This document provides an introduction to the field of psychology. It discusses what psychology is, which is defined as the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. It also outlines the main goals of psychology, which are to describe, explain, predict, and control or change behavior. Several major schools of thought in psychology are then introduced, including structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, and behaviorism. The document concludes by defining what research is in psychology and noting it involves systematically investigating topics to gain new knowledge.

1. Introduction to psychology
By Wasaf Basit

2. What is psychology?
• Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.
• Behavior: actions, feelingsMental processes: problem solving, intelligence, and
memory.
• The word psychology comes from the roots psyche, which means
“mind,” and logos, meaning “knowledge or study.”
• Psychology is the study of thoughts (also called cognition), emotions
(also called affect), and behavior.
•

3. Goals of Psyhchology
• To describe behavior
• To explain behavior
• To predict behavior
• To control or change behavior

4. Goals of Psyhchology
• Description of behavior
• The process of naming and classifying
Description involves observing events and describing them
• Explaining behavior
• Explain an event that is, understanding which means we can state the
causes of a behavior.
This goal of psychology is to explain or understand the causes of behavior

5. Goals of Psyhchology
• Prediction of behavior
• An ability to accurately forecast behavior.
• If you observe that two events occur together rather reliably or with a general frequency
or regularity, you can make predictions about or anticipate (probable) what events may occur.
• Controlling or changing a behavior
• Altering conditions that influence behavior.
The purpose behind explaining and understanding the causes of behavior is the final goal
of psychology, controlling or changing behavior. One needs to understand what is causing a behavior in order to change or
modify it.

6. Basic concepts of Psychology

7. Schools of psychology
• Structuralism
• Wilhelm Wundt is the considered as the father of psychology.
• Structuralism; the first school of psychology.
• He has established the first psychology laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany.
• For Wilhelm Wundt, psychology is the study of consciousness and if consciousness exists then it must have a structure.
• Structuralism also focused on breaking down mental process into the most basic components.
• For example if someone’s hand burns, then overall experience is “feeling of pain” but before feeling the pain to touch the
fire and skin feels the fire, then message conveyed to brain for the pain, if we read this separately then it would e a
structuralist approach.
• Consciousness could be studied by introspection.
• Introspection: observing one’s own thoughts, feelings or sensations. The technique was used to identify the structure of
thoughts.
• Introspection is described as what a person is feeling after providing a stimulus to somebody and then ask him to tell about
his/her feeling; is basically introspection
• With this Wundt and his students identified two basic mental processes sensation and feelings.

8. Something about the history
• Aristotle described psychology as the study of soul.
• Humans enter the world with an inborn store of knowledge (Rene
Descartes)
• According to John Locke, at birth human mind is a “blank slate” on
which experience “writes” knowledge.
• Francis Galton, he was concerned with the study of individual
differences. Galton is also considered as the “father of mental tests”
• Wilhelm Wundt is considered as the father of modern psychology. He
established the first experimental laboratory for the study of
psychology in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany.

9. Schools of psychology
• Functionalism
• William James is considered as the father of functionalism. Professor at Harvard University. Pioneer of
American Psychology.
• Emerged as reaction to structuralism in early 1900s.
• What our mind does and how our behavior functions.
• Not focused on material…. Focused on functions how does things work. For example; , a functionalist might
examine the function of the emotion of fear in preparing us to deal with emergency situations.
• Focused upon the way humans adapt to their environment their role and behavior played an important role to
be better to environment.
• How the consciousness, current state work in given environment.
• Emphasis on the function of human consciousness.
• How behavior helps people to adapt to their environment.

10. Schools of psychology
• Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalytic
• The major work of Freud was his book “The interpretation of dreams” in which he has given the theory of
psychoanalysis
• Unconscious plays a crucial role in human behavior.
• Psychodynamic perspective argue that behavior is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about
which we have little awareness or control.
For Freud, the unconscious was that part of the mind that includes instincts, behaviors, and desires that
we are unaware of but that influence our behavior.
• Until this time, much of psychology had focused on conscious mental processes.
Freud’s focus on the unconscious was unique and led to his formulation of psychoanalytic theory.
• Humans are similar to animals in that they possess basic sexual and aggressive instincts that motivate
behavior.

11. Schools of psychology
• Gestalt School of Psychology
• Founder: Max Wertheimer
• Gestalt psychology developed in early 1900s.
• Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole.
• Gestalt mean “configuration” or whole.
• Opposing structuralist approach.
• It emphasize the significance of studying any phenomenon in its overall form.
• It applies to everything, objects, ideas, thinking process and human relationship.
. Phi-phenomenon; when two or more lights are in close proximity to each other, flashing alternately,
appear to be on light moving back and forth; therefore the whole was different from the separate
parts.

12. Schools of psychology
• Behaviorism
• by J.B Watson
• A psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of observable responses and behavior.
• It must focus on observable behavior and not on the mind.
• You can’t see the mind or what a person thinks; you can only see what a person does.
• Behaviorists believed that only overt, observable behaviors could truly be measured consistently from person to person
• Stimulus-response
• To make prediction about response after knowing the stimulus.
• You can make a child whatever you want him to be; just change the environment.
• To make prediction about the stimulus after knowing the response.
• Pavlov and Skinner

16. Research Methods
• What is research
• A careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge
• Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain
new knowledge
• ‘Research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of voicing the problem, formulating a
hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, analyzing the facts and reaching certain conclusions either
in the form of solutions(s) towards the concerned problem or in certain generalizations for some
theoretical formulation.