Concept of Psychology and Child Development

Author by Chetan

Introduction:

For any teacher recruitment exam and teacher eligibility test like – CTET, UPTET, REET, SUPER TET, KVS, DSSSB, etc. it is very important for any candidate to understand the concept of Psychology and Child Development. A deep understanding of Child Development plays an important role in any candidate getting success in these examinations. In any teacher recruitment exam, on average 15 to 30 number questions are asked from here. If we talk about the DSSSB Exam, then in this exam 100 number questions are asked from here. On the basis of these given statistics, you can also estimate the usefulness of this section.

Through zeroveloCT, we will try our best to explain to you the important facts useful for the examination of Child Development and Education Psychology in a simple and interesting way. Along with this, we will also provide you with important exam useful tips and tricks here.

The purpose of Teacher Eligibility Tests is to measure the ‘Aptitude’ of any candidate, that is, through these tests, it is checked whether the candidate has thought of a teacher or not, and whether he is eligible to become a teacher or not. Therefore, under education psychology, we will also try to develop the understanding of ‘Teaching Aptitude’.

Through this article, we are going to explain to you the meaning and definitions of Psychology in simple words.

PSYCHOLOGY: Meaning and Definitions

Although the meaning of Psychology is very broad in itself and includes many facts within itself, but here we have tried to explain the meaning of Psychology in simple and easy words, in simple words we can say that Psychology is the science of behaviour. It is a science, which studies the scientific behavior (physiological factors, cognitive factors, emotional factors and social factors) of animals (humans, animals and birds).

The origin of the word Psychology is derived from two words of ‘Greek language – ‘Psyche’ and ‘Logos’. In which the word psyche means – ‘soul’ and the word logos means – ‘study’, so in this way we can say that the literal meaning of Psychology is – ‘study of the soul’.

Changes in the meaning of psychology according to the centuries:

After Psychology was separated from Philosophy, its meaning underwent changes according to the centuries, these changes are described below:

Century	Meaning of Psychology	Key Supporter
16th Century	Science of Soul	Plato, Aristotle and Descartes
17th Century	Science of mind	Pomponojie, John Locke and Thomas Reid
19th Century	Science of consciousness	William James, William Wundt and James Sully
20th Century	Science of behavior	Watson, McDougall, Woodworth, Thorndike, Pavlov and Skinner

History of Psychology

Regarding the origin of Psychology, it is believed that Psychology was born from Philosophy. Because earlier Psychology was not an independent subject. Its study began as a branch of Philosophy during the time of Aristotle and was later separated from Philosophy in the 16th century by the American Psychologist William James. The word Psychology was first used by Rudolf Gokel in his book Psychologia in 1590 AD and the first laboratory of psychology was established by William Wundt in Leipzig city of Germany in 1879 while India’s first Psychology laboratory was established in Calcutta University in 1916 AD. Founded by Dr. N. N. Sen Gupta.

Major definitions of Psychology

• Woodworth – “Psychology is the scientific study of the actions of the individual in relation to the environment.”

• Skinner – “Psychology is the science of behaviour and experience.”

• Garrison and others – “Psychology is concerned with direct human behaviour.”

• Crow and Crow – “Psychology is the study of human behaviour and human relationships.”

• Watson – “Psychology is the positive science of behaviour.”

• Mann – “Modern psychology is concerned with the scientific investigation of behaviour.”

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Important Question:

Q.1 Who established the first laboratory of psychology?

1. William Wundt
2. Sigmund Freud
3. Pavlov
4. Watson

[UPTET – DEC. 2016]

Q.2 The word ‘Psyche’ means –

 [PTI-Grade-III 2019]

1. science
2. Behaviour
3. Soul
4. Study

Q.3 In which scripture was ‘soul’ used in the beginning?

1. Economics
2. Philosophy
3. Sociology
4. Science of Education

 [BTET-LII 2013]

Q.4 Psychology was first defined as a subject studying which subject?

1. Study of mind
2. Study of consciousness
3. Study of behaviour
4. Study of soul

Q.5 “First psychology renounced its soul, then it renounced its mind, then it renounced consciousness, now it accepts the method of behaviour.” Which psychologist gave this statement?

1. Aristotle
2. Plato
3. Woodworth
4. Watson