Psychology can be primarily defined as a type of science. It is the science that encompasses all aspects of the mind especially with regards to thought, conscious and unconscious events as well as behaviour. It is studying the various processes that occur mentally which relate these activities to the brain in terms of intelligence, perception, emotion etc. Psychology is the main field of study having subdivisions that allows individuals to focus on and specialize in an area of psychology such as clinical psychology. This science dates to the early 1870s and the word psychology is the arrangement of two Greek terminologies which are psyche meaning “the study of “and Logos implying that it is the foundation of all” ology’s” for instance biology
Psychology originated from the vague concepts of philosophy but its status gradually evolved overtime to a scientific level. The word ‘psychology’ has Greek roots where ψυχή psukhē refers to the “spirit” or “soul" and -λογία –logia refers to "study of" or "research". Now psychology is defined as a study of the science of the mind and personality. It involves the study of mental processes that effect the behaviour and interactions of humans in life The study of the human mind involving processes like problem solving, creativity, thinking, paying attention, language usage, memory and perception come under cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines of psychological study, including educational psychology, social psychology, personality psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and economics.
This idea was called functionalism, which viewed behavior as purposeful because it led to survival. Instead of being restricted to only the structure of the mind, functionalists studied why behavior and mental processes worked in particular ways. The key person to make an impact on functionalism was William James, who wrote the textbook Principles of Psychology, as well as established a laboratory for psychology. Functionalism might relate mostly to psychology, but it can be used to relate to other fields. Functionalism will relate to my field because I intend to work in mental health for social work.
(C) Significance of the Research As a discipline, phenomenology has been central to the tradition of continental European philosophy in the 20th century. Husserl’s phenomenology has been formulated around the concept of intentionality. He has spent more than forty years examining the concept. Intentionality itself has played a fundamental role in analytic philosophy in general and in phenomenology in particular (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/intentionality/). Intentionality is significant as it enables phenomenologists to work on the relation between that which is within consciousness and that which is transcendent or extends beyond it.
Cognitive Theory: In the 1950 's, a psychologist named Albert Ellis, and a psychiatrist named Aaron Beck, independently developed two very similar theories. Both of these theories resulted in effective forms of cognitive therapy. These therapies continue to be widely practiced today. While behavioral learning theory emphasizes the role of the environment, cognitive theory emphasizes the key role of the mind 's cognitions in determining behavior. These cognitions include a person 's thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and perceptions (views of others).
(Golinski, J. 2001, p2). Thomas Kuhn suggested that scientific activity is guided by a paradigm. Sociological and psychological factors have a significant impact on science. (Kuhn, T. 1962,
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development Many researchers have tried to revise after Freud 's psychoanalysis, to show the value associated with the process and I have to follow their development (Kail, Cavanaugh, 2004). The most prominent of the so-called ego psychology was Erik Erikson. As with other postfreydistov for Erickson the greatest importance was the self and its adaptive capacity in connection with the problem of the individual. However, this does not mean that he neglected his theory of biological or social factors (Kail, Cavanaugh, 2004). In fact, Erickson insisted that any psychological phenomenon can be understood in the context of a coherent interaction between biological, behavioral, and social factors empirical.
Schachter and Singer were both agree with the James-Lange Theory and Cannon-Bard Theory. They agreed that people infer emotions when they experience physiological arousal and the same pattern of physiological arousal can give rise to different emotions. The last evolutionary theories were the cognitive theory. It says “several theories began to argue that cognitive activity in the form of judgments, evaluations, or thoughts were entirely necessary for an emotion to occur.” An American psychologist Richard Lazarus who contended that emotions must have some cognitive intentionality was one of the main advocator of this view. The interpretation of an emotional context of cognitive activity may be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing.
Philosophical influences that study human nature and physiological influences who bring both together to found a new science. History is not passive. It changes, grows, and not finish. It is influenced by external forces that shape the nature and direction of psychology. I mean that past helps shape the present.
“(Morgan, Slade, & Morgan, 1997,p.598). This statement can justify the theory of the self through influences of cultural and environmental aspects in African psychology through evidence dating back over 25 000 years ago recently showing Southern-African hunter gathers using cultural practices such as