If you want to become a psychologist, you must first make certain that you are a good listener. A psychologist must be ready and willing to listen to his or her patients. At the same time, the psychologist must be observant and thoughtful.

In order to become a psychologist one could begin by majoring in psychology on an undergraduate level. Yet one would not necessarily have to major in psychology in order to pursue a career in a field that relates to psychology. Still, one should take courses that deal with human behavior. The well trained psychologist must understand the intricacies of human behavior.

A psychologist should appreciate the degree to which human behavior reflects the elements of human nature. An expert in the field of psychology must also recognize how such behavior can be changed or modified. Psychologists often need to aid the modification of behavior within some type of human services.

For example, anyone trained in behavior and psychology might be asked to help with creating a program for helping teens to abandon an addiction to a harmful substance, such as drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. The psychologist would need to design a program that included both rewards for proper behavior and punishment for improper behavior.

Thus in order to take on the role of psychologist, one needs to study in detail about rewards and punishment. Such study is normally carried out on a graduate level. The graduate student observes a particular behavior, and seeks to modify that behavior. The results of the modification process are included in the student’s thesis.

That thesis might also mention other psychological concepts and applications. For example, it might go into detail about extinction or list a number of different positive reinforcement contingencies. It might touch on the shaping or responses or the development of stimulus controls.

The thesis project might incorporate aspects of modeling and imitation. It might  call for implementation of negative reinforcement. A knowledge of all those things should be sought out by anyone who hopes to hold the title of “psychologist.”

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