A general psychology programs focuses on human behaviors and mental states. Students learn how the mind develops, how people learn, and what motivates people. They learn research and testing methods.
If you've ever read "To Kill a Mockingbird," you may remember some sage advice that lawyer Atticus Finch gives. He says that you never really understand another person until you stand in that person's shoes and walk around in them for a while. The empathy that Atticus describes has a place in psychology. But what makes psychology a science is that it uses scientific methods to understand people. It studies behaviors. These behaviors may be what people report about themselves in interviews or in response to a questionnaire. They could also be actions or even physiological conditions that a scientist can observe and measure.
In a general psychology program, you learn how to study behavior scientifically. You learn how to construct experiments to discover something about behavior. You study statistics so that you can interpret the data. (Many people who go into this field do not realize how much statistics they need to study.) You learn about the major findings of researchers. For example, you study theories of how people learn and remember. You might study how children develop a sense of self.
Usually you study general psychology as an undergraduate. You typically earn a bachelor's degree after four years of full-time study beyond high school. A large number of colleges offer this program; in fact, it is one of the most popular college majors. However, you should not expect a bachelor's degree by itself to prepare you for a career in psychology. Even research assistants in this field often have a master's degree.
Instead, think of the bachelor's degree as a stepping-stone. It may prepare you for graduate study in some specialized area of psychology. It can also be a good way to prepare for graduate school in another field, such as education, business management, corrections, or social work. In fields such as these you can benefit greatly from an understanding of human behavior and how to study it.
Several concentrations in psychology exist. A few you can study as an undergraduate. One such area is developmental and child psychology. About 150 colleges offer a bachelor's degree in this field. In such a program, you learn what researchers have found out about emotional and cognitive development. You study developmental problems. You learn about the kinds of mental illness that are more likely to occur at various stages of life. You study the scientific methods that are used to investigate behavior. In order to make sense of the data that such research produces, you also study statistics.
A small number of colleges offer a bachelor's degree in experimental psychology. In this program, you learn how to research human and animal growth and behavior. Students learn to design experiments, carry them out, and how to evaluate results. Learning statistics is a very large component of this program.
Industrial and organizational psychology is another focus of psychology that you can study as an undergraduate. This program prepares you to provide psychological services in organizations. You study groups and learn how people relate with others, computers, or machines. You also develop programs to help people adjust to work or institutional life.
Graduate programs allow you to study a concentration in more depth. Several of the concentrations mentioned above are their own separate graduate program. In addition, there are several areas that you may only have taken a course in as an undergraduate. One such area is community psychology. In this program, you study the "fit" between a person and their environment. You study the various overlapping social contexts that people live in: family, job, church, neighborhood. You also learn how to prevent and resolve problems, often using large group counseling.
Related to community psychology is social psychology. Social psychology programs focus on how people behave in groups. As a result, you may also dip into some sociology courses. In general, you learn theories of social development. You also study both social problems and constructive behaviors. As with most psychology programs, you also take several statistics courses. This allows you to refine your research skills and run your own experiments.