Human Development and Family Studies (PhD)
Graduate School
Graduate Field
Psychological Sciences and Human Development
Program Description
Each program within the field of Psychological Sciences and Human Development shares four broadly defined areas of special interest:
- development
- cognition
- neuroscience
- social and personality psychology
The program prepares students for careers in academic life, primarily in psychology, sociology, or human development; in research programs of governmental agencies at various levels; and in a range of programs in community agencies and private enterprise. It does not prepare students to be clinical psychologists, school psychologists, or family life counselors.
Students develop an individual program of study and research in consultation with their Special Committee, which is chaired by a member of the members Field of Human Development but may include faculty members from other fields. All students are required to complete at least two semesters of graduate-level training in statistics and one semester of teaching. The field also requires that students complete a predoctoral research project or master's degree before taking the Admission to Candidacy examination.
All students are expected to acquire a basic background in the behavioral sciences and to master a broad base of knowledge of human development in the context of family and society. Both the M.A. and the Ph.D. degree programs require a research thesis or dissertation.
For the Ph.D. degree, two semesters of graduate-level training in statistics and some teaching experience are required. The field also requires that candidates complete a predoctoral research project before taking the Admission to Candidacy examination. The Ph.D. program ordinarily takes four years to complete.
Research Facilities
There are a number of fully equipped laboratories directed by individual faculty members who are conducting observational and experimental studies of basic processes in development. Students may also become involved in research or demonstration projects in the Family Life Development Center (child maltreatment and families under stress) and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center (adulthood and aging).
Concentrations
- Aging and health
- Ecology of human development
- Family studies and the life course