PSYCOLOGY AND ITS SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS

Submitted by Muhammad Wajid Manzoor

Roll No bsf1905413

Class B.Ed. Secondary 1.5 (B)

University of Education Township Campus Lahore

Introduction of Psychology

The word psychology is derived from Greek word psycho & logos. ‘Psycho’ means “soul”
and ‘logos’ means “science”. The science of soul. It is scientific because it is systematic study of
observable events/behavior and behavior is unlearned process where in include reflexes,
physiological process and instincts and it is learned behavior also because all behavior acquire
through practice. It can be overt and covert. Today Psychology is scientific method of collecting
data about individual and groups to analyze and predict their behavior.

Introduction of Educational Psychology

Educational psychology is nothing but one of the branch of applied psychology. It is an
attempt to apply the knowledge of psychology to the field of education. In other words ,
educational psychology is the study of the experience and behavior of the learner in relation to
educational environment.
Crow and Crow put it as: “Educational Psychology describes and explains the learning
experience of an individual from birth through old age”.(1973)
According to Peel: “Educational Psychology is the science of education.(1956).
Education by all means, is an attempt to mould and shape the behavior of students. Its aims to
produce desirable changes in them for all-round development of their personalities. The essential
knowledge and skill to do this job satisfactorily is supplied by educational Psychology as Peels
puts it in the following words: “Educational Psychology helps the teacher to understand the
development of his pupils, the range and limits of their capacities the process by which they
learn and their social relationships” (1956).
Schools of Psychology
The important schools of psychology are as following:
1. Structuralism
This school of psychology was started by wundt. The goal of structuralism was to find
the elements which make up the mind. The main method used by them to discover the
elementary units of mind was introspection.
2. Functionalism
The functioning of mental process and how the mind works was seen as the subject
matter of psychology observations of actual behaviour was used to supplement data gathered
from introspection.
3. Behaviorism
This school is proposed by J.B Watson. It is rooted in Thorndike’s theory of trial and
error learning which stress that behaviours and formed through association between stimulus and
response that are stamped into the behaviours of the organism through the 3 basic laws of
frequency, recurancy, and law of effect. Later Pavlov postulated that through associate a previous
neural stimulus could be condition to elicit a response.
Classical conditioning stands as one of the most important paradigm of learning.
Skinner’s theory of instrumental or operant conditioning stresses that the rate of an organism
responses(increase or decreases) is directly influenced by the subsequence delivery of a re-enforcer
or a punisher.
The behaviour according to behaviourists whether adaptive or in adaptive is learned
and psychology should concern itself only that which objectively observable and measurable.
4. Sigmund Freud’s School of Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud would has been great Hollywood screenwriter. His stories of
personalities in one of desire, power, control and freedom. Our personality represent a drama of
sort, acted out in our mind. The ancient Greek thought that all peoples were actor in the drama of
the god above. For Freud, we are simply actors in the drama of our mind, pushes by desire, pulled
by conscience. According to Freud, there is conscious, sub- conscious and unconscious levels in
person and there are three dimension of a personality which call id, ego and super-ego . According
to psychoanalyst it is the expression of unconscious drives that shows up in behaviour and
thoughts.
5. Gestalt Schoool
Wertheimer, Kohler and Kafka were the proponents of this school. This group made
their greatest contribution and perception and learning theory from which cognitive theory was
eventually evolved. The formation of Gestalt as configuration is arrested by innate tendencies of
organism, its perceptual experience on the basis of similarity continuity and closure.
The Gestalts state that the mind should be thought of as a result from the whole
bottom at sensory activities and the relationship within this pattern,. They maintained or mentioned
that of mind is not made up of a combination of simple elements.. A famous psychiatrist once said
that evil man do what good man only dream of.
6. Humanistic School
Karl Roger is the proponent of this school. They believe that man is essentially good
and rational with I-me-myself as the centre of experience. The most important striving is self –
actualization. People react to way, consistent to their perceptions of world. Perceived that threats
is followed by defense, rigidity, narrowing at perception and defense mechanisms. The therapist
must view the client as an individual with the capacity of self-direction and be able to express a
sense of positive unconditional regards.
7. Existential School
The ultimate challenge to human existence is the sense at personal identity and to
build meaningful links with the world. Modern man suffers from confusion and the strain of blind
conformity and striving for increased self-determination. Man is viewing as a choosing, free, and
responsible agent anxiety in many ways is unavoidable however, the individual can be neurotic or
can comfort and challenged.

Figure 1 showing different school of thoughts

 Difference between Structuralism and Functionalism

Structuralism Functionalism

A part of experimental psychology. A counter argument to structuralism.

Mainly focuses on human mind and its basic Characteristically pays attention to more

elements are identified and analyzed through objective aspects of consciousness and

introspection. highlights the necessity of analyzing the mind

and behavior on the basis of their function.

 References
 WWW.GOOGLE.CO.IN.

 PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING (DESIGN,ANALYSIS & USE) B013172

 LEWIS R. ALKEN –B014545

 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY (S.K MANGAL)

 EASTERBROKS, S. & BAKER-HAWKINS, S.(Eds.)(1994). DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS:

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE GUIDELINES. ALEXANDRIA,VA: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE
DIRECTORS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION.