Graduate Catalog

2012-2013

PSYCHOLOGY

Department website: http://psych.nmsu.edu/

(575) 646-2502

domsimon@nmsu.edu

D.A. Simon, department head, Ph.D. (California- Los Angeles) – cognition, learning and performance; J. R. Cowie, Ph.D. (Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland) – automatic language processing, psycholinguistics; I. Dolgov, Ph.D. (Arizona State University) – perception and action, natural user interfaces, embodied cognition, human factors; M. J. Guynn, Ph.D. (New Mexico) – human memory; T. Ketelaar, Ph.D. (Michigan) – social psychology, emotion; J. K. Kroger, Ph.D. (California-Los Angeles) – biopsychology, cognitive neuropsychology; J. MacDonald (Purdue) – engineering psychology, auditory perception; L.J. Madson, Ph.D. (Iowa State) – scholarship of teaching & learning, gender, sexuality; M.J. Marks, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana- Champaign) – social psychology, sexual behaviors, relationships; S. Rice, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – engineering psychology, applied cognition; L.A. Thompson, Ph.D.(California-Santa Cruz) – developmental psychology, cognitive psychology; D.Trafimow, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) – social cognition.

Support Faculty: P. Foltz, Ph.D. (Colorado) – cognition, human-computer interaction; D. Gillan (Texas) – human-computer interaction, perception; D. Hunt (Emeritus) Ph.D. (Ohio State) – human factors; V. S. Johnston (Emeritus), Ph.D. (Edinburgh) – biopsychology, comparative, psychopharmacology, neuropsychology; A. Y. Lee, Ph.D.(Colorado) – cognition, learning, human-computer interaction; J. E. McDonald, (emeritus), Ph.D. (New Mexico State University) – cognitive psychology, engineering psychology; W. C. Ogden, Ph.D. (New Mexico State) – human computer interaction, natural language processing; K. Paap (Emeritus) Ph.D. (Wisconsin) – psycholinguistics; R. Schvaneveldt (Emeritus) Ph.D. (Wisconsin) – engineering psychology, aviation; W. Stephan (Emeritus) Ph.D. (Minnesota) – stereotyping and prejudice, cross-cultural psychology

DEGREE: Master of Arts
MAJOR: Psychology

DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy
MAJOR: Psychology

MINOR: Psychology

Admission

The Department of Psychology offers graduate work leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. To maximize consideration for admittance, candidates should submit applications by February 1. Note that the Psychology Department does not offer training in counseling or clinical psychology.

Students will be admitted to graduate study on the basis of their potential for achievement in research, scholarship, and teaching. The most promising applicants will be accepted. Because the number of students that the department can successfully accommodate is limited, it will not always be possible to admit all qualified applicants. The admissions committee will consider any material that a candidate for admission wishes to present. Application forms and instructions are available here: http://prospective.nmsu.edu/graduate/apply/index.html. The minimum application consists of the following:

1. A completed Graduate School admission application.
2. Complete transcripts of all college work.
3. Scores on the General Graduate Record Examination (minimum acceptable values are available at psych.nmsu.edu). Scores on the GRE Psychology test are not required.
4. Three letters of recommendation from professors, employers, or others qualified to evaluate your potential for graduate work.
5. A curriculum vitae or resume.
6. A personal statement explaining how graduate work at NMSU fits your educational and career goals, and, an indication of the faculty members whose work is of particular interest to you.

Students with bachelor degrees should apply for admittance to the master's program even if their eventual goal is a Ph.D.

Students with a master's degree in psychology-related disciplines or from other institutions may apply directly to the Ph.D. program. Admission to the doctoral program is frequently made conditional upon one or more of the following: completion of a research thesis, completion of either course work or qualifying exams in three of the core course areas; and completion of either course work or qualifying exams in masters-level quantitative methods.

A number of potential minors are available to interested students, including a minor in statistics. Additional information about a minor may be found in the listing of the home department in this catalog

DEGREE: Master of Arts
MAJOR: Psychology

The department offers an M.A. degree in general experimental psychology. The program provides students with sufficient electives to emphasize a particular sub-area of experimental psychology. The program is designed to provide graduates with the tools and knowledge necessary for further training at the doctoral level or for employment in industry or government. Students are required to: (1) complete a first-year research project; (2) complete three of the nine core courses (perception, learning, biopsychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive, developmental, engineering or human performance, history & systems, or social); (3) take three required courses in quantitative skills; and (4) complete a research thesis. Students should also register for one credit of Research Seminar (PSY 590) each semester.

DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy
MAJOR: Psychology

The Ph.D. in psychology is offered in the major areas of cognitive, engineering, and social psychology. Ph.D. candidates are required to: (1) complete four of the nine core courses (perception, learning, biopsychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive, developmental, engineering or human performance, history and systems, or social), at least one which must be the basic course from one of our three programs, viz. cognitive, engineering, or social psychology; (2) complete three required courses in quantitative skills, plus a minimum of 6 additional credits in methods/ statistics; (3) pass comprehensive written and oral exams in their area (cognitive, engineering, or social); (4) pass a final oral examination that consists primarily of an evaluation of the dissertation and the candidate's defense of it, but may extend over the entire field of the candidate's study, and (5) complete a work-related training requirement (i.e. complete an internship of at least 3 months duration OR teach at least one 3-credit undergraduate course independently; pre-teaching requirements listed on psych.nmsu.edu. Students should also register for one credit of Research Seminar (PSY 590) each semester.

MINOR: PSYCHOLOGY

Students may earn a minor in psychology at the M.A. or Ph.D. level by completing three of the nine core courses (perception, learning, biopsychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive, development, engineering or human performance, history & systems, or social), at least one which must be the basic course from one of our three programs, viz. cognitive, engineering, or social psychology.

PSYCHOLOGY

PSY 450. Senior Thesis 3 cr.

A laboratory or field research project conducted under faculty supervision. Requires written research proposal, conduct of research, data analysis, and final written report. Prerequisites: PSY 310, 6 additional psychology credits, consent of supervising faculty member, and junior or above standing. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits.

PSY 470. Special Topics 1-3 cr.

Specific subjects to be announced in the Schedule of Classes. May be repeated for a maximum of 12 credits.

PSY 501. Introduction to Psycholinguistics 3 cr.

Introduction to graduate studies in psycholinguistics. Psychological aspects of language; linguistic theories of grammar, psychological factors influencing language performance, primary language acquisition and the relationship of language to thought processes. Same as LING 501.

PSY 507. Quantitative Methods in Psychology I 3 cr.

Statistical concepts emphasizing distributions and methods most appropriate to the data, models, and theories in psychology. Prerequisite: An elementary statistics course or consent of instructor.

PSY 508. Quantitative Methods in Psychology II 3 cr.

Statistical concepts emphasizing distributions and methods most appropriate to the data, models, and theories in psychology. Prerequisite: PSY 507 or equivalent.

PSY 509. Quantitative Methods in Psychology III 3 cr.

Statistical concepts emphasizing distributions and methods most appropriate to the data, models in psychology. Prerequisite: PSY 507 or equivalent.

PSY 510. Computer Methodology 3 cr.

Use of computers in psychological research with emphasis on developing experimental control programs.

PSY 520. Learning 3 cr.

Classical areas of learning, including instrumental and classical conditioning paradigms, habituation, reinforcement variables, stimulus generalization and transfer, and memory.

PSY 522. Sensation and Perception 3 cr.

Stimulus and decision variables in judging auditory and visual events. Topics include: detection of signals; signal intensity versus perceived strength; size, shape, and movement perception; reading and listening.

PSY 523. Methods in Cognitive Psychology 3 cr.

Experimental and correlational methodologies appropriate for investigating cognitive psychological theories and problems. Prerequisite(s): PSY 524 or consent of instructor.

PSY 524. Cognitive Psychology 3 cr.

Examines theoretical and empirical work on human cognition. Topics include: information processing theories, pattern recognition, memory, attention, language, problem solving, decision making, and reasoning.

PSY 525. Behavioral Neuroscience 3 cr.

The biological basis of behavior with an emphasis on human cognitive functioning.

PSY 527. Social Psychology 3 cr.

Current and traditional theories, research findings, and research methodologies of social psychology.

PSY 529. Methods in Social Psychology 3 cr.

Experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational methodologies appropriate for investigating social psychological theories and problems. Prerequisite(s): Graduate student in psychology or consent of instructor.

PSY 530. Human-Computer Interaction 3 cr.

Issues associated with human-computer interface design. Concepts, methods, and data from HCI, cognitive psychology, human factors, artificial intelligence, and psycholinguistics that apply.

PSY 531. Human Memory 3 cr.

Current and traditional theories and research findings related to human memory.

PSY 535. Developmental Psychology 3 cr.

Examines theoretical and empirical work in lifespan developmental psychology, with an emphasis on perceptual and cognitive development, language development, and social cognitive development.

PSY 540. History and Systems of Psychology 3 cr.

History of scientific method emphasizing outstanding methodological problems of contemporary science, especially psychology. Covers recent history of psychology and development of schools of psychology.

PSY 543. Cognitive Neuroscience 3 cr.

Introduction to the study of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processes. Topics include relations between neural processes and attention, perception, memory, thinking and language; measuring change in electrical activity, blood flow, and metabolism in the brain during cognition; the problem of consciousness; and evolutionary perspectives.

PSY 547. Engineering Psychology 3 cr.

Covers concepts, methods, and findings of human performance. Treats the human as a subsystem that receives, stores and processes information, makes decisions, and acts within a human-machine environment system.

PSY 548. Methods in Engineering Psychology 3 cr.

Engineering psychology methods such as task analysis, cognitive task analysis, user testing, prototyping, protocol analysis, cost-benefit analysis, safety and reliability analysis, and multivariate techniques. Prerequisite: PSY 547 or consent of instructor.

PSY 570. Special Topics 1-3 cr.

Specific subjects to be announced in the Schedule of Classes.

PSY 590. Research Seminar in Psychology 1 cr.

Presentations on research by students, faculty, and guest speakers. May be repeated for credit.

PSY 598. Special Research Programs 1-3 cr.

Individual investigations either analytical or experimental. May be repeated for credit.

PSY 599. Master's Thesis 0-88 cr.

Thesis.

PSY 600. Doctoral Research 1-88 cr.

This course number is used for assigning credit for research performed prior to successful completion of the doctoral qualifying examination.

PSY 625. Seminar in Cognitive Science 3 cr.

May be repeated with consent of instructor. May be repeated for unlimited credit.

PSY 698. Special Research Programs 1-3 cr.

Individual investigations either analytical or experimental. May be repeated for credit.

PSY 700. Doctoral Dissertation 0-88 cr.

Dissertation.