cognitive or developmental psychologist

[Globetrotter]

Are there any cognitive or developmental psychologists here? Or does anyone know the career scope?

I'm just trying to help dd narrow down her career interests as we look into colleges (!).

[123LuckyMom]

I'm not a cognitive or developmental psychologist, but since no one has answered, I will! A psychologist (as opposed to a therapist or other mental health professional) has a doctoral degree. You can either have a PhD or a PsyD. Your DD would lean towards a specialty during her doctoral program and shape her dissertation accordingly. Then she'd seek a post doc in her area of specialty. Does that help?


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[Seitvonzu]

I'll chime in.... i'm a failed developmental psychologist going back to school for nursing i have a masters, but was in a PhD program that was supposed to lead into academia (teaching, but primarily RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH). My soon-to-be-ex husband is a cognitive psychologist (we met in grad school). He does have his PhD and though he was also supposed to be led to academia (and actually thought he wanted to be in academia), he ended up working for the federal government. LOTS of research psychology people end up doing that-- either directly or through consulting.

if you do not get a PhD you can still work for the government (though those jobs are getting harder and harder to come by) or with a masters you can do some teaching -- lecturer level (never associate or full professor level). One thing you CANNOT do with either a developmental or cognitive psych degree is, like the previous poster mentioned, is counsel people with problems/provide therapy. There are PhDs for that-- clinical psychology, counseling psychology, child clincal psychology, oh and probably even school psychology. those are more like what people think "psychologists" (aka, freud) does but there would still be an emphasis of research during school.

i actually know another school parent who i believe has a masters level psychology background and is returning to school. he's been working in academia at smaller schools and community schools as an adjunct faculty. that's a very difficult/unstable way to earn an income!! lots of schools are moving away from the full professor model because it's expensive

i will say that i *loved* school and developmental psychology is a fascinating topic. I studied "reasoning" (in quotes on purpose....cause yeah, right!) in kids 4-7 talk about interesting! i also looked into children's beliefs of fantastical creatures (aka, santa, fairies, easter bunny etc.) as an undergrad. the possibilities were seriously endless and it was so interesting to have that special access to the minds of children. i also loved digging through data and figuring out what it meant (aka, statistics, aka , math). there is ton of math in psychology! who knew! it's a science....some people don't seem to put that together (definitely the general public doesn't!)

i don't mean to be a downer....i'd rather be talking to kids this afternoon than going through another module of pathophysiology for my nursing classes. it's a cool path, but a long one. and there aren't an endless supply of jobs-- it's competitive! when i started grad school and was asked why i was doing it , i told the department head "I just love to learn. I want to improve myself." That was *not* the right answer. Intellectual curiousity is a must, but it's not the end product they are hoping for !!! The correct as was "to get a position at a tier 1 research institution." honestly, i wish i'd gone for pharmacy when i was 18

[Simon]

You got good advice above, so I'll address your last comment. At smaller colleges, there is usually a general psychology major while larger Universities may have majors broken out. Look closely at the course catalog (everything offered) but also how often specific courses appear in the time table. Depending on her interests, a school with human development and family (multidisciplinary) majors may be of interest to her. I see a lot of overlap with social work, human resources, early childhood, etc. in terms of interest and work.

Above all, she would want a school that either has a good track record for placing students into graduate programs and/or opportunities for doing research, so she can see if she likes it at all. Narrowing down whether she prefers the academic side of psychology (research/teaching) or the human contact side would be an important step and college is a good place to figure that out.

The job market is tight for students with a B.A. in psychology, many jobs require students continue for a least an M.A. Its not that she can't get a job with just a BA, but most of the jobs people think of as directly related to developmental or cognitive psy require additional schooling.

[Seitvonzu]

i like what simon added about looking into schools with human development as well as developmental psych. where i went to grad school (think big) there were both-- developmental psych was in the psych department (duh) and human development was a totally separate thing, but there was "interdisciplinary" opportunities between the two schools. in fact, we were required to take a course in that department and have an none department person on our committees (many people found someone over in human development....actually my best friend in grad school was totally crossover with her degree being from the psych dept. but her advisor being from human development -- she had a dual appointment)

i will say that the focus, at least where i went, of developmental psych is typically younger-- child/adolescent primarily. I think that's just based off the historical focus of child development...and it hasn't quite caught up. human development is a more lifespan approach. it has seems to get more into the "health" aspects of development...i believe the dept at my university was "health and human development"-- very different focus from our psychology area. if your daughter ever veers the medical way she'll need some of that "lifespan stuff" -- says the master of developmental psych who had to take a lifespan development course at a community college for nursing prerequs

i probably gave you way to much info, but feel free to PM me any questions. i don't mind blahblahing all day about my wasteful education (just kidding, i really did love it....but i loved so many things in my late teens/early twenties that i wish i'd gone with pharmacy or industrial psychology (that was very big when i was graduating...good prospects, not sure about now))

[NJ_Mom2011]

Probably this is definitely NOT what your daughter wants, but in terms of job prospects, psychiatry is a heck of a lot more lucrative and easier to get into than psychology. From what I have seen, those who enter into psychology have difficulty finding jobs and is highly competitive. Not that getting into medical school is a piece of cake, but it very well may be easier. Many states license successful psychiatrists who went to medical school in the Caribbean. I don't think psychologists can get jobs doing such stuff.

Many psychiatrists have to deal with very sick patients, and that is partly why there is low supply. But if your daughter is able to do that type of work, or can find types of patients that she has a particular interest (such as pediatric population), that may be an option. I would encourage her to take Organic chemistry and biology so that medical school is an option. Another option is psychiatric nurse, who often does the same thing but doesn't have to do as many years of medical training.

Psychiatrists don't like doing what psychologists do (such as looking at the thought processes of the patient). Many of then see themselves as doctors who are just prescribing meds. However, unlike most doctors, they are consulting with the patient for one hour at a time. At least in my opinion, a psychiatrist can have a session go in a similar direction to what a psychologist does . . . .

Here is an article today discussing how Texas lacks psychiatrists, and what it is trying to attract them. It is highly likely any future psychiatrist will be gainfully employed, the question is if that person will be happily employed: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...rural-counties

[Globetrotter]

I knew you all would come through for me! I'm reading. I will reply soon but just a quick addition- she would love to somehow work with kids. She loves kids!

[vludmilla]

If she loves kids, perhaps she would like to pursue child clinical or school psychology. One caveat about school psychology is to be aware of the role of schools psychs in your area. In my area, school psychs have low case loads and do lots of direct intervention and therapy with students, however, there are areas in which school psychs just do testing all day.

[123LuckyMom]

She doesn't want to be a cognitive or developmental psychologist. They do research primarily and rarely do therapy. If she wants to do therapy, she wants to be a clinical psychologist. If she doesn't want to do a PhD, she can do therapy with kids and families as a masters level therapist or social worker.

[AnnieW625]

What about music or art therapy? My sister in law has two bachelors degrees, one in classical music performance and the other in music therapy and she loves it. Send me a PM if you want to know more specifics about her program. She got the music therapy bachelors after her first bachelors degree, but I don't think you couldn't just do a single bachelors.