Florida State University and the Department of Psychology are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and pluralism, thus enhancing diversity and assuring a climate that values‚ and respects the worth and dignity of all persons.

During the last century the major universities in the Western world embraced a strong research orientation, and in psychology this has led to great progress in understanding the determinants of behavior. At Florida State University, psychology has always had a strong research focus. Psychology courses were offered at this institution as early as 1902 when it was named the Florida State College. The college catalogue for 1902-03 boasted that FSU established the first psychological laboratory in the state of Florida, and the description of the laboratory indicates that it was very well equipped. From that time through the present, the curriculum has provided our students with high-quality laboratory experiences in conjunction with many of the basic courses in psychology. A strong graduate program has been in existence for five decades, and it includes the same scientific orientation. With this kind of background, our students approach questions about complex human behavior in an objective and productive way.

The present-day Department of Psychology at Florida State University is organized into five doctoral programs for graduate education in psychology which reflect the mainstream emphases in the field. The programs are in Clinical Psychology (the study of determinants of pathological behavior in children and adults with emphasis on biological, cognitive and environmental factors), Cognitive Psychology (the study of how humans process complex information received by the senses), Developmental Psychology (the study of physical, cognitive and social change throughout the life span), Neuroscience (the study of the biological bases of behavior), and Social Psychology (the study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another). The department also offers an applied Master’s Degree in Psychology with a Specialty in Applied Behavior Analysis at the Panama City Campus.

The department's faculty and large support staff operate research programs that have won national and international recognition and attract high levels of research grant support from federal and state agencies. The National Science Foundation, several institutes in the National Institutes of Health, and State agencies concerned with mental health consistently fund the research of our faculty. Total funding on an annual basis currently approximates $6,000,000. A substantial number of our faculty members serve as editors or members of editorial boards of major scientific and professional journals, officers of professional societies, or grant reviewers for federal funding agencies. One-third of our faculty have been recognized for their scholarship with developing scholar awards, endowed chairs, named professorships and the American Psychological Association's prestigious Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology. Many faculty have received university teaching awards for their outstanding undergraduate and graduate teaching.

The Department of Psychology has extensive research and computing facilities available to faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students. The support facilities include fully staffed and equipped electronic, computer, and instrument design machine shops that are operated by the Psychology Department technology support group. Instruction in behavioral, physiological, and neuroanatomical techniques is provided both in formal course work and in laboratory settings. A molecular neuroscience laboratory provides equipment and training for studies of gene cloning and gene expression, as well as techniques to measure levels of hormones and neurotransmitters.