Dear Learners!

, Well Come
General Psychology Class of 24
 Chapter - 1

Essence of Psychology
 Chapter Contents
1) Meaning of Psychology
2) Goals of Psychology
3) History of Psychology
4) Perspective in Psychology
5) Branches of Psychology
6) Research Methods in Psychology
What is
 Brain Storming
1) Have you heard the word
psychology?
2) Have you read anything
related to psychology?
3) What do you expect from this
course?
 Introduction
• Psychology is increasingly getting
importance in human lives.
• Major problems of our time such as
poverty, environmental and ecological
crisis and many other social and economic
problems have important psychological
implications.
• Today, no walk of human life can be out of
the practical contributions of psychology.
 Cont`d
Psychologists focus on the prevention
of physical and psychological problems
rather than just on their treatment.
• To achieve this, the study of human
behavior and how human beings interact
with their environment and how they
develop physically, socially,
emotionally and mentally is important.
 Objectives:
at the end of the chapter the student is expected
to:
• Define basic terms in the course
• Differentiate the sub fields of psychology
• Relate major perspective of psychology with
issues it is concerned about
• Identify four Goals of Psychology
• Describe some Research Methods in Psychology
 Definitions of Psychology
Psychology is the scientific
study of Human behavior and
the underlying mental
processes.
It is the study of Mind and
behavior.
 A) Science
 do not study behaviour
with common-sense.
 follow scientific procedures
and use empirical data to study
behaviour and mental
processes.
 B) Behaviour
 It refers to all overt actions
and reactions (talking, facial
expressions, movement) etc.
 It also covert behaviour which
is hidden, non-observable and
generally considered as a
mental process
 C) Mental Processes
 It refers to all the
internal/covert/
activities of our
minds. E.g,
 thinking,
 feeling,
 remembering,
 reasoning,
 Problem solving,
 Decision making,
 perceiving etc.
 [Link] of Psychology
1) Description: It involves
observing the behaviour and
noticing everything about it. It is a
search for answers to questions
like:
What is happening?
 Cont`d
Where does it happen?
To whom does it happen?
Under what circumstances does
it seem to happen?
It answers questions that people
are curious about to know.
 2) Explanation
Why is it happening?
Explanation is about trying to
find reasons for the observed
behavior.
This deals with understanding
the cause of (factors) certain
behavior.
 Cont`d
This helps in the process of
forming theories of behaviour.
 Theory is a general explanation
of a set of observations or facts.
In other words, psychologists
will study why did the subject do
what he or she did?
 3) Prediction
 It is about determining what
will happen in the future.
It is all about forecasting the
likely hood of certain behavior
in the future regarding human
behavior.
 4) Controlling
How can it be changed?
Control or modify or change
the behavior from undesirable
one (such as failing in school) to
a desirable one (such as
academic success).
 Cont`d
Under this goal of psychology
issues such as modifying,
improving, managing, changing,
…etc.
They want to do so in a positive
manner, they want to improve a
person’s life, not make it worse
1.3. Historical Background
in Psychology

The Beginnings of
Psychology as a Science
 Cont`d
For centuries, philosophers
enjoyed arguing and debating
questions like these:
Nature Versus Nurture
How do we acquire
knowledge(its sources)?
 Cont`d
Does information come to
us through our senses and
our experiences with the
environment, or is it born?
 Cont`d
Psychology, as a separate and
independent discipline
developed (emerged) in the late
19 c.
th
 Cont`d
Wilhelm Wundt was the first
man to establish the first
psychological laboratory in
1879, in Leipzig, Germany.
“Psychology has long past, but
short history.”
 Cont`d
Psychology then begun as an
independent field of study and
with Wundt as its founder or
“Father of modern Psychology.
 Cont`d
With such newer orientation to
the study of human subjective
experiences that were previously
under the field of philosophy.
 Cont`d
Wundt developed the technique
of objective introspection to
scientifically examine mental
experiences.
He saw psychology as the study
of conscious experience or
understanding mental process
focusing on inner sensation,
feeling and thought.
 Cont`d
From 1920 to 1960 psychology
was refined as the science of
observable and measurable
behavior by American
Psychologist J.B. Watson.
 Cont`d
After 1960’s Psychology is
considered as the study of both
mental process and observable
behavior.
Due to these controversies,
fundamental questions about
what should psychology study
were raised.
 Cont`d
Hence, Psychologists were
divided about what they should
study and how they should
study it.
Based on these controversies,
different schools of thought are
emerged.
 Cont`d
A school of thought is a system
of thinking about a certain
issue, say, for example, about
human behaviour or mind.
 Cont`d
You may, for example, think that
human behaviour is all the
result of inheritance, or
 You, may say it is all the result
of interaction with the
environment.
 Cont`d
The first system of thinking
takes a biological approach.
 The later takes an
environmental approach.
 Cont`d
But, what is common in both is
there is a tendency to give
general, systematized approach
of explaining phenomena.
1.4. Schools /Perspectives/
of Psychology

A) Early Perspectives
B) Modern Perspectives
 A) Early Perspectives of
Psychology
1) Structuralism:
2) Functionalism
3) Gestalt Psychology
4) Psychoanalysis
5) Behaviorism
 1) Structuralism

It is an expansion of Wundt`s

ideas by his student named
Edward Titchener (1867-1927).
 Titchener is the founder of
structuralism.
 Cont`d
Views psychology as a study of
structure of mind.
It focused on contents of the
mind and concept of
“reductionism”.
 Cont`d
Focused on finding out the
structure or basic elements of the
mind, such as; sensations, images,
and feelings. .
All human mental experience can
be understood as a combination of
simple elements or events.
 Cont`d
Their goal was to find out the units
or elements which make up the
mind.
He limited the subject matter of
psychology to the study of
conscious experience.
 Cont`d
Its method of study was
introspection(looking inward into
our consciousness).
Introspection involves asking the
person to describe what is going on
in his/her mind.
 Cont`d
It is a procedure aimed at
analysing the mental experience
into three basic mental elements:
a) Images,
b) Feelings, and
c) Sensations.
 e.g.
a) Sensations: sights, sounds,
tastes, smells and touch.
b) Feelings: love, fear, joy, and so
on
 Cont`d
Analysing mental structure alone
was found to serve little purpose
in helping humans deal with the
environment.
Hence, a new school of thought
emerged to study this functional
value of human mind
(functionalism).
 2. Functionalism
 Proposed by William James
(1848-1910), who was the first
American psychologist and
 Views psychology as a study of
function of the mind.
They were interested in the fact that
mind and behavior are adaptive.
 Cont`d
 William James focused on:
 how the mind allows people to
function in the real world.
 how people work to adapt to
their surroundings, live, and
play.
 Cont`d
It focused on what the mind
does and on the functions of
mental activity and the role of
behavior in allowing people to
adapt to their environment.
They emphasized on the causes
and consequences of behavior.
 Cont`d
Generally, according to
functionalists, psychological
processes are adaptive.
They allow humans to survive
and to adapt successfully to
their surroundings.
 Cont`d
Examining human mind in
terms of its structural elements
and functions were, however,
found to be simplistic to
understand the complex human
being.
 3) Gestalt Psychology
It is an approach that focuses on
the organization of perception
and thinking in a ‘‘whole” sense
rather than on the individual
elements of perception.
The “Whole is greater than the
Sum of its Parts.”
 Cont`d
 Studying any phenomenon in
its overall form.
Their goal was to understand the
phenomenon of conscious
experience in holistic terms.
 Cont`d
Their subject matter was
subjective experience.
They concentrated on how
people consider individual
elements together as units or
wholes.
 4) Psychoanalysis
The unconscious motivations
and conflicts have powerful
influences on our conscious
thoughts and actions(human
behavior).
 Importance of Early
Childhood Experience.
 Cont`d
All behavior whether normal
or abnormal is influenced by
the unconscious mind.
We are not aware of our
unconscious urges and
thoughts as we undertake our
daily business.
 5. Behaviorism
 [Link] changed the
subject matter of psychology
from the study of conscious
experience to the study of
observable and measurable
behavior.
 Cont`d
[Link] believed that the
focus of psychology should be
about observable behavior and
its aim should be to describe,
predict, understand and
control behavior.
 B) Modern Perspectives
Modern psychologists tend to
examine human nature and
behavior through several
lenses.
 Cont`d
 These perspectives hold
various views regarding
 human behavior,
 how the mind works and
 give different kinds of
explanations on why people do
what they do.
 B) Modern Perspectives
1) Psychodynamic
2) Behavioral
3) Humanistic
4) Bio-psychological
5) Cognitive perspective
6) Socio-cultural
7) Evolutionary Perspective
 1) Psychodynamic
 Major factors that govern
one’s behavior is :
 the conflict between:
 biological instincts and
 society’s demands.
 Early Childhood experiences.
 Cont`d
It deals with unconscious
dynamics within the
individual(inner forces).
 They try to dig below the
surface of a person’s behavior
to get to its unconscious motive.
 2. Behavioral perspective
 The importance of the
environment in shaping
behavior (determinism).
Study of the relation between
people’s environments and their
behavior.
 Cont`d
3) Humanistic Perspective
They stress on:
 a person’s capability for
personal growth,
 freedom to choose their
destiny and positive qualities.
 Cont`d
Their goal was to help people
to:
 Express themselves creatively.
 Achieve their full potential.
4. Bio-psychological perspective
 It states that behavior has a biological
basis.
 Focuses on how bodily events
(functioning of the body) affect behavior,
feelings and thoughts.
 Understanding of the brain and the
nervous system is central in the
understanding of behavior, thought and
emotion
 Cont`d
That is how our:
 individual nerve cells are joined
together?
 How heredity influences behavior?
 nervous system, brain,
 hormonal system
 other physiological activities (work)
influence our behavior (the way we
behave and think).
 5) Cognitive Perspective
Cognition Cognition
 refers to the
way:
 we process
information
mentally about
the world around
us.
 Cont`d
 Emphasizes on the mental
processes involved in knowing:
 how we direct our attention
 how perceive(understand)
 how we remember
 how we think and
 solve problems.
 6) Socio-Cultural perspective

They focuses on social and

cultural forces outside the
individual.
 Cont`d
 It emphasizes that:
 culture, ethnicity, race,
 religion, norm,
 way of life and gender are
essential in understanding one’s
behavior (both covert and
overt).
 7) Evolutionary Perspective
 Focuses on the :
 how human behaviors
required for survival have
adapted in the face of
environmental pressures over
the long course of evolution.
• Darwin’s theory asserts that
individual members of a given
species who possess
characteristics that help them
survive are the most likely to
pass on the genes underlying
those characteristics to
subsequent generations.
1.5. Branches of Psychology
1)
 Cont`d
Concerned with increasing the
efficiency of learning by
applying psychological
knowledge about learning and
motivation to the curriculum,
teaching, and administration of
academic programs.
 2) Developmental Psychology
It studies the
physical,
cognitive and
psychological
changes
across the life
span.
Or

AUTN
 Development
• Physical
• Moral
• Intellectual
• Social
• Gender
 Cont`d
 It examines
how people
grow and
change from
the moment of
conception
through death.
 3) Personality Psychology
Personality defined as the unique
pattern of enduring thoughts,
feelings, and actions that
characterize a person.
It focuses on the relatively
enduring traits and
characteristics of individuals.
 4) Social Psychology
deals with:
people‘s social
interactions,
 relationships,
 social
perception,
attitudes.
Social Interactions
 Cont`d
Study the way
we affect and
are influenced
by other
people, both in
groups and in
intimate
relationships.
 Cont`d
 For example, it includes the
study of:
 the ways in which we perceive
other people and
 how those perceptions affect
our behavior toward them.
 5) Cross-Cultural Psychology
It examines the role of culture in
understanding behaviour,
thought, and emotion.
They investigates the similarities
and differences in psychological
functioning in and across various
cultures and ethnic groups.
 Cont`d
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.
 6) Industrial/Organizational
Psychology
It applies
psychological
principles in
industries/
organizations to
increase the
productivity of
that organization.
 Cont`d
It study
behavior in
the
workplace.
 Cont`d
Their primary
concern is to
make-work as
pleasant and
productive as
possible.
 Cont`d
 improving communication
within the organization.
 counseling the employees,
 recruit employee for certain
organization and
 alleviate industrial conflict
 7) Clinical Psychology
 It applies
psychological
principles to:
 the prevention,
diagnosis
 treatment of
psychological
disorders.
8) Health Psychology
 Cont`d
It applies psychological
principles to the prevention
and treatment of physical
illness and diseases.
 9) Forensic Psychology
It applies
psychological
principles to
improve the
legal system
(police,
testimony, etc..).
 Cont`d
It focuses on
legal issues,
such as
determining
the accuracy of
witness
memories.
Criminal Investigation
 10) Counseling Psychology
They focus primarily on
educational, social, and career
adjustment problems.
Deals problems with family
living including marriage,
divorce, and academic related
issues, love or r/ship problems
 11) Cognitive psychology
It studies cognition, the
mental processes underlying
behavior.
 It uses information
processing as a framework
for understanding the mind.
 12) Consumer Psychology
Studies and explains our
buying habits and our effects
of advertising on a buying
behavior.
 Mainly, it deals with the likes
and dislikes and preferences of
people.
 13)Sport psychology

It applies psychology to

athletic activity and exercise.

 14) Biological Psychology
It studies the relationship
b/n physiological processes
and behavior.
This is because of that all
behavior is controlled by
the central nervous system.
 Cont`d
It is sensible to study how
the brain functions in order
to understand behavior.
 1.6) Research Methods in Psychology
 Scientific research is:
a planed, systematic, controlled,
empirical, and
critical investigation of:
 hypothetical and propositions
about:
 natural, behavioral, and
 social phenomena.
 Cont`d
 It is methods of:
 modifying the existing
knowledge.
 creating new knowledge, or
 checking the validity
(truthfulness) of the existing
knowledge.
 Cont`d
In scientific research, subjective
belief must be checked against
objective reality.
To conduct any scientific
research, gathering
information or evidences is
very crucial.
 Steps of Scientific Research
1- Identifying/Defining/ the Problem
2- Formulating the Hypothesis
3- Testing the Hypothesis
4- Drawing Conclusions
5 -Reporting Results
 Types of Research Methods
There are three major types of
research methods in psychology:
a) Descriptive Research Method.
b) Correlation Research Method.
c) Experimental Research
Method.
 1) Descriptive research
 Designed to create a snapshot of the
current thoughts, feelings, or behavior of
individuals.
 The researcher simply records what she/he
has systematically observed.
 Descriptive research methods:
a) Naturalistic Observation.
b) Case Studies.
c) Surveys.
 a) Naturalistic Observation
It is observing behavior in their
natural environment.
 It often involves counting behaviors,
such as:
 number of aggressive acts,
 number of smiles, etc.
In writing, using checklist, tape
recording, video… etc.
 Cont`d
 Psychologists observe behavior, in
real world settings such as:
 at football games,
 day care centers,
 college dormitories,
 restaurants, and etc.
 kindergartens,
 shopping malls,
 Cont`d
The researcher must record simply &
passively what are occurred.
Taking care not to interfere with the
people or animals being observed.
This is because, the subjects may not
show their real behavior.
 Cont`d
The researcher has to have such ideas
as:
 what to be observed,
 whom and when to observe,
 where will observation takes place,
 how to observe, and
 in what form will the result of
observation be recorded?
 Advantages
Behavior is naturally occurring
and is not manipulated by a
researcher.
It enables one to get a good
idea of how people/animals
normally behave in their
naturalistic setting.
 Cont`d
Provide uncontaminated or
unbiased/real data.
It gives the opportunity to study
issues that cannot be studied
through experimentation or in
laboratory situation.
 Disadvantages
Difficult to maintain the natural
status of events (behaviors).
It is difficult to observe all
behaviors in its natural settings.
It is time consuming and requires
more resource.
 ii) Case Study/ Clinical Method/
descriptive records of one or more
individual’s experiences and behavior.
 This is an in-depth study or description of
a single event/case/individual or single case
about few individuals.
Because it is used in clinics by medical
practitioners or clinical psychologist it is
sometimes called clinical method.
 Advantages of the Case Study
Method
Provide an in-depth
information (both qualitative
and quantitative) about the case
under study
 Cont`d
It is more helpful in
understanding rare cases and
applying specific interventions.
It may be a source of hypothesis
that may be used in studying
large cases
 Disadvantages
Difficult to generalize to large
cases (population).
The researcher biases and
problems on the techniques
employed may occur.
 iii) Survey Method
 Itis the way of assessing
people’s behavior, thought or
attitudes by selecting samples
from the population, and
generalizing the findings to the
whole population.
 Advantages
Helps to gather large information
from large population within the
short period of time.
 It helps to generalize the findings
from the sample to the population.
 Cont`d
Relatively it is economical in
terms of time and other
resources.
Questionnaire and interview
for instance can be conducted
using the internet.
 Disadvantages
Survey data is based solely on
subjects’ responses which can be
inaccurate in questionnaire for
example due to:
 outright lying.
 misunderstanding of the question
 the manner in which the question
is asked, etc.
 Cont`d
The sample/participant may
not precisely represent the
target population.
 2) Correlation Method
Used to determine whether there is
relationship (associations) between
two or more variables or not.
 It does not determine that one
variable causes an other variable
to occur or change.
 Cont`d
 For Example:
 Studying whether there is
relationship between sex and
choice of field of study.
Studying whether there is
relationship between sex and
choice of eating Pizza/Burger/.
 Cont`d
It tells us the direction and strength of
relationship and the of r/ship between
two variables (if the correlation
already exists).
 Statistically the number that helps us to
know the direction and strength of
relationship between two variables is
called coefficient of correlation
(represented as r).
 Cont`d
The values of correlation coefficient
(r) range from -1.00 to +1.00.
 The negative and positive sign
indicate the direction of relationship.
 The magnitude (the number or the
values) indicates the strength or
degree of relationship between two
variables.
 Advantages
Helps to assess direction and
strength of relationship between
two variables
Helps to the situations that may
not be studied using
experimental method
 Disadvantages
Cannot make any assumptions of
cause and effect relationship (does
not explain how third a variable
can be involved, or how the
variables can influence each
other).
Mostly applicable for
quantitative data only
 C/ Experimental Method
It is carefully designed procedure in
which the extraneous variables are
controlled.
 determine if one variable causes an
other variable to occur or change.
The cause-effect relationship between
variables will be determined.
 What is Variable?
Variable is a factor or characteristic
that takes on different values or
conditions for different individual in
experiment.
Variable is something that changes.
 e.g, age, sex, religion, educ status, etc.
 Types of Variables
a) Independent variable:
b) Dependent variable
 a) Independent variable
 It is manipulated or selected
variable by the experimenter to
see its effects on another
variable or dependent variable.
It is also called input variable or
the cause).
 b) Dependent variable
It is the variable which is
measured to determine the
effect of independent variable.
This is the outcome variable
(results of the experiment).
 Types of Groups

 There are two types of groups

in the experimental variables.
i) Experimental Group
ii) Control Group
 i) Experimental Group
 It is the group which receives
the experimental treatment/
independent variable.
 ii) Control Group
It is the group which do not
receives the experimental
treatment/independent variable.
It is a group which serves as a
baseline against which the effects of
the manipulated condition can be
compared.
 Extraneous variable:
 It is variable which can
theoretically affect the observed
phenomena, unless it is
controlled by the
experimenter/researcher.
 Advantages
It provides the cause-effect
relationship
There is a better ways of
controlling the effect of the
Extraneous variable
 Disadvantages
Less applicable to human
beings due to ethical issues &
complexity of human behavior.
Because of its artificial settings,
it is difficult for generalization
(external validity).
 Cont`d
If the participants are aware
that they are under the
controlled situation, they may
not reflect their real behavior
so that the result may be biased.
 CHAPTER TWO

SENSATION AND
PERCEPTION
Gateways to Mind and Behavior