psychology

psy·chol·o·gy  (s-kl-j)

n. pl. psy·chol·o·gies

1. The science that deals with mental processes and behavior.

2. The emotional and behavioral characteristics of an individual, group, or activity: the psychology of war.

3. Subtle tactical action or argument used to manipulate or influence another: He used poor psychology on his employer when trying to make the point.

4. Philosophy The branch of metaphysics that studies the soul, the mind, and the relationship of life and mind to the functions of the body.

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psychology

Noun

pl -gies

1. the scientific study of all forms of human and animal behaviour

2. Informal the mental make-up of a person

psychologist n

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psychology  (s-kl-j)

1. The scientific study of mental processes and behavior.

2. The behavioral and cognitive characteristics of a specific individual, group, activity, or circumstance. Clinical psychology is the application of psychological knowledge to the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

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Psychology

See also attitudes; behavior; dreams; insanity; manias; moods; phile, -philia, -phily; phobias.

alienism

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.

behaviorism

the theory or doctrine that observed behavior provides the only valid data of psychology. — behaviorist, n., adj. — behavioristic, adj.

bisexualism, bisexuality

the state of being sexually responsive or attracted to members of both sexes. See also body, human. — bisexual, adj.

configurationism

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.”

cryptesthesia, cryptaesthesia

the innate ability to be clairvoyant, as in parapsychological experiments. — cryptesthetic, adj.

dereism

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.

dysthymia

extreme anxiety and depression accompanied by obsession. — dysthymic, adj.

eidology

the study of mental imagery.

Freudianism

theory and practice of Sigmund Freud, especially in the area of neuroses, their causes and treatment. — Freudian, n., adj.

hypersensitivity

extreme or abnormal sensitivity, as to criticism. — hypersensitive, adj.

hypnogenesis

the process of producing a hypnotic condition or state of hypnosis. — hypnogenetic, adj.

hypnotherapy

the treatment of disease and illness by hypnosis. — hypnotherapist, n.

hypnotism

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.

hysteria

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.

infantilism

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.

metapsychology

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.

neurosis

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.

neuroticism

a neurotic condition; psychoneurosis.

orthosis

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.

paralogia, paralogy

a reasoning disorder characterized by inappropriate responses to questions and illusiorial or delusional speech. — paralogical, adj.

parapraxis

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.

parapsychology

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.

psychalgia

mental or psychic pain.

psychoanalysis

the method developed by Freud and others for treating neuroses and some other disorders of the mind. — psychoanalyst, n. — psychoanalytic, psychoanalytical, adj.

psychobiology

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.

psychodynamics

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.

psycholepsy

an attack of mental inertia and hopelessness following a period of elation, especially in sufferers from neurosis. — psycholeptic, adj.

psychologism

the theory that emphasizes psychological conceptions in other fields outside of psychology, as philosophy and history.

psychology

the science that studies the mind and mental processes, feelings, and desires. — psychologist, n. — psychologic, psychological, adj.

psychometrics, psychometry

the measurement of mental traits, abilities, and processes. — psychometrist, n. — psychometric, adj.

psychopathology

Medicine. the science of the diseases of the mind. — psychopathologist, psychopathist, n. — psychopathologie, psychopathological, adj.

psychopathy

a mental disorder. — psychopath, n. — psychopathic, adj.

psychopharmacology

the study of drugs that effect emotional and mental States. — psychopharmacologic, psychopharmacological, adj.

psychophobia

an abnormal fear of the mind.

psychophysics

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.

psychotherapy

the science or method of treating psychological abnormalities and disorders by psychological techniques, especially by psychoanalysis, group therapy, or consultation. — psychotherapist, n. — psychotherapeutic, adj.

puerilism

a mental condition marked by childish or infantile behavior. — puerility, n.

reactology

the scientific study of psychological reactions. — reactologist, n. — reactological, adj.

reflexology

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.

schizothymia

a mild form of schizophrenia, characterized by withdrawal, inversion, etc. — schizothyme, n. — schizothymic, adj.

tachyphrenia

abnormally rapid mental activity.

telepathy

a communication between minds by some nontechnological means other than sensory perception. — telepathist, n. — telepathic, adj.

transsexualism, transsexuality

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.

traumatism

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.

zoanthropy

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.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

psychology - the science of mental life psychological science habit, use - (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition; "owls have nocturnal habits"; "she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair"; "long use had hardened him to it" rehearsal - (psychology) a form of practice; repetition of information (silently or aloud) in order to keep it in short-term memory inhibition, suppression - (psychology) the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires behaviour, behavior - (psychology) the aggregate of the responses or reactions or movements made by an organism in any situation extraversion, extroversion - (psychology) an extroverted disposition; concern with what is outside the self introversion - (psychology) an introverted disposition; concern with one's own thoughts and feelings ambiversion - (psychology) a balanced disposition intermediate between extroversion and introversion image, persona - (Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world; "a public image is as fragile as Humpty Dumpty" readiness, set - (psychology) being temporarily ready to respond in a particular way; "the subjects' set led them to solve problems the familiar way and to overlook the simpler solution"; "his instructions deliberately gave them the wrong set" anima - (Jungian psychology) the inner self (not the external persona) that is in touch with the unconscious double bind - (psychology) an unresolvable dilemma; situation in which a person receives contradictory messages from a person who is very powerful cognitive operation, cognitive process, mental process, process, operation - (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents; "the process of thinking"; "the cognitive operation of remembering" perceptual constancy, constancy - (psychology) the tendency for perceived objects to give rise to very similar perceptual experiences in spite of wide variations in the conditions of observation chunking, unitisation, unitization - (psychology) the configuration of smaller units of information into large coordinated units introjection - (psychology) unconscious internalization of aspects of the world (especially aspects of persons) within the self in such a way that the internalized representation takes over the psychological functions of the external objects stimulus generalisation, stimulus generalization, generalisation, generalization - (psychology) transfer of a response learned to one stimulus to a similar stimulus reinforcer, reinforcing stimulus, reinforcement - (psychology) a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behavior that produced it law of effect - (psychology) the principle that behaviors are selected by their consequences; behavior having good consequences tends to be repeated whereas behavior that leads to bad consequences is not repeated science, scientific discipline - a particular branch of scientific knowledge; "the science of genetics" abnormal psychology, psychopathology - the branch of psychology concerned with abnormal behavior association theory, associationism - (psychology) a theory that association is the basic principle of mental activity atomism - (psychology) a theory that reduces all mental phenomena to simple elements (sensations and feelings) that form complex ideas by association applied psychology, industrial psychology - any of several branches of psychology that seek to apply psychological principles to practical problems of education or industry or marketing etc. cognitive psychology - an approach to psychology that emphasizes internal mental processes animal psychology, comparative psychology - the branch of psychology concerned with the behavior of animals child psychology, developmental psychology, genetic psychology - the branch of psychology that studies the social and mental development of children differential psychology - the branch of psychology that studies measurable differences between individuals experimental psychology, psychonomics - the branch of psychology that uses experimental methods to study psychological issues functionalism - a psychology based on the assumption that all mental process are useful to an organism in adapting to the environment

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psychology

noun 1. behaviourism, study of personality, science of mind

noun 2. (Informal) way of thinking, attitude, behaviour, temperament, mentality, thought processes, mental processes, what makes you tick, mental make-up

Translations

psychology [saɪˈkɔlədʒɪ] n → psicología

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psychology [saɪˈkɔlədʒɪ] n → psychologie f

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psychology [saɪˈkɔlədʒɪ] n (science) → Psychologie f (= character); Psyche f

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psychology [saɪˈkɔlədʒɪ] n → psicologia