Introduction to Psychology

Assignment # 02
Topic: Nature and Applications of Psychology

Muhammad Hussain
Roll Number: 958
What is psychology?

Psychology is best defined as the "scientific study of behavior in humans and

animals." Behavior is what people and animals do: e.g., what a person says
about last night's dream, and how long it takes a rat to run a maze. You might
think that psychology was the "study of the mind" due to the fact that the prefix
psyche is Greek for mind, soul, spirit, and the suffix ology refers to the study of
something. Almost a hundred years ago, John Watson decided that psychology
should be a science: not just a vague and introspective reflection on our own
thoughts and feelings. Watson urged that psychology be defined as the
scientific study of behavior. Since about 1920, most university psychologists
have accepted Watson's definition. So, think of psychologists as scientists who
study behavior.

Scope and Applications of psychology with special reference to

Pakistan:

Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study

of mental processes and behavior. Psychology also refers to the application of
such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including relating to
individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness.
Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres
of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the
treatment of mental illness. It is largely concerned with humans, although the
behavior and mental processes of animals can also be part of psychology
research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g. animal cognition and
ethology), or somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight
into human psychology by means of comparison (including comparative
psychology).
 Health Department:
1. Health psychology is the application of psychological theory and research
to health, illness and health care.
2. Health psychology is concerned with the psychology of a much wider range
of health-related behavior including healthy eating, the doctor-patient
relationship, a patient's understanding of health information, and beliefs
about illness.
3. Health psychologists may be involved in public health campaigns,
examining the impact of illness or health policy on quality of life or in
research into the psychological impact of health and social care.
4. Now a day, Health Psychology is also applied in Pakistan like the developed
countries.
5. In Pakistan, Health psychologists are involved in the betterment of health
policies by the government.
 Industrial Psychology:
1. Industrial and organizational psychology (I/O) is among the newest fields
 in psychology.
2. Industrial Psychology focuses on improving, evaluating, and predicting job
performance.
3. While Organizational Psychology focuses on how organizations impact and
interact with individuals.
4. Industrial organizational psychologists look at questions regarding things
such as who to hire, how to define and measure successful job
performance, how to prepare people to be more successful in their jobs,
how to create and change jobs so that they are safer and make people
happier, and how to structure the organization to allow people to achieve
their potential.
5. I/O psychologists are employed by academic institutions, consulting firms,
internal human resources in industries, and governmental institutions
 Educational Psychology:
1. Educational Psychology is concerned with all aspects of psychology that are
relevant to education and psychology, particularly in the areas of human
development, learning and motivation, education of the gifted and talented,
and instructional psychology.
2. The role of Educational Psychology is to bring together theory and research
from psychology and related disciplines in order to facilitate healthy
human development and effective learning and teaching.
3. Educational psychology is rarely applied in Pakistan. But it is one of the
significant fields of psychology that is at least applied in Pakistan to some
extent.
 Clinical Psychology:
1. Clinical psychology is the application of abnormal psychology research to
the understanding this primarily includes behavioral and mental health
concerns.
2. It has traditionally been associated with psychological treatment and
psychotherapy, although modern clinical psychology may take an eclectic
approach, including a number of therapeutic approaches.
3. Typically, although working with many of the same clients as psychiatrists,
clinical psychologists do not, in general, prescribe psychiatric drugs.
4. Some clinical psychologists may focus on the clinical management of
patients with brain injury.
5. Many research psychologists believe that many contemporary clinicians
use therapies based on discredited theories and unsupported by empirical
evidence of their efficacy.
 Counseling Psychology:
1. Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses
research and applied work in several broad domains:
a. Counseling process and outcome.
b. Supervision and training.
c. Career development and counseling.
d. Prevention and health.
 2. Some unifying themes among counseling psychologists include a focus on
assets and strengths, person– environment interactions, educational and
career development, brief interactions, and a focus on intact personalities.
3. There’s a wide range application of counseling psychology in developed
countries but in third world countries like Pakistan, it is scarcely applied.
 Sports Psychology:
1. Sport psychology is an inter-disciplinary science that draws on knowledge
from the fields of Kinesiology and Psychology.
2. It involves the study of how psychological factors affect performance and
how participation in sport and exercise affect psychological, treatment, and
assessment of psychopathology and physical factors.
3. In addition to instruction and training of psychological skills for
performance improvement, applied sport psychology may include work
with athletes, coaches, and parents regarding injury, rehabilitation,
communication, team building, and career transitions.
4. Though this is highly required to be implemented in Pakistan, but as other
important things, it is also not taken under consideration.

 Forensic Psychology:
1. Forensic psychology is the intersection between psychology and the justice
system.
2. It involves understanding criminal law in the relevant jurisdiction in order
to be able to interact appropriately with judges, attorneys and other legal
professionals.
3. An important aspect of forensic psychology is the ability to testify in court,
reformulating psychological findings into the legal language of the
courtroom, providing information to legal personnel in a way that can be
understood.
4. In Pakistan, the forensic psychologist must understand the philosophy,
rules, and standards of the Pakistan judicial system.