Professional Custom Accounting papers: Applying Psychology: To Workplace, to Life
Applying Psychology: To Workplace, to Life
Chapter Learning Outcomes
After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:
• comprehend the importance of networking in psychology and being active in the field, including attending conferences and reading widely published works about human behavior.
• appreciate the high value of undergraduate research and know that many benefits can accrue from involvement in research, including the establishment of a mentoring relationship with a faculty member.
• recognize the importance of national-level organizations to help organize and coalesce the broad field of psychology into meaningful and value-added organizations such as APA, APS, and Psi Chi.
• describe basic graduate school admission strategies and know the next steps to be taken if a student wanted to pursue this post-baccalaureate opportunity.
• describe the basic transitions processes from college to career and recognize the potential pitfalls and behaviors that can get a new college hire demoted or fired, as well as know the behaviors that can lead to hiring and promotion in the workplace.
• reflect on their psychology major as well as aspirational goals, whether related to a career or graduate school, and understand some of the next steps to be taken after self-reflection and career planning.
• describe what it means to think like a psychologist, and to comprehend the basic, fundamental beliefs of scientists trained in psychology and their accompanying views of the world.
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CHAPTER 8Introduction
Introduction
As an undergraduate, it’s easy to think of psychology as this very static discipline, and if you want more information about some type of behavior, you conduct a search and the information comes to you. As you fulfill the curriculum of your undergraduate program, your professors and your online courses bring you information, and your textbooks provide a wealth of knowledge about the subject matter. The Voices from the Workplace feature box describes a passive approach to learning and under- standing human behavior. Here I would encourage you to take a more active learning approach—that is, if you want to get a sense of what psychology is all about, you have to go and do psychology. We belong to an active and engaging discipline that is passionate about all aspects of human behavior, and although we do share knowledge in various forms of writing (journal articles, books, websites), interacting with peers and profession- als in a conference setting can provide the energy and “juice” about the research enter- prise. So I suggest that you go and do psychology: Work to become an active contributor to our understanding of human behavior as well as a consumer of psychological knowledge.
Voices from the Workplace
Your name: Steve S.
Your age: 37
Your gender: Male
Your primary job title: President & CEO
Your current employer: Solera Networks
How long have you been employed in your present position?
10 months
What year did you graduate with your bachelor’s degree in psychology?
1992
Describe your major job duties and responsibilities.
Responsible for the day-to-day operations and strategic positioning for a high-tech startup.
What elements of your undergraduate training in psychology do you use in your work?
1. Interpersonal relationship skills. 2. Pattern recognition. 3. Positive and negative reinforcement techniques.
What do you like most about your job?
Each day presents a new and unique set of challenges. I enjoy rallying a team of smart people around a goal and driving the company to achieve that goal.
What do you like least about your job?
“Administrivia”—I really dislike the tactical administration aspects; things that most of us take for granted in larger corporations.
Beyond your bachelor’s degree, what additional education and/or specialized training have you received?
Two years of graduate school in psychology. (continued)
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