The Diverse Nature of Psychology
The American Psychological Association has identified 54 divisions within the field of psychology (Plante, 2011). Each division has stemmed from one of the seven major perspectives: psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, sociocultural, biological, and evolutionary. This diversity within psychology, allows psychologists the ability to expand in all areas of explanation, assessment, and diagnoses, which furthers the science of psychology through many different subfield specialties.
Influence on Psychology’s Major Concepts
Diversity is off great influence on the major concepts in psychology. The cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and humanistic perspectives provide diverse explanations and solutions to psychological disorders. Each perspective offers a unique emphasis on human behavior factors such as cognitive and social factors. Seeing as no two people will have the same exact perception of an event, it is no wonder that two psychologists will bring a different perception of the field to the table.
Sub disciplines and Subtopics
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology “focuses on the assessment, treatment, and understanding of psychological and behavioral problems and disorders” (Plante, 2011, p. 5). Clinical psychology incorporates all aspects of human functioning, including but not limited to intellect, emotions, behavior, biology and social factors (Plante, 2011). These aspects assist a clinical psychologist in a way to understand and assist a patient with troubles that may occur throughout his or her life span.
Social context and culture have a huge impact on behavior. One must be familiar with cultural norms in order to efficiently understand symptoms and develop proper ...
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...res that the field of psychology can continue to blossom and expand. At the early stages of the field, it may have been inconceivable that there could be several different ways to assess a psychological disorder or to assess the simplest human behavior. Clinical psychology assesses human behaviors and emotions in everyday life whereas I/O psychology assesses human behavior in the workplace. Both of these fields have a unified goal to improve quality of life for those that may be suffering or having trouble in the workplace.
References
Plante, T. G. (2011). Contemporary clinical psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Shackelford, W. G. (2003, 02). The changing definition of workplace diversity. Black Collegian, 33, 53-58.
Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Aamodt, M.G. (2010). Industrial / Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
... for integration and the prominent position of psychotherapy, the evidence suggests that the field of psychology does not function in an integrated manner. The APA divides branches of psychology into separate divisions, each with their own specializations, journals, and goals. Educational institutions divide their programs into different concentrations. Often, different schools have different orientations and specializations from other schools, further increasing the divide. Therefore, while the arguments presented in the article should be self-evident, they apparently are not.
Theron, M.J. (2008). Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology [PDF] available at The University of South Africa website; umkn-dsp01.unisa.ac.za/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10500/2554/dissertation.pdf?sequence=1 (p.32)
The study of psychology began as a theoretical subject a branch of ancient philosophy, and later as a part of biological sciences and physiology. However, over the years, it has grown into a rigorous science and a separate discipline, with its own sets of guidance and experimental techniques. This paper aims to study the various stages that the science of psychology passed through to reach its contemporary status, and their effects on its development. It begins with an overview of the historical and philosophical basis of psychology, discusses the development of the various schools of thought, and highlights their effects on contemporary personal and professional decision-making.
Cañas, K. A. & Sondak, H. (2011). Opportunities and challenged for workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
Liddle, H A., Rowe, C L., Dakof, G A., Henderson, C E., Greenbaum, P E.; (Feb, 2009). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Vol 77(1); 12-25. Doi: 10.1177/0306624X10366960
The term psychology has many meanings to different people, even to those who work within the psychological field. The word psychology derives from two Greek roots; 'psyche' refers to 'soul' or 'mind' and logo refers to 'the study of'. A more update definition of the word psychology can be found from Atkinson, et al (1991) “The scientific study of behaviours and mental processes.” However on Google Definitions the definition of psychology is “the mental characteristics and attitudes of a person” [accessed 16 September 2011], which gives somewhat of a contradiction. In this assignment I will be outlining and evaluating four key psychological perspectives. The psychological perspectives I have chosen are the behavioural approach, biological approach, cognitive approach and the psychodynamic approach.
Psychology as a discipline has continued to grow and make significant contributions to the study and understanding of human behaviour. One aspect of psychology that has made momentous contributions to the discipline is clinical psychology. According to the American Psychological Association website, the field of clinical psychology is “a general practice and health service provider specialty in professional psychology.” Therefore, it is the job of the clinical psychologist to ‘assess, diagnose, predict, prevent and treat psychopathology, mental disorders and other individual or group problems to improve behaviour adjustment, adaptation, personal effectiveness and satisfaction.’ With a definition like this, it is no wonder the honours that the field is given as it speaks mainly to abnormal behaviours and mental illnesses, something that psychology in general is notorious for.
Conte, J., Landy, F. (2010). Work in the 21 Century: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (3rd ed). USA: Wiley and Blackwell Publishings
The five major theoretical perspectives in psychology are biological, learning, cognitive, psychodynamic, and sociocultural perspectives. Each one of these perspectives searches for answers about behavior through different techniques and through looking for answers to different kinds of questions. Due to the different approaches, each perspective form their own assumptions and explanations. Some perspectives are widely accepted while others struggle for acceptance.
Wedding, D., & Corsini, R. J. (Eds.). (2014). Current psychotherapies (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage
Clinical psychology is a complex field that parallels the complexity of human behavior and emotion (Plante, 2010). Just as people are defined by more than blood and tissue, emotions and ideas, or their relationships to others, the field of clinical psychology is an integrative effort to understand the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors in making each of us “tick.”(Plante, 2010). Like other fields, the roots of clinical psychology are viewed as simplistic and narrowly conceived (Plante, 2010). Hundreds
Halgin, R. P., & Whitbourne, S. K. (2010). Abnormal psychology: clinical perspectives on psychological disorders (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Industrial organizational psychology is the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace. In the words of Kizzy Parks, an industrial psychologist, “industrial organizational psychologists deal with critical areas of importance in organizations that ultimately help the bottom line.” Industrial organizational psychologists use their specialized knowledge to improve employees' satisfaction in their work, employers' ability to select and promote the best people, and to generally make the workplace better for the men and women who work there. They do this by creating tests and by designing products such as training courses, selection procedures and surveys.