Some of the research that is conducted in the field of psychology is more "fundamental" than the research conducted in the applied psychological disciplines, and does not necessarily have a direct application. The subdisciplines within psychology that can be thought to reflect a basic-science orientation include biological psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and so on. Research in these subdisciplines is characterized by methodological rigor. The concern of psychology as a basic science is in understanding the laws and processes that underlie behavior, cognition, and emotion. Psychology as a basic science provides a foundation for applied psychology. Applied psychology, by contrast, involves the application of

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

principles and theories yielded up by the basic psychological sciences; these applications are aimed at overcoming problems or promoting well-being in areas such as mental and physical health and education.

Abnormal psychology

Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology devoted to the study unusual patterns of

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

, emotion, and

thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, a ...

, including that which can be understood to represent mental disorder. Abnormal psychology is distinct from

clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

, an applied field of psychology that seeks to assess, understand, and treat psychological conditions that are harmful to the individual. However, the field of abnormal psychology provides a backdrop for clinical work.

Psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era. Biological psychopatholo ...

is a term used in abnormal psychology that suggests an underlying pathology.

Behavioral genetics

Behavioral genetics, also referred to as behavior genetics, is a field of scientific research that uses genetic

methods Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...

to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in

. Although the name "behavioral genetics" connotes a focus on genetic influences, the field broadly investigates the extent to which genetic and environmental factors influence individual differences, using research designs that allow removal of the

confounding In statistics, a confounder (also confounding variable, confounding factor, extraneous determinant or lurking variable) is a variable that influences both the dependent variable and independent variable, causing a spurious association. Con ...

of genes and environment.

Biological psychology

Biological psychology or behavioral neuroscience is the scientific study of the biological bases of behavior and mental processes. Biological psychologists view all behavior as dependent on the nervous system, and study the neural basis for behavior. This is the approach taken in behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and

neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of t ...

. The goal of neuropsychology is to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific behavioral and psychological processes. Neuropsychology is particularly concerned with brain injury in attempting to understand normal psychological function. Cognitive neuroscientists often use neuroimaging tools, which can help them to observe which areas of the brain are active during a particular task.

Cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology involves the study of

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

, including mental processes underlying perception,

learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...

problem solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

reasoning Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...

, thinking, memory,

attention Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...

, language, and emotion. Classical cognitive psychology has developed an

information processing Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process that ''describes'' everything that happens (changes) in the universe, from the falling of a rock (a change in posit ...

model of mental function, and has been informed by functionalism and

experimental psychology Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, in ...

. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary research enterprise that involves

cognitive psychologists Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

cognitive neuroscientists Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

, artificial intelligence,

linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, human–computer interaction, computational neuroscience, logicians and social scientists. Computational models are sometimes used to simulate phenomena of interest. Computational models provide a tool for studying the functional organization of the mind whereas neuroscience is more concerned with brain activity.

Developmental psychology

Developmental psychology is concerned with the development of the human mind and behavior over the life course. Developmental psychologists seek to understand how people come to perceive, understand, and act within the world and how these processes change as they age. They may focus on intellectual, cognitive, neural, social, or moral development. Developmental researchers who study children use a number of unique research methods, including observations in natural settings and the engaging of children directly in experimental tasks. Some experimental tasks resemble specially designed games and activities that are both enjoyable for the child and scientifically useful. Developmental psychologists have even devised methods to study the mental processes of infants. In addition to studying children, developmental psychologists also study the relation of

aging Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

to mental processes.

Experimental psychology

Experimental psychology represents a methodological approach to psychology rather than a content area subject. Experimental psychology lends itself to a variety of fields within psychology, including neuroscience,

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...

, sensation, perception,

, memory, thinking, and language. There is even an experimental social psychology. Experimental psychologists are researchers who employ experimental methods to help discover processes underlying behavior and cognition.

Evolutionary psychology

A goal of evolutionary psychology is to explain

traits and processes such as memory, perception, or language in terms of

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

s that arose in the evolutionary history of humans. Traits and processes are thought to be functional products of random mutations and natural selection. Evolutionary biologists view physiological mechanisms, such as the heart, lungs, and immune system, in similar terms. Evolutionary psychology applies the same thinking to psychology. Evolutionary psychologists advance the view that much of human behavior is the cumulative result of

psychological adaptation A psychological adaptation is a functional, cognitive or behavioral trait that benefits an organism in its environment. Psychological adaptations fall under the scope of evolved psychological mechanisms (EPMs), however, EPMs refer to a less restric ...

s that evolved to solve problems in human ancestral environments. For example, Steven Pinker hypothesized that humans have inherited special mental capacities for acquiring language, making language acquisition nearly automatic, while inheriting no capacity specifically for reading and writing.

Mathematical psychology

Mathematical psychology represents an approach to

research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, cognitive, and motoric processes. Mathematical psychology contributes to the establishment of law-like rules that pertain to quantifiable stimulus characteristics and quantifiable behavior. Because the quantification of behavior is fundamental to mathematical psychology,

measurement Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared ...

is a central topic in mathematical psychology. Mathematical psychology is closely related to psychometric theory. However, psychometricians are largely concerned with individual differences in mostly static, trait-like variables. By contrast, the focal concern of mathematical psychology is process models in such areas as perception and cognition. Mathematical psychology is intimately involved in the modeling of data obtained from experimental paradigms, making it closely related to

and

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology involves the study of the structure and function of the brain as it relates to specific psychological processes and overt behaviors. Neuropsychological research includes studies of humans and animals with brain lesions. Neuropsychologists have also studied electrical activity in individual brain cells (or groups of cells) in humans and other primates. Neuropsychology shares much with neuroscience, neurology,

, and cognitive science.

Personality psychology

A goal of personality psychology is to investigate enduring patterns of

, and emotion in individuals. Personality psychologists are especially interested in individual differences. Within the framework of personality psychology, trait theorists attempt to analyze personality in terms of a limited number of key psychological traits. This type of research is highly dependent on statistical methods. The number of proposed traits has varied; however, there is some consensus over an empirically driven theory known as the "Big 5" personality model.

Psychophysics

Psychophysics is a discipline concerned with the relation between physical stimuli and their

subjective Subjective may refer to: * Subjectivity, a subject's personal perspective, feelings, beliefs, desires or discovery, as opposed to those made from an independent, objective, point of view ** Subjective experience, the subjective quality of conscio ...

correlates, or

percept Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...

s or sensations. Psychophysics involves a set of methods that can be employed in research on perceptual systems. Modern applications of psychophysics rely heavily on ideal observer analyses and

signal detection theory Detection theory or signal detection theory is a means to measure the ability to differentiate between information-bearing patterns (called stimulus in living organisms, signal in machines) and random patterns that distract from the information (ca ...

Social psychology

Social psychology involves the study of social behavior and mental processes that pertain to social behavior. Social psychology is concerned with how humans think about each other and how they relate to each other. Social psychologists study topics such as social influences on individual behavior (e.g.

conformity Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms, politics or being like-minded. Norms are implicit, specific rules, shared by a group of individuals, that guide their interactions with others. People often choo ...

and

persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for Social influence, influence. Persuasion can influence a person's Belief, beliefs, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, Intention, intentions, Motivation, motivations, or Behavior, behaviours. ...

), belief formation, attitudes, and

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

s. Social cognition integrates social and cognitive psychology in order to help discover how people process, remember, and distort social information. Research on group dynamics is pertinent to understanding the nature of leadership and communication.

Additional areas

* Linguistics * Neuroscience *

Qualitative psychological research Qualitative psychological research is psychological research that employs qualitative methods. Qualitative research methodologies are oriented towards developing an understanding of the meaning and experience dimensions of human lives and their ...

Quantitative psychology Quantitative psychology is a field of scientific study that focuses on the mathematical modeling, research design and methodology, and statistical analysis of psychological processes. It includes tests and other devices for measuring cognitive ab ...

References

{{Psychology Experimental psychology