The Department of Psychology has a series of facilities for a variety of teaching and scientific research fields. There are currently four teaching laboratories, namely the Experimental Cognitive Psychology Laboratory, the PhysioPsychology Laboratory, the Developmental and Educational Psychology Laboratory and the Applied Psychology Laboratory, together with a specialized computer classroom, various systems for sound and video recording, and a laboratory animal center. The Department of Psychology has one building dedicated to research and teaching of neuro-physiological Psychology and animal Psychology, a laboratory specialized for research and teaching of developmental Psychology, a comprehensive research region, an administrative office, and a Psychological clinic jointly built with the school hospital. The department has a total area of about 3000 square meters, equipped with advanced equipment, such as an Event-Related Potential (ERP) system, a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) system, a binocular rivalry experimental system, multimedia computers, an eye tracking system, a multichannel analyzer, a liquid chromatograph, a broadcast camera system, a voice analysis system, and etc.
1) Biological Psychology
A. Teaching Laboratory of PhysioPsychology
The PhysioPsychology Laboratory focuses research in primates and rodents. The Primates Laboratory is the only one of a kind among all Chinese universities and colleges. Its ongoing research work includes animal behavior, animal cognition, comparative study on mechanisms of the generation and development of Psychological behaviors, as well as the establishment of animal models of schizophrenia and the underlying mechanisms. The research projects are sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Basic Research Program of China (the “973 Project”), and etc. The PhysioPsychology Laboratory course has been offered by the Department of Psychology of Peking University since 1981. In response to the developing needs of the discipline, several reformations of the teaching content and the textbook for the course have been made. The laboratory has also developed a series of experimental instruments for teaching, such as the training system for animal behaviors, which provides a firm knowledge foundation for students who are interested in pursuing further these areas. Now this course has become one of the signature courses of the Department of Psychology.
B. Electrophysiology Laboratory
This laboratory studies the psychophysics and neuroscience of auditory cognition, auditory mechanisms of speech processing, theoretical models and neural mechanisms of informational and energetic masking, neurobiology of emotional learning, and animal models of schizophrenia. The leader of this laboratory is Prof. Liang Li.
2) Cognitive Psychology Laboratory
A. Teaching Laboratory of Experimental Psychology
The laboratory was founded by the renowned psychologists Professor Shuyong Chen and Professor Bomin Yang in 1978. It was at this time that Peking University restored the Department of Psychology. Professors Chen and Yang took the lead in offering the Experimental Psychology course in China. The laboratory is mainly used for teaching undergraduates the Experimental Psychology course. This Experimental Psychology course was named as a National Excellent Course in 2004. The Psychological Experiment System (PES) developed by this laboratory was certificated by the Ministry of Education (certification number: 94 Teaching Instruments Identification No. 16). This system is so far the only computer-assisted teaching system certificated in China.
The course, Experimental Psychology, has the most credits among all undergraduate courses at the Department of Psychology at present, the highest associated exposure to experiments, and the highest numbers of experimental reports required. This course has a great teaching team, various teaching methods, and complete teaching materials. Associate Prof. Haiyan Geng is the supervisor of this laboratory.
B. ERP & TMS Laboratory
Supported by the Disciplinary Construction Project of the “Program of Building the World Class University” of Peking University, the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroimaging was founded and brought into use in November, 2001. The current experimental equipment in this laboratory includes an ERP system and a TMS system. This laboratory, supervised by Prof. Shihui Han, is dedicated to research and teaching in cognitive neuroscience.
C. Psychology and Behavior Laboratory
Supported by a program grant from the National Science Foundation of China, Psychology and Behavior Laboratory was founded and put into use in June, 2007. The laboratory provides full support for undergraduate teaching and scientific research. The supervisor of the laboratory is Prof. Yanhong Wu.
D. Cognitive Psychology laboratory
The main research areas of the laboratory are language processing, attention and motor control, and social neuroscience. The aim is to investigate and reveal the nature of human cognitive and social activities on both behavioral and neural levels, through diverse research methods and techniques. The supervisor of the laboratory is Prof. Xiaolin Zhou.
E. Visual Perception Research Laboratory
Visual Perception Research Laboratory is supported by the "985" project of Peking University. Current research devices include the Cambridge Research System for vision science, SMI Unveils 500 Hz Binocular Remote Eye Tracker, a stereoscope, and other appendages. Professor Fang Fang is the supervisor of the laboratory.
3) Applied Psychology Laboratory
Multimedia Behavior Laboratory
The founding of this laboratory was approved by the university and supported by the Division of Social Sciences’ 211 plan. The laboratory was put into use in 2001. This laboratory is dedicated to teaching and research in applied behavioral Psychology. The main research areas of the laboratory are Social Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Leadership Psychology, Consumer and Advertising Psychology, and Economic Psychology. The laboratory is supervised by Associate Prof. Junqi Shi.
4) Development and Educational Psychology Laboratory
Child Development Psychology Laboratory
The laboratory was founded in September 1955 by the renowned psychologist Guohua Sun. The famous psychologists, Professors Tianmin Wu and Zhengyuan Xu, worked here and completed their key research work for the “Eighth Five-Year Plan” and the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” hosted by the State Education Commission. The main research areas of the laboratory are children's language and reading development, social development, and mathematical and cognitive development. The laboratory is supervised by Associate Prof. Li Wang.