Unit 1 introduction to Psychology
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The document provides an overview of psychology, discussing its historical evolution, key perspectives, and major contributors, including Wilhelm Wundt, Sigmund Freud, and John B. Watson. It emphasizes the relevance of psychology in understanding human and animal behavior, the significance of different psychological methods, and the application of psychological principles in various fields, notably in nursing. Furthermore, it outlines how knowledge of psychology aids nurses in self-understanding, patient care, and effective communication.
Unit 1 introduction to Psychology
- 1. UNIT- 1 INTRODUCTION Tejal D. Virola Faculty (MHN) GHPSCON
- 3. • Offspring of philosophy • Greek word: psychi – soul & logos – study of • Study of soul
- 4. Evolution of meaning of Psychology Study of soul Study of mind Study of conscious experience Study of behaviour
- 6. Major Perspectives of Psychology Biological Cognitive Social Developmental Humanistic Psychoanalytic
- 7. History and Origin of Science of Psychology • Separate area of study • Split away from physiology • 1879- first psychological laboratory was established at the university of Leipzig by German philosopher & Psychologist Wilhelm Wundt • First who measure human behaviour accurately • Father of Psychology
- 8. School of Psychology Psychoanalysis Behaviourism Functionalism Gestalt Psychology Structuralism
- 9. Structuralism • Early school of psychology grew up around the ideas of Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and was established by one of the Wundt's students, Edward B. Titchener. • The goal of the stucturalist was to find the units or elements, which make up the mind. • The main method used to discover these elementary units of mind was introspection.
- 10. Gestalt Psychology • Founded in Germany around 1912 by Max Wertheimer and his colleagues • They felt that structuralists were wrong in thinking of the mind as being made up of elements • They argued that mind could be thought of as resulting from the whole pattern of sensory activity and the relationships and organizations within this pattern.
- 11. Functionalism • John Dewey, James R. Angell and Harvey Carr proposed that psychology should do what mind and behaviour do. • They performed experiments on the ways in which learning, memory, problem solving and motivation help people and animals adapt their environments.
- 12. Behaviourism • Originated with John B. Watson • He insisted that psychology should be restricted to the study of the activities of people and animals – their behaviour
- 13. Psychoanalysis • Founded by Sigmund Freud • He developed theory of behaviour and mind • It is said that what we do and think results from our urges or drives, which seek expression in behaviour and thought • It is expression of the unconscious drives which is shown up in behaviour and thought.
- 14. Major Landmarks Year Major Landmarks 1879 Wilhelm Wundt inaugurates first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany 1890 Principles of psychology published by Williams James 1895 Functionalist Model Formulated 1900 Sigmund Freud develops the psychodynamic perspective 1904 Ivan Pavlov wins Nobel Prize for work on fundamental principles of learning 1915 Strong emphasis on intelligence testing 1924 John B. Watson, an early behaviourist, publishes behaviourism 1951 Carl Rogers publishes client- centered therapy, helping to establish the humanistic perspective
- 15. Cont... Year Major Landmarks 1953 B.F.Skinner publishes Science and Human behaviour, advocating the behavioural perspective 1954 Abraham Maslow publishes Motivation and Personality, developing the concept of self actualization 1957 Leon Festinger publishes A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, producing a major impact on social psychology 1985 Increasing emphasis on cognitive perspective 1990 Greater emphasis on multiculturalism and diversity 2000 New subfields develop such as clinical neuropsychology and evolutionary psychology.
- 16. • Psychology is the science of human and animal Behaviour; it includes the application of Behaviour al science to human problems. Psychology is the science of human Behaviour. (Walter Bowers Pillsbury—1911) • Psychology is a science, which aims to give us better understanding and control of the Behaviour of the organism as a whole. (William McDoughall—1949) Definitions of Psychology
- 17. • Psychology is a science and the properly trained psychologist is a scientist or at least a practitioner, who uses scientific methods or information resulting from scientific investigation. (NL Munn—1967) • Psychology is the investigation of human and animal Behaviour and of the mental and physiological processes associated with the Behaviour. (Jackson—1976) Definitions of Psychology
- 18. Nature of Psychology Method Cause & Effect Relationship Study of facts universality Validity & Reliability Verification Statistical Analysis Predictability
- 19. Scope of Psychology • The scope of a subject can usually be discussed under the following two headings: 1. The limits of its operations and applications. 2. The branches, topics and subject matter with which it deals.
- 20. Scope of Psychology • The field of operation and applications of the subject psychology is too vast. 1. It studies, describes and explains the behaviour of living organisms. 2. It describes all types of life activities and experiences-whether conative, cognitive or affective, implicit or explicit, conscious, unconscious and subconscious of a living organism.
- 21. 3. It studies not only human behaviour, but also human experience, language and other forms of communication. 4. It employs to all the living creatures created by the almighty irrespective of their species, caste, colour, age, sex, mental or physical state. 5. It also studies the behavior of the animals, insects, birds and plant life. Scope of Psychology
- 38. Applications of psychology Education Medicine Business & Industry Criminology Politics Guidance & Counselling Military Science Human Relationship & Self- development
- 39. Relevance to Nursing • Psychology has become necessary in every profession including nursing today. • This is because of increasing emphasis being laid out on the interplay of body, mind and spirit in the health status of every individual. • The success in life of many people depends on how they get along with others, influence others and react to others. • The ability to understand ourselves and others comes from a wise study of psychology.
- 40. The learning of psychology helps a nurse in the following ways: To understand her own self To understand Patients To recognize Abnormal Behaviour To understand other people To provide Quality Care to the Patients Help Patients Adjust to the Situation Help the Student Nurse to Appreciate the Necessity for Changing the Environment or Surroundings Help for Effective Studying Readjustment
- 41. 1. To Understand Her Own Self: • The knowledge of psychology will help the nurse to get an insight into her own motives, desires, emotions, feelings, attitudes, personality characteristics and ambitions. • She will realize how her personality is highly individualistic and complex, arrives at decisions in her life and solves her own problems. • This knowledge also helps her to understand her strengths and weaknesses.
- 42. • By knowing these aspects, she can not only try to overcome such weaknesses, which affect her work, but also develop good personality characteristics, abilities to carry on her responsibilities and perform her duties effectively and efficiently. • This will let her direct her own life more productively and relate more easily with others, enabling her to control situations and attain self-discipline.
- 43. 2. To Understand Patients • The nurses are professionals meant for providing care to patients. • The patient may be suffering from acute or chronic disease; may be male or female, young or old and come to the hospital with so many physical and psychological problems. • They may also have tensions, worries, pains and also many doubts about their illness.
- 44. • The knowledge of psychology will help the nurse to understand the problems and needs of patients and attend to them. • She can understand the motives, attitudes, perceptions and personality characteristics of patients in a better way. • This will help the patient to attain quick relief and cure, which is the basic motto of a nurse.
- 45. 3. To Recognize Abnormal Behaviour • Psychology is relevant not only in physical health care, but also highly relevant in the field of mental health. • Presently more and more people are suffering from mental illness. • While some patients may have minor problems, others suffer with serious illness.
- 46. • The knowledge of psychology will help nurses to understand abnormal behaviours and help the patient in management of mental illnesses. • Nurses working in mental hospitals definitely need an adequate knowledge of normal and abnormal psychology. • The knowledge of psychology helps the nurses in recognizing mental illnesses at general hospitals and community health centres and provide appropriate guidance to deal with stress, anxiety and other life problems.
- 47. 4. To Understand Other People • The student nurse has to study, work and live with other nurses, doctors, patients and their family members. • With her scientific knowledge of human nature, she will understand them better and thus achieve greater success in interpersonal relationships. • She will learn why others differ from her in their likes and dislikes, in their interests and abilities or in their reactions to others. • She will realize how differences in behaviour to some extent, are due to differences in customs and beliefs or cultural patterns of the groups to which she belongs or to the way she has been brought up during her early years.
- 48. 5. To Provide Quality Care to Patients • A nurse with good knowledge of human psychology can understand what fears or anxieties the patient faces, what he feels, what he would like to know and why he behaves the way he does. • It will help the nurse to anticipate and meet requirements of the patients and his relatives, thus help patients and relatives adjust to the unavoidable circumstances in the best possible way. • A good understanding of these patients by the nurse can be of best support to him.
- 49. 6. Help Patients Adjust to the Situation • Illness and physical handicaps often bring about the need for major adjustments. • Many diseases such as heart disease and cancer, etc. require special coping skills and health care. • A nurse trained in psychology can be an effective health educator and help in these kind of adjustments
- 50. 7. Help the Student Nurse to Appreciate the Necessity for Changing the Environment or Surroundings • Good nursing care depends upon the ability of nurse to understand the situations properly and also in obtaining the cooperation of other people concerned. • The change in the environment is sometimes necessary for better adjustment and happiness. • For example, a boy who is completely denied the affectionate care of his parents may do better if he is given the care of foster parents.
- 51. 8. Help for Effective Studying • The nurse has to learn many new things during her training. • She has to obtain the knowledge of correct facts about disease conditions and their treatment. • The study of psychology of learning will help the nurse to acquire knowledge in an effective way.
- 52. 9. Readjustment • Every profession and career requires readjustment. • A nurse needs to make the following kinds of adjustments for success in the nursing career: I. Overcoming homesickness and self-reliance is needed if she has to live smoothly in a hostel or hospital. II. Adjusting to sick persons, who may cry or be desperate or even ventilate their anger by making the nurse a target of their abuses and curses. III. Trying to work and study together.
- 53. Methods of Psychology Introspection or Self Observation Observation Experimental Clinical or Case History Survey Genetic or Developmental
- 54. 1. Introspection or Self Observation • Introduced by E.B Titchener • This is known as self observation method • It means ‘ To look within” • The subject is asked to systematically observe his own behaviour
- 55. Cont... Merits • Fundamental method of psychology. Observation and experimentation are based upon introspection. • It gives us direct, immediate and exact knowledge of our own mental processes. • It enables us to fully understand the Behaviour of an individual. • This method is inexpensive, easy and does not require any apparatus or laboratory. Demerits • Not applicable for children or animals or mentally challenged people • Purely private affair and cannot be verified by other observers. • Patients may not have the insight to know about their conditions or language to describe them accurately. • sometimes involves attention to a mental process (eg. perception)
- 56. 2. Observation • The objective method of studying the Behaviour of individuals. • It consists of the perception of an individual’s Behaviour under natural conditions, its analysis and interpretation by the observer. • It is essentially a way of perceiving the Behaviour as it is. • In this method the observer observes and collects the data
- 57. Cont... • Steps in Observation Method: • Observation of Behaviour • Noting of Behaviour • Interpretation & analysis of Behaviour • Generalization
- 58. Cont... Merits • Economical, natural, as well as flexible • The data can be analyzed, measured, classified and interpreted • The results can be verified and relied • Quite suitable for observing developmental characteristics like children's habits and interests. Demerits • Chances of subjective report • More time, energy and money • It lacks repeatability, as each natural situation can occur only once. • Not being able to establish a proper cause-and effect relationship
- 59. 3. Experimental • It is considered as the most scientific and objective method of studying Behaviour • to study the cause and effect relationship regarding the nature of human Behaviour • the psychologists use objective observations under controlled conditions to observe actions or Behaviours of individuals
- 60. Cont... • Essential Features of Experimental Method • Requires two persons, the experimenter and the subject or the person, whose Behaviour is observed. • Experimentation should be done on living organisms • All experiments are conducted under controlled conditions
- 61. Steps of Experimental Method Compare the results of the two groups Measuring Dependent Variable Allotting the subjects to treatment & control group Treatment group Control group Identifying study subjects Formulation of Hypothesis Stating the Problem
- 62. Cont... Merits • Scientific method • Finds out cause and effect relationship • Maximum control of phenomena • Repetition is possible Demerits • All problems of psychology cannot be studied by this method • Costly and time consuming method. • Handling of this method demands specialized knowledge and skill. • This method fails to study Behaviour in naturalistic conditions. • It cannot always be used especially if the experiment might be dangerous to the subjects.
- 63. 4. Clinical or Case History • This is used in clinical and hospital settings • It aims at studying the cause and basis of people's anxieties, fears and personal maladjustments • A great deal of relevant data is collected by using case histories, interviews, home visits and psychological tests
- 64. Cont... Merits • Case histories will give the clinician an insight into the causes of the problem and suggest possible solutions. • Case studies can be productive sources of ideas for further investigation by other methods. Demerits • The case history method depends largely on memory of incidents, which may have been observed inaccurately or over interpreted.
- 65. 5. Survey • All problems in psychology cannot be studied by the experimental and other methods. • Some problems like study of opinions, attitudes, health care needs. Etc. can be studied by means of survey method. • It involves collection or gathering of information from a large number of people by using questionnaires, inventories, checklists, rating scales and interviews.
- 66. Cont... • Merit • A large amount of data can be collected in a shorter time. • Demerit • The Behaviour is not observed directly.
- 67. 6. Genetic or Developmental • Psychologists study not only the Behaviour of an individual at a particular time, but also his development from birth to death, the influence of heredity and environment in the development of the person and conditions favourable and unfavourable for normal and abnormal Behaviour
- 68. Cont... • This can be done by two ways: 1. Cross-sectional study in which, the children of different age groups will be studied simultaneously. 2. Longitudinal study in which the same child will be studied in different stages of life. • Merits This is a more useful method to understand the Behaviour from point of view of hereditary and environmental influences. • Demerit This method requires more time and energy.