Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Pakistan
Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Pakistan
Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Pakistan
MARDAN
C la s s : B S 3 r d
Introduction to Psychology
• Etymology:
• Psychology is derived from two Greek words.
1. Psyche means soul
2. Logos means knowledge or study.
Old definition:
the study of soul is psychology.
• Modern definition:
• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Psychology
• Psychology is the scientific investigation of behavior and mental
processes of humans and animals.
• Core terms:
Scientific
There are three core terms which investigation
2. Mental processes
3. scientific investigation Behavior
Mental
processes
Behavior:
All overt or covert actions which can be observed by another person.
For example:
Walking, talking, smiling, fighting, frowning etc.
Importance:
psychology adopts scientific method in its study because
scientific investigation gives us accurate data about behavior and
mental processes of humans as well as animals.
Steps in scientific investigation
Scientific inquiry begins with
an attitude of eagerness to
skeptically investigate
competing ideas, with an
open- minded approach.
Putting ideas to the test helps
us in fully understanding
them
1. Observation
2. Question origination
3. Hypothesis
4. Experiment
5. theory
A touch to history
• Aristotle:
first person who coined the term of
“psychology”.
he wanted to understand life by
understanding how a dead person is different
than an alive person. He said, “if you want to
understand life, you will have to understand
the act of dying.”
William Wundt:
Father of psychology
In 1879, he established first laboratory for
psychology at Lipzig university, German.
He was an eminent structuralist.
Phases in the History of Psychology
Main terms in psychology changed during different periods of time it was viewed as:
1. Study of ‘Soul’
2. Study of ‘Mind’
3. Study of ‘Conscious experience’
4. Study of ‘Behavior’
Science does not deal with the supernatural:
In old ages, psychology was viewed as study of soul. Psychologist in 19th century
put an effort to adopt scientific method for investigation of different question of
human mind, personality and his preferences. For this purpose they define
psychology in a whole different way, because soul is a supernatural phenomenon (as
god, angel, demons, heaven, etc.) and science does not deal with supernatural.
Supernatural phenomenon cannot be observed through our senses which is
problematic for first step of scientific investigation( observation)
Goals of psychology
• Psychology covers almost all those areas where behavior or mental processes is involved. Main goals of psychology
are:
description
• For example:
• Psychology answers questions like:
• what is anger? (description)
• What are the factor which causes anger? (explanation) prediction
• It is also easily used because it is a cheap method and in formation is gathered without
much difficulty.
Neurological basis of behavior
Nervous system of a body is responsible to carry
out all actions of body in a smooth and effective
manner.
Terminal Buttons:
Swollen, bulblike structures at one end of the axon.
Central Nervous System: Brain
Frontal lobe
Associated with motor control, reasoning, planning, decision making,
problem solving.
Parietal lobe
Associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli.
Temporal lobe:
Associated with
perception and recognition of
sounds, voices and speech.
Occipital lobe:
Associated with visual
processing.
Learning
• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior; this change is not
automatic and results from practice or experience.
• Learning is commonly understood as the act, process, or experience of
gaining knowledge or skill.
• Learning is done through:
1. Exposure
2. Observation
3. Experience
4. Repetition
5. Conditioning etc.
Types/ Forms of Learning
• Verbal learning:
Verbal learning involves the person’s own association, experiences and relations with the
phenomenon that has been learned. For example:
• Learning to speak a language.
• Motor Learning:
It involves the practical application of the learned phenomena. For example:
Learning driving, cricket or football.
Problem Solving:
Problem solving tasks usually involves trial and error and primarily include verbal processes.
For example:
Learning chess or solving math problem.
Types of learning
• There are three type learning
discussed in this course.
1. Operant conditioning
2. Classical conditioning
3. Learning through observation
Proposed by B. F. Skinner
Experiment:
he experimented with rats and pigeon and on the
basis of his observation, he introduced operant
conditioning.
Application
1. Training animal in circus
4. Treatment for smoker and people with issues of alcohol and drug intake.
A person once or twice vomited after eating pizza. After that, whenever he sees
pizza, he will get a feeling of nausea.
A person who fails 4,5 test when he wears red shirt, will see that as a bad luck and
will avoid red shirt at day of tests and interview.
Experiment:
Pavlov did an experiment with dog. He used food and a bell in his experiment.
Application
1. Training of children