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How is
aggression dealt with culturally? What types of aggression are
culturally sanctioned? What does aggressive behavior mean in
different cultures?
IV. What Psychologists Do
A. Surveys suggest that there are over 500,000 psychologists worldwide. Approximately 62,000 to
82,000 work as researchers. Psychologists often specialize in subfields, such as clinical, cognitive,
personality, developmental, social, industrial, educational, sports, health, and cultural psychology.
When most people think of a psychologist, however, they think of a clinical psychologist who works
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PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE
with clients with psychological problems and with problems of living. Clinical psychologists, in
turn, are often confused with psychiatrists, who are medical doctors that have specialized in the
treatment of mental illness.
B. Early in its history, research and practice in psychology was dominated by men. In the last decade,
however, women have received the majority of Ph.D.’s awarded in psychology.
C. Even when women were few in number, they still made substantial contributions to the field of
psychology.
1. Margaret Washburn graduated from Cornell University in 1894 to become the
first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology.
2. Mary Calkins completed all the requirements for a Harvard Ph.D., but Harvard
refused to grant her a Ph.D. because she was a woman. She later became the
first woman president of the American Psychological Association.
3. Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud, developed important advances in
the practice of psychoanalysis.
V.Psychology in the 21st Century: The Future Is Now
A. Technological innovations influence both the questions that psychologists wish to answer and the
manner in which researchers are able to answer those questions. Innovations in content and practice
of psychology continue to shape the field.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What do students hope to get from your class? “Why are you here, today, in this course?” This is a
great way to start class, because it gets students involved in issues and ideas that interest them.
2. What role does the scientific method play in contemporary psychology? What are the limitations of
the scientific method, and are there any better alternatives available? Students are often skeptical of
the scientific method and are eager to point out its flaws, such as the slow incremental progress it
generates, its reliance on measurable phenomena, its susceptibility to experimenter biases, and its
sterile methodology. Students often fail to realize, however, that, although flawed, the scientific
method is the best tool we have to generate valid, reliable knowledge and that it has provided us
with a wealth of discoveries.
3. Is the importance of psychological knowledge likely to increase or decrease in our postmodern
world? Experimental psychology is still a baby, only a little over 100 years old. As such, there is
incredible room for psychology to grow in terms of both sophistication and diversification. As the
speed at which the world changes continues to increase, humans will be forced to respond to these
changes not through slow evolutionary changes, but through rapid psychological adjustments.
Evolution via natural selection may no longer operate fast enough to allow us to adapt to the
rapidly changing world that we have created. Within this context, psychology, and psychological
adaptation, is certain to play a more prominent role.
4. What psychological principles have become part of the larger culture, have penetrated our thinking
and language?