The overall aim of this training program is to prepare students for academic careers in experimental psychology or for research careers in government, industry, medical settings, or applied settings that rely on experimental approaches and methods. The curriculum is designed to train students broadly as experimental psychologists, and at the same time to enable students to develop a specialization in one or several research areas within experimental psychology (e.g., cognitive psychology, experimental psychology of aging, quantitative methods).

One of the unique strengths of this training program is its emphasis on the experimental psychology of aging. This area of specialization includes the study of normal age-related changes in cognition and behavior, as well as the investigation of health and disease processes that serve to impair effective cognitive functioning during the adult years. Given current demographic trends, the study of cognitive aging is one of the most important areas of research and application for experimental psychologists.

The curriculum in Experimental Psychology at Syracuse University is designed to provide students with the essential coursework and laboratory research experience necessary for an academic or research career in experimental psychology. The faculty in the program offers coursework in three areas: (1) research methods, and statistics and design; (2) cognitive and neural bases of behavior including the study of perception, memory and attention, cognitive neuropsychology, cognitive neurochemistry, cognitive aging, and brain-behavior relationships through the life-span; and (3) applications of research principles to selected areas (e.g., psychology of adult life and aging). The program of study for the Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology requires a minimum of 90 graduate credit hours, distributed as follows:The program of study for the Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology requires a minimum of 90 graduate credit hours, distributed as follows:

Methods Core (9 Credits):
PSY 611: Proseminar in Experimental Psychology
PSY 612: Advanced Experimental Psychology
PSY 854: Statistical Analysis in Research Design (Prerequisite: PSY 853)

Statistics Core (9 credits):
PSY 655: Statistical Methods in Psychology II
PSY 756: Statistical Methods in Psychology III
PSY 853: Experimental Design and Statistical Tests

Cognitive/Neural Bases (9 credits):
PSY 615: Behavioral Pharmacology
PSY 622: Cognitive Psychology: Memory and Attention
PSY 626: Cognitive Neurochemistry
PSY 730: Seminar in Experimental Psychology
PSY 737: Experimental Psychology: Human Cognition and Aging
NEU 601: Advanced Neuroscience

Applications of Experimental Psychology (3 credits):
PSY 736: Psychology of Adult life and Aging

Electives (9 credits):
Three elective courses are required, and those are to be selected from the offerings of the faculty in clinical psychology, school psychology, or social psychology. You are encouraged to select elective course offerings that are application areas for experimental psychology and that broaden your knowledge, or ones that deepen or strengthen your methodological and statistical skills.

Independent research, other courses (27 credits):
Students are encouraged to work closely with one or more faculty members in a research program, and to develop a program of research early in their training.

Thesis and dissertation (6 and 18 credits, respectively)
Students are required to propose their masters thesis by December 15th of the second year, and to propose their doctoral dissertation by December 15th of the fourth year. Students having completed a research masters thesis elsewhere are not required to do another thesis, but must undertake and complete a research project in their first year of study at Syracuse. Students must complete the masters thesis (or equivalent research project for students admitted with an earned masters degree) by December 15th of the third year. Students take a Ph.D. qualifying exam during the second semester of the third year, after completion of the Master's thesis and prior to submitting the Ph.D. dissertation proposal. Thesis and dissertation research is supervised by a committee consisting of three faculty members. The dissertation committee consists of the student's research advisor, who must be a member of the Experimental Psychology Program, and two other faculty members. Students are expected to defend the dissertation by the end of their fifth year.

In addition to the course offerings of the program and other course offerings in the department and university, there are informal seminars, research discussion groups, a "brown bag" lunch series, and program and departmental colloquia. Students in the program receive instruction in the responsible conduct of research. The faculty members see it as their responsibility to exemplify proper conduct in research and in all professional matters.

Students in the program frequently attend professional meetings. There are travel funds available for students to attend meetings to present their research, and to attend colloquia and visit research labs at other universities.

Syracuse University and the Syracuse community provide a wide array of facilities for learning including excellent research laboratories, computer facilities and libraries. There are opportunities for collaboration with faculty in other departments and programs at Syracuse University, including cognitive science, computational neuroscience, computer science, and the Institute for Sensory Research. The Department of Psychology maintains a subject pool for the recruitment of research participants. Near to campus, there are research opportunities at several hospitals and health care facilities, and at the SUNY Health Sciences Center. The interdisciplinary Gerontology Center at Syracuse University, and the interdisciplinary programs in Cognitive Science and Computational Neuroscience are of special interest to some of the faculty and students in Experimental Psychology.

Admission to the graduate program in Experimental Psychology depends on the quality of the applicant's prior academic record, the topic of the applicant's research interests, and the applicant's GRE scores. Applicants are expected to have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0, and a minimum GRE of 1100 (combined verbal and quantitative scores). Financial support decisions also depend on the quality of the applicant's prior academic record, statement of research interests, and GRE scores. We try to support all of our graduate students by means of research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and Syracuse University Fellowships. Faculty make a special effort to recruit and prepare well-qualified minority students for careers in the field of experimental psychology.

Because most of our students seek a research-teaching position following completion of the Ph.D., they are encouraged to gain teaching experience as part of their training. Students serve as teaching assistants in one or more classroom courses or laboratory courses [Laboratory in Cognitive Psychology (PSY 332), Laboratory in Sensation and Perception (PSY 331), Laboratory in Brain and Behavior (PSY 333), Laboratory in Developmental Biopsychology (PSY 334)]. Some students participate in the Future Professoriate Program, and teach their own courses [Psychology of Adult Life and Aging (PSY 337), Introduction to Research Methodology (PSY 313); Cognitive Psychology (PSY 322)] with supervision.

Applicants with outstanding credentials are encouraged to apply for SU Fellowship support. To apply for this form of Fellowship support, you must send a duplicate copy of your application materials including a detailed description of your research interests directly to Professor William J. Hoyer before January 10.

For application materials or for further information about graduate training in Experimental Psychology, please write to:

Professor William J. Hoyer
Department of Psychology
430 Huntington Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-2340

William Hoyer

Catherine Cornwell

Amy Criss

Marc Howard

William Hoyer

Tibor Palfai

Martin Sliwinski

John Cerella

Mary Jackowski