Students interested in psychology had the opportunity to experience what it is exactly like for someone that pursues their career in that field. Dr. Stan Kary, a retired clinical psychologist and who is Mr. Barker’s stepfather, taught students about different psychological trials, especially the ones that involve IQ testing.

Kary always disfavored psychology class all throughout high school. He enlisted into the Army after graduation and worked in a factory at the same time. Soon after, he came to the conclusion that he hated his current career path and wanted to enroll in a university. He decided to take psychology when he signed up for classes and immediately fell in love with the subject, eventually receiving his Ph.D. and becoming a clinical psychologist.

Clinical psychology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. Since Kary has studied different ways to treat patients throughout college, he is well aware of the assortment of techniques that scientist used as a way to diagnose and recognize human behavior.

In his lecture in front of students in the auditorium on Nov. 9, he explained the accuracy of IQ tests in the past. He discussed the topics of Alpha testing, the measurement of educated students that intention of enrolling in the Army, and Beta testing, a test to see the performance of uneducated men that had the desire to enter into the Army as well. Both tests didn’t take actual intelligence into account, but it was more of a reflection of the person’s surroundings. Some of the questions asked to find what was missing in a picture and had timed mazes to see how fast someone could think.

“The higher your intelligence, the quicker you can get it done because you can process information quicker,” Kary said.

Kary also discussed the subject of palmology, which determines genes and someone’s future. He had students look at their own creases in their palms to see if they will get married, have a child, or if they had behavioral problems. He also had students check for certain bumps around their body to determine how much of a certain emotion someone had. Palmology was established around the time science was changing, so research was being held on someone’s cognitive behavior and why someone acted the way they did.

Mr. Barker, a psychology teacher, grew up with his stepdad Kary talk about his subjects and how their brain functions differently than normal. This is what inspired Barker to pursue a profession in psychology and follow the footsteps of his stepdad.

“I learned a lot from my dad. When I took psychology, it was extremely easy because my dad talked about everything regarding psychology daily.”

Overall, Kary explained what exactly he does for a living and how it impacts society. He made an influential speech about clinical psychology and it how it affects the worlds we live today.