History

The Department of Psychology at Hacettepe University was established in 1964-65 academic year and accepted 20 students. The Department of Pediatrics, which is considered as the origin of The Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University, was established in February 2nd, 1954 under the supervision of the Faculty of Medicine at Ankara University. Hacettepe University, began to operate as the Institute of Child Health and Hospital in 1957, and initiated education, training, research and public service in 1958. The School of Health Sciences which provided education in the fields of Nursing, Medical Technology, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in 1961, and in the fields of Nutrition and Dietetics in 1962 was established.

In 1963, Hacettepe School of Health Sciences became the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the Schools of Basic Sciences, Nursing, Physiotherapy-Rehabilitation, Medical Technology and Health Technology were reorganized under this faculty. Besides, the School of Dentistry of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences was established. Our department was a part of the School of Basic Sciences at first. Established from this structure on July 8, 1967, Hacettepe University and the department that was affiliated to the Faculty of Science and Social Sciences were later linked to the Department of Social and Administrative Sciences and it was included in the Faculty of Literature since 1982. Until 1976, the department served at the Sıhhiye Campus and then moved to its current location at the Beytepe Campus. A group of researchers who completed their doctoral studies in the United States were included in our department during the first years of establishment. From this group, Dr. İffet Dinç in experimental psychology, Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Arıcı in psychometry and statistics, Prof. Dr. Necla Öner in school and counseling psychology and Prof. Dr. Feriha Baymur in psychological counseling has brought the latest information and techniques to our department. Our first and the founder head of the department was Dr. Feriha Baymur.

The first graduates of the department received their undergraduate degrees in 1968. In the 1970s, many valuable researchers who have completed their Ph.D. studies in Turkey and abroad were included in our department. During the establishment and development of the department, foreign faculty members joined to our department through Fullbright. Doğan Cüceloğlu in the field of psycholinguistics, Ali Gitmez, Erhan Yasar, Olcay İmamoğlu, Ayhan (William) Le Compte and Orhan Aydın in social psychology, Güney Le Compte and Rüveyde Bayraktar in developmental psychology, Shirley Epir and Işık Savaşır in clinical psychology and Sirel Karakaş, who completed her Ph. D. studies in the field of biophysics at Hacettepe University, in experimental psychology, joined our department during this period. In these early years, M.A. programs in general and applied psychology were launched in our department. The Ph.D. program was started in the mid-1970s and the first graduates have been Perin Yolaç, Ayşe Yalın, Buket Erkal, Rüksan Eski and Deniz Şahin since 1978. With the Ph.D. program, our department has started to train its future researchers. As of June 2012, the number of graduates has reached 2065. Nationally recognized names such as Edip Emil Öymen ve Prof. Dr. Üstün Dökmen completed their undergraduate studies in our department and Dr. Gündüz Vassaf received his M.A. degree from our department. Being one of the pioneers in the field of Psychology, our department has trained many practitioners and scientists besides the names mentioned above. Graduates of our department have provided important services in the establishment of psychology departments in different regions of our country, in the improvement of their staff and in the recognition of psychology throughout the country.

After Prof. Dr. Feriha Baymur head of the department was Dr. İffet Dinç, Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Arıcı, Prof. Dr. Orhan Aydın and Prof. Dr. İhsan Dağ respectively. Our current head of department is Prof. Dr. Banu Cangöz.

With the expansion of the academic staff and diversification of research areas, numerous research laboratories had been established in our department in the years of 1990s. In the Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory established in 1996, the pioneering studies in the field of cognitive electrophysiology in our country were carried out by Sirel Karakaş and her team. During these years, animal studies were conducted in the field of learning psychology in animal laboratory of our department. During 2000s, the number of active research laboratories in our department increased rapidly. The studies on psychotherapy processes have been carried out in Psychotherapy Research Laboratory. In the Development and Observation Laboratory which was established during the same years, studies have been carried out within the understanding of lifelong development. The Cognitive Psychology Application Laboratory which have examined cognitive processes of healthy individuals and patients in different age groups was established in 2007. Experimental social psychology studies have been carried out in the Social Psychology Laboratory which was established in 2008; and the studies on the effects of smoking on cognitive processes have been conducted in the Behavioral Psychopharmacology Laboratory which was established in 2010. In the Clinical Psychology Research and Development Laboratory which was established in 2009, the studies on the development of measures in clinical psychology and adaptation studies of the instruments to the Turkish culture have been carried out. In the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Research Laboratory which was established in 2017, both cultural and cross-cultural studies on work-life have been carried out.

From its establishment in 1976 until today, our faculty members have taken active role in every stage of the development of the Turkish Psychological Association, which have had an important role in the development of psychology in our country. It is the only professional organization for the psychologists in Turkey,. Our faculty members supported the development of the Turkish Psychological Association by means of conducting studies concerning book translations and attending to the professional trainings as a voluntary instructor.

In the history of our department, the Community of Psychology Students, which was established by our students, had an important role. Students of our department have organized scientific activities, trips, meetings every year by means of the community established in 1994 and have improved interpersonal relations between students. In 2001 and 2008, students of our department hosted the Congress of Psychology Students, which is organized nationally every year and brings psychology students together all around the country. Our students took role in every stage of Turkish Psychology Students Working Group, which is the student branch of Turkish Psychological Association, and contributed to the organization of this association nationally.

The Department of Psychology at Hacettepe University, which has been chosen the most at the university applications among the departments whose education language is Turkish, has maintained education and teaching programs at undergraduate, graduate and doctorate level in its 53rd year (2017) by following the current developments of the field in the direction of its aims with its extensive and competent staff consisting of 10 faculty members, 5 lecturers, 34 research assistants including 3 departmental research assistants and 31 ÖYP research assistants belonging to all main subfields of psychology such as experimental psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, psychometry and social psychology, with its 2 administrative staff.