Notes on Contemporary Psychology: Key Areas and Concepts

American Psychological Association (APA)

  • Largest organization of psychologists in the world; mission to advance and disseminate psychological knowledge for the betterment of people.
  • 54 divisions representing diverse specialties (e.g., Religion & Spirituality, Exercise & Sport Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience).
  • Members span from students to doctoral-level psychologists; work in education, criminal justice, hospitals, armed forces, industry.
  • G. Stanley Hall was the first president of the APA.
  • Hall’s career included roles at Wilberforce University, Antioch College, and Clark University.

Association for Psychological Science (APS)

  • Founded in 19881988; aims to advance the scientific orientation of psychology.
  • Result of disagreements between scientific and clinical branches within the APA.
  • Publishes five research journals; engages in education and advocacy with funding agencies.
  • Largely international membership; many members based in the United States.

Other professional organizations

  • Networks and supports for various ethnic/racial groups: National Latina/o Psychological Association (NLPA), Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA), Association of Black Psychologists (ABPs), Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP).
  • Often focused on social issues within their communities.

Biopsychology and Evolutionary Psychology

  • Biopsychology: studies how biology influences behavior; combines psychology and physiology; neuroscience as a central component.
    • Key sites: Central Nervous System (CNS): Brain, Spinal cord; Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): Nerves.
    • Research domains: sensory and motor systems, sleep, drug use/abuse, ingestive/reproductive behavior, neurodevelopment, neural plasticity, biological correlates of disorders.
  • Evolutionary psychology: studies ultimate biological causes of behavior; behavior as adaptive given genetic influences and environment (physical and social).
  • Darwin and evolution: behavior should be adaptive; foundational works: The Descent of Man (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).
  • Predictions and methods: predict outcomes in specific situations using evolutionary theory; test via observation/experiments; caution: evidence for full adaptiveness is often limited, partly because traits may have genetic components but also cultural influences.
  • Challenges/limitations: traits evolved under past conditions; difficult to infer exact past environments; prediction accuracy varies across cultures.
  • Examples of domains with evolutionary perspectives: memory, mate choice, kinship, friendship/cooperation, parenting, social organization, status.
  • Notable finding: Buss 19891989 across 3737 cultures found women value earning potential more than men, while men value youth/attractiveness more than women; overall alignment with evolutionary predictions, with cultural deviations.

Sensation and Perception

  • Combines physiological sensory processes with psychological experience.
  • Highly interdisciplinary; your experience of the world is influenced by attention, prior experiences, and cultural background, not just raw sensory data.
  • Perception can differ from veridical sensation due to cognitive factors and context.

Cognitive Psychology

  • Focuses on thoughts (cognitions) and their relationship to experiences and actions.
  • Broad and interdisciplinary; sometimes referred to as cognitive science.
  • Topics span attention, problem solving, language, memory.
  • In this text, cognitive topics appear across chapters (sensation & perception, memory, thinking, intelligence, etc.).

Developmental Psychology

  • Scientific study of development across the lifespan; includes physical maturation, cognitive skills, moral reasoning, social behavior.
  • Early work (e.g., Piaget) examined changes from infancy to adulthood; object permanence (understanding that objects continue to exist even when hidden).
  • Piaget’s work highlighted major cognitive changes from infancy to childhood; ongoing interest in later-life changes as populations age.
  • Aging trends: in the U.S., ~4040 million aged 65+ in 2010; projected to ~5555 million in 2020; ~9090 million by 2050.

Personality Psychology

  • Focuses on patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make individuals unique.
  • Early theories by Freud, Maslow, Allport; Freudian psychodynamics and Jungian ideas influence some clinicians.
  • More recent work emphasizes traits; five-factor model (Big Five): extConscientiousness,extAgreeableness,extNeuroticism,extOpenness,extExtraversionext{Conscientiousness}, ext{Agreeableness}, ext{Neuroticism}, ext{Openness}, ext{Extraversion}.
  • Traits show relative stability across the lifespan and are influenced by genetics.

Social Psychology

  • Examines how we interact with and relate to others; attitudes, prejudices, attraction, conflict resolution.
  • Research also explores how being in the presence of others changes our behavior and thoughts.
  • Milgram obedience study (1961): about frac23frac{2}{3} of participants delivered what they believed were lethal shocks when instructed by an authority figure.
  • Deception in research and potential harm led to ethical guidelines emphasizing informed consent and minimizing harm.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology (I-O)

  • Applies psychological theories to workplaces and organizations.
  • Focus areas: personnel selection, organizational structure, workplace environment, productivity, and efficiency.
  • Conducts scientific research on behavior within work settings.

Health Psychology

  • Examines how biology, psychology, and sociocultural factors influence health (biopsychosocial model).
  • Goals: improve health through policy, education, intervention, and research.
  • Research topics: gene-behavior-health relationships, stress, social support, motivation for healthier behaviors.

Sport and Exercise Psychology

  • Studies psychological aspects of sport performance (motivation, anxiety, focus) and mental health aspects of physical activity.
  • Also covers performance under demanding conditions (e.g., firefighting, military, surgery).

Clinical Psychology

  • Focuses on diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and problematic behaviors; highly applied, with research involvement.
  • Counseling psychology parallels clinical work, focusing on emotional, social, vocational, and health-related outcomes in psychologically healthy individuals.
  • Historical influences: Freud (psychoanalytic), Rogers (client-centered therapy); behaviorism and the cognitive revolution shaped therapies (e.g., behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy).
  • This area receives substantial media attention.

Forensic Psychology

  • Applies psychology to legal contexts: competency to stand trial, mental state at time of offense, child custody, sentencing and treatment recommendations, eyewitness/testimony issues.
  • Forensic experts may serve as consultants or expert witnesses; jury selection and witness preparation can involve psychology.
  • Criminal profiling is a smaller subset of forensic psychology work.