Graduate Requirements

The faculty in the Department of Psychology offer graduate programs with a major in Psychology leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Although there is no formal Master of Arts program as such, doctoral students are required to complete a Master of Arts degree as part of their doctoral training. Concentrations are available in clinical, cognitive systems, developmental, quantitative, behavioral neuroscience, and social psychology.

All applicants are required to submit aptitude scores on the Graduate Record Examination (advanced section is strongly encouraged for clinical psychology), transcripts, three letters of reference, and a statement of purpose.

Program of Study. A minimum of 30 semester hours is required for the master's degree.

Foreign Language Requirements. None.

Thesis Requirements. A thesis is required.

Final Examinations. A final oral examination in defense of the thesis is required.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE

Application Deadline. Completed applications for admission in the fall semester, including all letters and supporting documents, should be received by December 15th for the clinical program and by January 5th for all other programs.

The Department of Psychology requires all applicants to provide scores from the aptitude sections of the Graduate Record Examination. A score from the advanced (psychology) section is strongly encouraged for applicants to the clinical program. However, these scores are not used exclusively to determine admission but are viewed in the context of other supporting materials, such as GPAs and letters of recommendation.

Program of Study. At present the Department of Psychology offers the Ph.D. degree in the following research areas: behavioral neuroscience, clinical, cognitive systems, developmental, quantitative, and social psychology. A minimum of 60 semester hours of course credit beyond the bachelor's degree is required, plus 24 semester hours of credit in research and dissertation.

In addition to a core curriculum, students take courses related to their area of interest as determined in consultation with their supervisory committees.

First-Year Evaluation. At the end of the first year of study, each student receives a comprehensive evaluation by the faculty based upon performance in courses and in professional or laboratory assignments and upon the evidence of professional responsibility and ethical behavior.

Foreign Language Requirements. None.

Comprehensive Examinations. Written and oral examinations are required near the end or upon completion of all course work. After passing the comprehensive examinations and meeting other requirements, the student is eligible to apply for candidacy.

Dissertation Requirements. The dissertation must be an original contribution to knowledge, demonstrating the student's proficiency as an independent investigator.

Final Examinations. A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation is required.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY

Behavioral Neuroscience. Psychopharmacology; mathematical modeling of behavior and perceptual relativity; neurobiology of drug abuse; neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's and Alzheimer's); neuroplasticity following brain damage, chronic stress, or chronic drug abuse; effects of stress on cognitive and emotional function; limbic and motor systems.

Clinical. Three areas of emphasis: child-clinical, community/prevention, and health psychology. Topics include risk factors for mental health and substance abuse problems of children and adolescents, mental health of minority groups; stress and coping processes; self-regulation and goal systems; the interface of psychology and the law; women's health, cardiovascular reactivity, psychoneuroimmunology; development and testing of preventive interventions for children at risk; validation of cognitive, behavioral and systems interventions for families in crisis; health promotion and relapse prevention in Hispanic populations; contagion theory, social support; adjustment to separation and divorce; measurement of self-deception, processes underlying ethical judgments in professional contexts.

Cognitive Systems. Visual, auditory, and haptic perception, word recognition and reading, long-term memory, attention, categorization, dynamic systems theory, animal learning, motor control, development of spatial abilities, conceptual development, psychophysics, mathematical modeling of learning and behavior.  Please see cognition and behavior program page for more information.

Developmental. Prosocial behavior, empathy, and moral development; political attitudes; sex roles; spatial cognition; child language and drawing; cooperation and competition; inference and reasoning; child and adolescent health psychology; development of ethnic identity; children's theory of mind; social psychology of aging; dynamics of college departure among adults.

Quantitative. Three broad areas of research: modern measurement, research design, and applied statistics. Topics include item response theory with application to measurement equivalence over groups, longitudinal measurement, measurement bias; methods for multitrait-multimethod data; latent variable models, structural equation models, longitudinal growth modeling, multilevel modeling, mixture models; multiple regression models, interactions in multiple regression; methods of mediational analysis; graphics and exploratory data analysis; analysis of variance and categorical data analysis methods; experimental and quasi-experimental designs for field settings, statistics for prevention research, self-selection biases, attrition and missing data.

Social. Interpersonal attraction and conflict, cognitive models of attitude change and formation, attribution processes, compliance techniques, human judgment and social cognition, evolutionary psychology, gender issues, and consultation methods.

Applied Social Psychology. Evaluation research, drug and alcohol abuse, criminal justice, victimization, social traps, coping and adaptation, medical compliance, and health psychology. Students interested in this topic may choose it as a subspecialization in social psychology.