Areas of Graduate Study
Graduate training in the Department of Psychology is organized around distinct but interconnected areas of study. Each area represents a community of faculty and graduate students with shared intellectual interests, approaches, and methods. Together, these areas reflect the department’s strength across the full breadth of psychology, from neural and biological mechanisms to social behavior, development, cognition, and mental health.
Graduate students apply to an area that best aligns with their research interests and intended training goals. While each area has its own emphasis, expectations, and culture, all students benefit from the department’s shared commitment to rigorous scientific training, close faculty mentorship, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Learn more about each area below and search the faculty directory to find advisors associated with each area.
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Behavioral Neuroscience
Area Head: Andrew Gaudet
The Behavioral Neuroscience area investigates the biological and neural mechanisms underlying behavior, with research spanning mood disorders, addiction, aging, neuroinflammation, and circadian biology.
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Clinical Psychology
Area Head: Kathryn Paige Harden
The Clinical Psychology area follows a clinical science training model that integrates rigorous empirical research with evidence based clinical training. The program is nationally accredited.
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Cognition, Perception, & Brain
Area Head: Jarrod A. Lewis-Peacock
The Cognition, Perception, and Brain area examines how people think, learn, perceive, and make decisions, using interdisciplinary approaches across psychology, neuroscience, computation, and statistics.
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Developmental Psychology
Area Head: Jacqueline D Woolley
The Developmental Psychology area investigates how cognition, behavior, and social-emotional functioning develop across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on infancy and childhood.
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Individual Differences & Evolutionary Psychology
Area Head: David M. Buss
The Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology area explores how and why individuals vary in psychological traits, behaviors, and life outcomes, examined through modern statistical approaches and evolutionary theory.
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Social & Personality
Area Head: Jennifer Beer
The Social and Personality area explores how people think, feel, and behave in relation to themselves and others, with research spanning emotion, personality, decision making, morality, and social interaction.
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