Psychology

• Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes
• (ASPECTS OF PSYCHOLOGY) Science: psychology is empirical because it employs methods to obtain objective knowledge through observation
• (ASPECTS OF PSYCHOLOGY) Behavior: psychology includes all human actions that are directly observable (how you talk to someone, how you eat, how you write)
• (ASPECTS OF PSYSCHOLOGY) Mental processes: psychology studies the internal activity of the human mind
• Rene Descartes (1596-1650) theorized that the mind (which he believed to be analogous to the soul) and the body are distinct substances; each does not need the other to exist; during these times, psychology and philosophy were very much alike.
• In the 19th century, psychology became a separate discipline. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was believed to be the founder of psychology as a discipline. He established the first psychological laboratory in Germany.
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) founded psychoanalysis, a set of theories and therapies designed to uncover and examine the issues and repressed conflicts within the unconscious mind and bring them to consciousness, so that the person suffering these issues may be treated.
• Since the 19th century, psychology as a discipline was reinforced as a scientific field.
• Laboratory experiment: a type of experiment conducted in a well-controlled environment (not necessarily a laboratory) using accurate and objective measurements
• Field experiment: conducted in an everyday (natural) environment of the participants but the situations may be set up or manipulated
• Pilot study: an initial run-through of the procedures to be used in an investigation
• Abnormal psychology: study of behavior considered outside the normal range, covering a broad range of disorders
• Cognitive psychology: study of cognition or the mental processes such as thought, memory, intelligence, and creativity
• Clinical psychology: evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological problems and disorders
• Counseling psychology: the facilitation of personal and interpersonal functioning across the human lifespan