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Psychology
1. Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior and how these are
affected by internal processes and the environment. It is the study of behavior and
mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as
thought. It is an academic discipline and an applied science which seeks to understand
individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific
cases It aims to understand the behavior of others and gather information about the
way the brain works in order to better serve humanity. By observing different
human behaviors, psychologists determine what is normal and healthy and what is
unhealthy. Psychology analyzes the thoughts, feelings, actions and goals of people
through the help of various case studies, observations and surveys.
2. Studying psychology helps us understand the human behavior and what leads people
to act the way they do, furthermore psychology shows us how the homo-sapiens
evolve and how they can adapt, this subject also helps people understand themselves.
3. The four main goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict and control the
mental processes and behaviors of others. These 4 main aspects are the fundamental
key to experimentation and the key to finding answers.
4. Psychology like most other sciences has its roots in philosophy, as well as being a sub
topic to biology. Philosophers were those who studied the existence of the universe
and human beings. This lead to many believing that one of the key things for the
reason for existence lies inside of the human brain, and this is where psychology
comes into place.
5. Wilhelm Wundt believed that many important psychological problems could only be
studied with non-experimental methods like introspection. Introspection is the study
of one’s own self. Wundt thought that psychology was the study of consciousness.
6. William James’ introduction to psychology was the study of mental life and
evolution. He brought in the concept of behaviorism and the method of trial and error.
This lead to many great achievements such as Darwinism.
7. The six contemporary approaches of psychology are the basis of how the human mind
is studied in modern psychology. There is the psychoanalytic approach, the
behavioral approach, the humanistic approach, the cognitive approach, the biopsychological approach and the socio- cultural approach.
8. Sigmund Freud, he was the one to introduce pcschoanalytic approach in
pscychology. He believed that the patients emotions thought and motivations of its
concious’ unconcious could help cure the patients problems, many of these ‘therapy’
conductions allowed the patient to say what is very sacred to themselves and to
open up about everything they knew.
9. Behavioral psychology, the introduction to how the human mind reacts to multiple
stimuli, how they react with their physical body. John B Watson, who was the first to
study behaviorism, he studied the various ways people react to things and how
different they are and how can they be similar.
10. Behavioral Neuroscience also known as Bio-psychology is a way to study the
biological factors of a human. This method of psychology was a way to experiment
on the body of animals as well as humans, rats, mice and some humans with diseases
were used in experimentation, this showed how developed the human body can be
and how animals adapt.
11. Socio-cultural psychology is a theory in which scientist and other individuals studied
how a person’s behavior can change due to society and other religions or cultures.
This is very prominent in the 21th century, how ones thoughts can change due to
pressure from society.
Variables
1. Independent Variable - A disease, such as cancer. This is the independent variable
as the cancer cannot change as easily and needs chemo to cure.
Dependent Variable - A medicine, a drug that can cure the disease. The effect the
medicine has on the person and if it can cure the persons disease will be dependent
as it may cure the person and may not.
2. Independent Variable – Exercise, such as jogging or playing sports. This is the
independent variable as it changes the person behavior.
Dependent Variable – Emotions, how the feel. If the exercise gives the person
happiness.
Extraneous Variable – These are not part of the experiment or have no interest or
part in it, however they can cause the outcome of the experiment to change.
Example – Cure (drug, medicine) to cancer, IV is the drug and DV is the effect if
the drug on the person, EV the persons immunity or how their body functions.