Psychology, Ph.D.
The doctoral program in Psychology has three training tracks; Behavioral Neuroscience, Social Psychology, and General Experimental Psychology. All Ph.D. students begin by taking a set of general core classes representing the breadth in the discipline of psychology. Differences in the tracks begin with the specialty core which is comprised of course work specific to Behavioral Neuroscience, Social Psychology, or General Experimental Psychology. Upon acceptance to doctoral candidacy, students in each track have a specific set of doctoral and elective classes from which to choose.
The Ph.D. program in psychology prepares students for university teaching/research, and applied positions in universities, hospitals, industry, or government. The program consists of course work, a qualifying examination, research leading to a doctoral dissertation, and a final oral examination. Students are admitted to the program only in the fall semester.
Students in the Ph.D. program in psychology at Baylor University are expected to acquire sufficient knowledge and expertise to permit them to work as independent scholars at the frontier of Psychology upon graduation. The Doctor of Philosophy degree is ultimately awarded to those individuals who have attained a high level of scholarship in a selected field through independent study, research, and creative thought.
Students entering the program with post-baccalaureate work or a post-baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution may apply a maximum of 12 semester hours of graduate course work toward the Ph.D. degree. These transfer hours must be approved by the major adviser and program director.
The program is designed to concentrate course work during the first three years of study, leading to the qualifying examination. Upon successfully passing the qualifying examination, students are admitted to Ph.D. candidacy, where course demands are minimal. This program does not require a foreign language.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Core Courses | ||
| NSC 5311 | Seminar in Memory and Cognition 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5323 | Biological Foundations of Behavior 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5339 | Social Psychology 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5301 | Introduction to Experimental Design 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5388 | Advanced Statistical Methods 1 | 3 |
| NSC/PSY 5V71 | Selected Topics in Neuroscience 1 | 3 |
| NSC/PSY 5V96 | Research Methods in Neuroscience 1 | 3 |
| NSC/PSY 5V99 | Thesis 1 | 3 |
| NSC/PSY 5100 | Psychology and Neuroscience Seminar 1 | 4 |
| NSC/PSY 5V51 | Supervised Teaching | 1-6 |
| NSC/PSY 6V10 | Prospectus Research | 5 |
| CHE 5101 | Responsible Conduct of Research | 1 |
| NSC/PSY 6V99 | Dissertation | 12 |
| Specialty Cores and Doctoral Classes | ||
| Select one of the following specialty areas: | 26 | |
| Behavioral Neuroscience | ||
| Neuropharmacology 1 | ||
| Clinical Neuroscience - Advanced 1 | ||
| Psychology and Neuroscience Seminar (4 hours) | ||
Elective Hours (16 hours) | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Measurement in Psychology 1 | ||
| Advanced Statistics II 1 | ||
| Advanced Personality Psychology 1 | ||
or PSY 5342 | Advanced Topics in Social Psychology | |
| Psychology and Neuroscience Seminar (4 hours) | ||
Elective Hours (13 hours) | ||
| General Experiential Psychology | ||
| Measurement in Psychology 1 | ||
| Advanced Statistics II 1 | ||
| Psychology and Neuroscience Seminar (4 hours) | ||
Elective Hours (16 hours) | ||
| Total Hours | 73-78 | |
- 1
Required courses for M.A. (31 hours plus 3 hours of NSC 5V99 Thesis) for the behavioral neuroscience track
Required courses for M.A. (31 hours plus 3 hours of PSY 5V99 Thesis) for the general and social track
Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NSC 4312 | Behavioral Medicine | 3 |
| NSC 4330 | Advanced Principles of Neural Science | 3 |
| PSY 4339 | Psychology of Religion | 3 |
| NSC 5V06 | Individual Studies in Neuroscience | 1-3 |
| PSY 5V06 | Individual Studies in Psychology | 1-3 |
| NSC 5V71 | Selected Topics in Neuroscience | 1-9 |
| PSY 5V71 | Selected Topics in Psychology | 1-3 |
| NSC 5V96 | Research Methods in Neuroscience | 1-12 |
| PSY 5V96 | Research Methods in Experimental Psychology | 1-3 |
| NSC 5V99 | Thesis (cannot apply to Terminal MA) | 3 |
| PSY 5V99 | Thesis (cannot apply to Terminal MA) | 3 |
| STA 5305 | Advanced Experimental Design | 3 |
| PSY 5307 | Advanced Statistics II | 3 |
| PSY 5313 | Advanced Measurement in Psychology | 3 |
| NSC 5318 | Perception | 3 |
| PSY 5315 | Quantitative Psychology | 3 |
| NSC 5320 | Learning and Behavior Theory | 3 |
| PSY 5321 | Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5342 | Advanced Topics in Social Psychology | 3 |
| NSC 5360 | Neurophysiology | 3 |
| PSY 5380 | Multidimensional Scaling | 3 |
| NSC 5430 | Neuroanatomy | 4 |
| BIO 5307 | Advanced Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIO 5409 | Cancer Biology | 4 |
| GEO 5V90 | Special Problems in Geology | 1-5 |
| PSY 5386 | Exploratory Factor Analysis | 3 |
| PSY 5389 | Mathematical Models in Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5390 | Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equations Models | 3 |
| PSY 5391 | Multilevel Modeling | 3 |
With the consent of the Graduate Program Director, elective courses may be taken in other departments, provided the course has graduate standing.
Policies and operating procedures for each of the above degrees are detailed in a program manual provided to each student upon enrollment.