Fields of Psychology: Of Laboratories and Clinics

Psychology as a profession expresses itself in different fields, or domains of interest. There are a number of fields of psychology, such as clinical, experimental, counseling, developmental, physiological, human factors, and industrial.

Clinical psychology is the field associated with psychotherapy and psychological testing. A clinic is a place where sick people go for help; consequently, clinical psychologists try to help persons with both well-defined mental disorders and serious personal problems. The word psychotherapy, in terms of its roots, means a healing of the self. In practice, a clinical psychologist who employs psychotherapy attempts to work with a troubled person by using various methods and techniques that are designed to help the individual improve his or her mental health. This is done without drugs. An informal description of psychotherapy refers to it as the talking cure.

A clinical psychologist should not be confused with a psychiatrist. A fully qualified clinical psychologist has earned a Ph.D. degree (doctor of philosophy with a specialization in psychology). Psychiatry is a medical specialty that gives its attention to mental disorders. A fully qualified psychiatrist has earned an M.D. degree (doctor of medicine). Although psychiatrists can and do practice psychotherapy, they can also prescribe drugs. Clinical psychologists, not being medical doctors, do not prescribe drugs. Clinical psychology is the largest single field of psychology. About 40 percent of psychologists are clinical psychologists.

Experimental psychology is the field associated with research. Experimental psychologists investigate basic behavioral processes such as learning, motivation, perception, memory, and thinking. Subjects may be either animals or human beings. Ivan Pavlov‘s experiments on conditioned reflexes, associated with the learning process, used dogs as subjects.

The great majority of experimental psychologists are found at the nation‘s universities. Their duties combine research and teaching. In order to obtain a permanent position and achieve academic promotion, it is necessary for the psychologist to publish the results of experiments in recognized scientific journals.

Experimental psychology is not a large field of psychology in terms of numbers of psychologists. Only about 6 percent of psychologists are experimental psychologists.

On the other hand, experimental psychology represents a cutting edge of psychology; it is where much progress is made. The overall concepts and findings in a book such as this one have been made possible primarily by experimental work.

The remaining fields of psychology will be briefly described in terms of what psychologists associated with them do.

A counseling psychologist provides advice and guidance, often in a school setting. Sometimes he or she will, like a clinical psychologist, attempt to help individuals with personal problems. However, if the problems involve a mental disorder, the individual will be referred to a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist.

A developmental psychologist is concerned with maturational and learning processes in both children and adults. Although a developmental psychologist is usually thought of as a child psychologist, it is important to realize that a given developmental psychologist might have a particular interest in changes associated with middle-aged or elderly people.

A physiological psychologist, like an experimental psychologist, does research. Subject areas include the structures and functions of the brain, the activity of neurotransmitters (i.e., chemical messengers), and the effect that hormones produced by the endocrine glands have on moods and behavior.

A human factors psychologist combines a knowledge of engineering with a knowledge of psychology. For example, he or she may be part of a team that is attempting to redesign an aircraft control panel in an attempt to make it more user friendly in order to reduce pilot error associated with misperceptions.

An industrial psychologist usually works for a corporation. The principal aim is to provide a work environment that will facilitate production, reduce accidents, and maintain employee morale. A theme that guides industrial psychology is the human use of human beings.

(adopted from “Psychology: A Self-Teaching Guide‖ Frank J. Bruno).

After-reading tasks