Modern Psychology
Psychologists are those that work in the field of psychology. In the past, there was little variety in the different fields of psychology in which a psychologist could choose to work. In recent years, with the move to modern psychology, practitioners can choose to work in various perspectives within psychology.
Biological Psychology is the study of how the brain affects behavior. This field of psychology has grown rapidly over years, as technology advances. Scientists are able to study the brain using the modern technologies of MRI's and PET scans. Within this field of study, scientists can focus on diseases, brain damage, and the effects of drugs on behavior.
Behavioral psychology has also become popular in recent years. This field focuses on learned behaviors. Many practitioners in this field work with mental health as therapists or counselors.
Piaget influenced the field of cognitive psychology. In this field, the focus is on the brains ability to memorize, think, problem solve, learn language, and make decisions.
Other fields of psychology include the following:
- Educational - Educational psychology's focus is to improve instructional methods as well as understand and improve the minds ability to learn.
- Evolutionary - Evolutionary psychology studies evolution and its effect on the life processes.
- Psychodynamic - Psychodynamic psychology focuses on human behavior as it relates to unconsciousness. Freud is known as the father of psychodynamic psychology.
- Humanistic - Maslow influenced humanistic psychology and it focPsychodynamic psychologyuses on motivation and human behavior.