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Introduction to Psychology (PYC1511) Summary Notes
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PYC1511HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY IN AFRICA
UNIT 1
Origin of Psychology in Africa
Euro American psychology was introduced to Africa during the colonial period through
Christian missionaries and Africans returning from uni abroad.
Psychology: Study of thought, emotions and observed behaviour emphasizing the
“scientific” aspect of psychology.
Psychology: Systematic and informed study of the complexities of human mental life,
culture and experience, in the pre- and post- colonial world.
This oppression finds expression through colonization and imperialism.
World view: Set of presumptions that people have of the world.
Epistemic location: People determine their world views from particular geopolitical context
and quality truths based on their positioning.
Psychology is informed by cultural reference.
Psychology in Egypt
Three significant events that occurred in the 19th century that influenced the rise of
psychology in Egypt:
Al- Abssia Mental Health Hospital (1st mental hospital in Africa), opened in Cairo
1880.
Newspapers and magazines distributed to the public paved the way for psychology in
Egypt.
Egypt started to expand its schooling system by establishing schools all over the
country, including teachers’ schools whose curriculum included some basic
psychology training.
In Cairo the term psychology first appeared in a curriculum approved by the Ministry of
Education in 1906.
1880 Mental hospital
1891 & 1895 Psychology books
1906 Term psychology 1st appeared in the curriculum
1908 Included psychology courses in curriculum
1929 Psychology became known as a distinguished discipline
Psychology in South Africa
RW Wilcocks was appointed as Professor of Logic and Psychology at the University of
Stellenbosch.
He established the 1st experimental psychology laboratory.
Chabani N Manganyi became the first black psychologist in 1965.
,Josephine Naidoo was the first black person to apply for South African Psychological
Association membership.
Psychology in Zambia
Prof A Heron founded the Human Development Research Unit.
In 1965 the 1st laboratory for research in experimental psychology was established in
Zambia.
The different areas in the development of psychology in Africa
Psychology is concerned with the mind and behaviour.
The mind refers to internal processes such as cognition or emotional states.
Behaviour: Outward way these inward processes manifest.
Basic/General psychology: The study of different factors that shape an individual's
personality etc.
Abnormal Psychology: Branch that studies unusual patterns of behaviour, emotion and
thought considered to be maladaptive and disruptive to an individual’s life.
Psychopathology: Refers to the study of mental illness to reach a medical understanding of
the disease process.
Three historical phases of development:
Demonology
Somatogenesis
Psychogenesis
Demonology: The theory that the devil or another evil entity can reside inside a person and
exert a mental influence over that person.
Examples can be traced to Chinese, Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek records.
Hippocrates
Hippocrates believed illnesses were caused naturally.
He is a pioneer in somatogenises.
Hippocrates classified mental disorders into mania, melancholia and phrenitis or brain fever.
He believed that mental health depended on a delicate balance of 4 main fluids in the
body:
Blood
Black bile: Resulted in melancholia (sadness).
Yellow bile: Too much yellow bile resulted in irritability and anxiousness.
Phlegm: Resulted in person feeling sluggish and dull.
Most hospitals were used for the treatment of Leprosy.
The history of abnormal behaviour can be traced back to Kenya.
Ivan Pavlov was one of the pioneers of behaviourism.
,Behaviourism was delineated into 3 phases:
1st Phase: Watsons behaviourism
2nd Phase New- behaviourism:
In this phase behaviourists claimed that:
The base of psychology was composed of studies about learning.
Behaviours could be explained by principles of conditioning.
Psychology must comply with the principle of functionalism and if a concept could not
be defined functionally it could not be studied either.
3rd Phase: New- new behaviourism or social behaviourism, included cognitive elements.
Two general kinds of behaviourists:
Radical: Believe that psychology should study observable behaviours and
environmental processes.
Methodological: Believe that cognitive processes should be included when studying
methods of behaviour.
Biological/ biopsychology: Specialises in the mind- body connection especially how the
nervous system affects behaviour.
Cognitive psychology: The study of cognition, including mental processes underlying
perception etc.
Cross- cultural psychology: Scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes
under diverse cultural conditions.
Paul Eckman examined facial expressions or emotions of participants from ten different
cultures. Results showed some are universal.
Eckman’s 6 basic facial expressions:
Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Disgust
Surprise
Developmental psychology:
Concerned with studying humans throughout the various life stages.
Started as a philosophical field with John Locke and Jean- Jacques Rousseau.
Evolutionary psychology:
Explains traits and processes such as memory, perception and language in terms of
humans having to adapt to an evolving environment.
Experimental psychology:
Methodological approach to psychology and refers to the use of experiments to
understand human and animal participants’ sensation etc.
Weber’s law: 1st quantitative law in the history of psychology.
, Neuropsychology:
Study of the structure and the functions of the brain in relation to specific
psychological processes and overt behaviours.
Imhotep, an Egyptian priest, 1st wrote about a scientific approach to medicine and
disease and described the brain, trauma abnormalities and remedies.
Personality psychology:
Field investigates characteristics that all people have that shape their thoughts,
feelings and behaviour.
The big 5 personality model is often used to describe individual differences in people.
Social psychology:
Studies social behaviour and mental processes that pertain to social behaviour.
It is concerned with how humans think about and relate to one another.
Social psychologists study topics like conformity, the effect of persuasion on people,
human behaviour, beliefs attitudes and stereotypes.
Biological, behavioural and personality psychology can be traced back to the development of
gold mines in SA.
Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 afforded white scientists a chance to study migrants.
Hugo Münsterberg, a German- American Psychologist, pioneered applied psychology.
Different theoretical perspectives in the development of psy in Africa
Critical researchers in African Countries in the 1920s were Europeans and
Americans.
In 1960s psychology departments were established in Zambia.
In 1980s unis in countries established psychology departments.
Psychological activities were focused on pursuing a racist agenda and were
oppressive.
Three ways in which Eurocentric psychology continued to manifest itself:
Assumptive solipsism: Assumption that Euro- American world view is the most significant.
Methodological solipsism: Assumption that positivism or neo- positivism is the only or best
way to conduct scientific research.
Experimental solipsism: Assumption that middle- class white men’s experiences are the
most valid.
Forms of Assumptive Solipsism
Control- prediction bias
Articulated in the methodology when the control of variables and prediction are seen
as necessities for scientific inquiry.
Idea is to control nature and to predict events before they happen.
Led to social control.
Analytical- reductionist bias
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