¶ … Psychology?
The term psychology comes from two Greek words: psyche, which means "soul," and logos, "the study of." These root words were first combined in the 16th century, at a time when theorists were just beginning to see that there might be a connection between the mind and body, even though they were unable to actually understand and capture the essence of "thought." Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and the mind. The actual definition is comprised of three major elements:
Psychology is a scientific method. It obtains knowledge through the use of systematic and objective methods for empirical (observable) research and experimentation to validate ideas and hypothesis.
Psychology is concerned with behavior -- behavior is any action that can be observed and measured in some empirical manner.
Psychology is also concerned with the way the mind works, not necessarily focusing on the brain as a biological organism, but the conscious and unconscious mental states. These states of consciousness cannot actual be seen or quantified, but only inferred from observable behavior (Hothersall, 2004).
Psychology is quite broad, and investigates a large range of issues: animal behavior, learning and memory, perception and sensation, motivation, the range of emotions, language and meaning, social/cultural behavior, mental illness, human development, and a number of environmental and cultural factors that affect the way humans interact with one another (deviant behavior, for example). Some psychologists...
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