Department of Psychology

The following information about the comprehensive exam was approved by the Psychology Department's Graduate Curriculum Committee in Fall of 2006. Students are advised to check this page regularly for updates.

UPDATE 12/10/2007: The 2008 Reading List is now available on-line as a PDF.

Students on the Clinical Track who opt to not complete a thesis and plan on graduating in Spring 2008 will be required to take and pass a comprehensive examination. Here are the main points students should know:

• Students will be provided a reading list compiled by the faculty who have taught the core courses over the prior 2 years. These faculty will also be developing and grading the questions.
   
  
• The exam will cover the core courses (5310 Advanced Abnormal Psychology, 5315 Psychological Preventive Health & Wellness, 5320 Advanced Statistics, 5324 Biological Bases of Behavior, 5341 Health Psychology, 5342 Professional Ethics and Standards of Practice, and 5391 Research Methods and Experimental Design).
   
  
• The exam for Spring 2008 is scheduled for Friday, April 4th, 2008, and faculty have until Friday, April 11th, 2008 to grade the questions and submit the grades to the Program Director.
   
  
• The exam will be in essay format, and students will be required to complete it on a computer in a computer lab in the Psychology Building.
   
  
• Students will be given 2 questions per core course and must answer 1 for each course.
   
  
• The exam will be seven (7) hours in duration, in two time blocks (8:30am-11:30am & 1pm-5pm) such that students will have 1 hour per question with a one and half hour lunch break.
   
  
• Student names will be removed from answers before they are graded.
   
  
• Grades for each question will be A, B, C, D, or F. A grade of 'B' on each question is the minimum needed to pass the exam.
   
  
• Students will be required to retake those sections on which a grade lower than B was earned.
   
  
• Students may only retake the exam once.
   
  
• The make-up/retake date (if needed) for the comprehensive exam is Friday, April 18th, 2008, and faculty must submit grades to the Program Director no later than Friday, April 25th, 2008.
   
  

Students with questions about the comprehensive exam are encouraged to contact either the Program Director (Dr. Ollie Seay) or the Graduate Advisor (Dr. Frank Barrios) for more information.