Personality psychology concerns relatively enduring structures and processes within individuals. These structures and processes can vary between different individuals and contribute to organization (coherence), continuity and stability (consistency) in people’s behavior.
Social psychology is the field of psychology that studies individuals' thoughts, feelings and actions within a social context, i.e. as a function of the current or perceived presence of other individuals or groups. In the area, properties / processes regarding different phenomena are studied both within individuals (e.g. attitudes) and between individuals (e.g. attraction) as well as different phenomena both within groups and between groups.
Developmental psychology, also called developmental science or the field of human development, focuses on the whole person in context and across the lifespan. Typical and atypical patterns (i.e., developmental psychopathology) of human development are the focus of developmental science. Examples of domains of the person that can be the focus of developmental research include processes of change in perceptual, motor, cognitive, and social emotional development, as well as understanding the biological basis for developmental processes. Contexts of development that are studied in the field of human development can include homes, schools, local communities, as well as socio-cultural and historical factors that have bearing on individuals’ lives. Developmental research is chararacterized by multiple methods including observation, performance tasks, surveys, interviews and with commonly used research designs including short and long-term longitudinal and experimental (intervention) studies.
