Psychology

Psychology (Classical Greek: psyche = "soul" or "mind", logos = "study of") is an academic and applied field involving the study of behavior, mind and thought and the neurological bases of behavior. Psychology 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. It is largely concerned with humans, although the behavior and mental processes of animals can also be part of psychology research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g. animal cognition and ethology), or somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison (including comparative psychology). Psychology is commonly defined as the science of behaviour and mental processes. Although its name derives from Greek "psyche", psychology does not scientifically study the soul, since no evidence exists to show such a thing exists.

Major nineteenth and twentieth century schools of thought

Various schools of thought have argued for a particular model to be used as a guiding theory by which all, or the majority, of human behaviour can be explained. The popularity of these has waxed and waned over time. Some psychologists may think of themselves as adherents to a particular school of thought and reject the others, although most consider each as an approach to understanding the mind, and not necessarily as mutually exclusive theories.

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• Analytical psychology
• Associationist psychology
• Behaviourism (see also radical behaviourism)
• Cognitivism
• Depth psychology
• Descriptive psychology
• Ego psychology
• Existential psychology
• Functionalism
• Genetic epistemology
• Geneva School
• Hormic approach
• Humanistic psychology and phenomenology
• Individual psychology
• Symbolic interactionism
• Phenomenological psychology
• Psychoanalysis
• Reactology
• Reflexology
• Soviet psychology
• Structuralism
• Transactional analysis