1 DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Psychology like any other science has both traditional and scientific history.

In the primitive societies, mans thinking about the phenomena of nature was restricted to the uncritical traditions and superstitions. Animism attributed natural events to the mystic spirits within objects and organisms. Later, Psychology became philosophical. Greek philosophers had rejected supernatural forces and had developed as a non religious type of orderly reasoning and speculation. The word psychology was derived from two Greek words: psyke/psyche (soul) and "logia/logos (study). Thus, the meaning of psychology was literally - the study of the soul. The term soul did not at first have religious implications such as it has today. It was a form of motion, an inner flame and for others, a function of bodily fluids. About four centuries ago, mental philosophers began to translate psyche as mind. Psychology was then defined as a study of the mind. It was eventually replaced by definition as- the science of behaviour. It is a science because it is systematic and empirical and is dependent upon measurement. This means that we use of systematic methods to observe, describe, predict, and explain behaviour and mental processes. Behaviour refers to everything we do that can be directly observed. Mental processes refer to thoughts, feelings, and motives that cannot be observed directly. Psychology studies the trilogy of the mind: Cognition: knowledge / belief - what we think Emotion: affect/ moods- what we feel Motivation: drives/ needs/ goals/ purposes- what we do Psychology tries to investigate everything that makes a person unique and special. It looks at our motives, the choices we make, the meanings we adjust to our environment and individual circumstances.

Psychology is a social , biological , physical and behavioural science. As a science, it is focused on research through which investigators collect, quantify , analyze and interpret data describing animal and human behaviour. Thus, shedding light on the causes and the dynamics of behaviour patterns. As a scholarly discipline , psychology represents a major field of study in the academic settings with emphasis on the communication and explanation of principles and theories of behaviour. As a profession, psychology involves the practical application of knowledge, skills and techniques for the solution or prevention of individual or social problems. This professional role also provides an opportunity for the psychologists to develop further his understanding of the human behaviour and thus contributes further to the science of psychology. To summarize, 1. Psychology is the science that studies human behaviour and mental processes. 2. The major goal of psychology is to understand and predict behaviour. 2 MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY There are many misconceptions about psychology and psychologists. 1. One false notion is that a psychologist can read minds or estimate ones character at a glance. 2.. It is only for abnormal behavior and personalities. 3. That psychologists are authorities on such things such as spiritualism, mental telepathy or even fortune-telling. 4. Psychologists may be able to read minds or do mind tricks 5. How a certain astrologer could have predicted some historical events. We meet people who assert that they are themselves psychologists. Some claim that they can discover dishonesty from shifty eyes or from the inability of a person to look at them steadily in the eyes. Such claims come from an honest misunderstanding of what psychology is and what it can do. There are also many people without scientific training who make a dishonest living out of the gullible public by setting themselves as self-appointed psychologists. (Munn, 1961) Psychology is a science and the properly trained psychologist is a scientist or at least a practitioner who uses scientific methods and information resulting from scientific investigation.