What is Psychology?
Ø The word,
‘Psychology’ is derived from two Greek words, ‘Psyche’ and ‘Logos’. Psyche
means ‘soul’ and ‘Logos’ means ‘science’. Thus psychology was first defined as
the ‘science of soul”.
a. Psychology
as the Science of Soul: In ancient days, the Greek philosophers like Plato
and Aristotle interpreted Psychology as the science of the soul and studied it
as a branch of Philosophy. But soul is something metaphysical. It cannot be
seen, observed and touched and we cannot make scientific experiments on soul
b. Psychology
as the Science of the Mind: It was the
German philosopher Emmanuel Kant who defined Psychology as the science of the
mind. William James (1892) defined psychology as the science of mental
processes. But the word ‘mind’ is also quite ambiguous as there was confusion
regarding the nature and functions of mind.
c. Psychology
as the Science of Consciousness: Modern psychologists defined psychology
as the “Science of Consciousness”. James Sully (1884) defined psychology as the
“Science of the Inner World”. Wilhelm Wundt (1892) defined psychology as the
science which studies the “internal experiences’. But there are three levels of
consciousness – conscious, subconscious and the unconscious and so this
definition also was not accepted by some.
d. Psychology
as the Science of Behaviour: At the beginning of the 20th century, when
psychologists attempted to develop psychology into a pure science, it came to
be defined as the science of behaviour. The term behaviour was popularized by
J.B. Watson. Other exponents are William Mc Dugall and W.B. Pillsbury.
According to R.S. Woodworth, “First Psychology lost its soul, and then it lost
its mind, and then lost its consciousness. It still has behaviour of a sort.”
Behaviour generally means overt activities which can be observed and measured scientifically. But one’s behaviour is always influenced by his experiences. So when we study one’s behaviour we must also study his experiences.
Behaviour is of two types:
a. i. Overt
b. ii. Covert
· Psychology should, therefore, be defined as a “science of behaviour and experiences on human beings” (B.F. Skinner)
·
According
to Crow and Crow, “Psychology is the study of human behaviour and human
relationship’”.
Different Branches of Psychology:
General Psychology
Physiological Psychology
Animal Psychology
Abnormal Psychology
Genetic Psychology
Social Psychology
Child Psychology
Para Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Industrial & Business Psychology
Criminal Psychology
Military Psychology
Youth Psychology
What is
Education?
It is a process
where skill & information, are transferred to next generation, in order to
develop a person mentally, emotionally and technically to be a happy and
valuable character in the social order.
What is Educational Psychology?
If both the above paragraphs are combined it will be cleared to us that education which is an important social and human activity has close link with psychology.
Psychology gives insight and information, about the student mentality while education executes & acts in the specific direction to get the goals that the educational psychologists have set. In other words Educational psychology studies mental and behavior related issues scientifically, of those who are directly or indirectly concerned with education.
Educational psychology is that branch of psychology in which the findings of psychology are applied in the field of education. It is the scientific study of human behaviour in educational setting.
Thus educational psychology is a behavioural science with two main references– human behaviour and education.
In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational Psychology is the science of Education”.
Educational
Psychology concerned primarily with understanding the processes of teaching and
learning that take place within formal environments and developing ways of
improving those methods. It covers important topics like learning theories;
teaching methods; motivation; cognitive, emotional, and moral development; and
parent-child relationships etc.
In short, it is
the scientific discipline that addresses the questions: “Why do some students
learn more than others?” and “What can be done to improve that learning?”
Nature of Educational Psychology:
Its nature is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a Science of Education. We can summarize the nature of Educational Psychology in the following ways:
1. Educational
Psychology is a science. (Science is a branch of study concerned with
observation of facts and establishment of verifiable general laws. Science
employs certain objective methods for the collection of data. It has its
objectives of understanding, explaining, predicting and control of facts.) Like
any other science, educational psychology has also developed objective methods
of collection of data. It also aims at understanding, predicting and
controlling human behaviour.
2. Educational Psychology is a natural science. An educational psychologist conducts his investigations, gathers his data and reaches his conclusions in exactly the same manner as physicist or the biologist.
3. Educational psychology is a social science. Like the sociologist, anthropologist, economist or political scientist, the educational psychologist studies human beings and their sociability.
4. Educational psychology is a positive science. Normative science like Logic or Ethics deals with facts as they ought to be. A positive science deals with facts as they are or as they operate. Educational psychology studies the child’s behaviour as it is, not, as it ought to be. So it is a positive science.
5. Educational
psychology is an applied science. It is the application of
psychological principles in the field of education. By applying the principles
and techniques of psychology, it tries to study the behaviour and experiences
of the pupils. As a branch of psychology it is parallel to any other applied
psychology. For example, educational psychology draws heavily facts from such
areas as developmental psychology, clinical psychology, abnormal psychology and
social psychology.
Scope of Educational Psychology:
The scope of
educational psychology is gaining greater importance in the educational field.
Thus, more students are aiming to pursue this field of study. This makes it
more important for aspirants as well as others to understand the scope of
educational psychology. The following factors indicate the scope of educational
psychology
Human
Behavior:
Psychology in education involves the study of human behaviour in educational
situations. We all understand the psychology is the study of behaviour.
Education, on the other hand, deals with the modification of behaviour. Hence,
we can say that educational psychology penetrates in the whole of the education
sector.
Growth
and Development:
How does a child pass through various stages of growth? This is studied by
educational psychologists. The characteristics of each stage of growth are
closely watched and studied. This helps in making reports and easy diagnosis of
a few illness/ diseases.
Heredity
and Environment:
Heredity can affect a lot of things in a child, including the development and
growth of the brain to learn and grasp new things. Along with this, the
environment a child grows up in also plays a major part. Educational
psychologists determine to what extend heredity and environment contribute
towards the growth of the individual and how this knowledge can be used for
bringing about the optimum development of the child.
Learning
process:
Learning is a major phenomenon in education. Educational psychologists study
the law of learning. They study how learning as a process can take place in an
effective and economical manner. Psychologists in education understand how a
student reacts to learning in different situations
Personality: The scope of
psychology in education extends to the personality of the student. It deals
with the nature and development of an individual in an educational setup.
Education has been described as an all-round development of the personality of
a person.
Intelligence: It is very
important for a teacher or a tutor to understand the nature of the study. The
scope of Psychology in education includes the study of the nature of
intelligence as well as its measurement.
Individual
Difference: Each
individual is different from the other. This is a fundamental fact of human
life. An education psychologist studies the nature of intelligence as well as
its measurement. This is a very important scope of psychology in education.
Guidance
and Counseling:
When you use the word education, it means providing guidance to a growing
child. Thus, guidance forms an important scope of psychology in education. This
is one of the most important fields of study in the subject. American Psychology Association has given five
areas of guidance and counseling. They are:
a.
Human
growth and development, including the effect of heredity and environment on
various aspects of individual
b.
The
nature of the learning process, factors influencing the learning process
c.
It
includes many sub-topics, such as the mental health of the students and
teachers character
d.
Measurement
and evaluation, statistics
e.
Techniques
and methods of Educational Psychology
We can conclude
by saying that educational psychology is a narrower branch of psychology.
Education is one of the primary needs of the modern man. Psychology has made
way into every aspect of modern education to make it more systematic,
scientific, useful, authentic, objective, and numerical. Strong methods have
been applied at present for the understanding of the human mind and behaviour.
It had helped in working out of the educational plan and program for the
effective solution of the problems.
Stages
of Development: A
child is a growing organism with his own nature and characteristics of
development in different stages. Without knowledge of such developmental
characteristics, education cannot effective for individuals. Thus, educational
psychology as a subject must have to make an in-depth study of the nature of
the psychophysical development of the child in different stages.
Mental Measurement: In educational psychology, mental measurement provides a promising field of study at present. It is necessary to identify the human resources, capabilities, and talents for effective training and utilization of them. Objective measurement of mental abilities and intelligence of individuals is gaining more renown in educational psychology today.
Mental Hygiene: In the context of the increasing complexity of our social life, keeping mental health and hygiene appears to be a problem. Many of the evils of our social life are owing to mental illness caused due to a defective social environment. How to keep our mental health in this context is the common cause of concern today that comprises the study of educational psychology.
Study of the Unconscious Mind: It has been observed that many of the abnormal and undesirable behavior and activities of children are deeply rooted in the unconscious mind and its elements. So, the study of the nature and causes of their complexity and to normalize the situation covers became an interesting area of its study.
Methods
of Learning: Educational
psychology is responsible to enquire and examine the soundness of the different
methods of teaching used in order to derive the economy and efficiency of child
learning. It covers the study of the laws, principles, and methods of learning
and remembering and in the formation of habits. The whole mechanism of child
learning virtually constitutes the scope of educational psychology.
