What is Cognitive Psychology?

Cognitive Psychology is a branch of science and usually seen as a core discipline within psychology. It is one of the major branches of psychology that has generated tremendous job opportunities for aspirants. It generally focuses on issues related to memory, information processing, thinking processes, speech, language and other elements like problem solving and decision making. Individuals who make their career in this branch of psychology are called cognitive psychologists. Their major responsibility is to examine internal mental processes like learning, language, perception and memory function. Their work is to examine how people work out on different problems and take decisions by using knowledge. Their work basically emphasize on how do people recall and process information.

Today it is one of the prime fields and core disciplines of psychology that has pulled the attentions of many youths of the United States. In fact, in last few years, cognitive psychologists have received enough attention from scientists after they realized the limits of behaviorism. The job opportunities for psychologists are consistently rising and will always be in abundant as long as individual, social and economic unrests prevail in human society.

Career Prospects

A cognitive psychology degree can provide numerous opportunities to make a career in different areas of work. As a cognitive psychologist an individual can work as a consultant for governmental, educational and privately owned organizations. Adding to this, today there are many hospitals, courtrooms, laboratories, schools, universities, prisons, community health centres and corporate offices that are recruiting cognitive psychologists in high numbers.Apart from traditional fields, in recent times cognitive psychology has seen significant growth in other areas as well, such as software development, human-computer interaction and organizational psychology.

Moreover, some of the common career titles that an individual after completing the cognitive psychology program can hold are university instructor, human factors consultant, industrial-organizational manager, and usability specialist. If an individual is not willing to work with any organization he or she can also team up with other professionals like physicians, lawyers, school personnel, computer experts, engineers, other scientists, policymakers, and managers.

Salary Outlook:

Income of cognitive psychologists primarily differs depending upon the position, degree and experience that an individual holds. According to salary survey in the United States, median salary of entry level or employees who has less than one year of experience earn $ 39,663-$ 61,076 per year, whereas professionals who have experience of 20 years or more earn $ 102,111 per year. Vacation and bonus are some additional benefits that a cognitive psychologist can enjoy depending up on the organization.

Training required being a Cognitive Psychologist:

Career in cognitive psychology requires plenty of research to collect data and statistics. Starting from brain imaging to the reading of different quantitative tests that measures the aptitude and behaviour traits, this is a profession that definitely requires a proper training. Thus, addressing to meet these requirements, these days many universities are providing opportunity to study cognitive psychology with doctorate or master's degrees. A PhD in cognitive psychology is an in-depth program and usually takes not more than four to five years. Apart from this, an individual may also need to pursue an internship with an experienced cognitive psychologist before starting his or her own work.

Today it is definitely one of the few career options in psychology that may provide you the long-term job growth and meaningful rewards. So, if you have the qualities required to be a cognitive psychologist and want a decent paying job, getting a master's or doctorate degree in cognitive psychology is surely one if the best ways to secure your professional future.

Students Explore Many Facets In A College Psychology Course

Introduction to Psychology is a course that is usually housed in either the science department or the humanities and serves as a student's first exposure to an extremely interesting and compelling area of study. This course serves to introduce students to the colorful personalities and different areas of psychological study that illuminate the diverse nature of psychological science.

There are many different areas of psychology that are covered in an introductory class in psychology (also known as Psychology 101 at some schools). These areas of study are differentiated based upon the methodology used and the innovator of the method. Some areas of study are behaviorism and abnormal psychology. These are two completely different areas of study, but many students who sign up for this class find themselves interested in these areas.

Psychology is also filled with interesting, colorful personalities who, besides being incredibly perplex and entertaining, are also geniuses in their area of study. Two people that college students may find of great interest are Sigmund Freud and Philip Zimbardo. Freud is considered the father of modern psychology, while Zimbardo's controversial prison study elevated him to consideration as one of the latest and greatest theorists in the field.

Behaviorism is a field of psychology that has been studied throughout the ages, however, in modern times the figure most associated with this field is B.F. Skinner. His famous experiment involving the birds and "Skinner's Box" still fascinates college students today. Behaviorism is related to learning and throughout the introductory course there is much to relate to this area of study.

Abnormal psychology is one of the more interesting areas in the class due to the diverse nature of psychological problems and diseases that are not diagnosed, diagnosed, or misdiagnosed. College students are usually interested in learning about this area due to the strange behaviors associated with disorders such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder or even autism.

Sigmund Freud is considered the father of modern psychology and college students are either fascinated or disgusted by him. It is unusual to be in an Intro to Psychology class and have students who do not have an opinion on Freud. His theories are still controversial today due to the taboo nature of Western society's beliefs. The Oedipal Complex and his theories on the Id, Ego and Superego are among his most well-known works.

Philip Zimbardo's most famous experiment is the Stanford Prison Experiment. He famously turned the Psychology department of Stanford University into a pseudo-prison that had students acting both as the guards and prisoners. This study on psychological power is still controversial, and this controversy resonates among college students.

Popular Places to Study Psychology

Psychology is one of the few subjects that lets students study their own theoretical knowledge through experiments. Over the last few years there has been an increasing demand for programs in psychology. Perhaps, one of the prime reasons for this enormous rise in demand is that the field of psychology offers more job opportunities in comparison to other subjects in the humanities. And, adding to this, the research prospects in psychology are also vast, which is why the demand for courses in psychology has been rising steadily.

Today if we look at the popularity of psychology then we can easily see that the ratio of students opting for degree programs in psychology has also increased proportionately. There are many psychology schools located at different cities that are offering various degree programs in psychology. However, the major point to note is that every school generally has its own specialty, and therefore it's vital to understand the differences between the universities and choose the school not just based on their ranking. At times, you can find a good education containing a good curriculum at a school that may not have a good ranking. The University of Minnesota, for instance is just one of few places where you could enjoy a good education. In fact, as per the recent studies, the University of Minnesota stands out for its fame of excellent tutors, and is a good place to study school psychology and personality genetics.

The University of Michigan is yet another place that offers one of the largest psychology programs. Though, it is known for sheer size, the university is even regarded as an ideal place to learn psychology. The psychology department at this place offers degrees in nearly every area of psychology. Apart from this, Harvard is another place where the study of psychology actually got its recognition. It first opened its psychology department in the 1800s and till now counted among the best schools for graduate level psychology. In addition, the Stanford is another place that is associated with psychology education in almost every way. Being considered as an abode to various research labs for the study of psychology, it has constantly pulled the attention of many students for various good reasons.

Adding to this, Yale University is another ideal option to get trained in various psychology courses. It is one of the big names along with Stanford and Harvard and well known as top preferred psychology schools. The key feature that makes this place an ideal alternative to know psychology is its new Haven campus, which gives student the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge research. And finally, UCSD is one of the best places to go for clinical training and research in psychology. Situated in San Diego, it is very popular for having merit in the set of courses related to psychology that is better than any other course offered by other schools.

Today the field of psychology has many different concentrations. Therefore, the place or school you decide for learning psychology must be closely influenced by the faculty's interests & experience and form of research that gets completed. Understanding human behavior is never easy, but getting trained from experts at best education platforms can surely make a big difference.

Top Psychology Careers

Psychologists are important professionals in the health service field that plays a major role in providing mental health care to patients in hospitals, clinics or private settings. They use scientific methods to study the human mind and work mainly with people who are mentally ill. They help people find ways of functioning better, for example- guide and train people to handle stress in the workplace. Psychologists work in many different settings. The primary employment settings are academic (university and college), educational (elementary and secondary schools, business and industry, and other human service settings. There many psychologists who work individually with clients, while other treats patients with a team of professionals.

Nevertheless, over the past few years, specialty areas in psychology have increased drastically, which in turn resulted in offering a wide range of career options. While some fields concentrate on research, there are many others that primarily focus on practical applications of psychological principles. In fact, it won't be wrong to say that today there are many possible career options for psychology professionals. It is one of the most versatile degrees you can earn.

Today there are several areas of specialization in psychology; and within each area, one may select sub-specialties in which to teach, conduct research, be a practitioner, or some combination of these three activities. So, if you have decided to do a major in psychology, but finding difficult to select the specialization, below are a few of the professions in psychology that have a very strong job prospects. Here are some of the top psychology career options or programs you may consider when you start to plan your career:

Clinical Psychology - Itis one of the single largest employment areas within the field of psychology. Working as a clinical psychologist, your responsibility may generally revolve around reviewing, diagnosing and treating patients suffering from psychological disorders. As a clinical psychologist, you may work in mental health clinics, hospital settings or private practice. So, to become a clinical psychologist, you must have a doctoral-level degree in clinical psychology and these days many states require a minimum of a one-year internship.

Child Psychology - This is one of the many branches of psychology and the most frequently studied specialty areas. This particular branch primarily focuses on the behavior and mind of children from prenatal development through teenage years. It is unique, complex, and differs in terms of the unique perspective a child psychologist take when approaching development. This is one of the few branches of psychology that encompasses a wide range of topics, starting right from the genetic influences on the child behavior to the social pressures on child's mental development.

Industrial & Organizational Psychology- This is yet another important subfield of psychology that basically focuses on workplace behavior and frequently uses different principles of psychology to improve employee productivity and select employees that are best-suited for particular jobs. The most interesting aspect of this psychology is it deeply roots in experimental and differential psychology, and has a number of different sub-areas like personnel psychology, human-computer interaction and human factors. These days, many companies are hiring industrial and organizational psychologists to help refurbish certain aspects of their company.

Forensic Psychology - In the last few years, this has emerged as one of the most preferred psychology careers. As a forensic psychologist, you may require performing duties like scrutinizing insurance claims, investigate child custody disputes, perform child custody evaluations or even investigate suspected child abuse. The career may be filled with extreme challenges, but yet it is an interesting choice providing numerous prospects for career growth.

Today, certainly making career in psychology is gaining more popularity and many students are enrolling in different psychology programs. While salaries can vary from state to state, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a faster than average growth for psychologists. Apart from this, the employment of psychologists is also expected to grow at 15 percent from 2006 to 2016, which is faster than the average for all occupations.