What is Psychology about?

Psychologists study human behaviour in all its facets, including the underlying mental processes. For example, Groningen psychologists try to find out what the social consequences are of those short moments of silence that sometimes occur in a conversation, how access to modern technology affects children's self-concept and social interactions in third-world countries, or what possibilities there are to improve the coping behaviour of cancer patients.

Another important area of research are the psychological consequences of neurological and psychiatric disorders and diseases. For example, Groningen psychologists do research on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and  the relation between mood and depression. This research contributes to a better understanding of the underlying disorders and helps to improve treatments.

Learning about human behaviour by means of systematic research

Taken together, psychologists study both normal and abnormal behaviour. During the bachelor of science in psychology programme, the main emphasis lies on theoretical models and explanations of behaviour. What are the underlying processes and mechanisms, and how do they relate to the function of the brain? These questions can only be answered by means of systematic empirical research. Therefore, developing a scientific mind set - with  a focus on collecting and interpreting quantitative behavioural data - is one of the major aims of the programme. Consequently, statistics and research methods play an important role in our curriculum.

Applications

Advice and interventions that are based on research

Scientific research teaches us more and more about human thinking, emotions and behaviour. This knowledge can be applied to real-life problems, such as psychological counseling after a traumatic experience, improving the revalidation of stroke patients, optimizing working conditions in a large company, or designing a high-tech dashboard that is tailored to the needs of the driver. The scientific approach leads to the development of evidence-based interventions. That is, not only do we have good arguments why they should work, we can actually prove it.

Application and development of reliable tests

In addition, a lot of research is dedicated to developing new tools to measure and predict peoples abilities, their strengths and weaknesses, talents and possible future problems in a reliable way. The resulting psychological tests are used by psychologists in applied settings (e.g., in schools, hospitals or assessment centers) and can have a large impact on people's lifes (e.g., affecting a child's school career or the decision about whether someone needs treatment). During the bachelor programme, students acquire the theoretical background and methodological skills for developing and judging the quality of such tests by means of statistical methods.

 

If you want to know more about the kinds of questions Groningen psychologists are interested in, please take a look at these short presentations.