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.