Introduction To Psychology

Introduction to Psychology
Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Tarmizi Bin

Samat
Mizi@um.edu.my
Definition of Psychology
• Originated from Greek civilization

• “psyche” - soul
• “logos” - study of something comes
Definition:
• The scientific study of the mind & how it influence
behavior
•
•
"the scientific study of the way the human mind

works and how it influences behaviour, or the
influence of a particular person's character on
their behaviour".
(Cambridge International Dictionary of English,
p.383).
C.M. Charles
• Psychology is a research of behavior which its
results will help in enhancing teaching & learning
Crow & Crow

• An effort to gain information on the ways
individuals or a group of individuals from
different range of ages reacts towards the
stimulus from the environment
What is Psychology ?
• How experience affects though & action
• Explores the roles of biology & heredity
• Examines consciousness & dream
• Traces how people develop from infant into adults

• Basically psychology tries to explain why people
think, act & feel as they do
Historical Development of Psychology
Interactionism – Rene Descartes

•Human being is a combination of mind & body /
body & soul
Empiricism – the concept of ‘tabula rasa’ means

human soul as an empty slate at birth
Structuralism – Wilhelm Wundt (modern

psychologist)
•Focus on consciousness experience – what a

person a able to state during conscious experience
•Feelings, perceptions, attitudes & assumptions of
individual towards a particular situation
Functionalism – John Dewey & William James
•Focus on consciousness experience – what a

person a able to state during conscious experience
•Feelings, perceptions, attitudes & assumptions of
individual towards a particular situation
Behaviourism – J. B. Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike,
Skenner & Hull
•Study of overt behavior

•Studies animals – leads to learning & human’s behavior
Gestalt – max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koftka

•humans perceive the world as a unitary whole or
“gestalt”
Humanistic – Abraham Maslow & Carl Roger
•Way of thinking, experience & interpretation of an

event
•The power of individual’ s motivation is his tendency
to develop & achieve self-actualization
•Individual has to develop his potential to the
maximum
Cognitivism – Piaget, Vygotsky, Gagne, Bruner &
Ausubel
•Human’s thought, perception, assumption, cognition,

metacognition, critical & creative thinking skills,
learning skills, motivation
•
Contructivism –Vygotsky
•Included how an individual construct his

understanding about something that is being learned
•The role of learner in the teaching & learning
process
Divisions in Psychology
• Developmental Psychology – studies the

principles of development and the factors the
determine human behavior throughout the lifespan.
• Educational Psychology – scientific study of

human behavior in education.
• Experimental Psychology – investigates

perception, observation, thinking and learning
• Clinical Psychology – uses psychological principles to
diagnose and treat emotional and behavioral problems
• Physiological Psychology – investigates the

relationship between physiological processes with
behavior
• Social Psychology – studies individual’s behavior in

groups and the relationship between individuals or
groups.
• Industrial Psychology – studies human behavior

in industry.
• Child Psychology – studies the physical,

emotional, mental and social aspects of child’s
growth and development.
• Comparative Psychology – studies the

comparative behavior between different species.
• Counseling Psychology – uses psychological and

counseling principles to help individuals with
emotional and personal problems.
Psychological Approaches
• Behaviorism
• Psychoanalytic
• Cognitivism
• Humanistic
• Biological
Psychoanalytic: Sigmund Freud
•Human behavior is influenced by unconscious psychological

processes (internal conflicts, impulses, desires & motives)
which we are not aware of
•All behavior (normal & abnormal) is the result of interaction

between genetic & environmental factors
•Stress the importance of individual early stages of

development
Biological
•Human are physical system & must be understood

from physical angle (physiological condition &
nervous system)
•Role of central nervous system that is responsible

for controlling the thoughts & movement of human
The Areas of Studying Psychology
1. describe
2.explain
3.Control
4.predict
Psychology is the science which uses introspective and behavioral
evidence to understand the internal processes which lead people to
think and to behave as they do.
Psychology is not the common sense, because many findings differ

greatly from what people would have predicated
One most important reason why people think psychological findings

are commonsensical is hindsight bias which involves being wise
after the event.
History of Psychology
Philosophy
-Plato and Aristotle ( 427 – 347 BC )
- a discipline seeking knowledge or wisdom and was not convinced of the
value of science
-mental health depends on the body and minds
mens sana in copore sano ( a sound mind in the sound body )
Psychophysics
Proper experiments in Germany by Ernst Webber ( 1834 ) and Gustav
Frehner ( 1860 )
-relationship between the mental and physical realms
e.g. Will it sound twice as loud as the original sound?
Physiology
Johannes Muller ( 1801- 1858 ) and Hermann von Helmholt ( 1821 – 1894 )
- Visual perception differ from auditory perception and both differ from
perception of taste and smell
-involved different parts of brain and nerves
Ivan Palvov ( 1927 ) a physiologist

Biology
Charles Darwin ( 1809 – 82 )
-the discipline of philosophy and physiology
- 1859 Origin of Species
Francis Galton ( 1822 – 1911 )
-1869 Hereditary Genius
Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud ( 1856-1939 )
social processes, personality, motivation and sexual behavior
Behaviorism
Watson –( 1878-1958 )
-purely objective, experimental branch of natural science
-based on precise observation and measurement of behavior
-no such things as inheritance of capacity, talent, temperament, mental
constitution and characteristics
-all based on training
Cognitive
-Gestalt ( Germany )
Jean Piaget( 1896 – 1980 ) Swiss
Alfred Binnet ( 1857 -1911 ) French

Introduction To Psychology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Psychology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Psychology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction to Psychology

Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Tarmizi Bin

• Originated from Greek civilization

"the scientific study of the way the human mind

Crow & Crow

• Explores the roles of biology & heredity

• Examines consciousness & dream

• Traces how people develop from infant into adults

Interactionism – Rene Descartes

Empiricism – the concept of ‘tabula rasa’ means

Structuralism – Wilhelm Wundt (modern

•Focus on consciousness experience – what a

Functionalism – John Dewey & William James

•Focus on consciousness experience – what a

•Study of overt behavior

Gestalt – max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koftka

•Way of thinking, experience & interpretation of an

•Human’s thought, perception, assumption, cognition,

•Included how an individual construct his

• Developmental Psychology – studies the

• Educational Psychology – scientific study of

• Experimental Psychology – investigates

• Physiological Psychology – investigates the

• Social Psychology – studies individual’s behavior in

• Industrial Psychology – studies human behavior

• Child Psychology – studies the physical,

• Comparative Psychology – studies the

• Counseling Psychology – uses psychological and

•Human behavior is influenced by unconscious psychological

•All behavior (normal & abnormal) is the result of interaction

•Stress the importance of individual early stages of

•Human are physical system & must be understood

•Role of central nervous system that is responsible

Psychology is not the common sense, because many findings differ

One most important reason why people think psychological findings

Ivan Palvov ( 1927 ) a physiologist

You might also like