Among all the sciences,psychology is perhaps the most mysterious to the general public,and the most prone to misconceptions.Even though its language and ideas have infiltrated everyday culture,more people have only a hazy idea of what the subject is about,and what psychologists actually do.For more ,psychology conjures up（联想起） images of people in white coats,either staffing an institution for mental disorders or conducting laboratory experiments on rats.Other may imagine a man with a middle-European accent psychoanalysing(用精神分析治疗法)a patient on a couch or,if film scripts are to be believed,plotting to exercise some form of mind control.
Although these stereotypes（刻板印象）are an exaggeration,some truth lies beneth them.It is perhaps the huge range of subjects that fall under the umbrella of psychology(and the bewildering（令人困惑的） array of terms beginning with the prefix(前缀)“psych”) that creates confusion over what psychology entails(牵涉)；psychologists themselves are unlikely to agree on a single definition of the word."Psychology"come from the ancient Greek psyche(心灵)，meaning “soul” or "mind" ,and logia(贤哲)，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 behaviour".
The new science
Psychology can also be seen as a bridge between philosophy（哲学） and physiology(生理学) .Where phychology describes and exlpains the physical make-up of the brain and nervous system,psychology examines the mental processes that take place within them and how these are manifested in our thoughts,speech,and behaviour.Where philosophy is concerned with thoughts and ideas,psychology studies how we come to have them and whta they tell us about the working of our minds.
All the sciences evoloved from philosophy,by applying scientific methods to philosophical questions,but the intangible nature of subjects such as consciousness,perception,and memory meant that psychology was slow in making the transition from philosophical speculation(推测) to scientific practice.In some universities,particularly in the USA,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 pshchology 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 the its major branches and movements evoloved.As with all sciences,its history is built upon the the sciences,its history is built upon the theries and discoveries of successive generations,with many of the older theries remaining revelant to contemporary psychologists.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 favour,but each time they have exerted a significant influence on subsequent thinking,and have occasionally spawned completely new fields of exploration.
The simplest way to approach the vast subject of psychology for the first time is to take a look at some of its main movements in roughly chronological order,as we do in this book:from its roots in philosophical thought,through behaviourism,psychotherapy,and the study of cognitive,social,and developmental psychology,to the psychology fo difference.
| Psychology has a long past,but only a short history.--
| The first fact for us then,as psychologists,is that thinking of some sort | goes on.--William James
New fields of study
In the mid-20th century,both behaviourism and psychoanalysis fell out of favour,with a return to the scientific study of mental processes.This marked the beginning of cognitive psychology,a movement with its roots in the holistic(整体的) approach of the Gestalt psychologists,who were interested in studying perception.Their work began to emerge in the USA in the years following World War II;by the late 1950s ,cognitive psychology had become the predominant(占主导地位的)approach。The rapidly growing fields of commnications and computer science provided psychologists with a useful anology;the used the model of information processing to develop theories in areas such as attention,perception,memory and forgetting,language and language acquisition,problem-solving and decision-making,and motivation.
Even psychotherapy,which mushroomed(快速成长) in myriad(无数的) forms from the origina "talking cure",was influenced by the cognitive approach.Cognitive therapy and cognitive-vehavioural therapy emerged as alternatives to psychoanalysis(精神分析学),leading to movements such as humanist psychology,which focused on the qualities unique to human life.These therapists turned their attention from healing the sick to guiding healthy people towards living more meaningful lives.
While psychology in its early stages had concentraed largely on the mind and behaviour of individuals,there was now an increasing interest in the way we interact with our environment and other people;this became the field of social psychology.Like cognitive psychology,it owed much to the Gestalt psychologists,especially Kurt Lewin,who had fled from Nazi Germany to the USA in the 1930s.Social psychology gathered pace during the latter half of the 20th century,when research revealed intriguing(有趣的) new facts about our attitudes and prejudices,our tendencies towards obedience and conformity(循规蹈矩)，and our reasons for aggression or altruism(利他主义)，all of which were increasingly relevant in the modern world of urban life and ever-improving communications.
Freud's continuing influence was felt mainly through the new field of developmental psychology.Initially concerned only with childhood development,study in this area expanded to include change throughout life,from infancy to old age。Researchers charted methods of social,cultural,and moral learning,and the ways in which we form attachments.The contribution of developmental psychology to education and training has been significant but,less obviously,it has influenced thinking about the relationship between childhood development and attitudes to race and gender.
Almost every pshchological school has touched upon the subject of human uniqueness,but in the late 20th century this area was recognized as a field in its own right in the psychology of difference.As well as attempting to idenify and measure personality traits and the various factors that make up intelligence,pshchologists in this growing field examine definitions and measures of normality and abnormality ,and look at how much our individual differences are a product of our environment or the result of genetic inheritance.
|"If the 19th century was the age of the editorial chair,ours is the century of the psychiatrist's |couch."
An influential science
The many branches of psychology that exist today cover the whole spectrum of mental life and human and animal behaviour.The overall scope has extened to overlap with(交叉）many other disciplines,including medicine,physiology,neuroscience(神经科学)，computer science,education,sociology,anthropology(人类学)，and even politics,economics,and the law.Psychology has abecome perhaps the most diverse of sciences.
Psychology continues to influence and be influenced by the other sciences,especially in areas such as neuroscience and genetics.In particular,the nature versus nurture argument that dates back to Francis Galton's ideas of the 1980s continues to this day;recently,evolutionary pshchology has contributed to the debate by exploring psychological traits as innate(天生的 ）and biological phenomena,which are subject to the laws of genetics and natural selection.
Psychology is a huge subject,and its findings concern every one of us.In one form or another it informs many decisions made in government,business and industry,advertising,and the mass media.It affects us as groups and as individuals,contributing as much to public debate about the ways our societies are or might be structured as it does to diagnosing and treating mental disorders.
The ideas and theories of psychologists have become part of our everrday culture,to the extent that many of their findings about behaviour and mental processes are now viewed simply as "common sense".However,while some of the ideas explored in psychology confirm our instinctive feelings,just as many make us think again;psychologists have often shocked and outraged(激怒 )the public when their findings have shaken conventional,long-standing beliefs.
In its short history,psychology has given us many ideas that have changed our ways of thinkings,and that have also helped us to understand ourselves,other people,and the world we live in.It has questioned deeply held beliefs,unearthed(采掘出的) unsettling(扰乱的) truths,and provided startling insights and solutions to complex questions,Its increasing popularity as a university course is a sign not only of psychology's relevance in the modern world,but also of the enjoyment and stimulation that can be had from exploring the richness and diversity of a subject that continues to examine the mysterious world of the human mind.
|"The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best"
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