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50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers

How to Find Psychology Research Topics for Your Student Paper

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

• Specific Branches of Psychology
• Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
• Human Cognition
• Human Development
• Critique of Publications
• Famous Experiments
• Historical Figures
• Specific Careers
• Case Studies
• Literature Reviews
• Your Own Study/Experiment

Are you searching for a great topic for your psychology paper ? Sometimes it seems like coming up with topics of psychology research is more challenging than the actual research and writing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places to find inspiration and the following list contains just a few ideas to help get you started.

Finding a solid topic is one of the most important steps when writing any type of paper. It can be particularly important when you are writing a psychology research paper or essay. Psychology is such a broad topic, so you want to find a topic that allows you to adequately cover the subject without becoming overwhelmed with information.

I can always tell when a student really cares about the topic they chose; it comes through in the writing. My advice is to choose a topic that genuinely interests you, so you’ll be more motivated to do thorough research.

In some cases, such as in a general psychology class, you might have the option to select any topic from within psychology's broad reach. Other instances, such as in an  abnormal psychology  course, might require you to write your paper on a specific subject such as a psychological disorder.

As you begin your search for a topic for your psychology paper, it is first important to consider the guidelines established by your instructor.

Research Topics Within Specific Branches of Psychology

The key to selecting a good topic for your psychology paper is to select something that is narrow enough to allow you to really focus on the subject, but not so narrow that it is difficult to find sources or information to write about.

One approach is to narrow your focus down to a subject within a specific branch of psychology. For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write a paper on some sort of social psychology topic. Next, you might narrow your focus down to how persuasion can be used to influence behavior .

Other social psychology topics you might consider include:

• Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)
• Social cognition
• Person perception
• Social control and cults
• Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing
• Attraction, romance, and love
• Nonverbal communication
• Prosocial behavior

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

Exploring a psychological disorder or a specific treatment modality can also be a good topic for a psychology paper. Some potential abnormal psychology topics include specific psychological disorders or particular treatment modalities, including:

• Eating disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Profile a  type of therapy  (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, psychoanalytic therapy)

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition

Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include:

• False memories
• Speech disorders
• Problem-solving

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Development

In this area, you might opt to focus on issues pertinent to  early childhood  such as language development, social learning, or childhood attachment or you might instead opt to concentrate on issues that affect older adults such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Some other topics you might consider include:

• Language acquisition
• Media violence and children
• Learning disabilities
• Gender roles
• Child abuse
• Prenatal development
• Parenting styles
• Aspects of the aging process

Do a Critique of Publications Involving Psychology Research Topics

One option is to consider writing a critique paper of a published psychology book or academic journal article. For example, you might write a critical analysis of Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or you might evaluate a more recent book such as Philip Zimbardo's  The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil .

Professional and academic journals are also great places to find materials for a critique paper. Browse through the collection at your university library to find titles devoted to the subject that you are most interested in, then look through recent articles until you find one that grabs your attention.

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Famous Experiments

There have been many fascinating and groundbreaking experiments throughout the history of psychology, providing ample material for students looking for an interesting term paper topic. In your paper, you might choose to summarize the experiment, analyze the ethics of the research, or evaluate the implications of the study. Possible experiments that you might consider include:

• The Milgram Obedience Experiment
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Little Albert Experiment
• Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
• The Asch Conformity Experiment
• Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments

Topics of Psychology Research About Historical Figures

One of the simplest ways to find a great topic is to choose an interesting person in the  history of psychology  and write a paper about them. Your paper might focus on many different elements of the individual's life, such as their biography, professional history, theories, or influence on psychology.

While this type of paper may be historical in nature, there is no need for this assignment to be dry or boring. Psychology is full of fascinating figures rife with intriguing stories and anecdotes. Consider such famous individuals as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, or one of the many other  eminent psychologists .

Psychology Research Topics About a Specific Career

​Another possible topic, depending on the course in which you are enrolled, is to write about specific career paths within the  field of psychology . This type of paper is especially appropriate if you are exploring different subtopics or considering which area interests you the most.

In your paper, you might opt to explore the typical duties of a psychologist, how much people working in these fields typically earn, and the different employment options that are available.

Topics of Psychology Research Involving Case Studies

One potentially interesting idea is to write a  psychology case study  of a particular individual or group of people. In this type of paper, you will provide an in-depth analysis of your subject, including a thorough biography.

Generally, you will also assess the person, often using a major psychological theory such as  Piaget's stages of cognitive development  or  Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development . It is also important to note that your paper doesn't necessarily have to be about someone you know personally.

In fact, many professors encourage students to write case studies on historical figures or fictional characters from books, television programs, or films.

Psychology Research Topics Involving Literature Reviews

Another possibility that would work well for a number of psychology courses is to do a literature review of a specific topic within psychology. A literature review involves finding a variety of sources on a particular subject, then summarizing and reporting on what these sources have to say about the topic.

Literature reviews are generally found in the  introduction  of journal articles and other  psychology papers , but this type of analysis also works well for a full-scale psychology term paper.

Topics of Psychology Research Based on Your Own Study or Experiment

Many psychology courses require students to design an actual psychological study or perform some type of experiment. In some cases, students simply devise the study and then imagine the possible results that might occur. In other situations, you may actually have the opportunity to collect data, analyze your findings, and write up your results.

Finding a topic for your study can be difficult, but there are plenty of great ways to come up with intriguing ideas. Start by considering your own interests as well as subjects you have studied in the past.

Online sources, newspaper articles, books , journal articles, and even your own class textbook are all great places to start searching for topics for your experiments and psychology term papers. Before you begin, learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

What This Means For You

After looking at this brief list of possible topics for psychology papers, it is easy to see that psychology is a very broad and diverse subject. While this variety makes it possible to find a topic that really catches your interest, it can sometimes make it very difficult for some students to select a good topic.

If you are still stumped by your assignment, ask your instructor for suggestions and consider a few from this list for inspiration.

• Hockenbury, SE & Nolan, SA. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers; 2014.
• Santrock, JW. A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

History of Psychology

Topics 2017

Topics for 2017

Here is a beginning list of ideas for paper topics.  

One of the best strategies at the beginning is to go to the reserve desk at the library and get the Hilgard book to look at.  For most of you, this should be one of your best early sources no matter what your topic is, so you might as well look at it as a beginning source of ideas as well.

You must establish a topic by Thursday, September 21.

I’ll be available to discuss various ideas with you, to help narrow it down once you are in a ballpark. As I explained in class, I want students to select topics in pairs, one on one side of an issue, the other on an apparently opposite side. This is a way to begin your task with a little bit of structure. Your actual topic will be MORE SPECIFIC than stated here. Taking a side of the issues as stated here is a beginning. Part of your project will be to narrow down and focus your topic.

Where there are obvious key words, I have put them in bold.

One very common type of topic is:  Why was person x so famous at one time and so forgotten later?  What does that tell us about change in psychology?   A variation on this theme is:  Why was person x so famous, then forgotten, then rediscovered?

Was Gestalt Psychology a failure or a success?    To begin, I have one paper that argues that Gestalt psychology was a success, and another that argues it was a failure.   Both were written in the same time period.  Obviously you have to know what Gestalt psychology is, immerse yourself in some of it, as well as the context for its promulgation.  By now, more articles on the subject have been written.  In light of where things stand today, how do we evaluate the articles that I alluded to at the beginning?

John B. Watson was the founder of behaviorism and one of the most important psychologists in our history.   Or –Behaviorism was so inevitable that Watson should NOT be regarded as its founder because it was developing anyway and would exist whether Watson had lived or not.

Behaviorism dominated psychology in the 1940’s and 1950’s.   Or — Behaviorism never dominated psychology as much as people say it did.

Cognitive psychology was a true revolution in psychology.   Or — Cognitive psychology was warmed over behaviorism with a few new words allowed.

Chomsky-inspired psycholinguistics changed psychology forever.   Or — The effects of Chomsky passed quickly and had a very small impact.

Developments in neuroscience have led to real progress in psychology.   Or — developments in neuroscience have been a distraction to psychology and have postponed attention to core problems.

Behaviorism was a necessary development in psychology;  Or — Behaviorism should have sold itself as a branch of biology and not psychology. The latter position has been developed by Trinity alum, Robert Epstein (also B. F. Skinner’s last student).

George Miller ushered in the future for Psychologists, time after time.   Or, George Miller was consistently wrong.

Münsterberg — Applied psychology and pure psychology: an important distinction. “Applied psychology” is not possible. “Applied psychology” is quite possible.

The arguments of Tolman vs. Hull and Spence within behaviorism were a very good example of the operation of “normal science” in the sense of Thomas Kuhn. The work of Tolman, as he argued against Hull and Spence sowed the seeds for a scientific revolution, as this concept was developed by Thomas Kuhn.

Titchener “sold” Wundt as an introspectionist — Was this was historically wrong?

Professional organizations emerge as disciplines develop.  At least two have been organized first here at Trinity.  What is their role?  Formation of the APA; Philosophers break off; experimentalists try to break off several times; the founding of the APS. The role of smaller, more specialized organizations like SRCD and the Psychonomic Society.  Interview faculty members as part of this.

Role of Journals – Mind, American Journal of Psychology (AJP  Hall). Hall was an organizer. Up to Ecological Psychology (see me) perhaps.

Clinical Psychology – Witmer; Prince; Putnam; Shakow; Boulder model; WW II (let the Hilgard book be your guide).

Neuroscience –What happened to Lashley?  There was a spate of research in the early to mid 20th century (from Lashley) that showed much complex activity learned by rats was not localized in any particular brain area .   By 1955, emphases changed and the experimental results in neuroscience favored localization of function.   Was this a change in fact or fashion?

Establishing labs – Hall vs. James. “Real” labs? Colleges and universities.  Establishing psychology as a scientific discipline and at particular institutions regarded the founding of laboratories.   What constituted a laboratory?   How much did these really matter?

Intelligence – Binet, Terman, WW I, WW II  — see the Hilgard book.

Language – Wundt, Blumenthal, Chomsky; Whorf-Sapir (Hartford origins), Roger Brown; What happened to syntax?

Trinity issues – Trinity psychology graduates, Edward S. Reed and Robert Epstein have published work in the history of psychology – You could examine the issues explored by either one.  (1)  Reed — In his philosophy (history) of science dissertation (it won an award), Reed argued that modern physics and modern psychology BOTH started with Descartes and that, therefore, psychology is not different from physics because psychology is young.   (2)  Epstein has argued that Watson made a mistake by trying to make behaviorism a part of psychology.  Epstein says that misunderstandings could have been avoided if Watson developed behaviorism as a branch of biology instead.

Psychology at Trinity — from 1903.  Interesting comparisons to Wesleyan.   What are just “accidents” of history?  Explore old catalogues and original text used here.

Developmental psych – from G. Stanley Hall?  Many themes could be developed within developmental psychology, with the important stress that G. Stanley Hall was central in some way to most of it.

Wesleyan .  Interesting comparisons: Charles H. Judd  (ended up at Chicago) vs. Edward L. Thorndike   (ended up at Columbia) vs. Walter Dearborn (ended up at Harvard)– All Wesleyan undergrads of about the same time. All ended up in Educational Psychology. But they got there by very different routes. Judd studied with Wundt; Thorndike with William James.  Dearborn was influenced both by Dodge at Wesleyan and by Cattell.

MacDougall vs. Watson – 1924 debate.

Lewin vs. Spence at Iowa.

The effects of adopting English as the language of science around the world — the case of psychology.

Extra special topic — Pierre Janet and ties to developmental psychology and to Piaget.  Janet is not all that well known, but there is a hard core group devoted to promoting him now to wider audiences.

History of Psych Syllabus

50+ Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Categories Psychology Education

If you have ever had to write a paper for one of your psychology classes, then you probably know that choosing psychology paper topics can sometimes be tricky. Fortunately, there are plenty of great topics for psychology research papers to help you finish your assignment.

Keep reading to learn more about how to find topics for psychology research papers and find inspiration to help you get started.

Table of Contents

How to Choose Topics for Psychology Research Papers

If you are going to write a psychology paper, the first thing you need to do is pick a good topic. This is often easier said than done.

In some cases, your instructor might assign you topics for psychology research papers, or at least narrow your range of options by providing a general subject area on which to focus your paper.

But in many cases, choosing the topic of your psychology paper is entirely up to you—and that’s where things can get tricky. How do you choose a great topic? What if you pick something too specific and struggle to find sources? Or what if you go too broad and end up biting off more than you can chew?

Following a few simple steps can make the topic selection process a lot easier.

Choose a General Subject

Part of what makes picking a topic for a psychology paper so difficult is how overwhelmed you are by the information you feel. Make it easier on yourself by restricting your options to at least a general topic area.

Narrow Down to a More Specific Topic

Once you’ve chosen a general area, you can then narrow topics for psychology research papers down to something much more specific and manageable.

For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write your paper on a topic within a specific branch of psychology . From there you might further narrow your focus down to a much narrower subject area within that branch

So, imagine that you’re writing a psychology research paper in your general psychology course. Your instructor has given you free rein to select any topic you please, so you begin by deciding to write your paper on a social psychology topic.

Now that you have a general idea, you drill down further and decide to research and write your paper on how prejudice forms and ways to minimize it.

General Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Because general psychology classes cover such a wide range of topics, you have a very large selection of subject ideas to choose from. Start by choosing a general topic, and then narrow your focus down so that you can fully cover the subject.

Some ideas include:

• An issue paper:  Tackle one of the current issues in psychology, such as parity in mental health care or involving psychologists in military interrogations.
• Profile a famous psychologist:  Select a well-known  psychologist  and then write a profile exploring his or her life, theories, and career.
• Explore a well-known psychology experiment:  Write a paper on a classic psychology study, such as the Milgram Obedience Experiment or the Stanford Prison Experiment.
• Write about a topic within personality psychology:   Personality psychology focuses on the traits and dispositions that contribute to overall personality. This is one of the largest topics within psychology so there are plenty of fascinating research topics from which to choose. Some specific topics that might interest you include whether personality can change, different theories of personality development and the  Big Five theory of personality.

Specific Topics for Psychology Research Papers

You might also want to choose topics for psychology research papers that are related to a specific branch of psychology. Some options that you might consider include:

Clinical Psychology

• How effective is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating specific phobias?
• What is the relationship between childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder?
• How do medication and psychotherapy compare in the treatment of depression?
• How does social media affect teen mental health?

Developmental Psychology

• How do parenting styles influence child development?
• What are the long-term effects of early childhood education?
• What role does play have in cognitive development?
• What effect does having siblings have on developmental outcomes?

Cognitive Psychology

• How does sleep deprivation influence the memory consolidation process?
• What impact does aging have on cognitive functioning?
• How does exercise impact working memory?
• Does learning a second language have cognitive benefits?

Social Psychology

• What effect does discrimination have on self-esteem?
• How does self-presentation online differ from self-presentation in real-world settings?
• How do leadership styles influence productivity in groups?

Okay, let’s just imagine that you’re having a bad case of writer’s block. You understand the basic approach for picking a good topic, but nothing seems to be catching your interest. You’re looking for some more inspiration to get you started.

Here are just a few great topics for psychology papers that you might want to consider:

Controversial Topics for Psychology Research Papers

The history of psychology is not always positive, and if you enjoy writing about controversial topics, psychology’s history is rich with material.

• The use of lobotomies to treat mental illness
• The history of mental asylums in the United States
• The use and effects of electroconvulsive therapy
• Conversion therapy and its damaging effects
• Attachment therapy
• Controversial experiments such as Milgram’s obedience experiment or Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment
• The debate over the nature of intelligence
• The impact of the eugenics movement on psychology
• Controversies surrounding the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Disorder Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Writing about the history, prevalence, and treatment of a specific mental condition can be an interesting topic for a psychology paper. Some options you might consider include:

• Eating disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Substance abuse and addictions
• Developmental disorders

Other Great Topics for Psychology Research Papers

Here is a sampling of topics that you might consider:

• How attitudes form
• How bullying affects children
• How people use nonverbal communication
• Factors that can affect prenatal development
• How media violence influences children’s behavior
• How parenting styles influence child development
• How does intrinsic motivation influence learning
• How does mindset impact academic achievement
• What factors influence IQ and is it possible to increase IQ
• Factors that influence self-actualization
• Is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs still relevant today
• How does perfectionism impact mental well-being
• Different theories of personality
• How different leadership styles influence the success of groups
• Profile a specific career in psychology

As you can see, your options for psychology paper topics are really only limited by your own imagination (and the specific guidelines issued by your instructor, of course). Spend some time thinking about topics that really interest you, then narrow your focus to hone in on a specific idea.

Finally, always be sure to run your chosen topic by your instructor. He or she may be able to offer suggestions that can help you during your research and make it much easier to write an outstanding psychology paper.

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1.2 The Evolution of Psychology: History, Approaches, and Questions

Learning objectives.

• Explain how psychology changed from a philosophical to a scientific discipline.
• List some of the most important questions that concern psychologists.
• Outline the basic schools of psychology and how each school has contributed to psychology.

In this section we will review the history of psychology with a focus on the important questions that psychologists ask and the major approaches (or schools) of psychological inquiry. The schools of psychology that we will review are summarized in Table 1.2 “The Most Important Approaches (Schools) of Psychology” , and Figure 1.5 “Timeline Showing Some of the Most Important Psychologists” presents a timeline of some of the most important psychologists, beginning with the early Greek philosophers and extending to the present day. Table 1.2 “The Most Important Approaches (Schools) of Psychology” and Figure 1.5 “Timeline Showing Some of the Most Important Psychologists” both represent a selection of the most important schools and people; to mention all the approaches and all the psychologists who have contributed to the field is not possible in one chapter.

The approaches that psychologists have used to assess the issues that interest them have changed dramatically over the history of psychology. Perhaps most importantly, the field has moved steadily from speculation about behavior toward a more objective and scientific approach as the technology available to study human behavior has improved (Benjamin & Baker, 2004). There has also been an increasing influx of women into the field. Although most early psychologists were men, now most psychologists, including the presidents of the most important psychological organizations, are women.

Figure 1.4 Female Psychologists

Although most of the earliest psychologists were men, women are increasingly contributing to psychology. The first female president of the American Psychological Association was Mary Whiton Calkins (1861–1930). Calkins made significant contributions to the study of memory and the self-concept. Mahzarin Banaji (left), Marilynn Brewer (not pictured), and Linda Bartoshuk (right) are all recent presidents of the American Psychological Society.

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – Keynote: Mahzarin R. Banaji – CC BY-SA 2.0; NIDCD Inside Newsletter – no copyright.

Although it cannot capture every important psychologist, this timeline shows some of the most important contributors to the history of psychology.

Although psychology has changed dramatically over its history, the most important questions that psychologists address have remained constant. Some of these questions follow, and we will discuss them both in this chapter and in the chapters to come:

• Nature versus nurture. Are genes or environment most influential in determining the behavior of individuals and in accounting for differences among people? Most scientists now agree that both genes and environment play crucial roles in most human behaviors, and yet we still have much to learn about how nature (our biological makeup) and nurture (the experiences that we have during our lives) work together (Harris, 1998; Pinker, 2002). The proportion of the observed differences on characteristics among people (e.g., in terms of their height, intelligence, or optimism) that is due to genetics is known as the heritability of the characteristic, and we will make much use of this term in the chapters to come. We will see, for example, that the heritability of intelligence is very high (about .85 out of 1.0) and that the heritability of extraversion is about .50. But we will also see that nature and nurture interact in complex ways, making the question of “Is it nature or is it nurture?” very difficult to answer.
• Free will versus determinism. This question concerns the extent to which people have control over their own actions. Are we the products of our environment, guided by forces out of our control, or are we able to choose the behaviors we engage in? Most of us like to believe in free will, that we are able to do what we want—for instance, that we could get up right now and go fishing. And our legal system is premised on the concept of free will; we punish criminals because we believe that they have choice over their behaviors and freely choose to disobey the law. But as we will discuss later in the research focus in this section, recent research has suggested that we may have less control over our own behavior than we think we do (Wegner, 2002).
• Accuracy versus inaccuracy. To what extent are humans good information processors? Although it appears that people are “good enough” to make sense of the world around them and to make decent decisions (Fiske, 2003), they are far from perfect. Human judgment is sometimes compromised by inaccuracies in our thinking styles and by our motivations and emotions. For instance, our judgment may be affected by our desires to gain material wealth and to see ourselves positively and by emotional responses to the events that happen to us.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden (left photo) meet with BP executives to discuss the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (right photo). Psychologists study the causes of poor judgments such as those made by these executives.

The White House – United States Government Work; International Bird Rescue Research Center – CC BY 2.0

• Conscious versus unconscious processing. To what extent are we conscious of our own actions and the causes of them, and to what extent are our behaviors caused by influences that we are not aware of? Many of the major theories of psychology, ranging from the Freudian psychodynamic theories to contemporary work in cognitive psychology, argue that much of our behavior is determined by variables that we are not aware of.
• Differences versus similarities. To what extent are we all similar, and to what extent are we different? For instance, are there basic psychological and personality differences between men and women, or are men and women by and large similar? And what about people from different ethnicities and cultures? Are people around the world generally the same, or are they influenced by their backgrounds and environments in different ways? Personality, social, and cross-cultural psychologists attempt to answer these classic questions.

Early Psychologists

The earliest psychologists that we know about are the Greek philosophers Plato (428–347 BC) and Aristotle (384–322 BC). These philosophers asked many of the same questions that today’s psychologists ask; for instance, they questioned the distinction between nature and nurture and the existence of free will. In terms of the former, Plato argued on the nature side, believing that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn, whereas Aristotle was more on the nurture side, believing that each child is born as an “empty slate” (in Latin a tabula rasa ) and that knowledge is primarily acquired through learning and experience.

The earliest psychologists were the Greek philosophers Plato (left) and Aristotle. Plato believed that much knowledge was innate, whereas Aristotle thought that each child was born as an “empty slate” and that knowledge was primarily acquired through learning and experience.

Image Editor – Plato and Aristotle – CC BY 2.0

European philosophers continued to ask these fundamental questions during the Renaissance. For instance, the French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) also considered the issue of free will, arguing in its favor and believing that the mind controls the body through the pineal gland in the brain (an idea that made some sense at the time but was later proved incorrect). Descartes also believed in the existence of innate natural abilities. A scientist as well as a philosopher, Descartes dissected animals and was among the first to understand that the nerves controlled the muscles. He also addressed the relationship between mind (the mental aspects of life) and body (the physical aspects of life). Descartes believed in the principle of dualism : that the mind is fundamentally different from the mechanical body. Other European philosophers, including Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), John Locke (1632–1704), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), also weighed in on these issues.

The fundamental problem that these philosophers faced was that they had few methods for settling their claims. Most philosophers didn’t conduct any research on these questions, in part because they didn’t yet know how to do it, and in part because they weren’t sure it was even possible to objectively study human experience. But dramatic changes came during the 1800s with the help of the first two research psychologists: the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), who developed a psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, and the American psychologist William James (1842–1910), who founded a psychology laboratory at Harvard University.

Structuralism: Introspection and the Awareness of Subjective Experience

Wundt’s research in his laboratory in Liepzig focused on the nature of consciousness itself. Wundt and his students believed that it was possible to analyze the basic elements of the mind and to classify our conscious experiences scientifically. Wundt began the field known as structuralism , a school of psychology whose goal was to identify the basic elements or “structures” of psychological experience . Its goal was to create a “periodic table” of the “elements of sensations,” similar to the periodic table of elements that had recently been created in chemistry.

Structuralists used the method of introspection to attempt to create a map of the elements of consciousness. Introspection involves asking research participants to describe exactly what they experience as they work on mental tasks , such as viewing colors, reading a page in a book, or performing a math problem. A participant who is reading a book might report, for instance, that he saw some black and colored straight and curved marks on a white background. In other studies the structuralists used newly invented reaction time instruments to systematically assess not only what the participants were thinking but how long it took them to do so. Wundt discovered that it took people longer to report what sound they had just heard than to simply respond that they had heard the sound. These studies marked the first time researchers realized that there is a difference between the sensation of a stimulus and the perception of that stimulus, and the idea of using reaction times to study mental events has now become a mainstay of cognitive psychology.

Wilhelm Wundt (seated at left) and Edward Titchener (right) helped create the structuralist school of psychology. Their goal was to classify the elements of sensation through introspection.

Wikimedia Commons – Wundt research group – no copyright; David Webb – Edward Bradford Titchener – CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Perhaps the best known of the structuralists was Edward Bradford Titchener (1867–1927). Titchener was a student of Wundt who came to the United States in the late 1800s and founded a laboratory at Cornell University. In his research using introspection, Titchener and his students claimed to have identified more than 40,000 sensations, including those relating to vision, hearing, and taste.

An important aspect of the structuralist approach was that it was rigorous and scientific. The research marked the beginning of psychology as a science, because it demonstrated that mental events could be quantified. But the structuralists also discovered the limitations of introspection. Even highly trained research participants were often unable to report on their subjective experiences. When the participants were asked to do simple math problems, they could easily do them, but they could not easily answer how they did them. Thus the structuralists were the first to realize the importance of unconscious processes—that many important aspects of human psychology occur outside our conscious awareness, and that psychologists cannot expect research participants to be able to accurately report on all of their experiences.

Functionalism and Evolutionary Psychology

In contrast to Wundt, who attempted to understand the nature of consciousness, the goal of William James and the other members of the school of functionalism was to understand why animals and humans have developed the particular psychological aspects that they currently possess (Hunt, 1993). For James, one’s thinking was relevant only to one’s behavior. As he put it in his psychology textbook, “My thinking is first and last and always for the sake of my doing” (James, 1890).

James and the other members of the functionalist school were influenced by Charles Darwin’s (1809–1882) theory of natural selection , which proposed that the physical characteristics of animals and humans evolved because they were useful, or functional. The functionalists believed that Darwin’s theory applied to psychological characteristics too. Just as some animals have developed strong muscles to allow them to run fast, the human brain, so functionalists thought, must have adapted to serve a particular function in human experience.

The functionalist school of psychology, founded by the American psychologist William James (left), was influenced by the work of Charles Darwin.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain. Darwin portrait courtesy of George Richmond, Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

Although functionalism no longer exists as a school of psychology, its basic principles have been absorbed into psychology and continue to influence it in many ways. The work of the functionalists has developed into the field of evolutionary psychology , a branch of psychology that applies the Darwinian theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior (Dennett, 1995; Tooby & Cosmides, 1992). Evolutionary psychology accepts the functionalists’ basic assumption, namely that many human psychological systems, including memory, emotion, and personality, serve key adaptive functions. As we will see in the chapters to come, evolutionary psychologists use evolutionary theory to understand many different behaviors including romantic attraction, stereotypes and prejudice, and even the causes of many psychological disorders.

A key component of the ideas of evolutionary psychology is fitness . Fitness refers to the extent to which having a given characteristic helps the individual organism survive and reproduce at a higher rate than do other members of the species who do not have the characteristic . Fitter organisms pass on their genes more successfully to later generations, making the characteristics that produce fitness more likely to become part of the organism’s nature than characteristics that do not produce fitness. For example, it has been argued that the emotion of jealousy has survived over time in men because men who experience jealousy are more fit than men who do not. According to this idea, the experience of jealously leads men to be more likely to protect their mates and guard against rivals, which increases their reproductive success (Buss, 2000).

Despite its importance in psychological theorizing, evolutionary psychology also has some limitations. One problem is that many of its predictions are extremely difficult to test. Unlike the fossils that are used to learn about the physical evolution of species, we cannot know which psychological characteristics our ancestors possessed or did not possess; we can only make guesses about this. Because it is difficult to directly test evolutionary theories, it is always possible that the explanations we apply are made up after the fact to account for observed data (Gould & Lewontin, 1979). Nevertheless, the evolutionary approach is important to psychology because it provides logical explanations for why we have many psychological characteristics.

Psychodynamic Psychology

Perhaps the school of psychology that is most familiar to the general public is the psychodynamic approach to understanding behavior, which was championed by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and his followers. Psychodynamic psychology is an approach to understanding human behavior that focuses on the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories . Freud developed his theories about behavior through extensive analysis of the patients that he treated in his private clinical practice. Freud believed that many of the problems that his patients experienced, including anxiety, depression, and sexual dysfunction, were the result of the effects of painful childhood experiences that the person could no longer remember.

Figure 1.10

Sigmund Freud and the other psychodynamic psychologists believed that many of our thoughts and emotions are unconscious. Psychotherapy was designed to help patients recover and confront their “lost” memories.

Max Halberstadt – Wikimedia Commons -public domain.

Freud’s ideas were extended by other psychologists whom he influenced, including Carl Jung (1875–1961), Alfred Adler (1870–1937), Karen Horney (1855–1952), and Erik Erikson (1902–1994). These and others who follow the psychodynamic approach believe that it is possible to help the patient if the unconscious drives can be remembered, particularly through a deep and thorough exploration of the person’s early sexual experiences and current sexual desires. These explorations are revealed through talk therapy and dream analysis, in a process called psychoanalysis .

The founders of the school of psychodynamics were primarily practitioners who worked with individuals to help them understand and confront their psychological symptoms. Although they did not conduct much research on their ideas, and although later, more sophisticated tests of their theories have not always supported their proposals, psychodynamics has nevertheless had substantial impact on the field of psychology, and indeed on thinking about human behavior more generally (Moore & Fine, 1995). The importance of the unconscious in human behavior, the idea that early childhood experiences are critical, and the concept of therapy as a way of improving human lives are all ideas that are derived from the psychodynamic approach and that remain central to psychology.

Behaviorism and the Question of Free Will

Although they differed in approach, both structuralism and functionalism were essentially studies of the mind. The psychologists associated with the school of behaviorism , on the other hand, were reacting in part to the difficulties psychologists encountered when they tried to use introspection to understand behavior. Behaviorism is a school of psychology that is based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, and therefore that psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself . Behaviorists believe that the human mind is a “black box” into which stimuli are sent and from which responses are received. They argue that there is no point in trying to determine what happens in the box because we can successfully predict behavior without knowing what happens inside the mind. Furthermore, behaviorists believe that it is possible to develop laws of learning that can explain all behaviors.

The first behaviorist was the American psychologist John B. Watson (1878–1958). Watson was influenced in large part by the work of the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), who had discovered that dogs would salivate at the sound of a tone that had previously been associated with the presentation of food. Watson and the other behaviorists began to use these ideas to explain how events that people and other organisms experienced in their environment ( stimuli ) could produce specific behaviors ( responses ). For instance, in Pavlov’s research the stimulus (either the food or, after learning, the tone) would produce the response of salivation in the dogs.

In his research Watson found that systematically exposing a child to fearful stimuli in the presence of objects that did not themselves elicit fear could lead the child to respond with a fearful behavior to the presence of the stimulus (Watson & Rayner, 1920; Beck, Levinson, & Irons, 2009). In the best known of his studies, an 8-month-old boy named Little Albert was used as the subject. Here is a summary of the findings:

In line with the behaviorist approach, the boy had learned to associate the white rat with the loud noise, resulting in crying.

Figure 1.11

B. F. Skinner was a member of the behaviorist school of psychology. He argued that free will is an illusion and that all behavior is determined by environmental factors.

Wikimedia Commons – CC BY 3.0.

The most famous behaviorist was Burrhus Frederick (B. F.) Skinner (1904–1990), who expanded the principles of behaviorism and also brought them to the attention of the public at large. Skinner used the ideas of stimulus and response, along with the application of rewards or reinforcements , to train pigeons and other animals. And he used the general principles of behaviorism to develop theories about how best to teach children and how to create societies that were peaceful and productive. Skinner even developed a method for studying thoughts and feelings using the behaviorist approach (Skinner, 1957, 1968, 1972).

Research Focus: Do We Have Free Will?

The behaviorist research program had important implications for the fundamental questions about nature and nurture and about free will. In terms of the nature-nurture debate, the behaviorists agreed with the nurture approach, believing that we are shaped exclusively by our environments. They also argued that there is no free will, but rather that our behaviors are determined by the events that we have experienced in our past. In short, this approach argues that organisms, including humans, are a lot like puppets in a show who don’t realize that other people are controlling them. Furthermore, although we do not cause our own actions, we nevertheless believe that we do because we don’t realize all the influences acting on our behavior.

Recent research in psychology has suggested that Skinner and the behaviorists might well have been right, at least in the sense that we overestimate our own free will in responding to the events around us (Libet, 1985; Matsuhashi & Hallett, 2008; Wegner, 2002). In one demonstration of the misperception of our own free will, neuroscientists Soon, Brass, Heinze, and Haynes (2008) placed their research participants in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scanner while they presented them with a series of letters on a computer screen. The letter on the screen changed every one-half second. The participants were asked, whenever they decided to, to press either of two buttons. Then they were asked to indicate which letter was showing on the screen when they decided to press the button. The researchers analyzed the brain images to see if they could predict which of the two buttons the participant was going to press, even before the letter at which he or she had indicated the decision to press a button. Suggesting that the intention to act occurred in the brain before the research participants became aware of it, the researchers found that the prefrontal cortex region of the brain showed activation that could be used to predict the button press as long as 10 seconds before the participants said that they decided which button to press.

Research has found that we are more likely to think that we control our behavior when the desire to act occurs immediately prior to the outcome, when the thought is consistent with the outcome, and when there are no other apparent causes for the behavior. Aarts, Custers, and Wegner (2005) asked their research participants to control a rapidly moving square along with a computer that was also controlling the square independently. The participants pressed a button to stop the movement. When participants were exposed to words related to the location of the square just before they stopped its movement, they became more likely to think that they controlled the motion, even when it was actually the computer that stopped it. And Dijksterhuis, Preston, Wegner, and Aarts (2008) found that participants who had just been exposed to first-person singular pronouns, such as “I” and “me,” were more likely to believe that they controlled their actions than were people who had seen the words “computer” or “God.”

The idea that we are more likely to take ownership for our actions in some cases than in others is also seen in our attributions for success and failure. Because we normally expect that our behaviors will be met with success, when we are successful we easily believe that the success is the result of our own free will. When an action is met with failure, on the other hand, we are less likely to perceive this outcome as the result of our free will, and we are more likely to blame the outcome on luck or our teacher (Wegner, 2003).

The behaviorists made substantial contributions to psychology by identifying the principles of learning . Although the behaviorists were incorrect in their beliefs that it was not possible to measure thoughts and feelings, their ideas provided new ideas that helped further our understanding regarding the nature-nurture debate as well as the question of free will. The ideas of behaviorism are fundamental to psychology and have been developed to help us better understand the role of prior experiences in a variety of areas of psychology.

The Cognitive Approach and Cognitive Neuroscience

Science is always influenced by the technology that surrounds it, and psychology is no exception. Thus it is no surprise that beginning in the 1960s, growing numbers of psychologists began to think about the brain and about human behavior in terms of the computer, which was being developed and becoming publicly available at that time. The analogy between the brain and the computer, although by no means perfect, provided part of the impetus for a new school of psychology called cognitive psychology . Cognitive psychology is a field of psychology that studies mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory, and judgment . These actions correspond well to the processes that computers perform.

Although cognitive psychology began in earnest in the 1960s, earlier psychologists had also taken a cognitive orientation. Some of the important contributors to cognitive psychology include the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909), who studied the ability of people to remember lists of words under different conditions, and the English psychologist Sir Frederic Bartlett (1886–1969), who studied the cognitive and social processes of remembering. Bartlett created short stories that were in some ways logical but also contained some very unusual and unexpected events. Bartlett discovered that people found it very difficult to recall the stories exactly, even after being allowed to study them repeatedly, and he hypothesized that the stories were difficult to remember because they did not fit the participants’ expectations about how stories should go. The idea that our memory is influenced by what we already know was also a major idea behind the cognitive-developmental stage model of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980). Other important cognitive psychologists include Donald E. Broadbent (1926–1993), Daniel Kahneman (1934–), George Miller (1920–), Eleanor Rosch (1938–), and Amos Tversky (1937–1996).

The War of the Ghosts

The War of the Ghosts was a story used by Sir Frederic Bartlett to test the influence of prior expectations on memory. Bartlett found that even when his British research participants were allowed to read the story many times they still could not remember it well, and he believed this was because it did not fit with their prior knowledge.

In its argument that our thinking has a powerful influence on behavior, the cognitive approach provided a distinct alternative to behaviorism. According to cognitive psychologists, ignoring the mind itself will never be sufficient because people interpret the stimuli that they experience. For instance, when a boy turns to a girl on a date and says, “You are so beautiful,” a behaviorist would probably see that as a reinforcing (positive) stimulus. And yet the girl might not be so easily fooled. She might try to understand why the boy is making this particular statement at this particular time and wonder if he might be attempting to influence her through the comment. Cognitive psychologists maintain that when we take into consideration how stimuli are evaluated and interpreted, we understand behavior more deeply.

Cognitive psychology remains enormously influential today, and it has guided research in such varied fields as language, problem solving, memory, intelligence, education, human development, social psychology, and psychotherapy. The cognitive revolution has been given even more life over the past decade as the result of recent advances in our ability to see the brain in action using neuroimaging techniques. Neuroimaging is the use of various techniques to provide pictures of the structure and function of the living brain (Ilardi & Feldman, 2001). These images are used to diagnose brain disease and injury, but they also allow researchers to view information processing as it occurs in the brain, because the processing causes the involved area of the brain to increase metabolism and show up on the scan. We have already discussed the use of one neuroimaging technique, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in the research focus earlier in this section, and we will discuss the use of neuroimaging techniques in many areas of psychology in the chapters to follow.

Social-Cultural Psychology

A final school, which takes a higher level of analysis and which has had substantial impact on psychology, can be broadly referred to as the social-cultural approach . The field of social-cultural psychology is the study of how the social situations and the cultures in which people find themselves influence thinking and behavior . Social-cultural psychologists are particularly concerned with how people perceive themselves and others, and how people influence each other’s behavior. For instance, social psychologists have found that we are attracted to others who are similar to us in terms of attitudes and interests (Byrne, 1969), that we develop our own beliefs and attitudes by comparing our opinions to those of others (Festinger, 1954), and that we frequently change our beliefs and behaviors to be similar to those of the people we care about—a process known as conformity .

An important aspect of social-cultural psychology are social norms — the ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving that are shared by group members and perceived by them as appropriate (Asch, 1952; Cialdini, 1993). Norms include customs, traditions, standards, and rules, as well as the general values of the group. Many of the most important social norms are determined by the culture in which we live, and these cultures are studied by cross-cultural psychologists . A culture represents the common set of social norms, including religious and family values and other moral beliefs, shared by the people who live in a geographical region (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus, & Nisbett, 1998; Markus, Kitayama, & Heiman, 1996; Matsumoto, 2001). Cultures influence every aspect of our lives, and it is not inappropriate to say that our culture defines our lives just as much as does our evolutionary experience (Mesoudi, 2009).

Psychologists have found that there is a fundamental difference in social norms between Western cultures (including those in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) and East Asian cultures (including those in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia). Norms in Western cultures are primarily oriented toward individualism , which is about valuing the self and one’s independence from others. Children in Western cultures are taught to develop and to value a sense of their personal self, and to see themselves in large part as separate from the other people around them. Children in Western cultures feel special about themselves; they enjoy getting gold stars on their projects and the best grade in the class. Adults in Western cultures are oriented toward promoting their own individual success, frequently in comparison to (or even at the expense of) others.

Norms in the East Asian culture, on the other hand, are oriented toward interdependence or collectivism . In these cultures children are taught to focus on developing harmonious social relationships with others. The predominant norms relate to group togetherness and connectedness, and duty and responsibility to one’s family and other groups. When asked to describe themselves, the members of East Asian cultures are more likely than those from Western cultures to indicate that they are particularly concerned about the interests of others, including their close friends and their colleagues.

In Western cultures social norms promote a focus on the self ( individualism ), whereas in Eastern cultures the focus is more on families and social groups ( collectivism ).

Another important cultural difference is the extent to which people in different cultures are bound by social norms and customs, rather than being free to express their own individuality without considering social norms (Chan, Gelfand, Triandis, & Tzeng, 1996). Cultures also differ in terms of personal space, such as how closely individuals stand to each other when talking, as well as the communication styles they employ.

It is important to be aware of cultures and cultural differences because people with different cultural backgrounds increasingly come into contact with each other as a result of increased travel and immigration and the development of the Internet and other forms of communication. In the United States, for instance, there are many different ethnic groups, and the proportion of the population that comes from minority (non-White) groups is increasing from year to year. The social-cultural approach to understanding behavior reminds us again of the difficulty of making broad generalizations about human nature. Different people experience things differently, and they experience them differently in different cultures.

The Many Disciplines of Psychology

Psychology is not one discipline but rather a collection of many subdisciplines that all share at least some common approaches and that work together and exchange knowledge to form a coherent discipline (Yang & Chiu, 2009). Because the field of psychology is so broad, students may wonder which areas are most suitable for their interests and which types of careers might be available to them. Table 1.3 “Some Career Paths in Psychology” will help you consider the answers to these questions. You can learn more about these different fields of psychology and the careers associated with them at http://www.apa.org/careers/psyccareers/ .

Table 1.3 Some Career Paths in Psychology

Psychology in Everyday Life: How to Effectively Learn and Remember

One way that the findings of psychological research may be particularly helpful to you is in terms of improving your learning and study skills. Psychological research has provided a substantial amount of knowledge about the principles of learning and memory. This information can help you do better in this and other courses, and can also help you better learn new concepts and techniques in other areas of your life.

The most important thing you can learn in college is how to better study, learn, and remember. These skills will help you throughout your life, as you learn new jobs and take on other responsibilities. There are substantial individual differences in learning and memory, such that some people learn faster than others. But even if it takes you longer to learn than you think it should, the extra time you put into studying is well worth the effort. And you can learn to learn—learning to effectively study and to remember information is just like learning any other skill, such as playing a sport or a video game.

To learn well, you need to be ready to learn. You cannot learn well when you are tired, when you are under stress, or if you are abusing alcohol or drugs. Try to keep a consistent routine of sleeping and eating. Eat moderately and nutritiously, and avoid drugs that can impair memory, particularly alcohol. There is no evidence that stimulants such as caffeine, amphetamines, or any of the many “memory enhancing drugs” on the market will help you learn (Gold, Cahill, & Wenk, 2002; McDaniel, Maier, & Einstein, 2002). Memory supplements are usually no more effective than drinking a can of sugared soda, which also releases glucose and thus improves memory slightly.

Psychologists have studied the ways that best allow people to acquire new information, to retain it over time, and to retrieve information that has been stored in our memories. One important finding is that learning is an active process. To acquire information most effectively, we must actively manipulate it. One active approach is rehearsal—repeating the information that is to be learned over and over again. Although simple repetition does help us learn, psychological research has found that we acquire information most effectively when we actively think about or elaborate on its meaning and relate the material to something else.

When you study, try to elaborate by connecting the information to other things that you already know. If you want to remember the different schools of psychology, for instance, try to think about how each of the approaches is different from the others. As you make the comparisons among the approaches, determine what is most important about each one and then relate it to the features of the other approaches. In an important study showing the effectiveness of elaborative encoding, Rogers, Kuiper, and Kirker (1977) found that students learned information best when they related it to aspects of themselves (a phenomenon known as the self-reference effect ). This research suggests that imagining how the material relates to your own interests and goals will help you learn it.

An approach known as the method of loci involves linking each of the pieces of information that you need to remember to places that you are familiar with. You might think about the house that you grew up in and the rooms in it. Then you could put the behaviorists in the bedroom, the structuralists in the living room, and the functionalists in the kitchen. Then when you need to remember the information, you retrieve the mental image of your house and should be able to “see” each of the people in each of the areas.

One of the most fundamental principles of learning is known as the spacing effect . Both humans and animals more easily remember or learn material when they study the material in several shorter study periods over a longer period of time, rather than studying it just once for a long period of time. Cramming for an exam is a particularly ineffective way to learn.

Psychologists have also found that performance is improved when people set difficult yet realistic goals for themselves (Locke & Latham, 2006). You can use this knowledge to help you learn. Set realistic goals for the time you are going to spend studying and what you are going to learn, and try to stick to those goals. Do a small amount every day, and by the end of the week you will have accomplished a lot.

Our ability to adequately assess our own knowledge is known as metacognition . Research suggests that our metacognition may make us overconfident, leading us to believe that we have learned material even when we have not. To counteract this problem, don’t just go over your notes again and again. Instead, make a list of questions and then see if you can answer them. Study the information again and then test yourself again after a few minutes. If you made any mistakes, study again. Then wait for a half hour and test yourself again. Then test again after 1 day and after 2 days. Testing yourself by attempting to retrieve information in an active manner is better than simply studying the material because it will help you determine if you really know it.

In summary, everyone can learn to learn better. Learning is an important skill, and following the previously mentioned guidelines will likely help you learn better.

Key Takeaways

• The first psychologists were philosophers, but the field became more empirical and objective as more sophisticated scientific approaches were developed and employed.
• Some basic questions asked by psychologists include those about nature versus nurture, free will versus determinism, accuracy versus inaccuracy, and conscious versus unconscious processing.
• The structuralists attempted to analyze the nature of consciousness using introspection.
• The functionalists based their ideas on the work of Darwin, and their approaches led to the field of evolutionary psychology.
• The behaviorists explained behavior in terms of stimulus, response, and reinforcement, while denying the presence of free will.
• Cognitive psychologists study how people perceive, process, and remember information.
• Psychodynamic psychology focuses on unconscious drives and the potential to improve lives through psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.
• The social-cultural approach focuses on the social situation, including how cultures and social norms influence our behavior.

Exercises and Critical Thinking

• What type of questions can psychologists answer that philosophers might not be able to answer as completely or as accurately? Explain why you think psychologists can answer these questions better than philosophers can.
• Choose one of the major questions of psychology and provide some evidence from your own experience that supports one side or the other.
• Choose two of the fields of psychology discussed in this section and explain how they differ in their approaches to understanding behavior and the level of explanation at which they are focused.

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Asch, S. E. (1952). Social psychology . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Cialdini, R. B. (1993). Influence: Science and practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Harper Collins College.

Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Benjamin, L. T., Jr., & Baker, D. B. (2004). From seance to science: A history of the profession of psychology in America . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.

Buss, D. M. (2000). The dangerous passion: Why jealousy is as necessary as love and sex . New York, NY: Free Press.

Byrne, D. (1969). Attitudes and attraction. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 35–89). New York, NY: Academic Press.

Chan, D. K. S., Gelfand, M. J., Triandis, H. C., & Tzeng, O. (1996). Tightness-looseness revisited: Some preliminary analyses in Japan and the United States. International Journal of Psychology, 31 , 1–12.

Dennett, D. (1995). Darwin’s dangerous idea: Evolution and the meanings of life . New York, NY: Simon and Schuster; Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (1992). The psychological foundations of culture. In J. H. Barkow & L. Cosmides (Eds.), The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture (p. 666). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Dijksterhuis, A., Preston, J., Wegner, D. M., & Aarts, H. (2008). Effects of subliminal priming of self and God on self-attribution of authorship for events. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44 (1), 2–9.

Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7 , 117–140.

Fiske, S. T. (2003). Social beings . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Fiske, A., Kitayama, S., Markus, H., & Nisbett, R. (1998). The cultural matrix of social psychology. In D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., pp. 915–981). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Gold, P. E., Cahill, L., & Wenk, G. L. (2002). Ginkgo biloba: A cognitive enhancer? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 3 (1), 2–11.

Gould, S. J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptationist programme. In Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (Series B, Vol. 205, pp. 581–598).

Harris, J. (1998). The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way they do . New York, NY: Touchstone Books; Pinker, S. (2002). The blank slate: The modern denial of human nature . New York, NY: Penguin Putnam.

Hunt, M. (1993). The story of psychology . New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Ilardi, S. S., & Feldman, D. (2001). The cognitive neuroscience paradigm: A unifying metatheoretical framework for the science and practice of clinical psychology. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57 (9), 1067–1088.

James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology . New York, NY: Dover.

Libet, B. (1985). Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8 (4), 529–566; Matsuhashi, M., & Hallett, M. (2008). The timing of the conscious intention to move. European Journal of Neuroscience, 28 (11), 2344–2351.

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2006). New directions in goal-setting theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15 (5), 265–268.

Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., & Heiman, R. J. (1996). Culture and “basic” psychological principles. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 857–913). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Matsumoto, D. (Ed.). (2001). The handbook of culture and psychology . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

McDaniel, M. A., Maier, S. F., & Einstein, G. O. (2002). “Brain-specific” nutrients: A memory cure? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 3 (1), 12–38.

Mesoudi, A. (2009). How cultural evolutionary theory can inform social psychology and vice versa. Psychological Review, 116 (4), 929–952.

Moore, B. E., & Fine, B. D. (1995). Psychoanalysis: The major concepts . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Rogers, T. B., Kuiper, N. A., & Kirker, W. S. (1977). Self-reference and the encoding of personal information. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 35 (9), 677–688.

Soon, C. S., Brass, M., Heinze, H.-J., & Haynes, J.-D. (2008). Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain. Nature Neuroscience, 11 (5), 543–545.

Skinner, B. (1957). Verbal behavior . Acton, MA: Copley; Skinner, B. (1968). The technology of teaching . New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts; Skinner, B. (1972). Beyond freedom and dignity . New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Watson, J. B., Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3 (1), 1–14; Beck, H. P., Levinson, S., & Irons, G. (2009). Finding Little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson’s infant laboratory. American Psychologist, 64 (7), 605–614.

Wegner, D. M. (2002). The illusion of conscious will . Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Wegner, D. M. (2003). The mind’s best trick: How we experience conscious will. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7 (2), 65–69.

Yang, Y.-J., & Chiu, C.-Y. (2009). Mapping the structure and dynamics of psychological knowledge: Forty years of APA journal citations (1970–2009). Review of General Psychology, 13 (4), 349–356.

Introduction to Psychology Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Psychology Research Paper Topics

In the list of psychology research paper topics below we have attempted to capture psychology’s vast and evolving nature in the 16 categories and more than 100 topics.

100+ Psychology Research Paper Topics

Research Paper Topics in History of Psychology

• Psychology Before 1900
• Psychology in the 20th Century
• Psychology Into the 21st Century
• Women and Minorities in Psychology
• Conducting Research on the History of Psychology

Research Paper Topics in Research Methodology and Analytic Techniques in Psychology

• Statistical Techniques and Analysis
• Nonexperimental Research Methods
• Experimental Designs
• Single-Subject Designs
• Qualitative Research
• Ethics of Psychological Research

Neuroscience Research Paper Topics

• Biological Psychology
• Neurotransmission
• Traditional Neuroscience Research Methods
• Imaging Techniques for the Localization of Brain Function
• Drugs and Behavior
• Behavioral Pharmacology

Research Paper Topics in Sensory Processes and Perception

• Psychophysics
• States of Consciousness
• Somatosensory Systems

Research Paper Topics in Evolution and Behavior

• Evolutionary Psychology: The Impact of Evolution on Human Behavior
• Evolutionary Perspectives on Mate Preferences
• Animal Learning and Behavior
• Animal Cognition
• Comparative Psychology

Research Paper Topics in Basic Learning Processes

• Classical Conditioning
• Recent Trends in Classical Conditioning
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• Operant Conditioning
• Recent Trends in Operant Conditioning
• Social Learning
• Stimulus Equivalence

Research Paper Topics in  Individual Differences and Personality

• Psychometrics
• Testing and Assessment
• Personality Development
• Personality Psychology
• Intelligence
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Cognitive Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Memory: A Look Into the Past, Present, and Future
• Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
• Repressed and Recovered Memory
• Language and Language Development
• Thinking and Problem Solving
• Critical Thinking
• Artificial Intelligence

Developmental Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Prenatal Development and Infancy
• Childhood and Adolescence
• Adulthood and Aging: Perspectives on Adult Development
• Disabilities
• Death, Dying, and Bereavement
• Nature Versus Nurture
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Myth or Mental Disorder?

Social Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Social Cognition
• Attitudes and Attitude Change
• Group Processes
• Social Influence
• The Nature of Love
• Prejudice and Stereotyping
• Leadership: Theory and Practice

Research Paper Topics in Health, Stress, and Coping

• Health Psychology
• Stress and Stressors
• Coping Skills
• Positive Psychology
• Human Performance in Extreme Environments

Behavior Disorders and Clinical Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Abnormal Psychology
• Ethics of Therapists
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
• Anxiety Disorders
• Dissociative Disorders
• Personality Disorders
• Mood Disorders: An Overview
• Schizophrenia: Understanding a Split Mind
• Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders
• Psychotherapy
• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Family Therapy and Therapy With Children
• Pharmacotherapy
• Forensic Clinical Psychology: Sensationalism and Reality
• Sexual Offending Behavior

Applied Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Human Factors
• Community Psychology
• Sport Psychology
• Environmental Psychology
• Psychology and the Law
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Organizational Behavior Management

Research Paper Topics in Human Diversity

• Gender and Sexual Orientation
• Multiple Axes of Human Diversity
• Psychology and Religion
• Cross-Cultural Psychology and Research
• International Psychology

Mental Health Research Paper Topics

• Agoraphobia
• Alcohol Problems
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
• Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Classifying Mental Disorders: Nontraditional Approaches
• Conduct Disorder
• Dependent Personality
• Mental Retardation and Mental Health
• Mood Disorders
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Panic Attacks
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
• Psychopathology
• Schizophrenia
• Sexual Disorders
• Somatization and Hypochondriasis
• Substance Abuse

Assessment and Psychotherapy Research Paper Topics

• Assessment of Mental Health in Older Adults
• Behavior Therapy
• Behavioral Medicine
• Biofeedback
• Brain Scanning/Neuroimaging
• Child Sexual Abuse
• Classifying Mental Disorders
• Clinical Assessment
• Cognitive Therapy
• Community Mental Health
• Constructivist Psychotherapies
• Coping with Stress
• Couples Therapy
• Depression—Applied Aspects
• Domestic Violence Intervention
• Family Therapy
• Hypnosis and the Psychological Unconscious
• Meditation and the Relaxation Response
• Personality Assessment
• Premenstrual Syndrome Treatment Interventions
• Psychoanalysis
• Psychopharmacology
• Sexual Dysfunction Therapy
• Standards for Psychotherapy
• Support Groups

For example, the early years of the 20th century witnessed the development and popularization of the now classic “schools of psychology” such as structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, and behaviorism. World War II and the Korean War spurred the development of modern clinical psychology. In the middle of the 20th century, individual schools rose to prominence and tended to dominate psychological research and theorizing. These dominant schools often clashed with clinical psychology. For example, disagreements between behaviorists and clinicians, which have their roots in the 1940s and 1950s, still persist.

Toward the end of the 1960s, the nature of the field began to change, and the face of modern psychology was forever altered. First, Ulrich Neisser’s 1967 book, Cognitive Psychology, ushered in the “cognitive revolution” and put behaviorism on the decline. Technological advances in computer technology, which allowed researchers to simulate human thought and memory processes and to create images of neurological processes, played an inestimable role in modern psychology’s metamorphosis. Likewise, advances in social concern and action increased psychologists’ awareness of psychology’s diversity and its ability to make significant contributions in these areas. To be sure, the face of contemporary psychology was changing drastically. In fact, in 1992 former American Psychological Association (APA) president George A. Miller believed that psychology had become “an intellectual zoo” (p. 40). Clearly, that situation has not changed, as psychology is evolving in the 21st century.

Nowhere are psychology’s expansion and change seen more clearly than in the evolution of the APA. Founded in 1892 by G. Stanley Hall at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, the APA began with 31 charter members. Currently, there are over 60,000 APA members and 56 divisions with which these members and other interested psychologists can affiliate. The diversity of the APA divisions clearly reflects the changing face of contemporary psychology as well as represents wide subjects of psychological research. They include General Psychology (Division 1), the Study of Social Issues (Division 9), Clinical Psychology (Division 12), Pharmacology and Substance Abuse (Division 28), Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (Division 33), Media Psychology (Division 46), International Psychology (Division 52), and Trauma Psychology (Division 56). Clearly, psychology research topics in the 21st century continue to be diverse and evolving.

We believe that our choice of traditional and cutting-edge research paper topics reflects contemporary psychology’s diverse nature. For example, the “traditional”  research paper topics include the following:

The cutting-edge research paper topics include the following:

Browse examples of psychology research papers to find sample research paper on all topics in the list above. Whether the research paper deals with a traditional topic or a cutting-edge topic, you will find that it presents the materials in a decidedly contemporary manner. We hope that students will enjoy reading the research papers on different topics in psychology as much as we have enjoyed collecting them for you.

• Tools and Resources
• Customer Services
• Affective Science
• Biological Foundations of Psychology
• Clinical Psychology: Disorders and Therapies
• Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational/School Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems of Psychology
• Individual Differences
• Methods and Approaches in Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational and Institutional Psychology
• Personality
• Psychology and Other Disciplines
• Social Psychology
• Sports Psychology
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The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Modern Psychology

Contemporary psychology is characterized by complexity of ideas, multiple modes of investigation, and an incredible diversity of topics. The history of psychology provides us with the necessary foundation for understanding our current science and profession, while also revealing alternative paths and suggesting new directions. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Psychology addresses multiple facets of the historical development of psychology. Included are the range of theory, methods, and tools that have guided the emergence of the scientific discipline of psychology gradually as it emerged in the last third of the 19th century. The in-depth scholarly articles cover topics and are written by authors drawn from around the world, yielding insights and understanding from multiple cultural and intellectual traditions. All of the articles appear online as part of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology .

Volume Editor

Wade Pickren, Independent Scholar

Associate Editors

  Peter Hegarty , University of Surrey

  Cheryl Logan , The University of North Carolina, Greensboro

  Wahbie Long , University of Cape Town

  Petteri Pietikainen , University of Oulu

  Alexandra Rutherford , York University

Historiography: Metatheoretical Approaches to the History of Psychology

Diverse Cultures, Diverse Origins

Methods and Measurement in the History of Psychology

Foundations of Scientific Psychology

Selves and Subjectivities

Minds, Bodies, Brains

Development

Cognitivism

The Person in Psychology

Order and Disorder in Psychological Functioning

Practices of Psychology

Non-Human Animals and the History of Psychology

Spatial and Material Culture of Psychology

Histories of Indigenous and Post-Colonial Psychologies

Psychology and the Political

Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Psychology. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 05 June 2024

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The Oxford Handbook of the History of Psychology: Global Perspectives

David B. Baker, Ph.D., is the Margaret Clark Morgan Executive Director of the Center for the History of Psychology and professor of psychology at The University of Akron.

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The science and practice of psychology has evolved around the world on different trajectories and timelines, yet with a convergence on the recognition of the need for a human science that can confront the challenges facing the world today. Few would argue that the standard narrative of the history of psychology has emphasized European and American traditions over others, but in today’s global culture, there is a greater need in psychology for international understanding. This book describes the historical development of psychology in countries throughout the world. Articles provide narratives that examine the political and socioeconomic forces that have shaped their nations' psychologies. Each story adds another element to our understanding of the history of psychology. The articles in this volume remind us that there are unique contexts and circumstances that influence the ways in which the science and practice of psychology are assimilated into our daily lives. Making these contexts and circumstances explicit through historical research and writing provides some promise of greater international insight, as well as a better understanding of the human condition.

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Classics in the History of Psychology

An internet resource developed by Christopher D. Green York University , Toronto , Canada ISSN 1492-3173

(Return to Classics index )

Documents Sorted by Topic

Last updated 17 January 2010 .

19th- & 20th-Century Psychology

Can't find what you want? Be sure to check out our Links to Related On-Line Documents at Other Sites .

Ancient Thought

Plato . (ca. 360 BC). Timaeus (B. Jowett, Trans.)

Aristotle . (ca. 350 BC). De anima (J. A. Smith, Trans.)

Aristotle . (ca. 350 BC). On memory and reminiscence (J. I. Beare, Trans.)

For additional works by the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid, Lucretius, Epictetus, Galen, Plotinus, and Augustine, see the Links to Documents at Other Sites page.

Medieval & Renaissance Thought

For works by Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Pico, and Machiavelli see the Links to Documents at Other Sites page.

Modern Philosophical Thought

Berkeley, George . (1732). An essay towards a new theory of vision (4th ed.) . (First edition published 1709).

Bowen, Francis. (1860). Remarks on the latest form of the development theory . Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, n.s., VIII , pp. 98-107, communicated March 27, April 10 and May 1, 1860. Reprinted in G. Daniels (Ed.) (1968). Darwinism comes to America . Waltham, MA: Blaisdell, pp. 66-74.

McCosh, James . (1874). Religious aspects of the doctrine of development . In P. Schaff & S. Prime (Eds.). History, essays, orations, and other documents of the sixth general conference of the Evangelical Alliance, held in New York, October 2-12, 1873 , New York , pp. 269-271 . Reprinted in G. Daniels (Ed.) (1968). Darwinism comes to America . Waltham , MA : Blaisdell, pp. 96-101.

Herbart, J. F. (1877). Possibility and necessity of applying mathematics in psychology (H. Haanel, Trans.). Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 11 , 251-264.

Fiske, John . (1902). Herbert Spencer's service to religion . Essays Historical and Literary, New York, II, pp. 232-237 . Reprinted in G. Daniels (Ed.) (1968). Darwinism comes to America . Waltham, MA: Blaisdell, pp. 106-110.

Royce, Josiah . (1902). Recent logical inquiries and their psychological bearings . Psychological Review , 9 , 105-133. [Royce's APA Presidential Address about the potential impact of then-recent developments in the philosophy of mathematics for the psychology of thinking.]

Stumpf, Carl. (1930). Autobiography of Carl Stumpf . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 389-441). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press. [The great German psychologist's summary of his life's work.]

Titchener, E. B. (1921). Brentano and Wundt: Empirical and experimental psychology . American Journal of Psychology , 32 , 108-120.

Creighton, J. E. (1902). The purposes of a philosophical association . Philosophical Review , 11 , 219-237.

For additional works by Descartes, Hobbes, Pascal, Locke, Leibniz, Spinoza, Berkeley , Voltaire, Hume, Smith, Malthus, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Brentano, Mach, Peirce, James, Dewey, Husserl, Russell, Mead, and Merleau-Ponty see the Links to Documents at Other Sites page.

American Psychological Association

American Psychological Association. (1894). Proceedings of the Preliminay Meeting (1892), the First Annual Meeting (1892), and the Second Annual Meeting (1893) .

Münsterberg, Hugo . (1899). Psychology and history . Psychological Review , 6 , 1-31. [1898 APA Presidential Address.]

Royce, Josiah . (1902). Recent logical inquiries and their psychological bearings . Psychological Review , 9 , 105-133. [1902 APA Presidential Address.]

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1906). A reconciliation between structural and functional psychology . Psychological Review , 8, 61-81. [1905 APA Presidential Address.]

Angell, James Rowland . (1907). The province of functional psychology . Psychological Review , 14 , 61-91. [1906 APA Presidential Address.]

Washburn, Margaret Floy . (1922). Introspection as an objective method . Psychological Review , 29 , 89-112. [1921 APA Presidential Address.]

Boring, Edwin G. (1929). The psychology of controversy . Psychological Review , 36 , 97-121. [1928 APA Presidential Address.]

Lashley, Karl S. (1930). Basic neural mechanisms in behavior . Psychological Review , 37 , 1-24. [1929 APA Presidential Address.]

Fernberger, Samuel W. (1932). The American Psychological Association: A historical summary, 1892-1930 . Psychological Bulletin , 29 , 1-89.

Thurstone, L. L. (1934). The vectors of mind . Psychological Review , 41 , 1-32. [1933 APA Presidential Address.]

Allport, Gordon W. (1940). The psychologist's frame of reference . Psychological Bulletin , 37 , 1-28. [1939 APA Presidential Address.]

Cattell, James McKeen . (1943). The founding of the Association and of the Hopkins and Clark Laboratories . Psychological Review , 50 , 61-64.

Fernberger, Samuel W. (1943). The American Psychological Association 1892-1942 . Psychological Review , 50 , 33-60.

Guthrie, Edwin R. (1946). Psychological facts and psychological theory . Psychological Bulletin , 43 , 1-20. [1945 APA Presidential address.]

American Psychological Association . (1947). Recommended graduate training program in clinical psychology . American Psychologist , 2 , 539-558. [The report that proposed the so-called "Boulder Model".]

Rogers, Carl R. . (1947). Some observations on the organization of personality . American Psychologist , 2 , 358-368. [1947 APA Presidential Adrress.]

Cronbach, Lee J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology . American Psychologist , 12 , 671-684. [1957 APA Presidential Address.]

Harlow, Harry F. (1958). The nature of love . American Psychologist , 13 , 573-685. [1958 APA Presidential Address.]

Köhler, Wolfgang . (1959). Gestalt psychology today . American Psychologist , 14 , 727-734. [1959 APA Presidential Address.]

Behaviorism

Watson, John B. (1907). Studying the mind of animals . The World Today, 12 , 421-426. [A rare, early, popular statement of functionalism by the "founder" of behaviourism.]

Yerkes, Robert M. & Dodson, John D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation . Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology , 18 , 459-482.

Yerkes, Robert M. & Morgulis, Sergius . (1909). The method of Pawlow in animal psychology . Psychological Bulletin , 6 , 257-273.

Thorndike, Edward L. (1911). Animal intelligence .

• Introduction to Thorndike (1911) by R. H. Wozniak.

Dunlap, Knight . (1912). The case against introspection . Psychological Review , 19 , 404-413.

Watson, John B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it . Psychological Review , 20 , 158-177

• Introduction to Watson (1913) by Christopher D. Green
• Commentary on Watson (1913) by Robert H. Wozniak

Titchener, Edward B. (1914). On "Psychology as the behaviorist views it" . Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , 53 , 1-17.

Watson, John B. (1916). Behavior and the concept of mental disease . Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods , 13 , 589-597.

Watson, John B. (1920). Is thinking merely the action of language mechanisms? British Journal of Psychology , 11 , 87-104.

Watson, John B. & Rayner, Rosalie . (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions . Journal of Experimental Psychology , 3 , 1-14.

Washburn, Margaret Floy . (1922). Introspection as an objective method . Psychological Review , 29 , 89-112.

Tolman, Edward C. (1922). A new formula for behaviorism . Psychological Review , 29 , 44-53.

Lashley, Karl S. (1923). The behavioristic interpretation of consciousness . Psychological Bulletin , 30 , 237-272, 329-353.

Jones, Mary Cover . (1924). A laboratory study of fear: The case of Peter . Pedagogical Seminary , 31 , 308-315.

• Introduction to Jones (1924) by Alexandra Rutherford.

Pavlov, Ivan P. (1927). Conditioned reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex (G. V. Anrep, Trans.). (Original work published 1927)

Watson, John B. & MacDougall, [ 1 ] William . (1929). The battle of behaviorism: An exposition and an exposure .

Lashley, Karl S. (1930). Basic neural mechanisms in behavior . Psychological Review , 37 , 1-24.

Morgan, C. Lloyd . (1930). Autobiography of C. Lloyd Morgan . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 2, pp. 237-264). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Yerkes, Robert M. (1930). Autobiography of Robert M. Yerkes . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 2, pp. 381-407). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Hull , Clark L. (1934a). The concept of the habit-family hierarchy and maze learning: Part I . Psychological Review , 41 , 33-54.

Hull , Clark L. (1934b). The concept of the habit-family hierarchy and maze learning: Part II . Psychological Review , 41 , 134-152.

Hull , Clark L. (1935). The conflicting psychologies of learning -- A way out. Psychological Review , 42 , 491-516.

Jastrow, Joseph . (1935). Has psychology failed? American Scholar , 4 , 261-269.

Skinner, B. F. (1935). Two types of conditioned reflex and a pseudo type . Journal of General Psychology , 12 , 66-77.

Konorski, J. & Miller, S. (1937). On two types of conditioned reflex . Journal of General Psychology, 16 , 264-272.

Skinner, B. F. (1937). Two types of conditioned reflex: A reply to Konorski and Miller . Journal of General Psychology , 16 , 272-279.

Guthrie, Edwin R. (1946). Psychological facts and psychological theory . Psychological Bulletin , 43 , 1-20.

Skinner, B. F. (1948). 'Superstition' in the pigeon . Journal of Experimental Psychology , 38 , 168-172.

Tolman, Edward, C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men . Psychological Review , 55 (4), 189-208.

Skinner, B. F. (1950). Are theories of learning necessary? Psychological Review , 57 , 193-216.

Hebb, D. O. (1955). Drives and the C.N.S. (conceptual nervous system) . Psychological Review , 62 , 243-254.

Harlow, Harry F. (1958). The nature of love . American Psychologist , 13 , 573-685.

Breland, Keller & Breland, Marian . (1961). The misbehavior of organisms . American Psychologist , 16 , 681-684.

Menabrea, Luigi F. (1842/1843). Sketch of the analytical engine invented by Charles Babbage, Esq. (A.A. Lovelace, Trans.). Scientific Memoirs, 3 , 666-731. (Original work published 1842 in Bibliothèque Universelle de Genève , No. 82)

Lovelace, Ada . (1843). Notes by the translator [to L.F. Menabrea's "Sketch of the analytical engine invented by Charles Babbage, Esq."] . Scientific Memoirs, 3 , 666-731.

• Introduction to Menabrea/Lovelace (1842/1843) by Christopher D. Green

Galton, Francis . (1880). Statistics of mental imagery . Mind , 5 , 301-318.

Ebbinghaus, Hermann . (1885/1913). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology (Henry A. Ruger & Clara E. Bussenius , Trans.). (Originally published 1885)

• Introduction to Ebbinghaus (1885/1913) by Robert H. Wozniak.

Jastrow, Joseph. . (1891). A study in mental statistics . New Review , 5 , 559-568.

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1896). Association: An essay analytic and experimental . Psychological Review Monographs Supplement , 1 (2).

Royce, Josiah . (1902). Recent logical inquiries and their psychological bearings . Psychological Review , 9 , 105-133. [Royce's APA Presidential Address about the potential impact of recent development in the philosophy of mathematics for the psychology of thinking.]

Münsterberg, Hugo . (1908/1925). On the witness stand .

Münsterberg, Hugo . (1913). Psychology and industrial efficiency .

• Introduction to Münsterberg (1913) by R. H. Wozniak.

Stroop, J. Ridley . (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions . Journal of Experimental Psychology , 18 , 643-662.

Thouless, Robert H. (1935). The tendency to certainty in religious belief . British Journal of Psychology, 26 , 16-31. [This .pdf version thanks to Burke Brown, U. Toronto.]

Heider, Fritz . (1946). Attitudes and cognitive organization . Journal of Psychology , 21 , 107-112.

Bruner, Jerome S. & Goodman, Cecile C. (1947). Value and need as organizing factors in perception . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 42 , 33-44.

Bruner, Jerome S. & Postman, Leo . (1949). On the perception of incongruity: A paradigm . Journal of Personality , 18 , 206-223.

Miller, George A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information . Psychological Review , 63 , 81-97.

Developmental Theory

Darwin, Charles . (1877). A biographical sketch of an infant . Mind , 2 , 285-294.

Hall, G. Stanley . (1904). Adolescent girls and their education . From Adolescence: Its psychology and its relations to physiology, anthropology, sociology, sex, crime, religion, and education (Vol. 2, Chapter 17).

Binet, Alfred . (1905/1916). New methods for the diagnosis of the intellectual level of subnormals . In E. S. Kite (Trans.), The development of intelligence in children . Vineland, NJ: Publications of the Training School at Vineland. (Originally published 1905 in L'Année Psychologique , 12 , 191-244.)

• Introduction to Binet (1905/1916) by Henry L. Minton.
• Commentary on Binet (1905/1916) and Terman (1916) by Henry L. Minton

Witmer, Lightner . (1907). Clinical psychology . Psychological Clinic , 1 , 1-9.

Thorndike, Edward L. (1910). The contribution of psychology to education . Journal of Educational Psychology , 1 , 5-12.

Terman, Lewis M. (1916). The uses of intelligence tests . From The measurement of intelligence (chapter 1). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

• Introduction to Terman (1916) by Henry L. Minton.
• Commentary on Binet (1905/1916) and Terman (1916) by Henry L. Minton.

Baldwin, James Mark . (1930). Autobiography of James Mark Baldwin . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 1-30). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Clark, Kenneth B. & Clark, Mamie K. (1939). The development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in negro preschool children . Journal of Social Psychology, S.P.S.S.I. Bulletin , 10 , 591-599.

Clark, Kenneth B. & Clark, Mamie K. (1940). Skin color as a factor in racial identification of negro preschool children . Journal of Social Psychology, S.P.S.S.I. Bulletin , 11 , 159-169.

Sherif, Muzafer, Harvey, O. J., White, B. Jack, Hood, William R., & Sherif, Carolyn W. (1954/1961). Intergroup conflict and cooperation: The Robbers Cave experiment .

Bandura, Albert, Ross, Dorothea, & Ross, Sheila A. (1961). Transmisssion of aggressions through imitation of aggressive models . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 63 , 575-582.

Evolutionary Theory

Gray, Asa. (1860). [Review of] The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection . American Journal of Science and Arts (March). Reprinted in 1876 in Darwiniana: Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism . [A review by Harvard's professor of Natural history, and Darwin 's greatest defender in North America .]

Galton, Francis . (1865). Hereditary talent and character . Macmillan's Magazine , 12 , 157-166, 318-327.

• Introduction to Galton's Hereditary genius (1869) by Robert H. Wozniak.

Wright, Chauncey . (1870). Limits of natural selection . North American Review (October).

Darwin, Charles . (1871). The descent of man . Part One: Descent or Origin of Man (ch. 1-7).

Wright, Chauncey . (1873). Evolution of self-consciousness . North American Review (April).

• Madden, E. H.(1963). The metaphysics of self-consciousness . Chapter 7 of Chauncey Wright and the foundations of pragmatism (pp. 128-142). Reprinted by permission of University of Washington Press.

Galton, Francis . (1875). History of twins . Human faculty and its development (pp. 155-173).

James, William . (1879). Are we automata? Mind, 4 , 1-22.

Morgan, C. Lloyd (1896). On modification and variation . Science , NS 4 , No. 99, 733-740.

Experimental Psychology

Dewey, John . (1884). The new psychology . Andover Review , 2 , 278-289.

Peirce, Charles Sanders & Jastrow, Joseph (1884). Small differences in sensation . Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 3, 73-83 . [Peirce's probabilistic critique of Fechner's concept of the discrimination threshold. Possibly the first published American experimental psychological study.]

Hall, G. Stanley . (1885). The new psychology . Andover Review , 3 , 120-135, 239-248.

Cattell, James McKeen. (1888). The psychological laboratory at Leipsic . Mind , 13 , 37-51.

Sanford, Edmund C. (1891-1893). A laboratory course in physiological psychology . American Journal of Psychology , 4 , 141-155, 303-322, 474-490; 5 , 390-415, 593-616.

Baldwin, James Mark (1892). The psychological laboratory in the University of Toronto . Science , 19 (no. 475), 143-144.

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1892). Experimental Psychology at Wellesley College . American Journal of Psychology , 5 , 464-271.

Hume, James Gibson . (1892). Physiological psychology . Minutes of the Twenty-First Annual Convention of the Ontario Teachers' Association , pp. 86-106.

Cattell, James McKeen. (1893/1947). Attention and reaction (R. S. Woodworth, Trans.). In James McKeen Cattell, Man of science (Vol. 1: Psychological Research, pp. 252-255, R. S. Woodworth, Trans.). Lancaster, PA: The Science Press, 1947. (Originally published as "Aufmerksamkeit und Reaction" in Philosophische Studien , 8 . 403-406.[Calls into question L. Lange's sensorial/muscular reaction findings, setting up the foundations of functionalism -- see 1895-96 Titchener and Baldwin papers.]

Jastrow, Joseph . (1893). The section of psychology . in M.P. Hardy (Ed.), Official Catalogue -- World's Columbian Exposition (Part. vii, pp. 50-60).

Münsterberg, Hugo . (1893a). The new psychology and Harvard's equipment for teaching it . Harvard Graduate Magazine , 1 (2), 201-209.

Münsterberg, Hugo . (1893b). Psychological laboratory of Harvard University .

Hill, A. B. & Watanabe, R. (1894). "Sensorial" and "muscular" reactions . American Journal of Psychology , 6 , 242-246. [Supervised by E. B. Titchener, in support of L. Lange's findings.]

Krohn, William O. (1894). Facilities in experimental psychology in the colleges of the United States . In Report of the Commissioner of Education for the year 1890-'91 (Vol. 2, pp. 1139-1151).

Baldwin, James Mark . (1895). Types of reaction . Psychological Review , 2 , 259-273.

Titchener, Edward B. (1895a). Simple reactions . Mind , 4 , 74-81.

Titchener, Edward B. (1895b). The type-theory of simple reaction . Mind , 4 , 506-514.

Baldwin, James Mark . (1896). The 'type-theory' of reaction . Mind , 5 , 81-90.

Titchener, Edward B. (1896). The 'type-theory' of simple reaction . Mind , 5 , 236-241.

Cattell, James McKeen. (1898). The psychological laboratory . Psychoogical Review , 5 , 655-658.

Titchener, Edward B. (1898b). A psychological laboratory . Mind , 7 , 311-331.

Abbott, Albert H. (1900). Experimental psychology and the laboratory in Toronto . University of Toronto Monthly , 1 , 85-98, 106-112.

• Introduction to Abbott (1900) by Christopher D. Green.

Cattell, James McKeen . (1928). Early psychological laboratories . Science , 67 , 543- 548.

Harlow, Harry F. (1962). Fundamental principles for preparing psychology journal articles . . Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55 , 893-896.

Functionalism & Pragmatism

Bowen, Francis. (1860). Remarks on the latest form of the development theory . Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, n.s., VIII , pp. 98-107, communicated March 27, April 10 and May 1, 1860 . Reprinted in G. Daniels (Ed.) (1968). Darwinism comes to America . Waltham , MA : Blaisdell, pp. 66-74.

• Madden, E. H.(1963). The metaphysics of self-consciousness . Chapter 7 of Chauncey Wright and the foundations of pragmatism (pp. 128-142). Reprinted by permission of University of Washington Press .

James, William . (1884). What is an emotion? Mind , 9 , 188-205.

Lange, Carl Georg . (1885). The mechanism of the emotions . Trans. by Benjamin Rand, first appeared in Rand, Benjamin (Ed.)(1912). The classical psychologists (pp. 672-684).

James, William . (1887). Consciousness of lost limbs . Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1 , 249-258.

Lange, Ludwig. (1888/2009). New experiments on the process of the simple reaction to sensory impressions . (Trans. By David D. Lee of Neue Experimente über den Vorgang der einfachen Reaction auf Sinneseindrücke.) Philosophische Studien, 4 , 479-510. (in .pdf). [The article by Wundt's future assistant that claimed distinct "sensory" and "muscular" types of reaction, thereby setting off a debate (Cattell, Baldwin, Titchener, Angell) that led to the school of Functionalism.]

James, William . (1890). The principles of psychology .

• Introduction to James (1890) by Robert H. Wozniak.

James, William . (1892). The stream of consciousness . From Psychology (chapter XI). Cleveland & New York, World.

Dewey, John . (1894). The ego as cause . Philosophical Review , 3 , 337-341.

Baldwin, James Mark . (1895). Types of reaction . Psychological Review , 2 , 259-273

Dewey, John . (1896) The reflex arc concept in psychology . Psychological Review , 3 , 357-370.

Caldwell, W. (1898). Professor Titchener's view of the self . Psychological Review , 5 , 401-408.

Titchener, Edward B. (1898a). The postulates of a structural psychology . Philosophical Review , 7 , 449-465.

Caldwell, W. (1899). The postulates of a structural psychology . Psychological Review , 6 , 187-191.

Titchener, Edward B. (1899). Structural and functional psychology . Philosophical Review , 8 , 290-299.

Baldwin, James Mark . (1901). Dictionary of philosophy and psychology . [under construction, A-O]

Thorndike, Edward L. & Woodworth, Robert S. (1901a). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions (I) . Psychological Review , 8 , 247-261.

Thorndike, Edward L. & Woodworth, Robert S. (1901b). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions: II. The estimation of magnitudes . Psychological Review , 8 , 384-395.

Thorndike, Edward L. & Woodworth, Robert S. (1901c). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficiency of other functions: III. Functions involving attention, observation, and discrimination . Psychological Review , 8 , 553-564.

James, William . (1904a). Does consciousness exist? Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods , 1 , 477-491.

• Introduction to James (1904a, 1904b) by Eugene Taylor & Robert H. Wozniak.

James, William . (1904b). A world of pure experience . Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods , 1 , 533-543, 561-570.

James, William (1904c). The Chicago school . Psychological Bulletin , 1 , 1-5.

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1906). A reconciliation between structural and functional psychology . Psychological Review , 8, 61-81.

Angell, James Rowland . (1907). The province of functional psychology . Psychological Review , 14 , 61-91.

James, William . (1907). The energies of men . Science , N.S. 25 (No. 635), 321-332.

Mead, George H . (1913). The social self . Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods , 10 , 374- 380.

Gestalt Theory

Koffka, Kurt (1922). Perception: An introduction to the Gestalt-theorie . Psychological Bulletin , 19 , 531-585.

• Introduction to Koffka (1922) by Christopher D. Green.

Wertheimer, Max . (1938). Laws of organization in perceptual forms . In W. Ellis, W (Ed. & Trans.), A source book of Gestalt psychology (pp. 71-88). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published in 1923 as Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt II, in Psychologische Forschung , 4 , 301-350.)

Köhler, Wolfgang . (1959). Gestalt psychology today . American Psychologist , 14 , 727-734.

History of Psychology

Hall, G. Stanley . (1879). Philosophy in the United States . Mind , 4 , 89-105.

Münsterberg, Hugo . (1899). Psychology and history . Psychological Review , 6 , 1-31.

Buchner, Edward Franklin . (1903). A quarter century of psychology in America: 1878-1903 . American Journal of Psychology , 14 , 666-680.

Baldwin, James Mark . (1913). History of psychology: A sketch and an interpretation .

Griffith, Coleman R. (1921). Some neglected aspects of a history of psychology . Psychological Monographs , 30 , 17-29.

Griffith, Coleman R. (1922). Contributions to the history of psychology -- 1916-1921 . Psychological Bulletin , 19 , 411-428.

Boring, Edwin G. (1929). The psychology of controversy . Psychological Review , 36 , 97-121.

Garvey, C. R. (1929). List of American psychology laboratories . Psychological Bulletin , 26 , 652-660.

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1930). Autobiography of Mary Whiton Calkins . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 31-62). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Janet, Pierre . (1930). Autobiography of Pierre Janet . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 123-133). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press. [The great French psychiatrist's own summary of his life's work.]

Terman, Lewis M . (1930). Autobiography of Lewis M. Terman . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 2, pp. 297-331). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Washburn, Margaret Floy . (1930). Autobiography of Margaret Floy Washburn . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 2, pp. 333-358). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Woodworth, Robert S. . (1930). Autobiography of Robert S. Woodworth . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 2, pp. 359-380). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Krstic, Kruno . (1964). Marko Marulic -- The author of the term "psychology" . Acta Instituti Psychologici Universitatis Zagrabiensis , no. 36, pp. 7-13. [Rare study of the origin of the term "psychology".]

Intelligence Testing

Cattell, James McKeen . (1886a). The time taken up by cerebral operations, Parts 1 & 2 . Mind , 11 , 220-242.

Cattell, James McKeen . (1886b). The time taken up by cerebral operations, Part 3 . Mind , 11 , 377-392.

Cattell, James McKeen . (1887). The time taken up by cerebral operations, Part 4 . Mind , 11 , 524-538.

Cattell, James McKeen . (1890). Mental tests and measurements . Mind , 15 , 373-381.

Baldwin, James Mark, Cattell, James McKeen, & Jastrow, Joseph . (1898). Physical and mental tests . Psychological Review , 5 , 172-179.

Spearman, Charles . (1904). "General intelligence," objectively determined and measured . American Journal of Psychology , 15 , 201-293.

Goddard, Henry Herbert . (1913). The Kallikak family: A study in the heredity of feeble-mindedness .

Hollingworth, Leta S. (1914). Variability as related to sex differences in achievement: A critique . American Journal of Sociology , 19 , 510-530.

Fullerton, Hugh S. (1921). Why Babe Ruth is greatest home-run hitter . Popular Science Monthly , 99 (4), 19-21, 110.

Thurstone, L. L. (1934). The vectors of mind . Psychological Review , 41 , 1-32.

Neuropsychology

Broca, Paul (1861a). Perte de la parole, ramollissement chronique et destruction partielle du lobe antérieur gauche du cerveau Bulletin de la Société Anthropologique , 2 , 235-238.

• English translation of Broca's Loss of speech, chronic softening and partial destruction of the anterior left lobe of the brain by C. D. Green.

Broca, Paul (1861b). Remarques sur le siége de la faculté du langage articulé, suivies d'une observations d'aphémie (perte de la parole) Bulletin de la Société Anatomique , 6 , 330-357.

• English translation of Broca's Remarks on the Seat of the Faculty of Articulated Language, Following an Observation of Aphemia (Loss of Speech) by C. D. Green.

Franz, Shepherd Ivory . (1912). New phrenology . Science , N.S. 35 (No. 896), 321-328.

Hebb, Donald O. (1955). Drives and the C.N.S. (conceptual nervous system) . Psychological Review , 62 , 243-254.

Fechner, Gustav Theodor (1860). Elements of psychophysics , Sections VII ("Measurement of sensation") and XVI ("The fundamental formula and the measurement formula") (Trans. by Herbert S. Langfeld, first appearing in B. Rand (Ed.) (1912), The classical psychologists ).

• Introduction to Fechner (1860) by Robert H. Wozniak.

De Varigny, M. Henry . (1894). Le laboratoire de psychologie expérimentale de l'Université de Madison . Revue Scientifique , vol. 1 , tome 1, 624-629.

• English translation of De Varigny's The experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Madison by C.D. Green.

Wertheimer, Max . (1938). Laws of organization in perceptual forms . In W. Ellis, W (Ed. & Trans.), A source book of Gestalt psychology (pp. 71-88). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published in 1923 as Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt II, in Psycologische Forschung , 4 , 301-350.)

Personality

Calkins, Mary Whiton (1908a). Psychology as science of self. I: Is the self body Or has it body? . Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods , 1 , 12-20.

Calkins, Mary Whiton (1908b). Psychology as science of self. II: The nature of the self . Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods , 3 , 64-68.

Calkins, Mary Whiton (1908c). Psychology as science of self. III: The Description of Consciousness . Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods , 5 , 113-122.

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1915). The self in scientific psychology . American Journal of Psychology , 26 , 495-524.

Allport, Floyd H. & Allport, Gordon W. (1921). Personality traits: Their classificiation and measurement . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 16 , 6-40.

Allport, Gordon W. (1927). Concepts of trait and personality . Psychological Bulletin , 24 , 284-293.

Allport, Gordon W. (1937). The functional autonomy of motives . American Journal of Psychology , 50 , 141-156.

Maslow, Abraham H. (1943). A theory of human motivation . Psychological Review , 50 , 370-396.

Rogers, Carl R. . (1946). Significant aspects of client-centered therapy . American Psychologist , 1 , 415-422.

Rogers, Carl R. (1947). Some observations on the organization of personality . American Psychologist , 2 , 358-368.

Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy

Poe, Edgar Allan , (1850). Mesmeric revelation .

Freud, Sigmund . (1900). The interpretation of dreams (3 rd ed.). (A. A. Brill, Trans.).

Freud, Sigmund (1901). The psychopathology of everyday life . (A. A. Brill, Trans.).

Freud, Sigmund . (1910). The origin and development of psychoanalysis . American Journal of Psychology , 21 , 181-218.

• Introduction to Freud (1910) by Raymond E. Fancher
• Commentary on Freud (1910) by Raymond E. Fancher.

Jung, Carl G. (1910). The association method . American Journal of Psychology , 31 , 219-269.

Freud, Sigmund . (1914/1917). The history of the psychoanalytic movement (A. A. Brill, Trans.).

Rivers, William H.R. (1920). Instinct and the unconscious: A contribution to a biological theory of the psycho-neuroses .

Jung, Carl G. (1921/1923). General description of the types . Chapter 10 of Psychological types (H.G. Bayes, Trans.). (Original work published 1921)

American Psychological Association . (1947). Recommended graduate training program in clinical psychology . American Psychologist , 2 , 539-558.

Rogers, Carl R. . (1947). Some observations on the organization of personality . American Psychologist , 2 , 358-368.

Eysenck, Hans J. (1952). The effects of psychotherapy: An evaluation . Journal of Consulting Psychology , 16 , 319-324.

Szasz, Thomas S. (1960). The myth of mental illness . American Psychologist , 15 , 113-118.

Social Psychology

Triplett, Norman. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition . American Journal of Psychology , 9 , 507-533.

Hollingworth, Leta S. (1916). Social devices for impelling women to bear and rear children . American Journal of Sociology , 22 , 19-29.

Clark, Kenneth B. & Clark, Mamie K. (1940). Skin color as a factor in racial identifcation of negro preschool children . Journal of Social Psychology, S.P.S.S.I. Bulletin , 11 , 159-169.

Miller, N., Sears, R.R., Rosenzweig, S., Bateson, G., Levy, D.M., Hartmann, G.W., & Maslow, A.H. (1941). Symposium on the frustration-aggression hypothesis . Psychological Review , 48 , 337-366.

Festinger, Leon & Carlsmith, James M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 58 , 203-210.

Statistics & Methodology

Fisher, Ronald A. (1925). Statistical methods for research workers .

Allport, Gordon W. (1940). The psychologist's frame of reference . Psychological Bulletin , 37 , 1-28. [Allport's APA Presidential Address.]

MacCorquodale, Kenneth & Meehl, Paul E. (1948). On a distinction between hypothetical constructs and intervening variables . Psychological Review , 55 , 95-107.

Cronbach, Lee J. & Meehl, Paul E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests . Psychological Bulletin , 52 , 281-302.

Cronbach, Lee J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology . American Psychologist , 12 , 671-684.

Rozeboom, William W. (1960). The fallacy of the null-hypothesis significance test . Psychological Bulletin , 57 , 416-428.

University of Toronto

Baldwin, James Mark. (1891). To the Editor . American Journal of Psychology , 3 , 593.

Hume, James Gibson . (1895). Psychology in the University of Toronto . Psychological Review , 2 , 172. [Abstract of paper presented at the 1894 meeting of the American Psychological Association.]

Hume, James Gibson . (1897). The practical value of psychology to the teacher . Toronto: George N. Morang. (Originally delivered before the Ontario Teachers' Association, Toronto, 1897.)

Hume, James Gibson . (1898). Contributions of psychology to morality and religion . Psychological Review , 5 , 162-163. [Abstract of paper presented at the 1897 meeting of the American Psychological Association.]

Hume, James Gibson . (1909). The proper affiliation of psychology: With philosophy or the natural sciences . Psychological Bulletin , 6 , 65-67. [Abstract of paper presented at the 1908 meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology.]

Hume, James Gibson . (1909). The import of pragmatism for the hsitory of philosophy . Philosophical Review , 18 , 176-177. [Abstract of paper presented at the 1908 meeting of the American Philosophical Association.]

Hume, James Gibson . (1910). The significance of suicide . Philosophical Review , 19 , 179-180. [Abstract of paper presented at the 1910 meeting of the American Philosophical Association.]

Young, George Paxton . (1911). The ethics of freedom: Notes selected, translated, and arranged by his pupil James Gibson Hume . Toronto: University Press.

Hume, James Gibson . (1916). Scientific truth and the scientific spirit . University of Toronto Monthly , 16 , 443-445.

Brett, George S. (1922). Psychology in the university . Univeristy of Toronto Monthly , , 298-300.

Hume, James Gibson . (1922). Evolution and personality . In Philosophical essays presented to John Watson (pp. 298-330). Kingston, ON: Queen's University.

Brett, George S. (1929). Introduction to psychology . Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.

Baldwin, James Mark . (1930). Autobiography of James Mark Baldwin . In Murchison, Carl. (Ed.), History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 1-30). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Women & Psychology

Nevers, Cordelia C. & Calkins, Mary W. (1895). Dr. Jastrow on community of ideas of men and women . Psychological Review , 2 , 363-367.

Jastrow, Joseph . (1896). Community of ideas of men and women . Psychological Review , 3 , 68-71.

Calkins, Mary Whiton . (1896a). Association: An essay analytic and experimental . Psychological Review Monographs Supplement , 1 (2).

Calkins, Mary Whiton. (1896b). Community of ideas of men and women . Psychological Review , 3 , 426-430.

Thompson, Helen Bradford . (1903). The mental traits of sex .

Ladd Franklin, Christine . (1904). Endowed professorships for women . Publications of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae , Series III, No. 9, pp. 53-61.

Gordon, Kate . (1905). Wherein should the education of a woman differ from that of a man . School Review , 13 , 789-794.

Ladd Franklin, Christine . (1908). Report of the committee on the endowment of fellowships . From "Proceedings" in the Publications of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae , Series III, No. 17, pp. 143-146. Woolley, Helen Thompson . (1910). A Review of the recent literature on the psychology of sex . Psychological Bulletin , 7 , 335-342.

Hollingworth, Leta S. (1914a). Functional periodicity: An experimental study of the mental and motor abilities of women during menstruation .

Hollingworth, Leta S. (1914b). Variability as related to sex differences in achievement: A critique . American Journal of Sociology , 19 , 510-530.

Hollingworth, Leta S. (1922). Differential action upon the sexes of forces which tend to segregate the feebleminded . Journal of Abnormal Psychology & Social Psychology , 17 , 35-57.

Howes, Ethel Puffer . (1922). Accepting the universe . Atlantic Monthly , 129 , 444-453.

Boring, Edwin G. (1951). The woman problem . American Psychologist, 6 , 679-682.

Wundt & Structuralism

Wundt, Wilhelm Max . (1874/1902/1904). Principles of physiological psychology (Edward Bradford Titchener, Trans.) (from the 5th German ed., published 1902; 1st German ed. published 1874.)[Classic text by the founder of the first psychological research laboratory.]

• Introduction to Wundt (1874/1902/1904) by R. H. Wozniak.

Wundt, Wilhelm Max . (1896/1897). Outlines of psychology (Charles Hubbard Judd, Trans.).

• Introduction to Wundt (1896/1897) by R. H. Wozniak.

Titchener, Edward B. (1912). The schema of introspection . American Journal of Psychology , 23 , 485-508.

Marbe, Karl . (1930). Autobiography of Karl Marbe . In C. Murchison (Ed.), History of Psychology in Autobiography (Vol. 1, pp. 181-213). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

[1] This name is spelled "McDougall" in every other one of his publications that I (CDG) can find, but it is spelled "MacDougall" in the published version of this work.

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Research Paper Guide

Psychology Research Paper Topics

200+ Engaging Psychology Research Paper Topics for Students in 2024

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Choosing a good topic for a psychology research paper can be tough for students and researchers.

It's important because the topic of a research paper must not only capture their interest but also contribute meaningfully to the field.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by all the potential topics in psychology. Plus, there's pressure to pick something new and important. This can leave you feeling stuck and unsure of what to do next.

You might be asking yourself questions like: 

• What topics are worth studying? 
• How do I pick something that interests me? 
• And how can I make sure my research is meaningful?

Don't worry! Our blog is here to help with psychology research paper topics.

We've gathered a bunch of interesting psychology research topics to get you inspired. You can dive right in and start making discoveries.

• 1. Easy Psychology Research Topics For Students
• 2. Criminal Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 3. Biological Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 4. Developmental Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 5. Forensic Psychology Research Topics
• 6. Abnormal Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 7. Cognitive Psychology Research Topics
• 8. Clinical Psychology Research Topics
• 9. Positive Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 10. Social Psychology Research Topics
• 11. Lifespan Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 12. History of Psychology Research Paper Topics
• 13. Interesting Psychology Topics for Presentation
• 14. Psychology Research Topics on Social Media
• 15. Psychology Research Topics Related to Human Development
• 16. Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
• 17. Experimental Psychology Research Topics
• 18. How to Select a Good Psychology Research Paper Topic
• 19. How to Write a Good Psychology Research Paper? 

Easy Psychology Research Topics For Students

Whether you're a high school student seeking inspiration for a research project, or a college student looking for a compelling topic for your next paper, we've got you covered. 

In the following sections, we'll explore psychology research topics selected specifically for each academic level, ensuring that there's something for everyone to explore and engage with.

Psychology Research Topics for High School Students

• Peer Pressure and its Influence on Decision-Making in Adolescence
• Understanding Teenage Sleep Patterns and its Effects on Academic Performance
• Examining the Effects of Parental Divorce on Teenagers' Emotional Well-being
• Gender Stereotypes and their Impact on High School Students' Career Aspirations
• Exploring the Link Between Nutrition and Mental Health in Adolescents
• Teenage Rebellion: Causes and Consequences
• The Role of Family Dynamics in Adolescent Behavior
• Effective Strategies for Managing Test Anxiety in High School Students
• The Impact of Extracurricular Activities on Teenagers' Mental Health
• Mental Health Awareness and Support Programs for High School Students

Psychology Research Paper Topics for College Students

• The Psychology of Procrastination: Causes and Solutions
• Mental Health Stigma in College Settings: Breaking Down Barriers
• Examining the Relationship Between Academic Stress and Performance Anxiety
• The Impact of College Transition on Students' Mental Health
• Understanding the Psychology of Imposter Syndrome Among College Students
• The Psychology of Group Projects: Dynamics and Conflict Resolution Strategies
• The Role of Identity Development in College Students' Psychological Well-being
• Cultural Adjustment Challenges Among International College Students
• Examining the Impact of Student Debt on Mental Health and Well-being
• The Psychology of Career Decision-Making Among College Students

Research Topics in Psychology for University Students

• The Influence of Personality Traits on Academic Achievement in University Students
• Understanding the Psychology of Leadership: Traits and Behaviors
• Psychological Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Factors and Interventions
• Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Psychological Disorders and Treatment
• The Impact of Technology on Human Interaction and Communication Patterns
• Cognitive Development Across the Lifespan: Theories and Applications
• Workplace Psychology: Organizational Behavior and Employee Motivation
• Exploring the Link Between Emotional Intelligence and Success in University Students
• The Psychology of Creativity: Processes and Influencing Factors
• Stress Management Techniques for University Students: Mindfulness and Relaxation Strategies

Criminal Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Understanding the Motives Behind White-Collar Crimes
• Juvenile Delinquency: Risk Factors and Intervention Strategies
• The Role of Psychopathy in Criminal Behavior
• Psychological Effects of Wrongful Convictions on Innocent Individuals
• The Influence of Media Portrayals on Perceptions of Crime and Criminality
• Psychological Profiling in Criminal Investigations: Advantages and Limitations
• The Relationship Between Substance Abuse and Criminal Behavior
• Forensic Assessment of Competency to Stand Trial: Issues and Considerations
• Gender Differences in Criminal Behavior: Biological and Sociocultural Factors
• The Psychological Effects of Incarceration on Inmates and Their Rehabilitation

Biological Psychology Research Paper Topics

• The Role of Neurotransmitters in Mental Health Disorders
• Brain Plasticity: Mechanisms and Implications for Learning and Memory
• Genetic Influences on Behavior: Twin and Adoption Studies
• The Neuroscience of Addiction: Understanding Brain Circuitry and Reward Pathways
• Neuro Develop Mental Illness: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
• The Role of Hormones in Aggression and Social Behavior
• Neuroimaging Techniques in Studying Brain Structure and Function
• Neurological Basis of Psychiatric Disorders: Insights from Brain Imaging Studies
• Animal Models in Biological Psychology Research: Ethical Considerations and Validity
• Epigenetics and Behavior: Interactions Between Genes and Environment

Developmental Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Attachment Theory: Parent-Child Relationships and Emotional Development
• Cognitive Development in Infancy: Piagetian and Vygotskian Perspectives
• The Impact of Parenting Styles on Child Behavior and Personality Development
• Language Acquisition in Children: Theories and Stages of Development
• Socialization and Peer Influence in Adolescence: Effects on Identity Formation
• Understanding the Long Term Effects of Divorce on Children's Developmental Outcomes
• The Role of Play in Child Development: Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Benefits
• Developmental Trajectories of Mental Health Disorders in Adolescence
• The Influence of Early Childhood Education on Academic Achievement
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children: Diagnosis and Intervention Strategies

Forensic Psychology Research Topics

• Eyewitness Testimony: Reliability and Factors Affecting Accuracy
• The Psychology of False Confessions: Causes and Consequences
• Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations: Legal and Ethical Considerations
• Risk Assessment in Criminal Justice: Predicting Recidivism and Dangerousness
• Criminal Responsibility and Insanity Defense: Psychological and Legal Perspectives
• Psychological Autopsy: Investigating Psychological Factors in Criminal Cases
• Jury Decision-Making: Biases and Influences on Legal Outcomes
• Interrogation Techniques: Ethical and Psychological Considerations
• Psychological Factors in Wrongful Convictions: Exonerations and Lessons Learned
• The Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Evaluations

Abnormal Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Understanding the Spectrum of Mood Disorders: Depression, Bipolar, and Cyclothymia
• Anxiety Disorders: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Approaches
• Schizophrenia: Neurobiological, Psychological, and Social Factors
• Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders: PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder
• Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions
• Dissociative Disorders: Identity, Amnesia, and Depersonalization
• Sleep Disorders: Insomnia, Narcolepsy, and Parasomnias
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD
• Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: Assessment and Treatment Approaches
• Gender Dysphoria: Understanding Gender Identity and Transgender Health

Cognitive Psychology Research Topics

• Memory Processes: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval
• Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: Heuristics and Biases
• Cognitive Development: Piagetian and Information-Processing Perspectives
• Working Memory: Capacity, Function, and Individual Differences
• Executive Functions: Inhibition, Shifting, and Updating
• Cognitive Neuroscience: Brain Mechanisms of Cognitive Processes
• Concept Formation and Categorization: Psychological and Neural Basis
• Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Modeling: Applications in Psychology
• Cognitive Rehabilitation: Strategies for Improving Cognitive Functioning
• Metacognition: Monitoring and Regulating Cognitive Processes

Clinical Psychology Research Topics

• Anxiety Disorders: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options
• Schizophrenia Treatment: Medications, Therapy, and Psychosocial Interventions
• Couples Therapy: Approaches and Effectiveness in Improving Relationship Satisfaction
• Substance Use Disorders: Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment Modalities
• Trauma-Focused Therapies: EMDR, Prolonged Exposure, and Narrative Exposure Therapy
• Group Therapy: Benefits, Process, and Techniques for Facilitating Change
• Suicide Prevention: Risk Assessment, Intervention Strategies, and Postvention Support
• Eating Disorder Treatment: Multidisciplinary Approaches and Relapse Prevention Strategies
• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Theory, Techniques, and Applications in Clinical Practice
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Skills Training and Effectiveness in Treating Borderline Personality Disorder

Positive Psychology Research Paper Topics

• The Science of Happiness: Determinants and Measurement of Subjective Well-being
• Resilience: Factors and Interventions for Building Psychological Strength
• Gratitude and Well-being: Benefits of Cultivating a Thankful Mindset
• Character Strengths and Virtues: Assessing and Enhancing Personal Qualities
• Posttraumatic Growth: Thriving in the Aftermath of Adversity
• Purpose in Life: Meaningfulness and Well-being Across the Lifespan
• Empathy and Altruism: The Psychological Benefits of Helping Others
• Strengths-Based Therapy: Utilizing Personal Strengths to Overcome Challenges
• Humor and Laughter: Therapeutic Benefits for Physical and Mental Health
• Positive Parenting: Strategies for Fostering Resilient and Happy Children

Social Psychology Research Topics

• Conformity and Obedience: The Influence of Group Dynamics on Individual Behavior
• Attitudes and Attitude Change: Theories and Applications in Persuasion
• Prejudice and Discrimination: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions
• Group Cohesion and Cooperation: Factors That Promote Effective Teamwork
• Interpersonal Relationships: Attachment Styles and Relationship Satisfaction
• Stereotypes and Stereotyping: Cognitive Processes and Implications for Behavior
• Aggression and Violence: Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Factors
• Prosocial Behavior: The Motivations and Benefits of Helping Others
• Intergroup Relations: Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation Strategies
• Social Perception and Judgment: Biases and Heuristics in Social Cognition

Lifespan Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Prenatal Development: Influences on Fetal Growth and Maternal Health
• Adolescent Identity Development: Exploring Identity Formation and Self-Concept
• Adult Attachment Styles: Continuity and Change Across the Lifespan
• Midlife Crisis: Myth or Reality? Examining Psychological Changes in Middle Adulthood
• Retirement and Aging: Psychological Adjustment and Well-being in Later Life
• Longevity and Health: Factors That Contribute to Healthy Aging and Quality of Life
• Aging and Memory: Exploring the Effects of Aging on Memory Processes
• End-of-Life Care: Psychosocial Factors in Palliative and Hospice Care Settings
• Wisdom and Aging: Psychological Perspectives on Wisdom Development
• Resilience in Older Adults: Coping Strategies and Adaptation to Life Transitions

History of Psychology Research Paper Topics

• Origins of Psychology: Philosophical and Scientific Foundations
• Structuralism vs. Functionalism: Early Schools of Thought in Psychology
• Freud and Psychoanalysis: Contributions to Modern Psychology and Criticisms
• Behaviorism: The Rise and Fall of Behaviorist Principles in Psychology
• Gestalt Psychology: Insights into Perception and Cognitive Processes
• Humanistic Psychology: The Person-Centered Approach and Self-Actualization
• Evolutionary Psychology: Darwinian Perspectives on Human Behavior and Cognition
• Feminist Psychology: Critiques of Traditional Theories and Gender Bias in Research
• Psychobiography: Studying the Lives of Psychologists and Their Contributions
• Development of Clinical Psychology: Evolution of Diagnosis and Treatment Approaches

Interesting Psychology Topics for Presentation

• The Power of Nonverbal Communication: Body Language and Facial Expressions
• The Psychology of Motivation: Understanding What Drives Human Behavior
• Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Success in Relationships and Career
• The Science of Happiness: Strategies for Cultivating a Fulfilling Life
• The Psychology of Memory: How We Remember and Forget Information
• Stress Management Techniques: Coping Strategies for Dealing with Chronic Pain
• The Science of Sleep: Exploring the Importance of Rest and Recovery
• The Psychology of Creativity: Unlocking Your Creative Potential
• Understanding Personality Types: The Big Five and Beyond
• The Psychology of Decision-Making: Strategies for Making Better Choices

Psychology Research Topics on Social Media

• Social Media Addiction: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions
• Cyberbullying: Prevalence, Effects, and Prevention Strategies
• FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and Its Effects on Mental Health and Well-being
• Influencer Marketing: Psychological Persuasion Techniques and Consumer Behavior
• Privacy Concerns on Social Media: Trust, Control, and Online Safety
• The Psychology of Viral Content: What Makes Posts Go Viral?
• Online Social Support Networks: Benefits and Limitations for Mental Health
• Social Media and Body Image: Comparisons, Ideals, and Self-Esteem
• The Role of Social Media in Political Polarization and Echo Chambers
• Digital Detox: Strategies for Balancing Screen Time and Real-Life Connections

Psychology Research Topics Related to Human Development

• The Influence of Parenting Styles on Child Development: Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Permissive Approaches
• Sibling Dynamics and Their Effects on Social and Emotional Development in Childhood
• The Impact of Family Structure and Dynamics on Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being
• Transitioning to Adulthood: Challenges and Opportunities in Emerging Adulthood
• Gender Development: Biological and Sociocultural Influences on Gender Identity Formation
• The Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Academic Achievement and Educational Attainment Across the Lifespan
• Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma: Understanding the Effects of Historical and Familial Trauma on Development
• Resilience in Childhood: Protective Factors and Coping Strategies in the Face of Adversity
• Cultural Variations in Parenting Practices and Their Implications for Child Development
• Aging Well: Promoting Healthy Aging and Quality of Life in Later Adulthood

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

• The Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Treating Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis
• Borderline Personality Disorder: Causes and Evidence-Based Treatment Approaches
• Internet Addiction Disorder: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Strategies
• Neurobiological Mechanisms of Depression: Insights from Brain Imaging Studies and Pharmacological Interventions
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Emotion Dysregulation: Skills Training and Mindfulness Practices
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Neurodevelopmental Profiles, Early Detection, and Intervention Strategies
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Multimodal Treatment Approaches
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Etiology, Symptomatology, and Exposure Response Prevention Therapy
• Schizophrenia: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis, Social Skills Training, and Medication Management
• Bipolar Disorder: Neurobiological Correlates, Mood Stabilization, and Psychoeducation Strategies

Experimental Psychology Research Topics

• Memory Processing Mechanisms in Human Brain
• Perception and Attention: Investigating Selective Attention and Visual Perception
• Learning and Conditioning: Classical and Operant Conditioning Paradigms and Learning Strategies
• Cognitive Processes in Decision Making: Heuristics, Biases, and Rational Decision Making
• Social Cognition and Attitudes: Attitude Formation, Persuasion Techniques, and Implicit Bias
• Sensation and Perception: Psychophysical Methods and Sensory Thresholds
• Motor Control and Coordination: Motor Learning, Skill Acquisition, and Movement Analysis
• Emotion and Affect: Studying Emotional Processing, Expression, and Regulation
• Neuroimaging Techniques: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Electroencephalography (EEG), and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)
• Psychometric Testing and Assessment: Developing and Validating Psychological Measures and Instruments

How to Select a Good Psychology Research Paper Topic

Selecting a good research paper topic is a crucial step in the paper writing process. It lays the foundation for your study and determines its scope and direction. 

Here are some key steps to consider when choosing a topic:

• Identify Your Interests: Start by exploring areas of psychology that genuinely interest you. Whether it's cognitive, developmental, or social psychology, selecting a topic that aligns with your passions will make the research process more engaging and rewarding.
• Consider Current Trends: Stay informed about the latest developments and trends in the field of psychology. Browse recent publications, attend conferences, and follow relevant journals to identify emerging topics and areas of research that are generating interest and attention.
• Narrow Down Your Focus: Once you've identified a general area of interest, narrow down your focus to a specific topic or research question. Consider the scope of your study, the available resources, and the feasibility of conducting research within your chosen area.
• Evaluate the Literature: Conduct a thorough review of the existing literature to gain insights into previous research findings, gaps in the literature, and areas that warrant further investigation. Look for unanswered questions, controversies, or areas where conflicting findings exist.
• Consider Practical Implications: Think about the practical implications of your research topic and its potential relevance to real-world issues or applications. Consider how your findings could contribute to theoretical advancements, clinical practice, or public policy.
• Brainstorm Potential Research Questions: Generate a list of potential research questions or hypotheses that align with your chosen topic. Consider the feasibility of addressing these questions within the constraints of your study, including time, resources, and ethical considerations.

How to Write a Good Psychology Research Paper? 

Writing a good psychology research paper can be a structured process if you follow these steps:

• Select a Compelling Topic: Choose a research topic that interests you and is relevant. Ensure it's specific, researchable, and has a clear research question. 
• Review Existing Literature: Conduct a thorough literature review to understand the current state of knowledge on your topic.
• Formulate a Hypothesis: Based on your research question and literature review, create a clear and testable hypothesis.
• Design Your Study: Decide on your research method (experimental, survey, observational, etc.) and create a detailed research design.
• Collect Data: Execute your study, following your design meticulously. Ensure ethical considerations are met.
• Analyze Data: Use appropriate statistical tools to analyze your data. Interpret the results in the context of your hypothesis.
• Organize Your Paper: Follow a standard research paper outline or structure with sections like Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. Write clearly and concisely.
• Cite Sources: Properly cite all sources using a recognized citation style (e.g., APA, MLA).
• Edit and Proofread: Revise your paper for clarity, coherence, and grammar. Proofread to eliminate errors.
• Seek Feedback: Have peers or mentors review your paper for feedback and suggestions.

Check out this video to learn how to write a research paper more in-depth!

Remember, a good psychology research paper is not just about the content but also the presentation. By following these steps and paying attention to detail, you'll increase your chances of producing a high-quality research paper that contributes to the field.

All in all, selecting a good topic for psychology research papers is an essential aspect of conducting meaningful and impactful research in the field of psychology. 

By choosing topics from the above list, researchers can ensure that their ideas are both engaging and academically practical.

If you are looking for an expert research paper writing service to help with your psychology paper or any other academic assignment, visit MyPerfectWords.com today!

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The Place of Development in the History of Psychology and Cognitive Science

In this article, I analyze how the relationship of developmental psychology with general psychology and cognitive science has unfolded. This historical analysis will provide a background for a critical examination of the present state of the art. I shall argue that the study of human mind is inherently connected with the study of its development. From the beginning of psychology as a discipline, general psychology and developmental psychology have followed parallel and relatively separated paths. This separation between adult and child studies has also persisted with the emergence of cognitive science. The reason is due essentially to methodological problems that have involved not only research methods but also the very object of inquiry. At present, things have evolved in many ways. Psychology and cognitive science have enlarged their scope to include change process and the interaction between mind and environment. On the other hand, the possibility of using experimental methods to study infancy has allowed us to realize the complexity of young humans. These facts have paved the way for new possibilities of convergence, which are eliciting interesting results, despite a number of ongoing problems related to methods.

Introduction

In this paper, I intend to analyze how the relationship of developmental psychology to general psychology and cognitive science has unfolded. This historical analysis will provide a background for a critical examination of the present state of the art.

Psychology emerged as a scientific discipline with the founding of Wundt’s Laboratory in Leipzig at the end of the nineteenth century (1879) 1 . Wundt’s method, both experimental and introspective, was directed to the study of an adult’s mind and behavior. It is less well-known that only 10 years later, James Baldwin, who had attended Wundt’s seminars in Germany, founded a laboratory of experimental psychology in Toronto in which experiments devoted to the study of mental development were performed. If the occasion that aroused Baldwin’s interest was the birth of his first daughter, actually, “that interest in the problems of genesis–origin, development, evolution–became prominent; the interest which was to show itself in all the subsequent years” ( Baldwin, 1930 ). Baldwin’s work was a source of inspiration for Piaget, certainly one of the most prominent figures in developmental psychology ( Morgan and Harris, 2015 ).

From the origins of psychology as a discipline, general psychology and developmental psychology have followed parallel and relatively separate paths. Two questions are particularly relevant to explain this fact.

From a theoretical point of view, developmental psychology has all along been greatly influenced by biology and evolutionary theory. The founders of developmental psychology have widely analyzed the relation between ontogenesis and phylogenesis ( Baldwin, 1895 ; Piaget, 1928 ). This analysis resulted in accepting the challenge of explaining development in a broad sense. In his autobiography, Baldwin affirms that already in the 10 years that he spent in Princeton between 1893 and 1903, where he founded another laboratory of experimental psychology, “the new interest in genetic psychology and general biology had become absorbing, and the meagerness of the results of the psychological laboratories (apart from direct work on sensation and movement) was becoming evident everywhere.” Thus, developmental psychology has followed an approach that in general psychology appeared much later 2 .

A second question regards method. Developmental researchers, while manifesting their attachment to experimental procedures, have been confronted with their insufficiency in the study of development. Both for deontological and practical reasons, many aspects of development, in particular in infants and young children, can hardly be investigated experimentally. Thus, a great number of studies in developmental psychology make use of observational methods based on different techniques such as ethnographic methods or parent reports, and the reliability of these methods has been questioned.

This relative separation between studies of adults and children has also persisted with the emergence of cognitive science. Actually, the primary aim of cognitive science, at least at the outset, was to model what we could call an adult static mind. Given a certain output, for instance an action, the task of the psychologist was to reconstruct the inference processes that were at the origin of this same action.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, psychology and cognitive science have enlarged their scope to include change processes and the interaction between mind and environment, including other minds. Developmental psychology, for its part, has developed nonverbal methods such as looking measures and choice measures that also make it possible to carry out experiments with infants. These facts have paved the way for new possibilities of convergence, which are eliciting interesting results, despite a number of ongoing problems related to methods.

Psychology, Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence

The beginning of cognitive science.

According to the American psychologist George Miller, cognitive science was born on September 11, 1956, the second day of the Second Symposium on Information Theory held at MIT. That day began with a paper read by Allen Newell and Herbert Simon on the state of art of the Logic Theory Machine: a proof on computer of theorem 2.01 of Whitehead and Russell’s Principia Mathematica . That very same day ended with the first version of Chomsky’s The Structures of Syntax . Miller left the symposium convinced that experimental psychology, theoretical linguistics, and computer simulation of cognitive processes could become parts of a wider whole and that the future of research would be found in the elaboration of this composite whole (reported in Bruner, 1983a ). It is Miller who in 1960, together with Eugene Galanter and Karl Pribram, authored a text that may be considered the manifesto of cognitive science and that proclaimed the encompassing of cognitive psychology within the more general framework of information processing ( Miller et al., 1960 ). The assumption was that newly born information science could provide a unifying framework for the study of cognitive systems ( Schank and Abelson, 1977 ).

From a theoretical point of view, the core of this project is the concept of representation. Intentional mental states, such as beliefs and perceptions, are defined as relations to mental representations. The semantic properties of mental representations explain intentionality ( Pitt, 2017 ). Representations can be computed and thus constitute the basis for some forms of logic systems. According to the Cognitive Science Committee (1978) , which drew up a research project for the Sloan Foundation, all those disciplines, which belong to cognitive science, share the common goal of investigating the representational and computational capacities of the mind and the structural and functional realization of these capacities in the brain.

This point of view constitutes the foundation for what has been called functionalism in the philosophy of mind, i.e., the hypothesis that what defines the mind are those features that are independent of its natural realization. The classic functionalist stance is expressed by Pylyshyn in his book on computation and cognition ( Pylyshyn, 1984 ). He maintains that a clear distinction must be made between the functional architecture of the cognitive system and the rules and representations that the system employs.

Functionalism has been greatly discussed and criticized from the beginning ( Block, 1978 ; Dreyfus, 1979 ). Harnad (1990) identified what has been defined as the symbol grounding problem : “How can the semantic interpretation of a formal symbol system be made intrinsic to the system?”

The most exhaustive and most deeply argued critique of functionalism was advanced by Searle, who developed his arguments over time, publishing a number of essays which have given rise to heated debate ( Searle, 1980 , 1990 , 1992 ). The position taken up by functionalism is that the relationship between the brain and its products, that is to say conscious processes, is mediated by an intermediate level of unconscious rules. This intermediate level is, for functionalists, the level of the program. It is postulated that the rules are computational and that, consequently, the aim of research in cognitive science is to reconstruct these rules. Searle’s objection is that there are only two types of natural phenomena, the brain and the mental states that the brain brings into being and that humans experience. The brain produces mental states due to its specific biological characteristics. When we postulate the existence of unconscious rules, according to Searle, we invent a construct whose aim is to highlight a function, which we believe is especially significant. Such a function is not intrinsic and has no causal power. This argument is particularly interesting because it is founded on the impassable biological nature of the mind. Neither logic nor mathematical or statistical procedures may replace brain as a biological organ.

From another perspective, some scholars have emphasized that functionalism leads to a new form of behaviorism. Putnam (1988) claimed that reducing mental processes exclusively to their functional descriptions is tantamount to describe such processes in behavioristic terms 3 . In psychology, one of the most polemical critics of functionalism as a dangerous vehicle toward a new form of anti-mentalism, which would render vain all the battles waged by cognitivists against classic behaviorism, was a developmental psychologist, Bruner (1990) . The centrality of computability as the criterion for the construction of models in cognitive science leads naturally, in Bruner’s opinion, to abandoning “meaning making,” which was the central concern of the “Cognitive Revolution.”

Thus, at least at the outset, cognitive science was devoted to constructing computational models of human inference processes and of the knowledge that is used in performing these inferences. This definition of the object of cognitive science has led at first to designing and implementing problem-solving systems, where the complexity was located in the inference mechanisms, supposed to be the same for all problems ( Newell and Simon, 1972 ). Later, systems were implemented where reasoning was associated with specific and articulated knowledge representation ( Levesque and Brachman, 1985 ).

Notably, the aspect that was absent from this view of cognitive science was learning. This lack, according to Gentner (2010) , could be partly explained as a reaction to behaviorism, which was completely centered on learning. In fact, there were also philosophical reasons. Chomsky and Fodor, who were among the most influential members of the cognitive science community, were highly critical of the concept of learning. In their view, learning as a general mechanism does not exist, and Fodor even went so far as to state explicitly that no theory of development exists either ( Fodor, 1985 ).

Thus, cognitive science was born essentially as a reaction to behaviorism and took its legitimacy from the use of methodologies developed within artificial intelligence. These methodologies were supposed to make explicit how mental representations produced human activity in specific domains. However, this approach had a price: it separated the mind from its biological basis and from the context in which human activity takes place. There was no place for development, interaction, and variation due to biological or social causes 4 . This theoretical choice explains Bruner’s disillusion. For Bruner, cognitive science had fallen back into the behaviorism against which it originated, and no interesting relation could be established with developmental psychology. Developmental psychology is founded on the premise that a human being develops in interaction with the physical world and the society of other humans.

Cognitive Science in the Twenty-First Century

Cognitive science has changed considerably from its beginning. An obvious novelty concerns the increased importance assumed by learning with the emergence of connectionism ( Hinton, 1989 ).

When connectionist models were introduced, there was much debate regarding the relation of neural networks with the functioning of the human brain and their ability to address higher forms of thought ( Fodor and Pylyshyn, 1988 ; Quinlan, 1991 ; Chalmers, 1993 ). Later, philosophical discussion was replaced by empirical considerations. Networks are an efficient computational tool in some domains and are often used jointly with symbolic computations ( Wermter and Sun, 2000 ). Moreover, in recent advancements of artificial Intelligence, neural networks have been largely replaced by a variety of techniques of statistical learning ( Forbus, 2010 ).

More interesting for my purpose is the changes that the general philosophy of cognitive science has undergone due to the problems that have emerged with classic symbolic models. At its origin, the core of cognitive science was the relation between psychology and artificial intelligence. In the original project, this marriage was to be fruitful for both disciplines. Artificial intelligence expected from psychology the analysis of high-level mental mechanisms that, once simulated on a computer, could improve the efficiency of artificial systems. With computer simulation, psychology was to acquire a method to validate its models. However, this marriage, which for a while has been very productive and has generated many interesting ideas, ultimately failed. Artificial intelligence has evolved computing techniques that produce efficient systems without asking anymore if these techniques replicate human mental processes more or less faithfully. In psychology, the constraint to produce computational models has again restricted its scope ( Airenti and Colombetti, 1991 ).

Thus, the results of cognitive science of the twentieth century have led to a shift in cognitive science that has emerged with this century. Some researchers have proclaimed that the theoretical hypothesis that minds functionalities can be modeled disregarding the fact that they operate on the external world through the body could no longer be accepted. This new approach implies accounting for the biology of the mind/body unity and the interaction with the external world, both physical and social. One source of inspiration for this new turn came from Varela et al. (1991) , who proposed the concept of the embodied mind . Actually, the concept of embodiment includes many rather disparate inspirations, from Merleau-Ponty and phenomenology to Buddhism. I do not analyze these questions here. What interests me is the mere assumption that cognition is grounded in the world.

This new turn corresponds to the major importance assumed by robotics. It might be exaggerated to say that the role played by artificial intelligence in the past is now assumed by robotics. However, it is clear that the aim of constructing artificial actors that interact with the world and/or with humans has again established a link between the study of humans and the production of artificial systems. With respect to the past, the focus is no longer on the symbolic function of the mind, but on the mind embedded into a physical device that interacts with the external world. This evolution is linked to the enlarged scope of present robotics that goes well beyond traditional tasks such as farm automation. The ambition is to construct robots that may cooperate with humans in a multiplicity of tasks, including, for instance, assisting aged or disabled people or interacting with autistic children. Social robotics has then evolved toward biologically inspired systems, based on the notions of self-organization and embodiment ( Pfeifer et al., 2007 ). This new development has led to question once again psychologists about those characteristics that make humans what they are. If robots must be able to interact with humans, they should show those same characteristics ( Kahn et al., 2007 ). Can robots be endowed with intentionality, emotions, and possibly empathy?

Here, again a functionalist position appears. For some authors, the fact that the robot’s internal mechanisms are grounded in physical interactions with the external environment means that they truly have the potentiality of intrinsic intentionality ( Zlatev, 2001 ). This means, for them, that a mind is embodied in a robot. To the question of whether robots can have emotions, Arbib and Fellous (2004) answer that a better knowledge of biological systems will allow us in the future to single out “brain operating principles” independent of the physical medium in which they are implemented. This new form of functionalism is currently contrasted with an approach that considers that mental states and emotions are not intrinsic but can only be attributed to robots by humans ( Ziemke et al., 2015 ). Robots’ embodiment does not overcome the objection that was addressed to traditional artificial intelligence, namely that mental states and emotions can only be produced by a biological brain ( Ziemke, 2008 ). This latter position maintains that the relevant question for human-robot interaction is not that robots must be intentional beings, but that they must be perceived as such by humans ( Airenti, 2015 ; Wiese et al., 2017 ).

In conclusion, we can say that cognitive science was born as a way to renew psychology through a privileged connection with artificial intelligence. In the present state of research, it is social robotics that is attempting to establish a connection with biological sciences, psychology, and neuroscience, in order to build into robots those functionalities that should allow them to successfully interact with the external physical and social world. However, the main fundamental philosophical problems remain unchanged. One could still argue, as Searle did, that human mentality is an emergent feature of biological brains and no logical, mathematical or statistical procedure can produce it.

Present Questions for Cognitive Science

The question that we may raise today is this: what is cognitive science for? The relation that psychology has established with the sciences of the artificial has hidden the fact that a number of phenomena, which are essential for explaining the functioning of the human mind, have been largely ignored. This failure in explanation, which has concerned, for instance, the managing of mental states and emotions, and many complex communicative phenomena, is fundamentally linked to the fact that the mind is constantly in interaction with the physical and social world in a process of development. The primitive idea of cognitive science was to go beyond traditional psychology to enrich the study of mind with the contributions of other disciplines that also investigated human mind, such as linguistics, philosophy, and anthropology. This approach, which concerns the definition of the field of cognitive science, has been quite early reinterpreted as a problem of formalism. The question posed has been: how could psychology produce scientific models of human thought? Hence, the importance assumed by computer modeling as a means of replacing more traditional logical, mathematical, and statistical models. However, this theoretical choice has generated a major ambiguity, because computer models that are founded on logical, mathematical, or statistical formalisms have been seen as possibly equivalent to the mind. Once the fallacy of this equivalence appears—because no artificial model may replace the causal power of the human brain—we are left with some formal models with very limited psychological significance. What has been lost is the richness that cognitive science was supposed to acquire by connecting different disciplines. In particular, for many years, this approach has prevented general psychology from connecting with developmental psychology, a field of studies that, since Baldwin, had already posed the problem of the construction of the human mind as the result of biological development and social interaction.

The Study of Development

Biology and development in the debate between piaget and chomsky.

Studying development necessarily implies considering the fact that humans are biological systems that are certainly particularly complex but also share many characteristics with other living beings. Thus, in the field of developmental psychology, many questions have emerged concerning the link between development and evolution, the relation between genetic endowment and the influence on acquisition of environment (a concept that includes physical environment, parenting, social rules, etc.), and the nature of learning.

For Piaget, who came to developmental psychology from natural sciences, development had to be seen in the light of the theories of evolution. Intelligence, for him, is a particular case of biological adaptation, and knowledge is not a state but a process. Through action, children explore space and objects in the external world, and in this way, for instance, they learn the properties of the objects and their relations. These ideas, which sound rather contemporary to us, were considered as problematic in the past and prevented the establishment of a relationship between the study of development and the study of cognition in general. It is only in this century that development has been integrated into evolution studies via the so-called evo-devo approach and that these ideas have given rise to an interest in psychology ( Burman, 2013 ).

Actually, some aspects of Piaget’s perspective were problematic. Piaget supported his theory using what was considered a Lamarckian vision of evolution that assumed the inheritance of acquired characteristics. He had a well-known debate at the end of his life (1975) with Noam Chomsky on language acquisition, and outstanding biologists who also participated to the debate contested the validity of his use of the concept of phenocopy ( Piattelli-Palmarini, 1979/1980 ). In fact, on this point, Piaget had been influenced by Baldwin, who proposed what is known as Baldwin’s effect ( Simpson, 1953 ). This effect manifests in three stages: (1) Individual organisms interact with the environment in such a way as to produce nonhereditary adaptations; (2) genetic factors producing similar traits occur in the population; and (3) these factors increase in frequency under natural selection (taken from Waddington, 1953 ). Later, Piaget revised his own theory and updated Baldwin’s effect under the influence of Waddington ( Burman, 2013 ). Recently, epigenetic theories have emerged in biology, and the importance of development is generally accepted. On the developmental side, it has been proposed that Piaget’s theory might be replaced as a metatheory for cognitive development by evolutionary psychology ( Bjorklund, 2018 ).

The debate between Chomsky and Piaget is interesting because it is a clear example of the impossibility of dialogue between one of the fathers of cognitive science and the scholar who, at that moment, personified developmental psychology. Piaget was unable to justify his position that grammar rules could also be accounted for by sensorimotor schemata, and Chomsky appeared to have won the debate. At the same time, Chomsky presented the emergence of syntactic rules in the child’s mind, excluding in principle any possible form of learning. However, in hindsight, we know how the task of establishing abstract principles of universal grammar proved to be arduous, underwent many substantial changes and is not yet realized.

Another controversial aspect of Piaget’s position was his adherence to the recapitulation theory, i.e., the idea originally proposed by Haeckel, that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. It is this principle that motivated Piaget’s study of development as a way of contributing to the study of the evolution of human thought ( Koops, 2015 ). However, this position has as its consequence the idea that primitive populations would exist wherein we might find adult thought processes that in modern civilizations are typical of young children.

What is striking in this debate is that the specific biological model that Piaget adopted was not the only point of disagreement. What was questioned was in general the relevance of development for the study of a basic human ability such as language. Certainly, in the work of the first figures of developmental psychology, we find a baffling mix of very interesting ideas regarding the place of humans as biological entities in evolution and a difficulty in taking into account the complexities of actual biological theories and of social aspects such as cultural variation. At the same time, these scholars were confronted with objections from cognitive scientists who did not admit the relevance of investigating development for the study of the human mind.

The Interactionist Perspective

Piaget’s perspective was, in a sense, paradoxical. This perspective considered children’s development as the product of their action on the environment, but at the same time postulated a rather rigid succession of stages that led to adult thought and excluded the importance of the social aspects of this environment in the first years. In fact, infants and young children were considered closed in their egocentrism and unable to take advantage of their interactions with adults and peers.

These aspects have been criticized within developmental psychology, where a cultural turn, fathered by Vygotsky (1962/1986) and mainly interpreted in the United States by Bruner (1990) , has arisen. For both these authors, biological factors are considered an endowment of potentialities that develop in a society of co-specifics and are submitted to variability and to cultural variation.

Bruner was, at the outset, an enthusiastic supporter of cognitive science and in particular of the mentalist theory of language proposed by Chomsky ( Bruner, 1983b ). Later, however, the primacy that Chomsky assigns to syntax turned out to be unsatisfactory to Bruner, according to whom language is fundamentally a communicative device. The problem of language acquisition is thus redefined as the development of a communicative capacity that appears in the prelinguistic stage. This position was the result of Bruner’s work on preverbal communication carried out at the Center for Cognitive Studies at Harvard University starting in 1966.

For Bruner, language requires the maturation of cognitive structures, which underlie intentional action in general. His debt to Piaget with regard to the importance of action is evident. Language is “a specialized and conventionalized extension of cooperative action” ( Bruner, 1975 ). In this, he rejoins the communication theories proposed within the philosophy of language by Austin (1962) and Grice (1989) .

Bruner’s studies are part of a revolution in developmental studies in which more careful scrutiny and more sophisticated experimentation led to the discovery that children begin to engage in rather complex cognitive activity very early on. Prior to these studies, many of the aspects relating to infant cognition were not taken into consideration. The prejudice that saw human development as the slow acquisition of rationality prevented researchers from seeking elements of complexity in the cognition of a new-born.

In brief, since its origin, developmental psychology has undergone an important change. At the outset, the idea was that what characterized human cognition was adult rational thought, and studying development meant understanding the stages that led to this achievement. Later, the goal became understanding the development of the different faculties that characterize cognition starting from birth. This goal has also opened the door to comparative studies.

The Problems of Method

Developmental psychologists have always struggled with problems of method.

Piaget frequently discussed his observations of his three children. Studies on language acquisition have often benefited from researchers’ observations of their own children (see, for instance, Stern and Stern, 1928 ). These procedures, which have been considered as barely scientific by other psychologists, have provided useful inspiration for further research. Note that Darwin’s observations of his children were a fundamental source for his work on emotions ( Darwin, 1872/1965 ).

Ethical reasons forbid experiments, which may perturb children. Moreover, conceiving experiments that have ecological validity is even more difficult to do with young children than with adults. Hence, the necessity of using different methods in order to produce data that cannot be collected using classic experimental procedures. Without using observational methods, for instance, it is not possible to assess the spontaneous appearance of a given phenomenon ( Airenti, 2016 ). Furthermore, some behaviors may appear only in specific situations and would go unnoticed if they were not observed by caregivers who may see children at different moments of the day and in different situations. Thus, developmental psychologists have used different methodologies, classic experiments but also fieldwork, ethological observation, and parent reports.

A fundamental advancement was the development of techniques permitting to assess infants’ and young children’s abilities in experiments. A key element was the elaboration of the habituation paradigm ( Fantz, 1964 ; Bornstein, 1985 ). After repeated exposure to a stimulus, infants’ looking time decreases due to habituation and increases when a novel stimulus is presented. Habituation allows us to understand if infants discriminate among different stimuli.

In particular for language studies, nonnutritive sucking ( Siqueland and De Lucia, 1969 ) has been used. This is an experimental method based on operant conditioning allowing one to test infants’ discrimination of and preference for different stimuli. This technique has been used to show, for instance, that infants already acquire in the mother’s womb the ability to recognize and prefer the prosody of a language and of familiar voices ( DeCasper and Fifer, 1980 ).

Currently, the most utilized technique with infants is preferential looking or reaching. In this technique, two stimuli are presented together and what is measured is the infant’s preference. Specific types of this technique are used to claim surprise, anticipation, and preferences for novel or familiar stimuli and to evaluate preference over and above novelty or familiarity ( Hamlin, 2014 ) 5 .

Another technique presently used to investigate infant cognitive development is EEG recordings, even if creating infant-friendly laboratory environments, age-appropriate stimuli, and infant- friendly paradigms requires special care ( Hoehl and Wahl, 2012 ).

The development of these experimental techniques has vastly enlarged the scope of infant studies. In particular, a new research trend has emerged aimed at discovering what has been called the core knowledge ( Spelke, 2000 ; Spelke and Kinzler, 2007 ). The idea is that at the basis of human cognition, there is a set of competencies, such as representing objects, action, number and space, which are already present in infants and which underlie and constrain later acquisitions. Researchers have also been working on other possible basic competencies such as social cognition ( Baillargeon et al., 2016 ) and morality ( Wynn and Bloom, 2014 ).

In the literature, debate continues surrounding the replicability and robustness of findings obtained within these experimental paradigms, in particular with respect to infants’ and toddlers’ implicit false belief and morality ( Hamlin, 2014 ; Tafreshi et al., 2014 ; Baillargeon et al., 2018 ; Sabbagh and Paulus, 2018 ).

This debate also involves the relation between development and evolution. For Tafreshi and colleagues, for instance, the idea of core knowledge would involve a consideration of high-level cognitive capacities as biologically predetermined instead of constructed in interaction with the environment. This is not the perspective of those who consider that development does exist in the social environment but is constrained by a number of basic competencies ( Hamlin, 2014 ). An important element of this perspective is comparing human and animal capacities. In fact, research has shown that such basic competencies also exist in some form in animals. For instance, numerous studies have shown that adult nonhuman primates have the core systems of object, number, agent representations, etc. ( Spelke and Kinzler, 2007 ).

These preoccupations have also informed work by Tomasello and the Leipzig group. “All we can claim to have done so far–writes Tomasello–is to establish some comparative facts–organized by some theoretical speculations–that hopefully get us started in the right direction toward an evolutionary informed account of the ontogeny of uniquely human psychology” ( Tomasello, 2018 ). Comparing experimental work on great apes and young children has led him to formulate the hypothesis that the factors marking the difference between these two groups are different aspects of social cognition. Nonhuman primates have some basic capacities in these areas. In humans, the evolved capacity for shared intentionality transforms them in the species-unique human cognition and sociality ( Tomasello and Herrmann, 2010 ).

Tomasello’s work has also aroused criticism. In this case, the criticism is because his research, both with young children and primates, uses experimental methods and is carried out in a laboratory. Fieldwork primatologists have claimed that primates in captivity, tested by someone of another species, cannot display the abilities that their conspecifics display in their natural environment ( Boesch, 2007 ; De Waal et al., 2008 ). Tomasello answered this criticism by maintaining that the fact of being raised in a human environment enhances primates’ capacities ( Tomasello et al., 1993 ; Tomasello and Call, 2008 ).

In conclusion, in developmental psychology, a multiplicity of methods has been applied, and the debate over their respective validity and correct application continues. However, what is not in question is that development is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that must be analyzed as such and from different points of view.

A paradigmatic case in the present research is the study of the theory of mind. Discovering how subjects represent their own mind and other minds was proposed in 1978 by Premack and Woodruff as a problem of research on primates, and in a short time, it has become one of the main topics in developmental research ( Premack and Woodruff, 1978 ). It is currently being studied in groups of different ages, from infants to the elderly, both in typical and clinical subjects and using different methodologies, from classic experiments to clinical observation. Moreover, a number of studies investigate individual and cross-cultural variation and its role in human-robots interactions. Philosophers have contributed to the definition of this phenomenon, and neuroscientists are working to discover its neural basis.

Computational Models of Development

Some researchers have pursued the goal of constructing computational models of cognitive development using different computational approaches (for a review, see Mareschal, 2010 ). However, as the author of this review remarks, all the models have explored cognition “as an isolated phenomenon”, i.e., they did not consider the physical and social context in which development unfolds.

Karmiloff-Smith, a developmental psychologist who proposed the most interesting theory about developmental change as an alternative to Piaget’s, considered that a number of features of her RR ( representational redescription ) model happened to map onto features of connectionist models ( Karmiloff-Smith, 1992 ; for a review of these models, see Plunkett et al., 1997 ). However, she also remarks that connectionist models have modeled tasks, while development is not simply task-specific learning, as it involves deriving and using previously acquired knowledge 6 .

One result of the dissatisfaction with the results deriving from the relation between cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence and the concomitant increase in interest in embodied cognition has been the growth of developmental robotics ( Lungarella et al., 2003 ). The aim of this field is to produce baby robots endowed with sensorimotor and cognitive abilities inspired by child psychology and to model developmental changes ( Cangelosi and Schlesinger, 2018 ). This approach has led to the comparison of results in experiments with robots and children. This is a promising field, even if it does not overcome the problems described above regarding the specificity of tasks that does not allow to account for infants’ ability to utilize previously differently acquired knowledge in the performance of a given task.

In conclusion, some approaches within cognitive science have acknowledged the usefulness of studying children in order to understand the mechanisms of development. Especially in the case of developmental robotics, this has allowed for studying the interaction of different capacities such as sensorimotor abilities, perception, and language. At the same time, the computational constraints do not allow for overcoming task specificity.

Concluding Remarks

I have argued that since their beginning, general psychology and developmental psychology have followed parallel paths that have only occasionally converged. The reason is due essentially to methodological problems that have involved not only research methods but also the very object of inquiry.

Psychology was founded with the ambition of becoming a science performed in laboratories and based on experimental work. However, as early as in 1934, Vygotsky had already deplored the attempt to achieve scientific standards by limiting the importance of general issues. “As long as we lack a generally accepted system incorporating all available psychological knowledge, any important factual discovery inevitably leads to the creation of a new theory to fit the newly observed facts” ( Vygotsky, 1962/1986 , p. 13).

The birth of cognitive science has taken important steps toward constructing links with other disciplines and also other ways to study cognition. However, this opening was soon transformed in the search for a unifying methodology, namely computer modeling, as a guarantee of scientific results. Many interesting ideas have been generated. However, after four decades of work in this direction, it has become impossible to ignore that too many important aspects of the human mind and activity have been eluded.

The relative isolation of developmental psychology came from the prejudice, also shared by eminent developmental psychologists like Piaget, that what characterizes human cognition are adult cognitive abilities.

However, from the start, developmental psychology was not limited to investiganting the specificity of children’s cognition. It devoted attention to what makes development possible, including biological endowment and cultural transmission; whether an infant should be considered a blank slate or if one can define some pre-existent basic abilities; what makes humans different from animals and nonhuman primates; and how specific human abilities such as language have evolved.

At present, a rapprochement between adult and child studies is made possible by different factors. The possibility of using experimental methods to study infancy has allowed us to realize the complexity of young humans. Moreover, development is increasingly being considered as a phenomenon not only characterizing childhood but also present over the life span, including both the acquisition and the decay of mental abilities ( Bialystok and Craik, 2006 ). Studying the human mind means studying how the human mind changes in interaction with the external environment all life long. In this sense, the study of human mind is inherently connected with the study of its development.

An important question of method emerges here. We have observed that over the years, developmental psychologists have sought to construct methods that can be reliable and at the same time can adequately address the topics under discussion here. The achievement of finding ways to carry out experiments with infants and nonhuman primates has been an important advancement in this perspective. This advancement has garnered both praise and criticism. To be reliable, experiments with infants require very rigorous procedures. Frequently, a detailed analysis of procedures is necessary to explain divergent results. However, it can be noted that reproducibility is an open problem for psychological science in general ( Open Science Collaboration, 2015 ). For nonhuman primates, the ecological validity of laboratory experiments has been questioned. More generally, it has been shown that in the field of developmental psychology, experimental studies do not completely replace other methodologies, but rather should coexist with them.

The human mind is complex, and all the methods that have been proposed in different disciplines may be useful in advancing our knowledge of it. The explanation of this complexity was the main goal underlying the proposal of cognitive science and is the perspective we must pursue in the future.

On this ground, the paths of psychology and developmental psychology may reconverge.

Author Contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest Statement

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1 The very earliest date was 1875 and that same year William James’ laboratory at Harvard in the United States was established ( Harper, 1950 ).

2 William James was influenced by Darwin and this appears in particular in his conceiving the mind as a function and not as a thing ( Bredo, 1998 ). However, his book The Principles of Psychology , first published in 1890 and later revised several times, ignored child development. In the chapter devoted to methods and snares in psychology, he adds to introspective observation and experimental method the comparative method. “So it has come to pass that instincts of animals are ransacked to throw light on our own; and that the reasoning faculties of bees and ants, the minds of savages, infants, madmen, idiots, the deaf and blind, criminals, and eccentrics, are invoked in support of this or that special theory about some part of our own mental life” ( James, 1983 , p. 193). If he admits that “information grows and results emerge”, he also cautions that “there are great sources of error in the comparative method” and that “comparative observation, to be definite, must usually be made to test some pre-existing hypothesis” ( James, 1983 ).

3 Putnam was actually the first to employ the term functionalism , and his aim in doing so was anti-reductionist. In his 1975 work he used the comparison with a computer program to show that psychological properties do not have a physical and chemical nature, even though they are realized by physical and chemical properties ( Putnam, 1975 ).

4 , Hewitt (1991) highlights the difficulties inherent in constructing artificial systems, which, like social systems, are founded on concepts such as commitment, cooperation, conflict, negotiation, and so forth.

5 Gaze and eye-tracking techniques are normally used in psychological research with adults ( Mele and Federici, 2012 ) but it is in developmental studies that they have had a dramatic impact on the possibilities of inquiry.

6 A different approach that has given origin to formal models and simulations is the paradigm that views the developmental process as a change within a complex dynamic system. Cognition in this perspective is embodied in the processes of perception and action ( Smith and Thelen, 2003 ).

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Research Paper Topics

Choose your Topic Smart

What starts well, ends well, so you need to be really careful with research paper topics. The topic of a research paper defines the whole piece of writing. How often have you chosen the book by its title? First impression is often influential, so make sure your topic will attract the reader instantly. By choosing your topic smart, the half of your job is done. That is why we have singled out several secrets on how to pick the best topic for you. Also see the list of 1000 thesis topics .

Browse Research Paper Topics by Category:

• Anthropology
• Argumentative
• Communication
• Criminal Justice
• Environmental
• Political Science

What is the Key to a Perfect Topic for a Research Paper?

The key to a perfect topic includes three main secrets: interest, precision, and innovation.

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It is impossible to do something great if you have no interest in what you are doing. For this reason, make sure you choose the topic that drives you. If you are bored by what you investigate, do not expect that your paper will be exciting. Right now, spend some minutes or even hours thinking about what interests you. Jot down all your preferences in life, science, politics, social issues etc. It will help you get the idea what you can write about.

After realizing what drives you, narrow this general idea to a more specific one. A research paper is not about beating around the bush. You will need clear facts and data. You will have to provide evidence to your ideas. You will need to be precise, specific and convincing.

Finally, the idea of any research is that it should be surprising and distinctive. Think what makes your perspective and approach special. What is the novelty of your research?

Use Technology

If you are still stuck, use technology. Today we have an opportunity to make our lives easier with a bit of technology used. You can find paper topic generators online. This software will examine the category you want to investigate and the keywords from your research. Within several seconds, this program generates paper topics, so you can try it yourself. It can help you get started with your assignment.

100% Effective Advice

We will now give you advice that is 100% effective when picking the topic. Firstly, forget about what others may think about your topic. This is your topic and this is your perception of the world. Stay personal and let your personal style get you the top grades. Secondly, never decide on the topic before analyzing the background for your research. By this we mean, investigate the topic before you start the research proper. It happens quite often that students choose the topic and later they realize there is no data or information to use. That is why conduct some research beforehand. Thirdly, read other researchers’ papers on the topic you want to write about. It will help you get the idea of the investigation. Moreover, it will help you understand whether you truly want to write a paper on this topic. Finally, when you have picked the topic, started your research, make sure you dedicate your time and energy. If you want to get high results, you need to study every little details of your research.

Examine Different Ideas

People often come up with genius ideas after analyzing thousands of other people’s ideas. This is how our brain works. That is why you can analyze other people’s ideas for research paper topics and think up your own. If you have never written any paper of that kind, it will help you understand the gist of this assignment, the style and the requirements. By comparing different topics, you can motivate yourself and get inspired with these ideas. Luckily, you have come to the right place. Here is our list of top 100 research paper topics.

Top 10 Argumentative Research Paper Topics:

Argumentative research papers examine some controversial issues. Your task is to provide your point of view, your argument, and support your idea with the evidence. This academic assignment requires appropriate structuring and formatting.

• Does a College Education Pay?
• Dual Career Families and Working Mothers
• Electronic Copyright and Piracy
• Drinking on Campus
• Education for Homeless Children
• Glass ceiling
• Honor System at Colleges
• Sex and Violence on TV
• Word Population and Hunger
• World Trade and Globalization

Top 10 Economics Research Paper Topics:

If you are studying economics, you can find various topics at our site. Check out topics of micro- and macroeconomics. See ideas for urgent economic problems, economic models and strategies. Get inspired and come up with your perfect topic.

• Beyond Make-or-Buy: Advances in Transaction Cost Economics
• Economic Aspects of Cultural Heritage
• Economics of Energy Markets
• Globalization and Inequality
• International Trade and Trade Restrictions
• Aggregate Expenditures Model and Equilibrium Output
• Taxes Versus Standards
• Predatory Pricing and Strategic Entry Barriers
• Marxian and Institutional Industrial Relations in the United States
• Twentieth-Century Economic Methodology

Top 10 Education Research Paper Topics:

Education has so many questions, and yet few answers. The list of education topic is endless. We have chosen the top 10 topics on the urgent issues in education. You can find ideas related to different approaches, methodology, classroom management, etc.

• Teachers Thinking About Their Practice
• Cognitive Approaches to Motivation in Education
• Responsive Classroom Management
• Ten Steps to Complex Learning
• Economics and School-to-Work
• Reading and Literacy in Adolescence
• Diversifying the Teaching Force
• Teacher-Student Relationships
• Preparing for College and Graduate School
• Role of Professional Learning

Top 10 History Research Paper Topics:

Choose your topic regarding cultural, economic, environmental, military, political or social history. See what other researchers investigated, compare their ideas and pick the topic that interests you.

• European Expansion
• Orientalism
• Current trends in Historiography
• Green Revolution
• Religion and War
• Women’s Emancipation Movements
• History of Civilization

Top 10 Psychology Research Paper Topics:

The list of psychology categories and topics is enormous. We have singled out the most popular topics on psychology in 2019. It is mostly topics on modern psychology. Choose the topic the appeals to you the most or ask our professionals to help you come up with some original idea.

• Imaging Techniques for the Localization of Brain Function
• Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
• Traditional Neuroscience Research Methods
• Meditation and the Relaxation Response
• Assessment of Mental Health in Older Adults
• Cross-Cultural Psychology and Research
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
• Prejudice and Stereotyping
• Nature Versus Nurture

Top 10 Biology Research Paper Topics:

Here you can find topics related to the science of all forms of life. Examine the topics from different fields in biology and choose the best one for you.

• Biological Warfare
• Clone and Cloning
• Genetic Disorders
• Genetic Engineering
• Kangaroos and Wallabies
• Mendelian Laws of Inheritance
• Molecular Biology
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Top 10 Chemistry Research Paper Topics:

The best way to understand chemistry is to write a paper on chemistry topic. Below you can see the topics from different fields of chemistry: organic, inorganic, physical, analytical and others.

• Acids and Bases
• Alkaline Earth Metals
• Dyes and Pigments
• Chemical Warfare
• Industrial Minerals
• Photochemistry
• Soaps and Detergents
• Transition Elements

Top 10 Physics Research Paper Topics:

Check out the topics on classical and modern physics. Find ideas for writing about interrelationships of physics to other sciences.

• Aerodynamics
• Atomic Theory
• Celestial Mechanics
• Fluid Dynamics
• Magnetic recording
• Microwave Communication
• Quantum mechanics
• Subatomic particles

Top 10 Sociology Research Paper Topics:

Find ideas related to different sociological theories, research and methodologies.

• Feminist Methodologies and Epistemology
• Quality-of-Life Research
• Sociology of Men and Masculinity
• Sociology of Leisure and Recreation
• Environmental Sociology
• Teaching and Learning in Sociology
• The History of Sociology: The North American Perspective
• The Sociology of Voluntary Associations
• Marriage and Divorce in the United States
• Urban Sociology in the 21 st Century

Top 10 Technology Research Paper Topics:

See topics related to the cutting-edge technology or dive into history of electronics, or even early advances in agriculture.

• Food Preservation: Freeze Drying, Irradiation, and Vacuum Packing
• Tissue Culturing
• Digital Telephony
• Computer-Aided Control Technology
• Minerals Prospecting
• Prefabricated Buildings
• Timber Engineering
• Quantum Electronic Devices
• Thermal Water Moderated Nuclear Reactors
• Long Range Radars and Early Warning Systems

What Makes a Good Topic for a Research Paper?

A good research paper topic is the one that is successful and manageable in your particular case. A successful research paper poses an interesting question you can actually answer. Just as important, it poses a question you can answer within the time available. The question should be one that interests you and deserves exploration. It might be an empirical question or a theoretical puzzle. In some fields, it might be a practical problem or policy issue. Whatever the question is, you need to mark off its boundaries clearly and intelligently so you can complete the research paper and not get lost in the woods. That means your topic should be manageable as well as interesting and important.

A topic is  manageable  if you can:

• Master the relevant literature
• Collect and analyze the necessary data
• Answer the key questions you have posed
• Do it all within the time available, with the skills you have

A topic is  important  if it:

• Touches directly on major theoretical issues and debates, or
• Addresses substantive topics of great interest in your field

Ideally, your topic can do both, engaging theoretical and substantive issues. In elementary education, for example, parents, teachers, scholars, and public officials all debate the effectiveness of charter schools, the impact of vouchers, and the value of different reading programs. A research paper on any of these would resonate within the university and well beyond it. Still, as you approach such topics, you need to limit the scope of your investigation so you can finish your research and writing on time. After all, to be a good research paper, it first has to be a completed one. A successful research paper poses an interesting question you can actually answer within the time available for the project. Some problems are simply too grand, too sweeping to master within the time limits. Some are too minor to interest you or anybody else.

The solution, however, is not to find a lukewarm bowl of porridge, a bland compromise. Nor is it to abandon your interest in larger, more profound issues such as the relationship between school organization and educational achievement or between immigration and poverty. Rather, the solution is to select a well-defined topic that is closely linked to some larger issue and then explore that link. Your research paper will succeed if you nail a well-defined topic. It will rise to excellence if you probe that topic deeply and show how it illuminates wider issues.The best theses deal with important issues, framed in manageable ways. The goal is to select a well-defined topic that is closely linked to some larger issue and can illuminate it.

You can begin your project with either a large issue or a narrowly defined topic, depending on your interests and the ideas you have generated. Whichever way you start, the goals are the same: to connect the two in meaningful ways and to explore your specific topic in depth.

Of course, the choice of a particular research paper topic depends on the course you’re taking. Our site can offer you the following research paper topics and example research papers:

Moving from a Research Paper Idea to a Research Paper Topic

Let’s begin as most students actually do, by going from a “big issue” to a more manageable research paper topic. Suppose you start with a big question such as, “Why has the United States fought so many wars since 1945?” That’s certainly a big, important question. Unfortunately, it’s too complex and sprawling to cover well in a research paper. Working with your professor or instructor, you could zero in on a related but feasible research topic, such as “Why did the Johnson administration choose to escalate the U.S. war in Vietnam?” By choosing this topic, your research paper can focus on a specific war and, within that, on a few crucial years in the mid-1960s.

You can draw on major works covering all aspects of the Vietnam War and the Johnson administration’s decision making. You have access to policy memos that were once stamped top secret. These primary documents have now been declassified, published by the State Department, and made available to research libraries. Many are readily available on the Web. You can also take advantage of top-quality secondary sources (that is, books and articles based on primary documents, interviews, and other research data).

Drawing on these primary and secondary sources, you can uncover and critique the reasons behind U.S. military escalation. As you answer this well-defined question about Vietnam, you can (and you should) return to the larger themes that interest you, namely, “What does the escalation in Southeast Asia tell us about the global projection of U.S. military power since 1945?” As one of America’s largest military engagements since World War II, the war in Vietnam should tell us a great deal about the more general question.

The goal here is to pick a good case to study, one that is compelling in its own right and speaks to the larger issue. It need not be a typical example, but it does need to illuminate the larger question. Some cases are better than others precisely because they illuminate larger issues. That’s why choosing the best cases makes such a difference in your research paper.

Since you are interested in why the United States has fought so often since 1945, you probably shouldn’t focus on U.S. invasions of Grenada, Haiti, or Panama in the past two decades. Why? Because the United States has launched numerous military actions against small, weak states in the Caribbean for more than a century. That is important in its own right, but it doesn’t say much about what has changed so dramatically since 1945. The real change since 1945 is the projection of U.S. power far beyond the Western Hemisphere, to Europe and Asia. You cannot explain this change—or any change, for that matter—by looking at something that remains constant.

In this case, to analyze the larger pattern of U.S. war fighting and the shift it represents, you need to pick examples of distant conflicts, such as Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Afghanistan, or Iraq. That’s the noteworthy change since 1945: U.S. military intervention outside the Western Hemisphere. The United States has fought frequently in such areas since World War II but rarely before then. Alternatively, you could use statistics covering many cases of U.S. intervention around the world, perhaps supplemented with some telling cases studies.

Students in the humanities want to explore their own big ideas, and they, too, need to focus their research. In English literature, their big issue might be “masculinity” or, to narrow the range a bit, “masculinity in Jewish American literature.” Important as these issues are, they are too vast for anyone to read all the major novels plus all the relevant criticism and then frame a comprehensive research paper.

If you don’t narrow these sprawling topics and focus your work, you can only skim the surface. Skimming the surface is not what you want to do in a research paper. You want to understand your subject in depth and convey that understanding to your readers.

That does not mean you have to abandon your interest in major themes. It means you have to restrict their scope in sensible ways. To do that, you need to think about which aspects of masculinity really interest you and then find works that deal with them.

You may realize your central concern is how masculinity is defined in response to strong women. That focus would still leave you considerable flexibility, depending on your academic background and what you love to read. That might be anything from a reconsideration of Macbeth to an analysis of early twentieth-century American novels, where men must cope with women in assertive new roles. Perhaps you are interested in another aspect of masculinity: the different ways it is defined within the same culture at the same moment. That would lead you to novelists who explore these differences in their characters, perhaps contrasting men who come from different backgrounds, work in different jobs, or simply differ emotionally. Again, you would have considerable flexibility in choosing specific writers.

Connecting a Specific Research Paper Topic to a Bigger Idea

Not all students begin their research paper concerned with big issues such as masculinity or American wars over the past half century. Some start with very specific topics in mind. One example might be the decision to create NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement encompassing Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Perhaps you are interested in NAFTA because you discussed it in a course, heard about it in a political campaign, or saw its effects firsthand on local workers, companies, and consumers. It intrigues you, and you would like to study it in a research paper. The challenge is to go from this clear-cut subject to a larger theme that will frame your paper.

Why do you even need to figure out a larger theme? Because NAFTA bears on several major topics, and you cannot explore all of them. Your challenge—and your opportunity—is to figure out which one captures your imagination.

One way to think about that is to finish this sentence: “For me, NAFTA is a case of ___________.” If you are mainly interested in negotiations between big and small countries, then your answer is, “For me, NAFTA is a case of a large country like the United States bargaining with a smaller neighbor.” Your answer would be different if you are mainly interested in decision making within the United States, Mexico, or Canada. In that case, you might say, “NAFTA seems to be a case where a strong U.S. president pushed a trade policy through Congress.” Perhaps you are more concerned with the role played by business lobbies. “For me, NAFTA is a case of undue corporate influence over foreign economic policy.” Or you could be interested in the role of trade unions, environmental groups, or public opinion.

The NAFTA decision is related to all these big issues and more. You cannot cover them all. There is not enough time, and even if there were, the resulting paper would be too diffuse, too scattershot. To make an impact, throw a rock, not a handful of pebbles.

Choosing one of these large issues will shape your research paper on NAFTA. If you are interested in U.S. decision making, for example, you might study the lobbying process or perhaps the differences between Democrats and Republicans. If you are interested in diplomacy, you would focus on negotiations between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Either would make an interesting research paper, but they are different topics.

Although the subject matter and analysis are decidedly different in the humanities, many of the same considerations still apply to topic selection. In English or comparative literature, for example, you may be attracted to a very specific topic such as several poems by William Wordsworth. You are not trying, as a social scientist would, to test some generalizations that apply across time or space. Rather, you want to analyze these specific poems, uncover their multiple meanings, trace their allusions, and understand their form and beauty.

As part of the research paper, however, you may wish to say something bigger, something that goes beyond these particular poems. That might be about Wordsworth’s larger body of work. Are these poems representative or unusual? Do they break with his previous work or anticipate work yet to come? You may wish to comment on Wordsworth’s close ties to his fellow “Lake Poets,” Coleridge and Southey, underscoring some similarities in their work. Do they use language in shared ways? Do they use similar metaphors or explore similar themes? You may even wish to show how these particular poems are properly understood as part of the wider Romantic movement in literature and the arts. Any of these would connect the specific poems to larger themes.

How to Refine Your Research Paper Topic

One of your professor’s or instructor’s most valuable contributions to the success of your research paper is to help you refine your topic. She can help you select the best cases for detailed study or the best data and statistical techniques. S/he can help you find cases that shed light on larger questions, have good data available, and are discussed in a rich secondary literature. She may know valuable troves of documents to explore. That’s why it is so important to bring these issues up in early meetings. These discussions with your instructor are crucial in moving from a big but ill-defined idea to a smart, feasible topic.Some colleges supplement this advising process by offering special workshops and tutorial support for students. These are great resources, and you should take full advantage of them. They can improve your project in at least two ways.

First, tutors and workshop leaders are usually quite adept at helping you focus and shape your topic. That’s what they do best. Even if they are relatively new teachers, they have been writing research papers themselves for many years. They know how to do it well and how to avoid common mistakes. To craft their own papers, they have learned how to narrow their topics, gather data, interpret sources, and evaluate conjectures. They know how to use appropriate methods and how to mine the academic literature. In all these ways, they can assist you with their own hard-won experience. To avoid any confusion, just make sure your instructor knows what advice you are getting from workshop leaders and tutors. You want everyone to be pulling in the same direction.

Second, you will benefit enormously from batting around your research paper in workshops. The more you speak about your subject, the better you will understand it yourself. The better you understand it, the clearer your research and writing will be. You will learn about your project as you present your ideas; you will learn more as you listen to others discuss your work; and you will learn still more as you respond to their suggestions. Although you should do that in sessions with your instructor, you will also profit from doing it in workshops and tutorial sessions.

Secrets to Keep in Mind when Writing a Research Paper

As a bonus, we have prepared several secrets for you to make your paper perfect. Firstly, always write your paper from scratch. Do not copy the already existing materials, as it can lead to unsatisfactory mark or even expulsion. Secondly, start your research early; do not put off investigating the topic. The earlier you start, the easier it will be to meet the deadline. Thirdly, plan your work and create an outline for your task. A planned work will help you be systematic. Plus, it will help you avoid writer’s block, as you always have an outline to follow. Another secret is following all the requirements. A research paper is an academic assignment, so all these structural and formatting standards are important. Finally, make sure you proofread and edit your task. Check your paper for grammar and spelling mistakes, examine your choice of vocabulary. If it seems too much, you can always ask our professional editors and they will check the paper for you. A mistakes-free paper is essential to get high results.

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If you still have concerns regarding your research paper, we are here to answer your questions. It is no secret that studying is becoming more and more difficult at college. Every week you have an overload of tasks and assignments. You work hard, sleep little. As a result, you can be at the edge of a nervous breakdown trying to finish all the tasks on time. That is why we are here helping thousands of students to study smart.

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100+ History Research Paper Topics for All Cases

Table of Contents

Are you facing an assignment on history with no ideas on which history topics to research ? It may be really hard to find interesting history topics for your study, as it seems all historical events to write about have already been covered extensively. 

Here comes a hand-picked list of interesting research paper topics our experts have compiled to speed up your research and writing processes. Read on to find the prompts that will help you excel in writing on a variety of interesting topics of history .  

How to Choose a Relevant History Research Paper Topic ? 

So, how to come up with interesting history topics to research ? Which parameters define cool history topics that your professor will appreciate? We recommend formulating most interesting history topics by following these tips: 

• Study the prompt that your professor has given. It may already contain the topic for history paper they want you to cover or at least indicate the range of historical events to write about . 
• Use the ideas you’ve discussed in class to come up with good history research topics . 
• Select history topics for research paper from the subjects that interest you personally – maybe you’re fascinated by a specific historical leader, period, or country. 
• Keep in mind that all good history topics to research should be debatable and offer some space for argumentation. They shouldn’t be self-obvious. 

When following these recommendations, you’re sure to arrive at a list of great history paper topics . 

List of History Topics You Can Explore 

Here is a list of history paper topics our pros have compiled to guide you in this subject. It covers many types of history topics for research paper – from fun history topics to simply interesting history topics you will enjoy researching and writing about. 

History Research Paper Topics for College Students 

What historical research topics are relevant for college-level studies? Here are a couple of prompts. 

• History of Bethlem. 
• The combing of historical events. 
• The Cold War.  
• Holocaust and WWII. 
• The Dark Ages in Europe. 
• Industrial revolution. 
• Legacy of Queen Elizabeth. 
• Child labor in Europe. 
• The Great Depression. 
• Legacy of the Aztec era. 

Easy History Topics to Write About 

We’ve also made a list of simple and interesting history topics to research ; they will match the needs of freshmen in history courses. 

• The Roman Empire. 
• Hun’s invasion of Europe. 
• The Vietnam War. 
• The rise of China. 
• Salem witch trials. 
• Role of the Ottoman Empire in history. 
• Apartheid in South Africa. 
• The role of Pearl Harbor. 
• The Shogun era. 
• The nuclear race. 

US History Research Paper Topics  

Are you looking for exciting American history research paper topics ? Here is a list we can offer. 

• Civil rights movement in the USA. 
• Slavery in the USA. 
• US-China relations. 
• The Biden-Trump opposition. 
• US path to democracy. 
• Immigration crisis in the USA. 
• History of segregation. 
• USA and Africa. 
• US involvement in Vietnam.  

World History Research Paper Topics  

If you need some research-worthy world history research topics , here are some suggestions to fuel your creative process. 

• The Balkan wars. 
• Spanish civil war.  
• Queen Victoria’s legacy. 
• The Crusades. 
• Legacy of the French revolution. 
• Space exploration. 
• The legacy of the Medici. 
• Persian Gulf war. 
• Economic contributions of the Qing dynasty. 
• The Samurai tradition. 

US History Research Paper Topics before 1877 

Here are some early American history research paper topics you may find interesting. 

• Causes of US-Mexico war. 
• French and Indian wars. 
• Plymouth colony. 
• New England confederation. 
• Mississippi scheme. 
• Relationships of US settlers with Native Americans. 
• Legacy of John Smith. 
• Image of Pocahontas. 
• Mercantilism of early US colonies. 
• Indentured servitude. 

US History Research Paper Topics after 1877

If you’re interested in a later period of US history, here are some history topics to research . 

• Effects of the Civil War on Americans. 
• The Reconstruction legacy. 
• Transnational road. 
• American Indian assimilation efforts. 
• US farming practices. 
• American Federation of Labor. 
• The 1892 steel works riots.
• Gilded age. 
• Third Great Awakening. 
• Lynchings in the USA.  

Art History Research Paper Topics 

Art also has its history, and here are some art-related history topics to research and explore. 

• The rise of Rococo style’s popularity. 
• Greek sculpture. 
• Giorgi Vasari’s legacy. 
• Winckelmann – the father of art criticism. 
• Origins of iconography. 
• 20 th -century art historians.  
• Feminist art history. 
• Semiotics. 
• Museum studies. 
• The rise of nationalist art history. 

Ancient History Research Paper Topics 

• Emergence of Christian symbols. 
• Dalits in India. 
• Leadership of Julius Caesar. 
• Democracy in ancient Athens. 
• Ancient Rome. 
• Ancient Egypt. 
• Origins of mathematics. 
• Slavery in ancient communities. 
• Urbanization in Mesopotamia. 
• Ancient Greek art. 

Music History Research Paper Topics 

• Emergence of opera. 
• Jazz music. 
• Piano in classical music. 
• Advent of composition principles. 
• History of musical notation. 
• Folk music of Latin America. 
• How did rock music emerge? 
• Evolution of pop music. 
• Origins of blues. 
• African music in modern genres. 

Controversial History Research Paper Topics 

Looking for debatable history topics to research ? Here are several controversial prompts for your attention. 

• Legacy of Hitler. 
• Where is Great Moravia located? 
• Legacy of imperialism. 
• Slavery from a historical viewpoint. 
• Silencing of Aboriginal history. 
• Migration issues in history. 
• Islamic states’ role in slave trade. 
• Silencing of genocide. 
• Refugee stories. 
• Teaching Holocaust in primary schools. 

European History Topics 

Look through the list of history topics to research the path of the European continent and states’ development. 

• Classical antiquity. 
• Bubonic plague in Europe. 
• Islamic conquest of Iberia: consequences. 
• Byzantine Empire. 
• Early Middle Ages in Europe. 
• Feudal Christendom in Europe. 
• The East-West Schism of the 11 th century. 
• Holy wars in Europe. 
• The Great Famine. 
• Thirty years’ war. 

Still Looking for Interesting History Topics ? 

If this long list of exciting historical research topics still doesn’t cover your needs, or you find yourself in a bind and can’t complete the writing process on your own, it’s time to buy a research paper from our experts. By coming to PayForEssay, you guarantee a high grade and timely submission for yourself, avoiding any penalties and problems with your history course. Transform your studies and catch up with the class by working with our experts. 

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