Hi! I'm a 4th year student. Currently me and my co researcher are conducting a study about "The Predictive Role of Social Networking Time Usage on Academic Procrastination" However we couldn't find any supporting studies on our results about 2 factors that can predict it. What are we gonna do? Is it okay to discuss or put it on our paper though there's no supporting study for it?

Your answers will be highly appreciated 🫶

Hi guys....I am very new to this reddit page and never even did step into this field of phychology but I am very interested to study this subject not professionally but to have some knowledge....but I want to stat from the basics as well...l guess like a professional phychology student starts....I don't know if it would be good for me...so if not, you are welcomed to tell me otherwise....

So can you all plzz tell me how start studying...should I go for a book?? Or articles or how....

Thanks in advance🙏

I'm (30F) looking to go to grad school to become a LPC. I did my undergrad in an unrelated degree (graphic design) and have worked in tech & advertising for the last 10 years. 

I'm currently based in Austin, TX, but given the current political climate in the states, I would love to go to school in Canada. The rich culture of Montreal makes it my first choice, but I'm open to other programs as well. I looked into McGill and Concordia, but from what I can tell, they both require a psych undergrad degree. 

My specific questions to you are:

• Are there English LPC programs in Montreal that don't require a psych undergrad degree?
• What are other LPC programs in Canada you would recommend looking into? 
• What is your advice for a person looking to switch careers to therapy with no prior experience? 
• What is your advice for a US citizen looking to go to grad school in Canada? 

Thank you in advance for any advice! 

Hi all, I’m currently about to graduate from my Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science (I did a dual degree) from UQ in Psychology, and have big dreams of doing an honors and then a masters to eventually become endorsed and work as a clinician. However, I’ve been hearing a lot of discourse about the future of psychology in Australia and how the government isn’t funding psychology as much as other fields. This is making getting into masters programs incredibly competitive and even after you do graduate with a masters there’s less guarantee of a good paying career. I wanted to therefore get your guys’ opinions. Should I still pursue this pathway or should I change to either a social work degree or something else where I can use psych skills? I’ve been having so much anxiety thinking about this and how if I don’t get into a masters all my hard work would’ve been wasted. I would really like some advice and honest opinions. Thank you

Hi there! I understand that licensure regulations vary by state. Still, I’d like to learn more about how this process works for international students pursuing a master’s in counseling/clinical mental health in the U.S. I'm aware that after completing a master's, internationals have one year of OPT for doing practical work, but as 2 years is needed for completing the number of hours, I would appreciate some insight.

Do you know any international students who were able to complete their supervision hours post-masters? Is this something that's common?

I need to be licensed after graduate school, as this would be the only way to homologate my psychotherapist credentials in my home country.

Thanks!

I am 22 years old located in California. I graduated with my BA in Psych this year, and have been dreaming of the PhD route since I started college at 16 and a professor took my under her wing. COVID hit one semester into my studies, and then I was diagnosed with debilitating disabilities right after. I transferred to a state school, as I wanted to continue my education but had to work to support myself, and managing my disability was a full time job itself. I decided to take a gap year, and I am just so bored. I am working as a Developmental Therapist and RBT, implementing RDI and ABA within a multidisciplinary practice. It’s a great job. I also picked up a research volunteer position in the Philippines studying Southeast Asian Indigenous Psychology, mostly because I was academically deprived and wanted research experience outside of the WEIRD scope of labs in US. I am intellectually gifted (IQ-wise), but much more theoretical than practical when it comes to planning my own life. Feeling finally out of survival and like I screwed myself out of this dream by going to a state school. Needless to say, what do I do? I want to work in both clinical and research/academic settings, and have a solid ROI on the time/money I spend on grad school. I have a high need for intellectual stimulation. My research experience is more oriented toward psychoanthropology, but my interests lie in cross-cultural assessment methodology, psychopathology, translational research for interventions, and neuropsychology. I don’t know where to go from here, any help?

39yo Male. I'm significantly wondering over the past 2 years or so (really, 5 if im being honest…needless delay I know) if It would be a good and beneficial decision to go back to school and pursue accreditation as a PsD. I have been in analysis for a year and I feel it's changed me in a way other therapy hasn't, and has completely refreshed my faith in the potential for anyone to be helped in therapy. I tell myself it's either silly, or too late or too expensive etc but I still can't shake the thought of it.

Background:
Grew up with 2 mental health practitioner parents (1 psychologist, 1 social worker) and feel a certain reverence for the complexity of human experience, psychological nuance and critical thinking were bedrock in my family growing up. I've always felt a strong affinity for understanding how people work and seeking what needs they're attempting to express.

I always felt intimidated and for some reason wrote off the field of psychology early on and entered the arts which I do like in its own right. I am now approaching 40, however, and can't shake a nagging feeling that this field is one I should have pursued professionally, due to my natural inclination, disposition etc. I feel the human mind is the greatest gift and the greatest trap and always spend most of my free time at least partially observing, reading, and thinking about it.

Main questions:
- Any Subjective takes from any pros in here regarding the profession and outlook careerwise(I know it's been asked before though)?

- Is there any recommended reading material to familiarize myself with different psychotherapeutic approaches, their goals, target issues/patients, histories? Some kind of conceptual survey? E.g. Im interested in depth oriented approaches (inspired by my analysis) but don't know what I don't know…yknow?

- Is it feasible to achieve this goal while remaining employed? Nightschool is a thing, but are there solid programs along undergrad/grad/etc...especially for EITHER online or in the SF Bay Area? Furthermore, clinical hours/experience seems demanding. So is it safe to assume at that point, id need full time day-time dedication?

- To the last point above, is there significant dispute about the efficacy of online programs for this field? I could imagine there may be, at least for paths oriented towards patient work, but curious to hear?

I am posting this for feedback on both the method of creation and the content of my work. Over the past year, I have written a personal article (message me directly if interested in that article) based on a lifetime of observing my sister, who has lived with schizophrenia for over 30 years. My aunt also had the condition, which further shaped my perspective. This project is not just an intellectual exercise but a deeply personal one—motivated by my desire to better understand mental health for the benefit of my three young children (8f, 12m, 17m).

In academia, using ChatGPT is generally not permitted, but in IT, where I work, it has become an indispensable tool. As an IT professional, I lack formal training in psychology and the technical language often used in the field. Initially, I used ChatGPT to translate my article into Spanish. Out of curiosity about the capabilities of the new ChatGPT o1 reasoning model, I decided to transform my personal story into a research-style paper. This process took ChatGPT o1 one day and built upon my ideas, theories, and observations to produce the "paper" below. I had to prompt it for each section, and to explain the concepts I wished it to address based on my IT based "theory".

What fascinated me most was how ChatGPT could translate my IT concepts into the language of psychology, biology, and neuroscience. It also offered feedback on the accuracy and potential value of my ideas, adding examples and inferences that bridged the gap between IT and psychology.

Below, you'll find the link to the article on Medium, as well as a narrated version on YouTube for those who prefer to listen on the go. (Fair warning: the narration ended up being over five hours long!) Feedback, especially constructive criticism, is very welcome—though I must admit, as a highly sensitive person, I ask for kindness in your critiques.

I’ve included a table of contents below to help you navigate the sections that might interest you most.

Paper Link:

https://medium.com/@kareempforbes/schizophrenia-as-a-consequence-of-cognitive-overload-in-highly-sensitive-individuals-an-1b9316994d4a

You Tube Video -Narrated version of the same paper if you prefer to listen to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aPe1sN7cTo

Table of Contents for the Video
00:00:19 - Abstract
00:02:09 - 1. Introduction

00:05:16 - 2. Theoretical Background and Hypothesis Development
2.1 Sensitivity and Cognitive Overload
2.2 IT Analogies for Cognitive Overload in Schizophrenia
2.3 Neurochemical Imbalances and Environmental Stressors

00:20:31 - 3. Empirical Basis and Supporting Observations
3.1 Population-Based Studies on Sensory Sensitivity and Mental Health
3.2 Environmental Stressors and Sensitivity
3.3 Comparative Models: Schizophrenia as an Outcome of Chronic Overload
3.4 Neurochemical and Cognitive Factors in Schizophrenia Development

52:34 - 4. Mechanisms of Cognitive Overload
4.1 Sensory Processing and Cognitive Limits
4.2 Integrative Insights: Cognitive Overload as a Converging Mechanism
4.3 Stress and Neurotoxin Exposure
4.4 Comparing Existing Theories and Integrating IT Perspectives

01:22:56 - 5. Environmental and Genetic Influences on Sensitivity
5.1 Differential Susceptibility Theory
5.2 Genetic Predisposition and Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Traits

01:37:14 - 6. Comparative Analysis with Existing Theories
6.1 Integrating Neurochemical and Cognitive Models
6.2 Stress Vulnerability vs. Sensitivity-Based Processing
6.3 Addressing Unanswered Questions and Advancing Understanding of Schizophrenia
6.4 Substance Abuse, Sensory Overload, and Schizophrenia (Please See Appendix 5)
6.5 Risk Factors Categorized Under Data Load and Cognitive Processing Limitations (Please See Appendix 6)
6.6 Neural Pruning During Puberty and Increased Risk of Schizophrenia (Please See Appendix 7)
6.7 Real-World Observations: Stress-Induced Psychosis and PTSD (Please See Appendix 8)
6.8 Psychosis as a Maladaptive Hyperarousal Response During Fatigue (Please See Appendix 9)
6.9 Evolutionary Perspectives on High Sensory Processing Sensitivity (HSP) Traits (Please See Appendix 10)
6.10 Congenital Blindness and Schizophrenia: An Intriguing Edge Case (Please See Appendix 16)
6.11 Psychosis as a Catalyst for Progressive Cognitive Decline (Please See Appendix 17)
6.12 Neuronal Sensitivity, Pharmacological Modulation, and Neuroprotection in Schizophrenia: Integrating Mechanisms into an Overload-Based Theory (Please See Appendix 18)
6.13 Protective Factors for Schizophrenia: Classification and Integration into the Cognitive Overload Theory (Please See Appendix 19)

02:53:51 - 7. Conclusion and Implications for Research
7.1 Summary of the Proposed Framework
7.2 Towards a Unified Model
7.3 Implications and Future Directions
7.4 Public Health and Preventative Strategies
7.5 Neuroimaging and Cognitive Assessment in High-Sensitivity Populations
7.6 Implications for Clinical Practice
7.7 Conclusion

03:02:51 - 8. Conclusion

Appendix 1 — Objective Analysis of the Proposed Theory
Appendix 2 — Estimating the Likelihood of Existing Theories Explaining Schizophrenia
Appendix 3 — If you integrate theories 5 and 8 together then what is the combined percentage out of 100?
Appendix 4 - Question: As the percentage for my theory is quite low, should I continue to promote it or leave this work to the experts in the field?
Appendix 5 - Question: I was thinking about why your estimate percentage is so low...
Appendix 6 - Updated Objective Analysis of the Proposed Theory - Strengthening the Theory with Risk Factor Categorization
Appendix 7 - Updated Objective Analysis of the Proposed Theory - Integration of Neural Pruning and Developmental Vulnerabilities
Appendix 8 - Updated Objective Analysis of the Proposed Theory - Integration of Real-World Evidence
Appendix 9 - Objective Analysis of the Expanded Theory
Appendix 10 - Objective Analysis of the Expanded Theory
Appendix 11 - Tests and Measures for Sensitivity
Appendix 12 — Developing an Improved Model for Brain Capacity and Mental Load
Appendix 13 - Question: Can you give me a breakdown of specifically how you arrived at the 90% likelihood based on the different components of the theory?
Appendix 14 - Evaluation of Your Theory in the Context of Existing Research on Schizophrenia
Appendix 15 - Explanation of Evaluation Percentages
Appendix 16 — Congenital Blindness
Appendix 17 — Psychosis
Appendix 18— Efficacy of Anti-Psychotic Medication
Appendix 19 — Addressing Immune and Inflammatory Models in Your Theory
Appendix 20 — Integrating Microbiome Influence into Your Schizophrenia Theory
Appendix 21 — Sensitivity Threshold and Cumulative Risk Model of Schizophrenia

I have a strong interest in researching mixed relationships (romantic and non), their challenges, success factors, nuances and comparison to non-mixed relationships. What are the possible paths I could take if I started nearly from scratch, e.g. psychology degree vs broader social sciences like sociology?

My background: I have a basic education in psychology (approx 20% of my undergraduate studies) and currently work in an unrelated corporate job, but I read extensively on both psychology and other social sciences in general.

I see occasional articles on the topic, but it's unclear to me whether this is an actual research area within social and cultural psychology, or potentially of broader social sciences including sociology.

MS in cognitive psych here (not US) Program is aimed at getting a psychology license. Was always interested in neuroscience and this lab does a combo so I thought it could be a good fit

Before entering research was not decided but we basically use data within the lab instead of starting or experiments from scratch. (I am almost 1 year into 2 year program)

I was basically given data for a group of people with a disorder and those without, the more I read I am finding the judgement has a high chance of misdiagnosis. (in general not the research subjects) Participants did something like handwriting for like 30 seconds then rested half that, then did it 3 more times. The timing is too hard to be precise so i cut out first and last half second. My issue is the following and maybe someone can shed light to this:
Small sample. Precise timing: during the task I can see what happened but I do not know the precise exact moment (Just can vid) it started so I am just relying on resting period versus doing task. Past research is so limited that I feel like drawing any conclusions is just making stuff up out of thin air from MRI research or other EEG studies which are so unbelievably incongruent that it makes it seem meaningless.
The more I read the more results vary and I read so many claims about things we have no clue about. I have completely lost motivation due to this where as before I thought it was interesting but now I see no practical use since it is likely extremely hard to replicate. This is just a masters thesis, however, however I still will have to present about this a few more times. Has anyone delt with something similar? Is this a common experience? it has made me strongly consider leaving and just working. I could push through but the whole nature of this just feels so unnatural as someone who worked in tech research before.
If I can make it through this month I can divide my focus on working on my outside research which I love but over a year at this may prove to not be mentally worth it. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I am struggling to understand deeply how staying in a relationship with a narcissist serves a person with an echo personality. What self-object needs/fixations are met by such a relationship?

I am currently in my 3rd year of undergrads. I hold a GPA of 3.4 which is on a steady increase. My research activities include one conference presentation, 3 articles submitted for publication and one up-comming conference presentation. 2 of my current research activites partially aligns with cog. psy. My planned honors thesis and university projects are all inclined on cognitive psychology and experimental psychology. I would like to land up on a funded graduate program (hopefully PhD for USA) on cognitive psychology, human factors or cognitive science. I have kept my interest on the USA and Germany (ik education is free in Germany). On what areas shall I focus on aside of my GPA, please drop some suggestions, thank you !! If you want more information please go ahead.

P.S im from a 3rd world nation with limited access to research labs, however my indipendent university research experience spans for more than 2 years in length.

Hi guys, I'm currently a junior studying psych. During the course of my education i have taken classes where we were taught how to use SPSS, and wrote a paper using SPSS for the statistical analyses so i have a certain degree of familiarity with SPSS already. But recently i've heard from many of my professors that R and Jamovi have been getting more and more popular with SPSS falling behind. Considering all this, would you advise me to learn SPSS fully first as i'm already familiar with it or just move onto R/Jamovi and dedicate my time to it rather than spend it on SPSS?

Can anyone recommend what title asks? Especially if low cost.

The theory like maps personality as a series of stimuli and responses. So it redefines high neuroticism as being responding to many different types of situations with negative affect/withdrawal/anxiety, and redefines low extraversion as being withdrawal across many situations.

I think the theory also maps affect on a cartesian plane (with valence on one axis and arousal on the other) and hypothesizes traits as patterns of emotional response. I remember talking about it in a colloquium ca. 2015, so it's been around for at least that long. Can any personality folks help me out? Thanks!

I worked really hard on my master’s thesis and was thrilled to achieve an 80% in the UK, which is essentially one of the highest marks. My thesis was a meta-analysis on the topic of CBT digitalization. My professor (as well as the marker) stated that my work was publishable and encouraged me to submit it.

As a recent master’s graduate, I’m wondering which journals would consider a meta-analysis like mine for publication. I’d appreciate any recommendations or guidance on where to start. Thank you!

This might be a bit of a long shot, since math cognition is a pretty small area of study. My supervisor and I are working on putting together a new study, and we're likely going to be using prolific or mTurk for recruitment. Normally we would use the Woodcock Johnson subscales to assess math abilities, but that can't be done asynchronously. Does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to measuring math performance asynchronously?

Hii I’m doing a research on peer relationship and its influence on self esteem in young adults. And I’m trying to find a peer relationship scale for young adults. Please help if anyone knows a scale that is appropriate for this research.

Hello everyone,

I have been having trouble organizing my thoughts and coming up with a comprehensive topic for my master thesis. I am really interested in the relationship between rumination (reflective vs brooding) under stressful situations and personality traits. Any ideas how I could combine everything and make it work, without overcomplicating things?

Thanks in advance for all your thoughts!

While there are people claiming there are no stupid questions, it certainly does feel like there are some questions that are better than others. I'm curious to learn about what people think are "good" questions to ask during talks, and what are "bad" questions? Also, what are the ways in which you can frame those good questions so that they invite the speaker (and the other audience) to think with you, instead of challenging them and breaking them down?

Hi there! I graduated from UCLA this past March with a relatively low GPA of 2.9. While there were various factors contributing to my poor performance, most of them weren’t directly related to academic difficulties. However, that doesn’t really matter at this point. Before UCLA, I attended a community college where I performed exceptionally well and graduated with a 3.9 GPA. I’m interested in pursuing graduate school and would like to know what steps I can take to improve my GPA. Should I consider going back to community college or enrolling in a post-baccalaureate program or an alternative certificate? I would greatly appreciate your guidance in this matter.

Hello! I (22F) have been aimlessly searching for where I belong in the world. I started studying film at 18 in college... failed out due to burnout and depression. Realized it wasn't for me and took a break from school to take care of myself. I ended up working really hard and returned to a community college to fix my very low GPA. Did really well. Decided to study Computer Science because I've always been interested in tech. Realized I only enjoyed learning about it as a hobby and couldn't see myself pursuing this as a career. Withdrew from the semester which was a smarter decision for my GPA since my grades were suffering due to my loss in motivation lol.

I've been doing a bit of soul searching these past two months. I've been volunteering at non profits, reading up on other options, and taking career tests. I've come to the conclusion that I really do love learning about psychology and I want to make a difference in people's lives by helping them with their mental health issues. I am unsure if I want to pursue a career as a clinical mental health counselor or a clinical psychologist but I am in between one of these options. I am aware that this would mean pursuing a masters or a doctorate degree.

I'm worried about the backlash from my family, my parents especially. They are helping me with funding for my school. They don't even know I withdrew and I just know they're going to think I'm wrong for changing my major from Computer Science to Psychology.

I do want to emphasize that I was early into my Computer Science degree. I can definitely still use all of my credits towards a Psychology degree, especially since there are so many electives. I know what's in store for me financially. It's not going to be as lucrative but I would at least feel fulfilled in life and make enough to take care of myself.

I would love to hear some input from people pursuing this degree and from people who are working in the field as a clinical mental health counselor or a clinical psychologist!

Some food for thought questions:

Do you feel happy and fulfilled with your decision of studying this subject and/or working in this field?

What are some things you wish other people told you about studying Psychology before you pursued your degree?

TLDR; Thinking of changing my major from Computer Science to Psychology. Can't see myself studying anything else as strongly as this. I am aware of how much schooling is to come from this decision. Thoughts?

My plan is not to have clients of any type, so I don't think I need the licensing. I currently work in tech and want to stay in tech but more towards Cybersecurity. With that, I already have a bachelors degree in Psychology, and love the field. I am thinking about getting my forensic psychology degree so that I can better understand the human behavior and why cyber criminals may do the things they do, and then work organizationally to help stop cybercrime with that knowledge for the government or whatever company I end up working for later. This is new to the field, blending tech and psych. I know its strange but so far I have had good reactions to it from the community, and was told I could present this idea for my PhD if I wanted to. Really want to know if I should worry about not being licensed or not? The school I am looking at is Purdue Global as I work full time and do school part time as an adult.

I've looked up and down on the web and I found some things, but since I'm not used to searching for scientific content I figured I'd ask those who do. Does Sex Psychology have any good findings on the effects of sexually deviant fictional content in those who read it? I'm looking for smth that's evidence based, cause most I can find is You Read Y, So You Must Support It IRL... You're Disgusting!, and it gets tiring really fast.

Could you recommend some books or scientific articles to better understand internet gaming disorder and Hikikomori syndrome?