Current definition of psychology: the science of behavior and mental processes

The Modern Synthesis of Psychological Thought

Today's psychology builds on the work of many scientists and the schools of thought that preceded it throughout history.

This important evolution has allowed the discipline to encompass both the study of observable behavior and the analysis of internal thoughts and feelings.

As a result of this complete integration, we now define psychology in a much more comprehensive way than did earlier schools of thought.

The current definition, accepted by most experts, states that psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes.

To fully understand this definition, we need to break down each of its two fundamental parts, which are behavior and mental processes.

Behavior: Everything We Can Observe and Record

The first pillar of this modern definition is behavior, which refers to anything that an organism makes in its interaction with the world.

Behavior is, therefore, any action that we can observe directly and that, in addition, we can record for later scientific analysis.

Some very clear examples of these observable behaviors are actions such as shouting, smiling, blinking, sweating or even the simple act of speaking.

This strong focus on the observable is the valuable legacy left to us by the behaviorist school, which insisted on basing psychology on empirically verifiable data.

Mental Processes: Internal and Subjective Experience

The second pillar of the definition is mental processes, which are all those internal and subjective experiences that occur only within each one of us.

Unlike behavior, we cannot directly observe mental processes, so we must infer them from the behavior that we can see.

These internal processes include a wide range of experiences, such as our sensations, our perceptions, dreams, thoughts and also our beliefs.

Feelings, which are such a large part of our lives and influence us so much, are also considered a mental process studied by psychology.

The Integration of Mind and Behavior as a Complete View

The modern definition is powerful because it finally integrates the two major streams of psychology: the outward-looking and the inward-looking.

Mind and behavior are no longer seen as two completely separate entities, but as two interconnected aspects of the same human reality.

Behavior is understood to be often the outward manifestation of internal mental processes, and these processes are in turn influenced by our actions.

This comprehensive view allows us to have a much more complete and nuanced understanding of why we think, feel, and act the way we do.