Behavioral Sciences

Behavioral Sciences, fields of study that primarily concern the understanding, prediction, and control of behavior, especially those types of human behavior that develop out of interpersonal relations. Although many disciplines contribute to the science of behavior, a number of them are so overwhelmingly concerned with past or present behavior that they can be classed together as the behavioral sciences. These disciplines include anthropology, education, political science, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology. Investigators who work in these areas systematically and experimentally focus their attention on human behavior as it influences and is influenced by the behavior and needs of other people. The social sciences study the functioning and institutions of human society. This broader category of disciplines includes the behavioral sciences and such disciplines as economics, law, history, and geography. A major application of behavioral science has been in the prediction of human behavior. Examples are polling and testing, which include political and marketing surveys, questionnaires, and attitude tests, as well as psychological and industrial uses of tests of aptitude, ability, achievement, and personality.