1. Psychology: ch. 1
What is Psychology?

2. Section 2 what psychologists do
Terms to Know
Reading focus & Main idea
Psychiatrist
Basic research
(various fields of psychology to follow in upcoming slides, so take good notes!)
What are some of the major fields in psychology?
How do specialists in some applied fields of psychology serve people’s needs?
Main idea: Psychologists work in many different fields, but they all focus on studying and explaining behavior and mental processes.

3. Major fields in psychology*
Clinical Psychology
Counseling Psychology
School Psychology
Educational Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Personality Psychology
Social Psychology
Experimental Psychology
Industrial Psychology
Organizational Psychology
Human Factors Psychology
Community Psychology
Forensic Psychology
Health Psychology
Rehabilitation Psychology
Cross-Cultural Psychology
*Specialized fields include: Experimental Psychology, Comparative Psychology, and Consumer Psychology

4. Clinical Psychology Most psychologists are clinical psychologists.
includes child mental health, adult mental health, learning disabilities, geriatrics, and general health.
treat people with psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, or severe psychological disorders.
Psychologists are not psychiatrists. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in psychological programs and who can prescribe medication for clients. Psychologists may not prescribe medication.

5. Counseling psychology
typically treat people who have adjustment problems.
often work in businesses or higher educational institutions.

6. School psychology
identify and help students who have problems that interfere with learning.
use interviews, tests, and observation to help students.

7. Educational psychology
focus on course planning and instructional methods for an entire school system rather than for an individual student.
focus on how learning is affected by psychological factors, cultural factors, economic factors, and instructional methods.
Some help prepare standardized tests.
study various tests to determine college success.

8. Developmental psychology
study physical, emotional, cognitive, or social changes that occur throughout a person’s lifespan.
Some are especially interested in the challenges of adolescence.

9. Personality psychology
identify and study human characteristics, or traits.
interested in the origins of psychological problems and disorders.
concerned with issues such as anxiety, aggression, and gender roles.

10. Social psychology concerned with people’s social behavior.
focus on external rather than internal influences.

11. Experimental psychology
conduct research into basic processes such as functions of the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, and thinking and motivation.
study the biological and psychological reasons for cognitive behavior. Biological psychologists study the relationship between biological changes and psychological events.
are more likely than other psychologists to do basic research.

12. Industrial & organizational psychology
Industrial psychology: The study of people and work
Organizational psychology: The study of how people behave in organizations, such as business firms
Psychologists in this field are often trained in both areas.
Employed by corporations to improve working conditions and increase output.

13. Human factors psychology
try to find the best ways to design products for people to use.
They consider how the product will be used, how the product affects people, how the product looks and feels, and how the product will be engineered so it is safe, durable, and comfortable to use.

14. Community psychology
study and help create social systems that promote and foster individual well-being.
Social systems might include mental health centers, hospital programs, and school-based programs.
They focus on: promoting change in the social environment, helping relatively powerless people, preventing threats to mental health in the social environment

15. Forensic psychology work in the criminal justice system.
determine the psychological competence of defendants.
explain how psychological problems lead to criminal behavior.
They work with police departments to help select police officers, help officers cope with job stress, train officers in the handling of dangerous situations, such as hostage crises, family violence, and suicide threats.

16. Health psychology
study how behavior and mental processes relate to physical health
study how stress affects health problems and also focus on disease prevention.

17. Rehabilitation psychology
work with people challenged by a disability.
help their patients develop strategies to compensate for their disability and live meaningful lives.

18. Cross-cultural psychology
study behavior and mental processes under different cultural conditions.
have brought new insights to standard psychological theories.
Example: They have discovered that visual perception develops differently in cultures as a result of the shapes and angles people are exposed to every day.

19. Specialized fields in psychology
Environmental Psychology: How people influence and are influenced by their physical environment
Comparative Psychology: The study of animal behavior across different species
Consumer Psychology: The study of the behavior of shoppers

20. Graduate programs in psychology

21. Reading focus questions
What are some of the specialties within clinical psychology?
Child and adult mental health, learning disabilities, geriatrics, general health
What can a psychiatrist do that a psychologist CANNOT?
Prescribe medication for their patients
Why do you think there are so many specialty areas within the field of clinical psychology?
People and psychological disorders vary widely; psychologists specialize to better treat their patients
What are the types of changes that can occur throughout a person’s life span?
Physical, emotional, cognitive, and social
Why might a business hire a counseling psychologist?
To reduce employee discord and increase the productivity of its workforce
Do you think school districts should employ psychologists? Why or why not?
Yes, students face many distractions that hinder learning; psychologists perform a valuable function in helping students overcome these barriers.

22. Reading focus questions
How does the research of an experimental psychologist differ from that of other psychologists?
They research basic processes, including functions of the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, and thinking and motivation
When explaining human behavior, where does a personality psychologist generally look?
Within people at their personality traits
What do community psychologists do?
Study and help create social systems that promote and foster individual well-being
What does the development of consumer psychology suggest about shoppers?
Their behavior can be predicted
Do you think industrial and organizational psychologists benefit the employees of a firm? Why or why not?
Yes, they help people land jobs for which they are well-suited; they help employees improve their performance, which usually results in pay raises, they help increase job satisfaction for employees.
What can you conclude about a psychologist who just published an article about how people in different regions of Asia handle job stress?
He or she is a cross-cultural psychologist