Psychology

Professor Robert Cook, Chair; Animal cognition
Professor Nalini Ambady, Social cognition
Professor Jamshed Bharucha, Cognitive psychology of music
Professor Emily W. Bushnell, Developmental psychology
Professor Richard A. Chechile, Cognition, statistics
Professor Joseph F. DeBold, Endocrinology and behavior
Professor David Harder, Clinical psychology
Professor Phillip J. Holcomb, Neuropsychology
Professor Ray Jackendoff, Linguistics, Psychology of language
Professor Robin Kanarek, John Wade Professor; Physiological psychology
Professor Klaus A. Miczek, Moses Hunt Professor of Psychology; Psychopharmacology
Professor Robert J. Sternberg, Intelligence, wisdom, love & hate
Professor Holly A. Taylor, Cognition
Associate Professor Gina Kuperberg, Clinical psychology
Associate Professor Keith B. Maddox, Social cognition
Associate Professor Lisa M. Shin, Clinical psychology
Assistant Professor Haline E. Schendan, Cognitive neuroscience
Assistant Professor Samuel R. Sommers, Social psychology
Assistant Professor Heather L. Urry, Affective neuroscience
Assistant Professor (part-time) Harold Miller-Jacobs, Industrial and organizational psychology
Senior Lecturer Sinaia Nathanson, Social psychology
Research Associate Ray Nickerson, Applied cognition

Part-time lecturers:
Lecturer Michael Carlin, Cognition
Lecturer Carolyn Cohen, Psychopharmacology
Lecturer Jack Fultz, Sports psychology
Lecturer Robert Jampel, Clinical psychology
Lecturer Mitchel Rose, Clinical psychology

Psychology concerns the processes and principles of behavior. Increased understanding of oneself and others through the study of psychology is useful in almost any endeavor. The undergraduate psychology curriculum is diverse in order to reflect the breadth of the field, from the biological bases to the social determinants of behavior. Students gain general familiarity with psychology, and have the option to emphasize specific areas in the field. Courses are geared toward the development of evaluative and analytic skills, which are indispensable to advanced study in experimental, clinical, and applied psychology. These skills, together with knowledge of the factors influencing individual and group behavior, are highly valuable for careers in such fields as public health, engineering, medicine, business, administration, law, and education.

Psychology Courses as Distribution Requirements
Students may take Psychology 25, 26, 27, 29, 32, 40, 41, 45, 46, 48, 49, 103, 104, 112, 123, 124, 127, 128, 129, 146 or 148 toward fulfilling the natural science distribution requirements. Psychology 31, 107, 108, or 140 may be taken by majors or nonmajors toward the mathematical sciences distribution requirement. All other psychology courses may be taken toward fulfilling the social science distribution requirement. Psychology majors will normally meet the social science distribution requirement by virtue of courses they take in psychology. 

Undergraduate Concentration Requirements

Major in Psychology
Eleven courses distributed as follows: Psychology 1; one course from among Psychology 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18; one course from among Psychology 25, 26, 27, 28, or 29; Psychology 31 and 32; one course from among Psychology 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 46, 48, and 49 (these laboratory courses have specific prerequisites); two other psychology courses numbered above 100; one other course offered by the psychology department; two approved advanced courses in related fields.

Courses taken to fulfill the psychology major (including related-field requirements) may not be taken pass-fail except Psychology 99. No more than two independent study courses (Psychology 21 and 22, 97 and 99, 121 and 122, 181 and 182, 197, 198 and 199) may be counted toward the concentration requirement. No more than one course taken to fulfill the 100-level requirement may be an independent study course. A student contemplating majoring in psychology is urged to take Psychology 1 as early as possible. Psychology/clinical and biology-psychology majors may not double major in psychology or one of the other psychology majors. Psychology 32 and the advanced lab requirements need to be completed at Tufts.

Students with a score of 4 or 5 on the AP in psychology should not take Psychology 1. An AP score of 5 completely substitutes for this requirement within the major, but no acceleration credit is given. An AP score of 4 places a student into two-digit psychology courses but the student will need to take an additional psychology course for the major in lieu of Psychology 1. Pending consent by the professor, Child Development 1 may be used as a substitute for Psychology 1 for nonmajors wishing to take Psychology 11, 14, 111, 118, and 152. Child Development does not normally substitute for Psychology 1 in other areas of psychology. In recommending students for honors, in addition to the general college requirements, the psychology department does not normally recommend students for highest honors unless they have done empirical research.

Major in Psychology/Clinical
This major is intended for students interested in entering graduate or professional schools in mental health or human services and/or working with psychiatric patients. Required courses are Psychology 1, 12, 31, 38, 71, 106, 181 and 182, two electives in psychology, one of which must be at the 100 level, and two approved advanced courses in related fields. Students planning to continue in clinical work will profit from electing a course in physiological psychology.

Major in Biopsychology
There is an interdepartmental major for students particularly interested in neurobiology and behavior. Required courses: five in biology and five in psychology. These include the following: Cells and Organisms (Biology 13), General Genetics (Biology 41), Animal Behavior (Biology 130), one course in animal physiology (chosen from among Biology 75, 115, 116, 134) and an elective in biology; Statistics (Psychology 31 or Biology 132), Experimental Psychology (Psychology 32), Brain and Behavior (Psychology 103), plus two electives from among Psychology 26, 27, 29, 40, 41, 46, 48, 49, 104, 112, 123, 127, 128, 129, and 146. Additional courses may be added to this list at the discretion of the chair. Biopsychology majors may not also double major in psychology or biology. Majors are encouraged to elect an advanced laboratory course in either department. Independent research is strongly encouraged, but is not counted towards this major. Consult the departments of either biology or psychology for details about this major.

Major in Engineering Psychology
An interdisciplinary program, more commonly called human factors, is offered jointly by the departments of mechanical engineering and psychology. (See Engineering Psychology for program description and course listings.)

Graduate Program

The Department of Psychology offers both a master's degree and a doctor of philosophy degree in general experimental psychology. Students having a baccalaureate degree may apply for either the master's degree program or the doctoral program, although priority is given to those planning to pursue the doctorate. Students having a master's degree in psychology may apply for the doctoral program directly if their master’s degree included an empirical thesis.

To be considered for graduate work in psychology, a student must have a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree from an accredited college or university. Most students will have majored in psychology, but this is not a requirement. The student must, however, have had at least a one-semester course in statistics and at least six semester hours of experimental psychology or comparable research experience.

Graduate students are expected to develop overall breadth in psychology, as well as an emphasis in a specialty area. Emphasis areas within the department include social psychology; cognitive psychology; developmental psychology; physiological psychology and psychopharmacology; experimental psychopathology; and cognitive neuroscience.

Considerable emphasis is placed on the student's ability to undertake research. These skills are demonstrated in connection with course work, independent research, and by the thesis and/or dissertation.

All graduate students are expected to participate in supervised research or teaching activities each semester.

General Program Requirements

 The program is based around five major annual milestones:

 Year 1:  A first-year research project
 Year 2:  Completion of the master's thesis
 Year 3:  Third-year comprehensive paper/exam
 Year 4:  Fourth-year writing requirement
 Year 5:  Completion of the doctoral dissertation

There is no formal language requirement for either the master of science degree or the doctoral degree.

Master of Science

 The requirements for the master of science degree include ten credits (8 course credits and 2 research credits) distributed as follows: completion of the graduate sequence in statistics (Psychology 107 and 108), two area core courses, two upper-level psychology courses or seminars (100 level or higher), one independent reading/research course or other course credit, one professional preparation course, and successful completion of the first-year project (one credit) and the master's thesis (one credit).

No more than two graduate-level courses, which have not been used to count toward another graduate degree, may be transferred from another institution toward the Tufts program.

The master's thesis must be an empirical research study in psychology, which will be presented in written form and on which the candidate must take an oral comprehensive examination.

A student who is able to devote full time to the graduate program may register for four courses a term and earn the master's degree in one year. Students holding Tufts' teaching and research assistantships are advised to register for five courses per year and should plan to spend more than one year in completing the degree. Only under exceptional circumstances should it require more than two years for completion. The department does not encourage part-time participation in the program.

Doctor of Philosophy

 The doctoral degree requires thirteen credits (8 course credits and 5 research credits) beyond those required for the master's degree. These must include:

One additional core course, two 200-level seminars outside one's major area, one additional professional preparation course, four independent reading/research courses or other course credit, a third-year comprehensive paper/exam (one credit), a fourth-year publication requirement (one credit).

The doctoral candidate must submit a dissertation on his or her original empirical research and must take an oral examination in support of the dissertation. Upon successful completion of the dissertation and the examination, the candidate will be awarded five course credits.

In general, the student's program of study is worked out with a faculty adviser, taking into account the student's interests and background.