What is psychology?

The word "psychology" comes from the Greek (psychos and logos) and literally means the "study of the soul".

A basic definition of psychology is:
"Psychology is the empirical science of human experience and behavior".

Meaning:

• Science: the aim of psychology is to describe, explain and predict human experience and behavior. While the science of psychology historically comes from the humanities (with the hermeneutic method, i.e. understanding and interpreting), in its more than 130-year historyit has moved strongly towards the natural sciences (with the hermeneutic method, i.e. understanding and interpreting).
  has moved strongly towards the natural sciences (with the experimental method, i.e. explaining and predicting).
• Empirical: Psychological theories, models and hypotheses are tested on the basis of concrete observations and data in scientific studies.
• Experiential: It deals with psychological functions such as perception, thinking, learning, emotion, motivation ...
• Behavior: ... and behavior such as social action, communication, joint problem solving.

What are the topics (subjects) of psychology?

In psychology, a distinction is made between methodological, basic and applied subjects.

• Methodological subjects
  1. Empirical-scientific work: includes the basics of planning and conducting empirical studies and an introduction to computer-aided data analysis
  2. Statistics and methodology: deals with the "tools of the trade" of every psychologist; this includes descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, scientific theory, experimental design and research methodology
  3. Psychological diagnostics: involves the systematic collection and processing of information about individuals, groups, institutions and situations (e.g. using tests, questionnaires, interviews, behavioral observation); it enables diagnostic decisions to be made (e.g. about a mental disorder, professional aptitude, fitness to drive, etc.)

• Basic subjects
  1. General psychology: researches generally valid laws in basic psychological functional areas; is divided into General Psychology I (perception, attention, thinking, memory, problem solving, language) and General Psychology II (learning, emotion, motivation)
  2. Differential psychology and personality psychology: deals with individual differences between people and within a person in the above-mentioned basic psychological functional areas (e.g. personality styles, intelligence)
  3. Biological psychology: deals with the physical functional areas that affect or are related to experience and behavior (e.g. physiology, anatomy, neuronal processes, genetics, endocrinology)
  4. Social psychology: deals with processes within and between social groups and their effects on human experience and behavior (e.g. group processes, leadership style)
  5. Developmental psychology: deals with the changes in human experience and behavior over the course of life (e.g. the development of memory or emotions in childhood/adolescence and into old age)

• Fields of application
  1. Clinical psychology: studies the development of mental disorders (e.g. depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia), the effects of these disorders on experience and behavior, and psychological interventions to treat these disorders (psychotherapy)
  2. Work and organizational psychology: deals with the analysis, evaluation and design of work activities (e.g. workplace health promotion), as well as with the description and change of the experience and behaviour of people in organizations (e.g. in companies, hospitals) and their conditions (e.g. work motivation, job satisfaction)
  3. Educational psychology: researches the laws of learning and the conditions of educational, teaching and further education processes and thus attempts to optimize educational interaction processes (e.g. learning, teaching and behaviour in schools and lessons; but also educational counselling)

There are also smaller applied subjects such as health psychology, traffic psychology and legal psychology.
Further information on the individual psychological subjects can be found in the study guide of the German Psychological Society.