Psychology

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Psychology (Greek: Ψυχολογία, lit. "study of the mind", from ψυχή psukhē "breath, spirit, soul"; and -λογία, -logia "study of") is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and often scientific, study of human/animal mental functions and behavior. Occasionally, in addition or opposition to employing the scientific method, it also relies on symbolic interpretation and critical analysis, although it often does so less prominently than other social sciences such as sociology. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, motivation, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships. Some, especially depth psychologists, also study the unconscious mind.

Psychological knowledge is applied to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to everyday life—such as family, education and employment—and to the treatment of mental health problems. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes. Psychology includes many sub-fields of study and applications concerned with such areas as human development, sports, health, industry, media and law. Psychology incorporates research from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. A professional theorist or practitioner of psychology is called a psychologist.

For more information about Psychology, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

News tagged with psychological science

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Mad genius: Study suggests link between psychosis and creativity

Medicine & Health / Genetics

Sep 28, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (26) | 10

Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear. Sylvia Plath stuck her head in the oven. History teems with examples of great artists acting in very peculiar ways. Were these artists simply mad or brilliant? According to new research reported ...

Using challenging concepts to learn promotes understanding of new material

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Dec 01, 2008 | 4.8 / 5 (21) | 0

It's a question that confronts parents and teachers everywhere- what is the best method of teaching kids new skills? Is it better for children to learn gradually, starting with easy examples and slowly progressing to more ...

Why C is not G: How we identify letters

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Nov 25, 2008 | 3.4 / 5 (27) | 5

The next time you are reading a book, or even as you read this article, consider the words that you are seeing. How do you recognize these words? Substantial research has shown that while reading, we recognize words by their ...

Out of darkness, sight: How the brain learns to see

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

Sep 17, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (17) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cases of restored vision after a lifetime of blindness, though exceedingly rare, provide a unique opportunity to address several fundamental questions regarding brain function. After being ...

The psychology of deja vu

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Nov 18, 2008 | 3.9 / 5 (20) | 5

All of us have experienced being in a new place and feeling certain that we have been there before. This mysterious feeling, commonly known as déjà vu, occurs when we feel that a new situation is familiar, even if there is ...

Money makes the heart grow less fond... but more hardworking

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Jul 09, 2008 | 4.2 / 5 (18) | 0

Money is a necessity: it provides us with material objects that are important for survival and for entertainment, and it is often used as a reward. But recent studies have shown that money is not only a device for gaining ...

New study shows false memories affect behavior

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Aug 19, 2008 | 3.5 / 5 (20) | 4

Do you know someone who claims to remember their first day of kindergarten? Or a trip they took as a toddler? While some people may be able to recall trivial details from the past, laboratory research shows that the human ...

The problem with self-help books: Study shows the negative side to positive self-statements

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Jul 02, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (15) | 7

In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The positive self-statements suggested in these books, such as "I am a lovable person" or ...

Learning styles debunked

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Dec 16, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (15) | 4

Are you a verbal learner or a visual learner? Chances are, you've pegged yourself or your children as either one or the other and rely on study techniques that suit your individual learning needs. And you're not alone— for ...

Red all over: how the color red affects a referee's judgment

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Aug 08, 2008 | 4.6 / 5 (14) | 2

Many sports teams select their uniforms based on the mascot, city or country they are representing, not on a referee's preference or bias. But a new study has found that choosing the color red for a uniform in competitive ...

I can, automatically, become just like you

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Aug 06, 2008 | 4.1 / 5 (15) | 0

No one likes to be excluded from a group: exclusion can decrease mood, reduce self-esteem and feelings of belonging, and even ultimately lead to negative behavior (e.g., the shootings at Virginia Tech). As a result, we often ...

Cleanliness can compromise moral judgment

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Dec 01, 2008 | 3.8 / 5 (16) | 5

New research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science has found that the physical notion of cleanliness significantly reduces the severity of moral judgments, showing that intuition, rather ...

The power of Peter Piper: How alliteration enhances poetry, prose, and memory

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Jul 30, 2008 | 3.8 / 5 (14) | 0

From nursery rhymes to Shakespearian sonnets, alliterations have always been an important aspect of poetry whether as an interesting aesthetic touch or just as something fun to read. But a recent study suggests that this ...

The fancier the cortex, the smarter the brain?

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Jul 17, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (12) | 11

Why are some people smarter than others? In a new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Eduardo Mercado III from the University at Buffalo, The St ...

Could your initials influence where you choose to work?

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

Oct 23, 2008 | 2 / 5 (25) | 9

One of the most important decisions that we can make is what company we will work for. There are a number of factors to consider when making this decision, including salary, benefits and work location. However, there may ...