The psychology department’s main fields of specialization include cognition and language, social and cognitive development, and social cognition and personality.
Cognitive Psychology
Broad training in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience; special expertise in cognitive control and attention, executive processes, memory, knowledge representation, causal reasoning and categorization. (Central faculty include: Arrington, Bickhard, Carlisle, Cox, Hupbach, Marsh)
Social and Cognitive Development
Research covers many central developmental topics, including cognitive, meta-cognitive, and perceptual development; attachment, socio-emotional, and moral development; socio-relational and socio-cultural development (Central faculty include: An, Barrett, Bickhard, Borowski, Brandone, Laible)
Social and Personality Psychology
Examination of how situational influences, individual differences, and information processing mechanisms combine to create social cognition and behavior. Current emphases include conscious and unconscious influences on social judgment, psychology of health risk behaviors, goals, motivation, and self-regulation, moral psychology, social identity (Central faculty include: Burke, Gill, Jung, Moskowitz, Napper, Packer)