University Catalog 2007-2008

University Catalog > College of Humanities and Social Sciences > Psychology

Psychology

Phone: 703-993-1342

Web: gmu.edu/departments/psychology

Faculty

Professors: Ascoli, Boehm-Davis (chair), Denham, Klimoski, Lehman (director, Developmental/Biopsychology/School Programs), Maddux (director, Clinical Program), Mandes, Naglieri, Parasuraman (director, Human Factors/Applied Cognition Program), Pasnak, Riskind, Rojahn (director, Center for Cognitive Development), R. Smith, Tangney, Tetrick (director, Industrial/Organizational Program), Zaccaro

Research professors: Butler, Olds

Associate professors: Bitler, Blackwell, Buffardi, Cortina, Flinn, Greenwood, Kello, Kozhevnikov, Peterson, Sanford (associate chair for undergraduate studies), Short (associate chair for graduate studies), Winsler

Research associate professor: Bachus

Assistant professors: Cattaneo, Kashdan, Kaplan, King, McKnight, Mohr, Monk, Perez-Edgar, Rowe, Thompson, Warren

Term associate professors: Chrosniak, Wanschura, Wasserman

Research assistant professors: Bassett, Fu, McDonald, Stuewig, Tran

Term assistant professors: Hurley, Meier, Spasojevic, Zapata

Affiliates: Eby, Hunt, Trafton

Adjuncts: Anderson, Battaglia, Benedi, Curtin, Dechman, Hawley, Hirsch, Kippley, Levitas, Mayfield, Paolitto, Perez, Pomeroy, Schumann, Shiraev, Stanhope, Steve, Werber

Course Work

The Psychology Department offers all course work designated PSYC in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog.

Undergraduate Programs

Psychology, BA

In addition to university-wide general education requirements and requirements for the BA degree in CHSS, psychology majors must complete the following course work with a minimum GPA of 2.00.

It is strongly recommended that students fulfill the natural science requirement by completing BIOL 103 and 104 because these courses are prerequisites to PSYC 372.

Students who receive transfer credit for a research methods course must take PSYC 304, 309, or 323 unless the transfer course has been approved as writing intensive.

Some of these courses may simultaneously fulfill university general education or college-level requirements; students should consult with an advisor in planning their programs.

Psychology, BS

In addition to satisfying the university-wide general education requirements for a BS degree, candidates must complete the following with a minimum GPA of 2.00.

For All Psychology Majors

Any psychology course may be used to satisfy the 36-credit psychology requirement for the BA degree or the 38-credit psychology requirement for the BS degree with the following restrictions:

In addition to course work, undergraduate research experience and letters of recommendation are major factors for admission to graduate study. Therefore, students interested in graduate study should distribute courses across a number of areas in psychology and work closely with one or more professors on individual projects during the junior and senior years.

Honors Program

To receive honors in psychology, students take a sequence of three courses (PSYC 490, 491, and 492) during the spring semester of their junior year and fall and spring semesters of their senior year.

To be eligible for admission, psychology majors must have completed at least 50 credits, a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25, and a minimum GPA in psychology courses of 3.40. To graduate with honors in psychology, students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 and a minimum GPA of 3.40 in psychology courses. Students must earn at least 3.50 in the three honors courses, which cumulates in the successful completion and presentation of an independent honors thesis.

Neuroscience, BS

The BS in neuroscience is an interdisciplinary program emphasizing the relationship between the biology and chemistry of the nervous system and behavior of an organism. The BS in neuroscience prepares students for graduate-level study in both medical school and doctoral and master's-level programs in neuroscience and other health-related fields, and work in the neuroscience field.

In addition to university-wide general requirements, students receiving a BS in neuroscience must complete the following course work:

The program requirements also meet the university general education requirements in quantitative reasoning, social and behavioral science, and natural science.

* Students intending to pursue a PhD program in neuroscience or an MD are advised to take CHEM 313 and 315 and MATH 114.

Writing-Intensive Requirement

The university requires all students to complete at least one course designated "writing intensive" in their majors at the 300 level or above. Students majoring in psychology may fulfill this requirement by successfully completing PSYC 301, 304, 309, or 323. Students majoring in neuroscience may fulfill this requirement by successfully completing NSCI 301.

Minor in Psychology

The Psychology Department offers a minor to students who major in any other discipline. Students in the minor complete 18 credits of course work in psychology distributed as follows:

Related course work in psychology can enhance many different majors. Please contact the Undergraduate Psychology Office or the Psychology Department web site for a list of suggested courses for students who are majoring in specific disciplines or areas of study that interact well with psychology.

For policies governing all minors, see the Academic Policies chapter of this catalog.

Teacher Licensure

Students who wish to become teachers should consult the College of Education and Human Development chapter and attend an information session early in their undergraduate career. For more information, call 703-993-2892, e-mail gseadmit@gmu.edu, or go to gse.gmu.edu.

Accelerated Master's Program in Psychology (concentration in biopsychology)

Highly qualified undergraduates may apply to the accelerated master's degree program and obtain both bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology following satisfactory completion of 146 credits. Well-prepared undergraduates are encouraged to apply as they near completion of 90 credits. Admitted students are able to use up to 6 graduate credits in partial fulfillment of requirements for the undergraduate degree. Upon completion and conferral of the undergraduate degree with satisfactory graduate-level performance (3.00 in each course, grade of B or better) in graduate courses, students are given advanced standing in the master's program. All other master's degree requirements must be met. This program is available only to students pursuing the concentration in biopsychology. Interested students should contact the department for details about the application process.

Graduate Programs

Psychology, MA

The MA in psychology has concentrations in industrial/organizational psychology, human factors/applied cognition, school psychology, applied developmental psychology, and biopsychology. The department does not offer an MA in clinical or counseling psychology, but an MA concentration in clinical psychology is available for students who have been admitted to the PhD program.

The industrial/organizational concentration trains students in the conduct and application of psychological research in work settings. Expertise can be developed in a variety of areas, including personnel selection, training, leadership, motivation, and human performance assessment.

The human factors/applied cognition concentration trains students in the application of cognitive science to real-world problems. Students gain expertise in such areas as human-computer interaction, cognitive system engineering, cognitive ergonomics, and transportation. Faculty members help place students who do not have real-world experience in a part- or full-time practicum before completing the degree.

The school psychology concentration prepares students for endorsement as fully certified school psychologists in Virginia and most other states. It is approved by the Virginia Department of Education and National Association of School Psychologists.

The applied developmental psychology concentration focuses on child development. It provides basic knowledge about normal development, skills for assessing developmental level, and techniques for planning and evaluating programs that foster optimal development.

The biopsychology concentration emphasizes training in the neurobiological bases of behavior. Students are prepared for doctoral work or employment in government or industry research laboratories.

The clinical psychology concentration trains students to have flexibility to fill the evolving functions of clinical psychologists, including research, direct provision of clinical services, supervision, program development and evaluation, and consultation.

Admission Requirements

In addition to fulfilling admission requirements for graduate study, applicants must have 15 credits in psychology, including a course in statistics and a laboratory course in psychology. In addition, school psychology requires courses in personality or abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and tests and measurements. All applicants are required to submit results of the GRE taken within the past five years (applicants should plan to take the GRE at least two months before the deadline); three letters of reference from professors or supervisors; and a departmental application. In addition, applicants are asked to submit a biographical statement outlining their background and experience and describing their future goals in psychology. An overall GPA of 3.00 for the last 60 undergraduate credits is required and, generally, a minimum GPA of 3.25 in undergraduate psychology courses, and combined GRE scores of 1,000 or above are also required. Work experience, publications, or special recommendations may compensate for deficiencies in other qualifications. Because the number of students admitted to each program is limited, meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available through graduate assistantships and various forms of grants, loans, and employment.

Concentration in Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Students must complete 32 graduate credits, including the following:

Concentration in Human Factors/Applied Cognition

Students must complete 32 graduate credits, including the following:

Other courses within or outside the department may be taken with advisor's approval.

Certificate Programs

Certificates are available in aviation psychology, usability, or cognitive neuroscience. A certificate may meet the needs of students who desire to upgrade their skills and earn a certificate as evidence of their skill attainment. Each of these certificates may be earned separately or concurrently with another program or certificate.

The certificate programs are open to all students who hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited university and meet admissions requirements for the MA psychology concentration in human factors and applied cognition. Students who have been admitted as certificate-seeking students may apply for admission to the master's degree concentration in human factors and applied cognition at any time. A maximum of 12 credits may be transferred to the master's degree program from the certificate program with the approval of the program director and the dean, provided that the grade in each course is 3.00 or better. (There are other restrictions on the number of credits that may be transferred, so students interested in this option should consult the program director.)

Certificate in Aviation Psychology

Certificate in Usability

Certificate in Cognitive Neuroscience

Concentration in School Psychology: Master's Degree and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies

The master's degree concentration and the certificate make up a two-level degree program to prepare graduates for professional certification in school psychology. The program is approved by School Psychology Training Programs by the National Association of School Psychologists. Students completing the program will be eligible for licensure in Virginia and other states as a school psychologist. (Students seeking licensure for independent practice as a school psychologist must meet the educational, residency, and exam requirements of the Commonwealth of Virginia Board of Psychology.)

Students who have not already earned a master's degree in a related field must apply for admission to both the master's program and the certificate. All students entering the master's program are expected to complete the certificate.

Students who wish to apply directly to the certificate program must have earned a master's degree in an allied field, such as counseling, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, or special education, in which at least 15 graduate credits correspond to required courses in the master's curriculum below. They must complete all requirements of the master's in school psychology that they have not previously taken.

Students must receive a B or better in the course work below. Course work must be completed before the internship. School psychology students are required to enroll full time.

To receive the master's degree with a concentration in school psychology, students must complete 41 credits: EDCD 603; EDSE 628 or 629; EDUC 537; PSYC 669 or 704 or 506; PSYC 611 and 612; PSYC 617, 619, 671, 673, 709, 710, 750.

To receive the certificate, students must complete 19 credits: EDCD 609; PSYC 722, 750, 790, 792; and PSYC 712 or EDCD 608.

Previously earned credit

With approval of the school psychology faculty, graduate coordinator, and dean, the number of credits required for the concentration may be reduced by a maximum of 18 credits on the basis of graduate course work before admission.

With approval of the graduate coordinator and the dean, students admitted directly to the certificate program may transfer up to 3 graduate credits from another institution.

A special policy applies to students admitted directly to the certificate program who received a master's degree in psychology with a concentration in school psychology from Mason. If the degree was received within five years of admission to the certificate program and students took at least 13 credits of course work in the certificate of advanced graduate studies as part of the master's, they may earn the certificate with as few as 6 additional graduate credits. Such students should consult with an advisor.

Students choose to complete a thesis or practical research project. All students must complete a full year of internship. An unsatisfactory evaluation at any time by the School Psychology Committee may result in separation from the school psychology program.

Concentration in Applied Developmental Psychology

Students must complete 32 graduate credits, including the following:

Concentration in Biopsychology

Students must complete 32 graduate credits distributed as follows:

Concentration in Clinical Psychology

Students who have been admitted to the doctoral program with a concentration in clinical psychology are awarded the MA in psychology on completion of the 32 hours of course work designated below. Students must also be in good standing in the program, as determined by the director of clinical training.

The MA concentration in clinical psychology is not a terminal degree and is awarded only to students admitted to the clinical doctoral concentration.

Course Work Credits
Psychological Assessment I (PSYC 810) 4
Psychological Assessment II (PSYC 811) 4
Scientific Foundations of Clinical Psychology I (PSYC 822) 3
Scientific Foundations of Clinical Psychology II (PSYC 823) 3
Advanced Statistics I (PSYC 611) 4
Advanced Statistics II (PSYC 612) 4
Practicum in Clinical Psychology (PSYC 881) 3
Seminar in Professional Psychology (PSYC 890) 1
Two of the following 6
Biological bases of behavior (PSYC 558, 559, or 702)
Developmental bases of behavior (666, 669, or 704)
Social and Cognitive Foundations of Clinical Psychology (PSYC 833)
History, Systems, and Theories of Personality and Psychotherapy (PSYC 830)
Social-Cognitive Interventions in Clinical Psychology (PSYC 831)
Community Psychology I (PSYC 840)
Community Psychology II (PSCY 841)


Nondegree Status

Applicants who qualify for degree status but who are not applicants for a degree at the university may be admitted to nondegree status. Nondegree status is not intended as a qualifying program for degree status. While consideration may later be given to the application of credits earned toward a degree program while in nondegree status, applicants are not ensured that such requests will be granted; however, if granted, no more than 12 credits earned in nondegree status may be applied to a degree program. All students seeking to pursue this option should make their interests known to the appropriate program director.

Provisional Admission

Students may be admitted provisionally and be required to take 12 credits in psychology and earn a minimum GPA of 3.25 in those courses to qualify for removal of provisional qualifier. Programs may add other conditions to provisional admission. Individualized study work does not count toward the 12 credits.

Doctoral Programs

Neuroscience, PhD

The interdisciplinary doctoral program in neuroscience is offered jointly by CHSS, the College of Science, and the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study. For details, see the College of Science chapter in this catalog.

Psychology, PhD

The goal of the doctoral program is to train students in the principles and applications of psychology. The program provides knowledge of the basic content areas in psychology and practical experience in applying this knowledge to solving human problems in life, work, and school. The program offers the following concentrations: industrial/organizational psychology, human factors/applied cognition, clinical psychology, applied developmental psychology, and biopsychology.

The concentrations in industrial/organizational psychology and human factors/applied cognition, grouped under the applied experimental program, are focused on educating psychologists in the use of psychological knowledge and methods employed in such settings as industry, government, consulting organizations, and research and development organizations. Students develop skills in human-computer interaction design, cognitive ergonomics, training, personnel selection, and organizational psychology.

The clinical psychology concentration is committed to the scientist-practitioner model. The program aims to train students to have the flexibility to fill the evolving functions of clinical psychologists, including research, direct provision of clinical services, supervision, program development and evaluation, and consultation.

The applied developmental concentration has two goals: to train students to teach and do research on basic and applied issues in child development for employment in such settings as universities, research institutes, and organizations, and to train students to do applied work in developmental psychology (consultation, program evaluation, assessment and evaluation, developmental interventions, and parent training) in such settings as schools, hospitals, courts, child care facilities, and other organizations. Applied developmental psychology doctoral students have the option of also completing course requirements for the MA concentration in school psychology. The program emphasis is on child development (infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence), and students may focus their studies on the cognitive, social, emotional, language, personality, or physiological aspects of development.

The biopsychology concentration offers a broad program with faculty expertise in comparative neuroanatomy, cognition, substance abuse, and learning and memory. The department has facilities for animal research, access to the Shared Research Instrumentation Facility, and links to the Krasnow Institute for Cognitive Study. The program prepares students for careers in a university, college, or research setting.

Admission

Entering students are accepted only for fall semesters. The department does not usually consider applications that fail to meet the minimum criteria of 3.00 undergraduate GPA, 3.25 GPA in psychology course work, and combined GRE scores of 1,100. Applicants who meet this minimum receive continued consideration for the final candidate pool on the basis of experience, letters of recommendation, objective test scores, and (in some programs) an interview. No specific set of qualifications guarantees admission.

Documents

In addition to admission materials required by the university, applicants must submit the following:

Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all materials arrive before the application deadline. Also, applicants in the final candidate pool may be required to participate in an interview.

Requirements

In addition to fulfilling admission requirements, applicants are expected to have the following:

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance is available through graduate assistantships, doctoral fellowships, and various forms of grants, loans, or employment.

Reduction of Credits

For students entering the doctoral program with a master's degree, the number of credits required may be reduced by a maximum of 30 credits subject to the approval of the program faculty and the dean. Requests for reduction of credit are reviewed by a committee only after acceptance to the PhD program.

Degree Requirements

The PhD program has four educational components: core courses, upper-level specialty courses, supervised practica, and dissertation.

Core Courses

Core course requirements cover the basic subject matter identified by the profession as essential to doctoral training: biological bases of behavior, social bases of behavior, cognitive bases of behavior, individual behavior, and history of psychology.

Specialty Courses

The 700-, 800-, and 900-level courses provide doctoral candidates with greater depth of study in specific content areas.

Practica

The purpose of the practica is to provide a broad range of experiences in settings related to the students' concentrations.

Dissertation

The dissertation requirement is designed to demonstrate the student's ability to apply psychological principles to research problems. Students must take at least 3 credits of proposal (998) and 3 credits of research (999), and have at least 12 credits of 998 and 999 combined. (No more than 12 credits of 998 and 999 may be applied toward the degree.) Once enrolled in 998, a student must maintain continuous registration in 998 or 999 each semester until the dissertation is submitted to and accepted by University Libraries.

Student Evaluation

Students in the doctoral program are evaluated on the basis of grades, comprehensive exams, research, and communication skills. In doctoral courses, A and B are the only acceptable grades. Students in the doctoral program must successfully complete comprehensive exams administered each year. Students who successfully complete the comprehensive exams are advanced to candidacy.

Concentration in Applied Developmental Psychology

Students must complete the following course work:

64 credits of required courses

8 credits of electives:

* Can be taken only by students concurrently enrolled in school psychology MA concentration.

** Required

In addition, students are required to complete a second-year research project before they can take comprehensive exams. The expectation is that the research will be submitted for presentation at a national conference or to an appropriate journal for publication.

Concentration in Biopsychology

Students must complete 72 graduate credits distributed as follows:

Concentration in Clinical Psychology

The clinical psychology doctoral program Mason is committed to is the scientist-practitioner model as defined by the American Psychological Association, which has awarded the program full accreditation.

The program's goal is to train clinical psychologists who are capable of integrating research and applied clinical activities. Students are provided rigorous training in scientific methods and clinical interventions, with an emphasis on those that are empirically based. This training encourages students to be integrative and innovative while guided by the principles of science.

The program also strives to train students who have the flexibility to fill the evolving roles and functions of clinical psychologists, including research, direct provision of clinical services, supervision, program development and evaluation, consultation, and teaching.

The program is unique in approaching clinical psychology from social psychological and community perspectives. A social psychological approach uses theory and research from social psychology to understand emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal functioning. A community approach stresses the influence of social and cultural factors on the individual and the influence of the individual on the community. Faculty members believe that in all their activities, clinical psychologists have a responsibility to have a positive effect on their communities.

The program is strongly committed to cultural diversity in admissions, exposing students to issues regarding diversity, and providing students opportunities to work with diverse populations.

Students who are primarily interested in traditional private practice may be a better fit with other programs.

Program Requirements

Required courses

Concentration in Human Factors/Applied Cognition

Students must complete 72 graduate credits distributed as follows:

Students are to take credits in PSYC 897 Directed Reading and Research each semester.

Students are strongly encouraged to develop competence in programming and computer science through course work or independent study.

Students are encouraged to identify and take relevant courses within or outside the department (with advisor's approval).

Concentration in Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Students must complete 74 graduate credits distributed as follows: