ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGY

P R O F. P R E M A K U M A R A D E S I LVA
D E PA R T M E N T O F S O C I O LO GY
UIVERSIT Y OF COLOMBO
BASIC ISSUE

People behave in different ways.

Every person has his own way of
behaving.
Why they behave differently ?

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DETERMINANT FACTORS OF BEHAVIOR

Biological factors – genetic

Environmental factors – physical ,
social, economic, and cultural
(learning)

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WHAT WE LEARN

Psychological factors – learning

(beliefs, values, attitudes) and
some skills
Physical factors – skills

In general we develop our personality

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DETERMINANT FACTORS AND SUBJECTS
DEAL WITH HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Many factors which govern human behavior:
Biological factors - Bio science
Economic factors - Economics
Socio – Cultural factors - sociology
Political factors – political science
Psychological factors - psychology

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WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology :
-Describe activities of mind
-Describe interlink between mental
processes and behavior
-Scientific study of behavior and mental
processes

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 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

The science of behaviour

and mental processes
that seeks to describe
and explain aspects of
human thought feelings,
perceptions and actions.
Psychology also refers to
the application of such
knowledge to various
spheres of human
activity, including relating
to individuals' daily lives
and the treatment of
mental illness.
Psychology differs from the
other social sciences —
anthropology, economics,
political science, and
sociology — in that
psychology seeks to explain
the mental processes and
behavior of individuals.
Whereas biology and
neuroscience study the
biological or neural processes
and how they relate to the
mental effects they
subjectively produce,
psychology is primarily
concerned with the interaction
of mental processes and
behavior on a systemic level.
The subfield of
neuropsychology
studies the actual
neural processes
while biological
psychology studies
the biological bases
of behavior and
mental states.
ORIGIN

The late 19th century marks the start of

psychology as a scientific enterprise. The
year 1879 is commonly seen as the
start of psychology as an independent
field of study, because in that year
German scientist Wilhelm Wundt
founded the first laboratory dedicated
exclusively to psychological research in
Leipzig, Germany.
 AREAS IN PSYCHOLOGY
 Clinical psychology  Industrial psychology
 Personality psychology  Engineering psychology
 educational psychology  Experimental psychology
 Physiological psychology  Counseling psychology
 Developmental  Community psychology
psychology
 Social psychology
 Health psychology

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GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY

To describe – information about what is actually

occurring
To explain – information about why events occur.
To predict – forecast of future events on the
basis of past events
To modify – change in, or control of, aspects of
the environment in order to change behavior

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EVOLUTION – IMPORTANT FACTORS

Environment and behavior cannot control

What is mind – soul
Where it is – inside or outside the body
Concepts and ideas – by birth or learn
Behavior is governed by – mind or body

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SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN PSYCHOLOGY
AND THEIR MAIN ARGUMENTS
Structuralism – the structure of mind is of prime
important, emphasized the study of elements
of mind
Functionalism – the uses and functions of the
mind are more important than its structure
Gestalt psychology – the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts, concern the pattern
formed by the elements in the mind rather
than the individual elements themselves

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SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN
PSYCHOLOGY …
Psychoanalysis – behavior is controlled
by powerful unconscious urges.
Behaviorism – psychology should focus
on observable events and behavior.
Humanistic psychology – psychology
should focus on uniquely human
experiences.

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SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN PSYCHOLOGY …

Cognitive psychology – psychology

should focus on how the mind
acquires, store, and processes
information.

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PERSPECTIVES WITHIN OR APPROACHES TO
PSYCHOLOGY
The biopsychology perspective – for
every behavior, feeling, and
thought, there is corresponding
physical event that take place in
the brain.
Study the mechanisms of the brain
and nervous system that control
behavior.

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PERSPECTIVES WITHIN OR APPROACHES TO
PSYCHOLOGY

Ethnological approach : the study of the

behavior of animal in natural settings.
The behavioral perspective – if
psychology is to be a science, it must
study only that which is observable –
namely, behavior. Should not worry
about the brain mechanism

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PERSPECTIVES WITHIN OR APPROACHES TO
PSYCHOLOGY
The psychodynamic perspective –
unconscious forces are
important influences on human
behavior. Interested in
behavior’s motivational
dynamics.

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 PERSPECTIVES WITHIN OR APPROACHES TO
PSYCHOLOGY

Humanistic perspective – emphasizes the whole

person and the importance of each person’s
subjective conscious experiences.
The cognitive perspective – a broad term that
refers to the ways we process or transform
information about the world around us.
Cognition includes the mental processes of
thinking, knowing, perceiving, attending,
remembering and use of language.

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Brain

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 BRAIN
Brain stem
Mainly controls unconscious vital functions such as blood
pressure and breathing
Broca's area
Controls speech
Cerebellum
Maintains posture, balance and coordination of
movement
Gustatory area
Controls the sense of taste
Left cerebral hemisphere
Together with right cerebral hemisphere, controls most
conscious and mental activities

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 BRAIN
Left middle cerebral artery
A major source of blood supply to the brain
Motor cortex
Sends instructions to muscles to cause voluntary
movements
Optic radiation
Tract of nerve fibers involved in vision
Parietal lobe
Involved in sensations of pain and touch, spatial
orientation, and speech

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 BRAIN

Prefrontal cortex
Provides ability to plan, reason, concentrate, and
adjust behavior
Premotor cortex
Coordinates series of movements or intricate,
complex movements
Primary auditory cortex
Distinguishes sound qualities (eg, loudness and
tones)
Primary somatic sensory cortex
Receives information from skin receptors,
distinguishing different types of sensations

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 BRAIN
Primary visual cortex
Detects basic parts of a
visual scene
(eg, outlines and light
Or dark)

Wernicke's area
Interprets sensory information

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 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Nervous system is a network
of cells whose functions are
to detect stimuli, guide
motor responses, and
provide the framework
metal processes: it consist
of the brain, the brain stem,
the spinal cord, the cranial
and peripheral nerves, and
the ganglia.

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 PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT

Different in term of: Different in term of:

Skills and abilities – Physical
physical and mental Mental or psychological
abilities
Expectations
Attitudes – based on
beliefs and values
(Knowledge)

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 PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT
Psychological differences -
cognition
-beliefs
-Attitudes
-Values
-Expectations

In way of thinking (self) –

over all personality

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 PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT

Mental skills & abilities

Physical skills &
abilities Numerical
Strength Verbal
Flexibility Perceptual
Stamina Inductive reasoning
Physical balance Creativity

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 BELIEFS AND VALUES

Beliefs are what we

think about people,
things, relationships
etc - How things
happen
Values are what we
think as good and
bad or what we
should do and
should not do

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 ATTITUDES

Attitudes are affective

responses to those
people, things
relationships etc - Is a
predisposition to
respond in a positive
or negative way to
someone or
something in one’s
environment.
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 ATTITUDES …

Components of attitudes
Cognitive component : beliefs and values part
toward person or object
Affective component : person's feeling toward
person or object
Behavioral component : behavioral intension to
behave certain way

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 BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES FORMATION

-Direction by elders and -By instrumental

others conditioning
-Direction by friends -Due to defense mechanism
-Through observation of -Cultural influences
others behavior -Through Indoctrination
-Learning from own
experiences
-Mass media

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ATTITUDE CHANGING STRATEGIES
Providing new and Brain wash
strong information Mass media
Fear arousal or
reduce Counseling
Dissonance
arousal
Participation in
activities

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 BEHAVIOR

Biological
factors
Personality B
Environment E
factors Person’s self H
(beliefs, values, V
Attitudes, skills, I
Expectations) O
Psychological + appearance R
factors

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 BEHAVIOR

B
E
H
Beliefs Values Attitudes A
V
I
O
R

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