Psychology is the science of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as feeling and thought. It is an academic discipline of immense scope
It is the study of the mind and behavior, according to the American Psychological Association. It is the study of the mind, how it works, and how it affects behavior. It “embraces all aspects of the human experience, from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged.”
Psychologists and psychiatrists work together to help people with mental health conditions, but they are not quite the same.
A psychologist treats a patient through psychotherapy, helping to relieve symptoms through behavioral change. The role of the psychiatrist, who is a medical doctor, focuses more on prescribing medication and other interventions to manage mental health conditions.
More facts about psychology
- Psychology is the study of behavior and the mind.
- There are different types of psychology, such as cognitive, forensic, social, and developmental psychology.
- A person with a condition that affects their mental health may benefit from assessment and treatment with a psychologist.
- A psychologist may offer treatment that focuses on behavioral adaptations.
- A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who is more likely to focus on medical management of mental health issues.
The work of a psychologist can range from counseling individuals with anxiety to advising companies on how to build better teams.
The mind is highly complex, and conditions that relate to it can be hard to treat.
Thought processes, emotions, memories, dreams, perceptions, and so on cannot be seen physically, like a skin rash or heart defect.
While physical signs of some mental health issues can be observed, such as the plaques that develop with Alzheimer’s disease, many theories of psychology are based on observation of human behavior.
A practicing psychologist will meet with patients, carry out assessments to find out what their concerns are and what is causing any difficulties, and recommend or provide treatment, for example, through counselling and psychotherapy.
Psychologists may have other roles, too. They may carry out studies to advise health authorities and other bodies on social and other strategies, assess children who find it difficult to learn in school, give workshops on how to prevent bullying, work with recruitment teams in companies, and much more.
There are different types of psychology that serve different purposes. There is no fixed way of classifying them, but here are some common types.
- Clinical psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Evolutionary psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Health psychology
- Neuropsychology
- Occupational psychology
- Social psychology
Where to study psychology
An important factor to remember when deciding where to study psychology is where you want to work after graduating. It will be easier to work as a practicing psychologist in the country you are studying in, provided you can get the correct work visa because you will be accredited in that country.
For example, in the UK, your degree will need to be accredited by the BPS (British Psychological Society) to practice. However, you can still work in the UK if your undergraduate and postgraduate education took place abroad, but you will need to contact the BPS and meet certain criteria and potentially do some additional studies.
Consider how long you want to study before you start work. If you want to practice as a psychologist in the US or UK, you’ll need a doctorate, however, in some countries you only need a master’s degree. This means studying and working in these countries would offer a much shorter pathway to your chosen career.
Best countries to study psychology
Europe is regarded as the birthplace of psychology, so many of the best courses are located here.
The UK offers some of the most highly ranked psychology programs in the world, as does the Netherlands. Germany also boasts a number of well respected psychology courses and has the added allure of meaning you’ll be studying in the country where the discipline was born.
The US is at the forefront of modern psychology theory and is home to many of the subject’s top-ranked programs. It’s also a great location if you want to stay and work after graduating, with many psychology related career opportunities available.
Now, let’s check out the best universities in the world that offers psychology.
1. Harvard University
Harvard University, renowned for its academic excellence, is the oldest higher education institution in the United States. The school enrolls about 36,000 students and it has over 371,000 living alumni. These alumni include Leda Cosmides, William Damon, Howard Gardner and Richard J. Davidson — all luminaries in the field of psychology.
Psychology emerged at Harvard in the 1800s because of William James’s scholarship. The research of past and present Harvard faculty members, such as B.F. Skinner, Steven Pinker, Mahzarin R. Banaji, and Elizabeth A. Phelps, sustains the school’s preeminence in psychology.
2. Stanford University
Stanford University has been a leader in higher education since 1891, and it enrolls about 16,000 students in its seven schools. The school’s Department of Psychology was one of Stanford’s first departments. It continues to be a birthplace for groundbreaking theoretical research that has real-world impact. Luminaries in psychology who either hold or held positions as professors at Stanford include Walter Mischell, Albert Bandura, Carol Dweck, and Benoît Monin.
3. University of Oxford
Oxford University is one of the most elite colleges in the world. Located in Oxford, England, the school’s 38 colleges and 100 academic departments enroll 24,000 students; 11,700 of these are undergraduates. Oxford’s study of psychology began 120 years ago; today their Department of Experimental Psychology includes more than 20 research groups and has more than 400 students and researchers.
3. University of California – Berkeley
Some of the brightest minds from around the world received an education at UC Berkeley, and they made great contributions in areas such as immunotherapy, malaria treatment, robotics and psychology. Berkeley’s Department of Psychology enjoys a reputation for its renowned teaching and cutting-edge research. Its influential faculty members include pioneering psycholinguist Susan Ervin-Tripp and psychologists Robert Levenson, Dacher Keltner and Alison Gopnik.
5. Yale University
Yale University is a private Ivy League institution which remains the third-oldest college in the United States. Yale’s psychology department has a distinguished history; its faculty members include the late William Kessen and Carl Hovland as well as the experimental psychologists Allan Wagner and Paul Bloom. Yale’s Department of Psychology focuses on five programs of study: cognitive, clinical, developmental, social/ personality and neuroscience.
The school offers a bachelor of the arts and Bachelor of Science in psychology.
6. University of California – Los Angeles
UCLA has been a pioneer in education for over 100 years, and it has produced 14 Nobel Prize winners and 13 faculty MacArthur Fellows. More than 140 companies got their start from technology developed at the school. UCLA’s Department of Psychology remains one of the largest in the UC system, with notable faculty members such as Jonathan Seth Kellerman, Elizabeth Loftus, Steve Reise and Keith Nuechterlein.
As one of the best psychology schools in the nation, UCLA operates the UCLA Psychology Clinic, which is a training clinic for students in the school’s nationally top-ranked clinical psychology program. The clinic utilizes some of the best practices in psychology to treat patients and improve their well-being, all the while charging low fees for the provided services.
6. University of Michigan
The University of Michigan remains the state’s oldest college and one of the foremost research institutions in the United States. A three-campus institution, Michigan enrolls approximately 60,000 students in 275 programs which are administered through 19 colleges and schools. Renowned psychologist John Dewey was the first faculty member in the Department of Psychology to be trained entirely in psychology, and he established one of the nation’s first psychology labs. Other notable faculty members include Albert C. Cain, Patricia Gurin, Kent Berridge and Terry Robinson.
8. New York University
Founded in 1831, NYU maintains its reputation for academic excellence and is one of the largest private colleges in the United States. The school enrolls about 50,000 students at its Manhattan locations and on campuses in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. The Department of Psychology’s faculty members focus on research in areas such as cognition and perception, social psychology, psychopathology and neuroscience. Notable faculty members include Carol Gilligan, Jonathan D. Haidt, Yaacov Trope, and Lawrence Maloney.
9. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest colleges in the world. It has 31 constituent colleges, outstanding education, scholarship and research as well as eminent alumni. Cambridge’s Department of Psychology carries out world-class research that is characterized by a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. Graduates from Cambridge, one of the world’s best psychology schools, include influential psychologists Geoffrey Beattie and Thalia Eley.
The department focuses on three research themes: brain behavior and cognition, lifespan development, and social behavior and societies. Undergraduates enroll in the three-year Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (PBS) Tripos, which covers a full spectrum of psychology courses and leads to a Bachelor of Arts.
10. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
MIT, a prestigious hub of education, research, and innovation, has produced 89 Nobel laureates, 48 MacArthur Fellows, and 58 National Medals of Science. The practical application of academic knowledge remains the school’s premier strength. The university’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences aims to “reverse engineer the human mind.” Notable faculty members include the late Hans-Lukas Teuber (a pioneer in neuropsychology), Jim DiCarlo and Ann Graybiel.
The department’s Bachelor of Science in brain and cognitive sciences offers a tiered curriculum which begins with introductory courses in cognitive science, neuroscience and computation.
11. University of Pennsylvania
Founded in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania is an Ivy League school. Penn enrolls about 25,000 students who study in classrooms with a 6-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. The Department of Psychology’s has many notable professors, which include Martin E.P. Seligman (a pioneer in the field of positive psychology), Jonathan Baron, Angela Duckworth, Robert Kurzban and Sara Jaffee.
12. Columbia University
Since the school’s establishment 250 years ago, Columbia University has kept its standing as one of the world’s most recognized centers for education and research. This Ivy League school boasts 84 affiliated Nobel laureates since 1901, which is when the awards began.
Columbia, which enrolls 32,000 students, presides over one of the oldest and most influential psychology departments in the United States. Early pioneers in psychology include Columbia’s James Catell, who founded one of the nation’s first experimental labs in the U.S., and his proteges Robert S. Woodworth and Edward Thorndike.
13. Princeton University
Princeton University, a private Ivy League college, is a premier academic center which offers programs administered through its 37 academic departments. Princeton’s 26 affiliated Nobel Prize winners and 23 Rhodes Scholars underscore the school’s reputation as an academic powerhouse. The Department of Psychology is home to renowned psychologists such as Daniel Kahneman, Susan Fiske, and Jonathan Cohen, and it focuses on research areas such as neuroscience, behavioral economics and social cognition.
14. University of Chicago
Since the school’s inception in 1890, the University of Chicago has been at the forefront of breakthroughs in research areas such as cancer and genetics, economic theory and astronomy. Renowned psychologist John Dewey established the psychology lab at the college in 1893. This lab produced pioneering work by psychologists such as George Herbert Mead, Louis Leon Thurstone, Roger Sperry and Erika Fromm.
Career prospects
A psychology degree is one that is increasingly valued by employers who value the analytical and reasoning skills it gives you. Caroline Kennedy, Careers & Opportunities Officer at NCI, has remarked:
“The psychology course has proven incredibly popular because of the sheer range of options that it opens up to graduates. The PSI accreditation means that graduates can pursue further professional training in any number of areas, depending on their particular interest – anything from clinical, educational to occupational psychology, and more. Not every graduate will go on to become a practising psychologist, but they will gain all manner of transferable skills and knowledge, that will be attractive to any employer. With strong research and communication skills, and an understanding of why people act the way they do, graduates could end up working anywhere from marketing, management and HR, to sports or healthcare – it’s a degree that gives you a huge variety of options.”
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