Study of human psychology and human nature till fundamentals up to Harvard level for free.
Study of human psychology and human nature till fundamentals up to Harvard level for free.
chapter 1))
***The growth of the human mind is still high adventure, in many ways the highest adventure on earth. – Norman Cousins
We at Thinks-hub had decided to help those who don't know anything or having trouble learning about human psychology and human nature. This subject will not only help you in your life but it will also help you in your work and communication. let me tell you this subject is one of the things you could learn.
we will help you guy's by teaching you everything you need to know about this subject from basics to the prestigious university level.
**Content
Introduction
What is Psychology?
Psychology as a Discipline
Psychology as a Natural Science
Psychology as a Social Science
Understanding Mind and Behaviour Popular Notions about the Discipline of Psychology Evolution of Psychology
Some Interesting Landmarks in the Evolution of Modern Psychology (Box 1.1)
Development of Psychology in the world
Branches of Psychology Themes of Research and Applications
Psychology and Other Disciplines
Psychologists at Work
Psychology in Everyday Life
Key Terms
Summary Review Questions Project Ideas
***INTRODUCTION :)
****WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY
Any knowledge discipline is hard to define.
Firstly, because it evolves continuously.
Secondly, the range of phenomena it
studies cannot be captured by anyone's
definition. This is even more true of psychology. A long time back, students like yourself were told
that the term psychology is derived from two
Greek words psyche meaning soul, and logos
meaning science or study of a subject. Thus, psychology was a study of the soul or mind.
But since then it has moved away considerably
from this focus and established itself as a
scientific discipline that deals with processes
underlying human experience and behavior.
The range of phenomena it studies, some of
which we mentioned above, is spread over
several levels, viz. individual, dyadic (two
people) group, and organizational. They also
have biological as well as social bases.
Naturally, therefore, the methods required to study them also vary greatly depending on the
phenomenon one wants to study. A discipline
is defined both in terms of what it studies and
how it studies. In fact, more in terms of how or
method/s it uses. Keeping this in view,
psychology is defined formally as a science
that studies mental processes, experiences, and behavior in different contexts. In doing
so, it uses methods of biological and social
sciences to obtain data systematically. It makes
sense of these data so that they can be
organized as knowledge. Let us try to
understand the three terms used in the
definition, namely, mental processes,
experience, and behavior.
When we say experiences are internal to
the experiencing person, then we refer to states
of consciousness or awareness or mental
processes. We use our mental processes when
we think or try to solve a problem, to know or
remember something. One level at which these
mental processes are reflected is brain
activity. As we think or solve a mathematical
problem, our brain activities can be observed
using different techniques of brain imaging.
However, we cannot say those brain activities and mental processes are the same, although
they are interdependent. Mental activities and
neural activities are mutually overlapping
processes but, they are not identical. Unlike
the brain, the mind does not have a physical
structure or has a location. Mind emerges and
evolves as our interactions and experiences
in this world get dynamically organized in the
form of a system that is responsible for the
occurrence of various mental processes.
Brain activities provide important clues as to
how our mind functions. But the
consciousness of our own experiences and
mental processes are much more than the
neural or brain activities. Even when we are
asleep some mental activities go on. We
dream, and receive some information such
as a knock on the door while we are asleep.
Some psychologists have shown that we also
learn and remember in our sleep. Mental
processes, such as remembering, learning,
knowing, perceiving, feeling are of interest to
psychologists. They study these processes to
try to understand how the mind works and to
help us improve the uses and applications of
these mental capacities.
Psychologists also study the experiences of
people. Experiences are subjective in nature.
We cannot directly observe or know someone
else’s experience. Only the experiencing person
can be aware or be conscious of her or his
experiences. Thus, experiences are embedded
in our awareness or consciousness.
Psychologists have focused on experiences of
pain being experienced by terminally ill
patients or of psychological pain felt in
bereavement, besides experiences that lead
to positive feelings, such as in romantic
encounters. There are some esoteric
experiences also which attract the attention of
psychologists, such as when a Yogi meditates
to enter a different level of consciousness and
creates a new kind of experience or when a
drug addict takes a particular kind of drug to
get a high, even though such drugs are
extremely harmful. Experiences are influenced
by the internal and external conditions of the
experiencer. If you are traveling in a crowded
bus during a hot summer day, you may not
experience the usual discomfort if you are
going for a picnic with some close friends. Thus,
the nature of experience can only be understood
by analyzing a complex set of internal and
external conditions.
H
uman Behaviors:: are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in. When something is hurled at you, your eyes blink in a simple reflex action. You are taking an examination and can feel your heart pounding. You decide to go to a particular movie with a friend. Behaviors may be simple or complex, short or enduring. Some behaviors are overt. They can be outwardly seen or sensed by an observer. Some are internal or covert. When you are in a difficult situation while playing a game of chess you almost feel your hand muscles twitching, trying to experiment with a move. All behaviors, covert or overt, are associated with or triggered by some stimulus in the environment or changes that happen internally. You may see a tiger and run or think that there is a tiger and decide to flee. Some psychologists study behavior as an association between stimulus (S) and response (R). Both stimulus and response can be internal or external. Psychology as a Discipline As we have discussed above, psychology studies behavior, experience, and mental processes. It seeks to understand and explain how the mind works and how different mental processes result in different behaviors. When we observe others as lay or common persons, our own points of view or our ways of understanding the world influence our interpretations of their behaviors and experiences. Psychologists try to minimize such biases in their explanations of behavior and experience in various ways. Some do so by seeking to make their analysis scientific and objective. Others seek to explain behavior from the point of view of the experiencing persons because they think that subjectivity is a necessary aspect of human experience. In the Indian tradition, self-reflection and analysis of our conscious experiences, are held to be a major source of psychological understanding. Many western psychologists have also begun to emphasize the role of self-reflection and self-knowledge in understanding human behavior and experience. Regardless of the differences in the way psychologists go about the study of behavior, mental processes, and experiences, they seek to understand and explain them in a systematic and verifiable manner. Psychology, though it is a very old knowledge discipline, is a young science, if one were to take the year of the founding of the first laboratory of psychology in 1879 in Leipzig. However, what kind of science is psychology, still remains a matter of debate, particularly because of the new interfaces of it that have emerged in recent times. Psychology is generally categorized as a social science. But it should not come to you as a surprise that, not only in other countries but in India also, it is a subject of study offered in the faculty of science, both at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Many students go on to earn a B.Sc. or M.Sc. degree in universities. In fact, two of the most sought-after emerging disciplines that continuously borrow from psychology are Neuroscience and Computer Science. Some of us would be aware of the fast-developing brain imaging techniques like fMRI, EEG, etc. which make it possible to study brain processes in real-time, i.e. when they are actually taking place. Similarly, in IT areas, both human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence cannot possibly grow without psychological knowledge in cognitive processes. Thus, psychology as a discipline today has two parallel streams. One which makes use of the method in physical and biological sciences and the other which makes use of the method of social and cultural sciences in studying various psychological and social phenomena. These streams sometimes converge only to drift apart and go their separate ways. In the first case, psychology considers itself as a discipline, which focuses largely on biological principles to explain human behavior. It assumes that all behavioral phenomena have causes that can be discovered if we can collect data systematically under controlled conditions. Here the aim of the researcher is to know the cause and effect relationship so that a prediction of the behavioral phenomenon can be made and behavior can be controlled if need be. On the other hand, psychology as a social science focuses on how behavioral phenomena can be explained in terms of the interaction that takes place between the person and the socio-cultural context of which s/he is a part. Each behavioral phenomenon is assumed to have multiple causes. Let us now discuss these two streams separately.
uman Behaviors:: are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in. When something is hurled at you, your eyes blink in a simple reflex action. You are taking an examination and can feel your heart pounding. You decide to go to a particular movie with a friend. Behaviors may be simple or complex, short or enduring. Some behaviors are overt. They can be outwardly seen or sensed by an observer. Some are internal or covert. When you are in a difficult situation while playing a game of chess you almost feel your hand muscles twitching, trying to experiment with a move. All behaviors, covert or overt, are associated with or triggered by some stimulus in the environment or changes that happen internally. You may see a tiger and run or think that there is a tiger and decide to flee. Some psychologists study behavior as an association between stimulus (S) and response (R). Both stimulus and response can be internal or external. Psychology as a Discipline As we have discussed above, psychology studies behavior, experience, and mental processes. It seeks to understand and explain how the mind works and how different mental processes result in different behaviors. When we observe others as lay or common persons, our own points of view or our ways of understanding the world influence our interpretations of their behaviors and experiences. Psychologists try to minimize such biases in their explanations of behavior and experience in various ways. Some do so by seeking to make their analysis scientific and objective. Others seek to explain behavior from the point of view of the experiencing persons because they think that subjectivity is a necessary aspect of human experience. In the Indian tradition, self-reflection and analysis of our conscious experiences, are held to be a major source of psychological understanding. Many western psychologists have also begun to emphasize the role of self-reflection and self-knowledge in understanding human behavior and experience. Regardless of the differences in the way psychologists go about the study of behavior, mental processes, and experiences, they seek to understand and explain them in a systematic and verifiable manner. Psychology, though it is a very old knowledge discipline, is a young science, if one were to take the year of the founding of the first laboratory of psychology in 1879 in Leipzig. However, what kind of science is psychology, still remains a matter of debate, particularly because of the new interfaces of it that have emerged in recent times. Psychology is generally categorized as a social science. But it should not come to you as a surprise that, not only in other countries but in India also, it is a subject of study offered in the faculty of science, both at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Many students go on to earn a B.Sc. or M.Sc. degree in universities. In fact, two of the most sought-after emerging disciplines that continuously borrow from psychology are Neuroscience and Computer Science. Some of us would be aware of the fast-developing brain imaging techniques like fMRI, EEG, etc. which make it possible to study brain processes in real-time, i.e. when they are actually taking place. Similarly, in IT areas, both human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence cannot possibly grow without psychological knowledge in cognitive processes. Thus, psychology as a discipline today has two parallel streams. One which makes use of the method in physical and biological sciences and the other which makes use of the method of social and cultural sciences in studying various psychological and social phenomena. These streams sometimes converge only to drift apart and go their separate ways. In the first case, psychology considers itself as a discipline, which focuses largely on biological principles to explain human behavior. It assumes that all behavioral phenomena have causes that can be discovered if we can collect data systematically under controlled conditions. Here the aim of the researcher is to know the cause and effect relationship so that a prediction of the behavioral phenomenon can be made and behavior can be controlled if need be. On the other hand, psychology as a social science focuses on how behavioral phenomena can be explained in terms of the interaction that takes place between the person and the socio-cultural context of which s/he is a part. Each behavioral phenomenon is assumed to have multiple causes. Let us now discuss these two streams separately.
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