The diverse nature of psychology
Psychology is a discipline that seeks to understand the complex nature of behavioral implication of human beings as well as observe mental setbacks which are frequent in everyday life. With this being the case, psychology is undeniable a vital field which is also applicable and compatible with other fields in the society. Psychology has been existent for several centuries and has made remarkable discoveries and developments with the progression in time. The field is very broad and it has several sub disciplines such as motivation, behaviorism plus cognition.
Psychology can be defined as a science that studies the mind and societal behavior (James, 2007 p. 1). Much of the study is conducted through researches, both theoretical and practical to establish why people behave the way they do and diversely as behaviors are not similar. To analyze any given situation in a detailed manner, the discipline has been split into several sub disciplines. Technically, there are 54 subtopics in psychology that have been classified in various expansive categories. These sub disciplines have researched and analyzed socialization and personalities in great dimensions. These categories are motivation, behavior, cognition, personality, biology and other theories.
Cognition is a branch in psychology that seeks to establish the concept of mental processes that are involved in the acquisition of knowledge these include thinking, memory, problem solving, understanding and comprehension (James, 2007 p. 187). This sub-discipline explains why human perceive things in the manner they do. It also explains why different people vary in their levels of understanding. The field is further subdivided into various subtopics. These consist of false memories and cognitive dissonance. False memories are seen as recollection of events that did not happen and cognitive dissonance can be defined as the difference in ideas in a simultaneous occurrence that eventually leads to the discomfort in a certain place.
Behaviorism is another sub discipline of psychology and probably the widest of all sub disciplines (Kantowitz, Roediga, & Elmes 2009, p. 440). Behaviorism is a science, in psychology that discusses and explains the behavior of different people scientifically with little if any reference to the mental processes. This subdivision explains the occurrence of certain behaviors through the acquisition from other people, training as well as conditioning. Stimuli are one way through which the sub discipline attempts to explain this subdivision. This field has further been subdivided to other subtopics that cover the issue in greater detail. Among these subtopics, aggression, and cheating have been included. Top explain these behaviors the field of behaviorism has covered the occurrence of such behavior and the motive behind them.
Cognition is a concept that is applicable in very many fields. With it main focus being on human thinking, perception, understanding as well as remembering, activities that are notable in everyday life, this subtopic holds answers to many fields. In teaching for example, cognition is applied by majority of the teachers in order to understand the differences in student’s levels of understanding and reasoning. Secondly, in human resource management, no matter the size of the organization, it is essential that human resource managers have a deep understanding of this concept in order to tolerate some of the workers whose understanding is slightly lower than that of the rest of the employees. Cognition is also applicable in the court with judges and lawyers having the understanding of how criminals think and reason. This subdivision of psychology is also very applicable in forensic science.
Alternatively, behaviorism is also applied in very many aspects of life. Human behavior is complex and the understanding of is vital in managing several people that live together or who interact on a daily basis. It is thus evident that behaviorism is applied in a number of fields. These include majority of the institutions or other areas where people converge frequently. For instance, schools and the classroom is one of the listed fields where the understanding of human behavior is mostly applied (Donaldson, Berger & Pezdek, 2006 p. 290). In organizational structures too, behaviorism is applied. In managing organizational change, behaviorism is applied largely. It is also applied in health. Behaviors by mental patients tend to be understood better from a scientific level as compared to a biological one. In marketing, the comprehension of consumer behaviors is one key aspect that is used to develop advertisements as well as other marketing strategy aimed at influencing the consumers’ decisions (Donaldson, Berger & Pezdek, 2006 p. 90).
Psychology is applied in several other fields besides the ones discussed above. As earlier stated, psychology is wide and diverse. It is applied in several other fields such as business management in the clinic, education and sports. With psychology being the study of human of human behavior it is applicable in almost all aspects of the society. It explains certain complex behaviors such as stimuli as well as uncomplicated ones. Psychology has been of much benefit to the society, in fields of medicine, psychology has led to the ground breaking discoveries on human behavior and the mind. Psychology has also played a major role in stress management and counseling too. In the world of business, it is the role of psychology to manage the employees and understand their different capabilities.
References
Donaldson, S. I., Berger, D. E. & Pezdek K. (2006). Applied psychology: new frontiers and rewarding careers. New Jersey: Routledge.
James, W. (2007). The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1. New York. Cosimo, Inc.
Kantowitz, H. B., Roediger, H. L. & Elmes, D. G. (2009). Experimental Psychology. California: Cengage Learning.
