Branches of Psychology

There are a lot of unique and distinct branches in psychology and these are just some of them:

1.       General Psychology – explains the principles of behavior; how and why people behave.

2.       Comparative Psychology – (Animal Psychology) studies the behavior and mental processes of humans in comparison with that of animals on the basis of genetic and evolution.

3.       Developmental Psychology – (Genetic Psychology) studies the various aspects of growth and development from prenatal to old age.

4.       Child Psychology – is a study of behavior from birth to early adolescence. Patterns of growth and development and environmental influences on the child are considered.

5.       Adolescent Psychology – a study of human behavior from puberty to later life. This involves the physical and mental maturation of individuals as well as the emotional and social maturity.

6.       Senescent Psychology – is the study of human behavior in old age.

7.       Consumer Psychology – Studies motivation, perception and learning in order to understand buying decisions of consumers. Mass media, advertising, surveys, market research and salesmanship are the important areas in this field.

8.       Abnormal Psychology – is concerned with the causes of personality disorders and deviant behavior.

9.       Dynamic Psychology – (Personality Psychology) emphasizes the internal drives and motives of particular behavior.

10.     Legal Psychology – is the application of psychological principles in analyzing evidences and examining witnesses in legal proceedings(Legal psychologists typically take basic social and cognitive theories and principles and apply them to issues in the legal system such as eyewitness memory, jury decision-making, investigations, and interviewing.)

11.     Forensic Psychology – involves work within the domain of legal, judicial, and correctional institutions (example: Forensic Psychologist work with human problems, determine mental competence of the accused, prepare psychological reports to help judges decide on a particular case.)

12.     Business Psychology – uses techniques of mass persuasion to gain more customers and improve business transaction.

13.     Social Psychology – explains the interaction of groups of persons with other groups.

14.     Counseling Psychology – focuses on the problems of adjustment to challenges that everyone faces in life. Helps the individual in dealing with personal problems, career choice, adjustment, interpersonal relations, parent-child relationship and other concerns.

15.     Educational Psychology – is the application of learning principles for effective instruction, diagnosis and treatment of learning difficulties (workers in this area are researchers and theorists called “educational psychologists”.)

16.     School Psychology – is devoted to the assessment and remedy of problems encountered in education, including both learning disabilities and emotional problems. Practitioners in schools or school-related settings are called “school psychologists”.

17.     Clinical Psychology – involves the diagnosis and evaluation of events that gave rise to behavior disorders and other forms of maladjustments.

18.     Industrial (organizational) Psychology – is the application of psychological knowledge to the problems of business and industry (Job Satisfaction and productivity).

19.     Human Engineering Psychology – is concerned with creating safer and more efficient equipments so that workers will be able to perform their jobs with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.

20.     Experimental Psychology – is the scientific investigation of the different aspects of behavior, sensation, perception, learning, emotion, motivation, and other psychological processes.

21.     Differential Psychology – studies differences and similarities among individuals, social groups and races.

22.     Physiological Psychology – is a subdivision of behavioral neuroscience or biological psychology that studies the neural mechanisms of perception and behavior through direct manipulation of the brains of nonhuman animal subjects in controlled experiments.[1] Unlike other subdivisions within biological psychology, the main focus of physiological psychological research is the development of theories that explain brain-behavior relationships rather than the development of research that has translational value.

23.     Ecological Psychology – studies the effects of environmental conditions (pollution, overcrowding, natural calamities, disease) on the behavior of people.

24.     Sport Psychology – focuses on the social, mental and emotional problems of athletes.

25.     Mental Hygiene – is the application of systematic practices for the preservation of mental health.

26.     Biopsychology – explores the relationship between fundamental biological processes and behavior. The study is focused on the functions of the different internal organs of the body, especially the nervous system and their bearing on behavior and mental processes. It is the application of the principles of biology, in particular neurobiology, to the study of mental processes and behavior in human and non-human animals.

27.     Cognitive Psychology – is a discipline within psychology that investigates the internal mental processes of thought such as visual processing, memory, problem solving, and language.

28.     Health Psychology – explores the relationship between physical and mental health, and especially, the role of stress in health.

29.     Engineering Psychology – deals with the design of the equipment and the tasks of the individual who operated them.

30.     Media Psychology – seeks an understanding of how people perceive, interpret, use, and respond to a media-rich world. In doing so, media psychologists can identify potential benefits and problems and promote the development positive media

31.     Computer Psychology (cyberpsychology)- is the study of the human mind and behavior in the context of human-technology interaction. However, mainstream research studies seem to focus on the impact of the Internet and cyberspace on the psychology of individuals and groups. Some hot topics include: online identity, online relationships, personality types in cyberspace, transference to computers, addiction to computers and Internet, regressive behavior in cyberspace, online gender-switching, etc. Study on individual differences in computer-related behavior and the psychology of technology-enriched learning. Concerned with the psychological effects and implications of computer technologies such as the Internet and virtual reality.

32.     Psychometrics - The use of psychological tests to measure intelligence, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.