Contents

Unit I. Psychology as a science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Unit II. Psychophysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Unit III. Psychophysiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Unit IV. Behaviorism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Unit V. Cognitive Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Unit VI. Social Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Unit VII. Age Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Unit VIII. Psycholinguistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Unit IX. Ethnopsychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Unit X. Clinical Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Unit XI. Criminal Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Unit XII. Consumer Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

Unit I. Psychology as a science

Task 1. Choose the best answer to the questions:

1) What science does psychology go back to?

1. philosophy

2. religion

3. mathematics

2) What is the translation of the word “psychology” from Greek?

1. science about numbers

2. science about environment

3. science about soul

3) What applications does psychology have?

1. usual and everyday

2. scientific

3. scientific and everyday

4. mystical

4) What does psychology study?

1. people and animals

2. men and devices

3. women and nature

5) What subdivisions are there in psychology?

1. pedagogic and clinical

2. medical and social

3. fundamental and applied, general and special

Task 2. Read and translate the text:

Psychology as a science

Psychology studies the most complicated field of science known to mankind, since the psyche is the phenomenon of a highly integral matter.

When a child is born he does not remember himself. But his development is fast and soon his physical and mental abilities are formed. He studies to walk, watch, understand and speak. These abilities help a child to study the surrounding world. Soon a person asks himself: “Who am I? What am I? What am I for?” First a child examines the external world and later itself.

The same process can be seen in the scale of the whole mankind. In ancient times people struggled for existence, found fire, hunted, fought, investigated the nature. Opportunities of mankind grew gradually. People formed material and spiritual culture. There appeared literature, art, science. And another question was raised: “What enables a person to create and study? In what way is the intellect arranged?” This moment was a birth of people’s self-consciousness. This point was a birth of psychological knowledge. Before this time human thoughts were preoccupied with the cognition of the universe but at this point they went to the human being’s inner world.

Psychology is the study of human behaviour, thoughts and feelings. It deals with people’s actions and reactions. Behaviour is difficult to study as a whole, that is why psychologists look at it at different parts. Psychology intersects with other fields of knowledge including Medicine, Biology, Computer Science, Linguistics and many others.

The word “psychology” means “science about soul”. Nowadays, the concept “soul” is changed into the concept “mentality”. There are a lot of forms to represent mentality. There are notions of behaviour, realized and non-realized mental processes, the psychosomatic phenomena. They result in material and spiritual culture. Mentality is reflected in these notions and as such can be studied through them.

Scientific psychology uses several methods. Among them are observation, reflection and experiment. The main difference between observation, reflection and experimental method is that in the latter the researcher does not wait for the phenomenon he is interested in to happen. Instead he creates special conditions for the phenomenon in question. After experimental stage the scientist defines a law. When experimental method was introduced into psychology, it became an independent discipline.

Material in scientific psychology is very extensive and varies greatly. This material is accumulated and investigated in special branches of psychological science. These branches include general, age, pedagogical, pathological, labour and engineering, social and zoo psychology, neuropsychology and many others.

These areas of study deal with various stages and levels of people’s and animals’ mental development. They tackle the problems of defects and illnesses of mentality, working conditions, terms of stress, information overload, etc. (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Task 3. Translate the words from English into Russian:

1) complicated; 2) psyche; 3) mental abilities; 4) ancient times; 5) to be arranged; 6) cognition; 7) behaviour; 8) to intersect; 9) psychosomatic; 10) researcher; 11) independent discipline; 12) neuropsychology.

Task 4. In the text “Psychology as a science” find English equivalents to the following Russian words:

1) человечество; 2) развитие; 3) окружающий мир; 4) духовная культура; 5) самосознание; 6) внутренний мир человека; 7) действия; 8) концепт, понятие; 9) наблюдение; 10) фаза эксперимента; 11) патопсихология; 12) условия труда.

Task 5. In the text “Psychology as a science” find synonyms to the words:

1) surrounding world; 2) to study; 3) progress; 4) to talk; 5) level; 6) Information Science; 7) Philology; 8) scientist; 9) to tackle; 10) concept.

Task 6. In the text “Psychology as a science” find antonyms to the following words:

1) simple; 2) to die; 3) to disturb; 4) adult, grown up; 5) to answer; 6) part; 7) ancient times; 8) dependent.

Task 7. Answer the questions:

1) What does psychology study?

2) What are the main physical abilities which a child should acquire?

3) Is the child’s development similar to the development of the whole mankind?

4) What question did a person ask himself when his opportunities grew?

5) When was psychological knowledge born?

6) How can you define psychology?

7) What sciences does psychology interconnect with?

8) Where is the mentality represented?

9) What are the psychological methods of investigation?

10) When did psychology become an independent science?

11) What are the branches of psychology?

Task 8. Say whether the statements are true or false. Correct the false statements:

1) Human psyche is a very simple phenomenon.

2) The first question a child asks is “Where am I”?

3) Ancient people’s main preoccupation was the study of the outer space.

4) From the ancient time people knew in what way the intellect was arranged and worked.

5) People investigated the universe but never human beings’ inner world.

6) Behaviour is studied in different branches of psychology.

7) The translation of the word “psychology” from Greek is “science about planets”.

8) We can study mentality through behaviour.

9) Experimental method in psychology is based on hunting and spying for people.

10) Branches of psychology deal with general notions of human and animal nature.

Task 9. Match the words, denoting branches of psychology, and their definitions:

1. age psychology	a) studies rationalisation of work and rest, dynamics of working capacity, development of professional motivation and relationship in working groups
2. pedagogical psychology	b) studies features of mental activity at mental and psychosomatic diseases
3. labour psychology	c) studies how people think, use language, remember, forget and solve problems
4. social psychology	d) studies interaction of a person and technical devices
5. pathopsychology	e) studies the typical behaviour and activities at various age stages, principles of transition from one age to another
6. engineering psychology	f) studies laws of evolution of psyche of animals and preconditions of appearance of human consciousness
7. zoo psychology	g) finds best way to help people to recover from mental illnesses
8. cognitive psychology	h) studies application of social experience of an individual which occurs in school
9. clinical psychology	i) studies laws of behaviour and activity of people who belong to various social groups and psychological characteristics of these social groups

Task 10. In the text “Psychology as a science” find a sentence with Latin abbreviation, translate it into Russian. Look through the list of other Latin abbreviations used in English. Memorize them:

1. etc. (etcetera) – и так далее

2. NB (nota bene) – нотабене, обрати особое внимание

3. AD (Anno Domini) – нашей эры

4. a.m. (ante meridiem) – до полудня, в утренние часы

5. p.m. (post meridiem) – (во столько-то часов) пополудни

6. e.g. (exempli gratia) – например

7. c. (circa) – около, приблизительно

8. BID (bis in die) – два раза в день (о приеме лекарств)

9. et al. (et alii) – и другие

10. h.a. (hoc anno) – в этом году

11. i.e. (id est) – то есть

12. P.S. (post scriptum) – постскриптум, приписка.

Task 11. Translate the sentences into Russian. Pay special attention to Latin abbreviations:

1) Branches of psychology include general, social, criminal, labour and engineering, clinical, age psychology, etc.

2) NB. Switch off the light and water when you go out.

3) London was founded in the first century AD by the Romans.

4) Sherlock Holmes was an outstanding detective and as all gifted people he was unusual in his everyday life. So, he woke up at 5 a.m., had breakfast at 5.15, smoked his pipe at 5.30 and played his violin from 6 a.m. till 7 a.m.

5) He was to return from the railway station at 8 p.m. It is 9 p.m. now. Maybe something went wrong with him.

6) Human beings appeared on the Earth one million years ago c.

7) Many scientists opened research laboratories, e.g. in 1879 W. Wundt founded the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig.

8) Take a pill of Asperin BID.

9) There were seven volcanic eruptions h.a.

10) I’ll come home soon. P.S. Don’t forget to buy milk.

Task 12. Translate the sentences from Russian into English using Latin abbreviations:

1) Обратите особое внимание. Курение перед нашим учебным корпусом строго запрещено.

2) Собрание общества по защите окружающей среды начнется в 6 часов вечера. Не опаздывайте!

3) Палеонтологический музей работает с девяти утра и до семи вечера, без перерыва на обед.

4) Доктор прописал полоскать горло два раза в день.

5) В этом году институт иностранных языков празднует свое семидесятилетие.

6) Мы изучаем социальную, возрастную, общую психологию и т.д.

7) В английском языке некоторые существительные образуют множественное число не по правилам, например, a man – men, a goose – geese, a mouse – mice.

8) В этом году появился новый вирус гриппа H1N1, т.е. свиной грипп. Российские ученые уже тестируют новую вакцину и обещают справиться с этой болезнью.

Task 13. Put proper words in the blanks to make the sentences complete:

1) Children’s psychology is a branch of … (psychology, psychological, psyche). … (She, they, he, it) studies laws of children’s mental development. Scientists separate … (difficult, different, differentiate) age periods: infantile age, early age, preschool age, younger school age, teenage age, early youthful age. In child’s mental progress there are … (same, different, other) stages as in the historical experience of mankind. This historical … (experiment, experience, expert) is gradually acquired due to child’s maturing nervous … (systems, systematic, system). Each age period … (have, has, have got) specific tasks of development.

2) The comparative psychology is a … (brunch, bunch, branch) of psychology. It … (analyses, analyze, analyzes) evolution of mentality. It integrates the data received in zoo, historical and ethnic psychology. It … (results, result, realize) in conclusions about similar properties of mental processes of animals and people. It … (teaches, study, studies) qualitative differences which lead to growth of labour activity, public life, speech and consciousness of a … (people, human beings, person).

3) Law psychology examines psychological … (answers, questions, thoughts) connected to realization of law system. It … (is, am, are) subdivided into court and criminal psychology. The first … (thing, another, one) deals with psychological features of people’s behaviour at court, the second tackles the problems of specific … (features, future, factor) of criminal’s behaviour, his personality and motivation.

4) Military psychology investigates human … (behavior, behaviour, behave) at war time, interrelations of commanders and subordinates, methods of … (psychology, psychologic, psychological) propaganda and counter propaganda, problems of armament usage.

5) Sport psychology is connected … (to, in, on) sportsmen’s features of character, conditions of training, psychological development and rules of organisation of … (competitors, competitions, compete).

Task 14. Translate the Russian words in the text into English:

General (представления) on psychology

In the science (системе) psychology occupies a special place. First, it is a discipline of the most (сложном) phenomenon, psyche. Aristotle (считал) “the study of soul” to be the most important among other spheres of knowledge. Second, (объект и субъект) of cognition intersect in psychology. Human thought was directed outwards, on the surrounding world, now it reversed to (изучать) itself. Third, psychology has a great field of (применение на практике). Investigating the laws of psychological processes, (функций и способностей) is a great task compared with navigation in space. It should be said that studying oneself, a person will (изменять себя). So, psychology is not only cognitioning science but also (формирующая человека).

Task 15. Translate the abstracts from Russian into English:

1) Психология труда изучает психологические особенности трудовой деятельности человека, психологические аспекты научной организации труда. В ее задачу входит исследование профессиональных особенностей человека, закономерностей развития трудовых навыков, выяснение влияния на трудящегося производственной обстановки, конструкции и расположения приборов и станков, средств сигнализации и т.д.

2) Педагогическая психология имеет своим предметом изучения психологические закономерности обучения и воспитания человека. Она исследует формирование у учащихся мышления, изучает проблемы управления процессом усвоения приемов и навыков интеллектуальной деятельности, выясняет психологические факторы, влияющие на успешность процесса обучения. Она также изучает взаимоотношения между педагогом и учеником и отношения в ученическом коллективе, особенности учебно-воспитательной работы с детьми, обнаруживающими отклонения в психическом развитии, специфику работы со взрослыми в процессе их обучения. К разделам педагогической психологии относятся психология обучения, воспитания, учителя, учебно-воспитательной работы с аномальными детьми.

3) Медицинская психология изучает психологические аспекты деятельности врача и поведение больного. Она подразделяется на:

1. Нейропсихологию, изучающую соотношение психических явлений с физиологическими мозговыми структурами;

2. Психофармакологию, изучающую влияние лекарственных препаратов на психическую деятельность человека;

3. Психотерапию, изучающую и использующую средства психического воздействия для лечения больного;

4. Психопрофилактику и психогигиену, разрабатывающих систему мероприятий для обеспечения психического здоровья людей.

4) В задачи общей психологии входит разработка проблем методологии и истории психологии, теории и методов исследования наиболее общих законов возникновения, развития и бытия психических явлений. Она изучает познавательную и практическую деятельность. Результаты исследований в области общей психологии – фундаментальная основа развития всех отраслей и разделов психологической науки.

Task 16. Read the text “Virtual Psychology” and write your own true or false sentences:

Example: This text is about clinical psychology. F

The founder of virtual psychology is N.A. Nosov. T

Virtual psychology is a relatively new movement in psychology. It studies interrelations of psychological phenomena and activity area at which interconnection of objects is made through electronic devices. Virtual psychology is based on methodology and theory of general psychology. It is connected to virtual philosophy but has specific theoretical models (ideal objects) and sphere of application, which are based on experimental schemes. Virtual psychology deals with human virtual feelings at periods of emotional rise: on the height of inspiration, creative impulse. The object of virtual psychology is the system “human – virtual reality”.

This scientific movement goes back to 1980s. Its founder is N.A. Nosov. There is the Centre of Virtualistics in the Institute of Humanities in Moscow region. There was also the Centre of Virtualistics at the Institute of Human Beings. In 2000 there was the first conference of virtual psychologists in Russia.

Nowadays, the role and importance of virtual teams is growing rapidly. Virtual team is a group of workers who work through Internet. They meet very rarely or not at all. Psychological aspects of activity in such teams are considered to be the object of psychology of virtual labour.

Task 17. Read the text and answer the questions:

Children psychology is a branch of psychology, which studies laws of children’s psychological development. It is closely connected to pedagogical psychology, pedagogics, age morphology and physiology. Research in children psychology is very important for pedagogical practice. The knowledge of laws of children’s psychological progress is crucial for effective management of learning process. It should coincide with aims of learning.

The objects of research in children psychology are conditions and motives of ontogenesis of human psyche, development of definite psychological processes (learning, emotional, volitional), formation of different kinds of activities (games, work, studying), features of character and age specific features.

Its methods include methods of general psychology which are adapted according to specific goals and age levels. Children psychology works out diagnostic standard methods which can show development level of psychological processes and properties typical of each age stage.

Children psychology became an independent discipline in the middle of the 19^th century under the influence of pedagogical practice. At the end of the 19^th – beginning of the 20^th centuries there was a transition from collection of empirical material to creation of general works on children psychological growth.

It turned out that essential part in children’s progress is given to learning historical forms of human activity. Children acquire them but they do not define special knowledge and skills, e.g. speech and music hearing, logic, etc. These forms are studied through an active process of intercourse, work and play. There is a transition from external, material acts to inner, thought actions which enable a child to get to know much about reality.

Growing, a child becomes an independent person who could act himself according to his aims and goals. Going from one age level to another is connected to maturation and is influenced by child’s social role in the society.

Children psychology also deals with age level division. Psychological features of children’s development are changing during historical and cultural progress of mankind.

Questions:

1) What does children psychology study?

2) What disciplines is it connected to?

3) Why did pedagogical practice depend on children psychology?

4) What are the objects of children psychology?

5) What are the methods of children psychology?

6) When and why did children psychology become an independent discipline?

7) In what way do the children acquire historical and cultural activities of mankind?

8) Does child’s social role influence his going through one age level to another?