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Dec 30, 2024
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Graduate Catalog 2024-2025
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PYBD, PYCD, PYID)
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 Return to: Departments and Programs
The Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology is designed to provide intensive training in Behavior Analysis, Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management or Clinical Psychology. The Doctor of Philosophy is a research degree for persons intending to assume leadership roles in teaching, research, and service in a variety of professional and academic institutions.
In addition to meeting the entrance requirements of the Graduate College, applicants are expected to show evidence of interest in and aptitude for conducting research.
Graduate students receive a personal appointment of a doctoral committee chairperson and two faculty sponsors to facilitate the full development of the student’s academic interests within the research programs of the department and the University. The program is arranged to encourage active participation in the daily conduct of the department’s academic program and research activities.
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Program Requirements
The credit hour requirements of the Ph.D. program are arranged to prepare students for teaching and research. The concentration areas and credit hours of the individual doctoral programs are listed below and include:
Behavior Analysis (79 hours) (PYBD)
Director: Al Poling
3756 Wood Hall
1. Principles of Learning and Motivation (3 credit hours)
2. Theoretical Issues in Behavior Analysis (6 credit hours)
And one of the following:
3. Professional Issues (3 credit hours)
4. Applied Behavior Analysis (10 - 13 credit hours)
The courses PSY 6260, PSY 6650, and PSY 6090 are required. Students seeking BCBA certification must also take PSY 6270.
5. Research Methods and Statistics (6 credit hours)
6. Experimental Analysis of Behavior (6 credit hours)
And one of the following:
7. Master’s Thesis or Master’s Project (6 credit hours)
8. Professional Experience (6 - 12 credit hours)
9. Electives (15 - 21 credit hours)
Any other 5000 or greater graduate level course offered in the WMU Psychology Department, or other department, after discussion with the student’s advisor.
10. Doctoral Dissertation (12 credit hours)
Note:
Courses count toward the Ph.D. program in Behavior Analysis only after the student has completed all courses in an M.A. program, including the M.A. thesis or M.A. project requirement.
Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management (78 hours) (PYID)
Director: Heather McGee
3758 Wood Hall
- Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management Core (21 hours)
- Behavior Analysis Core (9 hours)
- Research and Ethics (12 hours)
- Master’s Thesis (6 hours)
- Doctoral Dissertation (12 hours)
- Elective Courses (18 hours)
Courses count toward the Ph.D. program in Industrial/Organizational Behavior Management only after the student has completed all courses in an M.A. program, including the M.A. thesis.
Clinical Psychology (95 hours) (PYCD)
Directors: Scott Gaynor; Amy Naugle
3530 Wood Hall; 2523 Wood Hall respectively
The Clinical Psychology Program is designed to provide broad and general scientist-practitioner training that is decidedly cognitive-behavioral and contemporary behavior analytic in orientation. The research activity of the doctoral student is continuous and is encouraged through participation in the apprentice research program, completion of a six credit hour pre-doctoral project and completion of a twelve credit hour dissertation. The student is required to complete core methods courses, but also to demonstrate additional competence via a research tool sequence in an area such as advanced methods/statistics, grant writing, or design and evaluation of clinical trials. The doctoral candidate will also show evidence of an ability to interpret, integrate, and discuss research data by the satisfactory completion of a comprehensive examination. The clinical training of the student is accomplished via coursework in relevant foundational and core clinical domains as well as through extensive supervised practical experience. These practical experiences occur in our campus clinic, local external agencies, and culminate in a clinical internship.
The program is arranged to provide formal evaluations of the student as they progress from (a) baccalaureate apprentice to doctoral applicant with the completion of the pre-doctoral project and to (b) doctoral degree candidate with completion of the comprehensive examination. The award of the Ph.D. degree is made following the satisfactory completion of the required hours of approved course credit, demonstration of competence in research, satisfactory completion of comprehensive examination, the oral defense of the dissertation before the student’s doctoral committee at a public presentation, and successful completion of a year-long supervised clinical internship.
Note:
The Department of Psychology offers financial assistance through Department assistantships and program fellowships. Additional information concerning financial awards and program requirements may be obtained from the department office.
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