1.3 Contemporary Psychology

• Contemporary Psychology
  • a diverse field that is influenced by all of the historical perspectives and approaches in studying the mind.

Organizations concerning Psychology

• American Psychological Association (APA)

  • a professional organization that represents psychologists in the United States
  • has a mission to advance and disseminate psychological knowledge for the betterment of people
  • has 54 divisions that represents the wide varieties of specializations in Psychology
  • the first president of the APA was G. Stanley Hall
    • an adjunct instructor at Wilberforce University (a historically black college/university) before he earned his doctoral degree.
    • worked under William James, earning his PhD.
    • became the first president of Clark University in Massachusetts upon its inception.

• Association for Psychological Science (APS)

  • an organization that seeks to advance the scientific orientation of psychology

• Other organizations provide networking and collaboration opportunities for professionals of several ethnic/racial groups of psychology

  • Examples are:
    1. National Latina/o Psychological Association (NLPA)
    2. Asian American Psychological Association (APA)
    3. Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi)
    4. Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP)

Areas and Foci in Psychology

Biopsychology and Evolutionary Psychology

• Biopsychology

  • explores how our biology influences our behavior
  • seeks to understand how the structure and function of the nervous system is related to behavior
  • focuses on the immediate causes of behavior based on the physiology of a human or an animal
  • spans a number of domains including sleep, sensory and motor systems, drug use and abuse, reproductive behavior, ingestive behavior, and more.

• Evolutionary Psychology

  • seeks to understand the ultimate biological causes of behavior.
  • this study focuses on the behavior of an organism that is impacted by genetics, which is demonstrated to further adapt to its surroundings
  • originated from Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution through natural selection.

Cognitive Psychology

• the area of psychology that focuses on studying cognitions or thoughts and their relationship to our experiences and actions.
• interests in the field span a number of topics including:
  • attention
  • problem solving
  • language
  • memory

Developmental Psychology

• the scientific study of development across a lifespan
• interests in processes related to physical maturation, but also in changes in cognitive skills, moral reasoning, social behavior, and other psychological attributes

Personality Psychology

• the study that focuses on patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique.

• research on the field have taken a quantitative approach as it is now focused on identifying and measuring personality traits, and how these traits determine a person’s behavior in a particular context.

• Personality Traits

  • relatively consistent patterns of thought and behavior
  • proposed to have five dimensions, known as the Big Five or Five Factor model

Dimension	Factors	Low Score Traits	High Score Traits
Openness	imagination, feelings, actions, ideas	practical, conventional, prefers routine	curious, wide range of interests, independent
Conscientiousness	competence, self-discipline, throughtfulness, goal-driven	impulsive, careless, disorganized	hardworking, dependable, organized
Extroversion	sociability, assertiveness, emotional expression	quiet, reserved, withdrawn	outgoing, warm, seeks adventure
Agreeableness	cooperative, trustworthy, good-natured	critical, uncooperative, suspicious	helpful, trusting, empathetic
Neuroticism	tendency toward unstable emotions	calm, even-tempered, secure	anxious, unhappy, prone to negative emotions

Social Psychology

• focuses on how we interact with and relate with others

• conducts research on topics that include:

  • differences in how we explain their own behavior versus the behavior of others,
  • prejudice,
  • attraction,
  • and how we resolve interpersonal conflicts.
  • how interactions with people influences our behavior and patterns of thinking.

• Stanley Milgram

  • an American social psychologist famous for his work on obedience.
  • his and other’s studies, which used deception and potential harm catalyzed the development of ethical guidelines in psychological research

Industrial-Organizational Psychology (I-O Psychology)

• a subfield of psychology that applies psychological theories, principles and research findings in industrial and organizational settings.
• often involved in issues related to personnel, management, organizational structure, and workplace environment

Health Psychology

• focuses on how health is affected by the interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
• often interests:
  • how individuals can achieve better health through public policy, education, intervention, and research.
  • the relationship between one’s genetics, behavioral patterns, relationships, psychological stress, and health
  • effective ways to motivate people in addressing patterns of behavior that contribute to poorer health.

Sport and Exercise Psychology

• studies the psychological aspects of sport performance, which includes:
  • motivation,
  • performance anxiety
  • effects of sport on mental and emotional well-being
• also includes topics broader than sport and exercise but related to interactions between mental and physical performance under demanding conditions such as:
  • fire fighting,
  • military operations,
  • artistic performance,
  • and surgery

Clinical Psychology

• area of psychology that focuses on treatment of psychological disorders and problematic patterns of behavior

Forensic Psychology

• a branch of psychology that deals with questions of psychology in the context of the justice system.