Neuropsychology Central

[mssabrina]

Hi! I just joined the forum - I am very interested in Psychology. I'm currently in a Canadian Colleg and am currently enrolled in the University Transfer Program to Education (In 2 years time...) But I am since becoming more & more interested in Psychology. It peaks my interest and I have read the different fields of psychology etc. I just want to have opinions on everything to do with Psychology... Anything & everything, likes/dislikes, etc. If you can share with me, that would be awesome... I still have time before I must set my major in stone so some info would be greatly appreicated. Thanks!!
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Miss Sabrina

[raortega3]

hello

i am a senior psych major so i will try my best to give you my opinions of the subject.

start with the bad....

psychology has too many loosely applied, may work/may not work theories. when you enter areas of cognitive, psychodynamic and behavioral psychology (for me at least) psychology turns from a scientific study to a circus. by this i mean theories are being made to try and span the behavior being observed which can become overwhelming and literally (for me) frustrating. behavior displayed by an individual can be vastly different than the behavior of say their best friend, because of influences of both biology and environment. How can one researcher sum up an aspect of human behavior for the general population without the solid foundation of understanding, for example, what human behavior is?

an example: in my cognitive psych book there is a passage where the author denies the need to understand the brain in order to determine behavior and the consequences of that behavior. he linked his opinion to a building: one does not need to know the molecules used in the brick of the building to know that it is a building, or to know its architectual design.

but in reality, we do need to know the make up of the building to understand it, because if the empire state building were made out of clay it would not be standing anymore. and how would i look at its architectual design then, or know that it is even a building?

so from my point of view, psychology needs a face lift...atleast from this old perspective that behvior can be studied without the brain, genetics, biochemestry etc...and it will get face lift soon enough. it is a fairly young study that is still waiting for its own Newton and Einstein.



the Pros: the pros of psychology from my perspective is that it is such a fresh science that it has plenty of room for stretching out your thoughts and ideas. it doesnt matter what aspect of psychology you are interested in, your ideas are needed. psychology, little by little, is incorporating more science and more technology into its research, which makes research easier and more reliable (in my opinion). soon, i feel that the BA path to a psych degree will vanish from universities because of the lack of training that the field requires. but all in all, psychology is great because you study the mind, behavior...and that is incredible.

from my experience:

classes in psych are interesting depending on your likes and dislikes...but this is because the study of psychology varies so much (mariage problems, children, drug abuse, sports psych, social psych, psychobiology, school psych, cog psych, therapy.........). the study does use a great amount of statistics to analyze and report its findings so some amount of math is needed (as well as the required calculus courses).

of course this all depends on what you want to do in the field. if you want to become a counselor, then i assume you dont really need the math and the scientific approach...you would probobly be getting classes like cognitive and behavioral psych classes. same i think would apply for professional clinical psychologists, school psychologists (PsyD, EdD) etc.

i really am no expert on the topic and dont know if what i posted will help you at all since most of it was opinionated...if you need anymore help feel free to reply or email me @ raortega3@utep.edu.

[mssabrina]

Thanks person from El Paso! I don't mind what you said at all - I just want opinions on it, good or bad, you definitely covered a lot.
If I do change my field of study (from education to Psychology), I'd likely be looking into Counselling Psychology or School Psychology, as I'd still prefer to remain in a school setting, or similar.
BUt thank you for your reply - it was much appreciated!!
~Sabrina
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Miss Sabrina