Chapter 1: What is Psychology?

Psychology | Class 11

Chapter 1: What is Psychology?

This chapter will help you:

Understand what psychology is and its role in understanding the mind and behaviour.
Learn about the growth and evolution of this discipline.
Discover the different fields within psychology and how it connects with other subjects and professions.
Appreciate how psychology is valuable in your daily life to understand yourself and others better.

1. Introduction: What is Psychology?

Defining Psychology

It’s quite hard to give a single definition for any field of knowledge because it’s always changing and growing.
Historically, the word “psychology” comes from two Greek words: “psyche” meaning soul or mind, and “logos” meaning science or study of a subject. So, it was once seen as the study of the soul or mind.
However, modern psychology has moved beyond just studying the soul and has become a scientific discipline.
Formal Definition: Psychology is formally defined as a science that studies mental processes, experiences, and behaviour in different contexts.
To study these, psychology uses methods from both biological and social sciences to gather data systematically and organize it into knowledge.

Three Key Terms in Psychology’s Definition:

Mental Processes:

These are the internal activities of our minds, like thinking, solving problems, remembering, knowing, perceiving, and feeling.
They refer to our states of consciousness or awareness.
While our brain activity reflects these processes (and can be observed with techniques like brain imaging), mental processes are not the same as brain activities; they are interdependent but not identical.
The mind itself doesn’t have a physical structure or location; it emerges and evolves from our interactions and experiences, organizing into a system responsible for these mental processes.
Psychologists study these processes to understand how the mind works and how to improve our mental capacities.

Experiences:

Experiences are subjective and internal; only the person experiencing them can be aware of them. We can’t directly observe someone else’s experience.
They are deeply embedded in our awareness or consciousness.
Psychologists study various experiences, from pain in illness or bereavement to positive feelings in romantic encounters, and even unique experiences like meditation or drug-induced highs.
Experiences are influenced by both internal and external conditions. For example, being in a crowded bus on a hot day might not be uncomfortable if you’re excited about a picnic with friends. Understanding an experience requires analyzing a complex mix of these conditions.

Behaviour:

Behaviours are the responses or reactions we make or the activities we engage in.
They can be simple (like blinking when something is thrown at you) or complex (like deciding to watch a movie).
Overt behaviours are those that can be outwardly seen or sensed by an observer (e.g., running, talking).
Covert behaviours are internal (e.g., your heart pounding during an exam, twitching hand muscles while playing chess).
All behaviours, whether overt or covert, are triggered by stimuli (events or changes) in the environment or internally. For example, seeing a tiger (external stimulus) might make you run, or thinking there is a tiger (internal stimulus) might make you flee.
Some psychologists study behaviour as a direct association between a stimulus (S) and a response (R), where both can be internal or external.

2. Understanding Mind and Behaviour

Mind vs. Brain:

Psychology once defined itself as the “science of the mind,” but for a long time, the mind was considered a “taboo” because it couldn’t be concretely defined or located.
Thanks to neuroscientists and physicists, the term “mind” has regained its importance.
While the mind cannot exist without the brain, it is considered a separate entity.
There are interesting cases that show this distinction:
- Patients who had the parts of their brain responsible for vision surgically removed could still respond correctly to visual cues, suggesting their “mind” was still processing information despite brain damage.
- An athlete who lost an arm in an accident still felt a “phantom arm” and its movements, reaching out for a coffee cup, indicating that the mind’s experience was separate from the physical limb.
- A young man with brain injury claimed his parents were “duplicates,” suggesting his mind’s perception of reality was altered despite brain damage.
- In these cases, while parts of the brain were damaged, the “mind” remained intact in its own way.

Relationship between Mind and Body:

Scientists once believed the mind and body were separate and parallel.
However, recent studies in affective neuroscience have clearly shown a strong relationship between the mind and behaviour.
For example, positive visualization techniques and positive emotions can bring about significant physical changes in the body.
Studies by Ornish showed that patients with blocked arteries experienced significant relief when they visualized blood flowing through them.
Mental imagery (images created in the mind) has been used to cure phobias.
A new field, Psychoneuroimmunology, emphasizes how the mind strengthens the immune system.

3. Popular Notions about the Discipline of Psychology

Common Sense vs. Scientific Psychology:

Most people often act like “psychologists” in everyday life, trying to explain why someone behaved a certain way, and they develop their own “theories” about human behaviour.
These popular theories, based on common sense, may or may not be scientifically true.
A major issue with common-sense explanations is that they are often based on hindsight; they explain things after they have happened, rather than predicting them beforehand.
Example: If a friend moves away, common sense offers two opposite sayings: “Out of sight, out of mind” and “Distance makes the heart grow fonder”. Which one is true depends on what happens later, and you’ll pick the saying that fits the outcome. This shows common sense explains after the fact.
Psychology as a science, however, looks for patterns of behaviour that can be predicted before they occur, not just explained afterwards.

Scientific Knowledge Challenges Common Sense:

Often, scientific findings in psychology go against common sense.

Dweck’s Study (1975):

Common sense suggests that to help children who give up easily, you should give them easy problems to boost their confidence, and then gradually introduce difficult ones.
Dweck tested this: One group was given only easy math problems and always succeeded. Another group got a mix of easy and difficult problems, and when they failed, they were told it was due to lack of effort and encouraged to keep trying.

Result:

The group that always succeeded gave up much faster when faced with failure later on. The group that had experience with both success and failure, and was taught to attribute failure to lack of effort, persisted more. This contradicts the common-sense belief.

Other common beliefs that scientific studies have proven untrue:
Men are more intelligent than women.
Women cause more accidents than men.
You perform worse in front of a large audience (in reality, if you’ve practiced well, the presence of others can actually improve performance).

Psychologists vs. Non-Scientific Practitioners:

As you study psychology, you’ll realize that psychologists are different from astrologers, tantriks, and palm readers.
Psychologists systematically examine ideas based on actual data to develop principles about human behaviour and mental phenomena, ensuring their understanding is scientific and verifiable.

4. Evolution of Psychology

Psychology, as a modern scientific discipline, has a relatively short history, largely influenced by Western developments, though it grew out of ancient philosophical questions.

Formal Beginning: Structuralism (1879)

Modern psychology officially began in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
Wundt was interested in studying conscious experience and wanted to analyze the “structure” of the mind by breaking it down into its basic components or “building blocks”.
This approach was called Structuralism.
The main method used was introspection, where individuals were asked to describe their own mental processes and experiences in detail.
Limitation: Introspection was criticized because the reports couldn’t be verified by outside observers, making it less scientific.

Functionalism (Late 19th Century)

Soon after Wundt, American psychologist William James set up a laboratory in the USA.
He developed Functionalism, which focused on what the mind does and how behaviour functions to help people adapt to their environment, rather than just its structure.
Functionalists looked at how behaviour helps people satisfy their needs.
James believed consciousness was an ongoing “stream” of mental processes interacting with the environment.
John Dewey applied functionalism, arguing humans adapt to function effectively in their environment.

Gestalt Psychology (Early 20th Century)

Emerging in Germany around 1912 as a reaction to Structuralism.
Gestalt psychologists argued that when we perceive the world, our perceptual experience is more than just the sum of its parts.
They believed that experience is holistic; it’s a “Gestalt” (meaning “form” or “pattern”).
Example: A series of flashing lights is experienced as movement, not just individual flashes. A movie is seen as continuous motion, not separate still pictures.

Behaviourism (Early 20th Century)

Around 1910, John Watson rejected the study of mind and consciousness altogether, considering them unobservable and subjective.
Influenced by Pavlov’s work on classical conditioning, Watson insisted that scientific psychology must focus only on what is observable and verifiable.
He defined psychology as the scientific study of behaviour (or responses to stimuli) that can be objectively measured.
B.F. Skinner further developed behaviourism, applying it to many situations and making it a major approach.

Psychoanalysis (Early 20th Century)

Sigmund Freud developed a radical view of human nature around 1900.
He saw human behaviour as driven by unconscious desires and conflicts.
Freud founded Psychoanalysis as a system to understand and treat psychological disorders. It viewed humans as motivated by unconscious, pleasure-seeking (often sexual) desires.

Humanistic Perspective (Mid-20th Century)

Developed by psychologists like Carl Rogers (1951) and Abraham Maslow (1954), this approach took a more positive view of human nature.
Humanists emphasized free will, the natural striving to grow, and the desire to unfold one’s inner potential.
They argued that behaviourism, by focusing on environmental determination of behaviour, ignored human freedom and dignity, taking a mechanistic view.

Cognitive Perspective (Mid-20th Century onwards)

This perspective emerged by combining aspects of Gestalt psychology and structuralism.
It focuses on cognition, which is the process of knowing.
Cognition involves mental processes like thinking, understanding, perceiving, memorizing, problem-solving, and decision-making, which help us develop knowledge of the world and interact with it.
Some cognitive psychologists see the human mind as an information-processing system, similar to a computer, which receives, processes, transforms, stores, and retrieves information.
Constructivism: Modern cognitive psychology views humans as actively constructing their own minds through exploring their physical and social world.
Piaget’s view of child development is a constructivist theory.
Vygotsky suggested that the human mind also develops through social and cultural processes, meaning the mind is culturally constructed through interaction between adults and children.

Key Landmarks in the Evolution of Modern Psychology (Box 1.1)

1879: Wilhelm Wundt opens the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
1890: William James publishes Principles of Psychology.
1895: Functionalism is established.
1900: Sigmund Freud develops Psychoanalysis.
1912: Gestalt psychology is born in Germany.
1924: John B. Watson publishes Behaviourism, establishing the approach.
1951: Carl Rogers publishes Client-Centred Therapy.
1953: B.F. Skinner publishes Science and Human Behaviour, strengthening behaviourism.
1954: Abraham Maslow publishes Motivation and Personality.

5. Development of Psychology in India

Early Influences:

India has a rich philosophical tradition focusing on mental processes, consciousness, mind-body relations, and various mental functions.
However, modern psychology in India has been largely dominated by Western psychology, with attempts now being made to integrate Indian philosophical insights through scientific studies.

Modern Era Begins:

The modern era started in the Department of Philosophy at Calcutta University.
The first syllabus of experimental psychology was introduced, and the first psychology laboratory was established in 1915.
Calcutta University also started the first Department of Psychology in 1916 and a Department of Applied Psychology in 1938.
Key figures: Dr. N.N. Sengupta, trained in Wundt’s experimental tradition, and Professor G. Bose, trained in Freudian psychoanalysis, significantly influenced early development.
Professor Bose established the Indian Psychoanalytical Association in 1922.

Durganand Sinha’s Four Phases of Indian Psychology (1986):

Phase 1 (Till Independence): Emphasis was on experimental, psychoanalytic, and psychological testing research, largely reflecting Western developments.
Phase 2 (Till 1960s): This was a phase of expansion into different branches. Indian psychologists sought to create an “Indian identity” by linking Western psychology to the Indian context, using Western ideas to understand Indian situations.
Phase 3 (Post-1960s): Psychology in India became more problem-oriented, focusing on addressing issues within Indian society. The limitations of relying too much on Western psychology for India’s social context were realized.
Phase 4 (Late 1970s onwards): This phase is characterized by indigenisation. Indian psychologists started developing understanding based on culturally and socially relevant frameworks, moving away from purely Western models. There were attempts to create psychological approaches based on traditional Indian knowledge from ancient texts.

Current Status:

Psychology in India is a strong and growing discipline, with many teaching, research, and application centers. It is becoming more contextual, developing psychological principles rooted in India’s social and cultural context, and also engaging in neuro-biological and health sciences research. Psychologists are now employed in diverse professional areas like hospitals (clinical), corporate HRD, advertising, sports, development, and IT.

6. Branches of Psychology

Psychology has many specialized fields, each with its own focus:

Cognitive Psychology:

Investigates mental processes involved in how we acquire, store, manipulate, transform, use, and communicate information.
Key processes include attention, perception, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, and language.
Cognitive psychologists often conduct experiments in labs and collaborate with neuroscientists and computer scientists.

Biological Psychology (or Biopsychology / Physiological Psychology):

Focuses on the relationship between behaviour and the body’s physical systems.
This includes the brain and nervous system, immune system, and genetics.
Neuropsychology is a related field where psychologists and neuroscientists study the role of neurotransmitters and brain areas in mental functions, using advanced technologies like EEG, PET, and fMRI.

Developmental Psychology:

Studies the physical, social, and psychological changes that occur across a person’s entire lifespan, from conception to old age.
The main question is: How do we become who we are?.
While traditionally focused on child and adolescent development, there’s growing interest in adult development and aging.
They look at biological, socio-cultural, and environmental factors influencing intelligence, cognition, emotion, temperament, morality, and social relationships.

Social Psychology:

Explores how people are affected by their social environments and how they think about and influence others.
Topics include attitudes, conformity, obedience, interpersonal attraction, helpful behaviour, prejudice, aggression, and inter-group relations.

Cross-cultural and Cultural Psychology:

Examines the role of culture in understanding behaviour, thought, and emotion.
It assumes human behaviour is not just biological potential, but also a product of culture, so behaviour must be studied in its socio-cultural context.

Environmental Psychology:

Studies the interaction between physical factors (like temperature, humidity, pollution, natural disasters) and human behaviour.
It also investigates the influence of physical workplace arrangements on health, emotions, and relationships.
Research topics include waste disposal, population, energy conservation, and community resource use related to human behaviour.

Health Psychology:

Focuses on the role of psychological factors (e.g., stress, anxiety) in the development, prevention, and treatment of illness.
Areas of interest include stress and coping, the link between psychological factors and health, patient-doctor relationships, and promoting health-enhancing behaviours.

Clinical and Counselling Psychology:

Clinical Psychology: Deals with the causes, treatment, and prevention of various psychological disorders like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
Counselling Psychology: Aims to improve everyday functioning by helping people solve daily problems and cope with challenging situations. Counselling psychologists often work with students on personal problems and career planning.
Distinction from Psychiatry:
- A clinical psychologist has a psychology degree with training in treating disorders but cannot prescribe medication or give electroshock treatments.
- A psychiatrist has a medical degree with specialized training in psychological disorders and can prescribe medications and perform medical treatments.

Industrial/Organisational Psychology (I/O Psychology):

Deals with workplace behaviour, focusing on both employees and organizations.
Concerns include employee training, improving work conditions, and developing selection criteria for employees.
I/O psychologists often have training in cognitive and social psychology.

Educational Psychology:

Studies how people of all ages learn.
Educational psychologists develop instructional methods and materials for educational and work settings.
They research education, counselling, and learning problems.
School Psychology is a related field that designs programs to promote children’s intellectual, social, and emotional development, especially for those with special needs, and applies psychology in school settings.

Sports Psychology:

Applies psychological principles to improve sports performance by enhancing motivation and other mental aspects. It’s a newer but growing field.

Other Emerging Branches:

Many interdisciplinary fields are emerging, such as aviation psychology, space psychology, military psychology, forensic psychology, rural psychology, engineering psychology, managerial psychology, community psychology, psychology of women, and political psychology.

7. Psychology and Other Disciplines

Psychology doesn’t exist in isolation; it interacts with and borrows from many other fields of knowledge, creating an interdisciplinary approach.

Philosophy:

Historically, questions about the nature of the mind and human motivations were philosophical concerns.
When Wundt applied an experimental approach to these questions, modern psychology emerged.
Even today, psychology draws heavily from philosophy, especially regarding methods of knowing and understanding human nature.

Medicine:

Doctors increasingly recognize that a “healthy body requires a healthy mind”. Many hospitals now employ psychologists.
Psychologists help prevent unhealthy behaviours, ensure patients follow medical regimens, and provide counselling for those with serious illnesses (like cancer, AIDS), physically challenged individuals, or patients in intensive care or post-operative recovery.
Successful doctors consider both the psychological and physical well-being of their patients.

Economics, Political Science, and Sociology:

These social science disciplines share a close relationship with psychology.
Economics: Psychology contributes to understanding micro-level economic behaviour, such as consumer behaviour, savings, and decision-making. Economists even use consumer sentiment data to predict economic growth. (Nobel laureates like H. Simon, D. Kahneman, and T. Schelling have worked on these interdisciplinary problems).
Political Science: Psychology helps understand issues of power, authority, political conflicts, and voting behaviour.
Sociology: Psychology and sociology together explain individual behaviour within socio-cultural contexts, addressing issues like socialization, group behaviour, and intergroup conflicts.

Computer Science:

Computer science has always aimed to mimic the human mind in terms of computer structure, memory organization, and information processing.
Developments in both psychology and computer science have led to significant advancements in cognitive sciences, including areas like human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence.

Law and Criminology:

Lawyers and criminologists benefit from psychological knowledge to answer questions like: How well does a witness remember an event? What influences jury decisions? What are signs of guilt or falsehood? What factors determine culpability and appropriate punishment?.
Psychologists research these issues to help improve the legal system.

Mass Communication:

Media (print and electronic) profoundly influence our thinking, attitudes, and emotions.
Psychology helps understand the impact of media on children’s attitudes and behaviour.
It also aids in developing strategies for better communication. Journalists, for example, need to understand human motives and emotions to create impactful stories.

Music and Fine Arts:

Music and psychology intersect in areas like improving work performance, and the relationship between music and emotions.
“Music Therapy,” using different ragas for physical ailments, is an emerging area in India, though its efficacy is still being researched.

Architecture and Engineering:

Though seemingly unrelated, architects must consider the mental and physical space and aesthetic satisfaction of their clients.
Engineers must account for human habits in designs for safety (e.g., on roads).
Psychological knowledge is crucial in designing mechanical devices and displays.

In essence, psychology is at the crossroads of many knowledge fields that deal with human functioning.

8. Psychology in Everyday Life

Psychology is not just an academic subject; it offers solutions to a wide range of problems in our daily lives.

Solving Problems at Various Levels:

Personal problems: Dealing with an alcoholic parent or a problem child.
Family problems: Lack of communication among family members.
Group/Community problems: Issues within terrorist groups or socially isolated communities.
National/International problems: Issues in education, health, environment, social justice, women’s development, intergroup relations.
While political, economic, and social reforms are important, interventions at the individual level are also needed. Many problems are psychological, stemming from unhealthy thinking, negative attitudes, and undesirable behaviours.
Psychological analysis helps in both understanding and finding effective solutions to these problems.

Role in Society:

The media highlights the potential of psychology, with counsellors and therapists providing solutions for children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly.
Psychologists also analyze social problems like social change, development, population, poverty, violence, and environmental degradation.
They actively design and implement intervention programs to improve people’s quality of life.
You’ll find psychologists working in diverse settings: schools, hospitals, industries, prisons, business organizations, military establishments, and private practice as consultants.

Personal Relevance:

The knowledge of psychology is also highly relevant for understanding yourself.
It helps you analyze your own behaviour and relationship with others.
It helps us avoid “defensive behaviour” (rejecting feedback that contradicts our self-opinion) or self-deprecating habits, allowing for personal growth and a balanced understanding of ourselves.
You can use psychological principles to develop good study habits, improve learning and memory, solve personal problems, make better decisions, and reduce examination stress.
Thus, psychology is incredibly useful and rewarding from both a personal and social perspective.

Key Takeaways

Psychology is a modern discipline that aims to understand the complex mental processes, experiences, and behaviours of individuals in different situations. It is considered both a natural science and a social science.
Important schools of thought include Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviourism, Gestalt Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Humanistic Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology.
Modern psychology uses various approaches that explain behaviour at different levels. These approaches offer valuable insights into human functioning and are not mutually exclusive. For example, the cognitive approach centers on thought processes, while the humanistic approach emphasizes growth and fulfilling potential.
Psychologists work in many specialized fields, developing theories and solving problems in specific areas like cognitive, biological, health, developmental, social, educational, clinical, industrial/organizational, and sports psychology.
There’s a growing trend towards interdisciplinary collaboration, with psychology overlapping with social sciences (economics, political science, sociology), biosciences (neurology, physiology, medicine), mass communication, and music/fine arts. This leads to fruitful research and applications.
Psychology not only builds theoretical knowledge but also helps solve real-world problems at various levels. Psychologists work in diverse settings, including schools, hospitals, industries, military, government, and as private consultants.

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