PSYCHOLOGY Dr.K.Shanthi Assistant Professor & Head PG Department of Social Work Guru Nanak College (Autonomous) Unit 1 Syllabus: Definition of Psychology and its importance and role in social work practice. Scientific basis of psychology. Definition of behaviour. Psychology as a study of individual difference and observable behaviour. Brief history and Fields’ of Psychology. Psychology The word Psychology - derived from Greek literature 'Psyche‘ - 'soul' & 'Logos' - 'the study of': the study of the mind or soul the study of behavior. the systematic study of behavior and experience. is concerned with the experience and behaviour of the individual. Definition of Psychology Psychology is defined as the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes. - Human behavior - observed directly. - Mental processes - thoughts, feelings, and motives that are not directly observable. Psychology its Importance and role in social work practice Psychology deals with human behaviour, emotions, projections, Cognition, learning and memory are core subject matters for psychology. interaction pattern between heredity and environment aware of individual differences in physical and mental traits and abilities. The theories - help to understand individuals’ behaviour. Psychology its Importance and role in social work practice to understand and analyse human behaviour. to bring about a change in personality through functioning or behaviour modification. In resolving problems related to adjustment. Social Case Work , dealing with individuals. Social Group Work – to understand the group & the dynamics Community Organisation – Society Brief history History can be divided into • The early age of pre scientific psychology • The modern age of scientific psychology • The recent trends in contemporary psychology Prescientific Psychology 8 Socrates and his student Aristotle suggested Plato believed the mind that the soul is not was separate from the separable from the body, the mind continued body and that to exist after death, and knowledge (ideas) ideas were innate. grow from experience. Descartes, like Plato, Locke held that the believed in soul (mind)-body mind was a tabula rasa, separation, but wondered or blank sheet, at birth, how the immaterial mind and experiences wrote and physical body on it. communicated. Scientific basis of psychology - Schools / Perspective of Psychology Structuralism (1875-1930) - Wilhelm Wundt and, Edward Bradford Titchener. A German psychologist, Wilhelm Wundt opened world first Psychological Laboratory at Leizpeg, in1879. The structuralist, - primarily concerned with discovering the structure of the mind. Structuralism sought to analyze the adult mind (defined as the sum total of experience from birth to the present) in terms of the simplest definable components and then to find the way in which these components fit together in complex forms. Introspection, which required subjects to look inward and observe and report on the working of their mind. Functionalism (1890 -1930's) - Wiliam James, G.Stanley Hall, James Cattell This perspective concerned with not only what the mind is made of but also how and why it works as it does. It focused it interest to understand the mental process of "Adaptation", the process that helped the humans adapt to their environment They held the view that it is not the “structure” that should be of prime importance but the “function”. Functionalism was the study of the function, use and adaptability of the mind in changing environment. Wiliam James, G.Stanley Hall, James Cattell Behaviorism (1913 -present) Ivan Pavlov John B. Watson B.F. Skinner Was founded by John B. Watson. He rejected introspection as psychological technique because its results could not be scientifically verified by other psychologist. Held the concept that the subject matter of psychology should be the “objective observable actions of the organism” Only observable events (stimulus response relation) of human and animals can be studied scientifically. environmental stimuli as the cause of our actions, not mental processes. There is a focus on the way reinforcements (rewards and punishments) shape the way we act. GESTALT ( 1912 – 1940 ) as wholes. Eg:Tree Other members of the school - Kurt Koffka , Wolfgang Kokler and Max Wertheimer. Perception is more than the sum of its parts and studied how sensations are assembled into meaning perceptual experiences (the study of thinking, learning and perception in whole units, not by analysis into parts) Behavioural process in 3 steps - Perception of the situation as a whole - Seeing and judging the relationships between various factors involved in the situation - Taking an immediate decision and behave accordingly. Psycho analytic - Sigmund Freud Unconscious determination of behaviour, Unconscious motives and experience in early life govern personality and mental disorder. Psychoanalytic theory stressed the role of motives and cravings, often hidden and repressed in the subconscious mind, which result in abnormal behavior. Freud asserted that the sex urges in the unconscious constitute the main human drive, this is known as the libido theory. Sigmund Freud Carl Jung Alfred Adler HUMANISTIC (1950's- present) Unique aspects of human experience Human beings are free rational beings with the potential for personal growth, and they are fundamentally different from animals. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow emphasized the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom of choice and decision making, as well as their potential for personal growth. Carl Rogers Abraham Maslow Cognitive Psychology Jean Piaget Noam Chomsky Herbert Simon Human behaviour cannot be fully understood without examining how people acquire, store and process information. Deals with mental processes (cognition) like learning, memory, perception, and thinking of them as parts of information processing model. how the actions are influenced by the way we process information streaming in from our environment Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky and Herbert Simon focused on thought and mental processes. Definition of behaviour Behavior can be defined as the actions or reactions of a person in response to external or internal stimulus situation. Behaviour includes three aspects : 1. Conation or motor activities like walking, dancing, etc. 2. Cognition (thinking, reasoning, imagining, problem-solving, arithmetic, etc.) 3. Affect (feeling sad, angry, happy, feeling low, in blues, low mood, depressed, elated, etc.) Psychology as a study of individual difference and observable behaviour INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES • no two individuals are exact same. • all are Unique in some way or the other. • reveals individual differences. • Physically and Psychologically individuals are different these are called individual differences. • Individual differences occur due to interaction of genetic and environmental factors. • Genetic factor - Inherit certain characteristics from our parents through genetic codes. • Environment – the individual characteristic develop based on the environment or the atmosphere one grows. • Observable behaviors (also known as overt behaviors) are actions performed by an organism that can be seen and measured. Fields’ of Psychology Branches of psychology / fields of psychology Pure Applied psychology psychology Framework & theory, psychological Practical principles & theories General psychology Educational psychology Abnormal psychology Clinical psychology Social psychology Industrial psychology Experimental psychology Legal psychology Physiological psychology Military psychology Para-psychology Political psychology Geo-psychology Development psychology Reference - Generel Psychology by S K Mangal.