Definition of Psychology

1. Science that analyzes individual and/or collective behavior. Examples: A) Analytical psychology: study and research. B) animal psychology: in its relationship with the environment, reactions and management. C) Cognitive psychology: human mind. D) P. Rational: human thought. E) p. social: social and cultural aspects.

2. Professional area that can work in an interdisciplinary way according to the evaluation and monitoring or treatment of disturbances related to the mind. Example: ‘process of care and support for a depressed patient’.

3. Set of characteristics that define a person or a group. Examples: A) ‘Little children are undergoing psychological training’. B) ‘Psychological state that makes the person suitable for a job position’. C) ‘The psychology of sociopaths’.

Etymology: Neologism built on the Greek prefix ψυχο-, psycho-of ψυχή, psychḗ, in relation to the ‘soul’, as a belief in the source of life, the behavior and way of being of the person; + the Greek suffix -λογία, -logyof λόγος, logosregarding ‘science’.

Grammatical category: noun fem.
in syllables: psi-co-lo-gi-a.

Psychology

Within Psychology coexist different ways of understanding it. For example, there are those who conceptualize it as the science that studies behavior and there are those who understand it as the study of unconscious processes. If we review its history, we can see it as a trajectory of disagreements and disputes that are expressed both in the impossibility of agreeing on a foundational milestone that accounts for its origin and in the difficulty to define its object of study and the methods to address it.

In the most general way possible, we can understand it as a discipline in which different systematized ideas converge in theories about the nature of the mental. Also, we can understand it as the study and understanding of the most basic cognitive processes -such as attention, perception and memory- and more complex capacities -such as learning, motivation, etc. – as well as the affective processes and behavioral manifestations of the human being that are expressed at both the individual and social levels. Thus, the different psychological systems will study some aspect in greater depth than another. On the other hand, if we wanted to propose a pragmatic definition of psychology, we would have to define it based on what psychologists do as a group of professionals -clinical, legal, educational, community, researchers, etc.-.

Polycentric Birth of Psychology

At the very beginning of the discipline, the problem of its origin is installed. Historians of psychology such as Kurt Danziger identify at least three territories where the beginnings of the discipline can be located. The one that emerged on German soil, the one developed in French territory and the one gestated in North America. The mentioned historian is positioned from a sociology of knowledge and critical history and recognizes as the birth of psychology that developed in the North American context.

The positivist tradition locates the origin of psychology in Germany with the figure of Wilhelm Wundt, who is considered the father of experimental psychology for creating the first experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig. In his research he integrated his knowledge from the field of physiology to that of philosophy. For him, the object of study of psychology is the same as that of the natural sciences: the phenomena of immediate and conscious experience. His research focused on the study of elementary (basic) processes through the experimental method based on introspective observations. His main interest was to understand how sensations combined into perceptions.

Psychology born on French soil has its interests centered around psychopathological and clinical problems. Here authors such as Charcot, Bernheim, Ribot and Freud make their main contributions.

For many other historians, such as Danzinger, the invention of psychology as an autonomous discipline originated on North American soil. Since there is the beginning of the professionalization of psychology, that is, the invention of the role of the psychologist and the process that accounts for the creation of academic training institutions and the association of psychologists in professional unions. In this sense, as Lic. Alberto Vilanova points out, Stanley Hall can be identified as a paradigmatic figure that marks a milestone since he was the one who obtained the first doctoral degree in psychology and in turn created the first professional association of psychologists. American psychology mainly developed a psychology of behavior whose main concern was the adaptation of the individual to the environment.

Evidence-Based Psychology

Since the 1970s, within the field of psychology professionals and researchers, an interesting trend has been gaining ground that focuses on distinguishing evidence-based psychology (EBP) from a psychology that is not based on the scientific method but that it has a long tradition in the academic and professional community of some regions (for example Argentina). The latter has its roots in primarily psychodynamic theoretical frameworks such as psychoanalysis and secondarily in systemic, Gestalt or transactional models, among others.

Within EBP there is a multiplicity of theoretical developments -such as some cognitive and behavioral ones- that have in common the same methodological model that gives them legitimacy. Its intention is to improve the quality of psychological approaches and psychotherapeutic interventions based on the application in different fields of psychology -clinical, community, educational, legal, etc.- of valid and reliable models and instruments, based on systematic research. Empirically backed and that have proven studies regarding their efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency. In other words, the purpose is to use the best treatment available to address a specific problem.

For those who practice psychology in general, taking this perspective implies using only those updated techniques, instruments and treatments that have shown, under rigorous standards, the best results. For those who practice psychotherapy in particular, it implies using only those treatments that are based on scientific research that have demonstrated their effectiveness in addressing the particular problem of the person who consults, taking into account the characteristics of the client and their context. For example, for the reasons indicated above, the use of cognitive-behavioral programs for the treatment of people with problematic consumption is widespread.

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