General Psychology
PSYCHOLOGY • Comes from the root words : “psyche”, or mind, and “logos”, or study (Boring, 1950) • The scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Atkinson, 2000) • Is an objective and systematic study of how people behave and think • Its’ goals are to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and mental processes.
Psychologists are interested to find answers to questions like the following: ▪ What part of the brain is responsible for language? ▪ What crises do adolescents experience? ▪ Why do we forget? ▪ Why do we need help? ▪ What factors influence attraction to another person? ▪ How can we control aggression? ▪ Is fear of spiders abnormal? ▪ How did I learn to study?
Behavior – responses and reactions of the individuals, whether observable by other or not. Thus, behavior is further described as:
Overt- behavior which is observed by other people Example: manifested actions or reactions of an individual
Covert- behavior which is known only to the individual experiencing it, like his thoughts and feelings which are not outwardly manifested. Example: when a person whose anger may b observed from his facial expressions and actions overtly. However, the bodily changes he is experiencing within him are observed only by him. Behavior is also classified as:
Conscious- behavioral reactions and processes that we are aware of.
Unconscious- behavior are those mental processes and body reactions that we are not aware of.
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology has its roots in many discipline, dating back to the view of early Greek Philosophers (i.e. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) who studied the nature of the mind, the soul, the body, and Human experience (Myers, 1986).
17th Century
Rene Descartes- supported the nativist view- that some ideas are innate
John Locke- advocated empiricist view that knowledge is acquired through experiences and interactions in the world.
18th
Psychologists are interested to find answers to questions like the following: ▪ What part of the brain is responsible for language? ▪ What crises do adolescents experience? ▪ Why do we forget? ▪ Why do we need help? ▪ What factors influence attraction to another person? ▪ How can we control aggression? ▪ Is fear of spiders abnormal? ▪ How did I learn to study?
Behavior – responses and reactions of the individuals, whether observable by other or not. Thus, behavior is further described as:
Overt- behavior which is observed by other people Example: manifested actions or reactions of an individual
Covert- behavior which is known only to the individual experiencing it, like his thoughts and feelings which are not outwardly manifested. Example: when a person whose anger may b observed from his facial expressions and actions overtly. However, the bodily changes he is experiencing within him are observed only by him. Behavior is also classified as:
Conscious- behavioral reactions and processes that we are aware of.
Unconscious- behavior are those mental processes and body reactions that we are not aware of.
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology has its roots in many discipline, dating back to the view of early Greek Philosophers (i.e. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) who studied the nature of the mind, the soul, the body, and Human experience (Myers, 1986).
17th Century
Rene Descartes- supported the nativist view- that some ideas are innate
John Locke- advocated empiricist view that knowledge is acquired through experiences and interactions in the world.
18th