Introduction to Psychology Branches PDF

# VIJAY EDUCATION ## Psychology branches ### 1. Educational Psychology Educational psychology is a branch of applied psychology which tries to apply the psychological principles, theories and techniques to human behaviour in educational situations. The subject matter of this branch covers psychol...

# VIJAY EDUCATION ## Psychology branches ### 1. Educational Psychology Educational psychology is a branch of applied psychology which tries to apply the psychological principles, theories and techniques to human behaviour in educational situations. The subject matter of this branch covers psychological ways and means of improving all aspects of the teaching/learning process. Educational psychologists are most often involved in the increase in efficiency of learning in schools by applying psychological knowledge about learning and motivation. ### 2. Clinical Psychology This is the largest subfield of psychology. This branch of applied psychology describes the causes of mental illness, abnormal behavior of a patient and suggests treatment and effective adjustment of the affected person in society. ### 3. Industrial Psychology This branch of applied psychology tries to seek application of the psychological principles, theories and techniques for the study of human behaviour in relation to industrial environment. Industrial psychologists apply psychological principles to assist public and private organizations with their hiring and placement programs, the training and supervision of their personnel and the improvement of communication within the organization. They also counsel employees within the organization who need help with their personal problems. ### 4. Legal Psychology Legal psychology is a branch of applied psychology which tries to study the behavior of persons like clients, criminals, witnesses etc. with the help of applications of psychological principles and techniques. The root cause of crime, offence, dispute or any legal case can be properly understood through the use of this branch of psychology. ### 5. Military Psychology This branch of psychology is concerned with the use of psychological principles and techniques in military science. ## Psychology and its scope - Define Psychology & its scope - Define Psychology & its various branches - Define Psychology & its method - Define Psychology explaining about scope & branches ## Methods of Psychology Psychology is termed as the scientific study of human behavior. Special tools and procedures help us in gathering and organizing its subject matter, or the essential facts about behaviour. These procedures are termed as methods which are used to study human behaviour. ### Methods of Psychology - Introspection or Self observation method - Observational method - Experimental Method - Clinical or Case History Method - Survey method - Genetic or Developmental method ### Introspection or Self observation Method This is one of the oldest methods of psychology. Introspection means "to look within". This is also known as self-observation method. It is not possible to understand the inner feelings and experiences of other persons. Here the subject is asked to systematically observe his own behaviour and report the same; this is later analyzed to understand behavior. For example, a patient after an operation may be asked to report how he feels. The patient will try look within and recall what happened and how he is presently feeling. This information will help for better treatment. This is the characteristic method of psychology, which is not available to other natural sciences. ### Observational Method Observation is the objective method of studying the behavior of individuals. It consists of perception of an individual's behavior under natural conditions by the other individuals and the interpretation and analyses of this perceived behavior by them. It is essentially a way of perceiving the behavior as it is. In this method the observer observes and collects the data. . For example, in the hospital the nurse makes an observation of patient's temperature, pulse, blood pressure, facial expressions, restlessness etc. to understand clinical condition of the patient. ### Experimental Method Experimental method is considered as the most scientific and objective method of studying behavior. The word experiment comes from a Latin word meaning "to try", "put to test". Therefore, in experimentation we try or put to test the material or phenomenon, the characteristics of consequences of which we wish to ascertain. The use of this method has raised psychology to the status of an experimental science like physics, chemistry and physiology. In psychology, experimental study is used to study the cause and effect relationship regarding the nature of human behavior, i.e. the effect of anxiety on the human behavior. To study the cause and effect relationship the psychologists use objective observations under controlled conditions. ### Clinical or Case History Method This method is used by clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers in child guidance clinics or mental hygiene clinics and the allied institutions. It aims at studying the cause and basis of people's anxieties, fears and personal maladjustments. A great deal of relevant data is collected by using case histories, interviews, home visits and psychological tests to draw valid inferences about the nature of the individual's difficulties and problems, the probable origin and course of development. This may suggest some course of action to be pursued in helping the individual. In this technique information is collected from the memory of the individual, his parents, members of his family, friends, teachers and all other available records and reports. The information includes the past history of the disease, treatment already taken, changes if any like improvement, present condition, probable causes, signs and symptoms, etc. ### Survey method All problems in psychology cannot be studied by the experimental and other methods. Some problems like study of opinions, attitudes, health care needs, etc. can be studied by means of survey method. This is commonly employed in social psychology. The survey method involves collection or gathering of information from a large number of people by using questionnaires, inventories, checklists, rating scales and interviews. ### Genetic or Developmental Method Psychologists study not only the behaviour of an individual at a particular time but also his development from birth to death, the influence of heredity and environment in the development of the person and conditions favorable and unfavorable for normal and abnormal behaviour. For example, to understand the learning behaviour of an adult the study will start from the childhood and adolescence. This can be done by two ways: - Cross-sectional study in which the children of different age groups will be studied simultaneously. - Longitudinal study in which the same child will be studied in different stages of life.