PhD in Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience

Degree Requirements

• 72 credit hours of approved graduate work 
• Two tools of research are required but do not result in course credit toward the degree. The tool requirement is flexible and can be met in a variety of ways: 1) demonstration of knowledge of a language relevant to the student’s career; 2) demonstration of mastery in a computer program language; 3) satisfactory completion of one skill-oriented graduate course offered by another department at American University or by nonpsychology departments of the Consortium universities; 4) participation in one clinical institute which is approximately equal in time and difficulty to a full course; and 5) supervised tool training in other settings when approved by the student’s advisor and the department chair. 
• Four comprehensive examinations outlined by advisors or other faculty members. These are tasks which involve students in the kinds of activities they will later engage in as professional psychologists. At least one of the four comprehensives must be oral and at least two must be written. 
• Dissertation: A written proposal for the dissertation is to be submitted to the dissertation committee by the middle of the second semester of the third year. The original proposal, or a revision thereof, should meet the requirements of the committee by the end of the second semester of the third year. This allows adequate time for completion of a quality dissertation even if initial experimentation turns out to be exploratory in nature. The dissertation must be accepted by the dissertation committee, the department chair, and the university. 

Course Requirements

• 6 credit hours of PSYC-598 Neuroscience Seminar (3) 
• 18 credit hours from the following: 

• PSYC-501 Physiological Psychology (3) 
• PSYC-513 Neuropharmacology (3) 
• PSYC-518 Advanced Human Neuropsychology (3) 
• PSYC-530 Conditioning and Learning (3) 
• PSYC-551 Psychopathology: Theory and Research (3) 
• PSYC-560 Advanced Developmental Psychology (3) 
• PSYC-575 Advanced Memory and Cognition (3) 
• PSYC-618 Principles of Neuropsychological Assessment (3) 
• Other courses focusing in the neurosciences may be taken with approval of the student’s advisor and the Graduate Curriculum Committee. 

• 6 credit hours from the following: 

• PSYC-798 Doctoral Dissertation Seminar (3) 
• PSYC-799 Doctoral Dissertation Research (1–9)

• 6 credit hours of statistics 
• 12 credit hours of electives 
• 24 credit hours of lab research