Great Colleges for Psychology
Five Schools That Offer Outstanding Programs in Human Behavior
Sep 18, 2009
Over 1700 colleges in the United States offer some type of major in psychology. Psychology courses may include introductory, statistics, experimental, and behavioral classes. The branches of this major seem endless and aspects of the major can be implemented in many careers.
This article will examine five colleges that are known for having great psychology undergraduate programs.
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Psychology Program
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, also known as the “U of M”, is a leader in the world of psychology. The department’s early history boasts of professors and alumni significant in the world of psychology. Such people include Richard Elliott, B.F. Skinner, Karl Spencer Lashley, John Holland, and Starke Hathaway.
The college is credited with the creation of The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), Minnesota Importance Questionnaire, and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. The department contains 15 different laboratories including the Health and Eating Laboratory, the Traumatic Life Events Lab, and the Detection of Deception Laboratory just to name a few.
The U of M’s psychology department is best known for their twins’ project. The project, Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research (MCTRF), provides longitudinal studies analyzing nature versus nurture. Research on depression, eating disorders, happiness, and personality all have been founded on the studies of twins and siblings.
Cornell University Psychology Program
Cornell’s psychology program is widely known for their programming in experimental and cognitive psychology. The school can boast of sponsoring the first electroencephalogram (EEG) studies. Early professors who establish the program include Carl Pfaffmann, Lorrin Riggs, Walter Hunter, Harold Scholsberg, and Leonard Carmichael.
Brown has established an interesting interdisciplinary program called Brown’s Institute for Brain Science (BIBS). Instead of studying the brain through one discipline, eleven departments coordinate efforts for a collaborative study of the brain. Such departments include psychology, biology, neuroscience, philosophy, engineering, and applied mathematics. While the department concentrates on the inner workings of the brain, the real goal is to understand and possibly diagnosis diseases affecting the nervous system.
Harvard Psychology Department
Harvard’s past faculty includes many of the pioneers in psychology. Past members include Erik Erikson, B.F. Skinner, Edwin G. Boring, and Mary W. Calkins. These founders established the formal study of psychology from its sister philosophy.
Harvard offers undergraduates the opportunity to study psychology in one of seven areas: general track; mind/brain/behavior: cognitive track; life sciences: social and cognitive neuroscience track; honors program; psychology as a secondary field, study out of residence; and advanced placement.
The University of Colorado at Boulder Psychology Department
The marriage of psychology and sciences may seem unusual; however, at Boulder students learn how the two go hand in hand. Students are required to take several courses in psychology and additional courses in natural sciences.
Like the U of M, Boulder offers multiple laboratory options for students. Currently, the college houses 14 labs including the Stereotyping and Prejudice Lab; the Judgments, Emotion, Decisions, and Intuitions Lab; and the Campeau Lab of Neuroscience.
Duke Psychology Department
Unlike the previously mentioned colleges, Duke allows undergraduates to choose an area of concentration. The options include abnormal/health, biological bases of behavior, cognitive, developmental, and social. In addition to academics students are given the opportunity to volunteer at John Umstead State Psychiatric Hospital.
Undergraduate psychology students may participate in original research studies. To support students Duke offers a research office that assists with grants, assistantships, and summer programs. Some past research topics include Motor and Verbal Aspects of Memory for Movement in Dancers, Memory for Explicit vs. Implicit Side Effects in Prescription Drug Ads, and Creative Spelling of Vowels in Kindergarten and Grade One.
Psychology can be an interesting major because of the variety of themes students can study. Colleges that offer multiple directions within the major attract students who are more serious about the major. Students who are interested in studying psychology should locate undergraduate programs that provide ample opportunities for students like concentrations, study abroad programs, and research.
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