Graduate Program

The Department of Psychology grants Ph.D. degrees in the areas of:
Behavioral Neuroscience
Clinical Psychology
Cognition and Behavior
Developmental Psychology
Quantitative Psychology
Social Psychology
Law and Psychology (J.D./Ph.D. Program)

Although students obtain a masters degree in the process of completing work toward the doctorate, we do not offer a “terminal” masters degree. Each of the academic programs seeks to develop the following skill sets: scholarship (knowledge of the history and contemporary nature of the respective fields), critical thinking (the ability to independently evaluate data and theoretical models), facility with empirical methods, creativity, and the highest ethical standards in the conduct of research. In addition, the Clinical program aims to prepare sensitive, ethical, and skilled scientist-practitioners, and is accredited by the American Psychological Association.

The overarching objective of all degree-granting program areas is to provide thorough and highly individualized training (via strong mentoring relationships) that will prepare graduates for careers in Research 1 universities, in applied settings (such as hospitals and medical schools), in business, governmental, and industrial settings, and in smaller, liberal-arts colleges. By bringing together a select and diverse group of graduate students and allowing them to work closely with our equally select and diverse faculty, we expect to contribute significantly to both science and education.

By means of active collaboration with a highly productive faculty, graduate students acquire more than technical expertise; they become co-creators of useful knowledge and guarantors of psychology’future. Graduate students also play a key role in the process of mentoring ASU undergraduates, particularly through the mechanism of undergraduate research apprenticeships.