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Developmental Psychology. Unit.1....pptx
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- 2. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Psychologyis the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. scientific, behavior, individual, and mental. The scientific method consists of a set of orderly steps used to analyze and solve problems. This method uses objectively collected information as the factual basis for drawing conclusions.
- 3. Behavior is themeans by which organisms adjust to their environment. Behavior is action. The subject matter of psychology largely consists of the observable behavior of humans and other species of animals. Smiling, crying, running, hitting, talking, and touching are some obvious examples of behavior you can observe.
- 4. The subject ofpsychological analysis is most often an individual. Many researchers in psychology also recognize that they cannot understand human actions without also understanding mental processes, the workings of the human mind. Much human activity takes place as private, internal events— thinking, planning, reasoning, creating, and dreaming.
- 5. The Goals ofPsychology The goals of the psychologist conducting basic research are to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior. Describing What Happens. The first task in psychology is to make accurate observations about behavior. Behavioral data are reports of observations about the behavior of organisms and the conditions under which the behavior occurs. Explaining What Happens. Explanations in psychology usually recognize that most behavior is influenced by a combination of factors.
- 6. Often a psychologist’sgoal is to explain a wide variety of behavior in terms of one underlying cause. Predicting What Will Happen. Predictions in psychology are statements about the likelihood that a certain behavior will occur or that a given relationship will be found.
- 7. Thus, if webelieve your roommate to be shy, we could confidently predict that he would be uncomfortable when asked to give a speech in front of a large class. Controlling What Happens. Control means making behavior happen or not happen. The ability to control behavior is important because it gives psychologists ways of helping people improve the quality of their lives.
- 8. Merits of AnEducation in Psychology An education in psychology is valuable for a number of reasons. Psychology students improve critical thinking skills and are trained in the use of the scientific method. Critical thinking is the active application of a set of skills to information for the understanding and evaluation of that information. For example, critical thinking involves maintaining an attitude of skepticism, recognizing internal biases, making use of logical thinking, asking appropriate questions, and making observations.
- 9. • Psychology studentsalso can develop better communication skills. • Psychology students come to understand the complex factors that shape one’s behaviour. They appreciate the interaction of our biology, our environment, and our experiences in determining who we are and how we will behave. • They learn about basic principles that guide how we think and behave , and they come to recognize the tremendous diversity that exists across individuals and • across cultural boundaries.
- 10. PERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHOLOGY Structuralism WilhelmWundt (1832–1920) was a German scientist who was the first person to be referred to as a psychologist. Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience, and he believed that the goal of psychology was to identify components of consciousness and how those components combined to result in our conscious experience. Wundt used introspection (he called it “internal perception”),
- 11. a process bywhich someone examines their own conscious experience as objectively as possible, making the human mind like any other aspect of nature that a scientist observed. Wundt established his psychology laboratory at the University at Leipzig in 1879. However, despite his efforts to train individuals in the process of introspection, this process remained highly subjective, and there was very little agreement between individuals.
- 12. Functionalism William James (1842–1910)was the first American psychologist who advocated a different perspective on how psychology should operate. James was introduced to Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and accepted it as an explanation of an organism’s characteristics. Key to that theory is the idea that natural selection leads to organisms that are adapted to their environment, including their behaviour.
- 13. Adaptation means thata trait of an organism has a function for the survival and reproduction of the individual, because it has been naturally selected. As James saw it, psychology’s purpose was to study the function of behavior in the world, and as such, his perspective was known as functionalism. Functionalism focused on how mental activities helped an organism fit into its environment.
- 14. Psychoanalytic Theory Perhaps oneof the most influential and well-known figures in psychology’s history was Sigmund Freud. Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian neurologist who was fascinated by patients suffering from “hysteria” and neurosis. Hysteria was a diagnosis for disorders, primarily of women with a wide variety of symptoms, including physical symptoms and emotional disturbances, none of which had an apparent physical cause. Freud theorized that many of his patients’ problems arose from the unconscious mind. In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind was a storehouse of feelings and urges of which we have no awareness. Gaining access to the unconscious, then, was crucial to the successful resolution of the patient’s problems.
- 15. According to Freud,the unconscious mind could be accessed through dream analysis and examinations of the first words that came to people’s minds, and through seemingly innocent slips of the tongue. Psychoanalytic theory focuses on the role of a person’s unconscious, as well as early childhood experiences, and this particular perspective dominated clinical psychology for several decades. For instance, many therapists believe strongly in the unconscious and the impact of early childhood experiences on the rest of a person’s life.
- 16. Gestalt Psychology Max Wertheimer(1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Kohler (1887– 1967) were advocated Gestalt psychology. Instead of considering separate parts that make up thinking, Gestalt psychologists concentrated on the ‘whole’. Their slogan is ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. Gestalt means shape, form or configuration. A major emphasis of Gestalt psychology deals with the fact that although a sensory experience can be broken down into individual parts, how those parts relate to each other as a whole is often what the individual responds to in perception.
- 17. Behaviourism John B. Watson(1878–1958) was an influential American psychologist whose most famous work occurred during the early 20th century at Johns Hopkins University. Watson preferred to focus directly on observable behaviour and try to bring that behaviour under control. Watson was a major proponent of shifting the focus of psychology from the mind to behaviour, and this approach of observing and controlling behavior came to be known as behaviourism. Behaviourism commonly used animals in experiments under the assumption that what was learned using animal models could, to some degree, be applied to human behaviour.
- 18. Behaviorism dominated experimentalpsychology for several decades, and its influence can still be felt today. Behaviorism is largely responsible for establishing psychology as a scientific discipline through its objective methods and especially experimentation. Behavior modification is commonly used in classroom settings. Behaviorism has also led to research on environmental influences on human behavior. B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) was an American psychologist. Like Watson, Skinner was a behaviorist, and he concentrated on how behavior was affected by its consequences. Therefore, Skinner spoke of reinforcement and punishment as major factors in driving behavior.
- 19. Humanism Humanism is aperspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans. Two of the most well-known proponents of humanistic psychology are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) was an American psychologist who is best known for proposing a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behaviour. Maslow asserted that so long as basic needs necessary for survival were met (e.g., food, water, shelter), higher-level needs (e.g., social needs) would begin to motivate behaviour.
- 20. According to Maslow,the highest-level needs relate to self-actualization, a process by which we achieve our full potential . The focus on the positive aspects of human nature that are characteristic of the humanistic perspective is evident. Carl Rogers (1902–1987) was also an American psychologist who, like Maslow, emphasized the potential for good that exists within all people. Rogers used a therapeutic technique known as client centered therapy in helping his clients deal with problematic issues that resulted in their seeking psychotherapy.
- 21. SOME BRANCHES OFPSYCHOLOGY Biopsychology: (Biopsychology typically focuses on the immediate causes of behavior based in the physiology of a human or other animal. Cognitive Psychology: (focuses on studying cognitions, or thoughts, and their relationship to our experiences and our actions. Developmental Psychology: (related to the physical changes associated with aging, as they also focus on changes in cognitive skills, moral reasoning, social behavior, and other psychological attributes.
- 22. Personality Psychology: (patterns ofthoughts and behaviours that make each individual unique. identifying personality traits, measuring these traits, and determining how these traits interact in a particular context to determine how a person will behave in any given situation) Social Psychology: (relate to others, include differences, own behaviour, others behavious, prejudice, and attraction)
- 23. • Industrial-Organizational Psychology: (appliespsychological theories, principles, and research findings in industrial and organizational settings) • Health Psychology: (focuses on how health is affected by the interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. • Clinical Psychology: (focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behaviour) • Counselling Psychology: (emotional, social, vocational, and health related outcomes in individuals) Forensic Psychology: (advise on issues such as eyewitness testimony and children’s Ttestimony)