Facilities

The Psychology Department at NIU has substantial resources available to support student and faculty research. Offices for faculty and graduate students in psychology, along with approximately 23,000 square feet of research space, are located in a six-story modern building. A wing of the building is dedicated to psychological research, with various laboratory suites specifically designed and fully equipped for research in biopsychology and animal learning, skill acquisition and cognitive processes, perception, social and cognitive development, family violence, experimental social psychology, and industrial/organizational psychology. The department assists in the recruitment of research participants through undergraduate psychology classes.

There are numerous specialized facilities including:

• The Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault 
• The Psychological Services Center — a community clinic as well as a center for research and clinical training.
• A departmentally subsidized and well-equipped animal (rodent) colony.
• A suite of individual computerized testing rooms for experimental research.

Data acquisition and analysis are facilitated through the use of readily available laboratory computers. Easy access to the University’s computer network and to electronic mail is provided by a number of work stations located in the building and throughout the university. Most laboratories are equipped with word processing and data-analytic software. A networked computer laboratory is housed in the Psychology building and has been established exclusively for use by psychology graduate students, providing access to major word processing, statistical packages (e.g., SPSS, SAS, LISREL, HLM), and to the Internet.

Fully equipped electronics, woodworking, and metalworking shops are available for use by faculty and graduate students. A full-time technician is available for designing and constructing specialized apparatus.