INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Prepared
by
Shahla Arshad

K.M.U. Institute Of Nursing Sciences

 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this presentation the learners will be able to:

Define Psychology.

Identify different perspectives in Psychology.

Identify various fields of Psychology.

Demonstrate understanding and its applications in Nursing.

 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology:
The scientific study of mind and its functions.

Developmental psychology: 
Developmental psychology is the branch of psychology
that studies physical, cognitive, and social change of
humans throughout their life cycle.
MAJOR PERSPECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGY

 Psychoanalytic
 Behaviorism
 Humanism
 Biological/Biomedical
 Constructivism
 Cognitivism
 PSYCHOANALYSIS
 The psychodynamic perspective originated with the work
of Sigmund Freud. This perspective emphasizes the role
of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences,
and interpersonal relationships to explain human
behavior and to treat people suffering from mental
illnesses.

 Sigmund Freud was born in vienna in 1856.he graduated

from the university of vienna at the age of 26 and
obtained his medical degree, later he become lecturer at
the university. Freud spent much of his life working on
psychoanalysis. on the basis of his work he viewed as the
father of psychology. He died in 1939 ( cancer of the
jaw) .
Psychoanalytic Methods of Therapy
1-Maintaining the analytic frame work
2-Free association(Hypnosis)(Catharsis)
3-Interpertation
4-Dream analysis
 Manifest content- actual events in dream.
 Latent content – hidden message in dream.
5-Analysis of resistance
6-Analysis of transference
7-Counter transference
8-Freudian Slips
9-Rorschach ink blots
 Defense Mechanism
 Fraud’s Developmental stages
 Freud's Theories

Psychoanalytic theory includes:

 Structural Theory(Id , Ego , Superego)

 Libido (Drive) Theory

 Topographical Theory of mind (Conscious, preconscious , unconscious)

 Theory of Narcissism
 Id = unconscious = pleasure principle
- Primary process thinking: wish fulfillment
- I want it now! Instant gratification
- Part of the iceberg that is submerged underwater

 Ego = conscious = reality principle

- What are the real-world consequences of my actions?
- secondary process thinking: reality testing
- part of the iceberg that is above water and aware of reality

 Superego = preconscious = morality principle

- What is the proper way to behave? Parents/Society
- sense of right and wrong
- Part of the iceberg that is just under the water but can
sometimes surface
 Freud's Writing

 Studies on Hysteria (1895) 

 The Interpretation of Dreams (1900)
 The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901)
 Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905)
 Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905)
 Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)
 Conclusions

• There have been many revisions and additions to

psychoanalytic theories since Freud's time.

• Freud's theories explains the concepts of love, hate,

childhood, family relations, civilization, sexuality,
fantasy, conflicting emotions etc.
Behaviorism
 BEHAVIORISM
Behaviorism is a school of psychology, focus on
observable behavior. what one can do externally to bring
about behavior changes, it does not explain how the mind
works.
Confined to observable and measurable behavior

 Classical Conditioning – (Pavlov)(Watson)

 Operant Conditioning –(Skinner)

 PAVLOV AND CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

 The father of modern learning theory is Ivan Petrovich

Pavlov(1849-1936).Pavlov was born in Ryazan,Russia,the
son of poor village priest. in 1904 he won the Nobel prize
for his work on digestive system. when Pavlov was 50 years
old he began his famous work on conditioned reflexes.
According to Pavlov “behavior can be change through
conditioning with external or environmental conditions or
stimuli” . this new interest came about through an accidental
discovery about the nature of salivation in dogs, he began
studying the conditioning process.
 Classical conditioning paradigm.
 Experiment on dog with light.(1928)
 Unconditioned stimulus(US)
 Unconditioned Reflex(UR)
 Conditioned stimulus(CS)
 Conditioned Reflex(CR)
 Extinction
 Spontaneous Recovery
 Discrimination
 Higher-order conditioning
 Second order conditioning
 Third order conditioning
 Pavlov basic idea was not new. in the 17th century ,Lock
had proposed that knowledge is based on association, but
Pavlov uncovered several principles of association.
 The man most responsible for making pavlovian principals
a part of the psychological mainstream was John
B.Watson(1878-1958)he was environmentalist and
behaviorist.
 In1916 Watson began research on young children becoming
the first major psychologist to apply principal of learning to
the problems of development .
 Study of Emotions.
 Fear(sudden noise ,loss of support)
 Rage(response to restriction of body movement
Conditioning Fear In Little Albert.
 MARY COVER JONES
Mary Cover Jones 
(September 1, 1897 – July 22, 1987)
was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  
She has become known as
“The mother of behavior therapy"
because of her early work on the
unconditioning of the fear reaction in
infants. Her study of the three-year-old
named Peter, in which she tested a number
of procedures to remove his fear of a white
Rabbit.
Deconditioning fear in peter
 JOSEPH WOLPE
Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral
therapy based on the principle of classical
conditioning. It was developed by Wolpe during the
1950s. This therapy aims to remove the fear
response of a Phobia. There are three phases to the
treatment.
  FIRST: Taught a deep muscle relaxation technique.
SECOND: Creates a fear hierarchy.
THIRD: Work on hierarchy.
Operant Conditioning
• An American psychologist B.F Skinner(1904-
1990) was also a behaviorist &
environmentalist . He also wrote stories and
poetry. he criticize Pavlov and Watson
• According to Skinner People learn their
behavior from their history or past experience
particularly those are repeated or reinforced

Stimulus Response Reinforcement

 REINFORCEMENT
A Consequence That Strengthens a Behavior
Positive
giving something good - increases desired
behaviour
Negative
taking away something bad - increases desired
behaviour
Punishment
applying something bad - reduces
undesired behaviour
Humanism
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
• Humanism came about in the 1960s in
reaction to psychoanalysis and
behaviorism. Humanistic psychology
was instead focused on each
individual’s potential and stressed the
importance of growth and self-
actualization. The fundamental belief of
humanistic psychology was that people
are innately good.
 HUMANISM
• Abraham Maslow said we have a hierarchy of needs
• Carl Rogers revolutionized talk therapy. His therapy is
client-centered, where the client has all the answers instead
of the therapist. Therapists treat the client with
unconditional positive regard (no judgments). Group
therapy comes from Humanism.
 COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

 It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think,

speak, and solve problems.
 Cognitive therapy is about changing the maladaptive
thoughts of a person.

Alan Baddeley studied memory. He’s famous for his

model for working memory .
Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in children.
 COGNITIVE THERAPY
• Cognitive therapy is about changing the maladaptive (bad)
thoughts. Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck and William Glasser
are famous for reality therapy. cognitive therapy also
“educates” the client, teaches him/her for proper
behaviors/thoughts.
 BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

 This perspective is among

the most respected right
now. They focus on our
brain, nervous system,
neurotransmitters and
hormones to explain our
behaviors.
 CONSTRUCTIVISM
 Grew out of and in response to
Cognitivism, framed around
metacognition. Knowledge is
actively constructed .
 Learning is an active, constructive
process
 Learner constructs information
 New information linked to prior
knowledge
 Learner is not a blank slate
 Originators and important
contributors include Vygotsky,
Piaget, Dewey, Vico, Rorty, and
Bruner.
The 5 E's
The 5 E's is an instructional model based on
the constructivist approach to learning, which says that
learners build or construct new ideas on top of their old
ideas. The 5 E's can be used with students of all ages,
including adults. Each of the 5 E's describes a phase of
learning, and each phase begins with the letter "E":
 Engage
 Explore
 Explain
 Elaborate
 Evaluate
 VARIOUS FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Abnormal Psychology 
Is a field of psychology that deals with psychopathology and abnormal
behavior.
Biopsychology
  This area of psychology is focused on how the brain, neurons, and nervous
system influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment
and treatment of mental illness, abnormal behavior, and psychiatric problems.
Cognitive Psychology
This area of psychology is centered on the science of how people think, learn,
and remember. Psychologists who work in this field often study things such as
perception, language, learning, memory, attention, decision-making, and
problem-solving.
Comparative Psychology
This field of psychology is centered on the study of animal behavior.
Counseling Psychology
It is centered on treating clients experiencing mental distress and a
wide variety of psychological symptoms.
Developmental Psychology
Psychologists who study development are interested in how people
change and grow throughout the entire lifespan. They often study
things such as physical growth, intellectual development, emotional
changes, social growth, and perceptual changes that occur through
life.
Educational Psychology
Psychologists who work in this field are focused on understanding
how people learn.
Experimental Psychology
Experimental psychology is an area of psychology that utilizes
scientific methods to research the mind and behavior.
 Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychology is defined as the junction of psychology and
the law, but forensic psychologists can perform many roles so this
definition can vary.
Health Psychology
Health psychologists are interested in improving health across a
wide variety of domains. These professionals not only promote
healthy behaviors, they also work on the prevention and treatment
of illness and disease.
Social Psychology
This field of psychology is focused on the study of topics such as
group behavior, social perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior,
aggression and prejudice.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
This field of psychology, often referred to as I/O psychology,
works to improve productivity and efficiency in the workplace
while also maximizing the well-being of employees.
Personality Psychology
This field is focused on the study of the thought patterns,
feelings, and behaviors that make each individual unique.
School Psychology
Professionals in this field that work in schools to help kids
deal with academic, emotional, and social issues. School
psychologists also collaborate with teachers, students, and
parents to help create a healthy learning environment.
Sports Psychology
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences
sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity.
Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and
coaches to improve performance and increase motivation.

Human Factors Psychology

People who work in human factors are focused on improving
how people interact with products and machines both in and
out of the workplace. They might help design products
intended to minimize injury or create workplaces that promote
greater accuracy and improved safety.
 Importance of Psychology In Nursing
1. Development and maturation
By understanding developmental stage, Nurses will not
misidentify normal process as diseases.
2. Learning and motivation
When nurses need to nursing education they know when,
where, and what to do.
3. Personality and behavior
• Expend nurses perception
• Understand patients reaction
• Change negative behavior to positive
• Practice affective interaction
• Help nurses to deal with her own emotion when dealing with
patient
4. Adaptation
Nurses help to patient to adapt with their diseaes,anxity
and disability.
Helps nurses to understand and deal with patient's
reaction.
5.Counseling
A nurse also acts as a counselor, relieve the anxiety of
patients and their family members.
6.Research
To gain more understanding so that quality of care can
be improved