Where will your career in psychology take you?
Neuropsychologists study the relationship of abilities, behaviors, and cognitive functions of people. They are in charge of assessing, diagnosing, and then clinically treating abnormal development, medical, psychological, or neurological conditions and problems. They study brain anatomy, diseases, and dysfunction in hopes of better understanding neurological issues that afflict people everywhere.
Media psychology is the intersection between our media-rich society and psychology, and media psychologists are charged with examining and studying that intersection and trying to answer questions by merging their understanding of human behavior and emotions and how it relates to their use, consumption, and reaction to media. They measure motivations of the content producer, user response to the content, user perceptions and reactions, and research about technological development in order to help better understand how people interact with the media and technology.
Industrial/Organizational psychologists are scientists who study employees, the workplace environment, and organizational structure. They are tasked with determining how to make an organization more productive and efficient by examining employee behaviors and the motivations behind them, external workplace influencers, and infrastructure in place and how it can be improved. They try to identify spots where effectiveness and efficiency can be improved through hiring best practices, feedback, and training drills.
Geriatric Psychologists are specialized psychology professionals who work specifically with the elderly to treat their mental and physical issues. While many issues that affect the elderly may also affect younger adults, there are also specific mental and physical problems (dementia, Alzheimer's, etc.) that predominantly affect elderly patients. These psychologists have been trained in how to treat these issues in particular and thus generally work exclusively with elderly patients and clients.
Cognitive psychologists study the human thought process by examining how people process and store information, especially in regards to subjects like language, decision-making, deductive reasoning, and problem-solving. Their research consists of intensive study of the aforementioned subjects and then applying that information so they can help solve real-world problems and help people understand their behavior and the behavior of others better.
Cognitive neuroscientists examine and understand brain functions and how they relate to behavior and development. Their primary job responsibility is to study and conduct research on how and why humans think and behave the way they do. They combine science and psychological knowledge to try and understand how behavior and actions are controlled by neural activity and functions.
Child psychologists are responsible for studying, analyzing, and diagnosing the mental, social, and emotional development and behavior of children from birth through adolescence. Some of the things that child psychologists study include genetics, personality and brain development, social maturation, and language development. They are also charged with helping identify, prevent, and treat social, emotional, and developmental issues that inevitably arise in children.
Forensic Psychologists are the intermediaries between the field of psychology and the justice system because they are responsible for applying psychology to the field of justice, criminal investigation, and law. Forensic psychologists are called upon during legal disputes like custody battles, insurance hearings, and other types of lawsuits. They investigate reports, evaluate the behavior of both parties, and determine mental competency of defendants.
Educational Psychologists have the unenviable job of studying and understanding how people are capable of learning in educational settings, the efficacy of certain educational methods, and the effectiveness of the instructional process. They help identify gifted and disabled learners and try to drill down to the root of the problem in hopes of identifying and treating issues in the early stages. Educational psychologists take a proactive rather than reactive approach to the job and use their research to improve educational experiences for people of all learning styles.