Skills Learned as a Psychology Major

Although there is some overlap, the skills you will learn as a psychology major fall into two broad categories: research and clinical psychology. Research psychology deals with the empirical investigation of the brain and behavior. It emphasizes scientific rigor in the pursuit of basic science. Applied psychology, by contrast, makes use of basic science principles to regulate behavior. In both cases, you learn to collect sensitive information from volunteers while protecting their confidentiality and rights.

Research

• At its core, psychology is the study of animal and human behavior. It is a social science, and relies on rigorous statistical methods to make inferences about the complex and only indirectly observable relationship between brain and behavior. There are many possible subdisciplines for research psychologists, and each requires different skills.

  Abnormal psychology uses observation of abnormal behavior to make conclusions about psychopathology. It relies on effective use of inferential correlation to make strong conclusions and communication skills to collect data from sensitive populations.

  Biological psychology deals with the neural substrates of behavior. Ethical constraints limit the use of invasive techniques to study the brain, so researchers develop skills with imaging techniques like MRI and ERPs to indirectly observe the brain's activity.

  Cognitive psychology studies the abstract mechanisms underlying the brain's function. Researchers treat the brain as an information processing system, and so culture skills in systems modeling.

  Developmental psychology studies the way that thoughts and behaviors change as children grow into adults. Researchers use skills from other psychology subfields and use them to observe young organisms over time.

  Evolutionary psychology explains thoughts and behaviors as a consequence of natural selection across the history of the species. Researchers often make use of ecology and memetics to explain how behaviors respond to selective pressure.

  Personality psychology examines the persistent traits of an individual's behavior to explain temperament. Like cognitive psychology, researchers make use of models to explain behavior, albeit at a much higher level of analysis.

  Social psychology studies the dynamics of group behavior and of individual behavior within groups. These researchers essentially study the impact of observation on behavior, and so strongly emphasize skills in experimental design that limit contamination from researcher observation while still successfully collecting data.

Applied

• All applied psychology subdisciplines are valid and common avenues of research. However, the research is distinguished by a greater emphasis on translational research, research with the goal of actionable outcomes. Applied psychology can also be practiced independently of the research underlying its principles.

  Clinical psychology is the study and prevention of psychopathology. Practitioners learn a variety of therapeutic approaches to help patients change maladaptive behavior. Clinical psychology is distinguished from psychiatry because psychologists do not require a M.D. and cannot prescribe medication, but the two frequently work together.

  Community psychology studies and tries to positively impact the relationships between individuals and their communities. Studying this subfield teaches practitioners to modify social relationships through intervention and preventive measures to improve individual and community quality of life.

  Counseling psychology is similar to clinical psychology with a preventive focus. Counselors learn many of the same therapeutic techniques, but apply them to individuals before the onset of psychopathology. That is, they learn to facilitate rather than correct human behavior.

  Educational psychology applies the principles of developmental and cognitive psychology in an academic environment to facilitate learning. Practitioners learn to design and evaluate new educational regimens.

  Health psychology evaluates judgment and decision-making with the goal of improving health care outcomes rather than strictly psychopathology. These psychologists learn to intervene with patients to ensure that treatment plans are successfully concluded, a process that can include evaluation of doctor-patient relationships and effective communication of information to patients.

  Industrial/organizational psychology uses psychology to facilitate productivity in a work environment. Practitioners learn to evaluate work environments and recommend how to intervene to improve morale. These psychologists may also learn to evaluate workers for hiring and assignment.

  School psychology is similar to industrial/organizational psychology in an academic environment. It uses skills from educational and clinical psychology to improve social behaviors, facilitate students with learning disabilities, and encourage gifted students.