Areas of Study and Degrees
General Experimental Psychology
M.S., Ph.D.
Mathematical Sciences
Ph.D.

Master's Degree Plans
Thesis

Chair
Roger Mellgren
315A Life Science, 817-272-2281

Graduate Advisor
William Ickes
510 Life Science, 817-272-3229

Graduate Faculty
Professors
Amster, Bernstein, Erickson, Ickes, Levine, Mellgren, Paulus

Associate Professors
Jackson, Kopp, Mann

Assistant Professor
Wilcox

Adjunct Professor
Gorfein

Professor Emeritus
McCain

Objective

The objective of graduate work in psychology is to educate the student in the methods and basic content of the discipline and to provide an apprenticeship in the execution of creative research.

Graduate work in the doctoral and master's programs will be offered in general experimental psychology. Students' individual programs may be arranged to give emphasis to a particular aspect of the general program.

Within this framework, options include, but are not limited to, Cognition and Perception, Developmental, Physiological, and Social-Personality Psychology. An interdisciplinary option, Animal Behavior, is offered jointly with the Biology Department (see Animal Behavior Option). Students specializing in Cognition and Perception may include, in addition to their area C courses (described below), advanced topical seminars in their area of specialty. Recent advanced seminars in Cognition include: Issues in Cognition, Cognitive Development and Expertise. Students specializing in Developmental Psychology have taken seminars in Developmental Psychobiology and Visual Cognition and Infancy. In addition to core courses (see area A) for those interested in Physiological Psychology, seminars offered in the recent past include Aggression and Nociception. For those seeking expertise in the Social-Personality area, in addition to the area B courses, seminars have included topics such as Group Processes and Empathetic Accuracy Intersubjectivity.

Animal Behavior Option: Study in the area of animal behavior is offered jointly by the biology and psychology graduate programs. Students specializing in animal behavior may initially enroll in the Master of Science program in either biology or psychology. There are a number of biology and psychology courses offered within this specialization. In addition to the courses specified in the catalog, advanced courses in Animal Behavior are often offered under enrollment in BIOL 5310 (Special Topics in Biology), PSYC 5389 (Contemporary Problems in Psychology), and PSYC 6300 (Seminar in Psychology). Recent courses offered under these titles include Animal Cognition, Behavioral Ecology, Behavioral Genetics, Developmental Psychobiology, Nociception, and Predator-Prey Interactions.

Research Involvement—Since the Psychology Department believes that graduate training should involve the student continuously in the research process, students are encouraged to make personal contacts by letter or E-mail with faculty members of their choice. A description of the faculty and their areas of research may be obtained by consulting the department web page at www.uta.edu/psychology/psych/html or by writing to or calling the department at 817-272-2281. Every effort will be made to assign the incoming student to a faculty member of choice, but priority is given to those who have discussed their placement in advance.

Deadline for Financial Aid Applications—Students who wish to be considered for assistantships should have their applications and departmental forms sent to The University of Texas at Arlington by April 1 for the Fall Semester and November 1 for the Spring Semester. Students who do not desire financial aid may apply at any time up to the deadline listed by the Graduate School.

Degree Requirements

In addition to the requirements outlined elsewhere, the Department of Psychology will require undergraduate courses in statistics and in experimental methods. These courses may be taken as deficiency courses.

Degree requirements for the Department of Psychology are established by the Committee on Graduate Studies in Psychology and supplement those established by the University (see general requirements of the Graduate School as stated under the section entitled "Admission Requirements and Procedures").

Each entering graduate student will be furnished a copy of the departmental rules which will serve as guidelines for departmental actions and recommendations.

Each student must adhere to the code of ethics of the American Psychological Association.

Master of Science Degree
Thirty hours, including six hours of thesis, are required for the Master of Science degree. The program is designed to form the basis for the doctoral program. It is, however, open to those seeking a terminal master's degree. PSYC 5405, 5406, and 12 hours among 5312, 5313, 5321, 5322, 5331, 5333, 5335, 5341, and 5345 are required, including at least three hours from each of area A, B, and C. (See below).

As soon as is feasible, a student should decide on an area for concentration and research. After discussion with and consent of the involved faculty members, the student selects a supervising professor and a thesis committee. No student may enroll in PSYC 5398 or 5698 until the thesis committee has approved a proposal for the thesis project.

Doctor of Philosophy
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy in experimental psychology requires distinguished attainments both in scholarship and original research, and the deep understanding of the strategic role of thoughtful experimentation in the development of an empirical science. Although the student must meet the minimum requirements of a planned course of study, the ultimate basis for conferring the degree must be the demonstrated ability to do independent and creative work and the exhibition of a profound grasp of the subject matter of the field.

Mathematics—Experimental psychology requires sophistication in mathematics. Prospective students are encouraged to recognize this trend and prepare themselves as well as possible. Mathematics from College Algebra through Calculus is desirable.

Computer Knowledge Requirement—Because of the fundamental and varied ways in which computers are applied in psychology, students are expected to understand their use and application in psychological research. Specifically, students are expected to demonstrate competence in the use of operating systems such as Windows or Macintosh System 7, e-mail and other aspects of the Internet, standard office packages, data bases, programming languages (with specific reference to the programming of psychological experiments) and statistical packages such as SAS. This computer knowledge requirement has been established in lieu of the foreign language requirement. It may be satisfied by successful completion of PSYC 5348. If you feel that you already have the prerequisite knowledge to satisfy this requirement, see the graduate advisor to arrange a proficiency examination.

Course requirements—Entering graduate students will be required to take the following courses during their first four semesters of enrollment. Exceptions may be made only with written permission of the Committee on Graduate Studies.

Current Topics in Experimental Psychology (5110)
Statistics I (5405)
Statistics II (5406)
Experimental Design (5407)

Four of the following courses, at least one from each area A, B, and C:
Area A: 5312 Animal Learning, 5333 Physiological Psychology, 5335 Animal Behavior
Area B: 5321 Personality, 5322 Social Psychology
Area C: 5313 Cognitive Processes, 5331 Perceptual Processes, 5341 Decision Making, 5345 Human Learning and Memory

Students with prior graduate work may be exempted from any of the above requirements by taking a departmental test which is the equivalent of the final examination in that course. Having fulfilled the above, the following are required:

1. An additional five courses (15 hours) from among those numbered PSYC 5310 through 5347.
2. Two six-hour research courses. These may be taken from PSYC 5698 or PSYC 5600. Students who plan to obtain the MS should elect PSYC 5698 as one of the research courses and students who do not plan to obtain the MS should select two sections of PSYC 5600. If the student does not elect to obtain the MS, one of the research courses must result in a formal thesis-equivalent paper, which will be evaluated by a committee and defended in an oral examination. The two research courses are a minimum requirement. Students are strongly encouraged to take PSYC 5391 before taking PSYC 5600 and 5698.
3. Nine hours of PSYC 6300.
4. Additional hours of coursework to be determined by the Graduate Advisor and dissertation committee. The student should plan to take approximately 90 hours including 6999. No student may enroll in a dissertation course until the dissertation committee has approved a proposal for the dissertation project.

A student has completed the course requirements when he or she has:

1. Maintained at least a B average in 5405, 5406, and 5407.
2. Maintained at least a B average in his or her area A, B, and C courses.
3. Received at least a B average in all other courses.

Diagnostic Evaluations—Doctoral students normally take diagnostic examinations in a major and minor area between the fourth and fifth semester of graduate work. Satisfactory completion of the area A, B, and C course requirements by the end of the first four semesters is necessary for achieving satisfactory progress in the graduate program. It is also a condition for taking the diagnostic exams. Exceptions will rarely be made, and then only with the written permission of the Committee on Graduate Studies.

The grade of R (research in progress) is a permanent grade; it cannot be changed by completing course requirements in a later semester. To receive credit for an R-graded course, the student must continue to enroll in the course until a passing grade is received.
An incomplete grade (the grade of X) cannot be given in a course that is graded R, nor can the grade of R be given in a course that is graded X. To receive credit for a course in which the student earned an X, the student must complete the course requirements no later than mid-semester of the next semester (excluding summer). A grade of X cannot be changed by enrolling again in the course in which an X was earned. An incomplete grade that is not removed by the specified deadline will be automatically converted to an F. (See the Graduate School calendar for specific deadlines.)
Three-hour thesis courses and three- and six-hour dissertation courses are graded R/F/W only (except social work thesis courses). The grade of P (required for degree completion for students enrolled in thesis or dissertation programs) can be earned only in six- or nine-hour thesis courses and nine-hour dissertation courses. In the course listings below, R-graded courses are designated either "Graded P/F/R" or "Graded R." Occasionally, the valid grades for a course change. Students should consult the appropriate Graduate Advisor or instructor for valid grade information for particular courses. (See also the sections titled "R" Grade, Credit for Research, Internship, Thesis or Dissertation Courses and Incomplete Grade in this catalog.)

Psychology (PSYC)

5110. CURRENT TOPICS IN EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(1-0). A survey of contemporary topics in experimental psychology. Prerequisite: admission to the graduate program in psychology or permission of the instructor.

5112. TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY (1-0). Required for teaching assistants during first semester of award. Topics will include: selecting appropriate course materials; preparing syllabi, lectures and demonstrations; audiovisual aids; grading; assisting special-needs students; dealing with academic dishonesty.

5310. MATHEMATICAL MODELS IN PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). Elementary probability theory, matrix algebra, and theory of linear difference equations applied to theoretical problems in learning, signal detection, decision processes, and social interactions.

5312. ANIMAL LEARNING (3-0). Survey of contemporary topics in animal learning.
5313. COGNITIVE PROCESSES (3-0). Includes topics such as concept identification, problem solving, reasoning, and knowledge representation.

5314. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (3-0). A survey of current theories of cognitive development. Recent research within topic areas, such as physical reasoning, spatial cognition, memory, and symbol use, will be used to evaluate the theories presented.

5315. OPERANT PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). Overview of operant theory with an emphasis upon contemporary problems. Basic concepts that are covered include: reinforcement and stimulus control, punishment, compound schedules, response topography, and chaining. Other topics include complex human operants, verbal behavior, behavior modification, and contingency management.

5316. HISTORY AND SYSTEMS (3-0). Consideration of the origins of psychology in the development of Western thought. Early conceptualization of problems and their modification with changes in evidence is emphasized.

5317. PHYLOGENY AND ONTOGENY OF BEHAVIOR (3-0). Selection contingencies as they operate to modulate behavior between phylogenic and reproductive cycles. Topics such as learning, conditioning, reinforcement, foraging, imprinting, modeling, social behavior, group selection, and cultural behavior will be treated as varieties of phyletic adaptation in the evolution of hominids.

5320. BEHAVIORAL PHARMACOLOGY (3-0). Survey of the basis of behavioral pharmacology including mechanisms and theories of drug actions, techniques and strategies of research, common psychoactive drugs, and the uses of drugs in clinical practice.

5321. PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). A survey of contemporary topics in personality psychology, including personality assessment, strategies for studying personality, temporal stability and cross-situational consistency in behavior, and personality influence on social behavior.

5322. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). A survey of contemporary topics in social psychology, including interpersonal attraction, altruism and aggression, attribution and social cognition, social influence, group dynamics, and social motivation.

5323. GROUP PROCESSES (3-0). Survey of the major topics in group dynamics. Among the issues covered will be performance, motivation, goal setting, decision making, creativity, social influence, memory, leadership, teamwork, and collective behavior.

5325. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION (3-0). Surveys the current literature and theory on emotion and the neural and physiological basis for motivation. Material to be covered will include both biological drives, such as hunger and thirst, and interpretations of drives less immediately related to the underlying biological processes.

5331. PERCEPTUAL PROCESSES (3-0). Survey of methods and findings dealing with perception; emphasis will be upon behavioral rather than physiological considerations; particular topics include signal detection theory, form and pattern recognition, and attentional mechanisms.

5333. PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). A survey of biological and physical processes underlying behavior. Emphasis on neural, hormonal, and genetic determinants of behavior. Topics include regulatory behaviors, reward and nociceptive systems, differentiation and sociosexual behaviors, limbic and cortical functions.

5335. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR (3-0). Phylogenetic approach to some basic problems in behavior, with special emphasis on unlearned behavior. Also offered as BIOL 5335; credit will be granted for only one of these courses.

5338. NEURAL AND COGNITIVE MODELING (3-0). Principals of neural network and dynamical systems modeling; application of these principals to the simulation of cognitive processes in both brains and machines; models of associative learning, pattern recognition and classification, and individual and group behavior. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

5341. DECISION MAKING (3-0). Study of variables that influence judgments and choices.

5343. COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY (3-0). Surveys current experimental and clinical research and theory relating the brain and cognition. Emphasizes selected areas i.e., perception, attention, memory, language, and thinking.

5344. PSYCHOMETRIC THEORY (3-0). Introduction to test construction. Topics include reliability theory, test validation, and item analysis.

5345. HUMAN LEARNING AND MEMORY (3-0). Survey of current approaches to the study of human learning and memory.

5346. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF ANIMALS (3-0). Survey of research and theory related to nonhuman social behavior.

5347. ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). Survey of the current literature on the impact of various features of the physical and social environment on human behavior. Designed to be of interest to graduate students in architecture, urban studies, engineering, geology, sociology, as well as those in psychology.

5348. EXPOSURE TO CONTEMPORARY PC MICRO-COMPUTERS (3-0). Operating systems, ASCII editors, word processors, spreadsheets, graphics, data bases, programming languages, programming psychological experiments, statistical programming, using networks, the Internet, e-mail, Gopher, FTP, and Telnet.

5151, 5251, 5351. READINGS IN PSYCHOLOGY. Independent readings under the supervision of an individual faculty member. Students wishing to conduct research should sign up for PSYC 5191, 5291, or 5391. May be repeated for credit with consent of the Graduate Advisor. Graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.

5353. PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION I (3-0). Survey of the content of contemporary psychology.

5354. PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION II (3-0). Survey of the methods of contemporary psychology.

5355. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS (3-0). Application of general linear model to special cases such as factor analysis, multiple regression, and discriminant analysis. PSYC 5344 recommended.

5389. CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). Topics vary; may be repeated for credit with consent of Graduate Advisor.

5191, 5291, 5391. RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY. Independent research under the supervision of an individual faculty member; may be repeated for credit with consent of Graduate Advisor. Graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. $5-$15 lab fee.

5405. ADVANCED STATISTICS I (3-2). Review of essential mathematical ideas and techniques, a survey of the basic concepts of probability theory, mathematical expectation, special distributions; parametric estimation theory.

5406. ADVANCED STATISTICS II (3-2). Statistical hypothesis testing, Bayesian inference, decision theory, linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance; distribution-free techniques.

5407. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN (3-2). Statistical aspects of complex experimental designs used in psychological research. Prerequisite: PSYC 5406.

5600. ADVANCED RESEARCH. Supervised research. May be repeated for credit. Graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. $30 lab fee.

5398, 5698. THESIS. 5398 graded R/F only; 5698 graded P/F/R. Prerequisites: 12 hours of advanced psychology and an approved thesis proposal. $30 lab fee.

6300. SEMINAR IN PSYCHOLOGY (3-0). Offered each semester. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

6399, 6699, 6999. DISSERTATION. 6399 and 6699 graded R/F only; 6999 graded P/F/R. Prerequisite: approved dissertation proposal. For students in the Ph.D. program in Mathematical Sciences, see Mathematical Sciences entry. $15-$45 lab fee.