Cognitive Psychology Concentration
Coordinator, Dr. Mark Klinger, mklinger@bama.ua.edu

History and Development

The cognitive psychology program was established in 1966 as a graduate training program in mental retardation research, with funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Over the years, the emphasis on cognitive aspects of mental retardation grew, and in 1990 the program began to offer a full array of coursework and research in basic cognitive psychology. The current cognitive psychology program offers study in basic areas of cognition (e.g., attention, memory, spatial cognition, reading, human factors) with the unique opportunity to focus on individual differences such as mental retardation, aging, autism, and reading disorders.

Training Goals

The goals of the cognitive psychology program are to train students in the academic skills that will allow them to be researchers and college-level teachers. A general goal is to prepare all students to be excellent researchers and teachers. However, the balance of emphasis may be different from one student to the next, depending on the student's strengths, preferences, and career aspirations. The low student to faculty ratio in the program (2.5 students per faculty) allows for a close dialog between students and faculty. Each spring, the cognitive faculty meets to review each student's progress relative to their career goals. Each student receives feedback on the quality of his or her work and guidance on how to best work toward career goals. In recent years, 100% of the graduates of the program have obtained jobs in research and/or teaching settings. Most have positions in psychology departments of liberal arts colleges and universities, but others are employed by marketing/personnel research firms, the U.S. Navy, and developmental disabilities service providers.

Research Training

The mentor model. The cognitive program uses a mentor model for research training. Before students are admitted to the program, their interests within cognitive psychology are considered to determine which faculty member would be the best match. Prospective students are encouraged to become familiar with the research areas of the cognitive faculty and to make suggestions in their applications as to which faculty they might best match. Upon entering the program, students are assigned a faculty research mentor who will help them become involved in research as soon as they arrive. In most cases, students continue with this mentor throughout their training. Students are encouraged to build a program of research with some depth during their years in graduate school, and working consistently with one mentor assists toward this goal. However, changes can be made for a variety of reasons. In addition to working with a faculty research mentor, students are encouraged to collaborate on research with at least one other faculty member, to add breadth to their research experience.

Research coursework. As part of the research training, students must complete Research Methods in Psychology, Advanced Statistics I, Advanced Statistics II, and either Psychometrics or Multivariate Statistics. In addition, students may elect to take Graduate Research hours, which provide credit hours for research experience.

Research milestones. The major research milestones in the cognitive program are the first year paper, the master's thesis, and the dissertation. The first-year paper is a research project primarily designed by the student's research supervisor and carried out by the student during the first year.  The master's thesis is typically proposed during the first year and completed during the second year. A committee of 3 faculty meets to discuss the proposal and the final project. The dissertation is a major research project that establishes a student's place in the research community. During the third year, students begin to design their dissertation study and meet with their committee of 5 faculty. During the fourth year, students prepare a complete prospectus and formally present it to their committee. The written prospectus and the oral presentation, together, constitute the preliminary examination which students must pass to be admitted into doctoral candidacy. When the dissertation research is completed, students prepare a final report and present it to their committee.

Publishing research. In addition to coursework and milestones, students are strongly encouraged to work toward publishing their research. Having a publication record is increasingly important in the job market. Students should seek out opportunities to write papers for publication, as well as play secondary and minor roles in ongoing research that will be published.

Contemporary Issues seminar. Faculty and students in the cognitive program meet weekly to present and discuss their own research in progress. This provides an opportunity for faculty and students to learn about each other's research and help each other solve research problems. It also provides students practice in giving research presentations. Professional issues may also be the topic of the weekly seminar (i.e., ethics in research, grant writing, finding a job), and from time to time guest speakers are invited from other departments or universities.

Teaching Training

The Psychology Department offers many opportunities for graduate students to teach. This is particularly important for cognitive students, many of whom will be seeking academic positions. For many students, teaching experience begins as a teaching assistant. This involves helping a faculty member with his or her course. Some students then become instructors in the undergraduate Research Laboratory course and teach 10 - 15 students in a guided practicum context. All students are required to take Teaching of Psychology and to teach a section of Introductory Psychology concurrently. Teaching of Psychology provides guidance and feedback in syllabus preparation, lecture preparation and delivery, test construction, and grading during the semester in which a student first teaches a full course. After completing Teaching of Psychology, students are eligible to teach full courses with minimal guidance. These include Elementary Statistics in Psychology, Social Psychology, Psychology of Gender, and Introductory Psychology. Students in the cognitive program usually have excellent teaching credentials by the time they are ready to apply for jobs.