The document discusses the complexities and challenges in defining psychology as a science, highlighting the crisis related to understanding concepts such as mind, behavior, and consciousness. It distinguishes between various types of psychological theories—developmental, grand, mini, and emergent—and explains their roles in understanding human behavior. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of studying these theories for historical context and personal development.

1. Why Psychology Theory?
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2. Psychology as a science or something else
 The science of psychology cannot be coherently defined.
 Historically, this is known as the crisis in psychology.
 It is an important but forgotten problem.
 Solving it means we would know how to define mind, behaviour, consciousness,
and the self.
 Historically, psychology used to be the science of human consciousness, which is
different from the mind as a whole.
 A new synthesis for solving the problem proposed regards it as The essence of the hard
problem is explaining what it is, that causes the subjective conscious experience of
being.
 There is also confusion about its core identity .For some, psychology is the
 Science of behaviour,
 Science of the mind.
 Natural Science
 Social Science
 Humanities
 Basic Science
 Health Service profession
 Problem points to a central gap in our current knowledge systems and shows that we are
operating from an inadequate conception of knowledge in general.

3. What Is a Theory?
 The term theory used frequently often mean a guess,
hunch, or supposition.
 Many people dismiss certain information because it is
"only a theory.“
 But in study of psychology and other scientific topics, a
theory is different from the colloquial use of the term.
 What Exactly Is a Theory?
 A theory is a based upon a hypothesis and backed by
evidence.
 A theory presents a concept or idea that is testable.
 In science, a theory is not merely a guess.
 A theory is a fact-based framework for describing a
phenomenon.
 In psychology, theories are used to provide a model for
understanding human thoughts, emotions, and
behaviors.
 A psychological theory has two key components:

4. Theories
 Psychology's history has witnessed a number of different theories being
proposed to explain and predict various aspects of human behavior.
 Some of these theories have stood the test of time and remain well-
accepted today.
 Others have not held up under close scientific scrutiny and may have been
rejected altogether or only partially accepted by researchers today.
 Examples of a psychological theory, may be :
 Classical Conditioning
 Attachment Theory
 Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
 Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development
 Each theory has contributed to knowledge base of the human mind and
behavior.
 Some theories such as classical conditioning are still well-accepted today.
 Others, like Freud's theories, have not held up so well and have been
mostly replaced by new theories that better explain human development.

5. Types of Psychology Theories
 Most of psychology theories can be categorized as one of four key types:
 1. Developmental Theories
 Developmental theories provide a set of guiding principles and concepts that
describe and explain human development.
 Some developmental theories focus on the formation of a particular quality,
such as Kohlberg's theory of moral development.
 Other developmental theories focus on growth that happens throughout
the lifespan, such as Erikson's theory of psychosocial development.
 2. Grand Theories
 Grand theories are those comprehensive ideas often proposed by
major thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Jean Piaget.
 Grand theories of development include
 Psychoanalytic theory,
 Learning theory and
 Cognitive theory.
 These theories seek to explain much of human behavior but are
often considered outdated and incomplete in the face of modern
research.
 Psychologists and researchers often use grand theories as a basis
for exploration, but consider smaller theories and recent research
as well.

6. Types of Psychology Theories
 3.Mini-theories
 Mini-theories describe a small, very particular aspect of
development.
 A mini-theory might explain relatively narrow behaviors,
such as how self-esteem is formed or early childhood
socialization.
 These theories are rooted in the ideas established by
grand theories, but they do not seek to describe and
explain the whole of human behavior and growth.
 4.Emergent Theories
 Emergent theories are those that have been created
relatively recently and are often formed by
systematically combining various mini-theories.
 These theories often draw on research and ideas from
many different disciplines but are not yet as broad or far-
reaching as grand theories.
 The sociocultural theory proposed by theorist Lev
Vygotsky is a good example of an emergent theory of

7. Reasons to Study Psychology
Theories
 In psychology courses/personality development capsule ,
you may be questioning the necessity of learning about so
many different psychology theories, especially those that
are considered inaccurate or outdated.
 However, all of these theories provide valuable
information about the history of psychology, the
progression of thought on a particular topic and a deeper
understanding of current theories.
 By understanding how thinking has progressed, you
can get a better idea not only of where psychology has
been, but where it might be going in the future.
 It also help one to understand own failures in terms of
environment , genetics and lost /fettered away
opportunities and may be a motivation to make up lost
ground using own strength.
 These theories help an individual to identify own
strength and weakness so that he can exploit his
strength to sweep away weaknesses and develop