Monday 13 August 2012

What is Psychology

What is Psychology?



Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functionsand behaviors. Psychology has the immediate goal of understanding individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases,and by many accounts it ultimately aims to benefit society. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called apsychologist, and can be classified as a social, behavioral, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie certain cognitive functions and behaviors.
Psychologists explore concepts such as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, phenomenology,motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Psychologists of diverse stripes also consider the unconscious mind.[7] Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition, or inopposition, to employing empirical and deductive methods, some—especially clinical and counselingpsychologists—at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques. Psychology has been described as a "hub science",[8] with psychological findings linking to research and perspectives from the social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and the humanities, such asphilosophy.
While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental healthproblems, it is also directed towards understanding and solving problems in many different spheres ofhuman activity. The majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical, counseling, or school settings. Many do scientific research on a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior, and typically work in university psychology departments or teach in other academic settings. Some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, or in other areas[9] such as human development and aging, sports, health, and the media, as well as in forensic analysis and other aspects oflaw.




No comments:

Post a Comment