Branches Of Psychology
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to psychology:
Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
refers to the study of subconscious and conscious activities, such as emotions and thoughts. It is a field of study that bridges the scientific and social sciences and has a huge reach. Its goal is to comprehend individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. Psychology is the study of people and the reasons for their behavior. It has grown in popularity in the last few decades and is now an undergraduate course at many universities. There are a variety of psychology branches that people specialize in, as outlined below. Fernald LD (2008)
''Psychology: Six perspectives''
(pp. 12–15). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hockenbury & Hockenbury. Psychology. Worth Publishers, 2010.


Branches of psychology


Basic psychological science

*
Abnormal psychology Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which could possibly be understood as a mental disorder. Although many behaviors could be considered as abnormal, this branch of ps ...
*
Applied psychology Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Educational and organizational psychology, business management, law, health, pro ...
* Asian psychology *
Behavioral genetics Behavioural genetics, also referred to as behaviour genetics, is a field of scientific research that uses genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in behaviour. While the name "behavioural genetics" c ...
*
Biological psychology Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology,Psychobi ...
* Black psychology *
Clinical neuropsychology Clinical neuropsychology is a subfield of psychology concerned with the applied science of brain-behaviour relationships. Clinical neuropsychologists apply their research to the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients w ...
*
Cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human 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, whi ...
*
Comparative psychology Comparative psychology is the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. The phrase comparative psycholog ...
* Conservation psychology * Criminal psychology * Critical psychology *
Cultural psychology Cultural psychology is the study of how cultures reflect and shape their members' psychological processes.Heine, S. J. (2011). ''Cultural Psychology. ''New York: W. W. Norton & Company. It is based on the premise that the mind and culture are ins ...
*
Developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the 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 development ...
*
Differential psychology Differential psychology studies the ways in which individuals differ in their behavior and the processes that underlie it. It is a discipline that develops classifications (Taxonomy, taxonomies) of psychological individual differences. This is di ...
*
Evolutionary psychology Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regard to the ancestral problems they evolved ...
*
Experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...
* Forensic developmental psychology * Group psychology *
Health psychology Health psychology is the study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. The discipline is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors contribute to physical health and il ...
* Indigenous psychology *
Mathematical psychology Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychology, psychological research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, thought, Cognition, cognitive and motor processes, and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifi ...
*
Medical psychology Medical psychology or Medicopsychology is the application of psychological principles to the practice of medicine, sometimes using drugs for both physical and mental disorders. A medical psychologist must obtain specific qualification in psych ...
*
Motivation Motivation is an mental state, internal state that propels individuals to engage in goal-directed behavior. It is often understood as a force that explains why people or animals initiate, continue, or terminate a certain behavior at a particul ...
*
Music psychology The psychology of music, or music psychology, is a branch of psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and/or musicology. It aims to explain and understand musical behaviour and experience, including the processes through which music is pe ...
*
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 focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...
* Pediatric psychology *
Personality psychology Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include: * Describing what per ...
*
Positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of conditions and processes that contribute to positive psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), well-being, Positive psychology of relationships, positive relationships, and positive institutio ...
*
Psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek ; ; and ) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory. It is distinguished from neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes ...
*
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 a ...
*
Rehabilitation psychology Rehabilitation psychology is a specialty area of psychology aimed at maximizing the independence, functional status, health, and social participation of individuals with disabilities and chronic health conditions. Assessment and treatment may inclu ...
*
Social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
*
Transpersonal psychology Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is an area of psychology that seeks to integrate the spiritual and transcendent human experiences within the framework of modern psychology. Evolving from the humanistic psychology movement, ...
*
Theoretical psychology Theoretical psychology is concerned with theoretical and philosophical aspects of psychology. It is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field with a wide scope of study. It focuses on combining and incorporating existing and developing th ...


Other areas by topic

*
Behavioral economics Behavioral economics is the study of the psychological (e.g. cognitive, behavioral, affective, social) factors involved in the decisions of individuals or institutions, and how these decisions deviate from those implied by traditional economi ...
*
Child psychopathology Child psychopathology refers to the scientific study of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Oppositional defiant disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder are examples of psychopathology that are ...
* Feminine psychology * Indian psychology *
Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
*
Moral psychology Moral psychology is the study of human thought and behavior in ethical contexts. Historically, the term "moral psychology" was used relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. This field of study is interdisciplinary between th ...
*
Psychometrics Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and rela ...
*
Psycholinguistics Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the interrelation between linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The discipline is mainly concerned with the mechanisms by which language is processed and represented in the mind ...
* Psychology of art *
Psychology of religion Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks ...
* Psychology of science *
Psychology of self The psychology of self is the study of either the cognitive, Conative function, conative or affective representation of one's identity, or the subject of experience. The earliest form of the Self in modern psychology saw the emergence of two eleme ...
**
Self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...
*
Psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of mental illness. It includes the signs and symptoms of all mental disorders. The field includes Abnormal psychology, abnormal cognition, maladaptive behavior, and experiences which differ according to social norms ...
* Psychopharmacology and substance abuse *
Psychophysics Psychophysics is the field of psychology which quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimulus (physiology), stimuli and the sensation (psychology), sensations and perceptions they produce. Psychophysics has been described ...
* Sex and psychology


Applied psychology

* Anomalistic psychology *
Applied behavior analysis Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also referred to as behavioral engineering, is a behavior modification system based on the principles of respondent and operant conditioning. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis; the other two are: ...
*
Clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...
*
Community psychology Community psychology is concerned with the community as the unit of study. This contrasts with most psychology, which focuses on the individual. Community psychology also studies the community as a context for the individuals within it,Jim Orf ...
* Consumer psychology *
Counseling psychology Counseling or Counselling psychology is an international discipline. It is practiced in the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong and Korea, and South Africa. Counseling psychology in th ...
*
Ecological psychology Ecological psychology is the scientific study of the relationship between perception and action, grounded in a direct realist approach. This school of thought is heavily influenced by the writings of Roger Barker and James J. Gibson and stands ...
*
Educational psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioral psychology, behavioral perspectives, allows researc ...
*
Environmental psychology Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental psycho ...
*
Forensic psychology Forensic psychology is the application of scientific knowledge and methods (in relation to psychology) to assist in answering legal questions that may arise in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes ...
*
Health psychology Health psychology is the study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. The discipline is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral, and cultural factors contribute to physical health and il ...
* Human factors psychology *
Industrial and organizational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...
*
Legal psychology Legal psychology is a field focused on the application of psychological principles within the legal system and its interactions with individuals. Professionals in this area are involved in understanding, assessing, evaluating potential jurors, ...
*
Media psychology Media psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on the interactions between human behavior, media, and technology. Media psychology is not limited to mass media or media content; it includes all forms of mediated communication and media t ...
* Military psychology *
Occupational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...
*
Occupational health psychology Occupational health psychology (OHP) is an interdisciplinary area of psychology that is concerned with the health and safety of workers.Schonfeld, I.S., & Chang, C.-H. (2017). ''Occupational health psychology: Work, stress, and health''. New York ...
*
Political psychology ''Political Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published bimonthly by Wiley on behalf of the International Society of Political Psychology. The editors-in-chief are Orla Muldoon of the University of Limerick, Ireland and James Liu ...
*
Psychoneuroimmunology Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), also referred to as psychoendoneuroimmunology (PENI) or psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology (PNEI), is the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body. It is ...
*
Psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek ; ; and ) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory. It is distinguished from neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes ...
*
School psychology School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and ado ...
*
Sport psychology Sport psychology is defined as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. One definition of sport sees it as "any physical activity for the purposes of competition, recreation, education or health". Sport psychology i ...
* Traffic psychology


Psychological schools

Psychological schools Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology ...
– some examples of psychological schools follow (the most prominent schools are in bold): *
Analytical psychology Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their ...
*
Behaviorism Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understand the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex elicited by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that indivi ...
(see also Radical behaviourism) * Cognitivism *
Depth psychology Depth psychology (from the German term ''Tiefenpsychologie'') refers to the practice and research of the science of the unconscious, covering both psychoanalysis and psychology. It is also defined as the psychological theory that explores the rel ...
* Descriptive psychology *
Ecological systems theory Ecological systems theory is a broad term used to capture the theoretical contributions of developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner. Bronfenbrenner developed the foundations of the theory throughout his career, published a major statement of ...
*
Ego psychology Ego psychology is a school of psychoanalysis rooted in Sigmund Freud's structural id-ego-superego model of the mind. An individual interacts with the external world as well as responds to internal forces. Many psychoanalysts use a theoretical c ...
*
Enactivism (psychology) Enactivism is a position in cognitive science that argues that cognition arises through a dynamic interaction between an acting organism and its environment. It claims that the environment of an organism is brought about, or enacted, by the active ...
* Existential psychology *
Functional psychology Functional psychology or functionalism refers to a psychological school of thought that was a direct outgrowth of Darwinian thinking which focuses attention on the utility and purpose of behavior that has been modified over years of human existen ...
*
Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...
*
Humanistic psychology Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that arose in the mid-20th century in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow established the need for a "third force" ...
*
Individual differences Differential psychology studies the ways in which individuals differ in their behavior and the processes that underlie it. It is a discipline that develops classifications ( taxonomies) of psychological individual differences. This is distinguish ...
* Individual psychology * Phenomenological psychology *
Psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
*
Structuralism Structuralism is an intellectual current and methodological approach, primarily in the social sciences, that interprets elements of human culture by way of their relationship to a broader system. It works to uncover the structural patterns t ...
*
Transactional analysis Transactional analysis is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy wherein social interactions (or "transactions") are analyzed to determine the id, ego, and superego, ego state of the communicator (whether parent-like, childlike, or adult- ...
*
Transpersonal psychology Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is an area of psychology that seeks to integrate the spiritual and transcendent human experiences within the framework of modern psychology. Evolving from the humanistic psychology movement, ...


History of psychology

History of psychology Psychology is defined as "the scientific study of behavior and mental processes". Philosophical interest in the human mind and behavior dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Persia, Greece, China, and India. Psychology as a field of ...
* Timeline of psychology * Timeline of psychotherapy


Psychology theories

* List of social psychology theories


Research methods

List of psychological research methods A wide range of research methods are used in psychology. These methods vary by the sources from which information is obtained, how that information is sampled, and the types of instruments that are used in data collection. Methods also vary by whe ...
* List of neurological research methods


Psychological phenomena

*
Cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm (philosophy), norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the ...
(list) ** List of memory related cognitive biases *
Emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
(
list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...
) *
Perception 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 syste ...
(
index Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
) * Psychological effects *
Thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and de ...
(outline) **
List of thought processes The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to thought (thinking): Thought is the object of a mental process called thinking, in which beings form psychological associations and models of the world. Thinking is manipul ...
** List of organizational thought processes ** List of decision-making processes ** List of creative thought processes **
List of mnemonics A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
**
Emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. High emotional intelligence includes emotional recognition of emotions of the self and others, using ...


Psychological conditions

*
DSM-IV codes This is a list of mental disorders as defined in the DSM-IV, the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Published by the American Psychiatry Association (APA), it was released in May 1994, superseding the DSM-I ...
* DSM-IV codes (alphabetical) *
Mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
(list) * List of mood disorders *
List of neurological disorders This is a list of major and frequently observed neurological disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease), symptoms (e.g., back pain), signs (e.g., aphasia) and syndromes (e.g., Aicardi syndrome). There is disagreement over the definitions and criteria ...
* Outline of autism


Psychological treatments

*
List of cognitive–behavioral therapies Cognitive behavioral therapy encompasses many therapeutical approaches, techniques and systems. * Acceptance and commitment therapy was developed by Steven C. Hayes and others based in part on relational frame theory and has been called a "third wa ...
* List of therapies * List of psychotherapies


Medicine

*
Drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...
* Lists of drugs * List of nootropics (smart drugs)


Psychology education

* List of credentials in psychology * List of schools of psychoanalysis


Psychology organizations

* List of psychology organizations * Evolutionary psychology research groups and centers * List of schools of psychoanalysis


Scholars of psychology (and related)

; List of psychologists * List of clinical psychologists * List of cognitive psychologists * List of comparative psychologists * List of developmental psychologists * List of educational psychologists * List of evolutionary psychologists *
List of social psychologists The following is a list of academicians, both past and present, who are widely renowned for their groundbreaking contributions to the field of social psychology. A * Dominic Abrams * Lauren Alloy * Icek Ajzen * Floyd Allport * Gordon Allport * ...
;Related * List of cognitive scientists * List of fictional psychiatrists *
List of neurologists and neurosurgeons This is a list of neurologists and neurosurgeons, with their year of birth and death and nationality. This list compiles the names of neurologists and neurosurgeons with a corresponding Wikipedia biographical article, and is not necessarily a refle ...
*
List of neuroscientists Many famous neuroscientists are from the 20th and 21st century, as neuroscience is a fairly new science. However many anatomists, physiologists, biologists, neurologists, psychiatrists and other physicians and psychologists are considered to be ...
* List of psychiatrists * List of psychoanalytical theorists


See also

* Index of psychology articles ** Index of cognitive science articles **
Index of neurobiology articles The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to neuroscience: Neuroscience is the scientific study of the neuroanatomy, structure and neurophysiology, function of the nervous system. It encompasses the bra ...
** Index of psychometrics articles * List of neuroscience topics * List of counseling topics * List of neuroimaging software *
List of regions in the human brain The human brain anatomical regions are ordered following standard neuroanatomy hierarchies. Functional, connective, and developmental regions are listed in parentheses where appropriate. Hindbrain (rhombencephalon) Myelencephalon * M ...
*
Neuro-linguistic programming Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy that first appeared in Richard Bandler and John Grinder's book ''The Structure of Magic I'' (1975). NLP ...
(
index Index (: indexes or indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on the Halo Array in the ...
) *
Web-based experiments A web-based experiment or Internet-based experiment is an experiment that is conducted over the Internet. In such experiments, the Internet is either "a ''medium'' through which to target larger and more diverse samples with reduced administrativ ...
*
List of psychology journals This list presents a selection of journals in the field of psychology and its branches. {{compact ToC, side=yes, top=yes, num=yes A * '' Acta Psychologica'' * ''Adaptive Behavior'' * '' Adultspan Journal'' * '' Aggressive Behavior'' * '' Aging ...


References


External links


Psychology Library
Search Psychology articles by author's name, category and key word (Also Articles from the American Psychological Association) {{Outline footer
Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
1