About one-fourth of all psychologists work in basic experimental areas of psychology (Stapp, Tucker, & VandenBos, 1985). They are broadly trained. but they tend to specialize in the study of a single psychological process. Most psychologists in the basic areas work in colleges and universities, where they teach and conduct research. but some work in research institutions, government agencies. or other settings. Their domain is the basic knowledge of psychology on which all applications are built. The largest specialties within the basic experimental areas of psychology are as follows:
Biological psychology. Psychologists in this specialty field study the ways in which the nervous system and other organs provide the basis for behavior. Biological psychologists also study animal behavior, both to compare it with human behavior and to gain a better understanding of other species.
Sensation and perception. This specialty is concerned with how the sense organs operate and how we interpret incoming sensory information in the process of perception.
Learning and memory. The ways in which we learn and remember new information, new skills, new habits, and new ways of relating to other people are studied in this specialty.
Cognition. Psychologists in this area are concerned with intelligent action: thinking, perceiving, planning, imagining, creating. dreaming, speaking, listening, and problem solving.
Developmental psychology. This field of psychology is concerned with changes that take place in people during their life span. as they grow from birth to old age.
Motivation and emotion. In this specialty. psychologists study the needs and states that activate and guide behavior, such as hunger. thirst. sex, the need for achievement, and the need to have relationships with others. The nature of the feelings and moods that color human experience is also a topic of this specialty.
Personality. The field of personality focuses on the more or less consistent ways of behaving that characterize our personalities.
Social psychology. This specialty area studies the influence of other people on our behavior: the behavior of people in groups. mobs. or organizations: interpersonal attraction and intimate relationships: and attitudes and prejudice toward others.
Sociocultural psychology. Psychologists in this area focus on ethnic and c'ultural factors, gender identity. sexual orientation. and related issues. Scholars in African American psychology. Hispanic psychology. and Asian psychology have a long tradition of work in this area. but great advances in interest in other ethnic groups have been made in recent years. Feminist psychology and gay and lesbian psychology are other active areas of sociocultural scholarship.
