BASIC PSYCHOLOGY

Definition
• Psychology is best defined as the science of behaviour
and cognitive processes.
• Psychologists view their field as scientific in nature,
having broad scope.
• by the term behaviour psychologists mean any
observable action or reaction of a living organisim.
• Wilhelm Wundt found the first formal laboratory for
research in the university of leipzig.
• G stanley Hall found the first laboratory of psychology at
John Hopkins in 1883. and helped start APA.
 Structuralisim
• An early view of psychology suggesting that the field
should focus on identifying the structures of the human
mind.
 Functionalisim
• An early view of psychology suggesting that the it should
focus on the functions of consciousness.
• Functionalisim was stongly influenced by Darwin’s Theory
of natural selection.
 Observational learning
• This is learning by watching someoneelse doing that
behaviour
• we may need some practice to define the skills we
accquire by others.
• It occurs when as children we observe parents and learn
things by observing adults around us.
 Observational Learning
• Key factors in observational learning
• Attention
• Retention
• Production Processes
• Motivation
 Bandura’s bobo doll exp
• albert bandura conducted the famous bobo doll exp.
• In this exp a pre school child observes the exp and the
model interact with the toys in the room.
• In one condition the model interacts with toys in a non
agressive manner
• In another condition the model became very agressive
with the doll
• the child observes this behaviour and starts imitating the
similar actions with the doll given to play.
 Behaviourisim
• The view taht only observable overt actions can be
measured scientifically should be studied by psychology.
• J B watson a pioneer in behaviourisim.
 Issues in Psychology
• Stability vs Change
Everyone remains same to some extent and undergoes
change in one respect

• Nature vs Nurture

• Rationality Vs Irrationality
 Classical Conditioning
• A basic form of learning in which one stimulus comes to
serve as a signal for the occurance of a second stimulus.

• During Classical conditioning organisims accquire

information about the relations between various stimuli
not simple associations between them.
 I-O Psychology
• he study of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology
originated in the United States in the early 1900s through
the work of psychologists Hugo Münsterberg and Walter
Dill Scott (both of whom were trained by German
physiologist and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt), while its
practical application developed largely through the work
of American industrial engineer Frederick W. Taylor. I-O
psychology grew rapidly after World War I and even more
so after World War II,
• In ww 2 even psychologists were employeed in making
weapons.
• Some I-O psychologists develop methods for personnel
selection and training, while others analyze managers’
styles and effectiveness or study ways to improve
workplace morale, job satisfaction, and productivity. The
field of I-O psychology contributed to the development of
human factors engineering, or ergonomics, which
involves designing equipment (e.g., displays for airplane
cockpits and automobile dashboards, computer
keyboards, or home appliances) that can be operated
safely and efficiently.
• World war 1- army alpha and army beta tests emerge
• Alpha tests-involved verbal tests for english, language
etc.
• Beta tests- non-verbal tests.

• With a staff of 40 psychologists, Yerkes was able to

develop two different tests for intelligence. The first test,
the Alpha, was a written test made up of true/false and
multiple-choice questions that assessed things like the
ability to follow directions, arithmetic, and analogies.
• The Army Alpha test was distributed to determine
whether draftees could read English, but also to evaluate
soldiers so that they could be assigned to tasks or training
in alignment with their abilities.
• The Army Beta test was developed for those men with
limited literacy who were unable to respond to the written
test. The instructions for the test were provided using
pictures and other symbols, and it tested using things like
mazes, identification of patterns, and picture completion.
• Psychologists aimed to make the tests fairly comparable.
Soldiers were given a letter grade and those who
received the lowest grade were deemed unfit for service.
The men who received a letter grade higher were given
simple duties. The men who received scores in the middle
of the distribution performed regular soldier duties. Those
with higher scores were trained as officers.