Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It aims to describe, understand, predict, and control behavior. There are several perspectives in modern psychology, including the biological perspective which studies the biological bases of behavior and mental states, the psychoanalytic perspective which emphasizes the unconscious and early experiences, the behavioral perspective which focuses on learned behaviors, the humanistic perspective which looks at motivation, and the cognitive perspective which examines mental processes like thinking and problem solving. An additional perspective is the social cultural perspective which views behavior as influenced by social and cultural contexts.

1. Introduction to
psychology

2. Definition
Psychology is scientific study of behavior and mental
processes including conscious and unconscious
phenomena, as well as feeling and thought.
The word psychology is derived from Greek word psyche
and soul.

3.  Behavior: As defined psychologically, refers to actions or
activities of the individual
 Two types of behavior overt and covert
 Mental processes: Mental function are all the things that
individuals can do with their minds. These include
perception, judgement memory, thinking (such as ideation,
imagination, belief, reasoning, etc.)

4. The primary goals of psychology are to
 Describe behavior – what is the nature of this behavior?
 Understand and explain behavior - why does it occur?
 Predict behavior– can we forecast when and under what
circumstances it will occur?
 Control behavior - what factors influence this behavior?

5. Modern psychological
perspective

6. 1. Biological perspective is the scientific study of the biological bases of behavior and
mental states, very closely related to neuroscience
2. The psychoanalytic perspective. The psychoanalytic perspective originated with the
work of Sigmund Freud. This perspective emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind,
early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to explain human behavior
and to treat people suffering from mental illnesses.
3. Behavioral Perspective: Behavioral psychology is a perspective that focuses on
learned behaviors. Today, the behavioral perspective is still concerned with how
behaviors are learned and reinforced. John Watson founded behaviorism in the early
1900's. Watson emphasized the scientific study of observable behaviors rather then the
study of subjective mental process.

7. 4. Humanistic Perspective: During the 1950s, a school of thought known as
humanistic psychology emerged. Influenced greatly by the work of prominent
humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, this perspective emphasizes
the role of motivation on thought and behavior.
5. Cognitive Perspective: During the 1960s, a new perspective known as cognitive
psychology began to take hold. This area of psychology focuses on mental processes
such as memory, thinking, problem solving, language and decision-making.

8.  6. Social cultural Perspective: The sociocultural
perspective maintains that behavior and mental
processes are shaped not only by prior learning
experiences (the behavioral perspective) or intra-psychic
forces (for instance, the unconscious) but also by the
social or cultural context.