SO YOU’RE PLANNING TO STUDY PSYCHOLOGY – TEN THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Part 1 – What to expect

A primer for those who are hoping to start their studies soon…and a guide to Psychology for those who are not.

What is Psychology about?

Some psychologists will remind you that the word derives from two Greek ones – ‘pyche’ and ‘logos’ - which, put together, give us ‘the study of the mind’. Hence, they say, that’s what Psychology is: the study of the mind. This is true enough as far as it goes but don’t get the idea that these psychologists came down from some mountain with Greek words inscribed on stone tablets. In fact, we might point out that they have committed the so-called ‘etymological fallacy’. The literal or original meaning of a word isn’t its only legitimate one. Think about the word ‘character’. It originally referred to a tool, used to make marks of some kind on a surface. At length, it came to mean an alphabetical or numerical symbol, and only then transmogrified into a synonym for ‘personality’. New meanings can be useful. No one wants to be stuck permanently with the old ones.

I bet you can figure out what will happen if you ask ten different psychologists to define Psychology. It is probably easier and more informative to ask what it isn’t. If you take up the subject expecting it to resemble the material that appears in Psychologies magazine (available in a newsagents near you) or books about self-healing, you will be dismayed, not to say shocked. Psychologists don’t read other people’s minds. They don’t gaze into their eyes and discover the secrets of their souls. They don’t even necessarily go around hugging people and ‘affirming’ things (at least, none of the ones I know do). They avoid the word ‘wellness’. Academic Psychology, perhaps because its roots are ultimately in biological science, is much more rigorous than many newcomers expect. In fact, we wouldn’t be far wrong to say that if we need a definition, something like ‘the rigorous study of mind and behaviour’ would do.

Notice I didn’t use the word ‘human’ there. Therein lies another matter of debate.

Do psychologists study non-human animals?

Yes. Some psychologists think we should limit ourselves to human beings. Others couldn’t disagree more. They think that the science of behaviour ought to be the science of all behaviour, human, blue whale, or woodlouse. You probably know that psychologists have often used rats, mice, and pigeons as models for human beings. They sometimes work well. Certain psychologists are closer to primatologists, because they specialise in, say, the behaviour of baboons or tamarinds. Some are influenced by ethology, which is the study of animals in their natural environment. When they are not grading papers, they might spend their days watching birds.

What about Statistics?
University-level Psychology suffers a considerable drop-off between first and second years. Many students are called, in other words, but relatively few are chosen. Nothing discourages more undergraduates than the requirement to study statistics. Confronted by a page of formulae or a dense passage about sampling error, far too many perfectly-capable students decide immediately and irrevocably that Psychology isn’t for them.

Do you have to do Statistics in order to get a degree in Psychology? Yes you do. It’s unavoidable. Most of the research in the history of our discipline has been quantitative in nature - and when I say ‘quantitative’, I mean it uses statistics. It would be diabolical to get a degree in a subject and find oneself unable to understand how most of the research was done, or how we know what we know.

Maybe this discovery brings you out in a cold sweat. If so, I quite understand. I feared Statistics myself when I was an undergraduate. But then I found out the secret… Its bark is worse by far than its bite. Instead of worrying, get yourself a copy of a decent introductory-level Stats book (I recommend Statistics Without Tears by Derek Rowntree, published by Penguin) and simply decide that you’re going to devote two or three afternoons to it. That’s quite possible – my copy is just 192 pages long. Once you’ve done that, you’re set for the rest of your undergraduate programme.

If there’s a call for it, I may start a sub-Substack to help struggling undergraduates with statistics. Let me know if you would be interested.

Does this mean I’ll be taking classes in methodology?

Short answer: Yep.

Longer answer: Whether or not you will have to take actual classes will probably depend on which university you decide to attend. Either way, you will certainly be expected to master a lot of methodological concepts. At first, many of them will seem abstruse. You’ll need to know how to recognise a laboratory experiment, for instance, and explain its strengths and weaknesses relative to other kinds of research. You’ll be expected to know about different sampling techniques and research designs. You absolutely have to master this kind of material. Psychologists are extremely hot on methodology. Some say the reason is that our science is a relatively new one, and so we have a bit of an inferiority complex relative to, say, Physicists or Chemists. For that reason, we jump up and down a lot in the hope that it will compel them to take us seriously.

At first, methodology may appear to be a side-issue. After all, what we want to be doing is investigating psychodynamics - isn’t it? - or finding out how to cure depression, or training as an offender profiler. After a few months, though, I’m sure you’ll come to agree that, far from being some meaningless addition, thrust into the curriculum like a dagger, methodology is effectively the heart and soul of our subject. It’s impossible to get a full understanding of any piece of research in Psychology until we know how it was done. Remember that the physicist, Richard Feynman, once said that everything is interesting when you know enough about it. Trust me on this – methodology is a great deal more interesting than I’ve made it sound.

Does that mean I have to take part in Psychology experiments?

Psychology is rooted in theory, like any other science, but, (also like any other science,) it is a practical discipline, too. You wouldn’t expect a graduate in Chemistry never to have taken part in an experiment in Chemistry. By the same token, you wouldn’t expect a Psychology graduate not to have done any actual Psychology. In order to get an accredited degree, Psychology students are expected to act as participants in research. Some departments may offer you course credit too. At some point, you’ll be expected to design, run, and analyse your own piece of research. This feels pretty daunting for a lot of undergraduates, but you’d be surprised how many enjoy it and say it was the best bit of their degree.

Can you tell me how to become a clinical psychologist? Or a forensic one?

Well, yes, I can, but I can’t add much value to the plethora of websites devoted to exactly that. What I’ll do instead is give you some honest advice: don’t worry about that yet. Whatever kind of psychologist you want to become, the first step on the way is a good (really good) undergraduate degree. Get the best degree you can, from the best university. After that, you can make your decision which career path to pursue. None of them will be open before your degree results arrive, so you can afford to wait. Of course, you can let your ambitions inform your choice of course. If you have the option, a course in Forensic Psychology will be handy if you want to be a forensic psychologist so take one if you can!

Every new Psychology student is surprised at the sheer breadth of material they deal with during their degree. What interests you now may very well not be what interests you in three, four, or five years time.

Finally, I’d like to beg to to bang a blue button and maybe tell one other person about the Crime & Psychology newsletter. It’s your support that keeps it free!

Next week – Ideas you will need to master.