What is Psychology?

Activity . E VOLUTION OF P SYCHOLOGY Psychology as a modern discipline, which is influenced to a large extent by Western developments, has a short history. It grew out of ancient philosophy concerned with questions of psychological significance. We mentioned earlier that the formal beginning of modern psychology is traced back to when the first experimental laboratory was established in Leipzig, Germany by Wilhelm Wundt.

Wundt was interested in the study of conscious experience and wanted to analyse the constituents or the building blocks of the mind. Psychologists during Wundt’s time analysed the structure of the mind through introspection and therefore were called structuralists. Introspection was a procedure in which individuals or subjects in psychological experiments were asked to describe in detail, their own mental processes or experiences. However, introspection as a method did not satisfy many other psychologists.

It was considered less scientific because the introspective reports could not be verified by outside observers. This led to the development of new perspectives in psychology. An American psychologist, William James, who had set up a psychological laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts soon after the setting up of the Leipzig laboratory, developed what was called a functionalist approach to the study of the human mind. William James believed that instead of focusing on the structure of the mind, psychology should instead study what the mind does and how behaviour functions in making people deal with their environment.

For example, functionalists focused on how behaviour enabled people to satisfy their needs. According to William James, consciousness as an ongoing stream of mental process interacting with the environment formed the core of psychology. A very influential educational thinker of the time, John Dewey, used functionalism to argue that human beings seek to function effectively by adapting to their environment. In the early 20th century, a new perspective called Gestalt psychology emerged in Germany as a reaction to the structuralism of Wundt.

It focused on the organisation of perceptual experiences. Instead of looking at the components of the mind, the Gestalt psychologists argued that when we look at the world our perceptual experience is more than the sum of the components of the perception. In other words, what we experience is more than the inputs received from our environment. When, for example, light from a series of flashing bulbs falls on our retina, we actually experience movement of light.

When we see a movie, we actually have a series of rapidly moving images of still pictures falling on our retina. Thus, our perceptual experience is more than the elements. Experience is holistic; it is a Gestalt. We will learn more about the Gestalt psychology when we discuss about the nature of perception in Chapter .

Yet another reaction to structuralism came in the form of behaviourism . Around , John Watson rejected the ideas of mind and consciousness as subject matters of psychology. He was greatly influenced by the work of physiologists like Ivan Pavlov on classical conditioning. For Watson, mind is not observable and introspection is subjective because it cannot be verified by another observer.

According to him, scientific psychology must focus on what is observable and verifiable. He defined psychology as a study of behaviour or responses (to stimuli) which can be measured and studied objectively. Behaviourism of Watson was further developed by many influential psychologists who are known as behaviourists. Most prominent among them was Skinner who applied behaviourism to a wide range of situations and popularised the approach.

We will discuss Skinner’s work later in this textbook. Although behaviourists dominated the field of psychology for several decades after Watson, a number of other approaches and views about psychology and its subject matter were developing around the same time. One person who shook the world with his radical view of human nature was Sigmund Freud. Freud viewed human behaviour as a dynamic manifestation of unconscious desires and conflicts.

He founded psychoanalysis as a system to understand and cure psychological disorders. While Freudian psychoanalysis viewed human beings as motivated by unconscious desire for gratification of pleasure seeking (and often, sexual) desires, the humanistic perspective in psychology took a more positive view of human nature. Humanists, such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, emphasised the free will of human beings and their natural striving to grow and unfold their inner potential. They argued that behaviourism with its emphasis on behaviour as determined by environmental conditions undermines human freedom and dignity and takes a mechanistic view of human nature.

These different approaches filled the history of modern psychology and provided multiple perspectives to its development. Each of these perspectives has its own focus and draws our attention to the complexity of psychological processes. There are strengths as well as weaknesses in each approach. Some of these approaches have led to further Wilhelm Wundt establishes the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.

William James publishes Principles of Psychology. Functionalism is formulated as a system of psychology. Sigmund Freud develops Psychoanalysis. Ivan Pavlov wins the Nobel Prize for his work on digestive system that led to understanding of principles of development of responses.

Intelligence test developed by Binet and Simon. First Psychology Department at Calcutta University is established. Gestalt psychology is born in Germany. Psychology is included in Indian Science Congress Association.

Indian Psychological Association is founded. John B. Watson publishes ‘Behaviourism’, a book that led to the foundation of behaviourism. N.N.

Sengupta and Radhakamal Mukerjee publish the first textbook on Social Psychology (London : Allen & Unwin). Psychological Research Wing of the Defence Science Organisation of India is established. Humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers publishes Client-Centred Therapy. B.F.

Skinner publishes ‘Science and Human Behaviour’, strengthening