Psychologists routinely design system interfaces to make them useable by system operators. This includes aircraft cockpits, nuclear power station control rooms, ticket machines in railway stations, video interfaces, and the controls and instruments in a car. Psychologists are involved in helping people recover from illness, both mental and physical, they might help children who have learning difficulties at school, and more and more are making a significant contribution to the successful running of organisations. Many sports teams employ psychologists to help performers achieve their maximum potential, and many companies employ psychologists to help workers who have stress-related problems. Forensic psychologists assist the police in preventing crime and in detecting criminals, using techniques such as officer profiling.
Some Psychologists try to answer issues that are of extreme importance to society.
Why, for example, people continue to smoke cigarettes when they know that there is a serious risk of poor health as a result. Why people persist in drinking and driving, although the penalties are often most severe, and the consequences sometimes fatal. Such investigations very often influence the formation of both social policy and law. Psychologists in the UK and many other countries are regulated by professional bodies that make sure that people do not make claims about their abilities within psychology that are unwarranted, misleading and unjustified, and it is now possible to be accredited as a Chartered Psychologist after an appropriate education, training and supervised practice.