THE HISTORICAL BEGINNINGS OF PSYCHOLOGY

The History of psychology is the history of thought about consciousness and conduct. It has its roots in
ancient Greek Philosophy, such as epistemology (the philosophy of knowing), metaphysics, religion and
oriental philosophy. The ancient Greek philosopher and scientist who surveyed the whole of human
knowledge was Aristotle and he is also known the father of Psychology.

Aristotle, The Father of Psychology and Wilhelm Wundt, The Father of Modern Psychology

During the olden days, psychology was based on traditions and superstitions. Natural events and
phenomena are attributed with animism. Because of superstitious beliefs, psychology was derived from
two greek words, psyche (soul) and logos (study), or study of the soul. thus, the term soul has
religious implications, such as a form motion, and inner flame. Or a function of bodily process.

Later, psychology was based on philosophy. The Greek Philosophers had abandoned its superstitious
foundation in favor of philosophical meaning or speculation. Thus, the term psyche became mind and
thus psychological was then defined as the study of the mind.

Psychology as a self-conscious field of experimental study began in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt founded
the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research in Leipzig, Germany. Wundt was also
the first person to refer to himself as a psychologist. Other important early contributors to the field
include Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in the study of memory), William James (the American father
of pragmatism), and Ivan Pavlov (who developed the procedures associated with classical conditioning).
Soon after the development of experimental psychology, various kinds of applied psychology
appeared. G. Stanley Hall brought scientific pedagogy to the United States from Germany in the early
1880s. John Dewey's educational theory of the 1890s was another example. Also in the 1890s, Hugo
Mnsterberg began writing about the application of psychology to industry, law, and other
fields. Lightner Witmer established the first psychological clinic in the 1890s. James McKeen
Cattell adapted Francis Galton's anthropometric methods to generate the first program of mental
testing in the 1890s. In Vienna, meanwhile, Sigmund Freud developed an independent approach to the
study of the mind called psychoanalysis, which has been widely influential.
The 20th century saw a reaction to Edward Titchener's critique of Wundt's empiricism. This contributed
to the formulation of behaviorism by John B. Watson, which was popularized by B. F. Skinner.
Behaviorism proposed emphasizing the study of overt behavior, because that could be quantified and
easily measured. Early behaviorists considered study of the "mind" too vague for productive scientific
study. However, Skinner and his colleagues did study thinking as a form of covert behavior to which they
could apply the same principles as overt (publicly observable) behavior. The final decades of the 20th
century saw the rise of cognitive science, an interdisciplinary approach to studying the human mind.
Cognitive science again considers the "mind" as a subject for investigation, using the tools
of evolutionary psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, behaviorism, and neurobiology.
This form of investigation has proposed that a wide understanding of the human mind is possible, and
that such an understanding may be applied to other research domains, such as artificial intelligence.

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Psychology was brought to the Philippines in 1926 with Dr. Agustin Alonzo as head of the Department of
psychology of the University of the Philippines. Dr. Alonzo obtained his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology
from the University of Chicago.

1930
-The Department of Psychology was established at University of Sto. Tomas

1932
-Sinforonso Padilla started the Psychological Clinic at University of the Philippines

1933
-Jesus Perpinan started the Far Eastern University Psychological Clinic

1938
-Angel de Blas, OP, promoted the Experimental Psychology Laboratory at the University of Sto. Tomas

1948
-Estefania Aldaba-Lim established the Institute of Human Relations at the Philippine Womens University

1954
-Joseph Goertz established the Department of Psychology at the University of San Carlos

1960
-Fr. Jaime Bulatao established the Department of Psychology and the Central Guidance Bureau at the
Ateneo de Manila University

1962
-The Philippine Psychological Corporation was established which gave psychological services and stood
as the primary retailer for psychological measurements

1971
-Virgilio Enriquez questioned the current measures of psychology in the Philippines arguing that western
psychology cannot be used as a measure for Filipinos as it does not consider the Philippine culture and
experiences of the Filipinos

1975
-Virgilio Enriquez started creating Panukat ng Ugali at Pagkatao (PUP) that was known to be a measure
that is sensitive to the Philippine culture from process to acquiring tests -Virgilio Enriquez established
the Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Philippine Psychology) and became known as the Father of Filipino
Psychology

1976
-Virgilio Enriquez and Carmen Santiago proposed the Model of the New-Filipino Research to guide the
practice of native research. -Enriquez and Santiago introduced two scales that was derived from the
experiences of research in the nation: Scale of the Researcher and Scale of the researcher and the
Participant.

SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY

There are seven schools of psychology that were formed or organized between 1879 and 1930. These are
structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt school, Behaviorsm, psychoanalysis school, Humanistic psychology
and Cognitive psychology.

Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on
breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with
structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. The focus of structuralism was on reducing
mental processes down into their most basic elements. The structuralists used techniques such
as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human mind.

Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily
influenced by the work of William James.

Unlike some of the other well-known schools of thought in psychology, functionalism is not associated
with a single dominant theorist. Instead, there are some different functionalist thinkers associated with
this outlook including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.
Author David Hothersall notes, however, that some historians even question whether functionalism
should be considered a formal school of psychology at all given its lack of a central leader or formalized
set of ideas.

Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist thinkers were instead interested
in the role that these processes play.

Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology based upon the idea that we experience things as unified
wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in
response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Instead of breaking down thoughts and behavior
to their smallest elements, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of
experience. According to the Gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Behaviorism became a dominant school of thought during the 1950s. It was based upon the work of
thinkers such as:

John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov
B. F. Skinner

Behaviorism suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal
forces. Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical
conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.

The behavioral school of psychology had a significant influence on the course of psychology, and many
of the ideas and techniques that emerged from this school of thought are still widely used today.

Behavioral training, token economies, aversion therapy and other techniques are frequently used in
psychotherapy and behavior modification programs.

Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This school of thought emphasized
the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior.

Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego, and the
superego. The id consists of primal urges while the ego is the component of personality charged with
dealing with reality. The superego is the part of personality that holds all of the ideals and values we
internalize from our parents and culture.

Freud believed that the interaction of these three elements was what led to all of the complex human
behaviors.

Freud's school of thought was enormously influential, but also generated considerable debate. This
controversy existed not only in his time, but also in modern discussions of Freud's theories. Other major
psychoanalytic thinkers include:

Anna Freud
Carl Jung
 Erik Erikson

Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic

psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth and the concept of self-actualization.
While early schools of thought were primarily centered on abnormal human behavior, humanistic
psychology differed considerably in its emphasis on helping people achieve and fulfill their potential.

Major humanist thinkers include:

Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychology remains quite popular today and has had a significant influence on other areas of
psychology including positive psychology. This particular branch of psychology is centered on helping
people living happier, more fulfilling lives.

Cognitive psychology is the school of psychology that studies mental processes including how people
think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of
psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.

Cognitive psychology began to emerge during the 1950s, partly as a response to behaviorism. Critics of
behaviorism noted that it failed to account for how internal processes impacted behavior. This period is
sometimes referred to as the "cognitive revolution" as a wealth of research on topics such as
information processing, language, memory, and perception began to emerge.

One of the most influential theories of this school of thought was the stages of cognitive
development theory proposed by Jean Piaget.

RELATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY TO OTHER RELATED SCIENCES

Psychology does not operate as a vacuum. It draws facts from other related sciences, a few
representative sciences and their important relations to psychology include anthropology, biology,
chemistry, psychiatry, sociology, physiology, economics, and political science.

Anthropology is a science that studies mans culture. To understand culture of the people. The study of
the individuals within the culture is necessary which is the field of psychology.

Sociology deals with the origin and evaluation of human society and the progress of civilizations.
Sociology is interested in the behavior of the group while psychology is interested in the behavior of the
individual in the group.

Physiology deals with the operations of the body system and organs and their interactions. In
psychology, it studies human behavior as affected by these body system and organs.

Biology studies living organism, their functions and processes. Psychology studies human behavior as
affected by cell ,chromosomes, hormones, genes, and other body functions.
Economics is concerned with the production, distributing and consumption of goods as well as services.
Psychology deals on the individual behavior as affected by economic matters.

Political science deals with the origins, organizations, principles and operations of government.
Psychology is concerned with individuals behavior governed and governing.

Chemistry deals with the composition and property of substance and the changes that take place in
those substances. Substances (drugs and poisons for instance) have effect on psychological functioning
and behavior of the individual taking those drugs and which belong to the realm psychology.

Psychiatry is a field of medicine that is concerned with the treatment of mental illness. Clinical
psychology for instance is concerned with the diagnosis of abnormal behavior before treatment is given
by the psychiatrist. Thus, clinical psychologist and psychiatrists coordinate with each other iin the areas
of abnormal personality.

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION IN PSYCHOLOGY

As far as applied fields of specializations is concerned, a graduate in psychology may put up a private
clinic or work in a mental institution applying his knowledge in clinical psychology. There are also
opportunities of psychology graduate such as being guidance counselors, psychometricians, personnel
management consultant, graduate of psychology can work on schools, business firms, hospitals,
rehabilitation centers, penal farms, social services centers, either as self-employed or employed in
government or non-government entities.

WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGY

Several women made major contributions to psychology in the early years of the field. One of the
women who had greater participation in the field of psychology was leta steller hollingworth who coined
the term gifted in reference to unusually bright children. She was also one of the first pychologists to
focus particularly in womens issue regarding decline of womens mental ability during menstrual cycle.
She refuted that womens mental abilities do not decline during their menstrual cycle.

Jane etta docung was another woman influential figure who spear-headed the study of personality traits
in the 1920s. she developed a widely disseminated personality test and became later the first woman to
head a psychology department at a state university.

Despite the contribution of such women, psychology was largely a male-dominated field in its early
years. However, the situation has been changing over the past decade, the number of women in the
discipline has been increasing rapidly in recent years (fieldman, 1997).

METHODS OF STUDYING BEHAVIOR

Studying one or more of these areas require a method of psychological research to be able to obtain,
analyze and interpret the data. Of the several well-known methods of studying behavior, a
psychological researcher must be able to choose the effective and appropriate research method to use
in a particular study, the following research methods are applicable in psychology:
Introspection Method

This is a method of mental self-analysis wherein the psychological researcher records his own
feelings and experiences. Analyze and later interpret them.

Historical Method

The psychological researcher deals on past recorded data of an individual or phenomena. It

consists of the following substance types: daybook method or diary development method, biographical
method, autobiographical method, medical records, cumulative records and anecdotal records.

Desciptive Method

In this method, the respondents behavior or phenomena are described without interfering with
the behavior itself. The common data-gathering strategies are documentary analysis, survey,
obsevations and case studies.

Experimental Method

This is another method of studying behavior using expiremental variables; independent

variables (variables that manipulate or treat) and dependent variables (variables that are manipulated
or treated or measured to determine if changes occur). Usually, there are two groups involved.
Experimental group (where experimental manipulation or treatment is done) and control group (where
no experimental manipulation is done). There are many designs in experimental method.

FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

The study of human behavior is so broad that no single approach could be relied to give the right
answers to all the questions, issues and concerns in psychology. Hence, many psychologists have began
explaining these issues and concerns on the basis of the various fields of psychology. There are many
fields of psychology where one can base his answers to the many areas of concern in everyday life.
Some of these fields are as follows:

General Psychology. This field of psychology is concerned with all the areas or aspects of human
behavior.

Comparative Psychology. This is a field of psychology where activities of man and animals are compared
and differentiated as regards to genetic and evolution. It is also called animal psychology.

Development Psychology. This is a field of psychology which is concerned with the study of human
growth and development from prenatal development to senescence. The physical, mental, emotional,
social, moral and religious development of the individual in these periods are presented.

Genetic Psychology. It deals with how traits are transmitted from parents to offsprings. Examples of
studies are on dominance and recessiveness of traits.

Child Psychology. This is a field of psychology which deals with the behavior of the child from its
postnatal development up to early adolescene period. It includes the study of the childs growth and
motivations, psychological and social interaction in the environment.
Adolescent Psychology. This is a field of psychology which deals on behavior of an adolescent starting
from puberty period to twenty one years old. It includes the study of the adolescents physical, mental,
emotional, and social development.

Senescent Psychology. It is a field of psychology that is concerned with the study of the behavior of old
people.

Consumer Psychology. It is concerned with the motivation, perception, learning and decision-making of
consumers. It includes topics such as marketing and buying behavior of consumers, effects of
advertisement and mass media to the consumers.

Abnormal Psychology. It deals with the study of abnormal behavior, mental and personality disorders. It
includes topics as neurosis, psychosis and sociophatic disorders. Abnormal psychology is also called
psychopathology.

Dynamic Psychology. It I concerned with internal drives and motives as causes of human behavior. It is
sometimes called personality psychology.

Psychiatry. It is psychology applied in medicine. It is concerned with the study, analysis and treatment of
mental diseases.

Social Psychology. It is field of psychology that studies the behavior of groups of individuals; how the
individuals thinking, feeling and action are affected by others.

Cognitive Psychology. It is concerned with the mental process involved in acquiring and using knowledge

Forensic Psychology. It is concerned with the application of the principles of human behavior to the field
of law or any legal proceeding. Forensic psychologists work with jugdes and lawyers to improve the
reliability of witnesses and of jury decisions.

Community Psychology. It is field of psychology that promotes health in the family and the community.
Community psychologists are involved in community programs like the prevention and treatment of
psychological problems in the community such as rehabilitating drug addicts, child abuse victims, caring
for the elderly and battered wives employing the handicapped. Etc.

Clinical Psychology. It deals with the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal behavior in clinical setting.

Educational Psychology. It is a field of psychology that deals with learning, motivation, thinking,
intelligence, and other principles of education as they are applied to classroom practices.

Counselling Psychology. It is concerned with helping people with regards to their career, academic, and
vocational work, and social adjustments.

Experimental Psychology. It deals with the study of basic psychological processes such as sensation,
perception, learning, memory and thinking, motivation, and emotion of man. The experiments are
usually done in the laboratory and the experimenter may use animals and human beings in their
investigations.

Psychological Psychology. It deals with the biological basis of behavior and mental processes. Examples
of studies are on the efforts of the human mind as altered by drugs and ability of the brain to recover
from injury.
Industrial Psychology. This field of psychology deals on people and their work with focus on making the
workplace more fulfilling, satisfying and productive for both employers and their employees.

Organizational Psychology. It is concerned with the selection, placement, training, counselling,

promotion and supervision of personnel in business and industry.

Engineering Psychology. It deals with the underlying factors and mental processes in designing
equipment and materials in order to achieve product quality.

School Psychology. It is concerned with the understanding of the problems of the learners, employees
and administrators of the school system and the application of psychology to their problems.

Cross-cultural Psychology. It is concerned with the assessment of the similarities and differences in
psychological function of various cultures and ethnic groups.

Mental hygiene. It is concerned with the promotion and preservation of mental health.

Space Psychology. It deals with psychological issues in space exploration. Among the issues and concerns
in the study of space psychology are conflicts, stresses and emotional problems focusing on space
explorations.

Environmental Psychology. It deals with the psychological aspects of ecology, that is the relationship
between man and his environment.