What is Psychology? — Psychology STD 11 Humanities — Question
CBSE BoardEnglish MediumSTD 11 HumanitiesPsychologyWhat is Psychology?5 Marks
Question
Define Psychology and explain different fields or scope of psychology.
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Answer
PSYCHOLOGY:
According to Morgan (1986) Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviours. It includes the application of this science to human problems. The purpose is to understand behaviour, to explain behaviour, predict and control behaviour.
Contemporary psychology is made up of many specialized sub-fields, each with its specific subject matter, theories and methods.
BRANCHES/ FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY:
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY:
It investigates mental processes involved in acquisition, storage, manipulation and transformation of information received from the environment along with its use and communications.
The major cognitive processes are attention, perception, memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision-making and language.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY:
It studies biological processes in order to establish link between these processes and behaviour.
It studies physical system including brain, nervous system, the immune system and genetics.
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY has emerged as a field of research where psychologists collaborate with neuro scientists and study the role of neurotransmitters in associated mental function.
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:
It studies the physical, social and psychological changes that occur at different ages and stages over a life span.
It studies the individual from conception [the time when mother conceives the child) till death.
It studies how biological inheritance and particular experiences influences psychological characteristics such as intelligence, morality, temper etc.
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY:
Social psychology attempts to understand the nature and causes of individual behaviour and thought in social situations.
It studies individual as social beings. - It studies the effect of society and culture on individual behaviour and vice versa.
It also studies group behaviour and interpersonal relations.
Social psychologists are interested in such topics as attitudes, conformity, obedience, interpersonal attraction, helpful behaviour, prejudice, aggression, social motivation etc.
CROSS-CULTURAL AND CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY:
It examines the role of culture in understanding behaviour, thoughts and emotions.
It assumes that human behaviour is also a product of culture along with heredity.
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:
This field focuses on the interaction between the physical world and human behaviour.
Environmental stressors like noise, heat, pollution, crowding and their effects are studied.
The influence of physical arrangement of the workplace on health, the emotional state and interpersonal relations are also investigated.
In recent years, disposal of waste, alteration in climate, nuclear energy, population explosion etc are becoming serious.
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY:
This field explores the relationship between body and mind.
Areas of interest for health psychologists are stress and coping.
Health psychology focuses on the role of psychological factors (For example stress, anxiety) in the development, prevention and treatment of illness.
They also try to understand the psychological strategies for coping with illness.
CLINICAL AND COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY:
Clinical psychology deals with causes, treatment and prevention of psychological disorders.
Counselling psychologists provide advice and help in everyday functioning and problems of people. They deal with less serious problems.
Clinical psychologists sometimes work closely with psychiatry in treatment, prevention and diagnosis; unlike psychiatrist they can't prescribe medicines.
INDUSTRIAL/ ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:
This field applies the principles of psychology to work place.
It deals with work place behaviour focusing on both the employer and employees.
It is concerned with issues such as leadership, employee motivation, conflict management, group processes and organization change.
Industrial psychologists also train employees and develop criteria for selection.
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:
This field is concerned with all the aspects of learning process.
Educational psychologists work with individual child also to evaluate learning and emotional problems.
This field also lays emphasis on revolutionising the education system; teacher training, methods of teaching etc. are covered in this area.
A related field SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY focuses on designing programme that promotes intellectual, social and emotional development of children, including the special children.
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY: Sports psychology applies psychological principles to improve sports' performance by enhancing the motivation of players and team.
OTHER BRANCHES: Apart from these there are many other important areas of psychology which help people in different ways.
For example: forensic psychology, ecological psychology, space psychology and so on.
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