As scientists’ understanding of questions of life and nature grew, so did their understanding of ‘humanity’, and many fields of research into mental life were cultivated. The new knowledge gained from this research is studied as an independent branch of psychology. In addition to the theoretical discussion of psychology, a perspective on how psychological principles can be used in the fields of practice has also developed. The development of these disciplines is due to the hard work of various psychologists. Not everyone is interested in the same subject. Some are interested in how psychology is used in the medical field. Others are interested in the study of human behavior in the field of consultancy, some in the school and educational field, and some in the practical field, industry, and organization. In his book, Morgan presents the following diagram describing the subdisciplines of modern psychology and the psychologists participating in them.
According to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, psychologists interested in various disciplines
Instead of studying all the branches mentioned above we will mention some selected branches here. It includes important branches like – (1) Animal Psychology, (2) Developmental Psychology, (3) Abnormal or Disordered Psychology, (4) Social Psychology and (5) Behavioral Psychology.
1. Animal or Comparative Psychology
Animal psychology is also known as comparative psychology. A comparative study of the behavior of different animal species, the study of simple unprejudiced behavior of animals, is easy and from such studies, a good deal of light can be shed on the nature of human trade. Thus the importance of studying animal psychology has increased. Animals have been very useful as experimental subjects in the study of psychology. Animal businesses can be controlled, their daily activities can be controlled. They can be put into any experimental situation and questions about which it is impossible to experiment on humans. Animals can be experimented on without worrying about it. The contribution of psychologists Thorndike, Kohler, Pavlov, Watson, etc. to this branch of psychology is significant.
2. Developmental Psychology:
Psychology begins the study of human beings before they are born. A psychologist named Hevinghust has presented the idea that human life progresses and develops in different stages like infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, middle age, and old age and each age has some special characteristics.
How human life is spent in each of these stages. The origin of any behavior and how it develops sequentially with age is a major topic of study in developmental psychology. If we are aware of the process and details of the developmental behavior of the growing age, we can understand the behavior of each of these ages realistically. Behavioral changes occur more rapidly in the early years than at any other stage of life, and therefore child-psychology has become one of the most important sub-disciplines of developmental psychology.
Child psychology studies the behavioral period from conception to puberty. The study of the physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, and social development of the child strengthens the foundation of our understanding of human behavior. This type of study can also determine whether a person is developing “normally” for their age. Also, the principles of child psychology have proved to be very useful in the fields of child-rearing, child education, and child reform.
Although child psychology is an important branch of developmental psychology, developmental changes occurring in other stages of life (Developmental Changes) Adolescence of a person. It also occurs during adulthood, middle age, and old age. The psychology that studies this particular stage of behavior is part of developmental psychology.
3. Abnormal Psychology
A psychologist named Coleman calls the 20th century the “Age of Anxi Taji”. In the modern era, man has made great strides in the field of science. But his daily life has become full of tension. A person can tolerate tension or stress to a certain extent but when the amount of stress increases, a “nervous breakdown” occurs. Such a person finds it difficult to behave like a normal person.
A psychologist named Coleman calls the 20th century the “Age of Anxi Taji”. In the modern era, man has made great strides in the field of science. But his daily life has become full of tension. A person can tolerate tension or stress to a certain extent but when the amount of stress increases, a “nervous breakdown” occurs. Such a person finds it difficult to behave like a normal person.
Abnormal psychology deals with strange, unnatural, abnormal mentalities and behaviors that differ from the normal. Abnormal or deviant means businesses operating outside the scope. This branch of psychology discusses types of mental disorders, their causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Abnormal psychology is closely related to psychiatry psychoanalysis and counseling and clinical psychology.
The field of medicine has the highest proportion of psychologists interested in American society than any other field. It is also evident from Figure 1 and R above. Even in India, the largest number of psychologists are “medical psychologists”. Since the 1930s, psychoanalytical concepts of unconscious mind and motivation have been dominant in this field. Contribution of Mesmer, Breuer, Charcot, Jayne, Prince, Freud, Eug, Adler, MacDougall, etc. to the development of phenomenological psychology. is significant.
4. Social Psychology
Aristotle defined man as a social animal. Man cannot live without social life. Sociological psychology is therefore different from the individual living in society and the society And the psychologist is constantly trying to be active in the direction of satisfaction.
In the 20th century, humans have solved many problems including economic, social, and political. However, mental health continues to deteriorate. Hence, other branches of psychology aim to help in solving many different problems of human beings by providing their services in different areas of life and leading a simple life with adjustment.
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