BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY

The various branches of psychology are as follows:

• Cognitive Psychology investigates the mental processes involved

in the acquisition, storage, manipulation, and transformation of information received from the environment along with its use and communication. The major cognitive processes are attention, perception, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making and language. To study these cognitive processes, psychologists conduct experiments in laboratory settings.

Some of them also follow an ecological approach, i.e. an approach which focuses on the environmental factors, to study cognitive processes in a natural setting. Cognitive psychologists often collaborate with neuroscientists and computer scientists.

• Biological Psychology focuses on the relationship between behaviour and the physical system, including the brain and the rest of the nervous system, the immune system, and genetics. Biological psychologists often collaborate with neuroscientists, zoologists, and anthropologists. Neuropsychology has emerged as a field of research where psychologists and neuroscientists work together. Researchers are studying the role of neurotransmitters or chemical substances which are responsible for neural communication in different areas of the brain and therefore, in associated mental functions. They do their research on people with normal functioning brains as well as on people with damaged brains by following advanced technologies like EEG, PET and fMRI, etc.

• Developmental Psychology studies the physical, social and psychological changes that occur at different ages and stages over a lifespan, from conception to old age. The primary concern of developmental psychologists is how we become what we are. For many years the major emphasis was on child and adolescent development. However today an increasing number of developmental psychologists show strong interest in adult development and ageing. They focus on the biological, sociocultural and environmental factors that influence psychological characteristics such as intelligence, cognition, emotion, temperament, morality, and social relationship.

• Social Psychology explores how people are affected by their social environments, and how people think about and influence others. Social psychologists are interested in such topics as attitudes, conformity and obedience to authority, interpersonal attraction, helpful behaviour, prejudice, aggression, social motivation, inter-group relations and so on.

• Cross-cultural and Cultural Psychology examines the role of culture in understanding behaviour, thought, and emotion. It assumes that human behaviour is not only a reflection of human-biological potential but also a product of culture. Therefore behaviour should be studied in its socio-cultural context. As you will be studying in different chapters of this book, culture influences human behaviour in many ways and in varying degrees.

• Environmental Psychology studies the interaction of physical factors such as temperature, humidity, pollution, and natural disasters on human behaviour. The influence of the physical arrangement of the workplace on health, emotional state, and interpersonal relations is also investigated. Current topics of research in this field are the extent to which, disposal of waste, population explosion, conservation of energy, and efficient use of community resources are associated with and are functions of human behaviour.

• Health Psychology focuses on the role of psychological factors (for example, stress, anxiety) in the development, prevention and treatment of illness. Areas of interest for a health psychologist are stress and coping, the relationship between psychological factors and health, patient-doctor relationships and ways of promoting health-enhancing factors.

• Clinical and Counselling Psychology deals with the causes, treatment and prevention of different types of psychological disorders like anxiety, depression, eating disorders and chronic substance abuse. A related area is counselling, which aims to improve everyday functioning by helping people solve problems in daily living and cope more effectively with challenging situations. Counselling psychologists work with students, advising them about personal problems and career planning. Like clinical psychologists, psychiatrists also study the causes, treatment, and prevention of psychological disorders.

• Industrial/Organisational Psychology deals with workplace behaviour, focusing on the workers together with the organisations that employ them. Industrial/organisational psychologists are concerned with training employees, improving work conditions, and developing criteria for selecting employees.

• Educational Psychology studies how people of all ages learn. Educational psychologists primarily help to develop instructional methods and materials used to train people in educational and work settings. They are also concerned with research on issues of relevance for education, counselling and learning problems. A related field, school psychology, focuses on designing programmes that promote the intellectual, social, and emotional development of children, including those with special needs. They try to apply knowledge of psychology in a school setting. Sports Psychology applies psychological principles to improve sports performance by enhancing motivation. Sports psychology is a relatively new field but is gaining acceptance worldwide.

Other Emerging Branches of Psychology: The interdisciplinary focus on research and application of psychology has led to the emergence of varied areas like aviation psychology, space psychology, military psychology, forensic psychology, rural psychology, engineering psychology, managerial psychology, community psychology, psychology of women, and political psychology, to name a few.