Psychology, Ph.D.
The Department of Psychology offers a Ph.D. program in Psychology. The main goal of this program is to train behavioral scientists to apply theory and methods in psychology, together with perspectives and knowledge from allied disciplines, to the analysis of human behavior and health across the life span and in diverse sociocultural contexts. This program values both basic and applied research that is relevant to the improvement of individual, community, and societal functioning. Emphasis is placed on the integration of knowledge from several subspecialties in psychology in order to understand the antecedents and developmental course of adaptive or maladaptive behavior and on the conduct of research that has implications for social policies, programs, and interventions.
Program Requirements
All students take six required departmental core courses:
| A. Complete: | |
| PSY P201 | Research Methods in Psychology |
| SOCECOL 264A | Data Analysis |
| SOCECOL 264B | Data Analysis |
| B. One research methods/data analysis course selected from the following: | |
| The New Statistics and Open Science | |
| Big Data Analytics for the Social Sciences II | |
| Systematic Review and Meta Analysis | |
| Intensive Longitudinal Data Analysis | |
| Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Lab | |
| Structural Equation Modeling I | |
| Structural Equation Modeling II: Longitudinal and Advanced Topics | |
| Analysis of Survival Data | |
| Qualitative Research Methods in Information Systems | |
| Measurement and Psychometrics | |
| Applied Regression Analysis for Education and Social Scientific Research | |
| Quantitative Data Analysis in Education Research and Evaluation | |
| Structural Equation Modeling for Educ, Soc & Behavioral Analysis | |
| Analysis of Experimental Data | |
| Introduction to Functional MRI | |
| Bayesian Cognitive Modeling | |
| Introduction to Bayesian Data Analysis | |
| C. Complete: | |
| PSY P209A | Applied Psychological Research |
| PSY P294A- P294B- P294C | Research Directions in Psychology I and Research Directions in Psychology II and Research Directions in Psychology III |
The course on Applied Research PSY P209A introduces students to the scientific, professional, and ethical issues involved in conducting and translating psychological research in a variety of applied settings. The three-quarter course Research Directions in Psychological Science (PSY P294A-PSY P294B-PSY P294C) allows students to increase their breadth of knowledge regarding contemporary issues and controversies in psychology by participating in the Department’s weekly colloquium series and interacting with visiting scholars and other speakers.
Students must select one of four core specialization areas in which to further focus their graduate training. Students enrolled in the Ph.D. in Psychological Science program with a concentration in Clinical Psychology are not required to select a core specialization area outside of the clinical concentration (see specific program requirements for the clinical concentration). Additional course requirements vary across each specialization.
In addition to selecting a core specialization area, students are also required to select a minor specialization and complete one required specialization course and one elective course in this area. The minor specialization and elective courses should be chosen according to the plan that best meets the needs of the individual student, as determined in consultation with the student’s faculty advisor and the departmental graduate advisor. In addition to courses offered by the Department of Psychological Science and the School of Social Ecology, students may take courses offered by other departments in other schools such as the Departments of Cognitive Science, Anthropology, and Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior in the School of Biological Sciences. Approval from instructors is required to enroll in these courses.
Students who are interested can pursue an optional training track in psychology and law. This track is supplemental to the requirements associated with the required specializations and supplemental to the required minor. That is, all students must complete the above-listed requirements for their specialization and minor. Then, if the student decides to complete the training track in psychology and law, this training is in addition to the requirements listed above. For the training track, a total of four courses must be taken, one required (PSY P266) and three electives. The electives must be approved by the student’s faculty mentor and departmental advisor and can be a course in Psychological Science, or in the School of Social Ecology or School of Law, with instructor and school approval.
Health Psychology Specialization
| PSY P258 | Health Psychology |
| and three additional courses selected from the following: | |
| Emotion in Psychology | |
| Trauma and Resilience | |
| Social Health Psychology | |
| Health Psychology | |
| Coping with Stressful Life Events | |
| Implementation Science | |
| Psychoneuroimmunology | |
| Health and Emotion | |
Social and Personality Specialization
| PSY P214 | Seminar in Social Psychology |
| and three additional courses selected from the following: | |
| Seminar in Social Psychology | |
| Cross-Cultural Psychology | |
| Emotion in Psychology | |
| Childhood | |
| Social Health Psychology | |
| Advanced Social Psychology | |
| Emotion, Reasoning, and Memory | |
| Eyewitness Testimony | |
| Memory and the Law | |
| Psychology and the Law | |
| Coping with Stressful Life Events | |
| Motivation | |
| Special Topics in Psychology | |
- 1
Course only applies when topic is Moral Psychology or Cooperation and Helping
Affective Science Specialization
| PSY P226 | Emotion in Psychology |
| or PSY P250 | Emotion, Reasoning, and Memory |
| and three additional courses selected from the following: | |
| Emotion in Psychology | |
| Social Health Psychology | |
| Trauma and Resilience | |
| EEG Methods | |
| Emotion, Reasoning, and Memory | |
| Coping with Stressful Life Events | |
| Psychoneuroimmunology | |
| Health and Emotion | |
| Motivation | |
Developmental Psychology Specialization
| PSY P220 | Developmental Psychology: Theories and History |
| and three additional courses selected from the following: | |
| Adolescence | |
| Life-Span Development | |
| Developmental Psychology: Theories and History | |
| Cross-Cultural Psychology | |
| Childhood | |
| Emotion, Reasoning, and Memory | |
Advancement to Candidacy and Dissertation
Normative time to advancement for doctoral students in the School of Social Ecology is three to four years. Students must advance by the winter quarter advancement deadline by their fourth year to remain in good standing with the department. In no case will students be allowed to advance to candidacy after the end of the fifth year of study (adjusted for any approved Leaves of Absence the student may have taken). The normative time for completion of the Ph.D. is five years, and the maximum time permitted is seven years.
A student may formally advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. when all requirements except the dissertation have been completed, and when their Candidacy Committee has approved the student’s dissertation plans. The Candidacy Committee must be approved by the department Chair and the Associate Dean of the School of Social Ecology, acting on behalf of the Dean. The committee must consist of a minimum of four members. At least three of the four members must hold affiliations with Psychological Science and at least two members must have a primary appointment in Psychological Science. A student has the right to request a committee member from an academic unit outside of the student's department.
The Doctoral Committee (also referred to informally as the “Dissertation Committee” or the “Thesis Committee”) will supervise following advancement to candidacy, the preparation and completion of the doctoral dissertation. The Doctoral Committee must have three members from the Candidacy Committee, a majority of whom hold affiliations with a student’s home department although more than three of the original members may be retained if the student and their Candidacy Committee Chair consider this desirable and feasible. The exact membership of the Doctoral Committee should be determined in consultation with the Chair of the Candidacy Committee. The Dean of Graduate Division must approve any exceptions to membership of either the advancement to candidacy or doctoral dissertation committees.
Ph.D. in Psychology with a Concentration in Clinical Psychology
Students pursuing a Concentration in Clinical Psychology must meet the core course requirements in addition to specialized coursework and clinical training, which includes clinical practica and a one-year internship. Those in the clinical Concentration are required to take six departmental core courses, eight clinical core courses, and five breadth courses. The additional clinical core courses and breadth courses in the clinical Concentration are required for APA accreditation. Students in the concentration are not required to choose a minor.
Requirements
Students in the clinical Concentration are required to take the six departmental core courses, eight clinical core courses, and five breadth courses.
Clinical Concentration Core Course Requirements
| A. Complete the following clinical core courses: | |
| PSY C200 | Evidence-Based Treatments |
| PSY C201 | Clinical Assessment and Interviewing |
| PSY C202 | Cognitive and Neuropsychological Assessment |
| PSY C203 | Professional Issues and Ethics in Clinical Psychology |
| PSY C204 | Practicum in Clinical Psychology |
| PSY C215 | Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments II |
| PSY C216 | Adult Psychopathology |
| PSY C217 | Psychological Assessment |
| B. Complete the following breadth courses: | |
| PSY P214 | Seminar in Social Psychology |
| PSY P217 | Life-Span Development |
| or PSY P220 | Developmental Psychology: Theories and History |
| PSY P226 | Emotion in Psychology |
| or PSY P250 | Emotion, Reasoning, and Memory |
| PSY C233 | Neuropsychophysiology of Self- and Emotion-Regulation |
Advancement
Students complete a supervised research project during their second year culminating in a paper that may form the basis for a publication. They take a written comprehensive examination the summer before their third year, which requires them to demonstrate mastery of the principles of social ecology and of major theoretical, substantive, and methodological issues in the study of their major specialization and in the psychology of human behavior. All students must advance by winter quarter of the fourth year. The normative time for completion of the Ph.D. with internship is six years, but we encourage students to complete their dissertation within five years. Students must complete all requirements for the Ph.D. in Psychology no later than their seventh year of study, adjusted for any approved leaves of absence that may have been taken. It is expected that most students will complete the degree requirements well in advance of this deadline. All Ph.D. students in the Psychology program are required to pass a final oral defense of the dissertation.
Potential employment sites for graduates of the program include academic institutions, research organizations, government policy institutes, health care and human services settings (e.g., hospitals, schools, community agencies), and a variety of private sector employers. The Ph.D. Program in Psychology specializes in the training of researchers, not in the training of clinical practitioners.
Practicum Placements
An essential part of the Concentration involves training in clinical psychological assessment and treatments, conjoined with supervised clinical work. This supervised clinical work, beginning in spring quarter of the first year of study and continuing through the second year, will be in the outpatient Psychology Clinic; subsequently in years three and four, there will be practicum placements at various hospitals and clinics.
Internship
All students are required to complete a one-year American Psychological Association-accredited internship in clinical psychology, typically in a major medical setting or counseling center. Most students will complete the internship after they have advanced to candidacy and have collected and analyzed the data for their dissertations. Ideally, students will complete their dissertation before the internship begins, which is the current practice in other clinical doctoral programs.
Students will learn to understand human behavior from a social ecological, contextual perspective. They will be exposed to the major theories in each specialization and learn various social science research methods. All students are encouraged to become actively involved in research from the earliest stage of their training. Through close association with faculty members and participation in the faculty’s research projects, students learn to conduct methodologically sophisticated research that addresses contemporary psychological and social issues. Current research teams are investigating stress, coping, and social support; biobehavioral mechanisms of cardiovascular reactivity; psychobiology of stress; personality factors that increase resilience to health threats; parent-child relations; work and family; transitions across the life course; adaptive aging; end-of-life medical decision making; culture and adolescent psychosocial development; cultural influences on social judgment; relations between cognitive and emotional development; emotion regulation; memory and eyewitness testimony; violence and anger management; the development of health-risking and health-protecting behaviors during childhood and adolescence; economic stress and psychopathology/behavioral disorders; health impacts of environmental stressors; mental health and psychopathy; juvenile and criminal justice; positive psychology; and person-environment fit.
Program in Law and Graduate Studies (J.D./Ph.D.)
Highly qualified students interested in combining the study of law with graduate research and/or research qualifications in cognate disciplines are invited to undertake concurrent degree study under the auspices of UC Irvine’s Program in Law and Graduate Studies (PLGS). Students approved for this concurrent degree program may pursue a coordinated curriculum leading to a J.D. from the School of Law in conjunction with a Ph.D. in Psychology. The objective of the program is to promote interdisciplinary study of law while also enabling students to obtain both a J.D. and a graduate degree in less time than would be required to acquire both degrees separately. The normative time for completion is seven years for the J.D./Ph.D. combination.
Applicants must submit separate applications for admission to the School of Law and to Psychology. Once admitted for study into both components of their program, concurrent degree students will work with the PLGS director and the PS graduate advisor to develop a program of study that will permit efficient pursuit of both degrees. Ordinarily, students will commence their studies in PS and begin their first year of law school instruction after one or more years of graduate program training. Upon completion of the first year of law instruction, students will pursue a coordinated curriculum of upper-level law study and PS graduate program courses and research. Concurrent degree students’ law enrollments will include a required 1-unit “Graduate Legal Studies” colloquium and 3-unit “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Law” course. Concurrent degree students will be eligible for financial support through PS while pursuing the Ph.D. and through the law school while pursuing law studies.