Psychology is defined as the science that deals with emotional and mental processes.
(noun)An example of psychology is the course of study that someone takes to become a therapist.
Psychology is the summary of a person's characteristics including how they think, feel or behave.
(noun)An example of psychology is the behavior of teenagers.
See psychology in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun pl. psychologies
Origin: ModL psychologia: see psycho- & -logy
See psychology in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun pl. psy·chol·o·gies
See psychology in Ologies
Psychology
See also attitudes; behavior; dreams; insanity; manias; moods; phile, -philia, -phily; phobias.
the study or treatment of mental diseases, especially in their relation to legal problems. —alienist, n.
ambitendency
the simultaneous presence in one person of positive and negative feelings towards a person, object, etc.; coexistence of mixed feelings.
automorphism
the projection of one’s own characteristics onto another person. —automorphic, adj.
the theory or doctrine that observed behavior provides the only valid data of psychology. —behaviorist, n., adj. —behavioristic, adj.
the state of being sexually responsive or attracted to members of both sexes. See also body, human. —bisexual, adj.
Gestalt Psychology. the basic precept that psychological phenomena are the result of gestalts functioning separately or in relation to one another, as contrasted with individual elements, such as reflexes or sensations. —configurationist, n., —configurational, configurative, adj.
corybantism
Medicine. a frenzied, sleepless delirium accompanied by wild and frightening hallucinations. Also corybantiasm.
Couéism
a method of self-help stressing autosuggestion, introduced into America by the French psychotherapist Emile Coué c. 1920 and featuring the slogan “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.”
the innate ability to be clairvoyant, as in parapsychological experiments. —cryptesthetic, adj.
a mode of thinking directed away from reality and toward fantasy without cognizance of ordinary rules of logic. —dereistic, adj.
dyspathy
a condition characterized by a lack of sympathy or passion. —dyspathic, adj.
extreme anxiety and depression accompanied by obsession. —dysthymic, adj.
eidology
the study of mental imagery.
theory and practice of Sigmund Freud, especially in the area of neuroses, their causes and treatment. —Freudian, n., adj.
extreme or abnormal sensitivity, as to criticism. —hypersensitive, adj.
the process of producing a hypnotic condition or state of hypnosis. —hypnogenetic, adj.
the treatment of disease and illness by hypnosis. —hypnotherapist, n.
1. the science dealing with the induction of hypnosis, especially for therapeutic purposes.
2. the act of inducing hypnosis; hypnotizing.
3. hypnosis. —hypnotist, n. —hypnotistic, adj.
hyponoia, hyponea
a state of dulled mental activity or decrease in the function of thought. Also called hypopsychosis.
hypopsychosis
hyponoia.
a condition of extreme excitement characterized by emotional disturbance, sensory and motor derangement and sometimes the simulation of organic disorders. —hysterie, n. —hysteric, hysterical, adj.
hysterogeny
1. the process of inducing hysteria.
2. the onset of hysteria. —hysterogenic, adj.
the condition of one who is not a child acting abnormally childlike. —infantility, n. —infantilistic, adj.
introspectionism
the belief that psychology must be derived from introspective data. —introspectionist, n. —introspective, adj.
logotherapy
psychotherapy that tries to find for the patient the aim and meaning of his own life as a human being and does not stress the medical aspect of mental health.
1. a speculation dealing systematically with concepts extending beyond the present limits of psychology as an empirical science.
2. a conception in psychoanalytic theory of mental processes involving causal relations, structural placement, and functional value. —metapsychological, adj.
neolalia
the speech of a psychotic containing new combinations of words unknown to a hearer. See also speech.
any of a large variety of mental or psychic disorders, exhibiting a range of mental or physical symptoms, as anxiety, phobias, compulsions, and tics. —neurotic, n., adj.
a neurotic condition; psychoneurosis.
the process of correcting bodily or mental distortion. —orthotic, adj.
pansexualism
1. the pervasion of all conduct and experience with sexual emotions.
2. the theory that regards all desire and interest as derived from sex instinct. Also pansexuality. —pansexualist, n.
a reasoning disorder characterized by inappropriate responses to questions and illusiorial or delusional speech. —paralogical, adj.
the process whereby a person fails to complete his intention, as by the mislaying of objects, thought to be the result of a conflict between unconscious and conscious intention.
the branch of psychology that studies psychic phenomena, as telepathy, clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, and the like. —parapsychological, adj.
phrenography
the branch of psychology concerned with description and comparison. —phrenographic, adj.
mental or psychic pain.
the method developed by Freud and others for treating neuroses and some other disorders of the mind. —psychoanalyst, n. —psychoanalytic, psychoanalytical, adj.
the study of the relations or interrelations between body and mind, especially as exhibited in the nervous system. —psychobiologist, n. —psychobiologic, psychobiological, adj.
psychodiagnostics
1. the science or art of making a personality evaluation.
2. the diagnosis of a mental disorder. —psychodiagnostician, n. —psychodiagnostic, adj.
the systematic study of personality in terms of past and present experiences in relation to motivation. —psychodynamic, adj.
psychogony
a theory of the development of the mind. —psychogonic, psychogonical, adj.
an attack of mental inertia and hopelessness following a period of elation, especially in sufferers from neurosis. —psycholeptic, adj.
the theory that emphasizes psychological conceptions in other fields outside of psychology, as philosophy and history.
the science that studies the mind and mental processes, feelings, and desires. —psychologist, n. —psychologic, psychological, adj.
the measurement of mental traits, abilities, and processes. —psychometrist, n. —psychometric, adj.
1. the alleged ability to divine the characteristics of an object or a person connected with it by touching the object.
2. the determination of the duration and intensity of processes of the mind. —psychometer, n. —psychometric, psychometrical, adj.
Medicine. the science of the diseases of the mind. —psychopathologist, psychopathist, n. —psychopathologie, psychopathological, adj.
a mental disorder. —psychopath, n. —psychopathic, adj.
the study of drugs that effect emotional and mental States. —psychopharmacologic, psychopharmacological, adj.
psychophobia
an abnormal fear of the mind.
the branch of psychology that studies the relationships between physical stimuli and resulting sensations and mental states. —psychophysicist, n. —psychophysie, psychophysical, adj.
psychostatics
1. the study of the circumstances under which mental processes occur.
2. the theory that conscious states are made up of elements capable of separating and joining without loss of essential identity. —psychostatic, psychostatical, adj.
the science or method of treating psychological abnormalities and disorders by psychological techniques, especially by psychoanalysis, group therapy, or consultation. —psychotherapist, n. —psychotherapeutic, adj.
a mental condition marked by childish or infantile behavior. —puerility, n.
reactology
the scientific study of psychological reactions. —reactologist, n. —reactological, adj.
the study of behavior and its interpretation according to a concept that regards behavior as a combination of simple and complex reflexes. —reflexologist, n. —reflexological, adj.
a mild form of schizophrenia, characterized by withdrawal, inversion, etc. —schizothyme, n. —schizothymic, adj.
tachyphrenia
abnormally rapid mental activity.
a communication between minds by some nontechnological means other than sensory perception. —telepathist, n. —telepathic, adj.
the psychological phenomenon of a person identifying with the opposite sex, sometimes to the extent of undergoing surgery for change of sex. —transsexual, n., adj.
1. any abnormal condition, either pathological or psychological, caused by wound or injury, either physical or psychological.
2. the trauma, wound, or injury itself. —traumatic, adj.
a form of insanity or mental disorder in which the sufferer imagines that he is an animal. —zoanthropic, adj.
zoopsia
a form of hallucination in which the sufferer imagines he sees animals. Also called zooscopy.
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