Introduction to Psychology
Course title: Introduction to Psychology
Course code: Psy 101
Instructor: Arooj Fatima
Objectives:
To give the introductory knowledge of the
basic concepts in Psychology
To ensure that the students will aware of the
nature of psychology as a scientific approach
To give comprehensive knowledge about the
subject matter of Psychology
Definition of Psychology
The word of psychology is derived from two
Greek words “Psyche and Logos”
Psyche means “Soul/Spirit/Mind” and Logos
means “Knowledge”
Psychology stands for the knowledge of
mind/soul
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and
behavior
Subject Matter of Psychology
Subject Matter of psychology is A-B-C
A stands for Affect
B stands for- Behavior (Overt and Covert
Behavior)
C stands for- Cognition
Subject Matter of Psychology
(continu..)
Affect: refers to the experience of feelings or
emotions, it’s the observable expression of
emotion through facial expression e,g voice
tone, hand gestures, tears
Behavior: Behavior anything that we do
(Overt and Covert Behavior)
Cognition: The mental process of knowing
including perception, attention, memory,
learning etc
Subject matter of Psychology
(continu..)
Overt Behavior Covert Behavior
Behavior that other Behavior that is
people can see and hidden, consist on
directly or sensely mental, social and
observable, mostly in physical actions that
which used body are not immediately
language e.g. walking, observable e.g.
running lying, deception
Historical background of Psychology
Primitive people assumed that behavior was
caused by the presence of good and evil
souls .
The roots of psychology may be found in
philosophy, religion, and science.
We can divide history period into two periods
Pre scientific period
Scientific period
Pre scientific period
Some of our modern ideas of mind came from
ancient Greece. Term Psychology was
derived from the Greek word ‘Psyche’ (soul)
and ‘logos’ (knowledge). It eventually came to
mean the “study of the mind”
Pre scientific period can be divided into three
sub periods .
i) Greek period
ii) Middle ages
iii) Islamic period
Greek period
1: Hippocrates (430 B.C): Greek physician
Hippocrates thought that personality was made up of
four temperaments and these temperaments were
influenced by the presence of “humors or fluids” in
the body. The problem of interest to the early Greek
philosophers was the relationship between “mind”
and body.
Hippocrates four humors and
Personality Type:
Black Bile Yellow Bile Phlegm Blood
(humors)
Melancholic Choleric Phlegmatic Sanguine
(temperaments / personality type)
Moody Touchy Passive Sociable
Anxious Restless Careful Outgoing
Rigid Aggressive Thoughtful Talkative
Sober Excitable Peaceful Responsive
Pessimistic Changeable Controlled Easygoing
Reserved Optimistic Calm Carefree
(Personality Characteristics)
Greek period
2: Plato(427-347 B.C)
He postulated the theory of mind body
dualism and held the view that as long as the
soul remains in the body, the man is alive,
and when it leaves the body, the man dies.
Mind-body dualism: mind and body are not
identical, both are function separately without
interchange
Greek period
3: Aristotle(384-322 B.C)
Rejected the Plato’s theory and suggested that mind
is a function of the body itself just as vision is a
function of the eye.
His concept of mind as a function of bodily processes
was an important step in the direction of making
Psychology a science.
Middle ages
1: Plotinus(205-270):
He was influenced by Aristotle’s thoughts.
He tried to understand religious beliefs through
reasoning.
2: St. Augustine(354-430):
Being a Christian philosopher, he believed that
human being is interaction of soul and body.
He was founder of introspective method (examination
of one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings).
He thought that an individual can understand his own
inner feelings.
Islamic Period
Here a brief description of Muslim
philosophers may be added into the history of
psychology.
1: Alkundi(803-873):
He was a great Arab philosopher. He believed
that our souls have originated from God’s
soul. According to him, our real happiness
lies in the reason and spiritual life.
2: Al- Farabi (870-950)
He wrote more than 80 books on various
topics. He believed that a man is composed
of body and soul, which belong to God.
God is immortal and above all human
thoughts. Farabi was influenced by the
teachings of Aristotle.
Islamic Period
3: Ibn-e-Sina (980-1037)
He was physician, poet and psychologist all
in one. According to him, there are three
kinds of mind :Human mind, Animal mind ,
and vegetable mind.
Vegetable mind: the power of growth,
reproduction
Human mind: ability to reason, gave humanity
Animal mind: Ability of cognition and perception
He said that physical illness could be treated
with medicine but mental illness could be
treated psychologically with religion.
He thought that body had no link with mind;
body perishes but mind remains alive.
4: Imam Ghazali (1058-1111)
He wrote a number of books on religion. He
instructed people to follow the right path.
He said that , this world is a place of actions
and hard work and no body was allowed to
remain idle in life. He viewed that man was
recognized by his actions.
He stressed upon children’s education. .
5: Allama Bin Khaldun (1332-1406)
He proposed the theories of social
psychology and explained human beliefs,
attitudes and their effect on others.
According to him , religion influences human
mind and whole life.
6: Shah Wali Ullah ( 1702-1763)
He wrote many books and made a deep study of
human mind and behavior. He discovered the causes
of mental disorders and treated them .
Scientific Period
This period may be divided into two sub
periods:
1: Renaissance Period
2: Modern Period
Renaissance Period
[Link] Lock (1632-1704):
He believed we were born with empty mind in
the world, like blank slates upon which all of
life’s experiences could be written .
Memories are imprinted on our mind as a
result of experience.
2: Charles Darwin (1809-1882):
In his book” The Origin of Species” in 1859,he
outlined his theory of evolution. In his theory
he suggested that animals and people show
behavior that is adaptive to the environment
and helpful to their survival.
3: Paul Broca (1860)
A French physician identified a part of the
brain (still called “Broca Area”) working as
control centre for speech.
4: Weber (1795-1878) :
About the middle of 19th century the
discoveries made in physics gave rise to a
new field known as “psychophysics”
Psychophysics is the branch of psychology
that deals with the relationship between
physical stimuli and mental phenomena.
5. Fechner (1866):
He looked into mathematical connection
between the physical and psychological
changes.
For the first time it had been demonstrated
that psychological phenomenon could be
quantified and investigated with scientific
method.