Overwiew
What does Psychology focus on?
Psychology handles the description, explanation and prediction of the experience and behaviour of humans as individuals and in social interaction. This includes the analysis of internal and external causes of human behaviour; the investigation of cognitive, emotional and motivational processes, including their neurobiological foundations; the development of mental processes over a person's lifetime; the analysis of conditional factors on experience and behaviour disorders in conjunction with health, social and interactional disorders, as well as on mental disorders specifically (e.g. on depression, anxiety disorders or addiction); as well as the empirical, in-depth development of intervention techniques with regard to clinical-psychological and psychotherapeutic techniques and non-clinical applications (e.g. health psychology, occupational health).
Contrary to popular belief, Psychology is a strictly empirical science that besides having a strong focus on science experiments also includes elements of empirical social science. The aim of Psychology is to examine, develop and apply hypotheses and predictions derived from theories and models, by means of objective observations and experiments. An important part of studying Psychology is therefore the teaching of experimental and quasi-experimental investigation methods, as well as mathematical and statistical methods of data analysis.
A recent development is the increasing integration of sub-areas of Psychology (especially general psychology, biopsychology, social psychology and clinical psychology) with some brain research as part of the new interdisciplinary subject cognitive neuroscience. By combining psychological theories and methods with neuroscientific techniques (e.g. modern imaging, psycho-physiological and psycho-neuroendocrine techniques), we hope to gain a deeper understanding of how neuronal processes in the brain create mental processes such as perception, memory, thought and feeling.