- 1. Introduction to Psychology
- Course title: Introduction to Psychology
2. Current approaches/ perspectives/ models
- The major approaches to study Psychology are following:
- i) The biological approach/ model
- ii) The psychodynamic approach/model
- iii) The cognitive approach/ model
- iv) The behavioral approach/ model
- V) The humanistic approach/ model
3. i) The biological approach/ model
- According to this approach, the behavior of people and animals
should be considered from the view of their biological
functioning.
- The study of brain and nervous system helps us interpret
perception, memory emotions and psychological disorders, etc.
4. ii) The psychodynamic approach/model
- The psychodynamic theory emphasizes unconscious motivation and
the influence of sexual and aggressive drives on behavior. It has
major impact in the fields of personality, psychological disorders
and therapy
5. iii) The cognitive approach/ model
- This approach includes the study of mental processes, such as
thinking, perception, memory and problem solving. Cognitive
psychologists seek to explain how we process information and how
our ways of thinking about the world influence our behavior.
6. iv) The behavioral approach/ model
- The behavioral approach concentrates on observable behavior. It
suggests that an understanding and control of a persons environment
is sufficient to fully explain and modify behavior.
7. V) The humanistic approach/ model
- The humanistic approach emphasizes that people are unique and
complex organism; each person has a capacity to reach his or her
maximum potential. It is specially important in the field of
personality , motivation and psychotherapy.
8. Psychology today
- All these five approaches have come to dominate psychology in
the 21 stcentury. These models add to our understanding of why
human beings behave the way they do.
- Psychologists with different view points have different things
to say; each tackles the issue from different angle and contribute
different insights.
9. Psychology today
- They are now more likely to have an eclectic approach to study
behavior and cognitive processes.
10. Psychology as a science
- Psychology is a science of behavior including a persons overt
behavior and his cognitive mental processes.
- As a science, psychology shares goals and scientific methods
with other sciences, such as biology, chemistry, etc.
- Psychologist begin with a body of knowledge and then proceed to
investigate. They use a variety of methods
11. Psychology as a science
- for this purpose. These research methods allow them to reach
the goals of description, explanation, prediction and control.
- Psychology is comprised of systematized knowledge that is
gathered by carefully measuring and observing events.
- Theories are used to summarize observation and to predict the
outcomes of
12. Psychology as a science
- Another important aspect of psychology as a science is its use
of measurement_ the assignment of numbers to objects or events
according to certain rules.