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Psychology SSC 210: - Lahore School of Economics

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychologists aim to describe, predict, understand, and influence human behavior and thought. Originally a branch of philosophy, psychology emerged as a distinct scientific field in the late 19th century using scientific methods like experimentation and observation rather than philosophical approaches. Some early schools of thought in psychology included structuralism, which analyzed the structure of the mind, functionalism, which examined how the mind helps with adaptation, and behaviorism, which focused only on observable behaviors. Key issues that psychology continues to examine include the influences of nature versus nurture and conscious versus unconscious factors on behavior.

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44 views11 pages

Psychology SSC 210: - Lahore School of Economics

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychologists aim to describe, predict, understand, and influence human behavior and thought. Originally a branch of philosophy, psychology emerged as a distinct scientific field in the late 19th century using scientific methods like experimentation and observation rather than philosophical approaches. Some early schools of thought in psychology included structuralism, which analyzed the structure of the mind, functionalism, which examined how the mind helps with adaptation, and behaviorism, which focused only on observable behaviors. Key issues that psychology continues to examine include the influences of nature versus nurture and conscious versus unconscious factors on behavior.

Uploaded by

Abdul Moiz
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PSYCHOLOGY – SSC 210

Lahore School of
Economics

Hirra Rana
Psychology is the scientific study of
behavior and mental processes.
Goals of Psychology
What are the Psychologists trying to accomplish?

 Describe

 Predict

 Understand

 And Influence human behavior and mental processes.


Emergence of the field of psychology

Psychology was a branch of philosophy until the 1870s


So what makes psychology different from philosophy?

 -Philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic

 -psychologists utilize scientific methodologies to study and draw


conclusions about human thought and behavior.

 -Physiology also contributed to psychology’s eventual .Early


physiology research on the brain and behavior to the study of human
thought and behavior.
The First Psychologists: A Brief History of
Psychology
 Wilhelm Wundt “father of psychology”
- nature of conscious experience
- “introspection”

 Examining our own internal thoughts


and feelings. When we reflect on our
thoughts, emotions, and memories and examine what they
mean, we are engaging in introspection

 Wilhelm Wundt, 1832–1920. Wundt is


credited with making psychology an
Independent science, separate from philosophy.

-First psychology laboratory in


Leipzig, Germany, 1879
 E. Bradford Titchener
- popularized Wundt’s psychology and brought it to the US
- used introspection to uncover components of thought
 Structuralism
 Titchener called Wundt’s ideas structuralism and tried to
analyze the structure of mental life into basic “elements” or
“building blocks.”
 Structuralism :The school of thought concerned
with analyzing sensations and personal
experience into basic elements.
William James
- first important textbook:
The Principles of Psychology

 American scholar William James broadened psychology to


include animal behavior, religious experience, abnormal
behavior, and other interesting topics.

 functionalism :comes from James’s interest in how the mind


functions to help us adapt to the environment.
Functionalism
The school of psychology concerned with
how behavior and mental abilities help
people adapt to their environments.
Behaviorism
(John B. Watson, 1878–1958)

Functionalism and structuralism were soon challenged by


behaviorism

 The study of observable behavior. Behaviorist John B. Watson


objected strongly to the study of the “mind” or “conscious
experience.”
 Ivan Pavlov’s concept of conditioning to explain most
behavior. (A conditioned response is a learned reaction to a
particular stimulus.)
Behaviorism (Radical Behaviorism)
 B. F. Skinner, 1904–1990. Skinner studied simple behaviors
under carefully controlled conditions.

 The best-known behaviorist, B. F. Skinner ,believed that our


actions are controlled by rewards and punishments.

 Skinner was convinced that a “designed culture” based on


positive reinforcement could encourage desirable behavior.
Key Issues in Psychology
1. Nature (heredity) vs. Nurture (environment)
2. Conscious vs. Unconscious determinants of behavior
3. Observable behavior vs. Internal mental processes
4. Free will vs. Determinism
5. Individual differences vs. Universal principles

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