A self-assessment test helps students to decide if psychology is the right field to pursue. Other topics include study and test-taking strategies, writing effective papers, career opportunities, applying to graduate school, and interviewing techniques. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc.
The objective of this book is to help students to declare the psychology major if it is in their best interests to do so, to learn strategies regarding how to produce optimal gains in the major experience, and to prepare for either graduate school or a psychology-related professional life.
To create this guide, authors Dunn and Halonen drew extensively on experiences with their own students, as well as interactions with colleagues, especially those who are active in the Society for the Teaching of Psychology Division 2 of the American Psychological Association.
The Handbook is designed to help psychology educators at each stage of their careers, from teaching their first courses and developing their careers to serving as department or program administrators. The goal of the Handbook is to provide teachers, educators, researchers, scholars, and administrators in psychology with current, practical advice on course creation, best practices in psychology pedagogy, course content recommendations, teaching methods and classroom management strategies, advice on student advising, and administrative and professional issues, such as managing one's career, chairing the department, organizing the curriculum, and conducting assessment, among other topics.
The primary audience for this Handbook is college and university-level psychology teachers at both two and four-year institutions at the assistant, associate, and full professor levels, as well as department chairs and other psychology program administrators, who want to improve teaching and learning within their departments. Faculty members in other social science disciplines e. This handbook is designed to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on the full spectrum of people who work and who want to work across the diverse contexts that frame working in the 21st century.
The 43 chapters included are written by eminent researchers in the field of social cognition, and are designed to be understandable and informative to readers with a wide range of backgrounds. One would think its ubiquity would make it necessary for all helping professionals to understand social class and discuss it in therapy and research.
Yet social class and classism are one of the most confusing and difficult concepts to understand and integrate into research and counseling practice--mostly due to the relative lack of psychological theories, research, and quantitative data. Remember that each course you take—communications or otherwise—contributes something unique to your education. Reading Skills The ability to read complex material quickly, understand it, extract the relevant material, and use the information to solve problems are skills that students hone in college and will use in their careers Appleby, For example, employees in business, management, and advertising must keep abreast of the literature in their field by reading books, magazines, and trade publications to help them to perform their jobs more efficiently.
Savvy students quickly recognize that they must adapt their reading to the content at hand and take a different approach when reading scientific articles as compared with reading fiction. Successful employees and graduate students have the ability to listen carefully and attentively and to understand and follow instructions. Lectures and class discussions offer valuable opportunities to develop active listening and note-taking skills that stretch beyond the content of the course.
Computer Literacy Technology is an inevitable part of the workplace. All liberal arts majors have opportunities to learn basic computer skills, such as word processing and spreadsheet programs, as well as how to use databases and the Internet to find information. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills The most important skill that a college education imparts is the ability to think. Critical thinking refers to the ability to gather, comprehend, analyze, evaluate, and apply information to solve problems.
These thinking skills are essential to making wise decisions throughout life. Self-Management Skills College is often the first time that students are independent and responsible for their own behavior. At first it is very difficult. Students may be late for class, forget about assignments, or neglect to do their laundry.
It is often mistakes that encourage learning. College students face multiple demands: classes, projects, outside activities, meetings with professors, athletic practices and games, socializing with friends, part-time work, and volunteer work, for example. Part of the unwritten curriculum of college is learning to become more punctual, reliable, mature, and respectful—skills critical to a happy, healthy, and productive adulthood Appleby, The stresses that most college students encounter—managing multiple commitments—aid them in developing skills in managing their emotions and behavior, essential self-management skills.
A liberal arts education provides the tools for students to learn how to think independently and critically, develop mature and reasoned decision making, solve complex problems, effectively communicate their ideas with others, and exercise self control Bare, This is true no matter your major.
Why choose a psychology major, then? What does a psychology major impart? Why Major in Psychology? Like other liberal arts majors, psychology students gain knowledge and skills that generalize to the world outside the classroom; however, the emphasis on learning and applying principles of psychology to understand human behavior makes the degree unique McGovern et al.
Knowledge of Human Behavior Undergraduate education in psychology is intended to expose students to the major facts, theories, and issues in the discipline. Understanding human behavior entails learning about physiology, perception, cognition, emotion, development, and more. Consequently, psychology majors construct a broad knowledge base that serves as the conceptual framework for lifelong learning about human behavior as well as the capacity to apply their understanding in everyday situations.
Information Acquisition and Synthesis Skills The knowledge base of psychology is constantly expanding. Successful psychology students learn how to gather and synthesize information. Psychology students learn how to use a range of sources including the library, computerized databases, and the Internet to gather information about an area of interest. More important, psychology students learn how to weigh and integrate information into a coherent and persuasive argument.
In addition, successful psychology students apply their advanced understanding of cognition and memory to enhance their processing and recall of information. Research Methods and Statistical Skills Psychology students learn how to apply the scientific method to address questions about human behavior. They learn how to identify a problem, devise a hypothesis, choose and carry out scientific methods to gather information about the problem, conduct statistical analyses to evaluate a hypothesis, and interpret data summaries to devise a conclusion.
In other words, psychology students become able to pose and answer questions about human behavior and experience. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills Exposure to the diverse perspectives within psychology trains students to think flexibly and to accept some ambiguity.
Psychology students acquire skills in thinking critically about complex problems. They learn to weigh multiple sources of information, determine the degree of support for each position, and make a reasoned decision about which position has more merit and how a problem is best solved.
Reading, Writing, and Speaking Skills Psychology students develop reading, writing, and presentation skills for effective oral and written communication. They learn how to think critically about what they read, as well as comprehend and present arguments from a psychological standpoint.
Moreover, their understanding of human behavior aids students in constructing arguments that are easily comprehended by others. Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Skills Psychology students develop the ability to communicate their ideas and use their knowledge of human behavior to devise persuasive arguments. Successful students are able to lead, collaborate with others, and work effectively in groups. Psychology students are primed to be effective communicators because they are trained to be sensitive to issues of culture, race, class, and ethnicity.
Students of psychology also develop intrapersonal awareness, or self-knowledge. They are able to monitor and manage their own behavior, which is critical in succeeding in academic and interpersonal tasks. Computer Literacy Psychology students develop familiarity with computers and understand how to use common statistical, word processing, and spreadsheet programs.
The capacity to use statistical software to analyze data makes psychology majors stand out from other liberal arts majors. They also understand how to learn new software and computer programs, and they have basic knowledge for using and accessing e-mail as well as browsing the Internet. Adaptability Psychology students quickly learn that the perfect experiment is an unattainable goal toward which all researchers strive. Students learn how to design the best research studies possible, given limited resources.
An undergraduate education in psychology will provide you with the opportunity to develop these as well as many other skills. The combination of liberal education and training in human behavior makes the psychology degree very special.
Education in statistical, thinking, research, writing, and interpersonal skills embodies the psychology major, supports the goals of a liberal arts education, and will help you to develop into a well rounded and well educated person who has skills applicable to a broad range of careers Kierniesky, Training in research design and statistical analysis, as well as human behavior, is what makes the psychology major unique among liberal arts degrees.
Choosing a Major As you begin the process of selecting a major, remember that there is no bad choice. Every college major provides opportunities to develop a unique blend of skills and competencies. Majors differ in the specific set of competencies emphasized.
The emphasis on scientific reasoning and problem solving, coupled with a focus on understanding how people think and behave, is what makes psychology unique among majors. Carefully consider your options, your skill set, and your interests when selecting a college major.
At the end of this process you may find that psychology is the major for you—or you may make another choice. Listen to yourself and make the decision that is right for you, but also recognize that many students change their major some time during their college years.
It is not set in stone. Become Informed The first step in making any decision is to become informed of your options. What majors does your college offer? Some majors, including psychology, English, and economics, are available at all colleges and universities. Other majors, such as engineering, can be found only at some institutions. What options does your college offer? Flip through your college handbook and look at each department and each major.
Sometimes we have preconceived biases and incorrect information about a discipline or major. For each major, ask yourself the following questions and note your responses in writing so that you can easily revisit your work and compare majors later.
What does it study? Do I have any experience in this area? Have I taken a class in this area? Remember that a professor can color your view of a discipline. Try to determine how much of your opinion is influenced by the subject matter and how much by the professor.
What classes can I expect to take as a major? It is likely that you will not find answers to all of these questions in your college handbook. Examine the department Web site to find information about the program, faculty including their research interests and involvement with students , and opportunities for graduates.
Most department Web pages will provide answers for many of these questions. After completing this task, list all of the majors that sound interesting to you, without making judgments. Then, for each major, gather information from a variety of sources. What are the required courses like? Every major has its most challenging set of courses—what are those courses?
Why are they considered challenging? What about the professors? Do students have out-of-class interactions with faculty? What kind? What out-of-class experiences are available? Is there a student club? Speak with Recent Graduates Ask recent graduates about their experiences in college and afterwards. Ask them some or all of the questions you asked current students. Also ask about their experiences after graduating.
What kinds of jobs did they seek? How were they received by potential employers? Where were they hired? How well does their job match their expectations? What are the positive and negative features of their work? What role, if any, did their major play in their job search and career? If they could do it again, what major would they choose? Most college career centers maintain databases of recent graduates; you can contact a few graduates to learn more about their work and career experiences.
It is likely that your career counselor will present you with additional surveys and tasks to help you decide on a major and career. Visit the office hours of a professor in whose class you are enrolled, or one who seems approachable or works in a field of interest to you. Talk with him or her. Ask questions about the undergraduate major and what kinds of jobs recent graduates have obtained. Ask informed questions. For example, know a little bit about the major, basic course requirements, and, if possible, what courses the professor teaches.
Are there formal opportunities to work with faculty, such as research courses with small enrollments? Do many students interact with faculty outside of the classroom, for example, assisting with research? Do students tend to participate in clubs and outside activities, such as group trips to conferences?
Do students engage in applied activities like internships? How did the professor choose his or her major? What are the important attributes for a successful student? Any advice on choosing a major? Advice for students in the department? There are multiple sources of information about any given major. Approach the task as if you were solving a puzzle. Each source and person provides a unique bit of information and perspective. Sources may disagree about particular qualities or characteristics of a major.
Know Yourself: Write You may have noticed that keeping notes—writing—is a useful tool for organizing what you know about majors. Writing is also useful for learning and organizing what you know about yourself. One of the best ways to learn about yourself and record what you learn is by writing.
Consider keeping a journal, a record of self-reflective writing. A journal is a collection of your creative activity and can take many forms: a notebook, computer file, iPhone or other smartphone file, or even a personal for-your-eyes-only blog. Your journal is a private learning space where you can reflect upon yourself, your experiences, goals, dreams, and anxieties—learn more about who you are.
Why Write? Writing is a way to explore your thoughts about yourself and the world around you. Expressing your ideas and feelings in words forces you to focus your thoughts, identify your opinions and values, and clarify your sense of identity. Write for therapy After a long day or a difficult experience, write to reflect.
Writing offers a private opportunity to let out feelings of frustration, anger, or anxiety. Write about your deepest thoughts, but also everyday mundane matters, to help you figure out what you think or feel about a situation and to release stress.
Write to get organized Perhaps the easiest way to begin keeping a journal is to use it as a place to record lists of immediate tasks to be accomplished. With regular use, writing becomes a habit and can grow beyond making lists to include self-reflection, planning, and goal setting. You can write about your goals and document the steps needed to achieve them, as well as your progress. In this way, a journal can help to organize your daily life.
Write to solve problems Writing is an effective tool for problem solving because writing is thinking. The next time you find yourself confronted with a problem or a big decision, try writing about it. Explain the problem in words: What do you know about it? Discuss your feelings about the problem and analyze it. Writing may lead you to brainstorm potential solutions.
Then your writing might shift towards analyzing each solution. Expressing ideas in written form requires a different thought process from thinking. We think in new ways when we write. This allows us to conceptualize problems differently and come to solutions more quickly.
Write to enhance communication The more often you write, the more your writing will improve. Writing strengthens communication skills because it lets you practice identifying and expressing ideas, which is one of your major goals as a college student. Through writing, we become more creative. There are a variety of techniques and exercises that can help you to find your center of creativity and inspire new ways of thinking and expressing yourself.
Check out the exercises in this chapter and throughout this book. Also take note of the Web resources at the end of this chapter for places to turn to learn how to record your ideas. Write to record your experience A journal provides a record of your life. Days, weeks, and months pass all too quickly. Memory is fallible. A journal helps you to remember events, experiences, feelings, and intentions.
It offers a place to record accomplishments, hopes, and dreams as well as to retain details that you would probably otherwise forget. From a therapeutic perspective, looking back over old journals allows the opportunity to reflect on patterns of experience, interaction, and emotion, providing insight into yourself and your perspective on life.
How have you changed and grown? You can gain insight about yourself by reviewing your journal. Your journal can take many forms. Some students prefer to keep their journal as a word processing file on their laptop. Others write in a bound composition book or simply keep a folder of loose papers.
You might keep your journal on your PDA or smartphone or even create a blog, a private web log using an Internet service such as typepad. The cardinal rule of journal writing is to remember that your journal is for your eyes only.
Get your feelings and experiences down in writing, any way that you can. No one else will review or grade it. Just write Many students are puzzled: What to write about? There are no rules when it comes to journals. You can write about anything that comes to mind, like poetry, story ideas, and reflections, as well as more everyday items such as lists of accomplishments and tasks to be completed.
Even everyday frustrations can be topics for your writing. Take time to observe your life. Try writing about events that are happening to you or around you, from a third-person perspective. What were the sounds, smells, sights, and feelings that were present? Write for brief periods, often The goal of keeping a journal is to catch your thoughts. Take your journal with you. If you have fifteen minutes between classes, write in your journal.
Try writing at bedtime or right after waking up. The key is to keep from censoring yourself. Explore your thoughts about a specific topic or about life in general.
Try to get into the habit of writing each day, even if it is just a short entry. Also try to write some longer entries because they will give you the opportunity to flesh out your thoughts and make insights about yourself. Some people return to their journals often, as chronicles of their lives.
However, many people rarely read their journals but instead use writing to process their thoughts. Set no expectations Your journal does not have to be filled with descriptions of monumental experiences. Give journal writing a shot, in whatever format works for you—handwritten or electronic.
Writing will help you to explore who you are and discover who you hope to become. Through writing and reflecting, the mundane can become profound. Take a chance and explore yourself through writing.
Learn About Yourself Through Self-Assessment Understanding yourself is critical to choosing a major that intrigues you. Journal writing is an important start, but choosing a major requires a more thorough self-assessment. It sounds technical, but self-assessment is the process by which you examine your skills, abilities, motivations, interests, values, experience, and accomplishments.
You can then use this knowledge to make sound decisions about your major. The following exercises will help you to better understand yourself, but remember that self-awareness will not be achieved instantaneously.
It takes hard work, soul-searching, and time. What personality characteristics best describe you? Understanding your unique personality will help you to choose a major that is right for you. After you graduate, knowledge about your personality traits will help you to find a position or career that meshes with your characteristics and is rewarding and fulfilling.
Consider writing in your journal about what you learn about yourself after completing Exercise 2. Include additional traits if needed. Take your time to think about each one, and be honest with yourself. Then complete the questions that follow.
Carefully consider each. How well does each adjective describe you? Choose 3—5 adjectives that you find most important. Why do these words describe you? Provide examples from your experience that illustrate how each word describes you. Think back to your childhood dreams. Write about your memories. What careers did you select as a child?
Do you still have the same career-related dreams? How have your views changed? Consider your personality traits listed in question 1. How do these traits compare with those needed for the career of your childhood dreams?
How do they fit with your revised, adult view? A more precise way to use what you know about yourself to help you choose a major is to identify your Holland personality style. Which of the following personality types suits you best? After completing Exercise 2. Count your checkmarks to determine which Holland descriptions match your personality characteristics. Most students find that two or more descriptions of personality characteristics fit them. Understanding your personality type may make it easier to choose a major because some majors are better suited to particular personalities than are others.
Table 2. Remember that this is simply a guide to careers. Not all possible careers are listed, and the categories are much more fluid than they appear. Notice that many college majors appear within more than one category. Use this exercise as a general guide; however, recognize that the characteristics for success in various college majors often overlap to some degree. Assess Your Skills, Interests, and Values In addition to understanding your personality, your choice of major should reflect your skills and abilities.
What are your skills? What activities do you do best? For example, if the task was answering the phone, it probably entailed the following skills: communication skills the effective use of language , problem solving, and the ability to direct inquiries. Even with an experiential diary, it is sometimes difficult to list and remember all of your skills and abilities. What skills did you check? Based on your consideration, choose the top 3—5 skills and explain your choices.
These skills are your strengths. Now look at all of the skills that you checked, including those for which you found it difficult to think of supporting examples. Do any of these skills need further development? Which of these skills do you prefer using?
Which are you interested in using in the future? Which skills do you dislike? Are you interested in using and pursing those skills? We tend to like and be interested in things that we are good at. Is that true for you? You may not have skills in a particular area, but if you find it interesting, you can seek the education and training to develop the necessary skills. If you are willing to work, you can make great strides and meet many career goals. The question that you must answer is: What interests you?
The happiest and most successful students choose majors that they find engaging. Many students decide on a major before considering their interests and values. Identifying your interests early in your college career can save you from changing majors and wasting time. What appeals to you? An effective way of assessing your interests is to write about your personal history.
In your journal, on scrap paper, or on a word processor, write about all of the times that you can think of when you have encountered a problem regardless of its size and have taken action to solve that problem. In other words, write about all of your accomplishments. What Is Graduate School Like? Should You Go to Graduate School?
Selecting Graduate Programs. The Application. The Interview. Application Outcomes. Short, easy to read, engaging for students and includes helpful activities in each chapter. Dr Elizabeth Boerger. Psychology Dept. Report this review. Key features. For instructors. Select your digital copy vendor:. Select a Purchasing Option Electronic version. World events have raised pressing questions of psychology as it is practiced all over the globe.
The Handbook of International Psychology chronicles the discipline of psychology as it evolves in different regions, in the hope of reducing the isolated, parochial, and ethnocentric nature of the American profession. It surveys the history, methodology, education and training, and the future of psychology in nine distinct regions across six continents.
They represent long histories in the field, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, emerging practices, such as Uganda, Korea and Spain, the lesser-known philosophies of China and histories marked by massive social change, as in Poland and Iran. The editors have carefully selected contributors, as well as an editorial board created especially for this project. Each chapter follows a uniform outline, unifying the volume as a whole, but allowing for the cultural diversity and status of psychology in each country.
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous surge of research on the mechanisms of human action. This volume brings together this new knowledge in a single, concise source, covering most if not all of the basic questions regarding human action: What are the mechanisms by which action plans are acquired learned , mentally represented, activated, selected, and expressed? The chapters provide up-to-date summaries of the published research on this question, with an emphasis on underlying mechanisms.
This 'bible' of action research brings together the current thinking of eminent researchers in the domains of motor control, behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, biology, as well as cognitive, developmental, social, and motivational psychology. It represents a determined multidisciplinary effort, spanning across various areas of science as well as national boundaries.
The SAGE Handbook of Health Psychology represents a landmark work in the field, gathering together in a single volume contributions from an internationally renowned group of scholars. It provides a definitive, one-stop, authoritative guide to the major themes and debates in health psychology, both past and present, and should in time become a classic reference work for a wide, international readership.
Its coverage is comprehensive, both traditional and innovative, and reflects the latest in global health psychology research from a wide perspective. This includes the latest work in epidemiology of health and illness, health-related cognitions, chronic illness, interventions in changing health behaviour, research methods in health psychology and biological mechanisms of health and disease.
As a result its potential as an authoritative entry point to those new to the discipline as well as those already working inside it is very high. Given its breadth of content and accessibility, the Handbook will be indispensable for advanced students as well as researchers. Expertly organized by editors of international stature, and authored by a similar team of luminaries in the field, this single volume Handbook is an essential purchase for individuals and librarians worldwide.
George's Hospital Medical School. This book integrates the role of gender in girls' and women's development across the life span, looking specifically at internal and external vulnerabilities and risks, and the protective or supportive factors that facilitate effective coping, positive growth, strength, and resilience.
The interaction between physical, psychological, and cultural factors is integrated within each period of development. The book emphasizes how gender socialization of female development and behavior impacts both self-evaluation and identity processes within various cultural groups. The book also discusses the social roles that girls and women reflectively adopt.
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