THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE
PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY

24.2.1 THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE

In addition to the general requirements listed in 1.5, the following requirements must be met by all students proceeding to the Ph.D. degree.

Admission Requirements

Applicants with a four year undergraduate psychology degree or its equivalent will be considered for admission.

Applicants will be assessed with respect to their academic qualifications, letters of recommendation, and career-related achievements. Possession of the minimum academic requirements does not ensure acceptance. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all students seeking admission to the Department of Psychology. The GRE scores (Verbal, Quantitative, Analytical, and the Advanced Test in Psychology) are used as supplementary information in conjunction with the primary criteria indicated above. Applications for admission must be completed by January 15.

Program Requirements

1) Master's degree: The first phase of the doctoral program involves the completion of the Master's degree in the first two years of the program, the requirements for which include a thesis. Further advancement in the doctoral program depends on the quality of performance in fulfilling the requirements for the Master's degree.

2) Course Work: Students must complete successfully a minimum of twelve graduate courses after the honours B.A. or its equivalent. Requirements vary, however, according to areas of specialization. Up to six courses may be accepted for credit from another university. The course work includes a core curriculum involving a general statistical methodology course, a methodology course in the student's area of specialization, and a course in ethical and professional issues in psychology. Students must demonstrate competence in the four core areas of biological bases of behaviour (or in the case of students in the Applied Social program, cultural bases of behaviour), cognitive bases of behaviour, social bases of behaviour, and the historical and philosophical foundations of psychology. The minimum passing grade in graduate courses is “B-.” A student who fails one course may repeat it once at the discretion of the Head of the Department and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. The student may not repeat more than one course. If a student has failed two courses, a recommendation will normally be made to the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research that the student be required to withdraw from the program. Together with the above requirements, students must complete an internship. The clinical internship is approximately 2000 hours and the applied social internship is approximately 1000 hours.

3) Academic Advisor: Each student is assigned an academic advisor at the beginning of his or her first year of graduate studies.

4) Doctoral Committee: Research undertaken as part of a doctoral program is directed by a doctoral committee. The membership of the doctoral committee must be appointed by the Head of the Department and approved by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council of Graduate Studies and Research. When the student is deemed ready to undertake such research, he or she proposes the name of a research advisor and, in consultation with the proposed advisor, the names of other members of the committee consisting of at least two other members of the Psychology Department and one extra-departmental member of faculty. For the defense of the dissertation, an external examiner will be selected by the doctoral committee, subject to the approval of the Department Head and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. The external examiner is from outside of the University of Windsor and is nationally or internationally recognized as having expertise in the area of psychology in which the candidate's research is carried out. The external examiner shall not participate in the direction of the research project, but will appraise the dissertation and ordinarily will be present at the final oral examination (see below, 6).

5) Dissertation: The principal requirement for the Ph.D. degree in Psychology is the presentation of a dissertation which embodies the results of an original investigation. The results so presented should constitute a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

6) Examinations: In addition to examinations in courses, the student must meet the following requirements:
(a) Comprehensive Examination: After completion of all course requirements (with the exception of internship courses), the student must pass a comprehensive examination in his or her area of specialization. Successful completion of the examination admits the student to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. If a student fails the comprehensive examination, he or she may retake the examination once only at the discretion of the Head of the Department and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
Final Examination: Each candidate will, on the recommendation of his or her doctoral committee, submit to a final oral examination in defense of the dissertation.