Department of Psychology

Psychology — the study of human nature: What are people like? How do they use information? What motivates them? How do they develop and change? Students learn critical thinking and scientific methods in order to help solve human problems in the workplace and in the community.

Courses in the psychology department address fundamental questions about human nature and teach the application of scientific methods to verify research. Other courses examine possibilities for applying psychological science to solve human problems.

Our faculty is genuinely committed to teaching. We promote an atmosphere of collegiality among faculty, students, and support staff. We expect excellence from our students and encourage them to develop to their full potential by going beyond coursework to participate in research and community service.

Labs & Institutes

In our state of the art laboratories and interdisciplinary institutes, psychology faculty conduct research in a wide variety of areas such as personality influences on workplace accomplishment, personality assessment, treatment and prevention of trauma and its effects, reducing the effects of occupational stress and exploring factors that can influence one’s perception of pain. From undergraduates to doctoral students, there is place for you to not only research but also publish your findings. Explore your many research opportunities. Learn more.

True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic

The True Blue Neighbors Behavioral Health Clinic (TBN-BHC) provides affordable and empirically supported mental health assessment and treatment services to children and adults of all ages. We support the True Blue Neighbors community, the Kendall Whittier neighborhood, and surrounding areas. The clinic is supervised by TU’s licensed clinical psychology professors and services are provided by graduate students in the clinical psychology program. Learn more.

Student Research

Psychology undergraduate and graduate student research is a crucial component to a psychology degree. Check out some of our student research projects.

Personality Tests

Personality tests are not merely for discovering a celebrity soulmate or learning which outfit matches a reader’s mood. Outside the pages of Cosmopolitan, personality tests serve as an assessment for employment. Assistant Professor of Psychology David Fisher and graduate students Sydnie Cunningham and Alison Kerr published an article in The International Journal of Selection and Assessment on the significance of personality tests that are contextualized for the workplace. Learn more.

Pain Receptors

Students often associate studying with pain, but TU doctoral student, Edward Lannon studies pain. Lannon’s research in pain not only earned him a National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellowship, but also, he recently won an NSF travel award.

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Malaria in Ghana

TU researchers from the Department of Psychology have traveled to Ghana where malaria is responsible for 25 percent of child deaths under the age of 5 [UNICEF, 2007]. A TU survey of Ghanaian children, parents and teachers revealed malaria is the primary cause of absenteeism among children and has a serious impact on their education.

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Clinical Neuropsychology

The American Psychological Association (APA) honored three TU psychology doctoral students for outstanding research papers in clinical neuropsychology (APA Division 40-Society for Clinical Neuropsychology). From data collection to the final paper review, McFarlin Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training Michael Basso mentors his students to start with a question and then investigate. Learn more.

Kendall College of Arts and Sciences