psychology 1

Psychology is the study of the mind, occurring partly via the study of behavior.^[1][2] Grounded in scientific method,^[1][2] psychology has the immediate goal of understanding individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases,^[3][4] and for many it ultimately aims to benefit society.^[5][6] In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and can be classified as a social, behavioral, or cognitive scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the physiological and neurobiologicalprocesses that underlie certain cognitive functions and behaviors.

Psychologists explore such concepts as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior, andinterpersonal relationships. Psychologists of diverse stripes also consider the unconscious mind.^[7] Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal andcorrelational relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition, or in opposition, to employing empirical and deductive methods, some—especiallyclinical and counseling psychologists—at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques. Psychology has been described as a "hub science",^[8] with psychological findings linking to research and perspectives from the social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and the humanities, such asphilosophy.

While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also applied to understanding and solving problems in many different spheres of human activity. The majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical,counseling, or school settings. Many do scientific research on a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior, and typically work in university psychology departments or teach in other academic settings. Some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, or in other areas^[9] such as human development and aging, sports, health, and the media, as well as in forensic analysis and other aspects of law.