Psychology (Ph.D.)
Offered by: Psychology (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Program Description
All candidates for the Ph.D. degree must demonstrate broad scholarship, mastery of current theoretical issues in psychology and their historical development, and a detailed knowledge of their special field. Great emphasis is placed on the development of research skills, and the dissertation forms the major part of the evaluation at the Ph.D. level.
Ph.D. students in Clinical Psychology must fulfil similar requirements to Ph.D. students in the Experimental Program and must also take a variety of specialized courses, which include practicum and internship experiences.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Thesis
A thesis for the doctoral degree must constitute original scholarship and must be a distinct contribution to knowledge. It must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner. The research presented must meet current standards of the discipline; as well, the thesis must clearly demonstrate how the research advances knowledge in the field. Finally, the thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.
Required Course
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PSYC 701 | Doctoral Comprehensive Examination. | 0 |
Doctoral Comprehensive Examination. Terms offered: Summer 2025 An examination that must be passed by all doctoral candidates in order to continue in the doctoral program. | ||
Complementary Courses (12-24 credits)
12 credits (one course per term in Year 2 and Year 3) chosen from the following list:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PSYC 712 | Comparative and Physiological Psychology 3. | 3 |
Comparative and Physiological Psychology 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in comparative and physiological psychology. | ||
| PSYC 715 | Comparative and Physiological Psychology 6. | 3 |
Comparative and Physiological Psychology 6. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in comparative and physiological psychology. | ||
| PSYC 722 | Personality and Social Psychology. | 3 |
Personality and Social Psychology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in personality and social psychology. | ||
| PSYC 723 | Personality and Social Psychology. | 3 |
Personality and Social Psychology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in comparative and physiological psychology. | ||
| PSYC 724 | Personality and Social Psychology. | 3 |
Personality and Social Psychology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in comparative and physiological psychology. | ||
| PSYC 725 | Personality and Social Psychology. | 3 |
Personality and Social Psychology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in comparative and physiological psychology. | ||
| PSYC 727 | Personality and Social Psychology. | 3 |
Personality and Social Psychology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in comparative and physiological psychology. | ||
| PSYC 728 | Ethics and Professional Issues. | 3 |
Ethics and Professional Issues. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Clinical psychology as a profession, with particular emphasis on ethical issues. | ||
| PSYC 729 | Theory of Assessment. | 3 |
Theory of Assessment. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Issues related to psychological measurement and assessment. | ||
| PSYC 730 | Clinical Neuroscience Methods. | 3 |
Clinical Neuroscience Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Techniques used in the study of biological aspects of clinical disorders, including methods in epidemiology, course and outcome, behavioural and molecular genetics, neuroimaging, psychophysiology and psychopharmacology. | ||
| PSYC 732 | Clinical Psychology 1. | 3 |
Clinical Psychology 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of clinical psychology. | ||
| PSYC 733 | Clinical Psychology 2. | 3 |
Clinical Psychology 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of clinical psychology. | ||
| PSYC 734 | Developmental Psychology and Language. | 3 |
Developmental Psychology and Language. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in developmental psychology and language | ||
| PSYC 735 | Developmental Psychology and Language. | 3 |
Developmental Psychology and Language. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in developmental psychology and language. | ||
| PSYC 736 | Developmental Psychology and Language. | 3 |
Developmental Psychology and Language. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in developmental psychology and language | ||
| PSYC 740 | Perception and Cognition. | 3 |
Perception and Cognition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in perception and cognition. | ||
| PSYC 741 | Perception and Cognition. | 3 |
Perception and Cognition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in perception and cognition. | ||
| PSYC 742 | Perception and Cognition. | 3 |
Perception and Cognition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in perception and cognition. | ||
| PSYC 743 | Perception and Cognition. | 3 |
Perception and Cognition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in perception and cognition. | ||
| PSYC 744 | Perception and Cognition. | 3 |
Perception and Cognition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in perception and cognition. | ||
| PSYC 746 | Quantitative and Individual Differences. | 3 |
Quantitative and Individual Differences. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in quantitative and individual difference. | ||
| PSYC 747 | Quantitative and Individual Differences. | 3 |
Quantitative and Individual Differences. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in quantitative and individual difference. | ||
| PSYC 748 | Quantitative and Individual Differences. | 3 |
Quantitative and Individual Differences. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in quantitative and individual difference. | ||
| PSYC 749 | Quantitative and Individual Differences. | 3 |
Quantitative and Individual Differences. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in quantitative and individual difference. | ||
| PSYC 750 | Applied Bayesian Statistics. | 3 |
Applied Bayesian Statistics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Bayesian statistics, emphasizing applications to commonly encountered models in the social sciences (regression analysis, mediation and moderation, and latent variable models). Focus will be on differences between classical and Bayesian statistics, Bayesian analyses for several commonly used models in psychology, reporting results of a Bayesian analysis, and critical evaluation of methods and results sections of papers in psychology journals that used Bayesian analysis. | ||
| PSYC 752D1 | Psychotherapy and Behaviour Change. | 3 |
Psychotherapy and Behaviour Change. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A practice-oriented course. Staff and students discuss current cases being treated with a variety of psychotherapeutic and behavioural change techniques. | ||
| PSYC 752D2 | Psychotherapy and Behaviour Change. | 3 |
Psychotherapy and Behaviour Change. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See PSYC 752D1 for course description. | ||
| PSYC 753 | Health Psychology Seminar 1. | 3 |
Health Psychology Seminar 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in health psychology. | ||
0-12 credits from the following (students without a master's degree from McGill need to take all 12 credits):
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PSYC 650 | Advanced Statistics 1. | 3 |
Advanced Statistics 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course in advanced statistics with specialization in experimental design. | ||
| PSYC 651 | Advanced Statistics 2. | 3 |
Advanced Statistics 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course in advanced statistics with specialization in multivariate techniques. | ||
| PSYC 660D1 | Psychology Theory. | 3 |
Psychology Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Professors representing the various research areas within the Department discuss critical issues and developments within their fields of expertise. | ||
| PSYC 660D2 | Psychology Theory. | 3 |
Psychology Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See PSYC 660D1 for course description. | ||
Note: The Department of Psychology does not ordinarily require an examination in a foreign language however, all students planning on practicing clinical psychology in the province of Quebec will be examined based on their proficiency in French before being admitted to the professional association.