Psychology M.S. Degree Requirements
Ph.D. Degree Requirements
National Honor Society
Courses of Instruction

Overview

Available on the Master of Arts, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Studies leading to a master's or doctoral degree in general-experimental psychology are offered. Students who want only a master's degree and do not plan to complete the doctoral program at TCU are not typically accepted.

Prerequisites for the M.A. and M.S. Degrees:
B.A. or B.S. degree, including a major in psychology or a 24-hour equivalent. Satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination are required. Students with majors in other disciplines will be considered upon request, but may be required to make up any deficiencies in their undergraduate preparations.

Prerequisites for the Ph.D. Degree:
B.A. or B.S. degree, including a major in psychology or a 24-hour equivalent. Satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination are required. Students with majors in other disciplines will be considered upon request, but may be required to make up any deficiencies in their undergraduate preparations. Students who do not plan to complete the doctoral program at TCU are not typically accepted.

M.S. Degree Requirements

A predoctoral M.A. or M.S. degree requiring a minimum of 30 approved semester hours, including at least six semester hours of thesis is available. This program is recommended for those students who plan to pursue doctoral level graduate study in the psychology program at TCU. Students who do not plan to complete the doctoral program at TCU are not typically accepted.

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

The program leading to the Ph.D. degree has a research emphasis reflecting the study of psychology as a science rather than the therapeutic aspects of psychology. The term "research" should be interpreted broadly. The program is not limited to traditional experimental psychology, nor is it committed solely to laboratory-based methods. The Department believes that a measure of specialized knowledge is built upon a firm but broad base of psychological principles and methods that constitutes the best plan for most of its students. Although the graduate program leads to a Ph.D. in General-Experimental Psychology, the student is expected to pursue a specialized area of research. For information about areas of research interests of the faculty, contact the Psychology Department or visit the Department website: www.psy.tcu.edu.
A Ph.D. is a research degree. It is awarded for demonstrating competence in research by successfully defending a Ph.D. dissertation. The emphasis is on a research apprenticeship, so few courses are required, and those few courses could all be waived, at the discretion of the graduate director. It is possible to earn a Ph.D. without ever taking a course other than the Advanced Studies courses, which satisfy the research apprenticeship, plus 12 dissertation hours - 6 hours of PSYC 90980 and 6 hours of PSYC 90990.

In the usual program, students must take and "pass" (grade of B- or better in each) five core courses that include:

both

PSYC 50403 Advanced Physiological Psychology
PSYC 60553 Conditioning and Learning

one of

PSYC 50423 Graduate Statistics
PSYC 50523 Experimental Design

one of

PSYC 50583 Cognition
PSYC 50563 Developmental Psychology
PSYC 60533 Perception

one of

PSYC 60823 Group Processes
PSYC 60833 Attitudes
PSYC 80500 Special Topics in Social Psychology and Personality

Any or all of these courses could be waived if the Graduate Director finds that the student has previously taken an equivalent course in another graduate program. Beyond those courses, each student takes any and all courses required by his or her area committee, which could be many or none. Successful completion of the Ph.D. requires completing the course requirements, if any, successfully defending a master's thesis if required by the faculty, passing the preliminary evaluation vote by the full faculty, passing a qualifying examination that has both written and oral components in order to advance to doctoral candidacy, and defending a Ph.D. dissertation. The usual timeline involves completing the five core courses listed above by the end of the second year, completing the master's thesis, when required, by the end of the second year, continuing to take any and all additional courses required by the area committee, passing the preliminary evaluation vote by the end of the third year, passing the qualifying examination to advance to doctoral candidacy by the end of the fall semester of the fourth year, and successfully defending the Ph.D. dissertation within six years after advancing to doctoral candidacy.

National Honor Society

The Department of Psychology sponsors the TCU chapter of Psi Chi, national honorary society for psychology.

Courses of Instruction

CHDV 50433 Vulnerable Child I: Theory. The Vulnerable Child is a two-part series of multidisciplinary courses which investigate the challenges faced by families and professionals who work with children who have emotional, behavioral, and/or physiological challenges. The Vulnerable Child I: Theory will focus on the theory and research which is the basis of these challenges. If our Hope Connection summer camp for adopted children is taking place, both Vulnerable Child courses are required before students can work in it.

CHDV 50533 Case Studies in Child Development. This course is designed to present an integrated and comprehensive overview of numerous issues in child devlopment as well as treatments/solutions for those issues. This diverse array of developmental problems will be presented in a series of case-studies by professors from several departments as well as by community professionals who specialize in children's issues. This course is a requirement for the Child Development Minor as well as an elective course in Psychology.

PSYC 50213 Interactive Data Analysis.

PSYC 50403 Advanced Physiological Psychology. Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate standing and PSYC 30463 or approval of instructor. An in depth analysis of the neural and endocrine components of normal and abnormal behavior with emphasis on classic studies in the field.

PSYC 50411 Theoretical Foundations of Statistical Inference. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Psychology; Ph.D. students must take concurrently with PSYC 50423. Supplements PSYC 50423. Provides an in-depth view of the models and theories underlying analysis of variance, correlation and regression analysis, and the nonparametric techniques.

PSYC 50413 History and Systems of Psychology. Prerequisite: Senior or graduate standing in Psychology, or approval of instructor. The scientific and philosophic antecedents of contemporary psychology in relation to their current influence on the field.

PSYC 50423 Graduate Statistics. Prerequisite: Senior or Graduate standing or approval of instructor. The conceptual basis of statistical inference. Topics include: analysis of variance models, correlation and regression analysis, and nonparametric techniques.

PSYC 50433 Vulnerable Child I: Theory. The Vulnerable Child is a two-part series of multidisciplinary courses which investigate the challenges faced by families and professionals who work with children who have emotional, behavioral, and/or physiological challenges. The Vulnerable Child I: Theory will focus on the theory and research which is the basis of these challenges. If our Hope Connection summer camp for adopted children is taking place, both Vulnerable Child courses are required before students can work in it.

PSYC 50443 Vulnerable Child II: Practice. Prerequisites: PSYC/CHDV 50433. The Vulnerable Child is a two-part series of multidisciplinary courses which investigate the challenges faced by families and professionals who work with children who have emotional, behavioral, and /or physiological challenges. The Vulnerable Child II: Practice will focus on the training students need to evaluate and apply intervention strategies for these families and children based on the theory and research learned in the first course. Both Vulnerable Child I & II are required for students wishing to apply for Independent Studies' hours to work in The Hope connection summer camp for at-risk adopted children.

PSYC 50453 Experimental Social Psychology. Two lectures and one laboratory period per week. Prerequisite: PSYC 30353 or its equivalent, or approval of instructor. Concepts and methods of research on attitudes, communication and persuasion, group structure, and group processes.

PSYC 50463 Fundamentals of Neuroscience. Prerequisite: Graduate or senior standing or approval of the instructor. The fundamentals of functional neuroanatomy and neurophysiology with an emphasis on experimental and theoretical analysis of the basic brain behavior relationships. (Offered as BIOL or PSYC credit.)

PSYC 50472 Laboratory in Physiological Psychology and Neuroscience. Prerequisite: PSYC 30463 or its equivalent or PSYC 50653 or its equivalent, or concurrent registration in either PSYC 50436 or PSYC 30463. One lecture and one laboratory per week. Emphasis will be on the laboratory techniques employed in physiological psychology and neuroscience in analyzing the neural and hormonal correlates of behavior (Also offered as BIOL 50472)

PSYC 50482 Laboratory in Physiological Psychology and Neuroscience. Prerequisite: PSYC 30463 or its equivalent or PSYC 50653 or its equivalent, or concurrent registration in either PSYC 50436 or PSYC 30463. One lecture and one laboratory per week. Emphasis will be on the laboratory techniques employed in physiological psychology and neuroscience in analyzing the neural and hormonal correlates of behavior (Also offered as BIOL 50482)

PSYC 50493 Advanced Personality. Prerequisite: Senior or graduate standing in psychology and PSYC 40443, or approval of instructor. Current topics from the empirical and theoretical literature on personality.

PSYC 50513 Psychopharmacology. Prerequisite: PSYC 10213, or 10514, or 10524, or approval of instructor. Theory and principles of behavioral and biochemical methods of assaying drug action, with primary emphasis on the study of the effects of neuropharmacological agents or endogenous systems.

PSYC 50523 Experimental Design. Prerequisite: PSYC 50423 or approval of instructor. The planning and design of behavioral research including the specification of research problems, development of appropriate designs, the use of appropriate analytic techniques and the interpretation of results. Primary attention is given to analysis of variance models as analytic techniques, but multivariate techniques such as regression and discriminant function models are also considered.

PSYC 50533 Case Studies in Child Development. This course is designed to present an integrated and comprehensive overview of numerous issues in child devlopment as well as treatments/solutions for those issues. This diverse array of developmental problems will be presented in a series of case-studies by professors from several departments as well as by community professionals who specialize in children's issues. This course is a requirement for the Child Development Minor as well as an elective course in Psychology.

PSYC 50563 Developmental Psychology. Prerequisite: Senior or graduate standing in Psychology, or approval of instructor. Data and research methods related to the development of the human organism from its prenatal origins through old age.

PSYC 50583 Cognition. Prerequisite: Senior or graduate standing in Psychology, or approval of instructor. Current topics in the area of cognition including thinking, language, memory, decision making, and problem solving.

PSYC 50603 Contemporary Learning Theory. Prerequisite: Senior or graduate standing in Psychology, or approval of instructor. Selected theoretical principles important for understanding complex behavior, and their recent extensions and application to human social behavior, autonomic and psychosomatic function, etc.

PSYC 51000 Seminar on Ethics and Science. Senior or graduate standing or permission of the instructor. The course will look at the range of ethical decisions that are required of scientists. We will focus on identifying ethical dilemma throughout the history of scientific discovery. Case studies will include both moral exemplars and instances of scientific misconduct. These case studies will cut across scientific disciplines and include examples from biology, medical research, biotechnology, and psychology.

PSYC 60000 Special Study. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. May be independent study or research under Code 1, or may be a special course in an area not covered in regular courses (Code 2 or higher).

PSYC 60500 Seminar in Chemistry of Behavior. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Weekly discussions of current topics in the Chemistry of Behavior. (Offered as CHEM or PSYC credit.)

PSYC 60533 Perception. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. The relations of sensation and perception, stimulus and receptor correlates, phenomenological and configurational theories and the integration of perception with the phenomena of motivation and learning.

PSYC 60543 Sensory Processes. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. Energy transduction in the external and internal senses, afferent control via receptor adjustment and neural interaction, centripetal information processing and the relation of sensors to homeostatic regulation.

PSYC 60553 Conditioning and Learning. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. Basic research in the field of learning, emphasizing empirical study of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, generalization, discrimination and extinction.

PSYC 60561 Laboratory in Conditioning and Learning. Prerequisite: Concurrent or prior registration in PSYC 60553, or approval of instructor.

PSYC 60563 Psychology of Human Learning. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. A review of research methods and theories of human learning with special emphasis on the acquisition of verbal and social behavior in both children and adults.

PSYC 60613 Multivariate Analysis. Prerequisite: PSYC 50423 or approval of instructor. Multivariate correlation methods, discriminant function analysis, factor analysis and related techniques.

PSYC 60663 Advanced Social Psychology. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. A survey of the literature of social psychology with emphasis upon recent research.

PSYC 60683 Advanced Comparative Psychology. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. The development of anatomical structures, environmental factors and behavior of species throughout the animal kingdom. Emphasis is on interspecies comparison and the understanding of human behavior in terms of its evolutionary antecedents.

PSYC 60723 Motivation. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. Concepts, theories and systematic investigations of motivation, covering historic lines of development with particular emphasis on recent contributions.

PSYC 60823 Group Processes. Prerequisite: PSYC 60663 or approval of instructor. Theories and systematic investigations in the social psychological literature on group processes with a historical as well as contemporary focus.

PSYC 60833 Attitudes. Prerequisites: PSYC 60663 or approval of instructor. Theories and systematic investigations of attitude change with a historical as well as contemporary focus.

PSYC 70130 Advanced Teaching of Psychology. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Supervised practice in college teaching. Note: No more than 4 semester hours in PSYC 70120 and PSYC 70130 may be applied toward the Master of Arts or Master of Science degree.

PSYC 70530 Experimental Instrumentation. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in psychology or approval of instructor. Instruction in the design, maintenance and use of complex instruments for measuring psychological and behavioral events.

PSYC 70980 Thesis. Prerequisites: Graduate standing and approval of Director of Graduate Studies in Psychology. A minimum of 3 hours of 70980 Thesis is required.

PSYC 70990 Thesis. Prerequisite: 70980 and admission to candidacy. A minimum of 3 hours of 70990 Thesis is required.

PSYC 80100 Special Topics in Quantitative Methods. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Seminars or other special courses.

PSYC 80200 Special Topics in Learning and Motivation. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Seminars or other special courses.

PSYC 80300 Special Topics in Perception and Cognition. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Seminars or other special courses.

PSYC 80400 Special Topics in Physiological Psychology. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Seminars or other special courses.

PSYC 80500 Special Topics in Social Psychology and Personality. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Seminars or other special courses.

PSYC 80600 Special Topics in Contemporary Psychology. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Seminars or other special courses.

PSYC 90100 Advanced Studies in Quantitative Methods. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual study or research.

PSYC 90200 Advanced Studies in Learning and Motivation. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual study or research.

PSYC 90300 Advanced Studies in Perception and Cognition. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual study or research.

PSYC 90400 Advanced Studies in Physiological Psychology. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual study or research.

PSYC 90500 Advanced Studies in Social Psychology and Personality. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual study or research.

PSYC 90600 Advanced Studies in Contemporary Psychology. Prerequisite: Departmental approval. Individual study or research.

PSYC 90980 Dissertation. Prerequisite: Permission of the Chair of the Department. A minimum of 6 hours of 90980 Dissertation is required.

PSYC 90990 Dissertation. Prerequisite: 90980 and admission to candidacy. A minimum of 6 hours of 90990 Dissertation is required.

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