Developmental Psychology PhD

The PhD in developmental psychology focuses primarily on training for research in normal human development. The goal of the program is to train all students for careers in research and college teaching in developmental psychology and to prepare students in the developmental psychopathology and clinical science program options for careers in applied areas of child psychology as well.

Students are admitted to either the developmental science track or the developmental psychopathology and clinical science track. Developmental science track students may choose to specialize in an area such as cognitive neuroscience, language, learning, personality, memory, perception, psychobiology, or social development.

Students interested in clinical research may specialize in developmental psychopathology and clinical science through participation in the developmental psychopathology and clinical science (DPCS) training program. DPCS training is a cooperative effort between the Institute of Child Development and the Department of Psychology to instruct leaders in research and teaching. DPCS training draws on the unique strengths of each program. Students in this track complete a required clinical internship, which adds a year to program completion.