My main objective is to introduce to you how the human mind works, the human mind is not a

simple video record and play, rather psychology is a trick, the mind determines and interprets
our visual and hearing.
Psychology is the scientific study of human nature, mind, behavior
STUDY HOW OUR MINDS MAKE OUR WORLD
What we see and hear
What we remember
What we know
How we think
How we feel
How we act

CONCEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY
Descriptions There are various reasons for popular misconceptions e.g (frequent appearances
in the mass media) of statements about what psychologists tell us. These are often one- sided
views exaggerating some opinions held by only a few psychologists or even by some who are
not properly qualified psychologists. This is because human behaviour can be observed by all
and sundry who attempt to explain occurrences from their own intuition, or belief. In other
branches of science, for example physics and chemistry, common sense or intuition does not
help observers to explain why diatomic hydrogen behaves differently from a monatomic one,
when these are bombarded by neutrons.
Another explanation of such differential judgments is traceable to the fact that whereas human
behaviour may be a matter of common observation, scientific facts are only understood after
sustained learning. Many writers also think that the labels, especially labels of definitions and
constructs, in psychology, are derived from the daily usage of many common words while those
used in pure science have separate origins and they are of restricted use. For example,
intelligence is a psychological construct which implies one thing to a psychologist and another
to a layman, and a typical word thermocouple of pure science means a very special thing to
scientists and students of science but, perhaps nothing to a layman.
Furthermore, many people think psychology is the same as psychoanalysis and Freudian or neo-
Freudian psychology (We will discuss this in the later units of this course), which psychologists
regard as accounting for only a minor part of the entire body of psychological knowledge. It is
also not uncommon to find ignorant individuals who conceptualise psychologists as those who
can hypnotise others.
Here we will look at some of the descriptions of the concept of psychology. You will probably
have come across the word ‘psychology’ before, and you may have your own idea of what
psychology is all about. Unfortunately there are a number of misconceptions and
misunderstandings as to what psychology is exactly, and for this reason we will consider why
this is so and then examine some descriptions of this subject area.
While people have been interested in human behaviour for thousands of years, psychology has
only become a discipline in its own right in the last 100 years. For many years, philosophers
puzzled over the nature of the human mind and people’s motivations. However, philosophers’
accounts were essentially speculative and they made no attempt to prove whether their views
were correct or incorrect.
Many writers agree that the birth of psychology as we now understand the concept was in 1879
in Leipzig, Germany. At this time, Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory devoted to
experimental psychology. Over the next 40 years, many universities throughout Europe and the
United States set up their own laboratories. The main belief shared by these early pioneers was
that human psychological processes could be studied objectively using the same experimental
methods developed over the years by the natural sciences (for examp1e physics and
chemistry). The first recognized book on psychology was written by William James and
published in 1890.
From these early beginnings, psychology expanded quite rapidly and achieved various
important milestones in its history. Many see the writings of Sigmund Freud as very significant
in the development of psychology, although as you will see later, his work has been criticized
for lacking in sound scientific basis. Psychology today encompasses a wide range of
perspectives and has been applied to a large number of different areas of human functioning.
You will learn about some of these in what follows. I know you now find our discussion
meaningful and interesting. Let us continue.
Any dictionary and almost all introductory psychology textbooks will contain a description of
the word psychology. Unfortunately, you may find that there are almost as many different
descriptions of the subject area as there are textbooks. This may not however be as confusing
as it might at first appear as many descriptions will share common elements, or say basically
the same thing in slightly different ways. Why do psychologists differ in their descriptions?
There are at least two reasons why psychologists do not always agree on a simple common
description of psychology.
The first is that psychology is a relatively new discipline. Compared with sciences such as
chemistry and physics, psychology is in its infancy and its theories and methods are still being
developed.
The second reason is that psychology already covers a diverse range of subjects, and
psychologists working in different areas see psychology in slightly different ways. Let us cite an
example so that you can have a clear understanding. Educational psychologists will be mainly
concerned with the way in which children learn, and how to help children who are not doing
well at school. By contrast, a clinical psychologist will deal almost exclusively with people who
are mentally ill or who are experiencing behavioural problems.

Definitions
It is not very clear if one would have time to think as Marshall Temple (1984 11) wanted when
she opined. Can you imagine what life would be like if we had idea at all what effect our
behaviour is going to have on others? What a mad world it would be if a smile were answered
by a kick and angry shout by a friendly greeting
Efforts at thinking about these questions and hazarding answers for them have to do with a
branch of knowledge known as psychology. Perhaps the most succinct definition of the concept
is that psychology is the scientific study of behaviour. Many people would insert the world
‘human’ in this definitions, as the vast majority of psychologists are interested exclusively in
studying human behaviour (Alhassan, 2000).
However, some psychologists study animals other than humans, partly because such study is
interesting in itself and partly because studying animals allows researchers to carry out
experiments and then extend the results into the human domain. Perhaps the best known
example of this is the work of B.F. Skinner, who carried out many experiments using rats,
pigeons and other animals in order to understand how they respond to their environment.
Many of Skinner’s findings were expanded to cover human populations and valuable lessons
were learnt (Andrew et.at.1993).
In some cases, psychologists have used animals such as rats and mice because such subjects are
more easily recruited than humans. It may also be true that some psychologists are less worried
about carrying out potentially harmful experiments on animals such as rats and mice than they
might be when carrying out the equivalent studies on humans. However, it is important for you
to note that today; psychologists in almost all countries are governed by rules, meaning they
should not harm any animals (human or otherwise) that are used in experiments.
So, psychologists generally study human behaviour and try to understand why people behave
the way they do. They may also gather information about a subject and by carefully analyzing
their information, reach a conclusion. We will see in unit 2 some of the ways in which
psychologists might go about studying human behaviour.
It is important for you to remember that psychology is the science that studies behaviour and
what goes on in the mind that causes behaviour to occur. Psychology has to do with the
concepts of learning, memory, perception, motivation and personality traits. All these concepts
lead to behaviour. Behaviour in this context may mean anything that we do such as thinking,
sneezing, laughing, sleeping and even falling in love. Because we are unable to see the mind, we
have to study it through the ways in which it manifests itself. And so the branch of knowledge
which deals with the study of this mind is psychology. Dennis Child (1977:1) sees behaviour to
include ‘all those aspects of human activity which we can observe’. He does not however
exclude behaviours that are not observable hence he went further to involve ‘personal
experience which can only be studied by asking individuals to express their feelings and
thoughts’ as part of behaviour.
From our discussion, it is clear that there are many definitions of psychology. Here is an
interesting question for you: Are there common elements in these definitions? You are eager to
know the correct response. While many writers of psychology textbooks give differing
definitions of the subject area, a common thread still runs through these definitions. Zimbardo
(1992) captures the views of many by suggesting that the goals of psychology are:
1. To objectively describe the behaviour of individuals.
2. To develop an, understanding of the causes and consequences of that behaviour using
explanations which are based upon the best available evidence and creative
imagination?
3. To predict accurately if, when, how and in what form from a given situation.
4. To demonstrate that it is possible to control a given behavioural response by making it
start, stop, or vary in some predictable way.

Approaches to Psychology

 Biological perspective
 The psychoanalysis perspective
 Behavioral perspective
  Humanistic Perspective
 Cognitive perspective
 Social-Cultural perspective

Objectives of psychology
The objectives of psychology are many. Of these, the most important are:
1. Understanding human behaviour.
2. Explaining data. This is usually achieved by formulating a theory that can explain the
data.
3. Relying on the scientific method to test the accuracy of their theories because so many
factors are involved in the manifestation of behaviour. One test of a theory’s accuracy
and usefulness is its ability to predict behaviour and mental processes.
4. Applying knowledge to promote human welfare.
5. Shaping of human behaviour when necessary. When psychology is referred to as a ‘new’
science we mean that the methods of studying psychological problems are new. This is
bound to be so since psychology became a science in the modem sense of the concept,
in the mid nineteenth century. That was when scientific methods were first applied to
psychological problems.

The Methods of Psychology

The most important methods psychologists use to accomplish their objectives are:
1. Naturalistic observation: For the most part, psychologists have learned about behaviour
in animal and human subjects from laboratory studies. However, at times psychologists
wan to study how animals and people behave in their normal environments. To do this,
the method of naturalistic observation is used. You must remember that this method
has two general characteristics.
a. Subjects are observed in their natural environments, and
b. The observer does not attempt to interfere with natural behaviour of the subjects

It is to be noted that the ethnologists (scientists who study the behaviour of animals in
the wild) use the method of naturalistic observation. For example, much of what we
know about aggressive behaviour in animals comes from ethological studies. From these
studies, psychologists have learned that groups of animals have territories and will bend
together to fight off any intruders (Krunck, 1966).
The Nobel Prize winning ethnologist Konrad Lorenz (1966), has also proposed that
humans, like animals also band together to defend their territory and that this is one of
the primary causes of human aggression (we will discuss more on this later). The result
of observation can be realized in various situations and is therefore useful for control
and prediction.
Amongst the disadvantages of observation are that what is observed may not necessary
reveal the true feelings of an individual subject, and the individual who is observing may
have his own biases which may possibly colour his interpretation of the findings.
 2. The Case Study: The case study is an essential part of understanding and helping people
with psychological disorders. Sigmond Freud, the Austrians, psychologist was probably
the first man to introduce case history as a method of scientific investigation.
Case history may be described as mainly a clinical method. Let us give an example to assist you
in gaining a clear understanding. In order to treat a patient, the psychologist needs to know
what sort of difficulties the patient is experiencing. The psychologist asks the patient about
his/her background in relation to the sickness. The psychologist then composes a case study
describing how the patient’s difficulties arose, how he/she copes with these difficulties and
what can be done to help the patient.
The major advantage of the case study is that it provides comprehensive information about the
patient that is being studies, and from various other sources.

3. Surveys: Surveys are questionnaires, conducted in person or through the mail, that
inquire into the ways a group (of people) thinks or acts. It is important for you to
remember that in conducting surveys, the population or groups of subjects to be
surveyed must be identified. Thereafter, a statistical method must be used to pick a
random but representative sample of that population.
4. Correlational Studies: To see if two variables are associated or related in some way,
psychologists use a statistical technique devised by Francis Galton known as correlation.
Although the mathematics involved is a little complex, the idea is very simple. Measure
two variables, like height and weight, and see if they are related. They are correlated
when changes in the value of one are associated with I changes in the value of the
other.
5. Experimentation: In psychology, experiments are performed on animals and humans.
You need to remember that an experiment allows a psychologist to identify causes and
effects to the extent that there will be no ambiguity about what caused what. You must
also note that this is the most reliable of all methods of collecting information. It is
precise and systematic in its approach. However, you need to remember that the
findings of an experimental study usually have 1imited application because of the small
number of people involved.
6. Test: Psychological tests are used to measure all kinds of abilities, interests, and
achievements. Such tests are referred to as test-batteries
7. Questionnaires: The questionnaire is a short method for gaining information on a
specific problem in a brief interval of time. Medinnus and Johnson (1976:21) credited
Stanley Hall as the first psychologist to use questionnaire in child study. Much
information can be gathered by means of a written questionnaire presented to the
subjects. Through this method a very large sample of the subjects can be covered.
Questionnaires are widely used in educational psychology. In a questionnaire, standard
instructions are given to all subjects and the personal appearance, mood or conduct of
the investigation will not colour the data collected
At this stage, it is important for you to note that there are two types of questionnaires.
They are the structured and the unstructured questionnaires. They are assigned to elicit
 information from people either about themselves, other people or things. Olomolaiye
(1986:64) identified two major parts in any questionnaire:
a. The first seekers .information about the nature and characteristics of the
respondents -their age, sex, social class, education and so on. This we shall call the
descriptive part of the questionnaire.
b. The second part is concerned mainly with measurement. It is the section of the
questionnaire that provides the relevant information we want about the topic of our
research. Such information relates to the attitudes, opinions and beliefs of the
respondents. We shall call this the analytic part of the questionnaire.

Concept of Learning
To the layman ‘learning’ has always been a rather simple matter, he sees it frequently and
assumes that he has a clear understanding of its meaning, that is getting to know something he
does not know. As Oxiedine (1968:5) puts it, that ‘we learn what we are taught is often the
attitude of the nonprofessional person’.
Alhassan (2000) states that although there is little disagreement among psychologists as to the
importance of learning and pervasiveness of learning in all forms of human activity, there is a
marked difference between the ways they look at learning and the ways the layman does. Let
us cite some examples to ensure you have a clear understanding of the concept.
Kohler (1925) in his book, The Mentality of Apes explained learning as a perceptual process
with the major emphasis being on the study of relationships and how people learn to see
relationships among various items of experience. Learning of relationships can be clearly seen
in the phenomenon of insight. Sometimes pupils work for a long time on a problem or skill with
apparently little progress. All of a sudden there will be a flash of understanding in which the
pupil or student sees through the problem or reform his responses into a more complex habit.
This phenomenon was first widely publicized by this famous psychologist. Worgang Kohler. He
found that apes, when confronted with a different problem, might act as if they were surveying
the situation and would then go directly to the goal object (banana) by putting two sticks
together, or by piling one box on top of another. It appeared that there had been a sudden
perceptual charge in which these animals saw the relationship of the sticks or boxes to
themselves and the goal in a new way.
Aristotle talked of learning as a association of ideas following the laws of similarity, contrast,
and continuity. He believed that people learn and remember those things that are alike, that
are striking because of their difference, and that occur together in space and time (Murphy,
1949). Bugelski (1956:120) on his own parts sees learning as the process of the formation of
relatively permanent neural circuits through the simultaneous activity of the elements of circuit
to be. Such activity is of the nature of change in cell structure through growth in such a manner
as to facilitate the arousal of the entire circuit when a component element is aroused or
activated.
Lindgren (1961) posts that learning is a central process in understanding human behaviour.
Most aspects of human behaviour, the writer argues, the learned contrary to the widely held
view at the turn of the century that human behaviour is instinctive in nature. Learning may also
be thought of as a process of problem solving, a way of thinking, creating, and synthesizing.
Alhassan (1985:1) opines that learning is the totality of the acquisition of factual information,
the mastering of skills and means of aiding further study (understanding); acquisition of
behaviour patterns, the styles of tacking problems of everyday life and more. Learning is a
dynamic process whereby, through interactive experience, insights or cognitive structures of
life spaces are changed and so become more useful for future guidance.
Gagne (1970:3) attempts a definition of learning which seems to have a wide appeal when he
writes that a learning event take place when the stimulus situation affects the learner in such a
way that his or her performance changes from a time- before being in that situation to a time
after being in it. The change in performance is what leads to the conclusion that learning has
occurred.
In spite of the above discussion, note that leaning may not be easy to define adequately. This
may be so because we cannot see it directly, but when we' observe a child’s behaviour, we can
conclude that some kind of leaning has occurred. Let us give an example to drive home this
point.
When a preschooler is able to recite the alphabet from A – Z or the numerals which he could
not do before, we can deduce that some learning has taken place.
Another example: When we look at the stages of a child’s development we can see that he first
knows how to eat, then to sit, to crawl about, to stand, to walk, to run about, and to speak. The
child is now capable of doing some things which he could not do earlier in his life. It may be said
that in these respects, the child has learned because ‘observed changes in behaviour are
evidence of learning’ (Balogun,1981:52). Many psychologists agree that learning is a general
term for relatively lasting or permanent change in performance or behaviour caused or
produced directly by experience. O’ Connon (1963) submits that a study of learning is part of
the larger study of psychology, which may be defined as the scientific study of human
experience and human and animal behaviour.

MATURATION AND LEARNING

Maturation as a scientific and psychological concept designates that period of development

during which a germ cell becomes mature. It is a process of ripening and of moving towards the
fuller unfolding of potentials of the organism. Maturation denotes both a change in the physical
equipment of the organism but more importantly it is a change in function and the capacity to
perform through the use of this equipment. Let us cite an example: When the muscles of a
child’s legs grow they can be noticed, but it is only when maturation takes place that the baby
walks with the legs. If in spite of the growth of the legs the baby cannot stand or walk, then
maturation of the can germ cells of the muscles has not taken place. It is important for you to
remember that psychologists have run experiments and discovered that in spite of the training,
sessions babies are subjected to in order to quicken walking or standing, they do not yield any
significant result when compared with sessions. The muscles wait until maturation takes place.
The concept of maturation has some indirect relationship with learning.
Learning; by as discussed earlier, means a change in function as a result of experience and
practice. In one sense, both learning and maturation depend on change of function. However,
while maturation is not noticeable and takes place inside the organism, leaning is entirely based
on experience and practice. You should note that the interesting relationship is that maturation
must take place before any learning can take effect. The concept of maturation leads to the
concept of phylogenetic (evolution of organism) function or prehensile skills sometimes
referred to as developmental tasks. Such tasks include crawling, creeping, walking and so on.
Remember that they are cross cultural and therefore common to all races. More importantly,
remember that training is of little importance if maturation is not ready. Such tasks as learning
to ride a tricycle or bicycle, learning to swim or make ridges in the farm require maturation and
training. So while an American child of four can ride a bicycle, a child of eight in a remote
African village may not be able to do so. Whereas maturation provides the raw time table for
learning, the culture directs or determines what is learnt.

Concept of Growth and Development

Modern educationists stress the point that a teacher should not only know his subject matter
but also the child he teaches. The knowledge of the child would include knowing the child’s
growth patterns’ developments, social and emotional characteristics. It is a thorough
understanding of the growth and development of the child that would enable the teacher to
make his education more meaningful to the child. Human body grows in stages and each stage
has its dominant characteristics and uniqueness. Each stage has also its significant problems.
Each stage is related to another and not clearly marked out as distinct. No individual passes
from one stage to another on a particular birthday. A stage moves imperceptibly to the next
stage. Some of the stages are very short but some are long. Psychologists see the study of the
child from conception to the beginning of adolescence as child study while the adolescent
psychologists see adolescence as concerned with the study of the child from the on-setting of
puberty until maturity. Note that an understanding of a stage helps to throw light on what
happens in the next stage.
According to Alhassan (2000), it is good to look at a child as the child he is and the adolescent
he will be. It is also good to look at the adolescent as the adolescent he is and the child he was.
Generally, when we refer to a child or any human organism as growing, we mean that such
organism is becoming larger or heavier. Physical growth can be measured in terms of height
(meters and centimeters) and in terms of weight (kilogrammes). In effect, growth can be either
horizontal or vertical. Physical growth involves stages or epochs. These stages or epochs can be
gradual, continuous but not uniform. They include the pre-natal stage, the infancy stage, the
childhood stage, the adolescence, the adult and the senescence. The concept of development
refers to changes in structure and function. This means that development includes growth and
the ability to see the organism in the performance of certain functions. Development is the
progress an organism makes towards maturity. It then means that from the very beginning of
life up to old age and death, human beings are subjected to many internal and external
influences. You need to remember that psychologists usually see development as the process
that leads to greater strength and stability.

Principles of Growth and Development

The principles of growth and development are:
1. Development of an organism is for the most part orderly and proceeds on the same
order for all children. For example, all fetuses turn their heads before they turn their
hands. Every child sits before standing, babbles before talking, is dependent before
being independent.
2. Growth and development are continuous. Growth may be continuous but not always
smooth and gradual. There are spurts in physical growth and psychological functions.
Let us cite some examples: abrupt or sudden increases in height or development of
genital organ during pre-adolescence, sharp rises in vocabulary during childhood,
sudden improvement in problem solving ability during middle and later adolescence.
3. There are critical periods for certain organs. If anything interferes with the development
of an organ at that particular time, it results in permanent deficiency or malfunctioning.
For example, certain organs such as the heart, the kidneys, the eyes, and the fingers
have critical periods. If during their development, anything happens to them, it affects
these organs permanently. Eric Erikson, a psychologist postulates that if a child of 1 fails
to learn to trust people, he may never trust people throughout his life.
4. The basic personality of any individual is set during the first years of his life. Well
adjusted babies develop this trait often during the first years of their lives and grow to
be well adjusted adults.

SPECIALTIES IN PSYCHOLOGY
Development Psychology
Developmental psychology is a broad field of interest in which the physical, emotional and
intellectual characteristics and development of youngsters from pre-natal stage onwards are
studied. In addition to this are changes in many other forms of activity, for example, the
acquisition of language or the growth of a sense of morality.
Educational Psychology
An educational psychologist will use the subject matter of psychology mainly to help children
going through the education system. You should note also that educational psychology seeks to
discover by studying the mental, physical, social and emotional behaviour of children and
adults, the factors which influence the quality and quantity of learning.
Social Psychology
Social psychology is the study of social institutions and their impact on the behaviour of
individuals. It concentrates on the external agencies which influence man. Social psychologists
would be interested in the study of family, village, and role of the head teacher or effect of
family background on achievement at school.
Physiological Psychology
The domain of the physiological psychology is the examination of the biological best bases of
behaviour with particular reference to the biochemical reactions underlying memory and
learning, and the role of various portions of the brain in the regulation of such motives as
hunger and thirst, and such basic processes as sleep.
Clinical Psychology
A clinical psychologist is someone who specialises in the treatment of those with behavioural
problems and mental illness. Such a person will have received specialized training, usually
involving a further three year course of study. You should note that to clinical psychologists
often work within hospitals or specialist psychiatric facilities and many sometimes are part of a
team comprising psychiatrists, nurses, and so on. Clinical psychiatrists often work to help those
with relatively minor behavioural disorders, such as phobias.
Occupational Health
Psychology Occupational health psychology focuses on work environment, the individual, and
the work-family interface. It concerns the application psychology to improve the quality of work
life and to protect and promote the safety, health and well being of workers.

Cardiac Psychology
This studies the workings of the heart -a cardiac structure of the transport system in higher
animals and the centre of emotions, especially love and the mind, what a person thinks or feels,
conscious thoughts of patients (The monitor APA, 1998).

Psychology of Law
Both psychology and law deal generally on human behaviour with reference to testimony,
evidence, influences, crime, truancy, delinquency, and emotion. Psychology has a great deal to
offer any law enforcement agency -large or small. Law enforcement officers and their
management structure face a considerable variety of problems, many of which can be
addressed by knowledgeable and skillful professional psychologists. It is important for you to
note that whether psychological services can be effective depends on the degree to which
police managers accept that understanding human behaviour can further the goals and
purposes of law enforcement

Community Psychology
The main thrust of community psychology is in the direction of family-care programmes and
programmes in child guidance and rehabilitation centres.

a. Forensic Psychology
This is the branch of psychology that will be of most interest to those studying this course. It
involves mainly the application of psychology to the area of crime and the legal system. Note
that forensic psychology is applicable in many other areas. Forensic psychology studies
psychological damages, forensic examination, expert testimony in employment -related
disputes, doomsday cults, secret societies and militias: brain washing, madness, criminality,
sexual predator laws, patient estimate of pain, child-custody decision-making, child-sexual
behaviour in relation to abuse variable, treating psychological disturbances caused by motor
accidents, and forensic evaluation of sexual harassment (The monitor APA, 1998)

b. Psychology of Politics
It is that body of knowledge which lies somewhere between individual psychology and political
science, just as social psychology and sociology. It deals with the problems of control of
behaviour among groups, with the study of organizations of people in conflict. It refers also to
the ways and means, the methods and techniques by which politicians particularly partisan
politicians, promise the masses various things, such as paradise, having all their villages air-
conditioned, and so on; when in reality, the masses, particularly in developing countries of Asia,
Africa, and Latin America are always forgotten once such politicians are on the seat of power.

Such politicians manipulate and exploit the needs and aspirations of the gullible masses to their
advantage. It is important for you to note that the psychology of politics is practiced in the
developed and developing countries. However in the former, the level of literacy is
comparatively high and the electorate is far more sophisticated.
These factors make the practice of both politics and the psychology of politics much more
demanding. Conversely, in the developing countries the level of literacy is comparatively low
and the citizens are both less sophisticated and more gullible. This makes it easier for politicians
in the developing countries to practice the .psychology of politics on the people.

c. Feminist Psychology
This branch of psychology is on how widely-held feminist tenets -such as empowering
individuals, valuing diversity, and creating dialogue -can be integrated across the field of
psychology.

d. Disability and Health Psychology

This studies the interplay between psychological health and medical conditions, it introduces
information on the nature of different types of disabilities and the ways in which duabi1ity -
specific factors such as age of onset, duration of the disability and how the disability was
acquired -all towards psychological adjustment.

e. Philosophical Counseling
Unlike the approach of counseling psychology, the approach of philosophical counseling is more
open-ended and reflective- there are no fixed ideas or goals. The possibilities of cross-
fertilization between philosophy and psychology are wonderful. It is important for you to know
that there are many ways in which meaningful life changes can occur through education, one
form of which is the discussion of philosophical issues. Gerad Achenbach is believed to be the
first to revive the profession of philosophical counseling when in 1981 he founded a suicide-
prevention organization called the Samaritan (Phillips, 1997:12). In his work, Achenbach
believed that the counter between the philosopher and the client was of the paramount
importance, and that the aim was not healing but arriving at a satisfactory self- explanation and
clarification. You must remember that philosophical practice has been a world-wide movement
that is starting to flourish in Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, Britain, France, Israel
and South Africa. It is to be noted that each of these countries now has its own certification
organization.

f. Police Psychology
We must of course add police psychology, as this is the subject matter of another unit in this
course. In the unit, you will see the extent to which psychology might be useful in the training
of police recruits and in everyday policing.
HOW PSYCHOLOGISTS DEVELOP AND TEST THEIR THEORIES

1. Awareness in the Scientific Method

The first stage is that a problem is felt when a man encounters a problem which puzzles him
and he apparently has no answer for.

2. Location and Definition of the Problem

The problem, as encountered by man, may be so diffused or overwhelming that he cannot
specify it. He then tries to find specifically what his problem is.

3. Collections of Data
When man has defined the problem before him precisely, he begins to collect relevant or
possible data. He starts to take closer observation of the part of the now localized problem. He
collects as much information as possible.

4. Formulation of Hypotheses
On the basis of the accumulated data, man starts to formulate possible hypotheses. These
hypotheses can be seen as educated guesses or answers to the problem. His preliminary study
of the facts has led him to these now intelligent guesses about the possible solution to his
problem. At this stage these possible solutions are tentative, hence they are many and all
cannot be the solution. Where the hypothesis is one, it is still tentative unit it is proved to be
the correct solution. In fact some scientists at this stage label them as hunches.

5. Testing the Hypotheses

The guesses are tested as to their solubility of the problem. If A and B are true, then C must be
true.
6. Verification of the Hypotheses
This may mean testing the workability or solubility of the accepted hypotheses. It is therefore
left for man to select a suitable and safe method which will help him to confirm whether or not
the hypotheses will work.