Goals of Modern psychology

1-Description: how people think, feel and act in specific situation. Psychologists try to observe the behavior of interest, (collection of data)

2-Explanation: “ why and how” that behavior happened based on the different psychological perspectives.

3-Predication: The ability to say in advance how someone is likely to act.

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Contemporary fields of Specialization

1-Experimental psychology:

-Experimental psychologists frequently use animals rather than human as their experimental subjects.

• studies basic processes e.g. (hearing, perception, learning, and communication).

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2-Neuro- psychology:

• Focus on study how basic processes are controlled by nervous system, also use animals.

Examples :

* to explain why memory sometimes declines in old age, (breakdown in the network of nerve cells that involves in remembering).

* Adults with history of hyperactivity had reduced activity in areas of the brain that control body movement and attention.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

3-Personality psychology:

• Personality: (relatively stable style of thinking, acting, and responding emotionally of a person).

-Concerned individual differences in behavior

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

4-Social psychology:

• factors especially presence of other people, that affect personal response, thinking , motivation and behavior in a given social situation.

- Show that behavior that not just the results of personality traits.

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5-Developmental psychology:

- describe and explain the systematic changes that occur in people throughout the life cycle.

• -How thinking , perception, memory, intelligence, language, problem solving, motivation, and social interaction change as people grow older.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

6-Industrial and Organizational Psychology:

• -Concerns with all aspects of behavior that relate to the work place.

• -One aspect: How work can be made more satisfying and more productive.

• -A major issue facing industrial and organizational psychologists now is findings ways to help working women deal with stress of handling their dual responsibilities at home and at office.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

7-Educational and school psychology:• Specialize in analyzing and improving formal

education,

* concerned with aspects of educational process as:

- Factors affect performance in the classroom? - Importance of motivation? - Using of reward and punishment.

- Size of classroom &interaction between students and teachers

- Designing and administering tests of various kinds. 8

Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

8-Clinical and counseling psychology:

*Deals with diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorder. (psychotherapy).

*Counseling helps normal people with milder problems of social and emotional adjustment like marriage and family life.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

9-Health psychology:

- Deals with the relationship between personality and health.

• Believe that psychological factors as (stress, hostility, and depression) plays a role in onset and progress of many physical disorders like peptic ulcer, heart diseases.

• -Try to identify psychological strategies to cope with serious illness.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

10-Environmental psychology:

• -Focus on the relationship between people and their physical, social surroundings like air pollution, noise, overcrowdings, poverty, and natural disasters as earthquakes, volcanoes, and tornadoes etc.

• These environmental conditions lead to psychological distress especially if the poor person lives in civilization city.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

11- Peace psychology:

• Study how war, especially nuclear war, can be avoided.

* focus on personality of war leaders, misconception in international conflicts, and negotiations and bargaining among political officials.

* How people's fears and anxieties can be transformed into effective political action.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

12- Forensic psychology:

• Concerned with the application of psychological methods to legal questions and issues.

* Assessment of some specific psycho-legal question as if the criminal has an mental illness as psychosis which make him unaccountable for his actions.

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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.

13- Sport psychology:

• Seeks to understand psychological/mental factors that affect performance .

• It deals with increasing performance by managing emotions and minimizing the psychological effects of injury.

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