“There’s nothing so useful as a good theory.” -Kurt Lewin

1. “There’s nothing so useful as a good theory.”-Kurt Lewin An overview of Psychology, academic considerations and practical applications for employment. Ms. Shapiro October 11, 2006 Schalmont High School

2. Basic Overview • In psychology, there is never one agreed-upon theory. • - Overall, psychology examines the human experience as a matter of interaction between the world and the self. • - The world gives us events; we in turn give those events meaning by interpreting and acting upon them.

3. My BackgroundAn Overview • Undergraduate Psychology major (Plattsburgh State), English minor. • Started in doctoral program for Industrial Organizational Psychology, SUNYA. • Masters program, Secondary Education, English concentration, Saint Rose • Masters program, School Psychology, Saint Rose. • 1 year internship, Troy City School District, Sept. 2004 - June 2005. • Graduated in May 2005

4. Areas of Psychology(the many different theories) • Social Psychology: (the power of the situation) The scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people. • My undergraduate area of research in social psychology: Cognitive dissonance studies- • Safe sexual behaviors of college students. • Smoking cessation in high school students. Masters-level research project: - Correlation between attitude toward school and academic self-concept, SAS students, Albany High School.

5. Personality Psychology • The study of consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual (individual differences). • Personality is consistent. • Personality Psychology vs. Social Psychology • (Nature vs. Nurture)

6. Developmental Psychology • A field of psychology that examines the impact of maturational processes and experience on behavior. • Focus on child development from infancy through adolescence. • Adult development and aging.

7. Abnormal Psychology(Clinical Psychology) • An area of psychology that studies the “four D’s:” deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger. • Deviant - different, extreme, unusual, or bizarre. • Distressful – unpleasant and upsetting to the individual. • Dysfunctional – disruptive to the person’s ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive manner. • Dangerous – potential to inflict harm on themselves or others.

8. Biopsychology • The field that relates behavior to bodily processes, especially the workings of the brain. • The main goal of this area of study is to understand behavior and experience in terms of their biological source.

9. Cognitive Psychology • The study of mental processes such as perceiving, remembering, thinking and reasoning. • The study of mental processes is important because these processes are responsible for much of the behavior we find interesting.

10. Learning and Memory • A field that examines learning as a persisting change in human performance or performance potential. • This means that learners are capable of actions they could not perform before learning occurred and this is true whether or not they actually have an opportunity to exhibit the newly acquired performance.

11. Industrial Organizational Psychology • Social Psychology applied to the workplace setting. • Studies individual differences in behavior and job performance, and with measuring and predicting such differences. • Topics include but are not limited to: Motivation, performance appraisal, employee satisfaction, personnel, employee selection, work-family conflict. My area of doctoral-level research: - Work-family conflict with work stress as a mediating factor using employees at The Endocrine Group, LLP.

12. Behaviorism • An area of psychology that argued for actual behavior as the only event worthy of analysis. • The behaviorist approach is an orientation in psychology that emphasizes the importance of environmental determinants on behavior.

13. Counseling Psychology • A field of psychology that provides services to moderately disturbed patients. • Less clinical. • More working with people who just want “to talk” and less clients with psychological diagnoses.

14. Research DesignandStatistics • Various empirically sound designs, quasi-experimental research designs, and correlational research. • Designs get applied to research questions or hypothesis. • Descriptive statistics: Used to summarize data and make understandable, to describe a group of numbers from a research study. • Inferential statistics: Used to draw conclusions and inferences, which are based on the numbers from a research study (data), but go beyond these numbers.

15. School Psychology • A field of psychology involving psychoeduational testing and evaluating, and other related services in a school setting.

16. Job responsibilities as a School Psychologist • Conduct Psychological Evaluations using a wide range of cognitive, achievement and social-emotional instruments. • Complete written Psychoeducational Evaluations. • Interpret psychological findings for diagnostic purposes. • Interpret test scores for parents and teachers, and provide recommendations for courses of action. • Participate in consultation meetings with teachers, administrators, and parents. • Presented evaluation results and recommendations at Committee on Special Education (CSE) meetings.

17. Con’t • Serve as a resource person for teachers, administrators, students and parents. • Develop and assist in the implementation of 504 plans. • Develop and implement individual and group counseling treatment plans . • Develop and implement Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans for students. • Attended and participate in Manifistation Determination Hearings. • GET INVOLVED IN YOUR SCHOOL!!!!!!

18. Example • Scenario: A student gets handed back an exam at school with a failing grade. The student bursts into tears and runs out of the classroom. • How would different areas of psychology interpret this event?

19. A Social Psychologist would say: • This student maybe had a bad day up until this point. Perhaps they recently experienced an argument with a family member or friends. They were vulnerable to react in this manner due to situational influences (the power of the situation).

20. A Personality Psychologist would say: • This student individual has a tendency to overreact regardless of the situation. Even as an infant, their temperament could have predicted this type of reaction.

21. A Developmental Psychologist would say: • This student is obviously less mature than other students their age. They are at a maturation level in which they are unable to put a poor grade in perspective. They are developing and maturing at a slower rate than their peers.

22. An Abnormal (or Clinical) Psychologist would say: • This student is obviously suffering from major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or bipolar disorder.

23. A Biopsychologist would say: • This student’s parents probably behaved in a similar manner when they were students. This behavior is probably a result of genetics. Parents that overreact are bound to produce children who overreact.

24. A Cognitive Psychologist would say: • This student was probably repeating maladaptive (negative) thoughts over and over in their head all morning. They were probably thinking: • “I am going to fail that test, and when I do, I will make a fool of myself and run out of the room crying. I just know I will cause a scene when I receive that failing test grade.”

25. A Learning and Memory oriented Psychologist would say: • This is a result of social modeling that occurred at some point in this students life. They learned by watching another that this is a possible, acceptable, and/or normal reaction.

26. An I/O psychologist would say: • A happy worker is a productive worker, and this student is not happy in school, therefore they are experiencing failure academically. The emotional reaction is due to work-stress.

27. A Behavior Oriented Psychologist would say: • The failing grade is the unconditioned stimulus that provoked the unconditioned response (crying and running out of the room). • In the future when the teacher passes back tests or papers (conditioned stimulus) the student will continue to run out of the room crying (conditioned response).

28. A Counseling Psychologist would say: • This is a reaction that needs to be addressed in individual or group counseling. Talking about and processing the incident through counseling will lead to individual growth.

29. A Statistician would say: • We need to collect data on the frequency, duration, time of day, antecedents, and consequences of this particular incident and any proceeding incidents of similar nature. Perhaps through inferential statistics and regression equations, we can better understand and predict this type of behavior in the future.

30. A School Psychologist would say: • It is important to determine whether or not this behavior is impacting this student’s ability to learn. A functional behavioral assessment should be conducted and a behavior intervention plan should be implemented. If this behavior continues to occur and negatively impact this student’s education, a CSE referral may be warranted.

31. Continuing Education in Psychology (Graduate Programs) • Masters, either stepping-stone to doctoral level study, or can lead to field specific jobs in: • Counseling Psychology • Industrial Organizational Psychology • School Psychology • Jobs in Research

32. Doctoral-level programs • Doctoral programs in psychology usually are designed to graduate psychologists who become professors at universities and conduct research leading to publication (which generates field advances). Also: • Teaching professor. • Applied fields: Clinical, Counseling, I/O, School.

33. Careers in Psychology • As a psychology major, you can work in many fields even if graduate study is not your choice. • Human Services (counseling advocacy, mental health) • Administration • Teaching • Community Relations • Program Development • Research • Human Resources • Public Relations • Marketing • Education • Sales

34. Intro. to Psychology text • “Research Stories for General Psychology.” • Lary Shaffer and Matthew R. Merrens, Plattsburgh State University. • An introduction to Psychology through current and relevant research.