Psychological Domains

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Five psychological domains can shape how psychology investigates human behavior — how people think/behave. There’s no one right way, but most  agree all approaches are interconnected and essential to understanding behavior and mental processes:

• Biological (neuroscience, consciousness, sensation) studies physiological basis of behavior: how the brain/nervous system works, hormones, and genetics.
• Cognitive (perception, memory, attention, reasoning, intelligence) focuses on mental processing of internal/external stimuli in the environment.
• Development (learning/conditioning, language) studies how behavior and mental processes change throughout our lifespan, from infancy to old age.
• Social and Personality investigates social interactions in terms of personality, emotion, motivation, gender, and culture.
• Mental and Physical Health (psychopathology, therapy, developing healthy behaviors) deals with diagnosis, treatment, prevention—and relationship between psychological and physical health.