What Is Psychology? What Are The Branches Of Psychology?
Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Mental Health
Article Date: 22 Jun 2009 - 7:00 PST
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Psychology is the science of the mind and behavior. The word "psychology" comes from the Greek word psyche meaning "breath, spirit, soul", and the Greek word logia meaning the study of something.
According to Medilexicon's medical dictionary, psychology is "The profession (clinical psychology), scholarly discipline (academic psychology), and science (research psychology) concerned with the behavior of humans and animals, and related mental and physiologic processes." Although psychology may also include the study of the mind and behavior of animals, in this article psychology refers mainly to humans.
How do psychologists study the mind?
The mind is highly complex and enigmatic. Many wonder how psychologists can study such an intricate, seemingly abstract and extremely sophisticated thing. Even if scientists look inside the brain, as in an autopsy or during a surgical operation, all they see is gray matter (the brain). Thoughts, cognition, emotions, memories, dreams, perceptions, etc. cannot be seen physically, like a skin rash or heart defect.
Experts say that the approach to psychology is not that different to other sciences. As in other sciences, experiments are devised to confirm or disprove theories or expectations. For a physicist, the raw data during the experiments may be atoms, electrons, the application or withdrawal of heat, while for the psychologist human behavior is the raw data.
For a psychologist, human behavior is used as evidence - or at least an indication - of how the mind functions. We are unable to observe the mind directly; however, virtually all...