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What is PSYCHOLOGY?? * There's a of confusion out there about psychology. According to some popular television programs and movies, psychologists are super-sleuths that can use their understanding of the human mind to solve crimes and predict a criminal's next move. Other popular depictions present the psychologist as a gray and bearded older gentleman, seated in a stately office lined with books, who spends his days listening to clients ramble on about their difficult childhoods. * The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, esp. those affecting behavior in a given context.
What is Behavior? * the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, esp. toward others * Behavior or behaviour is the range of actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with their environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment. It is the response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntaryor involuntary.
Misconception about psychology and psychologist
1st PSYCHLOGY is Easy
This misconception is perhaps the first one dispelled for many students as they struggle through their general psychology courses. Why do some people mistakenly believe that psychology is simple and easy? The reason might be because many tend to assume that since they have so much personal experience with human behavior, that they will just naturally be experts on the subject.
Obviously, no one would suggest that an English class would be an easy A just because you speak English. Just like English can be a challenging subject for any native speaker, psychology classes can be just as tough, particularly for students who have little experience with the subject or who have a limited background in subjects such as science and math.
Fortunately, just because psychology is challenging does not mean that it isn't accessible to anyone who might take an interest in it. While there might be a learning curve, you can definitely succeed in your psychology classes with effort and determination.

2nd PSYCHOLOGY is Just Common sense
Often after hearing about the latest psychological research, people tend to have an "Of Course!" type of response. "Of course that's true! Why do people even waste their time researching stuff that's just common sense?" people sometimes exclaim.
But is it really? Pick up any book outlining some of the most famous experiments in the history of psychology and what you'll quickly realize is that much of this research refutes what was believed to be common sense at the time. Would you deliver potentially fatal electrical shocks to a stranger just because an authority figure told you to? Common sense might have you emphatically saying no, but psychologist Stanley Milgram famously demonstrated in anobedience experiment that the vast majority of people would do such a thing.
That's the thing about common sense – just because something seems like it should be true does not necessarily mean that it is. Researchers are able to take some of these questions and presumptions about human behavior and test them scientifically, assessing the truth or falsehood in some of our commonly held beliefs about ourselves. By using scientific methods, experimenters can investigate human issues objectively and fairly. * Psychology is the scientific study of behaviours & mental process. Psychology follows systematic method of observing, describing, predicting & explaining the subject matter of case or problem.

Psychologist try to understand mental characteristics of particular individual. It may provide psychological evaluation , assessment, testing & treatment but may not prescribe medications. There are many continuing education courses for psychology on web like psychotherapy for men & women & its law & ethics. These type of CE courses are really helpful for psychologist & counselors.
Different Branches of Psychology
Abnormal Psychology: This explores psychopathology and abnormal behavior. Examples of disorders covered in this field include depression, OCD, sexual deviation and dissociative disorder.
Biopsychology: This looks at the role the brain and neurotransmitters play in influencing our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It combines neuroscience and the study of basic psychology.
Clinical Psychology: The focus here is the assessment and appropriate treatment of mental illness and abnormal behaviours.
Cognitive Psychology: This branch of psychology focuses attention on perception and mental processes. For example, it looks at how people think about and process experiences and events – their automatic thoughts and core beliefs. Also, how they learn, remember and retrieve information.
Comparative Psychology: This field of psychology studies animal behavior. Comparative psychologists work closely with biologists, ecologists, anthropologists, and geneticists.
Counseling Psychology: Here, the focus is on providing therapeutic interventions for clients who are struggling with some mental, social, emotional or behavioural issue. It also looks at living well, so people reach their maximum potential in life.
Developmental Psychology: This looks at lifespan human development, from the cradle to the grave. It looks at what changes, and what stays the same, or even deteriorates over time. Also, whether growth and change is continuous, or is associated with certain ages and stages. Another area of interest is the interaction of genes and the environment.
Educational Psychology: This focuses attention on learning, remembering, performing and achieving. It includes the effects of individual differences, gifted learners and learning disabilities.
Experimental Psychology: Although all of psychology emphasises the central importance of the scientific method, designing and applying experimental techniques, then analysing and interpreting the results is the main job of experimental psychologists. They work in a wide range of settings, including schools, colleges, universities, research centers, government organisation and private businesses and enterprises.
Forensic Psychology: Psychology and the law intersect in this field. It is where psychologists (clinical psychologists, neurologists, counselling psychologists etc) share their professional expertise in legal or criminal cases.
Health Psychology: This branch of psychology promotes physical, mental and emotional health – including preventative and restorative strategies. It looks at how people deal with stress, and cope with and recover from, illnesses.
Human Factors Psychology: This is an umbrella category that looks at such areas as ergonomics, workplace safety, human error, product design, and the interaction of humans and machines.
Industrial-Organizational Psychology: This applies findings from theoretical psychology to the workplace. Its goal is increasing employee satisfaction, performance, productivity – and matching positions to employees’ strengths. Other areas of interest are group dynamics, and the development of leadership skills.
Social Psychology: This is what many people think of when they hear the word “psychology”. It includes the study of group behaviour, social norms, conformity, prejudice, nonverbal behaviour/ body language, and aggression.
Sports Psychology: This area investigates how to increase and maintain motivation, the factors that contribute to peak performance, and how being active can enhance our lives.
Different methods of psychological research
A wide range of research methods are used in psychology. These methods vary by the sources of information that are drawn on, how that information is sampled, and the types of instruments that are used in data collection. Methods also vary by whether they collect qualitative data, quantitativedata or both.
Qualitative psychological research is where the research findings are not arrived at by statistical or other quantitative procedures. Quantitative psychological research is where the research findings result from mathematical modeling and statistical estimation or statistical inference. Since qualitative information can be handled as such statistically, the distinction relates to method, rather than the topic studied.
There are three main types of psychological research: * Correlational research * Descriptive research * Experimental research

Different Schools of Psychology
When psychology was first established as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The different schools of psychology represent the major theories within psychology.
The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology.
In the past, psychologists often identified themselves exclusively with one single school of thought. Today, most psychologists have an eclectic outlook on psychology. They often draw on ideas and theories from different schools rather than holding to any singular outlook.
The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology: