Modern Psychology

Carl Rogers also emphasized the potential for human good. He used client-centered therapy to help patients deal with the issues that brought them into therapy in the first place. He felt that the therapist needed to be genuine, have unconditional positive regard, and empathy. With these things, he felt that the patient was fully capable of working through their interpersonal issues.

Humanism lead psychologists to an increased focus on the whole individual as a selfaware person. Because of advances in other areas of science, there was more attention paid to the field of cognitive psychology. The first textbook on the subject was published in 1967. Noam Chomsky was one of the major influences on this movement toward cognitive psychology. It combined the fields of linguistics, anthropology, neuroscience, and computer science in the understanding of human cognition.

MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

Modern psychology or contemporary psychology has certainly been influenced by history. In today s time, the largest professional organization of psychologists in the world is the APA or the American Psychological Association. There are 56 separate divisions of the APA that represent the different areas of applied psychology. The APS or Association for Psychological Science was developed in 1988 and focuses on the scientific aspects of psychology. There are many other contemporary associations related to the advancement of psychology.

There are several branches of modern-day psychology that will be discussed throughout this course. We have already discussed biopsychology, which looks at the biological influences on human behavior. Later on, we will talk about the different aspects of the nervous system—each of which becomes important in the study of human behavior. The issues that are dealt with include neurodevelopment, biological basis of psychological diseases, sleep, and drug abuse.

Evolutionary psychology is related to this field. It looks at the impact of genetics on human behavior. It is difficult, however, to determine whether or not a behavior or trait is naturally selected by evolution. For this reason, while it is believed that behavior has

an evolutionary origin, it is hard to find out what aspects of behavior are solely based on evolution.

Cognitive psychology looks at thoughts or cognitions and how they relate to action and experiences. There are a lot of disciplines that fall under the umbrella of cognitive psychology. Things that are covered include sensation, perception, problem solving, language, and memory.

Developmental psychology is the study of how humans develop across their lifespan. It relates to issues of physical and psychological maturation. There are issues at every stage of human development with goals to be met as part of each stage. Jean Piaget was a famous child psychologist who studied the development of young children. Outside of his work, there is increasing focus on the psychological issues facing the aging population.

Personality psychology places a focus on the behaviors and thinking that make each person a unique individual. Freud, Maslow, and Gordon Alport have all contributed to how personality develops. There are certain personality traits that exist in each individual, which help to define the different ways the person reacts and interacts with their environment. Personality traits are relatively stable over time and include things like a person s degree of openness, neuroticism, and extraversion.

Social psychology refers to differences in how the person interacts with others. It looks at issues of prejudice, the resolution of interpersonal conflicts, and attraction. It also looks at how being with other people help to shape a person s patterns of thinking and human behaviors. It studies how people are sometimes willing to do things they would not ordinarily do just because they were told to do so by an authority figure.

Health psychology looks specifically at the interactions between psychological, biological, and sociocultural factors. There are relationships between psychological stress, physical health, genetic makeup, and patterns of behavior. Those who study this aspect of psychology look at those patterns of behavior that contribute to poor health outcomes.

Clinical psychology focuses on the different psychological disorders and problem behaviors. Some in this field do research but most focus on the treatment of patients.