Goals of Modern psychology
1-Description : how people think, feel and act in
specific situation. Psychologists try to observe the
behavior of interest, (collection of data)
2-Explanation : “ why and how” that behavior
happened based on the different psychological
perspectives.
3-Predication: The ability to say in advance how
someone is likely to act .
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Contemporary fields of Specialization
1-Experimental psychology :
-Experimental psychologists frequently use
animals rather than human as their
experimental subjects .
• studies basic processes e.g. (hearing,
perception, learning, and communication).
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2-Neuro- psychology:
• Focus on study how basic processes are
controlled by nervous system, also use
animals.
Examples :
* to explain why memory sometimes declines
in old age, (breakdown in the network of
nerve cells that involves in remembering).
* Adults with history of hyperactivity had
reduced activity in areas of the brain that
control body movement and attention.
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
3-Personality psychology :
• Personality: (relatively stable style of
thinking, acting, and responding
emotionally of a person).
-Concerned individual differences in behavior
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
4-Social psychology:
• factors especially presence of other people,
that affect personal response, thinking ,
motivation and behavior in a given social
situation.
- Show that behavior that not just the results
of personality traits.
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5-Developmental psychology :
- describe and explain the systematic changes
that occur in people throughout the life
cycle.
• -How thinking , perception, memory,
intelligence, language, problem solving,
motivation, and social interaction change as
people grow older .
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
6-Industrial and Organizational Psychology:
• -Concerns with all aspects of behavior that
relate to the work place .
• -One aspect: How work can be made more
satisfying and more productive.
• -A major issue facing industrial and
organizational psychologists now is findings ways
to help working women deal with stress of
handling their dual responsibilities at home and at
office.
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
7-Educational and school psychology:
• Specialize in analyzing and improving formal
education,
* concerned with aspects of educational process as:
- Factors affect performance in the classroom?
- Importance of motivation?
- Using of reward and punishment .
- Size of classroom &interaction between students
and teachers
- Designing and administering tests of various kinds .
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
8-Clinical and counseling psychology :
*Deals with diagnosis and treatment of
psychological disorder. (psychotherapy).
*Counseling helps normal people with milder
problems of social and emotional
adjustment like marriage and family life.
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
9-Health psychology :
- Deals with the relationship between
personality and health .
• Believe that psychological factors as (stress,
hostility, and depression) plays a role in
onset and progress of many physical
disorders like peptic ulcer, heart diseases .
• -Try to identify psychological strategies to
cope with serious illness .
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
10-Environmental psychology:
• -Focus on the relationship between people
and their physical, social surroundings like
air pollution, noise, overcrowdings,
poverty, and natural disasters as
earthquakes, volcanoes, and tornadoes etc.
• These environmental conditions lead to
psychological distress especially if the poor
person lives in civilization city.
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
11- Peace psychology:
• Study how war, especially nuclear war, can
be avoided.
* focus on personality of war leaders,
misconception in international conflicts, and
negotiations and bargaining among political
officials.
* How people's fears and anxieties can be
transformed into effective political action.
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
12- Forensic psychology:
• Concerned with the application of
psychological methods to legal questions
and issues.
* Assessment of some specific psycho-legal
question as if the criminal has an mental
illness as psychosis which make him
unaccountable for his actions.
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Goals of Modern psychology…cont.
13- Sport psychology:
• Seeks to understand psychological/mental
factors that affect performance .
• It deals with increasing performance by
managing emotions and minimizing the
psychological effects of injury.
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