Psychology, on the other hand, is mainly about individuals or small groups of people, as in Social Psychology. It is similar, but Sociology is generally about the study of large groups of people – in societies or sub-cultures. Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour of humans and animals.ĭoesn’t that definition also apply to Sociology?
Thus, a commonly accepted working definition is: At the same time, despite the extreme views of certain Behaviourists, the mind is still generally considered to be central to the subject. In practice, therefore, most Psychologists concentrate on what is observable and measurable in a person’s behaviour, including the biological processes in the body. "Never use the terms consciousness, mental states, mind…" We do not need to try to discover what personalities, states of mind, feelings… really are in order to get on with a scientific analysis of behaviour. Some Psychologists have avoided this completely, especially the Behaviourists, like B. Indeed, even trying to define mind is very difficult. Although most Psychologists agree that it is important to be scientific – to avoid muddled thinking – it’s not always clear exactly what this means.Īnother difficulty is the practical problem – some say impossibility! – of studying the mind directly. So, how do Psychologists define Psychology? Well, there are difficulties in finding one universally accepted definition. Most Psychologists try hard to make a clear distinction between what is proper Psychology, and what isn’t. Hence, Psychology was originally defined as: the study of the mind.īut, this isn’t how most Psychologists define Psychology today. The Greek letter Ψ (spelled psi, and pronounced sigh) is now used as the international symbol for Psychology. She became the wife of Eros, the god of love (renamed Cupid by the Romans). In Greek mythology, Psyche was represented by a butterfly.
soul or spirit, loosely translated as MIND.Īnd logos means knowledge, study: like all ologies! The word psyche (pronounced sigh-key) is from the Greek word Ψυχη – meaning breath of life, i.e. Psychology comes from two words: psyche and logos.
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