Evolution of Psychology:

1. Wundt of Germany first established an experimental laboratory in 1879 to study of conscious experience. They were called as structuralists.

2. William James developed a functionalist approach to/the study of human mind. He studied that instead of focussing on the structure of the mind, psychology should instead study what the mind does and how behaviour function in making people deal with the environment.

3. In 20th century a perspective called Gestalt psychology emerged in Germany as a reaction to the structuralism of Wundt. The Gestalt psychologists believed that what we experience is more than the inputs received from our environment.

4. Around 1910, John Watson rejected the ideas of mind and consciousness as a subject matter of psychology. According to him scientific psychology must focus on what is observable and verifiable. Thus he believed in behaviourism.

5. Sigmund Freud viewed human behaviour as a dynamic manifestation of unconscious desires and conflicts. Freudi an viewed human being as motivated by unconscious desires for gratification of sexual pleasure and sexual desires.

6. Humanist such as Carl Roger and Abraham Maslow emphasized the will of human being and their natural striving to grow and unfold their inner potential.

(a) Difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist:

Psychologists: They study different aspects of human personal and social life. They study the human behaviour in various circumstances and situations. They treat people with psychological disorders However, they cannot prescribe any medication.

Psychiatrist: A psychiatrist has a medical degree with years of specialised training in treatment of psychological disorders. A psychiatrist can prescribe medications and give electroshock treatments.

(b) Difference between a counsellor and a clinical psychologist:

Counsellor: A counsellor helps people solve problems in daily living. He/she may work with students, advising them about personal problems and career planning.

Clinical psychologist: A clinical psychologist has a degree in psychology, which includes intensive training in treating people with psychological disorders.

Behaviours are responses or reactions we make or activities we engage in.

(i) Overt behaviour can be outwardly seen or sensed by an observer. Example: If the suggestion of a person, who always try to dominate, is not accepted he immediately gets irritated and anger surfaces on his face.

(ii) Covert behaviours are internal. Example: When you are in a difficult situation while playing a game of chess you almost feel your hand muscles twitching trying to experiment with a move.

There are many problems for which collaboration of psychologists with other disciplines can be fruitful. For example, psychologists can play very important role in hospitals. The role of psychologists in preventing people from engaging in health hazardous behaviours and in adhering to the prescribed doctors regimen are some of the important areas where the two disciplines (medicine and psychology) have come together. Further, psychologists and doctors can simultaneously treat patients suffering from AIDS, cancer and the physically challenged by psychological counselling and by medicines respectively. Similarly, sociologists and psychologists can come together to explain and understand the behaviour of individuals within different socio-cultural contexts. Issues related to socialisation, group and collective behaviour, and inter group conflicts can give from both these disciplines.

Scientific knowledge governed by psychology often runs against common sense. One such example is a study performed by Dweck (1975). She was concerned with children who gave up too easily when faced with a difficult problem or failure. Common sense tells to give them easy problems in order to increase their success rate so that their confidence goes up. Only later should we give them difficult problems which they will be able to solve because of their new-found confidence Dweck’s study tested this. She took two groups of students who were trained for 25 days in solving math problems. The first group was given easy problems which they were always able to solve. The second group had a mix of easy and difficult problems. The students failed in solving the difficult problems. Whenever this happened Dweck told them that their failure was because they had not tried hard enough and persuaded them not to give up and keep trying. After the training period was over, a new set of math problems were given to the two groups. Dweck found the result against the common belief. Those who had always succeeded because they were given easy problems, gave up much faster when they faced failure than those who had experience of both success and failure and were taught to attribute failure to their lack of effort.

There are many other common sense notions which may not be true. For example, it was believed in some cultures that men are more intelligent than women. Empirical studies have shown that this is not true. Common sense also tells us that one is not able to give one’s best if he is asked to perform before a large audience. However, psychological studies have shown that if he has practiced well, he may actually perform better because the presence of others helps his performance.