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What is Psychology?
(First published on the academic websitewww.all-about-psychology.com)Having a good grasp of what psychology is all about is essential for anybody wantingto explore the topic in greater depth. This may sound like an obvious thing to statebut psychology is a term that is regularly used without any real consideration as toits actual meaning. A classic case in point being the usual response you get frompeople when you tell them that you teach psychology; namely, "I better be carefulwhat I say", or "so do you know what I'm thinking then?"There is clearly a lot of confusion surrounding psychology, and not just among thepublic in general; I've actually met psychology students coming towards the end of their degree that have admitted that they are still not 100% sure what psychologyis!
Psychology Definitions
To help understand the ambiguity surrounding psychology, let's start by taking a lookat some definitions.
Psychology is the scientific study of people, the mind and behaviour. It is both athriving academic discipline and a vital professional practice
. (The BritishPsychological Society)
The scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes
.(American Psychological Association)
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior 
. (Wikipedia)The constant theme across these definitions is that psychology is fundamentallyconcerned with understanding
Behavior
.
So What’s The Problem?
Basically, a lack of unity. Within psychology there are multiple and often competinglevels of explanation when it comes to understanding behavior. When you beginstudying psychology you soon realize what a disparate topic area it is, and at times itcan seem overwhelming.
Keep It Simple
Particularly when you're starting out. Just keep hold of the notion that psychology isbasically about behavior. You can't be expected to know all the different ways thereare 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 anappropriate psychological framework.If you would like to find out more about the different levels of explanation withinpsychology, you can do so by visiting thetypes of psychologypage I put together.
Not to be confused with Psychiatry
Another common misconception about psychology is that it is very similar, if notsynonymous with psychiatry. It is not. Psychiatry is a distinct medical specialism (allpsychiatrists have a medical degree) that is fundamentally concerned with mentaldisorder. Psychology has a much broader focus and is not inextricably linked to theconcept of mental illness.I hope you found this article useful and that it encourages you to find out more aboutthe fascinating world of psychology.David Webb
About The Author
I have a first class honours degree in psychology and a Masters in Occupationalpsychology from the University of Sheffield (UK). For a number of years, I was alecturer in psychology at the University of Huddersfield (UK).In 2003 I moved to sunny Spain with my family, where I now work as an online tutorand research dissertation supervisor.I have built 3 websites based on my academic teaching and research interests.http://www.all-about-psychology.comhttp://www.all-about-forensic-psychology.comhttp://www.all-about-forensic-science.comI use Twitter to let people know about all the latest updates on the All AboutPsychology Website.http://twitter.com/psych101 
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