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General Psychology
Course Code: Psyc 101
Credit Hours: 3

By: Manaye Adela (Lecturer)

__________________________________________________________________________
 Course Description
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 The course “General Psychology” is design to help learners
understand human behaviour and mental processes.
 It is helpful for positive interaction and relationship.
 The course also provides lessons on mental health aspects.
Enjoy it!

Manaye Adela
 Course Objectives
3

After successful completion of the course you will be able to:

 Define Psychology with goals and research methods.
 Explain application of Sensation and Perception issues.
 Apply learning theories
 Discuss memory (meaning, processes, types) and Forgetting
 Apply Motivation and Emotion theories
 Understand concepts of Personality and Theories of
Personality
 Explain Psychological Disorders and Treatment
Techniques
 Apply Positive Life Skills
 Use better Academic Skills Manaye Adela 04/04/2024

 Course Outline
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 Chapter 1: Essence of Psychology
 Chapter 2 Sensation and Perception
 Chapter 3: Learning and Theories of Learning
 Chapter 4: Memory and Forgetting
 Chapter 5: Motivation and Emotion
 Chapter 6: Personality and Theories of Personality
 Chapter 7: Psychological Disorders and Treatment
Techniques
 Chapter 8: Int. to Life Skills
 Chapter 9: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Skills
 Chapter 10: Academic Skills
 Chapter 11: Social Skills Manaye Adela 04/04/2024
 Week One
5

CHAPTER ONE
Essence of Psychology
 Objectives
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At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

 Define psychology

 Show historical roots of psychology as a science

 Point out the goals of psychology

 Identify early schools and modern perspectives of psychology

 Discuss the basis of differences among perspectives of psychology

 Identify subfields of psychology

 Differentiate the major research methods in psychology

 Explore the major steps of scientific research in psychology

Manaye Adela 04/04/2024

 Session Outline:
1.1. Definition of Psychology and Related
Concepts
1.2. Goals of Psychology
1.3. Historical Background and Major Perspectives in
Psychology
1.3.1. Early schools of psychology
1.3.2. Modern schools of psychology
1.4. Branches/Sub Fields of Psychology
1.5. Research Methods in Psychology
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Manaye Adela 04/04/2024

 1.1. Definition of Psychology
 The first use of the term "psychology" is attributed to
the German scholastic philosopher Rudolf Göckel
 The definition of psychology has undergo several
changes with the passage of time
 It has been continuously revised during

the 16th , 19th and 20th century

 Psychology

Psych logos

Soul study
The study of soul (16th )

The study of mental life (19th)

The study of overt behavior (20th)

 Current Definition
 Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes

This definition consists two important issues

1 The method (How psychology studies)

2. The subject matter(What psychology studies)

 1.2. Goals of Psychology
1. Description
Through describing human behavior we are better able to understand it and
gain a better perspective on what is considered normal and abnormal.
2. Explanation
Why do people do the things they do
3. Controlling
psychology strives to change, influence, or control
behavior to make constructive and lasting changes
in people's lives.
4. Predicting
 1.3. Historical Roots of Psychology

 Psychology’s historical root are in philosophy and science since the

16 century

 Psychology become a separate discipline in the late 19th century

 The opening of the first psychological

laboratory by Wilhelm Wundt in Germany
marked the beginning of the field of
psychology
 History of Psychology: Beginnings
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 Wilhelm Wundt: “Father” of psychology

 1879: Set up first lab to study conscious experience
 Introspection: Looking inward (i.e., examining and reporting
your thoughts, feelings, etc.)

Manaye Adela 04/04/2024

 1.3.1. Early school of Thoughts in Psychology

1. Structuralism
 Concerned about what does human mind consists of
 It attempt to explain all behavior with reference to one systematic
position.
 Overall they are concerned on the structure
of the mind
 Break down mental process into the most
basic components
 Early school….
2. Functionalism – William James
 Function of human mind/ a role that these process plays /how it
perform different activities
 How the mind affects how people do rather than the structure
of the mind
 How human beings cope with the challenging
and changing world around
 Early school …
3. Gestalt psychology
 we experience things as unified whole
• Instead of breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest
elements, the gestalts believed that we must look at whole of
experience
Understanding the holistic nature of
human mind
 Early school …
4. Behaviorism - John B. Watson
Ignore mind (mental experience )
According to them the proper matter of psychological research is

behavior
Their goal is studying the effect of

environment on behavior
 Early school ….
5. Psychoanalysis - Sigmund Freud
 Focuses on unconscious mind
 How human behavior is influenced by unconscious motives
and urges
 1.3.2. Modern Perspectives in Psychology

1. Biological perspective
 Focuses on the function of genes, brain and the nervous and
endocrine system as the possible cause of behavior variation
2. Behavioral perspective
 Limit psychology to the study of observable
behavior and ignore mental process
 Focuses on the observable (overt) behavior
 Modern Perspectives …
3. Psychoanalytic perspective
 Studies how behavior springs from unconscious drives and
urges
 Focuses on unconscious intra-psychic dynamics
 Believe in the importance of early childhood

 Neo-psychoanalytic – focuses on the

importance of social relation and social
environment
 Modern Perspectives …
4. Humanistic perspectives
 They contend that human beings have free will

 Human psychological development depends on the way they

choose to face the reality

 Individual subjective experience of the world

 Modern Perspectives …
5. Cognitive perspective
 Stress the active role of the mind in organizing perceptions,
processing information and interpreting experiences

 Focuses on how we think , reason and interpret environmental

stimuli

6. Social-cultural perspective
focuses on how culture influence people’s
behavior
 Sub Fields of Psychology

Academic fields of Professional fields of

specialization specialization
 Practiced in universities  Practiced in real settings

and colleges outside universities and

 Engaged in basic research colleges
Academic field of specialization
1. Experimental psychology

2. Biological psychologist

3. comparative psychology

4. developmental psychology

5. Personality psychology

6. Social psychology
Professional fields of specialization
1. Clinical psychology

2. Counseling psychology

3. Psychiatry

4. School psychology

5. Educational psychology

6. Industrial psychology

7. Forensic psychology
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Research Methods in Psychology

Manaye Adela 04/04/2024

 1. Descriptive research

• The simplest method of scientific inquiry

• Describe behavior and mental processes
• Most widely used
 Survey method – ask people’s opinions
 Naturalistic observation – watch, describe
 Clinical method (case study) – observe in
clinic setting
 Archival research- document review
 2. Correlational research
 A procedure in which investigators measure the correlation
between two variables.
• It is helps us to see the relationship between two variables.
 Correlation: A measure of the strength of a relationship
between two variables.
Eg. A researcher may examine whether
a toddler’s aggressiveness is related
to the number of hours spent in watching
violent movie.
 Correlation
 Correlation indicates the strength and direction of a
relationship.
 The strength of the relationship is measured by a correlation
coefficient which ranges from +1 to -1

+1 – perfect positive correlation

0 – no correlation
-1 – perfect negative correlation
 Correlation Coefficient
 Positive correlation, the two factors move (or vary) in the same
direction.
 Negative correlation, the two factors vary in opposite directions

—that is, as one factor increases, the other factor decreases.

 Sometimes there is no relationship

between two variables—a Zero correlation.

31 Manaye Adela 04/04/2024
 Did you get it?
Answer the following questions by identifying
the correlation…either positive, negative or
none
1. As a child’s age increases so does her height
2. As a child’s age increases so does her attractiveness
3. The more time a person spends on a treadmill the less they
weigh
4. The amount of time a college student studies and their height in
inches
Be able to justify your answers!
 3. Experimental Research
 Tests relationship of two or more variables
 Allows conclusions about cause-and-effect. The experimental
method involves manipulating independent variables to determine
how they affect dependent variables.
 Because it can generate cause-and-effect statements, many
psychologists believe that the experimental
method is the most powerful research approach.
• An independent variable is a variable manipulated by a researcher
to determine its effects on a dependent variable.
• A dependent variable is a variable that shows the outcome of an
experiment by revealing the effects of an independent variable.
• Extraneous variables-other variables that
could influence the results of the experiment
Groups
1. Experimental group
 Research participants who are exposed to the independent
variable.
2. Control group
 Research participants who are not exposed
to the independent variable.
 They will be compared with the experimental
group on the dependent variable.
 Steps of Scientific Research
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 Step one - Defining the Problem

 Step two - Formulating the Hypothesis
 Step three - Testing the Hypothesis
 Step four - Drawing Conclusions
 Step five - Reporting Results

Manaye Adela 04/04/2024

Thank You
End of
Chapter 1!!!