Contemporary psychology deals with a vast range of topics; while at the same time looks into human +behavioral patterns and mental processes from the cultural level to the neural level. Psychologists study all matters pertaining to human mental issues that begin right from birth and continue until the death of the person. So, by gaining full understanding of the history of psychology, you will be able to better understand how the individual topics are studied and what has been learned so far.
Doubts, Questions at the Beginning
Right from the beginning, the study of psychology has been faced with a number of difficult questions. The first question of how is psychology defined established it as a separate science, separate from philosophy and physiology. Other additional questions that psychologists were also faced with throughout the history of the subject were:
What issues and topics should the subject of psychology deal with?
What methods of research should be used when studying psychology?
Should research be used in order to influence education, public policy and other aspects of human behavior?
Is psychology a science?
Should psychology focus on internal mental processes or on observable behavior?
Physiology and Philosophy
While psychology did not really emerge as a separate science until the latter half of the 19th century, its initial history can be traced right back to the ancient Greeks. During the 1600's, the famous French philosopher, Rene Descartes, introduced the concept of dualism, which stressed on the fact the body and the mind were basically two separate entities that interacted together to form the normal human experience. Many of the other issues that are still debated by psychologists today, like relative contributions of nature vs. nurture, are deep-rooted in these early philosophical concepts.
