THE 10 TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGY,

AND WHAT THEY ENTAIL

Published: August 20, 2019 / 29 Comments
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To understand just how broad and deep the subject

psychology truly is, let’s take a closer look at some of
its different branches
Key takeaways
 Broadly defined, psychology is the study of mind and behaviour
 Different branches of psychology have emerged to help study different topics of interest within the
field.
 Psychology can be broadly classified into 10 main branches
Tell anyone you’re considering studying psychology and the inevitable response is “So, what am I
thinking? Or “Can you read my mind?”. It’s a banality no psychologist will ever be able to dodge
(#askanypsychologystudent).
But beyond mind reading, psychics, out-of-body experiences, recovered memories and lie detection,
psychology is actually by definition, the study of mind and behaviour. And, while the uninformed may
associate psychology with a comfy couch, a pair of listening ears and a hypnotic pendulum, the field
is in fact so vast that there’s a slew of specialties packed under its umbrella. After all, the human
experience is a multifaceted one, because no single study can ever fathom the incredible depths of
our behaviour, thoughts and emotions.
However, in an effort to right the misguided assumptions, here are 10 of the most widely-known
fields of psychology:

1. Clinical Psychology
This treatment-oriented branch of psychology deals with scientific ways of handling psychological
problems. Also called counselling psychology or psychotherapy, it focuses on the prevention,
understanding and cure of psychological issues by way of psycho-therapeutic treatment.

2. Biopsychology
This branch of psychology looks at the role the brain and neurotransmitters play in influencing our
thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It combines neuroscience and the study of psychology.

3. Educational Psychology
Educational psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour in an educational setting and, as
such, it deals with issues such as learning disorders, adolescence behaviours, and so on. These
studies focus primarily on the different developmental stages of children and teenagers.

4. Cognitive Psychology
The branch of psychology that deals with mental processes, such as thoughts, memory and problem
solving, is called cognitive psychology. In essence, it is concerned with the perception and problem-
solving capability of the brain.

5. Forensic Psychology
The application of psychology to law making, law enforcement, the examination of witnesses, and
the treatment of the criminal is the job of the forensic psychologist. Also known as legal psychology,
this branch of psychology is not dissimilar to cognitive and clinical psychology, but involves a
thorough understanding of the law.

6. Social Psychology
Focussed on the psychological aspects of individuals within a community environment, community
psychology explores characteristics such as interdependence, adaptation, diplomacy,
empowerment, social justice, and so on. It is also referred to as critical psychology.

7. Industrial Psychology
This branch of psychology addresses practical problems in the workplace through the application of
psychological principles. Industrial psychologists, also called organisational psychologists, are
employed by companies to administer tests which measure employee aptitudes or skills in hiring and
placement programmes.
8. Health Psychology
This branch of psychology observes how behaviour, biology and social context influence illness and
health. Health psychologists generally work alongside other medical professionals in clinical settings.

9. Experimental Psychology
Experimental psychologists work to understand the underlying causes of behaviour by studying
humans and animals. They work mainly in a laboratory environment, exploring how different species
interrelate and investigating the evolutionary significance of certain behaviours.

10. Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology that attempts to explain the development of
humans over time, both in the micro sense, as they develop from babies to mature adults, and in the
macro sense, as the culture itself evolves through the years and decades.
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Branches of Psychology: (Different

Branches of Psychology)
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Different Branches of Psychology are as follows:
Psychology studies and explains the behaviour of entire living
organisms. The term behaviour includes the cognitive, Conative and
affective, conscious, subconscious or unconscious, implicit or explicit.
It also includes the behaviour of people from infancy to old age, the
normal as well as abnormal.

It is very difficult to understand all these aspects of behaviour in one

sphere. Hence, in order to make it convenient to study, understand
and access the behaviour at different fields of life, psychology is
divided into different branches. These branches are broadly divided
into two categories viz., pure and applied.

1. Pure Branches:
Pure branches provide the theoretical frame work of the subject. These
branches deal with formulation of principles, theories and suggest
different methods for the assessment of behaviour. The pure branches
also suggest certain techniques for the modification of problematic
behaviour.

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The important pure branches are:

a. General psychology:
This branch deals with the fundamental rules, principles and theories
of psychology in relation to the study of behaviour of normal adult
human beings. It explains various psychological processes like
sensations, perceptions, emotions, learning, intelligence, personality,
etc.

b. Physiological psychology:
This branch describes the biological basis of behaviour. There is a
close relationship between body and mind; the functions of each other
are mutually influenced. The functioning of the brain, nervous system,
endocrine glands and their relation to cognitive, Conative and affective
behaviour is explained in this branch of psychology.

c. Developmental psychology:
Human life passes through various stages of development from
conception to old age. This branch explains the growth and
development of various processes in relation to behaviour.

d. Child psychology:
Childhood extends from 2 to 12 years. This is a crucial period in the
life. Future life depends upon development during childhood. Growth
and development will be rapid during this stage. Child psychology
deals with these aspects.
e. Animal psychology:
This branch deals with behaviour of animals. Many psychological
experiments are conducted to know the functioning of mind in
animals. Animals like rats, dogs, chimpanzees, pigeons, guinea pigs,
cats are some of the animals used for experimentation.

Findings of these experiments are many times generalized to human

behaviour also.

f. Abnormal psychology:
Today the life is complex. The individual is facing a lot of competition
and experiencing frustrations and conflicts. Constant pressures in life
are leading to psychological abnormalities. Abnormal psychology deals
with various kinds of mental disorders, their symptoms and causes.

g. Social psychology:
Human being is a social animal. Naturally the behaviour of an
individual is influenced by society and in turn influences the society.
Social psychology deals with interrelationships of people among
themselves, likes and dislikes of people, attitudes and interests, the
prejudices and social distances people have, group behaviour, group
cohesiveness, group conflicts, etc.

h. Parapsychology:
Parapsychology is the study of paranormal or superhuman experiences and events, such as
hauntings, near-death experiences, and alien abductions. In the present, parapsychology is
considered a pseudoscience because it appears to be scientific but lacks any empirical evidence or
scientific method to back up that claim. Yet, despite the fact that it is rarely taken seriously in the
present, there was a time when parapsychology was believed to be the next frontier in scientific
study.
Some of the psychological experiences are beyond the reach of 5 sense
organs. That is why they are called extra sensory perceptions (ESP) or
sixth sense. Some of the phenomena studied in ESP are as follows:

Parapsychology is a field of study that investigates the paranormal Beyond the

range of normal experience or scientific explanation: or “psychic" phenomena that cannot
be explained by current scientific knowledge. Researchers have looked for
evidence of extrasensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance (seeing the
future), telepathy (communicating mind to mind), and telekinesis (manipulating
objects via the power of the mind). Other paranormal occurrences, such as
out-of-body experiences, apparitions, and hauntings, have also been
investigated. Critics of parapsychology cite a lack of evidence of paranormal
activity and difficulty repeating findings; they also argue that researchers have
not been able to rule out all natural explanations for psychic phenomena as of
now, making it impossible to definitively claim that paranormal or psychic
phenomena truly exist. In addition, much of the historical research into the
topic has been proven fraudulent. Yet a fascination with the unexplained
persists.

i. Clairvoyance:
This is referred to as television, which is seeing the distant things
mentally. We perceive at times some situations or things without the
help of our eyes. In total – seeing things which happen beyond our
visual field through mind is called clairvoyance.

ii. Telepathy:
Transformations of emotions from one person to another person who
is in a far of place. For example, a person who is in death bed
remembering his close relative may be experienced by the concerned
person who is far away from him.

iii. Psychokinesis:
Moving the objects without direct contact through power of mind is
called Psychokinesis. For example, in Mahabharata, Shakuni could
move dice with his power of mind.

iv. Precognition:
Knowing the future happenings well in advance. At times people will
gain the knowledge of future called precognition. For example, some
accident or disaster that may take place after sometime will be known
before time.

v. Reincarnation:
This is otherwise called rebirth. There are some instances reported
where people remember their previous life details.

vi. Contacting souls:

There are some reports that the souls of dead people are contacted
through people called Mediums. These Mediums use a plate called
Planchette or Ouija board and establish contact with souls.

2. Applied Branches:
Applied branches deal with the application of psychological principles
and techniques for approaching the problems in different fields of life.

a. Educational psychology:
This is the most important field where psychological principles are
applied. In the field of education ‘learner’ is the focal point. Other
aspects like management, teachers, teaching and learning aids are all
meant for learners.

Learners differ in their abilities, hence they need different approaches

of teaching, learning material, etc. This branch addresses to the
problems and improvement in teaching and learning processes.

b. Clinical psychology:
This branch deals with the therapeutic aspect of mental disorders.
There are many types of mental illness requiring varied types of
therapies like chemotherapy, psychotherapy, recreational and
occupational therapies, behaviour therapy, etc.

c. Industrial psychology:
Human beings are different from machines. They will have many
problems in their work place like adjustment, safety, security, health,
financial and such other problems. Both the management and workers
need to cooperate in dealing with such problems. Industrial
psychology seeks application of psychological principles, theories and
techniques for the study of all these problems and the industrial
environment.
d. Counselling psychology:
Mental disorders may not be completely and easily cured just by drugs
and other physical therapies.

In addition to other therapies, these patients need counselling also.

Counselling is a process in which an interaction takes place between a
trained counselor and a client. This branch also helps people to
overcome adjustment problems.

In addition to the above, there are many other applied branches like
military psychology, legal psychology/criminal psychology, political
psychology, etc.

In this way, psychology has broadened its scope today and gaining
more and more importance. It may be expected that in days to come,
there cannot be any field of life without the application of
psychological principles.

Particularly in the field of medicine, for doctors and nurses the

knowledge of psychology is very useful and also essential.