General Psychology

General psychology covers the discipline's overarching history, systems, and foundational concepts that cut across its specialized branches.

Scope

It includes the history and systems of psychology, general theory, and the broad principles of mind and behaviour shared across subfields.

Sub-topics

• History & Systems

Core questions

• What are the foundational questions of psychology?
• How did the major schools of psychology develop?
• What unifies psychology as a discipline?
• How is the mind related to behaviour and the brain?

Key concepts

• History and systems
• Consciousness
• Schools of psychology
• Mind-body problem

Key theories

Experimental foundations

Wundt founded experimental psychology as the science of immediate experience.

Functional psychology

James framed enduring problems of consciousness, habit, emotion, and self.

History

General psychology traces the discipline from Wundt's and James's foundations through the successive dominance of structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviourism, and the cognitive and neuroscientific eras.

Debates

What should psychology study?

The object of psychology has shifted between consciousness, behaviour, and cognition across its history.

Key figures

• Wilhelm Wundt
• William James

Seminal works

• wundt-1874
• james-1890

Frequently asked questions

What is general psychology?

The branch covering the history, systems, and foundational concepts shared across all areas of psychology.