The Psychology Portal
| Part of a series on |
| Psychology |
|---|
 |
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mind. 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 immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. 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.
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.
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 -
The most commonly used definition of school belonging comes from a 1993 academic article by researchers Carol Goodenow and Kathleen Grady, who describe school belonging as "the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment." The construct of school belonging involves feeling connected with and attached to one's school. It also encompasses involvement and affiliation with one's school community. Conversely, students who do not feel a strong sense of belonging within their school environment are frequently described as being alienated or disaffected. There are a number of terms within educational research that are used interchangeably with school belonging, including school connectedness, school attachment, and school engagement.
School belonging is determined by a myriad of factors, including academic achievement and motivation, personal characteristics, social relationships, demographic characteristics, school climate, and participation in extracurricular activities. Research indicates that school belonging has significant implications for students, as it has been consistently linked with academic outcomes, psychological adjustment, well-being, identity formation, mental health, and physical health—it is considered a fundamental aspect of students' development. A sense of belonging to one's school is considered particularly important for adolescents because they are within a period of transition and identity formation, and research has found that school belonging significantly declines during this period. (Full article...)
Selected image -
Australian soldiers near Ypres in 1917, during World War I. Soldier on left is likely suffering from shellshock, now described as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
image credit: public domain
Quotes -
- "Rationalization may be defined as self-deception by reasoning." — Karen Horney
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 -
Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics and differential psychology, the study of how and why individuals differ behaviorally from one another.
He was a major proponent of the hereditarian position in the nature and nurture debate, the position that genetics play a significant role in behavioral traits, such as intelligence and personality. He was the author of over 400 scientific papers published in refereed journals and sat on the editorial boards of the scientific journals Intelligence and Personality and Individual Differences. (Full article...)
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that some researchers have studied Tetris as a potential form of psychological treatment?
- ... that Ahmad Nasuhi ordered a subordinate to attack the Indonesian Communist Party's offices with grenades as "psychological warfare against the central government"?
- ... that Fortnite's Tilted Towers was described by critics as the equivalent of "psychological torture" and being "dropped into a meat grinder"?
- ... that the 2024 psychological horror game Mouthwashing utilises non-diegetic scene transitions that mimic glitches and crashes?
- ... that Pan Shu had to write psychological theory in secret during the Cultural Revolution?
- ... that fashion psychology is an interdisciplinary field that studies the interaction between human behavior, psychology, and fashion?
Subcategories
Select [►] to view subcategories
Related portals
More did you know -
- ...that Dr. Chris Hatcher convinced the jury in a capital punishment case without having interviewed the defendant?
- ...that Les Parrott, a professor of clinical psychology, a motivational speaker, and a Nazarene minister, co-created, along with his wife, the eHarmony Marriage program? (eHarmony logo pictured)
- ...that Claudia Blum de Barberi is a Colombian politician and psychologist, who became the first woman to ever be elected President of the Congress of Colombia?
- ...that the book The Psychology of The Simpsons uses the corresponding TV series to analyze topics in psychology including clinical psychology, cognition and Pavlovian conditioning?
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 -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Discover Wikipedia using portals
