Psychology like other sciences attempts to …

In research the main concern is with the understanding and explanation of behaviour and mental events and processes. Psychologists, who choose to engage in research, function more like other scientists. Like them, they drew conclusions which are supported by data. They design and conduct experiments or studies under controlled conditions on a wide range of psychological phenomena. The purpose is to develop general principles about behaviour and mental processes. The conclusions drawn on the basis of such studies apply to everybody and are, therefore, universal. Experimental, comparative, physiological, developmental, social, differential and abnormal psychology are generally regarded as domains representing basic psychology.
The themes of research in these fields differ from each other. For example, experimental psychologists study the purposes of perception, learning, memory, thinking and motivation; etc. using experiment as their method of enquiry, whereas physiological psychologists attempt to examine physiological bases of these behaviours. Developmental psychologists study qualitative and quantitative changes in behaviour from the beginning of human life to its end, whereas social psychologists focus on the study of experience and behaviour of individuals as they take place in social contexts.