About the Program
Graduate students in Psychological Sciences are expected to become qualified researchers and experts in their selected area of concentration and to acquire a broad and in-depth background of the field in general. The graduate program provides comprehensive training leading to the Ph.D. with one of the following six degree options: Clinical, Cognitive, Industrial-Organizational, Mathematical and Computational Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, and Social Psychology. Mathematical psychologists and cognitive modelers develop and test quantitative theories of cognition, behavior, neuroscience and other psychological phenomena. Students in the mathematical and computational psychology program in Purdue’s Department of Psychological Sciences will acquire a solid foundation in mathematics, psychology, and statistics. This background will provide a basis for students to create mathematical, statistical, and computational models in psychological areas ranging from low-level perception to higher-level cognitive function. Each student is expected to actively participate in research. Researchers in the mathematical and computational cognitive science area use different research methodologies, such as mathematical modeling, behavioral experiments, simulation experiments and neuroimaging experiments. Within the mathematical and computational psychology program, faculty also have research interests in several bridge topics, including individual differences, learning and memory, and perception and performance. Mathematical and computational psychology faculty studying individual differences focus on developing statistical methodologies to characterize emotion regulation processes. Learning and memory research in the program applies mathematical and computational models to cognitive neuroscience, information processing and dreams. Additionally, mathematical and computational psychology faculty examine perception and performance through interests in dynamic vision, intuition in decision-making and human factors. Program Website Program Requirements
XX Credits RequiredRequired Courses (27 credits)
Statistics Courses (9 credits)
Select statistics courses from either the PSY list or the STAT list. Students following the MCP program must take one additional statistics course. It may be any course offered by the Statistics Department numbered 51100 or higher, except Statistics Department courses that are seminars, directed study, thesis research, or consulting training. Example courses that do not satisfy this requirement include: STAT 51500 Statistical Consulting Problem, STAT 58100 Bioinformatics Seminar, STAT 58200 Statistical Consulting and Collaboration, STAT 59000 Internship Seminar, STAT 59700 Statistical Consulting Seminar, STAT 59800 Topics in Statistical Methods. Computational Methods Courses (6 credits)
Choose two. Mathematics Courses (9 credits)
Students mus take at least three mathematically focused courses, chosen from the option below, or 500/600-level MATH or ECE courses. Exceptions are seminars, thesis research, or similar, such as ECE 59500, Math 69900, Research Ph.D. thesis, or ECE 69200 Introduction to Graduate Research. Note: PSY 60700 Scaling and Measurement cannot be used to satisfy both the Mathematical Psychology and the Mathematics requirements. Mathematical Psychology Course (3 credits)
Choose one. Note: PSY 60700 Scaling and Measurement cannot be used to satisfy both the Mathematical Psychology and the Mathematics requirements. Electives (9 credits)
The Department of Psychological Sciences requires three graduate courses outside the student’s major area. At least one of these courses must be a graduate course offered within the department. Two courses may be from outside of the Department (e.g. an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience course, a HDFS course, a Sociology course). Students will typically satisfy the requirement through other topic areas offered within the department. These courses must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. Dissertation Research (xx credits)
Additional Requirements
First year paper: During the first year, students will be given the opportunity to participate in an on-going research program, through either background reading, data collection, or data analysis and model fitting. By the end of the Spring semester, students must submit a short research report (10 pages or more) that summarize their work on this project. In some cases, this report will be in the form of a research article and in others it may be a summary of the research literature relating to the student’s current area of interest or a proposal/critique of a quantitative model. The paper will be evaluated by a two-member committee composed of the student’s advisor and one other member of the MCP training program chosen by the student. If the paper is unsatisfactory, the student must submit a revised paper before the end of the Fall semester of the second year. Students who fail to meet the first-year paper requirement by the end of the Fall semester of the second year will be placed on probation and may be dropped from the program. Concentrations
Interdisciplinary concentrations: GPA Requirements
Only courses for which “A” or “B” grades are earned are acceptable in fulfilling departmental requirements. Students are expected to repeat any required courses in which they receive a grade of “C+” or lower. Additional Information
A given course is able to satisfy only one requirement within the Mathematical and Computational Psychology requirements, though the course may also satisfy a Departmental requirement. From the perspective of MCP it is permitted for a course to satisfy an MCP requirement and a requirement for another program (e.g. a Master’s degree in another program, or department/university requirements). A student working on a Master’s degree through the Purdue Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mathematics, or Statistics might be able to substitute courses satisfying requirements for such a degree in place of courses that are specific Mathematical and Computational Psychology Area requirements. All course substitutions should be approved by the student’s advisor in consultation with faculty affiliated with the MCP training program. Graduate Programs Disclaimer
- The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Students should consult with their advisor/department for more information.
- Not all graduate programs may be actively recruiting students and course modality availability may vary.
- Please refer to the Explore Graduate Programs website for a list of currently available graduate programs.
- Transfer credit policy: Credits earned for graduate study at other universities (both domestic and international) may be applied toward an advanced degree. Only credit hours associated with graduate courses for which grades of B- or better were obtained will be eligible for transfer. Any additional conditions under which credit transfers may be made are determined by the various departments.
- Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
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