Psychology Quiz: Explore Its Roots

Psychology: The Study of Mental Functions and Behaviours

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior in humans and non-humans, including the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena.
Psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience.
Psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups and their interests extend to interpersonal relationships, psychological resilience, family resilience, and other areas within social psychology.
Psychology encompasses research on perception, cognition, attention, emotion, intelligence, subjective experiences, motivation, brain functioning, and personality.
While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also directed towards understanding and solving problems in several spheres of human activity.
The term psychology derives from the Greek word psyche, for spirit or soul and the word "psychology" derives from -λογία -logia, which refers to "study" or "research".
Psychology has its roots in ancient civilizations like Egypt, Greece, China, India, and Persia, where the philosophical study of psychology was conducted.
Experimental psychology began in the late 19th century, with Hermann von Helmholtz and Wilhelm Wundt, who established the first psychological laboratory at Leipzig University.
The American Psychological Association (APA) was founded in 1892, and the International Congress of Psychology sponsored by the International Union of Psychological Science took place in Paris in 1889.
American psychology gained status upon the U.S.'s entry into World War I, with a standing committee headed by Robert Yerkes administering mental tests to almost 1.8 million soldiers.
During World War II and the Cold War, the U.S. military and intelligence agencies established themselves as leading funders of psychology.
Psychologists are involved in research on human development, aging, sports, health, forensic science, education, and the media, and work in academic, clinical, counseling, or school settings, as well as in industrial and organizational settings.A Brief History of Psychology
Psychology has its roots in ancient Greece and has since evolved into a scientific discipline that studies behavior and mental processes.
Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory in Germany in 1879, which focused on introspection as a method of understanding mental processes.
Sigmund Freud and his followers developed psychoanalytic theory, which emphasized the role of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences in shaping behavior.
Behaviorism, led by John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, focused on observable behavior and the environmental factors that influence it.
Humanistic psychology, led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, emphasized individual experience and personal growth.
Cognitive psychology emerged in the 1950s and focused on mental processes such as perception, memory, and problem-solving.
Psychologists played a significant role in World War I and World War II, conducting research on troop morale and mental health.
In Nazi Germany, psychologists aligned themselves with the goals of the Reich and promoted eugenics and sterilization of those deemed genetically undesirable.
The International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) is the world federation of national psychological societies, with at least 65 national associations recognized.
The biopsychosocial model is a cross-disciplinary, holistic model that concerns the ways in which interrelationships of biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors affect health and behavior.
Evolutionary psychology approaches thought and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective, suggesting that psychological adaptations evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.
The history of psychology includes evidence of racism, with the concept of race used to justify the construction of socially specific mental disorders and the study of primitive races.
Behavioral psychology focuses on learned behavior and has developed treatment known as behavior modification, which is used to help individuals replace undesirable behaviors with desirable ones.Overview of Major Themes in Psychology
Behaviorism is a model of behavior change which added the concepts of reinforcement and punishment to the model of behavior change.
Cognitive psychology involves the study of mental processes, including perception, attention, language comprehension and production, memory, and problem solving.
Social psychology is concerned with how behaviors, thoughts, feelings, and the social environment influence human interactions.
Psychoanalysis refers to the theories and therapeutic techniques applied to the unconscious mind and its impact on everyday life.
Humanistic psychology stresses free will and self-actualization, emphasizing subjective meaning and concern for positive growth rather than pathology.
Personality psychology is concerned with enduring patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion, with each theory carrying different assumptions about such features.
Study of the unconscious mind, a part of the psyche outside the individual's awareness but that is believed to influence conscious thought and behavior, was a hallmark of early psychology.
Some psychologists study motivation or the subject of why people or lower animals initiate a behavior at a particular time.
Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain useful mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations, that is, as the functional products of natural selection.
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life.
Abnormal psychology is the study of abnormal behavior in order to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning.
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain as they relate to specific psychological processes and behaviors.Overview of Psychology: Motivation, Development, Genes and Environment, Applications
Psychology studies human behavior and mental processes.
Motivation in humans is complex and can be modulated or manipulated in many ways.
Developmental psychology studies changes in human thought processes, emotions, and behaviors over the course of their lives.
All psychological traits are influenced by both genes and the environment, which are often confounded in observational research.
Behavioral genetics research helps to understand the nature and origins of individual differences in behavior.
Psychological testing has ancient origins and is now routinely used in Western societies for people of all ages.
Clinical psychology is the largest specialization within psychology and involves the study and application of psychology to understand, prevent, and relieve psychological distress, dysfunction, and/or mental illness.
Psychotherapy as conducted by psychiatrists blurred the distinction between psychiatry and psychology.
Mental health care today involves psychologists and social workers in increasing numbers.
Educational psychology studies how humans learn in educational settings and the effectiveness of educational interventions.
School psychology combines principles from educational psychology and clinical psychology to understand and treat students with learning disabilities.
Industrial and organizational psychology applies psychological theories and principles to organizations and individuals' work-lives.