Introduction to Psychology and its

scope
Slides by
Ms. Sarah Ghazal
Lecturer Psychology
 Introduction to Psychology
• In a sense all humans are scientists. We all have an interest in asking and
answering questions about our world. We want to know why things
happen, when and if they are likely to happen again, and how to reproduce
or change them.
• Such knowledge enables us to predict our own behavior and that of others.
We may even collect data (i.e., any information collected through
observation) to help us in this act.
 Introduction to Psychology
• It has been argued that people are “everyday scientists” who conduct
research to answer questions about human behavior (Nisbett & Ross, 1980).
• When we perform poorly on an important test, we try to understand what
caused our failure to remember or understand the material and what might
help us do better the next time.
• When our good friends zara and ali break up, despite the fact that they
appeared to have a relationship made in heaven, we try to conclude what
happened.
 Introduction to Psychology
Definition:
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior.
The word “psychology” comes from the Greek words “psyche,” meaning
life, and “logos,” meaning explanation.
 Psychology is a science:
• Like all other fields biology physics chemistry etc we (psychologists) also
rely on scientific method for gathering knowledge and information.
Scientific method is important to carry out psychological research
otherwise the research study will not considered authentic or reliable.
• “Scientific method is a systematic and organized series of steps that
scientist use for exploring any phenomenon in order to obtain accurate
results”
 Psychology is a science:
• Science does not rely on personal opinions, it believes on facts only. There
is a difference between an opinion and a fact
• For example
Personal Opinion Fact

More than 35% of college students

Blue is my favorite color. indicate that blue is their favorite color.

It is important to quit smoking. Smoking increases the incidence of

cancer and heart disease.
 Science does not deal with the supernatural

• People commonly believe, as they did in old times that evil spirits,
demons, ghosts are the root cause of mental illness. Therefore, for them
psychology may be the approach that can free the man with the
supernatural possessions which is a wrong belief. Psychology does not
deal with the supernatural phenomenon like any other science it deals with
only with those behaviors that are observable, can be experienced by our
senses, that can be understood in psychological/ scientific terms.
 Scope of Psychology
• After doing a degree course in psychology one may join a variety of work
setting, the most common are the following:
• Education/teaching
• Research
• Hospitals/Clinics
• Recruiting/screening agencies
• Armed forces and social welfare setting etc
 Difference between Psychologist &
Psychiatrist
Psychologist
• Psychologists receive graduate training by
doing Bs hons or Maters in psychology and
can pursue their career by further doing a PhD
(Doctor of Philosophy) in Psychology
• Psychologists focus on counselling and
psychotherapy only.
• They can not prescribe medications
Psychiatrist
• Psychiatrists attend medical college and are
trained in general medicine. After earning an
MD, they practice four years of residency
training in psychiatry.
• they prescribe medications as treatment
 Fields of Psychology
Clinical Psychology:
• A branch of psychology that deals with the study, diagnosis and treatment
of mental illness.It is the oldest and most well known branch of
psychology.Clinical psychologist are trained to diagnose and treat
problems ranging from everday crises of life to a death of loved one to
more extreme conditions such as loss of touch with reality. They also
conduct research to identify early signs of psychological problems and
how to prevent them.
 Fields of Psychology
Organizational Psychology:
• A branch of psychology that studies the psychology in action at the work place,
including productivity, job satisfaction and decision making.
Health Psychology:
• A branch of psychology that explores the relationship between the psychological factors
and physical ailment or diseases for example health psychologist are interested in how
the long term stress (a psychological factor) can affect physical health. They are also
concerned with identifying ways of promoting behaviors related to good health(such as
exercise or discouraging unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drinking etc).
 Fields of Psychology
Consumer Psychology:
• A branch of psychology that studies and explains our buying habits and our effects of
advertising a buying behavior. Mainly deals with likes and dislikes and preferences of
people.
Environmental Psychology:
• A branch of psychology that focuses on the relationship between people and their physical
environment. It is one of the newly emerging and in demand areas of psychology. They have
made significant progress in understanding how our physical environment affect the way we
behave toward others, our emotions, how much stress we experience in a particular setting.
 Fields of Psychology
Sport Psychology:
• The branch of psychology that studies the psychological variables that have an impact
upon the sport person’s performance; example how stress can affect sport performance,
how morale can be boosted, the role of self concept and confidence, the impact of crowd
behavior etc.
Forensic Psychology:
• The branch of psychology that studies the legal issues and psychological factors involved
in criminal behavior example what behavior determine criminal tendencies, how
criminals be reformed, deciding what criteria indicate that a person is legally insane.
 Reference
• Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor