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Using pigeons, Kristopher Klein ’04
(left), a psychology major, and Robert Allan, associate professor of psychology,
studied the effect of various levels of brightness and other stimuli on
behavior in an EXCEL Scholars research project.
2008 Psychology Newsletter |
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Scientific Study of BehaviorSince the beginning of history, humans have wondered why people and animals behave as they do. Why do birds sing? Why do children think that the moon follows them wherever they go? Why do ducks follow their mothers all in a row? How do people fall in love? The modern study of psychology has brought those musings into the realm of scientific thought. At Lafayette, psychology majors examine behavior, thinking, emotions, and physiological processes. The department courses encompass historically experimental fields, such as learning, cognition, and physiological psychology. Other courses focus on clinical, developmental, health, and social areas and some examine the psychology of industry and organizational behavior. As students progress through the major, they study advanced research
designs and statistical methods and explore the different areas of psychology
in increasing depth. |
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| Psychology majors, helped by department advisers, may choose between working toward a B.S. or an A.B. degree. Many A.B. students choose to double major, combining psychology with economics and business, government and law, or a foreign language, for example. Students majoring in another subject may also minor in psychology. The psychology department jointly oversees the neuroscience major, which includes many psychology courses, with the biology department. | |||||||||||||||||
Special OpportunitiesJunior and senior students who are interested in working in a variety of settings including social service, business, health, education or legal organizations may spend 8 to 10 hours a week working at a local agency or industry as part of an individualized course supervised by faculty and on-site managers. Students in this course, Advanced Applied Psychology, can intern at a special education school, a children’s psychiatric hospital, an Alzheimer’s facility, a daycare center, the local Weller Health Education Center, or many other organizations. Students also have the chance to spend one or two semesters working with a professor on research. Each year several students who excel in coursework have chosen to spend two semesters working on a senior honors thesis. There are many opportunities to work individually with faculty, and students often present the results of their research at undergraduate or professional conferences and may even publish papers on the topic in scholarly journals. An advanced developmental psychology course covers different topics each semester. The first course, on child psychology, places students in area schools to observe gender differences in mathematics learning among children in grades 4-12. Lab seminars study the effects of different levels of estrogen and testosterone on a rat’s ability to negotiate space. In the physiological psychology class, which examines the neural, hormonal, and physiology bases of animal and human behavior, students inject estrogen and testosterone into rats and study the behavioral effects. Outside the classroom, many students join the Psychology Club and the Lafayette chapter of Psi Chi, the national psychology honor society. These organizations sponsor speakers and organize trips to psychology conventions. FacilitiesOechsle Hall, a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility for psychology and neuroscience, opened in fall 2002. The 45,000 square-foot building provides four levels of teaching laboratories, multimedia classrooms, faculty and student research laboratories, and faculty offices. It also includes three remote observation laboratories for the unobtrusive study of birds, fish, and people; a computer laboratory; and student lounges. After GraduationAmong the psychology graduates in the Classes of 2000-02, 60 percent accepted full-time employment, 22 percent enrolled in graduate school, 5 percent enrolled in health professions schools, 1 percent went to law school, 1 percent joined the military, and 4 percent were volunteering, traveling, or doing something else they wanted. Graduates went into teaching, human resources, advertising, marketing, research, case work, law enforcement, healthcare, finance, management, and mental health. Employers included Accenture, Aetna US Healthcare, KPMG, Grey Advertising, Northwestern Mutual Life, Prudential, AT&T, IBM, American Express, Citibank, Lechman Brothers, Bausch & Lomb, and Vogue magazine. Recent graduates have continued their work in PSYCHOLOGY or COUNSELING at American University, DePaul University, Loyola Marymount University, New York University, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, Villanova University, Virginia Institute of Technology, Hofstra University, Connecticut College, and Millersville University; TEACHING: University of Pennsylvania, Lehigh University, Fordham University, Arcadia University, Pepperdine University, College of St. Elizabeth, and University of New Haven; LAW: Widener University; HEALTH PROFESSIONS: Temple University and Tufts University. FacultyRobert W. Allan, Associate Professor. Ph.D., New York University. Teaching Areas: behaviour modification, learning, perception. Research Interests: animal learning, experimental and physiological psychology, behaviour modification. Susan Basow, Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology. Ph.D. Brandeis University. Teaching Areas: abnormal psychology, pshychology of gender, counceseling psychology. Research Interests; clinical psychology, social psychology, social psychology, gender issues, women's studies, homophobia. Recipient of Jones Lecture Award. Jamila Bookwala, Associate Professor. Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh. Teaching areas: adult development and aging, research methods, advanced applied psychology, introductory psychology. Research Interests: aging, end-of-life issues. Gabrielle B. Britton, Assistant Professor. Ph.D., Indiana University. Teaching Areas: physiological psychology, quantitative methods, introductory psychology. Research Interests: neurobiology of learning and memory. Alan W. Childs, Professor. Ph.D., University of Tenessee. Teaching Areas: introductory psychology, social behaviour, health psychology, history and systems of psychology. Research Interests: bioethics, patient-practitioner interactions. Recepient of Student Government Superior Teaching Award, Crawford Award for teaching, and Golden '34 Award for service. Wendy L. Hill, William C. ’67 and Pamela Rappolt Professor of Neuroscience and Chair of Neuroscience Program, Sem. I. Ph.D., University of Washington. Teaching areas: physiological psychology, behavioral neuroscience, animal behavior. Research interests: behavioral neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social behavior of birds and mammals. Recipient of Jones Lecture Award. Named 1999 Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Ann V. McGillicuddy-DeLisi, Marshall R. Metzgar Professor. Ph.D., Catholic University. Teaching areas: child and adolescent development, adult development and aging, reproductive technology. Research interests: children’s intellectual development, moral reasoning, parental beliefs, development within the context of the family. Recipient of Marquis Distinguished Teaching Award, Jones Award for superior teaching, Jones Lecture Award, and Student Government Superior Teaching Award. Jeannine Pinto, (Home Page), Assistant Professor. Ph.D., University of Virginia. Teaching areas: perception, design and analysis, advanced applied psychology, introductory psychology. Research interests: perception of human and animal movement, function and acquisition of category- or object-specific processes. John S. Shaw, (Home Page), Associate Professor and Assistant Head. Ph.D., UCLA; J. D., Stanford Law School. Teaching areas: social psychology, personality psychology, psychology and law. Research interests: eyewitness memory and confidence, jury decision-making, social psychology. Recipient of Student Government Superior Teaching Award (twice) and Jones Faculty Lecture Award. Andrew J. Vinchur, Associate Professor and Head. Ph.D., Memphis State University. Teaching areas: design and analysis, industrial psychology, psychological testing, history and systems of psychology. Research interests: industrial and organizational psychology, employee selection and productivity, psychometrics, statistics, history of psychology.
Andrew J. Vinchur For general information: |
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