College of Btte Genpsy Module 1
College of Btte Genpsy Module 1
College of Btte Genpsy Module 1
Module in
GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY WITH DRUG ABUSE AND
PREVENTION
LESSON 1
I. OVERVIEW
Figure 1. Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. (credit “background”: modification of work by
Nattachai Noogure; credit “top left”: modification of work by U.S. Navy; credit “top middle-left”: modification of work
by Peter Shanks; credit “top middle-right”: modification of work by “devinf”/Flickr; credit “top right”: modification of
work by Alejandra Quintero Sinisterra; credit “bottom left”: modification of work by Gabriel Rocha; credit “bottom
middle-left”: modification of work by Caleb Roenigk; credit “bottom middle-right”: modification of work by Staffan
Scherz; credit “bottom right”: modification of work by Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team)
Clive Wearing is an accomplished musician who lost his ability to form new memories when he
became sick at the age of 46. While he can remember how to play the piano perfectly, he
cannot remember what he ate for breakfast just an hour ago (Sacks, 2007). James Wannerton
experiences a taste sensation that is associated with the sound of words. His former girlfriend’s
name tastes like rhubarb (Mundasad, 2013). John Nash is a brilliant mathematician and Nobel
Prize winner. However, while he was a professor at MIT, he would tell people that the New York
Times contained coded messages from extraterrestrial beings that were intended for him. He
also began to hear voices and became suspicious of the people around him. Soon thereafter,
Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia and admitted to a state-run mental institution
(O’Connor & Robertson, 2002). Nash was the subject of the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind. Why
did these people have these experiences? How does the human brain work? And what is the
connection between the brain’s internal processes and people’s external behaviors? This
course will introduce you to various ways that the field of psychology has explored these
questions.
This module will introduce you to what psychology is and what psychologists do. You’ll learn the
basic history of the discipline and about the major domains and subdivisions that exist within
modern psychology. Lastly, you’ll consider what it means to study psychology and what career
options are available for those who do.
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A. DISCUSSION
LESSON 1:
Figure 1. Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient Greek philosophers examined a wide range of topics relating to what we now consider
psychology.
Many cultures throughout history have speculated on the nature of the mind, heart, soul, spirit,
and brain. Philosophical interest in behavior and the mind dates back to the ancient civilizations
of Egypt, Greece, China, and India, but psychology as a discipline didn’t develop until the mid-
1800s, when it evolved from the study of philosophy and began in German and American labs.
This section will teach you more about the major founding psychologists and their contributions
to the development of psychology.
B. What is Psychology?
In Greek mythology, Psyche was a mortal woman whose beauty was so great that it rivaled that
of the goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite became so jealous of Psyche that she sent her son, Eros,
to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man in the world. However, Eros accidentally pricked
himself with the tip of his arrow and fell madly in love with Psyche himself. He took Psyche to
his palace and showered her with gifts, yet she could never see his face. While visiting Psyche,
her sisters roused suspicion in Psyche about her mysterious lover, and eventually, Psyche
betrayed Eros’ wishes to remain unseen to her. Because of this betrayal, Eros abandoned
Psyche. When Psyche appealed to Aphrodite to reunite her with Eros, Aphrodite gave her a
series of impossible tasks to complete. Psyche managed to complete all of these trials;
ultimately, her perseverance paid off as she was reunited with Eros and was ultimately
transformed into a goddess herself (Ashliman, 2001; Greek Myths & Greek Mythology, 2014).
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In general, science deals only with matter and energy, that is, those things that can be
measured, and it cannot arrive at knowledge about values and morality. This is one reason why
our scientific understanding of the mind is so limited, since thoughts, at least as we experience
them, are neither matter nor energy. The scientific method is also a form of empiricism. An
empirical method for acquiring knowledge is one based on observation, including
experimentation, rather than a method based only on forms of logical argument or previous
authorities.
It was not until the late 1800s that psychology became accepted as its own academic discipline.
Before this time, the workings of the mind were considered under the auspices of philosophy.
Given that any behavior is, at its roots, biological, some areas of psychology take on aspects of
a natural science like biology. No biological organism exists in isolation, and our behavior is
influenced by our interactions with others. Therefore, psychology is also a social science.
Psychology is a relatively young science with its experimental roots in the 19th century,
compared, for example, to human physiology, which dates much earlier. As mentioned, anyone
interested in exploring issues related to the mind generally did so in a philosophical context prior
to the 19th century. Two men, working in the 19th century, are generally credited as being the
founders of psychology as a science and academic discipline that was distinct from philosophy.
Their names were Wilhelm Wundt and William James.
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) was a German scientist who was the first person to be referred to
as a psychologist. His famous book entitled Principles of Physiological Psychology was
published in 1873. Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience, and
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he believed that the goal of psychology was to identify components of consciousness and how
those components combined to result in our conscious experience. Wundt used introspection
(he called it “internal perception”), a process by which someone examines their own conscious
experience as objectively as possible, making the human mind like any other aspect of nature
that a scientist observed. Wundt’s version of introspection used only very specific experimental
conditions in which an external stimulus was designed to produce a scientifically observable
(repeatable) experience of the mind (Danziger, 1980). The first stringent requirement was the
use of “trained” or practiced observers, who could immediately observe and report a reaction.
The second requirement was the use of repeatable stimuli that always produced the same
experience in the subject and allowed the subject to expect and thus be fully attentive to the
inner reaction. These experimental requirements were put in place to eliminate “interpretation”
in the reporting of internal experiences and to counter the argument that there is no way to know
that an individual is observing their mind or consciousness accurately, since it cannot be seen
by any other person. This attempt to understand the structure or characteristics of the mind was
known as structuralism. Wundt established his psychology laboratory at the University at
Leipzig in 1879. In this laboratory, Wundt and his students conducted experiments on, for
example, reaction times. A subject, sometimes in a room isolated from the scientist, would
receive a stimulus such as a light, image, or sound. The subject’s reaction to the stimulus would
be to push a button, and an apparatus would record the time to reaction. Wundt could measure
reaction time to one-thousandth of a second (Nicolas & Ferrand, 1999).
Figure 3. (a) Wilhelm Wundt is credited as one of the founders of psychology. He created the first laboratory for psychological
research. (b) This photo shows him seated and surrounded by fellow researchers and equipment in his laboratory in Germany.
However, despite his efforts to train individuals in the process of introspection, this process remained highly subjective, and there
was very little agreement between individuals. As a result, structuralism fell out of favor with the passing of Wundt’s student, Edward
Titchener, in 1927 (Gordon, 1995).
William James (1842–1910) was the first American psychologist who espoused a different
perspective on how psychology should operate. James was introduced to Darwin’s theory of
evolution by natural selection and accepted it as an explanation of an organism’s
characteristics. Key to that theory is the idea that natural selection leads to organisms that are
adapted to their environment, including their behavior. Adaptation means that a trait of an
organism has a function for the survival and reproduction of the individual, because it has been
naturally selected. As James saw it, psychology’s purpose was to study the function of behavior
in the world, and as such, his perspective was known as functionalism.
Functionalism focused on how mental activities helped an organism fit into its environment.
Functionalism has a second, more subtle meaning in that functionalists were more interested in
the operation of the whole mind rather than of its individual parts, which were the focus of
structuralism. Like Wundt, James believed that introspection could serve as one means by
which someone might study mental activities, but James also relied on more objective
measures, including the use of various recording devices, and examinations of concrete
products of mental activities and of anatomy and physiology (Gordon, 1995).
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A. Psychoanalytic Theory
Perhaps one of the most influential and well-known figures in psychology’s history was Sigmund
Freud. Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist who was fascinated by patients suffering
from “hysteria” and neurosis. Hysteria was an ancient diagnosis for disorders, primarily of
women with a wide variety of symptoms, including physical symptoms and emotional
disturbances, none of which had an apparent physical cause. Freud theorized that many of his
patients’ problems arose from the unconscious mind. In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind
was a repository of feelings and urges of which we have no awareness. Gaining access to the
unconscious, then, was crucial to the successful resolution of the patient’s problems. According
to Freud, the unconscious mind could be accessed through dream analysis, by examinations of
the first words that came to people’s minds, and through seemingly innocent slips of the tongue.
Psychoanalytic theory focuses on the role of a person’s unconscious, as well as early
childhood experiences, and this particular perspective dominated clinical psychology for several
decades (Thorne & Henley, 2005). Psychoanalytical theory is often used interchangeably with
psychodynamic theory, but psychodynamic theory generally applies to a broader field of study
based on Freud’s theories as well as those of his followers.
Figure 6. Freud’s theory of the unconscious Freud believed that we are only aware of a small amount of our mind’s activity, and that
most of it remains hidden from us in our unconscious. The information in our unconscious affects our behavior, although we are
unaware of it.
1. The Id, Ego, and Superego
Freud’s structural model of personality divides the personality into three parts—the id, the ego,
and the superego. The id is the unconscious part that is the cauldron of raw drives, such as for
sex or aggression. The ego, which has conscious and unconscious elements, is the rational and
reasonable part of personality. Its role is to maintain contact with the outside world to keep the
individual in touch with society, and to do this it mediates between the conflicting tendencies of
the id and the superego. The superego is a person’s conscience, which develops early in life
and is learned from parents, teachers, and others. Like the ego, the superego has conscious
and unconscious elements. When all three parts of the personality are in dynamic equilibrium,
the individual is thought to be mentally healthy. However, if the ego is unable to mediate
between the id and the superego, an imbalance is believed to occur in the form of psychological
distress.
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Freud’s ideas were influential, and you will learn more about them when you study lifespan
development, personality, and therapy. For instance, many therapists believe strongly in the
unconscious and the impact of early childhood experiences on the rest of a person’s life. The
method of psychoanalysis, which involves the patient talking about their experiences and
selves, while not invented by Freud, was certainly popularized by him and is still used today.
Many of Freud’s other ideas, however, are controversial.
Figure 7. When you look at this image, you may see a duck or a rabbit. The sensory information remains the same, but your
perception can vary dramatically.
Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967)
were three German psychologists who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century
to escape Nazi Germany. These men are credited with introducing psychologists in the United
States to various Gestalt principles. The word Gestalt roughly translates to “whole;” a major
emphasis of Gestalt psychology deals with the fact that although a sensory experience can be
broken down into individual parts, how those parts relate to each other as a whole is often what
the individual responds to in perception. For example, a song may be made up of individual
notes played by different instruments, but the real nature of the song is perceived in the
combinations of these notes as they form the melody, rhythm, and harmony. In many ways, this
particular perspective would have directly contradicted Wundt’s ideas of structuralism (Thorne &
Henley, 2005).
Figure 8. The “invisible” triangle you see here is an example of gestalt perception.
Unfortunately, in moving to the United States, these men were forced to abandon much of their
work and were unable to continue to conduct research on a large scale. These factors along
with the rise of behaviorism (described next) in the United States prevented principles of Gestalt
psychology from being as influential in the United States as they had been in their native
Germany (Thorne & Henley, 2005). Despite these issues, several Gestalt principles are still very
influential today. Considering the human individual as a whole rather than as a sum of
individually measured parts became an important foundation in humanistic theory late in the
century. The ideas of Gestalt have continued to influence research on sensation and perception.
Structuralism, Freud, and the Gestalt psychologists were all concerned in one way or another
with describing and understanding inner experience. But other researchers had concerns that
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inner experience could be a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry and chose instead to
exclusively study behavior, the objectively observable outcome of mental processes.
Each field of psychology represents a specific area of study focused on a particular topic.
Oftentimes, psychologists specialize in one of these areas as a career. The following are just
some of the major branches of psychology. For many of these specialty areas, working in that
specific area requires additional graduate study in that particular field
Abnormal psychology is the area that looks at psychopathology and abnormal behavior.
Mental health professionals help assess, diagnose, and treat a wide variety of psychological
disorders including anxiety and depression. Counselors, clinical psychologists, and
psychotherapists often work directly in this field.
Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based on the idea
that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. People often utilize behavioral strategies
such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning to teach or modify behaviors. For
example, a teacher might use a system of rewards in order to teach students to behave during
class. When students are good, they receive gold stars which can then be turned in for some
sort of special privilege.
Biopsychology is a branch of psychology is focused on how the brain, neurons, and nervous
system influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Biopsychology is also sometimes referred to as
physiological psychology, behavioral neuroscience, or psychobiology.
Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment
of mental illness, abnormal behavior, and psychiatric disorders.
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on internal mental states.
Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal
behavior. The study of animal behavior can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of
human psychology. This area has its roots in the work of researchers such as Charles Darwin
and Georges Romanes and has grown into a highly multidisciplinary subject. Psychologists
often contribute to this field, as do biologists, anthropologists, ecologists, geneticists, and many
others.
Developmental psychology focuses on how people change and grow throughout the entire
lifespan. Developmental psychologists often study things such as physical growth, intellectual
development, emotional changes, social growth, and perceptual changes that occur over the
course of the lifespan.
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Forensic psychology is a specialty area that deals with issues related to psychology and the
law. Those who work in this field of psychology apply psychological principles to legal issues.
This may involve studying criminal behavior and treatments or working directly in the court
system.
Health psychology is a specialty area that focuses on how biology, psychology, behavior and
social factors influence health and illness.
Personality psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on the study of the thought
patterns, feelings, and behaviors that make each individual unique. Classic theories of
personality include Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality and Erikson's theory of
psychosocial development. Personality psychologists might study how different factors such as
genetics, parenting, and social experiences influence how personality develops and changes.
School psychology is a field that involves working in schools to help kids deal with academic,
emotional, and social issues.
Social psychology seeks to explain and understand social behavior and looks at diverse topics
including group behavior, social interactions, leadership, nonverbal communication, and social
influences on decision-making.
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance,
exercise, and physical activity.
But there is a difference between psychology and physical sciences in the treatment of physical
objects. Physical sciences investigate the nature of physical stimuli apart from their relation to
an individual. But psychology studies the nature of the interaction between an individual with
physical stimuli.
Psychological science is not concerned with the nature of physical stimuli in themselves apart
from their relation to an individual. It is primarily concerned with behavior of an individual, and
indirectly concerned with external stimuli.
Physical sciences investigate the nature of physical phenomena, and so they help psychology
to explain the experience and behavior of the individual, which are reactions to the physical and
social stimuli.
b) (ii) Psychology and Biology:
Psychology is a science of the experience and behavior. However experience cannot be
adequately explained without the concomitant physiological processes. The environment acts
on the mind through the sense-organs; and the mind reacts to the environment through the
muscles. The sense-organs and muscles are organs of the body. So mental processes are
closely related to bodily processes.
In fact, mental processes are regarded by many psychologists as functions of life. They are
devices for better adaptation of the psycho-physical organism to the environment. Many modern
psychologists treat psychology from the biological point of view.
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They hold that consciousness emerges when the innate reactions fail to adapt the organism to
the environment, and that higher mental processes are evolved in order to adjust the organism
more and more effectively to the complex environment.
The relation between psychological science and biological science is very close. Experience
and behavior of an individual can be explained in terms of some of the basic concepts of
biological science. E. R. Hess has shown that there are close correlations between psychic and
neuronal processes in human personality.
In his view, it is quite probable that there are connections between “psychic performances
and the organization of the brain.”
The subjective experience of an individual is closely related to the cerebral structure and the
properties of its structural elements. There is a close correlation between the organization of the
brain and arrangements of the contents of consciousness. It is obvious, then, that the relation
between psychological and biological sciences is very great.
Behavior is bodily reaction of an individual to the physical and social environment. Hence,
psychology studies the nature of the different kinds of behavior. It does not study the nature of
all kinds of physiological processes. Physiology, on the other hand, studies the nature of all
kinds of physiological processes—the functions of all organs of the body.
The Behaviorists seek to reduce psychology to physiology which is a biological science. They
do away with the concept of mind or consciousness. Psychology deals with behavior which is a
reaction of the whole organism to the stimulus, and not of a part of it. But physiology studies the
reactions of the different parts or organs of the body.
The relation between psychological science and physiology is so intonate that a very important
discipline has developed during the last quarter of a century known as ‘physiological
psychology’.
Physiological psychology has developed with great strides by adopting the concepts and
techniques from other allied disciplines like neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, endocrinology,
pharmacology, cellular physiology, and biochemistry. Researches in the field of physiological
psychology have thrown valuable light on the nature of human personality and telic behavior.
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Psychology deals with the actual process of reasoning. Logic deals with the validity of reasoning
and the conditions of its validity. Nevertheless, the laws of logic are conditioned by the laws
according to which the human personality thinks. All types of logical thinking are limited by the
limitations of the human mind.
During recent years, the relation between psychological science and logic is very close. Many
contemporary psychologists make extensive use of some of the concepts of symbolic logic or
mathematical logic. During the empirical phase of the development of psychological science it
has been more concerned with experiments.
However, recently it has been making use of the concepts and techniques of symbolic logic for
theoretical systematization of psychological science. It is further expected with the systematiza-
tion of the theory of psychological science it would make more extensive use of symbolic logic.
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Sociology deals with the nature, origin, and development of society. It investigates into
manners, customs and institutions of a society in all its stages of development from the savage
to the civilized state. Hence, psychology is intimately related to sociology.
Sociology is primarily concerned with the study of the interrelationships between human
personalities in social groups. It is concerned with the study of the bonds which inter-relate
individuals in society. The nature of inter-personal relationships has become quite intelligible
through investigations in the field of psychology.
It is obvious, then, that there is considerable overlapping between the provinces of psychology
and sociology. However, in spite of the fact that there is close relation between psychology and
sociology there are certain points of difference between the two.
Psychology is primarily concerned with the experience and behavior of an individual. Sociology,
on the other hand, is concerned with the role that an individual plays in society.
Social psychology deals with the collective behaviour. It investigates the peculiar characteristics
of the individuals which they acquire as members of groups. It studies the behavior of the crowd
and the mob. It studies the psychological principles of social organization. It is the meeting
ground of psychology and sociology.
Psychology, sociology and social psychology are the various branches of social science.
Psychology and sociology are concerned with the study of behavior of individuals in social
setting. They study behavior from different points of view.
Education is a normative science. It lays down the end of education. Psychology cannot help
the science of education in defining its end. But it can point out the means of realizing the end of
education. It studies mental processes, e.g., motives, emotions, and sentiments of the child, the
adolescent and the adult.
Therefore, I can help the education of the child, the adolescent and the adult. It studies the
behavior of the individual and the group. Therefore, it can help the science of education which
seeks to stimulate the intellectual growth of a learner.
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V. EVALUATION
I. Identification Test: Read the sentences carefully. Identify and choose the answer on the
box. Write the answer on the blank. (15 points)
a. Psyche b. Psychology c. Sports Psychology d. psychoanalytic theory
e. cognitive psychology f. Sigmund Freud g. ego h. oral stage i. clinical psychology
j. school psychology k. functionalism l. introspection m. personality psychology n. id
o. abnormal psychology p. experimental psychology q. gestalt psychology
III. Essay: Explain and elaborate the question listed below. (5 points)
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VI. REFERENCES
Gaerlan, Josefina E. et al. General Psychology. Rex Incorporated,
Quezon City. 1994
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/reading-behaviorism/
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Answer sheet:
1. Psychology
2. psyche
3. sports psychology
4. psychoanalytic theory
5. cognitive psychology
6. clinical psychology
7. Ego
8. School psychology
9. functionalism
10. introspection
11. personality psychology
12. ID
13. Abnormal psychology
14. Experimental psychology
15. Gestalt psychology
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