Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.
A professional practitioner or researcher involved in the discipline is called a psychologist. Some psychologists can also be classified as behavioral or cognitive scientists. Some psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behavior. Others explore the physiological and neurobiological processes that underlie cognitive functions and behaviors.
Cognitive flexibility is an intrinsic property of a cognitive system often associated with the mental ability to adjust its activity and content, switch between different task rules and corresponding behavioral responses, maintain multiple concepts simultaneously and shift internal attention between them. The term cognitive flexibility is traditionally used to refer to one of the executive functions. In this sense, it can be seen as neural underpinnings of adaptive and flexible behavior. Most flexibility tests were developed under this assumption several decades ago. Nowadays, cognitive flexibility can also be referred to as a set of properties of the brain that facilitate flexible yet relevant switching between functional brain states.
Cognitive flexibility varies during the lifespan of an individual. In addition, certain conditions such as obsessive–compulsive disorder are associated with reduced cognitive flexibility. Since cognitive flexibility is a vital component of learning, deficits in this area might have other implications. (Full article...)
Donata Francescato (born April 17, 1944 in Arona, Italy) is an Italian community psychologist and academic, trained in the United States, and known in academia and the media for her work on sex roles, communes, and personal and organizational empowerment. Her work in community psychology led to the discipline being recognized in 1985 as a compulsory subject in Italian universities where psychology is taught as a major subject.
Francescato is currently the Scientific Director of the post-graduate School of Specialization in clinical community psychology and psychotherapy at ASPIC (Associazione per lo Sviluppo Psicologico dell'Individuo e della Comunità, Association for the Psychological Development of the Individual and the Community). Previously, she was a Full Professor of Community Psychology at the University of Rome, a position she retired from in 2014 at the age of 70. (Full article...)
... that food psychology research has found that the COVID-19 pandemic led to both reduced and increased consumption of junk food among different geographical populations and educational backgrounds?
... that although Andrzej Żuławski's film Possession is referred to as a psychological drama and horror, its genre is still a matter of controversy?
... that fashion psychology is an interdisciplinary field that studies the interaction between human behavior, psychology, and fashion?
... that bereavement support groups are one of the most common services offered for grief but have little evidence of improving psychological outcomes?
... that the psychological inner space genre was a rebellion against the traditional focus of science fiction on literal outer space?
...that the effects of head trauma on memory can be seen by the post-operative results of HM, a patient who has been unable to form any new long-term memories since a surgical procedure performed in the 1950s?
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