“Once you start making the effort to ‘wake yourself up—that is, be more mindful in your activities—you suddenly start appreciating life a lot more.” –Robert Biswas-Diener
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychologists are actively involved in studying and understanding mental processes, brain functions, and behavior. The field of psychology is considered a "Hub Science" with strong connections to the medical sciences, social sciences, and education . It encompasses the biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors that affect how people think and feel.
Some of the important areas or branches of psychology are..
Abnormal psychology is the study of abnormal behavior and psychopathology.
Biological psychology (biopsychology) studies how biological processes influence the mind and behavior. This area is closely linked to neuroscience and utilizes tools such as MRI and PET scans to look at brain injury or brain abnormalities.
- Clinical psychology is focused on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders.
- Cognitive psychology is the study of human thought processes including attention, memory, perception, decision-making, problem-solving, and language acquisition.
- Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior.
- Developmental psychology is an area that looks at human growth and development over the lifespan including cognitive abilities, morality, social functioning, identity, and other life areas.
- Forensic psychology is an applied field focused on using psychological research and principles in the legal and criminal justice system.
- Industrial-organizational psychology is a field that uses psychological research to enhance work performance and select employees.
- Personality psychology focuses on understanding how personality develops as well as the patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and characteristics that make each individual unique.
- Social psychology focuses on group behavior, social influences on individual behavior, attitudes, prejudice, conformity, aggression, and related topics.