Applied Psychology.. any one studying or studied it

pboae

Yes, that's it. It's very important to have that if you do want to go on to do Psychology at a higher level.

Without knowing anymore about the course, it's hard to say what the maths content will be. Generally the maths in psychology isn't particularly hard, but there is a lot of it.

Applied Psychology courses vary massively, they usually have a bias to one (or a few) areas. Not in a bad way, but every department will have their strengths.

The reason I asked about what it was you disliked about Anthropology is that if you had no interest at all in it, I would wonder if Applied (or regular) Psychology would interest you either. It depends what it was you disliked. They have a lot of overlap in terms of theories and methods, they both centre on picking apart human behaviour, and in both disciplines the answers are frequently unknown or an unspecified mix of different options. Some people find that really frustrating.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

pboae wrote: »

Yes, that's it. It's very important to have that if you do want to go on to do Psychology at a higher level.

Without knowing anymore about the course, it's hard to say what the maths content will be. Generally the maths in psychology isn't particularly hard, but there is a lot of it.

Applied Psychology courses vary massively, they usually have a bias to one (or a few) areas. Not in a bad way, but every department will have their strengths.

The reason I asked about what it was you disliked about Anthropology is that if you had no interest at all in it, I would wonder if Applied (or regular) Psychology would interest you either. It depends what it was you disliked. They have a lot of overlap in terms of theories and methods, they both centre on picking apart human behaviour, and in both disciplines the answers are frequently unknown or an unspecified mix of different options. Some people find that really frustrating.

I'm not interested in studying different peoples/cultures around the world. I'm not interested in archeology or looking at fossils. Basically it's not my bag and I didn't realise that until I started the course. It's a bit too flowery for me and I'm just not getting into it. I don't think it would benefit me to stay with this programme at all.

Applied Psychology has a lot of statistical maths to handle, but other than that it does have a lot of good points.

The programme looks at Cognitive, Biological, Social & Developmental Psychology and maybe one or two other areas, not sure off the top of my head.

emsywoo123

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I'm not interested in studying different peoples/cultures around the world. I'm not interested in archeology or looking at fossils. Basically it's not my bag and I didn't realise that until I started the course. It's a bit too flowery for me and I'm just not getting into it. I don't think it would benefit me to stay with this programme at all.

Applied Psychology has a lot of statistical maths to handle, but other than that it does have a lot of good points.

The programme looks at Cognitive, Biological, Social & Developmental Psychology and maybe one or two other areas, not sure off the top of my head.

I would be very surprised if you don't have to look at this in psychology?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

emsywoo123 wrote: »

I would be very surprised if you don't have to look at this in psychology?

I'd be very surprised and disappointed if I did.

Anthropology is closer to Sociology than it is to Psychology.

pboae

Comparing different cultures comes up in many areas of Psychology, everything from linguistics to visual development.

There is a big overlap between Psychology and Sociology as well, and Applied Psychology can be closer to Sociology then Psychology, again it depends on the actual course. But AP is typically more about the different types of ways in which psychology can be used, and the people who use it, rather than about the actual Psychological theories. Otherwise, it would just be plain Psychology rather than AP.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

pboae are you a Psychologist?? You come across as very knowledgeable about the subject

Do you have any idea what the employment options are?

pboae

My OH is a research psychologist, my qualifications are in the field, but I don't work in it anymore.

The employment options are vast, it really does depend where your interests lie. Many people want to go into Clinical Psychology, it is incredibly competitive, but that's where the money is. Others want to stick with research, again it is very competitive, but the money and job security are usually poor. Within those routes there is a huge variety of sub-disciplines, cognitive, social, developmental, etc.

But outside of those two 'traditional' options there is a huge range of related jobs. There are occupational psychologists, who look at all aspects of work and psychology. That can include psychometric testing for recruitment, the effects of workplace design, all sorts of things. It can be very lucrative.

There are engineering psychologists, who may be involved in ergonomics and design, for example designing equipment with an affordance to action. For example, people will naturally tend to push a door with a push panel, and pull a door with a handle.

Educational psychologists, which is fairly self explanatory, I think you need to be a qualified teacher for that as well (but I am not 100% sure about it). Sports psychologists (which is more on the coaching side) and exercise psychologists (who are more about getting people to do exercise, and public health). There are other health/counselling options, and forensic psychology (most often working in the prison service rather than the police).

It can also be a good general degree because it teaches critical thinking and data analysis, so it can be useful for generic 'graduate' jobs that just require an unspecified degree.

The main thing to be aware of is that it is a very popular subject, and follow-on careers are in high demand. The choice you make at degree level can determine what options are open to you later. There are ways around that (I took an MSc to get round having a joint honours bachelor degree), but it does make things harder than if you had taken the 'right' degree in the first place.

Unfortunately no-one can tell you what the 'right' degree is, it depends on what you are looking for really.

I don't know a great deal about the career options for AP, other than that if you wanted to continue with Psychology, you'd probably be better with a plain Psychology degree. There are a few fields that are generally thought of as 'AP' areas, aeronautics is one, and environmental too. There are some areas, like occupational, and sports science where I'd guess AP would be useful too.

Noctu

I'm in my final year of my Psychology BSc.. let me know if you have any specific questions

pboae: You can now become an Educational Psychologist with a 3 year doctorate and no teaching experience - just relevant work experience (pretty much like the Clin Psy doctorate).

melancholly

i'm another psychology student (done undergrad and masters degrees and now doing a phd!). i only have personal knowledge of applied type masters in psychology (occupational, educational, health, clinical, sports etc) which usually require a psychology undergrad degree and are specialised in one area.

i would be surprised if you did study a lot about different cultures in psychology - i've never been taught anything about that and don't know many places that do. every department should have some social psychology lectures, but often you can choose your options in your final year to do more of what you like.

this is an american website but most of the info is still relevant in a general form (obviously specifics will differ in hte uk):
http://www.apa.org/topics/psychologycareer.html

here's some info from the BPS:
http://www.bps.org.uk/careers/careers_home.cfm

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Yeah I believe social psychology to be for example "Why individuals conform to crowd pressure, ie football fans" I wouldn't say social psychology needs to investigate cultures from around the world and the social structures of tribes and native american indians for eg. Which are what aspects of human life Anthropology looks at.