[PSYCH 101] INTRODUCTION: What is psychology?

What is psychology?

 

psyche-The Greek word for "spirit, soul, and breath"

logia-The Greek word for for "the study of something"

 

Psychology is the study of mental and behavioral processes. Essentially, those who work in the field of psychology try to give meaning to the questions, "What makes you tick?" and "How do you see the world?" These very simple ideas encompass many different and complicated topics, including emotions, thought processes, dreams, memories, perception, personality, illness, and treatment.

 

While the roots of psychology date back to the philosophers of Ancient Greece, it wasn't until 1879, when German psychologist Whilhelm Wundt created the first laboratory completely devoted to the study of psychology, that the field really began to take off. Since then, psychology has expanded exponentially into a truly diverse science, often overlapping with other types of scientific studies such as medicine, genetics, socialogy, anthropology, linguistics, biology, and even subjects like sports, history, and love.

 

So put on your thinking cap, make yourself comfortable(perhaps recline on a couch),  and prepare to be enlightened; it's time to start learning about yourself in ways you never knew possible. Whether this book is a refresher course or you're learning all of this for the very first time, let's begin. Welcome to Psych 101.