Elements of Educational Psychology (Иностранный язык в профессиональной сфере — психология). Учебное пособие

H.E. Garret: “Psychology is the study of the self as it manifests itself in action — that is, in behavior”.

CharlesE.Skinner:“Psychologydealswithresponsestoanykind of situation that life presents. By responses or behavior is meant all forms of processes, adjustments, activities and experiences of the organism”.

C.W. Valentine: “Psychology is the scientific study of mind including not only intellectual but emotional experience, including motiveforcesandactionsorbehaviors.Itgathersfactsbyobservationand experiment as well as by introspection, sometimes subjecting these facts to statistical treatment and seeks to establish general principles or laws”.

The definitions cited above and propounded by highly reputed psychologists give certainideas regarding the nature and status of psychology.The concept of psychology should be perfectly imprinted in minds of the followers that can get just opposite results of their experiments.

The science of psychology is concerned with human nature as no other science is. It studies the several activities of a man directly and for his own sake, neither to understand the course of history or of social changes nor, like biology to learn the functions of the several parts of the bodily organism, but to obtain general laws about the activities and behavior of human beings. We live in a world and respond to its influences.The world is composed of things and persons; they interact with this world, accepting some influences and resisting others. Psychology is the science that seeks to study all human activities with a view of obtaining general laws about them.

Thus, psychology may be defined as the science of behavior, a systematic study of all that a man does in the response to a world of things and persons. In this definition, two terms need explanation, science and behavior.

Psychology as a Science

The term “science” describes any systematically arranged body of verified knowledge. It deals with the particular type of the subject or with certain kinds of facts or events:

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•each science deals with a group of related facts and principles;

•the subject-matter or the body of facts dealt with each science is obtained by means of carefully controlled observations made by specially trained observers, whom we call scientists;

•each science tries to formulate general principles governing facts included in its field of study;

•all knowledge called scientific must be definite, accurate, reliable and verifiable.

Psychology as a science concerns itself with the facts of behavior. Its specific subject-matter consists of facts about an individual organism’s activities in relation to environment. The laws of psychology help us not only understand human behavior but also predict and control it.

Psychology has been defined as the study of human behavior and education as a planned effort to mould and shape it. But the term “behavior” is not as simple as it seems.

Human activity may be studied in two ways:

•in terms of goodness and badness;

•or can be described as right or wrong.

This is an appreciative approach and is defined as a vital principle animating each human body. However, the term “soul” is theological in its bearings. The soul is beyond experience and knowledge.

Psychology was also defined as a science of mind but the attempt to describe mind intelligibly did not succeed. They said that it was an immaterial substance. Others defined psychology as the science of consciousness. Conscious life is likened to a stream and its activities like pain, grief, seeing and can be known only directly by the individual to whom they belong. But this definition does not work. Other sciences study a number of conscious activities like speech and sensations. There are also a number of activities of which we are conscious at the beginning and which on being performed a number of times become automatic and do not require concentrated attention. Therefore, the definition of psychology as the science of consciousness is too narrow. The mental side is as important as the physical side.

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Psychology as the Science of Behavior

Branches of Psychology

Psychology has been defined as the science of behavior. This is the scope of what may be called general psychology. General psychology studies growth and development.

Comparative or animal psychology is the study of the behavior of animals, involving a comparison of the mind development of man.

Psychological psychology studies the psychological processes accompanying behavior as a cause or an effect.

Abnormal psychology deals with the behavior of individuals who are unusual.

Applied psychology is the use of general psychology in several areas of life and work. Thus, we have social psychology dealing with the behavior of people in groups, their reactions to social situations.

Industrial psychology deals with the methods of selecting, training, counseling and supervising people employed in business and industry.

Child psychology deals with growth, development and behavior of children.

We also have psychology of advertising, psychology of salesmanship, psychology of religion, in fact in every field of human activity. A very important field of science also deals with the application of psychology in the solution of educational problems.

Major Schools of Psychology

Psychology was an integral part of philosophy up to the end of the 19th century. At first psychology was understood as the scientific study of human behavior. Different schools emphasizing different aspects of behavior and interpreting them in the light of the system of psychology appeared.

Let us discuss some major schools that substantially contributed to the growth and the development of psychology. They are:

•Introspectionism;

•Functonalism;

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•Hormic;

•Behaviorism;

•Gestalt;

•Psychoanalytic.

1.Introspectionism: It is the most ancient school of thought, propounded by Wilhelm Wundt and further developed by E.B. Titchener. This school rests on the structural pattern of the human mind. Titchener believed that psychology could be a proper science if it intended to study the nature and the structure of consciousness.

The ultimate parts of consciousness are sensations, feelings and images that can be studied by introspectionism. This school is considered as an important one because it has given psychology a scientific orientation, eliminating it from metaphysics.

2.Functonalism: A number of personalities like William James,

J.R. Angels, John Dewey, G.H. Head are the chief representatives of this school of thought. In contrast to structuralism this school underlines functions of human mind in terms of capacities and capabilities.

The school is found important as it emphasizes upon the adoptive nature of behavior and practical aspects. It sponsors scientific enquiry in education, develops new methods of teaching and learning.

3.Hormic School: The school is based on the purpose nature of human behavior. Persistent response, random activity, selective activity etc. are the characteristics of behavior. The organism is compelled to action under the strong emotional drives like hunger, curiosity, fear, anger, nourishing, nursing or mothering. Sentiments like love, hate, zeal, interest, rivalry, etc. control the behavior pattern of an organism.

This school is supposed to be very significant as it deals with the instincts, sentiments and emotions that are considered to be the determining factors of behavior.

4.Behaviorism: J.B. Watson, an American animal psychologist,

gave birth to the school of behaviorism. He advocated for the elimination from psychology such philosophical concepts as consciousness, mind, thinking, feeling, reasoning, etc. underlying the importance of behavior, so that to give psychology a status of science.

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This school also stressed the importance of environment in the process of learning and personality development.

5.Gestalt School: This school is completely new and stands against the school of behaviorism. Psychologists like Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler are the chief architects of this school. It is also called the brick and mortar psychology, the brick being the sensory elements and the mortar is their connection.

The features of this school of thought are psychological isome­ rism, insight, etc. This school of thought extends constructive elements for human learning and cognitive development, the concepts of figure and ground, closure, proximity, similarity, whole, configuration of pattern, etc. and significantly contributes to the study of psycho­ logy.

6.Psychoanalytic School: Surprisingly, when there was a strong

battle for eliminating philosophical concepts like consciousness from psychology, this school of thought emerged basing upon these philosophical concepts by a group of medical men, such as S. Freud, A. Adler and C.G. Jung. They propounded the platform of this school.

By S. Freud, a human mind is a composition of three sections:

•conscious;

•preconscious;

•unconscious.

The theory of personality expounded by S. Freud, referred to as psychoanalytic (depth psychology or psychodynamic) theory, also contains references to instinctual drives. In Freud’s latter theorizing he gave these drives the striking Greek titles of Eros and Thanatos, or the life and death instincts. The life instincts include sexual instincts (libidoinstincts), required for reproducing the species, and self-preser- vationinstincts,relatingtohungerandthirstwhicharerequiredforlife preservation and maintenance (ego instincts). Of the death instincts, only one was defined specifically by Freud — the aggressive, destructive instinct. He believed that these instincts are given at birth, a “cauldron” of instinctual energy is referred to as the id.

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Psychic structures here are:

•the Id;

•the Ego;

•the Superego.

The Id is comparable to a beast or a demon, highly irrational but strong; the Ego is comparable with rational human beings and the Superego — to the God. Libido is the energy to drive the Id instincts towards a prefixed goal. Freud believed that a man is a sexual being and a sex life starts from the birth and not only at adolescence. He stipulated psychosexual stages of development as oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage and genital stage.

The constrains placed of the exposition of these basic desires by conscious effort on the part of individuals or as a result of social pressures, chiefly parental influences, lead to repression of the desires. The “taming of passions” of the id is made possible by the ego; so that many defence mechanisms replace the immediate gratification of basic desires and the motive energy is used in more sociably acceptable ways. Exclusion of less desirable solutions from the conscious mind does not mean that they have disappeared altogether.

Unconscious motivation, earlier experiences of life, causes of maladjustment, etc. have been underlined by this school of thought.

Freud creates unconscious mind, which contains the traces of unpleasant and repressed memories. Later behaviour is influenced by circumstances similar to the original experiences, but the individual is not awareofthesourceofhisorherbehaviour.Therootcauseofmotivescan be broken only through special circumstances such as hypnosis, dream, and drugs or in a psychotherapeutic session when defences are down.

However,Freudnoticedthatsimilartherapeuticeffectscouldbeobtained without hypnosis, if the patient reported everything that came to his mind and experienced emotional catharsis. It was this discovery that ledFreudtothetheoryandtherapeutictechniquecalledpsychoanalysis­.

General Methods of Psychology

Amethod is a systematic way of carrying out a task to completion. So, methods of psychology are nothing but the various “whys” along

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which the investigator or the researcher proceeds towards the end, suiting the nature of the problem at hand.

So, owing to the diverse problems in the field of psychology, a number of methods have been devised, each of them having advantages and disadvantages.

Introspection is a method of self-study. Titchener defined it as looking within.

In contrast to introspection, extrospection is the study of the subject from outside.

The main method of a psychological study, as of all sciences, is observation. Without careful observation, it is difficult to make any progress.

Observation, scientific, experimental and case study, differential, psychoanalytic, etc. are the methods grouped under extrospection.

Ascientific method in psychology uses all the techniques of exact sciences like physics, chemistry, etc. and is based on basic assumptions, namely empirisism–looking cases of events, determinism accepting universal laws and orders, conducting experiments and collecting the necessary data.

An experimental method is the study of changes that occur due a particular group of factors of a system, manipulating all other factors. Sequentially steps like selection of a problem, hyporization, determination of variables, preparation of an experimental setting, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, conclusion, etc. are followedinthismethod.Theresultsoftheexperimentalmethodarehighly authentic, reliable, and verifiable, but the experimental setting is usually stimulated and artificial, presents very often hinder the natural behavior of the subject.

A case study method is an exhaustive study over a particular individual. It is meant for abnormal individuals like criminals, mental patients. This method is adopted under the heading like preliminary, past history and present condition. The method is reliable but is also highly subjective in nature.

A differential method is the method in which comparisons are made between two systems. The variables are not controllable here,

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so, we have the need of differential survey method in place of the experimental one. The method becomes high yielding when proper care and caution are taken.

A psychoanalytic method is a therapeutic approach to psychological disorders. This method is adaptable, when the individual needs help.The method itself needs the cooperation of the researcher and his patient,highpatiencetowait.Datacollectionhereismadeonlythrough patience to wait. Data collection is made through free-association with thesubject,dreaminterpretationandtransference.Themethodenables the researcher to penetrate deep into the interiorities of the individual and help him properly. But the method is highly costly in terms of time, labor and money, deserving well-trained specialists.

The case history method is the method in which a number of investigatorsjointopreparewiththehelpoftheindividualtoreconstruct his entire history from records that are available. The case history method has been used mostly with the individuals whose behavior deviates from the normal. But this method can be also used with a great advantage with notably successful people to find out what influences helped them achieve success.

The genetic method is very useful in educational and abnormal psychology.

Nature and Education

The word “Education” is supposed to have been derived from the Latin word “Educare”, meaning “to bring up or nourish”.

Another Latin word “Educatum” can be referred to as the origin of the term education that means “to teach or train”.

There are some renowned philosophers and educationists both from the East and the West defining education in some comprehensive manner, which needs to be highlighted here for a clearer understanding of the concept.

Pestalozzi: “Education” means a natural harmonious and progressive development of man’s innate powers”.

Aristitle: “Education” is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body”.

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Rousseau: “Education” is nothing but habit formation”.

From the quotations given above it is evident that education is a process which enables the human beings to lead a happy, prosperous and successful life in the social community.

Psychology and Education

The relation between psychology and education is very intimate. Psychology has been defined as a science of behavior. It seeks to understand and explain behavior in terms of mental and bodily activities. Education is an attempt to mould and shape behavior. It tries to help young people grow and develop along certain lines, acquire knowledge and skills and learn certain ways of thought and feeling so that they may be absorbed in adult social life. Education, therefore, must be based on psychology.

Educational psychology occupies a midway position between education and psychology and has to consider the individual in relation to an environment with a view to influencing his behavior.

Educational Psychology

We have defined psychology as a science of behavior and of individual’s responses to environment. This is general psychology; educational psychology is very often described as an attempt to apply this knowledge to the field of education.

If educational psychology is considered as psychological study, it should have a fairly defined field of its own, a recognized body of literature and methods of systematic study. These requirements should be met. Some of the topics of study are the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of young people; methods of learning and teaching etc. Educational psychology comprises special studies, linked on the one side to general psychology and on the other to the practical work of education. General psychology strives to perceive more abstract and general patterns in human behavior and experience. Practical education often demands more immediate and speedy solutions and is understandably impatient of what cannot be used here and now.

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Educational psychology is regarded as a branch of applied psychology and most textbooks describe facts and principles of general psychology and then show how they can be used by the school. Thus, educationalpsychologyisconcernedwiththepsychologicalaspectsof teaching and formal learning process.

From the psychology of development, the teacher learns about human growth from infancy to maturity. The psychology of learning is the heart of educational psychology and is concerned with the fact of acquiring and changing our patters of behavior.

The psychology of motivation is concerned with the question: “Why do we do what we do?” It is closely associated that is with the primary sources of activity, from the instinctive urges and desires to fears, ambitions, needs, goals and purposes, with major interests of pupils. How to arise interest in class largely depends on the teacher’s knowledge of children’s needs, wants, enthusiasm, goals and ambitions, their feelings and emotions that determine the direction of children’s efforts and activity.

Group psychology is very important because the school is a community in which every child lives, works and plays in a large number of groups and his behavior and learning is largely affected by other members of his group. The climate and the tone of the school express the pattern of group behavior in that school and the teacher should know the various factors that contribute to this tone and climate.

Thus, educational psychology is a young but growing science.

Methods of Educational Psychology

Our main subject is growth, development and learning. We may study how any aspect of human personality like learning speech, social adjustment or skill grows from the elementary stage to a complex one. We may also study how a group of children pass through the several stages of growth and development. This is called the longitudinal method.Another approach is to study a number of children at different chronological ages and study the patterns of growth at different ages. This method is the cross-sectional method.

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