GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Course Introduction and Expectations

i. Introductions

ii. Student Expectations

iii. Course Requirement/Expectations

iv. Discussion of Course Outline

 Course Outline
1. Introduction to Psychology: Origin; Subdiciplines; Nature; Mind, body and experience ;No
one perspective
2. Human Development: Definitions; Differences; Stages of growth and development;
Principles of development; Physical development; Cognitive development; Moral development
3. Personality: Definition; Nature-Nature; Types and characteristics; Exploring self
4. Learning: Basic processes; Conditioning models of learning; Social learning; Nature-Nurture
in learning; Learning by Observation
5. Emotion, Stress, and Health: Theories of Emotion; Embodied Emotion; Expressed
Emotion; Experienced Emotion; Stress and Health; Promoting Health
6. Social Behaviour: Group Living and Social Influence; Social Perception; Attitudes and
Behaviour; Social Relations
7. Career Management Skills and Work Ethics: Career Exploration and Choice; Career plan
and Career Pathing; Employability Skills; Soft Skills; On-the-Job Skills Acquisition; Work
Ethics
Course Introduction and Expectations
By the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:

 Define the term Psychology

 Describe a short history of Psychology
 Name at least 5 subdisciplines of Psychology
 Describe the nature and goals of Psychology
 Develop a model for thinking about mind, body, and experience
What is Psychology?
 Definition of Psychology
 Everyday life phenomenon
 Coin of two Greek words ‘psyche’ referring to the mind and
‘logia’ meaning to study
 Scientific study of mind (mental processes) and behavior of
humans and animals.
 Employs scientific methods, experiments, and data/statistics
to arrive at factual conclusions
 Study of both man and animals
 Origin of Psychology
 Psychology has a rich history of development
 Work of the following helped shape Psychology
 Philosophical thinkers and physiological proponents – concerned
with existence of knowledge, role of nature and nurture in life and
development and which plays the major role
 Structuralists - structures/elements of the mind, psychological
experience, their classification, and introspection
 Functional - function of the mind, rather than description of its
elements
 Evolution and evolutionary thinkers - Focuses on adaptation and
survival as the basis of behavior and mental processes
 Subdisciplines of Psychology
i. Developmental Psychology: study of thought and behaviour, how they
change or become more stable across the lifespan of humans and animals
ii. Personality Psychology: Studies uniqueness of individuals and how they
are similar to others. Eg how different and similar is an individual compared
with others and what could be responsible.
iii.Social Psychology: Studies how the presence of others (real or imagined)
affects thought, feelings, and behaviour of individuals and or groups.
iv.Clinical Psychology: This field of psychology studies, diagnoses, and
treats mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Others include
counselling psychology, psychiatry etc
v. Educational Psychology: Using some aspects of psychology to find out
influence of psychology on teaching and learning in schools.
 Subdisciplines of Psychology
vi. Industrial or Organizational Psychology: uses psychological principles
to match individuals to work commensurate with their personality, and delves
into studying work environments, leadership/management styles and using
findings to improve on same to make workers more productive and satisfied
vii. Forensic Psychology: studies the interaction of psychology with law
and criminal justice
viii. Health Psychology: study of how psychological factors influence health
and or illness.
ix. Sports Psychology: Studies how psychological factors influence
participation and performance in sports and exercise
Nature of Psychology
Goals of Psychology
 Goals of Psychology
Psychologists aim at the following as reason for their studies and practice:

 Describe: to describe, researchers systematically collect information, name, classify and

then use these to describe what they see. Techniques such as natural observation, surveys,
case studies, and self-reporting tests among others are used to collect information (also
called data).
 Understand: psychologists aim to understand phenomena. They attempt explanation that
addresses the why and how of the phenomenon they wish to describe. Explanations, often
well composed, become theories which can explain a behaviour.
 Predict: further from explaining and describing, psychologists are able to predict future
behavior reasonably well. They are able to predict future behaviour from the findings of
empirical research.
 Change: psychologists also aim at influencing, controlling and or changing behaviour in
beneficial ways.
Mind, Body, and Experience
 Mind, Body, and Experience
i. The nature-nurture perspective: Contend attribution of personality to
mainly biological, inborn tendencies and genetically based traits (nature) or
personality and accomplishments seen as product of experiences and
environmental factors (nature). Interaction of both a better model
ii. The mind-body dualism perspective: The perspectives further
advanced that the mind controls the body and vice versa. By this man’s
mental world, comprising thoughts, feelings, ideas control the body and
the body’s the mind. Both are intertwined
iii.The evolutionary tenet: Traces to understand evolution of/in and
behaviour over time. Studies adaptations man has had to make to both
survive and solve problems.
No One Perspective
 No One Perspective
 Psychology helps to critically observe and think about issues
 Helpful in being rational being and not accepting everything at
face value.
 Critical thinking (examination of perspectives), research
(observation, data collection and analysis/evaluation of data),
useful to arriving at the best or most practicable option.
 Multiple perspectives, research and its increasing range of findings
gives a more holistic view of issues for life and decision making.
 Apply same method to life, the course, and yourself by examining
different perspectives to develop a better view
 Conclusion
 Psychology still a developing field with a rich history
 It is a science and employs scientific methods to study and
research
 Has a number of subdiciplines
 Goals of Psychology – describe, understand, predict, and
effect change
 Useful in thinking about mind, body and experience
 Helpful in development of holistic perspective through the
use of multiple means of examination