4 Psychology and Life

4.1

Introduction

What is the best treatment for drug addiction and alcoholism? How should a student prepare for the examination? What is the most effective way of teaching young children? These are examples of the kind of questions to which psychologists are often required to address. Psychology touches almost every aspect of our life and is intimately related to our every day life. It helps in understanding and solving human problems in different areas such as health, education, industry, sports, family, law, and environment. It tries to improve the quality of life ,improving our ability for adjustment and contributing towards enhancement of the quality of life. In this lesson we will study as to how psychology contributes towards the improvement in the quality of life.

4.2

Objectives

After reading this lesson you will be able to :

describe the main fields of psychology; appreciate how different psychological processes are relevant to our everyday life; give examples of some important applications of psychology in different settings, and familiarize yourself with some of the emerging areas of psychology.

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4.3

Fields of Psychological Studies

What do the psychologists do? There is no simple way of answering this question. There are many different fields of psychology and different kinds of work that psychologists do. Psychology also plays important role in our lives through its influence on law and public policy. Laws concerning discrimination, capital punishment, pornography and the conditions under which a person may be hold legally responsible for his actions are based on the psychological understanding of human behaviour. The effects of T.V violence on children is of concern to parents and psychologists. Only after studies provided evidence showing harmful effects of such programmes it has become possible to modify T.V programming policies. In the last hundred years of existence the discipline of psychology has expanded in many directions. An outline of the main fields is given here to provide an idea of the broad coverage of this subject.This will also allow us to become familiar with the wide range of activities in which psychologists are involved. a) Physiological Psychology :This is one of the oldest and exciting fields of psychology. Many psychologists look for explanations of behaviour in the physiological structure of the organism. Any kind of behaviour is performed with the help of different organs of human body. One may be interested in knowing the role of the different body organs including, nervous system in regulating behaviour. Many interesting questions about behaviour require understanding of the physiological processes. For example what kind of changes occur during sleep and dream was investigated by psychologists. Similarly psychologists study what happens in the brain when we are hungry or thirsty? Several studies have been conducted on the biological basis of various behaviours. For instance psychologists studying physiological structures have found that the incidence of motor accidents is related to circadian rhythm or the changes in the physiological functions at different times of the day. It has been found that there were three risk periods-midnight to 2 a.m, 4 a.m to 6 a.m and between 2 and 4 form in the afternoon. Physiological psychologists try to answer questions regarding the role and contribution of physiological processes to psychological functioning like learning, memory, perception and consciousness. b) Cognitive Psychology : This is one of the main branches of psychology. We process information obtained from internal and external environment and act upon it and utilize it. Typical areas of concern for the this branch include studies of memory, thinking and problem solving. Within the field of memory a researcher may be concerned with understanding how the storage of learned material can be facilitated. This area of study comes close to Cognitive Science. Similarly artificial intelligence is a field that involves the use of computers to stimulate the working of human brains. c) Comparative Psychology : Comparative psychology is concerned with the study of human and animal behaviour both in natural environment and under laboratory conditions. Such studies help us to understand how behaviour has evolved from lower to higher level of complexity on the scale of organisms living on earth. Psychologists working in this area

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study the behaviours of rats, cats, chimpanjees etc. A related field is of socio-biology that tries to understand behavioural functioning from a bio-social angle. d) Developmental Psychology: This area is concerned with the way in which human beings grow and develop through the entire life span. Thus developmental changes in physical, social, emotional cognitive and personality functions are investigated. The stages of childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age pose different challenges before a person He/she has to play changing roles and meet new demands. The characteristics of development during the different stages of development ranging from conception to death are investigated. The role of heredity, environment and socio - cultural factors in determining developmental outcomes is examined. d) Social Psychology : This field is concerned with the effects of human interaction with others on various psychological processes. For example, when an individual is with the group of friends he/she may play mischiefs or may indulge in deviant behaviour but avoids doing such behaviour when alone. Some psychologists have investigated the impact of television watching on the aggressive behaviour of groups and communities Social psychology also studies how people percive each other, how they form attitude and opinions how inter group relations develop ,how people behave in groups. People also influence the behaviour of others such as conformity, obedience and compliance.Social psychology helps to understand group behaviour and the role of leader. f) Personality Psychology : This field is concerned with the totality of a person. Every one of us has unique personality that determines adjustment and the way a person behaves. Psychologists have developed a number of theories of personality and tools for its assessment. Personality psychologists also study the factors that shape personality development. For example, some psychologists have tried to study personality types into categories like extroversion and introversion to understand the individual differences. g) Clinical Psychology: Today clinical psychologists form the largest group of psychological professionals. They are concerned with the problems of mental disorder. They also work in hospitals with psychiatrists and other health professionals in the larger community. Clinical psychologists study the problems of anxiety , depression, mood disorders and chronic illnesses (e.g. Schizophrenia, mania, and paranoia). Many clinical psychologists practice psychotherapy to help people overcome their illnesses . h) Educational Psychology : Educational psychologist work with children and adolescents in schools, colleges, nurseries, special units or in the home. They collaborate closely with parents, teachers and the larger community . Their work includes assessing a childs progress at school, considering childrens emotional and academic needs .They provide help and advice to facilitate adjustment with the world. Educational psychology also deals with the problems of underachievement . It studies the characteristics of class room environment, teacher student interactions, study habits and the factors determining educational attainment of students.

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i) Industrial /Organizational(I/0) psychology : This field of psychology deals with the study of individuals at work in various types of organizations including industries. Organizations are created to achieve certain goals with the help of people and technology. When people work many issues emerge. I/O psychologists study the role of leadership, group dynamics, organizational structure, technology, decision making and work motivation. They work in academic institutions, industries or function as independent consultants catering to the needs and solving various problems. Some of their work includes selecting and training people for employment, advising on working conditions of health, environment, motivational management and grievance related matters.The studies on leadership and reward management have helped organizations to grow and develop. j) Counseling Psychology : It deals with individuals, families, couples, and groups for solving psychological problems. Their main aim is to improve peoples health, sense of well being, alleviate distress and help people solve their own problems and take their personal decisions. For example , if you feel that you are not being able to concentrate on studies despite all the honest efforts made, you can visit a counseling psychologist for the remedy. They would help you to manage the problem by yourself. h) Health and Community Psychology :This is an emerging field of psychology in which clinical psychologists and social psychologists are working together in a variety of settings such as colleges, hospitals, communities. They deal with the problems of health from variety of social psychological angles. Their concern is to promote behaviour patterns that are healthy and to control unhealthy behaviour such as. smoking, use of alcohol etc.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 4.1

Match column A with column B A i) ii) iii) iv) v) vi) Physiological Psychology Cognitive Psychology Comparative Psychology Developmental Psychology Social Psychology Personality Psychology a) b) c) d) e) f) B concern with the way human beings grow and develop study of individuals at workplace explanation of behaviour on the basis of physiological pressure deals with individuals & groups for solving problems problem of health from a variety of social and psychological angles area of study close to cognitive science

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vii) viii) ix) x) xi)

Clinical Psychology Educational Psychology Industrial Psychology Counselling Psychology Health and Community Psychology

g) h) i) j) k)

deals with the totality of person concerned with mental disorder work with children and adolescents study of animal behaviour study of human interactions with other persons

4.4

Core Areas of Psychological Applications

A moment's reflection will tell you that psychology is present is our life in a significant . manner. It covers the whole spectrum of human life and in order to live a meaningful life and getting maximum not only for personal growth and development but also contribute to the development of society it is a must to know the psychological processes. As a person grows and develops skills, competencies personal qualities, attitudes, emotions etc. One cannot live without these and all are psychological in nature. The answer to what we are and what we can become can be obtained only through psychological exploration. Similarly as a human being, we participate in a number of activities, collaborate with others, live in groups, develop institutions, lead others and perform a variety of roles.We interact and influence others and also get influenced by them. At times we find that the goal is not attained and feel frustrated and when our efforts leads to positive outcomes we feel elated. All these are psychological - feeling motivated is something which is very central to our life because all the activities take place only when motives operate. In brief our activities are not mechanically driven. They are products of various psychological processes. In recent years psychology has expanded in such a manner that no area of life has remained untouched.Psychologists work in a wide range of settings or fields. Some are concerned with pure or basic research ,designed to help understanding the basic principle and developed stories while others do applied research , which addresses itself to solving practical problems. There is much overlap between what the pure and applied researchers do. The core areas of study include cognitive developmental , social, comparative and physiological and the study of individual differences.Let us examine some of the core areas of psychology in which applications are prominent a ) Social Processes : The ways in which an individuals thoughts feelings and behaviours are influenced by other persons or groups is an area of great significance.The social context has powerful influence on behaviour and individuals personal view of the situation. You meet someone for the first time and observe and talk with him/her for a few minutes. Chances are that even during this short span of time you make judgments about a number of characteristics of that person . People tend to form impressions quickly on the basis of limited information available to them. This has also been studied extensively by psychologists

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in the area of person perception.Applications of social psychology are found in the case of attitude change,reducing discrimination between groups ,social movements and understanding group dynamics. b) Personnel Selection and Training : People differ widely in intelligence, knowledge and skills. Taken together these factors determine if a person has the necessary skills for a particular job or intelligence to profit from college education. We need a reliable method of measuring present and potential ability of people. In todays technological society, the ability to match the unique talents of each person to the requirements of the job has advantages to both the individual and society. This creates an important area of psychology namely personnel selection .Psychologist have developed various tools and methods for this. For instance they use various psychological tests such as aptitude test, intelligence test, use interviews, observation etc for assessment. c) TeachingLearning : Much of the societys energy is devoted to the management of learning - imparting instruction in schools , provide training and to teach health and safety related procedures in the community. The problem is to ensure the highest quality of learning with the greatest possible efficiency. You must be remembering that many public debates have taken place to find out which teaching methods are most effective, what emphasis needs to be placed on the teaching of basic skills like reading and mathematics. All these discussions concern with appropriate application of the principles of learning to the fields of instruction. A number of teaching aids have been developed to promote learning like motion pictures posters, audio-visual tapes and close circuit T.V. Recently programmed texts and computer assisted instruction have also been introduced. For centuries teachers have stood before the classroom and dispensed words of wisdom. Students passed or failed depending on how much of the knowledge they could recall at the time of an examination. Now the distance education and various other non-formal systems of education have created new modalities for study and evaluation. Learning is involved in all aspects of our developmen from getting dressed in the morning to form political beliefs and opinion, reading a book to making friend. Everything is influenced in some way by learning .Whether it is playing a game or memorizing a set of formula for an examination or developing a skill of social interaction, our early efforts are generally crude and rudimentary, but with practice or experience and cognitive maturity. People master very complex tasks such as piloting an aircraft, leading a group.Thus understanding of teaching-learning is relevant to neoliterates,students and common man. d) Applied Cognitive Psychology : You must have seen the rail tracks. When you see a rail track you must have noticed that at far end these tracks seems to be converging though they are parallel everywhere. What causes such an illusion? Similarly if the two lines of equal length are drawn horizontally and vertically, the vertical line appears to be longer than the horizontal line. These are examples of perceptual illusion. Psychologists

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have studied various such processes. Perception relates to our interpretation of stimuli that we receive from the environment. It takes into account the past experiences stored in our memory.We often experience difficulty in retaining certain types of material. Psychologists have found that accuracy with which we recall events our lives depends on several things.The applied cognitive psychologists try to use the principles pf perception and memory to solve problems in different areas such as communication,cognitive enrichment and learning disability

INTEXT QUESTION 4.2

Fill in with the blanks with appropriate words. i) ii) iii) iv) Individual thoughts feelings and behaviours are influenced by other persons or groups is studied in _______________ Matching unique talents of individuals with the requirements of jobs is done in ______________ ______________ is concerned with the totality of a person. ______________ is interpretation of stimuli that we receive from the environment

4.5

Emerging Areas of Psychology

Psychology is expanding very fast and its presence is being noticed in almost all walks of life. With growing complexity of environment the need to apply psychological principles and methods has been increasing. As a result many new fields have emerged. Some of them are as follows i) Sports Psychology : Performance of players is the key to success of ones career but very few of them really make it up. The training, team spirit, building the stamina, and becoming motivated to perform well requires a variety of psychological inputs. Developing hardiness, invulnerability and morale are psychological matters. Now all the teams who go for international matches do employ a psychologist for advice and preparing a plan for the team members to do well in the matches. ii) Space and Aviation Psychology : During contemporary period human presence in space has become very prominent. Space technology is one of the frontier areas of research. The time and space dimensions of human life in the outer space demand extraordinary preparations in terms of habits, perceptions and activities. For instance, weightlessness, isolation, lack of normal stimuli, new division between day and night pose challenges for adoptation. Therefore, the travelers in spaceship called astronauts have to undergo rigorous training. Many of the readjustments required by them are of psychological in nature. Similarly high altitude aviation through aircraft also poses many problems in flying. These areas are now receiving considerable attention from psychologists.

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iii ) Military Psychology : The military is deputed to perform a variety of duties because war is neither desirable nor does it take place continuously. As a result military has to learn a variety of roles. During peace time military is asked to provide help to civilians in meeting emergencies (e.g. flood, earth quake, landslide etc.). The internal security also faces many challenges and military is deployed for maintaining peace during such situations. The problem of terrorism is increasing and some kind of low intensity conflict or proxy war is taking place on the nation's borders. The people who are in the armed forces have to live under difficult circumstances and cope with a variety of personal, social and environmental problem and hardships.Imagine life at the Siachin Glacier where there is nothing else other than snow. Psychological knowledge and techniques are used to improve the well being, health status and coping skills of the armed forces which are required to meet the challenges of the task demands. iv) Positive Psychology : This is a new area in which positive human concerns such as self efficacy, altruism, humility, forgiveness, compassion, wisdom and positive emotions are studied. The focus of positive psychology is on building the strengths of people and empower them to act as persons who are productive and contribute to personal as well as societal growth and well being.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 4.3

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words: a) b) c) d) ___________ human concerns such as altruism, forgiveness and humility are studied in positive psychology. Psychological knowledge for improving the ________________ of the armed forces is required. Space demands extraordinary preparation ___________,____________ and activities. in terms of

Developing _____________ and _______________ are matter dealt in sports Psychology.

4.6

What You have learnt

Psychology touches almost every aspect of our life and helps understanding and solving human problems in different areas such as health, education, industry, sports, family, law, and environment the discipline of psychology has expanded in many directions. Psychologists look for explanations of behaviour in the physiological structure of the organism

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Cognitive Psychology include studies of memory, and thinking and problem solving. Comparative psychology is concerned with the study of sub human animals behaviour both in natural enviornment and under laboratory conditions. Developmental Psychology is an area concerned with the way in which human beings grow and develop through the entire life span. Social Psychology is concerned with the effects of human interaction with others on various psychological processes. Personality Psychology study the factors that shape personality development. Clinical psychologists are concerned with the problems of mental disorder. Educational psychologist work with children and adolescents in schools, colleges, nurseries, special units or in the home. The field Industrial psychology deals with the study of individuals at work in various types of organizations including industries. Counseling Psychology deals with individuals, families, couples, and groups for solving psychological problems Psychology is being noticed in almost all walks of life.Many new fields have emerged such as sports psychology,militery psychology,positive psychology etc.

4.7
1. 2. 3.

Terminal Exercises
Describe three main fields of psychology. What are the main concerns of Developmental Psychology and Social Psychology. Describe any two emerging areas of Psychology.

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4.8
4.1 i)

Key to Intext Questions

c f j k

ii) iii) v)

iv) a vi) g vii) h viii) i ix) b x) d xi) e 4.2 1) 2) 3) 4) 4.3 i) ii) iii) Positive Wellbeing habits, perceptions Social Psychology Personal Selection Personality Perception

iv) hardiness,morale