Metapsychology
Metapsychology
Umbrella term used to describe the attempt to establish general principles to explain all psychological phenomena.
Metapsychology describes the effort to construct or to postulate a systematic and comprehensive set of general principles encompassing all of psychology, specifically including elements that are theoretical in addition to elements that are considered to have been empirically demonstrated; also known as nomothetic psychology. In classical Freudian psychoanalytical theory, the term metapsychology is used in reference to the analysis of the dynamic (instinctive), topological (association with id , ego , or superego ), and economic (allocation of psychic energy) aspects of mental processes. The term metapsychology is sometimes used as a synonym of the term parapsychology . Parapsychology is a field of study that involves the investigation of paranormal phenomena, such as extrasensory perception , precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, and telekinesis, that are (presumably) not explainable in terms of scientifically established principles or natural laws.