A.     SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

To be a psychologist, a person must earn an appropriate higher degree, perhaps be certified, and then get a job using these credentials. Two critical steps are training and occupation. A psychologist usually is the holder of a Ph.D. degree in psychology. They should specialize in certain area of psychology. American Psychological Association (APA) has listed more than 44 major areas of psychology. In USA, most of the psychology students are interested in clinical psychology. They are also interested in experimental psychology, counseling and guidance psychology, educational psychology, and in other psychologies. In developed countries psychologists are involved in teaching and research, management or administration, clinical practice and other areas.

Psychologists differ in their interests; one way of representing these is by the division of the APA. APA has list of several branches of psychologies which indicate the scope or range of psychology. Some of these psychologies are shown in the table

1	Adolescent Psychology	19	Health psychology
2	Adult development and aging	20	Indigenous psychology
3	Cognitive psychology	21	Industrial and organizational psychology
4	Child psychology	22	Military psychology
5	Clinical psychology	23	Para psychology
6	Community psychology	24	Personality psychology
7	Consulting psychology	25	Personnel psychology
8	Consumer psychology	26	Physiological and comparative psychology
9	Counseling psychology	27	Psychobiology
10	Cross-cultural psychology	28	Psychology of women
11	Cultural psychology	29	psychopharmacology
12	Developmental psychology	30	Psychotherapy
13	Educational psychology	31	Rehabilitation  psychology
14	Engineering psychology	32	Rural psychology
15	Environmental psychology	33	School psychology
16	Evaluation and Measurement	34	Social psychology
17	Experimental psychology	35	Space psychology
18	General psychology	36	Others

The cluster of subfields that we call psychology has less unity than most other sciences. But in their diverse activities, from biological experimentation to cultural comparisons, psychologists share a common quest: describing and explaining behaviour and the mental processes that underlie it. All the subfields of psychology can be categorized under the broad heading of Basic psychology and applied psychology. Below is the description of some of the branches of Basic (theoretical) and Applied (practical) psychology.

Basic (theoretical) psychologies

General (or Basic) Psychology:

Psychology that is exclusively concerned with the basic description and explanation of human behaviour is called General psychology. This psychology is concerned with normal individual and describes and explains the basic laws and principles that govern various mental and physical activities. This includes perceptions, learning, memory, motivation, emotions, intelligence, personality, etc. This psychology not only explains about psychology but also how and why we behave. For example, what we learn, why we learn and how we learn, and what is the basic purpose of learning, and how it helps us to adjust in the environment, etc. General psychology explains different concepts and its relations with human mental functions and behaviours with the help of various principles and theories.

Abnormal Psychology (Psychopathology)

Besides general psychology that studies normal human behaviour there is also another division of psychology that studies abnormal behaviour. It is called Abnormal psychology. It is another important theoretical branch of psychology that describes and explains in detail about abnormal behaviour, how it occurs, why it occurs and what are the symptoms and causes of abnormal behaviour, etc. Some of the main problems of abnormal psychology are abnormalities related to emotions, motivations and other psychological functions. Apart from that it also studies abnormalities manifested in social situation or as a result of social situation such as criminal behaviours, sexual perversions, alcoholism, drug addictions, and personality problems, namely, the neurosis, psychosis, psychopathic personality, psychosomatic disorders, etc. abnormal psychology also deals with applications of various psychotherapeutic techniques-their objectives and general procedures.

Social Psychology

Social behaviour is one of the main components of psychology. Most of the behaviours psychology studies are manifested in social situation to influence and control other people. Life is meaningless in absence of other people. Many times individual's behaviour is influenced by social situation. A rational and responsible man can be irresponsible and aggressive in social situation such as in mob or in crowd. In fact, no aspect of human behaviour can be isolated from social influences. Social psychology that studies social behaviour is a very important branch of psychology.              

Social psychology studies a person's behaviour in his/her social and cultural background. But social psychology is not only confined to individual behaviour rather it also studies group and how it influence the individual's behaviour. It studies how socialization takes place, how growth and development is affected by a person's social environment. Besides, social psychology also studies about social perception, social motivation, development and changes in attitudes, development of prejudices, social learning, group dynamics, leadership, causes and remedial measures of social tensions, propaganda, public opinions, social integration, social pathologies, etc. These studies shed lights on individual's behaviour in relation to his/her social background.

Some behaviour cannot be understood when studied isolated from social context but when it is described or explained in relation to its social and cultural background the meaning and significance of behaviour becomes clear. For example, In North America, when people are invited to dinner in someone's home they generally show their appreciation of their host's cooking efforts by eating all of the food they are served. In India, this behaviour would be insulting to the host, as guests are expected to leave some food on their plates. The leftover food acknowledges the generosity of the host, implying that he or she provided so much food the guest could not eat it all (Moghaddam, Taylor, & Wright, 1993). Social psychology helps to explain meaning of many simple to complex social behaviour.

Experimental Psychology

There are many psychologists who are more concerned in experimental studies of psychological processes. The study of sensations, perceptions, learning, memory and forgetting, motivation, physiological bases of behaviour, and many others in laboratory study are the primary problems of experimental psychology. As the name itself indicates, experimental psychology is rigorous and is primarily conducted in the laboratory. The basic aim of this psychology is to experiment and understand fundamental causes of behaviours. This method helps to identify variables and their relationship in causing behaviour which ultimately helps to develop laws and principles, test and retest their authenticity. For example, does cigarette smoking cause cancer? Either one says 'yes' or 'no' is not valid until one conducts experiment. The result derived from the experiment proves whether it is true or false. Experimental psychologists do not only study observable behaviour but also do rigorous experimental on how brain functions, the role of neurons or different glands and hormones in shaping or directing behaviour. Experimental psychology as a fundamental subfield of psychology carries on experiments to determine relations between stimulus and response, variables that are associated with behaviour events, confirms the hypothesis about behaviour and brings forth new facts about behaviour events.

Applied (Practical) Psychologies

Educational Psychology

Educational psychology is application of general principles of behaviour in the area of education. Educational psychologists are primarily interested in answering certain pertinent questions relating to entire processes of education, such as-when to teach, what to teach and how to teach? All these three questions are important for chalking out an effective educational programme, formulation of curriculum and evolving effective teaching methods. Besides, educational psychologists are also interested in explaining possible causes of educational 'backwardness, special teaching of gifted' children., evaluation of capabilities, improving teacher taught relations, motivational aspects relating to education, tackling the problem of absenteeism, etc.

In essence, the major task of educational psychologist is to evolve and develop principles upon which a sound and effective educational system may base and also to discover the ways and means to solve various problems that arise in educational field from time to time such as education and problem children, gifted children, developing a reliable and valid techniques of evaluation, measurement of aptitude, interests and motivating children to profit more and more from education.

Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology is the largest subfield of psychology in which general psychological principles are being applied by most of the psychologists designated as clinical psychologists. Approximately 30% psychologists are clinical psychologists whose main pre-occupations are rendering services to abnormal persons or to deviant behaviour individuals. Their main concern is the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behaviour problems, such as mental illness, juvenile delinquency, drug addiction, criminal behaviour, mental retardation, marital and family conflicts, and other less serious adjustment problems. Clinical psychologists are found in the hospitals, juvenile courts or probation offices, in a mental health clinic homes or institutions for mentally retarded, medical schools, or practicing privately. Clinical psychologists often work in association with other professional colleagues such as counselors, social workers, psychiatrists or medical professionals.

Counseling Psychology

Counseling psychology is an offshoot branch of clinical psychology. A counseling psychologist performs much of the functions of a clinical psychologist, but typically he renders his services mostly to the school and college students by advising them on problems of social adjustment, educational problems, vocational selections, accomplishment of educational goals, etc. Like clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists render their services in schools, colleges, counseling and guidance centres and even practice privately.

Thus, counseling psychology is a professional branch of psychology in which psychological principles are applied in solving less serious behavioural problems of adjustment in vocational educational and social fields.

Industrial and Engineering Psychology

Industrial psychology studies the behaviour of man in industrial situations, organizations which make available many goods to the comfort and satisfaction of living. Industries and organizations face with many problems relating to working personnel such as, selection of fit persons for job, fitting or placing of selected persons to the fit job, efficient working conditions, controlling wastage of manpower, quality improvement, creating peaceful atmosphere, controlling pollutions on account of misuse of technology, analysis of job, organizational set up, industrial training, developing harmonious relationship between management and worker, effective leadership, adjustment problems, group morale, communication, etc. Industrial and engineering psychologists are deeply involved with these problems. Their involvement is at two distinct but interdependent levels. On the one hand, industrial and engineering psychologists are concerned with human factors in industries and organizations, such as personnel selection, employee morale, and designing of machines to minimize human errors. At another level, psychologists are concerned with larger problems of industrial civilization. At this level, an industrial psychologist joins hands with social psychologists and other scientists in planning for the future. They share their concern to the problems relating to resources, environmental pollution, over crowding, interpersonal relationships, health problems, and safety from accidents, security and other related influences on the quality of life. This area of psychology is now-a-days termed as "environmental psychology".