Positive psychology
A field of research that focuses on people’s positive experiences and characteristics, such as happiness, optimism, and resilience.
Cognitive psychologists
Psychologists whose research focuses on analysis of the mental processes underlying judgment, decision making, problem solving, imagining, and other aspects of human thought or cognition.
Biological psychologists
Psychologists who analyze the biological factors influencing behavior and mental processes.
Personality psychologists
Psychologists who focus on people’s unique characteristics.
Developmental psychologist
Psychologists who seek to understand, describe, and explore how people behavior and mental processes change over the course of a lifetime.
Quantitative psychologists
Psychologists who develop statistical methods for evaluating and analyzing data from psychological research.
Clinical, counseling, and community psychologists
Psychologists who seek to assess, understand, modify, and prevent behavior disorders.
Educational psychologists
Psychologists who study methods by which instructors teach and students learn and who apply their results to improve such methods.
School psychologists
Psychologists who test cognitive abilities, diagnose students’ academic problems, and set up programs to improve students’ achievement.
Social psychologists
Psychologists who study how people influence one another’s behavior and attitude, especially in groups.
Industrial and organizational psychologists
Psychologists who examine factors that influence people’s performance in the workplace
Health psychologists
Psychologists who study the effects of behavior on health and the impact of illness on behavior and emotion
Sport psychologists
Psychologists whose research is aimed at maximizing athletic performance
Forensic psychologists
Psychologists who are involved in many aspects of psychology and law
Engineering psychologists
Psychologists who study and try to improve the relationships between human beings and the computers and other machines they use
Environmental psychologists
Psychologists who study the relationship between people’s physical environment and their behavior
Tabula rasa
Blank slate
Empiricism
The view that knowledge comes from experience and observation
Psychology
The science that seeks to understand behavior and mental processes and to apply that understanding in the service of human welfare.
functionalism
focused on the function of consciousness in guiding our ability to make decisions, solve problems, and the like