psychology
refers to the scientific study of behavior and mental process encompassing of
just people`s do but their biological activities like
feelings,perceptions,memory,reasoning and thoughts.
Psychology is the study of mental
processes, behavior, and the relationship between them. Mental process includes
skills like leaning, resoning, emotins and motivation.
The mental process that cannot be obsevered
directly such as feeling, thinking and remembering
Also psychology can be defined as a
scientific study of human with the object of understanding why livings being
have as they do.
The
word psychology comes from Greek words “pcshe” meaning spirit, soul, breath and mind. And “logia” meaning a study
of something. Hence it can be defined as study of soul and mind.
BACKGROUND OF PSYCHOLOGY
Historically
psychology is said has long a short history. Psychology past
centuries old because it includes philosophy the study of knowledge, reality
and human nature in contrast philosophy is really most happened over the 120
years .Its origin can be traced back to Greek
400-500 years BC. The emphasis was a philosophical one with the great thinkers
such as secretes influencing Plato
who in turn influencing Aristotle. Yet the ideas in psychology past are
intimately tied to the present.
Philosophers and theologians used to
discuss many topics on the issues concerning ,memory,motivation,dreams and
other related to human behavior, therefore before psychology to become an
independent field was used to part of philosophy.
The main method used then was reasoning.
The concepts of dualism was introduced in 7th century whereby the world
was perceived as being divided into two dependent namely matter and mind
controlling the body s movements, sensations and perceptions, whereby a British philosophers “John Locke”
believed that knowledge is acquired through empiricism which are observation and
experience. Henceful those philosopher had a great contribution on historic
subject matter and methods of studying psychology
BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY
The psychology of today can be specialized in
various fields such as such as social psychology,educational,clinical
counceling,experimental, developmental, evolutionary ,cognitive etc.
The following are field that psychology
today can be specialized such as;
i)
Clinical psychology is integration of science, theory and clinical
knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing and receiving
psychologically based distreed or dysfunction and to promote subjective well
being and personal development.
ii)
Educational psychology which is branch of psychology that works within
the educational system to help children with emotional, social and academic
issues.
iii)
Developmental psychology deals with growth of change of people throughout their
life span from the conception to death.
Iv)
Cognitive psychology is the study of mental process such as attention, language
use, memory, perception, problem solving and thinking.
v)
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings
and behaviors are the actual imagined or implied presence of others.
Vi) Industrial psychology also is the branch
of psychology which is uses research to enhance improves product and usability.
vi) Evolution psychology is an approach in
the social and natural sciences that examines
psychological traits such as memory ,perception and language from a modern
evolutionary perspective.
Moreover By-Psychology is the branch of psychology that examines how
biological features and function of the body affect behavior.
CONLUSION
psychology in recent years
has been an explosive growth in approaches to psychology which studies thinking,
language, problem solving and others internal process even though some of
topics were rejected form many year after the rise of behaviors so it may be fair to say that psychology has
recently regained consciousness.
REFERENCES
1.
Copper, Heron and Howard psychology applied behavior analysis. Columbus, Merrill’s republishing company (1987)
2. Allen,
J. J. B., Harmon-Jones, E., & Cavender, J. H. (2001). Asymmetry biofeedback alters self-reported emotional Manipulation of
frontal EEG responses and
through facial EMG. Psychophysiology, 38,
685-693.
3. Drake, R. A., & Myers, L. R.
(2006). Visual attention, emotion, and action tendency: Feeling activor passive. Cognition
and Emotion, 20, 608-622. (cited in the Emotion chapter)
4. Harmon-Jones,
E., Vaughn-Scott, K., Mohr, S., Sigelman, J., & Harmon-Jones, C. (2004). Th effect of manipulated sympathy and
anger on left and right frontal cortical activity. Emotion,
4,
95-101. (Motivation and
Emotion chapter, Human development .second edition by Grace
J.Craing
University of massachsetts.
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