1. the everyday, commonsense, implicit knowledge that enables the prediction or explanation of the behavior of others (and of oneself) by reference to the mental states involved. Although such an understanding is accepted in much of social and personality psychology, there are those who view it as illusory or mythological and hold its tenets unworthy of scientific consideration. In eliminativism, the term folk psychology is used pejoratively for any explanatory language that refers to mental states, such as beliefs and intentions, rather than to biological states. See also commonsense psychology; popular psychology.

2. an obsolete name for a branch of psychology that deals with the influence of specific cultural experiences (e.g., legends, religious rituals, indigenous healing practices) on human behavior and psychological constructs. It is essentially equivalent to modern cross-cultural psychology.

3. a branch of the psychological system of Wilhelm Wundt, who believed that an understanding of higher mental processes could be deduced from the study of such cultural products as language, history, myths, art, government, and customs. As such, it is the historical predecessor to modern multicultural psychology.