Psychology Behaviour Actions

Emotions Thoughts Unconscious

Attitudes Knowledge Feelings

Mind Mental Processes Soul Soul

Attention Studying Psychology

Naturally Inclined to Think

Conscious ourselves. Life Crucial

Life Problems Moral Standards

Human Understanding Influence

Rational Plato Socrates Aristotle

Hippocrates al-Razi Avicenna

al-Kindi Ghazali Science Religion

Disturbance Curiosity Animal

Galileo Galilei [ɡaliˈlɛːo ɡaliˈlɛi]

Sub-Conscious Dream Frances

Bacon Descrates Ernst Weber

Psychology 101

Assignment # 01

10/29/2012

Syed Shahrukh Kamal – Roll # 01 Govt. Murray College, Sialkot

Contents Defining Psychology

Historical Background of Psychology

Importance of Psychology

Periods of Psychology ............................................................................................................................. Greek Period ...........................................................................................................................................

Hippocrates (460-377 BC) .................................................................................................................

Plato (427-347 BC)..............................................................................................................................

Aristotle (384-322 BC) .......................................................................................................................

Middle Ages ............................................................................................................................................. Muslim Period.........................................................................................................................................

Al-Kindi یالکند ....................................................................................................................................

Ibn-e-Sina

ن ساب نای ................................................................................................................................

Imam al-Ghazali لامام الغزا

ی .................................................................................................................

Scientific Period ......................................................................................................................................

Renaissance Period .............................................................................................................................

Galileo Galilei ......................................................................................................................................

Francis Bacon ......................................................................................................................................

René Descartes ....................................................................................................................................

Modern Period ........................................................................................................................................

Ernst Heinrich Weber ........................................................................................................................

Charles Robert Darwin .......................................................................................................................

William Wundt – Father of Experimental Psychology ....................................................................

References ...............................................................................................................................................

Importance of Psychology

Before studying any subject, the mind

starts reasoning that why we should study

that particular subject, what importance

does it has and how important is it to us.

Similarly, the mind asks us a few questions

for Psychology. Mrs. Shehr Bano pointed

out some questions in her textbook

„Psychology‟. She wrote:

“Before studying psychology, we

are naturally inclined to think and

question ourselves: Why do we

study psychology? What

importance does it hold for life?

Does it help make crucial life

decisions and solve complex

problems? Will it give rise to

better human beings and citizens?

And last but not the least, are we

able to improve moral standards

and purify our souls?”

Psychology is a systemised and scientific

study of behaviour and mental processes.

“Psychology means a theoretical,

educational and applied science connecting

the scientific study of mental operations and

behaviour or performancei.” Psychology

provides us a rational basis and application

and usage of understanding, knowledge and

skills to a lot of human activities e.g.

education, events, people and their task,

employment, association, relationship,

actions, thoughts, feelings, emotions,

attitudes etc. Three main reasons for

studying Psychology areii:

i) Self-Knowledge

ii) Learning About Others

iii) Solving Problems

A person‟s behaviour varies from time to

time. Psychology is a way to understand the

causes of that change in behaviour. It is a

study of our personality and the reasons for

our character and actionsiii iv v. It is a

knowledge to end the curiosity that why do

a person behave in such a way. It supplies us

valuable information to deal with people

around us and help us improve the

situations.

Defining Psychology

Psychology is well defined by Shiela

Segurida asvi:

“Psychology (Greek: Ψυχολογία,

lit. “study of the mind”, from ψυχή

psykhē “breath, spirit, soul”; and -

λογία, -logia "study of") is an

academic and applied discipline

involving the systematic, and

often scientific, study of human

mental functions and behavior.

Occasionally, in addition or

opposition to employing the

scientific method, it also relies on

symbolic interpretation and

critical analysis, although it often

does so less prominently than

other social sciences such as

sociology.”

Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines it as:

Psychology is an academic and

applied discipline that involves the

scientific study of mental

functions and behavioursvii viii.

Psychology has the immediate

goal of understanding individuals

and groups by both establishing

general principles and

researching specific cases,ix x and

by many accounts it ultimately

aims to benefit society.xi xii

These are modern definitions. Before

moving to the Historical Background of

Modern Psychology, we need to review the

definitions that ever rose up as a standard

definition for Psychology. In the history of

almost five thousand years or more, we got

five definitions.

In the early Greek Period, the definition

derived for Psychology was:

Psychology is the study of soul.

Later, this definition was rejected with

the objection that soul is an immaterial

thing. With rejection of this definition, there

arose a new standard definition.

Psychology is the study of mind.

The same objection became the cause

for rejection of this definition. Hence, there

came the third definition.

Psychology is not the study of mind.

It is not but the study of

Consciousness.

The same objection didn‟t let this

definition to survive for long and a need of

another standard definition was felt.

Psychology is not but the study of

behaviour.

This definition was quite true but it still

needs some blanks to be filled. This

definition was not defining Psychology in

the way it is meant. This definition was

revised to finally provide us with modern

standard definition of Psychology.

Psychology is the systemised and

scientific study of behaviour and

mental processes.

Historical Background of Psychology

History of Psychology is traced back to almost half-million (500,000) years ago, the age of

primitive people. At that time, people had totally different views than modern man. According to

the ancient Egyptian concepts, death was an enemy hiding from humans. It attacks humans as it

finds him weak and alone. Jan Zandee wrote a book „Death as an Enemy: According to Ancient

Egyptian Conceptions‟ on this concept. Similarly, there was an idea that the presence of good

soul and evil soul causes changes of behaviour in man.

Periods of Psychology Psychology is divided in two main periods:

(i) Pre-Scientific Period (ii) Scientific Period

Pre-Scientific Period is further divided in three sub-periods:

(a) Greek Period

(b) Middle Ages

(c) Muslim Period

Greek Period In Greek Period, we see four names at peak:

(i) Hippocrates )قراط )ب

(ii) Socrates (مسقراط (حکی

(iii) Plato )افالطون(

(iv) Aristotle ارسطو()

We will only discuss, briefly, three of them.

Hippocrates (460-377 BC)

Hippocrates was a Greek physician. Most

stories of Hippocrates' life are inconsistent

with historical evidence and similar to

stories told of other figures (such as

Avicenna and Socrates), suggesting a

legendary origin. He thought that the

personality is made up of four

temperaments. These four temperaments

were thought to be influenced by the

presence of “humours and fluids” in a body.

Plato (427-347 BC)

Plato (/ˈpleɪtoʊ/; Greek: Πλάτων, Plátōn,

"broad"xiii;) was a Classical Greek

Philosopher and was among the disciples of

Socrates (469/470-399 BC). He stressed the

controlling influence of soul or mind. He

said that there are three souls that control

the body; first soul (greatest soul) is present

in mind, second soul (brave soul) in chest

and third soul (responsible for personal

desires) in stomach. Former two souls are

immaterial souls while the later one is

immaterial. He postulated mind-body

dualism theory. It says that mind is not a

function of bodyxiv. He had a view that soul

is the reason for the life of man and as soon

as it leaves, man dies.

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης,

Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek

philosopher and polymath, a student of

Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.

He rejected the theory of Plato. He said that

mind do have connection with body and is a

function of body. This was the first major

step that made Psychology a science. He

said that human has three souls. First soul is

the Vegetable Soul which is common in

plants, animals and humans. Second soul is

the Sensible Soul or the Sensitive Soul

which is common in animals and humans.

The third soul is Rational Soul which is only

possessed by humansxv.

Middle Ages With the decline of the Roman Empire,

Europe was left into Dark Ages for next

thousand years. This period is also called

Middle Ages. This period started from 5th

century and lasted till 15th century

(Renaissance and the Age of Discovery)xvi xvii. In this period, sciences did not flourish

much. The reason for this was that sciences

were under the influence of the words of

religious scholars who had changed the

meanings of the teachings of religions.

Allama Iqbal depicted it in his poem

Sarguzasht-e-Ādam in following verses:

م

ھیعالبسےکب

کیترکی اذروه ناب ب

ه دب اھل

م تعلی

معنی هنےخالف

می

The only two scholars we can refer from that

age were:

(i) Plotinus

(ii) St. Augustine

Muslim Period From the very first day of Islam,

Muslims were commanded to seek

knowledge. In obedience to this

commandment, Muslims searched out every

corner of the then-known world and

flourished in sciences. For this reason, apart

from terming it Muslim Period, this period

is also termed as Islamic Golden Age.

In a time known as Golden Age of Islam,

when learning was intrinsic to society,

scholars gathered in Baghdad to debate,

research and study at the House of Wisdom.

Europe was still in the Dark Ages when

the Renaissance men of the Muslim world

were redefining the boundaries of

knowledge. They wrote books that changed

the course of science and philosophy; their

libraries overflowed when paper was still

rare. From philosophers to greengrocers

they studied ancient sciences, then created

disciplines unknown to the world. Greek

knowledge was not known to the world.

Muslim scholars rediscovered the buried

Greek sciences, corrected them and laid the

bases of new sciences. Every modern science

is based on the views of Muslim scholars of

that age.

In that period, we see a lot of scholars,

including:

(i) Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan (721 –

804/815) – The Father of Chemistry.

(ii) Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

(780 – 850) – Father of Algebra.

(iii) Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi

(800/801/804 – 870/873) –

Philosopher of the Arabs.

(iv) Abu Bakr, Muhammad ibn Zakariya

al-Razi (26 Aug 854/865 – 925/935)

– The Greatest Physician of Islam.

(v) Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh

al-Farabi (870/872/878 – 950) –

The Second Master.

(vi) Abu al-Hassan Ali al-Masudi

(893/896 – 957) – Herodotus of the

Arabs.

(vii) Abu Ali al-Hassan ibn al-Haytham

(1 Jul 965 – 6 Mar 1040) – The

Father of Optics.

(viii) Abu Raihan al-Biruni (5 Sep 973 –

13 Dec 1048) – Al Ustad.

(ix) Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abd Allah Ibn

Sina (Avicenna) (980 – 1037) –

A Universal Genius.

(x) Ghiyas ud-din Adbul Fatah Omer ibn

Khayyam (18 May 1048 – 4 Dec 1131)

– The inventor of the Jalali Calendar.

(xi) Imam al-Ghazali (1058 – 18 Dec 1111)

(xii) Allaudin Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi

Huzm Al-Nafis (1213 – 17 Dec 1288)

– Al-Qarshi Al-Dimashqi.

(xiii) Abdurahman ibn Muhammad ibn

Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 19 Mar

1395/1406) – The Father of

Sociology.

(xiv) Shah Wali Ullah (21 Feb 1703 – 1762)

Al-Kindi ادنکلی

Abu Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ

al-Kindī (Arabic: و ب

وسفا عقوبب نب سحاقب

ا

اح

الکنديالصی ‎, Latin: Alkindus) was the

founder of Muslim Philosophy. Though he

started as a calligrapher, al-Kindi‟s thirst for

knowledge led him to make original

contributions in all manner of disciplines,

from philosophy to optics, mathematics to

astronomy, chemistry to cryptography,

medicine to music, and metaphysics to

epistemology. Before long he became known

as Philosopher of the Arabs. He has more

than 270 works. He said that knowledge of

God is the goal of metaphysics. He made a

clear distinction between philosophy and

theology and he believed that they both are

concerned with same subject, although later

philosophers like Avicenna, al-Farabi and

al-Ghazali disagreed with him.

Ibn-e-Sina انب انیس

Known to the Western world as Avicenna,

Ibn Sina was a physician, philosopher, and

scientist. Though he died at a relatively

young age, partially due to his exhaustive

pace of work, he often said “I prefer a short

life with width to a narrow one with length.”

Ibn Sina‟s yearning for knowledge

manifested itself since childhood, and he

obtained enlightenment wherever he could:

a renowned philosopher tutored him in

logic; he studied arithmetic from a local

greengrocer, and a travelling scholar;

metaphysics he learnt by reading Aristotle

and al-Farabi.

“According to him, there are three kinds of

mind: human mind, animal mind and

vegetable mind. Only the human mind

possesses reason and intelligence. He said

that physical illness could be treated with

medicine but mental illness could be

psychologically with religion. He thought

that body had no link with mind; body

perishes but mind remains alive”xviii.

Imam al-Ghazali زغلایل اامم ا

Born in Khurasan, he studied theology &

law. While teaching law at Nizamiyya

College in Baghdad, he suffered a spiritual

crisis, withdrew from public life & spent

eleven years in travel & Sufi studies. His

Best known work is Ihyaa 'ulum al-din

[Revival of religious sciences], an attempt to

integrate theology & law, ethics &

mysticism. Other important works include

al-munqidh min al-dalal [Delivery from

error], a spiritual guide book & Tahafut al-

falasafah [Destruction of the Philosophers].

His vast learning, systematic thought &

lucid style continue to ensure a wide

audience. He stressed on children education

and wrote on Education Psychology and

Child Psychology. He described mental

diseases to be a cause for negative

emotional problems. He said that a man is

composed of two elements i.e. soul and

body. He said that this world is a place of

hard work and not sitting idle.

Al-Ghazali came to Baghdad in 484 AH and

began a prestigious career of teaching. Four

years later, he was led to abandon his

teaching position at the Nizamiyya School,

deputizing his brother Ahmad, famous for

his preaching, to replace him. Upon

completion of pilgrimage to Makkah al-

Ghazali headed for Damascus, then al-

Qudus, then Damascus again where he

remained for several years, taking up the

ascetic life with the words:

"We sought after knowledge for

other than Allah (swt)‟s sake,

but He refused that it be for

anything other than Him."

Scientific Period After the Dark Ages, philosophers and

scientists were successful to cut the chains

of distorted religion. In this period, new

theories came up by observations and

experiments. This period starts from

sixteenth century. It is also divided into two

sub-periods:

(i) Renaissance Period

(ii) Modern Period

Renaissance Period

The prominent figures of that period are:

(i) Galileo Galilei

(ii) Frances Bacon

(iii) Descartes

(iv) Thomas Hobles

Galileo Galilei

Galileo was an Italian physicist, astronomer,

mathematician and natural philosopher. He

was a major contributor of Scientific

Revolution. Galileo have many titles like

„The Father of Science‟, „The Father of

Modern Science‟, „The Father of Modern

Observational Astronomy‟ and „The Father

of Modern Physics. He was born on 15th

February, 1564, and died on 8th January,

1642. In June, 1609, he heard of Dutch

telescope and, within a month, built his

own, improving the design in following

yearsxix. Later, binoculars were invented.

The earliest binoculars used Galilean

Opticsxx. It made a great revolution in

astronomy that led to the acceptance of

Copernican heliocentric systemxxi. Religious

leaders were against him and they even said

that whoever will see from the telescope of

Galileo will be expelled from his religion. He

faced a lot of persecutions, including house

arrest. Wikipedia writes:

“He was tried by the Inquisition,

found "vehemently suspect of

heresy", forced to recant, and

spent the rest of his life under

house arrest.”

He invented thermoscope that, later, led to

the invention of thermometer.

Signatures of Galileo:

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon was born on 22nd January,

1561, and died on 9th April, 1626. He is

thought to be a Founder of Modern Science.

He separated science from religion and

philosophy. He contributed in Social

Psychology and proposed several theories

on education, habits and human

personality. Instead of speculation, he

emphasised the importance of observation.

The inductive methodologies were

established and popularised by his works

and are called Baconian method.

Signatures of

Frances Bacon:

René Descartes

René Descartes was born on 31st March 1596

and died on 11th February 1650. He was a

philosopher, mathematician, and a writer.

He thought that an organism is a

complicated mechanism that could be

activated by light, sound or other such

stimuli. It was his study (although his

concepts were inadequate) that brought

fresh insight to Psychology. He said that

matter and mind are two different things;

matter is based on expansion while mind is

based on thinking and conscious.

His signatures:

Modern Period In modern period, we will discuss:

(i) Ernst Weber

(ii) Charles Darwin

(iii) William Wundt

Ernst Heinrich Weber

Ernst Heinrich Weber was a German

physician who was born on 24th June, 1795,

and died on 26th January, 1878. He is

considered as one of the founders of

Experimental Psychology. He was an

Associate Professor (of Comparative

Anatomy) at Leipzig University, Saxony,

Germany, since 1818, after studying

medicine at Wittenberg University. He was

promoted to Professor in 1821 and

remained there until 1871. Gustav Theodor

Fechner made Weber‟s Law by expressing

Weber‟s findings mathematically. Weber‟s

findings were elaborated in Der Tastsinn

und das Gemeingefühl (1851; “The Sense of

Touch and the Common Sensibility”). The

discoveries made in the middle of 19th

century gave birth to Psycho-Physics.

Charles Robert Darwin

Darwin was born on 12th February, 1809, at

Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He died

on 19th April 1882 at Downe, Kent. In 1851,

with the death of his daughter, he left going

to church. His most famous work is The

Origin of Species, published in 1859. He

presented the Theory of Evolution, contrary

to the Theory of Creation. He suggested

that animals and humans show adaptive

behaviour to the environment. A school of

physiology was developed in early 19th

century and physiologists started

discoveries on behaviour.

Signatures of Darwin:

William Wundt – Father of

Experimental Psychology Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German

physician, psychologist, physiologist,

philosopher, and a professor. He was born

on 16th August, 1832, and died on 31st

August, 1920. He is among the founders of

modern Psychology. In 1879, he established

the first laboratory of Psychology at the

Leipzig University, Germany. In 1881, he

formed the first psychological journal.

References i „Psychology and Its Importance: Why Psychology Is Important.‟ by Raymond Philippe. http://raymondphilippe.hubpages.com/hub/Psychology-and-its-Importance ii „Importance of Psychology‟. http://www.psychologyandsociety.com/psychologyimportance.html iii See note (i) iv The Importance Of Psychology in Everyday Life by SC5448, College, Undergraduate, A, November 2004 http://www.writework.com/essay/importance-psychology-everyday-life v „What is the importance and used of psychology?‟ by Shiela Segurida. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_importance_and_used_of_psychology vi Ibid vii "How does the APA define "psychology"?". Retrieved 15 November 2011. http://www.apa.org/support/about/apa/psychology.aspx#answer viii "Definition of "Psychology (APA's Index Page)"". Retrieved 20 December 2011. http://www.apa.org/about/index.aspx ix Fernald LD (2008). Psychology: Six perspectives (pp. 12–15). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. http://books.google.com/books?id=Q7p-J4-SWuQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false x Hockenbury & Hockenbury. Psychology. Worth Publishers, 2010. xi O'Neil, H.F.; cited in Coon, D.; Mitterer, J.O. (2008). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior (12th ed., pp. 15–16). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. http://books.google.com/books?id=vw20LEaJe10C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false xii "The mission of the APA [American Psychological Association] is to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people‟s lives"; APA (2010). About APA. Retrieved 20 October 2010. http://www.apa.org/about/index.aspx xiii Diogenes Laertius 3.4; p. 21, David Sedley, Plato's Cratylus, Cambridge University Press 2003. http://assets.cambridge.org/052158/4922/sample/0521584922ws.pdf xiv Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/383566/mind-body-dualism xv „The Soul in Renaissance Philosophy‟. http://www.ajdrake.com/e211_spr_05/materials/guides/ren_soul.htm xvi Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/380873/Middle-Ages xvii Wikipedia Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages_(historiography) xviii A textbook of Psychology by Mrs. Shehr Bano xix Wikipedia Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope#History xx Wikipedia Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binoculars#Galilean_binoculars xxi Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/224058/Galileo