INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY

CHAPTER 1: NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Learning Objectives:
● Definition and Development of Psychology as a Science
● Academic and Applied Fields of Psychology
● Schools of Psychology or Schools of Thought
● Theoretical Perspectives
● Brief Introduction to Filipino Psychology
● Scientific Approach to Research in Psychology

A. Definition of Psychology

Psychology
● comes from the greek word “psyche” meaning ​mind or soul ​and “logos” meaning ​study of
● The scientific study and practical application of observable behavior and mental processes of organism
● According to the American Psychological Association, psychology is a scholarly discipline, profession
and a science.
● Psychology is a science that studies behavior and mental processes
● The aim of psychology is to OBSERVE, DESCRIBE, PREDICT, UNDERSTAND , CONTROL

Additional info [as per book of Aguirre]:

Differentiate the following: [please research about this]

● Emotions vs Feelings
● Attitude vs Behavior

Behavior ​- refers to the actions and reactions of the individual when exposed or placed on a certain situation
or environment

Different Types of Behavior:

● Overt and Covert
● Conscious, Unconscious and Nonconscious
● Rational and Irrational
● Voluntary and Involuntary
● Simple and Complex

B. History and Development of Psychology

● Ancient Period
○ The most common way of explaining behavior during these times was through the use of
Animism​ [please research about this]
● Greek Period
○ Plato​ - proposed the three distinct elements which are the logical part, spirited part and
appetitive part [this will also be discussed in your UTS subject]
○ Aristotle​ - considered as father of philosophy [rationalism]
● Pre-modern Period
○ Rene Descartes​ - dualism
○ John Locke​ - ​tabula rasa o ​ r blank slate/tablet
 ○ Immanuel Kant​ - disagrees with Locke’s assumption
● Modern Psychology
○ Wilhelm Wundt​ - German psychologist; known as the Father of modern psychology; established
the first psychological laboratory in Germany
○ William James​ - founder of American Psychology
● Contemporary Psychology
○ Sigmund Freud​ - father of psychoanalysis
○ Carl Jung​ - proposed the Analytic Psychology
○ Alfred Adler​ - proposed the Individual Psychology

C. Areas and Fields of Psychology

● Abnormal Psychology​ - looks at ● Industrial Psychology ​- apply psychological

psychopathology and abnormal behavior;
DSM V
● Behavioral Psychology​ - learning is based
on the idea of conditioning
● Biopsychology​ - how the brain influences
behavior
● Cognitive Psychology​ - focuses on the
internal state such as motivation,
problem-solving, decision-making, thinking
attention
● ​ ives assessment,
Clinical Psychology - g
treat mental emotional and behavioral
disorders
● Comparative Psychology -​ study of animal
behavior
● Developmental Psychology ​- development
throughout the lifespan
● Engineering Psychology ​ - how people work
best with machines
● Evolutionary Psychology​ - how evolution
affects human thoughts
principles and research methods to
workplace
● Psycholinguistics ​- relationships between
linguistic behavior and psychological
processes
● Cultural Psychology​ - focused on how our
emotions and behaviors are influenced by
or rooted in our individual cultures
● Educational/School Psychology​ - focuses
on teaching styles, learning styles of
students
● Experimental Psychology​ - utilizes scientific
method to research the brain and behavior
● Forensics/Legal Psychology​ - applies
psychological principles to legal issues
● Social Psychology ​- how a person's mental
life and behavior are influenced by
interactions with other people
● Sports Psychology -​ help with competition
goals and motivation of athletes

Additional Info:
Find the difference between [research about this]
● Psychiatry
● Psychotherapy
● Counselling

D. Schools of Thought
1. Structuralism
- Believes in the importance of the structured mind; it focuses on breaking down mental
processes into the most basic components
- The first school of thought and introduced ideas associated with experiences
- The school was advocated by ​Wilhelm Wundt [German]​, but it was his student,
Edward Titchener [English]​ who would formally establish and name structuralism
- Structuralists primarily use the method called ​introspection ​[subjects were trained to
observe and report as accurately as they could their mental processes, feelings, etc.]
 - Introspection was thought to be a long tedious method that required intelligent subjects
with verbal facility
2. Functionalism
- Originated from the US
- It focuses on the importance of the ‘function of the mind’ rather than the ‘structure of the
mind’
- It also stressed the functional adjustment of an organism to his environment
- How the mind affects what people do
- Charles Darwin’s theory rooted this school of thought; functionalists assumed that the
conscious mind evolved
- G. Stanley Hall [leader], William James [most famous], John Dewey, James
Rowland Angell, Harvey Carr ​spearheaded functionalism
3. Psychoanalysis
- It was founded by Sigmund Freud [Austrian neurologist] \
- He advanced the belief called ​psychic determinism ​[explains that the unconscious
psychological conflicts in the human mind usually related to sex and aggression motivate
both normal and abnormal human behavior
- Freud assumes that from early childhood, people repress [force out of conscious
awareness] any desires or needs that are unacceptable to themselves or the society.
- Includes conscious, preconscious and unconscious levels of the mind, the id, ego, ad
super ego, psychosexual stages, free association, dream analysis, and slips of the
tongue
4. Behaviorism
- John B. Watson, ​was an American psychologist at the John Hopkins University
- This school of thought believed that observable behavior, no inner experience, was the
only reliable source of information
- Behaviorists stressed the importance of the environment in shaping an individual’s
behavior
- Ivan P. Pavlov, ​Russian Psychologists​, ​besame famous for his Classical Conditioning
[research about this]
- B.F. Skinner, ​American psychologist, became famous for his Operant/Instrumental
Conditioning [research about this]
5. Gestalt
- It developed as a reaction to structuralism [disagree]
- It was founded by German psychologist, ​Max Wertheimer
- Gestalt literally means​ “to configure or to form or pattern”
- It believes that human beings and other animals perceive the external world as an
organized pattern
- Thus the familiar saying: ​The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
- Phi phenomenon, ​illustrates that the mind organizes stimuli into related wholes
6. Cognitive Psychology
- A theoretical perspective that focuses on the realms of human perception, thought and
memory
- Jean Piaget, ​articulated that students learn better when they can invent knowledge
through inquiry and experimentation instead of acquiring facts presented by a teacher in
class
- Lev Vygotsky, ​emphasized the role of social interactions in knowledge construction
[social constructivism]
 7. Humanistic Psychology
- Known as the 3rd force in psychology
- It strayed away from psychoanalysis and behaviorism
- Believed that an individual’s behavior is primarily determined by his perception of the
world around him
- Abraham Maslow, ​was the proponent of this school of thought along with ​Carl Rogers
- It promoted a positive view of human nature; it emphasized the natural motivation of a
person to develop higher levels of creativity and fulfillment to reach his potential/
self-actualization [see Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs]
8. Existential
- Søren Kierkegaard​ and Friedrich Nietzsche, were mostly associated with existentialism
- It asks the questions: Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?

E. Theoretical Perspectives [​ the same as the schools of thought]

● Evolutionary Perspective ● Humanistic Perspective

● Psychodynamic Perspective ● Psychobiological Perspective
● Behavioral Perspective ● Neuropsychological Perspective
● Cognitive Perspective

F. Filipino Psychology
Zeus Salazar​ identified four lines of history and filiations of Philippine Psychology namely:
1. Academic-scientific 3. Ethnic or indigenous
psychology psychology
2. Academic philosophical 4. Psycho-medical psycholo​gy
psychology

G. Scientific Approach to Research in Psychology​ [Please research the steps of the scientific method.]

The scientific method includes three steps:

1. Formulating the problem or purpose of the study
2. Developing a conceptual or theoretical framework on the specific phenomenon to be studied
3. Carrying the research to gather pieces of evidence the either support or refute the research

● Correlation Methods of Research

● Experimental Methods of Research
● Indigenous Methods of Research