The study of psychology seems a daunting and vast task at first. But when you understand the basic facts it becomes easier to learn psychology. This article contains a few interesting things you need to know about this fascinating topic. Once you are able to get a strong hold on the subject, you are ready to explore the subject matter to its depth. Here are 5 facts about psychology.
The first important fact of the 5 facts about psychology is the definition of psychology. In fact, psychology is the study about mental processes and behavior. The word psychology comes from the Greek word “psyche” which means spirit or breath and the word “logia” which means the study of. It emerged from philosophy and biology while being closely linked to many other subjects. In fact, psychology is closely linked to subjects such as medicine, anthropology, linguistics and sociology.
Psychology uses scientific methods in order to investigate questions and arrive at a solution. Researchers use empirical methods in order to discover the relationships between different variables. There are a range of techniques used to study the human mind and behavior. Some of them includes experiments, naturalistic observation, questionnaires and case studies.
The topics and questions in psychology can be looked into in a number of different ways. If you take violence for example, some of the psychologists may look into the matter in the aspect of violence as the main contributor to it. On the other hand, some others may look at factors such as environment, culture, relationships and social pressure as contributing to violence.There are many perspectives of psychology including biological perspective, cognitive perspective, evolutionary perspective, humanistic perspective and behavioral perspective.
There are also so many branches of psychology. Introductory students should go through all these branches before specializing in one area of study. The most common sub fields of psychology include personality psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology and cognitive psychology.
Psychology is not all about therapy. Many people think that psychology is all about therapy. They envision a person with a notebook in hand jotting down all details about someone’s past when they think of a psychologist. This is not the exact case in reality. In fact, therapy is only a branch of psychology. It is a much more vast subject than just therapy.
Psychology encompasses many other areas such as teaching, consulting and research. In fact, a psychologist may work in a wide variety of settings such as private corporations, colleges & universities, K-12 schools, hospitals and government offices. Psychology is not only an academic subject that exists in a classroom, research laboratory or a mental health institute, but its principles are seen all around you in everyday situations.
Even the television commercials or print advertisements you see on a daily basis use psychological principles to capture their target market. Psychology is used to persuade people to buy a certain product over the other. The websites you view on the internet use psychology to understand how people are reading, using and interpreting their information. This is how important psychology is in our day to day lives.
As soon as you begin your study of psychology, you may think that the theories you learn there don’t apply to every day life. But you need to understand that psychology is an applied as well as a theoretical subject. Some psychologists try to add knowledge through research while the others try to solve day to day issues by using psychological principles.
This is why it is considered a theoretical as well as a practical subject. If you have studied psychology as a subject, you should know that there are so many career options in front of you. In fact, psychology opens a vast amount of opportunities to the person who has studied it. There are so many different career path to choose from for such an individual.
The career you choose will largely depend on your knowledge on the subject matter and work experience. This is why it is important that you research the required training and licensing options in your chosen career segment. This will help you select the most suitable opportunity in front of you. You will make best use of the opportunity provided to you under such circumstances.
Many people think that psychology is all about studying abnormal behavior. But this is not true in any way. In fact, psychology studies both normal and abnormal behavior. This is why it is able to treat all kinds of mental situations in today’s society. This is why psychology is very important in today’s society for anyone who plans to live with a healthy mind.
The aforementioned article provides a comprehensive overview of 5 facts about psychology. It will help you discover some interesting facts about psychology.