Psychology (Psy 201)

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 Unit One
Syllabus
1. Understanding Psychology
a. Concept, goals of psychology
b. Major Perspective in Psychology (Behavioural,
Cognitive, Biological, Evolutionary, Development,
Psychodynamics, and Social & cultural)
c. Psychological Trends for New Millennium.
d. Applications of Psychology in Everyday Life
2. Research Methods in Psychology
a. Observation – Naturalistic
b. Correlation Method
c. Experimental Method
 Unit – 1 (Introduction)
1. Understanding Psychology
1.1 Concept of Psychology
The word psychology is derived from two
Greek words – Psyche and Logos where
Psyche means spirit or soul and Logos means
Science or study of or research. So,
etymological meaning of psychology is “the
study/science of the soul" .
 “Psychology” is composed of two Greek Words

Psyche Logos

Soul/Spirit Study or Science Study of Soul

• The Latin word psychologia was first used by the
Croatian humanist and Latinist Marko Marulic in
his book, Psichiologia de ratione animae
humanae in the late 15th century or early 16th
century.

• The earliest known reference to the word

psychology in English was used by Steven
Blankaart in 1694 in The Physical Dictionary
which refers to "Anatomy, which treats of the
Body, and Psychology, which treats of the Soul."
Changing concept of psychology

i. Psychology as the Science of Soul: - “Psychology

as the science of soul” is the definition of first
stage. Democritus, Plato, Aristotle supported this
concept. This concept was developed during the
period of Plato and Aristotle (427-322 BC)
remains till 1870 AD.
ii. Psychology as the Study of Mind: -
• The first stage definition was criticized, in which
psyche means “soul”.
• Later the German philosopher Kant described
psychology as the study of mind.
• Descartes and Titchnern supported this concept.
And Psychologists Hume, Leibnitz, Hobes also
accepted and agreed with this concept.
• This concept remained till the decade of 1870
AD. It is the definition of Second Stage.
iii. Psychology is the study of consciousness:

The question related to the soul and mind

was unanswered. So, the German
Psychologist Wilhelm Wundt described the
psychology as the study of Consciousness in
1879. William James, and Edward Bradford
Titchener supported this concept. It is the
definition of Third stage.
iv. Psychology is the Science of Behaviour

There were many criticism of the Psyche as

Consciousness because there is not only the part of
consciousness in human mind but there are
subconscious and unconscious mind also. This
concept was developed by J.B.Watson in 1913. So,
he is known as father of Behavioural Psychology.

Note: The modern concept of psychology is “the

science of behaviour and mental process”
Importance of Psychology
• Psychology studies the mental function and
behaviour.
• It helps to understand individual and group.
• It helps to explore the psychological and
biological bases of cognitive function and
behaviour.
• It helps to understand and solve the problems of
human life.
• It employs in industrial & organizational setting
and other areas of human development
Goal of Psychology
 1.2 Goals of Psychology

• Psychologists differ with respect to the goals they

emphasize. They are concerned with one or more
of the four basic goals of psychology.
• Psychology has four main goals i.e. describe,
understand or explain, predict and control or
modify the behaviors.
• Beyond that, psychology's ultimate goal is to
gather knowledge to benefit humanity (Coon,
1997)
Goals of Psychology
a. Describe behavior
b. Understand or explain behavior
c. Predict the behavior
d. Control or modify behaviors
a. Describe Behaviour

• The first goal of psychology is to describe

behavior. Description involves naming and
classifying behavior.
• This description is based on careful, systematic
procedure in contrast to haphazard (random)
description of common sense.
• Description is very important in that it makes us
clear about what the phenomena under study.
 Somebody wants to live alone means group of
people make the person hurt. The person might
be Introvert or peace lover.
b. Understand or explain behavior:
• The second goal of psychology becomes
explaining the behavior or phenomenon that
was described.
• Psychologists who are concerned with this goal
try to find out why such behaviors occur.
• They take help of existing theories and
knowledge to explain or understand behavior.
• In some cases if there are no theorizes or
researches that can explain such behavior
psychologists make tentative statements and try
to test such hypothesis.
Understanding is the internal capacity of a person. The
flower is growing , means the plant wants to be free
from the congested room or garden. “Everybody
wants freedom”.
c. Predict the behavior:

• Another important goal for psychologists is to

forecast future event.
• By carefully analyzing the relationship between
different variables, psychologists can accurately
predict what will be the relation in future
between them.
• Prediction helps in modifying the behavior. It is
facilitated by understanding of the relationship.
 Everybody think that he/she will ………..……one day.
The main goal of a players is to hit in the center and to
win. They predict that they will surely hit in the center.
Prediction sometimes may fail but prediction makes
people active to achieve goal in their life.
d. Control or modify behaviors:

• The fourth goal of psychology is to control, modify or

change the existing behavior.
• The behaviors that need to be corrected are
modified through the help of psychological
techniques.
• Only psychologists who work in applied (Practical)
field of psychology are concerned with controlling
the behaviors.
• Psychologists working in theoretical or basic are only
concerned with first three goals of psychology.
 Controlling or modifying bad habits into good habits
results happy life. Everybody wants to be success in life
but they have to sacrifice something. If a person wants to
be a successful personality he/she must control or modify
the existing behaviour into new behaviour. “Self
Confidence is essential for a successful person”