[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-315421-105":59,"doc-detail-315421-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","psychology-introduction-and-research-methods-chapter-1-introduction-to-psychology","PSYCHOLOGY - Introduction and Research Methods - Chapter 1 Introduction to psychology","","Covers the nature of psychology as a science and outlines how it is defined and studied in VCE Psychology. Explains the distinction between mental processes and behaviour, including examples of private thoughts and feelings versus directly observable actions. Describes how psychologists draw inferences from behaviour, how mental processes and behaviour influence one another, and why animals may be used in research. Includes a learning activity focused on classifying behaviour and mental processes.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/psychology-introduction-and-research-methods-chapter-1-introduction-to-psychology/315421/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/psychology-introduction-and-research-methods-chapter-1-introduction-to-psychology/315421.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Mia  ","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-26","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How is psychology defined in VCE Psychology?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Psychology is defined as the scientific study of human thoughts, feelings and behaviour, consistent with the VCE Psychology study design.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What is the difference between mental processes and behaviour?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Mental processes are private and internal, so they cannot be directly observed. Behaviour refers to actions that can be directly observed, such as walking, talking, or laughing.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do psychologists make conclusions about mental processes?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Because mental processes cannot be directly observed, psychologists draw conclusions based on observable behaviour. For example, certain chanting may indicate attitudes, and rapid eye movements during sleep may indicate dreaming.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},315421,1790178313,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},687207024478,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","PSYCHOLOGY —INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODS  \nWhat is the nature of psychology as a science?  \nCHAPTER 1 Introduction to psychology  \nWhat research methods and key science skills are used in VCE Psychology?  \nCHAPTER 2 Research methods in psychology  \nC  Introduction to psychology  \n\n| De ning psychology and its subject matter 3 |\n| --- |\n| Scienti c nature of psychology 5 |\n\n\n| Classic and contemporary perspectives in psychology 8 |\n| --- |\n| Careers and areas of specialisation in psychology 9 |\n\nScienti c vs non-scienti c explanations 6 Overview of VCE Psychology 12  \nHow do psychologists research topics of interest? What ethical principles do they have to follow? What factors in uence how we think, feel and behave? Why are we alike yet so different from one another? What role do genetics and our everyday environment and experiences play? What is the connection between our brain and behaviour? How does our brain function? How much of our brain is active when we do something? Why do young children view the world in self-centred ways? How does our thinking change over time? How do we make sense of what we see or taste? Why do individuals experience the world differently? What is normal behaviour? What is abnormal behaviour? What thoughts, feelings and behaviours are associated with different types of mental disorder? How can the presence of others in uence our behaviour? When are we more likely to help someone in distress? Why do some people bully others? Why do we hold the attitudes we do? Why are some people racially prejudiced? What factors in uence how other people perceive us? Questions such as these will form the basis of your study of psychology this year. You will also have the opportunity to ask your own questions and design investigations to seek answers.  \nDefINING PSYCHOLOGY aND ITS SUBJeCT maTTeR  \nThe term psychology originates from two Greek words—psyche, meaning mind, and logos, which loosely translated means study or knowledge. Psychology was therefore originally defined as the study of the mind. Over time, this definition has broadened to include behaviour. Psychology is now commonly defined asthe scientific study of human thoughts, feelings and behaviour. This is consistent with the definition used in the VCE Psychology study design.  \nThe terms thoughts and feelings refer to mental processes that cannot be directly observed. What you think about, your choice of words in a conversation, how you interpret incoming sensory information, your attitudes towards asylum seekers, what motivates you to study or party, dreaming, learning, remembering, being in love, and feeling anxious, sad  \nor happy are all examples of mental processes. They are private, internal experiences which cannot be seen by anyone in the way that we can see actions such as smiling, hugging and bike riding.  \nFIGURE 1.1 Psychology is the scientific study of human thoughts, feelings and behaviour.  \nThe term behaviour refers to any action that can be directly observed. It includes activities such as walking, talking, laughing, texting, watching television, interacting with others, and so on. All these activities involve actions that can be seen as they occur, unlike mental processes that cannot be seen as they take place.  \nBecause mental processes cannot be directly observed, psychologists draw conclusions about them on the basis of observable behaviour. For example, a person who is observed chanting anti-war statements at an anti-war rally may be reasonably assumed  \nCHaPTeR 1 Introduction to psychology 3   \nto have a negative attitude towards war. Similarly, rapid eye movements observed in a sleeping person indicate that they are likely to be dreaming.  \nAlthough psychologists distinguish between behaviour and mental processes, and often study them separately, in reality, behaviour and mental processes are closely interrelated and influence each other continuously. For example, feeling angry about the way someone has treated you may affec","cbCairx7HlBJWHO9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairx7HlBJWHO9","pdf",7402994,13,"English","# CHAPTER 1 Introduction to psychology\n## Defining psychology and its subject matter\n## Scientific nature of psychology\n## Classic and contemporary perspectives in psychology\n## Careers and areas of specialisation in psychology\n## Learning activity 1.1 - Distinguishing between behaviour and mental processes","[{\"question\":\"How is psychology defined in VCE Psychology?\",\"answer\":\"Psychology is defined as the scientific study of human thoughts, feelings and behaviour, consistent with the VCE Psychology study design.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the difference between mental processes and behaviour?\",\"answer\":\"Mental processes are private and internal, so they cannot be directly observed. Behaviour refers to actions that can be directly observed, such as walking, talking, or laughing.\"},{\"question\":\"How do psychologists make conclusions about mental processes?\",\"answer\":\"Because mental processes cannot be directly observed, psychologists draw conclusions based on observable behaviour. For example, certain chanting may indicate attitudes, and rapid eye movements during sleep may indicate dreaming.\"}]","PSYCHOLOGY - Introduction and Research Methods - Chapter 1 Introduction to psychology | PDF",1789904729,33]