Definition of Psychology

Psychology is a branch of science that studies behavior and mental processes. In fact, anything a person does can be included in this definition. Behavior is anything a person does that can be measured in any way. Mental processes refer to internal phenomena such as thinking, remembering, and feeling. In other words, psychologists are not just visible behaviors such as talking or moving; It also studies behaviors that can be measured abstractly but indirectly, such as emotions, perceptions, dreams, motivation, and attitudes. Behaviors and mental processes can be as simple as just blinking an eye or as complex as solving the toughest math problems. Therefore, even the biological activities that people do, think, feel, and even maintain their bodily functions are within the scope of the science of psychology.

It’s not just psychologists who try to understand human behavior. In daily life, we all try to understand what others (and even ourselves) do, why and how, and the relationships between emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Philosophers, artists, men of letters have asked similar questions to those asked by psychologists throughout history. However, psychology is a science and it uses scientific methods based on systematic, objective and empirical data to seek answers to these questions.

Thus it is not subjective, intuitive or random; produces objective, verifiable and generalizable answers.

Psychologists try not only to describe but also to predict (predict) and explain people’s behavioral and mental processes. In fact, the information obtained at the end of these scientific studies is used to solve the problems of individuals and social groups, to enable them to acquire new behaviors, to help them get rid of the behaviors they see as problematic, in short, to enable them to live a better life.