Linkages Within Psychology and Beyond

7
The World of Psychology: An Overview
psychology
applying
GETTING READY FOR
SURGERY Health psy-
chologists have learned
that when patients are mentally prepared
for a surgical procedure, they are less
stressed by it and recover more rapidly.
Their research is now routinely applied in
hospitals through programs in which
children and adults are given clear information about what to expect before,
during, and after their operations.
offices, and other spaces to make them more comfortable and functional for the people who will occupy them. (See Table 1.2 for a summary of the typical activities and
work settings of psychologists in the United States.)
Linkages Within Psychology and Beyond
We have listed psychology’s subfields as though they were separate, but they often overlap, and so do the activities of the psychologists working in them. When developmental
psychologists study the growth of children’s thinking skills or friendships, for example,
their research is linked to that of colleagues in cognitive or social psychology. Similarly,
biological psychologists have one foot in clinical psychology when they look at how
psychology
applying
IMPROVING BAD
DESIGNS Consulta-
tion by engineering
psychologists, who apply cognitive research to the design of equipment, would
surely have improved the layout of these
self-service fuel pumps. The system will
not operate until you press the red spot
(see upper right) under the yellow “push
to start” label, which is difficult to locate
among all the other signs and stickers.
Such user-unfriendly designs are all too
common these days (e.g., Cooper, 2004;
visit www.baddesigns.com for some
amazing examples).
Photograph courtesy of www.baddesigns.com.
8
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Science of Psychology
psychology
applying
PLANNING SPACES
Environmental psychologists are often asked to
consult on the design of offices. Here, the
consultants suggested the use of aquariums filled with tropical fish to help reduce the stress that is created when
many employees work in close quarters.
TA B L E
1.2
Typical Activities and Work Settings for Psychologists
The fact that psychologists can work in such a wide variety of settings and do so many interesting—and often well-paying—jobs helps account
for the popularity of psychology as an undergraduate major (Fogg, Harrington, & Harrington, 2005; National Center for Education Statistics,
2003). Psychology courses also provide excellent background for students planning to enter medicine, law, business, and many other fields.
Percentage of
Psychologists
Work Setting
Typical Activities
Colleges, universities,
and professional schools
Teaching, research, and writing, often in collaboration
with colleagues from other disciplines
Mental health facilities
(e.g., hospitals, clinics,
counseling centers)
Testing and treatment of children and adults
Private practice
(alone or in a group
of psychologists)
Testing and treatment of children and adults;
consultation to business and other organizations
6.1%
Business, government,
and organizations
Testing potential employees; assessing employee
satisfaction; identifying and resolving conflicts; improving
leadership skills; offering stress management and other
employee assistance programs; improving equipment
design to maximize productivity and prevent accidents
4.5%
Schools (including those
for developmentally
disabled and emotionally
disturbed children)
Testing mental abilities and other characteristics;
identifying problem children; consulting with parents;
designing and implementing programs to improve
academic performance
7.3%
Other
Teaching prison inmates; research in private institutes;
advising legislators on educational, research, or public
policy; administering research funds; research on
effectiveness of military personnel; etc.
22.8%
27.5%
31.8%
Source: Data from 1999 APA Directory Survey (APA, 2000).
9
The World of Psychology: An Overview
FIGURE
1.3
LINKAGES
Linkages to the Science of
Psychology
The questions listed in this diagram highlight just three of the many ways in which
psychology’s subfields are linked to one
another. Three additional linking questions
appear in the Linkages diagram included
in every chapter to come. Each diagram
lists the page number on which each question is answered. When you turn to that
page, you will find a Linkages symbol in
the margin where the answer is discussed.
Sometimes the discussion is brief, but
every chapter also contains a special Linkages feature that examines linked
research in more detail. By staying alert
to linkages among psychology’s subfields,
you will come away from this course not
only with threads of knowledge about each
subfield but also with an appreciation of
the fabric of psychology as a whole.
psychology
applying
LINKING PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW
Cognitive psychologists’
research on the quirks of human memory
has led to revised guidelines for police
and prosecutors (U.S. Department of
Justice, 1999). These guidelines warn
that asking witnesses leading questions
(e.g., “Do you remember seeing a gun?”)
can distort their memories and that false
accusations are less likely if witnesses
are told that the real criminal might not
be in a lineup or in a group of photos
(Doyle, 2005).
Is behavior influenced
more by our genes or
by our environment?
(ans. on p. 37)
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO
THE SCIENCE OF
PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 2
BIOLOGY AND
BEHAVIOR
CHAPTER 13
Does psychotherapy
work?
(ans. on p. 518)
TREATMENT OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS
CHAPTER 14
Is it ethical to deceive
people to learn about
their social behavior?
(ans. on p. 567)
SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
chemicals in the brain affect the risk of depression. And when social psychologists apply
research on cooperation to promote group learning activities in the classroom, they are
linking up with educational psychology. Even when psychologists work mainly in one subfield, they are still likely to draw on, and contribute to, the knowledge in other subfields.
So if you want to understand psychology as a whole, you have to understand the linkages among its subfields. To help you recognize these linkages, we highlight three of them
in a diagram, similar to the one in Figure 1.3, near the end of every chapter. Each chapter’s Linkages diagram contains questions that illustrate three relationships between the
topics discussed in that chapter and the topics of other chapters. The page numbers after
each question indicate where discussions related to them appear (look for “Linkages”
symbols on those pages). There are so many linkages throughout the book that we could
not include them all in our diagrams, but we hope those diagrams will remind you to
look for linkages that we didn’t mention. This kind of detective work can actually help
you to do better on exams and quizzes, because it is often easier to remember material
in one chapter by relating it to linked material in other chapters.
Psychology itself is linked to other disciplines. Some of these connections occur because
of the interests that psychologists share with researchers in other fields. For example,
cognitive psychologists are working with computer scientists to create artificial intelligence