Jul
10
Psychological research is a vital necessity towards further development within society. Psychology is a varied discipline that covers many areas of study, and as such requires divisional areas of research, along with practical and effective research designs.
First of all we will take a look at areas of psychological research, and then move onto research methods.
Psychobiology
Psychobiology is the biological research of psychology. Psychobiologists study the human brain from cellular level to research possibilities and reasons for mental illness, such as schizophrenia, from a biological standpoint. It is one of the most popular research areas in psychology today. Psychobiology is a study of the brain.
Cognition
Cognition is a research study of how human process information, which importantly leads us to making everyday decisions. Cognition study is very much a research of the mind; how memory works, and how previous events effect future decisions (as per Sigmund Freuds hypotheses).
Human Development
Human development is an area of psychological research which involves the assessment, outcomes and, depending on age, possibilities across a lifetime. We will go through many changes in life from social, physical and cognitive mandates and decisions. Human development research has helped us understand the processes of childbirth (including raising the children), to career paths and outcomes.
Jul
1
What Is Clinical Psychology ?
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Approximately 91% of those employed in the clinical psychology field engage in psychological assessments aimed at diagnosis and treatment. Tests may include intelligence/achievement tests like IQ tests or WISC-IV tests, which measure knowledge, verbal skills, memory, reasoning, attention span and spatial perception.
Personality tests try to categorize behavioral and logical patterns. The MMPI, Rorschach Inkblot test or the Myers-Briggs test all try to reveal the psychological dynamics. Furthermore, neuropsychological tests examine structures and brain pathways in a more “scientific” manner. Clinical observation includes studying a control group and a variable group for differences in behavior, mood, perception, understanding, memory, communication and affect.
There are four main perspectives of clinical psychology: psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive-behavioral and systems/family therapy. First, psychodynamic psychotherapy developed out of the works of Sigmund Freud and sought to make the unconscious desires come to the surface, rather than remain suppressed. Popular interventions include free association and the examination of transference and defenses. The history of mental illness is examined through the exploration of childhood memories.
The humanistic perspective of psychology was based around the work of Carol Rogers, Victor Frankl and Rollo May. Rogers argued that people needed congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathetic understanding as mental health treatment. The humanist perspective seeks to help the person towards self-actualization and connecting with their natural born potential.