Program Milestones

In addition to building a research program during their graduate training, students are required to complete the following program milestones:  

First Year Project. The first year project involves research under the direct supervision of the student’s advisor. Two additional faculty, called "readers", are selected during the first year to assist in the development of the project.  This project culminates in both a written paper and oral presentation at the end of the student's first year.

Master’s Thesis. The master's thesis is typically undertaken in the second year and defended during the third year. It is an original piece of research, closely supervised by the research advisor and an advisory committee. The thesis leads to the M.A. degree.

Comprehensive Examination. During the third or fourth year of graduate school, the student concentrates much of his or her effort on a scholarly review of the areas of Cognition, Action, and Perception. The student works with four committee members to put together a reading list upon which the Comprehensive Exams — written and oral — are based.  The student has the choice of completing a "closed-book", two-day written exam or an "open-book", two-week written exam.  The oral exam is conducted one week after the conclusion of the written exam and serves to clarify the student's answers to the written questions.  Often, the literature review that the student conducts during this time period becomes the basis of the doctoral dissertation.

Doctoral Dissertation. The doctoral dissertation is an extensive piece of original research that demonstrates the capability of the student to act as an independent scholar in experimental methods. The dissertation is closely supervised by the research advisor and three additional faculty members, who constitute the dissertation committee. The dissertation process begins with the dissertation proposal, a written document that provides a comprehensive scholarly introduction to the research and a complete description of the research to be undertaken. Once the oral defense of the dissertation proposal is completed, the student is admitted to Ph.D. candidacy by the Graduate College. Next, the psychology department requires a "data meeting," a working meeting in which the empirical and/or analytical outcomes are reviewed by the whole committee. Any further needed work is discussed. The student then defends the dissertation in a final oral examination.