Any study of the history of psychology must first determine what is to be considered psychology, whether to stick to the relatively continuous Western tradition or to include others (e.g., Eastern, Oriental), and whether to investigate the impact of the socio-cultural events of the time on the views of that period or consider those views in a vacuum. The dominate text in the field, Boring's "A History of Experimental Psychology," tends to focus on events leading to the introduction of the experimental method and on the events leading to the development of Boring's teacher's views. Other histories also tend to be internal histories and do not venture far into other disciplines or pre-18th century viewpoints on the mind and mental activity. Western psychology can be divided into three main phases. Phase 1 starts with Aristotle, runs through the 16th century, and is dominated by Aristotle and reactions to his writings--what could be termed theoretical psychology. Phase 2 covers the 17th century through the late 18th century. This period of mental philosophy is typified by debate between the rationalists and the empiricists, which is reflected in our time by the debate over innate versus learned behavior and thought. Phase 3 is the result of the introduction of the experimental into the study of the subject matter of phase 2, which led to structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism. A chart showing the relationship among areas of psychology with time periods, and areas of psychology with schools of psychology is included. (PPB)