Course: Foundations of Psychology Instructor: Ms Saba Asif

Chapter#1 Lecture# 1 – 5

Introduction to Psychology

Contents

Nature and

Scope of Psychology

Historical perspective

Schools of psychology

methods of psychology

Ethical issues

Fields of psychology and their application

Definition and nature

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

The word “psychology” comes from the Greek words “psyche,” meaning life, and “logos,”
meaning explanation. Psychology is a popular major for students, a popular topic in the public
media, and a part of our everyday lives.

Behavior include all of our overt and covert actions. Mental processes refer to all the internal
and covert activity of our mind such as thinking, feeling and remembering. It is a scientific study
because to study behavior and mental processes, the psychologists use the scientific methods for
understanding more precisely and accurately.
Scope of Psychology

With a degree in Psychology or its related field, candidates can enter many employment areas.
These leading job destinations can carve your career and provide you with a high-end growth
ahead. To help you understand the scope of Psychology, let’s elaborate some of the key branches
of Psychology:

The following broad branches of psychology will elucidate the overall nature and scope of
psychology:
1. Clinical psychology – the study, assessment, prevention, coping, and treatment of mental
health issues and disorders such as depression & schizophrenia (example)

2. Organizational & industrial psychology – the study of how professional environments

function with respect to employment, assessment & recruiting, workplace wellbeing,
conflict resolution, team building, etc. (example)

3. Social psychology – the study of how people interact in social contexts and what variable
affect social behavior, identity, and cognition.

4. Cognitive psychology – the study of mental processes that enable thinking, feeling,
language, art, etc.

5. Behavioral psychology – the study of human and animal behavior.

6. Developmental psychology – the study of specific factors relevant to a certain age group
or developmental stage across a lifespan and trends across the lifespan

7. Evolutionary psychology – the study of human and animal behavior in an evolutionary

context and the study of adaptability and deeply rooted tendencies.

8. Forensic psychology – the study of how criminals behave and think.

9. Neuropsychology – the assessment of brain functioning in a clinical setting.

10. Positive psychology – the study of wellbeing and living a good life.

11. Sports psychology – the study, training, and coping of sportsmen.

12. School psychology – the study of a variety of psychological variables in a school context.

13. Cyber-psychology – the study of human behavior with a focus on internet-based

behavior.
Historical Perspectives and schools of thoughts in Psychology

When psychology first emerged as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate
over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The different schools of
psychology represent the major theories within psychology.

In the past, psychologists often identified themselves exclusively with one single school of
thought. Today, most psychologists have an eclectic outlook on psychology. They often draw on
ideas and theories from different schools rather than holding to any singular perspective.

The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge and
understanding of psychology:
 1. Structuralism vs. Functionalism:

Structuralism was the first school of psychology, and focused on breaking down mental
processes into the most basic components. Major structuralist thinkers include Wilhelm Wundt
and Edward Titchener. Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist
school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. Major functionalist
thinkers included John Dewey and Harvey Carr.

2. Behaviorism:

Behaviorism became the dominant school of thought during the 1950s. Based upon the work of
thinkers such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner, behaviorism holds that all
behavior can be explained by environmental causes, rather than by internal forces. Behaviorism
is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical conditioning and
operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.

3. Psychoanalysis:

Sigmund Freud was the found of psychodynamic approach. This school of thought emphasizes
the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud believed that the human mind was
composed of three elements: the id, the ego, and the superego. Other major psychodynamic
thinkers include Anna Freud, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson.

4. Humanistic Psychology:

Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic

psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth, and self actualization.
Major humanist thinkers included Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
 5. Gestalt Psychology:

Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This
approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response
to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather that breaking down thoughts and behavior to
their smallest element, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of
experience. According to the gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

6. Cognitive Psychology:

Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how
people think, perceive, remember, and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this
branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and
linguistics. One of the most influential theories from this school of thought was the stages of
cognitive development theory proposed by Jean Piaget.

Methods of Psychology:

Psychologists use many scientific methods for research purposes to understand various
psychological issues more scientifically. These scientific methods reduce bias and errors in
understanding various behavioural aspects.

The relevance of these scientific methods extends beyond testing and evaluating theories and
hypotheses in psychology. Though there are many such methods used by psychologists, each has
its own advantages and disadvantages.

Some of the important methods are:

1. The Introspection Method: intro mean within and section means looking. it is the self-
observation or inner perception.
 • Merits: it is simple and available. Understanding of covert experiences are
possible.
• Demerits: Continuous change in mental process cannot be observed. Lack of
reliability and validity.

2. The observational Method: it is done by a second person. Collected data is reported. It

may be formal, informal, participant or non-participant observation.
• Merits: Used to understand the behaviour of children. It is economical. Nurse can
use it for her patients.
• Demerits: Consent is not possible. Data depends on the attitude and experience of
the observer.

3. The experimental Method: in this method independent variable (stimulus) are

manipulated by the experimenter to determine their effects on the dependent variable
(what is measured). It is the observation under controlled conditions.

• Merits: More reliable, definite and precise. Can be replicated and Less bias.
• Demerits: Complexity of the behaviour does not permit perfect control conditions
and hence it is difficult.

4. The clinical/Case History Method: it is an in depth study of a person. It helps to

understand cause and source of peoples' fear, anxiety, obsessions etc. Eg. Case history.
• Advantages: In depth information. Exploratory research methods are used.
• Disadvantages: Cannot generalize the finding. Time consuming.

5. The Survey Method: gathering data using interview, questionnaire from a selected
sample.

• Merits: Easy to administer. Short time required.

• Demerits: Validity of tool. Sample selection criteria Cooperation from public.
Ethical issues in Psychology

Ethics are a key part of psychological investigation, as researchers have

the responsibility to ensure that their practice is morally correct; ill practice could lead to
banning from further practice as a psychologist.

There are a number of important issues that researchers should be mindful of when undertaking
investigations, with regards to the selection and subsequent treatment of their participants:

1. Confidentiality

Participants should remain anonymous so that data cannot be identified as theirs (e.g. their names
should be withheld when data is reported).

2. Informed consent

Participants must be briefed on objectives of the investigation and what will be required of them
should they take part. In turn they must accept these conditions to proceed, and be put under no
pressure to do so.

3. Deception

Generally, participants should not be misled during an investigation. However, sometimes

participants need to be unaware of the true aims of an investigation - or even that they are
participating in a study - to yield results that are considered valid (i.e. the data is a true reflection
of what was supposed to be measured). This emphasises the need for participants to be debriefed
at end of the study.

4. Debriefing

When a study ends, participants should be told the true motivations behind the investigation, and
given the opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings with the researchers. It is also essential to
ensure that the participants leave having not suffered long-lasting negative physical or mental
effects, particularly where deception (see above) was utilised for the purposes of the experiment.
Having checked that participants are in a positive state of health, they should also be notified of
relevant services such as counseling to seek, if partaking in the study presents negative effects.
 5. Right to withdraw

As part of their briefing prior to giving consent to partake, participants must be informed that
they can leave the study at any point if they wish, and are under no obligation to disclose a
reason why if they do.

6. Protection of participants

It is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that participants are not caused any long-term
physical or mental damage. For instance, it may be that participants are temporarily caused
distress, although research will be pre-approved by an ethics committee to ensure this is
sufficiently minimized, and researchers are expected to take participants through a detailed
debriefing (see debriefing).

7. Working with animals

If non-human animals are to be used in an investigation, researchers can only use species that are
considered scientifically suitable according to ethical guidelines. Procedures that could cause
physical or mental harm should be avoided where possible, and it is encouraged that
investigations take place in their natural environment. Animals must be properly cared for if the
study requires them to kept captive.

There are some instances where it is deemed that the costs do not override the benefits of
conducting some research. However, it should be appreciated that these ethical guidelines should
always be carefully considered when scrutinising whether a study is ethically acceptable to be
carried out.