Introduction to Psychology

Module-1
(Week 1 & 2 March, 2021)

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Contents
A. Psychology: Scientific perspective
B. Historical perspective
C. Schools of psychology
D. Fields of psychology and their application
E. Methods of Psychology

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The earliest known writings in
psychology (Before 30 BC)
 Aristotle was born in 384 BC in
an area of Northern Greece.
 He was the first known writer in
the field of psychology.
 He was Greek naturalist and
philosopher who theorized about
learning, memory, motivation,
emotion, perception, and
personality.
 Pursuit of knowledge, Life. 3
The term “psyche”
 Aristotle used the term “psyche” to refer to
the essence of life.
 This term is translated to mean “soul” or
“mind”, but it is closely linked in meaning to
the word “breath”
 Psychology – comes from the word psyche +
logos – the Greek word meaning “the study
of”.
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 René Descartes: 1596-1650
 Originated the concept of
Dualism, viewed mind and body
as interactive machines.
 Stated that the mind could follow
body and vice versa.
 Proposed the idea of both
voluntary and involuntary
behavior.
 Ruled out areas other than the
brain for mental functioning.
 John Locke: 1632-1704
 Knowledge should be acquired by
careful observation.
 No innate ideas: all knowledge
comes from experience or
reflection.
 Mind is a blank slate written on by
experience (tabula rasa).
 Charles Darwin:1850s
 Studied the evolution of finches
and expands his study to include
humans.
 Opposed religious teachings of
the time by suggesting that
man was a common ancestor
to lower species.
The modern definition of psychology
 Today’s modern definition of psychology
incorporates:
 behavior and mental processes.
 controlled observation.

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Defining Psychology
 The term “behavior” refers to all of a person’s
overt actions that others can directly observe.
 The term “mental processes” refers to the
private thoughts, emotions, feelings, and
motives that others cannot directly observe.

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Goals of Psychology

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1st School of
Thought-
Structuralism 11
Wilhelm Wundt
 Wilhelm Wundt established the
first Laboratory of psychology in
Leipzig, Germany in 1879.
 Most of his experiments on
sensation and perception.
 Did not think that high order
mental processes could be studied
experimentally.
 Trained in medicine and
philosophy. 12
Wundt and Tichener
 Edward Titchener was
a student of Wundt.
He taught at Cornell
University. Titchener
sought to identify the
basic elements of
conscious experience.
 Structuralism: Analyze
sensations, images and
feelings into their
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most basic elements
Wundt and Titchener: The Structure of
the Mind
 He and Wundt studied consciousness using a
method of looking inward at one’s own
experiences = called introspection. (Because it
is not objective, it fails miserably.)
 Structuralism (1st School of Thought )

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2nd School of
Thought-
Functionalism 15
What about William James?
 Others argue that William James
deserves the honor for a less
publicized laboratory at Harvard
University which opened in
1875.
 Claimed that searching for
building blocks was a waste of
time because brain and mind are
constantly changing: focused on
function.
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The first psychology course & text
 William James taught the first course on
psychology and in 1890, published the first
psychology text.
 William James was influenced by Charles
Darwin.

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 Functionalism (2nd School of Thought)
 Functionalism formed as a reaction to
structuralism and was heavily influenced by the
work of William James and the evolutionary
theory of Charles Darwin. Functionalists sought
to explain the mental processes in a more
systematic and accurate manner.

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 Rather than focusing on the elements of
consciousness, functionalists focused on
the purpose of consciousness and
behavior. Functionalism also emphasized
individual differences, which had a profound
impact on education
 Functionalism was criticized perhaps most
famously by Wundt. "It is literature. It is
beautiful, but it is not psychology," he said of
functionalist William James’ The Principles of
Psychology.
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 American Psychological
Association (APA)
Founded in 1892:
the governing body of all
research not conducted by
universities.
G. Stanley Hall

 First president of the APA, established the first

psychological lab in the U.S. in 1883, at
Johns Hopkins University.
 Started the American Psychological Journal
(1887) now the American Journal of
Psychology.
3rd School of
Thought-
Gestalt Model 22
Max Wertheimer: Gestalt Psychology
(1880-1943)
 Max Wertheimer, a
professor of
psychology at the U. of
Frankfurt, began
developing their own
ideas on perception
about 25 years after the
pioneering work of
Wundt.

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Gestalt Psychologies
 Came into existence in reaction of
structuralism in 1912 in Germany
 The key concept: that human consciousness
could not be meaningfully broken down into
raw elements as the structuralisms proposed
to do.
 Instead, the mind must be studied in terms of
large, meaningful units.
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 4th School of
Thought-
Psychoanalysis
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Sigmund Freud
 Freud was an Austrian physician
who practiced neurology.
 Studied neurology, but wanted to
be a medical researcher, forced
into being a private physician.
 Became convinced that patients
difficulties were due to mental
rather than physical problems.
 Proposed that distress due to
problems that dated back to 26

childhood.
 Sigmund Freud
 Psychoanalysis: Freud’s method for treating
people with emotional problems, free
association.
 Unconscious: Nearly all of our impulses are
sexual and aggressive in nature. Because we
cannot accept them in our conscious, thoughts find
their expression in dreams, slips of the tongue that
appear as accidents, and even jokes.
 All behavior is meaningful, and much of it is
controlled by digging below the surface to uncover
the roots of personality.
Criticism
 Does not focus on observable behavior, negative
viewpoint of mankind because actions are provoked
by unconscious thoughts, cannot be scientifically
proven or disproven.
 Ignores political and social explanations of people’s
problems.
 Currently focuses on perceptions, memories, and
thinking in our unconscious (Psychodynamic 28

theory).
5th School of
Thought-
Behaviorism 29
Ivan Pavlov
 In the 1890s, Russian
physiologist Ivan
Pavlov studied
digestion in dogs.
 Classical conditioning
and the field of
Behaviorism was born.
(3rd School of
Psychology)
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John B. Watson
 1920s John B. Watson
trained in Functionalism.
But he rejected these ideas
based on Pavlov’s work.
 Psychology can never be as
objective as chemistry or
biology. Consciousness is
not that easy
 Behaviorist
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 B.F. Skinner, 1950’s

 Dismissed importance of inherited traits and

instincts about human behavior. Private
events can be studied as long as they are
treated as a form of behavior, many
experiments with learning and memory.
 Believed that all behavior is a result of
rewards and punishments in the past.
 John Watson, 1913

 Psychology can never be as objective

as chemistry or biology. Consciousness
is not that easy.
 “I can take a child and make him
into anything, a beggar, a doctor, a
thief.”
 Recognize role of environmental and
 6th School of
Thought-
Cognitive Model
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 Cognitive Theory
 Thinking: how mental thoughts affect behavior.
Humanism gives rise to the Cognitive Theory.
Studies how we attend, perceive, think, remember,
solve problems and arrive at beliefs. Know
what’s going on in people’s heads first, then
applies it to their behavior.
 Thought Processes: Can infer mental
processes from observable behavior.
 E.g, Gestalt model, Piaget and Alfred
Alfred Binet & Intelligence
 1890s – the Paris
Ministry of Education
asked Binet to help
provide education for
all “intelligent”
children and more
practical, less academic
school for less
intelligent children.

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7th School of
Thought-
Humanistic
&
Existentialism 37
1950’s-60’s: Emphasize free-will,
people not completely ruled by
environment or past experience, able
to control one’s own choices and
destinies to achieve full human
potential. (Existentialism)
 Humanistic
 Abraham Maslow:
Hierarchy of Needs:
People’s struggle is to be
the best they possibly can,
known as self-actualization.
 Carl Rogers: Former minister;
believed all people strive for perfection;
some interrupted by a bad environment.
 Humanistic
 Human Potential: Everyone striving to
reach their highest potential.
 Criticisms: Believes all people are good
and that people have the ability to heal
themselves. Too vague, more of a
philosophy for life than a psychology.
 Existentialist
 A mouse existentialist Jean Paul Sartre (1950-
1980 ) “ we are nothing but what we make
ourselves”
 They focus on current existence of individuals
and their motives, self-perception and
psychological problems. It considered human
being as an emerging individual who is
constantly becoming and making and is not
victim of blind forces and desires 41
 8th School of
Thought-
Biopsychosocial
Model 42
 Biopsychological (Neurobiological)

 Seeks to understand the nervous system. All

actions, feelings associated with the nervous
system.
 Wilhelm Wundt: Expected psychology to rest
almost solely on Anatomy and Biology. Interested
in how bodily events interact with events in the
external environment to produce perceptions,
memory and behavior.
 Roger Sperry won Nobel-Prize for his Split-
Brain research.
 Biopsychological (Neurobiological)

 Nervous System: Responsible for our behavior;

Specifically abnormal and immediate responses.
 Anatomy/Biology: Solely responsible for human
behavior.
 Criticisms: Ignores mental processes. Explains
too little of human behavior, rejects
environmental influences.
Women in Psychology
 Many of the founders in psychology were
white males.
 This had a lot to do with sexual
discrimination. For example, in 1900
Christine Ladd-Franklin completed the
doctoral program at John Hopkins, but was
never give a degree b/c John Hopkins was an
all-male institution at the time.
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Christine Ladd-Franklin
 Christine Ladd-
Franklin went on to
combine a field of
mathematics and
psychology to come up
with a theory of color
blindness.

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Women in Psychology
 In the early days most institutions refused
qualified female applicants. Even if they did
receive their degree, they were rarely offered
teaching positions. Further, if they married,
that was the end of their career.

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Mary Whiton Calkins
 Mary Whiton Calkins
was a student of
William James at
Harvard. She
completed the
requirements of her
Ph.D., but was not ever
allowed to graduate.

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Margaret Floy Washburn
 Margaret Floy
Washburn was the first
woman to actually
receive her Ph. D. in
psychology – from
Cornell University.
 1920 elected president
APA.

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Minorities in Psychology
 Similar prejudices affected the entry of
African Americans, Latinos, and other ethnic
minorities in psychology.

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Famous African American
Psychologists
 Gilbert Haven Jones: first African American
to receive his Ph. D. in 1901.
 J. Henry Alston – first research published in a
journal. His study provided the basis for
understanding how skin receptors of warmth
and cold work together to create the sensation
of intense heat.

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Famous African American
Psychologists
 Inez Prosser – first African American woman
to receive her Ph. D. in psychology in the US
– University of Cincinnati. Tragically, she
was killed in an auto accident shortly after
receiving her degree.

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Famous Hispanic Psychologists
 Santiago Ramon y Cajal – a Spanish scientist
working around the turn of the century played
a significant role in the development of
psychology by identifying the neuron – cells
that make up the brain and nervous system.
He was also a scholar in the areas of hypnosis
and culturally biased tests for minority school
children.
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Time for stretch break!

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 Field of Psychology
 Clinical Psychology: constitutes the largest
psychology specialties field. Clinical
psychologists usually work in counseling centers,
independent or group practices, hospitals, or
clinics. They assess and treat mental, emotional
and behavioral disorders.

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 Field of Psychology
 Cognitive and Perceptual Psychology: study
human perception, thinking and memory.
 Counseling Psychology: use various techniques,
including interviewing and testing, to advise
people on how to deal with problems of everyday
living. They work in settings such as university
counseling centers, hospitals, and individual or
group practices. In most states, people with
master’s degrees cannot have their own private56

practice.
 Field of Psychology
 Developmental Psychology: study the
physiological, cognitive, and social development
that takes place throughout life. Some specialize in
behavior during infancy, childhood, adolescence, or
changes that occur during maturity or old age.
 Educational Psychology: conduct research on
classroom dynamics, teaching style, and learning
variables; develops educational tests, evaluates
educational programs, acts as a consultant for
schools. 57
 Engineering Psychology: conduct research
on how people work best with machines.

 Experimental / Research Psychology: work

in university and private research centers and
in business, nonprofit, and governmental
organizations. They study behavior processes
with human beings and animals such as rats,
monkeys, and pigeons. 58
 Forensic Psychology: study problems of
crime prevention, rehabilitation programs in
prisons, courtroom dynamics, psychology and
the law, select candidates for police work.
 Geriatric Psychology: deal with the special
problems faced by the elderly. The emergence
and growth of these specialties reflects the
increasing participation of psychologists in
providing direct services to special patient
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populations.
 Industrial / Organizational I/O
psychologists: apply psychological principles
and research methods to the workplace in the
interest of improving productivity and the
quality of work-life.
 Neuropsychology: study the relation between
the brain and behavior. They often work in
stroke and head injury programs.
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 School Psychology: work in elementary and
secondary schools or school district offices to
resolve students’ learning and behavior
problems.
 Social / Personality Psychology: examine
people’s interactions with others and with the
social environment. They work in
organizational consultation, marketing
research, systems design, or other applied 61

psychology fields.
 Sports Psychology: help athletes refine their
focus on competition goals, become more
motivated, and learn to deal with the anxiety
and fear of failure that often accompany
competition.
 Animal Psychologist: They will find work in
zoos and aquariums, circuses, animal training
centers, shelters and animal rescue centers
and vets practices. 62
 1. Descriptive Research Methods

Research methods that yield descriptions rather than

explanations… they do NOT explain WHY

For example : frequency, mean , median, mode,

percentage, reliability, skewness and kurtosis.

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 2. Naturalistic Observation
Researchers observe and record subjects in
their natural setting

Advantages: natural setting, subject’s behavior

is natural, spontaneous
*can provide a great hypothesis
Disadvantages: presence of a researcher could
impact behavior, observer bias
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 3. Case Study
Researchers observe and record one or a few
participants in depth
Advantages: get to know subjects well and can
observe them in unusual situations
*can provide a great hypothesis
Disadvantages: findings may not be applicable
to the whole population, can be time
consuming, expensive and observer bias
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 4. Correlational Research
A statistical method used to examine the
relationship between two or more variables
Advantages: allows for prediction of behavior,
BUT not CAUSE and EFFECT

Disadvantages: because two things vary together

does NOT mean that one causes the other
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Positive correlation: Increases in one variable are matched by increases in
the other variable
Negative correlation: Increases in one variable are matched by decreases
in the other variable

Fig. 1-9, p. 39
 5. Survey Research
Using interviews and or questionnaires to gather
information about aptitudes, beliefs, experiences or
behaviors
Advantages: can gather lots of information quickly and
inexpensively

Disadvantages:
 sampling biases skew results
 Poorly constructed questions result in ambiguous data
 Accuracy depends on the willingness of subjects to
answer honestly and accurately (people may lie)
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 Survey Research
Key Terms
 Population: the entire group of interest to
researcher- from which the sample is chosen
 Sample: The portion of any population selected
to study from which generalizations are made
about the population
 Representative Sample: A sample selected from
the larger population that is representative of the
population as a whole
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6. Experimental Method
Method where researchers randomly assign
participants to groups and control all
variables except for one which is
manipulated to see if it has an impact on
another variable

*Only type of research that can explain

behavior (or prove cause and effect)
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 Experimental Method
Key Terms
 Experimental group: in the experiment the
group that is exposed to the independent
variable or treatment
 Control group: A group that is similar to the
experimental group, but is NOT exposed to the
independent variable or treatment

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 Advantages of experimental method
 Experimental research is the most appropriate way for
drawing causal conclusions, regarding interventions or
treatments
 It is a basic, straightforward, efficient type of research
that can be applied across a variety of disciplines.
 Experimental research designs are repeatable and
therefore, results can be checked and verified.
 Due to the controlled environment of experimental
research, better results are often achieved.
 Conditions that may take longer to occur in a natural
environment may occur more quickly in an
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experimental setting.
Disadvantages of experimental method

 Human Error
 Personal Biasness of researcher
 Sample may not be representative
 Can produce artificial results
 Results may apply only to one situation---
unable to generalize.
 Groups may not be comparable
 Political pressure may slew results.
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Fig. 1-6, p. 34
Summary

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Recheck _Contents
 Psychology: Scientific perspective
 Historical perspective
 Schools of psychology
 Fields of psychology and their application
 Methods of Psychology

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Thank God ! We have completed module 1

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