6 things you need to know about psychology!

1. Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior.

The term psychology comes from the Greek word “psyche” meaning “breath, spirit, soul” and the “logia” meaning “study of”.

It emerged from biology and philosophy and is closely linked to other disciplines including sociology, medicine, linguistics, and anthropology.

2. Psychology uses scientific methods.

Psychologists use a range of techniques to study the human mind and behavior, including naturalistic observation, experiments, case studies, and questionnaires.

3. Psychology is not just about therapy.

Therapy is certainly a big part of psychology, but it is not the only thing that psychologists do. In fact, many psychologists don’t work in the field of mental health at all. It encompasses other areas including teaching, research and consulting. Psychologists work in a wide variety of settings, including: colleges and universities, private corporations, schools, hospitals and government offices.

4. Psychology is all around you.

It is not just an academic subject that exists only in classrooms, research labs, and mental health offices. The principles of psychology can be seen all around you in everyday situations. The television commercials and print ads you see everyday rely on psychological research to develop marketing messages that influence and persuade people to purchase the advertised products. The websites you visit on a regular basis utilize psychology to understand how people read, use and interpret online information.

5. Psychology studies both normal and abnormal behavior.

When many people think about psychology, they immediately think about the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal behavior. However, it is important to remember that it is not only about that, but it also studies normal behavior as well.

6. Psychology seeks to describe, explain, predict, modify and improve behaviors. There are four major goals of psychology:

• to describe human thought and behavior;
• to explain why these behaviors occur;
• to predict how, why and when these behaviors will occur again in the future;
• to modify and improve behaviors to better the lives of individuals and society as a whole.

We hope these six points helped you divide the realistic and unrealistic views about this study. Many people believe it to be something other than it really is, some magical way of knowing what the other person is thinking or feeling. Yes it can help you go deeper in to the minds of other, but it requires a lot of work and cooperation from the other party as well.

Then there is another problem that we psychologists regular face. I personally have been asked countless times why I love psychiatry or what is the difference between a psychologists and psychiatrist. I’ve answered that question in the following post: Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist – differences.

Credits to: www.psychology.about.com