Branches of Psychology

Important branches of psychology include:

Clinical Psychology

deals with mental and emotional disorders and illnesses. Clinical psychologists study such disturbances and work with physicians in providing treatment. Formerly, the study of these disturbances was a separate field, called abnormal psychology.

Comparative Psychology,

formerly called Animal Psychology, is concerned with comparing animal behavior at different levels of biological evolution. Studies of animal behavior are often helpful in learning about human behavior.

Counseling Psychology

deals with the psychological problems encountered by persons in school, at work, and in marriage. Counseling psychologists are often employed by school and college guidance offices, businesses, marital counseling organizations, and vocational guidance agencies.

Developmental Psychology,

the study of the growth and changes of individuals from the prenatal period to death. Originally the field concentrated on child development and was called child psychology, but the focus has been extended to include the whole life span.

Educational Psychology

is concerned with the design and development of teaching methods and materials and the evaluation of their effectiveness.

Humanistic Psychology

emphasizes self-actualization, the process of fulfilling one's potential. Psychologists in this field help people to develop self-confidence and high self-esteem by encouraging them to be more sincere, accepting, and sympathetic toward others. Psychologists believe this will make people more aware and more accepting of themselves.

Industrial Psychology

is the application of psychological principles and techniques in business and industry. It is used in handling personnel problems, and in designing factories, offices, and equipment to facilitate work and make it more pleasant.

Physiological Psychology

is the study of the relationship between personality and physiology. Psychologists try to determine to what extent heredity, the environment, and brain chemistry affect this relationship. The functions of the nervous system, endocrine glands, and muscles as they affect personality are investigated through laboratory experiments.

Psychometric Psychology

is concerned with the measurement of human behavior through tests. Psychometrists design and administer intelligence, aptitude, and personality tests and analyze statistical data derived from these tests.

Social Psychology

is the study of the interaction of individuals and groups. It is applied to the study of the individual as a unit in various groups such as family, community, or organization. Social psychology is sometimes considered a branch of sociology, sometimes a separate science.

Major fields of psychology
Abnormal psychology deals with behavior disorders and disturbed individuals. For example, researchers might investigate the causes of violent or self-destructive behavior or the effectiveness of procedures used in treating an emotional disturbance, such as depression.
Biological psychology examines the relationship between behavior and body structures or functions, particularly the workings of the nervous system. Biological psychologists explore the functions of the brain, how hormones affect behavior, and the physical processes involved in emotions, sensory experiences, and cognition (the process by which people acquire knowledge, solve problems, and make plans).
Clinical psychology uses the understandings derived from developmental and abnormal psychology to diagnose and treat mental disorders and adjustment problems. Some clinical psychologists work to develop programs for the prevention of emotional illness or conduct basic research on how individuals can better cope with the problems of daily life.
Cognitive psychology explores the way people acquire, store, and retrieve information. Psychologists in this field might try to understand why people forget, or they might study the mental steps people use to solve problems.
Counseling psychology helps people adjust to changes in their lives or lifestyles. Counseling psychologists may help people to make career decisions, deal with personal or relationship problems, or stop destructive behaviors, such as smoking or chronic overeating.
Developmental psychology studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur across the life span of human beings. Many developmental psychologists specialize in the study of children or adolescents. Gerontology, a related field, focuses on physical, psychological, and social experiences and changes among older adults.
Educational psychology attempts to improve teaching methods and materials, to solve learning problems, and to measure learning ability and educational progress. Researchers in this field may devise achievement tests, develop and evaluate teaching methods, or investigate how children learn at different ages.
Evolutionary psychology examines how genes respond to natural selection to produce particular traits or behaviors. Researchers in this field might try to explain differences in sexual or social behavior between men and women in terms of natural selection experienced by prehistoric human beings.
Industrial psychology is concerned with people at work. Industrial psychologists investigate such matters as how to make jobs more rewarding or how to improve workers' performance. They also study personnel selection, leadership, and management. Organizational psychology is a closely related field.
Perception, in psychology, is the study of how an organism becomes aware of objects, events, and relationships in the outside world through its senses. Psychologists in the field of perception analyze such topics as vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and movement.
Personality refers to the characteristics that make individuals different from one another and account for the way they behave. Personality psychologists investigate how an individual's personality develops, the chief personality types, and the measurement of personality traits.
Social psychology studies the social behavior of individuals and groups, with special emphasis on how behavior is affected by the presence or influence of other people. Social psychologists concentrate on such processes as communication, political behavior, formation of attitudes, and development of relationships.