Psychology meaning,definition ,Branches of psychology & Methods of Psychology

Psychology meaning

 The term psychology has been derived from the two Greek word 'Psyche' and 'logos'.

 'Psyche'  denotes soul and 'logos' mean 'talk about a study of'. Hence the prime meaning of psychology should be the 'talk about or the study of soul'. The meaning and definition have been changing and developing according to need and time

Psychology:  Historical development

a) Psychology as a science of soul

In olden days the word 'psyche' was interpreted as 'soul' and psychology was defined as the 'science of soul'. Plato, Aristotle and others defined psychology according to their concept.

But they failed to answer the important questions like: what is soul and its nature? Thus the meaning of psychology was rejected.

b) Psychology as a science of mind:

       In the middle period consider psychology as the science of mind and its process.The mind is not a part of the human anatomy, or a thing but a function No two  psychologists will agree upon one definition of mind. Thus, this definition ignores the objective nature and behaviour of man. Therefore psychology as the science of mind would not progress

c) Psychology as a science of consciousness

During 19 century eminent psychologies like William James, William wundt  and others considered psychology as a 'science of consciousness' which meat 'awareness or weak fullness' and also they had different interpretation of the term weak fullness. This definition not accepted by the modern psychologists since it ignores the unconscious state of man which is also very important

d) Psychology as a science behaviour

The modern concept of psychology in terms of behaviour. Behaviour is the resultant manifestation of both conscious and unconscious urges of mankind. 

The term 'behaviour' requires some explanation in psychology. The term is used in a very broad sense. it does not mean manners or the way in which we deal with others. it emphasizes every activity done by man. Hence behaviour covers every activity of man from his birth to death.

The purpose of psychology is to become aware of behaviour of man by knowing what a man does at a particular time and why he does do

Psychology: definitions

"Psychology is the study of human behaviour, its causes and conditions" -William McDougall

"Psychology is the study of of human behaviour and human relationships"- L.D.crow and Allies Crow

"Psychology may be most satisfactorily defined as the science of human behaviour" -  pillsbury

"Psychology is a science which aims to give us better understanding and control of the behaviour of the organism as a whole" - William McDougall

Branches of psychology:

1) Normal psychology

2) Abnormal psychology

3) Human psychology

4) Animal psychology

5) Physiological psychology

6) Para psychology

7) Geo psychology

8) Developmental psychology

       a) Child psychology

       b) Adolescent psychology

        C) Adult psychology

9) Social psychology

10) Applied psychology

         a) Educational psychology 

          b) Clinical psychology 

          C) Industrial psychology

1. Normal psychology

            It deals with the behaviour of normal organisms.

2. Abnormal psychology

          it is concerned with  the behaviour of abnormal persons such as anti-social, criminals, delinquents, Insan e etc. It studies the behaviour of individuals suffering from mental diseases e.g. neurosis and psychosis.

3. Human psychology

        it is confined to the study of behaviour of human beings only

4. Animal psychology 

        it tries to  study the behaviour of animals. The study of animal behaviour involve it comparison with their, human behaviour specially child behaviour and it is also called comparative psychology

5. Physiological psychology

         It Studies function of nervous system and the physical structure as related to behaviour.

6. Para psychology

           It is one of the recent development of psychology and consult with extra sensory perception telepathy and allied problems.

7. Geo psychology

      It  tries to  study about the human behaviour depend on their location and climate

8. Developmental psychology

      It is concerned with developmental stages of individual from birth through childhood, adolescence, adulthood to old age

a. Child psychology

            It is the study of psycho-physical behaviour of the child. it tries to explain many facts about the nature and the development of child. it reveals how the child behaves learns things act, feels and also attributes reason for it.

b. Adolescent psychology

          It  Studies there it studies that behaviour of adolescents.(persons in the age range of 12 -19 or 21 approximately)

C. Adult psychology

           It is the study of the behaviour of adult human beings which is quite different from that of a child in certain social and emotional aspects. An adult is here mature person living on higher mental level.

9. Social psychology

                 It involves the study of the behaviour of the individual in a group and the relations of groups to one another. Society in general and group in particular influences the individual e.g. an individual shows quite different behaviour when he is a member of the society.

10. Applied psychology

                 It is an application of general principles of subject matter of psychology to the problems of life in various fields in order to achieve better results.

a. Educational psychology

                It deals with teaching learning process it also tries to solve the educational problems nicely. It chiefly concerned with student-teacher interactive  behaviour.

b. Clinical psychology

             It is an application of psychology in the field of medical science.  it is concerned with the psychological guidance for curing certain types of diseases

c. Industrial psychology

             It is an application of psychology in the field of industry. it study the behaviour of the employer and the employees in an industrial.It concern and tries to make mutual relationship between employers and employees. It can be made harmonious, rise in output can be measured and fatigue in work can be avoided.

         Methods of psychology

Psychology is the defined as the the study of human behaviour. For studying the human behaviour, it takes the help of various methods. In the study of behaviour of children, adolescents and grown up people the following methods are commonly used.

1. Introspection method/subjective 

observation method

Introspection is derived from two latin words 'intro' and 'spiere'. Intro means 'within' or 'in ward' and 'spiere' means 'look' hence introspection means 'looking within or looking in ward'. it is an inner perception or self realization. 

R. S. woodworth defined it self observation and JR Angell called it is 'looking in word'

Introspection is a process that involves looking inward to examine one's own thoughts and emotions. - William wunt

Advantages

🌺It is a unique method of psychology

🌺 It gives as direct information and on the spot knowledge of our own mental process without involving any expenditure 

🌺It provides us required knowledge of our internal experiences and the internal behaviour of an individual can be recalled through introspection

Disadvantages

🌺The results are studied by introspection or most subject

🌺Introspection can be applied satisfactorily in case of normal persons. but it cannot be applied in the case of children, ab normal human beings, animals etc

2.  Observation method/extrospection

The word observation has been derived from the Latin word of 'observare' which means 'to keep open'

Observation has been explained measurements without using any instruments or device.

Observation is two types - 

a. Natural observation, 

b. Participant observation

a. Natural observation in this observation naturally caring behaviour is observed. For example, observing children in nursery school in free place situation, that is, perceiving the behaviour as it is. one way vision screens are also used in this observation

b. Participant observation in this observation the observer become a member of group and then observe the behaviour. The observer maintains rapports with the group and collects data

Advandages

we study the mind of a person by external behaviour, study the heredity and environmental effects on the child, 

 Findings of this method or always systematic, reliable, planned and specific.

it is economical and flexible also.

Disadvantages

It is a long treated and time-consuming, sometimes it have personal bias of the observer effect the observation. it is not possible to observe what is happening in the minds of others.

3. Experimental method

        The word experiment comes from the Latin word 'experimentum'  which means 'a trial' or 'a test'. This is the most scientific and objective method of psychology.

Experimentation consists of objective observation of various actions performed under planned and rigidly controlled conditions following or certain characteristics of experimental method

1. It requires two individuals 

The experimenter, that is, one who conducts the experiment;

The subject, on whom experiment is conducted

2. Psychological experiments can be conducted only on living organisms

3. The main factor in this method is the control of conditions or variables there are three types of variables

a. Independent variables (ex: Intelligence,it can't change) 

b. Dependent variables(ex: academic achievement, it xan change depent upon Independent variable )

C. Intervening variable(parental education, socio economic status,study habits etc)

One group design

     In this method we need not have two groups. we can conduct the experiment on the same group twice. One under normal conditions and the second under a changed condition.

Let us take a study -0what is the effect of noise on study habits? First, we may study the group by doing arithmetic exercise in noise free condition. Let us record the results.

Next we can study the same group by doing arithmetic exercises in noisy condition. let us record the results. 

 we can  compare these two results to come to a conclusion whether noise really has an effect on study habits or not.

Two groups design

      In this method we can take two groups. we can study one group working on arithmetic excise under noise-free conditions. which is called a controlled group. we can study the other group working on arithmetic exercise under noisy conditions which is known as experimental group.

Let us compared the result of the two groups and come to a conclusion whether nose really has an effect on study habits or not.

Advantages

      🌺This is more scientific,objective and comprehensive to study the human behaviour.

 🌺The conclusion can be brought about in the form of general principles.

🌺It is free from bias, prejudices and other subjective elements.

 🌺it can be made applicable to different groups of human beings to make the study more exact and systematic.

Disadvantages

🌺 Behaviour under laboratory conditions may be different from spontaneous or natural behaviour hence it becomes artificial when produced in a laboratory

🌺Success of the method lies in controlling the variables but it is difficult to control all the intervening variables

🌺It is a controversy as to whether results obtained on animals can be applied to human beings

🌺When the subject is non co

operative, it is difficult to conduct this experiments

4. Case study method

A case study is nothing but a collection of facts about an individual. it is a method of investigation into the casual relationships of complex educational phenomenon. it is an intensive investigation of a child, a community,a race, a nation ,a family, a club or a teen age group.

In the field of psychological enquiry case study method has its own importance and

relevance. In this method the main unit of analysis is the individual and his experiences across different contexts in life. It focuses on the individual’s interactional patterns with significant others as well as his personal experiences across different real life

situations. In order to prepare a case history of data are taken from many sources for example his or her family history, educational life, medical history and social life.

This method is very popular in clinical psychology and life span developmental

psychology.

In order to prepare the case history usually interview, observation and psychological

tests are used to obtain information about the individual. The data collected through

these techniques are analyzed in detail. A comprehensive profile of the individual is

developed which reflects the description of events in his or her life. Case study helps to locate unique experiences of life as well as the various emotional and adjustment problems of the individual.

Though case study gives a detailed and in-depth description of individual’s life we

cannot make a very conclusive judgment about the individual without further

establishing the reliability and validity of such information from various sources

such as family members, friends and administration of some standardized

psychological measures.

Caution should be taken in planning data-collection from the individual and interpretation of the responses given by the individual.

steps

1. Determining the nature of the problem under investigation through direct observation or measurements

2. Determination of the most probable antecedents of the case

3. Formulation of hypothesis

4. Verification of hypothesis

5. Remedial steps for removing the causes for maladjustment

6. Follow up of the case in detail

5. Interview method

It is a techniques of data collection in which a face-to-face interaction

occurs between two persons with a set objectives. The person who conducts interview is called interviewer and the person who give responses is called interviewee.

 The interviews are also conducted through telephone, internet and video conferencing.The main purpose of interview is to understand various personal characteristics such

as attitudes, values, interests and preference.

 Two types of interviews are often used to obtain information. These are structured

interview and unstructured interview. In the case of structured interview the

questions are already framed with the possible response options. The interviewee is required to respond to the set of framed questions by choosing one option. For example the attribute of friendliness can be measured by giving the option ranging from ‘highly

friendly’, ‘often friendly’ to ‘least friendly’. 

Unstructured interview is a little flexible.

It comprises of a variety of open-ended questions and the interviewee gives his or

her responses as freely as possible. During the course of interview the interviewer also frames and reframes the questions and facilitates the entire process of interview.

Conducting interview to recruit suitable candidates for a particular job is a good

example of unstructured interview.

In order to conduct an interview the interviewer should possess certain skills which

help him/her to elicit maximum responses from the interviewee. A skilled interviewer

easily establishes rapport with the interviewee by reliving his/her anxiety and making him comfortable during the course of interview. He has command over his language which helps him to put even difficult questions in simple and lucid way in order to probe at a deeper level. He has control over his feelings and emotions which does not give any cue to the interviewee during the interview.

In the field of psychology interview is used for recruitment and selection, counseling,marketing and advertising, attitude survey etc.

6. Comparative method

     Psychologists make a comparative study to understand the individual problems better than the study of individuals made in isolation. Generally they have two groups or  two individuals both of them are placed under similar or slightly different situations the psychologist then carefully outsource and notes down their actions.

   This method has helped us to understand human nature and its problems better. It has special value in the field of education.  It has helped the teacher to adopt proper methods of teaching for children.

7. Developmental method

      The child have to cross a number of stages in the process of development like infancy, childhood, boyhood, adolescence etc. Each stage has its features. In this method the psychologist notes down all the peculiar features of the subjects during all the stages which the subject has to cross. Physical, intellectual, social and other aspects of development will be noted in this regard.

   Method provide a first-hand knowledge about the subject and the nature of his problem.It is long and tedious and takes a long time in its application. Thus, the method is expensive.

8. Questionnaires method

      Questionnaire consists of a set of questions to which the individual

is required to respond. The items (questions) of the questionnaire can be either in closed-ended form or in open-ended form. In the case of closed-ended item the individual is provided with limited alternative and he or she has to choose only one alternative which reflects his or her view on the item. In open-ended items the individual is free to give his or her response the way he or she likes. The instruction as to how to respond to the items of the questionnaire is written on the first page.

Data from a large number of individuals can be taken at a time as the questionnaire can be easily administered to a group of people. The items of questionnaire are written in simple and explicit language so that anyone can understand it. All the  items tap various aspects of the construct which is measured. The items are often

arranged in the sequence from general to specific.

9. Cumulative record

       The cumulative record is a systematic accumulation of significant information about an individual which is progressively developed and maintained over a sufficient period of time.

It is a record of a child's educational history which every school must maintain. It may be in the form of the card type, folder type, pocket type or booklet type. It contains the family and cultural background, that physical and medical history, the educational process, interest in co curricular activities, sports and special talents of the children. This record is very helpful for a teacher to know about a child's attitude, inherent talents, aptitudes and interest and also about his personal and social adjustment problems. The teacher can offer personal and vocational guidance to the child on the basis of the record and the personal experience realised from the students.

10. Anecdotal method

        'Anecdote' means 'short account of some happening'. Anecdotal records are factual descriptions of the meaningful incidents and events the teacher has observed in the lives of his students.

      Rath louis defined 'total record is a report of a significant episode in the life of a student'. It is the  closely observed behaviour of a child. It does not include the family history. It provides an exact description of the behaviour of the individual. Therefore, it only reveals the behaviour of the child, his deeds, his emotional aspects and his problems connected with the social  adjustment. This record is very useful for a teacher in guidance and counselling of his students.