Psychology is both an applied and academic field that studies the human mind and behavior. Research in psychology seeks to understand and explain how we think, act and feel. As most people already realize, a large part of psychology is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to applications for psychology. In addition to mental health, psychology can be applied to a variety of issues that impact health and daily life including performance enhancement, self-help, ergonomics, motivation, productivity, and much more.

Early Psychology: Psychology evolved out of both philosophy and biology. Discussions of these two subjects date as far back as the early Greek thinkers including Aristotle and Socrates. The word psychology is derived from the Greek word psyche, literally meaning 'life' or 'breath.' Derived meanings of the word include 'soul' or 'self.'

Schools of Thought: Throughout psychology's history, a number of different schools of thought have thought have formed to explain human thought and behavior. These schools of thought often rise to dominance for a period of time. While these schools of thought are sometimes perceived as competing forces, each perspective has contributed to our understanding of psychology. The following are some of the major schools of thought in psychology.

Reflection:

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the science of the mind.

study The human behavior, the mind is

the most complex machine of our body. It

is the source of all thought and way of

Early childhood is a time of remarkable physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. Infants enter the world with a limited range of skills and abilities. Watching a child develop new motor, cognitive, language and social skills is a source of wonder for parents and caregivers.

The study of human development is a rich and varied subject. We all have personal experience with development, but it is sometimes difficult to understand exactly how and why people grow, learn and change.understand and explain how people grow and change through the entire lifespan. Researchers study the enormous range of influences including howa child's development as well as how

Motor Skill Development

As a child grows, his or her nervous system becomes more mature. As this happens, the child becomes more and more capable of performing increasingly complex actions. The rate at which these motor skills emerge is sometimes a worry for parents. Caregivers frequently fret about whether or not their children are developing these skills at a normal rate. As mentioned above, rates may vary somewhat. However, nearly all children begin to exhibit these motor skills at a fairly consistent rate unless some type of disability is present.

Reflection:

Your child is growing and changing by the day. From the time of her birth through adolescence, your little one moves through a steady progression of milestones that include every area of development. These vary by age and include acquiring new motor abilities, developing thinking skills and learning emotional regulation, as well as social growth.

Infancy

This first stage of child development includes rapid physical growth that supports her new abilities. Major milestones include rolling over at roughly 4 to 6 months, sitting up unassisted by 6 months old and crawling or even walking by 12 months. By the end of the infant stage, children also have the fine motor, or hand, skills to use a pincer grasp, pick up and put down small objects and make attempts to scribble with a crayon or other writing tool.

Toddlers

Between 1 and 3 years old, your child is making major strides toward independence. During the toddler stage, children are up on their feet walking and running. Toddlers can also scribble, making marks that they see as real objects, build block towers and start to feed themselves. Language and communication skills sharply increase at this stage. Socially and emotionally, toddlers are immature, having little self-control and an unsophisticated style when "playing" with peers.

Preschool

The ages between 3 and 5 are typically known as the preschool stage. By age 4, most children can move well, hopping and standing on one foot, kicking a softball with ease and even throwing a ball overhand. By 5 years old, children may even climb on play equipment.

Grade School Children

From approximately age 6 through early adolescence, children are most often known as grade schoolers. At this stage, like the name says, children enter grade school. During the early grade school years, children may rely more on parents for their emotional and social needs.. Physically, the grade schooler has the gross motor abilities to tackle new forms of movement, such as sports or dance lessons, as well as fine motor skills that allow for realistic drawing and writing of the alphabet.

Adolescence

The teen years mark the major departure in development, as the child begins to look and act more like an adult than a little kid. During the beginning of adolescence, children will go through a set of physical changes known as puberty. This includes the onset on menstruation, developing body hair and -- in boys -- a voice change. Additionally, adolescents may look toward their adult futures and investigate a potential profession through internships or after-school jobs.

Reflection:

I believe that there is so much more to a child's development than any psychologist or doctor could find in them. It takes many different things to make a child identity every child is different.

In all stages we are going to find something new during childhood.