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Introduction to Psychology
Outcomes of the lecture : By the end of this lecture, you will be able to :
1. Define psychology ;
2. Point out its subfields and Psychology has a long past but a short
scope of study ; history
3. Identify its methods of Herman Ebbinghaus
research ;
4. Learn about different
psychologists ;
5. undertake psychological readings and research reporting.
Food-for-Thought Questions
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Introduction
Description
Definition of Psychology
Psychology derives from Ancient Greek words psyche (breath, spirit, mind, life, self)
and logos (study, science, logic). Literally, psychology is the study of the mind. In his
book Psychology, Baucum (1999 : 1-2) defines psychology as ‘’the scientific study of
observable, overt behavior that we either observe directly or measure with
instruments’’. In his book Psychology : An International Perspective, Michael W.
Eysenck (2004: 3) defines psychology as follows : ‘’ ... a science in which behavioural
and other evidence is used to understand the internal processes leading to people
(and members of other species) to behave as they do’’. In his book Psychology :
Concepts & Connections, Spencer A. Rathus (2006 : 4) identifies psychology
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According to Rozenweig (1992), 64% of the world’s 56, 000 researchers in psychology
are Americans (Eysenck Psychology : an International Perspective: 11).
Emergence of Psychology
The German scholar Wilhelm M. Wundt (16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) is widely
acknowledged to be the first who conducted research on mental processes in his
laboratory at Leipzig1 University. Thus, he is considered by many psychology
textbook writers to be the founding father of (experimental) psychological studies in
the western world.
development
(physical/mental/emotional) Everybody should do at least two things
each day that he hates to do, just for
emotions : happiness and distress
practice.
intelligence and emotional intelligence/ William James
multiple intelligences
mind
motivation
personality
unconscious/ subconscious
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Leipzig is a town in the north east of Federal Republic of Germany.
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Introspection
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which dveloped over the years through repression, through dream analysis, word
association, and other psychotherapy techniques (hypnosis and other techniques).
Behaviorism
Subfields of Psychology
Educational Psychology : Educational psychologists study how people learn, and they
design the methods and materials used to educate people of all ages. Many educational
psychologists work in universities, in both psychology departments and schools of
education. Some conduct basic research on topics related to the learning of reading, writing,
mathematics, and science. Others develop new methods of instruction including designing
computer software. Still others train teachers and they investigate factors that affect teachers'
performance and morale.
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Social Psychology : Social psychologists study how people interact with each other and
how they are affected by social environments. They sindividuals as well as groups,
observable behaviors, and private thoughts. Topics of interest to social psychologists include
personality theories, the formation of attitudes and attitude change, attractions between
people such as friendship and love, prejudice, group dynamics and violence and aggression.
Social psychologists might, for example, study how attitudes toward the elderly influence
the elderly person's selfconcept, or they might investigate how unwritten rules of behavior
develop in groups and how those rules regulate the conduct of group members.
Quiz
Task One : Are the following statements true or false ? Write T/F in the space provided.
1. ___ Psychology refers exclusively to the scientific study of human mind and behavior.
2. ___ Developmental psychologists are interested in age-related changes.
3. ___ Behaviorists disregard observable phenomena such as behavior.
4. ___ Behavior is whatever you say or do.
Task Two : Match psychologists with their theories.
Psychologists Theories
S. Freud Functionalism
B. F. Skinner Gestalt
W. James Structuralism
M. Wertheimer Behaviorism
W. Wundt Psychotherapy
Task Three : Define in your own words.
1. Psycholinguistics
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http://www.uni.edu/walsh/subarea.html
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2. Gestalt Theory
3. Social Psychology
4. Educational psychology
Task Four : Read then answer the questions
It is generally agreed that gifted children differ from their peers in ways other than intellectual ability
alone. Evidence of this was found by the American psychologist Lewis M. Terman, who in 1921
initiated a study of more than 1,500 gifted children with IQs higher than 140. Following the study
participants as they aged, Terman observed a greater drive to achieve, along with greater mental and
social adjustment, among the gifted group as compared with nongifted children. In another early 20th-
century study, which focused on children with IQs greater than 180, psychologist Leta Hollingworth
found that individuals within this group were very sensitive to the ways in which they differed from
others and often suffered from problems such as boredom and rejection by their peers. Variability of
development is another characteristic observed in gifted children. In the late 20th century, the
term asynchrony was used to describe the developmental characteristics of gifted children; that is, their
mental, physical, emotional, and social abilities may all develop at different paces.
In theory, there are three ways of educating children who are intellectually and academically more
advanced than their peers: (1) acceleration, whereby the gifted child is allowed to learn material at a
more rapid pace or is promoted more rapidly through grades; (2) enrichment, whereby the gifted child
works through the usual grades at the usual pace but with a curriculum supplemented by a variety of
cultural activities; and (3) differentiation, whereby gifted children are accelerated or enriched within
the regular classroom.
Task Five : In an esssay form, write about an event that has marked you psychologically and
try to explain wwhy it has.
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