Required Courses
The minimum course requirements for the Ph.D. set by the Graduate School is 27 courses.
Required Courses
Core Clinical Psychology Courses
- 406 Empirical Foundations of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (first or second year)
- 421-1,2 Psychopathology (first or second year)
- 494 Theories of Personality (first or second year)
- 495-1 Clinical Assessment (first or second year)
- 496-1 Psychotherapy (first or second year)
- 413, 414, 415 Practicum (second through fourth year)
- 420-1,2 History, Ethics and Diversity (fourth year)
Research Design, Methodology, and Statistics
- 405 Psychometric Theory (first year)
- 434 Clinical Research Methods
- 451-1 Statistics in Experimental Design (first year)
- 453-1 Correlation and Regression (first or second year)
Additional Required Courses (first year)
- 401-1 Proseminar (Biological and Cognitive Bases of Behavior)
- 401-2 Proseminar (Social and Personality Bases of Behavior)
Highly Recommended Courses
- 312-1 Neurobiology and Behavior
- 412-1,2,3 Assessment Practicum
- 422 Child Psychopathology
- 423-1 Professional Issues in Clinical Psychology
- 442 Experimental Approaches to Personality
- 450 Fundamentals of Statistics
In addition to the required courses listed above, at least one course must be taken in each of the following areas: biological, cognitive-affective, and social bases of behavior (though one quarter of Proseminar, 401-1, 2 may be used to satisfy the requirement in one of these three areas). Listed below are examples of courses that have been taken to meet this requirement in the past.
Biological Bases of Behavior
- Psych 312-1 Neurobiology and Behavior I
- Psych 312-2 Neurobiology and Behavior II
- Psych 324 Perception
- Psych 437-1 Neural Plasticity
- Psych 437-2 Neural Plasticity
- Neurobio 321 Biological Clocks
- NUMS 472 Brain and Behavior: Introduction to Neuropsychology
- NUMS 475 Neuropsychological Diagnosis
- NUMS 476 Health Psychology
- NUMS 480 Introductory Clinical Psychopharmacology
Cognitive Bases of Behavior
- Psych 324 Perception
- Psych 333 Psychology of Thinking
- Psych 334 Language and Thought
- Psych 424 Behavioral and Neural Bases of Visual Perception
- Psych 446 Human Memory and Cognition
- Psych 448 Sensory Processes
- Psych 460 Special Topics in Cognition
- Psych 461 Reasoning and Representation
- Psych 466 Analogy and Similarity
- Psych 560 Seminar in Cognitive Science
- EE/CompSci 348 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- EE/CompSci 435 Simulation of Cognitive Processes
Social and Affective Bases of Behavior
- Psych 481 Theories in Social Psychology
- Psych 482 Research Methods in Social Psychology
- Psych 483 Social Cognition
- Psych 485 Psychology of Attitudes
- Psych 486 Stereotyping and Prejudice
- Psych 489 Seminar in Social Psychology (recent topics include Emotion; Marital Relations; Close Relationships)
- Anthropol 377 Psychological Anthropology
- Socio 355 Medical Sociology
- Socio 404-1,2 Designs for Descriptive Causal Research in Field Settings
Other courses available for students include all "300," "400," and "500" level courses offered by the Department of Psychology as well as a variety of courses offered in other departments of the University (Psychiatry, Counseling, etc.). Arrangements can be made for students to take courses at any of the other universities in the Chicago metropolitan area (e.g., University of Chicago, University of Illinois-Chicago Campus).
During the third year the student is expected to take elective course work and pass the comprehensive examination. During the fourth year students usually submit a dissertation proposal. Research for the Ph.D. dissertation should be completed by the end of the fifth year.
