Scope of Psychology

Psychology is a vast subject with wide scope. Firstly, let us see what the term 'scope' refers to. Scope of a subject refers to:

1. The area or subject matter covered in its study.
2. The limit of field of its operation.

The scope of psychology is very wide and increasing. The subject matter, areas or fields covered by psychology are discussed below:

1. Sensation
Psychology studies about sensation. Sensation is the input via our five senses of vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It can be interpreted by brain. It is the detection of any sensory stimulation. The stimulation can be external or internal. Sensation is impression by sense organs or a state of excitement of the same. Sensation is the input of the physical world by sensory organs.

2. Perception
The interpretation of sensory stimuli by brain is called perception. Perception is the way in which the sensory raw materials are regarded, interpreted and understood. That means the ability to see, hear, or get aware through senses. The word perception is originated from the Latin word 'perceptio' which means 'receiving', 'collection' etc. Psychology studies about perception in a large scale.

3. Cognition
In simple sense, cognition is the process of thinking. Cognition is a mental process or action which involves understanding and acquisition of knowledge by an organism trough experience, understanding, thoughts and senses (or perceived information). If perception utilizes sensory input, the process of cognition is fueled by perceived information. Cognition encompasses processes such as attention, knowledge formation, memory, judgment, evaluation, reasoning, computation, problem solving, decision making, comprehension, language production etc. Cognitive process uses existing knowledge to produce new knowledge. Psychology deals with all aspects of cognition.

4. Emotions
Emotions are characterized by complex psychological activities which results in a certain level of pleasure or displeasure. In 20th century Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions. They are Fear, Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Disgust and Surprise. Emotions are closely connected with mood, temperament, personality, motivation and disposition. Robert Plutchik considered emotions as polar opposites. So he grouped four pair of polar opposites viz. Fear - Anger, Happiness - Sadness, Trust - Distrust, Surprise  - Anticipation. As the studies develops there were more additional information were added. Psychology spreads its wide scope in the field of emotions too.

5. Learning
Educational psychology, one of the major sub field of psychology is totally dedicated to study topics such as psychology of learning, psychology of learner and many more related topics. Learning is the acquisition of skill or knowledge via experience or as a result of teaching. Psychology investigates the process of learning and teaching from a scientific perspective. It has been resulted in a lot of revolutionary changes recently in the field of education.

6. Development
The field of developmental psychology is totally dedicated to investigate different developmental stages of human life cycle. It closely explores different stages of development from infancy to old age by emphasizing psychological aspects. Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over time. It explains growth, change and consistency though the life span. Developmental psychology studies how thinking, feeling and behaviour transforms across time.

7. Personality
Allport defines "personality as the dynamic organization within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment". In layman perspective, personality is the external appearance of an individual. In philosophy it is interpreted in the sense of self. In psychology it is much more. Personality derived from a Latin word 'persona' which means the 'mask' or 'false face'. The scope of psychology sheds light deeply into these phenomena.

8. Personality Disorders
As it studies about personality, psychology also investigates into the variations of personality. Personality disorders are are list of mental illnesses. It can be called the deviated behaviors that seriously affect work and life. People who suffer personality disorders have unhealthy coping strategies toward stresses and problems of everyday life. They have unhealthy pattern of thinking, behaving and functioning. A person with personality disorder also have trouble relating people and situation.

Anything related to the above comes under the scope of psychology.