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study them also vary greatly depending on the try to understand how the mind works and to phenomenon one wants to study. A discipline help us improve the uses and applications of is defined both in terms of what it studies and these mental capacities. how it studies. In fact, more in terms of how or Psychologists also study experiences of method/s it uses. Keeping this in view, people. Experiences are subjective in nature. psychology is defined formally as a science We cannot directly observe or know someone which studies mental processes, experiences else’sexperience.Onlytheexperiencingperson and behaviour in different contexts. In doing can be aware or be conscious of her or his so, it uses methods of biological and social experiences. Thus, experiences are embedded sciencestoobtaindatasystematically.Itmakes in our awareness or consciousness. sense of these data so that they can be Psychologists have focused on experiences of organised as knowledge. Let us try to pain being experienced by terminally ill understand the three terms used in the patients or of psychological pain felt in definition, namely, mental processes, bereavement, besides experiences which lead experience, and behaviour. to positive feelings, such as in romantic When we say experiences are internal to encounters. There are some esoteric the experiencing person, then we refer to statesexperiences also which attract the attention of of consciousness or awareness or mental psychologists, such as when a Yogi meditates processes. We use our mental processes when to enter a different level of consciousness and we think or try to solve a problem, to know or creates a new kind of experience or when a remember something. One level at which these drug addict takes a particular kind of drug to mental processes are reflected is the brain get a high, even though such drugs are activity. As we think or solve a mathematical extremely harmful. Experiences are influenced problem, our brain activities can be observed by internal and the external conditions of the using different techniques of brain imaging. experiencer. If you are travelling in a crowded However, we cannot say that brain activities bus during a hot summer day, you may not and mental processes are the same, although experience the usual discomfort if you are they are interdependent. Mental activities and goingforapicnicwithsomeclosefriends.Thus, neural activities are mutually overlapping thenatureofexperiencecanonlybeunderstood processes but, they are not identical. Unlike by analysing a complex set of internal and the brain, the mind does not have a physical external conditions. structure or has a location. Mind emerges and Behaviours are responses or reactions we evolves as our interactions and experiences make or activities we engage in. When in this world get dynamically organised in the something is hurled at you, your eyes blink in form of a system which is responsible for the a simple reflex action. You are taking an occurrence of various mental processes. examination and can feel your heart pounding. Brain activities provide important clues as to You decide to go for a particular movie with a how our mind functions. But the friend. Behaviours may be simple or complex, consciousness of our own experiences and short or enduring. Some behaviours are overt. mental processes are much more than the They can be outwardly seen or sensed by an neural or brain activities. Even when we are observer. Some are internal or covert. When asleep some mental activities go on. We you are in a difficult situation while playing a dream, and receive some information such game of chess you almost feel your hand as a knock on the door while we are asleep. muscles twitching, trying to experiment with Some psychologists have shown that we also a move. All behaviours, covert or overt, are learn and remember in our sleep. Mental associated with or triggered by some stimulus processes, such as remembering, learning, in the environment or changes that happen knowing, perceiving, feeling are of interest to internally. Youmayseeatigerandrunorthink psychologists. They study these processes to that there is a tiger and decide to flee. Some 3 Chapter 1 • What is Psychology? Reprint 2026-27