What is Psychology?
Psychology can best be defined as the scientific study of the behavior and mental life of living organisms. The specialized disciplines within psychology span a broad range. Any aspect of living organisms is amenable to psychological study: behaviors of animals in the wild; memory capabilities of infants; cognitive changes in old age; group phenomena such as prejudice.
The practical application of scientific psychology can also take on many forms: helping severely disturbed patients suffering from schizophrenia to develop strategies to aid them in daily living; helping people alleviate stress in their life; working on the question of how to help society rid itself of prejudice or stigmatizing stereotypes; selecting personnel for positions in business. In fact, almost any problem or need of society can be addressed by the research methods and theoretical principles of experimental psychology. Thus, psychology as a profession provides an opportunity for one to make significant contributions to society.
What skills will Psychology teach me?
Psychology provides training in a variety of very important skills. While every discipline will provide some specialized training, no other field will develop the range of skills and techniques applicable to so many different types of work. Psychology helps students build the following skills:
What follows are descriptions of the primary subfields within psychology. No matter what the focus, students who study psychology possess a great deal of information that can be transferred to the world of work, making psychology majors some of the most sought-after prospects to employment recruiters.
Clinical psychologists assess and treat people's mental and emotional disorders. Counseling psychologists foster and improve normal functioning across the life span by helping people solve the problems, make the decisions, and cope with the stresses of everyday life. Such problems may range from the normal psychological crises related to biological growth (e.g. rebellion in adolescence, inadequate self-esteem at mid-life) to extreme conditions such as schizophrenia or depression. Many clinical and counseling psychologists do research. For example they may study the characteristics of psychotherapists that are associated with improvements in the condition of patients or they may investigate the factors that contribute to successful aging, the development of phobias, or the causes of schizophrenia.
Developmental psychologists study human development across the life span, from newborn to aged. Developmental psychologists are interested in the description, measurement, and explanation of age-related changes in behavior; stages of emotional development; universal traits and individual differences; and abnormal changes in development.
Educational psychologists study how people learn, and they design the methods and materials used to educate people of all ages. Many educational psychologists work in universities, in both psychology departments and schools of education. Some conduct basic research on topics related to the learning of reading, writing, mathematics, and science. Others develop new methods of instruction including designing computer software. Still others train teachers and they investigate factors that affect teachers' performance and morale. Educational psychologists conduct research in schools and in federal, state, and local education agencies. They may be employed by governmental agencies or the corporate sector to analyze employees' skills and to design and implement training programs.
"Experimental psychologists" is a general title applied to a diverse group of psychologists who conduct research on, and often teach about, a variety of basic behavioral processes. These processes include learning; sensation; perception; human performance; motivation; memory; language, thinking, and communication; and the physiological processes underlying behaviors such as eating, reading, and problem solving. Experimental psychologists study the basic processes by which humans take in, store, retrieve, express, and apply knowledge. They also study the behavior of animals, often with a view to gaining a better understanding of human behavior, but sometimes also because it is intrinsically interesting.
Health psychologists are researchers and practitioners concerned with psychology's contribution to the promotion and the maintenance of good health, and the prevention and the treatment of illness. As applied psychologists or clinicians, they may, for example, design and conduct programs to help individuals stop smoking, lose weight, mange stress, prevent cavities, or stay physically fit. As researchers, they seek to identify conditions and practices that are associated with health and illness. For example, they might study the effects of relocation on an elderly person's physical well-being. In public service roles they study and work to improve government's policies and systems for health care.
Industrial/organizational psychology empasizes the unique focus of organized behavior which occurs in industrial settings. The I/O Psychologist applies psychological facts, methods and principles to understanding this behavior and to changing organizational policies that promote or prevent the company from growing and adapting to environmental demands. I/O Psychologists work in government, industry, academia, research/testing organizations and self-employment.
Psychobiologists and neuropsychologists investigate the relation between physical systems and behavior. Topics they study include the relation of specific biochemical mechanisms in the brain to behavior, the relation of brain structure to function, and the chemical and physical changes that occur in the body when we experience different emotions. Neuropsychologists also diagnose and treat disorders related to the central nervous system. They may diagnose behavioral disturbances related to suspected dysfunction of the central nervous system and treat patients by teaching them new ways to acquire and process information a technique know as cognitive rehabilitation.
School psychologists help educators and others promote the intellectual, social and emotional development of children. They are also involved in creating environments that facilitate learning and mental health. They may evaluate and plan programs for children with special needs or deal with less severe problems such as disruptive behavior in the classroom. They sometimes engage in program development and staff consultation to prevent problems. They may provide on-the-job training for teachers in classroom management, consult with parents and teachers on ways to support a child's efforts in school, and consult with school administrators on a variety of psychological and educational issues.
Social psychologists study how people interact with each other and how they are affected by their social environments. They study individuals as well as groups, observable behaviors, and private thoughts. Topics of interest to social psychologists include personality theories, the formation of attitudes and attitude change, attractions between people such as friendship and love, prejudice, group dynamics, and violence and aggression. Social psychologists might, for example, study how attitudes toward the elderly influence the elderly person's self-concept, or they might investigate how unwritten rules of behavior develop in groups and how those rules regulate the conduct of group members.
Psychology and law is a new field with career opportunities at several levels of training. As an area of research, psychology and law is concerned both with looking at legal issues from a psychological perspective (e.g., how juries decide cases) and with looking at psychological questions in a legal context (e.g., how jurors assign blame or responsibility for a crime).
Forensic psychology is the term given to the applied and clinical facets of psychology and law. Forensic psychologists might help a judge decide which parent should have custody of the children or evaluate the victim of an accident to determine if he or she sustained psychological damage. In criminal cases, forensic psychologists might evaluate a defendant's mental competence to stand trial. Some forensic psychologists counsel inmates and probationers; others counsel the victims of crimes and help them prepare to testify, cope with emotional distress, and resume their normal activities.
While many students in psychology decide to pursue a graduate degree after graduation, there are a variety of jobs available for individuals with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Why not contact Admissions or the Psychology Department (717.348.6270) to schedule a campus visit and meeting with faculty to find out more?
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Comments to Dr. David Renjilian, Professor of Psychology: renjilian@es.marywood.edu Last update Thursday, November 8, 2007 Copyright © 1998 - 2007 by Marywood University. All rights reserved. Marywood University, 2300 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18509 570-348-6211 |