What You Will Learn!
- understand the history of psychology
- become familair with core ideas in psychology
- identify different approaches to psychology
- have an overall understanding of psychology
Description
In this course, I will tell you the story of psychology encompassing an incredible 3000 years of psychological history. By the end of this course, you will know all the basic psychological ideas, schools and approaches, as well as some of the most influential psychologists and psychoanalysts from around the world. The course has 4 major parts and each with 2 or 3 sections.
In part 1, I will tell you about the origin of psychology from ancient Greece and ancient India to modern science. Where does psychology really come from? Two disciplines play a major role in giving birth to psychology. Philosophy is like father and literature is mother. Philosophy is the rational side and literature is the emotional side. In this section I will also answer what's the purpose of psychology?
In part 2, I will look into how psychology understands the human mind including consciousness and the unconscious. First I will look at the pioneers of psychology including William James, Johann Herbart and Wilhelm Wundt who tried to understand consciousness. Then I will look into the behaviourist school of psychology that understands the human mind through our behaviour. In other words, action speaks louder than words. And finally I will look at two of the most influential figures in psychology, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung who each tried to understand the unconscious.
In part 3, I will look at how psychology became a practical tool for diagnosing and treating patients with mental problems. I will look into two distinct approaches. Psychotherapy which has a strong German origin focused on the unconscious, and cognitive therapy which has a more Anglo-Saxon tradition focused on the conscious mind.
In part 4, I will look into other factors in psychology. Outside the human mind in general, factors such as society, age, and sex play a crucial role in our psychology. So in this section, I will discuss social psychology, child psychology and sex psychology. At the end I will also discuss the paradox of psychology and the paradox of personality.
This course is for anyone interested in psychology and wants to have an overview of psychology as an academic discipline. By the end, you should have a clear picture of what psychology is and what it studies and who are some of the key figures.
Who Should Attend!
- Beginner students of psychology or anyone interested in the story of psychology