Definition

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Topics of interest to psychologists have included the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, languaje, thought, intelligence, growth and development, personality, stress, abnormal behavior, ways of treating abnormal behavior, sexual behavior, and the behavior of people in social setting such as groups and organizations.

Not all psychologists will be satisfied by our definition of psychology as the science of behavior and mental processes. Many psychologists, especially behaviorists, prefer to limit the scope of psychology to overt, or observable, behavior, to activities such as pressing a lever; turning left or right; eating and mating; or even involuntary body functions such as heart rate, dilation of the pupils of the eyes, blood pressure, or emision of brain waves. All these behaviors are public. They can be measured by simple observation or by laboratory instruments. Even the emission of brain waves is made public by scientific instruments, and diverse observers would readily agree about their existence and characteristics. Other psychologists, focus on our mental representations of the world our memories, our strategies for solving problems, even our biases and prejudices.


Source: "Psychology" by Spencer A. Rathus.

Definition provided: Psychology

Glossary

*Science: The systematic observation and investigation of and experimentation with natural phenomena in order to learn about them and formulate laws.

*Thought: The faculty or power of reasoning.

*Behavior: To act or conduct (oneself) in a suitable, polite, or orderly way.

*Overt: Not hidden or secret, open.

*Brain: To mass of nervous tissue enclosed in the skull of humans and higher animals, that controls thoughts and activities.

*Cognitive: The combination of mental activities that enable a person to experience and learn about his or her environment.