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Introduction to
Psychology/Introduc
tion
< Introduction to Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of

behavior, cognition, and emotion.

Psychology is an academic and applied

discipline involving the scientific study of
mental processes and behavior.
Psychology also refers to the application
of such knowledge to various spheres of
human activity, including relating to
individuals' daily lives and the treatment of
mental illness.

Psychology differs from the other social

sciences — anthropology, economics,
political science, and sociology — in that
psychology seeks to explain the mental
processes and behavior of individuals.
Whereas biology and neuroscience study
the biological or neural processes and
how they relate to the mental effects they
subjectively produce, psychology is
primarily concerned with the interaction of
mental processes and behavior on a
systemic level. The subfield of
neuropsychology studies the actual neural
processes while biological psychology
studies the biological bases of behavior
and mental states.

Psychology is an academic and applied

field involving the study of behavior, mind
and thought and the subconscious
neurological bases of behavior.
Psychology also refers to the application
of such knowledge to various spheres of
human activity, including problems of
individuals' daily lives and the treatment of
mental illness. It is largely concerned with
humans, although the behavior and
mental processes of animals can also be
part of psychology research, either as a
subject in its own right (e.g. animal
cognition and ethology), or somewhat
more controversially, as a way of gaining
an insight into human psychology by
means of comparison (including
comparative psychology). Psychology is
commonly defined as the science of
behavior and mental processes.

Psychology does not necessarily refer to

the brain or nervous system and can be
framed purely in terms of
phenomenological or information
processing theories of mind. Increasingly,
though, an understanding of brain
function is being included in psychological
theory and practice, particularly in areas
such as artificial intelligence,
neuropsychology, and cognitive
neuroscience.

Psychology describes and attempts to

explain consciousness, behavior and
social interaction. Empirical psychology is
primarily devoted to describing human
experience and behavior as it actually
occurs. In the past 20 years or so
psychology has begun to examine the
relationship between consciousness and
the brain or nervous system. It is still not
clear in what ways these interact: does
consciousness determine brain states or
do brain states determine consciousness -
or are both going on in various ways?
Perhaps to understand this you need to
know the definition of "consciousness"
and "brain state" - or is consciousness
some sort of complicated 'illusion' which
bears no direct relationship to neural
processes? The late 19th century marks
the start of psychology as a scientific
enterprise. The year 1879 is commonly
seen as the start of psychology as an
independent field of study, because in that
year German scientist Wilhelm Wundt
founded the first laboratory dedicated
exclusively to psychological research in
Leipzig, Germany.

Wundt combined philosophical

introspection with techniques and
laboratory apparatuses brought over from
his physiological studies with Helmholtz,
as well as many of his own design. This
experimental introspection was in
contrast to what had been called
psychology until then, a branch of
philosophy where people introspected
themselves.
Introspection is the direct observation or
rumination of one's own heart, mind and/or
soul and its processes, as opposed to
extrospection, the observation of things
external to one's self.

Early Systems of Psychology

Wundt's form of psychology is called

structuralism. It is in a class called
systematic interpretations because It
attempted to explain all behavior with
reference to one systematic position.
Some other systems of psychology are
functionalism, behaviorism, gestalt
psychology, and psychodynamic
psychology.

Functionalism is concerned with the

reason for behavior and not the structure
of the brain. It allowed the study of new
subjects including children and animals.

Behaviorism is an approach to psychology

based on the proposition that behavior
can be studied and explained scientifically
without recourse to internal mental states.
Psychologists that use behaviorism are
concerned mainly with muscular
movements and glandular secretions.
Gestalt Psychology is a theory of mind
and brain that proposes that the
operational principle of the brain is
holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-
organizing tendencies. It has a particular
interest in perceptual problems and how
they can be interpreted. A Gestaltist
believes that the whole is greater than or
different than the sum of all of the parts.
Trying to break up behavior into separate
parts is simplistic because everything
affects everything else.

Psychodynamic psychology was first

practiced by Sigmund Freud, although he
didn't intend it to be a system.
Perspectives

While the use of one system to solve all

problems has been abandoned by most
psychologists, these early systems were
important in the development of new
systems and ideas. There are eight major
perspectives that psychologists usually
take, although many use an eclectic
approach instead of confining themselves
to just one.

The psychodynamic perspective

emphasizes unconscious drives and the
resolution of conflicts, the behaviorial
emphasizes the acquisition and alteration
of observable responses, and the
humanistic approaches attempt to
achieve maximum human potential as set
in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

The biological perspective is the scientific

study of the biological bases of behavior
and mental states, very closely related to
neuroscience.

Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical

approach to psychology that attempts to
explain certain mental and psychological
traits—such as memory, perception, or
language as evolved adaptations, i.e., as
the functional products of natural or
sexual selection.

Cognitive psychology accepts the use of

the scientific method, but rejects
introspection as a valid method of
investigation. It should be noted that
Herbert Simon and Allen Newell identified
the 'thinking-aloud' protocol, in which
investigators view a subject engaged in
introspection, and who speaks his
thoughts aloud, thus allowing study of his
introspection.

Social psychology is the scientific study of

how people's thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors are influenced by the actual,
imagined, or implied presence of others
(Allport, 1985).

Wundt argued that "we learn little about

our minds from casual, haphazard self-
observation...It is essential that
observations be made by trained observers
under carefully specified conditions for the
purpose of answering a well-defined
question."

Many scientists threw away the idea of

introspection as part of psychology
because the observation of stimulation
was speculative without an empirical
approach. However the case, an opposite
to introspection called extrospection has
been created with a relation to
Psychophysics. Psychophysics is the
branch of psychology dealing with the
relationship between physical stimuli and
their perception.

The important distinction is that Wundt

took this method into the experimental
arena and thus into the newly formed
psychological field. Other important early
contributors to the field of psychology
include Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in
studies on memory), the Russian Ivan
Pavlov (who discovered the learning
process of classical conditioning), and the
Austrian Sigmund Freud.

The mid-20th century saw a rejection of

Freud's theories among many
psychologists as being too unscientific, as
well as a reaction against Edward
Titchener's abstract approach to the mind.

Edward B. Titchener (1876-1927) was an

Englishman and a student of Wilhelm
Wundt before becoming a professor of
psychology at Cornell University. He would
put his own spin on Wundt's psychology
of consciousness after he emigrated to
the United States.
At the turn of 19th century the founding
father of experimental psychology
Wilhelm Wundt tried to experimentally
confirm his hypothesis that conscious
mental life can be broken down into
fundamental elements which then form
more complex mental structures. Wundt's
structuralism was quickly abandoned
because it could not be tested in the same
way as behavior, until now, when the brain-
scanning technology can identify, for
example, specialized brain cells that
respond exclusively to basic lines and
shapes and are then combined in
subsequent brain areas where more
complex visual structures are formed.
This line of research in modern
psychology is called cognitive psychology
rather than structuralism because Wundt's
term never ceased to be associated with
the problem of observability.

The majority of mainstream psychology is

based on a framework derived from
cognitive psychology, although the
popularity of this paradigm does not
exclude others, which are often applied as
necessary. Psychologists specialising in
certain areas, however, may use the
dominant cognitive psychology only rarely
if at all.
Cognitive psychology is the psychological
science which studies cognition, the mental
processes that are hypothesised to
underlie behavior. This covers a broad
range of research domains, examining
questions about the workings of memory,
attention, perception, knowledge
representation, reasoning, creativity and
problem solving.

Cognitive psychology is radically different

from previous psychological approaches
in two key ways.

It accepts the use of the scientific

method, and generally rejects
 Introspection as a valid method of
investigation, unlike phenomenological
methods such as Freudian psychology.
It posits the existence of internal mental
states (such as beliefs, desires and
motivations) unlike behaviourist
psychology.

Regardless of the perspective adopted

there are hundreds of specialties that
psychologists practice. These specialties
can usually be grouped into general fields.

Clinical and Counseling Psychology:

Over half of all psychologists work in
this field. Clinical psychologists are
more likely to treat or conduct research
into the causes of abnormal behaviors,
while counseling psychologists more
often work with mild social or emotional
problems. Typically people seeking the
help of a counselor are not classified as
abnormal or mentally ill.
Educational and School Psychology:
Educational psychologists are
concerned with the use of psychology
to increase the effectiveness of the
learning experience, including facilities,
curriculum, teaching techniques, and
student problems. A school
psychologist works in a school
environment to evaluate the structure
and effectiveness of the learning
environment. A school psychologist
assesses, counsels or guides students
who have
academic,behavioral,emotional,and/ or
guidance needs. A school psychologist
consults with teachers,staff, and
parents to help students adjust and
learn most effectively in their learning
environment.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
(also known as I/O psychology, work
psychology, occupational psychology, or
personnel psychology) is the study of
the behavior of people in the workplace.
Industrial and organizational
psychology applies psychological
knowledge and methods to aid workers
and organizations. I/O psychologists
who work for an organization are most
likely to work in the HR (human
resources) department.
Consumer Psychology:Consumer
behaviour is the study of how people
buy, what they buy, when they buy and
why they buy.
Engineering Psychology: See link
Forensic Psychology: Forensic
psychology is the application of
psychological principles and knowledge
to various legal activities involving child
custody disputes, child abuse of an
emotional, physical and sexual nature,
assessing one's personal capacity to
manage one's affairs, matters of
competency to stand trial, criminal
responsibility & personal injury and
advising judges in matters relating to
sentencing regarding various mitigants
and the actuarial assessment of future
risk.
Sport Psychology: Sport psychology is a
specialization within psychology that
seeks to understand
psychological/mental factors that
affect performance in sports, physical
activity and exercise and apply these to
 enhance individual and team
performance.
Environmental Psychology:
Environmental psychology is an
interdisciplinary field focused on the
interplay between humans and their
surroundings. Areas of study include
pollution effects, recycling efforts, and
the study of stress generated by
different physical settings.

History
Early environment

The first use of the term "psychology" is

often attributed to the German scholastic
philosopher Rudolf Goeckel (Latinized
Rudolph Goclenius), published in 1590.[1]
More than six decades earlier, however,
the Croatian humanist Marko Marulić
used the term in the title of a work which
was subsequently lost.[2] This, of course,
may not have been the very first usage, but
it is the earliest documented use at
present.

The term did not fall into popular usage

until the German idealist philosopher,
Christian Wolff (1679-1754) used it in his
Psychologia empirica and Psychologia
rationalis (1732-1734). This distinction
between empirical and rational
psychology was picked up in Diderot's
Encyclopedie and was popularized in
France by Maine de Biran.

The root of the word psychology (psyche)

is very roughly equivalent to "soul" in
Greek, and (ology) equivalent to "study".
Psychology came to be considered a
study of the soul (in a religious sense of
this term) much later, in Christian times.
Psychology as a medical discipline can be
seen in Thomas Willis' reference to
psychology (the "Doctrine of the Soul") in
terms of brain function, as part of his
1672 anatomical treatise "De Anima
Brutorum" ("Two Discourses on the Souls
of Brutes"). Until about the end of the 19th
century, psychology was regarded as a
branch of philosophy.

Early modern era

In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920),

known as "the father of psychology",
founded a laboratory for the study of
psychology at Leipzig University in
Germany. The American philosopher
William James published his seminal
book, Principles of Psychology, in 1890,
laying the foundations for many of the
questions that psychologists would focus
on for years to come. Other important
early contributors to the field include
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909), a
pioneer in the experimental study of
memory at the University of Berlin; and the
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-
1936), who investigated the learning
process now referred to as classical
conditioning.

Meanwhile, during the 1890s, the Austrian

physician Sigmund Freud, who was trained
as a neurologist and had no formal
training in experimental psychology, had
developed a method of psychotherapy
known as psychoanalysis. Freud's
understanding of the mind was largely
based on interpretive methods and
introspection, and was focused in
particular on resolving mental distress
and psychopathology. Freud's theories
became very well-known, largely because
they tackled subjects such as sexuality
and repression as general aspects of
psychological development. These were
largely considered taboo subjects at the
time, and Freud provided a catalyst for
them to be openly discussed in polite
society. Although Freud's theories are only
of limited interest in modern academic
psychology departments, his application
of psychology to clinical work has been
very influential.
Partly in reaction to the subjective and
introspective nature of Freudian
psychology, and its focus on the
recollection of childhood experiences,
during the early decades of the 20th
century behaviorism gained popularity as
a guiding psychological theory.
Championed by psychologists such as
John B. Watson and Edward Thorndike
(and later, B.F. Skinner), behaviorism was
grounded in studies of animal behavior.
Behaviorists argued that psychology
should be a science of behavior, not the
mind, and rejected the idea that internal
mental states such as beliefs, desires, or
goals could be studied scientifically. In his
paper "Psychology as the Behaviorist
Views It" (1913), Watson argued that
psychology "is a purely objective
[emphasis added] experimental branch of
natural science," that "introspection forms
no essential part of its methods", and that
"the behaviorist recognizes no dividing line
between man and brute."

Behaviorism reigned as the dominant

model in psychology through the first half
of the 20th century, largely due to the
creation of conditioning theories as
scientific models of human behavior, and
their successful application in the
workplace and in fields such as
advertising.

Modern era

However, it became increasingly clear that

although behaviorism had made some
important discoveries, it was deficient as
a guiding theory of human behavior. Noam
Chomsky's review of Skinner's book Verbal
Behavior (that aimed to explain language
acquisition in a behaviorist framework) is
considered one of the major factors in the
ending of behaviorism's reign. Chomsky
demonstrated that language could not
purely be learned from conditioning, as
people could produce sentences unique in
structure and meaning that couldn't
possibly be generated solely through
experience of natural language, implying
that there must be internal states of mind
that behaviorism rejected as illusory.
Similarly, work by Albert Bandura showed
that children could learn by social
observation, without any change in overt
behavior, and so must be accounted for by
internal representations.

Humanistic psychology emerged in the

1950s and has continued as a reaction to
positivist and scientific approaches to the
mind. It stresses a phenomenological
view of human experience and seeks to
understand human beings and their
behavior by conducting qualitative
research. The humanistic approach has its
roots in existentialist and
phenomenological philosophy and many
humanist psychologists completely reject
a scientific approach, arguing that trying
to turn human experience into
measurements strips it of all meaning and
relevance to lived existence.

Some of the founding theorists behind

this school of thought were Abraham
Maslow who formulated a hierarchy of
human needs, Carl Rogers who created
and developed client-centered therapy, and
Fritz Perls who helped create and develop
Gestalt therapy.

The rise of computer technology also

promoted the metaphor of mental
function as information processing. This,
combined with a scientific approach to
studying the mind, as well as a belief in
internal mental states, led to the rise of
cognitivism as the dominant model of the
mind.

Links between brain and nervous system

function were also becoming common,
partly due to the experimental work of
people such as Charles Sherrington and
Donald Hebb, and partly due to studies of
people with brain injury (see cognitive
neuropsychology). With the development
of technologies for accurately measuring
brain function, neuropsychology and
cognitive neuroscience have become
some of the most active areas in
contemporary psychology. With the
increasing involvement of other
disciplines (such as philosophy, computer
science and neuroscience) in the quest to
understand the mind, the umbrella
discipline of cognitive science has been
created as a means of focusing such
efforts in a constructive way.
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