Page 630 - Understanding Psychology

1. Review the Vocabulary
sports psychologists do?
What do
4. Think Critically Consider what you have learned in this psychology course. What information will be most useful to you during your lifetime? Why? In what types of situations during your life do you think you will use this information? Explain.
Using a graphic organizer similar to the one
2. Visualize the Main Idea
below, outline the challenges psycholo- gists face.
Challenges for Psychologists
3. Recall Information Why must psy- chologists study aging?
5. Application Activity
Visit a large bookstore and browse through the titles of books dealing with
psychology. What topics seem to be the most pop- ular? Which books seem to be the most helpful? Which books seem most interesting to you? Why? Based on your observations, forecast several topics that could result in a popular psychology book.
At the other end of the age spectrum are a different set of factors that may impact future jobs for psychologists. Consider the traditional killers of children—measles, chicken pox, scarlet fever, rheumatic fever, mumps, tuberculosis, and polio. Assuming a child has had his or her proper vac- cinations, all of these problems are gone. The top three killers of children and adolescents in our society now are accidents, violence, and drugs. These are not physiological or medical problems like our old enemies, they are psychological or behavioral problems. Many of the dangers that face society today are rooted in social problems; that is, they can be solved only through changing behavior and attitudes of individuals and communities.
Where Do You Go From Here?
As you come to the end of this textbook, it is important to consider not only the future of psychology but also how psychology plays a role in your future. Whether you choose further education and a career in psy- chology or not, you should not stop thinking critically about and seeking to explain your behavior and the behavior of others.
The information presented in this textbook does not represent the absolute truth. Psychology is a science—it is a process of trying to under- stand the world around us. As you encounter articles in newspapers and magazines concerning psychology, try to read them critically. Read the material, think about it, and question it. Analyze the evidence and the author’s conclusions. Remember, though, that all conclusions are tentative. Ask yourself: Are there better ways to approach this issue or question? Use what you have learned in this course to determine your own hypotheses and theories and to critically analyze what you read, hear, and experience every day.
Assessment
616 Chapter 21 / Psychology: Present and Future