Lamar Clark
South University Online
SU PSY1001
Week 3 Assignment 2
July 12, 2015
Define Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. The supporters embraces the traits of all the human experience from the functions of the brain to the emotions of nations, from the child development to care for the aged. In every possible setting form scientific research centers to all mental healthcare services.
Psychology is a science that is normally subjected to an argument. There is also criticism of psychology has not been around long enough to develop a standard, or had established a system of ideas that has been accepted by most specialists in the public, and also lacks the important characteristics of a science.
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The supporters embraces the traits of all the human experience from the functions of the brain to the emotions of nations, from the child development to care for the aged. In every possible setting form scientific research centers to all mental healthcare services.
Psychology is a science that is normally subjected to an argument. There is also criticism of psychology has not been around long enough to develop a standard, or had established a system of ideas that has been accepted by most specialists in the public, and also lacks the important characteristics of a science. Psychology has roots in other fields including the non-scientific disciplines such as philosophy, which makes it even harder to classify it with the traditional science such as biology and chemistry.
History of
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Psychology is a branch of philosophy until the late 1870’s when it was developed in Germany and the United States as an independent scientific punishment. In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory and dedicated it to psychological research in Leipzig, Germany. Wilhelm Wundt was also the first person to be referred as a psychologists. Early sponsors to the psychology field are Hermann Ebbinghaus, who is the pioneer in the study of the memory. William James, who is the father of pragmatism. Ivan Pavlolv, who had develop the procedures that is associated with classical conditioning, which is the learning process which an innate responses to a stimulus that comes to be elicited in response to a neutral stimulus. In 1890, Hugo Munsterberg began writing the application of psychology to production, law and other fields. Also in 1890 Lightner Witmer had established the first psychology clinic.
The 20th century saw a response to Edward Titchener’s critique of Wundt’s experimentation. This contributed to the study of behaviorism by John Watson. Behaviorism was proposed to emphasizing the study of obvious behavior. In the final decades of the 20th century saw a rise of the cognitive science which is a interdisciplinary approach to studying the human mind. Cognitive science considers the mind as subject for investigation
Psychological studies are mainly based on the direct observation of human behavior, rather than reasoning or speculation. Psychology is like any other subject- the majority of people have a very shallow and basic understanding of what the study involves, and yet they lack a crucial knowledge of the major struggles and disagreements among those who study it. It does not surprise me that psychology is one of the more popular majors available. By nature, it sparks human curiosity, especially as to what contributes to the system of our thoughts and the pattern in our behaviors. For the first eighteen
Psychology is defined as the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, psychology is useful in many ways.
Psychology can be presented by the media in forms such as magazine or newspaper articles, and the most popular today is through commercials watched on TV. Psychology is presented in a form of science today compared to what it was viewed as in the late 1800s and onto the 1900s. It is more of a science nature because viewers have to think about the meaning of the article or commercial to understand the message that is being presented. Then, psychology was viewed as a form or common sense. Psychology was never really looked at as a science but rather as philosophy in the 1980s. The public was often confused with the subject of psychology because it was always
Psychology is defined by Merriam-Webster, as the science of mind and behavior. It is a study of how an individual's psyche can be created, developed, altered or destroyed. Carol Gilligan, a Harvard Graduate School professor, for many years has analyzed the psychological theory and development, specifically in a book entitled In A Different Voice.
Psychology is a term derived from two Greek words that translate to life explanation, which makes it an important element of daily life. The field of psychology can be described as a discipline that focuses on the study of mind and behavior. This discipline is characterized by several concepts and approaches that are used by psychologists in understanding human behavior. Since psychology is a broad field, psychologists not only use these concepts and approaches but also conduct scientific research that enables them to understand human behavior. Some of the most common psychological concepts that are used to modify or change an individual’s behavior include operant conditioning, positive and negative punishment,
Psychology is a discipline that involves monitoring mental processes and behaviour scientifically. Psychologists try to delve into the basic functions of a person and animals cerebral activity. This usually involves studying relationships, emotions, personality and many more areas of a person or animals day to day life. Psychology tends to steer towards finding reasons for a person or animals actions in an attempt to resolve them.
Many centuries have passed and a majority of the public still rejects the belief that psychology is not a science, however, there are many points made in How to Think Straight about Psychology that supports the idea that psychology is, in fact, a science. It first begins with the problem that Freud created; ultimately making theories with no science-based evidence which I think made the science and subject of psychology begin with a bad start. Stanovich explains in this chapter that, because there are multiple fields of psychology, it doesn’t make much sense to put them all in the same category. The public was not clearly seeing one important characteristic of psychology that made it a science: “the main search for psychologists was to completely understand human behavior by using the methods of science.” (p. 2) I am convinced that, because psychologists were
Psychology is an applied as well as an academic field that studies both the human mind and behavior. The research in psychology attempts to explain and understand behavior, emotion and thought. The subject of psychology was created when Wilhelm Wundt opened up the very first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany. Wilhelm Wundt believed that individuals who are appropriately trained would most likely be able to recognize the mental processes that are accompanied with feelings, thoughts and sensations (Wagner , 2009).
* Refers to the private thoughts, emotions, feelings, and motives that other people can not directly observe.
“A branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.” This is the definition of science in the Google dictionary. Given that anything that studies knowledge or truths and arranged them into usable data or theories means that psychology must be a science. Psychology studies how humans behave, how a humans brain reacts to certain situations, and why these things occur in order to gain an understanding on what the true human nature is like. How could someone like Hitler rise to power? Why can people feel so much attachment to inanimate objects, or why do some of people get depression after terrible situations, while others rise up and become stronger? These questions
Psychology is the study of the science of the mind and the resulting behaviour. Looking to understand and explain to an extent how we think, act and feel. There are many branches of psychology looking at treatments of mental health issues, studying a variety of issues that may impact our health and daily life’s.
Psychology is defined as the study of the human mind and its functions the mind is studied through experimentation and observation and just like the other sciences, needs empirical evidence, therefore, it is a science. There has always been a large debate about it though because the mind is such a tricky topic, some people even go on to call it an art which they back up with valid points. Psychology is different from many other sciences because it’s less concrete. For example in chemistry, biology and physics most things we learn about are laws, well in Psychology there are no laws that have been discovered yet. Because the mind is such a sensitive thing laws are tricky because there could always be one outcast, the same doesn’t apply for the other sciences though because if we are told that the mass of one Oxygen atom is 15.999 g/mol, we could never find one Oxygen atom that wasn’t 15.999 g/mol. As there are differences there are also similarities between Psychology and other sciences. One similarity as stated before is that psychology as all other sciences need empirical evidence to support claims and make theories and, for other sciences, laws. Another similarity is that things like “common sense” and popular opinion aren’t always the best to use to find answers you’re looking for.
Psychology is a study of mind and behavior. Psychological research is mostly focused on the relationship between thought, behavior and emotion; how one influences the other and what are the consequences of such interaction. Put simply, psychology is a field associated with the drive to understand the way human mind works. The topic is slightly enigmatic, but at the same time very challenging and complicated. Where representatives of the exact sciences depend on data, facts and figures, psychologists tend to rely on behavior. Seeing that the majority of work done by psychologists is
From the definition of psychology, it is both a study and a science which pertains to the mental and behavior processes of an individual or a group of individuals. (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary)
The history of psychology dates back to the times of Aristotle and Plato, but only after World war II did it really make a difference in the world. There are two branches of psychology: the science of the growing mind and social behavior. Psychologists often integrate both topics for their practice. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, behaviourism dominated most educational aspects of American psychology. Students conducted laboratory tests on mice to observe behaviour patterns in specific stimulus. “After World War II, American psychology,