Division of Behavioral Neuroscience

Faculty interests include the neural mechanisms of motivation and reinforcement, the effects of drugs of abuse on the brain, the neurobiology of learning and memory, the physiology and psychology of visual processing, and the neural basis of attention and cognitive behaviors. Research involves examining brain functions in fish, rodents, non-human primates and humans. The Division provides instruction in a range of state-of-the-art behavioral, neurochemical, neuroanatomical and neurophysiological techniques ranging from the recording of the activity of single neurons and the measurement of neurotransmitter release in behaving animals, to the imaging of patterns of neural activation throughout the brain and the behavioral effects of central nervous system lesions. The Behavioral Neuroscience Division is committed to an interdisciplinary approach to the study of brain function. The Division is an integral component of the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience (LIN), a unit made up of faculty and students from the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and Philosophy which promotes research, offers courses, and hosts seminars on research topics ranging from molecular to systems-level neuroscience.

Division of Clinical Psychology

Faculty interests are diverse and include: health promotion and disease prevention, behavior change mechanisms, cigarette smoking, smoking cessation, cancer prevention, etiology and treatment of eating disorders, eating behavior and obesity, diet and behavior, drug's effects on emotion and attention, individual differences in drug dependence, cognitive models of depression, anxiety and drug use, neurocognitive assessment, neuroimaging and psychopathology, cortical control of eye movement, schizophrenia and autism, social behavioral medicine, AIDS-related behavior, sex roles and sexual orientation, social psychological aspects of alcohol and drug abuse/use, field research, minority education, resilience and protective factors in high-risk urban minority children and adolescents, the role of peer and other social support in academic adjustment, prevention of high-risk behaviors, development of depression, cognitive vulnerability-stress models of depression, developmental psychopathology, gender differences in depression, and comorbidity of depression and other psychiatric disorders. The mission of the division of clinical psychology is to educate innovative research-oriented scholars. We emphasize the integration of research and clinical work to produce leading researchers who will advance theory, research, and application in the areas of assessment, treatment, and the prevention of psychopathology. Our educational philosophy emphasizes a scientific and socially responsible approach to clinical psychology, including sensitivity to ethical issues as well as gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity. The Department also has its own community based training clinic.

Division of Cognitive Psychology

Faculty research programs are linked through the theme of exploring complex cognitive processing, which includes the study of attention, memory, language, discourse processes, problem solving, conceptual change, learning, expertise, and individual differences. Research facilities include laboratories equipped with audio-and video-recording equipment, two DPI eyetrackers, and access to Virtual Reality environments, and event-related potential (ERP) and fMRI facilities through the Center for Cognitive Medicine. Many faculty have interests in learning, the use of technology for instruction, and using cognitive research to inform educational practice, making UIC an ideal location for students interested in the learning sciences. All members of the Cognitive Division are involved in the Center for the Study of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Development, which supports multidisciplinary research on learning and teaching. Several faculty with interests at the intersection of neuroscience, cognitive and clinical psychology are affiliated with the Cognitive Division and there is a close connection with the Center for Cognitive Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry.

Division of Community and Prevention Research

The social problems and challenges our communities face in the twenty-first century are enormous: poverty, violence, cultural conflict, infectious disease. Examples of current action research include developing and evaluating interventions with urban children and adolescents to prevent drug use, high risk sexual behavior, delinquency, and dropping out of school; studying ways to build the capacity of grassroots organizations in Latino and African-American communities to advocate for disability rights; assessing community responses to violence against women; evaluating the quality of services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault; promoting the prosocial development of African-American youth; preventing HIV transmission among young African-American men who have sex with men; creating school-community partnerships to improve the social and emotional intelligence of children and youth; and assessing efforts at educational reform for immigrant and refugee adolescents. The mission of the Community and Prevention Research program in the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Psychology is to educate students to conduct innovative community and preventive intervention research in a pluralistic society. Through research, students examine the interplay of community, organizational, group, and individual factors. The program provides training in the theories and methods of community psychology and of prevention to strengthen students’ ability to think creatively and critically about social problem solving. UIC has one of the finest and largest faculties of community and prevention researchers. They work in the rich social ecology of the communities in the Chicago area. Our intervention and applied research takes place primarily in Chicago-area schools, neighborhoods, and human service settings.

Division of Social and Personality Psychology

Faculty research in the Social & Personality Psychology program spans a diverse array of topic areas, including psychology and law, personality coherence and self-regulation, psychological attachment and close relationships, group problem-solving and decision making, culture and self-identity, social behavioral medicine, social perception and defensive processes, and political psychology.