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What is Psychology? – Class 11 Psychology notes, important questions and MCQs

NCERT Class 11 Psychology, chapter 1. Notes, key terms, important questions with answers and MCQs.

Chapter overview

Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes, experiences and behaviour in different contexts. It developed from philosophy into a science when Wilhelm Wundt set up the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig in 1879. Psychology is both a natural science and a social science, and it has many branches and schools of thought. In India, psychology connects with traditional ideas from philosophy and has grown in universities and applied fields.

Nature of psychology

Psychology studies mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling), experiences (subjective awareness) and behaviour (observable responses).
As a natural science it uses experiments and biological explanations; as a social science it studies behaviour in social and cultural contexts.
Popular notions of human behaviour are often based on common sense and can be wrong; psychology tests ideas systematically.

Schools and branches

Structuralism (Wundt) studied the structure of the mind through introspection; functionalism (William James) studied how the mind helps adaptation; behaviourism (John Watson, B. F. Skinner) studied only observable behaviour.
Gestalt psychology emphasised perception of wholes; psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud) emphasised unconscious desires; humanistic psychology (Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow) emphasised free will and growth; the cognitive approach studies mental processes like information processing.
Branches include cognitive, biological, developmental, social, cultural, environmental, health, clinical and counselling, industrial/organisational, educational and sports psychology. In India, Narendra Nath Sengupta set up the first psychology department at Calcutta University in 1916.

Key terms

Psychology: the scientific study of mental processes, experiences and behaviour
Introspection: observing and reporting one's own mental experiences
Behaviourism: the approach that studies only observable behaviour
Psychoanalysis: Freud's approach emphasising unconscious motives
Humanistic psychology: the approach emphasising free will and self-actualisation

Important questions with answers

What is psychology?2 marks

Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as thinking, memory and emotion, of experiences, and of behaviour, in different contexts. It explains how and why people think, feel and act as they do.

Name three schools of psychology and their main focus.3 marks

Structuralism (Wundt) studied the structure of conscious experience through introspection; behaviourism (Watson, Skinner) studied only observable behaviour and learning through conditioning; psychoanalysis (Freud) explained behaviour through unconscious desires and conflicts.

Explain the development of psychology as a discipline, including major schools of thought.5 marks

Psychology has roots in philosophy, where thinkers discussed the nature of mind and knowledge. It became a separate scientific discipline when Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory at Leipzig in 1879. Wundt's approach, called structuralism, studied the structure of the conscious mind through introspection, in which trained observers reported their experiences. William James in America developed functionalism, which asked how mental processes help people adapt to their environment. In the early twentieth century, John Watson rejected introspection as unscientific and founded behaviourism, which studied only observable behaviour and learning through stimulus-response connections; B. F. Skinner later extended it with operant conditioning. Gestalt psychologists argued that perception is organised into wholes that are more than the sum of their parts. Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, explaining behaviour through unconscious desires and conflicts. In the mid-twentieth century, humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow emphasised free will, personal growth and self-actualisation. The cognitive approach studies how people process information, while constructionist views emphasise how people actively construct their understanding. Today psychology has many branches and applied fields. In India, the first department was set up at Calcutta University in 1916, and the discipline has increasingly tried to integrate Indian traditions and concerns.

Quick revision

Mental processes, experience, behaviour.
Natural and social science.
Schools: structuralism to cognitive.
Branches and growth in India.

Exam tips

Match each school with its founder: Wundt, James, Watson, Freud, Rogers/Maslow.
Remember 1879 Leipzig (Wundt) and 1916 Calcutta University (India).

Practice MCQs

The first psychology laboratory was set up by Wilhelm Wundt in
1. 1859
2. 1879
3. 1900
4. 1916
Show answer
Answer: (b) 1879. It was in Leipzig, Germany.
The approach that studies only observable behaviour is
1. structuralism
2. humanism
3. psychoanalysis
4. behaviourism
Show answer
Answer: (d) behaviourism. Watson founded it.
Psychoanalysis was developed by
1. B. F. Skinner
2. Sigmund Freud
3. Carl Rogers
4. William James
Show answer
Answer: (b) Sigmund Freud. It stresses the unconscious.
Observing and reporting one's own mental experiences is called
1. introspection
2. experimentation
3. conditioning
4. perception
Show answer
Answer: (a) introspection. Structuralists used it.
Functionalism, which studied how the mind helps people adapt, is associated with
1. William James
2. Wundt
3. Watson
4. Freud
Show answer
Answer: (a) William James. He was an American psychologist.
The first department of psychology in India was set up at Calcutta University in
1. 1879
2. 1916
3. 1947
4. 1962
Show answer
Answer: (b) 1916. Narendra Nath Sengupta led it.
Why is psychology called both a natural science and a social science
1. it studies only plants and society
2. it is part of physics
3. it avoids all experiments
4. it uses biological and experimental methods and also studies behaviour in social-cultural contexts
Show answer
Answer: (d) it uses biological and experimental methods and also studies behaviour in social-cultural contexts. Both perspectives are needed.
Humanistic psychologists differ from behaviourists mainly because they emphasise
1. rewards and punishments only
2. free will, personal growth and self-actualisation
3. unconscious conflicts
4. brain chemistry only
Show answer
Answer: (b) free will, personal growth and self-actualisation. Rogers and Maslow led this approach.

All chapters of Class 11 Psychology

Written by Kundali IQ from standard, well-established facts to help with revision. This is not an official NCERT publication; always read your textbook too.