An Overview of Experimental Psychology

It is always interesting to know about human psychology. One is always intrigued to know how a person will react to a particular situation. If you are one of those types of people who would like to assume things theoretically and come up with problem solving solutions, then consider yourself lucky.

You can pursue a career in the field of experimental psychology that will help you grow professionally in your field of interest. Are you interested in knowing what do experimental psychologists do? Would you like to learn about experimental psychology graduate programs? If yes, then you will find the following content on this type of psychology useful.

Experimental psychology is a methodical approach towards the field of psychology. Here, an experimental psychologist will focus on the experimental approach to discover the behavior and cognition of humans as well as animals.

They establish a hypotheses on human behavior, response to sensation, perception, memory, learning, etc. They try to assess the psychological laws present and find out if they hold true after conducting rigorous testing.

An experimental psychologist use scientific methods that help in collection of data and conducting research. These psychologists have to carry out experiments that help them study human behavior as well as the mental phenomena. The results from these experiments help them in diagnosing and finding treatments for many emotional, social, behavioral problems.

Experimental psychologists use different software packages that help them assess the measurement and presentation of human behavior in a laboratory setup. They measure the response time, error rates as well as conduct surveys before, during and after conducting an experimental method.

Experimental psychology means a great deal for certain professional settings. You will find an experimental psychologist working in colleges, universities, research centers, government organizations as well as private businesses. They may also enter the field of teaching and help students learn about the different experimental methods available.

The academically inclined psychologists may also conduct research as well as publish journals. Some are purely into research and study the personality, behavior, cognitive response as well as neuroscience related to humans as well as animals in some cases. Some may even work with private businesses and find ways to make the employees more productive.

In order to become an experimental psychologist, one needs to earn a graduate degree in psychology. After earning this undergraduate degree, one needs to pursue a Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MS) degree in experimental psychology. In some cases, only MA or MS in psychology will do.

In order to enter the competitive world, one needs to earn a PhD in experiment psychology. It may take about 3 or more years to complete PhD and then get into a full-time research career. There are many specialized programs available like human factors psychology, industrial organizational psychology, etc. for those who wish to concentrate on research.

The annual average salary of an experimental psychologist is about $92,800. The amount of salary earned depends on the geographical location, type of professional setup and individual capabilities.

If you think you have good communication skills, knack for psychology related research and good understanding of human nature and organizational skills, then experimental psychology may prove to be the career for you. Make sure you visit various universities and colleges as well as speak to professionals about this field as a career choice for you.