Psychological Research and Real-World Problems - Literature review Example

Psychological Research and Real – World Problems Outline Introduction Cognitive Psychology Social Psychology Forensic Psychology Conclusion The studyof the mind through analysing to a certain extent the human behaviour, the science of psychology, has led to new solutions in addressing the real – world problems. According to Fernald (2008: 12 – 15), through having an analysis of the mental functions based on how human beings behave, psychology can work on founding the general principles thus, can be applied for research purposes. Because of such established functions of the psychological research, Coon and Mitterer (2008: 15 – 16) stated that the society benefits in return from this. Through the psychological research, the obtained knowledge is used and applied to explain and address the problems existing today. Meanwhile, Pretz, Naples and Sternberg (2003: 3 - 4) stated that the first stage in research, especially in the field of psychology, is the capacity of recognising, defining as well as representing a problem. Having this as the starting point, a unique knowledge base is gathered in attempting to address the raised issue. Generally, research has an aim to understand and explain a phenomenon. Via establishing the insights and general principles from the research, it can aid in the explanation as well as prediction of what is likely to occur given a particular phenomenon. Given this general overview of psychology, this essay mainly aims at discussing how this particular field has led to new solutions to the problems in the real world. Basically, this intends to consider specifically how the sub – disciplines of psychology such as cognitive, social and forensic provide new answers to such existent dilemmas in this day and age. Cognitive psychology, the study of human cognition, takes on the principle that behavior is a consequence of the thought and reasoning processes of an individual (Sammons, no date: 1).Some of the major research tools applied in this area of psychology consist of experimentation as well as modeling or simulation. On the one hand, its main research areas include knowledge representation, language, perception, categorization, thinking as well as memory. Research in psychology has improved the knowledge base on memory. Hence, such research has aided the existing problems of the real world today. For example, the knowledge of memory has helped in understanding a normal memory loss from a strange memory loss. In the phenomenon of aging, Budson and Price (2005, 692 - 699) stated that the unusual form of memory loss can be a symptom in diagnosing a disease like Alzheimers. In this regard, the problem of an abnormal aging can be aided by the insights gained from psychological research. Likewise, further researches on memory have helped distinguish the difference between a normal memory loss and a memory loss caused by a damaged memory like amnesia. Through having general principles regarding amnesia, people suffering from it as well as the family and friends of the patient can know what caused the memory loss of that person and likewise, what possibly they can do to help regain his or her memory. Moreover, psychological knowledge has aided the world in a number of ways like the 7 ± 2 element of memory. This 7 ± 2 has been the basis of some decision – making processes on what numbers, codes, pins or passwords to be used is grounded on principles of memory. On the one hand, social psychology as its sub - discipline deals with the individuals thoughts, behaviours as well as feelings which have been shaped by the social environment (Allport, 1985). This area of psychology has contributed the real social world in a number of ways like knowing and comprehending the concept of attitudes, self – concept, persuasion, relationships, group dynamics as well as social influence. According to Forsyth (2006), one among the many contributions is the understanding group dynamics. Through the general principles established in group dynamics, the real world is aided through understanding different forms of social prejudice, comprehending the behaviours involved in decision - making processes as well as following technological advances and new ideas. The sub - discipline of social psychology has contributed profiling which helps to a certain extent of distinguishing who likely the criminals are from those who are not, who the rich are from the poor, and others on the basis of behaviours. Moreover, such understanding of the social world through human behaviours does assist in explaining the complexity of the real world. In addition to that, another example of the contributions of social psychology in the real world is the social influence or how people manage to change their thoughts, behaviours as well as feelings because of other individuals’ impact. Usually, social influence results to conformity through which can be explained as an act of conforming to the normative standards in order to avoid social conflict and be socially accepted instead (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2010). Through the knowledge of social influence, psychologists can explain the reason behind why individuals, for example the teenagers, use to act differently at home and outside home. Lastly, forensic psychology is one among the many areas in psychology which focuses with the justice system. As a point of fact, this area’s one of the most significant elements is the capacity to be a witness and to give evidence in court hearings (Nietzel, 1986). Likewise, the application of psychological knowledge base in the court is of importance in the reformulation of psychological conclusion into legal term framework (Nietzel, 1986; Shapiro, 1984). On the one hand, Gregory (1995) discussed in his book entitled “Psychological Testing: History, Principles and Applications” the eight (8) central advantages contributed in the court system by the psychological field. First is the competence of the witness to stand trial. Through analysing the human behaviour, a forensic psychologist can identify whether an individual is capable to stand a court trial. Second is the evaluation of the state of mind of the witness. It is critical to assess whether the defendant is insane or sane during the occasion of the offense. In case the person is insane during the time he or she committed the crime, this means that he or she has no control over his actions at that time. However, in case he or she is sane at the time of the offense, it just means that he or she has a criminal accountability. Third is the assessment of the possible non – attendance in court hearings. The non – attendance may possibly indicate fear, anxiety, panic, guilt or other symptoms. Through such behaviours which underlie the mental activities, it aids the judgment of the criminal offense. Fourth is the assessment of child custody in cases of divorce. The psychologists as experts can analyse whether it is the mother or the father who should have the custody of the child. In this case, the psychologists do examine whether which parents’ supervisions will be the most appropriate for the child. This is done through analysing the behaviours of both parties. Fifth is the forecast of violence as well as evaluation of risk. Since violent behavior has sort of those similar patterns among individuals, psychologist can help predicting the likelihood of occurrence of violence. Knowing the general patterns of violent behaviours, the psychologist can also aid in the assessment of the risks. Sixth is the analysis of a personal injury. Given the many possible theoretical backgrounds that explain human behaviors and the mental functions behind such, the psychologists can identify if an injury is self – inflicted or not. Apart from identifying it, the psychologists are also in the position of giving explanations why such injury is committed. Seventh is the specialized forensic evaluation of personality. The psychologists know more about the human behaviours and the rationale behind such actions. In this regard, they know the general patterns or other characteristics associated with aggression and others. Last is through analysis of polygraph data. Likewise, these roles of psychologist in the court room serve as illustrations on how psychological knowledge base helps solving the existing problems in the real world. Psychology helps the justice system through an analysis of the behaviours of the witnesses and suspects of the cases. In the discussion how the science of psychology has managed to give rise to answers and explanations to the problems existing in the real world, generally, it is made up of two parts, research and practice. Research in the field of psychology has generally contributed to generating new insights which from time to time, have helped improved the existing general principles and knowledge of psychology. Having the knowledge base on this particular field, it has helped people in their everyday lives in understanding and explaining the reason why a certain phenomenon or incident has taken its place. Likewise, research in psychology has helped in predicting a certain phenomenon as well. This is done through the basis of behaviors of human beings as controlled by their mental processes. Basically, identifying, analysing, understanding, explaining and at some points, predicting are how the sub – disciplines of psychology such as cognitive, social and forensic provide new answers to such existent dilemmas in this day and age. References: Allport, G.W., 1985. The historical background of social psychology. In: Lindzey, G. & Aronson, E. The handbook of social psychology. McGraw Hill. Aronson, E. & Wilson, T.D. & Akert, R.M., 2010. Social psychology. 7th ed. Prentice Hall. Budson A.E. & Price B.H. 2005. Memory dysfunction. The New England Journal of Medicine 352 (7): 692 – 699. Coon, D. & Mitterer, J.O., 2008. Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. 12th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Gregory, R.J., 1995. Psychological testing: History, principles, and applications. 2nd eds. Allyn & Bacon. Fernald, L.D., 2008. Psychology: six perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Forsyth, D.R., 2006. Group dynamics. Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadworth. Nietzel, M., 1986. Psychological consultation in the courtroom. New York: Pergamon Press. Pretz, J.E., Naples, A.J., and Sternberg, R.J., 2003. Recognizing, defining and representing problems. In: Davidson, J.E. & Sternberg, R.J. The psychology of problem – solving. UK: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1. Sammons, A., (no date). The cognitive approach: The basics. [pdf], Available at: [Accessed 31 July 2012] Shapiro, D.L., 1984. Psychological evaluation and expert testimony. Van Nostrand Reinhold. Read More