Psychology

UNIT : IINTRODUCTION

Content: History and origin of science of

psychology Definitions & Scope of psychology Relevance to nursing Methods of psychology

Aashish PariharNursing TutorCollege of NursingAIIMS, Jodhpur

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGYBefore 1870 psychology was not a separate discipline rather it

was studied under Philosophy.

Some of the contributors of psychology were as follows:- Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 opened first experimental

laboratory in psychology at the University of Leipzig, Germany. He is considered as the father of psychology.

American Psychological Association (APA) was established in 1892 and the founder was G. Stanley Hall.

In 1896 John Dewey and William James supported the functionalism in Psychology.

In 1896 Sigmund Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis. On the basis of this therapy later on he developed the therapy of free association and dream analysis.

In 1905 IQ test developed by Alfred Binet and Thiodore Simon.

In 1913 John B. Watson supported the behavioral aspects of psychology.

In 1921 Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach devised a personality test based on patients' interpretations of inkblots which is named as Rorschach ink blot test

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

In 1921 First Nobel Prize for psychological research was given to Charles Frederick Menninger.

In 1921, Ivan Pavlov developed the theory of classical conditioning through the experimental approach

In 1935 Gestalt Psychology came into existence B.F. skinner proposed the theory of Operant

conditioning

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGYPERSONALITIES OF PSYCHOLOGY

BF Skinner

Sigmund Freud

Ivan Pavlov

Wilhelm WundtFather of Psychology

ORIGIN OF SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY “a science is the body of systematized knowledge that is

gathered carefully observing and measuring events.”

Like any other science Psychology is also based on the observations and experiments which others can repeat and verify.

Psychology concerns with the observation and explanations of human behavior in single individuals or in groups.

“a science deals with a group of related facts and principles of particular subject”

Psychology as a science deals with the motives, feelings, emotions, thoughts action of men and women

like a science, psychology discover and explain the underlying laws and principles of human behavior.

Psychology describes the laws of learning, feelings and thinking.

Like any other science, psychology collects the subject matter or facts of behavior.

Psychology is a positive science not the normative as it describes the facts of human behavior and its laws as they are not as they ought to be.

Wundt was the first psychologist to measure the human behavior accurately.

Sigmund Freud, Maslow, Rogers, Watson, Pavlov and Thichener were all important in the development of Psychology as science.

ORIGIN OF SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY

DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGYThe word "psychology" comes from the Greek word psyche meaning

"breath, spirit, soul", and the Greek word logia meaning the study of something.

Thus we can conclude that psychology is the study of soul.

There are various definitions for psychology given by the variety of authors which are-

* “study of mind”

“descriptions and explanations of state of consciousness” “William James”

* “study of consciousness” …. “Wilhelm Wundt ”

* “positive science of the conduct of the living creature”

“William McDougall”

* “ psychology is the science which aims to give us better understanding and control of the behavior of the organism as a whole”

“William McDougall”

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience — from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. In every conceivable setting from scientific research centers to mental healthcare services, "the understanding of behavior" is the enterprise of psychologists.

“American Psychological Association”

DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology today covers enormous range of scope or fields.

They can be broadly classified into two groups- Basic psychology Applied psychology

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic PsychologyIt is aimed at contributing to knowledge of behavior.

College, universities, laboratories and departments are the main employment settings of the basic Psychology.

Basic psychology has the following subfields:-

1. Developmental psychology

2. Social psychology

3. Physiological psychology

4. Abnormal psychology

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology5. Experimental psychology

6. Psychometrics

7. Cognitive psychology

8. Personality psychology

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology1. Developmental psychology – It studies the human development, physical,

emotional, social, moral emotional and personality development across the life span

Developmental psychology primarily focused on the child development.

But today devotes a great deal of research to adolescence, adult and old age group.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology2. Social psychology- It deals with interpersonal behavior and the role of

social forces in governing behavior. It primarily focuses on attitude formation, attitude

change, prejudice, leadership, conformity, attraction, aggression, intimate relationships and behavior in groups.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology3. Physiological Psychology- It examines the influence of genetic factors on

behavior. It also deals with the brain, nervous system,

endocrine system and bodily chemicals like the neurotransmitters in the regulation of behavior.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology4. Abnormal psychology It is also known as psychopathology. It studies the models, causes, classification,

diagnosis and the treatment of individuals with psychological disorders.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology5. Experimental psychology- Experimental psychologists restricts themselves

chiefly to laboratory research on basic psychological processes, including perception, learning memory, thinking, motivation and emotions.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology6. Psychometrics- It is concerned with the measurements of behavior

and capacities usually through the development of psychological tests.

Psychometrics is involved with the design of tests to assess personality, intelligence, and a wide range of abilities.

It is also involved with the development of new techniques for statistical analysis.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology7. Cognitive psychology- Focuses on higher mental processes such as

memory, thinking, reasoning, information processing, language, problem solving, decision making, creativity and artificial intelligence.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic Psychology8. Personality psychology- It describes and explains the individual consistency

in behavior which represents their personality. The area of interest is also concerned with the

factors that determine personality and personality assessment.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied PsychologyApplied psychology uses the various fields of basic psychology to

improve the quality of life of the human being in various fields like school, industry, hospital, consultancy and community.

Applied psychology has the following subfields-

1. Clinical psychology

2. Counseling psychology

3. Organizational psychology

4. Educational psychology

5. Health psychology

6. Environmental psychology

7. Forensic psychology

8. Sports and exercise psychology

9. Psychology of woman

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology1. Clinical psychology- It deals with the evaluation, diagnosis and

treatment of individual psychological disorders. Principal activities include interviewing the client,

psychological testing, and providing group or individual psychotherapy.

NIMHANS, Bangaluru, central institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi provide the training in clinical psychology.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology2. Counseling Psychology- it usually works with a somewhat different clients,

providing assistance to people struggling with everyday problem of moderate severity. Thus they often engage in family, marital and career counseling.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology3. Organizational Psychology It is an outgrowth of industrial psychology and also

known as organizational behavior . It tries to study and solve the different

organizational problems exist in the school, hospitals, university, military, companies etc.

Here it tries to solve the problems of leadership, group conflicts, conflicts, different levels of organization, organization culture, organization development etc.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology4. Educational Psychology Educational psychology is mainly devoted to an

understanding of the different aspects of the teaching-learning process.

It is concerned with the application of the principles, techniques and methods of psychology to the teaching-learning process.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology5. Health Psychology Health psychology is the field that studies the role

of the psychological factors in the promotion of health and the prevention of illness.

It has the interest in relationship between stress and illness.

It describes the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors.

This model is known as Biopsychosocial model.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology6. Environmental Psychology Environmental psychologists work in school,

industrial and governmental settings. They design work environment and study the

effects of crowding, noise and air pollution on behavior

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology7. Forensic Psychology Forensic psychology applies psychology to the

legal system. They include jury deliberation process and the best

ways to select jurors. Some forensic psychologists train police to handle

domestic disputes, negotiates, negotiate with hostage takers.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology8. Sports and Exercise Psychology This field applies psychology to athletic activities

and exercise It considers the role of motivation, the social

aspects of sports and physiological impact of training on muscle development.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Applied Psychology9. Women Psychology It discusses the psychological factors relating to

women’s behavior and development. It tries to explain various issues like discrimination

against women, structural differences between men and women, the effect of hormones on behavior, causes of violence against women and so on.

SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Methods a psychologist uses for gathering information or facts or data are-

Introspection Descriptive research Experimental method Developmental method

METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Introspection Introspection means looking into oneself or self

observations or self analysis. It involves carefully examining and reporting one’s

own behavior, thoughts, emotions, sensations and mental notes.

In the method of introspection one relies on his memory, draws on his past experiences of analysis his current behavior.


Introspection It is very helpful in self observations without

depending on time. It does not required any device It is the only method by which of the experiences can

be known.


Introspection They can not be verified objectively They cannot be confirmed by others Repeatability is not confirmed Provide little or no informations about the

experiences of infants, mentally ill person or animals.


Descriptive research Descriptive research includes the following

methods- Naturalistic observation Case study survey


Descriptive research Naturalistic observation

“making observations into natural world”o Subjects individuals and animals are observed in

their natural world.o The observer remain unobtrusiveo Naturalistic observation is also used in studying the

animal behavior in natural environment and it is called Ethology.


Descriptive research Case study

“studying individual in depth”o One individual is examined intensively to find out as

much as possible about a certain problem or a issue as it relates to that person .

o It is most often used to investigate the abnormal behavior.o Biographical data, scores on psychological tests and

informations obtained in extensive interview are the measures of the case study or case history methods.

o Overgeneralization and nonobjectivity are the limitations of the case study methods.


Descriptive research Survey

“asking for responses to interview or questionnaire”o It collects informations about behavior, opinion, attitudes, life

experiences or personal characteristics.o Surveys are commonly in the form of interview or

questionnaire.o Question in survey should be clearly worded free from biaso Due to financial constraint researcher administer survey on

sample of people who represent the target population.o Sample for the population should be representative of entire

population.o It is best achieved in terms of random sampling


Experimental method

“establishing cause and effect relationship” Cause effect relationship can be established by

experimental method. In laboratory researcher controls the condition and

measures the relations among variables. A variable is something that can occur with different

value. Independent variable Dependent variable


Developmental method

“observing the period of growth” Used in the field of developmental psychology Physical, social, moral, language and emotions are

observed in the children Developmental method uses the following

techniques-

Normative investigations

Longitudinal study

Cross sectional study


Developmental method Normative investigation

o It describes something that is characteristic of specific age

o These observation provides norms.o Example of normative investigation is Bayley scale

of infant development.


Developmental method Longitudinal study

o In this study change in the same individual or group are studied over a long period of time.

o In it researcher observe for changes in specific characteristic such as language, personality or intelligence.


Physical and mental well being of a patient depends largely on the nurse

A nurse should know the science of behavior for better result to deal with the patient.

Psychology explains the relationship between the psychological stress and physical disorders.

After detail study of the psychology nurse can apply the principles of psychology in the dealing with the patients.

Psychology helps the nurse to accept the individual differences in terms of likings, disliking, emotions, response to stress etc.

RELEVANCE TO NURSING

Psychology also contributes in many therapeutic measures like- behavior therapy, play therapy, psychoanalysis etc.

Psychology helps to understand the concept of self awareness, self esteem.

It describes the coping abilities, defense mechanism used by the patients and theis relevance to diseased conditions.


Psychology helps to understand herself Psychology helps to understand other people It will help her to improve situations by helping

others Make her to understand close relationship between

body mind and spirit.


Healthcare

Psychology