Observation in General psychology
A hungry cat was put in a cage with food outside to determine how the cat learnt to come out of the cage. As the cat was hungry it tried to come out of the cage. Sometimes it tried to break the bars and other times it fought with the door. Thus after trying for a long times it pressed, by chance, the button and thereby opened the door and came out. Now the cat was again put in the cage and it again tried to come out of it. This time it took less times to open it. This process was repeated again and again, and every time the cat took less time to come out of it till it mastered the trick to press the button and to open the cage. In this process it was clearly seen that there was a gradual elimination of the chances of error. The cat began its act blindly and by change arrived at the successful action. This successful action was led by several right reactions. Gradually, the wrong reactions were eliminated and right ones established so that the cat learnt the trick to come out of the cage. Thus it was concluded that the cat learnt through the method of trial and error. This conclusion was drawn through the observation of the cat's behaviour.
Observation in Child psychology
Every one knows that a bad environment had bad effect on the child. This, however, cannot be determined by actually placing a child in a bad environment. Which environmental factor effects evil character in the child, cannot be determined by placing him under the influence of the factor. Hence, experimental method cannot work in this case. The child himself cannot be asked about his experience in a certain environment because he cannot analyse his own experiences. Hence the introspection method is also useless. Thus in cases like this in child psychology, it is only the observation method which can be helpful. The effect of the absence of parents on the child's development of can be ditermined only through the observation of the development of orphans.
Observation in Social psychology
Every society has got some taboos regarding the sex behaviour. The taboosi Influence the development of males and females in a particular society. What shall be the influence of human development if all these taboos are removed ? This cannot be known by actually abolishing all the taboos since that will lead to disorganisation of society. This phenomena can be examined only by observation of the development of persons in the societies where there are very few or almost no taboos on sex activities. Similarly, facts regarding an insane and mentally abnormal person cannot be determined either by introspection or through experiment. In such cases it is the method of observation alone which is serviceable.
Steps in observation method
The above mentioned examples regarding the observation method exhibits some of its particular traits, Roughly speaking, variouss steps in the method of observation are as follows:
(1) Observation of behaviour - The first step in observation method is the observation of behaviour. Observation literally means the examination or perception of some behaviour or processes. In observation every thing or phenomenon is directly perceived, e.g, the psychologist perceives the behaviour of the animals. If someone has to study the social behaviour of monkeys, he should go where the monkeys are assembled and observe their behaviour.
(2) Noting of behaviour - Observation in psychology is a scientific method. Here it is not sufficient to perceive a certain behaviour and to remember it. The observation, on the other hand, should be carefully noted down. In the example of the study of the social behaviour of the monkeys, the observer should carefully note down their various activities.
(3) Interpretation and analysis of behaviour - The third step in the method of observation is the interpretation and analysis of behaviour. If the behaviour is noted, it can be analysed at rest and the causes underlying it can be clarified. The movements of hands and legs, the sound, the gestures and other external activities express the internal condition of the person. In the case of animals their mental conditions are inferred from their external activities. The basis of this interference is not the experience of the psychologist himself, but the behaviour of other animals and his own insight into animal psychology Thus the behaviour is interpreted on the basis of analysis and inference.
(4) Generalisation - The fourth step in observation method is generalisation. Scientific principles are based upon generalisation. Psychology is a science,hence its principles are also of the same nature. In observation as a method of psychology, the purpose is to find out general principles. In the example of the social behaviour of monkeys, various psychologists will observe their behaviour, note it, analyse it, interpret it and finally find out general principles through generalisation.
Difficulties in this method
Like other methods of psychology, the observation method has also some defects or difficulties. The main difficulties are as follows:
(1) influence of personal interest - In the observation method the psychologist himself observes, hence it is more likely that his personal interest should also influence his observation. In the example of the observation of the social behaviour in monkeys, if a psychologist has an excessive interest in sex behaviour, he will mainly attend to their sex activities and conceive them as more general than they actually are. Along with observation the personal interest also influences his interpretation. An excessively sexual person often interprets non-sexual behaviour of others as sexual. A wicked man find some wicked purpose even behind the sympatheticn action of others. A religious man would interpret even the sexual behaviour of others as pure and religious. Thus the behaviour is interpreted wrongly due to personal interests and attitudes. In the study of child, insane and the mentally abnormal person, this difficulty is very much observed, because there is much difference in the mental activities of these persons and those of the psychologists.
The above mentioned difficulty in observation method is undoubtedly real, but it can be removed through scientific detachment. The mental conditions of the others can be understood through constructive imagination. It is true that few have scientific detachment and constructive imagination, but these can be developed through long practice and training.
(2) The possibilities of bias - According to the personal views and tendencies of the psychologists, there is a possibility of bias and prejudice in the interpretation of behaviour,e.g., in the countries where prejudices based on colour are largely prevalent, the white psychologists seldom find good or higher traits in the behaviour of black subjects.
Indispensability of this method
But inspite of the above mentioned limitations and difficulties in the method of observation, it is indispensable in psychology. As has already been pointed out, in many cases other methods are entirely useless and only the observation method works. In fact behaviour requires training and practice to observe correctly and accurately. The observer should first analyse his own tendencies and remove pre-conceptions, prejudices, attachments and develop scientific detachment. Many of things will be left without observation in the beginning or will be wrongly observed, but practice will make observation more accurate. It is experience which makes observation scientific. The expert psychologist can train newcomers in observation. The personal bias, prejudice and errors can be removed by comparison of the notes of several psychologists and through mutual discussion.
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