Introduction to psychology

3. Meaning
• Psychology is the scientific study of mind and
behaviour.
• The word “psychology” comes from the Greek words
psychi meaning soul
logos meaning knowledge
• Psychology is a popular major for students, a popular
topic in the public media, and a part of our everyday
lives.

4. Definition of psychology
• Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. It is
study of mind and how it works.
Oxford dictionary.
• Psychology is the science of human and animal behavior which includes
the application of this science to solve human behavior.
W. Hamilton
• Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions,
especially those affecting behavior in given context.
• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes and
how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state and
external environment.

5. Nature of Psychology
Method:- e.g. observation, recording, analysis etc.
Cause and effect relationship:-
Study of facts:-factual concepts like intelligence, memory,
learning.
Universality:-E.g., laws of learning applicable to universe.
Validity and Reliability:-e.g., intelligence tests.
Verification:-e.g., research
Predictability:-e.g., theories and principles can predict the
behavior of person.

6. Scope of Psychology
Behaviour has various aspects and it can be studied from
various angles.
The scope of psychology is so wide and the recent growth of
psychological knowledge has been so tremendous that it has
been divided into special fields or branches for purposes of
detailed and accurate study.
Branches of psychology:
• Pure psychology
• Applied psychology

7.  Pure psychology
• It provides the framework and theory aimed its contnets deal
with the formulation of psychological principles and theories.
• It suggests various methods and techniques for the analysis,
assessment, modification improvement of behavior.
Applied psychology
• In applied psychology, the theory generated through pure
psychology finds its practical shape.
• Its applications of psychological rules, principles, theories and
techniques with reference to the real practical life situations.

8. Pure Psychology
• General psychology
• Abnormal psychology
• Social psychology
• Physiological psychology
• Para-psychology
• Geo-psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Experimental psychology

9. 1. General Psychology
• It deals with the fundamental rules, principles and theories of
psychology in relation to the study of behavior of normal adult.
2. Abnormal Psychology
• It deals with the behavior of individuals who are unusual. It
studies mental disorders their causes and treatment.
3. Social Psychology
• It deals with the group behavior and inter-relationship of people
with other people.
• It studies various types of group phenomena such as public
opinion, attitudes, beliefs and crowd behavior.

10. 4.Physiological psychology
• This branch of psychology describes and explains the biological
physiological basis of behavior.
• It concerns the structure and functions of sense organs, nervous
system, muscles and glands underlying all behavior.
5. Para-psychology
• It deals with extra sensory perceptions, causes of rebirth,
telepathy,allied problems and paranormal activity.
6. Geo-psychology
• This branch of psychology describes and explains the relation of
physical environment particularly weather, climate and soil with
behavior.

11. 7.Developmental psychology
• It studies the factors that influence the growth and development of human
behavior.
• This branch of psychology describe the processes of growth and
development in relation to the behavior of an individual from birth to old
age.
• It further divided into child psychology, adolescent and adult and old age
psychology.
8. Experminental psychology
• This branch of psychology studies the ways and means of carrying out
psychological experiments by using scientific methods.
• Experimental psychologists do basic research in an effort to discover and
understand the fundamental and general causes of behavior.

12. Applied Psychology
• Educational psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Industrial psychology
• Legal psychology
• Military psychology
• Political psychological
• Neuropsychology
• Counselling
• Health psychology
• Community psychology
• Consumer psychology
• Environmental health psychology
• Sports psychology

13. 1. Educational Psychology
• It is which tries to apply the psychological principles, theories and
techniques to human behavior in educational situations.
• The subject matter of this branch covers psychological way and means of
improving all aspects of the teaching / learning process.
2. Clinical Psychology
It describes the causes of mental illness, abnormal behavior of a patient and
suggest treatment and effective adjustment of the affected person in society.
3.Industrial psychology
Industrial psychology is concerned with people at work. It is also called
personnel psychology.It is also called personal psychology.Industrial
psychologists investigate issues such as how to make jobs more rewarding or
how to improve workers' performance. They also study personnel selection,
leadership and management.

14. 4.Legal psychology
• It tries to study the behavior of persons like clients, criminals, witnesses
etc. with the help of applications of psychological principles and
techniques.
• The root causes of the crime, offence, dispute or any legal case can be
properly understood through the use of this branch of psychology.
.
5.Military psychology
• This branch of psychology is concerned with the use of psychological
principles and techniques in the military science.
• How to keep the morale of the soldiers and citizens high during war
time.
• How to secure better recruitment of the personnel for the fighting
capacities and organizational climate and leadership etc, are the various

15. 6. Political Psychology
This branch of psychology relates itself with the use of psychological
principles and techniques in studying political and deriving political gains.
7.Neuropsychology
It is a branch of psychology and neurology that aims to understand how the
structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes.
Neuropsychology has contributed to the development of cognitive
psychology. It attempts to explore areas such as consciousness and helps in
the treatment of people with a brain disorder or dysfunction.
8.Counselling
Counselling psychology is focussed more on normal developmental issues
and everyday stresses.Counselling psychologists find employment in a
variety of settings, including schools, private practice, offices and
community mental health centers.

16. 9.Health psychology
It is the application of psychological theory and research to health, illness and
healthcare. While clinical psychology focusses on mental health and
neurological illness, health psychology is concerned with the psychology of a
wider range of health-related behaviour.
10.Community psychology
Community psychology applies psychological theories and research findings
to solve social problems, in order to improve the quality of life of individuals
and communities.
11.Consumer psychology
Consumer psychology is the study of how people relate to the products and
services that they purchase or use. Consumer psychologists examine the
preferences, customs and habits of various consumer groups.

17. 12.Environmental health psychology
Environmental psychology examines the interrelationship between
environments and human behaviour . Applied environmental psychology
deals with topics like conserving the natural environment, developing better
ways of designing towns and buildings and promoting environmental
awareness among people.
13.Sports psychology
Sports psychology is a newly developing field. It studies the psychological
and mental factors that influence and are influenced by participation and
performance in sport, exercise and physical activity Sport psychologists
assist coaches in working with athletes and also help improve athletes'
motivation

18. Scope of psychology to nursing
1. Psychology will enable to nurse to understand herself.
2. It will help to understand other people.
3. the study of psychology will help her gain better understanding of the
communication process.
4. nurse’s attitude towards her work affects the nurse-patient relationship
and illness outcomes.
5. the study of psychology will help her appreciate the need to change the
environment.

19. Application of psychology

20. Relevance to nursing
• Psychology has become necessary in every profession
including nursing today.
• This is because of increasing emphasis being laid out on the
interplay of body, mind and spirit in the health status of every
individual.
• The success in life of many people depends on how they get
along with others, influence others and react to others.
• The ability to understand ourselves and others comes from a
wise study of psychology.

21. Importance of psychology for nurses:-

22.  To Understand Her Own Self:
• The knowledge of psychology will help the nurse to get an insight into
her own motives, desires, emotions, feelings, attitudes, personality
characteristics and ambitions.
• She will realize how her personality is highly individualistic and
complex, arrives at decisions in her life and solves her own problems.
• This knowledge also helps her to understand her strengths and
weaknesses.
• This will let her direct her own life more productively and relate more
easily with others, enabling her to control situations and attain self-
discipline.

23. To Understand Patients
• The nurses are professionals meant for providing care to
patients.
• The patient may be suffering from acute or chronic disease;
may be male or female, young or old and come to the
hospital with so many physical and psychological problems.
• The knowledge of psychology will help the nurse to
understand the problems and needs of patients and attend to
them.
• This will help the patient to attain quick relief and cure,
which is the basic motto of a nurse

24.  To Recognize Abnormal Behaviour
• Psychology is relevant not only in physical health care, but also highly
relevant in the field of mental health.
• Presently more and more people are suffering from mental illness.
• While some patients may have minor problems, others suffer with
serious illness.The knowledge of psychology will help nurses to
understand abnormal behaviours and help the patient in management of
mental illnesses.
• Nurses working in mental hospitals definitely need an adequate
knowledge of normal and abnormal psychology.
• The knowledge of psychology helps the nurses in recognizing mental
illnesses at general hospitals and community health centres and provide
appropriate guidance to deal with stress, anxiety and other life problems.

25.  To Understand Other People
• The student nurse has to study, work and live with other nurses, doctors,
patients and their family members.
• With her scientific knowledge of human nature, she will understand them
better and thus achieve greater success in interpersonal relationships.
• She will learn why others differ from her in their likes and dislikes, in
their interests and abilities or in their reactions to others.
• She will realize how differences in behaviour to some extent, are due to
differences in customs and beliefs or cultural patterns of the groups to
which she belongs or to the way she has been brought up during her
early years.

26.  To Provide Quality Care to Patients
• A nurse with good knowledge of human psychology can understand
what fears or anxieties the patient faces, what he feels, what he would
like to know and why he behaves the way he does.
• It will help the nurse to anticipate and meet requirements of the patients
and his relatives, thus help patients and relatives adjust to the
unavoidable circumstances in the best possible way.
• A good understanding of these patients by the nurse can be of best
support to him

27.  Help Patients Adjust to the Situation
• Illness and physical handicaps often bring about the need for major
adjustments.
• Many diseases such as heart disease and cancer, etc. require special
coping skills and health care.
• A nurse trained in psychology can be an effective health educator and
help in these kind of adjustments

28.  Help the Student Nurse to Appreciate the Necessity for
Changing the Environment or Surroundings
• Good nursing care depends upon the ability of nurse to
understand the situations properly and also in obtaining the
cooperation of other people concerned.
• The change in the environment is sometimes necessary for
better adjustment and happiness.
• For example, a boy who is completely denied the affectionate
care of his parents may do better if he is given the care of foster
parents.

29.  Help for Effective Studying
• The nurse has to learn many new things during her training.
• She has to obtain the knowledge of correct facts about disease conditions
and their treatment.
• The study of psychology of learning will help the nurse to acquire
knowledge in an effective way.
 Readjustment :Every profession and career requires readjustment.
A nurse needs to make the following kinds of adjustments for success in the
nursing career:
I. Overcoming homesickness and self-reliance is needed if she has to live
smoothly in a hostel or hospital.
II. Adjusting to sick persons, who may cry or be desperate or even ventilate their
anger by making the nurse a target of their abuses and curses. III. Trying to work
and study together.