About the Department of Psychology

In USC's Department of Psychology, faculty and students are engaged in groundbreaking studies, both investigating basic theoretical questions and bringing their work to bear on some of society's most pressing needs. The department offers graduate training in five areas: Brain & Cognitive Science, Clinical Science, Developmental Psychology, Quantitative Methods, and Social Psychology. The department has state-of-the-art research facilities, including the Dana & David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center located in an adjacent building. A shared, communal social behavior laboratory of testing rooms and equipment is available in the Seeley G. Mudd Bldg. for use by all faculty and students who are doing behavioral research. The clinical science program offers clinical services to the community through the on-campus Psychology Services Center.

The Department of Psychology has approximately 80 doctoral students in residence and about 2000 majors. Students majoring in other programs such as neuroscience and cognitive science also take psychology courses and participate in research opportunities with faculty in the department. Undergraduates are encouraged to enroll in double majors or minors. The department offers a general psychology minor and a minor in Psychology and Law.

USC was among the first 21 charter members of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society of Psychology, founded in 1929. The clinical psychology program has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1948, one year after the Boulder Conference. In 2010 USC became from the one of the first ten clinical science programs receiving accreditation from the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS).

Among faculty to have been part of USC’s psychology department are J.P. Guilford, Richard F. Thompson, and John L. Horn. Among USC’s Ph.D. graduates are Edwin S. Shneidman, Jonathan Kellerman, Terrie Moffatt, and Moshe Bar.

The department is grateful to the Jonathan and Faye Kellerman Graduate Fellowship in Clinical Psychology, the Mary Tenopyr Industrial Psychology Fund that helps to support the Social Behavior Laboratory, the Ben Heilbrun Endowed Scholarship for providing summer support for doctoral students, the Health Anne Barnes Scholarship for supporting students interested in autism, and the many donors who contribute to the programs of the department.

An interesting historical tidbit was provided by Professor Ludy Benjamin of Texas A & M University, who pointed out that psychologist Henry Herbert Goddard was the first head football coach at USC and undefeated in his first two, and only two, games. The first football game played by USC was in 1888, with Henry Herbert Goddard as coach. At that time, in addition to his coaching duties, Goddard taught Latin, history, and botany at USC. Goddard subsequently earned a doctorate in psychology from Clark University and achieved professional fame for his role in bringing the Binet intelligence test to America in 1908.  His record of two wins and no losses makes him the only undefeated head coach in USC football history.