Psychology, A.A.

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Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. Common goals for an undergraduate student in psychology include: a broad knowledge base of information in psychology that truly reflects an understanding of human behavior; developing effective critical thinking skills in reading and writing; increased information gathering skills (e.g., library, computerized databases, the Internet); developing quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis in research; developing interpersonal skills that includes sensitivity to the diversity in the environment as well as increased self-knowledge to manage one’s own behavior; gaining increased knowledge relative to the historical development of psychology; and developing an increased sense of ethical standards essential to maintaining academic and scientific integrity.

An Associate Degree of Arts in Psychology prepares a student to pursue a career in the following areas: clinical psychologists, assessing and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders; cognitive psychologists, focusing on thought processes and the ability to reason including how people generate logical and coherent ideas; counseling psychologists, providing vocational, career, and academic guidance as well as helping individuals adjust to the challenges of everyday life; educational psychologists, concentrating on those conditions that influence teaching and learning; developmental psychologists, focusing on scientific research in such areas as motivation, thinking, learning and memory, and physiology; forensic psychologists, applying psychological principles to legal issues; focusing on how psychological factors influence health and illness; industrial/organizational psychologists, applying psychological principles and research methods to the workplace; and neuropsychologists, studying the relationships between behavior and physiology including the brain.

Students who intend to major in Psychology and have not yet decided on the senior college that they will attend should meet with their Palo Alto advisor and follow Palo Alto’s generic degree plan for Psychology.