PSYCHOLOGY

DEFINITION, NATURE AND SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. DEFINITION,NATURE AND SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY BY: OYETUNJI OLUWATIMILEYIN IFEOLUWA BSC NURSING 1ST YEAR

2. INTRODUCTION OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is an offspring of subject philosophy. Psychology is a Greek word, ‘psychi’ and ‘logos’ and ‘Psychi’ means ‘souls’or ‘spirit’ and ‘logos’ means ‘study of or knowledge of’ which means Psychology is the study of soul or spirit. it comprises the following phases.

3. Phases in meaning of psychology FIRST PHASE (Science of soul ) SECOND PHASE (Science of mind ) THRID PHASE (Science of consciousnes ) LAST PHASE (Science of Behavior )

4. First phase : First phase is Psychology as the science of soul. Great Philosophers such as Aristole,Democritus and Plato elucidated the psychology as the study or science of soul. but the word soul could not be explained in proper way. the meaning of psychology with reference to soul was not accepted. Second phase : Second phase is Psychology as the science of mind. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant, who was a German philosopher and others, found fault with the psychology as a science of soul alternatively lead by the stress on the mind. But they did not produce the absolute nature of mind of an individual. As the concept given by them was not clear and satisfied, so the term ‘psychology’ as the sience of mind was not accepted. Phases in meaning of psychology

5. Third phase : Third phase is the Psychology as the science of consciousness. The term Psychology as the science of consciousness was considered by Psychologist, like William James, Wilhelm Wundt, and others. The word given by the psychologist meant awareness or alertness of wakefulness. The meaning of psychology in terms of consciousness was also rejected. Last phase : The last phase is science of behavior. American Psychological Association recommends Psychology as a multifaceted discipline and includes many sub-fields of study including the areas of human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive processes.

6. Definitions of Psychology “Psychology is the science which helps to understand and control the behavior of any organism” (William McDougall --- 1949) Psychology is the science of human and animal behavior; it includes the application of behavioral science to human problems. Psychology is the science of human behavior. (Walter Bwers Pillsbury---1911)

7. Definitions of psychology “Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior”. (Wikipidea.com) “ Psychology is the science of mental life, both of its phenomena are such things as we can feels, desires, cognitions, reasoning and decisions” (William James)

8. Nature of Psychology Psychology is the scientific study and practical application of observable behavior and mental processes of organisms. Psychology differs from other social sciences such as: Sociology, History, or Economics, because psychology specifically deals with the study of an individual. There has been a long discussion among the scholars and psychologists on the acceptance of psychology as a science and its nature as scientific. The observation and concluding remarks of the famous authority N.L. Munn may be cited as a solid evidence for this purpose. He writes "Psychology is science and the properly trained psychologist is a scientific, or at least a practitioner who uses scientific methods and information resulting from scientific investigation."

9. Like sciences, it has an organised and systematic body of knowledge, facts, principles and theories which is subjected to change on the discovery of new facts and emergence of new principles and theories . Like sciences, it believes in the cause and effect relationship. It declares that every behaviour has its roots, the factor of its causes and development. Like sciences, it emphasizes the search for truth. It studies facts of behaviour and describes the laws governing them. It adopts the method of systematic inquiry and scientific approach as used by sciences. Like other sciences Psychology has its pure and applied aspects. With all such evidences, it can be safely concluded that it is an accepted reality that Psychology is a science. Nature of Psychology

10. Scope Of Psychology The field of psychology can be understood by various subfields of psychology making an attempt in meeting the goals of psychology. The scope of psychology has been expanded in various fields in social sciences which is composed of Pure science and Applied sciences.

11. Scope of psychology The scope of psychology describes about the branches and the in-depth knowledge about the subject matter it deals with. Each branch considers a separate specialty. The branches of Psychology can be classified into two main divisions such as Pure Psychology and Applied Psychology.

12. Branches of Pure and Applied Psychology

13. General Psychology: Presents the basic and fundamental principles of human behaviour. It explains How and Why of person’s behavior from a scientific viewpoint. its includes examples areas such as behavior, human growth and development, emotions, motivation, learning, the senses, perception, thinking processes, memory, intelligence, personality theory, psychological testing, behavior ... Branches of Pure Psychology

14. it deals with the behavior of individuals who are unusual. it studies mental disorders, their causes and tretment it decribes four aspects of the individual behavior (4D’s) such as deviance, distress, dysfunction and danger. Deviance : Behavior that is deviant from the normal behavior and mostly considers the cultural society at huge level. Distress : The individual’s behavior which may cause distress to the individual, family members and society at huge level. Dsyfunction : A behavior which intrudes with the daily activities of the person leading to the maladjustment. Danger : Individual’s behaviors may cause danger to himself or to other members in the family or society. Abnormal Psychology

15. This studies the effect of society on the thoughts, feelings and actions of people.Our behaviour is not only the result of just our personality and predisposition. Social and environmental factors affect the way we think, say and do. Social psychologists conduct experiments to determine the effects of various groups, group pressures and influence on behaviour. Social Psychology:

16. Experimental Psychology This Branch of psychology studies the ways and means of carrying out psychological experiments by using scientific methods. Experimental psychologist do basic research in an effort to discover and understand the fundamental and general causes of behavior. They study basic processes such as learning, memory, perception and motivation.

17. Physiological psychology This branch of psychology decribes and explains biological and physiological basis of behavior. it conerns the structure and functions of sense organs, nervous system, muscles and glands underlying all behavior. It emphasizes on the influence of bodily factors on human behavior. One example of a physiological psychology experiment is the use of brain imaging to study how stress affects heart rate. This experiment would involve measuring heart rate while someone is exposed to a stressor, such as a picture of a snake.

18. Parapsychology Parapsychology deals with extra-sensory perceptions, cause of rebirth, telepathy and allied problems. This branch of psychology describes and explains the relation of physical environment particularly weather, climate and soil with behavior. Geopsychology

19. It is the education psychology which deals with the application of psychological theories, principles and techniques with human behavior in relation to educational situations. This field helps the teachers to teach , learners to learn , administrator to administer and educational person to plan and implement effectively . it helps to design educational system through learning theories, motivation and personality. Branches of Applied Psychology Educational Psychology

20. Clinical Psychology This is the largest subfield of psychology. This branch of applied psychology describe the causes of mental illness, abnormal behavior of a patient and suggests treatment and effective adjustment of the affected person in society.

21. Industrial Psychology The private and public organizations apply psychology to management and employee training, supervision of personnel, improve communication within the organization, counselling employees and reduce industrial disputes. Thus we can say that in organizational and industrial sectors not only the psychological effects of working attitude of the employees are considered but also the physical aspects are given importance to make workers feel healthy.

22. Legal Psychology Legal psychology is a branch of applied psychoogy, which tries to study the behavior of persons like clients, criminals, witnesses, etc. with the help of application of psychological principle and tecniques. The root cause of crime, offence, dispute or any legal case can be properly understood through the use of this branch of psychology.

23. Military psychology Military psychology is a specialization within psychology that applies psychological science to promote the readiness of military members, organizations, and operations. Military psychologists provide support to the military in many ways, including through direct clinical care, consultation to military commanders, teaching others and supporting military training, and through research relevant to military operations and person nel.

24. Military psychology

25. Political psychology This branch of psychology relates itself with the use of psychological principle and techniques in studying politics and deriving political gains. Criminal psychology, also referred to as criminological psychology, is the study of the views, thoughts, intentions, actions and reactions of criminals and suspects. Criminal psychology

26. REFRENCES: Pychology for Nurses( Second Edition) by R Sreeven, Textbook of Applied sociology and psychology for BSc Nursing Students, Wikipedia.com, SamarEducation.com AND Study.com