Psychology is dedicated to gaining an understanding of basic human processes and behaviors in the individual, social, and sometimes cellular context and for the practical applications of this knowledge for the benefit of all society. It is concerned with basic behavioral functions such as sensation, perception, learning, thinking, language, motivation, personality and emotion. A key characteristic in psychology as a discipline is its reliance on scientific methods, including techniques of descriptive and inferential statistics, to evaluate theories and ideas about the basic processes of behavior.
The undergraduate degree in psychology does not make you a psychologist or professional counselor-it does provide you with an excellent liberal arts background and is valuable for almost any type of work focused on people. Psychology is a useful major for pursuing graduate/professional study such as law, medicine, management, social welfare, recreation, counseling, or occupational therapy.
Managing, interpreting, editing, advising, organizing, problem solving, detail orientation, writing, teaching, speaking to groups, reading critically, reasoning, analyzing, statistical analysis, ability to think conceptually, evaluating evidence, advising, and selling.
Students with a bachelor's degree who pursue work after graduation typically work in aspects of business, government, health, education, and other areas requiring an understanding and sensitivity to behavioral dynamics.
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Clinical Psychologist - assess and treat psychological problems from familiar developmental and adjustment to extremely disordered conditions.
Health Psychologist - study the degree to which psychological factors are involved in the development of diseases and explore ways to use psychological and behavioral principles to maintain health.
Personality Psychologist - evaluate special education programs for the handicapped or continuing education for adults as well as for groups and institutions that provide human services for young/old.
Social Psychologist - perform tasks for business and industry such as develop employee training programs, hiring and promotional procedures, and analyze interaction and decision patterns in organizations.
Experimental Psychologist - examine factors that influence learning and performance in laboratory and industrial settings.
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American Psychological Home Page is: http://www.psychologicalscience.org
Salaries range greatly from one occupation, position, and work setting to another. According to the Summer 2008 NACE national salary survey for Bachelor's Degree Candidates in Psychology, the average salary was $33,564.
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
(Tel) 202-336-5500
http://www.apa.org
Psi Chi - The National Honor Society in Psychology
825 Vine Street
P.O. Box 709
Chattanooga, TN 37403-0709
(Tel) 423-756-2044 (Fax) 423-265-1529
http://www.psichi.org/
The American Psychological Society
1010 Vermont Avenue, NW Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005-4907
(Tel) 202-783-2077 (Fax) 202-783-2083