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Fall 2025 Graduate Catalog

Psychology, PhD

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Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
Degrees Awarded
Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology
Doctor of Philosophy in Cognitive Science
Doctor of Philosophy in Integrative Neuroscience
Doctor of Philosophy in Social/Health Psychology
 
Chair: Joanne Davila, Psychology B-313, (631) 632-7826
Graduate Program Director: PhD Programs: Dr. Susan Brennan, Psychology B 201 (631) 632-7847
Assistant to the Chair: Cynthia Forman, Psychology B-173, (631) 632-7027
Graduate Program Coordinator: Risa Stein, Psychology B-173, (631) 632-7027

Department Website

The Department of Psychology, in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of Stony Brook’s largest graduate departments. Our graduate programs have as their foundation rigorous training in science and research. Students are admitted to work with a faculty mentor and are trained to conduct independent research. Collaboration with other labs is welcomed to foster development of expertise in areas relevant to each student’s interests. Graduates from the program are prepared for careers in academic and applied settings, including universities, colleges, medical centers,hospitals, clinics, research and governmental organizations, and business and industry.

Description of the PhD Program in Psychology

The department is administratively organized into four program areas: Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Science, Integrative Neuroscience, and Social and Health Psychology.

Stony Brook’s doctoral program in Clinical Psychology is fully accredited by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS)and also currently holds “Accredited (on probation)” status from the American Psychological Association (Commission on Accreditation,American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, Phone: 202-336-5979). Beginning with the entering class of Fall 2022, all incoming Stony Brook Clinical Psychology graduate students will be trained in our PCSAS-only accredited program.

In all four program areas, the primary emphasis is on research training through apprenticeship, advisement and independent research. New students are encouraged to become involved immediately in ongoing research and to engage in independent research when sufficient skills and knowledge permit, with the goal of becoming active and original contributors.

Admission Requirements

The requirements for admission to doctoral study, in addition to the minimum Graduate School requirements, ordinarily include:

A. A bachelor’s degree with a major in psychology, or in a program providing adequate preparation for the intended area of study (ordinarily including statistics, research methodology, and/or psychology laboratory).

B. An average of 3.5 or better in all graded academic undergraduate coursework.

C. One official copy of all previous college transcripts, with certified English translations of any transcripts in a foreign language.

D. Letters of recommendation from three instructors or academic advisors.

E. The Psychology Department does not require either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test or Psychology Subject Test for admissions to its programs. To ensure fairness in our application review process, general or subject test GRE scores are not accepted as part of an application.

F. For international students, TOEFL or IELTS scores (unless their native language is English; “native” languages are mastered in early childhood). The test score is still required even if the student attended college where English was the language of instruction. 

G. Students who do not meet the above requirements may also apply if they feel that special circumstances should be considered.

H. Psychology’s deadline for receipt of applications and all supporting materials for fall admission is December 1. We will continue to accept applications through January 1, but late applications will not receive full consideration for Turner and Graduate Council Fellowships.  Clinical and Social and Health 12/1.  IN and CSC 1/15

All applications must be submitted online through the Graduate School. Admission questions and application instructions are available at the Graduate School website at: https://www.stonybrook.edu/graduate-admissions/

 

Degree Requirements

The receipt of the Ph.D. signifies both a scholarly mastery of the field of psychology and the ability to conduct independent research. In addition to the Graduate School’s degree requirements, students must satisfy the following requirements (as well as requirements of their area of studies):

Course Requirements

A student must maintain a graduate G.P.A. of at least 3.0 and successfully complete an approved program of study with a grade of at least B in each required course. Two semesters of quantitative methods and three breadth courses selected from outside the student’s area of graduate studies are required. In addition, one semester of First-Year Lectures (no credit) and two semesters of a practicum in statistical computer applications are required.  Students must also complete the seminar on Human Diversity (no credit).  The four training areas of the department have additional course requirements. Following admission, students with graduate training elsewhere can petition to satisfy course requirements on the basis of their previous graduate work. No more than three departmental course requirements will be waived. Petition to waive requirements or to satisfy them on the basis of previous graduate work should be directed to the Psychology Graduate Office. Petitions concerning area requirements should be addressed to the student’s area head.

Yearly Evaluation

The progress of each graduate student is reviewed at the end of each academic year by the student’s area’s faculty. This provides opportunities for both positive feedback about the student’s achievements and constructive feedback for improving or accelerating the student’s progress. We expect that all students admitted to the Ph.D. program have the potential to succeed; however, any student whose performance is below the standards established by the department and the area may be dismissed or asked to withdraw. Under certain circumstances a student may be permitted to obtain a terminal Master of Arts degree satisfactorily completing the required courses and 30 graduate credit hours of study, and writing a second-year research paper.

Second-Year Paper

At the end of the second year of study, each student must submit an original research paper to the advisor and the area head. Although the form of this paper and the date it is due varies by area, all second-year papers must include data collection and analysis. The second-year paper must be approved prior to the specialties paper (see item E). A copy of the approved paper must be provided to the Psychology Graduate Office.

M.A. Degree in the Course of Doctoral Studies

The department will recommend granting an M.A. degree to students who have successfully completed the second-year requirements, including the second-year research paper, upon the recommendation of the faculty in the student’s area of graduate studies. This process is not automatic;students wishing to obtain an M.A. degree must file for one.

Specialties Paper and Examination

This requirement should be completed by the end of the sixth semester of study. The specialties paper is a review/research paper suitable for submission to a refereed journal. The paper must be presented to and defended before a committee. The form of the specialties paper depends upon the student’s area of graduate studies, but all areas require its completion by the end of the third year in order for a student to be considered to be on track.

Advancement to Candidacy

After successful completion of the specialties paper and examination, all required coursework, two SDI courses (see Research and Teaching), and the requirements of the student’s area of studies, a majority vote of the faculty of the student’s area is required to recommend advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. The Graduate School requires that students must advance to candidacy at least one year before defending their dissertations.

Research and Teaching

All four graduate training areas focus heavily on research; research activity from the time of admission through the length of the program is required. Students who are funded on state lines serve as teaching assistants (TAs) for classes taught by departmental faculty and instructors. For all students, regardless of source of funding, two semesters or summer sessions of substantial direct instruction (SDI) in the classroom or laboratory is required (one of which must be PSY 310). Students may satisfy this requirement by providing significant hours of lecturing and student contact in a class for which they are serving as a TA, or by serving as the instructor of record for a class of their own (and obtaining faculty observation). During these semesters, graduate students must receive teaching evaluations from their students.

Residence

Minimum residence of two years and the equivalent of three years of full-time graduate study are ordinarily required. Unless admitted as part-time students (which happens very rarely), residents must register for full-time study until they are advanced to candidacy. Full-time study is 12 credits during the first year and nine thereafter.

Dissertation

The approval of the dissertation proposal and successful oral defense of the completed dissertation are required.

Within Area Course Requirements:

In addition to satisfying Graduate School and departmental degree requirements, students must satisfy allof the course requirements of their training programs.

Clinical Psychological Science

Complete the following courses in the first year (required of all Clinical Area students):

Complete the following courses in the second year (required of all Clinical Area students):

Complete the following courses in the third year:

Dissertation and Internship

Cognitive Science

Complete three of the following:

Sign up for the following sequence each year (required of all students):

Note:

The Cognitive Science Area also requires submission of a First-Year Research Paper requiring data collection and analysis. This paper must be submitted to the advisor and second reader at the end of the second semester of graduate study.

Integrative Neuroscience

Complete the three following courses (required of all Integrative Neuroscience Area students):

Complete at least one of the following courses:

Sign up for the following sequence each year (required of all Integrative Neuroscience Area students):

Social and Health Psychology

Complete two of the following courses:

Note:

Complete an additional special topics course in the Social and Health Area (PSY 610  or PSY 620 ). Alternatively, students can complete anadditional course from the preceding category.

Quantitative Courses

Students must complete one of the quantitative courses listed below or an additional methods or statistics course as approved by the student’s advisor and Area Head.

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