(Photo Credit: Peter Merholz)
Having a good grasp of what psychology is all about is essential for anybody wanting to study the topic in greater depth. Now this may sound like a really obvious thing to state but psychology is a term that is often misunderstood and used around without any real consideration as to its actual meaning.
A classic case in point being the usual response you get from people when you tell them that you teach psychology; namely, "I better be careful what I say", or "so do you know what I'm thinking then?
Confusion over the meaning of psychology is not restricted to members of the public. When I first started teaching I met a number of psychology students coming towards the end of their degree that admitted that they were still not 100% sure what psychology was!
Psychology is the scientific study of people, the mind and behaviour. It is both a thriving academic discipline and a vital professional practice. (The British Psychological Society)
The scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. (American Psychological Association)
The constant theme across these definitions is that psychology is fundamentally concerned with understanding Behavior.
Basically, a lack of unity. Within psychology there are multiple and often competing levels of explanation when it comes to understanding behavior. When you begin studying psychology you quickly realize what a disparate topic area it is, and at times it can almost be overwhelming.
Particularly when you're starting out. Just keep hold of the notion that psychology is basically about behavior. You can't be expected to know all the different ways there are to explain behavior straight away; but as you are introduced to more and more you'll find that you'll soon be able to place a behavioral explanation within an appropriate psychological framework.
A common misconception about psychology is that it is synonymous with psychiatry. It is not. Psychiatry is a distinct medical specialism (all psychiatrists have a medical degree) that is fundamentally concerned with mental disorder. Psychology has a much broader focus and is not inextricably linked to the concept of mental illness.