Question

Question 1

Define psychology and then describe its goals. Describe 1 psychology research method

Answer 1

• Psychology can be defined as the science of human and animal behaviour,it includes application of this science to human problems.
• As a science,psychology is systematic. Psychologists do experiments and make observations which others can repeat;they obtain data,often in the form of quantitative measurements,which others can verify.
• It is often used to solve real life problems. The application of knowledge is an art and requires skills which is acquired through study,practice and special experience. A psychotherapist talking to a worried client,educational counsellor advising school board wtc. are all practicing the art of psychology.
• It studies behaviour which includes anything a person or animal does that can be observed in some way. Psychologists can make inferences about the feeligs,attitudes,thoughts and other mental processes which maybe behind the behaviour.
• There are 4 main goals of psychology: 1)The first goal of psychology is to describe how humans and animals behave in different situations. Through continued observation psychologists can define what kind of behavior is considered normal or healthy and what may be deemed as abnormal or unhealthy.
• 2)Second goal is to explain the causes of behaviour observed.Psychologists have to consider which factors trigger certain behavior, as well as formulate certain theories which will help explain the same.Cognitive theories,psychodynamic theories etc all explain the causes of behaviour.
• 3)After explaining the causes of behaviour,the psychologist's next goal is to predict when this behavior might emerge in the future.Psychologist should be able to correctly predict occurrences of certain behavior, as with this understanding, models can be developed to encourage positive behavior and find methods to modify or control negative behavior.
• The last goal is to control or modify behaviour.They take cue from what they have observed and predicted to rectify or improve someone's behavior.
• Another goal of psychology could to be to improve the behaviour observed. A psychologist not only aims to control certain types of behavior, but they also do so in a way that would improve the individual's life.
• There are various research methods used in psychology like experiments,case studies,observation,Interviews,questionnaires,pilot study etc.
• Experiments can be conducted either in lab or in field. Lab experiments are  conducted in a well-controlled environment not necessarily a laboratory and therefore accurate and objective measurements are possible. A standardized procedure is used by the experimenter.
• Field experiments are conducted in the everyday natural environment of the participants but the situations are still artificially set up. The experimenter manipulates the independent variable, but in a real-life setting so he cannot the extraneous variables.
• Observation method is another example,which has various types like naturalistic observation wherein spontaneous behaviour is recorded by the observer,Participant observation wherein the observer himself becomes a part of the enviroment and observes the behaviour of the people,observer has direct contact with the group of people they are observing.
• Non-participant observation,observer does not have direct contact with the people being observed. They observe from a distance.