PSYCHOLOGY 1

Psychology

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Psychology

Introduction

In the current generation, psychology has become a significant and popular subject.

Various scholars have described psychology as a scientific study of an individual's mind and

how the individual behaves given certain circumstances (Hothersall, D., & Lovett, 2022). It also

involves the study and comprehension of the mental process and how an individual's brain

operates in relation to their behavior. Psychology is a wide discipline that works with other

disciplines such as education, social sciences, and medical sciences (Hothersall, D., & Lovett,

2022). Psychology embraces almost all the human experience aspects, from the operations of the

mind to the actions of the nations. It also embraces the aspects of child development to the

quality care for older people.

Psychology is different from pseudoscience and popular opinion in several ways. For

instance, psychology focuses on empirical evidence to make conclusions about a phenomenon

while popular opinions filter into the available scientific research and literature, whereas the

scientific findings are embraced immediately by scientists. Also, psychology differs from

pseudoscience because it focuses on false and unverified psychological practice, while

psychology focus on research, testable ideas, and evidence.

The birth of modern psychology is credited to Wilhelm Wundt, who established an

experimental psychology laboratory in 1879 (Hothersall, D., & Lovett, 2022). From this point

onwards, the science of psychology has ever since evolved into what we see today and continues

to evolve. Psychology has seven major perspectives. The first perspective is the behaviorist

perspective which focuses on how environmental factors influence behavior. The perspective
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holds that we are the results of what we have learned from the environment (Cherry, 2019). The

second perspective is the humanistic perspective which is concerned with holism. It embraces the

role of motivation in behavior and thought, what drives people towards change, growth, and

development. The third is the evolutionary perspective which is concerned with the evolution

theory in relation to psychological processes. It posits that mental processes exist since they

serve an evolutionary purpose. The fourth is the psychodynamic perspective which posits that

childhood experiences and the unconscious mind are determinants of behavior as described by

Freud (Cherry, 2019). The fifth is the biological perspective which suggests that all feelings,

behavior, and thoughts of an individual have a cause and also involves the study of the

hormones, brain, and genetics of an individual. The cognitive perspective is the sixth perspective

that focuses on the scientific study of mental processes through which people acquire knowledge.

It is concerned with an individual's attention, perception, and memory with relevance to

information processing, utilization, and storage in mind (Cherry, 2019). The last major

perspective is the cross-cultural perspective which focuses on how cultural beliefs influence the

behavior and thinking of people and the differences between collective and individualistic

cultures from social behaviors (Cherry, 2019).

Conclusion

In conclusion, psychology is a wide area of study with various activities for various

professionals like psychologists. For instance, psychologists study the behavioral, cognitive, and

emotional processes and abnormalities in animals and people and relate them to social, physical,

and genetic factors (Wright et al., 2017). They also explain the cause of the behavior of

individuals and why people possess certain traits or personalities. They also treat mental health

problems of individuals (Wright et al., 2017).

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References

Cherry, K. (2019). The 7 Major Perspectives in Psychology. Verywell Mind. Retrieved 3 July

2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/perspectives-in-modern-psychology-

2795595#:~:text=Major%20Perspectives%20in%20Modern%20Psychology&text=If

%20you%20have%20taken%20a,different%20schools%20of%20psychological

%20thought.

Hothersall, D., & Lovett, B. J. (2022). History of psychology. Cambridge University Press.

Wright, C. V., Beattie, S. G., Galper, D. I., Church, A. S., Bufka, L. F., Brabender, V. M., &

Smith, B. L. (2017). Assessment practices of professional psychologists: Results of a

national survey. Professional psychology: research and practice, 48(2), 73.