applied psychology

(noun)

The use of psychological principles and theories to overcome problems in other areas, such as mental health, business management, education, health, product design, ergonomics, and law.

Related Terms

Examples of applied psychology in the following topics:

  • Educational Psychology

    • Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings.
    • School psychology applies educational psychology, along with the principles of clinical psychology, to treat children's learning and/or behavior problems.
    • Educational psychology dates back to the early 20th century.
    • Lightner Witmer, considered the founder of school psychology, opened the first psychological and guidance clinic in 1896 in Pennsylvania.
    • School psychology is essentially the application of educational psychology in schools.

  • Careers in Psychology

    • Psychology is a very broad field, and there are many career options available for graduating students of psychology.
    • Clinical psychology involves the study and application of psychology for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and treating psychologically based dysfunction.
    • This subfield applies psychological concepts and methods to the workplace in order to optimize human potential.
    • Sports psychology seeks to understand the psychological and mental factors that affect performance in sports, physical activity, and exercise; it then applies these principles to enhance individual and team performance.
    • Careers in health settings can vary widely and include health psychology (sometimes called health-and-wellness psychology), occupational-health psychology, and medical psychology.

  • Evolutionary Psychology

    • Evolutionary psychology seeks to understand human behavior as the result of psychological adaptation and natural selection.
    • Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective.
    • Evolutionary psychology applies this same thinking to psychology, arguing that much of human behavior is the result of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.
    • Proponents of evolutionary psychology suggest that it seeks to bridge the division between the human social sciences (such as psychology and sociology) and the natural sciences (such as biology, chemistry, and physics).
    • Evolutionary psychology has been applied to the study of many fields, including economics, aggression, law, psychiatry, politics, literature, and sex.

  • Goals of Psychology

    • Simply put, psychology is the study of the soul.
    • Psychologists usually work in one of three fields – basic research, mental health, or applied psychology.
    • Developmental psychology studies human development over the lifespan.
    • Forensic psychology is the intersection between psychology and the justice system.
    • Define the overarching goal of psychology, and discuss the various goals of the different subfields of psychology.

  • Undergraduate and Graduate Study in Psychology

    • However, individuals who hold master's degrees or even bachelor's degrees also have many options within applied psychology.
    • Options for doctoral graduates in psychology include the areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, occupational psychology, forensic psychology, education psychology, and engineering psychology, as well as many other areas such as school psychology, sports psychology, and community psychology.
    • Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MS) in counseling psychology, clinical psychology, or educational psychology.
    • Individuals with a master's degree in psychology may qualify for positions in many areas, such as school and industrial/organizational psychology.
    • While it is common for students who earn bachelor's degrees in psychology or social work to go on to graduate school, students who major in concentrations other than psychology or social work may still qualify for entry into psychology graduate programs.

  • Early Frameworks: Structuralism and Functionalism

    • The late 19th century marked the start of psychology as a scientific enterprise.
    • Often considered the father of psychology, Wundt was the first person to refer to himself as a psychologist and wrote the first textbook on psychology, entitled Principles of Physiological Psychology.
    • As such, it provides the general basis for developing psychological theories not readily testable by controlled experiments such as applied psychology.
    • Psychology 101 - Wundt & James: Structuralism & Functionalism - Vook
    • Wilhelm Wundt is considered by many to be the founder of psychology.

  • Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology

    • Industrial and organizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces, and organizations.
    • Industrial and organizational (I–O) psychology is a relatively young field.
    • The roots of I–O psychology trace back nearly to the beginning of psychology as a science, when Wilhelm Wundt founded one of the first psychological laboratories in 1876 in Leipzig, Germany.
    • One of Scott's interests was applying psychological theories to analyzing business problems.
    • Organizational psychology was not officially added to the psychological canon until the 1970s, but since then the field has flourished.

  • Defining Psychology

    • Psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes and behavior.
    • Psychology is the academic and applied study of mental functions and behaviors.
    • Simply put, psychology is the study of the mind.
    • The resulting knowledge is then applied to various spheres of human activity, including the problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness.
    • Psychology seeks to understand how psychological factors interact with sociocultural and biological factors to influence individual development.

  • Abnormal Psychology

    • Abnormal psychology seeks to study, understand, diagnose, and treat psychological disorders.
    • This branch of psychology studies the nature of psychopathology and its causes, and the resulting knowledge is applied in clinical psychology to the treatment of clients with psychological disorders.
    • The term "psychopathology" can also refer to the manifestation of a psychological disorder.
    • So, what kinds of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors represent a true psychological disorder?
    • The disturbances reflect some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction.

  • Cultural Psychology

    • Several subfields within psychology seek to examine these sociocultural factors that influence human mental states and behavior; among these are social psychology (discussed in another section), cultural psychology, and cultural-historical psychology.
    • Cultural psychology is the study of how psychological and behavioral tendencies are rooted and embedded within culture.
    • Populations that are Western, educated, and industrialized tend to be overrepresented in psychological research, yet findings from this research tend to be labeled "universal" and inaccurately applied to other cultures.
    • Cultural psychology is often confused with cross-cultural psychology; however, it is distinct in that cross-cultural psychologists generally use culture as a means of testing the universality of psychological processes, rather than determining how local cultural practices shape psychological processes.
    • Cultural-historical psychology is a psychological theory formed by Lev Vygotsky in the late 1920s and further developed by his students and followers in Eastern Europe and worldwide.