100+ 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

History of Psychology

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

Mental Health

Agoraphobia
Alcoholism
Alzheimer’s Disease
Amnesia
Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa (Eating Disorders)
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Anxiety
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Autism
Borderline Personality Disorder
Conduct Disorder
Dementia
Dependency
Depression
Dissociative Disorders
Epilepsy
Gambling
Mental Retardation
Mood Disorders
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Panic Attacks
Paranoia
Personality Disorders
Phobias
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Psychopathology
Schizophrenia
Sexual Disorders
Somatization and Hypochondriasis
Substance Abuse

Psychology Research and Analytic Techniques

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

Neuroscience

Biological Psychology
Neurotransmission
Traditional Neuroscience Research Methods
Imaging Techniques for the Localization of Brain Function
Drug Addiction
Behavioral Pharmacology

Sensory Processes and Perception

Sensation
Psychophysics
States of Consciousness
Taste
Vision
Olfaction
Audition
Somatosensory Systems
Perception

Evolution and Behavior

Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary Perspectives on Mate Preferences
Animal Learning and Behavior
Animal Cognition
Comparative Psychology

Basic Learning Processes

Classical Conditioning
Recent Trends in Classical Conditioning
Taste-Aversion Learning
Operant Conditioning
Recent Trends in Operant Conditioning
Social Learning
Stimulus Equivalence

Individual Differences and Personality

Psychometrics
Testing and Assessment
Personality Development
Personality Psychology
Intelligence
Motivation

Cognitive Psychology

Memory
Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
Repressed and Recovered Memory
Language and Language Development
Thinking and Problem Solving
Critical Thinking
Artificial Intelligence

Developmental Psychology

Prenatal Development and Infancy
Childhood and Adolescence
Adulthood and Aging
Disabilities
Giftedness
Death, Dying, and Bereavement
Nature Versus Nurture

Social Psychology

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

Health, Stress, and Coping

Health Psychology
Stress and Stressors
Coping Skills
Resilience
Positive Psychology
Human Performance in Extreme Environments
HIV/AIDS
Suicide

Clinical Psychology

Abnormal Psychology
Ethics of Therapists
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Anxiety Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Personality Disorders
Mood Disorders
Schizophrenia
Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders
Psychotherapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Family Therapy
Pharmacotherapy
Forensic Clinical Psychology
Sexual Offending Behavior

Applied Psychology

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

Human Diversity

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

Assessment and Psychotherapy

Assessment of Mental Health in Older Adults
Behavior Therapy
Behavioral Medicine
Biofeedback
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
Meditation and the Relaxation Response
Personality Assessment
Premenstrual Syndrome Treatment
Psychoanalysis
Psychopharmacology
Sexual Dysfunction Therapy
Standards for Psychotherapy
Support Groups

Browse More Psychology Research Paper Topics:

Although human and animal behaviors have been topics of interest to scientists and others since antiquity, historians typically date the inception of modern psychology to the mid-19th century. More specifically, they have selected 1879, the year that Wilhelm Wundt established his experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, as the year that modern psychology originated. At that time, Wundt believed that the goals of psychology were (a) to study “immediate” conscious experience using experimental methodology and (b) to investigate higher mental processes using nonexperimental techniques. The change that psychology has undergone in the nearly 130 years since its founding has been nothing short of phenomenal.

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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:

Browse examples of psychology research papers to find sample research papers on psychology topics. 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.