S TR E AM O F T H O U GH T I N SA L E^11(^1 ) Th e influenc e of bo dily c ondi tion s up on
t h e mind cam e to b e more cl ea rly rec ognize d ;
a n d (^2 ) th e meth ods use d in th e oth er rapidly
devel opin g scienc es we re timidly applie d.
Ma ny o f th e se m eth ods wo rked, partic ul a rly
tho se use d i n th e investiga tion o f animal be
h avi o r. As a re sult, p sych ol ogy c am e to b e
defi ne d a s th e “ scienc e o f c on sc io usne ss a nd
b eh avi or. ” ( S ome ext remist s h ave gon e so
far a s to l eave o ut th e word c on sci ousne ss a n d
call i t th e “ scienc e o f Th is defini
tion, th o ugh no t vitally obj ec ti onabl e to m os t
p sych ol ogi st s o f to - day, neverth ele ss ca rri es
som e undesirabl e implica ti ons. Ac c ordingly
w e shal l a dop t a sligh tly differen t w ording :
“ th e scie nc e which aim s to d esc ribe a n d e x
plai n th e c ond uc t of living c rea t ure s. ”
Afte r thi s b rief historical ré sumé th e rea de r
may understan d why i n th e pop ul a r min d
psych ol o gy c ontinue s to be identifie d wi th
mystical , ab s tract, a nd eth e real th ings. H e
may al so se e th a t th e real p rogre ss of th e
sci enc e h a s bee n away from mysticism ; th a t
t od ay it i s j ust a s m a t te r-o f fac t a n d “ e arthly”
a s th e scie nces o f physi cs, geo graphy, a n d
ast ro n omy. Thi s kinship with th e o th er
scienc es will b e sh own m ore cl e a rly i n o ur
ne xt p a ragr aph wh ere w e sh all disc us s th e