BASICS OF PSYCHOLOGY- UNIT 1

1. UNIT -1
BASICS OF
PSYCHOLOGY

2. DEFINITION
 Psychology is the study
of mind and behavior in humans and non-
humans. Psychology includes the study
of conscious and unconscious phenomena,
including feelings and thoughts.
 It is an academic discipline of immense
scope, crossing the boundaries between
the natural and social sciences.
 Psychologists seek an understanding of
the emergent properties of brains, linking the
discipline to neuroscience. As social
scientists, psychologists aim to understand
the behavior of individuals and groups.

3. PSYCHOLOGY AS SCIENCE
 Psychology is the scientific study of the mind
and behavior.
 Psychologists are actively involved in
studying and understanding mental
processes, brain functions, and behavior.

4. HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
 The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China,
India, and Persia all engaged in the philosophical
study of psychology.
 In Ancient Egypt the Ebers
Papyrus mentioned depression and thought
disorders. Historians note that Greek
philosophers, including Thales, Plato,
and Aristotle (especially in his De
Anima treatise), addressed the workings of the
mind.
 As early as the 4th century BC, the Greek
physician Hippocrates theorized that mental
disorders had physical rather than supernatural
causes. In 387 BCE, Plato suggested that the
brain is where mental processes take place, and
in 335 BCE Aristotle suggested that it was the
heart.

5. HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
 In China, psychological understanding grew from the philosophical
works of Laozi and Confucius, and later from the doctrines
of Buddhism. This body of knowledge involves insights drawn from
introspection and observation, as well as techniques for focused
thinking and acting. It frames the universe in term of a division of
physical reality and mental reality as well as the interaction between
the physical and the mental. Chinese philosophy also emphasized
purifying the mind in order to increase virtue and power.
 An ancient text known as The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal
Medicine identifies the brain as the nexus of wisdom and sensation,
includes theories of personality based on yin–yang balance, and
analyzes mental disorder in terms of physiological and social
disequilibria. Chinese scholarship that focused on the brain
advanced during the Qing dynasty with the work of Western-educated
Fang Yizhi (1611–1671), Liu Zhi (1660–1730), and Wang Qingren
(1768–1831). Wang Qingren emphasized the importance of the brain
as the center of the nervous system, linked mental disorder with brain
diseases, investigated the causes of dreams and insomnia, and
advanced a theory of hemispheric lateralization in brain function.

6. FATHER OF PSYCHOLOGY
 Wilhelm Wundt- father of psychology
 Wilhelm Wundt, (born August 16, 1832,
Neckarau, near Mannheim, Baden
[Germany]—died August 31, 1920,
Grossbothen, Germany), German physiologist
and psychologist who is generally
acknowledged as the founder of experimental
psychology. Wundt earned a medical degree
at the University of Heidelberg in 1856.

7. TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGY
 social psychology
 Cognitive psychology
 Humanistic psychology
 Clinical psychology
 Behaviorism
 Evolutionary psychology
 Developmental psychology
 Personality psychology
 Industrial and
organizational psychology
 Health psychology
 Behavioral neuroscience
 Forensic psychology
 Abnormal psychology
 Experimental psychology

8. TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGY
 Educational
psychology
 School psychology
 Sport psychology
 Community
psychology
 Neuropsychology
 Comparative
psychology
 Positive psychology
 Cross-cultural
psychology
 Counseling
psychology
 Clinical psychologist

9. STRUCTURALISM
 Structuralism is generally thought of as the
first school by analyzing the basic elements of
thoughts and sensations.
 It attempted to understand the mind as the
sum of varying underlying parts, classifying
the structures of the mind much like chemists
classify the elements of nature into the
periodic table.
 These elements would include ideas like
sensations, emotions, and images.
 The focus of structuralism was on reducing
mental processes down into their most basic
elements.

10. EXAMPLES OF
STRUCTURALISM
 Without a speaker, the phone would not have
all of the smartphone's expected features as
people cannot communicate with one another
on the phone without a speaker. The idea
behind structuralism is that everything
together makes up the entire experience. In
this example, it is the user experience with the
phone.
 An example of structuralism in a classroom is
that teachers should continuously make the
learning environment for learners to study an
engaging and they could do this by using
gestures, bright colourful pictures and
posters to make knowledge easier and clearer

11. FUNCTIONALISM
 Functionalism is a psychological philosophy
that describes the mind as a functional tool
that allows us to adapt to our environments. It
posits that our mental states and behaviors
are survival mechanisms, in line with our
inherent biological goals.
 Functionalism school of thought was emerged
as a reaction to structuralism.
 The founder of Functionalism is William
James, he is also known as the founder of
American Psychology.
 Functionalism emphasized function rather
than structure of human consciousness

12. EXAMPLES OF
FUNCTIONALISM
 A good example of functionalism in
psychology would be understanding desire in
terms of whatever leads a person to pursue or
seek to attain something.
 A modern-day example of functionalism
would be the education system. Education
plays a major role in the function of society in
many ways. Besides providing an academic
education to make children functional
members of society, education also serves to
teach children socialization skills.

13. GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
 Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that
looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole.
When trying to make sense of the world around
us, Gestalt psychology suggests that we do not
simply focus on every small component. Instead,
our minds tend to perceive objects as elements of
more complex systems.
 Gestalt theory emphasizes that the whole of
anything is greater than its parts. That is, the
attributes of the whole are not deducible from
analysis of the parts in isolation.
 An example of gestalt psychology in everyday life
is in the way people complete jigsaw puzzles.
Rather than looking at each piece as an individual
unit, they form meaningful relationships between

14. GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
 In the simplest terms, gestalt theory is based
on the idea that the human brain will attempt
to simplify and organize complex images or
designs that consist of many elements, by
subconsciously arranging the parts into an
organized system that creates a whole, rather
than just a series of disparate elements.
 For example, rather than saying, "If he didn't
do that I wouldn't get so mad!" a client might
be encouraged to say, "I feel mad when he
does that because it makes me feel
insignificant and I don't like that." The use of
"I" statements is important in gestalt therapy.

15. PSYCHOANALYTIC
PSYCHOLOGY
 Psychoanalysis is a set of theories and
therapeutic techniques that deal in part with the
unconscious mind, and which together form a
method of treatment for mental disorders.
 The primary assumption of psychoanalysis is the
belief that all people possess unconscious
thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories.
According to Freud, neurotic problems in later life
are a product of the conflicts that arise during the
Oedipal phase of development.
 Some of the examples of psychoanalysis
include: A 20-year old, well-built and healthy, has
a seemingly irrational fear of mice. The fear
makes him tremble at the sight of a mouse or rat.
He often finds himself in embarrassing situations
because of the fear.

16. HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
 Humanistic psychology is a psychological
perspective that arose in the mid-20th century
in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's
psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's
behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow
established the need for a "third force" in
psychology.
 Humanistic psychology is a perspective that
emphasizes looking at the whole individual
and stresses concepts such as free will, self-
efficacy, and self-actualization. Rather than
concentrating on dysfunction, humanistic
psychology strives to help people fulfill their

17. APPROCHES TO
PSYCHOLOGY
 Behavioral Approach
 Psychodynamic Approach
 Cognitive Approach
 Behavioral Neuroscience
 Evolutionary Psychology
 Socioculture Approach
 Humanistic Psychology
 Gestalt Psychology

18. Behavioral Approach
 Human behavior is learned, thus all behavior
can be unlearned and new behaviors learned
in its place. Behaviorism is concerned
primarily with the observable and measurable
aspects of human behavior. Therefore when
behaviors become unacceptable, they can be
unlearned.
 A common example of behaviorism is positive
reinforcement. A student gets a small treat if
they get 100% on their spelling test. In the
future, students work hard and study for their
test in order to get the reward.

19. Psychodynamic Approach
 The psychodynamic approach to
psychology focuses on the internal,
unconscious mental forces that individuals
are largely unaware of, but drive emotions and
actions. Unconscious psychological activities
include underlying desires and anxieties that
are present deep within the mind yet influence
personality and behavior.
 Psychodynamic therapy focuses on building
the client's internal resources to be able to
deal with problems going forward without the
aid of the therapist. For example, a client with
depression may learn how to explore how
reactions to present-day circumstances may

20. Cognitive Approach
 Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of
mental processes such as attention, language
use, memory, perception, problem solving,
creativity, and reasoning.
 The cognitive perspective in psychology
focuses on how the interactions of thinking,
emotion, creativity, and problem-solving
abilities affect how and why you think the way
you do.
 Activities which can be described as cognitive
strategies include making mind maps,
visualisation, association, mnemonics, using
clues in reading comprehension, underlining
key words, scanning and self-testing and

21. Behavioral Neuroscience
 The field of Behavioral Neuroscience is the
study of the biological basis of behavior in
humans and animals. This discipline typically
examines the brain's neurotransmissions and
the psychological events associated with
biological activity.
 Behavioral neuroscience is a scientific
discipline that studies the functions of
behavior, brain function, and mental
processes. For example, the study of
procrastination is an aspect of behavioral
neuroscience. Procrastination has been found
by neuroscientists to begin in the decision-

22. Evolutionary Psychology
 Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical
approach in psychology that examines
cognition and behavior from a modern
evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify
human psychological adaptations with
regards to the ancestral problems they
evolved to solve.
 There are four principles at work in
evolution—variation, inheritance, selection
and time. These are considered the
components of the evolutionary mechanism
of natural selection.

23. Socioculture Approach
 The sociocultural approach used by
psychologists acknowledges and is interested
in how family, friends, environments, and
religious views of the individual influence
their behaviors and thoughts. An individual
may view their behavior and thoughts
differently depending on the socio-cultural
environment.
 The sociocultural theory of learning
emphasizes the need for scaffolding of
information2. That is, teaching is done to
build knowledge and skill in incremental
stages. For example, a teacher may
demonstrate a technique, have the learner

24. Humanistic Psychology
 Humanistic psychology is a psychological
perspective that arose in the mid-20th century
in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's
psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's
behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow
established the need for a "third force" in
psychology.
 Humanistic psychology believes that people
are good and focuses on helping people reach
their potential by exploring their uniqueness.
It is based on the assumption that people
have free will and are motivated to reach their
full potential through self-actualization.

25. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
 Positive psychology is a branch of
psychology focused on the character
strengths and behaviors that allow individuals
to build a life of meaning and purpose—to
move beyond surviving to flourishing.
Theorists and researchers in the field have
sought to identify the elements of a good life.
 The Three Pillars: Positive Psychology has
three central concerns: positive experiences,
positive individual traits, and positive
institutions. Understanding positive emotions
entails the study of contentment with the past,
happiness in the present, and hope for the
future.

26. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
 There are five building blocks that enable
flourishing – Positive Emotion, Engagement,
Relationships, Meaning, and
Accomplishment (hence PERMA™) – and
there are strategies to increase each.
 Positive psychology has led to the
development of several key concepts. These
have proven to be highly therapeutic for
people with depression and anxiety. Some
studies show that a lack of positivity may
contribute to a low or depressed mood.