BAPSY101
Foundations of Psychology
Syllabus
Unit I
Introduction: Meaning and Nature of Psychology, Psychology as a science, Origin and
development of psychology, Schools of modern Psychology, Research Methods in Psychology:
Experimental, Case study and Observation and Interview. Fields of Psychology.
Unit II
Cognitive Processes: Sensation: Meaning and types, Sensory adaptation, and habituation.
Perception: Nature and determinants of perception, Laws of perceptual organization and
Figure-ground approach.
Unit III
Learning and Memory: Learning: Definition and factors effecting learning, and Theories of
learning: Pavlov, Kohler & Bandura, Memory meaning and types of memory, Information
processing model, Factors influencing memory and techniques for improving memory,
Forgetting curve.
Unit IV
Motivation and Emotion: Motives; Biogenic and Sociogenic motives, Theories of motivation:
Maslow theory and Need achievement theory.
Emotions- Nature of emotions, Theories of emotions- James –Lange & Cannon-Bard.
Unit V
Intelligence and Personality:
Intelligence: Meaning and type, Guilford tri-dimensional theory, Spearman’s two factor,
Multiple factor theory of intelligence. Personality- Definition, Nature and determinants, Theory
of personality- Freud.
, UNIT 1
Contents:
Introduction: Meaning and Nature of Psychology
Psychology as a science
Origin and development of psychology
Schools of modern Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology: Experimental, Case study and Observation and Interview.
Fields of Psychology
Introduction: Meaning and Nature of Psychology
As human beings our curiosity drives us to know the reasons behind various events happening
around us. Whenever we meet somebody or see someone doing something we immediately try
to understand as to why this person is doing this kind of activity. Similarly we often try to
understand our own experiences and behaviors in different situations. The eagerness and
curiosity guide us to think as to how people are different from each other in terms of their
intellect, aptitude and temperament.
Psychology has been defined in a number of ways by various authors. Psychologists had been
debating on whether psychology should focus on “mind”, “consciousness” or “behaviour”. Let
us look at how the definitions of psychology have come a long way over the past 130 years.
Earlier, psychology was part of Philosophy. Ancient philosophers were interested in the study
of the soul. Thus, it was first defined in terms of ‘the science of soul’. However, since the term
‘soul’ has very wide and comprehensive meanings, it was considered as a vague term and was
criticized severely in the middle ages. But now, this is not the case. Some of the famous
definitions of Psychology are as follows:
Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour. It includes the application of this
science to human problems. (Morgan et al., 1986)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Feldman,1996)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes and how they are affected by an
organism’s physical state, mental state and external environment. (Tavris and Wade, 1997)
Psychology is all about human behaviour, about mental processes, and about the context in
which behaviour and mental processes occur. (Das, 1998)
The science of behaviour and mental processes. (Lahey,1998)
The science of behaviour and cognitive processes. (Baron, 1999)
Scientific study of behaviour and mind. (Nairne, 2003)
, A science in which behavioural and other evidence is used to understand the internal processes
leading people (and members of other species) to behave as they do. (Eysenck, 2004)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Ciccarelli & Meyer, 2006; Coon &
Mitterer, 2007, 2008)
The science that studies behaviour and mental processes. (Rathus,2008)
Meaning
Psychology is:
(A) Study of experience
Psychologists study a variety of human experiences which are mainly personal or private in
nature. They may range from experiences of dream, conscious experiences at different stages
of life and experiences when the consciousness is altered through meditation or use of
psychedelic drugs. The study of such experiences helps the psychologist to understand the
personal world of the individual.
(B) Study of mental processes
Psychology as the study of mental processes tries to investigate the activities happening in the
brain which are primarily non physiological in nature. These mental processes include
perception, learning, remembering and thinking. These are internal mental activities which are
not directly observed but inferred from the behavioural activities of the person. For example,
we can say that somebody is thinking if he or she displays certain activities related to finding
solution to a mathematical problem assigned to him or her.
(C) Study of behaviour
The range of behaviours studied in psychology is very broad. It includes simple reflexes (e.g.
eye blinking), common response patterns such as talking to friends, verbal reports about
feelings and internal states and complex behaviours such as handling computers, playing piano
and addressing a crowd. These behaviours are either observed directly through naked eyes or
are measured through instruments. They are generally exhibited verbally or nonverbally (e.g.
facial expression) when an individual reacts to a stimulus in a given situation. Thus in
psychology the main unit of investigation is the individual human being and his or her
experiences, mental processes and behaviours.
Goals of Psychology
• To Describe
One of the first goals of psychology is simply to describe behavior. Through describing the
behavior of humans and other animals, we are better able to understand it and gain a better
perspective on what is considered normal and abnormal. Psychology researchers utilize a range
of research methods to help describe behavior including naturalistic observation, case studies,
co-relational studies, surveys, and self- report inventories.
Foundations of Psychology
Syllabus
Unit I
Introduction: Meaning and Nature of Psychology, Psychology as a science, Origin and
development of psychology, Schools of modern Psychology, Research Methods in Psychology:
Experimental, Case study and Observation and Interview. Fields of Psychology.
Unit II
Cognitive Processes: Sensation: Meaning and types, Sensory adaptation, and habituation.
Perception: Nature and determinants of perception, Laws of perceptual organization and
Figure-ground approach.
Unit III
Learning and Memory: Learning: Definition and factors effecting learning, and Theories of
learning: Pavlov, Kohler & Bandura, Memory meaning and types of memory, Information
processing model, Factors influencing memory and techniques for improving memory,
Forgetting curve.
Unit IV
Motivation and Emotion: Motives; Biogenic and Sociogenic motives, Theories of motivation:
Maslow theory and Need achievement theory.
Emotions- Nature of emotions, Theories of emotions- James –Lange & Cannon-Bard.
Unit V
Intelligence and Personality:
Intelligence: Meaning and type, Guilford tri-dimensional theory, Spearman’s two factor,
Multiple factor theory of intelligence. Personality- Definition, Nature and determinants, Theory
of personality- Freud.
, UNIT 1
Contents:
Introduction: Meaning and Nature of Psychology
Psychology as a science
Origin and development of psychology
Schools of modern Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology: Experimental, Case study and Observation and Interview.
Fields of Psychology
Introduction: Meaning and Nature of Psychology
As human beings our curiosity drives us to know the reasons behind various events happening
around us. Whenever we meet somebody or see someone doing something we immediately try
to understand as to why this person is doing this kind of activity. Similarly we often try to
understand our own experiences and behaviors in different situations. The eagerness and
curiosity guide us to think as to how people are different from each other in terms of their
intellect, aptitude and temperament.
Psychology has been defined in a number of ways by various authors. Psychologists had been
debating on whether psychology should focus on “mind”, “consciousness” or “behaviour”. Let
us look at how the definitions of psychology have come a long way over the past 130 years.
Earlier, psychology was part of Philosophy. Ancient philosophers were interested in the study
of the soul. Thus, it was first defined in terms of ‘the science of soul’. However, since the term
‘soul’ has very wide and comprehensive meanings, it was considered as a vague term and was
criticized severely in the middle ages. But now, this is not the case. Some of the famous
definitions of Psychology are as follows:
Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour. It includes the application of this
science to human problems. (Morgan et al., 1986)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Feldman,1996)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes and how they are affected by an
organism’s physical state, mental state and external environment. (Tavris and Wade, 1997)
Psychology is all about human behaviour, about mental processes, and about the context in
which behaviour and mental processes occur. (Das, 1998)
The science of behaviour and mental processes. (Lahey,1998)
The science of behaviour and cognitive processes. (Baron, 1999)
Scientific study of behaviour and mind. (Nairne, 2003)
, A science in which behavioural and other evidence is used to understand the internal processes
leading people (and members of other species) to behave as they do. (Eysenck, 2004)
The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. (Ciccarelli & Meyer, 2006; Coon &
Mitterer, 2007, 2008)
The science that studies behaviour and mental processes. (Rathus,2008)
Meaning
Psychology is:
(A) Study of experience
Psychologists study a variety of human experiences which are mainly personal or private in
nature. They may range from experiences of dream, conscious experiences at different stages
of life and experiences when the consciousness is altered through meditation or use of
psychedelic drugs. The study of such experiences helps the psychologist to understand the
personal world of the individual.
(B) Study of mental processes
Psychology as the study of mental processes tries to investigate the activities happening in the
brain which are primarily non physiological in nature. These mental processes include
perception, learning, remembering and thinking. These are internal mental activities which are
not directly observed but inferred from the behavioural activities of the person. For example,
we can say that somebody is thinking if he or she displays certain activities related to finding
solution to a mathematical problem assigned to him or her.
(C) Study of behaviour
The range of behaviours studied in psychology is very broad. It includes simple reflexes (e.g.
eye blinking), common response patterns such as talking to friends, verbal reports about
feelings and internal states and complex behaviours such as handling computers, playing piano
and addressing a crowd. These behaviours are either observed directly through naked eyes or
are measured through instruments. They are generally exhibited verbally or nonverbally (e.g.
facial expression) when an individual reacts to a stimulus in a given situation. Thus in
psychology the main unit of investigation is the individual human being and his or her
experiences, mental processes and behaviours.
Goals of Psychology
• To Describe
One of the first goals of psychology is simply to describe behavior. Through describing the
behavior of humans and other animals, we are better able to understand it and gain a better
perspective on what is considered normal and abnormal. Psychology researchers utilize a range
of research methods to help describe behavior including naturalistic observation, case studies,
co-relational studies, surveys, and self- report inventories.
