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Paper prepared by Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard) DrPH (Harvard) Chairman, Institutional Review Board - KFMC
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION - 1
• Psychology is the study of the behavior of individuals and groups. It is both a biological and social science. It is however expected that in the future psychology will become more of biological science as the biological basis of human behavior becomes clear.
• Psychology can be classified as: clinical, industrial, engineering, personnel, consumer, or environmental. Counseling is applied psychology.
• It can also be classified as child psychology, educational psychology, social psychology, and comparative psychology.
• Psychology is concerned with learning, cognition, intelligence, motivation, emotions, perception, personality, mental disorders.
• Psychology is becoming more experimental as human behavior is being treated quantitatively.
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION - 2
• Experimental psychology studies behavior by experimental manipulation of explanatory variables. Experimental psychology finds application in all branches of psychology.
• Applied psychology uses psychological methods and concepts to solve actual problems of individuals and communities.
• Humanistic psychology treats the human as a unique individual who has feelings and who can think. Its basic assumption is that a human being is more than a sum of his constituents. He is not a machine. He has control and he is intentional.
• Clinical psychology applies psychological tools to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Clinical psychologists use tests and observation in diagnosing clinical problems. They use various treatment techniques: psychotherapy that can be behavior therapy, group therapy, family therapy. Clinical psychologists are not allowed to prescribe medication because they do not have medical training.
• Industrial psychology is also called occupational psychology. It uses psychological concepts and tools in the workplace. It basically is concerned with human relations in the workplace.
• Individual psychology deals with the motivation and behavior of the individual. A normal individual is well adjusted and will behave in what is expected to be rational behavior. An abnormal individual will approach problems of life in a maladaptive way leading to anxiety and social failure.
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION - 3
• Social psychology studies how individuals behave in a given social situation. It is based on empirical observations. Subjects are observed in a realistic social setting or in a laboratory. Adam Smith (1 723-1790) published the Wealth of Nations in 1776 and said that there is an invisible hand in the economy.
• Human behavior is affected by biological factors, spiritual factors, personality, and the type of socialization. The spiritual can and should override the biological urges to human behavior. Personality type is a very important factor in human behavior. Much human behavior is also learned and much of it depends on socialization. Social background affects the perception of other people and events.
• Social psychology also studies interactions among humans in small groups and in larger social organizations. It also studies attitudes and beliefs. Results of social psychology research are used in industry, schools, and the treatment of mental disorders.
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION - 4
• Engineering psychology
• Consumer psychology
• Environmental psychology
• Counseling psychology
• Applied psychology
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION - 5
• Child psychology studies the psychological development of a child from infancy through the end of adolescence. It is a new discipline. Psychoanalysis has its theories about child development. Jean Piaget developed theories of child development based on direct observation. Research depends on observation, interviews, tests (personality, intelligence), and experiments.
• Developmental psychology deals with psychological changes in phases of human development from infancy to old age. The first concern of developmental psychology was child psychology. Later the field extended to other age groups.
• Differential psychology deals with psychological differences between individuals and groups.
• Educational psychology deals with the learning process and its disorders. It includes various forms of psychological testing. It differs from school psychology that deals with behavioral issues in schools.
DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION - 6
• Social psychology
• Comparative psychology compares human behavior to that of other living things in order to better understand human behavior. Animals are different from humans because they were created separately. Humans are not animals at the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder.
• Psychopathology studies mental and behavioral disorders. A major problem in psychopathology is drawing the boundary between what is pathology and what is at the extreme end of normal behavior.
• Physiological psychology studies the physiological basis of human behavior. It seeks to understand how the nervous system undertakes functions of thinking, learning, sensing, and perceiving. It also studies the physiological basis for motivation, behavior, emotions, and memory. Physiological psychology is the interface between the body and the mind. There are many theories about the mind-body relationship. Humans are basically dualistic in nature having a physical body and a spiritual entity that can manifest as the mind as well as other phenomena.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Psychological concepts can be found in ancient writings of Greek and Muslim scholars. Psychology as an independent discipline is of recent origin.
PARADIGMS AND METHODS - 1
• Experiments can be carried out on humans and animals. Human experimentation has many limitations because of legal and ethical constraints.
• Research is carried out by direct or indirect observation, psychological tests, and experiments.
• Psychometrics has become a distinct discipline concerned with psychological testing.
PARADIGMS AND METHODS - 2
• Learning theory explains how knowledge or practice leads to a permanent change in human behavior.
• There are disputes about whether the following are forms of learning: habituation, conditioning, acquisition of practical skills like driving, concept formation, and problem-solving.
• No comprehensive learning theory has been proposed so far. Suggestions have been made that learning occurs by association, repetition, reinforcement, motivation, and practice.
• Research on memory, retrieval, and forgetting is also ongoing but no definitive theories have been formulated.
ISLAMIC EPISTEMOLOGICAL CRITIQUE
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