. -- ' .. .., . -······- .•. ., . ..

···- ...--
.

THE STUDY- OF MAN .·----- ..... ... .... ···-:---•

Psychology ~rings to itself a numbei of tipecial problems that rarely, if ever

P!ague other areas of scientific inquiry. Pr0oably the re~son is that psychol~gy-s.tu·~ 1

dies man-, a~~ __man is much mote ljkeiy to have strong convictions about himself
than about any otliet n~tural phenomenon.in his world~_. "Breathes.theie a·.man·with·
s9ul so dead who never'fo'him.selfhas said:' - and believed-- that he knows "what
:makes people tick?', Barring a 'rew·:-qrireflectivy souls, each of us> in the course of
liv:ing,· almost inevitably evolves a more or less articulate set of notions ·about the
nature of man. ·
•. , . In ~tudying rnan) .the psychologist resorts to a convenient bit of scientific fic-
t1on. ~e knows perfectly well that a person is a ''whole~' _ organism. He knows· tbat -
he cannot stucl:y mah in a piecemeal fashion without loosing the unity of the man
he is describing. But he also knows that he cannot achieve any understanding of
man u~ess he proceeds as if man could be studied piecemeal. He has no choke,
for man-a.~Ma-whole is just too big a piece for any scientist to handle with the instru-
ments arid. concepts now available. This bit of scientific fiction has proved to.be prof-
. ..!t~~le ~ot only foi: psychology but for a~l s.ciences. Takin~ a whole, breaking it down
into parts,.and·studying each: p~rtintensively constitute a common method of science.
It is t !l.e method of analysis. . · · · ·
In·studying man, then; we break down our.inquiry into five· different parts.
We·an~Iyse first operation of hereditary mechanisms and their interaction with envi-
1 onrnental factors in order t~ determine the course of his growth a;nd development.
Then we turn to the study of his ·perceptions - how he sees, hears, smells, ta~es,
and feeJs the world a\)out him. We ·next examine man as he attempt$ to adapt to
tb.e deµianq.s made upon him - how he solves problems, learns, remembers,· and
forgets. Then we concern ourselves with the motives and emotions of man· -' his
needs:, qesires~ aspirations, fears, and loves. · Fin.ally, we consider man as a unique
and ·who1e- individual - ·we look into· his-· abilities and personality and his social ·
relatio~~6vith other men. . . · . .
- But·what the psychologist tears asunder; he also seeks to join together. H~
______-"' us~s npt ·only the m~tlic,d of analysis but also the m~thod <?,_f synthesis; he puts the
analyzed parts together to recreate an· abstracted but scientifically useful f~~siinile
of the ·original whole. · · ·· · · ·

. -~
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Social psychology is the study of manwith sp~ci~l emphasis on the influence

of his. social environment upon his behavior. In certain sense, all psychology may
be ·rega-rd~d as "social psychology"; as it is difficult to ima~ine ~- sit~_~t~o3;1 eyen with~n
the ~onfines of the psychological laboratory, ·that is n~t '_'soc~~l"_,i:n cn~tacter. · Th~ ,

16
 ~

! jc
1
tated' individual is a fiction·· whatev.er he perceives arid whatever-he does.are in-.
' • • d
. .,need by his earlier perception and le~rning, color~ b~ ~ pre~~n
':! • '-~ t needs and
•
fj ~ngs, and stamped ·with:his uniqu.e· ~~ilities ~nd pers~n~~f:¥: .!1.1:f~~rt, :~11)-~~~~ .
· :~ _avi-)r,ten~s to be social b~hLlvior~· ajid'·aU hufiJ.a1i''j>etc'cption t~nds to social oe
...
ij;; .-~ption. To the extent that this statement is .true, we may expe~. that. the ge~-
e·:· . psychologi~J principles·from the experimental perception laboratory will remain
~P~~i~:hle~ f9r exa~le~ similar principJe.s .o f percep~al grouping are probably
1~fpl_ved whether we are loo~µ.g ·at a. stimulu~·P..b.-~em ~µiposed of black dots on
a ·t hite cardl;>oar~ background or com~sed ofperfons scattered throughout. a :oom.
I~ijlny case~~ have .the same perceiver· and the same n:enrous system, and 1t 1s rea-
. S0~ !1ble.to e~~a ~imilarper~p~ua,lre~ult.·This gentrality ofperce_ptualp~ciples
~{~ l?~come·increasingly. apl?arent.as we seek 'to understand the proces~ ·mvolved
1~~ oc1al perception. For, in order to understand social behavior, we begin by.trying
t~;~ mp~ehe~d -the psychq)ogical processes by which man perceives -and organizes
s~~ al stimuh .. ,·
.•..
:~..
. .:.•a~ "Elements of Psychology" _by ·Da~id-Krech; Richard S. (;.r otchfield
· -~\'.--
:·~ · and Norman Livsori . · ·
..i..:~=
·frf
,fl};
~t .~·
.·ft:
-~~:
··t'1'1
. :<.J..i WORDS TO REMEMBER
!~

. . .·1 . .. . . . .. . . -· •, .. . .. . \
psf ffe!ology - the study of the behaviour of an organism in its envfron~ent: M~di- · )
~ lly the study of human behaviour ·
coiff!Pt - the me~ta~I pr~cess which by .abstracting and recombini~g certain qual-
~f~es or charactenstlcs of a number of ideas, forms Jhem into a generalization· ··
an4,lysis - (pl. analyses) - separation into component parts or.elements
sy1f!iesis - putting tog~t~er. : . . . . .. .· . . . .
eni]ronment - external surroundmgs ·
enf/tonmental factors - conditions influencing an hldividual from without .
pef4_~ption - the reception of a conscious impression t~ough t~e senses by -which
.Y//? dis~guish object~ _one from another and recognize their qualities·acc~rdi~g
tp the different sensation~ they produce . . · · ..
eni'"btion -. the to;ne of feeling recognized- ,in ourselves by certain bodily changes,
. .ib.d in others by tendencies to certa~l). characteristics behavio-µr. Aroused usual~y
;.jf
ideas or concepts
.fi~~_on _· in general sense, any jma:ginative const~uctmn
. .
·.
.

.
-
-~-
··~i.t'
•·'1:
l~ . . . .
·,7t.: COMPREHENSION AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
:f~ .
-~
. 1. -h at kind of a study is psychology? · . . .
. .- 2. How ~ccordirig to the writer, is in~ stud!ed by a-psychologist?
.. . ·3. What is :rlleant b-y "the.method of anal~1s'? . · . · .
· 4 ~ · that · studving man the mqmry 1s broken down mto five parts .
. -~ e writer says , 1n .,........ , . .. , .
· ;:: : -~ you suggest which they -are in turn? .. . .
-~~;..s·. ~ ·1 also ..~entions the method of synthesis; discuss. wny. it is nece~s:,
.,·.•. . .r..ue wn er . .
/ {d.'
,
tp, apply this method.
)i• •
·
·~~':·:. ~-
\.' .: . I•
.,
(;..

. .. .-··~\:·/
··:.__:., ... . ~
. ~
.-~
2. • .I(
 \
.,

- 6!
··-- --··--·-····· ... . ... \o,

What kl.lid of a study is ·social psychology?. ·

........... _

·.
.. . , .... .

·
· - ·-· ...
.
. •-4. .....

i
7. According to ·the· writer., why is it not possible to study thcr isolated individual?.
8. The writer stresses the tendency of all human behavior to be social. behavior, ,
· and all human perception to be social perception. Do you think, this 'Statement
. :-is ·uue? . .. . ' .. . ' . . ~ . .
\·,
.. - 9~ What do we -have.to do in our. ~tudy if we want to understand social ·behavior?
_, ' . . .... . .. . . : . : . ' . . .
Choose
,.. •
tlie ••.correct
•
answer
. • •,
iti-the
t • •
following:·
. i.

1. Which 9f the· words below meaQs nearly- ,the same as

· "rarely'~? . ; ·
- -· :· a. often ·. •
··1J.-.•J~•o.:seldom '
·;?,,· _. c. frequently ·
d. never
·,
'-
.. ·-2. Which of
the· words below ·m eans nearly the same as
"probably"? ' . .
\ ~ a. likely
\
\ b. impossibly
c. surely
d. certainly
3. Which of the words below means nearly the same as
"\>arring~"l .,
a. against
b. f9r · · ·,
c, after
d. exceptjng :
4. Which of the words below means nearly the. same as
"inc".itaQly"?
. ·8-. 'EOSSi~lY, . ·. . ..
I·
. b. in.dispcn$S.bly : I

c. incredibly
d.. simultaneously
,... -
. . ....
,.i(,' \•
\,~n r
.~~,,:..,.
•
5. Which .ot llie words below means ne·a rly the same as .
..... ·..
--~:
. I
"piecemeat '?
a. wholly
. ~'•. .
' ' ,• .. ...
:;
b. amorally
c. done piece· by piece . :·. :. . ,-~-~-
::._..-.
d. wicked · '

Insert the correct word in the follow,ipg ~~~ten~~ from the list 'below.:
percept, cnvirprunent, fict!~n; aspect( ~ehavior, a_ppric~ble
1. His ~9cial \ . . influences his b~h;avio~.' :
2. The isolated· :individual.is "':
\ l.
3. Though experimental these principles remain ______,.· ;''-" ·

18

~·...---- ---·
ii
~(
.. .. ... ··---·- -,. - - - - - -- --.-
,, _ ,_ ;§,- ----'----.. . . -----
·- -