The German scientist, Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) was the first person to be referred to as a psychologist. Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience, and he believed that the goal of psychology was to identify components of consciousness and how those components combined to result in our conscious experience.
Psychology is a fascinating subject which helps you gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and how it affects behaviour. It explores the thoughts, feelings and motivations behind people’s actions and investigates what makes us different – and alike.
Psychological research can be applied to help us understand issues and events in the world today. Psychology can help enhance your critical thinking and communication skills. The study of Psychology can improvise many other occupations like coaching, journalism, careers in education and research; law; medicine and public health; politics and public policy; and in business fields such as marketing, finance, and management.
Here are some great programs from top universities that you could consider for pursuing Psychology:
Harvard University – Department of Psychology:
Harvard has been at the forefront of the field of Psychology since it first emerged at Harvard in the late 1800’s under the scholarship of William James. Most of the research conducted in Harvard’s Department of Psychology concerns basic psychological processes such as attention, perception, memory, categorization, reasoning, decision-making, language, cognitive and social development, social cognition, intergroup relations, and morality. In addition, some members of the department conduct research on the etiology, development, and treatment of psychopathology.
The Psychology Department at Harvard is known for its research excellence and is home to some of the world’s leading researchers in psychology, neuroscience, and related fields. The department offers programs in cognitive, developmental, clinical, social, and organizational psychology.
Today the Department has 27 faculty members, and 74 graduate students. The graduate students are trained in four major research programs: Cognition, Brain, & Behavior; Developmental Psychology; Social Psychology; and Clinical Science. Psychology is the most popular field of study for undergraduate students.
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Stanford University – Department of Psychology:
The Department of Psychology at Stanford has a strong focus on interdisciplinary research, with faculty members conducting research in areas such as cognitive neuroscience, social and personality psychology, and developmental psychology. The department offers programs in social, cognitive, and developmental psychology.
The students who declare a major in Psychology can choose their coursework from various pathways. This would help the students develop their skills in a certain area. The pathways include:
Cognitive Science Pathway is for students who are fascinated by the workings of human and artificial intelligence, as well as related topics such as memory, learning, human-computer interaction, natural language, collective behavior, and computational viewpoints. This pathway offers courses in psychology that delve into perception, cognition, language, and neuroscience.
Early Childhood Cognition, Learning and Development Pathway Health Psychology Pathway: Human experience is characterized by learning, growth, and change. By examining early childhood, the students gain insights into the roots of many aspects of human experience. The Early Childhood Cognition, Learning, and Developmental Pathway enables students to delve into these concepts and prepares them for careers in fields such as social work, child psychology, education, and any profession that involves working with children.
Judgment and Decision-Making Pathway is a multidisciplinary field of study that cuts across Economics, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Management Science and Engineering (MS&E)
Mind, Culture, and Society Pathway: In our progressively diverse societies, possessing expertise in human behavior necessitates a profound comprehension of how culture, race, gender, social class, and other elements of identity shape people’s cognitive and emotional processes, as well as their interpersonal relationships. This pathway offers valuable insights for individuals across all professions. Furthermore, students who have a personal or professional interest in social justice can gain significant advantages from pursuing this pathway.
Neuroscience Pathway is ideal for students interested in the physical processes that give rise to mind and behavior. This pathway provides good preparation for students interested in medicine, neuroscience, behavioral medicine, and vision sciences, including ophthalmology and optometry.
University of Cambridge – Department of Psychology:
The Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge has a long history of research excellence and is known for its strengths in cognitive and developmental psychology, as well as social and biological psychology. The department offers programs in social, developmental, and cognitive psychology.
The University of Cambridge offers two undergraduate courses (triposes) in which psychology can be studied in depth:
Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS) is an exciting undergraduate course that provides the opportunity to study all aspects of psychology. The course at Cambridge covers the full range of perspectives important to understanding behaviour, including behavioural neuroscience in animals, cognitive neuroscience in humans, neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, as well as the study of atypical development and adult psychopathology. The majority of the PBS degree is composed of compulsory core psychology papers that include topics such as statistics, neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, neuroimaging, developmental psychology, psychopathology, cognitive psychology, language, gender, family relationships and influences, personality, and group social behaviour.
The Natural Sciences course (Tripos), is a broad-based and flexible course that allows students to become scientists. They can choose from a wide range of subjects while completing their degree. The students who choose Psychology would focus on Cognitive and Experimental Psychology; Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Individual Differences.
University of California, Berkeley – Department of Psychology:
The Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley is one of the oldest and most prestigious psychology programs in the United States. It has a strong focus on interdisciplinary research and offers programs in clinical, cognitive, developmental, social, and personality psychology.
The scientific field of psychology seeks to comprehend, explicate, and make predictions about the actions of living organisms. It takes into consideration an array of variables that affect behavior, encompassing sensory experiences, intricate cognitive processes, genetic and environmental influences, as well as developmental and pathological conditions throughout the lifespan.
The Berkeley Psychology Department concentrates on six major areas of research, including Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience, Clinical Science, Cognition, Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, and Social-Personality Psychology.
University of Oxford – Department of Experimental Psychology:
Oxford’s approach to psychology emphasizes its scientific nature, emphasizing the use of meticulous experimentation and systematic observation instead of relying on introspection. The Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford is one of the largest and most prestigious psychology departments in Europe. The department has a notable concentration of research groups and labs in areas such as human cognitive processes, neuroscience, language development, and social psychology. It also has a strong focus on cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and developmental psychology, and offers programs in experimental psychology.
Undergraduate psychology at Oxford comprises a substantial amount of practical work and experimentation. Psychology at Oxford can be studied either on its own as a 4 year MSci in Experimental Psychology, or in combination with philosophy or linguistics as part of the 3 or 4 year BA or MSci in Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences:
The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT is a multidisciplinary department that brings together researchers in neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science. The department offers programs in cognitive science, neuroscience, and computational cognitive science.
The aim of the department is to understand the mind and delve deeply into the mechanisms of the brain at all levels: molecules, synapses, neurons, circuits, algorithms, human behavior, cognition, and everything in between. The department offers undergraduate programs in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Computation and Cognition in cooperation with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in order to create the next generation of scientific leaders.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – Department of Psychology:
The Department of Psychology at UCLA is one of the largest and most highly regarded psychology departments in the United States. The department has a strong focus on interdisciplinary research and offers programs in clinical, cognitive, developmental, social, and personality psychology.
At UCLA, psychology is presented as a scientific field that focuses on systematic inquiry methods to study human and animal behavior, including normal and abnormal behavior. The discipline considers various factors, such as neural, physiological, and cognitive processes, developmental aspects, individual differences, and social and interpersonal influences.
The undergraduate program covers a wide range of behavioral phenomena and theoretical approaches in various psychology fields, including psychobiology, animal behavior, learning and memory, motivation, perception, cognition, measurement, personality, clinical, social, developmental, community, and health psychology.
UCLA offers three undergraduate majors, including Psychology (B.A.), Cognitive Science (B.S.), and Psychobiology (B.S.), and a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. These majors have different focuses and cater to various student interests and needs.
University of Michigan – Department of Psychology:
The Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan is one of the largest psychology departments in the world. It has a strong focus on interdisciplinary research and offers programs in clinical, cognitive, developmental, social, and personality psychology.
The undergraduate program provides students with a broad background in the various levels of analysis and methodological approaches used in the study of behavior, particularly human behavior, and to prepare students for graduate study in a number of fields. Undergraduate courses in psychology give students an opportunity to learn what research has shown about how behavior is motivated; how we perceive, learn, and think; how individuals differ from one another; how the personality develops from infancy to maturity and is expressed by behavior; and how interpersonal factors affect human relationships in the home, on the job, and in the community.
The university provides the following areas of study in Psychology:
Biopsychology: The neural, hormonal, and evolutionary influences on behavior.
Clinical: Biological and behavioral influences on psychopathology.
Cognitive: Mind, brain, thinking, and language.
Developmental: Changes in behavior from infancy and childhood throughout the lifespan.
Personality and Social Contexts: Individual differences and environmental influences on behavior.
Social: Interpersonal interaction, groups, and cultural influences on behavior.
Read More: Guide to the UC Berkeley M.E.T Program
Yale University – Department of Psychology:
The Department of Psychology at Yale is known for its strengths in cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, and social psychology. The department offers programs in cognitive, developmental, and social psychology.
The Psychology department offers coursework and research opportunities in the fields of clinical, cognitive, developmental, neuroscientific, and social psychology. By studying psychology, students better understand human behavior, including who we are, how we do the things we do, and how we enhance our lives and society.
University College London (UCL) – Department of Psychology and Language Sciences:
The Department of Psychology and Language Sciences at UCL is one of the largest and most highly regarded psychology departments in Europe. It has a strong focus on interdisciplinary research and offers programs in clinical, cognitive, developmental, social, and neuropsychology, as well as language sciences.
The university offers the following courses at the undergraduate level:
UCL offers the following undergraduate programmes which may be of interest:
According to Harvard University:
Top 10 Careers for Psychology Concentrators (2012-2022*)
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Scientific Research
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Consulting
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Education
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Finance, Banking, and Investment Services
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Communications, Marketing, Advertising, and PR
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Healthcare and Medicine
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Computer Science and Technology
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Community and Social Services
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Entertainment, Film, Music, Publishing, and Professional Sports
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Consumer Goods and Retail
*Data aggregated from 2016-2022 Senior Survey results prepared by the Office of Institutional Research. (Note: Senior Survey was not distributed in 2020 and 2021).
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