We produce exceptional, innovative research about the human mind, brain and behavior.
Our nearly 50 tenure-stream faculty and 140 graduate students use cutting-edge technologies to offer new insights across nine different specialties, with the goal of understanding and improving the human condition. Department researchers consistently receive more than $5 million annually in grant funding from prominent organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Defense, among others.
Throughout our scholarship, we prioritize strong theory and methods as well as the application of foundational psychological principles to novel research questions and problems. The department recognizes and encourages the outstanding work that emerges through partnerships across fields, and it builds on tradition to break new ground.
Featured
Learn about recent department research highlighted in the media and elsewhere.
WBNS-10TV highlights research on domestic violence and traumatic brain injury
Associate Professor Jasmeet Hayes discusses a new study with the Ohio Domestic Violence Network that will examine the impact of intimate partner violence on survivors' brains. View on WBNS-10TV website.
Petty discusses roots of extremism on NBC's "The Spectrum"
Commenting on a recent neo-Nazi march in Columbus, Professor Richard Petty shares insights from his research on the origins of extreme attitudes and behaviors. View on NBC4 website.
Areas and Training Programs
We specialize in nine areas of research and training, each of which has multiple emphases and labs.
Behavioral Neuroscience
Focuses on understanding the complex mechanisms that influence brain structure, function and behavior
Clinical Psychology
Focuses on research and training clinical scientists in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions
Cognitive Psychology
Focuses on cognitive processes such as memory, attention, perception, learning and language and their neurophysiological underpinnings
Cognitive Neuroscience
Focuses on understanding how the human brain enables thought and behavior and on the use of advanced neuroimaging methods and analysis
Developmental Psychology
Focuses on fundamental questions in the field of psychology from the perspective of developmental change
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Focuses on clinical scientific training as it relates to individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions
Quantitative Psychology
Focuses on statistical models, research methods and methodological theory that support psychological research and its allied sciences
Social Psychology
Focuses on the study of attitudes, persuasion, prejudice, identity and the processing of social information, as well as how these influence thoughts and behavior
Centers and Collaboratives
We often take an interdisciplinary approach to research, and our faculty routinely work alongside experts from other colleges, departments and schools at Ohio State, as well as national and international partners. Our centers and collaboratives play a key role in these efforts.
Select Recent Publications
Our faculty routinely publish their findings in some of the field's leading journals, as well as in monographs and edited volumes.
- In Scientific Reports: Gestational stress disrupts dopamine and oxytocin signaling in the postpartum reward system of rats
- In JAMA Pediatrics: About whom are we talking when we say intellectual and developmental disabilities?
- In Journals of Gerontology: Depression, Vascular Burden, and Dementia Prevalence in Late Middle-Aged and Older Black Adults
- In Personality and Individual Difference: Do I want to do this now? Task delay as a function of valence weighting bias
Editorial Work
Our faculty edit and serve on the editorial boards of top psychology publications. Learn more about these positions.