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Additional Types of Psychology Tips

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The Potential Missteps In Experimentation For The Debate In Perceptual Psychology

Choosing between the nature aspect of perceptual psychology and the empirical side is a matter of how you see how humans acquire their perception. The nature aspect believes that humans are born with their perception intact. The empirical side believes that humans learn this behavior from their environmental surroundings. There is no correct answer to the debate as experiments for both sides have considerable limitations.

The problem with trying to apply experiments to one side or the other of perceptual psychology is that experimentation often lacks a consistent tone. This leaves much of the field open to questions about the validity of the experiment itself. The sheer individuality of humans and how they perceive their environment is difficult to measure in a clearly scientific manner. Thus, any experiment will need to take both the inconsistency and the experience of the humans into account prior to achieving a successful result.

One of the biggest challenges comes with experimenting with babies. It is crucial that tests for perceptual psychology be done in the same developmental stage. This is because the growth process will negate the results due to the expansion of their perception capabilities.

   
What is Social Psychology?

Social Psychology

Social psychology examines the effects of social interaction, including beliefs, attitudes and behaviors, on the individual. People trained in Social Psychology work in a wide variety of settings, including psychotherapy and other human services, education, business, government and more. Their work may be, as just a few examples, in assisting group or team success, community organizing, changing dysfunctional group attitudes, marketing/public relations, therapy or planning. Closely allied fields are Social Work and Sociology.

   
What is Health Psychology?

Health Psychology

Health Psychology is the study of how the biological, psychological and social (bio-psycho-social) aspects of being human affect health. Practitioners of Health Psychology may work, as examples, in public or private health care, public policy, research and education settings. Students of Health Psychology learn how our attitudes, beliefs and other viewpoints, social circumstances and physiological states affect health maintenance, illness, pain management and recovery from illness or physical injury.

   

Combing Psychology Degrees

As mentioned, there are many kinds of Psychology too, including; Sports, Abnormal, Biological, Forensic, School, Human Factors, Physiological, Art, Educational Psychology and more. Luckily, students don't have to choose a discipline until they've become familiar with what each kind entails. At the Associate's, Bachelor's and even somewhat at the Master's level in many programs, a cross-section of courses are required and offered. These provide students with an orientation to the kinds of Psychology from which they can choose and the chance to explore the kinds of Psychology they're interested in before making a commitment to one or two. As students progress to the Master's and Doctorate's levels in Psychology and choose the kind they'll major in, the focus narrows to provide more in-depth study. Only a person with a doctorate in Psychology is called a Psychologist.

   
What is Biological Psychology?

Biological Psychology

Biological Psychology is based on quantifiable research of the brain and other physiological phenomena, including genetics, that affect behavior, emotions and cognition. It's otherwise referred to as neuropsychology, behavioral neuroscience, biopsychology, psychobiology and physiological psychology. Biological Psychology uses fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG (electroencephalography), among other tools, to diagnose physiological causes for psychopathology and other cognitive, behavioral and/or emotional states. It also draws from animal experimentation.

   
What kinds of Psychology Degrees are there?

Kinds of Psychology Degrees

There are choices of Clinical, Counseling and Research Psychology disciplines, but within these disciplines there are many kinds of Psychology. The kind you choose should depend on your interests, aspirations, capabilities and values. Your personal circumstances will ultimately determine whether you can afford the cost of the college or university program and want, or can, live where the institution is located. If you hope to work in the field, you should also consider the demand in the job market for the skills you'd gain. Once you've tentatively determined these, apply to a few programs in case you are turned down for your first choice.

   
What is Abnormal Psychology?

Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology is the study of psychopathology, or behaviors and emotions that deviate from the norm. It looks at the disorders described in the DSM-IV TR, short for the Diagnostician's Statistical Manual that is widely used for diagnosis in North America. The DSM includes bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder and many other disorders.

   

Types of Psychology.

There are many different jobs and kinds of psychology. Psychology is a wide field and has a type to suit almost any interest.

The most popular type is the one that most people are aware of which is Clinical Psychology. It's the most well known and it focuses on treating people with mental or emotional disorders. Community Psychology focuses on how humans interact with their community such as school or in their neighborhoods. It's similar to Environmental Psychology which studies how human interact with their environment. Experimental Psychology is in the category of abnormal psychology. It studies human interaction and biology, involving mostly people and animals. Family and Counseling Psychologist can be somewhat related. Family Psychology doesn’t only deal with families but the individual within the family. Social Psychology is becoming more popular types of psychology; it evaluates how we interact in the world with all the media surrounding us. Another type of abnormal psychology is Sports Psychology. It helps deal with the emotional and mental burden felt by both amateur and professional athletes. A newer type of psychology is Positive Psychology which focuses solely on mental wellness. Forensic Psychology is also a very popular type; they study criminal behavior and work beside law enforcement.

There are many different types of psychology but whatever field you go into needs to suit your interest and your abilities. There is a type of psychology for everyone and whatever you want to achieve.

   
What is Comparative Psychology?

Comparative Psychology

According to The American Psychological Association, the "focus of [Comparative Psychology] is on behavior and its relation to perception, learning, memory, cognition, motivation, and emotion” (2006). They refer to Comparative Psychologists as, “behavioral neuroscientists.” If this seems confusing, especially after reading the Neuropsychology and Biological Psychology descriptions in this book, it is. Like those psychologies, Comparative Psychologists also study the brain and other physiological organs, systems and their functions. However, the difference is that Comparative Psychologists compare animal and human behaviors with particular attention to development and evolution.

   
What is Counseling Psychology?

Counseling Psychology

Counseling Psychology includes theory, science and practice focused on the emotions, psychology, social, cognitive and behavioral features of human beings. At times it appears that there isn't much difference between Clinical and Counseling Psychology, although Counseling Psychologists tend to work with people who are mentally stable, but have issues amenable to counseling or therapy while Clinical Psychologists study psychopathology and often work with people who have psychiatric disorders; also known as mental illnesses. Both Clinical and Counseling Psychologists who've earned degrees at the doctoral level can be licensed to practice as Psychologists and both are trained in psychotherapy. In many states, there is also licensing or certification with a Master's level degree in Psychology too, but the designation may be called something different, such as mental health specialist or therapist, and other people trained in other related disciplines may also qualify.

   
What is Experimental Psychology?

Experimental Psychology

Experimental Psychology refers to the scientific means of ascertaining reasons for our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, learning and more. It may be applied to any scientifically verifiable psychology. A strict interpretation might define it as behaviorism in which observable behaviors are clearly learned as a result of rewards and punishments, although more broadly, it usually means any kind of psychology with empirical evidence.

   

Types of Psychology

Psychology scientifically studies mental behavior and reactions. The study in psychology makes interpretations based on a person's social conduct. This study is made on the conscious and unconscious mind. Every aspect of a person's life is taken into account and includes such areas as:
• Personality
• Relationships
• Mental faculty
• Behavior
• Cognition
• Reactions
• Emotion
• Perceptions

There are many types of psychology. In psychology, exploration is made through the neurological process of human behavior. Below is a list of some branches in psychology and the characteristics of each.

Clinical Psychology- the aim of this type of psychology is to relieve stress brought about by psychological reasons.

Abnormal Psychology- This aims at understanding the abnormal behavior of an individual.

Cognitive Psychology-also called experimental psychology, in the study of mental process that causes behavioral traits.

Neuropsychology- this is academic work and usually takes place in clinical setting. In neuropsychiatric work assessments of a person's state of mind for things such as, court cases, expert witnessing, appearing in court or working with offenders. In addition, a Neuropsychologist may work in industry such as research of drugs in a pharmaceutical setting.

Developmental Psychology- this branch is the study of the development of the mind.

Comparative Psychology-is the study comparing animal and humans.

Biological Psychology- In type of Psychology explores the behavior that comes from reaction within the nervous system

There are a lot more branches of Psychology that range from global studies to evolution and health. Every aspect in the life of a person is studied in Psychology.

   
What is personality psychology?

Personality Psychology

Personality Psychology is the study of individual personalities. It considers the uniquely characteristic thinking, emotions and behaviors of the person. There are several concepts and theories that fall under the heading of Personality Psychology. These include humanistic, developmental and biological explanations.

   
What is neuropsychology?

Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology examines the associations between brain functions and behavior. It's a science that uses positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as some of its tools. It is concerned with, as examples, the changes in brain chemistry after psychological trauma and brain states of people with certain psychiatric disorders or brain damage, and how this affects cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning. The work of Neuropsychologists often includes assessment, treatment and consultation within health care settings.

   
What is Clinical Psychology?

Clinical Psychology

Clinical Psychology includes theory, science and practice focused on the emotional states, psychological processes, interpersonal relations, cognitive functions and behaviors of human beings. Clinical Psychologists may work with any age in direct practice, or may work in research or administrative capacities.

   

Psychology of Animals

Ethology is, in the broad sense, the study of certain behaviors in animals. This does not mean analyzing all the different behaviors in one particular animal, though, like the range of emotions in chimpanzees. Ethology involves choosing one behavior and studying its effects in a wide variety of animals, for example, a focus on aggression in birds, reptiles, canines and gorillas.
Given this description, it sounds a lot more closely related to biology or zoology than any form of psychology, and that’s probably true. If you research sub-topics of psychology online, though, you will come across ethology, and that is in large part because of the work of natural selection by Charles Darwin. A better way to understand this is to focus on the aspect of behavioral studies. Even though the subjects are animals, ethologists are centering their study in emotions and reactions just as any psychologist would do with human subjects.

If this is the path you’re interested in, your best bet would be to major in Biology as an undergraduate and then choose your ethology focus in your graduate or doctoral program. This will give you a strong background in a variety of species and perhaps help you find a certain area or question that intrigues you to start your own research experiment.

   
What is Research Psychology?

Research Psychology

Research Psychology focuses on conducting qualitative and/or quantitative studies and writing reports and articles on results to further knowledge in the field. Although quantitative research is sometimes described as objective and qualitative research is often referred to as subjective, both are considered important in the study of Psychology and usually both are part of Psychology Research training. Courses generally include, at least, Psychology concepts, theories, research design, methods, statistics, data analysis, ethics and often some therapy coursework too. Sometimes, research is one part of a job that includes counseling/therapy, or psychotherapy, and/or administrative, consulting, testing, and/or advising.

Quantitative psychological research involves an emphasis on objectively measurable research methods and empirical research design. Qualitative psychological research relies on more subjective research methods, such as the use of focus groups, case studies and surveys for data.

   
What is Educational Psychology?

Educational Psychology

Educational Psychology focuses on how we learn and the factors that influence it . Educational Psychology influences many aspects of education, including how schools are organized, how teachers teach, how educational policy is developed and how learning materials are written, organized and/or presented in education settings. It has applicability in counseling/therapy, public education, the workplace and other sectors besides schools. Educational Psychologists tend to identify themselves as researchers and consultants, rather than as School Psychologists who work in schools.

   

Innate Versus Environmental Factors in Personality Development

The concept of “nature versus nurture” has been studied for decades, dating back to the writings of Charles Darwin. The debate can be particularly interesting in cases of adoption, where innate qualities (“nature”) versus personal experiences (“nurture”) of a person varies compared to a more traditional beginning and upbringing. Studying which category has a greater impact on personality development generally brings no clear answer.

A number of adoption studies have focused on the development of innate qualities versus nurtured qualities. Adopted children bring a unique combination of these factors into their personality, with the separation of genetic or innate factors from the developmental influences of parenting and environment. Adoption studies in this area of research are particularly useful in the ongoing debate of personality development, as these studies permit the dissociation of environment and genes. Adoption studies allow a greater ability to examine the heritability of a trait and better determine which traits have been influenced by genes and innate factors versus environmental ones.

Current thinking generally believes that neither innate qualities nor environmental traits are necessarily dominant. However, it is becoming more apparent that environment is able to influence the extent to which innate traits may manifest themselves. Ultimately it is difficult to convincingly determine the exact role innate traits and environmental factors play in the development of personality. What appears to be most likely is that the two factors work together in concert to develop an individual’s personality.

   
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