U N I T 1 PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGIES In this Unit we will learn about the origins of Psychology and its history, and about the people who developed the most important theories which led to different schools of thought. We will also know about the different fields of Psycology and its pratical effects on everyday life. A. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour1. The discipline embraces all aspects of human experience from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. In every setting, from scientific research centres to mental health care services, the understanding of behaviour is the enterprise of psychologists. While today s psychology reflects the rich and varied history of the discipline, the origins of psychology differ significantly from contemporary conceptions of the field. Contemporary psychology is interested in an enormous range of topics, looking at human behaviour and mental processes from the neural level to the cultural level. Psychologists study human issues that begin before birth and continue until death. From its earliest beginnings, psychology has been faced with a number of different questions. The initial question of how to define psychology helped establish it as a science separate from physiology and philosophy. So what makes psychology different from philosophy? While early philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic, today s psychologists utilize scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behaviour. Physiology also contributed to psychology s eventual emergence as a scientific discipline. Early physiological research on the brain and behaviour had a dramatic impact on psychology, ultimately contributing to the application of scientific methodologies to the study of human thought and behaviour. As psychology moved away from its philosophical roots, psychologists began to 1 behaviour: BrE; behavior: AmE. GLOSSARY aged: elderly embrace: to include enterprise: task 92 eventual: happening at an unspecified time afterwards face: to deal with issue: problem setting: situation