When someone says that psychology is a process of using simply common sense,
this is far fetched. Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes.
(Myers,1998) Psychology is filled with hundreds of different theories and has
been using studies to observe peoples behavior for years. Some parts of
psychology are common sense, but every thing in life has some part of common
sense in it. There are six major perspectives that the psychologists use when
trying to figure out what is wrong with one of their patients. These different
perspectives cover almost every possible area that can be covered. Psychologists
use these different perspectives to try and decipher what the person’s
problems are and why they react the way they do. The first is a perspective
called Neuroscience; this is how the body and brain create emotions, memories,
and sensory experiences. The psychologists use this to perspective to try and
figure out how the messages that the brain sends out are transmitted through out
the body. (Myers. 1998) The psychologists use another perspective to find out
how evolution influences behavior tendencies. This is called the evolutionary
perspective. Behavior genetics is another perspective that is used to see how
much our genes, and our environment, influence our individual differences.
(Myers, 1998) These are all biological perspectives; the others have to do with
the person’s environment. Environment has a lot to do with the way that people
react and behave in different situations. The psychologists use the behavioral
perspective to find out how we learn observable responses. (Myers, 1998) The
cognitive perspective is used to figure out how we process, store, and retrieve
information. (Myers, 1998) The last of the perspectives is the behavioral one.
This is when they try and figure out the different state of thinking and
behavior between different cultures and situations. (Myers, 1998) The doctors
could observe how and African would react to a situation and then test the same
situation on an American and see how he reacts. (Myers, 1998) Research has a lot
to do with what the doctors find in people. Whether it is just watching and
observing a person or doing psychiatric tests. The only was that a doctor is
able to find out what is wrong with the person is to do tests and research him.
There are two kinds of research that psychologists use to see how a patient is.
The first is to conduct basic research, this builds the psychological knowledge
base. They can do a variety of things with basic research. They can study the
links between brain and mind, and study our changing abilities from the time of
birth till the time that we die. The other kind of research that the
psychologists can use is called applied research. This embarks upon the
practical problems. Some psychologists study and advise on behavior in the
workplace. Theses psychologists are called industrial/organizational
psychologists and they use psychologies concepts to help the industries and
businesses train their employees and help keep the employees happy. (Myers,
1998)