As a student of Psychology, I am often asked about it. What exactly is studied in Psychology? What do psychologists do? Is there a scope for Psychology in Pakistan? Such are the questions I have to answer every time I tell a person that I am studying Psychology. What I have inferred from all such encounters is that the general level of awareness about Psychology, and what it can offer for the improvement of our lives, is very low. Therefore, I have decided to start a series of write-ups which can acquaint the readers with the subject of Psychology and make some useful information available to them, thereby helping them in understanding themselves better.
To begin with, Psychology can be formally defined as ‘the scientific study of human mind and behavior’. (Although there are other broader and narrower versions of the definition, this one would suffice for the present need.) Contrary to what many people mistakenly think, Psychology does not involve discerning from looking at the face what is going on inside the mind; it is a rigorous science with a proper research methodology, ranging from observations, surveys, and interviews to various types of tests and experiments (which will be explained in forthcoming write-ups).
The two words constituting the latter part of the definition, ‘mind’ and ‘behaviour’, need to be elaborated upon. Human mind is not the same as brain; brain is the physical, tangible organ that is present in our skull. The mind on the other hand, is something abstract. It is the seat of our consciousness and everything related to it (e.g. thinking), and with mind we direct, or perform, whatever we do. Even though the mind and the brain are two different things, they are greatly intertwined, with one affecting the workings of the other and vice versa. In fact, the mind is considered to be residing within the brain. Inevitably then, the study of the mind entails the study of the brain as well. As far as human behavior is concerned, it encompasses everything we do that can be observed. Eating, drinking, talking, mating, etcetera, are all examples of behavior. Thus, it can be summed up that psychology tries to study our mind and what we do, through a number of well established methods.
Psychology, like other sciences, has some basic goals: describe, explain, predict, control. That is to say that psychology tries to describe what (and how) we - and our mind - do, explain why we do it, predict whether we will do it again and in what circumstances, and, sometimes, to control (or make us control) what we do.
The core subject matter of Psychology pertains to things basic to the human existence, namely sensation, perception, consciousness, memory, nervous system, learning, sleep, motivation, emotion, personality etcetera. These areas, and many others, are classified and dealt with in greater detail under certain specialized domains, such as biological psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, educational psychology, health psychology, developmental psychology, sports psychology, and some others.
One specialized domain of Psychology, abnormal psychology, also known as clinical psychology, focuses on the causes and treatment of mental disorders. This domain is perhaps the best known domain among the common people. Clinical psychology is similar to, but not the same as, psychiatry, which is a specialized field in medicine. Although both clinical psychologists and psychiatrists treat mental disorders, the former are professionally restricted to using psychotherapy and the latter to using drug therapy and other physical measures. Usually the two types of professionals work in collaboration in treating mentally ill patients, and this is the only overlapping area between psychology and psychiatry.
Another famous domain of psychology is industrial/organizational psychology. Psychologists trained in this domain become a part of the human resource departments of all sorts of organizations and overlook the processes such as recruitment, training, appraisal, and also deal with issues such as employees’ motivation, job satisfaction, workplace stress, leadership, communication, ergonomics etcetera.
So far I have answered two of the questions that I mentioned in the beginning. The answer to the final question, whether there is a scope for Psychology in Pakistan, is ’yes’. For one, regardless of which field it is, a genuinely able person can always make room for him- or herself. Even if there is a dearth of opportunities, he or she will create new horizons and avenues for unleashing his potentials. Secondly, the awareness about Psychology (and other social sciences) is increasing, and so is its scope in teaching, practice, and research. A small reflection of this is the increase in the number of institutions offering social sciences majors. Some time ago, it was only Karachi University (and a few other state universities) that offered a major in Psychology. Today other institutions have sprung up, such as Beaconhouse National University Lahore, Bahria University Karachi, SZABIST, and LUMS. IBA Karachi too has recently started its social sciences programme. Even though the current scenario is not satisfactory, it is getting better than what it previously was. The horizon seems to be brightening up a little.
Forthcoming is a discussion of the famous paradigms existing within Psychology.
To begin with, Psychology can be formally defined as ‘the scientific study of human mind and behavior’. (Although there are other broader and narrower versions of the definition, this one would suffice for the present need.) Contrary to what many people mistakenly think, Psychology does not involve discerning from looking at the face what is going on inside the mind; it is a rigorous science with a proper research methodology, ranging from observations, surveys, and interviews to various types of tests and experiments (which will be explained in forthcoming write-ups).
The two words constituting the latter part of the definition, ‘mind’ and ‘behaviour’, need to be elaborated upon. Human mind is not the same as brain; brain is the physical, tangible organ that is present in our skull. The mind on the other hand, is something abstract. It is the seat of our consciousness and everything related to it (e.g. thinking), and with mind we direct, or perform, whatever we do. Even though the mind and the brain are two different things, they are greatly intertwined, with one affecting the workings of the other and vice versa. In fact, the mind is considered to be residing within the brain. Inevitably then, the study of the mind entails the study of the brain as well. As far as human behavior is concerned, it encompasses everything we do that can be observed. Eating, drinking, talking, mating, etcetera, are all examples of behavior. Thus, it can be summed up that psychology tries to study our mind and what we do, through a number of well established methods.
Psychology, like other sciences, has some basic goals: describe, explain, predict, control. That is to say that psychology tries to describe what (and how) we - and our mind - do, explain why we do it, predict whether we will do it again and in what circumstances, and, sometimes, to control (or make us control) what we do.
The core subject matter of Psychology pertains to things basic to the human existence, namely sensation, perception, consciousness, memory, nervous system, learning, sleep, motivation, emotion, personality etcetera. These areas, and many others, are classified and dealt with in greater detail under certain specialized domains, such as biological psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, educational psychology, health psychology, developmental psychology, sports psychology, and some others.
One specialized domain of Psychology, abnormal psychology, also known as clinical psychology, focuses on the causes and treatment of mental disorders. This domain is perhaps the best known domain among the common people. Clinical psychology is similar to, but not the same as, psychiatry, which is a specialized field in medicine. Although both clinical psychologists and psychiatrists treat mental disorders, the former are professionally restricted to using psychotherapy and the latter to using drug therapy and other physical measures. Usually the two types of professionals work in collaboration in treating mentally ill patients, and this is the only overlapping area between psychology and psychiatry.
Another famous domain of psychology is industrial/organizational psychology. Psychologists trained in this domain become a part of the human resource departments of all sorts of organizations and overlook the processes such as recruitment, training, appraisal, and also deal with issues such as employees’ motivation, job satisfaction, workplace stress, leadership, communication, ergonomics etcetera.
So far I have answered two of the questions that I mentioned in the beginning. The answer to the final question, whether there is a scope for Psychology in Pakistan, is ’yes’. For one, regardless of which field it is, a genuinely able person can always make room for him- or herself. Even if there is a dearth of opportunities, he or she will create new horizons and avenues for unleashing his potentials. Secondly, the awareness about Psychology (and other social sciences) is increasing, and so is its scope in teaching, practice, and research. A small reflection of this is the increase in the number of institutions offering social sciences majors. Some time ago, it was only Karachi University (and a few other state universities) that offered a major in Psychology. Today other institutions have sprung up, such as Beaconhouse National University Lahore, Bahria University Karachi, SZABIST, and LUMS. IBA Karachi too has recently started its social sciences programme. Even though the current scenario is not satisfactory, it is getting better than what it previously was. The horizon seems to be brightening up a little.
Forthcoming is a discussion of the famous paradigms existing within Psychology.
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