When hearing the word "psychologist", most people immediately think of a scene where a man or a woman is sitting in an office, facing a visitor sitting on a light leather sofa, taking advice notes quickly. It is true that most psychologists are engaged in this kind of talk therapy, but professionals in the field of psychology do many other things.
Do you know that some psychologists also study how people interact with the environment at work? Or some psychologists have suggested ways to help slow down global warming? The following are some special fields and related work involved by psychologists.
1. Biopsychologist
Such psychologists are sometimes called physiological psychologists. They are engaged in the study of brain and behavior. Biopsychologists can reveal the possible effects of different biological factors on people's thinking, feeling and behavior by studying the neural mechanism of behavior.
These psychologists may also study how brain diseases and injuries affect people's behavior. By better understanding how people are affected by such injuries and diseases, researchers can also find new ways to prevent, treat and manage serious brain diseases and injuries.
2. Clinical psychologist.
Clinical psychologists assess, diagnose and treat people suffering from psychological distress and mental illness. They will have psychological counseling and establish a treatment plan.
Clinical psychologists usually work in hospitals, mental health clinics and private clinics. They are trained in various therapeutic techniques, but they may also specialize in treating certain diseases or serving specific groups of people. For example, clinical psychologists may specialize in a certain field, such as drug abuse treatment, mental health of children, mental health of adults or mental health of the elderly.
3. Cognitive psychologist.
Cognitive psychologists study how people think, including topics such as decision-making and problem solving. These psychologists are interested in how the brain processes, learns, remembers, distinguishes and extracts information.
Cognitive psychologists can work in various environments, including universities, research centers, nursing homes, hospitals, government agencies and private clinics. Experts in this field usually perform a series of duties, such as conducting academic research and treating patients.
Like other types of psychologists, cognitive psychologists usually choose to specialize in a specific field, such as memory, language development, attention, problem solving or learning disabilities.
4. Comparative psychologist.
Comparative psychologists study the behavior of different species, especially the differences between animals and humans. Why study animals? Because although there are obvious huge differences, people still think that some laws may be applicable to all species.
Therefore, studying the behaviors and reactions of animals such as mice and dogs can also provide some insights for understanding human behavior. Throughout the history of psychology, most of the time similar research has proved to be considerable.
Thorndike's observation of cats, Pavlov's study of dogs and Skinner's experiment of pigeons are just some examples in comparative psychology, from which we can find that studying animal behavior can indeed provide some enlightenment for studying human behavior.
5. Consumer psychologist.
Consumer psychologists, also known as marketing psychologists, mainly study consumer behavior, formulate marketing strategies and promote enterprise development. These psychologists help enterprises better understand consumers' motivations for buying products and services. They study consumers' reactions to marketing information, analyze decision-making strategies, and examine the role of emotions in consumption choices.
Such professionals help enterprises to formulate marketing information, determine the target audience, develop products that can attract specific consumers, and understand how consumers' attitudes towards brands and products are formed and changed. Consumer psychologists complete their work through market research, experiments, natural observation and consumer focus groups.
Step 6 consult a psychologist
Consult a psychologist to provide psychotherapy for people with psychological disorders, behavioral problems, emotional distress, stress and related problems. These professionals have a lot in common with clinical psychologists.
7. Cross-cultural psychologist.
Cross-cultural psychologists study the differences between people in different cultures and how cultural relations affect people's behavior. They often explore how different aspects of behavior are consistent in different cultures, or how they change with cultural changes.
For example, cross-cultural psychologists may study the differences in parenting styles between collectivism culture and individualism culture, and how these differences affect children's adult behavior.
8. Development psychologist.
Developmental psychologists study the development of human life cycle. Some studies focus on a specific period, such as infancy, adolescence, adulthood or old age. These professionals may perform some tasks, such as evaluating children who may have developmental retardation or disability, investigating problems related to aging, and studying the process of language acquisition.
Some developmental psychologists may focus on academic research to deepen people's understanding of the development problems they will face in their lives. Others may engage in some applied work, such as providing corresponding help to visitors in need and coping with development obstacles.
9. Educational psychologist.
These psychologists study the process of how people learn and educate. This may include developing teaching strategies and teaching skills. Some educational psychologists also study problems such as talent or learning disabilities.
This kind of psychologists are concerned about how social factors, cognitive factors and emotional factors will affect the individual learning process. Some professionals in this field specialize in the identification, confirmation and treatment of potential problems that may interfere with children's learning style; Others mainly study the learning process, while others specialize in how to design teaching materials to maximize the personal learning effect.
10. Engineering psychologist.
Engineering psychologists are committed to finding ways to improve human efficiency by improving machines, equipment, technology and working environment. Although some may focus on more basic research, it is usually a very applied field. Engineering psychologists try to solve problems in real life and develop solutions with practical application value in daily life.
Engineering psychologists may perform some research tasks, such as developing technologies that can be used in the health care industry to help patients recover faster. They will also help design and improve products that people use every day, including mobile phones and cars.
1 1. Environmental psychologist.
Environmental psychologists explore the relationship between man and environment, including natural environment and social environment. Their research scope may involve engaging in conservation projects, helping to protect endangered species, and exploring ways to delay the process of global warming.
These professionals can be used as researchers to study the influence of human beings on the living environment. Some environmental psychologists also work in government departments to help formulate environmental policies.
12. Forensic psychologist
Judicial psychologists pay attention to the relationship between psychology and law. This may include counseling in criminal cases or civil disputes, assessing the ownership of children's custody, and providing psychological treatment services for crime victims.
People's interest in this field has soared in recent years due to the calm description in movies and TV programs. Although in these popular cultural descriptions, the forensic psychologist is often portrayed as a detective trying to catch criminals, the real forensic psychologist usually only performs the duties of evaluating whether teenagers and adults are at risk of committing crimes, cooperating with child witnesses and evaluating their ability to testify, and providing professional testimony in court.
13. Health psychologist.
Health psychologists mainly study how psychology, biology, social groups and behaviors affect people's health, diseases and overall health. They work with visitors to help them improve their physical and mental health and personal happiness index to the greatest extent.
Some professionals in this field are engaged in clinical work. They evaluate and treat visitors who have any health problems and seek help. This may include providing psychotherapy, conducting various psychological assessments, teaching people various coping skills and guiding visitors to form healthy behavior patterns.
14. industrial organization psychologist
Industrial and organizational psychologists study people's behaviors in the workplace, such as how to choose the most suitable employees for a job and how to improve employees' work efficiency. Industrial and organizational psychologists can use his or her psychological knowledge to design measurement tools to screen the best candidates for specific jobs.
They may also be responsible for making training plans for existing employees to increase their knowledge, maximize their work efficiency and minimize losses. Industrial and organizational psychologists are often asked to evaluate enterprises at the organizational level, so as to find new means to reduce costs, improve efficiency and employee satisfaction.
15. Personality psychologist.
Personality psychologists study different aspects of personality and how personality traits affect a person's life and behavior. Researchers in the field of personality psychology cover a wide range, and these research contents can often be applied to people's daily lives.
For example, they may study how personality is formed and whether it can be changed. They may also study whether certain personality traits are related to certain diseases; How personality affects people's decision-making process and many factors that affect individual personality development.
16. Social psychologist.
Social psychologists study group behavior, including people's behavior in social environment and how group behavior affects individual behavior. The research scope of social psychologists is relatively large, and the possible research topics include attitude, prejudice, communication, interpersonal relationship, aggression, persuasion and so on.
For some professionals, this mainly involves carrying out basic research to deepen our understanding of social behavior. In other cases, social psychologists use their skills and knowledge to influence people's behavior, thus cultivating healthier and more productive groups.