Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. It arose as a discipline distinct from philosophy in the late 19 th century.
What Are Basic Psychological Processes?
Psychology’s provenance is not only huge but it focuses most on those elements that give human experience its richness. Its major interests include:
• Emotions from affection to guilt to revenge , and all the other feelings that stir human behavior
• Perception , the awareness that operates through our five senses
• Memory , the repository of experience, ours to summon up at will
What Are Basic Principles of Psychology?
Knowledge of the complexities of the mind’s operations is constantly evolving as new tools become available to literally see inside the mind or indirectly assess its workings. Still, some principles of behavior are well-established:
• The preeminent goal of any organism is to stay alive. To that end, the brain functions as a prediction machine, constantly scanning the environment for clues to what will come next, so an individual can exert some means of control and stay safe.
• In its preference for certainty over uncertainty (which makes us feel uncomfortable and anxious), the mind seeks to detect patterns—and it’s sometimes too good at it, seeing them where they don’t exist.
• No one knows for sure yet how consciousness—our awareness of ourselves and the world around us—arises from the 3 scant pounds of tissue in our heads, but all evidence indicates the mind operates on two parallel tracks: one by which we gather information consciously, through intentionally focusing attention , and another that gathers information automatically, outside of conscious awareness. Both contribute to attitudes, beliefs, decision-making , and behavior.
What Are Some Key Findings of Psychology?
One of the foundational discoveries of psychology is the conditioned response, which underlies all learning—the means by which we adapt to our environments. In studies that won him the Nobel Prize in 1904, Ivan Pavlov demonstrated that when a tone (and later other sounds and other stimuli) is sounded at the same time food is presented, a dog will eventually salivate at the sound alone, because the animal comes to associate the sound with the arrival of food. The studies are noteworthy to this day not just because they reveal a basic form of learning but also because they demonstrate how invisible mental processes can be studied and measured.
Since then, psychologists have shown that:
• Attachment to a caregiver in infancy and early childhood heavily influences an individual’s ability to reach optimal cognitive, emotional, and social development as an adult.
• Intelligence is a general mental capacity that operates in many spheres of life.
What Is Clinical Psychology?
Clinical psychology applies the entire, constantly evolving knowledge base of human behavior first and foremost to the relief of emotional suffering of individuals, families, and other groups, and to the desire for growth and change. Whether helping people of all ages cope with severe psychopathology or providing techniques for relieving everyday anxiety , clinical psychologists practice in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, private offices, and schools and colleges.
Clinical psychologists typically invite from the patient(s) a history of the problem and descriptions of how it impedes functioning. A diagnosis helps the clinician focus treatment and marshal supportive services that may also aid in relieving distress. The goal is almost always to foster understanding of the problem and to provide skills for managing the kinds of experience that disrupt function.
There are many types of therapy aimed at changing thoughts and behaviors that psychologists deploy to help patients restore balance and even grow. A deeply researched and widely used approach today is cognitive behavioral therapy, with or without some form of meditation , to help people overcome their own non-productive patterns of thinking, reacting emotionally, and behaving.
Research has also demonstrated the value of face-to-face interaction—a sine qua non of most psychotherapy —in calming the nervous system and establishing feelings of safety, a necessary condition for people to begin tackling their problems.
Explore More About Psychology
For a comprehensive understanding of psychology, read our complete guide: