PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 1
Presented by
Munmun Das Patra
What is psychology?
◦ Psychology is one of the most popular disciplines now days.
◦ Psychology is derived from two Greek words psyche meaning soul and logos
meaning science or study of a subject.
◦ It is the scientific study of mental processes, experiences and behaviour in
different contexts. It covers a wide area of study and hence, can be considered
as a natural as well as a social science. In fact, it can best be described as a
hybrid science.
Meaning of mental processes,
experience and behaviours
◦ Mental processes: to processes such as learning, understanding,
remembering, etc. They are the states of awareness that try to
understand how the mind works.
◦ Experiences: are subjective in nature. We can only infer what the
other person is experiencing.
◦ Behaviour: to our reactions to various things. They may be as
simple as blinking to bright light or complex like deciding our
careers. They can be overt or covert.
Psychology as a Discipline
◦ As a discipline, psychology has two parallel streams. It is generally considered
as a social science but is also offered as a subject in the science stream.
◦ Natural science it influenced by scientific methods. It emphasizes objectives
and theory formulation, and established cause and effect relationships just like
the natural sciences.
◦ Social science it can be considered a social science too as it studies behaviour
in relation to our socio-cultural environment.
Understanding mind and behaviour
◦ Though the mind cannot exist without the brain, it has a separate identity.
Accordingly to earlier beliefs, there was no relation between the mind and the
brain but now neuroscience has proved that there is a relationship between
them. In fact, the new field of psychoneuroimmunology has been gaining
ground. It studies the role of the mind in improving our immune system.
Popular Notions about the Evolution of Psychology
Discipline of Psychology
◦ People generally see psychology as ◦ Many contributors from
an extension of common sense. philosophy, physical sciences as
However, scientific knowledge well as people like Darwin have
given by psychology is not just played a role in the evolution
practical wisdom. It looks for psychology. Psychology emerged
patterns of behaviour which can be as an independent discipline in
predicted and modified and not 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt
explained after the behaviour has established the first psychology lab
occurred. In fact, it often runs in Leipzig, Germany. Initially,
against common sense. psychology in India was under the
Western influence but now it is
indigenous in most aspects and is
applied in all fields
◦ Who
Whowas
wasthe
the
main Wilhelm William Watson Freud
Kohler
psychologist Wundt James
What was the Consciousn Consciousn Function Overt conscious
topic of ess as a ess as a or use of behaviou ness
study? sum of the whole conscious r
parts ness
Old schools
of
How was it Experimen Free psychology
studied?/what introspectio tation and conditioni
insight analysis
is the method n observatio ng
of study n
Development of psychology in
India
◦ The modern era of psychology began in the University of Calcutta
in 1916. some of the early pioneers were Dr N.N.Sengupta,
professor G.Bose and Durganath Sinha. Initially, psychology was
heavily influenced by the western world. But soon, it was realised
that western thoughts can’t be implanted in Indian roots. This led to
the birth of indigenous, and socially relevant research. Now, it is
one of the most popular disciplines and is being applied in diverse
fields.
Branches of Psychology
Branches of Psychology
Cognitive Development Cross-cultural Health Educational
psychology psychology psychology psychology psychology
Biological Social Environmental Clinical and
psychology psychology psychology counselling
psychology
Industrial Sports
psychology psychology
like other science, psychology attempts to develop the principles of behaviour
and mental processes
Human behaviour is a function of the attributes of the people and the
environment
Human behaviour is caused Research and
Application in
Human behaviour is influenced by culture Psychology:
five themes
The application of principles of psychology can control and modify human
behaviour
Basic v/s Applied psychology
Basic psychology provides us with the theories and principles of behaviour,
while applied psychology provides us with different contexts in which those
theories and principles can be meaningfully used. In fact, all psychology has the
potential for application.
Psychology and other disciplines
◦ The distinction between the various disciplines of science and humanities is a things of past.
Nowdays, there is a need to adopt a collaborated multidisciplinary approach to have a better
understanding of different disciplines. Psychology can be applied in a variety of fields like
philosophy, medicine, social sciences, law, music, fine arts etc. in fact, any discipline which deals
with people can be studies with the help of the principles of psychology of psychology. The major
disciplines connected to the field of psychology are as follows:
◦ Philosophy
◦ Medicine
◦ Economics, political science and sociology
◦ Computer science
◦ Law and criminology
◦ Education
◦ Music and fine art
◦ Mass communication
◦ Architecture and engineering
Psychologists at work
◦ Nowdays, different kinds of psychologists like clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists, school
psychologists and organisational psychologists work in multifarious areas and apply the principles of
psychology to help people cope effectively with their everyday problems and challenges.
◦ Clinical psychologists
◦ Counsellor
◦ Community psychologists
◦ Educational or school psychologists
◦ Organisational
Psychology in everyday life
◦ It is very useful in many ways. Most of our problems are
largely because of unhealthy thinking, negative attitude
towards people, our own selves and undesirable patterns of
behaviour. Thus, the psychological analysis of these
problems helps in having a better understanding of these
problems as well as in finding their effective solutions.
