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'''Psychology''' is the scientific study and evaluation of [[mind]] and [[behavior]]. Psychological research focuses on many sub-topics including: [[personality]], behavior, [[addiction]], [[learning]], [[value systems]], and [[relationships]]. Psychology can also refer to the application of that knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including correcting problems that affect individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental health issues.
'''Psychology''' is the systematic study and evaluation of [[mind]] and [[behavior]]. There is a primary division between [[clinical psychology | clinical]] or applied psychology which focuses on helping people directly through various applications of theory and [[experimental psychology | experimental]] or research oriented psychology which focuses on applying the scientific method to ascertain the foundations of thought and action.
The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek ψυχή psyche ("soul," "mind") and -λογία -ology ("study").
The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek ψυχή psyche ("soul," "mind") and -λογία -ology ("study").
==Paradigms of Psychology==
Unlike fields such as [[physics]] or [[biology]] that attempt to work towards a uniting frame or [[theory]] for all hypothesis generated, psychology has traditionally focused on defining different schools of thought with substantially different unifying principles and little effort is made to unite this different schools. Most meta-analysis of the field divides psychologist into 5 different paradigms:
*[[Cognitive Psychology]]- This school of thought has a strong focus on understanding the mechanisms of mind in order to explain behavior. It often uses analogies to computers to accomplish this task, one of its great themes is the idea of the [[computational theory of mind]].
*[[Behavioral Psychology]]- This school of thought views the mind of the organism as a black box which is impossible to describe empirically, therefore the focus is on understanding behavior as a byproduct of environment. [[Ivan Pavlov]] and [[B.F. Skinner]] epitomize this philosophy with their focus on [[classical conditioning]] and [[instrumental learning]].
*[[Psychoanalytic Psychology]]- This school of thought attempts to understand mind and behavior as a product of the unconscious. It is most closely linked with the ideas of [[Sigmund Freud]] and [[Carl Jung]]. Freud believed that much of behavior is related to repressed sexuality, while Jung and other extended his ideas to include other forms of repression. Psychoanalytic psychology is primarily used in clinical settings though it is not unheard of for researchers to appeal to Freudian concepts.
*[[Existential Psychology]] and [[Humanistic Psychology]]- While these schools of thought differ in some fundamental ways they are often linked together because of their focus on differences and the importance of the individual over generalized rules. Existential Psychology emerges from French [[Existential Philosophy]] most notably linked to [[Jean-Paul Sartre]]. It places great importance on [[Existential Angst]] as an inevitability of existence, and that the role of psychology is to help individuals recognize their angst and come to terms with it. Humanistic approaches to psychology are closely linked to the ideas of [[Abraham Maslow]] and his [[Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs | Hierarchy of Needs]]. To Maslow psychological illness is a consequence of the difference between the idealized self and the actual self, the role of the psychologist is to help the person either adjust his idealized self image or improve his actual self. [[Carl Roger]]'s ideas of [[Client Centered Therapy]] are also closely linked to humanistic approaches.
*[[Evolutionary Psychology]] and [[Biology of Psychology | Biologic based psychology]]- These approaches attempt to understand mind and behavior as products of [[biology | biologic]] interactions and [[Theory of Evolution | evolutionary history]]. This school of thought is heavily researched based. Evolutionary Psychology is a relatively recent development, and many of its proponents believe that a strongly biologic approach to psychology may ultimately serve as a unifying principle for the field of psychology.
== History ==
== History ==