PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE
Psychology is one of the most rapidly developing social sciences, touching almost every aspect of our lives. It has as its principal focus the individual human being, with special emphasis on the inner life, the personality, the patterns of thought, consciousness and behaviour of the person. Society, which has become more complex, is turning more and more to psychology to answer some of the serious human problems. The public is already convinced of the benefits of using psychological findings in solving such problems as mental illness, human factors in space exploration, as well as in helping persons become more self-actualizing.
As a branch of science it has been defined in various ways, according to the particular method of approach adopted or field of study proposed by the individual psychologist. But a comprehensive definition, that represents aspects of the original and historical meaning of the word, would run as follows. Psychology is the branch of biological science, which studies the phenomena of conscious life and behaviour, in their origin, development, and manifestation, and employing such methods as are available and applicable to the particular field of study or particular problem with which the individual scientist is engaged.
Psychologists are concerned with a wide variety of problems. Some are of broad concern: what child-rearing methods produce happy and effective adults; how can mental illnesses be prevented, and the like. Others are more specific: How can people be persuaded to give up smoking? What is the most effective method for teaching children to read? What area of the brain controls speech?
Just as there are different ways of describing any act of behaviour, there are also different approaches to psychology. The view that behaviour should be the sole subject-matter of this science was claimed by the psychologist John B.Watson in the early 1900s.This view focuses on the observable behaviours of man; that is, those factors that influence him in his environment and his reactions to these forces. He was one of the founders of the school of behaviorism.
Another approach to the study of man is psychoanalysis, founded by Sigmund Freud. Freud concluded that personality and our degrees of mental health depend on the actions of three major forces: the id – our unconscious instincts, the ego – our conscious self or intellect – and superego, the conditional reflexes of social rules and internalized values.
The humanistic school view is that man becomes what he makes of himself by his own actions and thoughts. It is concerned with the topics having little place in existing theories and systems: e.g. love, creativity, self-actualization, higher values, humour, affection, courage and so on.
Russian psychology was linked with the development of research into psycho-physiology in the works of I.Pavlov, V.Bekhterev, L.Orbeli and others. Present-day psychology is a complex and differentiated research system extending throughout general, social, developmental, pedagogical, child, medical, engineering psychology.
Because psychology affects so many aspects of our lives it is important, even for those who do not intend to specialize in the field, to know something about its basic facts and research methods.