All You Wanted To Know About Psychology

Psychology is mainly a science which studies behavior and mental processes. This can be studied in an individual, activity or a group of people. This science came about from a combination of biological and philosophical concepts and has become closely related to other sciences which concern medicine, sociology, anthropology and linguistics. Here are a few psychology facts.

Psychology is a science and uses the same approach to gathering facts and research as any other science. All studies are properly structured which start with hypothesis and proceed to empirical testing. Research too is done like any other scientific research drawing conclusions based on causal, relational and descriptive data.

Any psychological topic can be seen from different perspectives. For example the topic of anger can be seen from a biological perspective, where the brain could be studied to see where anger originates. It could also be seen from a behavioral perspective and here behavior patterns concerned with anger could be researched. Like this the various perspectives prevalent today are psychodynamic, humanistic, evolutionary, cross-cultural, cognitive, behavioral and biological.

The various perspectives have given rise to different branches in psychology and each has a distinct way of looking at a problem, and explaining the psychological facts behind them. The different branches are behavioral, biopsychology, cognitive, abnormal, educational, developmental, cross-cultural and comparative psychology.

A bachelor's psychology degree provides a fair amount of understanding about the mind and behavioral patterns in people, which in turn develops a good amount of interpersonal skills. Therefore a person having a bachelor's degree in psychology will be the prime candidate in jobs requiring communications skills or assessing the needs of customers or for training other people or jobs which require expression of empathy and care.

There is wide scope for psychology students to fit into different careers, and many consider a psychology degree as a stepping stone for further studies in law or business schools. On the other hand if an individual wants to become a psychologist he or she will have to do master's and doctorate courses to establish themselves in this field.

Psychologists too have various career options and some of the ones which are most popular are -

Counseling can be for various mental issues, or to do with vocation and career. Vocational counselors will help people asses their education, personality and interests and find the career which they are most suited for. Other counselors will help people tackle mental issues which can arise out of a relationship, an activity, a job, studies, genetic disorder or from substance abuse.

There are different types of psychologists depending on the area of specialization. The main categories are clinical, sports, forensic, engineering and school psychologists. A clinical psychologist helps to diagnose and treat various mental problems while a school psychologist will deal with social, academic and emotional problems which a student faces. A forensic psychologist on the other hand applies psychology to solve crimes and resolve custody disputes and evaluate child abuse. Engineering psychologists are involved in investigations relating to interactions of machines and humans. They help in improving technology, work environments and products.