FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Narh Doku

Contact: [email protected]
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana
 Session Overview

• This session will deal with the meaning and

scope of psychology, misconceptions about
psychology, pseudoscience (para and pseudo
psychology), the goals of psychology and the
relevance of psychology in our lives.
 This Session’s Goals and Objectives

At the end of this session, you will be able to:

– Differentiate between basic and applied psychology.
– Mention some of the areas of specialization in
psychology.
– Describe the status of psychology in Ghana.
– Explain what it takes to become a Psychologist.
– Explain the relationship between psychology and allied
fields.
– Mention the prospects of psychology in Ghana and the
world in general.
 Session Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session are
as follows:
• Part I - meaning and scope of psychology
• Part II - misconceptions about psychology,
• Part III - pseudoscience (para- and pseudo –
psychology)
• Part IV - the goals of psychology
• Part V - the relevance of psychology in our
lives.
 Reading List
 Wade, C. and Tarvis, C. (2005). Invitation to
psychology (3rded). Pearson prentice hall.P. 9-12
 Kalat, W. J. (2008). Introduction to psychology (8th
ed). Thomson learning, inc. p. 8-16
 Nairne, S. J. (2014). Psychology (6th ed). Wadsworth,
cengage learning. P. 6-8
 Coon, D. and Mitterer, O. J (2012). Psychology:
modules for active learning (13th ed). Cengage
learning. P. 34-36
 The session notes titled “fields of Psychology”
Part I - Meaning and scope of
psychology
Fields of Psychology

Lecture 4
 Fields of Psychology
• All psychologists study organisms’ behaviour and
mental processes.
• However, they pursue knowledge in different
ways, in different settings and from different
perspectives.
• Hence the different fields of psychology.
• Some psychologists teach and conduct research,
others provide psychological services persons
who are challenged and organizations.
• There are two broad fields: Basic and Applied
Fields.
Basic field
 Basic field

- Basic field: doing research to increase

knowledge and understanding of
psychological phenomena.
Applied Field
 Applied field
• This is the use of psychological principles and theories to
overcome problems in life .
• Applied Psychologists conduct research to find solution
specific problems.
The field include areas such as:
 Clinical psychology,
 Counseling psychology,
 Industrial and organizational psychology,
 Occupational health psychology,
 Forensic psychology,
 Engineering psychology ,
 Educational psychology,
 Community psychology and many others
1. Clinical psychology:
uses psychological
techniques to assess and
treat persons with mental
disorders.
Use of psychotherapy to
help solve challenges and
to help people cope better
with stress.
They do diagnoses and
treatment of psychological
disorders.
2. Counseling psychology:
focus on helping people
with adjustment
problems.
 Provide advise for
college students on
adjustment, choice of
subjects, vocational
decisions, etc.
3. School psychology:
 work in school settings
where they help children
with academic, emotional
and behavioural
problems.
 Also help with placement
in special education
problems.
 They team up with
teachers to identify
children who are needy
and those with learning
disabilities.
4. Educational Psychology:
Applies the principles of
psychology in the
classroom.
Develops tests that
measure intellectual
ability or academic
potential, help teachers
enhance teaching
methods and learning
process, motivation in
the classroom, etc.
5. Developmental psychology:
Concerned with human
development (e.g.
physical, social, cognitive,
language development,
etc) from conception to
the end of life.
• Also, they may
specialize on
development in
childhood, adolescence
or adulthood.
6. Personality psychology
Deals with how people
differ from one another
in their individual traits.
Also, how people
develop their
personality, whether
they can be changed or
not, etc. e.g, how does
one become a leader?
Why do people help
others?
7. Social psychology:
 how our behaviour and
attitudes are influenced
by others. For example, at
the stadium, how do
people become
influenced by those
around them?
 Areas of study include
conformity, aggression,
friendship, attraction,
leadership, prejudice,
attitudes, etc.
8. Environmental psychology:
 Studies relationships
between the physical
environment and
behaviour.
 How do the physical
environment influence
behaviour? E.g. the link
between noise,
temperature, air
pollution, housing
designs, overcrowding,
etc and behaviour.
9. Experimental Psychology
 They apply
experimental method
to the study of
behaviour and mental
processes(e.g.
learning, sensation,
perception, etc)

Note: Other psychologists

also use the experimental
method.
10. I/O Psychology:
Studies behaviour at
the workplace. Focus is
on how to increase
motivation, job
satisfaction, or decrease
absenteeism among
employees.
 Also, training workers
to increase productivity,
personnel selection, job
attitudes, etc.
11. Consumer psychology:
Focuses on consumer
behaviour. What factors
influence people to buy
or not to buy a
particular product?
Influence of adverts on
consumers, packaging,
type of music in
commercials on
behaviour, etc.
12. Biological psychology
 Focuses on biological
processes that underlie
behaviour. For example,
how heredity and
hormones influence
depression or anxiety,
how the brain
influences behaviour.
13. Cognitive psychology
• Focus is on mental
processes. E.g. decision
making, problem
solving, perception,
language and memory.
14. Community psychology:
Focuses on improving
community mental health.
 Emphasizes prevention of
social and community
problems, works with
communities rather than
individuals.
May work to prevent teen
pregnancy, drug use, child
neglect, domestic violence
etc in communities
15. Health psychology
Studies how factors such as
stress, lifestyle and
attitudes affect health.
They help develop health
promotion programs and
interventions to improve
quality of life of people.
16. Cross-cultural psychology:
• Looks at how culture
influences behaviour.
17. Forensic psychology
Deals with criminal
behaviour and the legal
system.
Help law enforcement
agencies in conducting
profiles of possible
suspects for a crime.
Give expert testimony
in court on
psychological issues, etc
18. Sports psychology:
Work with sportsmen
and women and sports
programs and teams.
Focus is on injury
recovery, team
building, motivation,
performance
enhancement
techniques, and how
fans influence athlete
performance.
Emerging Fields/Areas:

• Geropsychology:
Interested in
psychological processes
associated with aging.
Work of the aged to
help them cope with
stress, retirement, lost
of loved ones and
declining health.
Emerging fields
• Clinical neuropsychology:
 Work to evaluate
cognitive effects of brain
injuries, strokes, etc.
 Also, help design
programs that aim to help
people who have suffered
brain damage regain
some of their functioning.
Psychology Degrees by Area
•Becoming a Psychologist: education,
training & experience
• Minimum Masters Degree in Psychology.
• In US Doctorate is mandatory.
• A period of between 6 and 10years of post
secondary education(3 to 4 years undergraduate,
and between 2 to 6years postgraduate studies).
• In addition some subfield; industrial, counselling,
and others require internship of at least 6 months
for certification and licensing.
 Becoming a Psychologist

• These guidelines are strictly enforced by

American Psychological Association (APA).
• British Psychological Association (BPA).
• In Ghana, issue of licensing is still underway;
the Ghana Psychological Association just
formed in 2000 is still negotiating with
relevant institution to finalize the regulations.
 Status and Prospect in Ghana
• Psychology Department of University of Ghana
was founded in 1967 and has trained many
Ghanaians and Non-Ghanaians at undergraduate
and graduate levels.
• UCC and UEW also offers courses in psychology.
• UG runs 3 programmes at graduate level; social,
clinical and industrial.
• Ghana Psychology Association was formed to
bring psychologist together.
• Currently psychologists are found in every sector
of the national life.