Psychology as a Science:
Psychology comes complete with a full array of pedagogical features to enhance the content and make it easier to absorb. As this is the most comprehensive introductory psychology textbook on the market, there is a great deal of information here – our pedagogical features make this information more accessible, giving you the freedom and ability to go into as little or as much depth as you want, when you want. Psychology is made up of a wide range of sub-disciplines, and switching between them can often be difficult. Psychology is present in every aspect of human behaviour. It is everywhere you look and an intrinsic part of everything you do.
Psychology is often defined as ‘the science of behaviour’. Certainly, psychologists invest a considerable amount of time and effort in observing and measuring behaviour. But they are also interested in what people say about their experiences.
Rather than studying a person’s behaviour in isolation, they use the behaviour to find out about mental and biological processes, motives and personality traits. Therefore a definition of psychology as ‘the science of behaviour’ is inadequate.
So, what is psychology?? One way to answer this question is to start with the word itself. ‘Psychology’literally means ‘science of the mind’ (psycho meaning ‘mind’, or ‘mental’, and -logy meaning‘science’). A better definition of psychology might be ‘the science of behaviour and mental processes’, and indeed this is the definition offered in most introductory psychology textbooks.
Here is a selection of the many activities that psychologists engage in and the settings in which they do so:
-Teaching and developing training programmes (universities, colleges, hospitals, industry, government) -Scientific research (universities, private and government research institutes, industry) - Diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural problems (hospitals, community service agencies, private practice)-Personality testing, vocational testing and test development (personnel departments of organizations, consulting firms) - Advising government on policies (all levels of government) - Diagnosis and treatment of learning difficulties, emotional and behavioural problems that impair education (nurseries, schools, special education units, universities) - Designing machines, computers, systems (e.g. assembly lines), traffic signs etc. that are optimal for human use (industry, government) - Providing expertise to the legal system (prisons, courts, consulting firms) - Developing advertising and marketing strategies (business) - Helping athletes improve performance (professional sports teams, government sports institutes)
Given this diversity of activities it should be no surprise that it is impossible to identify a common set of characteristics (or even a single characteristic) that sets psychologists apart from sociologists, anthropologists, biologists and so on. What does this mean for you, as you begin your study of psychology!! It means that the subject you have chosen to explore is more complex than it might appear at first sight – which makes it all the more fascinating.
Psychology comes complete with a full array of pedagogical features to enhance the content and make it easier to absorb. As this is the most comprehensive introductory psychology textbook on the market, there is a great deal of information here – our pedagogical features make this information more accessible, giving you the freedom and ability to go into as little or as much depth as you want, when you want. Psychology is made up of a wide range of sub-disciplines, and switching between them can often be difficult. Psychology is present in every aspect of human behaviour. It is everywhere you look and an intrinsic part of everything you do.
Psychology is often defined as ‘the science of behaviour’. Certainly, psychologists invest a considerable amount of time and effort in observing and measuring behaviour. But they are also interested in what people say about their experiences.
Rather than studying a person’s behaviour in isolation, they use the behaviour to find out about mental and biological processes, motives and personality traits. Therefore a definition of psychology as ‘the science of behaviour’ is inadequate.
So, what is psychology?? One way to answer this question is to start with the word itself. ‘Psychology’literally means ‘science of the mind’ (psycho meaning ‘mind’, or ‘mental’, and -logy meaning‘science’). A better definition of psychology might be ‘the science of behaviour and mental processes’, and indeed this is the definition offered in most introductory psychology textbooks.
Here is a selection of the many activities that psychologists engage in and the settings in which they do so:
-Teaching and developing training programmes (universities, colleges, hospitals, industry, government) -Scientific research (universities, private and government research institutes, industry) - Diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural problems (hospitals, community service agencies, private practice)-Personality testing, vocational testing and test development (personnel departments of organizations, consulting firms) - Advising government on policies (all levels of government) - Diagnosis and treatment of learning difficulties, emotional and behavioural problems that impair education (nurseries, schools, special education units, universities) - Designing machines, computers, systems (e.g. assembly lines), traffic signs etc. that are optimal for human use (industry, government) - Providing expertise to the legal system (prisons, courts, consulting firms) - Developing advertising and marketing strategies (business) - Helping athletes improve performance (professional sports teams, government sports institutes)
Given this diversity of activities it should be no surprise that it is impossible to identify a common set of characteristics (or even a single characteristic) that sets psychologists apart from sociologists, anthropologists, biologists and so on. What does this mean for you, as you begin your study of psychology!! It means that the subject you have chosen to explore is more complex than it might appear at first sight – which makes it all the more fascinating.
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