Psycology

• Psychology


  The study of mental processes, experiences and behaviour in different contexts
• Psychology was earlier the study of the soul or mind, but has since moved away from this focus and established itself as a scientific discipline
• Psychology studies phenomena at the individual, dyadic (two person), group, and organisational levels, with biological as well as social bases
• Mental processes


  Internal states of consciousness or awareness, such as thinking, problem-solving, remembering, etc.
• Experiences


  Subjective, internal states of the experiencing person, which cannot be directly observed by others
• Behaviour


  Responses or reactions, both overt (observable) and covert (internal)
• Psychology seeks to understand and explain behaviour, experience and mental processes in a systematic and verifiable manner
• Psychology is categorised as both a natural science and a social science
• Psychology as a natural science

  • Follows a hypothetico-deductive model, developing theories and testing hypotheses through empirical data
  • Influenced by the evolutionary approach from biological sciences
• Psychology as a social science


  • Focuses on humans as social beings, studying behaviour in socio-cultural contexts
  • Recognises that humans are influenced by and also create their socio-cultural contexts
• Ranjita and Shabnam


  • Two girls from different family and social backgrounds, whose experiences and behaviours are shaped by their contexts
• Shy


  Avoided meeting people
• Last year there was very heavy rain and the river nearby overflowed into the village
• Many houses in the low lying areas were flooded
• The villagers got together and organised help and gave shelter to people in distress
• Shabnam's house was also flooded and she came to live in Ranjita's house with her mother and brother
• Ranjita was happy helping the family and making them feel comfortable in her house
• When the flood water receded, Ranjita's mother and grandmother helped Shabnam's mother to set-up their house
• The two families became very close
• Ranjita and Shabnam also became very good friends
• Ranjita and Shabnam


  • They are very different persons
  • They grew up in different families under complex social and cultural conditions
• There is some regularity in the relationship of their nature, experience and mental processes with their social and physical environment
• There are variations in their behaviours and experiences which would be difficult to predict using the known psychological principles
• One can understand why and how individuals in communities become quite helpful and self-sacrificing in crisis as was the case with the people in the village of Ranjita and Shabnam
• Not every villager was equally helpful and also under similar circumstances not every community is so forthcoming; in fact, sometimes, the opposite is true – people become antisocial under similar circumstances indulging in looting and exploitation when some crisis occurs
• Psychology deals with human behaviour and experience in the context of their society and culture
• Psychology is a social science with focus on the individuals and communities in relation to their socio-cultural and physical environment
• N.N. Sengupta and Radhakamal Mukerjee publish the first textbook on Social Psychology (London : Allen & Unwin)


  1928
• Psychological Research Wing of the Defence Science Organisation of India is established

  1949
• Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers publishes Client-Centred Therapy


  1951
• B.F. Skinner publishes 'Science and Human Behaviour', strengthening behaviourism as a major approach to psychology


  1953
• Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow publishes 'Motivation and Personality'


  1954
• Bureau of Psychology is established at Allahabad


  1954
• National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) is established at Bangalore


  1955
• Hospital for Mental Diseases in Ranchi is established


  1962
• Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen win the Nobel Prize for their work on built-in species-specific animal behaviour patterns that emerge without any prior experience/learning


  1973
• Herbert Simon wins the Nobel Prize for work on decision-making


  1978
• David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel win the Nobel Prize for their research on vision cells in the brain


  1981
• Roger Sperry wins the Nobel Prize for split-brain research


  1981
• National Academy of Psychology (NAOP) India was founded


  1989