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Psychology, PhD

2022-2023 Edition

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  • Advanced Entry Program Requirements

The PhD program in the Department of Psychology covers a wide spectrum of contemporary behavioral science within a close-knit community of faculty and students. The program offers four overlapping areas of experimental emphasis: behavioral neuroscience, cognition, perception, and social/personality. The program does not offer training in clinical or counseling psychology. The objective of the PhD program is to prepare students to become experts in research and teaching in psychology. To accomplish this goal, the department takes a mentoring approach whereby the graduate students are apprentices in faculty laboratories, working closely with their faculty mentors throughout their time in the program. The basic apprenticeship relationship is supplemented by other activities, such as required courses (concentrated in the first and second years), advanced seminars and/or course work in this as well as other departments or universities, a colloquium series, assignments as teaching assistants, the master’s project, and the dissertation and its oral defense. After the first year, the structure of the doctoral program, including course work, is flexible and assumes that the process of learning and scientific discovery must be individualized. Graduate students also have an opportunity to develop their teaching and research skills through close mentoring of undergraduate research assistants. The PhD program is a five-year, twelve-months-per-year program.

The dissertation committee must include at least three tenured or tenure-track faculty members from within the psychology department—two from the student’s interest area and one from another area. The oral defense committee consists of the dissertation committee plus additional tenured and tenure-track faculty members from the psychology department.


Students who ​do not qualify for the doctoral degree, but who have completed ​required coursework with a cumulative GPA of 3.000 or better, may be eligible to receive ​a terminal MS Psychology degree. Note that no students will be admitted directly into the Psychology program to pursue a masterʼs degree.

Bachelor's Degree Entrance 

Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.

Milestones

First-year paper
Master’s proposal
Master’s paper
Master’s presentation
Annual review
Dissertation committee
Dissertation proposal
Dissertation
Dissertation defense
At least two assigned courses as teaching assistant

Core Requirements

All graduate courses within the Department of Psychology are graded S/U. A grade of S is required in each psychology department course.

Course List
Code Title Hours
Proseminar
Complete 12 semester hours from the following:12
PSYC 5100
Proseminar in Psycholinguistics
PSYC 5110
Proseminar in Cognition
PSYC 5120
Proseminar in Sensation
PSYC 5130
Proseminar in Perception
PSYC 5140
Proseminar in Biology of Behavior
PSYC 5150
Proseminar in Clinical Neuroscience
PSYC 5160
Proseminar in Personality
PSYC 5170
Proseminar in Social Psychology
Quantitative Methods
PSYC 5180Quantitative Methods 13
PSYC 5181Quantitative Methods 23
Ethics
PSYC 7302Ethics and Professional Issues3
Research
PSYC 7301Research Methodologies Psychology3
Project
Take the following (repeatable) course three times:9
PSYC 8401
Research Project
Thesis
Take the following (repeatable) course twice:6
PSYC 7990
Thesis

Electives

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete 11 semester hours from the following:11
Note: Proseminars not taken to fulfill core requirements and courses outside the department may be taken if approved by faculty adviser and Director of Graduate Studies.
PSYC 7200 to PSYC 7300
PSYC 5100
Proseminar in Psycholinguistics
PSYC 5110
Proseminar in Cognition
PSYC 5120
Proseminar in Sensation
PSYC 5130
Proseminar in Perception
PSYC 5140
Proseminar in Biology of Behavior
PSYC 5150
Proseminar in Clinical Neuroscience
PSYC 5160
Proseminar in Personality
PSYC 5170
Proseminar in Social Psychology

Dissertation

Course List
Code Title Hours
PSYC 9990
Dissertation Term 1
PSYC 9991
Dissertation Term 2
Complete the following (repeatable) course until graduation:
PSYC 9996
Dissertation Continuation

Program Credit/GPA Requirements

50 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer Full SemesterHours
Complete 6 semester hours of the following: 6Complete 6 semester hours of the following:6PSYC 84013
PSYC 5100
PSYC 5100
Elective6
PSYC 5110
PSYC 5110
 
PSYC 5120
PSYC 5120
 
PSYC 5130
PSYC 5130
 
PSYC 5140
PSYC 5140
 
PSYC 5150
PSYC 5150
 
PSYC 5160
PSYC 5160
 
PSYC 5170
PSYC 5170
 
Complete the following:6Complete the following:6 
PSYC 5180
PSYC 5181
 
PSYC 8401
PSYC 8401
 
 12 12 9
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer Full SemesterHours
PSYC 79903Complete one of the following: 3PSYC 79960
Elective5
PSYC 7301
 
 
PSYC 7302
 
 Complete the following:3 
 
PSYC 7990
 
 8 6 0
Year 3
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer Full SemesterHours
PSYC 99900Complete one of the following: 3PSYC 99960
 
PSYC 7301
 
 
PSYC 7302
 
 Complete the following:0 
 
PSYC 9991
 
 0 3 0
Year 4
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer Full SemesterHours
PSYC 99960PSYC 99960PSYC 99960
 0 0 0
Year 5
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer Full SemesterHours
PSYC 99960PSYC 99960PSYC 99960
 0 0 0
Total Hours: 50

The PhD program in the Department of Psychology covers a wide spectrum of contemporary behavioral science within a close-knit community of faculty and students.  Advanced Entry is for students who enter possessing a master's degree in psychology or another acceptable field. The program offers four overlapping areas of experimental emphasis: behavioral neuroscience, cognition, perception, and social/personality. The program does not offer training in clinical or counseling psychology. The objective of the PhD program is to prepare students to become experts in research and teaching in psychology. To accomplish this goal, the department takes a mentoring approach whereby the graduate students are apprentices in faculty laboratories, working closely with their faculty mentors throughout their time in the program. The basic apprenticeship relationship is supplemented by other activities, such as required courses (concentrated in the first and second years), advanced seminars and/or course work in this as well as other departments or universities, a colloquium series, assignments as teaching assistants, the master’s project, and the dissertation and its oral defense. After the first year, the structure of the doctoral program, including course work, is flexible and assumes that the process of learning and scientific discovery must be individualized. Graduate students also have an opportunity to develop their teaching and research skills through close mentoring of undergraduate research assistants. The PhD program is a five-year, 12-months-per-year program.

For students who enter the program with a suitable master’s degree, degree candidacy is established through completion of a set of requirements determined on an individual basis. An additional 20 semester hours beyond the master’s degree are required for the PhD degree. The dissertation committee must include at least three tenured or tenure-track faculty members from within the psychology department—two from the student’s interest area and one from another area. The oral defense committee consists of the dissertation committee plus additional tenured and tenure-track faculty members from the psychology department.

Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated. Individual programs of study will be tailored to acknowledge students' previous coursework.

Milestones

Master’s presentation
Annual review
Dissertation committee
Dissertation proposal
Dissertation
Dissertation defense
At least two assigned courses as teaching assistant

Core Requirements

A grade of S is required in each psychology department course.

Course List
Code Title Hours
Consult your faculty adviser and director of graduate studies for acceptable coursework.10

Electives

Course List
Code Title Hours
Consult your faculty adviser and graduate director for acceptable electives.10

Dissertation 

Course List
Code Title Hours
PSYC 9990
Dissertation Term 1
PSYC 9991
Dissertation Term 2
Complete the following (repeatable) course until graduation:
PSYC 9996
Dissertation Continuation

Program Credit/GPA Requirements

20 total semester hours required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required

Note: The number of semester hours to complete this program may be more than 20. The number of semester hours and the specific required courses will be determined by a review of previous coursework by the graduate director and faculty adviser.

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