INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

INTRODUCTION TO
PSYCHOLOGY
By : Huda Halim & Nawal Insyirah

What is psychology?
The scientific of the behaviour of individuals and
their mental processes.
Greek word “psyche” meaning “breathe, spirit,
soul”.

History of psychology
✨ In 1879 ,Wilhelm Wundt from German, founded psychology as a
truly independent experimental field of study. Wundt is known today
as the father of psychology.
✨ Principles of Psychology, published by William James, an
American philosopher in 1980, was discussed by psychologists
worldwide for many decades.
✨ Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909), University of Berlin, was the
first psychologist to study memory intensively.

Herman Ebbinghaus
Wilhelm Wundt
William James

Sigmund Freud
His understanding of the mind was mainly
based on interpretive methods, introspection
and clinical observations. He focused on
resolving unconscious conflict, mental distress
and psychopathology.

❖ The scientific method is the
orderly, analytical process used
in all sciences to analyse and
solve problems.

Behaviour is observable and measurable action.
Cognition refer to the private, internal working of
the minds.
The main goal in psychology ; - improve our
understanding of behavior and cognition.
The goals of psychologist conducting experiments
are to describe, explain, predict or control
behaviour.

Different branches of psychology

Behavioral Psychology
As the name indicates, its the study of behavioral
science such as mental process and human
behavioral patterns. Behavioral Psychology is
based on study of the functions of brain cells.

Clinical Psychology
A treatment oriented branch of psychology which
deals with scientific ways of handling
psychological problems. It is also called
counselling psychology. This includes prevention,
understanding and cure of psychological issues by
counselling and psychotherapy.

Abnormal Psychology
The branch of psychology which deals with the
abnormalities in a person’s behaviour and psyche.
This is a branch of study which is commonly
found in Human Resources Management courses
and Criminal Law Courses.

Educational Psychology
Often taught in educational institutions like
schools or colleges. This field of study basically
focuses on student life. It deals with shyness,
learning disorders, adolescence, sex education in
children and so on. These studies and awareness
come in handy in the different developmental
stages of children.

Developmental Psychology
Deals with the changes that occurs in a human
being over course of time. It deals with early
childhood developmental stages. This helps in
identifying the causes, treatment and effects of any
psychological disorder better.

Personality Psychology
Deals with IQ and personality of an individual.
Different IQ tests and personality tests allow
individuals to gauge themselves for better
understanding. These are commonly found in
interview tests and performance analysis.

Evolutionary Psychology
Deals with the study of psychological stimuli in
human beings; psychological stimuli include ability
for developing linguistic skills, identifying a
person’s state of mind, recognising a kid from
another and so on.

Cognitive Psychology
Deals with the mental processes like thoughts,
memory and problem solving. It basically deals
with the perception and problem solving
capability of the brain.

Legal Psychology
It’s almost similar to cognitive and clinical
psychology. It’s just that it has a legal point of
view. The legal psychology assists the crime
investigation by assessing testimonies and
statements of the witnesses and victims.

Community Psychology
The study of the psychological aspects of the
individuals in the community. This is based on
characteristics like interdependence, adaptation,
diplomacy and so on.

Careers in Psychology

CONSCIOUS AND
UNCONSCIOUS MIND

"The conscious mind
determines the actions,
the unconscious mind
determines the reactions;
and the reactions are just as
important as the actions."

Freud's Three Levels of Mind
a) The preconscious consists of anything that could potentially be
brought into the conscious mind.
b)The conscious mind contains all of the thoughts, memories, feelings,
and wishes of which we are aware at any given moment. This is the aspect
of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally. A
part of this includes our memory, which is not always part of
consciousness but can be retrieved easily at any time and brought into our
awareness.
c) The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and
memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of
the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain,
anxiety, or conflict. According to Freud, the unconscious continues to
influence our behavior and experience, even though we are unaware of
these underlying influences.

UNCONSCIOUS MIND
Preserves the body: One of its main objectives is the survival of your physical body.
It will fight anything that appears to be a threat to that survival. So if you want to
change a behavior more easily, show your unconscious how that behavior is hurting
your body.
Communicates through emotion and symbols: To get your attention, the
unconscious uses emotions. For example, if you suddenly feel afraid, your
unconscious has detected (rightly or wrongly) that your survival is at risk.
Stores and organizes memories: The unconscious decides where and how your
memories are stored. It may hide certain memories (such as traumas) that have
strong negative emotions until you are mature enough to process them consciously.
When it senses that you are ready (whether you consciously think you are or not!), it
will bring them up so you can deal with them.
Does not process negatives: The unconscious absorbs pictures rather than words.
So if you say, “I don’t want to procrastinate,” the unconscious generates a picture of
you procrastinating. Switching that picture from the negative to the positive takes an
extra step. Better to tell your unconscious, “Let’s get to work!”

CONSCIOUS MIND
• The conscious level is the level on which all of our thought
processes operate. Anything that is thought, perceived or
understood resides in this conscious level. Below this level, so
to speak, is that of the pre-conscious.
• Here reside memories and thoughts which may threaten at any
moment to break into the conscious level, which are easily
recalled, and which may strongly influence conscious processes.
• Below both of these levels, in the realm of the unconscious, lie
the wishes, urges, memories and thoughts which represent the
bulk of the individual's past experience.

CONSCIOUS MIND VS SUBCONSCIOUS
MIND

That’s all from us.
Thank you!