defintion of psychology

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can you please tell me asap what the definition for pyschology is and what it is about. thanx

-- shallini bambhra (Queeny_g66@hotmail.com), September 15, 2004

Answers

Most textbooks say something like "the scientific study of behavior and experience."

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), September 15, 2004.

Response to psychology

The word psychology has 3 Greek roots; 'Psyche' meaning 'mind or soul' and 'Logos' meaning the study of. Literally speaking psychology is the study of the mind, however a more precise definition has been offered by, Atkinson et al (1991)who suggested; 'Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and mental processes'.

-- JoAnn Williams (JoWillims@aol.com), September 16, 2004.

Response to psychology

Hello Shallini B.

Your question (on the definition of psychology) has been answered elsewhere on this board. See this link: http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009Ru0

If you want to look into this question still further, you could also consult the section on "The Nature of Psychology" in:

Herrnstein, R.J. & Boring, E.G. (Eds.). (1966). A Sourcebook in the History of Psychology. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

More still can be found in the by looking at "The Definition of a Science" section in:

Diamond, S. (Ed.). (1974). The Roots of Psychology: A sourcebook in the history of ideas. New York: Basic Books.

Happy reading,

Paul F. Ballantyne

-- Paul F. Ballantyne (pballan@comnet.ca), September 16, 2004.


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