A school of psychology based on the concept that an individual’s sense of wholeness is more valuable than a piecemeal approach to perception and behaviour. Founded in Germany early in the 20th century, the school’s practitioners regarded the whole as more than a sum of its parts. Aimed at resolving personal problems, the therapy increased subjects’ self-awareness of all aspects of themselves in their environment.
The scienti?c study of people: how they think, and how and why they act, react and interact as they do. It covers such matters as memory, rational and irrational thought, intelligence, learning, personality, perceptions and emotions. There are di?erent schools of psychology, varying both in attitude and in methods of working. The main groups consist of the introspectionist Freudian, Jungian and Adlerian schools, and the gestaltist, behaviourist and cognitive schools. Although many practical psychologists deny belonging to any speci?c school, contemporary psychology in general favours the cognitive schools, although many are sub-specialities based on practical considerations. (See also FREUDIAN THEORY; JUNGIAN ANALYSIS; ADLER; GESTALTISM; PSYCHOLOGIST.)... psychology
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