Brief Historical Background of psychology

psychology has brief history as an scientific discipline though it has been studied since ancient time under the faculty of philosophy. the word psychology was derived from Greek word 'psyche' and 'logos' literal meaning of which was 'soul' and 'study' respectively. The definition of psychology had ever been in the process of change since then. the development of psychology can broadly be traced into four periods: Ancient Greekperiod, per-modern period, modern period and current status

1. Greek period: Greek philosophers had contributed much for the development of psychology. some of the key contributors were Socrates was interested in studying the reincarnation of soul. soul or mind was considered as the representation of individuals.  plato,  a bright student of Socrates expanded Socrates concepts in philosophy about life and soul. it was Aristotle who wrote first book in psychology called para psyche; About the mind or soul. in the book, he introduced the basic ideas in psychology today, like law of association. However, the notion of psychology was primarily related to study of soul or mind at that stage. Later on it was found that physical existence of soul was doubtful. Also, there was controversy in defining soul and nnd among the philosopher. The contributors of the period never focused on the behavior of individual. that is why the attention was diverted from the study of soul or mind

2.  pre-modern period  it was during 1800's that psychology was established as an independent discipline. it was the work of Wilhelm Wundt and William James that contributed much in the field of psychology. Wilhelm Wundt established first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany and studied different conscious experiences in t the laboratory. wundt defined psychology as a science of consciousness or conscious experience. he proposed the Theron called structuralism; the school of psychology that tries to identify the basic elements of experience and described the basic elements of experienced and describe the rules and circumstances under which these elements combine to form mental structures.

3. Modern period: Structuralists and Functionalists were soon challenged by behavioristrs like J.B Wastson Ivan pavlov and B.F. skinner. Behaviorists proposed that psychology should study the visible behavior which can be objectively felt and seen. These psychologists defined psychology as the science of behavior . they considered abstract concepts like mind and consciousness ans unnecessary to study. The definition of psychology proposed by behaviorists also had certain limitations. They only focused o observable behaviors and ignored the role of mental processes. Also,  they undermined the role of unconscious mind and heredity in behavior. This is why this definition was modified

4.Current Definition: As have been mentioned earlier, the definitions of psychology proposed in different periods were not complete in highlighting the subject matter of psychology. that is why in modern days psychology is defined as the science of behavior and mental or cognitive processes. this definition comprises there things: psychology is science, it studies behavior and it studies mental process.