Areas of SpecializationThe graduate program is organized into seven broad areas of specialization: clinical, cognitive, community, developmental, quantitative, sensory and systems neuroscience, and social psychology. Graduate students may concentrate their studies in one of these areas or may combine areas to meet their specific research interests. Each area meets formally and informally on a regular basis for discussion seminars and colloquia, including the weekly developmental brunch, the cognitive studies group, the neuroscience seminar, the advances in community and clinical psychology groups, and social lunch. Seminars on research design and data analysis are available for students interested in quantitative psychology. A colloquium series brings to the Department distinguished speakers who address a variety of current topics in psychology. A more detailed description of the major areas of specialization, concentrating on current research topics, follows. Note: We do not have a forensic program. But students interested in psychology and law should read this answer in the graduate student FAQ.
Faculty:
Allen, Joseph P. Faculty members in the Clinical Training Program are committed to the scientist-practitioner model of training, with a clear emphasis on the word "scientist." We also believe, however, that the investigation of problems in clinical psychology cannot be limited to narrowly defined scientific methods. Effective investigators must be competent clinicians if they are to develop a complete understanding of psychological phenomena. We therefore emphasize the development of strong clinical skills as an essential part of our training. We seek to train students who are fully capable of and interested in integrating science and practice. The program requires five years of full-time study -- four years plus a full year internship. The curriculum has been designed to ensure students' active participation in clinical research as well as consistent experience with the assessment and treatment of clinical problems throughout their programs of study. The program does not advocate a particular "theoretical orientation," but we do make two assumptions. First, our knowledge of mental health problems is currently incomplete. Second, the faculty and students of this program can best serve the needs of those with clinical problems by pursuing new information, including innovative procedures for both assessment and intervention. We do not believe that our students need to choose whether they will be either scientists or practitioners; they must see these activities as being inherently intertwined, and they must be able to function in both roles. We emphasize research and academic career goals for our students consistent with our training goals and our views about the future needs for the profession of clinical psychology. However, a number of students elect careers in applied settings and use their scientist-practitioner skills in clinical work. This program is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association, and it is aimed at a select group of students: those who believe that clinical psychology should be firmly grounded in the basic science of our field. The Clinical Training Program is a member of The Academy of Psychological Clinical Science, which is a coalition of doctoral training programs that share a common goal of producing and applying scientific knowledge to the assessment, understanding, and amelioration of human problems. In accordance with the CUDCP, we have provided a full disclosure data page for the clinical graduate program in the Department of Psychology.
The Clinical Psychology Training Program at the University of Virginia is APA Accredited by the:
Faculty:
Bice, Raymond C. Our goal is to train researchers in cognitive psychology and cognitive science. We help our students prepare for careers in pure research (typically in university settings), as well as applied research in industry, where the skills of cognitive psychologists are in demand. We take care to tailor programs of study to each student's interests: we encourage some of our students to deepen their mathematical training, others to study topics in neuroscience, computer science, linguistics. We also insure that our students learn how to teach, give lectures to colleagues, write well, and obtain funding for their research. All of our students become seasoned data-analysts, and many learn how to program computers. We divide your studies into three phases; at the end of each phase, you submit a written report. During the first phase, which takes two years, you take core courses in cognitive psychology and statistics, and associate yourself with one or two faculty members as a research apprentice. Many graduate programs earmark each entering student as a "student of Professor X." In our program the choice is yours. We also encourage each student to do research in more than one lab. In each lab, you first attend weekly lab meetings to familiarize yourself with ongoing research projects. Eventually you develop your own research project, which culminates in a paper, the predissertation report. Along with doing research and taking courses, you attend a weekly meeting of Cognitive Studies, a series of lunchtime lectures and free-wheeling debates led by guest speakers from other universities, colleagues from the University, our faculty, and our students. After your first year, we encourage you to develop your oratorical skills by giving one presentation a year. This participation continues throughout your residency in our program. We also encourage you to give papers at conferences (at first on research performed with faculty) and to begin establishing a publication record. Many of our students have published several articles by the time they receive their doctorate. Throughout your studies you work as a teaching assistant in undergraduate courses (such as General Psychology, Research Methods & Data Analysis, Introduction to Perception, Introduction to Cognition). We believe that one of the best ways to understand a topic in depth is to teach it to beginners. The faculty member you assist will help you develop your pedagogy. We also have special courses devoted to the improvement of your teaching. During the second phase of your studies, you deepen your involvement in research, take a few advanced seminars, and over a period of up to a year, you write the three parts of an individually tailored Qualifying Exam: (1) a review of research on a topic you wish to understand; (2) a detailed course outline for an undergraduate course you would like to teach (or an equivalent undertaking); (3) a referee's critical review of a manuscript submitted for publication (usually an article sent by a journal editor to your advisor who has been asked to review the article). During the third phase of your studies, you focus on your dissertation. Out of the research you have conducted to this point, emerges a problem at the frontier of knowledge. Your dissertation committee approves your proposal, which you write in the form of a grant application to the National Institutes of Mental Health, one of the principal sources of funding in our field. In your last year, you perform your dissertation research, and write your thesis. By the end of the Fall term you have analyzed enough of your data to prepare a job lecture, which you deliver when prospective employers interview you during the winter months of your last year. In Februrary we invite outstanding prospective students to visit the us. We are sure that once you have had first-hand contact with our first-rate research programs, our extraordinary facilities, our congenial faculty, and our enthusiastic students, you will want to spend the next few years of your life learning how to discover what makes the mind tick. We recommend that you now review the research interests of our core faculty.
Faculty:
Allen, Joseph P. The community specialization emphasizes an ecological perspective focusing on prevention, law, and social policy related to children and families. Students are expected to become knowledgeable about evaluation and field research methods. Included in the curriculum are required courses in ethnic minority issues; ecological assessment; children, families, and the law; developmental methods and a year long sequence in community psychology and prevention research. Students develop expertise in quantitative methods and at least one other area of psychology, usually developmental psychology. The development and application of psychological knowledge for the formation of public policy is encouraged in conjunction with an interdisciplinary approach. Examples of current faculty and student research topics include prevention of school dropout and teenage pregnancy; resilient children; preventive interventions' delinquency; minority families; peer influence in adolescent development; gay and lesbian families; impact of welfare reform on families and children; violence against women and children; children in poverty; and law/mental health interactions related to children and families. For students with legal interests, research and course work in law and psychology are emphasized. For further information about the law and psychology option, contact Professor Reppucci.
Faculty:
Allen, Joseph P. The concentration in developmental psychology addresses issues in human development extending from infancy to old age, and includes comprehensive coverage of the following primary facets of the developmental process: perceptual and cognitive growth; the acquisition of language and communication skills; personality and social-emotional development; and behavior genetics. There are three major clusters: (1) Basic Processes including cognitive and social development; (2) Quantitative Theory and Analysis in Development and (3) Diversity in Development with three subthemes: a) Development in ethnic minority and culturally diverse families; b) development in low income and special needs families and c) translation of developmental research for intervention and legal and social policy. Research in specific developmental problem areas changes from year to year in response to changing interest of both faculty and students. Some specific areas of current research in perceptual and cognitive development are: Theory of mind; symbolic representation; the development of children's planning and problem-solving skills; aging and memory; and, cognitive performance over the lifespan. Recent investigations in the areas of language and communication development address aspects of language acquisition in both normal and language-disordered children, including the acquisition of sign language and how words and signs acquire meaning for deaf, autistic, and dysphasic children. The short- and long-term effects of normative and non-normative life transitions such as divorce, on children development are being studied, as well as questions of the role of attachment throughout the lifespan, especially in toddlers. Additional areas of personality and socio-emotional development being examined are children's friendships, family and peer relations, and child development, Native American, African American and lesbian and gay families. In other studies, the impact of early identification and intervention for developmentally delayed children and children at risk are being assessed, with special emphasis on issues related to race and family poverty. Also cross cultural studies of children in Brazil, Japan, India and the Philippines are underway. Finally, issues related to law and children, especially children's capacities in legal contexts, e.g., competence to stand trial, culpability, competence, youth violence, child custody after divorce and child abuse. A developmental student should feel free to draw on the resources of other areas within the Department and other Departments in the University, either for course work or for research co-sponsorship, or both. It is not unusual for a developmental student's training and research to be focused within another departmental area. For example, students interested in social ecology and development may develop an expertise in community psychology,assessment, intervention, or psychobiology. In recent years, some developmental students have done research in the Department of Pediatrics. The developmental concentration offers a wide variety of research possibilities and can be extremely flexible.
Faculty:
Boker, Steve All graduate students must take coursework in quantitative methods, and advanced research is being conducted by faculty interested in quantitative psychology. Current research foci include linear and non-linear structural equation modeling, dynamic systems modeling, optimal research design, and quantitative analysis of neuroimages. Topics of special interest include longitudinal latent variable models, growth curve models, applications of structural equation models to behavior genetics, analysis of individual and group differences in family studies of ability, and the development of numerical and graphical estimation techniques for multivariate models.
Faculty:
Brunjes, Peter C. Current research being conducted by faculty in the Program in Sensory and Systems Neuroscience includes: a) the mechanisms of sensory system development and plasticity, b) the influence of experience on learning and memory using anatomical, electrophysiological, and behavioral techniques, and c) the mechanisms by which neuroendocrine hormones influence memories for meaningful experiences. A dominant feature of the Sensory and Systems Neuroscience Program is that students are trained to apply interdisciplinary techniques to questions of neural and endocrine influences on behavior. Thus, an individual student's project might require the use of a combination of behavioral, pharmacological, anatomical and physiological procedures. The Sensory and Systems Neuroscience laboratories, housed in the Life Sciences Annex of Gilmer Hall, are well-equipped for this multi-faceted approach to research. The Department also participates in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience, together with the Departments of Biology, Neuroscience, Cell Biology, Pharmacology, Physiology and other clinical departments within the School of Medicine. The Program in Sensory and Systems Neuroscience is designed to provide students with an understanding of the techniques and approaches used to study the nervous system. Graduate students in the Program in Sensory and Systems Neuroscience are considered members of the University of Virginia Neuroscience community and enroll in courses in the Department of Psychology, the Neuroscience Graduate Program, and other relevant departments.
Faculty:
Clore, Gerald The faculty and students in social psychology are engaged in research on number of topics--including action perception, attitudes, causal and counterfactual reasoning, consciousness, cultural psychology, deception, decision making, emotion, empathy, introspection, mental control, morality, nonverbal communication, psychology and law, social cognition, and stereotyping and prejudice. These topics are being investigated in the laboratory and in naturalistic settings. Our emphasis is on gaining expertise in social psychological research. We encourage active research involvement, and supplement this with courses in a range of social psychology theories and methods. Students in social psychology are encouraged to work with faculty members both within and outside social psychology. Laboratory facilities in the social psychology program include a state-of-the-art video editing studio, as well as a polygraph suite and a range of computer equipment. Extensive space in this area allows for a diversity of laboratory-based methods and paradigms. |
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