The Field of Psychology

Psychology

Psychology is defined as the study of the way people think and behave. The field has a number of sub-disciplines devoted to studying different levels and contexts of human thought and behavior. Social psychology, for example, deals with human thought and action in a social context. Physiological psychology is concerned with thought and behavior at the level of neurology. Another division of psychology is comparative psychology which compares the thought and behavior of humans with that of other species. Abnormal psychology studies atypical thought and action. Psychology is also an interdisciplinary science. In fact the psychology is nearly as complex as the subject matter which it pertains to.

Today psychological methods are being increasingly used in daily events. In Europe, for example, more companies are subjecting potential personnel to psychological profile checks and psychological tests during interviews. Social lives are becoming affected. People who are seeking the right partner are using psychological techniques to establish the emotional state of their potential partners. As psychology becomes more and more accessible and understandable to more people, there is no question that it will begin to influence everyone's' lifestyle more. From a personal stand point, this has been a very difficult exercise. This is a new area of study for me, so I am unable to write from a professional perspective. What I know of the field has been gained from casual study or interaction. I have gained some knowledge from speaking with people, from television, and from fiction books.

After preparing for this class, I have come to learn that Psychology literally means 'the study of the mind'. Psychology as a separate discipline was dated from 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory. This laboratory was devoted to the analysis of conscious thought into its basic elements, structuralism. It is understood that 'structuralism' was founded by Wilhelm Wundt. What made this 'new' psychology different from philosophy was the emphasis on measurement and control. The application of the basic scientific method was used to the study of the mental process.

Behavior was referred to by early psychologists as 'mind' or mental processes, which has become cognition or the cognitive