The word "psychology" is the combination of two terms - study (ology) and soul (psyche), or

mind. The derivation of the word from Latin gives it this clear and obvious meaning:
The study of the soul or mind.
This meaning has been altered over the years until today, this is not what the word means at all.
The subject of psychology, as studied in colleges and universities, currently has very little to do
with the mind, and absolutely nothing to do with the soul or spirit.
It is important to understand that words and ideas are supposed to refer to something. "The large
tree in the front yard" refers to an actual thing that can be seen, touched and experienced. "The
man walking his little dog last night at sunset" refers to an actual event that can be seen,
observed and experienced. The realm of mind is an actual realm that can be experienced, and at
one time there were words that accurately referred to this realm.
Let's see what a few dictionaries have to say and how a word could alter and lose its true and
actual meaning.
"Psyche" is defined as:
1. The spirit or soul.
2. The human mind.
3. In psychoanalysis, the mind functioning as the center of thought, emotion, and behavior.
And defining "soul", we have:
1. the spiritual or immortal elements in a person.
2. a person's mental or moral or emotional nature.
Most of us would agree we have a "psyche" per the above definitions in the sense of mind,
thought, and emotions. Most would also agree they have a "soul" per the second definition above
relating to man's mental, moral or emotional nature. We might all have different notions about
what these ultimately are, but few could sanely disagree they exist.
The derivation of "psyche" comes from Latin and the Greek psukhe - breath, life, soul. To get a
better "feel" for this term try to think of it as the invisible animating principle or entity that
occupies, interacts with and directs the physical body.
We are not dealing with opinions or beliefs here. This is simply what the words and terms mean.
Get clear on this first and understand what the words and terms mean, before you start getting
into the opinions of others on the subject. If you choose to decide the "mind" refers to nothing
real after understanding what the words and definitions mean, despite the fact that almost 10,000
years of thinking men have seriously and carefully looked into this subject, and after no real
investigation on your own part, then that's your decision. Also, realize you will be basing this
decision on "thinking" and "reason", both of which are only subsidiary to and part of any one
mind, and neglecting to use a greater aspect of your mind - your personal awareness and direct

observation. Basing a decision on what other people say about a mind involves
only concepts andideas about a mind. Observation involves experiencing the mind itself - your
own mind. When it comes to minds there is only one mind any of us can directly observe or
experience and that mind is our own. If you want to learn about minds, the only place to start is
with your own. You cannot directly observe or experience the mind of another person, at least
not without some extrasensory ability such as telepathy.
To Describe
One of the first goals of psychology is simply to describe behavior. Through describing the
behavior of humans and other animals, we are better able to understand it and gain a better
perspective on what is considered normal and abnormal. Psychology researchers utilize a range
of research methods to help describe behavior including naturalistic observation, case
studies, correlational studies, surveys, and self-report inventories.
To Explain
As you might imagine, psychologists are also interested in explaining behavior in addition to
merely describing it. Why do people do the things they do? What factors contribute to
development, personality, social behavior, and mental health problems? Throughout
psychology's history, many different theories have emerged to help explain various aspects of
human behavior. A few examples of such theories including classical
conditioning and attachment theories. Some theories focus on just a small aspect of human
behavior (known as mini-theories), while others serve as all-encompassing theories designed to
explain all of human psychology (known as grand theories).
To Predict
Not surprisingly, another major goal of psychology is to make predictions about how we think
and act. Once we understand more about what happens and why it happens, we can use that
information to make predictions about when, why, and how it might happen again in the future.
Successfully predicting behavior is also one of the best ways to know if we truly understand the
underlying causes of our actions. Prediction can also allow psychologists to make guesses about
human behavior without necessarily understanding the mechanisms underlying the phenomena.
For example, if researchers notice that scores on a specific aptitude test can be used to predict

high school dropout rates, that information can then be used to estimate how many students in a
particular group might drop out of school each year.
To Change
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, psychology strives to change, influence, or control
behavior in order to make positive and lasting changes in people's lives. In our previous example,
researchers might take what they know about the link between scores on an aptitude test and
dropout rates and use the information to develop programs designed to help students stay in
school. From treating mental illness to enhancing human well-being, changing human behavior
is a huge focus of psychology.
In Review
So as you have learned, the four primary goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict,
and change behavior. In many ways, these goals are similar to the kinds of things you probably
do every day as you interact with others. When dealing with a child, for example, you might ask
questions like "What is he doing?" (describing), "Why is he doing that?" (explaining), "What
would happen if I responded in this way?" (predicting), and "What can I do to get him to stop
doing that?" (changing).
Obviously, psychologists and other social scientists ask many of the same types of questions.
The big difference is that psychologists utilize the scientific method to rigorously test and
systematically understand both human and animal behavior.

The History of Psychology

For thousands of years psychology existed under the name of philosophy. The
Hindu Vedas contain the oldest record of man's examination of mind and spirit. In India all forms
of Yoga, which are essentially psychology, are described as one of the six systems of
philosophy. Sufi teachings, which again are chiefly psychological, are regarded as partly
religious and partly metaphysical. In more modern times some version of these systems, still
largely following in this same vein, can be found the subjects of Rosicrucianism, New Thought,
Science of Mind, visualization techniques, practical magick, and Scientology.

If you found yourself flinching or reacting negatively to the mention of any of these subjects,
such as Yoga, Rosicrucianism, Scientology, or any of the the many other alternative approaches
to the mind and reality, realize this is not necessarily because there is anything actually strange
or weird about these subjects. It is often largely because modern psychology, psychiatry and
affiliated proponents of modern materialistic "science" have successfully applied black PR to
them to such a large degree. In fact, they have covertly attacked these subjects for most of this
century. An intelligent and objective look into any of these fields, although sometimes initially
confusing largely due to the newness of the subject and difference in approach to reality will
result in a widened understanding of yourself (and Man in general). Granted, you do need to and
in fact you MUST weed out some of the nonsense often added to these subjects. Once you do
take an honest look though it should become very obvious that modern western psychology has
little to do with that incredible universe that exists a few inches behind your forehead. It must be
mentioned that over time most of these subjects and fields (i.e. Scientology, Rosicrucianism,
Transcendental Meditation, etc) have most definitely suffered from some combination of a) gross
alterations introduced by self-appointed leaders following internal power struggles, b)
manipulation of views and information by the more influential members, c) the sad tendency of
some of the not-too-bright members to dictate changes not part of the original information, and
d) the use of the subject and field to exert thought control and behavioral manipulation on its
members. These faults are observably true and easily seen in the recent history of Scientology,
though these faults exist in all to some degree. Lastly though, don't throw out the baby with the
bathwater. While these all have serious flaws, don't use that as an excuse to dismiss everything
about them outright without any serious examination. It takes careful and serious examination to
separate the valuable from the invaluable - and there is often much of both to be found.
The mind has been examined, studied, drilled and "expanded", at times to the point of
excruciating detail within many fields (i.e. Tibetan Buddhist Yogic practices). This is not to say
that due to language barriers and the passage of time, that the information has not been lost to
minor or major degrees or that these studies weren't without many errors, serious flaws, biases
and differing opinions to start with. The point is notwhether any of these are perfect studies
(none are) or whether any of them have completed the task of researching the mind (none have),
but that the possibility for such a study most surely exists, has been done before in various ways
and to differing degrees, and that modern psychology (and psychiatry) has nothing to do with
this field.
Structuralism and Functionalism
Structuralism is generally thought of as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook
focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers
associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. The focus of
structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. The
structuralists used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human
mind.
Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was
heavily influenced by the work of William James. Unlike some of the other well-known schools
of thought in psychology, functionalism is not associated with a single dominant theorist.

Instead, there are a number of different functionalist thinkers associated with this outlook
including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr. Author David Hothersall notes,
however, that some historians even question whether functionalism should be considered a
formal school of psychology at all given its lack of a central leader or formalized set of ideas.
Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist thinkers were instead
interested in the role that these processes play.
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology based upon the idea that we experience things as
unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th
century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Instead of breaking down
thoughts and behavior to their smallest elements, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must
look at the whole of experience. According to the gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism became a dominant school of thought during the 1950s. It was based upon the work
of thinkers such as:
John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov
B. F. Skinner
Behaviorism suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by
internal forces. Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning
including classical conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of
research.
The behavioral school of psychology had a major influence on the course of psychology and
many of the ideas and techniques that emerged from this school of thought are still widely used
today. Behavioral training, token economies, aversion therapy and other techniques are
frequently used in psychotherapy and behavior modification programs.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This school of thought
emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior.
Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego and the
superego. The id is composed of primal urges, while the ego is the component of personality
charged with dealing with reality. The superego is the part of personality that holds all of the
ideals and values we internalize from our parents and culture. Freud believed that the interaction
of these three elements was what led to all of the complex human behaviors.

Freud's school of thought was enormously influential, but also generated a great deal of
controversy. This controversy existed not only in his time, but also in modern discussions of
Freud's theories. Other major psychoanalytic thinkers include:

Anna Freud
Carl Jung
Erik Erikson.
Humanistic Psychology
Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic
psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth and the concept of selfactualization. While early schools of thought were largely centered on abnormal human
behavior, humanistic psychology differed considerably in its emphasis on helping people achieve
and fulfill their potential.
Major humanist thinkers include:

Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers.
Humanistic psychology remains quite popular today and has had a major influence on other areas
of psychology including positive psychology. This particular branch of psychology is centered
on helping people living happier, more fulfilling lives.
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the school of psychology that studies mental processes including how
people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this
branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy and
linguistics.
Cognitive psychology began to emerge during the 1950s, partly as a response to behaviorism.
Critics of behaviorism noted that it failed to account for how internal processes impacted
behavior. This period of time is sometimes referred to as the "cognitive revolution" as a wealth
of research on topics such as information processing, language, memory and perception began to
emerge.
One of the most influential theories from this school of thought was the stages of cognitive
development theory proposed by Jean Piaget.