The MS and PhD program is a doctoral program with a master's degree component that is obtained en route to the PhD. The MS portion of the program assures that students have experience designing and conducting research prior to the dissertation stage. The program has a strong research component, ensuring that graduates have the tools to tackle a variety of applied problems. This entails both classwork in research methods and statistics and a continuing emphasis on student research.
The program’s general focus is on the application of psychological research methods, theories, and principles to solving practical problems. The program has three areas of concentration: applied cognition, engineering psychology, and health psychology.
Applied cognition is the application of research on thinking, learning, decision-making, perception, social judgment, and other cognitive processes to applied issues. Examples of relevant application areas include the psychology of teaching and learning, the effects of contemplative practice, and risk perception.
Engineering psychology refers to research at the intersection of psychology and technology. Relevant topics include such things as the improvement of technology, human-machine interfaces, transportation, information systems, and work and living environments (as in the Mission of Division 21 of the American Psychological Association).
Health psychology concerns the relations between psychological factors (e.g., cognition, motivation, individual and interpersonal behavior, emotion) and human wellness broadly defined (as in the mission of the APA Division 38).
