INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

What is Psychology?

“Psychology” You may have heard about this term. Have you ever thought, why psychology and what is psychology? May be yes, or not. This will be a good answer for your questions.

Psychology essentially means “study of the human mind and human behavior”. This is the simple definition which we can provide to understand what psychology is?  It is really interesting subject to study, because we investigate human being, especially their brain, its functions and human behavior. Psychology is the field which has quick goals of understanding individuals and groups of people by using such a large number of theories.

The word “Psychology” is derived from Greek and term comes from two Greek words; psyche, meaning the soul and logos, referring to the study of a subject. These two words put together to define psyche, logos as study of the soul. Greeks believed that if someone wants to understand human being he or she must realize the soul. In English, the term “Psychology” is built up according to this concept. Certainly, Psychology studies about something and somebody. We consider something as human brain or mind and somebody as human being. The most important thing is it is hard to understand human. The reason is, when we compare human and other animals, human being has pretended to a complex life pattern. There is no other species that have tended to be social like human. Therefore it is somewhat hard to realize and provide knowledge about human being. Psychology was born on this purpose.

Psychology’s parents were the disciplines of Philosophy and Physiology. Many philosophers have pointed out about soul and mind such as Plato, Aristotle, and Rene Decarts etc, but this status have changed in the late 19^th century because Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)  the psychologist who changed every views. He applied scientific method to psychology. Since that time to today psychology is considered as a science subject.

We explore human brain and nervous system under physiology. In present psychology has grown up to subsections such as neurobiology, biopsychology etc. so we can say psychology is a combination of these philosophy and physiology.

In present psychology is defined as a scientific subject who is studied about human behavior and mental processes. How ever it is difficult to provide an unique definition according to the book of “Psychology the science of mental life” written by G.A. MILLER. Actually, there are some issues about the way of defining psychology. The reason is inability to build a definition about complex human being, but psychologists have come up with one definition called, a study of human behavior and mental process”. The question is can we really study someone’s behavior and mental process? People do various things and activities in different times. For examples, behaviors such as sleeping, talking, eating walking etc. As well as people have an abilities such as thinking, remembering, solving problems and reasoning etc. they are fall in to mental process. This is the issue that comes with defining psychology. Even behaviors can be seen, mental processes are invisible.

After collecting knowledge about human beings, psychologists distribute those things via different fields. Some of them are working as experimenters and teachers. Among them, other psychologists provide solutions for the any problematic situation that relate with person’s any occasion and working environment. For examples: organizational psychologists, social psychologists, sports psychologists, counseling psychologists and educational psychologists. On the other hand, most of them treat and cure people by using their knowledge.

Psychologists are trying to fulfill several aims by using knowledge that collecting information of human being. These are also purposes of psychology.

1.      Description

2.      Understanding

3.      Prediction

4.      Control

·         Description essentially means categorizing various behaviors and mental activities.

·         Understanding: in here we try to recognize reasons for each behavior.

·         Prediction: predicts someone’s future behaviors by looking at his or her present and part behaviors.

·         Control: tries to change their behaviors and thoughts.

Psychologists want to be succeeding by completing these purposes, because they think that their efforts would be for the betterment of human being.

HOW PSYCHOLOGY DEVELOPED?

As we know psychology was born in Greece and it had linked with philosophy. How ever when we explore about history of psychology, we divide it to several stages.

1.      Primary stage- the pre-stage to build human civilization.

2.      Pre-classical stage- the stage of developing civilization.

3.      Classical stage- Greek and roman civilizations fall in to this period. Pythagoras, Anexi Ghoras, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates were the philosophers who had lived in this stage. They believed soul and mind.

4.      ………………- the time which people tended to Christianity and believed god.

5.      Pre-modern stage- psychology developed fest theoretically and practically. Empiricism was born on this period. Francis Bacon and Rene Decharts were the pioneers of empiricism. In this stage psychology developed as a science because of Wilhelm Wundt’s experiments in Leipzig university in 1879.

6.      Modern stage- new psychology is built by Wilhelm Wundt. Psychologists began to do researches and experiments. In this period,

·         Psychology became to an independent subject separating from philosophy.

·         Experiments are started like natural sciences.

·         Treatments are begun with psychological theories.

·         Started psychology schools.(Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviorism, Gestalt psychology Psychoanalytic theory and humanism.)

·         STRUCYURALISM AND FUNCTIONALISM

In psychology, the first two major schools of thoughts are structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism was based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are located. It wanted to identify the fundamental components of conscious experience, such as sensation, feelings and images.

Functionalism was based on the belief that psychology should explore the function or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure. The pioneer of functionalism was William James.

·         BEHAVIORISM

Founded by John B. Watson. Behaviorism is a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only behavior. Watson never trusted mind or unconsciousness. Behaviors refers to any observable response or activity by an organism.

Behaviorists pointed out about learning theories and reinforcements.

·         GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

Wolfgang Kohler, Max Wertheimer and Kurt Kafka co-founded the school of Gestalt psychology. This approach is based upon the idea that individuals experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather than breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest element, the Gestalt position maintains that the whole of experience is important, and the whole is different than the sum of its parts.

·         PSYCHOANALITIC THEORY

Founded by Sigmund Freud. It was based on unconsciousness. Freud used introspection as a treatment to cure psychological disorders. His dream analysis theory takes place among his other concepts. Karl Jung and Karen Horney were the other partners of Freud. Freud                                                                  believed that everything of a person depended on unconsciousness.

·         HUMANISM

Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans. It takes an optimistic view about human nature. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were the pioneers of humanism.

This is the brief description of history of psychology. In present, psychology faces to many changes in every minute.