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NEW TRENDS AND AVENUES IN PSYCHOLOGY

What different fields psychologists are cultivating ?. NEW TRENDS AND AVENUES IN PSYCHOLOGY. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY.

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NEW TRENDS AND AVENUES IN PSYCHOLOGY

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  1. What different fields psychologists are cultivating ? NEW TRENDS AND AVENUES IN PSYCHOLOGY

  2. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY • Positive psychology is a new field of psychology which is concerned with the scientific study and an applied approach to uncover people’s strengths and to promote their positive functioning. • It is about the bright side of people’s life rather than the dark side of life. • It claims to help build better and happier life.

  3. COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY • Community psychology is concerned with everyday behaviour in natural settings at home,the neighbourhood and the workplace. • It seeks to understand the factors that contribute to normal and abnormal behaviour in these settings.They also work to promote health and prevent disorder.

  4. CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY • Clinical psychologists assess and treat people with psychological problems. They may act as therapists for people experiencing normal psychological crises or for individuals suffering from chronic psychiatric disorders. • Some clinical psychologists are generalists who work with wide variety of populations,while others work with specific groups like children,the elderly or those with specific disorders(schizophrenia)

  5. Clinical psychologists mkay be found working in hospitals,community health centres or in private practice. • They practice a variety of different theories and treatments like behavioural therapy,cognitive therapy,psychodynamic and psychoanalytical treatments.

  6. COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY • Counselling psychologists do many of the same things that clinical psychologists do.However,counselling psychologists tend to focus more on persons with adjustment problems,rather than on persons suffering from severe psychological problems.They are employed in academic settings,community mental health centres and private practice.

  7. DEVELOMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY • Developmental psycholgists study how we develop intellectually,socially,emotionally and morally during our life span. • Some focus on jusgt one period of life like childhood,adolescene or old age. • Developmental psychologists usually do research and teach in academic settings,but many act as consultants to day care centers,schools or social service agencies.

  8. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY • Educational psychology is concerned with the study of human learning.They attempt to understand the basic aspects of learning and then develop materials and strategies for enhancing the learning process.For example,an educational psychologist might study reading and develop a new technique for teaching reading from the results of the research.

  9. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY • Evolunary psychology is na field that uses evolutionary theory to undedrstand behaviour and the design of the brains and minds of humans and other animals.Closely related to Comparative or Animal psychology,evolutionary psychology is an approach or way of thinking that can be applied to any topic within psychology like perception,social behaviour,learning etc.

  10. EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY • This area of specialization includes a diverse group of psychologists who do research in the most basic areas of psychology like learning,memory,attention,cognition,sensation and language. • Sometimes their research is conducted with animals instead of humans.Most are faculty members at colleges or universities.

  11. ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY • Environmental psychologists are concerned with the realtions between psychological processes and physical environments ranging from homes and offices to urban areas and regions. • They may do research on attitudes towards different environments,personal space or the effects on productivity of different office designs.

  12. FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY • Family psychologists are concerned with the prevention of family conflict,the treatment of marital and family problems and the maintainance of normal family functioning. • They design and conduct programmes for marital enrichment,premarital preparation and improved parent-child relations.

  13. FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY(contd) • Family psychologists conduct research on topics such as child abuse,family communication patterns and the effects of divorce and remarriage. • They are often employed in medical schools,hospitals,community agencies and in a private practice.

  14. FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY • Family psychology looks at law studies and legal issues from a psychological perspective e.g., how juries decided cases,effects of cross examination,mental state of the witness and psycholgical questions in a legal context e.g., how jurors assign blame or responsibility for a crime.

  15. FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY(contd) • Forensic psychologists are concerned with the clinical and applied facets of the law such as determining a defendant’s competence to stand trial or if an accident victim has suffered physical or neurological damage. • Jobs in these areas are in law schools,research organizations,community mental health agencies and correctional institutions.

  16. GAY,LESBIAN,BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PSYCHOLOGY(GLBT) • GLBT psychology focuses on the psychological issues affecting the lesbians,gay men and bisexual and transgendered individuals,focusing on the diversity of human sexual orientation by supporting research and promoting relevant education.

  17. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY • Healthn psychologists are concerned with psychology’s contributions to the promotion and maintainance of good health and the prevention and treatment of illness. • Clinical Health psychologists deal with health and illness inn settings,and there are those who focus more on health promotion,design and conduct of programmes to help people stop smoking,loseweight,manage stress and stay physically fit.

  18. INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY • Industrial or Orgnizational psychology is mainly concerned with the relationships between people and their work environments.They may develop new ways to increase productivity or be involved in personnel selection. • Industrial/Organizational psychologists find jobs in business,industry,governmentagencies,colleges,universities.They are highly paid.

  19. NEUROSCIENCE,BIOPSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOBIOLOGY • Neuroscientists(a new term for Biopsychologist and Psychobiologist) investigate brain-behaviour relationships. • Begnning a decade of the brain (1990-2000), neuroscience is a huge and growing research area to which psychologists contribute. These psychologists study both very basic processes .

  20. PSYCHOMETRICS • Psychometrics or Quantitative Psychology is concerned with methods and taechniques used to acquire and apply psychological knowledge.A psychometrist revises old intelligence,personality and aptitude tests and devises new ones.

  21. NEUROSCIENCE (contd) • These basic processes (e.g.,how brain cells function)are sensory systems,memory and more observable phenomena such as behaviour change as a function of drug use.Some continue their education in clinical areas and work with people who have neurological problems.

  22. PSYCHOMETRICS (contd) • Quatitative psychologists assist researchers in psychology or other fields to design experiments or interprete their results. • Psychometrists or quantitative psychologists are often employed in colleges and universities,testing companies,private research firms and government agencies.

  23. PSYCHOLOGY OF GENDER • Psychology of gender emphasizes the distinction between male and female on the basis of psychological features and not on a biological basis. • It is concerned with role attributes that society has assigned to the biological categories of sex.

  24. PSYCHOLOGY OF GENDER(cont) • Distinction between SEX and GENDER.Sex refers to the biological categories of male and female categories distinguished by genes hormones and chromosomes.Culture has no influence on one’s sex.Sex is a relatively stable category that is not easily changed. • However modern technology has allowed people to change their biological sex.

  25. PSYCHOLOGY OF GENDER(con) • Gender is a more fluid category.It refers to social categories of male and female.These categories are distinguished from one another by a set of psychological features and role attributes that society has assigned to the biological category of sex.EMOTIONALITY=female trait , male has COMPETITIVENESS as a trait.These are psycholgicalfeatures,which are features of gender rather than sex.

  26. PSYCHOIMMUNOLOGY • Psychoimmunology is concerned with the study of the relationship among the brain,the immune system and the psychological factors. • It is also known as PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY(PNI)and its main interests are the interactions between the nervous and immune systems and relationships between mental processes and health.

  27. REHABILITATION PSYCHOLOGY • Rehabilitation psychologists work with people who have suffered physical deprivation or loss at birth or during later development as a result of damage or deterioration of function(e.g., resulting from a stroke). • They help people overcome both psychological and situational barriers to effective functioning in the world(earthquake)

  28. SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY • School psychologists are involved in the development of children in an educational setting.They are typically involved in the assessment of children and the recommendation of actions to facilitate students’ learning. • They often act as consultants to parents and administrators to optimize the learning environments of specific students.

  29. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY • Social psychologists study how our beliefs,feelings and behaviours are affected by other persons.Some of the topics of interest to social psychologists are attitudes,aggression,prejudice ,love,interperonal attraction.Most social psychologists are on the faculty of colleges or universities.

  30. SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY • Sports and Exercise psychology is the scientific study of the psychological factors that are associated with participation and performance in sports,exercise and other types of physical activity. • Sports psychologists are interested in two main areas.(A) helping atheletes use psychological principles to achienve optimal mental health and to imorive performance.

  31. SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY(contd) • (B)understanding how participation in sport,exercise and physical activity affects individual’s psychological development,health and well being throughout the life span. • Sports teams(CRICKET,ATHLETICS)employ sports psychologist as an advisor and to boost mental health of the sportsmen.

  32. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY • Psychopathology, also known as Abnormal Psychology is concerned with non-normal or abnormal behaviour of individuals. • Such non-normal behaviour may be serious in nature(psychoses) or mild(neuroses). • Psychopathologists identify the symptoms and make a diagnosis of the mental problem • They may try to look into the aetiology. • They suggest treatment methods to cure.

  33. COMPATRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY • Comparative psychology is also known as Animal psychology, is concerned with the study of behaviour of animals , right from AMOEBA to GORRILA. • It studies such phenomena as social behaviour of ants,migratory behaviour of fish social network among the honeybees etc. • It helps to understand different aspects of behaviour close to human behaviour.

  34. COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY • Many experiments not possible with human beings can be conducted with animals.For example to see the effect of brain lesions on behaviour ,the researcher cuts some part of the brain (certain %)of the animal and observes its effect on behaviour.Such studies throw light on the functioning of the nervous system.

  35. PSYCHOLINGUISTICS • Psycholinguistics or Psychology of Language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire ,use,comprehend and produce language. • It covers the cognitive processes that make it possible to generate a grammatical and meaningful sentence out of vocabulary and grammatical structures.

  36. MATHEMATICAL PSYCHOLOGY • Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychological research that is based on mathematical modelling of perceptual,cognitive and motor processes,and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifiable stimulus characteristics with quantifiable behaviour. • It is closely related to psychometrics.

  37. PSYCHOCYBERNATICS • For instance, a computer or a mouse organises itself to achieve a task. • Dr.Maxwell Maltz applied the science of cybernatics to man to form psychocybernatics,which bridges the gap between our mechanistic models of the brain functioning and the knowledge of ourselves as being a lot more than machine. • CYBERNATICS refers to systems of control and communication in machines and animals. • Man is not a machine but has and uses a machine.

  38. ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY • Engineering psychology is a part of Industrial psychology,which is concerned with the design of machines and their placement so that these can be handled comfortably and with maximum efficiency. • Examples are found in airplane’s cockpit or taruck driver’s cabin or the modern computers ,television sets etc.

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