what exactly is psychology?? how many years do u have to go to college for to complete that course?? i heard that once u finish 4 year college u have to go back to take more classes is that true?? what different types of psychology are there>???? and what exactly can u do in the future with this field in psychology?? thank you please reply a.s.a.p

-- chanel peace (devilishess17@aol.com), July 19, 2002

Answers

There is no absolute definition, but psychology is often characterized as the study of experience and behavior. Many pursue it as a natural sicentific discipline (like biology or chemistry). Some find this approach limited and pursue it more as a social scientific, "human scientific." or humanities discipline (i.e., qualitative rather than quantitative, particular events rather than general laws). Of course, there is an enormous field of psychotherapy as well -- people who attempt to help others solve their mental, emotional, or life difficulties. Such therapy takes an enormous variety of forms -- everything from pharmaceuticals and other medical treatments (though these are more typically the province of psychiatrists rather than psychologists) throught to talk therapy.

There are many disciplines within psychology: cognitive psychology, perception, personality, social psychology, developmental psychology, bio-/neuro- psychology, clinical psychology, counselling psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, to name just a few.

People with bachelor's degrees in psychology are suited for a wide variety of jobs, though they are not "psychologists" per se. To use the title "psychologist" one typically needs to earn a Ph.D. (if one wants training in research) or Psy.D. (if one want to be exclusively a clinician) in psychology, which takes another 4-7 years after the 4-year bachelor's degree.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), July 19, 2002.

According to my understanding psychology is the empirical study of human behavior and its histology since the beginning.Psychology goes into the details of finding out the reasons behind our daily activities and thoughts as well.As for the rest of the questions i have no answer since i am just a first year psychology student myself with no prior info about what psychology was until ,Feb 2004.

-- charmaine nicolene sisanda (cnsisanda@yahoo.com), June 07, 2004.

This is a two-year-old question, but let me make a minor comment on Charmaine's answer. "Histology" is the study of cells and has little to do with psychology. I think you meant "history."

-- Christopher Green (cgreen@chass.utoronto.ca), June 07, 2004.