What are the aims of psychology? Psychology is a social science that analyses the human brain and its interaction with the environment. Modern psychology encompasses myriad fields, but has made significant progress by focusing on four core goals. These core goals are description, explanation, prediction and behaviour change.
The four core goals of psychology
Description
The description of human behaviour is concerned with understanding what is considered normal or abnormal. The observed behaviour of description includes thought process, feelings, attitude, life goals, motivation, action and reaction. Psychologists describe a person's behaviour through observation, testing, case studies, investigation and correlational studies.
Explanation
Psychologists strive to explain certain behaviours by looking at the circumstances in question. The explanation reflects the fundamental goal of all sciences, which is to understand the universe and the position humans occupy in it. In the past, several theorists such as Freud, Jung, Skinner and Roger have provided ideas to explain personality, development and motivation. Cultural constraints limit the possible explanations in the process. A particular explanation for a case may be invalid in another culture and society. Explanations are usually established through qualitative and quantitative observation and experimentation.
Forecast
In psychology, one tries to predict behaviour. The purpose of prediction is to determine what decisions a person will make under certain stimuli within a certain environment. The human brain is immensely complex, so predictions can be wrong, but are useful in predicting certain trends under certain circumstances.
Behavioural changes
Behaviour change can be good or bad. Within ethical constraints, psychology seeks to promote positive behaviour change. There are different theories regarding the methodology for changing certain behaviours. Some behavioural scientists tend towards repetitive reinforcement, while others prefer cognitive lectures.
Psychology is applied in education, betterment of society and organisations to promote preferred behaviours and attitudes.
As with any science, especially the social sciences, psychology is limited within its own core objectives. The description of an individual cannot predict the behaviour of a group of people. Experimentation, statistical analysis and evaluation of numerous sources continue to contribute to the advancement of psychology.
Subject of psychology, basic concepts and aims of psychology
