This document provides an introduction to psychology. It defines psychology as the scientific study of cognition, behavior, and emotions. It discusses how psychology relates to art, noting that art involves creative thinking, expression of emotions, and evoking of emotional reactions in others. Understanding human emotions and cognition can help artists create more engaging and meaningful works. The document then delves deeper into the scientific process in psychology and some of the major theories and approaches, including psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanism. It also distinguishes between the roles of psychologists and psychiatrists.

1. Introduction to Psychology

2. What is Psychology?
• Psychology is the scientific study of cognition ,
behavior, and emotions.
• Science: knowledge, facts + the method of
acquiring that knowledge (scientific method)
• Cognition: Processes related to thinking
(Thoughts, beliefs, attention, memory, intuition
etc)
• Emotions: Feelings
• Behavior: Actions, how we respond

3. How does psychology relates to art?
• Lets first consider what art is ?
• It is difficult to arrive at a definition of art that
everyone agrees upon.
• Examples of art: paintings, music, dance, poetry,
photography, theatre
• Art is creative (creative thinking)
• Art helps express emotions
• Art evokes emotional reactions

4. How does psychology relates to art?
• There can be different reaction to the same
artwork (individual differences: different
personalities)
• Art involves some medium (behavior: it is
expressed in observable ways)
• Artists are sensitive, they feel deeply, they are
nonjudgmental (psychologists share the same
qualities as empathy and nonjudgmental
attitude are a requirement to be a good
therapist)

5. How can increasing knowledge of
psychology help people in fields of art?
• Psychology provides artists with
insight into human emotions and
behavior, which is critical for
creating art that resonates with
the audience. Understanding the
complications of human
emotions such as love, anger,
sadness, and joy, can help artists
create work that evokes a similar
emotional response in the viewer.
By studying the human psyche,
artists can create works that
explore the human condition,
providing a deeper understanding
of our shared experiences.

6. How can increasing knowledge of
psychology help people in fields of art?
• Psychology can also aid
artists in understanding the
cognitive processes that
influence perception.
Artists can use this
knowledge to create optical
illusions or visual puns in
their work, making it more
engaging and thought-
provoking. For example, the
artist M.C. Escher used
principles of perceptual
psychology to create his
iconic works, such as the
one on right.

7. How can increasing knowledge of
psychology help people in fields of art?
• the study of psychology
can help artists become
more self-aware. By
exploring their own
emotions and thought
processes, artists can gain
a better understanding of
themselves and their
work. This can help them
create work that is more
authentic and
meaningful, and develop
a unique artistic voice.

8. How can increasing knowledge of
psychology help people in fields of art?
• Psychology can also help
artists understand their
creative process better.
By understanding the
different stages of
creativity and the factors
that influence it, artists
can optimize their
creative process. This can
help them produce better
work in less time, and
avoid creative blocks or
burnout.

9. How can increasing knowledge of
psychology help people in fields of art?
• Psychology can also help
artists create work that has
therapeutic benefits. Art
therapy is a form of
psychotherapy that uses art-
making as a means of
expression and healing. By
understanding the therapeutic
benefits of art, artists can
create works that have a
healing effect on viewers. This
can help people explore their
emotions and thoughts in a
safe and supportive
environment.

10. Now let’s delve a bit deeper into what
psychology is:
• Is red a color of passion
or of aggression? Is blue
a color of peace or of
sadness? How would
we know? Should we
just believe whatever is
commonly believed?
• Psychology aims to
study mental processes
and behavior in a
scientific way.

11. Scientific Process
• Theory: explanation of
how something works
• We collect evidence
about whether a theory
is useful or not through
research
• If we can’t find
evidence, we reject the
theory and find some
other explanation

12. Research
• There are different ways to
do research. Best is
experiment. But in
psychology, we use other
methods too like surveys,
case studies and interviews.
• Experiment: we change a
variable (independent
variable) and see if the
other variable (dependent
variable) changes because
of the first variable

13. Research
Correlation
• Are two variables related?
We simple observe them,
we don’t manipulate any
variable.
• Positive correlation: both
increase or decrease
together
• Negative correlation: One
increases and the other
decreases

14. Major Schools in Psychology
Historically major paradigms in psychology:
• Psychodynamic
• Behaviorism
• Humanism
• Sociocultural
• Biological

15. Psychoanalysis
• According to Freud, most of our
desires and fears are hidden
deep down in the unconscious
mind, we are not aware of
them. Those wishes and
anxieties might show up as
symbols in dreams or slips of
tongue.
• Criticism: pseudoscience
(pseudo means false,
something which isnt actually
science)

16. Psychoanalysis relation to Art
• On the right: Salvador
Dali’s the persistence of
memory
• Surrealistic painter Dali
was inspired from Freud’s
Interpretation of Dreams.
• He believed art should
express contents of
unconscious mind. He used
to wake himself up from
early stages of sleep to
paint what he dreamt.

17. Behaviorism
• Behaviorists believe that we
should focus on observable
behavior if we want
psychology to be a science.
Behaviorism stresses on the
idea that all behaviors are
learned through interaction
with the environment.
• Theories of behavior learning:
Classical Conditioning
(Learning by association),
Operant conditioning (reward
and punishment),
observational Learning

18. Humanism
• Humanistic
psychology, a
movement in
psychology supporting
the belief that humans,
as individuals, are
unique beings and
should be recognized
and treated with
respect.

19. Different types of psychologists
• Therapists
• School psychologists
• Organizational
psychologists
• Sports psychologists
• Health Psychologists

20. Difference between Psychologist and
Psychiatrist
• Psychiatrists can
prescribe medicines.
They have an MBBS and
specialization in
psychiatry
• Clinical psychologists
provide counseling and
therapy. They have
Masters or PhD in
clinical psychology