Psychology

Psychology is the study of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind" title="Mind" >mind</a>, occurring partly via the study of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior" title="Behavior" >behavior</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-APA-0" >[1]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-APA2-1" >[2]</a> Grounded in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method" title="Scientific method" >scientific method</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-APA-0" >[1]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-APA2-1" >[2]</a> psychology has the immediate goal of understanding individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-Fernald-2" >[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-Psychology-3" >[4]</a> and for many it ultimately aims to benefit society.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-O.27Neil-4" >[5]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-APA_mission-5" >[6]</a>In this field, a professional <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/practitioner" class="extiw" title="wikt:practitioner" >practitioner</a> or researcher is called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologist" title="Psychologist" >psychologist</a>, and can be classified as a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_scientist" title="Social scientist" class="mw-redirect" >social scientist</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_scientist" title="Behavioral scientist" class="mw-redirect" >behavioral scientist</a>, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_scientist" title="Cognitive scientist" class="mw-redirect" >cognitive scientist</a>. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_function" title="Mental function" class="mw-redirect" >mental functions</a> in individual and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behavior" title="Social behavior" >social behavior</a>, while also exploring the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiological" title="Physiological" class="mw-redirect" >physiological</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience" title="Neuroscience" >neurobiological</a>processes that underlie certain cognitive functions and behaviors.

Psychologists explore such concepts as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception" title="Perception" >perception</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition" title="Cognition" >cognition</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention" title="Attention" >attention</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion" title="Emotion" >emotion</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(psychology)" title="Phenomenology (psychology)" >phenomenology</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation" title="Motivation" >motivation</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain#Functions" title="Human brain" >brain functioning</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology" title="Personality psychology" >personality</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior" title="Behavior" >behavior</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship" title="Interpersonal relationship" >interpersonal relationships</a>. Psychologists of diverse stripes also consider the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscious_mind" title="Unconscious mind" >unconscious mind</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-reference_name_A-6" >[7]</a> Psychologists employ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical_method" title="Empirical method" >empirical methods</a> to infer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal" title="Causal" class="mw-redirect" >causal</a> and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_and_dependence" title="Correlation and dependence" >correlational</a> relationships between psychosocial <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_and_independent_variables" title="Dependent and independent variables" >variables</a>. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclecticism" title="Eclecticism" >addition</a>, or in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipositivism" title="Antipositivism" >opposition</a>, to employing<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical" title="Empirical" >empirical</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deductive-nomological_model" title="Deductive-nomological model" >deductive</a> methods, some—especially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_psychology" title="Clinical psychology" >clinical</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counseling_psychology" title="Counseling psychology" >counseling</a> psychologists—at times rely upon <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics#Psychology" title="Hermeneutics" >symbolic interpretation</a> and other <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_reasoning" title="Inductive reasoning" >inductive</a> techniques. Psychology incorporates research from the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_science" title="Social science" >social</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_science" title="Natural science" >natural sciences</a>, and from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanities" title="Humanities" >humanities</a>, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy" >philosophy</a>.

While psychological <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge" title="Knowledge" >knowledge</a> is often <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_science" title="Applied science" >applied</a> to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_assessment" title="Psychological assessment" class="mw-redirect" >assessment</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotherapy" title="Psychotherapy" >treatment</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_health" title="Mental health" >mental health</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathology" title="Psychopathology" >problems</a>, it is also applied to understanding and solving problems in many different spheres of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_behavior" title="Human behavior" >human activity</a>. The majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counseling_psychology" title="Counseling psychology" >counseling</a>, or<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_psychology" title="School psychology" >school</a> 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 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychology" title="Industrial and organizational psychology" >industrial and organizational</a> settings, or in other areas<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological#cite_note-7" >[8]</a> such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_psychology" title="Developmental psychology" >human development and aging</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_psychology" title="Sport psychology" >sports</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_psychology" title="Health psychology" >health</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_psychology" title="Media psychology" >the media</a>, as well as in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_psychology" title="Forensic psychology" >forensic</a> analysis and other aspects of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_psychology" title="Legal psychology" >law</a>.

Psychology

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