|MadSci Network: Medicine|
A good question! It is difficult to answer this question in 25 words or less ;-), so I hope you don't minding reading a few paragraphs. The first thing that you probably need to know is that there are different types of psychologists. All psychologists (persons having either a Ph.D. or Psy.D.) are interested in the study of behavior. However, just like there are different types of biologists - some that study botany, some that study human anatomy, some that study marine biology - there are different types of psychologists. Some of the more common areas within psychology are (keep in mind these are just broad descriptions): Clinical - This is what many people think of when they think of a psychologist. Clinical psychologists are clinical practitioners, like physicians (medical doctors: M.D. or D.O.), who work with people that have mental disorders (psychopathology). However, these folks (mostly the Ph.D.s) are scientists that study psychopathology and through their research try to help people with serious problems (like depression or anxiety disorders). A similar field of study is psychiatry, but psychiatrists are medical doctors that specialized in the treatment of mental disorders. The distinction between the two careers is that psychiatrists can prescribe medications while psychologists can not (this is currently a topic of debate and may change in the future). Developmental - These individuals study children and adolescents (like yourself) and the different developmental stages that people go through as we grow up. Experimental - This is perhaps the broadest category. Experimental psychologists (like myself) study a variety of things ranging from memory to how the brain perceives sensory information (among many things!). My area of research interest is in the field of drug addiction and psychopharmacology (drugs that effect the brain). Counseling - These psychologists are similar to clinical psychologists, but tend to work with people that have less severe problems (like family relationships or marriage problems). School or Education - These psychologists study factors surrounding teaching and learning, as well as focusing on how to evaluate how well different teaching strategies work. Industrial/Organizational - These psychologists often work in the business world, helping companies find more efficient ways to pursue their goals (such as through more efficient management policies and styles). My work as an experimental (or biological) psychologist falls in the realm of behavioral pharmacology - studying the problems of drugs and drug abuse. A typical day for me is composed of a few different parts, but an important thing to keep in mind is that these parts are all components of the scientific method. First, a big part of my day is spent conducting experiments. Usually I run my experiments in the mornings and early afternoons. Some of the experiments take a great deal of time and precision (and patience!) to make sure that everything works okay. Second, when my experiments are done, the excitement really begins because I can then sit down and examine and analyze the data from the study. This basically is the answer to the question that I asked when I designed the study. Using statistics (fancy math) I can then find out if the data were what I hypothesized would happen or something entirely different. Often times, finding something entirely different from what you suspected ("Hmm, that's funny….") is the best part of being a scientist as it forms the next set of questions that you want to answer. Third, a major part of my time is spent trying to communicate what I know to others. This can be done either by teaching a class or giving a seminar, or more often, by writing up research articles about the experiments I have completed. This is very important because scientists want to know as much as possible about their field of research. It is very much like trying to piece together pieces of a puzzle - the more pieces you have (or know) then the easier it is to see what the puzzle is supposed to look like. One thing that I always seem to be doing is thinking. Thinking about new experiments. Thinking about what these data suggest (or don't suggest) is happening. Sometimes I just think about different ways to approach a problem. As for education, most psychologists have completed college (B.A. or B.S.; usually 4 years) and then completed graduate school (Ph.D.; usually 5-7 years). As for changing into a new or different job, I think being a scientist is the best job of all because it is very much like being a detective -- I try to find answers to difficult problems and questions. Finally, I'd like to point you in some other directions, so that you can find out more in your spare time. There was a prior question "What is a scientist?" that was answered by Joe Simpson which might be of interest to you : Archives File Other web sites that are worth checking out include: The American Psychological Society ( Link : ) The American Psychological Association's Student Information ( Link : ) Also see the web pages for their Education Directorate ( Link : ) and Science Directorate ( Link : ) There are also numerous online descriptions of psychologists and what the profession is all about. One I stumbled upon was : http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/psychologist.htm which focuses on clinical psychology. Another way to find out lots about what academic psychologists (psychologists that are professors at universities) do is to look at the Department of Psychology web pages at different colleges and universities. One of the best resources that I know of is PsychWeb at www.psywww.com/index.html , which has a lot of information all about psychology, including careers. I hope this helps answer your questions. Best of luck.
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