Lesson 01

Introduction to Psychology

Misconceptions about psychology and psychologists

Anybody who has studied psychology can read people’s personality
 This is the most frequent thought that comes into the mind of people who believe that
psychologists are like magicians who can tell everything about any person, his thoughts,
feelings emotions, personality and all that other people cannot tell.

 This actually is not the case, because psychologists are not the magicians or something
like that.

 They are professionals and their area of interest is basically the study of human
behavior and mental processes; and this requires good observation as well as good
prediction.

 Another important thing that has to be kept in mind is that not all of those who have a
degree in psychology can understand, explain, and predict the personality or behavior of
a person, because it mainly requires not just good observation but proper training as
well.

Psychologists can predict fate or destiny

 This is not actually the case.
 Lay people have these views because they see that psychologists are capable of
accurately telling what type of people others are, what they are capable of doing, what
are their potentials and capacities etc.
 In reality, the case is different since psychologists can only predict not the destiny but
the direction that one may adopt in future; psychologists can assess and predict
personality and behavior because they get professional training for studying human
behavior and that is why they can easily tell what type of a person one is, what might be
his potentials, and how much he/ she is capable of performing certain tasks.

Psychologists are doctors

 Another very common misconception is that psychologists are doctors.
 Psychologists are not at all doctors; they are specially trained people who deal with the
psychological problems and not the medical problems.
  Psychiatrists, on the other hand, are doctors who have a professional degree in
medicine as well as training in treating those suffering from psychiatric/ psychological
problems.

Psychologists give medicines

- Not psychologist, but psychiatrists are the ones who prescribe medicine to the mentally
ill patients, as they have a professional degree in medicine that authorizes them to
prescribe medication.

DEFINITION
 - Psychology refers to----- the scientific study of the mind.
- Since science studies only -------observable phenomena and the mind is not directly
observable. We expand this definition to--- the scientific study of mind and behavior.

- “Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior”.

- “Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes …. Human or

Animal”

Psychology focuses on behavior & mental processes

- Behavior refers to what we “Do” & “Say”.
- Psychologists study behaviors because---behavior can be observed and measured.
- Behavior is overt (evident), manifest (clear), obvious (visible), and easy to study;
- The mental processes (mind) that help carryout these behaviors are covert (secret),
underlying, hidden, and not easy to study.
- Behaviors refer to not only to motor activities, for example:
o talking, running, driving, laughing, eating, sitting, sleeping, etc.
- But also to others indirect activities like:
 Raised eyebrows.
 Quizzical smile.
 How we dress?
 And more importantly,
 What we say?
 How we say?
 When we say?
- Psychologists are interested not only in behaviors (observable actions) but also in
mental processes such as:
 feelings,
 thoughts,
 beliefs,
 attitudes,
 intentions, and goals.
- These (feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions and goals) are not directly
observable but can be inferred (concluded) from behaviors. Besides behavior, what
causes these behaviors to occur and the mental processes involved in it is an important
area of interest for a psychologist.
Psychologists study animals’ behavior too; to better understand and predict human behavior,
the study of animal behavior becomes essential at times, especially because some researches
cannot be carried out with humans due to safety reasons or ethical issues.

Goals of Psychology
Main and important goals of psychology, or in other words of understanding human behavior
and mental processes, are;
• To understand the nature and mechanisms of behavior and mental processes
• To develop an understanding of the relationship between behavior and mental
processes
• To apply this understanding to real life situations and, on the basis of this
understanding, predict for the future
• To employ the scientific approach for developing this understanding

In short, the main goals of psychology are:

a) Observation,
b) Description,
c) Explanation,
d) Understanding,
e) Prediction, and
f) Control of human behavior and mental processes.

Scientific nature of Psychology

Psychology is a science
It employs the scientific method for gathering knowledge and information. It uses scientific
procedure that is essential to be adopted in order to carry out psychological research;
otherwise the research will not be considered authentic, reliable, or scientifically valuable.

“Scientific method is a systematic and organized series of steps that scientists adopt for
exploring any phenomenon in order to obtain accurate and consistent results. These steps
involve observation, description, control, and replication”.

These are the main components of any science or scientific discipline. The methods of how to
gather, process, and analyze information properly and accurately are very important in
psychology as well.
Remember! Science does not deal with the supernatural
A number of people commonly believe, and they did more so in olden times, that the evil
spirits, demons, or ghosts are the root cause of mental illness. Therefore, for them, psychology
may be the approach that can free man of the supernatural possessions, which is a wrong
belief. Psychology does not deal with the supernatural phenomena like any other science; it
deals with only those behaviors that are overt can be experienced by our senses, that can be
understood in psychological/scientific terms, and that can be dealt with through psychology
interventions.

Scope of psychology
After doing a degree course in psychology one may join a variety of work settings, the most
common being:
• Education/teaching
• Research
• Hospitals/clinics
• Recruiting/screening agencies
• Specialized professional settings e.g. armed forces, social welfare etc.

Popular areas of psychology

Psychology is a diverse discipline that is made up of several major subdivisions with unique
perspectives
1. Clinical Psychology
- Clinical psychology involves the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and
other problematic behavioral patterns.
- A branch of psychology concerned with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of abnormal
behavior. It is the oldest as well as the most well-known branch of psychology. Clinical
psychologists are trained to diagnose and treat problems ranging from the everyday
crises of life such as grief due to the death of a loved one, to more extreme conditions,
such as a loss of touch with reality.
- Some clinical psychologists also conduct research, investigating issues that range from
identifying the early signs of psychological disturbance, and studying the relationship
between how family members communicate with one another, to the understanding of
a wide variety of psychological disorders.

2. Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology

- Industrial and organizational psychology applies psychological concepts to I-O settings.
- A branch of psychology that studies the psychology in action at the workplace, including
productivity, job satisfaction, and decision-making.
3. Health Psychology
- Health psychologists look for ways to help people live healthier lives.
- The branch of psychology that explores the relationship of psychological factors and
physical ailments or disease e.g. Health psychologists are interested in how the long-
term stress (a psychological factor) can affect physical health.
- They are also concerned with identifying ways of promoting behaviors related to good
health (such as exercise) or discouraging unhealthy behaviors (such as smoking, drinking
etc).

4. Consumer Psychology
- A branch of psychology that studies and explains our buying habits and our effects of
advertising a buying behavior. Mainly dealt with the likes and dislikes and preferences of
people.

5. Environmental Psychology
- A branch of psychology, that focuses upon the relationship between people and their
physical environment. It is one of the newly emerging, and in-demand, areas of
psychology. Environmental psychologists have made significant progress in
understanding how our physical environment affects the way we behave toward others,
our emotions, and how much stress we experience in a particular setting.

6. Sport Psychology
- Sport and exercise psychologists study the interactions between thoughts, emotions,
and physical performance in sports, exercise, and other activities.
- The branch of psychology, that studies the psychological variables that have an impact
upon the
- Sports persons’ performance; e.g. how stress can affect sport performance, how morale
can be boosted, the role of self-concept and esteem, the impact of crowd behavior etc.

7. Forensic Psychology
- Forensic psychologists carry out activities related to psychology in association with the
justice system.
- The branch of psychology that investigates legal issues and psychological variables
involved in criminal behavior ; e.g. what factors determine criminal tendencies, how
criminals be transformed, deciding what criteria indicate that a person is legally insane,
and whether larger and smaller juries make fairer decisions
8. Biological psychology
- This field of psychology is often referred to as biopsychology or physiological psychology
- It involves the study of the biological bases of behavior.
- The biological perspective is a way of looking at psychological issues by studying the
physical basis for animal and human behavior. It is one of the major perspectives in
psychology and involves such things as studying the brain, immune system, nervous
system, and genetics.
- Biological psychology tries to explain how we think, feel and behave in terms of physical
factors within the body.

9. Sensation Psychology:
- Sensation and perception are two separate processes that are very closely related.
Sensation is input about the physical world obtained by our sensory receptors, and
perception is the process by which the brain selects, organizes, and interprets these
sensations.
- Sensation and perception refer to the area of psychology that is focused on how
information from our sensory modalities is received, and how this information is
transformed into our perceptual experiences of the world around us.
- Sensation is the process that allows our brains to take in information via our five senses,
which can then be experienced and interpreted by the brain. Sensation occurs thanks to
our five sensory systems: vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Each of these systems
maintains unique neural pathways with the brain which allows them to transfer
information from the environment to the brain very rapidly.

10. Cognitive psychology

- It is concerned with the relationship that exists between thought and behavior.
- The study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.
- Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on the way people
process information. It looks at how we process information we receive and how the
treatment of this information leads to our responses. In other words, cognitive
 psychology is interested in what is happening within our minds that
links stimulus (input) and response (output).
- Cognitive psychologists study internal processes that include perception, attention,
language, memory, and thinking. They ask questions like:
o How do we receive information about the outside world?
o How do we store and process information?
o How do we solve problems?
o How does a breakdown in our perceptions cause errors in our thinking?
o How do errors in our thinking lead to emotional distress and negative behaviors?

11. Development Psychology

- Developmental psychologists study the physical and cognitive changes that occur
throughout one’s lifespan.
- Developmental psychology is the study of how we change over our
lifespans. Physical, intellectual, and emotional growth all contribute to psychological
development.

12. Personality Psychology

- Personality psychology focuses on individuals’ unique patterns of behavior, thought, and
emotion.
- Psychologists strive to understand how personality develops as well as how it influences
the way we think and behave. This area of psychology seeks to understand personality
and how it varies among individuals as well as how people are similar in terms of
personality. Psychologists also assess, diagnose, and treat personality disorders that can
interfere with an individual's day-to-day life.