Psychology

“Psychology” comes from two words: psyche and logos. The word psyche (pronounced “sigh-key”) is from the Greek word Ψυχη – meaning “breath of life”, i.e. “soul or spirit”, loosely translated as MIND.

In Greek mythology, Psyche was represented by a butterfly. She became the wife of Eros, the god of love (renamed Cupid by the Romans). The Greek letter Ψ (spelled “psi”, and pronounced “sigh”) is now used as the international symbol for Psychology. Hence, Psychology was originally defined as: the study of the mind.

But, this isn’t how most Psychologists define Psychology today.

Towards a Definition:
Most Psychologists try hard to make a clear distinction between what is proper Psychology, and what isn’t. So, how do Psychologists define “Psychology”? Well, there are difficulties in finding one universally accepted definition. Although most Psychologists agree that it is important to be scientific
– to avoid muddled thinking – it’s not always clear exactly what this means. Another difficulty is the practical problem – some say “impossibility”! – of studying the “mind” directly. Indeed, even trying to define “mind” is very difficult. Some Psychologists have avoided this completely, especially the Behaviourists, like B. F. Skinner and J. B. Watson

“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.”

“Never use the terms consciousness, mental states, mind…”

In practice, therefore, most Psychologists concentrate on what is observable and measurable in a person’s behaviour, including the biological processes in the body. At the same time, despite the extreme views of certain Behaviourists, the “mind” is still generally considered to be central to the subject. Thus, a commonly accepted “working definition” is: Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour of humans and animals.

Psychology, on the other hand, is mainly about individuals or small groups of people, as in Social Psychology. There are also differences in the methods used. In Psychology, there is emphasis on experiments, but in Sociology that method is not usually possible – for practical and ethical reasons – so observations and surveys are more commonly used.