Chapter 1- Introduction to Psychology
Topics: Definition of Psychology; Historical antecedents of Ψ and trends in the 21st century; Psychology and scientific methods; Psychology in relation to other social sciences and natural sciences; Application of Psychology to societal problems.
Definition of Psychology
- Psyche + logos = soul + study = study of soul
- Since soul cannot be measured /observed – this definition was wrong – so psychology lost its soul
- Next Defn – Scientific study of mind – this was also rejected – so psychology lost its mind
- Next Defn – Scientific study of consciousness – this was also wrong – so psychology lost its consciousness.
So we say that–“First Psychology lost its soul then its mind and then its consciousness” - Next Defn – scientific study of behaviour
- Zimbardo = “ Scientific study of behaviour and mental or cognitive processes”Behaviour= Overt Mental/Cognitive= Covert Why “scientific”? To study behaviour and mental processes in both animals and humans, researchers must observe them. Whenever a human being observes anyone or anything, there’s always a possibility that the observer will see only what he or she expects to see. Psychologists don’t want to let these possible biases* cause them to make faulty observations. They want to be precise, and to measure as carefully as they can—so they use the scientific method to study psychology.
- Morgan & King –“It is the scientific study of human and animal behaviour and it includes the application of the science for solving human problems.
- When we say behaviour, we are not excluding mind but all we are saying is that behaviour is the avenue through which internal mental events can be studied. Keeping this in view, psychology is defined formally as a science which studies mental processes, experiences and behaviour in different contexts.
- When we say experiences are internal to the experiencing person, we refer to states of consciousness or awareness or mental processes. We use our mental processes when we think or try to solve a problem, to know or remember something. One level at which these mental processes are reflected is the brain activity
- However, we cannot say that brain activities and mental processes are the same. Mental activities and neural activities are mutually overlapping processes but, they are not identical. Unlike the brain, the mind does not have a physical structure nor has a location. Mind emerges and evolves as our interactions and experiences in this world get dynamically organised in the form of a system which is responsible for the occurrence of various mental processes.
- Psychologists also study experiences of people. Experiences are subjective in nature. We cannot directly observe or know someone else’s experience.
- Behaviours are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in. Some behaviours are overt. They can be outwardly seen or sensed by an observer. Some are internal or covert. When you are in a difficult situation while playing a game of chess you almost feel your hand muscles twitching, trying to experiment with a move. All behaviours, covert or overt, are associated with or triggered by some stimulus in the environment or changes that happen internally. Both stimulus and response can be internal or external.
Psychology seeks to understand and explain how the mind works and how different mentalprocesses result in different behaviours. Thus, psychology as a discipline today has two parallel streams. One which makes use of the method in physical and biological sciences and the other which makes use of the method of social and cultural sciences in studying various psychological and social phenomena.
Historical antecedents of Psychology-
- Roots in philosophy
- Physics and physiology also played a role in the birth of psychology
- Wilhelm Wundt in1879 – 1st lab in Leipzig Germany
- The seventeenth-century French philosopher Descartes was the first person to distinguish formally between mind and matter, which had an enormous impact on the development of both psychology as a science and science in general.
- Dualism allowed scientists to treat matter as inert and completely distinct from human beings, which meant that the world could be described objectively, without reference to the human observer. Objectivity became the ideal of science, and was extended to the study of human behaviour and social institutions in the mid-1800s by Comte, who called it positivism.
- Descartes also promoted mechanism, the view that the material world comprises objects that are assembled like a huge machine and operated by mechanical laws.
- He extended this view to living organisms, including, eventually, humans. Because the mind (unlike the physical world) is non-material, Descartes believed that it can be investigated only through introspection (observing one’s own thoughts and feelings).
- He was also one of the first advocates of reductionism.
- Reductionism-
- Garnham’s (1991) definition of reductionism as: the idea that psychological explanations can be replaced by explanations in terms of brain functioning or even in terms of physics and chemistry.
- Rose et al. (1984), for whom reductionism is: the name given to a set of general methods and modes of explanation both of the world of physical objects and of human societies. Broadly, reductionists try to explain the properties of complex wholes – molecules, say, or societies – in terms of the units of which those molecules or societies are composed.
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Socrates Rational powers within Genuine rational powers within humans which pointed them to correct ways and moral realities Plato Dualism Soul + 2 realms of knowledgePhenomenal realm – info from senses; in a constant state of flux; often illusory Higher Realm – revealed through innate rational and logical faculties of mind; permanent + ideal form
Aristotle Hierarchy of Souls Book–“De Anima”- connection b/w psychological processes and underlying physiological phenomenon. Hierarchy of Souls – Plants: Vegetative soul; Animals: Sensitive soul; Humans: Rational soul Vegetative Soul(VS)= reproduction+ nourishment+ growth;
Sensitive Soul= VS + locomotion
Rational Soul = SS + thinking+ reasoning
Descartes(Often called the author of the theory of reflex action- precursor to modern S-R Ψ) (Change from animism to mechanism)
Interactive dualism & 2 kind of ideas in mind Mind produces 2 kind of ideas – Derived & InnateDerived – result of direct action of stimulus Innate – arise from mind or consciousness independent of external stimulus.
Interactive dualism – mind- body interaction
Theory of reflex action and mechanistic explanation of psychological functions.
Precursor to growth of behaviourism(S-R Ψ)
August Comte Positivism (Observation Oriented) Only facts and phenomenon that are objective, observable must be studied. Empiricists All knowledge is derived from sensory experience.~ Direct forerunner of modern objective psychology Locke “Tabula Rasa”Mind is like a tabula rasa(Empty Slate) on which experience shall write. Experience 2 types – Derived from Sensation (simple)
– Derived from Reflection – Ideas are derived from experiences. Ideas can be simple or complex
James Mill &JS Mill Associationism(simple ideas get associated to make complex ideas) Creative synthesis (formation of a compound) – combination of mental elements creates something greater than or different form the sum of its original elements).Gestalt Ψ is based on this idea. Kant , Leibniz Noumena Phenomena(Kant)And Perception
Apperception(Leibniz)
Noumena – Things that exist in themselves independent of the human experience.Phenomena – Inner subjective mind created by mind acting with noumenal world. “We are all witnessing phenomena”.
“The way things are we never see them”
“We see the color of leaves as green but they are not”.
Phenomenal field in Gestalt was inspired by Kant.
“Field view is the perceiver’s view of reality)
Leibniz- Perception + Apperception
Perception(bodh/sangrah) – knowledge gained by perceiving(mechanical-associanistic manner)
Apperception(mansik bodh)—Full conscious experience; perceived qualities of an object are related to its past events
Helmholtz, Fechner,Weber,Stevens Psychophysics Helmholtz: Creative and transformative processes can be empirically investigated in lab.Kantian mind is subject to ‘empirical verification’ Mental events can be quantified.
Development of Psychology In india
- The Indian philosophical tradition is rich in its focus on mental processes and reflections on human consciousness, self, mind-body relations, and a variety of mental functions such as cognition, perception, illusion, attention and reasoning, etc. Unfortunately, philosophical roots in the Indian tradition have not influenced the development of modern psychology in India
- The modern era of Indian psychology began in the Department of Philosophy at Calcutta University where the first syllabus of experimental psychology was introduced and the first psychology laboratory was established in 1915. Prof N N Sengupta and Prof G Bose were early Indian psychologists
- There are two centers of excellence in psychology supported by the UGC at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar and at the University of Allahabad.
- According to Durganand Sinha, the first phase till independence was a phase with emphasis on experimental psychoanalytic and psychological testing research, which primarily reflected the development of the discipline in western countries. The second phase till the 1960s was a phase of expansion of psychology in India into different branches of psychology. During this phase Indian psychologists showed a desire to have an Indian identity by seeking to link western psychology to the Indian context .However, psychology in India sought to become relevant for Indian society in the post 1960s phase of problem-oriented research. The search for a new identity of psychology in India led to the phase of indigenisation, which started during the late 1970s. Besides rejecting the western framework, Indian psychologists stressed the need for developing an understanding based on a framework, which was culturally and socially relevant.
Trends in 21st Century
- Horizon of Ψ has expanded remarkably. No sphere of human life that has remained untouched by Ψ.
- Some imp trends which have become visible in 21st century are :
- Spectrums of areas have diversified. Sub disciplines have emerged for Educational Ψ, Abnormal Ψ, Social Ψ etc.
- New emerging fields: Community Ψ, Rehabilitation Ψ, Sports Ψ, Cyber Ψ, Gender Ψ, Ψ of Terrorism, Environmental Ψ etc.
- Interdisciplinary approaches have gained considerable momentum.
- Five disciplinary areas of considerable significance are :
- It is an interdisciplinary movement involving anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and other social scientists.
- Cultural Ψ is concerned with how the culture especially its tradition, language and worldview influences the persons behaviour and Ψcal processes.
- The growing importance of culture Ψ can be seen in the form of emergence of multicultural perspective.
- Multicultural perspective recognises the importance of diversity and pays attention to the differences between human beings belonging to different cultural groups as well as within the same group.
- To bring social integration, multicultural perspective is required. There is a huge congregation among the minorities. They live in clusters because they feel insecure in living at different places.
- To have administrative integration is easy as compared to social or cultural integration.
- Greater isolation or greater exclusion means it will be more difficult for the minorities to identify with the mainstream.
- If the country is culturally integrated then the administration will be easier.
- Research findings in one culture do not generalize in another
- Earlier the difference were ignored to be of little importance and emphasis was to develop laws which were applicable to all.
- It is the result of research in Cultural Ψ that has enabled us to know how individualism in the west makes western people think and behave differently from the people of the easternworld who believe in collectivism.
- These differences are responsible for differences observed in the performance of Asian Students vis-a-vis American Students. Because of their emphasis on collectivism, Asian students tend to study together more than American students. Such a group study is a useful technique as it involves division of labour and therefore enables the asian students outperform their American counterparts in mathematics and some other subjects.
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Addresses how Ψcal and cognitive functions are produced by neural circuitry
- Explores how mental activities are executed in the brain.
- Studies changes in brain area/ wave activity patterns for various activities.
- The distinctive feature of CN is its reliance on new technology for studying the brain of normal participants while they are performing cognitive tasks.
- Brain scanning techniques create visual images of a brain in action with an indication of which regions of the brain show most neural activity during a particular task. Eg; short term info storage – front brain neural activity long term info storage – middle brain area active limbic system – seat of emotionsà was discovered by Broca
- Sub branch/emerging areas: affective neuro science; social cognitive neuro science (studies attitude formation, value development, stereotype development etc)
- Cognitive Science
- Memory, perception, reasoning etc
- How info Is represented in mind
- What type of computation can be carried out on these representations to bring about perceiving, remembering, reasoning, thinking etc.
- Human cognitive system = giant computer engaged in complex calculations.
- Factors which contributed to the growth of Cognitive Science :
- Rise of IT
- Cybernetics – Science of Communication and control (used in cruise missile controls, feedback)
- Modern linguistic – Chomsky is considered as the Einstein of Language – he said human beings have innate language processing skills
- Artificial Intelligence
- Understanding advancements in cognitive Ψ gave us insight into learning, memory, problem solving and other mental processes.
- Evolutionary Ψ
- Concerned with biological origins of Ψcal mechanisms.
- Ψcal processes which are the result of evolution
- Such behr survives which increases the chances of reproductive survival.
- Even our preference for sweets, such a preference can be thought of as a Ψcal mechanism and it has genetic basis. Moreover, we have this preference because it increased our ancestors’ chances of survival.
- Has been used to explain aggression, attachment(NCERT)
- Evolutionary Ψ has taken various topics for investigation and has provided insights on familiar topics. For example, it has enabled us to know why most people have a tendency to overeat. The reason they suggest is that in human history people frequently experienced deprivation due to scarcity of food and the adaptive mechanism for dealing with scarcity was overeating.
- Studies have shown that genetic factors play an important role in variety of human behaviours such as:
- Desire for status and prestige
- Creativity
- The greater ability of females to find the lost objects than male.
- The superior ability of females to interpret and even send non-verbal signals.
- Mate selection and mating strategies
- Positive Ψ
- After WW II, Ψ became a science devoted to healing. It adopted a disease model of human functioning from the medical sciences and aimed to cure pathologies. This focus produced tremendous advances in the field of understanding and treatment of mental illnesses. But unfortunately Ψ during that time had very little to say about what makes life worth living.
- Positive Ψ emerged to balance psychology’s sophisticated and scientific understanding of mental illness with an equally sophisticated and scientific understanding of human flourishing.
- Positive Ψ shares with humanistic Ψ a concern for facilitating people’s development towards their full potential but it departs from humanistic Ψ by relying heavily on empirical methods.
- Studies happiness, optimism , pro-social behaviour, positive personality traits such as courage, wisdom etc
- It also studies positive institutions and social structures that cultivate civility and responsible citizenship. For example, Family, School.
- The focus is on studying positive emotions so that the factors responsible for happiness disposition can be identified.
- Positive emotions contribute to the development of traits such as resilience, courage, wisdom
- The study of positive emotions is also undertaken with the intention of broadening people’s world view and encouraging their creative and exploratory
- The take home message of positive Ψ is that the positive emotions are worth cultivating not only as end states in themselves but also as the means of triggering Ψcal growth.
- Cultural Ψ
Psychology in relation to other social sciences and natural sciences
- Psychology as a science
- Aims of Science:
- Cause and effect relationship
- From description and understanding to prediction and control
- Features of science
- Observation: systematic study of an event with maximum precision and minimum bias
- Measurement
- Systematic collection and analysis of data
- Rigorous controls to the extent of natural sciences like physics, chemistry cannot be exercised in psychological experiments due to
- Social and ethical constraints
- Artificiality induced
- Dynamic and multivariate nature of humans.
- Establishment of cause and effect relationship may not be possible because:
- The IV might have already expressed itself or is not available for manipulation
- EVs not specified or control over them is not possible
- Absolute zero not possible as in science, so ratio scales not possible
- More subjectivity in psychological measurements because of:
- Indirectness
- Incompleteness
- As a science psychology is committed to:
- Objectivity- minimum bias
- Accuracy
- Skepticism: verifiability/replicability
- Ψ is a science because it uses the scientific method
- Points that support psychology as a science:
- Theory – Ψ possesses well organised theory which is supported by relevant laws and principles. Further it is a practical discipline that has been applied for human welfare.
- Universal applicability – Many established facts, principles and laws of behaviour in the study of psychology enjoy universal applicability in practical life and other bodies of knowledge.
- Prediction – Appropriate description and quantification is possible in Ψ and this enables the researcher t o make trustworthy predictions about the organism in the light of the studied behaviour.
- Replicable/Open for Skepticism – The results of the study of behaviour usually stand for their verification in similar conditions by other experimenters and observers. Ψ subjects itself to the goal of scepticism which implies accepting the findings as true only after they have been verified again and again and all inconsistencies have been resolved.
- Scientific method employed – There is an emphasis on accuracy. The psychologists go about systematic rather than the causal study of a process.
- Ψ is a science because of the search of truth by advocating objectivity in the assessment of behaviour.
- Thus Ψ is a science because it is committed to the goals of scepticism, accuracy and objectivity. Moreover, it adopts methods and values of science in its effort to understand all aspects of behaviour
- Aims of Science:
- Psychology as a social science
- More of a behavioural science( like sociology, anthro etc).
- Behavioral sciences differ from other social sciences in the way they go about collection and analysis of data
- Ψ is the most scientific of all social sciences
- Thus, Ψ is a social science with focus on the individual and communities in relation to their socio-cultural and physical environment. Ψ is recognised more as a social science because it studies the behaviour of human beings in their socio-cultural contexts.
- Ψ as a social science focuses on how behavioural phenomena can be explained in terms of the interaction that takes place between the person and the socio-cultural context of which s/he is a part of.
- Ψ is unique because of its focus on wide range of behaviour and individuals
- Psychology and other branches of knowledge
- Philosophy–
- It greatly draws from philosophy, particularly with respect to methods of knowing and various domains of human nature.
- Ψ originated from philosophy
- Medicine–
- It is concerned with diagnosis and treatment of illness.
- Advances in medical sciences have resulted in better understanding of human brain and nervous system which in turn has facilitated psychologists’ understanding of human and animal behaviour.
- Doctors have realised that the maxim, healthy body requires a healthy mind, is actually true. A large number of hospitals now employ psychologists.
- A successful doctor looks at the psychological as well as physical well-being of patients.
- Ψ cal counselling required for cancer and AIDS patients.
- Anthropology
- Studies man from macro level i.e. focuses on group behaviour – man in relation to another man.
- Whereas Ψ studies man from micro level i.e. study of individual behaviour
- Cultural Ψ and multicultural perspectives.
- Group influence on individual – Bad Habits- e.g. smoking, drinking
- Individual influence on group – Mahatma Gandhi-e.g. Satyagraha, Non-Cooperation.
- Anthropology is the study of man in simple society(technologically less advanced)-e.g. Tribals
- Ψ is the study of man in a contemporary society and they are complex societies.
- Since all the contemporary societies were once simple societies, so the studies gathered by anthropologists are used in understanding the complex societies by psychologists.
- Micro level perspective facilitates the understanding of macro level perspective and vice-versa.
- Anthropologists’ macro perspective approach facilitates psychologists’ micro level understanding of human behaviour. The insights provided by anthropologists regarding the social and cultural evolution of humans facilitates psychologists’ enquiry about not only the commonly held behaviours but also the behaviours that account for individuals uniqueness.
- The intimate interaction between Ψ and anthropology has given birth to the discipline called psychological anthropology which studies the relationship between culture and personality.
- Sociology–
- It is the scientific study of social behaviour, its origin, development, organisation and institutions.
- The focus is on the study of collective behaviour or the group behaviour of the individual in modern society.
- E.g. Joint family system in India; marriage systemà {large piece of land =more profitable + required submissiveness of women + the moment women becomes aggressive à chance of disintegration of family} macro perspective. The emotional, mental level that is responsible for the survival of joint family is studied by Ψ.
- Investigations done at individual level is done by Ψ
- Since every individual is the product of its culture and social institutions, therefore understanding provided by sociologists facilitates psychologists’ understanding of individual behaviour.
- Similarly the understanding of individual behaviour facilitates the sociologists’ effort to understand the emergence and the functioning of the social institutions that he studies.
- The close interaction between Ψ and sociology has give birth to a hybrid discipline of social Ψ and it focuses on social actions and on the interrelations of personality, values and mind with social structure and culture.
- Social Ψ concerns itself with group behaviour but the focus is on individual
- E.g. Caste system still exists in Indiaà because an average Indian feels very insecure which results in high anxiety and people tend to organize themselves in groups to feel secure.
- History–
- Study of society that once existed.
- It is a retrospective study. E.g. A smoker;
- Retrospective – damage to his lungs has been done because of smoking
- Prospective – he will be alive only for next 5 years
- Present – his family is suffering because of him
- A historian is usually concerned with the study of behaviour of the people of the societies that once existed. In contrast psychology studies the behaviour of people in contemporary societies.
- The history of a civilisation is the history of human development and therefore psychologists take help of historians to enrich their understanding of human behaviour.
- The intimate interaction of these two branches has given birth to psychohistory, which attempts to understand historical events by providing detailed psychological analysis of the characters involved.
- PoliticalScience–
- It is social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government, nation and the politics and the policies of the government.
- Political science studies the role of power and politics in the life of a community and examines the various systems of politics.
- Since political behaviour assessment requires an understanding of the human behaviour, therefore political science and psychology often come together when the political events and the political developments have to be assessed and analysed.
- The intimate interaction of Political Science and Ψ has given birth to Political Ψ, which is an interdisciplinary approach dedicated to understanding politics, politician and political behaviour from a psychological perspective.
- Among the behaviours that are of considerable interest to the political scientists are: voting behaviour, leadership behaviour, political developments such as elections, coups and revolts.
- Economics-
- It can be defined as the study of behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work.
- As all material exchanges have a behavioural dimension to it, therefore economics and psychology often come together and the result has been the birth of behavioural economics which studies the effects of psychological, social, cognitive, and emotional factors on the economic decisions of the individuals and the institutions and the consequences for market prices, returns and resource allocation.
- Physics–
- It is natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through space and time along with the related concepts such as energy and force.
- Physics has allowed us to carry out researches that have given us instruments and equipments to carry out investigation into human behaviour.
- For instance, psychogalvanometer is used for measuring anxiety in the result of the research in physics.
- In fact the intimate interaction between psychology and physics has given birth to Pyschophysics, which is a discipline that quantitatively investigates the relationship between the physical stimuli and the sensation and perceptions that are affected by them.
- Psychophysics is the relationship between stimulus and sensation.
- E.g. Physics taking help from Ψ
- Grip technology used in pen
- Car seats, aerodynamic seats, studying chair
- Power steering, windows, air conditioners – increased productivity
- What is ergonomics/Classic Factor Engineering?
- Classic case of interaction between physics and Ψ
- Man-machine interface
- Chemistry–
- Chemistry, particularly bio chemistry has contributed immensely to our understanding of behaviour.
- Chemical analysis of neurotransmitters and hormones and various other bodily secretions and excretions have enabled the psychologists improve their understanding of human and animal behaviour.
- E.g. Anxiety is related to GABA.
- Mood swings are related to hormones
- Biology
- Natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms.
- Since biological factors influence human behaviour therefore inputs provided by biologists are of considerable importance for the psychologists.
- In fact the intimate interaction between the two has given birth to number of interdisciplinary fields such as –
- Physiological Ψ – It studies the relationship between brain and other biological activities and behaviour
- Neuropsychology- It studies the structure and function of the brain as they relate to specific Ψcal processes and behaviours. It is a clinical and experimental field of Ψ that aims to study, understand and treat behaviours directly related to brain functions.
- Philosophy–
Application of Ψ to societal problems-
- Psychology is applied to solve various societal problems. Problems such as prejudice, stereotype, substance abuse, mental disorders are few amongst many other problems which can be solved with the help of psychological knowledge.
- Psychology is applied in various fields such as :
- Education – Educational and school Ψ
- Growth- Developmental/life span Ψ
- Health – health Ψ
- Military Ψ
- Organisational Ψ
- Environmental Ψ
- Social Ψ
- Sports Ψ
- Community Ψ
- We will learn about all the above topics in detail in the subsequent chapters.
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