UNIT 1 - Intro to Psych

• This unit lays the foundation for the subsequent learning on Educational Psychology by getting the learner to know its history, evolution and expansion
• Psychology


  The science of the mind and behaviour
• Scientific study


  Using techniques such as observation, description, and experimental investigation to collect information and then organizing this information
• Mental processes


  Private and cognitive processes such as attention, perception, remembering (memory), problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making, feelings, thinking, motives
• Behaviour


  All the actions or reactions of an organism (person or animal) in response to external or internal stimuli
• The mind is highly complex and enigmatic. Psychologists use human behavior as evidence or an indication of how the mind functions
• Major schools of thought in Psychology

  • Structuralism
  • Functionalism
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Behaviourism
  • Cognitivism
  • Humanism
  • Eclecticism
• Behaviorism


  Suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal forces, and is focused on observable behavior
• Classical conditioning


  A type of learning that involves associating a previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response
• Operant conditioning


  A type of learning that involves using rewards and punishments to create an association between the behavior and the consequences of that behavior
• Psychoanalysis


  A school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud that emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior
• Cognitive psychology


  The school of psychology that studies mental processes, including how people think, perceive, remember and learn
• Humanistic psychology


  Developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, and focused on helping people achieve and fulfill their potential
• Many psychologists today take a more eclectic approach, drawing upon many different perspectives and theoretical backgrounds
• Education


  The process of imparting or acquiring knowledge and habits through instruction or study
• Educational Psychology


  The study of application of Psychology and psychological methods to the study of development, learning, motivation, instruction, assessment, and related issues that influence the interaction of teaching and learning
• Scope of Educational Psychology


  • Human Behavior
  • Growth and Development
  • Learning Process
  • Heredity and Environment
  • Personality
  • Individual Difference
  • Intelligence and its Measurement
  • Guidance and Counseling
  • Motivation
• The goal of the teacher of Educational Psychology in this teacher training programme is to make the learners realize the importance and applications of Educational Psychology