Portal:Psychology
The Psychology Portal
| Part of a series on |
| Psychology |
|---|
 |
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of broad scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences.
A professional practitioner or researcher involved in the discipline is called a psychologist. Some psychologists can also be classified as behavioral or cognitive scientists. Some psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior. Others explore the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie cognitive functions and behaviors. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.
As part of an interdisciplinary field, psychologists are involved in research on perception, cognition, attention, emotion, intelligence, subjective experiences, motivation, brain functioning, and personality. Psychologists' interests extend to interpersonal relationships, psychological resilience, family resilience, and other areas within social psychology. They also consider the unconscious mind. Research psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables. Some, but not all, clinical and counseling psychologists rely on symbolic interpretation. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Cognitive flexibility is an intrinsic property of a cognitive system often associated with the mental ability to adjust its activity and content, switch between different task rules and corresponding behavioral responses, maintain multiple concepts simultaneously and shift internal attention between them. The term cognitive flexibility is traditionally used to refer to one of the executive functions. In this sense, it can be seen as neural underpinnings of adaptive and flexible behavior. Most flexibility tests were developed under this assumption several decades ago. Nowadays, cognitive flexibility can also be referred to as a set of properties of the brain that facilitate flexible yet relevant switching between functional brain states.
Cognitive flexibility varies during the lifespan of an individual. In addition, certain conditions such as obsessive–compulsive disorder are associated with reduced cognitive flexibility. Since cognitive flexibility is a vital component of learning, deficits in this area might have other implications. (Full article...)
Selected image -
The Scream (Skrik, 1893), by expressionist painter Edvard Munch. A well known artistic representation of angst
image credit: public domain (US)
Quotes -
- "Where id is, there shall ego be." — Sigmund Freud
WikiProjects
The following WikiProjects work to improve the quality and scope of articles related to psychology. Please join us at any of them.
Selected biography -
Donata Francescato (born April 17, 1944 in Arona, Italy) is an Italian community psychologist and academic, trained in the United States, and known in academia and the media for her work on sex roles, communes, and personal and organizational empowerment. Her work in community psychology led to the discipline being recognized in 1985 as a compulsory subject in Italian universities where psychology is taught as a major subject.
Francescato is currently the Scientific Director of the post-graduate School of Specialization in clinical community psychology and psychotherapy at ASPIC (Associazione per lo Sviluppo Psicologico dell'Individuo e della Comunità, Association for the Psychological Development of the Individual and the Community). Previously, she was a Full Professor of Community Psychology at the University of Rome, a position she retired from in 2014 at the age of 70. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that American college football coach Joe Sterrett graduated majoring in psychology and finance?
- ... that a study of people who reported experiences of alien abduction found that many exhibited characteristics consistent with fantasy-prone personality?
- ... that bereavement support groups are one of the most common services offered for grief but have little evidence of improving psychological outcomes?
- ... that some researchers have studied Tetris as a potential form of psychological treatment?
- ... that Pan Shu had to write psychological theory in secret during the Cultural Revolution?
- ... that the 2024 psychological horror game Mouthwashing utilises non-diegetic scene transitions that mimic glitches and crashes?
Subcategories
Select [►] to view subcategories
Related portals
More did you know -
- ... that the book Help at Any Cost triggered hearings by the United States House Committee on Education and Labor into behavior modification techniques used by the tough love teen industry?
- ... that the book Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control was runner-up in the 2005 Times Higher Education Supplement Young Academic Author Award?
- ... that according to A Bright Red Scream, millions of Americans regularly use razors, knives or broken glass to intentionally injure themselves? (self-inflicted cuts pictured)
- ... that Herbert Freudenberger fled Germany alone during WWII at the age of twelve, later becoming a well-known psychologist in the United States?
- ... that simply knowing about and understanding the illusion of transparency might help reduce speech anxiety?
Psychology topics
| Knowledge representation | |
|---|---|
| Serious Gaming | |
| Lists | |
| Interpersonal relationships |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Conflict | ||
| Social influence | ||
| Group dynamics | ||
| Aggression | ||
| Altruism | ||
| Culture | ||
| Self-concept | ||
| Attribution |
Recognized content
Extended content |
|---|
|
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Discover Wikipedia using portals
