This document provides an introduction to the field of psychology. It defines psychology as the scientific study of the mind and behavior. The document then discusses the history and development of psychology as a field, including its origins in philosophy and its emergence as an independent scientific discipline in the late 19th century. It also outlines several major approaches in psychology, such as structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, humanism, gestalt psychology, and cognitivism. Finally, it lists several branches of modern psychology including clinical, cognitive, developmental, educational, personality, social, positive, comparative, and industrial-organizational psychology.

1. INTRODUCTION of psychology
by
MR. Godfrey Mbowe
Psychological Counselor &
Occupational Therapist.

2. Meaning of psychology
• “According to McLeod S, (2011) Psychology is the
scientific study of the mind and behavior.
• It is multifaceted discipline and includes many sub-
fields of study such areas as human development,
sports, health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive
process”.
• Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that
involves the scientific study of mental functions and
behaviors.
• It has the immediate goal of understanding individual.
It attempt to understand the roles of mental function
of individual and social behavior.

3. Cont’d
• Psychology is explore concepts such as
perception, cognition, attention, emotion,
motivation, brain function, personality,
behavior, and interpersonal relationship.

4. History of psychology.
• The history of psychology as a scholarly study
of the mind and behavior dates back to the
Ancient Greeks. Also there is evidence of
psychological thought in ancient Egypt.
• Psychology was a branch of philosophy until
the 1870s, when it developed as an
independent scientific discipline in Germany
and United States.

5. Cont’d
• Psychology borders on various other fields
including physiology, neuroscience, artificial
intelligence, social anthropology and
philosophy as well as other components of
humanism.
• Philosophy interested in the mind and
behavior dates back to the ancient civilizations
of Egypt, Greece, China and India.

6. Cont’d
• Psychology as a self-conscious field of
experimental study began in 1879 when
Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory
dedicated exclusively to psychological
research in Lepzig.
• Soon after the development of experimental
psychology, various kind of applied
psychology appeared, for examples:

7. Cont’d
• 1890 Hugo Munsterberg began writing about
the application psychology to industry, law
and other field.
• 1890 Lightner Witmer establish the first
clinical psychology
• 1890 Sigmund Freud developed the individual
approach to study mind called psychoanalysis
which has been widely influential.

8. Cont’d
• In the Historical background of psychology the
following should not be escaped.
• Structuralism psychology which introduced by
Wilhelm Wundt a German Psychology focus to
self-conscious field of experimental study began
in 1879 when founded the first laboratory
dedicated exclusively to psychological research in
Lepzig.
• He focus on breaking down the mental process
into the most basic components eg motivation.

9. Cont’d
• Functional psychology/ functionalism, which
influenced by the American philosophy,
scientific and psychologist William James. He
felt that “psychology should have practical
values, and should find out how the mind
function to the person benefit”.
• It built on structuralism’s concern for the
anatomy of the mind and led to a great
concern over the functions of the mind and
later to behaviorism.

10. Cont’d
• Psychoanalysis: it developed by Sigmund
Freud 1890s to 1939, the Austrian Physician.
• Focus on investigate of the mind and the way
one thinks, a systematized set of theories
about human behavior, also form of
psychotherapy to treat psychological issues,
such as the emotional distress especially
unconscious conflict.

11. Cont’d
• Behaviorism: it developed early 20th centaury
by John B Watson, focus and emphasis on the
learning theories on how the people might be
conditioned by their environments to behave
in a certain way.
• The Classical Conditioning was an early
behaviorist model which introduced by Pavlov.

12. cont’d
• Humanism psychology: was developed 1950s
it react to both Behaviorism and
psychoanalysis. Humanistic approach sought
to glimpse/sight the whole person not just the
fragmented parts of the personality or
cognitive functioning.
• It focused on uniquely of human issues, such
as individual free well, personal growth, self
actualization, self-identity, death, a loneliness,
freedom and meaning.

13. Cont’d ## PT KCMC. (16/11)
• Some of the founder was American
psychologist Abraham Maslow who
formulated the hierarchy of human needs,
and Carl Rogers who created and developed
Client-centered therapy.

14. Cont’d
• Gestalt psychology: the co-founder were
Wolfgang Kohler, Max Wertheimer and Kurt
Koffka the late 19th century, comment that
the whole experience of individual is
important and whole is different than the
sum of its parts.
• They oppose the structuralism who emphasis
that the experience should break down the
thought/ behavior of individual into the
smallest element.

15. Cont’d
• Existentialism; it influenced by a German
philosopher called Martin Heidegger and
Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard that
comment that operate to the inner conflict
within a person is due to individual’s
confrontation with the givens of existence.
• They emphases the humanistic themes of
death, free will, and meaning of your
existence; suggested the meaning can be
shaped by myths, that can be acceptance of
the free will requisite to an authentic.

16. Cont’d
• Cognitivist psychology: focus on the study of
the mental processes includes how people
think, perceive, remember, and learn.

17. branches in psychology
• There are several branches in psychology such
as.
1. Biological/neuropsychology. It is study of
the biological substrates of behavior and
mental process. Eg. Neuron, genetic and
cellular mechanism that underlying behavior
such as learning and memory and fear
response.

18. Cont’d
2. Clinical psychology and Counseling psychology
the study and application of psychology for the
purpose of understanding, preventing and
releasing psychologically based distress and
promote wellbeing of individual.
3. Cognitive psychology: focus in study the mental
processing, such as perception, attention,
reasoning, thinking, problem solving, memory,
learning and language.

19. Cont’d
4. Developmental psychology: focus on
development of the human mind through life
span. It seek to understand how people come
to perceive, understand and act within the
world and how this processes change as they
age. It looks into the cognitive, social, moral,
and effective development.

20. cont’d
5. Educational psychology: focus on how human
learn in educational settings, effectiveness of
educational intervention, the psychology of
teaching and social psychology of school
organization. The psychologist such as Lev
Vygotsky, Jean Piaget and Bernard Luskin
teach much about it.

21. Cont’D
6. Personality psychology: it is concern with
patterns of behavior, thought, and emotional
to individual commonly referred to as
personality. There are theories developed
concern personality and it vary from person to
person. Eg. Freud. S, personality based on the
dynamic interactions of ID, EGO, and SUPER
EGO. Hans Eysenck suggest that there are only
three traits; extroversion-introversion,
neuroticism and psychoticism.

22. Cont’d
7. Social psychology: focus on how the human think
about each others and how they relates to each
other. It also focus on how individual influence
others due to his behavior. It also look into the
individual belief, attitudes, and stereotype to
others.
8. Positive psychology: it utilizes evidence-based
scientific methods to study factors that
contribute to human happiness and strength. It
concern to improve the mental well being of
healthy client.

23. Cont’d ## (19/11)
9. Comparative psychology; scientific study of the
behavior and mental processes of non-human
animals.
10 Industrial–organizational psychology: focus on
optimize human potential in the work place.
11. Evolutionary psychology: examine the
psychological traits such as memory, perception,
or language from modern evolutionary
perspective.

24. REFERENCES
• http://en.wikipedia.org/
• www.simplypsychology.org/