FCE 3200

Lecturer
Dr. Nor Aniza Ahmad
e-mail: nor_aniza@upm.edu.my
Tel: 03-89468160 (Office)
019-9555864 (HP)
 Learning Outcomes

At the of the lesson, students are able to:

1. Discuss the meaning of psychology and the

different branches of psychology.

2. Explain the meaning of developmental psychology

3. Describe the developmental models (Islamic and

Western Perspectives)
What is the meaning of ‘psychology’ ?
 PSYCHOLOGY – comes from the combination
of two Latin words:
- ‘psyche’ (soul/emotion) and ‘logos’ (field of
study)
 Psychology means the systematic study of
human soul or emotion, spiritual, thinking and
reasoning.
 In short, psychology is a science of relationship
between organism and the environment.
History of the development of Psychology
as a discipline
19th Century
Philosophy and Physiology

1879
Psychology as a Discipline
Wilhelm Wundt
(Father of Modern Psychology)

Various Schools of Thought

 Psychology started with philosophy dealing with
questions on the mind such as perception,
memory and various mental illness (psychology
issues)
 Answers to the issues…..given by physiology
(study on functions of human beings)
 Scientific methods became the basis of answers to
observations and not on reasoning.
PRESENT

 Psychology…Study on behavior and mental

processes and the relationship between human
beings and their environment.

 Islamic Perspective- Psychology does not

only study the overt behavior but also the
covert behavior. Behavior is the result of
interaction between internal and external
forces with moderation effects.
 PRESENT

 Doing something
good shows good  But what cannot
behavior. be seen is the
intention behind
the behavior.
 According to hadith:
“When you see a
man frequenting the
mosque then say he
is a man of faith”.
 Modern Psychology has defined
behavior based on cognitive and
spiritual aspects.

But according to Islam, the two

dimensions are not complete if
intention is not included.

Intention is intrinsic behavior as the

overt behavior is a reflection of
intention.
 Research findings, scientific methods used to solve
psychology issues.
 Combination of philosophy and physiology----
Psychology emerged as a discipline in science.
 Father of modern psychology who used scientific
method …Wilhem Wundt (1832-1920)
 Wundt…goal of psychology…understand
consciousness through introspection method.
 Gestalt psychology study on perception and learning.
Founder in Gestalt theory Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)
Kurt Koffka (1886-1941)
Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967)
 Other psychology movements
Vienna Psikoanalysis Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
France Psychometric Alfred Binet
In USA
 Structuralism E.B.Titchener
 Functionalism William James
 Behaviorism Watson, Pavlov, Skinner.
 Humanistic Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers
 Kognitif Jean Piaget, Miller, Chomsky,
Sternberg, Vygotsky & Kohlberg
 Biologi James Olds, Roger Sperry.
1950s
psychology no longer a pure science but more
practical.
Many psychologists provide social service to the
society
Applied Psychology - branch in psychology which
focus on daily problems.
 Subfields of Psychology

Theoretical Psychology: :
Physiological Psychology
Comparative Psychology
Developmental Psychology
School Psychology
Social Psychology.
  Clinical
Psychology

 Counseling  Organizational
Psychology Psychology
Applied
Psychology

 Educational Psychology  Industrial Psychology

 Psychology of Learning
The Goals of Psychology

1. To describe
2. To explain
3. To control
4. To predict
 Developmental Psychology
Developmental Psychology is one of
the subfield of psychology that
studies the growth and development
of individual from prenatal to
adulthood systematically.
 Developmental psychology is also a scientific study
that focuses on the process of describing, measuring
and explaining the changes from the aspects of physical,
emotional, personality and cognitive maturation in
relation to age.
 Besides normal growth and development,
developmental psychologists also pay attention to the
differences between normal and abnormal individual
and utilize various methods to discover the origin of the
problems.
 The Models of Developmental Psychology: a group
of theories that use similar approach to explain human
development.
 Mechanistic Organismic
Model Model

Developmental
Model

Psychoanalytic Humanistic
Model Model
 MECHANISTIC MODEL

 Human is liken to a machine.

 John Locke (1632-1704): the
mental of a baby is empty and
passive (tabula rasa/ “blank tablet”),
it only receives stimulation from
the environment and does not have
any option.
 Humans are shaped by the
environment.
The essence of human behaviour can be
divided and studied systematically. Therefore
behavioural changes are quantitative, can be
seen, measured and predicted.

Behaviorism Theories:

a) Classical Conditioning Theory (Pavlov I.)

b) Operant Conditioning Theory (Skinner J.F.)
c) Social Learning Theories
John Watson (1924 – 1970)

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed,

and my own specified world to bring them up in,
and I will guarantee to take any one at random
and train him to become any type of specialist I
might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant,
chief and, yes, even beggar and thief,
regardless of their talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and the race of
their ancestors.”
 ORGANISMIC MODEL
 Human being is seen as active organism and
take the initiative to build his understanding of the
world and the developmental process in cognitive
structures.
 Because human activities are not the result of
response toward outside events, therefore it is
difficult to predict behaviour.
 The knowledge of the world cannot be known
objectively but being built actively by the child.
 Child’s behaviour cannot be understand separately
from his intention, or by divided into parts, or studied
apart from the context.
 Changes is in qualitative form.
 Focus is toward the process and not the result.
 This theory see how baby develops through the
interaction between genetic maturity and experience.
 HUMANISTIC MODEL
 Human beings are good entity, have positive
behaviour and thinking, have potential and are
responsive.

 Maslow’s Theory of Needs – Abraham Maslow

 Hierarchy of Needs: Individuals’ needs are

arranged in sequence from the basic needs to the
highest need. Certain basic needs must be satisfied
before higher needs can be satisfied.
Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Belonging needs
4. Esteem needs
5. Cognitive needs
6. Esthetical needs
7. Self-actualization
Psikoanalisis / Psikodynamic Model (Sigmund Freud)
 Human beings are in conflict between his internal
(instinctive) needs and restrictions of society.
 Focus: emotional and personality development.
 Try to understand the formation of rational and
irrational feelings and behavior.
 Study the development of people from early sexual
and emotional experiences which may influence
their future behavior.
 Freud: since birth, people are influenced by
irrational drives towards enjoyment. These drives
known as ‘libido’ or ‘psychic’ energy which
motivates human behavior.
 Personality theory explains the 3 components of
personality: Id, Ego, and Superego.
Mechanistic Organismic
Model Model

Developmental
Model

Ecology
Model
CONTEXTUAL/ ECOLOGICAL MODEL

 Emphasis on the role of society, culture, and

family in forming the result of
development.
 Emphasis the importance of the context and
environment of an individual.
 Human being has the strength, flexibility and
adaptive to his environment and inner
factors.
 Theories: Bronfenbrenner, Bandura,
Vygotsky & behaviourist such as Skinner.

 Bronfenbrenner: Development happens

through the relationship between human
behaviours and their social contexts: the
microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem,
the macrosystem, and the chronosystem.
Developmental Psychology from Islamic
Perspective
 Allah is the creator and determinant of the pattern and process in
the growth and development process.

Development is a gradual process.

- The pattern of human development follow several stages from
conception until death.

- The pattern is created, determined and arranged by Allah.

Everyone must go through the different stages.
“You shall travel from stage to stage”-(84:19)
- According to Al-Quran- development is categorized into two
phases: (a) pre-natal and (b) post natal.
Pre-natal has a specified time and achieve its climax at birth.
Post natal is not specified and cannot be generalized to all due to
individual differences…
- After birth the development of human beings is divided into 2
phases : before puberty (minor) and after puberty.
 Human development cumulative and simultaneous .
 Human development is also interrelated between the
different aspects of development such as physical,
mental, emotional and social.
 Development is not just for life in this world.
 Life can be full of happiness or otherwise
 Human development will go through critical and
sensitive phases.
 The formative stage becomes the basis for future
development.
 This include pre natal stage, after birth to childhood
and adolescence.
 Adolescence is a critical stage as it is the beginning
of ‘taklif’ ( personal responsibility).

 Children who have not reached puberty are regarded

as minor and are not responsible for their behavior.

 Minor is divided into two i.e Pre ‘mumayyiz’ and

‘mumayyiz’. This division is related to the concept of
‘Tamyiz’.

 Tamyiz means able to differentiate between the good

and the bad, clean and dirty.
 Definition of Edcational Psychology

The application of psychological methods to study

the education process.
(Clifford,1984)

The knowledge from psychology which is applied in

the class room.
(Grinder, 1981)

The objective is to help teachers and students

understand the process of teaching and learning.
 Educational psychology Experts:

 Apply educational principles in education

 Professionally,they try to understand:

Student
Learning Process
Teaching strategies which improve
learning.
 Responsibility of Educational Psychology
Expert
Determine
 Effectiveness of teaching methodology
 How students learn

 Thebest way of interactions with other

people
 The best method of teaching
other people
Basic knowledge of Educational Psychology

 Influence of environment and culture on

students (1)
 Cognitive functions of students (2)
 Classroom Management (3)
 How students learn (4)
 How 1-4 are related to the teacher and
teaching
Why is Educational Psychology
important for teaching?

• Teaching task normally face specific problems.

• Educational psychology helps teachers in handling
those problems.
• Sometimes Educational psychology supply answers
to the problems directly. But very often, it
provides only part of the answers.
Educational Psychology becomes the foundation
of education.
 Summary

The meaning of psychology

Historical development of psychology.
Developmental Models
Emergence of Applied psychology – including
educational psychology.
The importance of educational psychology.