The word "psychology" is derived from two Greek words.
Psyche …………..refers to mind, soul or sprit.
logos ………………..means study, knowledge or discourse
"psychology" epistemologically refers to the study of the mind, soul, or sprit.
represented by the Greek letter ᴪ . which is read as ("s y") .
Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and the underlying mental
Science: psychology uses scientific methods to study behavior and mental processes
in both humans and animals.
This means psychologists do not study behavior with commonsense
Behavior: refers to all of our outward or overt actions and reactions, such as talking,
facial expressions, movement, etc.
Mental processes: refer to all the internal, covert activities of our minds, such as
thinking, feeling, remembering
As a science, psychology has four goals; description, explanation, prediction, and control.
Description: Description involves observing the behavior and noticing everything about it.
search for answers for questions like ‗What is happening?‘ Where does it happen?‘ To
whom does it happen?‘ And ‗under what circumstances does it seem to happen?.
Explanation: Why is it happening? Explanation is about trying to find reasons for the
observed behavior.
Prediction: prediction is about determining what will happen in the future.
Control: How can it be changed? Control or modify or change the behavior from
undesirable one
Psychology is a relatively new field in the realm of the sciences, only about 125 years old.
It began as a science of its own in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, with the establishment of a
psychology laboratory in the University of Leipzig by Wilhelm Wundt.
Wundt is the founder or "father of modern psychology.
There are five such early schools of psychology.
1. Structuralism- structuralism views psychology as a study of structure of mind.
Wundt‘s ideas by his student named Edward Titchener. (1867-1927).Titchener is the founder of
structuralism.
2. Functionalism- functionalism views psychology as a study of function of the mind.
The founder of this school of thought is William James (1848-1910), who was the first American
psychologist and the author of the first psychology textbook.
Unlike Wundt and Titchener, James focused on how the mind allows people to function in the real world;
According to functionalists, psychological processes are adaptive.
3. Gestalt psychology: Gestalt psychology views psychology as a study of the whole mind.
Max Wertheimer and his colleagues founded this school of thought in Germany in the 20 century.
th
The German word "gestalt" refers to form, whole, configuration or pattern.
They held that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Means mind is greater than its parts
(images, sensations, and feelings)
4. Behaviorism: behaviorists view psychology as a study of observable and measurable behaviors.
John B. Watson is the founder of behaviorism.
Other proponents include E. Thorndike and F. Skinner.
5. Psychoanalysis: psychology studies about the components of the unconscious part of the
human mind. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is the founder of this school of thought.
He was the most controversial and most popular in the study of behavior and mental processes.
These schools basically differ in terms of three issues: object, goal, and methods of study:
In their object of study, i.e. what they studied (conscious mind, unconscious mind,
and overt behavior).
In their goal (analyze the components of the mind or observing the effect of the
environment on behavior).
In their method (Introspection, observation, clinical case studies, etc...)
