Welcome

The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences is at the forefront of 21st century psychological science in the classroom and the lab. Undergraduate and graduate students alike join with the faculty in the pursuit of leading-edge research designed to unlock the human mind and brain. Browse our website to learn about our graduate and undergraduate programs, and how our research is pushing the boundaries of psychological science and impacting the larger world around us.

  • A student in the Hank Virtual Environments Lab
  • A beaker of fluid
  • A student looking into a microscope
  • A student giving a presentation
  • A student in the Hank Virtual Environments Lab
  • A student giving a presentation

Research Spotlight

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Wasserman's Comparative Cognition Laboratory

Brainy Birds: Behind the Scenes at the Comparative Cognition Laboratory

Pigeons have a storied history in psychology. Famed behaviorist B.F. Skinner, PhD, used pigeons to demonstrate his theory of operant conditioning. In the 1960s and 1970s, Harvard psychologist Richard Herrnstein, PhD, devised a classic set of experiments to show that pigeons could classify objects into categories, such as trees or people.

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Undergraduate Profiles

The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences provides undergraduate students with the unique opportunity to work alongside faculty in their research labs. These research opportunities greatly enhance the experience of many undergraduate students, while also preparing them for their future careers. Here, we showcase a few of the many student-faculty research projects in Psychology. These profiles were written by Mallory Mileham, an undergraduate double major in Psychology and Journalism.

Carolyn Lapsey

Carolyn Lapsey | Faculty Mentor: Grazyna Kochanska

Carolyn Lapsey first became interested in psychology when she took a psychology course in high school. She didn't know at the time that a few years down the road she would find a way to combine her interest in psychology with her love for children. In May 2015, Lapsey graduated with a major in psychology and a minor in social work and human relations. 

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