Applied psychology is a theory, concepts, methods, techniques in behavioral science applied to various fields of human life. Psychology experiments are usually not referred to as the science of applied behavior because its job is to investigate and discover the theory, concepts, methods, and techniques to underlie applied psychology in the real world.
Prof. Johana E. Prawitasari argues that recently behavioral science developed rapidly, especially since the brain scanner was discovered. Those who conducted experiments using the device called a behavioral neuroscientist. "This research is still very rarely done by behavioral scientists in Indonesia because it is very expensive with the limited number of those tools," she said at the Auditorium of the UGM Faculty of Psychology, Saturday (28/1), during a seminar with the theme Applied Psychology: Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries of Science.
Endang Prawitasari said that industrial and organizational psychology is pure applied psychology, meaning that psychology is used in certain areas without having to be investigated further. So, in fact the so-called applied psychology generally involves the use of psychology in the world of industry and organization. "A variety of issues, among others, about the performance, employee selection, executive transfer, human capital, team work building, job security, civic organizations, labor policy, negotiations, organizational culture, mergers and acquisitions, as well as leadership widely studied and applied in the workplace, "he said.
The seminar held in talk show format is lively and held by a collaborative work of the UGM Faculty of Psychology with Erlanga publisher. Overall, the seminar discussed the book 'Applied Psychology: Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries of Science', edited by prof. Johana E. Prawitasari. The discussion looks unique and original because each author has different research experiences; some are in education, industry and organizations, mental and physical health in the community, and policy.
The book Applied Psychology: Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries of Science has spread all over Indonesia. It is obvious from the number of seminar participants reached 300 people, who came from Padang, Banjarmasin, Palu, Manado, NTT. "The presence of scholars and practitioners to review the contents of the book is expected to promote the application of psychological approaches, discourse, and psychology knowledge in various application settings," said Drs. Slamet Riyadi, M. Kes., one of the speakers who came from outside the realm of psychology science in his comment.