Mysterious Psychology

hat exactly is psychology?

while it may seem like a very basic
question, it is one of the most
common questions asked by
students new to the study of
psychology. During your first
lecture of an introductory
psychology class, your instructor
might spend some time going
around the room asking students
to explain what they think
psychology involves. During my
first psychology class, one girl
made a dramatic point of waving
her fingers over another student's
head and pretending to read his
thoughts. Unfortunately, such
misconceptions about psychology

abound and part of the confusion

stems from stereotyped portrayals
of psychologists in popular media
as well as the diverse careers
paths of those holding psychology
degrees. The simplest definition of
psychology is that it is the study of
the mind and behavior. Research
in psychology seeks to understand
and explain thought, emotion and
behavior. Applications of
psychology include mental health
treatment, performance
enhancement, self-help,
ergonomics, and many other areas
affecting health and daily life. It's
difficult to capture everything that
psychology encompasses in just a
brief definition, but topics such as
development, personality,
thoughts, feelings, emotions,
motivations, and social behaviors
represent just a portion of what
psychology seeks to understand
and explain.

When you study psychology you

quickly discover that the
universal symbol for the
discipline is the pitchfork shaped
image like the one in the picture
above. Now while this is great for
short hand purposes i.e. drawing
the symbol rather than having to
spell out the word psychology in
full, have you ever wondered
about where the psychology
symbol originates ?

The Devil is Not in

The Detail

One interesting but incorrect

suggestion is that the psychology
symbol is somehow related to the
trident carried by the devil. The
theory goes that because mental
illness was historically seen as
the work of the devil, psychology
by association was considered
diabolical; and in an irreverent
display of defiance, psychologists
adopted the trident pitchfork
shape as their official symbol.
It's All Greek To Me
To discover the origin of the
psychology symbol, you simply
have to trace its etymology (word
origin and sense development).
The symbol for psychology
represents the penultimate letter
of the Greek alphabet, psi, which
is also the first letter of the Greek
word psuche, meaning mind or
soul, from which the term psyche
arose; which in turn gave us the
name of the discipline psychology
which is most commonly defined
as study of the mind.

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Mysterious Psychology
aspects of human behaviour that
could have come straight from a
Psychology textbook. It is Psychology
brought to life, and has made me
realise more than ever how much I
want to move my interest in
Psychology from my hobby to my
career.

Psychology
Personal
Statements :
Earlier this year I was involved in a car
accident, and as I sat among the
wreckage I was shocked to see not
one person stopped to help me. Didnt
anyone care enough to help? If it
werent for the science of Psychology,
this and so many other questions
about human behaviour would go
unanswered. I find the insights
Psychology gives into human
behaviour very exciting, and have
been fascinated by it for a long time.
Working in the Child Protection Unit of
Cumbria Social Services has further
fuelled my interest; every day I see

I believe that combined with my

enthusiasm for the subject, the skills I
have learned through my past work
experience and part time study will
make me an ideal candidate for
studying Psychology. My employment
has taught me many transferable
skills, including excellent levels of
concentration and great organisational
skills. I also feel my experience of
dealing with the public and colleagues
will prove invaluable in a people
centred discipline such as
Psychology.
Over the past few years whilst working
during the day I have also studied at
evening classes for A Levels.
Studying part time has taught me
excellent study skills, as much of my
study has been self-directed. It was
very challenging to study part-time,
however I was utterly determined to
complete each A Level, and I would
apply this same determination to

completing a degree to the very best

of my ability.
When I am not filling my spare time
with studying, I enjoy taking
advantage of the benefits of living in
the Lake District, going fell walking,
and keeping fit in the gym. I also love
to entertain, and recently held a highly
successful superheroes and villains
themed fancy dress party; as well as
being fun it was fascinating to watch
how peoples behaviour changes
when they have a mask on!

After my degree I would like to go on

to do further study and perhaps
undertake training to become a
Psychologist. I am passionate about
studying Psychology, and looking
forward to extending my knowledge in
this exciting discipline, and
contributing to it in the future.

Since deciding to apply to University I

have started to undertake further
study to prepare me for
undergraduate study; I am currently
halfway through an Open University
Openings Course, and have enrolled
for an Access to Higher Education
Course in Social Sciences, my tutors
for which have assured me that due to
my previous A Level studies I will be
able to complete successfully without
a problem.
I feel that I would be able to make a
valuable contribution during my
degree, and perhaps even more
importantly, as I have worked so hard
to get to this point, I would remain
committed to studying because it
means so much to me.

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Mysterious Psychology

The Great Father of

Psychology Society
...
Wilhelm Wundt opened the
Institute for Experimental
Psychology at the University of
Leipzig in Germany in 1879.
This was the first laboratory
dedicated to psychology, and its
opening is usually thought of as
the beginning of modern
psychology. Indeed, Wundt is
often regarded as the father of
psychology.
Wundt was important because he
separated psychology from
philosophy by analyzing the
workings of the mind in a more
structured way, with the
emphasis being on objective
measurement and control.
This laboratory became a focus
for those with a serious interest

in psychology, first for German

philosophers and psychology
students, then for American and
British students as well. All
subsequent psychological
laboratories were closely
modeled in their early years on
the Wundt model.

the same way as chemist

analyses chemical compounds,
in order to get at the underlying
structure. The school of
psychology founded by Wundt is
known as voluntarism, the
processing of organizing the
mind.

Wundt's background was in

physiology, and this was
reflected in the topics with which
the Institute was concerned, such
as the study of reaction times
and sensory processes and
attention. For example,
participants would be exposed to
a standard stimulus (e.g. a light
or the sound of a metronome)
and asked to report their
sensations.

During his academic career

Wundt trained 186 graduate
students (116 in psychology).
This is significant as it helped
disseminate his work. Indeed,
parts of Wundt's theory were
developed and promoted by his
one-time student, Edward
Titchener, who described his
system as Structuralism, or the
analysis of the basic elements
that constitute the mind.

Wundt's aim was to record

thoughts and sensations, and to
analyze them into their
constituent elements, in much

Wundt wanted to study the

structure of the human mind (using
introspection).Wundt believed in
reductionism. That is he believed

consciousness could be broken

down (or reduced) to its basic
elements without sacrificing any
of the properties of the whole.
Wundt argued that conscious
mental states could be
scientifically studied
using introspection. Wundts
introspection was not a causal
affair but a highly practiced form
of self-examination. He trained
psychology students to make
observations that were biased by
personal interpretation or
previous experience, and used
the results to develop a theory of
conscious thought.
Highly trained assistants would
be given a stimulus such as a
ticking metronome and would
reflect on the experience. They
would report what the stimulus
made them think and feel.

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Mysterious Psychology
I love working with people
I am majoring in psychology
because I love working with
people and I enjoy seeing
everyone around me happy. I
also really love to be around
children a lot.
Guest maletsatsi

A Desire to Help
The reason I chose
psychology is because I want
to help people who are
suffering from mental
problems and distress. I also
want to have a better
understanding of what other
people are thinking and
feeling and why they choose
to do the things that they do.
Guest farah

Why Do You Want to Major

In Psychology?
I am a very passionate person and
becomes satisfied when am able to
help solve peoples

I just want to help

I have been a stay at home
dad for a year now. I have two
kids now. I have been
diagnosed with an anxiety
disorder. Anger is a big
problem for me and my

family. I'm not abusive except

to myself. I didn't even think
about psychology as a job
until I did some research. I'm
going back to school with a
career path in mind. The brain
is amazing. Well obviously,
And no ones is the same.
Everyone has problems and
knowing everyone is different
only tells me that if I can help
people with situations and
problems that maybe that will
spark hope in thousands, well
it's a start....
Guest Wayne Booth

Understanding People
I am majoring in psychology
because I want to know why
people do stuff. What was
their purpose for doing what
they just did.
Psychology
The problem of the developing world
is that of Psychology. A study of this
will enable me be a solution to the
mental and psychological cases
facing my land.

Guest Okah Alang Sampson

Fascination With Psychology

I am fascinated with people.
Human beings are amazing
creatures! Psychology gives
you a different way of
thinking, which is a key
ingredient to me in order to be
successful in all ways
possible! And it's character
development for myself as
well.
Guest steph

Psychology?
I've gone through a lot of
different choices for majoring
in. Today God revealed to me
that psychology would be a
good fit. I love listening to
people's problems and trying
to help them find a solution.
I've struggled with anxiety
and I would like to help
people overcome that, and I
love children so maybe a
counselor who works with
children who have anxiety.
I'm still praying about if this
is where God wants me to be

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Mysterious Psychology

following quote from the famous

psychologist John B. Watson.
Watson is often considered the
"father" of behaviorism:
"Give me a dozen healthy
infants, well-formed, and my
own specified world to bring
them up in and I'll guarantee to
take any one at random and
train him to become any type of
specialist I might select -doctor, lawyer, artist, merchantchief and, yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies,
abilities, vocations, and race of
his ancestors."
--John Watson, Behaviorism,
1930

Behaviorism?
Behaviorism can perhaps be
best summed up by the

he term behaviorism refers to

the school of psychology
founded by John B. Watson
based on the belief that

behaviors can be measured,

trained, and changed.
Behaviorism was established
with the publication of Watson's
classic paper "Psychology as
the Behaviorist Views It" (1913).
Behaviorism, also known as
behavioral psychology, is a
theory of learning based upon
the idea that all behaviors are
acquired through conditioning.
Conditioning occurs through
interaction with the
environment. Behaviorists
believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shape our
behaviors.

observable behaviors should be

studied, since internal states
such as cognitions, emotions,
and moods are too subjective.
As Watson's above quote
suggests, strict behaviorists
believe that any person could
potentially be trained to perform
any task, regardless of things
like genetic background,
personality traits, and internal
thoughts (within the limits of
their physical capabilities); all it
takes is the right conditioning.

According to this school of

thought, behavior can be
studied in a systematic and
observable manner with no
consideration of internal mental
states. It suggests that only
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Mysterious Psychology

Psychological
contagion? The
mysterious case of
LeRoy, NY ...
In a small country town,
population 7,500, a cheerleader
and honor roll student woke up
from an afternoon nap to
discover she had developed a
stutter. Soon, the stutter gave
way to uncontrollable twitching.
When her mother took her to the
doctor, they discovered that she
wasnt the only one with these
symptoms - in all, 14 teenage
girls, one teenage boy, and one
36 year-old woman had recently
developed Tourettes-like
symptoms. The local doctors
diagnosed the mysterious illness
as conversion disorder, a
disorder in which mental and

emotional stress literally plays

out in physical symptoms.
Sound like the plot of a bad TV
movie? Perhaps. But its also
the latest happenings
in LeRoy, New York, where
sixteen people suddenly
developed twitching, facial tics
and vocal outbursts last
October, 15 of whom attended
the same high school.

Reporting of the Tennessee "poisoning"

This isnt the first time theres

been a case of mass conversion
disorder, also known asmass
psychogenic illness.For
example, in 1998, a teacher at a
Tennessee High School thought
she smelled gas in her
classroom. Soon after, she
began experiencing headaches,
nausea, shortness of breath and
dizziness. Her class was
evacuated and soon other
students in the school began
experiencing similar symptoms.
The school was evacuated and
the afflicted teacher and
students were sent to the
hospital. After classes resumed,
people again reported feeling
sick, and the school was again
evacuated. Soon after, everyone
recovered and classes
resumed. By the end of the
event, over 170 teachers,

students and staff had been

sent to the hospital, but no
organic cause for their
symptoms was ever
found. This is just one of many
examples of this type of
contagion (see further reading
below for the 1965 case of the
overbreathing girls).
Conversion disorder sheds just
one more light on the power of
the mind and the intricate link
between the mind and the body.
These cases of mass
psychogenic illness also have
relevance for social psychology.
The 1998 case in Tennessee is
described in detail in the
conformity chapter of the
social psychology textbook I
have.

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Mysterious Psychology

Issue Magazine

Released on :

To know more about Psychology ...

October 20 , 2014
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Mysterious Psychology

Kathrina R. Agonoy

Bachelor of science in
PSYCHOLOGY
( 2ND YEAR LEVEL )

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