Teacher: Prerna Singh

ISC PSYCHOLOGY

XI PSYCHOLOGY
___
CHAPTER: THE SUBJECT PSYCHOLOGY

Q. Define Psychology. [1]

Answer.
Psychology is derived from two Greek words psyche meaning soul and logos meaning
science or study of a subject.
Psychology is a science of behavior or scientific study of the behavior or experience in
different contexts.

Q. Explain the nature of psychology. [5]

Answer.
● Psychology possesses a well- organized theory supported by psychological laws and
principles.
● It has applications in various branches of applied psychology like
educational,industrial,clinical,etc.
● It believes that every behavior has its roots and causes.
● It makes use of scientific methods.
● The established facts and principles of the behavior enjoy universal applicability in
practical life.
● The appropriate description as well as quantification of behavior is possible through the
help of psychology.
● Psychology emphasizes on the search for truth by advocating objectivity, reliability and
validity in the assessment of the behavior.

Q.Explain the main features of the school of Structuralism/ Define Structuralism as a school
of psychology. [5]
Answer.
● Structuralism was established by Wilhelm Wundt when he established the first
psychological laboratory in Leipzig in 1879.
● He focused his experiments on conscious experience involving one’s thoughts
,feelings,sensations,and ideas.
● Wundt and his students performed experiments in the laboratories by using the art of
introspection. The subjects are usually asked to report exactly what they were
experiencing at the moment,they were exposed to different stimuli.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

● One structuralist was Edward Tichener .According to him,psychology may be regarded as

the science of consciousness that can be broken or analyzed into three basic elements;
physical sensation, feelings and images.
● In this way, Wundt and his followers tried to provide a systematic study of the mind
through the study of its structure.

Q. Two psychologists associated with Structuralism. [1]

Answer.
● Wilhelm wundt
● Edward Titchener

Q. Name the method used to study the mind by Structuralism. [1].

Answer.
Introspection.

Q. Explain the main features of the school of Functionalism/ Define Functionalism as a

school of psychology. [5]
Answer.
● William James is regarded as one of the first members of the functionalist school.
● He was strongly influenced by the Darwinian theory and he adopted a biological approach
to the study of mind.
● He declared that consciousness cannot be broken down into elements. Therefore, he
advocated the theory of mental life and behavior.
● He considered the ind to be a recent development in the evolutionary process, the
functions of which was to aid man’s adjustment to his environment.
● The consciousness is a continuous and flowing unity. Our minds are constantly weaving
associations and revising experience.
● He further concluded that habits are nothing but the functions of the nervous system.
When we repeat an activity a number of times, our nervous system is altered so that the
next time we do it automatically without much thought involved.
● Some names associated are John Dewey, Cattell, Thorndike.

Q. Who is known as the father of American psychology? [1]

Answer.
William James

Q. Two psychologists associated with Functionalism. [1]

Answer.
● John Dewey
● E.L. Thorndike
Teacher: Prerna Singh

Q. Name the father of Behaviourism. [1]

Answer.
John B. Watson

Q. Define Behaviorism as a school of Psychology/ Explain the characteristics of

Behaviorism. [5]
Answer.
● In his book, “Psychology as the Behaviorist View It”, J.B. Watson concluded that the
whole idea of consciousness is absurd.
● Consciousness cannot be proved by any scientific test, consciousness cannot be seen, nor
touched, nor studied scientifically.
● Consequently, behaviorism as a method of studying the behavior focussed its attention
totally on the overt or observable behavior. For this purpose it tried to reduce all of man’s
activity, including his thinking, feeling and will to the level of that behavior which could
be observed and recorded.
● The theory of behaviorism was based on the findings of the Russian psychologist Ivan
Pavlov, the proponent of classical conditioning.
● PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENT : Pavlov conditioned a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell
by substituting that sound for the sight and smell of food and concluded that all behavior
is a response to some stimulus in the environment.
● WATSON EXPERIMENT: In his famous experiment with an 11 month old child named
Albert, he conditioned his behavior to fear a rat by substituting the rat for a loud sudden
noise. He concluded that behavior is merely the result of a response to some
environmental stimuli.this conditioning through environmental influences and not
heredity are responsible for shaping the behavior of a child.
● Behavior of an individual may be supposed to be controlled by environmental forces and
not by the heredity factors.

Q.Write a short note on Gestalt psychology. [5]

Answer.
● Gestalt means ‘an organized whole’.
● According to it,an individual perceives the thing as a whole and not as a mere collection
of its constituents or elements
● For them,perception always involves a problem of organization within a field which
includes the thing,the viewer and a complex background.
● It asserts that there lies definitely a sort of organization between the stimuli and response
which helps in forming a new gestalt.
● Human behavior is characterized as intelligent behavior. An individual perceives the
situation as a whole and after seeing and evaluating the different relationships takes the
proper decisions in an intelligent way,immediately and then behaves accordingly.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

● Such sudden behavior is termed as insight.

Q. Name two psychologists associated with Gestalt psychology. [1]

Answer.
● Max Wertheimer
● Kurt Lewin

Q.Discuss psychoanalysis and the psycho-sexual stages. [6]

Answer.
● Psychoanalysis was the brainchild of Sigmund Freud.
● Freud claimed that the conscious part occupies only the one tenth portion of the total mind
and a stronger force, the unconscious also exists. It contains all the repressed
wishes,desires,feelings,drives and motives. This hidden treasure of the mind is responsible
for most of the human’s behavior.
● The key to the solution of most behavioral problems lies in bringing the subconscious to
the conscious level.

PSYCHO-SEXUAL STAGES:
● According to Freud, libido is psyche energy that is the driving force behind an individual’s
behavior.
● A child passes through the following different stages during his psychosexual
development:
1. Oral Stage- Mouth is the first zone where libido works to provide pleasure to the
child. Child derives pleasure by putting everything in the mouth.
2. Anal Stage- The shift focuses to the anus. Child derives pleasure by holding back
or letting go of the faeces. This stage ranges from two to three years.
3. Phallic Stage- This phase starts from the age of four years with a shift of libido to
the genitals. They derive pleasure by manipulating their genitals. This stage causes
electra complex in girls and oedipus complex in boys.
4. Latency Stage- This period starts from six years to seven years and extends upto
puberty. Boys and girls prefer to be in the company of their own sex and even
neglect the members of the opposite sex.
5. Genital Stage- It extends beyond puberty. The adolescents now start having an
attraction towards the opposite gender.

Q. Explain the structure of the psyche according to Freud. [4]

Answer.
● Freud explained the structure of the psyche to provide a basic structure to the human
personality and basis of the behavior.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

● ID- It is the deepest and most primitive part of the human personality. It is governed by
the pleasure principle. It consists of the man’s instinctive tendencies towards seeking
pleasure. It considers only the satisfaction of its needs and drives.
● EGO- It acts as an intermediary between three sets of forces i.e. the demands, the reality
of the external world and the ethical moral demands. It is governed by the reality
principle.
● SUPEREGO- It is the ethical moral aspect of the psyche. It is idealistic. Its goal is
perfection. It works on the morality principle.

Q. Two psychologists associated with the school of psychoanalysis. [1]

Answer.
● Sigmund Freud
● Anne Freud