Psychology- a Complete Introduction
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Developmental psychology: this is an area that looks at human growth and development over the lifespan. It used to focus only on infants and young children, but nowadays also includes teenagers and adults – and the ageing process. Theories often focus on the development of cognitive abilities, morality, social functioning, identity and other life areas. Developmental psychology looks at how people change as they develop and grow, in areas such as cognitive development – which includes problem solving, moral understanding, language acquisition and self-concept and identity formation.
Forensic psychology is an applied field focused on using psychological research and principles in the legal and criminal justice system. It examines the criminal mind and criminality. Forensic psychology has traditionally been described as the intersection between psychology and justice and many TV and film representations of forensic psychologists have led to an increased interest in this field in recent years. Areas that forensic psychology might cover include eyewitness testimony, jury decision-making, psychological profiling and lie detection.
Industrial-organizational/occupational psychology is a field that uses psychological research, psychological theories and psychological principles to enhance work performance, select employees, improve product design and so on within organizations. Occupational psychologists contribute to an organization’s success by improving the satisfaction, safety, health and well-being of its employees. An occupational psychologist might conduct research on employee behaviours and attitudes, and how these can be improved through hiring practices, training programmes, feedback and management systems. The field also helps organizations’ and their employees’ transition during periods of change and organizational development (e.g. mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, restructuring).
Individual differences research: this looks at the various elements that make up individual personalities. Researchers in this area study the ways in which individual people differ in their behaviour. Although all psychology is ostensibly about individuals, modern psychologists often study groups or the biological underpinnings of cognition rather than examining the differences between individuals per se. Individual differences research typically includes personality, motivation, intelligence, ability, IQ, interests and values. Well-known personality theories include Freud’s structural model of personality and the ‘Big Five’ theory of personality (see Chapter 9).
Social psychology: this is a branch of psychology that is concerned with how social phenomena influence us and how people interact with others. According to the social psychologist Gordon Allport (who might be regarded as the ‘father’ of social psychology), social psychology is a discipline that uses scientific methods ‘to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings’ (Allport 1954: 5). Social psychology studies diverse subjects including group behaviour, social perception, leadership, non-verbal behaviour, conformity, aggression and prejudice.
Many people get confused between social psychology and sociology. While there are similarities between them, the differences are important. Sociology deals with the social aspects of humans, while social psychology deals with the behaviour of people in a social setting. Sociology, for example, is more concerned with the study of society as a whole whereas social psychology is the study of the way society affects the way people think and act.
Evolutionary psychology: this looks at how human behaviour has been affected by psychological adjustments during evolution. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved through adaptations – that is, the products of natural selection or sexual selection. An evolutionary psychologist believes, for example, that language and memory perception are functional products of natural selection. An evolutionary psychologist believes that our human psychological traits are adaptations for survival in the everyday environment of our ancestors. In short, evolutionary psychology is focused on how evolution has shaped the mind and behaviour.
Spotlight: The Theory of Natural Selection
Evolutionary psychology has its historical roots in Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. In On the Origin of Species (1859) Darwin predicted that psychology would develop an evolutionary basis: ‘In the distant future I see open fields for far more important researches. Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation’.
Health psychology: this is the study of psychological and behavioural processes in health maintenance and illness prevention. It tries to understand the relationship between physical health and illness and psychological, behavioural and cultural factors. One approach that health psychology takes is termed the biopsychosocial approach. This is where physical health is understood to be the product not only of biological processes (e.g. a virus, a tumour) but also of psychological processes (e.g. thoughts and beliefs), behavioural processes (e.g. habits) and social processes (e.g. socioeconomic status and ethnic background).
It is this understanding of the psychological factors influencing physical health that allows the health psychologist to improve health, either by working with individual patients or indirectly in large-scale public health programmes. Health psychologists might also work directly with other healthcare professionals, by training or advising them on the importance of psychological factors in maintaining health or adherence to health-maintaining schemes or treatment regimes.
What all these different approaches to psychology have in common is a desire to explain the behaviour of individuals based on the workings of the mind. And in every area, psychologists apply scientific methodology. They formulate theories, test hypotheses through observation and experiment, and analyse the findings with statistical techniques that help them make important discoveries.
Other psychology professions
There is a range of professions that psychologists (i.e. people with at least one psychology degree or qualification) can go into, including many that are allied to psychology or that make use of psychology skills. The section here will focus on the main psychology professions as determined by the British Psychological Society’s Chartership scheme; these are the professions that the BPS recognizes with its benchmark scheme (see http://www.bps.org.uk/system/files/Public%20files/your_journey_jan_2014_web.pdf). Some are based on the subfields of psychology outlined above such as clinical, health, occupational and forensic psychology. Other professions arising from the various subfields include the following (taken, with permission, from the BPS website):
Counselling psychology: counselling psychologists focus on improving psychological functioning and well-being. Counselling psychologists deal with a wide range of mental health problems concerning life issues including bereavement, domestic violence, sexual abuse, traumas and relationship issues. They work with the individual’s unique subjective psychological experience to empower their recovery and alleviate distress.
Counselling psychologists work in hospitals (acute admissions, psychiatric intensive care, rehabilitation), health centres, Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services, community mental health teams and child and adolescent mental health services. They also work within private hospitals, private practice, forensic settings, industry, education, research and corporate institutions.
Educational psychology: educational psychology is concerned with children and young people in educational and early-years settings. Educational psychologists tackle challenges such as learning difficulties, social and emotional problems, and issues around disability as well as more complex developmental disorders. They work in a variety of ways including observations, interviews and assessments and offer consultation, advice and support to teachers, parents and the wider community as well as the young people concerned. They research innovative ways of helping vulnerable young people and often train teachers, learning support assistants and others working with children.
In the UK, local authorities
(LAs) employ the majority of educational psychologists working in schools, colleges, nurseries and special units, although increasing numbers are working directly in schools, academies and other educational settings. They regularly liaise with other professionals from education, health and social services. A growing number work as independent or private practitioners.
Sport and exercise psychology: sport psychology’s predominant aim is to help athletes prepare psychologically for the demands of competition and training. Examples of the work sport psychologists carry out include counselling referees to deal with the stressful and demanding aspects of their role, advising coaches on how to build cohesion within their squad of athletes, and helping athletes with personal development and the psychological consequences of sustaining an injury. Exercise psychology is primarily concerned with the application of psychology to increase exercise participation and motivational levels in the general public.
Sport and exercise psychologists work in a wide range of settings with a diverse range of clients participating in recreational, amateur and elite levels of competition.
Teaching and research psychology: research in psychology requires the application of skills and knowledge to hypothesize scientifically about an aspect of human behaviour, then to test it, analyse it and communicate the results. Research underpins much of the teaching and practice of psychology as it provides the evidence base for psychological theory and the effectiveness of treatments, interventions, tests and teaching methods. Typically, academics or researchers in higher education undertake both research and teaching and lecturing.
Most researchers are employed in higher education institutions or specialist research units; however, others are employed in a wide variety of contexts – including the food and drink industries, pharmaceutical industries, marketing, government departments and the NHS.
Dig deeper
The BPS website is a good place to get plenty of information on psychology, studying psychology and psychology qualifications: http://www.bps.org.uk/
A more in-depth introductory psychology text is provided by Edward E. Smith, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Barbara Fredrickson and Geoffey R. Loftus, Introduction to Psychology, 14th revised edition (Wadsworth Publishing, 2003).
To read more about twins separated at birth, see http://www.cbsnews.com/news/twin-brothers-separated-at-birth-reveal-striking-genetic-similarities/
Fact-check
1 What is psychology?
a The study of the brain
b The study of behaviour
c The science of people
d The study of mind and behaviour
2 What are nativists?
a People who sunbathe naked
b People who live in certain parts of the world
c People who believe that all behaviour is genetically determined
d People who believe that all behaviour is learned
3 What are empiricists?
a People who test theories
b People who believe that all behaviour is genetically determined
c People who believe that all behaviour is learned
d People who carry out research
4 What is neuropsychology otherwise known as?
a Neuroscience
b Clinical psychology
c Cognitive psychology
d Neurology
5 Which of these theoretical approaches does not drive clinical psychology?
a The cognitive behavioural perspective
b The psychodynamic approach
c The humanistic perspective
d The social psychology approach
6 Which of the following is studied within the field of individual differences?
a Personality
b Minority influence
c Language acquisition
d Social loafing
7 Which of the following is not studied in the field of occupational psychology?
a Employee selection
b Workplace stress
c Job satisfaction
d Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
8 Where might a health psychologist work?
a Prisons
b Schools
c Sports arenas
d Hospitals
9 Where might you find a forensic psychologist?
a Prisons
b Schools
c Sports arenas
d Hospitals
10 Which of the following does not reflect scientific methodology?
a The testing of hypotheses
b The formulation of theories
c The analysis of data
d The use of intuition
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Psychology research
Having stressed in Chapter 1 that psychology is a science, it is useful to look now at the processes that make psychology a science. These are the processes that have been undertaken to carry out the research in order to produce the knowledge and theories that underpin all of psychological awareness to date – and that will continue to be undertaken to further develop our understanding of the mind and behaviour. The basic process for conducting psychology research involves asking a question, designing a study, collecting data, analysing results, reaching conclusions and sharing the findings. This chapter outlines the key concepts these process involve.
The hypothesis
All scientific research must start with a hypothesis. A hypothesis is just a tentative prediction about what the scientist imagines (through educated guesswork) to be the relationship between two ‘variables’. A variable is a factor that can be changed and manipulated in ways that are observable and measurable (more on this later). This prediction, which is based on either previous research or some other logical reasoning, can then be tested.
For example, I might want to study the relationship between ice cream consumption and the weather. My hypothesis might be that ‘the higher the temperature, the more people will purchase ice cream’. My variables would be temperature and ice cream consumption. This hypothesis is easily testable by simply measuring both the variables.
People sometimes confuse a theory with a hypothesis. A theory predicts events in general terms, while a hypothesis makes a far more specific prediction about a particular set of circumstances. A theory is developed after extensive testing, while a hypothesis is an educated guess that has not yet been tested. A hypothesis can lead to a new theory, or to proving an existing one.
When talking about hypotheses, there are a couple of other terms that readers might come across. The ‘null hypothesis’ is the suggestion that there is no relationship at all between two or more variables. This is the default option that a piece of research will usually aim to reject (unless the research is aimed at proving there is no relationship). In the ice cream example, the null hypothesis would be that there is no relationship between ice cream consumption and outside temperature (which would probably be rejected by the findings).
Other terms in psychological research that you should be aware of are ‘one-tailed’ or ‘two-tailed’ hypotheses. Put simply, a one-tailed hypothesis specifies the direction that the predicted effect will have, whereas a two-tailed hypothesis does not specify the direction at all.
Thus:
• One-tailed: Increased outside temperatures will lead to increased consumption of ice cream.
• Two-tailed: Outside temperature will be related to ice cream consumption.
One-tailed hypotheses are used when we are pretty sure of the direction we are expecting, while two-tailed hypotheses are useful when we expect an effect but are not entirely sure what that effect might be.
The experiment
Once a psychology researcher has their hypothesis, they will need to test that with some kind of experiment. An experiment is what we do to test hypothesized relationships between variables. These experiments can be very complex with many different variables, or fairly simple cause-and-effect studies. Even a simple experiment will be made up of various components:
•
The experimental hypothesis: this is the statement that predicts what effect is expected (see above) and is not simply a guess, but is developed by examining previous research or literature in the area.
• The variables: These are the factors that are to be measured or manipulated in the experiment. There are two types of variable – independent and dependent. The independent variable (IV) is the thing that you change or manipulate and it is this change that you expect to lead to the hypothesis effect. The dependent variable (DV) is the factor that changes as a result of the IV. For example, if I were to conduct an experiment to test my ice cream hypothesis (above), I could manipulate the temperature (IV) in a shopping mall and measure how much ice cream was purchased (DV) at different temperatures. The amount of ice cream bought is dependent on the temperature in the mall.
• The control group: to carry out a rigorous experiment, it is necessary to have two groups of participants in the study: those who are subject to the manipulation of the IV and those who are not. Thus, I would need to measure ice cream consumption on a group of shoppers where the mall is kept at a constant temperature. This is the control group, and controls for the possibility that extraneous variables might have accounted for the findings. Extraneous variables are those unexpected factors that might influence the outcomes. For instance, there may be factors that influence ice cream consumption other than temperature, such as shop displays and time of day. The control group allows these extraneous factors to be controlled for.
• The experimental group: this is the group receiving the treatment or intervention and can be compared to the control group.