CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH
Long Beach, California
Psychology Department

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BACKGROUND:
Title: Human Factors (MS)
Est: 1972
Semester
Granted last 3 years: n/a
Part-time: yes
HFES student chapter: yes
Program: The CSULB MS Human Factors program is designed to prepare students to apply human factors skills to the design of jobs, information systems, consumer products, workplaces and equipment in order to improve user performance, safety and comfort. The MS-Human Factors Program is designed as a terminal MS degree, but it also provides excellent preparation for advanced graduate work. Students in the program acquire a background in experimental psychology and research methods. They are trained in the application of the material through courses in human factors, computer applications and interface design. Special topics seminars, in areas such as large-scale simulation and usability testing, complement the core program of study. Finally, students complete a thesis in their chosen area of human factors. Note: The MS Human Factors Program is a new program that began accepting students in Spring 2005. However, the Psychology Department has been training students in human factors as part of the MA Research Program since 1995, and as part of the MA Industrial/Organization Program since 1988.
Contact: Diane Roe, CSULB, Psychology Graduate Office, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840-0901, 562/985-5000, droe@csulb.edu, http://www.csulb.edu/~psych/.
Catalog: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/curriculum_handbook/catalog/

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: Fall 3/1, Spring 11/1
Fee: $55

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
GPA: 2.5 (course-by-course evaluation)
GRE: no minimum
Other: A completed undergraduate major in psychology that includes three specific prerequisite courses (Intermediate Statistics, Sensation and Perception, Cognition), or a major in another field with 24 units of upper division psychology that includes the same three specific prerequisite courses.
Research: high
Work experience: medium
Extracurricular activities: low
Letters: high
Interview: not required

ADMISSIONS:
Openings/year: 20

TUITION AND FEES:
Fees: $1572 FT; additional $339/per unit non-resident fee

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
Available: TA, scholarships
Apply: with application (Boeing Scholarship after being accepted into program)

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MS: 36 units, exams, oral defense and research of thesis, no languages, 2.5 years Nonthesis option: no

CURRICULUM:
Required courses (units):Statistical Design and Analysis (3), Computer Applications in Psychology (3), Human Factors (3), Seminar in Perception and Attention (3), Systems Engineering and Integration (3), User Interface Design (3), Research in Cognition and Learning/Seminar in Cognition (3)
Electives (units): Multivariate Analysis (3), Cognitive Neuroscience (3), Research Methods (3), Writing in Science and Technology (3), Simulation Research Methods (3)
Required courses outside department: 0
Recommended courses outside department: 2
Offered: summer (sometimes)
Class size: 10

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: The department is located in the Psychology Building, a four-story structure that houses faculty and graduate student offices, a newly constructed computer lab. The Psychology Building houses two centers for human factors research and development: The Advanced Air Vehicle/Air Traffic Management Simulation & Research Center is a state-of-the-art facility for research and simulation of advanced air technologies and air traffic management issues (http://www.csulb.edu/~tstrybel/aavatmsrc). The Center for Usability in Design and Assessment (http://www.csulb.edu/centers/cuda) is a usability-testing laboratory that provides usability-testing services, workshops and consultations on interface design for the university and local community. The Psychology Department also has research facilities and faculty supervisors for most areas of psychology, including auditory and visual perception, cognition, learning, physiological psychology, social psychology and industrial/organizational psychology.
Teaching: Students may apply for graduate assistantships in undergraduate Introductory Statistics and Research Methods courses.
Current activities: Recent faculty/student research topics include: the costs and benefits of audio spatial displays in complex work environments; auditory visual and tactile motion perception; effects of stimulants on metacognitive abilities; comparison and categorization processes in metaphor comprehension; negative priming; decision making under risk, and the application to health issues; the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory; cognitive and neural basis of selective attention.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
n/a

FACULTY:
Dan Chiappe, PhD 1997, U Toronto; cognition and critical thinking
Young-Hee Cho, PhD 1996, UC Irvine; decision making, alcohol research
Keith Colman, PhD 1973, UCLA; statistics, measurement, program evaluation
Gerard Hanley, PhD, SUNY Stony Brook; usability testing, distributed learning, cognitive psychology
Tom Jewett, MS 1987, U Southern California; interface design, human-computer interaction
Bill Kelemen, PhD 1998, Baylor U; experimental, cognition, metacognition
Diane Lee, PhD 1993, UC Berkeley; learning and memory, neuroscience
Lisa Maxfield, PhD 1995, Syracuse U; cognitive neuroscience, critical thinking, memory and language
Thomas Strybel, PhD 1987, U Arizona; auditory-visual space perception and displays; air traffic research and simulation; human interface design