Philosophy professor John Watson taught Queen's first courses in psychology in the 1870s, though courses in the precursor of psychology, mental philosophy, had been taught since the 1850s. Psychology became an increasingly important part of the Department of Philosophy's work in the 1920s and 1930s, thanks to the distinguished Professor of Psychology, George Humphrey, who left Queen's in 1947, to take up Oxford's first Chair of Experimental Psychology. A separate Department of Psychology was founded in 1949, with just three faculty members. The Department has grown enormously since that time. It now has more than 35 faculty, offers its introductory course to more than 1800 students, and has the largest PhD program at Queen's. It occupies two large buildings, Humphrey Hall (named after George Humphrey), and the Craine building (after Agnes Craine). It offers a broad range of courses and conducts research in all the main areas of psychology, including perception, cognition, learning and motivation and their biological underpinnings, child development, individual differences, social psychology, and behaviour disorders. It is part of the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Adapted from the entry in the Queen's Encyclopedia.
