CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Department of Psychology

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Applied Experimental Psychology (MS, PhD). Contact: Director, Applied Experimental Psychology Program, Central Michigan University, Department of Psychology, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, 989/774-3001; carol.kross@cmich.edu, http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/psy/. Est: 1998. Semester. Granted last 3 years: MS 7, PhD 3. Part-time: MS yes, PhD no. Program: The objective of the PhD in Applied Experimental Psychology is to develop individuals with strong applied experimental research skills for positions in business, industry, applied health, or government agencies. The program is designed to provide advanced training in psychological processes (e.g., biological, cognitive, behavioral) and quantitative methodological procedures (e.g., statistics, experimental design, computer applications) and their utilization in applied settings. The program uses a mentor system to provide students with specialized training. Students are matched in their first year with individual faculty members whose research specialty matches their interests. The first two years of the PhD program are the same as for the terminal MS. In addition, the PhD program will provide students with advanced applied training and includes a predoctoral internship for obtaining practical experience. HFES student chapter: no. Catalog: (free) College of Graduate Studies-Foust 100 Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859. 989/774-4723.

APPLICATION:
Deadline: 2/1. Fee: $30. Materials to be obtained from the College of Graduate Studies and Department of Psychology for a complete application packet. Separate applications to university and department required for international students.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: 3.0. GRE: no minimum. Other: TOEFL 500, bachelor's degree, and minimum 15 hours in psychology (required) including statistics (recommended) and research methods (recommended). Research: high. Work experience: low. Letters: high. Interview: low.

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: MS 22, PhD 15. Accepted: MS 10, PhD 3. Entered program: MS 5, PhD 2. Openings/year: MS 10, PhD 2.

TUITION AND FEES:
Resident: MS $163/credit hour, PhD $176/credit hour. Nonresident: MS $323/credit hour, PhD $348/credit hour.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: MS  90%, PhD  100%. Amount: MS $4300/$8600/$8600, PhD $4300/$8600/$13,000. Available: fellowships MS and PhD, tuition exempt; TA MS, partial tuition exempt; RA  MS and PhD, partial tuition exempt. Apply: with application.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 36 units, oral defense of thesis, research required, no languages or practical experience required, 2-3 years. Nonthesis option: no. PhD: 54 units beyond MS, oral defense of dissertation, MS and research experience beyond the degree is required, practical experience required (students must complete 6 credit hours of internship), no languages required, 2-3 years beyond MS.

CURRICULUM:
Required courses (units): Statistics in Psychology (3), History and Systems of Psychology (3), Research Seminar in Psychology (2), Seminar in Applied Experimental Psychology (3). Electives: Research Design (3), Applied Multiple Regression and Correlation (3), Multivariate and Correlational Methods (3), Principles of Psychological Measurement (3), Engineering Psychology (3), Environmental Psychology (3), Cognitive Psychology (3), Sensation and Perception (3), Advanced Developmental Psychology (3), Advanced Social Psychology (3), Physiological Psychology (3). Required courses outside department: 0. Recommended courses outside department: 0. Class size: 5-10.

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: computer-supported labs for perception and cognition research, psychophysiology lab, and an audiovisual research lab for multimedia research, auditory and visual signal processing, recording, and data collection are available. All labs are networked to the university computing facilities and to the Internet. Offices are provided for students receiving assistantships. Teaching: Graduate assistantships may involve supporting faculty teaching. Senior students also have opportunities to assume sole responsibility for teaching courses. Current research: Research projects include psychophysiological measures of attention and human performance in transportation; assessment of the pedagogical efficacy of multimodal, computer-based learning programs; role of working memory in complex skill performance; cross-cultural study of risk aversiveness; age differences in prospective memory; and mock jury decision making.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active: 12 men, 13 women. First-year students: MS 5, PhD 2. Mean scores: MS: GRE 468 v, 586 q, 558 a, GPA 3.56; PhD: GRE 520 v, 555 q, 625 a, GPA 3.57

FACULTY:
Renee L. Babcock, PhD 1992, Georgia Inst. Technology; cognitive aging, computer usage in older adults, experience of worry in older and younger adults in different cultures. Richard W. Backs, PhD 1984, U Southern California; psychophysiology of attention in human performance, aging. Terry A. Beehr, PhD 1974, U Michigan; organizational stress, retirement decisions, career and promotion paths. Terry M. Libkuman, PhD 1970, U Oklahoma; emotion and memory, sport and human performance, psychology and the law. John S. Monahan, PhD 1971, Duke U; visual attention, perception of form, gender differences in spatial performance. Hajime Otani, PhD 1989, U Georgia; memory and cognition, metacognition, aging and cognition, acquisition of cognitive skills, risk perception. Debra Ann Poole, PhD 1980, U Iowa; memory and language development applied to social issues (e.g., forensic interviewing). Sonya Sheffert, PhD 1995, U Connecticut; spoken language processing; multimodal computer-based learning, speaker recognition, human memory and cognition.