Bachelor of Psychology

Psychology

Most persons view psychology as that profession where you just sit on an armchair listening to peoples problems for over $100 per hour without having to do much. They do not appreciate the science and research that goes into the practice not forgetting the amount of study psychologists have to undergo before they step into practise stage. However, the fact that it is relatively new means that it still is a course that is attracting enough attention around it to merit being in the list of popular degree courses. In actual sense, psychology is an applied science involving the systematic study of the human mental functions and correlating behaviour.

However, it is not a purely scientific course since it also relies on what is known as symbolic interpretation and critical analysis though it does so with less frequency compared to other branches of social science such as sociology. What is actually studied in psychology is phenomena that relates to the human brain function such as perception, cognition, behaviour, emotion, personality and formation of interpersonal relationships. An emerging category is the study of what is known as the unconscious mind which is studied by the so called depth psychologists.

Many spheres of psychological knowledge is actually applied to different aspects of human activity especially the issues that relate to day to day life of the human subject such as his work, family, education and other areas of socialization. It also includes treatment of mental health defects. So actually what psychologists do is to relate the physiological and neurological processes inn the brain to outward displays of individual and social behaviour. It does so through its many fields of study related to such functions e.g. health, education, sports and human development.

The reason why psychology keeps changing is because it relies so much on research which produces many conflicting views since most of that research relates to observable phenomena. It borrows so much from the natural sciences and social sciences or humanities to such a large scale that it is difficult to perceive it as being independent of both. It thus takes a psychologist a lot of digging into conflicting bits of research to draw correct correlations between brain function and human behaviour.

Those who qualify to be called psychologists are mostly professional theorists of human behaviour or those who have practised long enough. It is notable that the subject has so many diversifications such that one has to specialize in a particular field. There are several subfields in

this domain which include; abnormal psychology, biological, cognitive, comparative, clinical, critical, evolutionary, educational, developmental, global, forensic, health, organizational, legal, quantitative, personality, social, school, child psychology and counselling. The two latter subfields are the most popular areas of specialization. Specialization is influenced by the needs in the society that are related to human brain function.

Clearly, psychology is a diverse and interesting profession. The only catch is that before you get to make good money as a psychologist, you have at least to have a doctorate degree thus you have to befriend the books and to wait a little bit longer. However, the wait is worthwhile.