Sensation and Perception Scientists interested in both physiological aspects of sensory systems as well as in the psychological experience of sensory information work within the area of sensation and perception Figure 1 11 As such sensation and perception research is also quite interdisciplinary Imagine walking between buildings as you move from one class to another You are inundated with sights sounds touch sensations and smells You also experience the temperature of the air around you and maintain your balance as you make your way These are all factors of interest to someone working in the domain of sensation and perception Figure 1 11 When you look at this image you may see a duck or a rabbit The sensory information remains the same but your perception can vary dramatically As described in a later chapter that focuses on the results of studies in sensation and perception our experience of our world is not as simple as the sum total of all of the sensory information or sensations together Rather our experience or perception is complex and is influenced by where we focus our attention our previous experiences and even our cultural backgrounds Cognitive Psychology As mentioned in the previous section the cognitive revolution created an impetus for psychologists to focus their attention on better understanding the mind and mental processes that underlie behavior Thus cognitive psychology is the area of psychology that focuses on studying cognitions or thoughts and their relationship to our experiences and our actions Like biological psychology cognitive psychology is broad in its scope and often involves collaborations among people from a diverse range of disciplinary backgrounds This has led some to coin the term cognitive science to describe the interdisciplinary nature of this area of research Miller 2003 Cognitive psychologists have research interests that span a spectrum of topics ranging from attention to problem solving to language to memory The approaches used in studying these topics are equally diverse Given such diversity cognitive psychology is not captured in one chapter of this text per se rather various concepts related to cognitive psychology will be covered in relevant portions of the chapters in this text on sensation and perception thinking and intelligence memory lifespan development social psychology and therapy Developmental Psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of development across a lifespan Developmental psychologists are interested in processes related to physical maturation However their focus is not limited to the physical changes associated with aging as they also focus on changes in cognitive skills moral reasoning social behavior and other psychological attributes Early developmental psychologists focused primarily on changes that occurred through reaching adulthood providing enormous insight into the differences in physical cognitive and social capacities that exist between very young children and adults For instance research by Jean Piaget Figure 1 12 demonstrated that very young children do not demonstrate object permanence Object permanence refers to the understanding that physical things continue to exist even if they are hidden from us If you were to show an adult a toy and then hide it behind a curtain the adult knows that the toy still exists However very young infants act as if a hidden object no longer exists The age at which object permanence is achieved is somewhat controversial Munakata McClelland Johnson and Siegler 1997 Figure 1 12 Jean Piaget is famous for his theories regarding changes in cognitive ability that occur as we move from infancy to adulthood While Piaget was focused on cognitive changes during infancy and childhood as we move to adulthood there is an increasing interest in extending research into the changes that occur much later in life This may be reflective of changing population demographics of developed nations as a whole As more and more people live longer lives the number of people of advanced age will continue to increase Indeed it is estimated that there were just over 40 million people aged 65 or older living in the United States in 2010 However by 2020 this number is expected to increase to about 55 million By the year 2050 it is estimated that nearly 90 million people in this country will be 65 or older Department of Health and Human Services n d Personality Psychology Personality psychology focuses on patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique Several individuals e g Freud and Maslow that we have already discussed in our historical overview of psychology and the American psychologist Gordon Allport contributed to early theories of personality These early theorists attempted to explain how an individual s personality develops from their given perspective For example Freud proposed that personality arose as conflicts between the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind were carried out over the lifespan Specifically Freud theorized that an individual went through various psychosexual stages of development According to Freud adult personality would result from the resolution of various conflicts that centered on the migration of erogenous or sexual pleasure producing zones from the oral mouth to the anus to the phallus to the genitals Like many of Freud s theories this particular idea was controversial and did not lend itself to experimental tests Person 1980 More recently the study of personality has taken on a more quantitative approach Rather than explaining how personality arises research is focused on identifying personality traits measuring these traits and determining how these traits interact in a particular context to determine how a person will behave in any given situation Personality traits are relatively consistent patterns of thought and behavior and many have proposed that five trait dimensions are sufficient to capture the variations in personality seen across individuals These five dimensions are known as the Big Five or the Five Factor model and include dimensions of conscientiousness agreeableness neuroticism openness and extraversion Figure 1 13 Each of these traits has been demonstrated to be relatively stable over the lifespan e g Rantanen Mets pelto Feldt Pulkinnen and Kokko 2007 Soldz Vaillant 1999 McCrae Costa 2008 and is influenced by genetics e g Jang Livesly and Vernon 1996 Figure 1 13 Each of the dimensions of the Five Factor model