Upload
proxemic
View
222
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/12/2019 Skills of a Psychology Major
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/skills-of-a-psychology-major 1/6
8/12/2019 Skills of a Psychology Major
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/skills-of-a-psychology-major 2/6
8/12/2019 Skills of a Psychology Major
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/skills-of-a-psychology-major 3/6
#. $n%ironmental a&areness nowing how someone's environment can influence
their behavior helps us to understand people at work, at home, in education and at
leisure. Psychology graduates are familiar with this type of knowledge in many
guises, from traditional stimulusresponse perspectives to the direct study of the
environment, including such phenomena as nonverbal signaling, habit formation
and social appropriateness. 0any nonpsychologists do not particularly notice
environmental factors, yet few psychology graduates are unaware of their
importance.
'. Interpersonal a&areness Psychology students also learn about the mechanisms
of social communication and the potential sources of interpersonal conflict. This is
not the same as being socially skilled oneself, of course, although it can contribute
to it. But such awareness can make a considerable difference to someone dealing
with everyday interpersonal problems. Being aware, too, of the sources of conflict
or misunderstanding can sometimes result in the ability to perceive ways through
difficulties that would not be readily apparent without such knowledge.
(.
)ro*lem-sol%ing skills 2rom their very first laboratory class, psychology
graduates are systematically trained in problemsolving skills. The ability to tackle a
range of different types of problems is probably the most distinctive characteristic
of the psychology graduate. Psychology graduates learn how to apply different
strategies and approaches to understanding problems, and how to identify the
practical steps to implement a solution. They can operate on a macrolevel,
applying different perspectives or levels of analysis to the problem, or at a more
basic level in terms of choosing appropriate methods and techni!ues. It is a
valuable skill, and one that psychologists should be more aware of.
1+. Critical e%aluation Psychology students are also e#plicitly trained in critical
evaluation, an emphasis that appears to be particularly strong in 3urope. This set of
cognitive skills can be viewed as direct training in skepticism4 5tudents are
e#pected to appraise whether evidence for a phenomenon is really what it appearsto be% to evaluate, critically, the !uality of an argument% to identify the
8/12/2019 Skills of a Psychology Major
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/skills-of-a-psychology-major 4/6
shortcomings and pitfalls of a particular line of action% and to anticipate problems
or difficulties. These skills are often devalued by psychology graduates, who
sometimes complain that everything that they have learned seems to be negative,
yet that same skepticism can be e#tremely useful to them in their later working life.
11. )erspecti%es "n the surface, the ability to e#amine issues from multiple points
of view or to e#plore phenomena using different schools of thought appears to be
a relatively esoteric one. 6owever, it is a skill that can be surprisingly useful in
many different conte#ts. The ability to identify different ideologies or paradigms
can clarify social issues and give us a better awareness of the implications of
particular arguments or positions. Psychology graduates are directly trained in this
skill, but they often do not reali&e how valuable it can be.
12. ,iger-order analysis Psychology graduates are skilled at spotting recurrent
patterns in human activity, or noticing similarities between situations that seem on
the surface to be !uite different. This type of higherorder analysis involves being
able to e#tract general principles rather than becoming bogged down with the
details of the immediate situation. The psychology student's e#perience of sifting
through vast !uantities of e#perimental evidence and interpreting it in terms of
schools of thought and other general principles provides useful training in this skill.
13. )ragmatism It does not take much e#posure to psychological methodology for
psychology students to reali&e they are never going to achieve the perfect
e#periment, and that they will simply have to do the best they can with what is
practical. Their e#periences in this respect tend to give the psychology graduate a
pragmatic approach to work and problemsolving4 a valuable skill, and one that is
not particularly common.
-onclusion It will be apparent, I think, that this portfolio of skills is one that can be
valuable for many types of work apart from the profession of psychology itself. But this
is not the whole story. 7s 8ohn /adford argues, psychology provides its students withan e#tensive education, training them in thinking and reasoning skills, and encouraging
8/12/2019 Skills of a Psychology Major
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/skills-of-a-psychology-major 5/6
8/12/2019 Skills of a Psychology Major
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/skills-of-a-psychology-major 6/6
skills that psychology provides are often difficult to articulate, but they are nonetheless
significant. It would be not a bad thing, in my view, if some serious psychological
research were to be devoted to the identification and measurement of these
distinctive but elusive skills.