One important question concerns the meaning of psychology, or how to define psychology. What is psychology? Below is a brief psychology definition:
Psychology is the study of human behavior, emotion, and mental processes through scientific investigation.
There are some important comments that need to be made concerning this psychology definition.
First, psychology is a scientific field. It relies on the scientific method. Using the scientific method reduces biases due to the acceptance of ideas based on popularity or how convincing they sound. This means that unpopular or unusual ideas should be evaluate using the same objective standards as more popular and conventional ideas. Thus, psychology can be viewed as a field that can greatly help us discern the degree of truth concerning ideas about human behavior, thinking, and emotion.
Second, three primary goals of psychology are to (a) describe human behavior, (b) to predict human behavior, and (c) to explain human behavior. This means that theories will be developed based on findings that may provide us with a more complete picture of why people may behave the way they do. Also, we may be able to more accurately describe and predict how people may behave in certain situations. This may have significant practical value.
Third, by gaining a greater understanding of human behavior, we may be able to apply this knowledge to help solve important problems. For example, research findings on persuasion and social influence could be used to develop new fundraising techniques. The importance of psychology is reflected in the many possible ways that the knowledge can be applied to help solve problems.