Sunday, November 23, 2014

APA Divisions Worksheet

Divisions
Explanation of Division (50-75 words)
Possible Careers
1. Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology is diverse and complex specialty area within psychology. As a discipline of psychology that studies individuals by means of experimentation or observation with intentions of promoting changes. Clinical psychology addresses a breadth of behavioral, emotional, and mental disorders, through a means of an integration of psychology with the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of varies complex problems of humans (American Psychological Association, 2014).
1. Psychotherapist
2. Psychologist
3. Clinical Psychologist
2. Developmental Psychology
What occurs within developmental psychology is the study of human development and growth throughout the lifespan of humans, and also includes emotional, personality, perceptual, intellectual, social, cognitive, and physical growth.  
Also, developmental psychology applies scientific knowledge to child care policies, education, and to other areas in regard to such settings that share a similar relationship (American Psychological Association, 2014).
1. Developmental Psychologist
2. Researcher
3.
3. Counseling Psychology
Counseling psychology is a practice that encompasses a broad range practices that are culturally sensitive; which helps individuals resolve crises, alleviate maladjustment and distress, and increases individuals’ ability to better function in life (American Psychological Association, 2014). In regard to counseling psychologist, they help individuals find resources to cope with everyday adversity and problems, and are a means of helping individuals recognize their strengths.
1. Counselor
2. Behavior specialist
3. Therapist
4. Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology a discipline of psychology that scientifically studies human behavior in work environments. The focus of I/O psychology is on assessing organizational, group, and individual dynamics and making use of such research for identifying solutions for problems for improving the performance and well-being of organizations and the employees of such organizations (American Psychological Association, 2014).
1. Director of human resources
2. Director of organizational development
3. Director of labor relations
5. School Psychology
Composed of scientific-practitioner psychologists, school psychology is another discipline of psychology concerned with the interests of families, children, and adolescents in in regard to schooling process (American Psychological Association, 2014). As well as delivering services that are psychologically comprehensive services to families, children, and adolescents is schooling settings and other applied settings (American Psychological Association, 2014).
1. School Psychologist
2. Diagnostician
3. Researcher


What makes psychology a science?

What makes psychology a science is that psychology scientifically studies mental processes and behavior. In regard to studying or observing behavior, psychology does not just casually observe behavior, because casual observations have a tendency of being subjective observations. Therefore, as a scientific discipline, psychology makes use of science to analyze such observations. Analyzing such behavior enables one to make a determination in regard to the meaning behind observed behavior. To make such a determination, psychology uses the scientific method or the steps of the scientific method to process the data from such observations making such data empirical data. Therefore, such data is verifiable by experience or through observations instead of just through pure logic or theory. As well as, psychology involves reproducible experimentation; such as in regard to one psychologist gaining the same results of another that another psychologist did when conducting experimentations.
Also, what makes psychology a science is that psychology uses differing perspectives such as the cognitive, behaviorist, psychodynamic, and other perspectives in regard to determining and explaining the occurrences of such observable behavior (Friedman & Schustack, 2011).   
References
Friedman, H.S., & Schustack, M.W., (2011). Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research (5th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

Kuther, T. L., & Morgan, R. D. (2013). Careers in Psychology: Opportunities in a changing World (4th ed.) Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.