Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Psychologie

Psychology is the science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment.

Psychology is a collection of academic, clinical and industrial disciplines concerned with the hows and whys of behavior, thought-processes, emotions, motivations, relationships, potentials and pathologies. The root of the word psychology is Psyche means "soul" or "spirit" or "mind" in ancient Greek and logos "stuy of", and thus Psychology was sometimes considered a study of the soul (in a religious sense of this term) Psychology is likewise, defined as an academic and applied field which involves the study of mind and behavior. It also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. Psychology differs from Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, and Political science in part because it involves the study of the mental processes and behavior of individuals, alone or in groups, rather than the behavior of the groups or aggregates themselves. Psychology differs from Biology and Neuroscience because it is primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior and of the overall processes of a system, and not simply the biological or neural processes themselves. Psychology emerged as a separate discipline only recently, although psychological questions were asked in antiquity (see Aristotle's De Memoria et Reminiscentia or "On Memory and Recollection"). Wilhelm Wundt was the first person to call himself a "Psychologist" who opened the first psychological laboratory in 1879.

Other definition
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviors.

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior, thoughts, emotions, and mental processes. It is a broad field that encompasses a variety of subfields, such as cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, and social psychology.

For example, cognitive psychology is the study of how people process information, including how they perceive, think, remember, and learn. Developmental psychology is the study of how people change and grow throughout their lives. Clinical psychology is the application of psychological principles to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues. Social psychology is the study of how people interact with one another and how their behavior is influenced by others.

Examples of research topics within psychology include:

• Understanding the causes of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety
• Examining how people process and remember information
• Investigating how people make decisions
• Analyzing the factors that influence social interactions and relationships
• Exploring the causes and consequences of addiction.

Overall, psychology aims to understand and explain the many different aspects of human behavior, thought, and experience.