Psychology (humanistic counseling) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Psychology (humanistic counseling) - Essay Example Even the most advanced computers have trouble understanding the meaning of a simple story or conversation. Cognitive psychologists have found similar complexity in other mental processes. Developmental Psychology is the studyofchangesin human behavior and thought from infancy to old age. Developmental psychology is the study of how people change over time, but it also investigates how and why certain characteristics remain consistent over the life course. A child changes dramatically in size, physical coordination, and thinking capacity while maturing into an adult, for example, but may also maintain the same basic temperament while growing up. Traditionally,developmental psychologists have focused on child development, believing that most formative experiences of life occur during infancy and childhood. The early years are indeed a time of extremely rapid development, when children acquire motor skills, thinking abilities, social skills, capacities for feeling and regulating emotion, and other characteristics that will last a lifetime. But psychologists have more recently turned their attention to adolescence and adulthood, recognizing that development continues throughout the life span. The study of adult development focuses on the unique experiences of this stage of life and examines how adults maintain and refine their capabilities as they age. Thestudyofhumandevelopment requires an especially broad and integrative approach. Thus, developmental psychology incorporates ideas from almost every other area of psychology, including social psychology, cognitive psychology, biopsychology, clinical psychology, and educational psychology. It also draws from many other fields concerned with human behavior. These include sociology, biology (especially genetics and evolutionary biology), anthropology, and economics. The variety of fields relevant to developmental psychology reflects the complexity of human growth and change.(Microsoft Encarta 2007 1993-2006 ) 3. Biological Psychology Biopsychology, is thescientificstudy of the biology of behavior and mental processes. People also refer to this field as biological psychology, psychobiology, behavioral biology, or behavioral neuroscience. Thetermbiopsychology denotes a biological approach to psychology, rather than a psychological approach to biology. Most biopsychologists are trained experimental psychologists who have brought their knowledge of biology to the study of psychological phenomena. These phenomena include behavior and underlying psychological processes, such as learning, memory, perception, attention, motivation, emotion, and cognition. Biopsychologistswork in a variety of overlapping fields of study. Scientists in cognitive neuroscience primarily study the brain to understand the neural mechanisms of mental processes. Researchers in the field of psychopharmacology examine how drugs affect the psychological functions of the brain. Scientists in the field of