What exactly is psychology? Over its short history psychology has been defined many different ways. One of the more widely accepted current definitions of the field goes as follows: "Psychology is the scientific study of behavior, thought, and emotion and the application of such knowledge to the solving of human problems." Thus, psychology is both a science and a practice that is applied to all areas of human endeavor. If fact, if a human being can do it, think it, or feel it, then there is likely a psychologist who studies it. How can psychology be scientific when its main subject matter is people-can people really be studied scientifically? The subject matter doesn't define a discipline as being scientific; rather, the methods used to study the subject matter define a discipline as being so. In psychology, a premium is placed on the reliable and valid application of experimental and correlational procedures in the collection of behavioral data. So, yes, people can be studied scientifically. And so far, over a hundred years of psychological research has provided a valuable reservoir of scientific and practical knowledge about our species. From producing a thorough (though still incomplete) understanding of the basic operation of our nervous systems to exploring the depths of our intellects and personalities to producing treatments for mental disorders, scientific research in psychology has advanced our knowledge of human nature. What is it that the typical psychologist does? This is a difficult question because there probably is no "typical" psychologist. Psychologists performed a wide variety of responsibilites and are found employed in universities and colleges, government agencies, business and industry, medical centers and hospitals as well in private practice. What role does psychology play in modern society? Psychology's primary role in modern society is two-fold. First, to produce new scientifically acceptable knowledge about human thought and action and, second, to apply that knowledge to solving important problems, such as those they may occur in the workplace, in the home, or among individuals in larger society, or even among nations. The important point is that psychology seeks to understand all forms of important human behaviors and to find creative, practical ways of solving important human problems. Are more psychologists involved in research or in practice? At the present time, more psychologists are involved in the practice of psychology than in basic research. Although almost all psychologists who earn the doctoral degree are trained extensively in research methodology, more of them opt to pursue applied careers than research careers, perhaps because applied jobs generally pay more. Almost two-thirds of all psychologists are either clinical or counseling psychologists. Some of these persons teach and conduct research, but most are involved in private practice. What is the difference between psychology and parapsychology? Psychology is based on the scientific study of natural phenomena related to thought and behavior, such as memory, emotion, intelligence, personality, motivation, social interaction, and so forth. Parapsychology is the study of phenomena, such as telepathy and telekinesis, which are not explainable by established natural law. Most psychologists do not believe that telepathy, telekinesis, and other parapsychological phenomena are real. What is the difference between a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist? This question forms that basis of an old joke whose punch line is "About $70 an hour," meaning, of course, that psychiatrists make more money than psychologists. Actually, it is true that psychiatrists do, on average, make more money that psychologists. However, the truly important distinction between these two types of helping professionals rests in their training, not in their earnings. In addition to the bachelor's degree, both types of professionals hold advanced degrees. Clinical psychologist typically hold the Ph.D., which emphasizes considerable training in both therapy and research. In fact, in most clinical psychology graduate programs, a requirement for this degree involves spending a full year at an "internship" placement in which the individual learns to practice psychology, much like a medical intern would learn to practice medicine during his or her residency. Clinical psychologists work in a wide variety of public and private settings and may provide professional therapy for people having difficulty adjusting to everyday problems and for people suffering from psychoses, such as major depression and schizophrenia. Psychiatrists attend medical school and hold the M.D. degree (which also includes a year of residency). Obviously, psychiatrists receive extensive training in medical or organic models of psychological disorders. Holding the M.D degree gives psychiatrists a privilege currently unavailable to clinical psychologists: the power to prescribe drugs for the treatment of psychological disorders. Psychiatrists also receive training in therapeutic techniques, thus allowing them to treat their patients with a combination of psychotherapy and drug therapies. What is the difference between a clinical psychologist and a counseling psychologist? Clinical psychologists and counseling psychologists receive different types of training and therefore often practice in different settings and see different kinds of clients. Both clinical psychologists and counseling psychologists may hold the Ph.D. But, whereas counseling psychologists are trained to counsel and provide therapy for people with "everyday" sorts of problems, clinical psychologists are trained to provide therapy for people suffering from a wider range of problems, for example, from problems involving adjusting to daily hassles to problems entailing severe psychological disorders. If I decide to major in psychology, which courses will I have to take beyond the introductory course? Although the requirements that many psychology departments impose upon their majors for graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology vary widely from school to school, there are few similarities. In general, most departments require their majors to take the following courses: introductory psychology, research methods, quantitative methods (better known as statistics), and several upper division courses such as abnormal psychology, physiological psychology (or a course in neuroscience), social psychology, cognitive psychology, learning, and personality. The introductory course is often required because it provides students with a broad overview of the history and current status of psychology's major subfields. Courses in research methods and statistics are often required because they provide students with a useful basis for understanding the nature of psychological research and the implications of such research. Several upper division courses in psychology are generally required to provide depth to the student's exposure and understanding of current thinking in psychology. A kindly word of advice: If you decide to major in psychology, don't put off taking the required courses in research methods and statistics. You will find that taking these classes earlier in your undergraduate career will help you better understand the theory, research, and findings discussed in subsequent classes. In other words, you are apt to get more out of the rest of your psychology classes by taking (and doing well in) your research and statistics courses first. What kinds of activities may I become involved while in college that will help me apply what I am learning about psychology in the classroom to real life situations? You should seek out volunteer activities related to psychology, education, or mental health that may be available in your school and community. These activities range from becoming involved in crisis hotlines and Head Start programs and other volunteer-based organizations to peer tutoring opportunities to becoming undergraduate research assistants for faculty members. Your best bet will be to ask faculty members about these kinds of opportunities. Many college and universities have Psi Chi chapters associated with their psychology departments. Psi Chi is an undergraduate honorary organization open to psychology majors who have distinguished themselves in the classroom. It functions as a supportive and friendly community for students who are interested in pursing psychology as a career. Oftentimes, the officers of local chapters will have information regarding local volunteer opportunities. Seeking out extracurricular activities related to your coursework in psychology will indeed help you to appreciate the wide variety of ways that psychology is relevant to everyday life. I want to learn how to help people lead better lives. What psychology courses beyond this one would most help me accomplish my goal? Taking an introductory psychology course will provide you a basic understanding of psychology's various subfields, but it will not adequately prepare you for "helping people lead better lives." You really need advance training at the graduate level if you truly desire to practice psychology toward that purpose. However, in terms of gaining a more thorough understanding of why people do what they do (understanding of behavior and its myriad causes), there are many classes that might be relevant, including the following: physiological psychology, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, personality, social psychology, health psychology, introduction to clinical psychology, and introduction to industrial/organizational psychology. Eventually I want a career in the business world. Can taking courses in psychology or minoring in psychology be useful to me in this career? One of the most quickly growing areas of psychology is industrial/organizational psychology, which involves the application of psychological principles to the workplace. I/O psychology, as it is often called, deals with issues such as employee-employer relations, personnel selection, job testing and job training, task analyses and job assessment, employee motivation and performance, training of managers, and a wide variety of other important matters. Many undergraduate programs offer introductory courses in I/O psychology, and you should seek out and enroll in these courses. In addition, minoring in psychology and taking courses in I/O psychology, research methods, statistics, and social psychology would be helpful to you working in the business world. Most I/O psychologists have extensive training in each of these areas. What kinds of degrees are available in psychology? There are four primary degrees available to people seeking training in psychology. At the undergraduate level, there is the bachelor's degree, which provides individuals with an overview of psychology and elementary training in its methods and the application of its principles. Employment possibilities for persons holding a bachelor's degree in psychology include working in the following settings under the supervision of persons with advanced training in psychology: crisis centers, specialized shelters, substance abuse programs, mental health centers, nursing homes, and group homes. At the graduate level, there are three degrees: the Master's degree, the Ph.D. and the Psy. D. The Master's degree involves basic training in psychology and often entails conducting original research on a topic of interest. Earning a Master's degree prepares people for entry level positions in professional psychology, such as teaching as junior and community colleges, working in private industry as a personnel manager, working in the mental health field as an aide, supervising persons living in group homes or community centers, working in special shelters and programs, and providing therapy (often under the supervision of a person holding a Ph.D.). The Ph.D. and Psy.D. degrees are similar in that both are doctoral degrees. However, they differ in terms of the kinds of training that each provides. The Ph.D. is generally thought of being the more rigorous and prestigious degree because earning it involves intensive training in analytic research in addition to extensive training in a specialty area of psychology. Requirements for the Psy.D. generally focus more on clinical training and less on analytical research. The Psy.D. is most often sought by people who wish only to practice psychology in mental health or private practice settings. Do I have to go to graduate school in psychology in order to find work as a psychologist? No, you may find work in a psychology related field with a bachelor's degree, but those jobs will not be as well paying or as prestigious as employment opportunities available to people holding advanced degrees in psychology. What kind of job will a bachelor's degree in psychology qualify me for after graduation? Employment possibilities for persons holding a bachelor's degree in psychology include working in the following settings under the supervision of persons with advanced training in psychology: crisis centers, specialized shelters, substance abuse programs, mental health centers, nursing homes, and group homes. How much money do psychologists make? Salaries for psychologists vary widely, with those people holding graduate level degrees generally making more money than those people holding a bachelor's degree. Entry level positions for psychologists holding the bachelors degree tend to range, on average, from the high teens to mid-20s. Entry level positions for psychologists holding advanced degrees tend to range, on average, from the mid-20s (at the Master's degree level) to the mid 30's to mid 50's (at the doctoral level). Of course, psychologists who have been working many years since obtaining their degree generally may make substantially more money than this. Will taking courses in psychology help me to analyze other people better? Taking courses in psychology will provide you a deeper knowledge than you probably currently have of the many of the variables that influence how people think and act. To the extent that you truly understand the relation between thinking, behaving, and the circumstances that affect them, you will become more sensitive to your own behavior, especially towards others. To become especially competent at "analyzing" other people, though, one must generally undertake advanced study in clinical or counseling courses at the graduate level. Do not think that after taking only a few courses in psychology at the undergraduate level that you will possess any special or particularly insightful abilities to analyze people or their problems. To reach that level of expertise, takes many years of devoted study. What special powers do psychologists have regarding the ability to analyze others or read their minds? Psychologists really don't possess any special or magical powers in analyzing others. Nor are they mind readers who are able to predict others' behavior with perfect accuracy. Psychologists, especially those who become clinical or counseling psychologists, do indeed receive special training in helping people solve personal problems. Competence in analyzing behavior is born of careful study of basic psychological principles as well as hundreds of hours of practical experience in talking to people about how their life's circumstances relate to their struggles and problems. Why is psychology so biological? I don't see why we have to spend so much time studying the nervous system when psychology is supposed to be the study of how people behave, think, and feel. The nervous system is the basis for our unique human abilities to behave, think, and feel the way we do. If our nervous systems were structured differently, or our brains "wired" any differently, we would be very different creatures. Thus, to understand how people behave, think, and feel, we must have a basic understanding of our nervous systems, which necessarily entails a good deal of biology! Looking back over the past two or three decades of psychological research, many, if not most, of the major breakthroughs in our understanding of human nature has come from discoveries produced in genetic, physiological, and neuroscience research. For example, our understanding of the role of the nervous system has been greatly enhanced by research aimed at understanding how drugs (both legal and illegal) affect the operation of neural pathways in the brain. By understanding how drugs affect the nervous system, we now have a greater understanding of which neural pathways are central to the regulation of normal, on-going behavior. In the final analysis, the nervous system is involved in all of our actions, thoughts, and feelings. Thus there is no escape from the conclusion that to understand what it means to be a human being, we must also understand the structures and functions of the human nervous system. People with split personalities fascinate me. How do these people become schizophrenic in the first place? This question involves a common misconception about schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia do not have "split personalities" or "multiple personalities." These characteristics are symptoms of a different, and rarer, psychological disorder called multiple personality disorder. People with schizophrenia experience symptoms such as disturbances of thought, language, perception (hallucinations and delusions), mood, motor behavior, and social behavior. Several key factors have been implicated in the onset of schizophrenia. Chief among these are genetic factors, stress factors, biochemical factors, and family factors. One model of schizophrenia, the diathesis-stress model, incorporates many of these factors into a single, unified view of the disorder. In short, people may inherit a disposition to develop schizophrenia under stressful environmental conditions, such as family conflict. Such conditions appear capable of altering brain biochemistry, which then produces symptoms of schizophrenia. If you have a general question about psychology that you think might qualify as a "frequently asked question," please go to the Feedback section.