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Psychology is the study of the way human mind works and how it actually
influences their behaviour or a particular person’s behaviour It encompasses the
biological, social, and environmental factors that affect how people think, act, and
feel, and is as straightforward as that. The study of conscious and unconscious
events, such as emotions and thoughts, is included in psychology. It is a field of
study that bridges the natural and social sciences and has a huge scope. Using
scientific techniques, psychology gathers and analyses data to learn more about
human behaviour, mental processes, and the environmental influences that form
them. In layman's terms, it investigates how someone thinks, why they think that
way, and how that influences their life. There are numerous subdisciplines within this
field, such as cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology,
and abnormal psychology. The three key terms of psychology is science, behaviour
and mental processes.

People have a strong sense of curiosity, regardless of age. In order to better


understand and address some of society's most pressing issues, psychologists
decided to intervene by gathering and analysing study data on this curiosity. Science
is the first important term. The word "science" comes from the Latin scire, which
means "to know." In addition, science is capable of avoiding superficial beliefs,
instincts, and assumptions. This is when the first crucial phrase, "science," enters the
picture. The scientific method, which follows a science experiment's standard
protocol step by step, is adopted by psychologists. Making an observation that
captures the issue, developing a hypothesis, followed by meticulous lab work, field
research, and investigations, and finally drawing the conclusions and refining the
hypothesis are the basic steps that are taken. The understanding gauged from the
research is applied by a psychologist to formulate evidence-based strategies that
solve problems and improve the quality of life. For example, arguments are formed
that the psychoanalytic theory is able to be broken down to testable hypothesis and
eventually tested scientifically .(Kline, 1984). Science needs objective
evidence (based on facts) and should  uses some  logic  reason about the possible
causes of a phenomenon and tests the resulting ideas.

In psychology, the external reactions to the surrounding environment of an


organism is known as behaviour. The second key term of psychology is behaviour.
In psychology term, behaviour refers to a person’s overt actions that others can
directly observe. Commonly, many people’s judgement and evaluation of others are
based on response to different stimuli. Behaviour is mainly influenced by the nature
of the person and the situation. An example of behavioural psychology in humans is
called the drive theory where it’s stated if an organism suffers from deprivation, it
creates a certain need that drives the person which directly impacts the behaviour.
(Clark Hull, 1943).Behaviour is really important because behaviours play key roles in
survival, long- and short-term health, and emotional and physical well-being. Some
behaviours are instinctual, and others are conscious choices. We able to define the
person’s body language by his/her behaviour that shown in general public. Hence,
behaviour is really important in lifestyle so that our environment surroundings fine to
us in any ways. From the 1920s to the 1960s, behavioural psychology enjoyed
enormous popularity and influence, becoming to become the preeminent school of
thought in psychology.

Other than that, the next term is mental processes where it refer to private
thoughts and feelings of a person. Mental processes are private and cannot be
observed as we use observations of public behaviour of a person to draw inferences
about mental processes. To explain it detail, mental process basically encompass
all the things that a human mind can do and it happens naturally .It is often related
synonymously with the term cognitive process. The term cognitive psychology was
put forward with the definition of the study of the processes behind the perception,
transformation, storage, and recovery of information. (Ulric Neisser, 1967). The
‘unified theory of psychology’ also has put forward that there are clear domains of
mental processes that need to be separate and then eventually be interrelated to
understand the human mind. (Gregg Henriques, 2011). In modern-day research on
cognitive psychology where the mind processes fall has helped play an important
role in the approach to the treatment of mental illness and many more. This research
has opened up new schools and ways of treating mental illness from becoming
worse day by day.

(b) There are four goals of psychology. In this context where we know that
psychology is based on its findings be it from research or critical thinking. The goals
are to describe, to understand, to predict, and to influence behavior and mental
processes. These goals have been set to assist psychologists in better
understanding what and why these causes different types of behavior. This four
goals can be used independently in an individual’s personal life as it helps change a
habit or overcome difficulty.

The first goal is to describe. The term describing in psychology can slightly vary
from the normal description. Describe define as use of information gathered during
surveys and research to describe a particular psychological phenomena. In this
instance, describing an issue, problem or behavior is the goal. For example,
information gathered in a survey on the frequency of sexual behaviour among
college students without the protection of a condom would enable the researcher to
design a programme to prevent the spread of STDs such as AIDS .This description
also can help psychologists differentiate typical situations from atypical ones and
evaluate the relative behaviors. Gathering data to get information is the most
important in this goal to pursue this goal. After describing, the need to be able to
explain the behaviors and mental processes come next with detailly. Psychologists
seek an explanation to answer the questions from the data collected about certain
behaviors. In this goal, psychologists relate and cross-check their findings with other
theories from other research to better understand. Theories like Pavlov’s Theory of
Classical Conditioning and Bowlby’s attachment theory help in explaining small
aspects of human behavior.

Predictions about how humans may think and act become the third goal of
psychology which is to predict. Psychologists strive to predict future by predicting at
past observed behavior. Well prediction about a issue able to ease the burden in
finding the problem of that issues that involved. They also look to predict the likes of
if actions are not taken in a situation, what would happen. In theory, to predict gives
psychologists the upper hand to fulfill the last goal of psychology as well.

The last goal is to influence, change or control behavior to make positive and
lasting changes in lives that may be able to influence their behaviors for the better.
This is where psychologists go beyond description to turntables in a beneficial way.
This trained professionals specialized in finding ways to bring positive changes in
individuals. It can help people to overcome depression, parenting etc.The most
important step in the goal of psychology is when psychologists come up with ways to
solve a problem. This is a huge prestigious achievement for them as their hardwork
in this field finally paid off.
(c) Psychology plays a very important part in every person’s life. It has an influence
on your life from the moment you are born and it is believed to get more intricate as
you grow. With the knowledge of psychology backing up, it can help me in many
ways which will be beneficial in my personal life as a student and my future
professional life. The three topics that I will base on how it could help are stress,
health and coping, perception, and personality.

The stress levels start to rise as an adult or throughout the transition to


adulthood as commitments grow. Further changes will inevitably occur in my
personal life as a student and in my professional life in the future, and they may or
may not be difficult depending on how much adjusting and adapting is required. It
can sometimes take a long time to resolve this issue. To overcome this problem, I
must be persistent and shrewd. We would need to avoid this situation since it would
be detrimental to my health. Steps towards better stress management will become a
more crucial component of my concentration on my academic and personal life as a
student with the help of psychological expertise. The knowledge of psychology would
also help me in being more patient with myself in coping with stress and taking care
of my health. It is known that coping is a process to be learn and without this
knowledge, it would be a natural response to be harsh on me and destroyed my
body health unnecessarily. Hence, taking steps of stress management with or
without seeking professional help would eventually keep my health in check and
work towards finding a solution and not completely giving up.

Perception is the awareness, comprehension, or an understanding of


something. So technically everyone has one and including me. As for me and I think
everyone else, perceptions impact how I experience life by moulding, shaping, and
influencing my experience of personal reality. I have to admit that even if my very
own perception feels real, it isn’t always positively interpreted by myself. This is why
the knowledge of psychology . it can help me in my personal life as a student and in
my future profession. The goal is to switch to a more positive perception of life. It is
believed by psychologists that perceiving anything in a positive light can help with a
happier existence. For example, being a headstrong person, it is hard to see things
in a different light. However, psychologists like Dr Linda Humphreys have suggested
that change of any kind and the desire to see things differently is a vital component.
This would create more room for me to learn and have new perceptions. This factor
is very important because life as a student and later in my profession, a lot of
changes will happen in a blink of an eye and I have to take a ideal way to solve the
issues that happen in my life wisely. This is just one example that psychology has
changed and will help me in navigating life on the topic of perception.

We all have our own personality traits be it toxic or great, it all is unique and
individually different. To put it in layman’s terms, my personality is what makes me .
With the help of psychology, it allows me to know more about how some personality
characteristics of mine affect my behavioural structure. Several studies present the
model of personality development, which can aid me in understanding a number of
unknowns or lesser-known facts about a certain personality feature that may have a
negative impact on me. Many variables, both positive and negative, might effect a
shift in behaviour that could potentially develop into a personality attribute while a
student and subsequently in the workplace. So, with the aid of psychology and the
use of personality development theories, I can create my special qualities and
features that shape me. For instance, I might be able to comprehend more if I
understood the "Big 5" as one of the models. Stress, health, and coping skills are
some factors that have benefited my own student life and also professional future
life.

Last but not least, stress, health, and coping skills are further factors that have
benefited both my current academic career and my future career. The psychological
reaction to trauma and major life events is stress. Our health is negatively impacted
by prolonged stress. In my life, stress management has become crucial. By
addressing the costs of stress overload to my personal and future professional life,
learning about stress, health, and coping in psychology has also helped me create
coping mechanisms. Stress is designed to cause the body to react in a way that
defends against danger. My health has improved as a result of better stress
management. Stress management has improved my ability to sleep at night, reduced
my anxiety, and depression in check. Now, I have many ways of coping my stress
positively. For example, reading when I’m feeling stressed out is one of the way I
cope with my stress.
REFERENCES

1. The Ohio State University. “What Is Psychology? | Department of


Psychology.” Osu.edu, 2017, psychology.osu.edu/about/what-psychology.

2. Shahwan, Shazana, et al. “Strategies to Reduce Mental Illness Stigma:


Perspectives of People with Lived Experience and Caregivers.” International Journal
of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 19, no. 3, 31 Jan. 2022, p. 1632,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8835394/,
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031632.

3. Wikipedia Contributors. “Personality Psychology.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia


Foundation, 15 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality _psychology.

4. Cleveland clinic. “Stress: Coping with Life’s Stressors.” Cleveland Clinic, 24 Nov.


2020, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/6392-stress-coping-with-lifes-stressors.

5. Khan, Nadia. “The Four Goals of Psychology: What Are They? |


BetterHelp.” Betterhelp.com, BetterHelp, 17 Sept. 2017,
www.betterhelp.com/advice/psychologists/the-four-goals-of-psychology-what-are-
they/.

6. Perception Refers to Awareness, Comprehension, or an - Free Critical Thinking


for Students.” Modern Loveok, 13 July 2019, modernloveok.com/perception-refers-
to-awareness/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.

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