Modern Human Psychology

Human psychology is one of the most complex and challenging fields of study. It is the study of the mind and behavior. Anyone with the slightest degree of experience in dealing with human beings knows them to be complex, contradictory, and confusing in terms of their behavior. Human psychology is the academic discipline that seeks to understand this behavior and its underlying principles.

The foundations of human psychology are as old as humanity itself. Many of the ancient Greek philosophers, especially Thales, Plato, and Aristotle, sought to understand the workings of the human mind. The ancient Chinese had their philosophical attempts to penetrate the recesses of human behavior, including Laozi and Confucius, whose major works are exercises in proper attitude and behavior.

Modern human psychology dates to the 19th century, when numerous theorists, even before Freud, began using the scientific method to experiment on behavior and the mind. William James founded the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892. Many college students may be familiar with the APA through their writing and citation style for research papers. It can be argued that following APA guidelines when writing a research paper is an example of human psychology. Is the student simply following direction? Or does the student have a preference for the specific requirements? Such questions are all wrapped up in the complexity of human psychology.