METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. Methods of Psychology
Presenter Chairperson
Yatheesh Bharadwaj H S Dr. S.R.Koujalgi
1st Mphil PSW Associate Professor(PSW)
DIMHANS DIMHANS

2. Content
• Meaning and definition of Psychology
• Importance of Psychology
• Methods in Psychology

3. What is psychology?
• Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes
• Scientific  studies people and their behaviour in a systematic
manner through careful and controlled observations.
• Each human being is unique and different from the other
one cannot predict with 100% accuracy

4. • Psychology -4 goals
1. what is happening?
2. why it is happening?
3. when will it happen again?
4. how human behavior can be changed?

5. Early schools…
• Wilhelm Wundt started a laboratory at university of Liepzig in
Germany  experimental apparatus to measure reaction time
He observed that people take longer time to be aware of their
awareness sensation
• Edward Bradford Titchener  interested in discovering structure of
mind  self-reflective introspection (looking inwards)
• William James- functionism- evolved functions of thoughts and
feelings  has a purpose

6. New schools aroused
• Behaviourism- John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner rejected the method
of introspection
• redefined psychology as scientific study of observable behavior.
• Cant observe sensation, feelings, emotions, thoughts , but can
observe behavior.
• Humanistic psychologists- Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
“Current environmental influences can nurture or limit our growth
potential”

7. IMPORTANCE OF METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• How Psychologists study the behavior and mental processes?
• What methods they use ?
• To describe, predict, explain and control what they study
• Questions about human behavior are numerous…!
• to develop principles and theories, test them and apply for solving
different human problems.
• Scientific: Objectivity/testable/self-correction/ replication

8. Methods of psychological inquiry
1. Introspection Method
2. Observation Method
3. Experimental Method
4. Clinical Method/Case History Method
5. Survey Method
6. correlation Method
7. Testing Method

9. Introspection method
• “To look within” - Introduced by EB Titchener
• Also known as self – observation method
• Here the subject is asked to systematically observe his/her own
behavior and reports the same  thoughts, emotions, judgments,
and perception

10. Merits & Demerits
Merits
Gives immediate, direct & exact
knowledge of our own mental
processes
Enable-understand ->behavior
Inexpensive, easy, doesn’t need
laboratory
Can be used anytime, anywhere.
first – hand information.
Demerits
• Continuously changing
• Private affair – cant be verified
• Data is highly subjective
• NA - children, animals and persons
suffering from mental disorders
• No insight

11. OBSERVATION METHOD
• Powerful tool of inquiry
• the action or process of
carefully watching someone or
something
• Difference between see and
observe
• objective method of studying the
behaviour of individuals.
• SELECTION/RECORDING/ANAYLSIS
• Good observer-
what/when/whom/where/how/why

12. Types of observation
I. Participant v/s Non-participant
II. Covert v/s Overt
III. Naturalist v/s Controlled

13. STEPS
• Observation of behaviour.
• Noting of behaviour.
• Interpretation and analysis of behaviour.
• Generalization.

14. MERITS
Economical, natural and flexible
Data can be analyzed,measured,
classified and interpreted.
Data can be verified and is
reliable.
Suitable in observing
developmental characteristics
children habits etc
DEMERITS
• Subjective report
• Observer’s prejudice!?
• Problems of the past cannot be
studied
• Requires more time, energy and
money
• Lacks repeatability– each natural
situation occurs only once
• Cannot study opinions and
attitudes

15. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
•  The word “experiment” comes from a Latin word meaning “To try” or
“To put to test.”
•  Most scientific and most objective
•  Rapid development of the subject field itself
 Must to able to explain why we act the way we do
cause & effect relationship
Formal trial undertaken to confirm or dis-confirm a hypothesis about the
causes of behavior

16. Cont…
• Carefully regulated procedure in which changes are made in one
factor and its effect is studied on another factor, while keeping other
related factors constant.
• Cause-event being changed or manipulated
• Effect- behavior that changes because of manipulation
Variable any condition that can change and that might affect the
outcome of the experiment.
• An object by itself is not a variable, but its attributes are.

17. Types of variables
• Independent variable
• Dependent variable
• Extraneous variable- exclude
from influence
Ex- cell phone use and driving
ABARK and Utilization
(use/misuse)
Types of groups
• Experimental group- exposed to
independent variable
manipulation.
• Controlled group- absent of
manipulation
(criteria must be met)

19. Steps
 Stating the problem
 Formulation of hypothesis
 Find out the independent and dependent variable.
 Arranging the environment
 Analysis of the results
 Summarize and conclude

20. Merits
It follows scientific principles.
Replication and repetition can be
done.
Finds out cause and effect
relationship.
Data is reliable and verifiable
Demerits
-All problems of psychology can
not be studied.
-Costly.
-Time consuming
-Fails to study behaviour in natural
conditions
-Experiments may harm the
subjects

21. Clinical or Case History Method
- in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.
-provide rich qualitative data – single subject
- have high levels of ecological validity
-It aims at studying the cause and basis of people’s anxieties, fears and
personal maladjustments.
Phineas gage case- 13 pound steel rod impaled into the front of his
brain by a dynamite explosion – personality changed!

22. Components
Patient profile
Chief complaints
Precipitating factors
Present history (psychiatric, medical and surgical)
 Past history (psychiatric, medical and surgical)
Family history
Personal history
Socio – economic history
Premorbid personality history

23. Why case study method is used?
-Patient assessment
-To perform various tests
-To provide proper treatment
-Identify the cause and basis of patient’s illness
- pattern of socialization
- provides detailed in-depth depictions of people’s lives
• Valuable method in psychiatry
• Records must be maintained for individual cases

24. Merits
• Find out the actual cause of illness
• Acts as a baseline data
• Useful for further investigation
• Helps understand patient better
demerits
• Conditions may not permit proper history collection
• Patient may not be cooperative.

25. Survey method
• gather the info. From large
population
• KAP
• Opinion
Tools – Questionnaires, Checklists,
Rating scales,interview
Methods - By post,Face – to – face,
telephone, Videophone Through the
internet
Correlation method
• Two factors are measured, then
statistical technique is used to
find their degree of correlation.
Amount of study time academic
achievement
r/s of variables – associated or not
Correlational coefficient : +1.0, 0,-
1.0

26. Psychological testing method
• Psychological Tests are of different types: Intelligence Tests,
Aptitude Tests, Vocational Tests, Attitude Tests, and Personality
Tests, amongst others.
• Psychological Testing is mainly used for psychological diagnosis,
screening job candidates, academic placements, identifying certain
behaviour, research purposes, etc.
• Questions – “items”
• Standarised and objective instruments
• Reliability, validity, norms
• verbal or nonverbal (performance).

27. conclusions
There are different approaches to explain, describe, predict and control
behaviour and mental processes. Different methods are used to
understand human behaviour. As psychiatric social workers/ trainees,
we need to know about and use these methods in our daily work,so
that we can understand the problem, help effectively the persons
having problem.

28. Reference
• Introduction to psychology- gateways to mind and behavior
13edition – Dennis coon and john o mitterer
• NCERT psychology Textbook
• IGNOU Psychology textbook
• Annual review of psychology. (1950 present). Stanford, Ca: Annual
Reviews.