Psychology in the non-colloquial sense refers to disciplined knowledge. It is the systematic investigation of the psyche. That is one definition. It is not undisputed. Other psychologists prefer to define psychology as the science of behaviour. That is another definition. Not everyone agrees with it. And still others refer to psychology as the study of experience.

All of these definitions – psyche, behaviour, experience – refer to different phenomena. There is actually no universally agreed-upon definition of psychology.

What might be less controversial is the notion that modern disciplinary psychology is found in texts, transmitted through lectures, conferences, journal articles, books, letters, magazines, and, increasingly, virtually through digital media. In that case, if Lionel Nicholas (2014) is to be believed, African psychology born in South Africa can be traced to the late nineteenth century.