Types of psychology

 

A simple way to organize it

Area	Main question
Clinical psychology	How do we assess and treat psychological disorders and distress?
Counseling psychology	How can people cope, develop, and improve psychological well-being?
Cognitive psychology	How do people think, remember, perceive, learn, and make decisions?
Biological psychology	How do the brain, nervous system, hormones, and genetics influence behavior?
Neuropsychology	How are brain functioning and behavior/cognition connected?
Developmental psychology	How do people change across the lifespan?
Social psychology	How do other people and social situations influence behavior?
Personality psychology	Why do people differ in enduring patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving?
I/O psychology	How can psychology be applied to workplaces and organizations?
Forensic psychology	How does psychology intersect with law and the justice system?
Educational/school psychology	How can psychology improve learning and educational environments?
Health psychology	How do psychological, biological, and social factors affect health and illness?

And this connects directly to your ASPD studies

ASPD can actually be viewed through several of these areas at once.

Clinical psychology might ask:

What symptoms does the person have, and how can they be assessed and treated?

Personality psychology might ask:

What enduring personality traits and behavioral patterns characterize this person?

Developmental psychology might ask:

How did these patterns develop from childhood into adulthood?

Biological psychology/neuropsychology might ask:

What role do genetics, brain development, emotional processing, and nervous-system functioning play?

Social psychology might ask:

How do relationships, social learning, peer groups, family environments, and social circumstances influence behavior?

Forensic psychology might ask:

How does antisocial behavior relate to offending, risk assessment, criminal responsibility, and the legal system?

And this is where the biopsychosocial model you've been studying becomes particularly useful. Rather than saying “ASPD is caused by the brain” or “ASPD is caused by childhood”, it allows us to consider biological, psychological, and social/developmental factors together.

That's also why two people can experience similar childhood circumstances yet develop very differently. A person's development isn't determined by one factor alone; different vulnerabilities, protective factors, experiences, relationships, temperament, learning, and environments can interact over time.

So your overall psychology notes are essentially building a map of the field, while your disorder-by-disorder work is allowing you to zoom in on individual conditions.