Graduate Degrees
The Department of Psychology offers a variety of programs leading to the Ph.D. degree. They fall within six major groupings: (1) clinical, including experimental psychopathology, assessment and intervention, community psychology, and a sub-specialization in clinical-aging; (2) developmental; (3) adult development and aging, including a joint track in clinical and aging; (4) cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, including attention, learning, memory, perception, cognitive neuropsychology, and behavioral endocrinology; (5) quantitative, including psychological measurement and mathematical models; and (6) social, including social influences on attitudes, motivation, perception and behavior.
All of the specialty areas provide training for careers in research, teaching and applied work.
Admission Requirements
The department considers for graduate admission only students with the Ph.D. as their goal.
Psychology courses required for admission are an introductory course, a course in statistics, a course in research methods or experimental psychology and at least one of the following: comparative psychology, physiological psychology, sensation and perception, learning and memory, motivation, and emotion; and at least one of the following: developmental psychology, social psychology, abnormal psychology, personality, and history of psychology. Additional courses are desirable, as is work in the biological, physical and social sciences and in mathematics. Students with outstanding undergraduate records who have less background in psychology are also encouraged to apply.
Students are selected on the basis of undergraduate records, scores on the Graduate Record Examinations General Test, course background, letters of evaluation, personal statement of interests and goals and evidence of research skills or interests (e.g., publications or participation in research projects).
The faculty of each specialty area select the students to be admitted in that area. Because of this procedure, applicants should designate the specialty area to which they seek admission.
Application for admission in psychology requires submission of two sets of material: special departmental forms and university application forms. Both may be secured only by writing to the Department of Psychology. Students are admitted only for study beginning in September; both sets of completed application forms must be submitted by December 31.
Degree Requirements
These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.
Master of Arts in Psychology
The department does not admit students whose objective is a master's degree. However, if a student accepted in the program does not have a master's degree, the department strongly recommends completion of the requirements for the M.A. in the course of work toward the Ph.D. degree. This involves 24 units of course work and a thesis.
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology
Course Requirements
Each student must take at least 36 substantive units in psychology at USC during the first three years. Within the first three semesters, each student must complete one statistics course and either a second statistics course or a research design course; one core course outside the student's specialty area, two courses inside the student's specialty area, and an additional elective course. Additional course requirements vary according to specialty area.
Research Requirement
During the first and second year, students work on either a master's thesis or a research report of comparable scope and quality. A research project done at USC is required of all students (by the conclusion of the student's second year), regardless of prior graduate work.
Internship Requirement
The equivalent of three years' graduate status is required in all Ph.D. programs by the Graduate School. Students in the clinical (and clinical-aging) program must complete, in addition, at least one full year of internship at a facility approved by the clinical faculty.
Screening Procedure
The student's ability to master graduate-level course material is evaluated after completion of no more than 24 units, and not later than the third semester of graduate work at USC. This evaluation is based on the student's performance in courses taken and on an evaluation of the student's research competence as reflected in the second year research report. The guidance committee is responsible for this evaluation.
Guidance Committee
A five-person guidance committee is appointed after the student passes the 24-unit screening procedure. This committee directs the student's program of studies and evaluates research competence. The committee continues to serve until after the qualifying examination has been passed, the dissertation topic approved, and the student admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. At that time it becomes known as the dissertation committee and is usually reduced to four members.
Qualifying Examination
The qualifying examination concentrates on the student's ability to demonstrate a grasp of the major area of interest chosen and its relation to other areas of training offered in the department. Partly written and partly oral, the examination is comprehensive and designed to test the student's ability to meet the demands and standards of the profession. Part of the examination is a dissertation proposal. The qualifying examination is planned, administered, and graded by the student's guidance committee.
Doctoral Dissertation
A student is expected to engage in research activity throughout his graduate career, leading up to and culminating in the Ph.D. dissertation. The dissertation is based on an original investigation, usually involving experimental design.
Defense of the Dissertation
The defense may be either a defense oral, based on an approved preliminary copy of the dissertation, or a final oral, subsequent to final typing.
Advisement
The graduate advisor is Dr. Stephen J. Read. Each student has a major advisor who is usually in the specialty area. It is especially important that the guidance committee be formed as soon as the 24-unit screening is completed.
Next Section
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995
Joye Dayday@mizar.usc.edu