Psychology has a long past but a short history What do you think this means?

I think the person who answered before was on the right track, but I'd like to point out that psychology was a concept for a long while, but only as a formal study for a short, recent time. It was introduced by an experimentalist named Hermann Ebbinghaus.

original answer:

Psychology has been around as a concept for a long time, but only because a science within the past few centuries. The general concept is the past, psychology as a science is the history.