WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY

Myths and stereotypes cloud most people's understanding of psychology. This article explores psychology's true nature, highlighting its rich diversity and array of specialisations within the field.

PSYCHOLOGISTS HAVE DIFFERENT SPECIALISATIONS

Studies have found that although the public generally holds psychology in high regard, there is little understanding of its true nature, leading to many persistent misconceptions. For example, many people believe that:

• Psychologists analyse people

• Psychologists share a collective belief system

• Psychologists can read minds

• Psychologists catch serial killers

• Psychologists are therapists

The majority of psychologists don't fit those stereotypes. Psychology is a diverse field with many specialised areas, such as how maths branches into algebra and trigonometry or how English includes literature and language.

Just a few of the many fields within psychology include:

• Psychotherapy

• Brain Chemistry

• Evolutionary Psychology

• Memory Research

• Child Development

• Psychopathology

• Language Acquisition

• Learning Disorders

• Social Psychology

ONLY PSYCHOANALYSISTS ANALSE PEOPLE

Despite common assumptions, psychologists don't psychoanalyse people; that is the domain of Freud and his ilk . Besides, being a psychologist goes beyond analysing people. Many people enjoy playing the "armchair psychologist.” Personal opinions are subjective and influenced by political, religious, and moral stances. Such casual observations do not reflect the skill set required in this field. Real psychologists ground their theories in solid evidence and rely on scientific principles.

Aspiring psychology students should know that their studies will involve scrutinising extensive research and applying rigorous scientific evaluation rather than mind-reading.

PSYCHOLOGISTS DISAGREE

Contrary to popular belief, psychologists do not share a collective belief system. Psychology encompasses various viewpoints and sub-disciplines. Contrary to popular belief, psychologists don’t psychoanalyse people to significant disagreements among psychologists about causes and treatments. In this way, psychology resembles politics; some people support communism, while others advocate capitalism. Similarly, psychologists hold diverse and often conflicting views. These views are called psychological approaches or perspectives.

THE MAJOR PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES ARE:

• THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH: Focuses on unconscious childhood experiences.

• THE BEHAVIOURIST/LEARNING APPROACH: Examines how consequences and associations condition behaviour.

• THE HUMANIST & POSITIVE APPROACH: This approach emphasises that self-fulfilment is possible if we meet our needs and believe in ourselves.

• THE SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY APPROACH Looks at how we learn by observing others.

• THE COGNITIVE APPROACH: Studies how memory and perception, attention, etc, are processed and organised in the brain, including schemas and biased thinking.

• THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH: Investigates how natural selection shapes the brain's hardware, with neuroscience exploring this hardware in detail.

While many approaches vary widely, for example, Humanism and neuroscience have opposing views on free will and determinism—some perspectives, like the cognitive and biological approaches, can complement each other by focusing on different aspects of neurological systems in the brain.

Let’s apply the approaches to a real-life example.

To fully appreciate the uniqueness of the different psychological perspectives, they have been applied to the case study below called "Stacey Mulligan." Doing so makes each approach's distinct characteristics and methods more apparent. This application reveals how each perspective offers a different lens to understand Stacey's experiences, emphasizing their varied focuses and methodologies.

MEET STACEY MULLIGAN

AGE: 31
NATIONALITY: American
OCCUPATION: Unemployed
ADDRESS: No fixed abode
NUMBER OF CHILDREN: 7, all of whom have been taken into care

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

Stacey was born with a cocaine addiction and spent the first weeks of her life receiving treatment for dependency. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) occurs when a pregnant woman uses drugs such as heroin, codeine, oxycodone (Oxycontin), methadone, or buprenorphine. These substances pass through the placenta, leading the baby to develop a dependency.

As a toddler, Stacey was placed into “care” after neighbours expressed concerns to local authorities. She spent most of her childhood in institutions and foster homes. Since the age of 11, Stacey has been arrested multiple times for possession of class-A drugs, shoplifting, public disorder, and solicitation.

Stacey struggles with methamphetamine and alcohol addiction and is thought to suffer from borderline personality disorder.

WHAT LED TO STACEY'S CURRENT SITUATION?

Here Is an Analysis Using Different Psychological Approaches:

• HUMANIST/POSITIVE APPROACH
  Stacey's lack of self-realisation stems from a deficiency in empathy and unconditional positive regard from others. She can only achieve self-acceptance and fulfil her potential in an environment that fosters genuine interpersonal connections.

• PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH
  Stacey's early experience of being ignored by her mother has resulted in unconscious feelings of abandonment and low self-worth. This is because she never developed a strong emotional bond with her mother. These feelings have hindered her ability to connect with others.

• BEHAVIOUR/LEARNING APPROACH
  Stacey's mother was affectionate, funny, outrageous, and generous to Stacey when high, leading Stacey to associate her mother's drug use with pleasure. In contrast, Stacey associates sobriety with feelings of neglect and abuse.

• SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

  Stacey observed that her mother was happier when high and depressed when sober, influencing Stacey’s perception of drug use.

• COGNITIVE APPROACH

  Stacey believes she is destined to be a drug addict and that drugs improve her life. This mindset, combined with being labelled with Borderline Personality Disorder, may have influenced her self-schema.

• BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

  Stacey's brain was damaged during her mother's crack addiction while she was in the womb. This has resulted in damage to her amygdala, impairing her emotional regulation and impulse control (for example).

These examples illustrate that psychology encompasses a range of perspectives rather than a collective belief system.

SUMMING UP

So, what is psychology?

Psychology involves the study of any ideas exploring human behaviour, even when these ideas conflict with other psychological approaches. Thus, the definition of psychology is "The study of mind and behaviour" rather than a unified paradigm.

For many academics, psychology has outlived its usefulness as a descriptor. One solution is for the different approaches to abandon this umbrella term and develop it as separate specialisations. After all, philosophy also addresses questions about the human condition, yet no one frames its ideologies as psychological.

However, as Kuhn observed, new disciplines often evolve, like science, which emerged from natural philosophy. However, Kuhn’s theory doesn’t entirely apply to psychology. Since psychology is rooted in the humanities, its journey to becoming a science is less straightforward.

For example, while no single approach has fully captured the complexity of human nature, five major approaches—Behaviourism, Social Learning Theory, Cognitive, and Biological—all continue to offer valuable insights into human development. They don’t need to be replaced by newer disciplines.

Instead, the focus should be moving away from less scientific approaches, like humanism and psychoanalytic theories, and unifying these five perspectives into a cohesive paradigm.

Maybe then psychology can finally call itself a paradigm.