Photo credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Europe

Spotlight: Finding Solutions in the Middle East

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of communicating with the nations and peoples of the Middle East. Dr. Michele Gelfand heads up a multinational team of researchers with a multiyear, multimillion dollar grant to study how cultural differences between the Middle East and the West affect processes of negotiation and collaboration. Learn more . . .

spotlight-pic

Spotlight: Open Faculty Positions

The Psychology Department is seeking a Director for the Brain Imaging Center as well as tenure track positions in the areas of Counseling Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Social, Decision and Organizational Science (SDOS). Learn more . . .

spotlight-pic

Spotlight: How Mirror Neurons Adapt

Mirror neurons in the brain fire when a person acts or sees another performing the same action and are thought to play a central role in how we learn by observing others. Drs. Amanda Woodward and Jose Contreras-Vidal received a grant from the ONR to study the flexibility of the mirror system to adapt to changing circumstances in both children and adults. Learn more . . .

spotlight-pic

Spotlight: Risky Behavior and HIV

Dr Carl Lejuez has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to carry out a five year study that is designed to determine the extent to which identification of patterns of risk taking behavior in younger adolescents can be used to predict future activity that has an increased chance of exposing the person to HIV infection. Learn more . . .

spotlight-pic

Spotlight: Spatial Memory in Bats

Bats use echolocation to navigate and forage in their environment. Memory for where objects are located in space allows us to navigate in our surrounding environment and remember where we have been before. In a project funded by NIMH, Dr. Cynthia Moss combines these interests with a study of how echolocation contributes to spatial memory in bats. Learn more . . .

Welcome to the Department of Psychology

Announcement. The Psychology Department is seeking an established scientist with an active research program to serve as the inaugural director of a newly established NSF-funded Brain Imaging Center. More information about this position can be found here. In addition, the Department is seeking to fill three tenure track positions at the assistant or early associate professor level. More information about these positions can be found here.

Psychology is a remarkably broad field that studies mind and behavior at all levels of analysis ranging from the micro to the macro; from single cells to complex systems; from individuals to groups and cultures; and from invertebrates to humans. Our department is committed to research, teaching/mentorship, and service. We have over 1,000 undergraduate majors and enroll approximately 100 graduate students in our Ph.D. programs. Graduate students have an unusually high success rate in securing external funding, and we have an excellent track record for placing them following their Ph.D.s. Much of the research within the department is funded by extramural sources and is published in highly visible outlets. Over 60% of the faculty members are fellows in their scientific societies, almost half have received an external career award, and a third have held Editor or Associate Editor positions.

Our department is organized into five Ph.D. program areas:

  • Clinical
  • Cognitive and Neural Systems (CNS)
  • Counseling
  • Developmental
  • Social, Decision, and Organizational Science (SDOS)

Cutting across these areas and knitting them together are three research themes:

  • Brain, Mind, and Behavior
  • Mental Health
  • Social, Group, and Cultural Processes

Please browse through our site to learn more about our department.

Department News

Marcy Marinelli elected to Campus Senate

January 21, 2010

Marcy Marinelli has been elected to a three year term on the Campus Senate ending in 2013. She will...

Christmas cheer

January 18, 2010

This past December, the Psychology Department continued its annual tradition of adopting families in...

Design and Stats Lab seeks feedck

January 18, 2010

If you sought consultation during the Fall, 2009 semester, please take 2-3 minutes and complete a brief...

Dr. Michael Dougherty's research featured in Washington Parent's Magazine

January 8, 2010

Dr. Michael Dougherty's research into brain training is the focus of a recent article entitled...

Training course in fMRI offered at the University of Michigan

December 3, 2009

The University of Michigan offers a two-week training course in the use of fMRI that includes...

All News

Event Calendar

« February 2010 »
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28
FEB 11

fMRI Job Talk

Hoi-Chung Leung, a candidate for the position of Director of the fMRI Imaging Center will be giving a talk.

FEB 12

DaSAL Invited lecture

The Design and Statistical Analysis Laboratory (DaSAL) is sponsoring a lecture by Robert W. Jernigan of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at American University entitled "A Statisticians Eye: Photographs of Statistical Concepts".

FEB 12

Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) Colloquium Series

Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, Duke University Host: Dr. Jonathan Fritz

All Events

New Findings



Evidence for a therapeutic treatment that shows promise of helping mildly depressed people quit smoking is presented by Dr. Laura MacPherson and her colleagues. Learn more . . .


A theory of the role played by the personal relationship between a client and a therapist within psychotherapy combined with empirical findings that support the theory is presented by Dr. Charles Gelso. Learn more . . .


Developing children of pregnant, diabetic mothers can be affected in several ways by the iron deficiencies that diabetics often experience. A new study carried out by Dr. Tracy Riggins and her colleagues explores how iron deficiencies during pregnancy can affect their children’s memory three to four years after birth. Learn more . . .


Sometimes parents and teachers differ in how they describe or evaluate a child’s behavior. Research carried out by Dr. Andres De Los Reyes and colleagues provides insight into what these discrepancies might mean. Learn more . . .

photo of little girl
Study documents improvement in memory for the sequence in which prior events occurred in three- and four-year- old children. Learn more . . .

photo of crawfish
Social relationships among two crayfish can change as a result of their interactions with a third. Learn more . . .


How victims of domestic violence understand some of the institutions designed to offer them help. Learn more . . .

Department of Psychology
University of Maryland

1147 Biology/Psychology Building
College Park, MD 20742