Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Psychology
(213) 740-2203
FAX: (213) 746-9082
Email: psychology@dornsife.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/psyc
Chair: JoAnn M. Farver, Ph.D.
Faculty
University Professor and Dana Dornsife Chair in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: Hanna Damasio, M.D.
University Professor and David Dornsife Chair in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: Antonio Damasio, M.D., Ph.D.
Harold Dornsife Chair in Neurosciences: Irving Biederman, Ph.D.
Provost Professor of Psychology and Business: Wendy Wood, Ph.D.
Provost Professor of Psychology and Marketing: Norbert Schwarz, Ph.D.
Provost Professor of Social Work, Preventive Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Medicine and Gerontology: William Vega, Ph.D.
Dean’s Professor of Psychology, and Professor of Psychology, Education, and Communication: Daphna Oyserman, Ph.D.
Professors: Michael A. Arbib, Ph.D. (Computer Science and Biological Sciences); Laura A. Baker, Ph.D.; Antoine Bechara, Ph.D.; Sarah W. Bottjer, Ph.D. (Biological Sciences); John Briere, Ph.D. (Psychiatry); Peter Carnevale, Ph.D. (Business); Gerald C. Davison, Ph.D.*; Michael E. Dawson, Ph.D.; JoAnn M. Farver, Ph.D.*; Caleb E. Finch, Ph.D. (Gerontology and Biological Sciences); Margaret Gatz, Ph.D.*; Ernest Greene, Ph.D.; Andrea Hollingshead, Ph.D. (Communication); Bob G. Knight, Ph.D. (Gerontology); David G. Lavond, Ph.D.; Pat Levitt, Ph.D. (Cell and Neurobiology); Steven Lopez, Ph.D.; Thomas D. Lyon, J.D., Ph.D. (Law); Franklin R. Manis, Ph.D.*; Gayla Margolin, Ph.D.*; Mara Mather, Ph.D. (Gerontology); John J. McArdle, Ph.D.; Beth E. Meyerowitz, Ph.D.*; Lynn Miller, Ph.D. (Communication); Shrikanth (Shri) Narayanan, Ph.D. (Engineering); Carol A. Prescott, Ph.D.; Stephen J. Read, Ph.D.; Robert Rueda, Ph.D. (Education); Elyn R. Saks, J.D. (Law); Dan Simon, SJD (Law); Steven Yale Sussman, Ph.D. (Institute for Prevention Research, Medicine); Larry Swanson, Ph.D. (Biological Sciences); Penelope K. Trickett (Social Work); Suzanne Wenzel (Social Work); Rand Wilcox, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Zelinski, Ph.D. (Gerontology)
Associate Professors: Giorgio Coricelli, Ph.D. (Economics); Stanley J. Huey, Jr., Ph.D.; Laurent Itti, Ph.D. (Computer Science); Richard S. John, Ph.D.; Stephen A. Madigan, Ph.D.; Bartlett Mel, Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering); Toben Mintz, Ph.D.; John Monterosso, Ph.D.*; Joseph Priester, Ph.D. (Business); David Schwartz, Ph.D.; Bosco S. Tjan, Ph.D.; David A. Walsh, Ph.D.; Jason D. Zevin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professors: Cleopatra Abdou, Ph.D. (Gerontology); Morteza Dehghani, Ph.D.; Jesse Graham, Ph.D.; Tara Gruenewald, Ph.D. (Gerontology); Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ph.D. (Education); Adam Leventhal, Ph.D. (Institute for Prevention Research, Medicine); Henrike Moll, Ph.D.; Daniel Nation, Ph.D.; Darby Saxbe, Ph.D.; Scott Wiltermuth, Ph.D., (Business); Justin Wood, Ph.D.*
Clinical Professors: A. Steven Frankel, Ph.D.; Ernest R. Katz, Ph.D.; Jonathan S. Kellerman, Ph.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor: Marian Williams, Ph.D.
Professor of the Practice: Ellen Leggett, Ed.D.
Associate Professor (Research): Jonathan Gratch, Ph.D. (Computer Science); Susan Luczak, Ph.D.; Stacy Marsella, Ph.D. (Computer Science)
Associate Professor (Teaching): Ann Renken, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of the Practice: Robert Chernoff, Ph.D.
Assistant Professors (Research): Karen M. Hennigan, Ph.D.; Jonas Kaplan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor (Teaching): C. Miranda Barone, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of the Practice: Shannon Couture, Ph.D.
Lecturers: William Breland, Ph.D.; Clayton Stephenson, Ph.D.; Alex Yukik, J.D., Psy.D.
Adjunct Professors: Lynne Bernstein, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Susman, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor (Research): Nancy Pedersen, Ph.D.
Adjunct Associate Professor: Joanne Steuer, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor: Jasmine Tehrani, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor (Research): Kaspar Meyer, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Mendel B. Silberberg Professor Emeritus of Social Psychology: Norman Miller, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professors: Kathleen Chambers, Ph.D.; Norman Cliff, Ph.D.; William W. Grings, Ph.D.; Albert R. Marston, Ph.D.; Sarnoff A. Mednick, Ph.D.; Norman Miller, Ph.D.
Academic Program Staff
Clinical Associates: Barbara Cadow, Ph.D.; Kenneth Cole, Ph.D.; Vivian Fernandez-Credidio, Ph.D.; Beth Leedham, Ph.D.; Michael Maloney, Ph.D.; Karen Meiselman, Ph.D.; Pamella Oliver, Ph.D.; Berta Ortiz, Ph.D.; Cynthia G. Pearson, Ph.D.; Joanne Steuer, Ph.D.; Charles Weinstein, Ph.D.
The Department of Psychology offers five topical areas: (1) Brain and cognitive science, which analyzes the biological and social bases of phenomena and abilities such as appetitive behavior learning, memory, perception, decision making, social understanding, emotion, intelligence, behavior disorders, language development and language comprehension — among humans and related higher animals; (2) Developmental, which studies changes in behavior — cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional — from childhood through adolescence and adulthood into old age; (3) Clinical science, which focuses on the ways people cope, or have difficulty coping, with problems in behavior, emotions, social interaction, aging, health-related behavior, and substance use and abuse; (4) Quantitative, which focuses on the methodological, statistical and practical tools to study human behavior; and (5) Social, which examines normal human nature and conduct, develops and tests theories concerning the consequences of our social condition and its potential improvement.
In addition, the department offers a joint major in linguistics/psychology and participates in the Dornsife College’s interdisciplinary program in neuroscience.
Research is integral to psychology; it enables the faculty to make contributions in the field and to be more effective teachers. Undergraduate students are encouraged to work with members of the faculty on research projects. The most direct way for students to participate in research is to enroll in a directed research course, but it is also possible to take part in ongoing research in less formal ways. Further options for research training include the honors program for psychology majors and the progressive degree program that permits students to complete all requirements for both the B.A. and the M.A. degrees in psychological science in five years.