psychology 101

A thread to discuss Psychology.

Beginning first with the definition of Psychology as put forth by the American Psychological Association (2014)
'Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience — from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. In every conceivable setting from scientific research centers to mental healthcare services, "the understanding of behavior" is the enterprise of psychologists.'

There are five major perspectives in modern day psychology

1. Behavioural
2. Psychodynamic
3. Humanistic
4. Cognitive
5. Evolutionary

As with any discipline there are other perspectives and specialist domains: such as biological, cross-cultural, anthropological, neuropsychological, developmental, forensic, experimental and so on.

Each perspective operates on the basis of assumptions and knowledge which has been developed, described and built upon by ongoing theory and research over historical time.

The history of the field of Psychology is very much intertwined with the general history of science itself. A basic timeline of developments in psychological science is provided by wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_psychology
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_psychology

There is much to learn from the history of the development of Psychological Science.... unfortunately.... achieving significant inroads into understanding the human mind and behaviour has also come at a cost....

http://mentalfloss.com/article/52787/10-famous-psychological-experiments-could-never-happen-today

Note that in the present day stringent codes of conduct and ethical standards of approval apply for anyone seeking to conduct psychological experiments.