The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology

In her introduction, Bonnie R. Strickland presents psychology as a broad and rapidly developing discipline concerned with understanding human behavior, cognition, emotion, development, interpersonal relationships, and mental processes. She traces the discipline’s development from nineteenth-century experimental psychology, particularly the work of Wilhelm Wundt and the emergence of psychological laboratories, through the growth of clinical, counseling, educational, social, and applied psychology during the twentieth century. 

The introduction also emphasizes the longstanding relationship—and at times tension—between psychological science and clinical practice. Historical developments discussed include early intelligence testing, psychoanalysis, the professionalization of psychological practice, wartime applications of psychology, the emergence of clinical training standards, and the continuing expansion of psychology into social policy, health, education, and behavioral science. The encyclopedia is therefore intended not simply as a dictionary of terminology but as an entry point into psychology as both a scientific discipline and an applied profession.