One should not assume that there is a single definition for psychology. Psychologists themselves are unlikely to agree on a single definition of psychology. Different psychologists have defined psychology in different ways. According to (Watson, 1919), Psychology is defined as argument of natural science which considers the way humans behave; taking into account, their sayings and actions with both learned and unlearned behaviour as an area of study. The main debate in terms of human development has been the nature vs nurture debate. Galton was the first to introduced nature vs nurture debate.
Galton hypothesis of nurture and nature as (environment and heredity/biological). Nurture is refers to the environmental factors that make who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we are raised, and our culture/religion. Nature is our hereditary factor and genetic trait, e.g. our skin colour, heir colour, diseases like sickle cell and personality. All these factors make us product of nature and nurture. However, whether nature (biological factors) or nurture (environmental factors) are all important in determined the role in child development. Centuries a go British philosopher John Lock assumption was that a new born baby mind is tabula rasa (flat slat) he filled his mind up as a result of experience and adapting to the environment. Other well-known thinkers such as Plato and Descartes also believed that certain factors in child development are inborn, and they occur naturally without external factors influence.
The nature and nurture debate will emphasis on newborn baby within a month old. Nature; Because babies cannot tell us what they are doing and what they are thinking, some psychologies believed that newborn babies enter the world with an empty brain. New born babies enter the world with their sensory system functioning, they are prepared to acquire the knowledge of their new environment. Nursing mother do not teach the baby how to suck his mum’s breast or milk in a bottle. A newborn baby knows when to cry and when not to cry, he also has sense of touch, which he can grab unless medical reasons. A new born child prefer to look at bright face over unattractive face. A brain of newborn baby may be functioned to examine faces and collect some information. All babies are born with instinctive mental capacity.
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Conclusion
Furthermore, nurture b The (British Psychological Society, 2019) regard psychology as the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour of people. Notwithstanding, looking at the definitions stated above, it can be observed in the definition of psychology that, there are some key areas where they all laid emphasis on the definition of psychology. In view of this, psychology can be defined as the scientific study of behaviour and mind. It is a subject matter of thought and action that studies human behaviour and it is beneficial to the society. Psychology is a field of study that helps to explain what people do and why they do it. It also gives alternative solutions to problems and issues of concern.
