Cognitive Psychologist
Impact: Knowledge creation, Human behavior understanding, Educational advancement
Investigates mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem-solving, and thinking to understand human cognition.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 40% Team / 60% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Flexible
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $90,000
- Entry-level
- $65,000 - $75,000
- Senior
- $120,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 6% (average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Moderate
- Salary growth potential
- High to 80-120% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $80,000 - $150,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Statistical Analysis
- Research Design
- Data Interpretation
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Experimental Psychology
- Psychometrics
Soft skills
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Communication
- Research
- Empathy
- Attention to Detail
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Doctoral or Professional Degree
- Licensing
- Varies by State
- Years to mid-career
- 5-8 years
- Years to senior
- 10-15 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Research Assistant
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Assistant Professor
- Associate Professor
- Full Professor / Senior Researcher
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 10% to low risk due to complex research design and interpretation
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.8/10
- Meaning
- 4.2/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 8.5/10
- Social perception
- High