This is from speculations and musings arising from an epiphany I had while revising human mental development through the ages. We often say that the difference between humans and animals is the intellect. This intellect is best expressed as the capacity to be aware/conscious of awareness/consciousness. This is in contrast to animals which are just aware/conscious of objects/subjects.

Another factor I suspected was the relation between the level of development of animals in relation to humans especially those in close proximity to them (domestic or wild but not dangerous). My hypothesis is the animals' mental capabilities can reach as far as a level beneath those of the humans - generally speaking.

Before the unfoldment of intellect in our mental capacities, we (humans) could be said to have been aware/conscious of objects/subjects just like animals are now. This is because we were more attuned to survival needs than social and our corresponding energies were directed towards those achievements. Later on, when society became a key factor of our lives, communication became a prime factor since our livelihoods and even survival depended on the societies we belonged to and on our participation in those societies. So, from this need, we directed our mental energies towards our abilities to communicate which corresponded to the capacity to be aware/conscious of our mental links. This is because communication is about linking, and the first stage of communication is our inner monologues. So, by being aware of our communicative faculties, it translated directly to being aware of all the mental capacities related to them. This means that by and by we unfolded/developed the ability we call intellect - fundamentally, being aware of our mental communicative states.

Now, as for animals, all their activities are based on instincts provided for by nature/natural means. However, human influence is such that they shape the environments thus altering or re-organising the patterns of nature. Because of this, animals are forced to adjust/adapt to those new conditions. And the less dangerous the animals are, the closer they are allowed to human proximity and, consequently, the more they are impacted by human influences.
Since the primary human influence on animals is on their behavioural patterns, such patterns which determine the survival of the animals and which are honed from the primary instincts which they are imbued with, it becomes possible that human influence can modify those animal instincts. By adjusting/adapting their patterns, animals learn to modify their awareness/consciousness because they engage in learning new ways of survival. Also, humans change a lot faster and, from the point of view of the animals, they are more erratic which, in turn, keeps the animals in their vicinity more alert and active in terms of awareness/consciousness.

Fast forward to today and we have domestic animals (cats & dogs) which participate in prayer before they have their meals (check youtube). These domestic animals may even know how to use toilets and flash afterwards. We have monkeys which can play chess, smoke cigarettes, manifest low level analytical capabilities, etc, etc. And all that because of human influence. So, in the same way we are curious about awareness/consciousness and as we attempt to investigate more about it, we inadvertently accelerate all the auxiliary components in functionality, not only in our individual selves but also in those we interact with.

So, what impact does psychology have on our development/evolution? To this I would begin by saying that psychology made popular the phrase 'mind over matter'. And that is at its initial stages. Currently, we're beginning to witness people who have attained mastery over minds, not just their bodies. We have people who, through methods such as meditation can induce such intense mental states that they precipitate into their physical function. For example, someone who goes for a month without food, someone who lowers their heartbeat, temperature, electric conductivity, etc, etc, to such levels that are considered impossible or life-threatening under normal circumstances. In short, mastery over mind is different from mind over matter because the latter is the discipline of the body e.g. physical exercises, while the former approximates to 'will over mind' and it takes a knowledge of psychology (not necessarily textbook knowledge) to enact it.

While intellect is about awareness/consciousness of itself in ourselves, I would venture to propose that psychology provides the mastery of that awareness/consciousness through developing understanding. Therefore, it is probable that the next stage of human development will be characterised by a natural influence over our mental capacities. So, for those future humans, life would not be a 'theatre of mind' situation, predominated by capacity to think/reason, like with us, and perhaps it will be characterised by manifestation of will power and the capacity to unfold it beyond the activities of basic physiology.

Basically, through psychology we can alter physiological instincts by creating new consciously developed patterns. Does that make sense?