| DEPARTMENT
OF PSYCHOLOGY |
| |
| Chair:
Dr. Larry Christensen (251) 460-6371 |
| Graduate
Coordinator: Labbe' |
| Professors:
Brown, Christensen, Labbe', Langhinrichsen-Rohling |
| Associate
Professors: Anderson, Sinnott,
Turner, Welsh, Rohling |
| Assistant
Professors: Foster, Gordon, Jackson, Kline, Shelley-Tremblay, Yates |
| |
|
|
| |
| UNDERGRADUATE
STUDIES |
| The
objective of psychology, as a science, is to
understand, explain, and predict the behavior
of organisms. The Department of Psychology has
developed and organized its course offerings
to meet three major goals: |
| 1. |
To provide a strong
foundation for those students who plan to
enter a graduate school of psychology after
completing their undergraduate degree requirements. |
| 2. |
To assist those students
who are planning careers in psychology or
in related fields by providing a flexible
curriculum that can be designed to meet
the career goals of individual students. |
| 3. |
To meet the needs
of those students who are taking psychology
courses as part of their liberal arts education. |
|
| |
| All first-time freshmen with less than 15 semester hours are required to successfully complete CAS 100: New Student Seminar. |
| |
| REQUIREMENTS
FOR A MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY |
| A
minimum of 36 semester hours in psychology including
30 hours from the undergraduate core and six
hours of electives. |
| |
| UNDERGRADUATE
CORE |
| Topic
Area |
Course
Number |
Required |
| Basic |
PSY
120 or PSY 121,
PSY 220, PSY 310, PSY 320, PSY 412 |
All
five |
| Experimental/Learning |
PSY
416, PSY 420, PSY 428, PSY 475 |
Any
Two |
Personality/Social and Abnormal |
PSY
340, PSY 435, PSY 440 |
Any
Two |
| Developmental |
PSY
350, PSY 356 |
Any
One |
| Ten
courses (30 hours) |
|
|
|
| |
| The
remaining six hours of electives needed for
a major may be taken from any courses not taken
previously (excluding PSY 250). |
| Students
who are preparing for graduate study are encouraged
to take all courses listed in the undergraduate
core and any additional courses recommended
by their faculty advisor. Student research is
encouraged by the faculty and students may obtain
course credit for individual student research
projects in PSY 494. Students pursuing a degree in Psychology also must have a minor in another discipline. |
| |
| GENERAL
EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR PSYCHOLOGY MAJORS |
| General
Education Requirements for Psychology majors
are specified on the College of Arts and Sciences section. Note that Area IV is partially satisfied
by the major requirements specified above. |
| |
|
REQUIREMENTS FOR A MINOR
IN PSYCHOLOGY |
| A
minimum of 21 semester hours in Psychology,
including PSY 120 or PSY 121, PSY 220 and 15 semester
hours of electives (twelve of those must be
in courses numbered 300 or above). |
| |
| GRADUATE
STUDIES |
| The
Master of Science degree program in Psychology
is designed to provide individuals with knowledge
of current theories, principles, and methods
of experimental and applied psychology in preparation
for future work toward a doctoral degree, employment
under supervision in an applied setting, employment
in a research setting or employment in a junior
college teaching position. |
| The
student is given an opportunity to apply for
a concentration in either of the following areas
of study: |
| 1. |
General/Experimental
Psychology |
| 2. |
Applied
Psychology |
|
| An
individualized course of study will be developed
by the student and an advisor so as to fulfill
the student's career objectives and, at the
same time, meet all requirements for the M.S.
degree in Psychology. |
| |
| REQUIREMENTS
FOR ADMISSION |
| Students
are admitted Fall Semester only. Applications
to the Psychology Graduate Program should be
completed by March 1 for admission the following
Fall. Applications completed after March 1 will
be considered only if there are still openings
available. Please note that the Psychology Graduate
Program is a competitive program with a limited
capacity and admits students to begin in the
Fall Semester only. |
| In
addition to the Graduate School application
form and required supporting documentation,
the Department of Psychology requires submission
of a Psychology Department application form,
statement of purpose and three letters of recommendation.
Applicants will be asked to indicate whether
they are applying for the general/experimental
or the applied concentration. Applicants should
contact the Department of Psychology for guidelines
on submission of these materials. |
| The
following criteria supplement the Graduate School
criteria for admission (see Categories
of Admission). |
| |
| REGULAR
ADMISSION |
| In
addition to meeting graduate school requirements
for regular admission (see Categories
of Admission), applicants to the psychology
graduate program must meet the following criteria: |
| 1. |
Completion of at
least 21 semester hours of psychology
courses on the undergraduate level including
at least one statistics course and one
course in experimental methods/research design. In addition, the following courses
are highly recommended: abnormal psychology, biological psychology, learning, personality,
social psychology, developmental psychology,
and history/systems of psychology. |
| 2. |
Summed score of
1000 or better on the verbal and quantitative
subtests of the General Test of the Graduate
Record Examination. |
| 3. |
Submission of a
score on the GRE Subject Test in Psychology
is recommended, especially for applicants
for graduate assistantships. |
|
| |
| PROVISIONAL
STANDING |
| Applicants
who do not meet all requirements for regular
admission but who show evidence of promise as
a graduate student may, in exceptional cases,
be considered for provisional admission if space
is available in the program. The graduate admissions
committee will consider provisional admission
on an individual basis. Students admitted provisionally
may be required to make up deficiencies in their
undergraduate course work without graduate credit
in addition to completing the normal degree
requirements listed below. |
| Provisional
students may apply for regular standing after
satisfactory completion of the first nine semester
hours of recommended graduate course work in
psychology. Students must also remove any undergraduate
deficiencies before being approved for change
of status. Students in provisional standing
who receive a grade lower than "B"
in any graduate or undergraduate psychology
course will be recommended to the Dean of the
Graduate School for academic dismissal. |
| |
| NON-DEGREE
STUDENTS |
| Applicants
for non-degree status in psychology are considered
only in exceptional cases and will normally
be admitted only if they meet regular admission
standards. That is, they must have a 3.0 GPA
overall and in psychology, a score of 1000 or
better on the verbal plus quantitative subtests
of the Graduate Record Examination, and must
have completed the required undergraduate course
work. Following admission, non-degree students
must have permission of the department chair
and director of graduate studies of the college
for each course they wish to enroll in. Enrollment
will be approved on a space-available basis
with preference being given to degree students.
Non-degree students must satisfy the same prerequisites
and corequisites as degree students. |
| |
| PROGRESS
TOWARD DEGREE |
| All
graduate students will be evaluated each semester
to determine if they are making satisfactory
progress toward completion of degree requirements.
Students will be given written reports, including
specific deficits, if they are not making satisfactory
progress. Such students will have one semester
to remedy the specific deficits listed or will
be subject to dismissal from the program. |
| |
| GRADUATE
ASSISTANTSHIPS |
| Each
year the Psychology Department recommends qualified
applicants to the Dean of Graduate School for
graduate assistantships. Applicants must be
students in Regular Standing. The graduate admission
committee strongly recommends that applicants
for assistantships submit scores from the GRE
Subject Test in Psychology as part of their
application materials. |
| Application
forms for graduate assistantships may be obtained
by writing the Psychology Department, University
of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688-0002 or by
calling the secretary of the Psychology Department
at (251) 460-6371. The deadline for receipt of
completed assistantship applications is March
1. |
| |
| GRADUATE
CORE CURRICULUM |
| The
core courses in Part A are required of all students
in the Master's Program in Psychology regardless
of concentration. The core courses in Part B
are required of all students in the Master's
Program in Psychology regardless of concentration
but may be waived if the student has sufficient
undergraduate background in the subject matter.
Any waivers must be approved by the Graduate
Committee. In addition to these core courses,
all students are required to complete either
a major project in psychology (PSY 598, minimum
of three hours required) or a thesis (PSY 599,
minimum of six hours required). Further guidelines
for completion of theses and major projects
are available in the Department of Psychology. |
| |
| Core
Courses (Research Methodology) - Part
A |
| PSY
500 |
2 hrs |
PSY
501 |
3 hrs |
| PSY
502 |
3 hrs |
PSY
506 |
3 hrs |
| PSY 552 |
3 hrs |
PSY 510 |
3 hrs |
| |
|
|
|
| Core
Courses - Part B |
| One
of the following: |
|
|
|
| PSY
514* |
3 hrs |
PSY
516* |
3 hrs |
| |
|
|
|
| One
of the following: |
|
|
|
| PSY
520* |
3 hrs |
PSY
522* |
3 hrs |
| |
|
|
|
|
Total Hours Required 17 hours |
| |
| Research
Experience |
|
|
|
| PSY
598 |
min
of 3 hrs |
|
|
| PSY
599 |
min
of 6 hrs |
|
|
|
| |
| *Dual
listed with 400-level courses. |
| |
| Applied
Concentration |
| In
addition to the graduate core curriculum, students
admitted to the applied concentration are required
to complete all courses in Group A below for a total
of at least 27 hours. In addition, students
in the applied concentration must complete either
a major project in psychology (minimum of three
hours required) or a thesis (minimum of six
hours required). Satisfactory completion of
PSY 530 with a minimum grade of "B"
is required before a student is allowed to enroll
in any practicum course. |
| |
| Group
A - Required Applied Courses |
| PSY
530 |
3 hrs |
PSY
532 |
3 hrs |
| PSY
540 |
3 hrs |
PSY
542 |
3 hrs |
| PSY
544 |
3 hrs |
PSY
550 |
3 hrs |
| PSY 556 |
6 hrs |
PSY 554 |
3 hrs |
| |
|
|
|
| Group B - Elective Courses |
| PSY
503 |
3 hrs |
PSY
524 |
3 hrs |
| PSY
556 |
1-4
hrs |
PSY
558 |
(elect)
3-6 hrs |
| PSY
570 |
3 hrs |
PSY
572 |
3 hrs |
| PSY
590 |
3 hrs |
|
|
|
| |
|
Note: In addition
to the specific courses listed above, other
500-level or dual-listed (400/500) psychology
courses and graduate courses in other departments
(e.g. CED) may be taken for elective credit
with prior approval of the student's graduate
advisor and the Graduate Committee. |
| |
| General/Experimental
Concentration |
| Students
admitted to the general/experimental concentration
will develop an individualized program of study
in consultation with their graduate advisor.
The program of study must be approved by the
Psychology Graduate Committee and must include
the graduate core curriculum and other courses
(typically 12 to 15 hours) culminating in completion
and oral defense of a thesis based on original
research. A minimum of 36 hours of graduate
courses are required. |
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| College
of Arts and Sciences
|
