Outline of psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. It is a multifaceted discipline and includes many sub-fields of study such areas as human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive processes.

Definition

Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as feeling and thought. It is an academic discipline of immense scope. Psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, and all the variety of phenomena linked to those emergent properties, joining this way the broader neuroscientific group of researchers.

History

The history of psychology as a scholarly study of the mind and behavior dates back to the Ancient Greeks. There is also evidence of psychological thought in ancient Egypt. Psychology was a branch of the domain of philosophy until the 1870s, when it developed as an independent scientific discipline in Germany and the United States. Psychology as a self-conscious field of experimental study began in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research in Leipzig. Wundt was also the first person who wrote the first textbook on psychology: Principles of Physiological Psychology.

Branches of Psychology

Psychology has been divided into many branches, each with its own focus on psychological phenomena and theories. The major branches of psychology include clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, neuropsychology, personality psychology, social psychology, and school psychology.

See Also

• List of psychology disciplines
• List of psychology organizations
• List of psychology research methods
• List of psychology schools
• List of psychologists

References

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External Links

• American Psychological Association
• British Psychological Society