Lesson 1 What Is Psychology?
CBSE Notes for Class 11 Psychology
Facts that matter:
• Any knowledge discipline is hard to define because :
(i) It evolves continuously and
(ii) Any one definition cannot capture the range of phenomena involved.
The term psychology is derived from two Greek words:
Psyche meaning soul and Logos meaning science or study of a subject.
Thus, it was a study of the soul or mind.
But since then psychology has moved away considerably and established itself
as a scientific discipline which deals with processes underlying human
experience and behaviour.
• Discipline defined as:
(A) What it studies: Mental processes, Experiences and Behaviours
(B) How it studies ie. Methods: in different contexts.
• Psychology is defined as a science which studies mental processes,
experiences and behaviour in different contexts.
, In doing so, it uses methods of biological and social sciences to obtain data
systematically.
It makes sense of the data so that it can be organized as knowledge.
• Mental process:
(i) Mental processes are activities of the mind and brain, related to cognition.
(ii) We use mental processes when we think or remember something, or solve
a problem.
(iii) However, these mental activities are -different from neural activities,
though they are mutually overlapping processes.
(iv) The mind emerges and evolves as our interactions and experiences in this
world get dynamically organized in the form of a system which is responsible
for the occurrence of various mental processes.
(v) Mental processes include reasoning, learning, thinking, problem solving,
perception, etc.
• Experiences:
Experiences can be defined as the learning acquired through everyday life
situation.
(i) Experiences are subjective in nature, different for every individual.
(ii) We cannot directly observe or know someone’s experience.
(iii) Only the experiencing person can be aware or conscious of his/her
experiences. Thus, experiences are imbedded in our awareness or
consciousness.
(iv) Experiences are influenced by internal and external conditions of the
experiences.
(v) The nature of the experience can only be understood by analysing a complex
set of internal and external conditions.
(vi) Experiences are important because most of our learning is based on
experiences.
• Behaviours:
(i) Behaviours are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in.
Eg. One can feel the heart pounding before taking an examination.
CBSE Notes for Class 11 Psychology
Facts that matter:
• Any knowledge discipline is hard to define because :
(i) It evolves continuously and
(ii) Any one definition cannot capture the range of phenomena involved.
The term psychology is derived from two Greek words:
Psyche meaning soul and Logos meaning science or study of a subject.
Thus, it was a study of the soul or mind.
But since then psychology has moved away considerably and established itself
as a scientific discipline which deals with processes underlying human
experience and behaviour.
• Discipline defined as:
(A) What it studies: Mental processes, Experiences and Behaviours
(B) How it studies ie. Methods: in different contexts.
• Psychology is defined as a science which studies mental processes,
experiences and behaviour in different contexts.
, In doing so, it uses methods of biological and social sciences to obtain data
systematically.
It makes sense of the data so that it can be organized as knowledge.
• Mental process:
(i) Mental processes are activities of the mind and brain, related to cognition.
(ii) We use mental processes when we think or remember something, or solve
a problem.
(iii) However, these mental activities are -different from neural activities,
though they are mutually overlapping processes.
(iv) The mind emerges and evolves as our interactions and experiences in this
world get dynamically organized in the form of a system which is responsible
for the occurrence of various mental processes.
(v) Mental processes include reasoning, learning, thinking, problem solving,
perception, etc.
• Experiences:
Experiences can be defined as the learning acquired through everyday life
situation.
(i) Experiences are subjective in nature, different for every individual.
(ii) We cannot directly observe or know someone’s experience.
(iii) Only the experiencing person can be aware or conscious of his/her
experiences. Thus, experiences are imbedded in our awareness or
consciousness.
(iv) Experiences are influenced by internal and external conditions of the
experiences.
(v) The nature of the experience can only be understood by analysing a complex
set of internal and external conditions.
(vi) Experiences are important because most of our learning is based on
experiences.
• Behaviours:
(i) Behaviours are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in.
Eg. One can feel the heart pounding before taking an examination.
