What Does Psychology Entail?

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mind. Psychology includes both cognitive and emotional aspects, perception and instinctual behavior, and memory and learning. It is a vast academic field of enormous scope. There are many subdisciplines of psychology, all related in some way to the others. Some of them are clinical psychology, developmental psychology, social and experimental psychology, clinical neuropsychology, counseling psychology, work therapy, sex therapy, and personality development and management.

There are many theories on psychology. But the most popular ones are: Emotionally Driven Behavior, Neuropsychological Theory, Explication theory, and contingency theory. Emotionally driven behavior suggests that there are certain behaviors or mental processes that cause a person to feel good or unhappy. The other theory is Neuropsychological theory which suggests that a person's behavior is controlled by several areas of the brain which are separated from each other and are not connected with one another. A third one, contingency theory suggests that a person can be able to change his behavior and thoughts but his brain will not allow him to unless he concentrates on it.

A well known and prominent psychologist is Sigmund Freud. He is considered the father of modern psychology. He started his research inental medicine and then moved on to studying human behavior. In his research, he came up with the theory of classical conditioning. He says that a person has a particular set of experiences and thoughts which become inherited and create his behavioral patterns.

Most psychologists believe that behavioral patterns, when formed, are the result of previous experience and environment. In order to understand human behavior better, they make use of various techniques such as testing, observations, and questioning. These techniques help them to predict what kind of behavior will be exhibited by a person in a certain situation. For example, they can predict that a person who always behaves himself calmly will act calmly in a dangerous situation as well.

A part of psychology is how the brain processes information. When two people are made to view the same object or situation, there will be some slight difference in their brain response. This is known as visual perception. Some psychologists conduct various tests to study how the brain responds to different stimuli and see if there is a link between the perception and the physiological processes in the brain.

Some aspects of psychology are about how we understand ourselves. In order to study this science, psychologists work on the theories of mental construction. They try to figure out how we come up with our ideas, thoughts, beliefs and concepts. For example, it is believed that bad behaviors are caused by a faulty understanding of reality.

Another aspect of psychology is about how behavior develops throughout different stages of life. The psychologists who specialize in this field are called development psychologists. They analyze the childhood experience, the influence of environmental factors, and the role of family and friends during the developmental stage of children. These factors can greatly affect the development of a child's psychological structure.

To conduct research on psychology, you need to find a qualified psychologist. You can ask your colleagues for references or refer to the American Psychological Association (APA) website to find a psychologist near you. There is no formal education required for you to become a psychologist. You just have to have basic knowledge of psychology and learn the skills to carry out psychological research. You can either take special psychology classes at universities or you can read various books about this subject. It is also possible to do a study abroad program in various destinations of the world, including the United States, in order to study psychology.