495 SEE ATTACHMENTS FOR THE TWO DISCUSSIONS 5 AND 6 AS YOUR RFERENCE DOCUMENT 2 SEE ATTACHMENTS FOR DOCUMENT 3 AND 4 AS YOUR REFERENCE DOCUMENT 3 Pie of Life reflection journal DOCUMENT 4

Part 1: Two key resources that stood out were related to public health and consumer behavior:

1. Public Health: By incorporating psychology into public health practices, organizations can develop better health promotion strategies. The health belief model from psychology tells us how people understand health threats, which drives their actions regarding vaccines and stopping tobacco use. As a trained psychologist, I understand how to develop health messages that will reduce audience resistance while boosting their motivation to take action.

2. Consumer Behavior: Companies use psychological expertise to design marketing plans based on customers' decisions and what emotionally motivates them. Advertisers apply loss aversion principles to create time limits on special offers because consumers react strongly against possible losses. Through my knowledge of psychology, I have examined these strategies and assessed their ethical value.

Part 2: Psychology as a Hub Science & Career Applications

Recognizing psychology as a hub science allows you to develop opportunities beyond medical services. Understanding human behavior, cognition, and emotions is valuable in many fields, including:

  • Human Resources: Our understanding of psychology enables us to increase workplace motivation and hire better teams.

  • User Experience (UX) Design: Cognitive psychology helps make digital products more straightforward.

  • Criminal Justice: I help forensic psychologists discover criminal motivations and recovery strategies.

  • Health Policy & Research: I support community mental health organizations while promoting better health policies.

The scope of my psychological perspective allows me to avoid strict therapy work. Instead of focusing on essential therapy, I can select jobs in behavioral economics, organizational psychology, and health coaching because psychology drives individual habits throughout those fields.

Part 3: We will explain why psychology meets all scientific standards

Our course readings provide the necessary proof to demonstrate that psychology meets the criteria for a science discipline. Psychology utilizes scientific methods, including experiments with controls, and analyzes data through peer-reviewed publications to study behavioral patterns in people. The study by Verduin et al. in 2008 proved that structured mental healthcare therapy achieves actual outcomes just like standard drug trials measure medicine effectiveness. Anderson et al. studied brain research findings to show how psychology relies on scientific methods from biological science. Psychology follows the scientific method, using controlled experiments, data analysis, and peer-reviewed research to study human behavior. For instance:

  • Verduin et al. (2018) demonstrated how structured psychotherapy techniques yield measurable mental health improvements, similar to how medications show efficacy in clinical trials.

  • The author also highlighted neuroscience research that maps specific brain regions involved in cognition and emotion, proving psychology's foundation in biological science.

Even though psychology examines intricate human behavior patterns, it employs scientific methods that match those of other research areas. Like other sciences, biology, and chemistry, it demands equal levels of study but focuses on how mental activities differ from physical substances.

Reference

Anderson, M. C., Reinholz, J., Kuhl, B. A., & Mayr, U. (2021). Excellence in clinic psychology. Journal of Neuropsychology.

Verduin, P. J., de Bie, R. A., & Scherder, E. J. (2018). Cognitive rehabilitation after stroke: A systematic review. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 22(3), 213-232.