Question about getting degrees!!

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Hi as I've said time and time before my special interest is Psychology so obviously after my AA first up would be the Bachelor degree in Psychology right? So I was thinking since my interests are narrow (YA AS!! !! !! !) I was considering taking multiple courses to find out which interest is best. (Right now I think Oh it'd be neat to be/do that field of Psychology) but what it fully takes in learning to do the ONE little thing that interests me I'm not sure LOL! Sorry here's a list of interest if you are interested LOL!

1) This is a HUGE one perhaps Alcohol vs. Sober (brain scans driving arcade machines etc. etc. Obviously we wouldn't put you on a real road!! !! Also Alcohol on behavior over time.

2) Shopping behavior (why you like Ipod etc. and the hustle/bustle of Christmas shopping the mad rush for that IT toy etc. and overall Holiday behavior)

3) Marketing (this falls back on shopping but can also extend into making the next Furby or Tickle Me Elmo (Sure Hasbro etc. are the companies but as a Psychologist (not sure what subfield) I help design a fun but educational toy

4) Surely you've seen Dora and Barney etc. all of them have X PhD (yes a psychologist had INPUT on making your childs obsessive show! but hey it's educational) Why I know it'd take a PhD whether this is in Developmental or Child Psychology not sure which I'm thinking Child?


And overall sadly these ideas seem great I don't know the work and what I'd have to learn to become any of these things I just know I found the field fascinating when I was in College and I listen to a Psychology podcast and asked a question about waiters makeing money the guys response (Perhaps I'm looking to do a Master's Thesis OMG!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!)


Thanks and sorry for the long post.

Well... your AA will focus on broad coverage of your chosen major, and your bachelor's degree will probably have a similarly broad focus. It is a very good idea to take many survey courses if you're possibly interested in a major or a sub specialty.

I enjoyed abnormal psychology most, but I didn't major in psychology.

Yes, you would go for a BA or a BS after your AA. In most schools your bachelor's degree will be a general education (you'll spend time taking English, possibly a foreign languages, math, science, history, etc., as well as your major courses - it depends on the school). You would then go on for graduate work to specialize down a bit.

As I understand it, and things have undoubtedly changed since I was looking at this for myself years ago, you would go to a Master's program, deciding between clinical and research focus to select the program to apply to (and hope you get into). After you finished your MA or MS, you would go on for a doctoral program in the more specialized field of interest. After your PhD you would do post-doc research in a lab run by someone established, if you were going the research route. Otherwise, you would go into private practice or teach.

You're going to have to really love it, or have an unending interest in it to get that far. That's a lot of years, a lot of study, and a lot of cost ($$$).

Good luck!

(PS you could also just make arrangements with a local university library to have access to their stacks. a lot of schools do allow the public to have access with special programs, etc., and then you could just do your research in your one focus area on your own.)