Differential psychology is concerned with the study of individual differences in humans. The science of psychology studies people at three levels of focus captured by the well known quote: “Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other men, (c) like no other man" (Murray, H.A. & C. Kluckhohn, 1953). Differential psychology focuses on this second level of study.

For example, think of a group of students taking a typing test. Some students will work very slowly, typing fewer sentences, but making few errors. Other students will work very quickly, typing much more while making more errors. This is an example of an individual difference in speed/accuracy tradeoffs. Some individuals will work fast with lots of errors and others will work slowly with few errors, even when they are given the same instructions.

Typical areas of study in differential psychology are personality, motivation, intelligence and ability, interests, values, self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem (to name just a few). There are few remaining "differential psychology" programs in the United States, although research in this area is very active. Current researchers are found in a variety of programs, including educational psychology, industrial psychology, and social psychology programs. It has been suggested that Personality psychology be merged into this article or section. ... In psychology, motivation is the driving force (desire) behind all actions of human beings, animals, and lower organisms. ... Intelligence has several different meanings: Intelligence (trait) is the ability to solve problems Animal intelligence Artificial intelligence Intelligence (journal), a scientific journal dealing with intelligence and psychometrics Intelligence (information gathering), often including espionage Business intelligence Criminal intelligence Military intelligence This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise... In finance, interest has three general definitions. ... Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies or actions. ... A persons self image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, nature of external genitalia, I.Q. score, is this person double-jointed, etc. ... Self efficacy is an individuals estimate or personal judgment of his or her own ability to succeed in reaching a specific goal, e. ... In psychology, self-esteem or self-worth is a persons self-image at an emotional level; circumventing reason and logic. ... Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational treatments, the psychology of teachers, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. ... Industrial psychology is the psychology that deals with the workplace, focusing on both the workers and the organizations that employ them. ... Social psychology is the study of the nature and causes of human social behavior, with an emphasis on how people think towards each other and how they relate to each other. ...

Prominent differential psychologists: L.L. Thurstone, Cyril Burt, J.P. Guilford, Lloyd Humphreys, Lee Cronbach, Richard Snow, J.B. Carroll, Arthur Jensen, Robert J. Sternberg, Phillip Ackerman Sir Cyril Burt (pictured as octogenarian) Sir Cyril Lodowic Burt (March 3, 1883 – October 10, 1971) was a British educational psychologist. ... Lloyd G. Humphreys (12 December 1913—7 September 2003) was a differential psychologist and methodologist who focused on assessing individual differences in human behavior. ... Lee J. Cronbach (1916 - 2001) was an American educational psychologist who made significant contributions to psychological testing and measurement. ... Arthur Jensen is an American educational psychologist, born August 24, 1923 and educated at the University of California, Berkeley (B.A. 1945), San Diego State College (M.A., 1952) and Columbia University (Ph. ... Robert J. Sternberg (8 December 1949-) is the IBM Professor of Psychology and Education at Yale University. ...

See also individual differences psychology. Individual differences psychology studies the ways in which individual people differ in their behavior. ...