Use the details and links below to discover details of the kind of work done by a psychologist in ONE of the following fields:
- Clinical psychology
- Counselling psychology
- Educational and developmental psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Health psychology
- Organisational psychology
- Sport psychology
- Biological psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Social psychology
- Research psychology
- Neuropsychology
Links that might aid you in your research:
General overview: http://www.psychology.org.au/studentHQ/careers-in-psychology/
Areas of specialisation: http://www.psychology.org.au/studentHQ/careers-in-psychology/
and http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/a/specialties.htm
Clinical psychology: https://www.psychology.org.au/community/specialist/clinical/
Cognitive psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html
Health psychology: http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/chp/
Forensic psychology: http://www.psychology.org.au/community/specialist/forensic/
Biological psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/biological-psychology.html
Sport psychology:
http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/sssm/psychology/careers/career_paths_in_sport_psychology
Task:
- Write a brief description of the meaning of the field you have chosen.
- Describe the kind of work done by a psychologist in this field, outlining up to five tasks that he/she might regularly be called upon to do.
- Explain why this area of psychology interests you or why you chose it for your research.
- Put your carefully written paragraph into a properly edited comment at the bottom of this page, so that other students can read your work.
- You should also list any websites that you found helpful in your research.
- Do not copy and paste from other websites.
Sports psychology is the field that studies the psychological factors that influence or are influenced by physical activity. Sports psychologists work in teams specialising in areas such as performance enhancement, mental skill development, anxiety/stress management, concentration and mental preparation etc. They work not only with athletes but also coaches, referees and trainers/physicians. We chose sports psychology because we enjoy participating in sport and other physical activity.
Forensic psychology is the branch of Psychology that deals with the legal and justice systems. They apply psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of legal and criminal justice systems, and to conducting research in relevant areas. Forensic psychologists may be required to work in a variety of different areas such as court rooms, criminal investigations, Prisons, rehabilitation clinics and more. Forensic psychologists use their skills in a variety of different ways including: Conducting psychological assessments, appearing in court as expert witnesses and assessing and treating victims of crime.
Clinical neuropsychology is the study of the function and structure of the brain in relation to specific behavioural or psychological processes. They study lesions on the brain and what effects they have, the electrical activity of individual cells in higher primates, etc. They also make sure they study healthy, diseased and damaged brains so they can get a full understanding of what things affect behaviour, personality and mental state. It shares information and things with cognitive psychologists. They are used for assessment of medical, psychological and neurological disorders as well as development problems and learning disabilities. Their assessment can then be used for treatment planning as well as treatment. They play an important role in various medical fields such as paediatrics, rehabilitation, neurosciences, psychiatry, aged care and in medicolegal evaluations.
They generally use tests, brain scans, electrophysiological measures, and experimental tasks for their research.
I picked this because neuropsychology sounds really interesting and the idea behind it is really good in terms of medicine advancements.
Forensic psychologists work in the legal and justice systems dealing with issues that involve psychology. Some work in custody battles, giving a psychologist’s opinion on a child’s wellbeing and investigating reports of child abuse. They can be used as an expert witness providing information on psychological matters and researching the causes and prevention of criminal behaviours. They also assess and treat victims and offenders of a crime.
The Kinds of work done by Forensic Psychology includes:
1. Collecting and reporting evidence for use in legal proceedings
2. Involved in Custody disputes
3. Insurance claims
4. Offering psychotherapy services
5. Working in criminal courts and conduct evaluations of mental competency
6. Work with child witnesses.
I was interested in Forensics psychology because I was interested in Forensic science and therefore want to look into the psychology side of it, and see if any aspects are similar.
Counselling Psychology
This is a field of psychology that mostly does counselling hence the name counselling psychologist. This type of psychologist excels in the following areas; Counselling and psychotherapy, mental health disorders, program development and evaluation and meditation. So they take care of largely talking to people and making sure people have balance in their lives. I have chosen this field of psychology because this is what I would like to do with my life.
http://www.psychology.org.au/community/specialist/counselling/
Sport Psychology is the scientific study of people and the behaviours in sport giving tips, techniques and skills for improving mental and sport performance. Sport psychologists specialise in how participation in sport, exercise, and physical activity may enhance personal development and wellbeing throughout someone’s life. Sport psychologists work with recreational and professional athletes, coaches and trainers, umpires and referees and performance artists. Sport psychologists work in areas such as, performance enhancement and mental skill development, anxiety and weight management, concentration and mental preparation, team building, health and wellness coaching, recovery and injury rehabilitation and balancing sport and study.
Clinical Neuropsychologists specialize in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders affecting the brain, such as Developmental disorders (Mental Retardation), Learning disabilities (Auditory processing disorder) and neurological (Insomnia), medical and psychiatric (DID) conditions.
Clinical Neuropsychologists are usually called on to assess, diagnose and treat a wide range of disorders and conditions that can manifest at any point in ones lifetime, including;
• Developmental
• Infectious
• Nutritional
• Metabolic
• Drug/Alcohol
• Psychiatric
• Traumatic
• Etc.
This Area of psychology interests me because I have always been fascinated by Mental Disorders such as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Schizophrenia.
Wikipeadia’s multiple pages on many of the disorders were helpful in the making of this comment, and no Annahs were hurt in the process.
Counselling Psychology
They basically help individuals or groups with troubles they may have with their wellbeing, relationships, work, recreation, health and crisis management.
Even though counselling psychologists are a bit similar to clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists tend to work with client suffering from less severe types of mental illnesses.
Their main focus is to provide therapeutic treatments to clients who are experiencing a wide variety of symptoms.
They also specialise in areas of emotional, social, vocational, educational, development and organizational concerns of the human life span.
They can consult with a variety of different agencies eg. Schools, government, private organizations) teach at a college level, do researches, etc.
They can work in a variety of different settings as well. Many of them include: college counselling centres, private practice, hospitals, private organizations and government.
I chose this area of psychology to get a better knowledge about what they specialise in and to understand their roles as counselling psychologists.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychology is the application of psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of the legal and criminal justice system. It includes giving psychological evidence in courts, eg. written reports, Consultation to areas of the legal and justice system, eg. impact of court proceedings on witnesses and other participants or child protection and victims needs, the Development and delivery of research and clinical services to forensic populations, eg. counselling children affected by divorce or psychotherapy for victims of crime. This area of psychology interests me because I was interested in going into forensics science as a career and would like to see the psychological side of the science.
I found these websites helpful:
http://www.jcu.edu.au/sass/psychology/JCUPRD_021292.html
http://www.psychology.org.au/study/careers/#s4
http://members.optushome.com.au/dwillsh/
Forensic Psychology
This is the use of psychology in the criminal justice system, to assist the courts in upholding JUSTISICE. In this job, a psychologist would provide psychological assessments and reports for the court records, and counsel victims, witnesses and justice personnel. They may also be called up to the stand as an expert witness and give an expert opinion on psychological matters to the court. They will also make sure a defendant is (mentally) fit to stand in court. They are also called in to intervene in child abuse and divorce cases. It is more behind the scenes job compared to judges and attorneys, but is nevertheless a vital part of the law. This field of psychology interested me because I have been having an interest in legal proceedings recently.
Social psychology focuses on how social interaction influences behaviour of groups and individuals . Social Psychologists work in many different places. They can work in places such as Schools, the Government, offices and hospitals. In these places they conduct research, perform experiments on interactions, help hire workers in businesses and train these workers. They also help mediate workplace conflicts.
We chose this type of psychology because we did not know anything about the topic and so we were intrigued as to what they studied.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychology involves applying psychology to the field of criminal investigation and the law. In recent years, the popularity of Forensic Psychology has grown phenomenally. Forensic Psychologists practice psychology within the criminal justice system and courts.
Forensic Psychologists; can be involved in custody disputes, insurance claims, perform child custody evaluations, offer psychotherapy services and investigate reports of abuse.
I like Forensic Psychology as it’s been sensationalized on television and in the movies in the past years, and has really caught my attention. Although not always accurate, the things they do like almost psychically being able to deduce a killer’s next move.
They apply psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of legal and criminal justice systems, and to conducting research in relevant areas.
Sports Psychology
Sports Psychology is the study of psychological factors that affect participation and performance in sports. It is also specialisation within the brain psychology and kinesiology that seeks to understand psychological and mental factors that affect performance in sports, physical activity and exercise. Sports psychologists deal with increasing performance by managing emotions and minimizing the effects of injury and poor performance. Some of the most important skills taught are goal setting, relaxation, visualization self talk and so forth.
Forensic psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with criminals and the law. It is the study of criminal behaviour. It is used in investigations to solve crimes and to get into the mind of a criminal. It gives insight into why criminals commit the crimes they do; what influences them to carry them out. Criminal psychologists can either be used in court or on the field solving serious offences. These acts committed are usually that of a serial murderer/and or rapist. In the court the psychologists are used to give the jury a perspective of the accused mind. They are used to explain why they committed their crimes, whether it may be because of their rough childhood or a mental disorder they suffer from. If criminal psychologists aren’t in the court they’re using something called criminal profiling to solve serious acts of crime. They use a method that pin points what type of personal they’re pursuing and who their next victim may be. They are most importantly used to prevent the next act of the criminal from occurring. Once caught, psychologist interviews them and work out what is was that made them commit their crimes.
I love this area of psychology as I love solving problems. To get into the mind of a criminal is ridiculously interesting. What makes them commit such horrid crimes is intriguing, there has to be a reason behind it. It’s something I would highly consider doing.
Health psychology
Health psychology investigates how biological, psychological, environmental, and cultural factors are involved in physical health. This field of psychology aims to promote positive health and prevent illnesses.
Health psychologists focus mainly on the health and well being of patients. They help people with their illnesses/problems that they are having with their health. Some of the 5 tasks that he/she might be regularly called upon to do are:
• Try to prevent bad health habits e.g smoking, eating.
• Perform mental tests to assess their patient.
• Try to prevent illnesses (depression)
• Help relationships between health professionals. (doctors, nurses etc.)
• Work with community members.
We chose to research Health psychology because we think it would be interesting to try and help people get out of their bad health habits and to help patients achieve their personal health goals. We find health to be a vast topic that is enjoyable to learn about as we play sport and we also partake in Health and Human development class at school.
Forensic psychology.
The application of psychology to legal issues, commonly used for the offering an expert testimony in court. In civil or criminal cases, forensic psychologists can evaluate individual people to question capability to stand trial, relationship of a mental disorder to a crime or accident and potential dangerous behaviour in the future. As well as conducting interviews and conduct psychological tests, they gather a forensic history, which consists of information such as police reports, hospital records and statements of witnesses. They are also expected to have a grasp of significant legal questions. In a child-custody case, a forensic psychologist might be asked to evaluate living environments, parents, and the child’s characteristics in order to recommend a custody decision in the child’s best interests.
Forensic psychology is a field of psychology that is also a legal profession. It is usually used in the court for providing information as evidence to the judge and juries. It is required for a forensic psychologist to be knowledgeable of both human psychology and basic courtroom actions, as they are responsible for giving expert opinion in the case. Their work also includes assessing the psychological state of those involved, predicting future behaviours and most importantly, translating them for use in court. I chose to research about psychologists in this field of work because I am interested in criminal psychology and also in the laws relating to psychology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_psychology
Social psychology is the study of civilians’ thoughts and behaviours in a social context. Social psychology focuses on how the individual is influenced by the real, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings. The history of social psychology first began post WWII. In the aftermath of the Holocaust social psychologists gained prominence through studying the effects of social influence, conformity and obedience. Currently, many social psychologists work in universities, businesses or government agencies conducting research on human behavior. Applied social psychologists are also integral in the process of businesses hiring and training employees. Some social psychologists choose to evaluate educational programs to determine if certain strategies are effective. Social psychology intrigues me because it deals with individuals in the context of their own particular society. It allows psychologist to simultaneously gain insight into not only the individual, but the society as well. Social psychology allows for psychologist to recognize in individuals many of the flaws and strengths of societies.
Neuropsychology is a branch of clinical Psychology that studies how the brain and nervous system affect how we function on a daily basis. A clinical Neuropsychology is a proffesional within the field of Psychology with special expertise in the applied science of brain behaviour relationships.The Clinical neurpyschologist integrates information gathered during the evaluation process with information provided by other medical providers to identify and diagnose neurobehavorial dissorders.
Health psychology is a psychology filed that focuses on how biological, social and psychological factors influence health and illness. It has four divisions: clinical health psychology, public health psychology, community health psychology and critical health psychology. The health psychologists help people with their healthy problems and help people improve their quality of life and addressing specific health issues. Here are the five tasks:
1 Preventing obesity and other bad habits
2 Maintaining a positive outlook in life
3 Preventing anxiety and depression
4 Enhance the quality of life of individuals
5 Promote health behaviours
I chose health psychology because I think this is an interesting and helpful filed in psychology. And it’s a very amazing thing if I help someone to get rid of his bad habits.
I found this website useful:
http://psychcentral.com/lib/2011/an-overview-of-health-psychology/all/1/
Social psychology is the scientific word used to describe people’s thoughts, feelings and behavior.
Social psychology covers topics such as group behaviour, social awareness, authority, body language, anger, happiness and many other emotions. You should know that social psychology isn’t just about analysing social influences. It is about difference in thoughts and the way people interact with others. These two things are important to understaning social behaviour.
Social psychology has become popular in the past twentieth century. I have no idea how many times I just said the word ‘social’.
Social Psychology is the study of how people’s actions, influence, thoughts and feelings are influenced by the presence of others, actual or implied.
Social Psychologists generally work on conducting the research of human behaviour. They often work in areas such as market research, organizational management, systems design and other areas.
They can also work in government facilities, hospitals, non-profit organizations, universities, secondary schools and some other education environments to conduct research and run classes.
Many of these psychologists work in a small specific area of Social psychology, such as behaviour, leadership, attitudes and/or perception.
This area interests me as I believe that now and in the near future it will be needed more and more. I beleive that studying about humans and their social and individual interactions could help an individual become more in touch with their own behaviours as well as aiding others in an understanding process.
Forensic Psychology is the application of psychological theories and skills on the functioning and understaing of both the legal and justice systems. Forensic psychologists are availiable for support for both perpretrators and victims. They often work in areas such as criminal, civil and family contexts. Forensic psychologists also study causes, prevention and also the treatment of criminal acts.
Forensic psychologists may write psychological reports for the courts, appear in court, intervene in child abuse and divorce cases as well as implementing crime prevention programs.
Organisational psychologists endeavor to improve the performance and satisfaction of individuals within a workplace. They can help employees to accept new changes, become more motivated or work more efficiently.
As well as working with permanent employees they can interview and assess new applicants for jobs, so that the company can hire the person best suited for the role.
Psychologists in this area can assess the physical and mental needs of employees and suggest changes to working environments (such as changes in lighting or facilitating workplace team building activities). Such modifications aim to improve the productivity, attitude and happiness of employees by creating a better working atmosphere. Therefore Organisational psychologists not only minimise existing problems, they prevent them from occurring in the first place.
I chose to research this field because I want to move into either organisational psychology or change management after university.
Sport physcology is the scientific study of the physcological factors that relate to physical activity, professional sport and exercise. Sport psychologists aim to promote self-belief and confidence in athletes and also help in stress management, mental preparation, performance, concentration and motivation and other such areas. A sport psychologist may work as part of a sporting team or organisation or in a practice. I chose sport psychology because it interests me and i enjoy sport. i found this website helpful – http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/sport-psychology-for-athletes/what-is-sports-psychology/.
Forensic Psychology combines psychological procedures with the criminal justice system. Forensic Psychologists have to add their psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the understanding and how the legal and criminal justice systems work. Forensic Psychologists can play a number of key roles in criminal investigation. After a crime, forensic psychologists may be asked as a criminal profiler. Criminal profiling involves the psychologists using their understanding of human behaviour and motivation so that they can create a psychological profile for the offender.
Works done by Forensic Psychology involves:
– reporting evidence for use in legal proceedings.
– insurance claims
-working in a criminal courts and conduct evaluation of mental competency .
– work with child witnesses
– offering psychotherapy services.
I chose to do Forensic Psychology because, one of the things I wanted to do as my career is to become forensic psychologist and I would like to deal with criminal cases.
Social psychology is a study on how a person’s mental life and behavior are shaped by interactions with other people. They study all aspects of a person such as, interpersonal relationships, including both individual and group influences, and seek ways to improve such interactions. their research helps us to understand how people form attitudes toward others, and when these are harmful. Social psychologists work in a variety of settings, academic institutions (where they teach and conduct research), to advertising agencies (where they study consumer attitudes and preferences), to businesses and government agencies (where they help with a variety of problems in organization and management). i picked social psychology because it sounds interesting to me.
Organisational Psychologists exercise the study of people at work. They seek to gain knowledge on the behaviour and performance of individuals and/or groups in a work environment. Organisational Psychologists look into the patterns and habits of people at work, they can make changes to adapt to the needs of the employers and employees. They look at the surroundings of individuals, interaction between co-workers, safety and physical and mental stability in work environments. Organisational Psychologists also have the power to interview a job applicant and make the decision whether or not they are suitable and capable to carry out the job. Research carried out by these psychologists can be in the form of questionnaires, surveys, historical data, human judgement or experiments (such as tampering with small variables like the room temperature and recording the effect).
I chose to research organisational psychologists because the word ‘organisation’ appeals to me and furthermore I am looking for a job.
Social Psychology is essentially the study of how a person is influenced by others around them. Social psychologists use controlled experiments in groups of people, often changing one variable and measuring the effect. It’s impossible to test everyone in an experiment, so sample groups are organised. Experimentation is the essence of social psychology as it is an empirical science. Social psychology interests me due to its relevance to everyone and the interesting results its experiments yield.
Sports psychology:
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Sport psychologists over a range of topics including, “motivation to persist and achieve, psychological considerations in sport injury and rehabilitation, counseling techniques with athletes, assessing talent, exercise adherence and well-being, self-perceptions related to achieving, expertise in sport, youth sport and performance enhancement and self-regulation techniques.” I chose sport psychology because i’ve never done reserch on it and it interested me. Also because i enjoy sports. 🙂
http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/p/sportspsyc.htm
Social psychology is the study of how people behave, think and feel when influenced by others. Social psychologists use methods like observing, surveying and experimenting to scientifically determine how one may act and interact with peers. Experiments and observations could take place at places ranging from hospitals to schools/universities or any other form of educational community. Attitudes, aggression/violence and group behaviour are just some of the examples that social psychologists research for.
I chose to research on social psychology because it interests me how some people may act and interact differently towards different people so i wanted to find out more of what social psychologists specifically do.
Clinical Psychology is the field that integrates the science of psychology with the treatment of complex problems. Clinical Psychology works with psychological disorders; some specialize in only a certain disorder and some work with clients suffering from a variety of problems.
Some of the job roles performed by those working in clinical psychology are:
Assessment and diagnosis of psychological disorders
Treatment of psychological disorders
Offering testimony in legal settings
Teaching
Conducting research
Drug and alcohol treatment
Creating and administering program to treat and prevent social problems
Clinical Psychologists assess, diagnose, predict, prevent and treat mental illnesses, abnormal behaviour, psychiatric problems and other individual or group problems. I chose Clinical Psychology as it has a vast amount of things in which you could choose to do and it is quite interesting.
Forensic Psychology is a specialisation within psychology which deals with the criminal justice system. They use their psychological knowledge to help with understanding how the legal system works. Those who specialise in Forensic Psychology may be called upon to do the following tasks: assessing the accused in a case to see whether he/she is competent enough to attend the trial, to assess the accused in regards to his/her sanity, to assess whether the sentence should be mitigated due to minor mental disorders, to find out if one is faking a mental illness in court and to assess whether the accused is likely to re-offend. I chose Forensic Psychology because I thought it would be an interesting field to find out more about, since I have an interest in the legal system.
Organisational psychology is about studying how people work, usually in a naturalistic environment, and then using different strategies to change the way they work or approach work.
Organisational psychologists work with organisations, teams and employees to devise ways to increase productivity.
Psychologists use tested strategies and various psychological research to gather measurable, replicable and cost-effective results.
The kind of work done by these psychologists covers things like helping employees gain motivation or showing managers who they should recruit.
I chose this area for brief research because I was curious as to what it was about and what they did.
I found http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/cop/about_us/org_psychologists/ very helpful, probably because it’s the APS website.
Social psychologists research how the presence of others be it imaginary or implied presence affects how we think feel and react to things, the kind of research done by social psychologists are usually in the form of experiments and naturalistic observation, with the results of these often being made into a correlation of results, they conduct research, perform experiments, work in employment and help control workplace issues. I chose this school of psychology because the idea of how we get influenced and how to control it seems pretty sweet.
Forensic AWESOMENESS!
Forensic psychology is a field that mixes both psychology and the law. This specific branch of psychology has witnessed dramatic growth, with many students involving themselves wilfully. Many movies and television shows have popularized the field, with forensic psychologists eventually solving the case and catching the bad guy. You may have heard of NCIS and Criminal Minds, as these are brilliant psychologists portrayed as heroes.
The field forensic psychology is difficult to narrow down. Forensic psychologists may or may not do one or more of the following things:
1. Research. He/she may interview incarcerated criminals to understand why they committed the crime. The research data can then be collected, analysed and then published. This kind of study can then be used for prevention of similar crimes.
2. Act as an expert witness. As an expert witness, a forensic psychologist provides the judge and jurors with psychological facts related to the crime. He/she can also be used to advise the judge of the sentence being handed out.
3. Profiling. As a psychologist, they are able to sort through motives and create an accurate profile of a criminal. And whether or not they will be likely to commit a crime again.
With such a wide field of study, there is almost no limit to what a forensic psychologist can do.
Quite clearly, forensic psychology is awesome.
The aim of social psychology is to study, understand and explain how thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. Social psychologists observe many social influences, perceptions and interactions. They are called to define and deal with the factors and conditions that influence our actions, thoughts and feelings in social situations. Social psychologists can work in many places where social interaction is common, such as schools, universities, workplaces and hospitals. For example, one might study children with a serious illness, such as cancer, to see if living with other children who have the same illness makes them more depressed than living with other healthy children.
I am interested in this area of psychology because I am intrigued by the way the mind works, when influenced by other people or different social situations.
Clinical psychology involves the examination, treatment (by counselling) and identification of mental illnesses and psychological problems. Clinical psychologists also identify symptoms that may lead to a mental illness in a patient and prevent this illness from occurring in a patient. The sort of mental illnesses they treat include types of depression, attention deficit disorders, anxiety, sleep disorders etc. Clinical psychologists consult their patients using counselling and other verbal and behavioral therapies but cannot prescribe medicine. If an illness is serious and has already been diagnosed in a patient, clinical psychologists can refer patients to psychiatrists who unlike psychologists can prescribe medicine. I chose this field of psychology because I find it interesting how clinical psychologists treat depression and other common psychological illnesses.
Forensic psychology is usually defined as being a study in between psychology and the law. Forensic psychologists are typically used in the criminal justice system to provide evidence for cases. Examples of this are assessments of mental illness as many of the accused plead certain illnesses in the hope of getting a softer sentence (ie insanity, which is where the offender claims no responsibility for his/her due to mental illness) and determining the risk factor of the offender committing another crime in the future. They must know how to appropriately talk to judges, attorneys and many other legal identities as that is who their findings are usually shown to. They may also be used after a trial as a criminal profiler. Certain aspects of the criminal’s personality makeup are determined from his/her choices before, during and after the crime. Profilers then apply their knowledge to create a profile including factors such as human behaviour and motivation for committing the crime.
The APA (Australian Psychology Association) explains forensic psychology as using psychological thinking and skills to aid in the overall understanding of the legal and criminal justice system. Forensic psychology pulls together causes, prevention and treatment of criminal behaviour into the one heading. To read more about Forensic Psychology and what it is click the link below:
http://www.jcu.edu.au/sass/psychology/jcuprd_021292.html
Often forensic psychologists are a part of lawsuits, custody disputes and insurance claims. Some may work in family courts and offer therapy sessions, they also look in to reports of child abuse and undergo visitation risk test. Some even perform child custody evalutations.
This area of psychology interests me because it is ultimately what I would like to be when I am older, I don’t exactly know how to explain my fascination for it though.
This website helped me:
http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/a/forensicpsych.htm
Cognitive Psychology focuses on how humans process and treat the information that is delivered to them. It investigates our mental abilities such as perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, reason and understanding. The term cognition derives from Latin, which literally means “knowing”. Basically, psychologists in this area study the “mental act or process in which knowledge is required”.
Cognitive psychologists typically use a case study or a laboratory experiment to investigate behaviours. They may research how to improve or cure conditions linked with learning and memory difficulties such as Alzheimer’s. Improving education by devising new methods to make teaching more affective is a main area of work for a cognitive psychologist. For example, they may study the link between language and linguistics to improve on speech problems. Other areas of work a cognitive psychologist may be called upon to do is researching for universities and schools, and improving and teaching humans better language, thinking, memory and categorization skills.
I choose cognitive psychology because the subject intrigues me.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic Psychology is the application of psychology focusing particularly in using psychological knowledge in crimes or legal trials. Forensics psychologists may be required to tell a courtroom of particular psychological knowledge or to give their opinion of why the defendant or accused may have behaved in the way they did from a psychological perspective. Forensic psychologists may be required to do pre- or post- reports on certain criminals, especially if it is suspected they have psychological trauma, defects or syndromes (such as a criminal who has bi-polar disorder or autism spectrum disorder). I find forensic psychology particularly interesting because it would be good to learn about patterns involving criminal behaviour so we would be able to predict future behaviours of some individuals. It would also just be fascinating to learn whether how someone acts is actually dependant on their physical brain or if all people have the same brain and certain people just choose to do other things with their lives.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with courtrooms and legal proceedings. A forensic psychologist’s job involves testifying in court, using a psychological reason for their case. A forensic psychologist may be involved in custody disputes, insurance claims, they can provide second opinions, provide psychotherapy to crime victims and can assess competency. This area of psychology interest’s me because I am fascinated by the way that people can and it all being related to psychology, such as people brutally murdering others, yet not seeming fussed by it.
Biological psychology (also known as physiological psychology) primarily explores the idea that behaviours can be explained in terms of biology. Biological psychology explores the relationship between mind and body. The study of the brain (or neuroscience) also plays a large role in this field as psychological behaviours and processes are strongly tied in with the nervous system. Biological psychologists may be involved in research to do with animal psychology, (and the comparison of animals in terms of instincts and behaviours) heredity and genetics, brain disorders and the effects of hormones in the body. Studies conducted by biological psychologists are highly scientific and aim to give logical meaning to psychological phenomena. Biological psychology particularly interests me because I enjoy finding out how and why things work. Biological psychology presents logical reasons for observable characteristics and traits.
Social Psychology is a scientific study of how people’s thoughts and behaviours can be influenced by other people and the situation they are in. Social Psychology studies the behaviour of individuals, behaviours of groups, people’s leaderships, how particular people treat other particular people – which could be prejudice, different behaviours in the presence of different people and other interactions between people and groups. A social psychologist would conduct research on human behaviour, discover solutions to real world problems, encourage people to behave according to the law and offer advice to businesses or employees. They could work in a university or for a business or government. I decided to research this area of psychology as its studies are about how humans interact with others, and what they feel, think and how they behave. I thought that seemed interesting to understand what how others behave, so I chose to research social psychology.
Clinical Psychology
Clinical Psychology is known to be the largest subfield within Psychology. Clinical Psychologists undergo extensive training in order to assess, diagnose and treat severe mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Clinical Psychologists work directly with individuals of all ages, as well as groups and families. They may also be involved in research, teaching and supervision, program development and evaluation, consultation and professional practice. Clinical Psychologists use various techniques, some of which include psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, behaviour therapy and cognitive retraining.
Thought you guys would enjoy this site: http://www.careerexchange.com.au who have a lot of Psychology jobs and career advice. As someone who will soon be finishing my Honours and looking for some work, I’ve found the website quite useful.
Forensic Psychologists use psychological knowledge and skills to research and assist in the legal and criminal justice systems. They work in many legal and criminal areas and provide services for many people related to these areas. They can be employed in areas such as police, child protection, legal matters, alcohol and drug services and mental health. The skills and work required in this area of expertise include the ability to write a report, psychological diagnosis and assessment, forensic interviewing and psychological intervention. This are interested us because my dad works for Victoria police force and has worked in the forensic area. Also we are very interested in forensic science and this ties in with the study of forensic psychology.
Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychologists are the link between psychology and the legal system. They use their psychological expertise to provide assistance to those in the criminal justice system such as offenders, victims and investigators.
Forensic psychologists are involved in many different areas including the Police Force, child protection services, addiction and injury rehabilitation, courts and correctional facilities. They carry out many tasks including collecting and reporting evidence, providing psychological intervention, performing psychological diagnosis and forensic interviewing (which is interviewing a child to try and discern whether he/she has been a victim of abuse).
This area of psychology interests us because we find looking at the psychological side of the legal system interesting and secretly hope that forensic psychologists are a little bit like Sherlock Holmes, except dealing with the people more than the crime scene.
Websites we found helpful:
http://www.practicenotes.org/vol8_no1/what_is.htm
http://www.psychology.org.au/community/specialist/forensic/
Forensic psychology:
Forensic psychology is a crossover between the legal system and psychology. They provide services that are clinical and forensic. They apply their psychological knowledge to legal and criminal situations to better understand the victims and the offenders.
Tasks done by Forensic Psychologists
• Creating criminal profiles for police
• Assessment of offenders
• Expert witness in a court of law
• Prison psychologists
• Psychologists in mental institutions for mentally disordered offenders
This area of psychology interests us as we both enjoy TV shows such as criminal minds that have forensic psychologists in them and we both are passionate about researching about serial killers as we find it interesting to find out about their mindset and their motives.
Helpful Websites: http://www.ihecrim.fr/docs/fiches/Psychologie%20et%20Sciences%20Forensiques/Carrieres%20en%20Forensic%20Psychology.htm