Modern day psychology can perhaps be defined as the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. This simple definition incorporates a number of features. First, psychology is a science, and uses the same scientific method as other scientific disciplines such as chemistry, physics and biology. In other words, psychologists carry out experiments, formulate hypotheses and test theories. Psychological experiments can be carried out in a variety of settings. Some take place under controlled laboratory conditions, others are carried out 'in the field' in everyday settings.
In its relatively short history as an academic discipline psychology has, however, changed direction, focus and approach several times. During the 1930s, for example, mainstream psychology excluded the ‘the mind’ from consideration and focused only on behaviour.
More generally a number of different perspectives have developed that place their emphasis on specific sets of concerns and we now recognise perspectives such as social psychology, cognitive psychology, abnormal psychology and developmental psychology to name just a few.
Together these approaches explore a multitude of issues such as relationships, persuasion, psychobiological processes, sensation and perception, consciousness, learning, memory, thinking and language, intelligence, motivation, emotion, development, personality, psychological disorders, therapy, psychology and health, social cognition and social influence.
This course will use these different perspectives as a framework within which to examine some of the main topic areas within psychology. As the focus of psychology is so diverse ranging from highly biological to highly sociological, this course is designed to assume little or no prior knowledge whatsoever.
