Graduate Studies

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARSHIP AND Based in the Department of Psychological and Sciences at Villanova University, the Master of Science in Psychology program provides a strong foundation if you are seeking entry into doctoral programs in most subfields of psychology or if you seek a terminal master’s degree to advance in your field.

PHD PREP OR BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH-BASED FACULTY SCIENCE CAREERS CURRICULUM The Department is composed of core faculty While the program is not designed to provide The two-year curriculum provides excellent members who maintain active research training for care professionals, training in research skills. Students gain in their specialties. Strong many of our graduates continue on to expertise in the formulation of research research specializations within the doctoral programs in clinical or counseling designs and in the acquisition, analysis and department are provided in behavioral and psychology. Others accept positions in the interpretation of data. courses in cognitive , comparative private sector as science writers, lab , and biological , clinical, cognitive, developmental, technicians, data analysts, marketing psychology are complemented by electives in organizational, , and researchers and mental health workers. many of the other subfields of psychology. In . The psychology faculty has The program enjoys a strong national addition, students may elect to take a maintained a consistently strong record for graduate course in a department other than productivity and scholarly research. reputation, and our graduates gain admission psychology to round out their area of special to some of the top doctoral programs, Graduate students frequently co-author the interest, such as biology, chemistry, computer including: Brown University, Columbia research published by their mentors, thereby science, human organization science or University, Cornell University, University of enhancing their graduate and applied statistics. California, Berkeley, University of Colorado, preparation for a top-quality doctoral program. Johns Hopkins University, Michigan State Students are required to complete a total of Dr. Rebecca Brand studies infants’ University, New York University, eight courses, including statistics and at least understanding of the and mental Pennsylvania State University, University of two laboratory courses, and to conduct an states of other people. Recent investigations Pennsylvania and Rochester University. original piece of research under faculty have examined the role of infant-directed supervision in the form of a thesis. The teaching behaviors, as well as infants’ own elective courses allow students the flexibility experiences, in the development of this to tailor the program to their particular goals. understanding. The master’s thesis is required and additional independent research is strongly encouraged. There is no comprehensive examination or foreign requirement.

WHEN PASSION LEADS, SUCCESS FOLLOWS gradartsci.villanova.edu Graduate Studies Psychology

Faculty, continued Dr. Steven Krauss studies moral Dr. Erica Slotter’s research interests Dr. Michael Brown’s research is judgement, values and personality from a lie at the intersection of the self and social focused on understanding basic cognitive cross-cultural perspective. He also examines relationships. She studies how we think processes by studying the of how people conceptualize social relationships about who we are as individuals in the nonhuman animals. Most recently, this across cultures. In addition, he maintains an context of close interpersonal bonds. How do research has centered on spatial cognition, interest in . our self-views change—or stay the same—as and decision processes in Dr. John Kurtz studies issues and a function of the experiences we have and rats, bees and fish. techniques related to psychological motivations we possess in our close relationships? Conversely, how do our Dr. Diego Fernandez-Duque assessment and the diagnosis of mental disorders. His research is concerned with self-views influence how we think, feel, and studies social cognition in healthy and behave in our relationships? clinical populations. factors related to change versus stability in personality traits during adulthood and the DR. CHRISTIAN THOROUGHGOOD Dr. Charles Folk has been studying use of informants in personality assessment. studies , workplace diversity and the nature of visual distractibility. What esearch the “dark” side of organizational behavior. kinds of events “capture” and to Dr. Patrick Markey’s r focuses on how behavioral tendencies His current work examines the role of what degree is such “capture” under develop and are expressed within social in improving the work voluntary control? The outcome of his work relationships. These behavioral tendencies experiences of marginalized groups, as well as has important implications for applied range from fairly mundane interpersonal dysfunctional social-cognitive processes in settings such as aircraft cockpits as well as for behaviors (e.g., acting warmly during an employees’ job attitudes, wellbeing theoretical models of selective attention. interaction) to behaviors of real life and behavior. Dr. Janette Herbers studies risk and importance (e.g., unhealthy dieting, Dr. Thomas Toppino studies human resilience in child development, seeking to personality judgement, sexual behaviors, cognitive processes and their development. understand how children adapt to adverse interpersonal aggression after playing violent His research focuses on basic mechanisms by circumstances such as trauma, poverty and video games, etc.). which repetition and testing affect homelessness, and how self-regulation skills is interested in and and on metacognitive control of and positive parenting can support healthy Dr. Matthew Matell the cognitive and neural mechanisms self-regulated learning. Other research development in contexts of risk. underlying the perception of time and concerns the relationship between sensory Dr. Irene Kan uses behavioral, sequence. Primary techniques include and cognitive processes in , neuropsychological and electrophysiological ensemble electrophysiological recordings, with respect to the perception of ambiguous approaches to examine the cognitive pharmacology, and lesion techniques in patterns. architecture and neural bases of human rats, with a current focus on the role of Dr. Joe Toscano studies how human memory. Research in her lab investigates cortical-striatal-thalamic interactions. listeners recognize speech and understand how different memory systems complement Computational models of timing are spoken language. His lab uses cognitive each other, as well as the evaluation of the also being developed. neuroscience techniques, computational role of the frontal executive system in studies how modeling and behavioral methods to address memory retrieval. Dr. Benjamin Sachs genetic and environmental factors contribute questions about hearing, speech perception, Dr. Deborah Kendzierski’s social to behavioral dysfunction using genetically learning and development, and to study how psychology research program focuses on the engineered mice. His research combines these processes unfold in real time during links between intentions and behavior in pharmacological, behavioral and cellular/ language comprehension. the context of health-related behavior such molecular techniques to examine the DR. DEENA WEISBERG investigates as exercising and nutritious eating. She also mechanisms leading to -, anxiety- children’s and adults’ scientific reasoning seeks to understand the process underlying and compulsivity-like behaviors and abilities. Her work explores how children self-definition. excessive drug and alcohol consumption. and adults think about scientific content, why scientific reasoning is sometimes difficult, and how science fiction stories and other imaginative pursuits can bolster the development of these skills.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO APPLY: 610.519.4720 | [email protected] | GRADPSYCH.VILLANOVA.EDU

gradartsci.villanova.edu