The growing popularity of psychology and the possibilities for psychologists that have arisen from the growing popularity make psychology an interesting and exciting discipline. Below are some of the current trends in the field of psychology. It is not a conclusive list of current trends, but it should provide a good overview of the changes that are taking place in psychology. Here are the recent trends and specialities in psychology.
Applied Psychology
Applied psychology is enjoying a relatively large growth rate. Industrial/Organizational psychologists are being used in varying capacities in the business world. Psychological principles are employed in marketing.
Health psychology: focuses on the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and
treatment of illness, the identification of etiologic and diagnostic correlates of health, illness
and related dysfunction, and the analysis and improvement of the health care system, and
health policy information. An important aspect of health psychology is that it deals with both
prevention and treatment.
Oncology is one area of medicine that actively uses psychologists to help patients deal with cancer treatment. Health psychology is an exciting area in psychology with great potential for future psychologists.
Psychological Testing: Another area of applied psychology is psychological testing. In fact,
one of the first applications of psychology was the development of the Army Alpha and Beta
tests, which were essentially IQ tests given to place soldiers in positions appropriate for their
abilities. Many academic accrediting agencies and insurance companies have become very
outcome-oriented. Therefore, tests are in demand. Within testing, an interesting trend in
intelligence testing is to minimize the verbal nature of tests.
Public Policy: There has been an increased emphasis over the last several years to both promote psychology and to inform policymakers by providing psychological research on important matters, and to inform the general public. Similarly, psychology research is being used to inform public policy makers regarding issues associated with aging, children, youth, and families, disabilities, ethnic minorities, HIV/AIDS, lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues, urban initiatives, and women’s issues.
Evolutionary Psychology is a different school of thought that dominates psychology at different points in time. The growing interest in evolutionary psychology may be an indicator that evolutionary psychology will be one of the main schools of thought in psychology in the very near future.
Today, evolutionary psychology can be defined as an approach to psychology that is “explicitly informed by evolutionary knowledge and reasoning.” This approach is currently guiding research in empathy, conflict monitoring, cross-cultural psychology, and emotion regulation.
Research Methods: A key concept taught in every general psychology course is that psychology is a science. Because psychology is a science, the scientific method is stressed in a variety of psychology courses. Undergraduate psychology majors are also required to take courses in statistics and research methods since those courses help build the foundation for understanding and contributing to the science of psychology. Several trends in research may either improve the science of psychology or detract from it.
Internet: The internet has provided greater access to research. Publishers have begun placing
the table of contents of journals online, with the full articles available to subscribers. Several
publishers also use alerting services that send email updates about new publications. In
addition, there are several excellent databases (e.g., PsychInfo, ERIC) online that aid the
literature review process.
Online Experiments and Software Packages for Psychologists: Finally, the internet is beginning to become a tool in data collection. Researchers can place questionnaires online either on their own or by using specially designed websites or software. Online experiments are also possible. Psych Experiments is an excellent site for online experiments that can be used as classroom demonstrations or for actual research purposes. Various software packages also make use of the efficiency of the internet. For example, Super Lab allows researchers to design a study, save the experiment, and email it to another researcher from within the Super Lab window. The internet allows researchers greater access to archived data sets for secondary analysis as well.
Imaging and Computer Modeling: Technology has enhanced the research process beyond the dissemination of research findings and increased efficiency in data collection. Technology has made it possible to obtain high-resolution pictures (i.e., MR!) of the brain that allow researchers to determine the areas of the brain involved in certain cognitive processes.
Computer modeling not only aids our conceptual understanding of cognitive processes (e.g., using the computer as an analogy to the brain when developing theories) but can also have practical applications. An example of this is using a neural network model of decision-making to adjust the jets that keep satellites in their proper orbits.
Failure of a single jet can disrupt a satellite’s orbit, and a disrupted orbit results in interrupted sendee. Adjusting jets on the satellite to maintain the proper orbit while compensating for a failed jet requires a series of complicated mathematical calculations. Although people can do this task, this task is ideally suited for a computer, which can perform the calculations faster.
Conclusion
Psychology continues to grow as a discipline. The applications of psychology are also becoming widely apparent. These trends are very favorable for new psychologists because they offer a wide range of opportunities. The future of psychology, however, may depend on how well psychology maintains its scientific roots while meeting the needs of the public and adapting to a changing technological world.
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