THE TYPES OF WORK PROFESSIONALS IN SPECIALTY AREAS WITHIN THE LARGER FIELD OF PSYCHOLOGY DO

, the Capstone Project is a composite of the assignments produced for the course Weeks 1 through 6 Module Reports and ends with two summary pages describing the student’s top 3 specialty areas of interest at the time of the project submission and identified action steps needed for continued researching of those areas, successful degree completion and post-graduation plans.

 

This capstone work is a compilation of evidence of your learning. You must summarize your information from the past six weeks, not cut and paste from your earlier submitted reports.  Your focus should be on how all of this information impacts YOUR interests and plans for your academic future.

WEEK 1

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

 

Developmental Psychologists study the intellectual, physical, and emotional development of adolescents and adults. One particular area of study would be Gerontologists, which is particularly interested in developmental changes because of age additionally the population change. Another would be applied developmental psychologists which focus solving problems in everyday settings. (Kuther, 2013) Personality psychologist aim to treat issues pertaining to an individual’s personality. This is done thru the study of personality traits. This sis so they can help a person organize hour they process information. This could be mental health counselor or clinical social worker.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

 

You can become a gerontology aide with just a bachelor’s degree. For an applied developmental psychologists you are required to obtain a graduate degree, a doctorate, and a license. Educational requirements to become a personality psychologist require a doctoral degree and in addition you are required to meet internship requirements also which is typically about 2 years. Once you meet internship hours you can then apply to be licensed.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

 

Median salary for a gerontology aide is gerontology aide is $44,000

Median salary for an applied developmental psychologists is $72,000

Median salary for a personality psychologist is $67,880

 

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

 

Gerontology Aide is something that would intrests me because I would prefer to have direct contact with the people I intend to help. (Kuther, 2013) Providing activities and events that will help raise the quality of life of the seniors would be very fulfilling. The downside to that is it is the book suggests it is mainly focused on the elderly community and I have worked in a nursing home previously and it was a very tough environment. Also anecdotal notes can sometimes be very difficult for me because I have yet to fully grasp observational notes without applying personal opinion.

Applied Development is focused on diagnosing learning disability and developmental delays and then implementing prevention and progression plans. Which can minimize medication interventions which is something that I like. (Kuther, 2013) Working with other professionals to help someone show progress would be very enjoyable. The downfall to this is that it is very fast paced with and focused within areas such as hospital well continued interventions with the same individuals may be minimized.

 5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

Previous to this week I had never heard of a gerontology aide. By doing this week’s assignment I have been introduced to something I can do will just a bachelors that pays a decent median wage while I continue to progress my educational experience and obtaining my internships hours. But ultimately my goal is to become a BCBA or ABA which would lean more towards the information I learned about applied developmental psychologists.

 

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

I live with my grandfather he is 87 has bone cancer and also dementia. While I’m at work there is a care provider that takes care of him. When I come home from work every day he has to be reminded that I have only been gone for about nine hours because he always thinks I have been gone a lot longer. Additionally he has begun to call his sons by the opposites name although he still knows the difference when he sees there face this can serve to be a big challenge because I’m not really sure which son he is referring to. My grandfather has often times become violent and about three weeks ago he grabbed the steering wheel on the way to the doctors because he thought I was trying to take him to Mexico. Although he is can become very agitated he also doesn’t remember what he has done soon after which makes things difficult to deal with sometimes. This is important because the podcast I choose that I listened to “Dementia: When “Living in the Moment” is Not A Good Thing” I could directly relate too. Also another podcast I found interesting was “How Do You Really Raise Self-Esteem? The Incredible vs. American Idol” This is important to me because I struggle from PTSD and anxiety and a lot of my stress as been suggested to be associated to my self-esteem being crushed by my ex-wife.

 

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

A hot topic that I would use applied developmental psychologists for is bullying. These two things are directly connected because the specialty focuses on practical situations and uses real life settings to find solutions. Typically bullying is an impulse response which with behavior interventions can be modified and corrected. At the same time bullying can be addressed by personality psychologists because they focus on finding out what is making a person do a particular thing such as social norms and then provide goals to change it by attempting to use behavior modification techniques.

 

WEEK 2

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

Biopsychology work in many settings which typically intend to learn more about human behavior. They can be educators, researchers, government agencies, or other places that examine the understanding of the brain.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

To become a bio psychologist you must at least obtain a 4 year degree. But with more schooling your opportunities for advancement are greater.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

There are several different settings that pay a different amount in the biopsychology field in the teaching field the median range would be $87K for professors. 57-67K a year for assistant professors.  In the research area the median range is typically about 76k a year and in the neuroscience field it ranges from between 48-144k a year.

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

I don’t feel that this would be a field that I would be interested in because I’m typically a person that wants to communicate with the populous and this field is typically more encompassed around research. The key point that to me was interesting was that with only a 4 year degree you can actually make a decent pay check which would make it be something of interest.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

I hadn’t really explored bio psychologist before this week but what I learned from this week was that it focuses on the role the brain plays on your emotions, processing, behavior, and perception. It also focuses on how abnormalities in the brain may effect behavior.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

The pod cast I looked at this week was “Episode 35: The Psychology of Extreme Sports” It breaks it down into four categories which I can definitely look at people in everyday life and see how they are correlated to one of the four categories. It was also suggest in the pod cast that the sensation seeking is higher in males that might explain me. I found this very interesting because I have definitely noticed in my personal life that when I get the level arousal from being in a fire fight or jumping out of plane. The discussion they are talking about the sensation seeking scale and how it might make you want to have a high propensity to do more dangerous or adventures experiences. It also explains the reasoning has to do with neurons, serotonin, and monoamine oxidase or MAO.

 7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related. 

A hot topic that I would be ADHD and how it effects you’re in the latter years. I think that it is important to research thru science the possibility that there might be long term effects on the use of anti-impulsivity medicine and we as a society should stop pushing medications as the primary intervention for potential problems. If a study was conducted over a long term that should how the medicine are more likely to increase a individuals other mental problems that might help decrease or increase the use of medications. Ultimately ADHD is less common in adults then children so it might have to do with prepubescence and impulsivity then just a deficiency.

 

References

“Episode 35: The Psychology of Extreme Sports” (2007) Retrieved from- http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2007/11/episode-35-the-psychology-of-extreme-sports/

“Biological Psychology Careers: Options and Requirements” (2014) Retrieved from- http://education-portal.com/articles/Biological_Psychology_Careers_Options_and_Requirements.html

 

 

 

 

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

Cognitive psychologist study how perception and memory work within the brain. Basically aspiring to gain an understanding of how the brain processes information. Unlike other fields the use scientific methods to study the mind instead of using psychoanalysis or observing behaviors.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

An individual can work in the field of cognitive psychology with just a 4 year degree but it very limited. That also goes for master’s degree level education. To work in the field of cognitive psychology you typically need a doctoral degree.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

As we all know the salaries very with experience and credentials but the median range is typically 87k but typically individuals in industrial organizational psychologist is 114k.

 

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

Industrial organizational psychologist is a subfield of cognitive psychology that interested me which works within a workplace. They study personalities and performances within the workforce and aim to resolve conflicts and raise employee morale. They also work to help the business to increase employee productivity. This to me is interesting field because I will get to work in a field where I get to work with people and apply ideas to increase productivity.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

The interesting thing that I learned about cognitive psychologist was that it was initially developed in the mid-20th century because they didn’t agree with the ideas of behaviorist and wanted to bring a different perspective on the processing of the

1. 6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

The pod cast that I choose in correlation to this specialty was “Episode 75: Science Proves Subliminal Tapes Work! Well….not really” The podcast suggests that subliminal messages are not effective. Before listening to this pod cast I thought that this is somewhat true because you can look at advertisements after 12 at night and you will notice they do a lot of flashing words like “3 easy payments of 19.99” or “Free” because it will make your mind think something is cheaper or better by quickly impeding it in your mind subversive use. Really subversive messaging/subliminal just causes you to think about and then decide independently.

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

A topic that would interest me that has to do with this field would have to be bias in the workforce. It is known that white male’s median wage is typically higher than a female’s wage I would wonder why this is and want to do some kind of study to examine why we think that too people that are equally as qualified cannot receive the same wage.

 

References

Cherry, Kendra (2012) “Careers in Cognitive Psychology” Retrieved from- http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/p/cognitivecareer.htm

“Episode 75: Science Proves Subliminal Tapes Work! Well….not really” (2008) Retrieved-http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2008/10/episode-75-science-proves-subliminal-tapes-work-wellnot-really/#ixzz3Ge3lC2Yq

 

Week 3

 

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

I picked assistant behavior analyst which is a subcategory of applied psychology. It aims to understand how people feel, think, and behave and then attempts to modify thinking so that the individual’s quality of life is improved. That is why the specialty area I picked for this field would be an assistant behavior analyst.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

To be an assistant behavior analyst you must have a bachelors. You must also be licensed in your state but that can only happen after you have been observed by someone else for a certain amount of time and then you pass the test. Because you must receive either have a BCBA or a BACB to get a more prevailing wage.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

The median salary range for an assistant behavior analyst is 52,000 year. The kind of setting you would work is either in the individuals home, in a facility, or various other areas typically observing and taking anecdotal notes.

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

I do find that this is a job that I would enjoy because you have direct interaction with the client. While you are there to implement behavioral interventions you are also assessing for improvements, regression, and sustained behavior which can ultimately feel very rewarding when done successfully.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

While I knew that they provided implementation of intervention plans I didn’t realize that they would directly teach these to the parents in family so that they can do the same things. Also they work directly with a team of people to create the best plan.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

The pod cast I decided to discuss this week for that pertains to the specialty I picked was “Ep 222: How To Remember Jokes” This topic seemed interesting to me because I often times am rattling off jokes to loosen the tension in a room or sitting at a bar drinking. But this pod cast is discussing how repetition is what makes things considerably easier for you to remember things. Basically there are several different ways to remember a joke. Mnemonic device, keyword technique, and method of loci. Ultimately it is relating these three methods to telling jokes but it is an awesome way to begin to learn anything.

 

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related. 

A hot topic I would choose is self-esteem, why you might ask, because in today’s society we have made it impossible for people to feel secure with themselves because we are building up the perfect image with social media and television making people do crazy things such as surgery and starving themselves to fit these images. I think this is an important specialty for people struggling with their self-esteem it can help them build themselves back up and become happy with themselves.

References

“Becoming a Behavior Analyst” (2014) Retrieved from- http://diplomaguide.com/articles/Becoming_a_Behavior_Analyst_Job_Description_Salary_info.html

“Ep 222: How To Remember Jokes” (2014) Retrieved from- http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2014/07/ep-222-how-to-remember-jokes/

 

 

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

I have chosen clinical psychology for this specialty area. This specialty is primarily concerned with diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders but also does assessments and prevention also. 

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

To obtain a job in this career typically you will need a doctoral degree and be licensed.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

While clinical psychologist typically work in medical offices or settings. Clinical psychologist’s median range is $72,000 year.

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

This could be a job that I found rewarding because it seems like a job that would be in high demand and is aimed to help individuals in which I had hoped to work with. Because you will have so many clients you can try different methods to find success for each individual person which can keep the job somewhat interesting. Helping people resolve their problems and improve their quality of life would be very fulfilling also.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

Something interesting I didn’t actually know was that a lot of the things that I have thought of doing are sub categories of clinical psychologist. The specialties that are attributed to clinical psychology vary from substance abuse to learning disabilities which makes me more interested in the field because ultimately my goal is to just help people with whatever issue they are having.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

“Episode 117: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – An Interview with Bobbi” was the podcast I picked this week which obviously discusses obsessive compulsion.  Basically obsessive compulsive disorder is a condition associated with stress and also anxiety. This often times is a lot more severe than just regular anxiety because they tend to involuntarily perform acts because they have unrealistic thoughts about what will happen if they don’t do it the same every time. This pod cast also discusses ERP which is actually called exposure response prevention. Which is what they call the control methods used to manage psychological disorders such as OCD. It is typically used by therapist but can be taught to individuals also but is ultimately trying to recondition them to have a more relevant response.

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

A hot topic that I would associate would be the rise of drug usage being associated to psychological disorders. I have noticed a lot lately that many people that suffer from specific psychological disorders have had past drug usage. It is a fact that chronic use of drugs can cause a change in the brain. Small changes are depression, paranoia, aggression, and hallucinations. But there has been many studies that have said that there is a large link to psychotic disorders.

 

References

Cherry, Kendra (2014) Careers in Clinical Psychology. Retrieved from- http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/p/clinicalpsych.htm

“Episode 117: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – An Interview with Bobbi” (2010) Retrieved from- http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2010/02/episode-117-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-an-interview/#ixzz3HIk35E00

Week 4

1. Career Interest Self-Assessment Results

An individual’s interest is important in planning a career. Career interests are varied compared to abilities and skills of people. People tend to be attracted to various activities that they are interested in and in which they derive enjoyment. These activities offer them opportunities to develop their skills and abilities. Six themes describe a broad range of areas of interest and define work environments (PCC, 2014). People desire to work in environments that are inconsistent with and promote their interest. Understanding these environments enables one to determine occupations that may satisfy them. These themes include realistic, artistic, social, investigative and conventional and enterprising.

Most people’s primary interests combine one or two of the themes. Various tools are utilized during self-assessment and include workshops, online sources, individual career counseling and books. Workshops services are provided to help in building a career on campus. This is done by developing a plan to connect individual abilities with career opportunities that are available. It begins from the introduction to career planning in which the individual clarifies his career planning needs and learn more about useful resources that can help him achieve his career goals. The next step involves exploring the career interest by use of a Strong-Interest Inventory.

This inventory is used in the clarification of work interests and prominent career. This step is followed by assessment of personality type and career by use of Myers-Briggs type indicator. This indicator helps to understand the individual’s preferred work style and its relation to specific career and work roles. A deeper understanding of these indicators is important in the attainment of higher career satisfaction (PCC, 2014). Work-related values are also identified and clarified. This is done because the workshop focuses on clarifying personal issues.

Workshops help in discovering vital skills. The individual enjoys using most of the time as well as those that he would like to develop further in their career. A Strong Interest Inventory tool provides an opportunity for an individual to assess his interests over a broad range of occupations, school subjects, work activities and leisure activities. The results of the tests provide the RAISEC code and a diagram that is based on the individual’s interests (APA, 2014). These codes help to identify the career options as well as possible academic majors. In this context, the results identified psychology counseling, post-secondary psychology teacher and training and development specialist. It provides a list of careers that enable the individual to identify a career that is consistent with his interests. The Strong Interest Inventory tool produces RIASEC code on the basis of the response given by the individuals. It also offers specific content in areas that are interesting. Another avenue to explore and understand one’s interest is through a career counselor.

The career counselor would take an individual through a thorough career guidance plan that details how his interest relates to career planning and development. Career counseling allows the individual to explore the vast world of work and the existing educational opportunities and plan achievable goals. The process of counseling generates personal insights and growth that utilizes the resources and available opportunities. The process encompasses assessment and self-exploration that will yield a better understanding of interests, skills and goals. It involves personal interviews, career testing and assistance in finding useful resources and information to help the individual achieve career goals.

Students are fond of creating a long list of interests while others have a difficulty in identifying their interests. The struggle to identify interests can be attributed to little or limited experience in work, limited access to resources, low self-esteem and environmental constraints. However, academic subjects studied in high school can provide useful insights into the career path an individual would like to pursue. The subjects that were boring and uninteresting may not influence the type of career someone may want to pursue. The individual needs to explore his interests and determine which career best reflect his interests.

In addition to the subjects well performed in high school, some past work experiences may also influence the interest of an individual toward a particular career. Such experiences help to identify what is liked and what is disliked and enable the individual to make informed choices about the future career. In assessing career interest areas such as job assignments, duties and responsibilities, working conditions, supervisor, clients or customers and co-workers are also looked. Furthermore, the time and energy that is allocated for other activities such hobbies can reveal more about an individual’s interests. Spending free time best indicate the interest of the individual and can identify his career path. 

1. What Can I do with Degree in Psychology?

The cognitive, emotional and social processes of the behavior of human beings are key areas of interest for psychologists. These processes involve observation, interpreting and recording the relationship between one person, and another as well as their interaction with their environments. A degree in psychology exposes the graduate to institutions that deal with these aspects of human beings. These institutions include medical institutions under the psychiatric departments and clinical psychology; institutions of higher learning that encompasses research and teaching of psychology and other organizations that deal in social science aspects of human life (APA, 2014).

The work environment of the psychologist involves working independently and carrying our various research involving patients with problem related to psychology. Others collaborate with physicians and social workers and work in school environments with teachers, educators and parents. Psychologists in private practice prefer to work in the evenings and weekends to attend to their clients. A degree in psychology helps the individual to understand his own psychological processes and discover better ways of relating to his immediate environment.

III.           Do I Have to Go to Grad School and What Should My Undergraduate Degree Plan be?

It is important to go to grad school because it provides an opportunity of exposure with various works on psychology particularly in relation to the specialty areas. Grad school emphasizes further learning and research for students that seek to excel in their areas. Interaction with books and scholarly works by other people enables the individual to understand the key principles in his specialty areas and further his interest in the area. In this regard, planning an undergraduate degree plan should take cognizance of the career interest areas. A degree plan that is not in harmony with the career interest is likely to affect the performance and commitment of the individual. The degree career plan should be aligned to the specialty areas since it would make the individual to plan for his post graduate studies on the same. I this respect, it is necessary that people prepare for a career of their choice after carrying out the career assessment tests.

1. I Need to Know More

Self-assessment test enables individuals to know what career choices they can make. There is help in using the tests because their results attempts to identify the personality, skill, values and interests on individuals vis-à-vis the requirements of various occupations. The results help to create a connection between the individual and aspects of particular occupations. Even though the results do not provide a final answer regarding the type of occupation, they help provide insights into the type of the individual. It also focuses on whether or not he can pursue the career. They provide a critical step in decision-making and career planning journey that will exercise the curiosity of the individual and help him learn more about the external world.

In addition, many students view career planning as a point-in-time decision. Some of them establish a career and other goals in life after graduation. Due to the unpredictability of today’s job market early career planning is necessary to enable one learn and master the details about their jobs to compete favorably in the market. Understanding personal work values early in time shapes one’s experiences and provides a criterion for judgments. The employment security of an individual is contingent upon acquisition of varied work experiences and the ability to continue learning and establishing a strong portfolio of skills and talents that he can present to employers. It is, therefore, incumbent upon an individual to carry out proper self-assessment in order to determine what career s/he would want to follow.

 

 

References

American Psychological Association, APA. 2014. Retrieved from- http://www.apa.org

US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (2000). Retrieved from- http://online.onetcenter.org

Other Sources

The Psychology Career Centre, PCC. 2008/14. Self-Assessments. Retrieved from

http://www.allpsychologycareers.com/topics/psychological-assessment.html

Week 5

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

Typically an industrial-organizational psychologist main focus is based on efficiency in the workplace. Typically working with managers trying to improve the temperament and increases motivation so that the employees will be more efficient. It widely based of the individuals knowledge of human behavior and then creates and implements plans in the workplace.

 

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

An individual can work in industrial-organizational psychology with just a bachelors typically in human resources but other than that it is somewhat limited. There are a lot more opportunities for individuals with a masters in industrial-organizational psychology. Psychologists with a masters can work in private sector work, for the government, consulting, and in human resources. (Cherry, 2012)

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

The average income for an industrial-organizational psychologist gets a median range of 78K with a Ph.D.  64k for individuals with a masters and typically around 43k for bachelors. Typically they work in human resources for businesses training and evaluating current and new employees for efficiency. (Cherry, 2012)

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

One particular thing that makes me completely uninterested in industrial-organizational psychology is that a lot of it seems to be based on statistics and I’m definitely not a fan of statistics. The benefit to this career though is it focuses on the applied to apply psychological research practically which good very a very interesting thing to do.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

The benefits to this career is the clients that you work with will change often and your projects will also be very different. Also I had not previously realized that I-O psychology is used in as many platforms as it is. It is actually a career choice that seems to be blossoming because there is some importance in have I-O psychology involved in marketing, sales, training, productivity, and all around human resources objectives.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

The podcast I choose was “Ep 194: What Do I/0 Psychologists Really Do?” which focuses on what people in this particular field really do and how they can be really beneficial. Introducing some of the foundational concepts of Industrial-organizational psychology. But ultimately overall it made the career sound more boring than making it sound interesting.

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

I think a hot topic that would be interesting would be the minimum wage changes and how they are effecting or not effecting efficiency in the workplace. It is interesting to me that it seems the wages are going up and people are still acting more entitled I wonder why this is so I feel like maybe it would be interesting to do a study in the field.

References

Cherry, Kendra (2012) Industrial-Organizational Psychology Careers. Retrieved from- http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/p/iopsychcareers.htm

Ep 194: What Do I/0 Psychologists Really Do? (2013) Retrieved from- http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2013/04/ep-194-what-do-i0-psychologists-really-do-testing-and-evaluation/#ixzz3IcTdfq1R

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

Social psychology examines how social influences impact an individual behavior. It utilizes several different disciplines because of how vast the field is. Social psychologists examine beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of groups and individuals but also examines interpersonal interactions and analyzing how individuals interact. They also examine other influences such as culture, books, radio, and any other media form that might influence a person or groups behavior.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

Typically to work in this field you must achieve at minimum a bachelors in social psychology but there are a lot more opportunities provided for an individual who has achieved a master’s in the field.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

The median range for a bachelor’s level employee is 20-45k and an individual with a masters will range between 43-150k.

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

I find this an interesting career because it observes human behavior and aims to examine how the outside influences are effecting what or how a group or individual will act. Which makes it very interesting because there is a lot of possibility in variances in results you might see. They also try to predict what the consumer is going to be into next.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

I didn’t realize prior to this week’s studying that there big focus is trying to find were the groups or individuals are going to go next so they can change things accordingly. This can lead to someone very unsure days of work so I wouldn’t be interested in this career in the long run.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

The pod cast I choose was “Ep 204: The Psychology of Fundraising” I found this interesting because it is discussing the psychology behind how they do it. Suggesting that bystander apathy is one of the most effective strategies to use when fundraising. But that there are a lot more methods of persuasion that can be found to be effective when attempting to participate in a fundraiser.

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

I think that a hot topic that would be related to this would be school shootings and what consumers and social media is doing that is causing this incredible increase in violent school shootings. I think we need to examine this closer and find some kind of solutions and preventive plans and it definitely has to be something that has to do what people are viewing and being introduced too.

References

Cherry, Kendra (2011) Social psychology. Retrieved from- http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/f/socialpsych.htm

“Ep 204: The Psychology of Fundraising” (2013) Retrieved from-http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2013/09/ep-204-the-psychology-of-fundraising/

Week 6

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

Experimental psychologist are individuals that use scientific methods to preform research and learn thru data collection. They do not solely base there experiments on just one particular thing and will typically study a variety of different phenomena’s but typically have to with psychological process and cognitive processing. But mostly encompass the researching of human behavior and using science to answer theoretical questions.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

An individual can work in experimental psychology with a bachelors but the job positions are very limited and get a little better with a masters but it is greatly improved with a doctoral degree.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

In 2009 experimental psychologists that worked in universities/college made a median range of about 78k. Typically experimental psychologists will get paid between 29k and 80k and depends on education and experience. Also they might research a particular human or animal behavior which increases pay scale also.

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

I don’t find experimental psychology a career that I would find an interest in because I want to be hands on with patients helping to influence them to get better and experimental psychologists are primarily aiming to prove theories and put out information that will help other individuals us applied psychology methods.

5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

I did previously have an idea that they worked with both animal and human behavior but didn’t realize the extent of their studies. Typically working will different animals or humans to study specific areas such as a perception, attention, memory and learning, and other neurological areas that effect an individual’s behaviors.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

The pod cast that I looked at this week was “Ep 221: The Facebook Experiment: Reaction from Psychologists” This podcast was discussing how Facebook did their own study by purposely placing positive comments in news feeds of some individuals and putting negative comments in others and then looked for the direct association to the posts you read to the posts that you will end up posting. The big issue with this is they did a study without allowing individuals to have an idea that they are being study which to me makes unsuspecting individuals lab rabbits without them ever knowing which is completely unacceptable. Also I don’t see why a study like this need to be done since we all know that positivity begets positivity and negativity begets negativity.

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

I think a hot topic that experimental psychologists should be paying more attention to is the “placebo effect” I think that in society we have become entrenched on taking medications to fixing problems instead of finding alternate interventions I think if more studies were conducted showing that an individual who thinks they are taking a medication for a particular problem can feel better even if it’s a placebo. There has a direct association to cognitive processing when you believe something is helping you, I think it should be looked at further. 

 

References

 

Cherry, Kendra (2010) “Experimental Psychologist Career Profile” Retrieved from- http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/p/experimental-psychologist.htm

Ep 221: The Facebook Experiment: Reaction from Psychologists” (2014) Retrieved from-http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2014/07/ep-221-facebook-study-a-brief-summary-and-did-they-use-informed-consent/#ixzz3JHtRHhne “

 

1) The types of work professionals in specialty areas within the larger field of psychology do

The specialty area we are examining this week is forensic psychology this is a field of psychology that applies psychology to law and criminal investigations. A forensic psychologist help in lawsuits, custody disputes, insurance claims, and a slew of other things. Typically they will child and family evaluations for custody, provided psychotherapy services, and conduct risk assessments for visitations and other family related matters.

2) The type and level of education one must achieve to work in those specialty areas

Forensic psychologist typically need to have a prior experience in clinical or counseling psychology and also must have a doctoral degree. They must also be board certified and licensed in most cases. The amount of college for a career in this field is about 5 years at minimum. You can however have titles that do similar descriptions within the field such as psychological associates or assistants and in these instances they can be staffed by individuals with bachelors and masters degrees.

3) A description of work settings and average incomes one can expect in careers within the specialty areas.

If you only have a bachelors or master’s degree you there will be a substantial difference in wages ranging from between 35-40k. While individuals with a doctoral degree will usually range between 60-70k median range a year. This also is effected by what sector in which you work and the variety of expertise you are providing.

4) Whether after researching the areas you find them to be career possibilities you are interested in or careers that don’t capture your interest and why

This is something that would be interesting for me but for all the wrong reasons I know this is a profession that has been glorified by TV shows so it gives you the false hope that it’s a lot more exciting than it really is. The benefit is you will be helping people but the commitment of school required would be something that I think I wouldn’t really want to do.

 5) A description of the most interesting thing not previously known that you learned about the specialty areas

Prior to examining this specialty I didn’t have a good grasp on the career at all but it did prove some very interesting information on what they do. It is interesting to know that forensic psychologists play a key role in child custody disputes and evaluations for custodies because I had previously thought that was something that was curtailed for social workers and not psychologists.

6) A description of an everyday and real-world human experience related to two pod-casts you select to listen to on the specialty web pages provided

Being an individual that thinks Casey Anthony was definitely guilty of murder and got away with it I couldn’t pass up a chance to look at the podcast “Ep 154: 5 Reasons Why Your Brain Tells You Casey Anthony is Guilty” The entirety of the podcast did not particularly surround just Casey Anthony but the reason why we think someone is guilty or not guilty. The five factors that this podcast discusses are the need for closure, simplicity, attractive, role theory, and research showing. Each of these factors were associated to Anthony in particular way or another and it made complete sense for why I think that she is guilty besides the attractive portion. 

7) A description of a “Hot Topic that fits with what you know about each specialty area after researching it and how the two are related.

I’m not really sure of a hot topic that would fit this topic. I think something that would be interesting to examine that is related to this profession is the popularity of the profession because of the amount of shows that provide a false excitement in the career.

References

Cherry, Kendra (2010) “Forensic Psychology Careers” retrieved from- http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/a/forensicpsych.htm

“Ep 154: 5 Reasons Why Your Brain Tells You Casey Anthony is Guilty” (2011) Retrieved from-http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2011/07/ep-154-5-reasons-why-casey-anthony-might-be-innocent/#ixzz3JI5GSWwk