Fields of Psychology

An Overview of the Different Fields of Psychology

Psychology is a huge topic and conveying the depth and breadth of the subject can be difficult. As a result, a number of different fields of psychology have emerged to deal with specific subtopics within the study of the mind, brain and behavior. Most general and introductory psychology courses cover many of these fields of psychology. As you delve deeper into the subject, youll soon find courses offered in each individual field of psychology. Each field of psychology represents a specific area of study focused on a particular topic. Oftentimes, psychologists specialize in one of these areas as a career. The following are just some of the major fields of psychology. For many of these specialty areas, additional graduate study in that particular field is required.
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Abnormal Psychology: Abnormal psychology is a field of psychology that deals with psychopathology and abnormal behavior. The term covers a broad range of disorders, from depression to obsession-compulsion to sexual deviation and many more. Counselors, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists often work directly in this field.

Biopsychology: Biopsychology is a field of psychology that analyzes how the brain and neurotransmitters influence our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. This field can be thought of as a combination of basic psychology and neuroscience.

Clinical Psychology: Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness, abnormal behavior and psychiatric problems. y Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. y Comparative Psychology: Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior. Modern research on animal behavior began with the work of Charles Darwin and Georges Romanes and has continued to grow into a multidisciplinary subject. Today, biologists, psychologists, anthropologists, ecologists, geneticists and many others contribute to the study of animal behavior. y Counseling Psychology: Counseling psychology focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients who experience a wide variety of symptoms. It is also one of the largest specialty areas within psychology. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the field as " a psychological specialty [that] facilitates personal and

interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental and organizational concerns." y Developmental Psychology: This branch of psychology looks at development throughout the lifespan, from childhood to adulthood. The scientific study of human development seeks to understand and explain how and why people change throughout life. This includes all aspects of human growth, including physical, emotional, intellectual, social, perceptual and personality development. Topics studied in this field include everything from prenatal development to Alzheimer's disease. y ducational Psychology: Educational psychology involves the study of how people learn, including topics such as student outcomes, the instructional process, individual differences in learning, gifted learners and learning disabilities. y xperimental Psychology: Experimental psychology is an area of psychology that utilizes scientific methods to research the mind and behavior. Experimental psychologists work in a wide variety of settings including colleges, universities, research centers, government and private businesses. y Forensic Psychology: Forensic psychology is defined as the intersection of psychology and the law, but forensic psychologists can perform many roles so this definition can vary. In many cases, people working within forensic psychology are not necessarily "forensic psychologists." These individuals might be clinical psychologists, school psychologists, neurologists or counselors who lend their psychological expertise to provide testimony, analysis or recommendations in legal or criminal cases. y Health Psychology: The field of health psychology is focused on promoting health as well as the prevention and treatment of disease and illness. Health psychologists also focus on understanding how people react, cope and recover from illness. Some health psychologists work to improve the health care system and the government's approach to health care policy. y Human Factors Psychology: Human factors is an area of psychology that focuses on a range of different topics, including ergonomics, workplace safety, human error, product design, human capability and human-computer interaction. In fact, the terms human factors and ergonomics are often used synonymously, with human factors being commonly used in the United States and ergonomics in Europe. y Industrial-Organizational Psychology: Industrial organizational psychology is a field of psychology that applies psychological theories and principles to organizations. Often referred to as I/O psychology, this field focuses on increasing workplace productivity and related issues such as the physical and mental well being of employees. Industrial organizational psychologists perform a wide variety of tasks, including studying worker attitudes and behavior, evaluating companies and conducting leadership training. y Personality Psychology: Personality psychology looks at the patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behavior that make a person unique. Some of the best-known theories in psychology have originated in this field, including Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality and Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. y School Psychology: School psychology is a field that works within the educational system to help children with emotional, social and academic issues. The goal of school psychology is to collaborate with parents, teachers, and students to promote a healthy learning environment that focuses on the needs of children.

y Social Psychology: Social psychology looks at a wide range of social topics, including group behavior, social perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity, aggression and prejudice. It is important to note that social psychology is not just about looking at social influences. Social perception and social interaction are also vital to understanding social behavior. y Sports Psychology: Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase motivation. Other professionals utilize exercise and sports to enhance peoples lives and well-being throughout the entire lifespan.

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Different Fields in Psychology

What is psychology? What are the different fields in psychology? Read on to find out. Psychology (derived from the Greek words 'psyche' meaning mind and soul and 'logos' meaning discourse), is the study of mental processes and behavior. It attempts to explore different facets of the abstractly complex mind. Theorists identify three broad categories of psychology, namely, the cognitive, the conative and the affective. For more on this, you can refer to this explanation - theoretical perspectives of psychology. What are the different fields in psychology? Let us find out. Abnormal Psychology: It is the study of abnormal behavior. This field of psychology consists of the study of abnormal behavioral patterns and their causes. The study of abnormal psychology finds application in clinical psychology, which is used in the treatment of psychological disorders. Psychology of Addiction: A complete dependence on a certain substance or drug is known as addiction. Both physiological and psychological factors lead to addiction in human beings. The psychology of addiction analyzes these factors and attempts to find ways of controlling addiction. Psychology of Advertising: The principles of advertising are based largely on customer behavior. Advertising techniques are based on needs of the customers and focus on attracting them. The psychology of advertising analyzes the customer behavior in response to different advertising strategies. Psychology of Altruism: Altruism is defined as a selfless concern for others. It is referred to as the concern towards the welfare of others. The psychology of altruism analyzes the factors that lead to feelings of selflessness. It studies the factors that contribute to a concern towards others. Psychology of Ambition: Ambition is closely associated with the human need of achievement. Heinz Kohut developed the psychology of self, which studies the system of ambitions and ideals. The psychology of ambition studies the process of the generation of ambition and the positive and negative factors associated with it. Animal Psychology: It is believed that animals react to stimuli in a trial and error manner

and their responses define their behavior. It is believed that animal behaviors are not intentional. The psychology of animals attempts to delve deeper into the minds of animals. Art Psychology: Art is the manifestation of human creativity. The art forms, a person is interested in and the way he/she portrays them, is closely associated with the persons personality. The psychology of art tries to analyze the characteristics of art and its production. Psychology of Atheism: This field analyzes the complex question of whether God exists. Atheism is defined as a disbelief in God. Various factors contribute to the formation of disbelief in God and this branch studies them. Psychology of Attraction: What makes a person attractive to another? What forms the basis of friendships? What are the factors that make a relationship successful? The psychology of attraction attempts to answer these questions and analyzes the factors governing relationships between human beings. Psychology of Beauty: The perception of beauty differs across different individuals. What appeals to one person may not appeal to another. What makes things beautiful? How does the human mind perceive beauty? What are the factors that make certain objects more beautiful than others? The psychology of beauty attempts to find an answer to these questions. Psychology of Behavior: This is a very important field of psychology that deals with the analysis of behavioral patterns in human beings. It studies the factors that influence the different types of behaviors seen in individuals. Psychology of Belief: Our beliefs form the core of our knowledge system and influence our personality. This field attempts to analyze the belief systems of individuals and how they affect behavior. Biological Psychology: This field of psychology analyzes the biological aspect of human behavior. As the nervous system controls behavior, the patterns of behavior can be derived from the functioning of the brain. Neuropsychology: This branch of psychology tries to understand how the brain influences behavioral responses in human beings. Child Psychology: This field of psychology analyzes the development of children. It studies the different stages of social, personal and emotional development in children, as they become adults. Cognitive Psychology: This field of psychology analyzes the mental processes, which are responsible for behavior. It deals with the study of problem solving, information processing, memory and emotional abilities of human beings.

Color Psychology: This field of psychology analyzes the effect of different colors on the behavior and emotions of human beings. Comparative Psychology: The study of the animal behavior falls under the category of comparative psychology. This field of psychology deals with the study of mental processes in animals in order to get better understanding of human psychology. Counseling Psychology: This branch of psychology deals with the art of counseling people about their roles in personal or professional life. It focuses on the issues related to stress management. Clinical Psychology: It deals with the analysis and treatment of health disorders related to psychology. It deals with the clinical management of individuals with respect to their neural and psychological functioning. Psychology of Communication: It analyzes the different patterns of behavior that lead to the expression of different kinds of emotions. It deals with the study of the various types of communications like verbal and nonverbal or direct and indirect communication. Psychology of Creativity: Creativity leads to new discoveries. It results from understanding unique and complex relationships between various components of the environment. Creativity emerges from thinking differently. The psychology of creativity studies the factors that lead to the development of creative thinking. Criminal Psychology: This field of psychology deals with the study of the thoughts and reactions of criminals. It analyzes the factors that lead to criminal behavior. Developmental Psychology: This field of psychology attempts to analyze the behavioral patterns of individuals in different age groups. It analyzes the patterns of changes in behavior with ascending age. For e.g. the physical and psychological changes that take place as a result of growing age are studied in the developmental psychology of aging. Psychology of Dreams: According to the famous theory of Sigmund Freud, dreams are the means of expression of ones unconscious wishes. Some theories say that dreams are the means by which the brain organizes thoughts. Dreams are also considered to modify ones mental state. The causes of dreams, the different types of dreams and the significance of the content of dreams have always been the subject of curiosity and interest. The psychology of dreams deals with these subjects. Educational Psychology: It deals with education and the behavioral and social development resulting from it. The much-debated issue of heredity versus environment is dealt with in this field of psychology. Forensic Psychology: It is defined as an intersection between psychology and the criminal justice system. It is applied to the criminal justice system to evaluate the

psychology of the defendants. Health Psychology: This field is related to the application of psychology to health care. It analyzes a wide range of health-related behavior. The psychology of the body consists of three aspects, namely, the body image, the body language and the body awareness. Body image is ones perception of his/her identity, body language helps the human beings communicate with the others and body awareness deals with the analysis of the connection between the mind and the body. Human Factors Psychology: It is the analysis of how psychology affects human interactions with the objects in the environment. This field of psychology is also known as engineering psychology. Industrial Psychology: It is used to analyze and improve the potential of human beings at their workplace. It finds applications in the selection and evaluation of employees. The psychology of business is applied to gain a systematic understanding of the employees. Personality Psychology: It analyzes the different types of personalities and studies the effects of behavior, thoughts and emotions of an individuals personality. Quantitative Psychology: It uses mathematical and statistical data for the study of behavioral patterns in human beings. Psychometrics is a branch of psychology that deals with the measurement of knowledge, abilities and attributes. School Psychology: The principles of school psychology combine those of educational and clinical psychology. It attempts to understand and cure the students with learning disabilities. Social Psychology: It deals with the analysis of how human beings think about each other and how they react to different situations. Their understanding of social issues and the formation of their mental setup are analyzed in this field of psychology. Sports Psychology: This field analyzes the peoples behavior in sports. It studies the factors that affect an individuals performance in sports or any physical activity. The skills built through sports are closely associated with psychology. Sports psychology studies this relationship. Psychology is a very vast and a complex subject. It consists of several fields that deal with the different facets of the human mind. The different fields in psychology attempt to solve complex questions associated with the structure and functioning of the human mind. This makes psychology a fascinating field for research. By Manali Oak