EPSC121:
INTRODUCTI
ONTOPYSCHOLOGY
Whatispsy chology?
Psychologyist hescient
ifi
cstudyofbehav i
orandment alprocesses.Mentalprocesses
i
ncludet houghts,f
eeli
ngs,per
cepti
ons,reasoni
ngprocesses,memor i
es,emotionsandso
on. Behav i
ourencompasses bot h covert(i
ndi
rectl
yobser vabl
e)and ov ert(di
rectl
y
observable)behavi
ours.
Psychol ogyasasci ence
As a sci ence,psy chologyi s empir
ical,thatis,itis based on experi
ment ati
on and
observ ati
onr atherthanonopi nion,
belieforintui
ti
on.Ascienceisabodyofsy stemati
zed
knowl edge t hat is gat hered by car ef
ull
y observi
ng and measur i
ng phenomena.
Psychol ogistscarryoutexper i
mentsandmakeobser vati
ons,whichotherscanr epeat
;and
theyobt ain data whi ch ot
hers can v eri
fy.Resear
ch in psy
chologyf oll
ows scienti
fi
c
procedur es whi ch involv
e;collect
ing,anal yzi
ng,and int
erpr
eting i
nformati
on ordat a
regardingt hebehav iourunderstudy.
Goal
sofPsy chol
ogy
1.Todescribebehavi
or-throughcaref
ulsci
enti
fi
cobservat
ionorexperi
mentat
ion
2.Toexplainbehavi
or-byconducti
ngexperimentst
odet er
minecausesofbehav i
or
3.Topredictfut
urebehaviorbytr
yingtofi
ndoutthefactor
srel
atedtoapart
icular
behavi
or
4.To change,cont r
olormodi fy behavi
or,especial
l
y maladapti
ve orinappropr
iat
e
behavi
or
Theoriginsofpsychologygrowthofpsy chol
ogy
Psychologyemer gedasaf ormalsci
enceslight
lyov eracenturyago.Pr
iortothetimeit
becameaf or
malscience;issuesrel
atedtopsychologywer estudi
edaspartofphi
l
osophy,
soci
ology ,and physiol
ogy.I nlate 1800s,scienti
fic methods wer
e used to answer
questi
onst hathad puzzled phil
osopher sand psychologybecameaf ormalscient
if
ic
di
scipl
ineseparatefrom phil
osophy.
Psychol ogystartedasaf ormaldi scipl
ineint hey ear1879whent hef i
rstpsychol
ogical
l
abor atory was est abli
shed at t he Uni v
ersit
y of Lei pzig by a Ger man
phi
losopher /psychol ogistnamel y,Wi l
helm Wundt .Ataboutt hesamet ime,anAmer i
can–
Will
iam Jamessetup hi sl aboratoryi n Cambr i
dge,Massachuset ts. Theset wo are
consider edtobet hef oundersofexper iment alpsychol
ogy . Throughal ltheseyears,
psychol ogyhasev olv edasat ruescience.
Thehi storyofpsy chol ogycanbedi videdintothreemai nstagesnamel y:
Theemer genceoft hescienceoft hemi nd
Thest udyofbehav ior
Thecogni tivepsy chology
MAJORBRANCHESOFPSYCHOLOGY
A branchofpsy
chologyisanareaofspeci
ali
zati
oninpsychology
. Sincepsychol
ogy
becameaf or
malsci
enti
fi
cdi
sci
pli
nev
ari
ousbranchesofpsy
chologyhav
eev ol
ved.
1.Physiol
ogical
Psychology
Physi
ologi
calpsychol
ogyi salsoknownasbiopsychol
ogy.Itstudi
esther el
ati
onshi
p
bet
weent hebrai
nandt herestofthener
voussy
stem tobehav
iour
.Itisconcer
nedwi t
h
1
,thebodyasabi ologi
calandneurologi
calsyst
em. Phy si
ologi
calpsychol
ogist
sstudy
percepti
on,thought,lear
ning,per
sonali
tyand behavi
ourinr el
ati
on t
ot he underl
yi
ng
neurologi
cal
activi
ty–allofwhichareofi
nter
estt
ot hepsy
chologi
stsandprof
essional
s.
2.DevelopmentalPsychology
Devel
opmental psychology f ocuses on dev elopment f r
om conception to death.
Devel
opmentalpsy chologists st
udy growth and dev elopmentinv ari
ous st
ages of
dev
elopment(i.
e.,prenatal
,infancy,chil
dhood,adult
hood,andol dage).Issuesstudi
ed
i
ncl
ude, physi
cal, cogni t
ive, personal
it
y, moral,l anguage, emot
ional and social
dev
elopment.
3.SocialPsychology
Thisfi
eldofpsychologystudiesthebehav iourofpeopleingroupsituations.Itfocuseson
theint
eracti
onbetweenpeopl e,theirperceptionsofoneanot herandt heef f
ectofgroups
on the i
ndivi
dual
’s behaviour. Topi cs studied i
ncl
ude;soci alperception,i
mpr ession
for
mation,aggression and v i
olence,f ormat i
on and change ofat t
itudes,leadership,
confor
mi t
yandsoci al
inf
luence.
4.Per sonali
tyPsychol ogy
Personali
ty psychology i s concerned wit
ht he st
udy ofconsistency and change of
behaviourov erti
me.I tf ocusesoni ndi
vi
dualdif
ferencesthatarehow peopledi fferi
n
ter
msoft heircharacteristi
cssuchasanxi ety
,mot i
vati
on,aggr
essi
on,emot i
onalst abi
li
ty
and so on. I talso l ooks att he causes ofindivi
dualdif
fer
ences and per sonali
ty
character
ist
ics.
5.Cl i
nicalPsychology
Itisabr anchofpsy chol
ogyconcernedwi t
hhumanbehav i
ourandment aldi
sorder
s,what
causesabnor malbehav i
ourand itstreatment. Cl
i
nicalpsy chol
ogyi sappli
ed inthe
diagnosis and tr
eatmentofpsy chol
ogicaldisor
der
s. Clinicalpsychologi
sts workin
hospital
sandcl i
nics.Iti
sappl
icableinhandli
ngpeopl
eexperiencingtr
aumae. g.post-
war
trauma.
6.Counsel l
ingPsy chology
Counselli
ngpsy chologyissimilart
oclinicalpsychol
ogybuti sgener
allyconcer
nedwith
advisi
ngandhel pingpeoplesol vemil
deremot i
onalandpersonalpr
oblems.Counselli
ng
psychologi
sts assistpeopl e havi
ng problems wi t
h drug abuse,careerchoice and
development,familyli
vi
ng,studyhabi
ts,subjectchoi
ce,st
ressmanagementandsoon.
7.I ndustri
alPsychology
Thisi saf i
eldofspeci ali
zati
onconcer nedwitht hehumanf actorint heindustri
alor
technologicalsett
ings,t hatis,aboutj ob sati
sfacti
on,how t oi ncr
ease mor ale and
product i
vi
ty,how t oi mprove servi
ces,and how t o develop betterjob trai
ning and
placementpr ocedures.I ndustr
ialpsychol
ogyhascont ri
butedtot hehumanengi neeri
ng
discipl
ine ref
err
ed t o as ergonomi cs,which i
nvolves t
he design ofequi pmentand
machi nerythataremor eef fi
cientandeasiertousebecauset heyfitt heactualsize,
strengthandcapabilit
iesofhumanbei ngswhouset hem.
8.ConsumerPsychology
Thi
sisafiel
dofpsy chologythatst
udi
esbuyinghabit
sandt heeffect
sofadv
ertisi
ngon
buy
erbehaviour
. Ital so st
udiesmarket
ing st
rat
egies,deter
mineschar
acter
isti
csof
2
,consumer sandsoon.Forexampl e,inasal
eof f
erinasupermarketyouarepromi seda
fr
eegi ftforpurchaseswor t
hacer tai
namountofmoney ,orpr
icesofaf ew it
emsar e
drast
icall
yr educed whi l
et hose ofot her
s arei ncr
eased.Thisfiel
d explains why
manuf actur
ers and compani es spend mill
ions ofshil
li
ngs on adver
ti
sement s and
promot i
onsasar esultofwhi
cht heymakegoodpr ofi
ts.
9.Educat i
onal Psychology
Thisisanar eaofpsy chologyconcer nedwi t
happl i
cationofpsy chologi
calpr
inci
ples,
knowledge, concept s, and t echni
ques t o probl
ems i n educat i
on. Educat i
onal
psychologi
stshel pinanal y
zingeducat ionalneeds,developi
ngcurricul
um andteaching
materi
als,andev aluati
nginstruct
ionalpr ogr
ammes.I talsofocusesonhowpeopl el
earn
andwhi chteachingmet hodsar eeff
ecti
v e.
10.
Heal t
hPsy chology
Thi
si sanar eaofpsy chol
ogyt hatstudi
esther elati
onshipbetweenpsychol
ogicalfact
ors
andphysicalail
ment sanddiseases.Forexampl e,howst r
essaffect
sphysi
calhealth.I
tis
al
so concerned wi th ways ofpr omoting behav i
ourr el
ated t
o good heal
th( such as
i
ncreasedexercise)ordiscouragingunheal
thybehav iour(suchassmokinganddr i
nkingof
al
cohol).
11.Envi
ronmentalPsychology
Thi
si saf i
eldofpsychologythatisconcernedwithstudy
ingt herel
ati
onshipbet weena
per
son’sphy si
calenvir
onmentandhi s/herbehavi
our.Aper son’sphysicalenvi
ronment
canaffecthis/
herbehaviour.Forexample,ourrel
igi
ousbeli
efs,at
tit
udes,prej
udicesand
eat
inghabitscanbeat t
ri
butedtoourexperi
encesintheimmediateenvir
onment .
12.Mili
tar
yPsy chology
Thisisanar eaofpsy chol
ogyspeci ali
sesint heappl i
cati
onofpsy chologicalpri
nci
plesand
knowledgeint hemi l
i
tarypracti
ces.Itisdesignedt osol v
epr obl
emsr elat
ingtothemi l
it
ary.
Mili
tar
ypsy chologist
splayasi gnif
icantrolein:-Milit
arypsychologicalresearch,Scr
eening,
sel
ectingandpl acementofmi l
i
tarypersonnel ,
Mi li
tarytr
aini
ng,Desi gnanddev elopmentof
mili
tar
ymachi nerytoenhanceper f
ormance, Counsel li
ngandr ehabi l
i
tati
onofsol dier
s
aft
er war , Leader ship t rai
ning, Psy chomet rics; psychologists hav e dev el
oped
measur ementt ool
sthathav ebeenusef ultomi li
tarypersonnelandpr actices.
MAJORSCHOOLSOFPSYCHOLOGY
Dif
ferentappr oaches orconceptualmodel s hav e been used to study and explai
n
behav i
ourinpsychology.Eachoftheapproachespr ovidesadiff
erentperspecti
ve(wayof
explai
ningbehav i
our)emphasizi
ngdiff
erentfactors.Theseappr oaches,alsorefer
redto
as/perspecti
vesorschool sofpsychol
ogy,representav i
ew poi
ntsorappr oachestothe
explanati
onofbehav iourandwhatmethodsofst udyshouldbeused.
1.St r
uctural
ism
Str
ucturali
sm isoneoft heearli
estschoolsofpsy chol
ogyt hatwasf oundedbyWi l
hel
m
Wundti n1879.Wundtest abl
ishedt hefir
stpsychologicallabor
atoryinGermanatt he
Univ
ersityofLeipzigandhei sconsideredasthefounderofexper i
mentalpsychol
ogy.The
set
tingupoft hi
sl abor
atorymar kedthebreakofpsychologyfrom phil
osophytosci
ence.
Thegoalofst
ruct
ural
i
smswast
ofi
ndt
heuni
ts,orel
ement
s,whi
chmakeupt
hemi
nd.
3
, Thef i
rststepinthestudyofthemindwast odescri
bethebasi
corel
ementar
yunitsof
sensati
on,i mageand emotion whi
ch composeit.Theyweremainl
yconcerned wi
th
deter
mi ni
ngt hecomponent
sofconsci
ousthought
.
Wundtused a t echnique call
ed introspect
ion t
o study t he st
ructur
e ofbehav i
our.
Int
rospecti
onisamet hodi nwhichsubj ect
sareaskedt odescribeindetailt
heirthoughts
andf eel
ings. Theassumpt i
onwast hatonecanunder standthest r
uctureoft hemi nd
thr
ought heobjecti
ver eport
sandr eactionsofthesubject.Forexampl e,asubj ectmight
bepresentedwi t
hacol ouredli
ghtandaskedt odescri
bei tasminutelyaspossible.
Howev er,otherpsychol
ogistsfel
tthatstr
uctur
ali
sm wasli
mitedto onl
yoneareaof
behaviourandhadfewpr acti
cal
appli
cat
ionsandbegananewschool
ofpsychol
ogycal
l
ed
funct
ionali
sm.
2.Funct ionali
sm
Will
iam James was t he leading for ce int he funct i
onal
ism schoolofpsy chol ogy.
Funct i
onal i
stsf eltthatpsy chologyshoul dstudy“ whatt hemindandbehav i
ourdo” .They
tri
edt ost udyt hef unctionsofmi ndandbehav iour.Theywer especifi
call
yint
erestedi nthe
factt hatmi ndandbehav i
ourar eadapt iv
e– t heyenabl eani ndivi
dualtoadj ustt oa
changi ng env ironment . Psychologist sint hi
s schooloft houghtwer einfluenced by
Darwi n’st heoryoft hesur vi
valf ort hef i
ttest.I nst eadofl imit
ingt hemselvest ot he
descr i
ptionandanal ysisofthemi nd,theydi dexper iment sont heway sinwhichl earning,
memor y,pr oblem sol v i
ngandmot ivationhel phumanbei ngsandani malstoadaptt o
environment s.Funct i
onal i
stsiniti
atedt hepsy chologicaltesti
ngmov ement,changedt he
courseofmoder npsy chol
ogyandwer eresponsiblef orextendingpsy chol
ogy’sinfluence
ondi versear easi nindust r
y.
3.ThePsy choanalyticPerspect i
v e
Thisappr oachwasf oundedbySi gmundFr eud,anAust r
ianphy si
cianwhosear eaof
speci ali
zati
onwasneur ology( thest udyofdi sorder
soft hener v
esandbr ain).I nhi s
treatmentofneur ologi
calpat ient s,Freud noted thatsomeofhi spat ient
spr esent
ed
sy mpt omst hathadnophy si
calbasi slikebraindamage.Thesesy mpt omswer er ealfor
thepat i
entsasiftheyhadneur ologi calcauses.Freudsuspectedt
hatthesepr oblemswer e
psy chologicalinoriginandasar esultdev el
opedacompl exandsophi st
icat
edmodelof
humanbehav i
ourknownaspsy choanal y
tictheory. Fr
om thistheoryhedev elopedthe
treatmentknownaspsy choanalysis.
Freudbelievedthatbehaviourisbr oughtaboutbyi nnerunconsci
ousf or
ces,dri
vesor
i
mpul sesoverwhi chthepersonhasl it
tlecontr
olandar ehiddenfr
om theawarenessof
theindivi
dual.I tistheexpr essi
onoft heseunconsciousdr i
veswhichshowsupi n
behaviourandthought.Forexampl e,psychoanal
ystsbeli
evethatdr
eamsandsl i
psofthe
tonguear emanifestat
ionsofwhataper soni sfeel
ingwithinasubconsciouspsychi
c
acti
vit
y.
Freudal soemphasizedthei
mpor tanceofearl
ychi
ldhoodexper
iencesonlaterper
sonal
it
y
development.Hecoi nedthephrase,“thechi
l
di st
hefatheroft
heman” ,
toemphasi zehi
s
beli
eft hatourchi
ldhoodexperiencesar est
oredinourunconsciousstateofmi ndand
i
nfluenceourpersonali
tyandbehav i
ourwhenwear eadult
s.
4
INTRODUCTI
ONTOPYSCHOLOGY
Whatispsy chology?
Psychologyist hescient
ifi
cstudyofbehav i
orandment alprocesses.Mentalprocesses
i
ncludet houghts,f
eeli
ngs,per
cepti
ons,reasoni
ngprocesses,memor i
es,emotionsandso
on. Behav i
ourencompasses bot h covert(i
ndi
rectl
yobser vabl
e)and ov ert(di
rectl
y
observable)behavi
ours.
Psychol ogyasasci ence
As a sci ence,psy chologyi s empir
ical,thatis,itis based on experi
ment ati
on and
observ ati
onr atherthanonopi nion,
belieforintui
ti
on.Ascienceisabodyofsy stemati
zed
knowl edge t hat is gat hered by car ef
ull
y observi
ng and measur i
ng phenomena.
Psychol ogistscarryoutexper i
mentsandmakeobser vati
ons,whichotherscanr epeat
;and
theyobt ain data whi ch ot
hers can v eri
fy.Resear
ch in psy
chologyf oll
ows scienti
fi
c
procedur es whi ch involv
e;collect
ing,anal yzi
ng,and int
erpr
eting i
nformati
on ordat a
regardingt hebehav iourunderstudy.
Goal
sofPsy chol
ogy
1.Todescribebehavi
or-throughcaref
ulsci
enti
fi
cobservat
ionorexperi
mentat
ion
2.Toexplainbehavi
or-byconducti
ngexperimentst
odet er
minecausesofbehav i
or
3.Topredictfut
urebehaviorbytr
yingtofi
ndoutthefactor
srel
atedtoapart
icular
behavi
or
4.To change,cont r
olormodi fy behavi
or,especial
l
y maladapti
ve orinappropr
iat
e
behavi
or
Theoriginsofpsychologygrowthofpsy chol
ogy
Psychologyemer gedasaf ormalsci
enceslight
lyov eracenturyago.Pr
iortothetimeit
becameaf or
malscience;issuesrel
atedtopsychologywer estudi
edaspartofphi
l
osophy,
soci
ology ,and physiol
ogy.I nlate 1800s,scienti
fic methods wer
e used to answer
questi
onst hathad puzzled phil
osopher sand psychologybecameaf ormalscient
if
ic
di
scipl
ineseparatefrom phil
osophy.
Psychol ogystartedasaf ormaldi scipl
ineint hey ear1879whent hef i
rstpsychol
ogical
l
abor atory was est abli
shed at t he Uni v
ersit
y of Lei pzig by a Ger man
phi
losopher /psychol ogistnamel y,Wi l
helm Wundt .Ataboutt hesamet ime,anAmer i
can–
Will
iam Jamessetup hi sl aboratoryi n Cambr i
dge,Massachuset ts. Theset wo are
consider edtobet hef oundersofexper iment alpsychol
ogy . Throughal ltheseyears,
psychol ogyhasev olv edasat ruescience.
Thehi storyofpsy chol ogycanbedi videdintothreemai nstagesnamel y:
Theemer genceoft hescienceoft hemi nd
Thest udyofbehav ior
Thecogni tivepsy chology
MAJORBRANCHESOFPSYCHOLOGY
A branchofpsy
chologyisanareaofspeci
ali
zati
oninpsychology
. Sincepsychol
ogy
becameaf or
malsci
enti
fi
cdi
sci
pli
nev
ari
ousbranchesofpsy
chologyhav
eev ol
ved.
1.Physiol
ogical
Psychology
Physi
ologi
calpsychol
ogyi salsoknownasbiopsychol
ogy.Itstudi
esther el
ati
onshi
p
bet
weent hebrai
nandt herestofthener
voussy
stem tobehav
iour
.Itisconcer
nedwi t
h
1
,thebodyasabi ologi
calandneurologi
calsyst
em. Phy si
ologi
calpsychol
ogist
sstudy
percepti
on,thought,lear
ning,per
sonali
tyand behavi
ourinr el
ati
on t
ot he underl
yi
ng
neurologi
cal
activi
ty–allofwhichareofi
nter
estt
ot hepsy
chologi
stsandprof
essional
s.
2.DevelopmentalPsychology
Devel
opmental psychology f ocuses on dev elopment f r
om conception to death.
Devel
opmentalpsy chologists st
udy growth and dev elopmentinv ari
ous st
ages of
dev
elopment(i.
e.,prenatal
,infancy,chil
dhood,adult
hood,andol dage).Issuesstudi
ed
i
ncl
ude, physi
cal, cogni t
ive, personal
it
y, moral,l anguage, emot
ional and social
dev
elopment.
3.SocialPsychology
Thisfi
eldofpsychologystudiesthebehav iourofpeopleingroupsituations.Itfocuseson
theint
eracti
onbetweenpeopl e,theirperceptionsofoneanot herandt heef f
ectofgroups
on the i
ndivi
dual
’s behaviour. Topi cs studied i
ncl
ude;soci alperception,i
mpr ession
for
mation,aggression and v i
olence,f ormat i
on and change ofat t
itudes,leadership,
confor
mi t
yandsoci al
inf
luence.
4.Per sonali
tyPsychol ogy
Personali
ty psychology i s concerned wit
ht he st
udy ofconsistency and change of
behaviourov erti
me.I tf ocusesoni ndi
vi
dualdif
ferencesthatarehow peopledi fferi
n
ter
msoft heircharacteristi
cssuchasanxi ety
,mot i
vati
on,aggr
essi
on,emot i
onalst abi
li
ty
and so on. I talso l ooks att he causes ofindivi
dualdif
fer
ences and per sonali
ty
character
ist
ics.
5.Cl i
nicalPsychology
Itisabr anchofpsy chol
ogyconcernedwi t
hhumanbehav i
ourandment aldi
sorder
s,what
causesabnor malbehav i
ourand itstreatment. Cl
i
nicalpsy chol
ogyi sappli
ed inthe
diagnosis and tr
eatmentofpsy chol
ogicaldisor
der
s. Clinicalpsychologi
sts workin
hospital
sandcl i
nics.Iti
sappl
icableinhandli
ngpeopl
eexperiencingtr
aumae. g.post-
war
trauma.
6.Counsel l
ingPsy chology
Counselli
ngpsy chologyissimilart
oclinicalpsychol
ogybuti sgener
allyconcer
nedwith
advisi
ngandhel pingpeoplesol vemil
deremot i
onalandpersonalpr
oblems.Counselli
ng
psychologi
sts assistpeopl e havi
ng problems wi t
h drug abuse,careerchoice and
development,familyli
vi
ng,studyhabi
ts,subjectchoi
ce,st
ressmanagementandsoon.
7.I ndustri
alPsychology
Thisi saf i
eldofspeci ali
zati
onconcer nedwitht hehumanf actorint heindustri
alor
technologicalsett
ings,t hatis,aboutj ob sati
sfacti
on,how t oi ncr
ease mor ale and
product i
vi
ty,how t oi mprove servi
ces,and how t o develop betterjob trai
ning and
placementpr ocedures.I ndustr
ialpsychol
ogyhascont ri
butedtot hehumanengi neeri
ng
discipl
ine ref
err
ed t o as ergonomi cs,which i
nvolves t
he design ofequi pmentand
machi nerythataremor eef fi
cientandeasiertousebecauset heyfitt heactualsize,
strengthandcapabilit
iesofhumanbei ngswhouset hem.
8.ConsumerPsychology
Thi
sisafiel
dofpsy chologythatst
udi
esbuyinghabit
sandt heeffect
sofadv
ertisi
ngon
buy
erbehaviour
. Ital so st
udiesmarket
ing st
rat
egies,deter
mineschar
acter
isti
csof
2
,consumer sandsoon.Forexampl e,inasal
eof f
erinasupermarketyouarepromi seda
fr
eegi ftforpurchaseswor t
hacer tai
namountofmoney ,orpr
icesofaf ew it
emsar e
drast
icall
yr educed whi l
et hose ofot her
s arei ncr
eased.Thisfiel
d explains why
manuf actur
ers and compani es spend mill
ions ofshil
li
ngs on adver
ti
sement s and
promot i
onsasar esultofwhi
cht heymakegoodpr ofi
ts.
9.Educat i
onal Psychology
Thisisanar eaofpsy chologyconcer nedwi t
happl i
cationofpsy chologi
calpr
inci
ples,
knowledge, concept s, and t echni
ques t o probl
ems i n educat i
on. Educat i
onal
psychologi
stshel pinanal y
zingeducat ionalneeds,developi
ngcurricul
um andteaching
materi
als,andev aluati
nginstruct
ionalpr ogr
ammes.I talsofocusesonhowpeopl el
earn
andwhi chteachingmet hodsar eeff
ecti
v e.
10.
Heal t
hPsy chology
Thi
si sanar eaofpsy chol
ogyt hatstudi
esther elati
onshipbetweenpsychol
ogicalfact
ors
andphysicalail
ment sanddiseases.Forexampl e,howst r
essaffect
sphysi
calhealth.I
tis
al
so concerned wi th ways ofpr omoting behav i
ourr el
ated t
o good heal
th( such as
i
ncreasedexercise)ordiscouragingunheal
thybehav iour(suchassmokinganddr i
nkingof
al
cohol).
11.Envi
ronmentalPsychology
Thi
si saf i
eldofpsychologythatisconcernedwithstudy
ingt herel
ati
onshipbet weena
per
son’sphy si
calenvir
onmentandhi s/herbehavi
our.Aper son’sphysicalenvi
ronment
canaffecthis/
herbehaviour.Forexample,ourrel
igi
ousbeli
efs,at
tit
udes,prej
udicesand
eat
inghabitscanbeat t
ri
butedtoourexperi
encesintheimmediateenvir
onment .
12.Mili
tar
yPsy chology
Thisisanar eaofpsy chol
ogyspeci ali
sesint heappl i
cati
onofpsy chologicalpri
nci
plesand
knowledgeint hemi l
i
tarypracti
ces.Itisdesignedt osol v
epr obl
emsr elat
ingtothemi l
it
ary.
Mili
tar
ypsy chologist
splayasi gnif
icantrolein:-Milit
arypsychologicalresearch,Scr
eening,
sel
ectingandpl acementofmi l
i
tarypersonnel ,
Mi li
tarytr
aini
ng,Desi gnanddev elopmentof
mili
tar
ymachi nerytoenhanceper f
ormance, Counsel li
ngandr ehabi l
i
tati
onofsol dier
s
aft
er war , Leader ship t rai
ning, Psy chomet rics; psychologists hav e dev el
oped
measur ementt ool
sthathav ebeenusef ultomi li
tarypersonnelandpr actices.
MAJORSCHOOLSOFPSYCHOLOGY
Dif
ferentappr oaches orconceptualmodel s hav e been used to study and explai
n
behav i
ourinpsychology.Eachoftheapproachespr ovidesadiff
erentperspecti
ve(wayof
explai
ningbehav i
our)emphasizi
ngdiff
erentfactors.Theseappr oaches,alsorefer
redto
as/perspecti
vesorschool sofpsychol
ogy,representav i
ew poi
ntsorappr oachestothe
explanati
onofbehav iourandwhatmethodsofst udyshouldbeused.
1.St r
uctural
ism
Str
ucturali
sm isoneoft heearli
estschoolsofpsy chol
ogyt hatwasf oundedbyWi l
hel
m
Wundti n1879.Wundtest abl
ishedt hefir
stpsychologicallabor
atoryinGermanatt he
Univ
ersityofLeipzigandhei sconsideredasthefounderofexper i
mentalpsychol
ogy.The
set
tingupoft hi
sl abor
atorymar kedthebreakofpsychologyfrom phil
osophytosci
ence.
Thegoalofst
ruct
ural
i
smswast
ofi
ndt
heuni
ts,orel
ement
s,whi
chmakeupt
hemi
nd.
3
, Thef i
rststepinthestudyofthemindwast odescri
bethebasi
corel
ementar
yunitsof
sensati
on,i mageand emotion whi
ch composeit.Theyweremainl
yconcerned wi
th
deter
mi ni
ngt hecomponent
sofconsci
ousthought
.
Wundtused a t echnique call
ed introspect
ion t
o study t he st
ructur
e ofbehav i
our.
Int
rospecti
onisamet hodi nwhichsubj ect
sareaskedt odescribeindetailt
heirthoughts
andf eel
ings. Theassumpt i
onwast hatonecanunder standthest r
uctureoft hemi nd
thr
ought heobjecti
ver eport
sandr eactionsofthesubject.Forexampl e,asubj ectmight
bepresentedwi t
hacol ouredli
ghtandaskedt odescri
bei tasminutelyaspossible.
Howev er,otherpsychol
ogistsfel
tthatstr
uctur
ali
sm wasli
mitedto onl
yoneareaof
behaviourandhadfewpr acti
cal
appli
cat
ionsandbegananewschool
ofpsychol
ogycal
l
ed
funct
ionali
sm.
2.Funct ionali
sm
Will
iam James was t he leading for ce int he funct i
onal
ism schoolofpsy chol ogy.
Funct i
onal i
stsf eltthatpsy chologyshoul dstudy“ whatt hemindandbehav i
ourdo” .They
tri
edt ost udyt hef unctionsofmi ndandbehav iour.Theywer especifi
call
yint
erestedi nthe
factt hatmi ndandbehav i
ourar eadapt iv
e– t heyenabl eani ndivi
dualtoadj ustt oa
changi ng env ironment . Psychologist sint hi
s schooloft houghtwer einfluenced by
Darwi n’st heoryoft hesur vi
valf ort hef i
ttest.I nst eadofl imit
ingt hemselvest ot he
descr i
ptionandanal ysisofthemi nd,theydi dexper iment sont heway sinwhichl earning,
memor y,pr oblem sol v i
ngandmot ivationhel phumanbei ngsandani malstoadaptt o
environment s.Funct i
onal i
stsiniti
atedt hepsy chologicaltesti
ngmov ement,changedt he
courseofmoder npsy chol
ogyandwer eresponsiblef orextendingpsy chol
ogy’sinfluence
ondi versear easi nindust r
y.
3.ThePsy choanalyticPerspect i
v e
Thisappr oachwasf oundedbySi gmundFr eud,anAust r
ianphy si
cianwhosear eaof
speci ali
zati
onwasneur ology( thest udyofdi sorder
soft hener v
esandbr ain).I nhi s
treatmentofneur ologi
calpat ient s,Freud noted thatsomeofhi spat ient
spr esent
ed
sy mpt omst hathadnophy si
calbasi slikebraindamage.Thesesy mpt omswer er ealfor
thepat i
entsasiftheyhadneur ologi calcauses.Freudsuspectedt
hatthesepr oblemswer e
psy chologicalinoriginandasar esultdev el
opedacompl exandsophi st
icat
edmodelof
humanbehav i
ourknownaspsy choanal y
tictheory. Fr
om thistheoryhedev elopedthe
treatmentknownaspsy choanalysis.
Freudbelievedthatbehaviourisbr oughtaboutbyi nnerunconsci
ousf or
ces,dri
vesor
i
mpul sesoverwhi chthepersonhasl it
tlecontr
olandar ehiddenfr
om theawarenessof
theindivi
dual.I tistheexpr essi
onoft heseunconsciousdr i
veswhichshowsupi n
behaviourandthought.Forexampl e,psychoanal
ystsbeli
evethatdr
eamsandsl i
psofthe
tonguear emanifestat
ionsofwhataper soni sfeel
ingwithinasubconsciouspsychi
c
acti
vit
y.
Freudal soemphasizedthei
mpor tanceofearl
ychi
ldhoodexper
iencesonlaterper
sonal
it
y
development.Hecoi nedthephrase,“thechi
l
di st
hefatheroft
heman” ,
toemphasi zehi
s
beli
eft hatourchi
ldhoodexperiencesar est
oredinourunconsciousstateofmi ndand
i
nfluenceourpersonali
tyandbehav i
ourwhenwear eadult
s.
4
