The Nature of Psychology Work

The Nature of Psychology Work Student Resources Careers Print An Overview of Working as a Psychologist By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on August 05, 2019 Alain SHRODER / ONOKY / Getty Images More in Student Resources Careers APA Style and Writing Study Guides and Tips Broadly speaking, psychologists study the mind and behavior, but because psychology is such a diverse field, the work that individual psychologists do can vary dramatically. They often specialize in a specific area, for example, and there are myriad of psychology specialties. Heres an overview of the ways in which a psychologist might funnel his or her expertise into a career. Two Types of Psychology Work Psychologists may work in a wide variety of settings, including schools, universities, hospitals, private clinics, government offices, corporations, and small businesses. Psychologists primarily work in one of two broad areas: research psychology or applied psychology. Research psychologists investigate the physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and biological bases of human thought and behavior. They often conduct experiments and may work at a college or university, or be employed by a business or government office. Applied psychologists use their knowledge of human behavior to solve real-world problems or help people overcome psychological distress. Applied psychologists may work directly with patients in a healthcare setting, such as in a hospital, mental health clinic, school, or private practice. Other applied psychologists may work in government, industry, business, or nonprofit settings. In addition to applying their knowledge of psychology directly, these professionals also may perform research, offer training, design products, create programs, or provide psychological advice. A Day in the Life of a Psychologist Psychologists employed in research settings often spend a great deal of time developing hypotheses and collecting data. The exact research methods they use depend largely on the topic theyre studying. For example, some psychologists might perform research using lab experiments, while others might use naturalistic observation. Other methods commonly used include administering questionnaires, clinical studies, surveys, and interviews. Psychologists employed in health care settings often spend a considerable amount of time working directly with clients. This might involve conducting assessments of new patients, diagnosing mental disorders, and performing psychotherapy. Psychologists also frequently consult with other health professionals, including doctors, nurses and other therapists. Specialty Areas in Psychology Here are some examples of the richly diverse specialties that make up the field of psychology. Clinical psychologists  make up the single largest specialty area in psychology. Clinicians are psychologists who assess, diagnose, and treat mental illnesses. They frequently work in mental health centers, private or group practices, or hospitals. Within the area of clinical psychology, there also are a number of sub-specialty areas. Some professionals are generalists and work with a wide range of clients while others specialize in treating certain types of  psychological disorders  or a certain age group. For example, some clinical psychologists might work in a hospital setting with individuals suffering from brain injuries or neurological conditions. Other clinical psychologists might work in mental health centers to counsel individuals or families coping with stress, mental illness, substance abuse, or personal problems. Clinical psychologists usually perform a broad range of tasks on a daily basis, such as interviewing patients, conducting assessments, giving diagnostic tests, performing  psychotherapy,  and administering programs. They might work in a hospital, school, university, prison, mental health clinic, or private practice. There also are a number of different sub-specialty areas within clinical psychology, including  health psychology, neuropsychology, and geropsychology. According to the  Occupational Outlook Handbook, health psychologists are focused on promoting healthy behaviors. Neuropsychologists focus on investigating the relationship between the brain and behavior. Geropsychologists specialize in treating the special concerns of elderly populations. Counseling psychologists  make up another large specialty area in psychology. These professionals perform many of the same tasks that clinical psychologists do, but counseling psychologists tend to work with clients suffering from less severe forms of mental illness. Counseling psychology focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients who experience a wide variety of symptoms. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the field as a psychological specialty [that] facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns. Experimental psychologists  (or research psychologists) conduct research on the behavior of humans and animals. They often work at universities, private research centers, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Some major areas of research include substance abuse, genetics, neuroscience, motivation, and cognitive processes. Forensic psychologists  work in the specialty area that deals with the intersection of psychology and the law. Forensic psychologists are often involved in custody disputes, insurance claims, and lawsuits. Some professionals work in family courts and offer psychotherapy services, perform child custody evaluations, investigate reports of child abuse and conduct visitation risk assessments. Those working in the civil courts often assess competency, provide second opinions, and provide psychotherapy to crime victims. Professionals working in the criminal courts conduct evaluations of mental competency, work with child witnesses, and do  assessments of juvenile and adult offenders. Social psychologists  are focused on understanding how interactions with other people impact individual and group behavior. These professionals often work in areas such as market research, organizational management, systems design, and other applied areas. Prominent areas of study include group behavior, leadership,  attitudes, and perception.

Forensic Science Example

Forensic Science Example Forensic Science â€" Assignment Example > 1.0TitleChromatography is the processes used to separate dyes after exposing pen marks to a solvent that will dissolve the ink. 2.0. AbstractThe processes used here is for separating ink pigments with the use of paper chromatography. As the water moves through the paper strip it dissolves the pen ink. The water/alcohol moves past the ink and begins to carry the particles that make the ink up. It is clear that, the lightest colour particles move very fast and covers the longest distance. The process separates all the pigments that make up the ink being tested. It was clearly indicated that, even though a pen may be using a specific ink, that ink is made up of different colours and this processes can be very effective in uncovering criminal activities. 3.0 Introduction Most of the substances that people come into contact with on a daily basis are impure. This means that they are mixtures. Therefore a major focus of research in chemistry is coming up with methods and ways of separati ng and indentifying components of mixtures (Cai et al, 2007). Many separation methods solely rely on physical differences between the component mixture like where there is the use of filtration, centrifugation and distillation. Chromatography uses the differences in solubility and adsorption. Chromatography is a method that is used to analyze mixtures by separating them into the chemicals they were made from (Warren, 2005) It is derived from Greek words ‘Chromat’ which means colour and ‘graphon’ which means to write. While it is an ink chromatography, one separates the colour pigments that make up the colour of the pen. This entails that, even if a pen write in one color, the ink is made up from a variety of different color pigments (Horrocks, Coulson, Walsh, 1999). This process can be used to separate ink, blood and gasoline just to mention but a few. Forensic scientists use ink chromatography to solve crimes by matching the documents or stains found at a crime scene to the marker or pen that belongs to a suspect (Gunn, 2009). They then analyze the unknown ink and compare it to writing utensils collected from a possible suspect. When performing this experiment, one puts a dot of ink to be separated at one end of a strip of paper (Wistuba Schurig, 2001). The end is then placed on a solvent which moves up the paper slip dissolving the mixture of chemicals and pulls them up the paper. The results of this process are referred to as chromatogram. It is worth noting, chromatography involves separation of molecules through the stationary phase and the mobile phase. The stationary phase is the paper while the mobile phase is the solvent used. This being the case, the molecules move through the stationary phase at different rates; meaning that, those strongly attached to the paper move slowly and also those that are large while the small ones move very quickly. Substances can be separated on the basis of pH, polarity or even size (Warren, 2005). This pro cess is actually a process that is used to explore capillary action on how a solvent moves up the paper and chromatography which is how different elements of ink are carried along at different rates. To separate several dyes, one must expose the pen marks to a solvent that will dissolve the ink (Trapp Schurig, 2001). In this experiment, two solvents are used: water and alcohol. This is due to the fact that some ink is soluble in water and therefore it is used as solvent. Those inks that are not soluble in water are often soluble in alcohol and therefore alcholol is used to separate the dyes.