DEFINITION, PHASES AND NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY

MEANING AND NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY

The word “psychology” is derived from two Greek words, psyche (soul) and logos (study). So psychology means a “study about the soul”. But although the literal meaning of the word “logos” is “talk.” It is commonly used to mean “science.”.

Hence, psychology means the science of the soul.

But why do we prefer to call psychology a science and not a talk? The reason is that a talk is usually muddled, vague, and fragmentary.

For example, your talk with a friend on a subject might have been quite clear and consistent, yet it could not possibly be as systematic and exhaustive as the science of that subject can be. Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that deals with the study of human behavior and mental processes. It explains the subconscious neurological basis of behavior.

It is the study of the mind, thoughts, and actions of individuals. It does not necessarily refer to the brain or nervous system and can be purely framed in terms of phenomenological or information-processing theories of mind.

An understanding of brain function is being included in psychological theory and practices, particularly in artificial intelligence. Neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience psychology attempts to explain consciousness behavior and social interaction. Psychology has been examining the relationship between consciousness, the brain, and the nervous system. Theories of psychology apply to various activities and problems related to an individual’s daily life and treatment of mental illness.

Psychology is the youngest science. It had its formal beginning in Leipzig, Germany. Wilhelm Wundt founded the psychological laboratory in 1879. Psychology is concerned with the study of behavior as well as mental processes. It has been defined in many ways, i.e., the science of the soul, the science of the mind, the science of consciousness, and the science of behavior. It is composed of two Greek words, Psyche and Logos, which mean study of the soul. It is becoming more and more complex with the complexity of society. It does not study human beings only it extends to the study of animals, birds, and all creatures possessing life. It has many branches, it is used in education, commerce, industry, health, and countless other fields. As psychology is involved in several different fields, psychologists do not agree upon one single definition of psychology.

Definition of Psychology

Psychology is the study of the thoughts and actions of individuals. Psychology is the youngest of all the sciences. It is still in making and is far from being established in the sense in which other sciences are. Hence the definition of psychology has been, and probably still is, a matter of fierce controversy among psychologists.

They largely differ from one another, as indeed all scientists do, in the early stages of their science, disagreements, and controversies are almost inevitable, and without them, perhaps scientific progress could not have been as great as it is. This is especially true of a young science like psychology, recently set free from psychology, and philosophy, and not always distinguishable from physiology. As no one definition is agreed upon by common consent, there exist different definitions of psychology. It has been variously defined as the science of the soul, the science of mind, the science of consciousness, and the science of behavior. Let us examine these definitions one by one and see if any of them can enable us to understand accurately what psychology is and what it deals with.

Psychology as a Science of Soul

According to the dictionary, psychology means “ the science of the soul.” This is the oldest definition of psychology. The word “soul” is a very unsatisfactory term in psychology. It has changed its meaning. Aristotle used it for the living principle in all animate beings, but in the present day, it is a term used in religion, for that part of us that is immortal and which has a special relationship with God.

Thus the use of the term “soul” implies certain theories of religion about immortality and relationship to God, and such theories are just what we want to avoid in the science of psychology, even though we may believe them to be true on other grounds. Psychologists are not opposed to religion, but they certainly want to keep this young science free from religious terminology. “Soul” is a word of the bad door to men of science, smelling too much of religion. As it has a religious flavor, it is unwelcome to modern psychology. If psychology aspires to be a science, surely it does—it must adopt a scientific and not a speculative procedure. Science observes facts, and the soul is not open to observation or experiment: The definition of psychology as the science of the soul is, therefore, rejected as unscientific.

Psychology as the Science of Mind

To many, the word “mind” is quite as vague as the word “soul.”. If “mind” means something mysterious inside us, it would be just the same as it should, and this definition would deserve to be discredited.

Ask the man in the street what he means by “mind,” and he will tell you that is it something in his body, or rather head, which thinks, feels, and wills.

So if we define psychology as the science of mind as a layman thinks, this definition has no improvement upon the previous definition of psychology as the science of soul. But like Hume and Titchener, we take the mind in the sense of mental process, this definition would certainly be better than the previous one.

Psychology would then mean the science of mental processes. But what are the mental processes? The answer is that they are our processes of knowing, feeling, and willing.

The processes which are commonly said to go on ‘in’ our mind. Let us illustrate them by example. If a wasp stings my finger, I know what has happened to me, feel pain, run after the wasp, and will kill it. I know, I feel and I will. The processes of the mind are facts. There are real happenings, and there is no mystery about them. This conception of the mind is sometimes called the empirical conception because mental processes can be experienced. It is also called the scientific conception because it can be observed and experimented upon.

To sum up, the definition of psychology as the science of mental processes seems to be quite reasonable and therefore commands assent. This is subject to one objection, however, according to this definition, psychology is concerned with the study of mental processes. Now, even a superficial consideration shows that a person can study only his mental processes. To know the mental processes of other persons and animals, one has to see what they do, and “what they do” is called their “behavior.”. I can say that the man is grieved only when I see him weeping. We can know the mental processes of others only through the observation of their behavior.

“Thus psychology is concerned with the study of behavior as well as mental processes.”

The definition of psychology as the science of mental processes is a half-truth.

Psychology as the Science of Consciousness

Psychology has also been defined as the science of consciousness. What is consciousness? If you stop to reflect, you will be aware that you are sitting at a desk, that you are reading a book, and that you are either interested in it or bored by it. The present awareness is what we mean by consciousness. Does consciousness cover the whole field of mind? The answer is, No. Besides consciousness, there are processes and psychology cannot ignore them because they are also processes of mind the truth rather is that conscious processes form a very small part of our mind. They are so to speak the upper surface of the deep sea, the greater part of which lies below. Infect, more lies at the back of the mind than at its front. This is also an incomplete definition because we can study our conscious processes; we cannot study the mental processes of others. So, we must take “behavior” into consideration.

The definition of psychology as the science of consciousness is too narrow because it excludes the study of subconscious and unconscious mental processes and also that of behaviour.

Psychology as a Science of Behavior

Behavior’ is generally understood as anything that a living does. It means “respond,” “reactions,,” or “adjustments of an organism to various kinds of stimuli. A stimulus is the outside cause of the mental process. It has already been said that to understand the minds of other persons and animals, we have to study their behavior. Hence psychology has been defined as the science of behavior—aa definition that looks harmless enough.

This is the most modern of all the definitions and is put forward by the school of psychology known as behaviorism, the leading exponent of which is Dr. Watson. This school of psychology, in its extreme form, admits only the study of behavior as its subject matter and ignores the study of consciousness and mental processes altogether.

Dr. Watson writes: “State of consciousness, like the so-called phenomena of spiritualism, is not objectively verifiable and for that reason, can never become data for science.”

“The behaviorist finds no evidence for mental existence or mental processes of any kind.” Again, “consciousness is neither a definable nor a usable concept. It is merely a word for the’soul’ of more ancient times.” “If it exists,” he continues, “we can know nothing about it.”

This point of view has been prevalent in America under the table and aggressive leadership of Dr. Watson, and has come to be fairly widely held by psychologists in other countries as well. But although our mind is revealed in our behavior, yet to study behavior at the cost of our mind is a mistake. The danger of behaviorism, particularly in its extreme form, has been its tendency to neglect consciousness and mental processes altogether.

The school of behaviorism is an exaggerated reaction against the purely subjective standpoint of those who are known as mentalists subjective standpoint means, the study of what goes on in one’s mind. This school has resulted in an equally purely objective standpoint. Objective standpoint means the study of what is observable and external to the mind (i.e. behavior). Infect, there can be no objective or external behavior without the subjective or inner mental processes of which the former is expression. Hence this  definition of psychology as the science of behavior is rejected as one-sided

Psychology and Other Sciences

In the Universe, there are nonliving things (stones, rocks, rivers etc.), living things without mind, plants, trees, and living things possessing life and mind (human beings & animals).

Material things exist at the lowest level whereas living things having no mind exist at a level higher than the level of existence of material things and the living things possessing life and mind are at the highest level of existence. Corresponding to these three levels of existence, there are three categories of sciences to explain them:

 Physical Sciences

These sciences explain the existence of non-living things. They describe various properties of matter and the composition of material things. They attempt to understand and explain physical phenomena in nature.

Biological Science

These sciences deal with life and living things. They explain biological phenomena. The study of various forms of life-manifestation. They attempt to discover the conditions and laws of the growth and development of plants, animals, and human beings.

Mental Science

There are various physical sciences and biological sciences. Similarly, there are several sciences which deal with the mind. But there is one fundamental science that lies at the basis of mind sciences which studies the essential nature of the mind and how does mind grows and functions in human beings and animals, in individuals & societies, and in normal and abnormal persons. This fundamental science is known as psychology.