Archive of February 2008
2008.02.20
Labcoats
Experimental work in the field of psychology is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. (It might also be the fact that I get to wear a labcoat for a couple of hours each morning.) I had volunteered to work in directed research so I could get a feel for the hands-on application of experimental psychology.
The research project I'm working on is in neurochemistry, so I'm collecting blood samples, urine samples, and saliva samples alongside handing out some questionnaires. After having done it for about two weeks, I have a good feel for the procedure, and have the professional aspect of it down. I even handled a stressful situation with a participant better than I thought I would, making the professor in charge proud of myself and the other student working with me. It definitely makes me feel more confident.
All of that aside, I'm really getting into psychobiography and personality research and theory. I'm working on a psychobiography proposal of Galileo for my psychobiography class. Psychobiography is sort of like a biography, but with personality psychology integrated into. Moreover, instead of looking at the whole life, the psychobiographer focuses on key events of the life--those events which stand out as meaningful. My professor has a good site about the field of psychobiography, and what constitutes good psychobiography. I'm considering furthering my proposal and turning it into my senior project for next year. This could be daunting, but fun.