Unit 4 Psychology in Our Daily Life Useful Information Psychology is a young and growing science that touches on a broad range of human activities In general,however,one can say that psychology tries to explain why people act,think,and feel the way they do.Psychologists are interested not only in how minds work but also in the various interactions of minds in society.It should be noticed that psychology provides methods of analyzing and understanding human behavior and emotions that are not necessarily based on moral codes. It is important not to confuse psychology with psychiatry which is a branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of serious mental disorders.Psychiatrists,who work in hospitals,use a variety of methods including drugs,light therapy and electric shock treatments to cure or to control mentally disturbed people.However,the work of both psychiatrists and psychologists often involves an analytical process which interprets the unconscious or subconscious forces that prevent a person from functioning satisfactorily in daily life.By analyzing these forces and making the person aware of them,it is often possible to help the person deal with their mental and emotional problems. The whole field of psychoanalysis originated with the research of the Austrian doctor, Sigmund Freud(1856-1939).According to his theories,people are driven by irrational forces or primitive instincts.Freud believed that the inner struggle between instincts and conscience often led to problems which were manifested in the form of personal tragedies such as murder and suicide;or collective tragedies such as war.He advocated the use of psychoanalysis to help people control irrational forces.Much of Freud's work was based on his interpretation of dreams and sexual instincts. The Swiss doctor,Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961),is considered to be the other co-founder of the modern science of psychology.He proposed a theory of the collective unconscious(the part of the mind which holds the deepest and most hidden thoughts and feelings)of humanity that was not based on sexuality,but rather on universal symbols and images which he called"archetypes" According to Jung the mental and emotional experiences of all human beings are influenced by universal archetypes.These archetypes include various representations of the dark,inferior and uncivilized side of human beings.Jung used his theory not only to analyze dreams but also myths and folktales from many different cultures. The whole field of psychology has evolved and expanded considerably since the early part of the 20th century.There are now many branches of psychology and it is no longer limited to clinical work and the analysis of dreams.Over the years,qualitative and quantitative experiments on animals and humans have provided a vast amount of information on social behavior,mental development,emotional development,learning processes,motivation,personality differences,and sensory perceptions. Men and women with training in psychology now work in many different fields ranging from therapists to advertising agents.The findings of psychological research are used to help the victims of family violence,to design aptitude tests,to carry out efficiency studies in the workplace, to develop educational strategies,to conduct political campaigns,and to predict consumer spending.In fact,there is hardly any aspect of modern society that has not been influenced in some way by research in the field of psychology
1 Unit 4 Psychology in Our Daily Life Useful Information Psychology is a young and growing science that touches on a broad range of human activities. In general, however, one can say that psychology tries to explain why people act, think, and feel the way they do. Psychologists are interested not only in how minds work but also in the various interactions of minds in society. It should be noticed that psychology provides methods of analyzing and understanding human behavior and emotions that are not necessarily based on moral codes. It is important not to confuse psychology with psychiatry which is a branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatrists, who work in hospitals, use a variety of methods including drugs, light therapy and electric shock treatments to cure or to control mentally disturbed people. However, the work of both psychiatrists and psychologists often involves an analytical process which interprets the unconscious or subconscious forces that prevent a person from functioning satisfactorily in daily life. By analyzing these forces and making the person aware of them, it is often possible to help the person deal with their mental and emotional problems. The whole field of psychoanalysis originated with the research of the Austrian doctor, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). According to his theories, people are driven by irrational forces or primitive instincts. Freud believed that the inner struggle between instincts and conscience often led to problems which were manifested in the form of personal tragedies such as murder and suicide; or collective tragedies such as war. He advocated the use of psychoanalysis to help people control irrational forces. Much of Freud’s work was based on his interpretation of dreams and sexual instincts. The Swiss doctor, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), is considered to be the other co-founder of the modern science of psychology. He proposed a theory of the collective unconscious (the part of the mind which holds the deepest and most hidden thoughts and feelings) of humanity that was not based on sexuality, but rather on universal symbols and images which he called “archetypes”. According to Jung, the mental and emotional experiences of all human beings are influenced by universal archetypes. These archetypes include various representations of the dark, inferior and uncivilized side of human beings. Jung used his theory not only to analyze dreams but also myths and folktales from many different cultures. The whole field of psychology has evolved and expanded considerably since the early part of the 20th century. There are now many branches of psychology and it is no longer limited to clinical work and the analysis of dreams. Over the years, qualitative and quantitative experiments on animals and humans have provided a vast amount of information on social behavior, mental development, emotional development, learning processes, motivation, personality differences, and sensory perceptions. Men and women with training in psychology now work in many different fields ranging from therapists to advertising agents. The findings of psychological research are used to help the victims of family violence, to design aptitude tests, to carry out efficiency studies in the workplace, to develop educational strategies, to conduct political campaigns, and to predict consumer spending. In fact, there is hardly any aspect of modern society that has not been influenced in some way by research in the field of psychology