness does not include animal or human behaviour.
The term consciousness also was supposed to have a philosophical-tinge and not accepted by the
modern scientific minded psychologists.
Finally, modern Psychology has been defined as ‘a science of behaviour.’ In the early decades of
twentieth century, Watson, the father of the school of ‘Behaviourism’, defined psychology as ‘the
study of behaviour’. According to Morgan et al. (1986), Watson rejected mind as the subject of
psychology and insisted that psychology be restricted to the study of behaviour – the observable
(or potentially observable) activities of people and animals. Watson held that there are no essential
differences between human and animal behaviour and that we can learn much about our own
behaviour from the study of what animals do. Watson emphasised that nothing is innate and
everything can be learned.
In this context, Woodworth (1948) had earlier stated that, first psychology lost its soul, then its
mind, then it lost its consciousness. It still has behaviour of sort.
As we will see below, the term ‘behaviour’ is still there in almost all the modern definitions.

Current Definitions
Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson (1975) have compiled the changing definitions of psychology
starting from that of William James (1890) to that of Kenneth Clark and George Miller (1970).
Bagga & Singh (1990) have also cited the following two definitions of Woodworth and Munn,
respectively:
“Psychology is the scientific study of the activities of the individual in relation to his
environment”.
“Psychology today concerns itself with the scientific investigation of behaviour, including from
the stand-point of behaviour, much of what earlier psychologists dealt with as experience”.
Some of the more recent definitions of Psychology, in chronological order, are as follows:
Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour. It includes the application of this
science to human problems. (Morgan et al., 1986)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Feldman,1996)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s
physical state, mental state and external environment (Tavris and Wade, 1997)
Psychology is all about human behaviour, about mental processes, and about the context in which
behaviour and mental processes occur. (Das, 1998)
The science of behaviour and mental processes. (Lahey,1998)
The science of behaviour and cognitive processes. (Baron, 1999) Scientific study of
behaviour and mind. (Nairne, 2003)
A science in which behavioural and other evidence is used to understand the internal processes
leading people (and members of other species ) to behave as they do. (Eysenck, 2004)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Ciccarelli & Meyer,2006; Coon &
Mitterer, 2007, 2008)
The science that studies behaviour and mental processes.( Rathus,2008)
As is evident in the above definitions, study of behaviour (human and animal) has been emphasised
in all of them. In addition, most authors have also included ‘cognitive/mental processes’ in their
definitions of psychology. But, what is behaviour? We will now look at the nature and
characteristics of behaviour.