Psychology has been defined in many different ways. The early psychologist defined their field as "the study of mental activity" with the development of behaviourism at the beginning of this century and its concern for standing only those phenomena that could be objectively measured, psychology was refined as the study of behaviour. This definition usually included the investigation of animal as well as human behaviour on the assumptions that (1) information from experiments with animals could be generalised to the human organism and (ii) animal behaviour was of interest in its own right. From 1930s through the 1960s most psychology textbooks used this definition. For our purposes. we will define psychology as the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. This definition reflects psychology's concern with an objective study of observable behaviour.
It also recognizes the importance of understanding mental processes that can not be directly observed but must be inferred from behavioural and neurobiological data. But we need not dwell on a definition. From practical view point, we can get a better idea of what psychology is from working at what psychologists do.
William James (1890) defined psychology as the science of mental life, both of its phenomena and of their conditions. The phenomena are such things as we call feelings, desires, cognitions. reasonings, decisions, and the like.
Kenneth Clerk and George Miler (1970) defined psychology as the scientific study of behaviour. Its subject matter includes behavioural processes that are observable such as gestures, speech and psychological changes and processes that can only be inferred as thoughts and dreams.
Richard Mayer (1981) defined psychology as scientific analysis of human mental processes and memory structures in order to understand human behaviour.
Fields of Psychology
About half the people who have advanced degrees in psychology work in Colleges, and Universities, although teaching is not always the primary activity. They may devote much of their time to research or counselling. Others work in public schools. in hospitals or clinic in research institutes, in government agencies, or in business and industry. Yet others are in private practice and offer their services to the public for a free. They represent a relatively small but growing fraction of the field. Some of the fields of specialization in psychology are experimental, physiological, developmental, social personality, clinical and counselling.
Experimental Psychology
The term experimental is really a misnomer because psychologists in other areas of specialization carry out experiments too. But this category usually consists of those psychologists who use experimental methods to study how people react to sensory stimuli perceive the world, learn and remember, respond emotionally, and are motivated to action whether by hunger or the desire to succeed in life. Experimental psychologists also work with animals. Sometimes they attempt to relate animal and human behaviour, sometimes they study animals in order to compare the behaviour of different species.
Physiological Psychology:
This branch of psychology seek to discover the relationship between biological processes and behaviour. How do sex hormones influence behaviour? What area of the brain controls speech? How do drugs like marijuana and LSD affect personality and memory?
Development Psychology:
Developmental psychologists are concerned with human growth and the factors that shape behaviour from birth to old age. They might study a specific ability, such as how lungunge develops and changes in the growing child or a particular period of life, such as infancy, the pre-school years or adolescence.
Social Psychology:
Social psychologists are interested in the ways that interactions with other people influence attitudes and behaviour. They are concerned also with the behaviour of groups. Social psychologists are perhaps best known for their work in public opinion surveys and in market research. Survey are widely used by newspapers, magazines. radio. 1 V networks and government agencies such as the Bureau of the Census. Social psychologists investigate such topics as propaganda and persuasion, conformity and inter-group conflict.
Clinical Psychology:
The greatest number of psychologists are engaged in clinical psychology, the application of psychological principles to the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural problems. mental illness, juvenile delinquency, criminal behaviour, drug addition, mental retardation, marital and family conflict. and other less serious adjustment problems. Clinical psychologists may work in mental hospitals, juvenile courts, Probation offices, mental health clinic, institution for mentally retarded, prisons or university medical schools. They may al practice privately. Often in association with other professionals, their affiliations with the medical profession especially psychiatry, are close.
Counseling Psychology:
Counseling psychologists serve many of the same functions as clinical psychologists althou the usual deal with less serious problems. They often work w high school or university students providing help with problem of social adjustment and vocational and educational goal together. clinical and counselling psychologists account for about 55 percent of all psychologists in United State.
Educational Psychology:
Educational psychologists are specialists in learning and teaching. They may work in the schools but more often are employed by a university's school of education where they do research on teaching methods and help train teachers and school psychologists.
School Psychology:
The elementary schools provide a wide range of opportunities for psychologists. Because the beginnings of serious emotional problems often appear in the early graves. Many elementary schools employ psychologists whose training combines courses in child development. These school psychologists work with individual children to evaluate learning and emotional problems, administering and interpreting intelligence, achievement, and personality tests is part of their job. In consultation with parents and teachers They also provide a valuable resource for teachers, they plan ways of helping the child both in the classroom and in the home. They can also offer suggestion for coping with classroom problems.
Industrial Psychology:
Industrial psychologists (sometimes called organizational psychologists) may work for a particular company or as consultants for a number of business organizations. They are concerned with such problems as selecting people most suitable for a particular job, developing job training programme and participating in management decisions that involve the morale and welfare of employees.
Engineering Psychologist: engineering psychologist seek to make the relationship between people and machines as satisfactory as possible B to design machine so that human errors are minimized for example, engineering psychologists were involve in developing space capsules in which astronauts could live and function effectively. Designing underwater habitats for oceanographic research and developing artificial limbs and other prosthetic devices for handicapped individuals are other examples of their work.
Developmental psychologists are concerned with human growth and the factors that shape behaviour from birth to old age. They might study a specific ability, such as how lungunge develops and changes in the growing child or a particular period of life, such as infancy, the pre-school years or adolescence.
Social Psychology:
Social psychologists are interested in the ways that interactions with other people influence attitudes and behaviour. They are concerned also with the behaviour of groups. Social psychologists are perhaps best known for their work in public opinion surveys and in market research. Survey are widely used by newspapers, magazines. radio. 1 V networks and government agencies such as the Bureau of the Census. Social psychologists investigate such topics as propaganda and persuasion, conformity and inter-group conflict.
Clinical Psychology:
The greatest number of psychologists are engaged in clinical psychology, the application of psychological principles to the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural problems. mental illness, juvenile delinquency, criminal behaviour, drug addition, mental retardation, marital and family conflict. and other less serious adjustment problems. Clinical psychologists may work in mental hospitals, juvenile courts, Probation offices, mental health clinic, institution for mentally retarded, prisons or university medical schools. They may al practice privately. Often in association with other professionals, their affiliations with the medical profession especially psychiatry, are close.
Counseling Psychology:
Counseling psychologists serve many of the same functions as clinical psychologists althou the usual deal with less serious problems. They often work w high school or university students providing help with problem of social adjustment and vocational and educational goal together. clinical and counselling psychologists account for about 55 percent of all psychologists in United State.
Educational Psychology:
Educational psychologists are specialists in learning and teaching. They may work in the schools but more often are employed by a university's school of education where they do research on teaching methods and help train teachers and school psychologists.
School Psychology:
The elementary schools provide a wide range of opportunities for psychologists. Because the beginnings of serious emotional problems often appear in the early graves. Many elementary schools employ psychologists whose training combines courses in child development. These school psychologists work with individual children to evaluate learning and emotional problems, administering and interpreting intelligence, achievement, and personality tests is part of their job. In consultation with parents and teachers They also provide a valuable resource for teachers, they plan ways of helping the child both in the classroom and in the home. They can also offer suggestion for coping with classroom problems.
Industrial Psychology:
Industrial psychologists (sometimes called organizational psychologists) may work for a particular company or as consultants for a number of business organizations. They are concerned with such problems as selecting people most suitable for a particular job, developing job training programme and participating in management decisions that involve the morale and welfare of employees.
Engineering Psychologist: engineering psychologist seek to make the relationship between people and machines as satisfactory as possible B to design machine so that human errors are minimized for example, engineering psychologists were involve in developing space capsules in which astronauts could live and function effectively. Designing underwater habitats for oceanographic research and developing artificial limbs and other prosthetic devices for handicapped individuals are other examples of their work.
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