Department of Psychological Sciences

“Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt represents a diverse group of scholars in the Department of Psychology in the College Arts and Science, the Department of Psychology and Human Development in Peabody College, and faculty in allied disciplines across the university. Psychological Sciences combines breadth across the traditional domains of academic psychology with depth in specific programs of inquiry likely to contribute to solutions of major scientific, social, and psychological problems.

The graduate program in Psychological Sciences focuses on psychological theory and the development of original empirical research. Students are admitted to work toward the Ph.D. degree in the following areas:

Many of our faculty also participate in an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate Program at Vanderbilt.

The Department of Psychology and Human Development in Peabody College offer undergraduate majors in Child Development, Cognitive Studies, and Child Studies , as well as a Master of Education program in Child Studies. The Department of Psychology in the Colleges of Art and Science offers an undergraduate major in Psychology.

Recent News

Clinical Psychology Ranked 14th!!!

5/10/2012— Vanderbilt University Psychological Sciences clinical program is ranked 14th in the country by US News and World Report.
Congratulations Randolph!

5/1/2012— Congratulations to Professor Randolph Blake who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences on May 1, 2012.
2012 Psychology Day Awards!

4/26/2012— Three awards were presented to graduate students in the Department of Psychology during the Psychology Day celebration on Tuesday April 24. First, congratulations to Michael Treadway winner of the Pat Burns Memorial Graduate Student Research Award for outstanding achievement in research. Second, congratulations to Neal Morton winner of the William T. Hodges Teaching Assistant Award which recognizes outstanding work as a teaching assistant in the Department of Psychology. Finally, congratulations to Pooja Balaram as winner of the Lisa B. Quesenberry Foundation Award. An award given to a female graduate student studying the field of psychology. Also congratulations to Amir Aschner as winner of the Jum C. Nunnally Research award which recognizes the student with the most outstanding undergraduate honors project.
Congratulations Frank, Rene and David !!

4/23/2012— Congratulations to Frank Tong, Rene Marois and David Zald, all of whom have been promoted to Professors of Psychology.
Congratulations Graduate Students!!!

4/11/2012— Great news! The Psychological Sciences Program had tremendous success in the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program this year. Kudos to Michele Cox (Maier Lab), Ayzit Doydum (McCandliss Lab), Emily Fyfe (Rittle-Johnson Lab) and Sonia Poltoratski (Tong Lab), all of whom have been awarded an NSF research fellowship. Congratulations on their achievement! Congratulations are also due to Robert Reinhart (Woodman lab), Kelsey Laird (Walker Lab) and Kao-Wei Chua (Gauthier Lab) each of whom received an honorable mention for their Fellowship application.
Congratulations Sohee Park!

3/30/2012— Great news. At the spring faculty assembly yesterday Sohee Park was awarded the Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor Award for 2012. This award is conferred upon a Vanderbilt faculty member in recognition of their contributions to understanding problems of contemporary society. Sohee is well deserving of this award for her ground-breaking work on cognitive, affective, and neural components of schizophrenia and its vulnerability. Sohee is the second recent departmental winner of this award - Steve Hollon was the 2007 winner. Such awards are a wonderful reflection on our Clinical Science program and the department as a whole. Congratulations Sohee!!!!!
Congratulations Geoff Woodman!

3/16/2012— Geoff Woodman is the winner of the 2012 Vision Sciences Society (VSS) Young Investigator Award. Geoff is the second member of our faculty to win this prestigious award, which was just initiated in 2007 (Frank Tong was the 2009 winner). Congratulations Geoff!