The Psychology Book

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any of the issues that are examined in modern psychology had been the subject of philosophical debate long before the development of science as we know it today. The very earliest philosophers of ancient Greece sought answers to questions about the world around us, and the way we think and behave. Since then we have wrestled with ideas of consciousness and self, mind and body, knowledge and perception, how to structure society, and how to live a “good life.” The various branches of science evolved from philosophy, gaining momentum from the 16th century onward, until finally exploding into a “scientific revolution,” which ushered in the Age of Reason in the 18th century. While these advances in scientific knowledge answered WILHELM WUNDT “physical and psychical.” He began to concentrate on the study of human sensations, such as the visual sensation of light, because these are the agencies that link the external physical world and the internal mental world. In one experiment, Wundt asked individuals to report on their sensations when shown a light signal—which was standardized to a specific color and a certain level of brightness, and shone for a fixed length of time. This ensured that each participant experienced exactly the same stimulus, enabling responses of different participants to be compared and the experiment to be repeated at a later date, if required. In insisting upon this possibility for replication, Wundt set the standard for all future psychological experiments. In his sensory experiments, Wundt set out to explore human consciousness in a measurable way. He refused to see it as an unknowable, subjective experience that is unique to each individual. In the light-response experiments, he was particularly interested in the amount of time between a person receiving some form of stimulus and making a voluntary reaction to it (rather than an involuntary one),

People and things do not upset us. Rather, we upset ourselves by believing that they can upset us" Albert Ellis

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It is perhaps the huge range of subjects that fall under the umbrella of psychology (and the bewildering array of terms beginning with the prefix “psych-”) that creates confusion over what psychology entails; psychologists themselves are unlikely to agree on a single definition of the word. “Psychology” comes from the ancient Greek psyche, meaning “soul” or “mind,” and logia, a “study” or “account,” which seems to sum up the broad scope of the subject, but today the word most accurately describes “the science of mind and behavior.” The new science DK’s extensive children’s list showcases a fantastic store of information for children, toddlers and babies. DK covers everything from animals and the human body, to homework help and craft activities, together with an impressive list of licensing titles, including the best-selling LEGO® books. But it was not until the late 19th century that psychology became established as a scientific discipline in its own right. The founding of the world’s first laboratory of experimental psychology by Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig in 1879 marked the recognition of psychology as a truly scientific subject, and as one that was breaking new ground in previously unexplored areas of research.

inadequate to take an adopted child into one’s home and love him Donald Winnicott 122 The unconscious is the Some areas of research have been the subject of study from psychology’s earliest days, undergoing different interpretations by the various schools of thought, while others have fallen in and out of favor, but each time they have exerted a significant influence on subsequent thinking, and have occasionally spawned completely new fields for exploration. Lucid sleep Faria saw his role as a “concentrator,” helping his subject get into the right state of mind. In On The Cause of Lucid Sleep, he describes his method: “After selecting subjects with the right aptitude, I ask them to relax in a chair, shut their eyes, concentrate their attention, and think about sleep. As they quietly await further instructions, I gently or commandingly say: ‘Dormez!’ (Sleep!) and they fall into lucid sleep”. It was from Faria’s lucid sleep that the term “hypnosis” was coined in 1843 by the Scottish but the intangible nature of subjects such as consciousness, perception, and memory meant that psychology was slow in making the transition from philosophical speculation to scientific practice. In some universities, particularly in the US, psychology departments started out as branches of the philosophy department, while in others, notably those in Germany, they were established in the science faculties. But it was not until the late 19th century that psychology became established as a scientific discipline in its own right. The founding of the world’s first laboratory of experimental psychology by Wilhelm Wundt at the University of Leipzig in 1879 marked the recognition of psychology as a truly scientific subject, and as one that was breaking new ground in previously unexplored areas of research. In the course of the 20th century, psychology blossomed; all of its major branches and movements evolved. As with all sciences, its history is built upon the theories and discoveries of successive generations, with many of the older theories remaining relevant to contemporary psychologists. Some areas of research have been the subject of study from psychology’s A clinical psychologist, our consultant Catherine Collin is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer in Psychological Therapies) at the University of Plymouth in England. Catherine’s interests lie in primary care mental health and cognitive behavior therapy.I have an above average IQ and I've always been interested in psychology (I have studied a good bit of it.), but some of the areas in the book are difficult to follow. Not most of them, but a few topics I had to read multiple times and I still didn't understand what point they were trying to make. PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS 25 See also: Wilhelm Wundt 32–37 ■ Sigmund Freud 92– 99 Anna Freud 111 ■ Leon Festinger 166 – 67 Thoughts and feelings contain energy, according to Herbart, acting on each other like magnets to attract or repel like or unlike ideas.