PharmD Program / Fourth Year

INTRODUCING
PSYCHOLOGY
Dr. Souada Elhdere

PharmD Faculty of Pharmacy/ Libyan International Medical University

 Intended learning outcomes
2

By the end of this session you will be able to:

1- Define basic terms in the course;

2- Explain the role of psychology in different
areas;
3- Identify the contribution of psychology to
health.

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 Introduction
3

The introductory part of psychology emphasizes on

two aspects:

1. Psychology as a science.
2. Psychology is a body of knowledge that can be
applied to help solve a variety of human problems.

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 Psychology as a science
4

A Science is defined not by what it studies but by how

it studies. Psychologists like any other scientists
systematically observe facts about human beings and
organize these facts to arrive at generalizations.
Psychology shares with other sciences certain aims,
assumptions, ways of carrying out research and ways
of building and modifying theories.

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 Psychology is a body of knowledge that can be applied
to help solve a variety of human problems.
5

There are many areas of professional applications. Clinical

psychologists work with psychiatrists in a hospital context or
with other health professionals in the community. Educational
psychologists work with children and adolescents in schools,
colleges, and nurseries and in the home. They collaborate with
parents and teachers to assess a child’s progress at school and
provide help and advice. Counseling psychologists work with
individuals, families, couples or groups to improve people’s well
being, alleviate distress and help them solve their own problems
and take their own decisions.

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 Definition of psychology
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The word psychology is derived from two Greek words

“psyche” and “logos.”
Psyche means soul and logos means the study. Thus,
originally psychology was defined as the study of “soul”
or “spirit.” But later on philosophers defined psyche as
mind. Because of this, psychology began to be regarded
as the study of an individual’s mind or mental process.
Through time, this later definition of psychology was
given up why? because the mind as an object does not
exist: and cannot be observed and measured objectively.

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 ?What is the definition of psychology
7

The most widely and accepted definition of psychology

is: the science of behavior and mental processes of
both human and animals.

There are some concepts in this definition which need

further explanations: The terms are “science” and
“behavior.”

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 ?What is science
8

Science is a group of related facts and principles of a

particular subject. In science we collect related facts by
the use of objective methods to develop a theory to
explain those facts. From a given set of conditions,
science helps us to predict future happenings.

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 …Continuing
9

Example:-

Biology explains how living things grow and develop.

Anatomy describes the structure of human body.
Physiology deals with the function of various parts and
systems of the body.

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 Psychology
10

Similarly, psychology as a science deals systematically

with human behavior, motives, feelings, emotions,
thoughts and actions of men and women. Like other
sciences, Psychology discovers and explains the
underlying laws and principles of behavior. Its goals
are describing, explaining, predicting and finally
modifying human behavior.

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 ?What is behavior
11

Behavior In its broader sense includes all types of

human activities.
Example:
1. Motor activities (Walking, speaking)
2. Cognitive activities (perceiving, remembering,
thinking, reasoning)
3. Emotional activities (feeling happy, sad, angry,
afraid)

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 …Continuing
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Behavior is both mental and bodily.

1. Mental behaviors are thinking, reasoning,

imagination and other mental experiences or
processes.
2. Bodily behavior refers to the movements and
actions of the body in response to a situation.

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 :Example
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A man may be admitted to a hospital for a surgical

operation (stimulus)
The man feels frightened and worries because he is
uncertain what may happen next (response)
This stimulus response combination constitutes the
behavior of an individual.
The human behavior consists of physical responses,
feelings, emotions and tensions, and all intellectual
responses, perceiving, thinking, recalling, and
reasoning.

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 …Continuing
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Behavior is the reaction of an individual to a particular

environment. The environment exerts influence on
individuals. That influence is called stimulus. The
stimulus in turn arouses an activity from the individual
and this is called the response.

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 …Continuing
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Behavior shows growth and development from the early

years of infancy to maturity and old age. Psychology as a
science studies how behavior grows and develops from
infancy to old age and also studies behavioral differences
between people. In general there are four major facts
proposed in relation to the nature of behavior.
These are:
1. Behavior has a bodily basis
2. Behavior is dynamic
3. Behavior varies from person to person
4. Behavior is social
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 ..Continuing
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Psychologists collect facts of behavior by means of

objective methods such as observation and experiment
and predict human behavior.
Example- a patient may react with anger if his
movements are restricted in the ward. If the health
professional has knowledge of scientific psychology, it
is possible to predict and control the patient’s
behavior.

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 ?Do psychologist study animal behavior
17

At times psychologists study animal behavior.

The reasons are:
1. The study of animal behavior helps to develop general laws
of behavior that apply to all organisms.
2. The study of animal behavior provides important clues to
answering questions about human behavior.
3. For ethical reasons it is sometimes difficult to conduct
psychological experiments on human beings.

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 Contribution of psychology
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Psychology has a contribution to the health professional.

Some of the contributions are:
1. It helps to understand oneself.
❑ Helps to make rational decisions on becoming a

health professional;
❑ To fulfill the need for economic self-sufficiency;

❑ Helps to assess ones own abilities and limitations;

❑ Enables to control situations in the college and attain

goal through self-discipline.
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 …Continuing
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2. It assists in understanding other people.

❑ The health professional works with patients,

families, other nurses, doctors and administrative

staffs.
❑ Equipped with the knowledge of psychology, the
health professional will achieve greater success in
interpersonal relationships.
❑ Psychology helps the health professional to learn
why others differ from him/her in their preferences,
customs and beliefs or cultural patterns.

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 …Continuing
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3. It enlightens to appreciate the necessity of

changing the environment and how to bring it about.

❑ By changing the environment, the health professional can

bring about change in the patient’s life.

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 :Example
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introducing eyeglasses and hearing devices into the

environment can help people with visual or auditory
impairments.

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 Summary
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◻ We defined the term science and behavior;

◻ And explored some applications of psychology in
different areas;
◻ Also illustrated the reasons why psychologist study
animal behavior?
◻ We Identified the contribution of psychology to
health professional

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23

Source: Introduction to Psychology

Adapted by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine- French
http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/IntroductionToPsychologyText.pdf

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 Self assessment question
24

◻ Explain the term behavior by giving examples of your

friends behavior in the class room, outdoor, and
before the exam.

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