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As stated before, thinking about thinking is not a new thing. The development of psychology (and therefore applied psychology) into a formal discipline would require a textbook-sized explanation covering millennia.

For the sake of brevity, then, the origin of applied psychology can be safely placed in the 18th century. Coinciding with the Industrial Revolution, which transformed a largely feudal agrarian European population into city-dwelling factory workers, psychology arose in a similar vein. Much like the industrialists of this time period, early psychologists attempted to assert human order and control over the natural world.

It would not be until the 19th century that psychology would become a formal, empirical, scientific discipline based on hypotheses, experiments and studies.

Wilhelm Wundt is considered one of the fathers of modern psychology. In the psychological lab he founded at Leipzig University, he attempted to find physical origins of mental phenomena through experiments in senses, reflexes and memory.

Soon other psychological labs began springing up, and it was not long before psychologists translated the results of their experiments to applications beyond the laboratory.

When considering what is applied psychology in the pedagogical environment, you’ll encounter the subfield of educational psychology. Tasked with guiding students through their education, teachers depend in part on educational psychology to help them develop their curriculum. With an understanding of learning theories, educators can better understand the psychology of their students to make lessons stick. Educational psychology, however, has applications far beyond the classroom.

Aspects of educational psychology include:

• Improving learning outcomes within schools
• Outlining and improving the educational development of students with special needs
• Conducting experiments to develop learning theories and improve student outcomes

It may seem obvious, but the mental health of a company, big or small, can greatly affect productivity and therefore overall success. Industrial-organizational psychology studies how humans behave in a workplace, delving into the challenges and opportunities that develop when human beings work together.

Aspects of industrial-organizational psychology include:

• Improving employee motivation within a company
• Evaluating and improving business protocols and employee training
• Surveying employees to determine their psychological needs and well-being
• Enhancing hiring processes for businesses

Human beings have had a profound effect on the world around them, and it certainly goes both ways. Climate and environmental psychology studies the ways humans react to the environment around them, and how human behaviors affect that environment.

Aspects of climate and environmental psychology include:

• Uncovering psychological relationships between people and environmental factors such as changing seasons or the time of the day.
• Researching how best to communicate environmental concerns and solutions
• Developing methods to improve environmentally sustainable practices within a population

While much of the law deals with the physical world, the mental world certainly has a major role to play. ��So, what is applied psychology in the realms of criminal justice and public service? Forensic and public service psychology is a wide-ranging field focusing on legal issues that require psychological expertise.

Aspects of forensic and public service psychology include:

• Assessing the threat a paroled inmate may have on society at large
• Providing testimony relating to the mental condition of an involved party
• Determining who is the best fit for public service positions, such as police officers and firefighters
• Working with veterans suffering from trauma-related mental health challenges

It’s no exaggeration that media, which encompasses everything from social media to news television to radio broadcasts, plays a major role in the world today. As a discipline, media psychology represents an attempt to uncover the relationship between media technologies and the human mind.

Aspects of media psychology include:

• Implementing new technologies into education and traditional clinical practice
• Studying the effects of media technologies on human behavior, cognition, development and society as a whole.
• Producing laws, standards and regulations governing media
• Working with media personnel to better connect with an audience

A career in applied psychology can be a rewarding way to help others in the community, while making new discoveries to further the discipline.

Here are some educational options available to those interested in applied psychology, as well as possible career paths in the discipline.

A Bachelor of Science in Industrial Organizational Psychology��can prepare you for a career in:

• Training specialist
• Human resources specialist��
• Employee development specialist
• Personnel analyst

A Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology with a concentration in Media and Technology can prepare you to be a:

• Market research specialist
• Communications specialist

A Master's Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology��can prepare you to be a:

• Employee relations manager
• Human resources operations manager
• Development manager

A Master's in Psychology��can prepare you to be a:

• Psychology instructor
• Compliance manager
• Regulatory affairs manager

We’ve given you some answers to the question: What is applied psychology? But, as you’ve read, there are educational requirements to become an applied psychologist, and ��ɫ��Ƶ has options for psychology degrees to help you build your knowledge and skills:

• Bachelor of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
• Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology with a concentration in Media and Technology
• Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
• Master of Science in Psychology

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