EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

What is Psychology?
• Etymology :
• Psyche means soul
• Logos means science
• Hence psychology means science of soul
• It was considered as science of soul, mind,
consciousness and then now it is considered
as the science of behaviour.
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of soul
• Ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and
Aristotle described psychology as the science
of soul.
• They could not define the nature of soul in
definite terms . Hence this definition was
rejected.
PLATO c428 BC 347BC
ARISTOTLE 384 BC 322 BC
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of mind
• Some ancient philosophers and German
Philosopher Kant
• And some philosophers of middle age
described psychology as a science of mind.
• They could not explain the nature and form of
mind. Hence this definition was rejectd.
IMMANUEL KANT Apr 22,1724
Feb12, 1804
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of consciousness
• William James Jan 11, 1842 Aug26, 1910
• Wilhelm Wundt and his disciple Aug16, 1832
Aug 31, 1920
• Bradford Titchener Jan 11, 1867 Aug 3, 1927
defined
• Psychology as science of Consciousness
WILLIAM JAMES Jan 11, 1842
Aug26, 1910
WILHELM WUNDT Aug16, 1832
Aug 31, 1920
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of consciousness
• William James in his book “Principles of
Psychology – 1980” described
• ‘Psychology is the description and explanation
of state of consciousness as such’
• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) established the
first laboratory at the University of Leipzig in
Germany
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of consciousness
• The task of psychology is the description and
explanation of state of consciousness.
• It is done by Introspection
• Introspection is the process of looking within.
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of consciousness
• This definition was also rejected on the
following grounds:-
• It does not deal with sub conscious and
unconscious
• Introspection is subjective and it is not
scientific
• It does not include study of consciousness of
animals
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of Behaviour
• From 19th century onwards i.e.,
• With the advent of modern era of scientific
investigation and thought
• Psychology began to be defined as study of
behaviour
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of Behaviour
• William McDougall was the first who defined
psychology as the science of behaviour.
• In the book “Physiological Psychology”(1905)
• ‘Psychology may be best and most
comprehensively defined as the positive
science of the conduct of living creatures.’
Our positive science is neither inductivist,
falsificationist, verificationist nor scientistic. It
is based on the idea that positive science
consists in the construction of models of
aspects of reality, in theoretical and
experimental evaluation of the models and in
the presentation of the results of these
evaluations.
WILLIAM MC DOUGAL June 22,
1871 Nov 28, 1938
 Defining Psychology
• Psychology is the science of Behaviour
• In the book
“Introduction to Social Psychology”(1908)
• he added the term ‘behaviour’.
• In “ An Outline of Psychology”
• ‘Psychology is a science which aims to give us
better understanding and control of the
behaviour of the organism as a whole’
 Psychology is the Science of Behaviour

• J.B Watson (1913)

• Father of behaviourist school defined
• ‘Psychology is the Science of behaviour’
(Human as well as animal behaviour)
• Woodworth (1948) says
• First psychology lost its soul, then its mind,
then it lost its consciousness, it still has
behaviour of a sort.
 What is behaviour ?
• Any manifestation of life is an activity.
• Behaviour is a collective name for these
activities.
• Therefore the term behaviour includes all the
motor, affective and cognitive activities.
• Cognitive : thinking, reasoning, imagining.
• Affective : feeling happy, sad, angry.
• Psycho motor: walking, swimming, dancing.
 Branches of Psychology
• For the sake of convenience and specialized
study psychology may be divided into
different branches.
• Generally it is classified into
• Pure Psychology and
• Applied psychology