The history of the General and ethnic psychology Department is associated with the personality of academician Tolegen Tazhibayev (1910-1964) who was the rector of the Kazakh National University from 1948 to 1954 and being a Doctor of Psychology, at the same time he headed the Department of Psychology and Pedagogics. In 1947 at the Department of psychology and logic at the faculty of Philology of al-Farabi Kazakh National University was first started training of national specialists in psychology. The Department was opened by Tazhibaev in accordance with the resolution of the VKPb Central Committee in 1946 on compulsory teaching of logic and psychology in all schools of the Soviet Union.

During its existence (1947-1954), the Department has trained and released for the Republic more than 100 specialists in psychology. Subsequently, due to the fact that these subjects were excluded from the curriculum of secondary education, some of the Department graduates worked in the departments of psychology and pedagogy in higher and secondary special educational institutions as teachers of psychology, and the other part began to specialize in teaching pedagogy, marking the beginning of the Kazakhstan pedagogical scientific formation school.

In 1980 the Department of psychology was separated from the Department of pedagogics and psychology and became an independent Department. K.B. Zharikbaev became the first head of Department of psychology.

In 1988 KazGU named after S M. Kirov for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan psychological science started training of specialists with basic psychological education. The Department of psychology at the University was organized on the basis of the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics in 1988.

In 1991 the Kazakh branch was opened. The first graduates of the Kazakh branch are J. Seytnur and E.K. Kalymbetova. They currently work at the Department of General and Applied Psychology as assistant professors. Both are candidates of psychological sciences. E.K. Kalymbetova works as deputy dean for educational work at the faculty of Philosophy and Political Science of KazNU. She was the first graduate psychologist of the University who in 2005 defended her thesis «Professional adaptation and formation of professionally important value orientations».

In the future, the graduates of the Department of psychology S.K. Kudaybergenova, A.T. Sadykova, A.M. Boltayeva, candidates of psychological sciences K.E. Baybekova, S.M. Rusinova, F.S. Tashimova, M.P. Kabakova, J.A. Smirnova, at different times came to the Department, provided a variety of educational and methodological training for psychology students of the Kazakh branch.

In 1992, at the Department of psychology firstly in Kazakhstan the laboratory of experimental psychology and workshops was opened. It was headed by Professor A. S. Nuradinov and then professor B.K. Ketebaev. This laboratory provided significant support to the educational process of the Department of psychology conducting the psychological disciplines of applied orientation, various psychological and educational trainings. Also, the laboratory participated in the implementation of complex scientific researches carried out by members of the Department of psychology. Unfortunately, it was not possible to realize the full potential of this laboratory because it was closed as a result of the reorganization that was conducted at the university in 1994 Nevertheless, the experience of the laboratory of experimental psychology and workshops has been preserved and can be fruitfully used in the current conditions.

The first issue of professional psychologists in the Kazakh University Department of psychology was held in 1993.

Since 1996 the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University adopted a multi-level system of training psychologists: undergraduate and graduate. At the same time, the five-year education system continued to operate. In 1998 first masters of psychology was graduated. For these specialties, the Department of psychology has developed a new standard of SES, standard curricula and programs.

In 2000, the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science was divided into two separate departments. The Department of Ethnic and Pedagogical Psychology was headed by Doctor of Psychology, Professor S.M. Jakupov. The Department of General Psychology was headed by the Doctor of Psychology, Professor N.A. Loginova. In May 2009, by the decision of the University Academic Council, two Departments were again merged into one Department of General and Ethnic Psychology.

The joint chair was headed by Doctor of Psychology, Professor S.M. Jakupov. He became the first doctor of psychological sciences of sovereign Kazakhstan. As the results of the thesis «Psychological structure of the learning process» defense in the Moscow Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education in 1999, he was awarded scientific degree of Doctor of science simultaneously in two specialties: 19.00.01 - General psychology and 19.00.07 - Pedagogical psychology. He is the author of more than 300 scientific works, including 3 monographs, 18 textbooks and about 30 teaching books. He trained five doctors of psychology.

In 2002 in the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University through the efforts of the Department of Ethnic and Pedagogical Psychology was created the first in the history of Kazakhstan specialized dissertation Council for the defense of doctoral dissertations on psychology D14A.02.32. The first chairman of this council becomes Professor S.M. Jakupov, who two convocations in a row led his work. During this period the work of the council 3 doctoral dissertations were defended by the faculty of KazNU (A.M. Kim, K.B. Zharikbayev and S.K. Berdibayeva) and about 40 candidate's dissertations by applicants from different parts of the country, specializing in general psychology, personality psychology, history of psychology and ethnopsychology and specializing in pedagogical psychology. In the psychological sciences nomenclature of specialties at the request of the chairman for the first time in the history of science was introduced a new specialty – ethnopsychology, with the assignment of the code 19.00.01.

In 2014, the Department was renamed in the Department of General and Applied Psychology. From 2016 the Department is headed by the corresponding member of NAEN RK, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, full member of OPPL, KAPK, a specialist in the field of art therapy and cognitive psychotherapy Madalieva Zabira Bekeshovna.