Nov 25, 2024

2014-2015 General Catalog

2014-2015 General Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Psychology, Ph.D.

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Biological Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Cognitive and Developmental Psychology

Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology
School Psychology

(PPSYC)

The departmental-level academic course plan for each student will be developed in consultation with and approved by the student’s graduate advisory committee, and varies depending on the area of specialization. The committee will include the student’s major advisor and at least two additional members of the graduate faculty such that the LSU Graduate School’s requirements of the LSU Graduate School for graduate committees are satisfied.

The degree is a thesis degree requiring a dissertation project. Forty-eight hours of credit at the graduate level must be earned including a maximum of 12 hours of credit for the dissertation project. The curricular requirements include:

At least 24 hours at the 7000 level or above, exclusive of any type of independent studies credit except for special project credit earned.
A primary area consisting of a minimum of 15 hours of earned credit in a specified field of study.

The student must pass a general exam consisting of a written exam and a comprehensive oral exam, at the discretion of the student’s advisory committee. The nature of the written and oral portions of the general exam is listed below in the area-specific curricula section for each area.

Core Courses Policy

For all students in the PhD program, satisfactory completion of the core courses is required to be qualified for advanced doctoral study. Satisfactory completion constitutes passing the required courses with a grade of “A” or “B” by the end of your second year in the program. Each course is generally offered once a year. If you feel you have a particularly strong background in one or more of the core areas, you may take the final exam in any course; you will have satisfied the core requirement if you earn a grade of “A” or “B.” You must secure a letter from the course instructor giving your exam grade for inclusion in your file, as evidence of satisfying this requirement.

Core Courses: Biological Basis of Behavior (PSYC 7034 ), Cognitive Basis of Behavior (PSYC 7030 ), Social Basis of Behavior (PSYC 7040 ), and History of Modern Psychology (PSYC 4008 ); and two of four courses: Intermediate Statistics (PSYC 4111 ), Advanced Statistics (PSYC 7111 ), Measurement of Behavior (PSYC 7020 ) or Methodology and Research (PSYC 7117 ). If you do not complete the courses with satisfactory grades within the first two years, you will be dismissed from the program. Any new student failing more than one core course on the first attempt will be dismissed from the program.

Area-specific curricula

Below are further requirements for the different program areas: Biological, Clinical, Cognitive/Developmental, and School. These area requirements include those listed above, but address others that are area specific. Additional details about each area-specific curriculum may be found at www.lsu.edu/psychology/graduate.

Biological Psychology

Biological Core Courses (must take five of the courses below in Groups A through F; at least three must be from Groups A and B)

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Other required course work

PSYC 8000 Thesis Research (1-12 per sem.) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 9000 Dissertation Research (1-12 per sem.) (12 credits maximum) *
PSYC 4999 Independent Reading and Research in Psychology (1-6) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 8939 Independent Research: Experimental Psychology (1-6) (15 credits maximum) *

Note:

*Additional hours may be taken, but the number listed is the maximum allowed to apply toward degree.

In the Biological Psychology area, the General examination consists of a written and oral examination. The written portion consists of an essay exam based on questions supplied by the student’s advisory committee. The oral exam focuses primarily on the written portion of the exam, and is undertaken only after passing the written component.

Clinical Psychology

Clinical Core Courses

Must take one of the following

Other required course work

PSYC 7688 Practicum in Clinical Psychology (1-3) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 7689 Practicum in Clinical Psychology (1-3) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 8000 Thesis Research (1-12 per sem.) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 9000 Dissertation Research (1-12 per sem.) (12 credits maximum) *
PSYC 7997 Clinical Psychology Internship (3 or 6) (15 credits required)

Optional courses

PSYC 7117 Methodology and Research Design (3)
PSYC 7990 Teaching of Psychology (3)
PSYC 7690 Teaching of Psychology Practicum (1-3) (3 credits maximum) *

Note:

*Additional hours may be taken, but the number listed is the maximum allowed to apply toward degree.

+All clinical students must take and pass PSYC 4111 or PSYC 7111 . The student must take PSYC 4111 unless granted permission by the instructor of PSYC 4111 to take PSYC 7111 . This decision will be based on a determination that a course equivalent to PSYC 4111 has been taken previously.

†PSYC 7020 doubles as a qualifying core course and a clinical core course.

In the Clinical Psychology area, the general examination consists of a written case report and an oral presentation/examination based on the case report. Details concerning the nature of the report can be found here.

Cognitive and Developmental Psychology

Cognitive Core Courses

Seminar hours (must take 21 hours of the following)

Other required courses

PSYC 4111 Intermediate Statistics (3) †
PSYC 7117 Methodology and Research Design (3) †
PSYC 8000 Thesis Research (1-12 per sem.) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 9000 Dissertation Research (1-12 per sem.) (12 credits maximum) *
PSYC 8939 Independent Research: Experimental Psychology (1-6) (15 credits maximum) *

Optional courses

PSYC 4999 Independent Reading and Research in Psychology (1-6) (6 credits maximum) *
PSYC 7020 Measurement of Behavior (3)
PSYC 7111 Advanced Statistics (3)

Note:

*Additional hours may be taken, but the number listed is the maximum allowed to apply toward degree.

+PSYC 7990 and PSYC 7690 may be taken to substitute for one required seminar.

†PSYC 4111 and PSYC 7117 double as qualifying core courses and cognitive/developmental core courses.

The general examination for students in the Cognitive/Developmental area consists of two written components and an oral examination. The first written component consists of a written research proposal, in the form of a grant proposal. The second written component consists of exam-based questions generated by the faculty on a student’s advisory committee. The oral examination consists of a defense of the written components.

School Psychology

School Core Courses (must be completed before internship)

Other required courses

PSYC 7969 Internship in School Psychology (1-6) (12 credits maximum) *
PSYC 9000 Dissertation Research (1-12 per sem.) (12 credits maximum) *

Note:

*Additional hours may be taken, but the number listed is the maximum allowed to apply toward degree.

†PSYC 4111 , PSYC 7020 , PSYC 7111 , and PSYC 7117 double as qualifying core courses and School Psychology core courses.

The general examination for School Psychology students is comprised of a series of written examinations and an oral defense. The written exams are designed to assess students’ competency in six areas of school psychology. These areas include: (1) Law and Ethics, (2) School-Based Interventions, (3) School Psychological Consultation, (4) Applied Behavior Analysis, (5) Assessment, and (6) research methodology. The written exams are conducted over a period of two days. An oral exam is also administered following completion of the written exams. In the oral defense students are questioned regarding their answers on the written exam or on questions related to the fields of School Psychology.