Academics
Take the next step in your educational journey by earning your degree from the Psychology Department at UC Santa Cruz.
Why study psychology or cognitive science at UC Santa Cruz?
Our department’s Psychology B.A. and Cognitive Science B.S. degree programs are consistently among the most popular majors on campus, and for good reason. Our undergraduate students report being highly engaged in their studies and regularly participate in research and other rewarding experiential learning opportunities. Our majors also allow for flexible course selection and double majors with other areas of interest.
Meanwhile, our Psychology Ph.D. program is internationally recognized for distinction in areas central to UCSC’s identity, such as social justice and cultural diversity. Graduate students are highly valued members of our department’s research and teaching team who receive individualized support for their growth in both areas. Our doctoral program offers a highly collaborative research environment, with support from faculty mentors across and beyond the department, in addition to the student’s primary advisor.
Our alumni across all programs go on to a wide range of careers in research, advocacy, education and academia, along with healthcare roles focused on the treatment of brain disorders, and roles in technology focused on human-computer interaction.
Psychology subfields
Our department’s work focuses on three subfields that inform both our approach to research and our academic programs.
Cognitive psychology
This area of study explores foundational cognitive processes and how they function in the real world. Understandings of human behavior, neuroscience, and computational modeling all converge to help characterize human cognitive processes. Our faculty have particular expertise in three interconnected areas that form the core of cognitive psychology: perception and performance, learning and memory, and language and interaction.
Developmental psychology
Our approach to developmental psychology is based on the premise that human development— from infancy through adolescence—is intricately tied to the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which individuals function. Children are inherently cultural beings, engaged in social relations and social interactions, employing individual agency, and developing distinct dispositions. We carefully consider diversity in development, teaching our students a broader socio-cultural understanding of child development that can better inform education, policy, and overall child well being.
Social psychology
Social psychology at UCSC has a unique mission and focus. We use Kurt Lewin’s model of “full-cycle” (theory-application-action) social psychology to study a broad range of topics related to social justice. Our approach to research and training, combined with the quality and competencies of our faculty, make our department among the nation’s best for the psychological study of social justice issues. Our history of leadership in social psychology dates back to 1971, and our current faculty continue to push the boundaries of the field.
Graduate students in our Ph.D program specialize in one of these three subfields, while undergraduates in the Psychology B.A. program learn the basics of all three, plus clinical/personality psychology. Students in the Cognitive Science B.S. program focus on cognitive psychology, plus other related disciplines, including computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, anthropology, and philosophy.
While UC Santa Cruz does not offer a clinical psychology degree, a number of our faculty and lecturers are experienced clinical psychologists, and we offer courses on topics like psychopathology, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy. Interested undergraduates can also engage in experiential learning field study placements and research opportunities that will help prepare them for a wide range of clinical careers and graduate programs.
Discover our degree options and learning opportunities:
Student experiences
Andrew Guydish: Uncovering the hidden benefits of “water cooler talk”
Ph.D. student Andrew Guydish conducted research on how small talk can contribute to conversational balance that increases enjoyment of tasks in a teamwork environment. Guydish is now an assistant professor at Elon University.
Leslie Salgado: Supporting families fighting childhood cancer
Salgado was able to land a career-cementing summer internship as a clinic therapist intern, putting classroom knowledge to work in a real-world setting. After graduating, she intends to pursue a master’s degree to use her love of psychology to continue giving back to her community.
Janely Cardenas: Conducting research to help first-generation students
Janely Cardenas, a double major in psychology and Latin American and Latino studies, explored how deficit thinking in interactions between students and tutors can be detrimental to academic success. Cardenas conducted her undergraduate research as part of Professor Rebecca Covarrubias’s lab group.