Psychology Department

The psychology major is basic to pre-professional training for a career in psychology, which now requires graduate study leading to the PsyD, MA, MS, and PhD degrees. Professional careers in psychology fall in many areas: teaching and research in colleges and universities; counseling in the schools or in vocational guidance and counseling clinics; psychological work in the military services, the courts, industry, hospitals, public health and community centers, and local, state and federal agencies of many kinds. Throughout the years Hamline psychology majors have obtained PhDs from some of the nation’s leading graduate programs, including those of Stanford University and the universities of Michigan, Southern California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, and Illinois.

The student majoring in psychology who does not plan on further work in graduate or professional schools receives a broad liberal education and is qualified for positions involving interpersonal relations. Examples of such positions are personnel work in business and industry, employment interviewing, industrial relations, merchandising and sales, advertising, government service, and other community enterprises.

Employment of psychologists has been increasing. Reasons for this increase include an emphasis on health maintenance and public concern for the elderly, minorities, and the poor.

Paterson Award

Since 1961, the Paterson Award has been given by the Minnesota Psychological Association to the outstanding graduating psychology major in the state of Minnesota. The major criteria for the award are:

Evidence of superior undergraduate achievement both in psychology and in the broader areas of undergraduate education
Evidence of potential for further work in psychology. This includes acceptance into recognized graduate school programs
Evidence of personal characteristics and attributes that contribute to effective work in the field of psychology

Students at all four-year institutions in Minnesota compete for the Paterson Award, and a Hamline psychology major has received it 19 times.

Faculty

Dorothee Dietrich, professor. BA 1984 Humboldt State University; MS 1987, PhD 1990, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Research interests/publications: self-handicapping and other self-esteem related processes.

R. Kim Guenther, professor. BA 1970, University of Illinois; MA 1973, San Diego State University; PhD 1977, University of California-Santa Barbara. 1994 Sanders Award for Outstanding Professor. Dr. Guenther continues to do research and to publish textbooks and articles in the area of cognitive psychology. He is specifically interested in theories of memory, trauma and memory, and individual differences in cognition.

Serena M. King, associate professor. BA 1998, University of Michigan-Dearborn; MA 2001, PhD 2005, University of Minnesota. Research interests/publications: substance use disorders and antisocial personality traits.

Paula Y. Mullineaux, assistant professor. BA 1998, Indiana University Southeast; MA 2003, Southern Illinois University; PhD 2006, Southern Illinois University. Research interests/publications: child development, parent-child interactions, and behavior genetics.

Matthew H. Olson, professor, chair. AB 1973, University of California-Davis; PhD 1977, University of Michigan. 1991 Sanders Award for Outstanding Professor. Textbook author in learning theory and personality theory. Research interests: learning and decision making.

Robin Hornik Parritz, professor. BA 1983, Brandeis University; PhD 1989, University of Minnesota. Research/clinical interests: stress and coping, emotional development and emotional competence, developmental psychopathology.