Required Coursework

Below is a checklist of required coursework for the IDD psychology program. Students are expected to complete all coursework before their candidacy exams (end of third year). Exceptions may be considered if students are unable to complete required courses by this time due to scheduling conflicts or required courses not being offered when needed. However, students are expected to consider expected course offering frequency (especially for IDD specific courses) and to choose their schedule in consultation with their advisor to ensure timely course completion.

 

Course (Number)

1 Statistical Methods in Psychology I (PSYCH 6810)
2 Statistical Methods in Psychology II (PSYCH 6811)
3 Research Design and Methods in Clinical Psychology (PSYCH 6861)
4 Psychometrics (PSYCH 6863)
5 One additional statistics course from the list below (2 if completing Quantitative Psychology Concentration)
  A Introduction to Bayesian Statistics for Psychological Data (PSYCH 6820)
  B Statistical Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis (PSYCH 6822)
  C Fundamentals of Factor Analysis (PSYCH 7820)
  D Covariance Structure Models (PSYCH 7821)
  E Fundamentals of Item Response Theory (PSYCH 7822)
  F Analysis of Repeated Measures and Longitudinal Data (PSYCH 7823)
6 Historical Developmental of Psychology (PSYCH 6809 or PSYCH 5505)
7 Lifespan Developmental Psychopathology I (PSYCH 6853)
8 Lifespan Developmental Psychopathology II (PSYCH 6854)
9 1 Course in Biological Bases of Behavior (5613H)
  A Psychobiology (PSYCH 5613H)
10 1 Course in Human Development
  A Lifespan Sociomoral Development (PSYCH 5832)
  B Language Development (PSYCH 7847)
  C Cognitive Development (PSYCH 7845)
  D Advanced Child Development (HDFS 7765)
  E Developmental Seminar in Attachment Across the Lifespan (PSYCH 7695.03)
11 1 Course in Social Bases of Behavior
  A Basic Principles of Social Psychology (PSYCH 6870)
  B Social Cognition (PSYCH 7871)
  C Social Motivation (PSYCH 7872)
  D Attitudes and Persuasion (PSYCH 7873)
12 1 Course in Cognitive-Affective Bases of Behavior
  A Language Development (PSYCH 7847)
  B Cognitive Development (PSYCH 7845)
  C Cognitive Aging, Neurodegeneration, and Neuroplasticity (PSYCH 5089)
  D Cognitive Neuroscience (PSYCH 5614)
  E Psychology and Judgement and Decision Making (PSYCH 7708)
13 Ethics and Professional Issues in Psychology of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (PSYCH 6850)
14 Seminar in the Assessment of Developmental Disabilities (PSYCH 7858)
15 Empirically Supported Treatments for Children with Developmental Disabilities (PSYCH 6652)
16 Developmental Disabilities: an Interdisciplinary Perspective (PSYCH 7717)
17 Autism Spectrum Disorders (PSYCH 7718)
18 Topics in Developmental Disabilities (PSYCH 7899)—biweekly speaker series repeated up to 6 semesters
19 Practicum I/DD Psychology (PSYCH 7840) OR Supervised Field Experience in Psychology (PSYCH 7189) (Total of 18 credit hours)
20 Internship in Intellectual and Developmental Disability Psychology (PSYCH 8192)

 

As course offerings change over time and there are many relevant courses available both inside and outside the psychology department, students may petition the IDD faculty to count coursework not currently on this list to meet their requirements in the areas of (1) biological bases of behavior, (2) social bases of behavior, (3) cognitive-affective bases of behavior, and (4) human development. In this petition, students should include, (1) a copy of the syllabus for the proposed class, and (2) a statement regarding how the class meets the requirements laid out by the National Register regarding foundational coursework areas. The request will be reviewed by the IDD psychology faculty and approved or denied. Approved courses may be considered for addition to the approved coursework list for future students.

National Register Guidelines

Master’s Thesis

Description of the Thesis: Students are required to complete a master’s thesis on a topic generally related to applied psychological issues in IDD. Prior to completing work on the thesis, the student must submit a formal research proposal to faculty members of his or her committee. The M.S. proposal should consist of a brief overview of the relevant literature, a detailed method section in which the proposed experimental design is described, and a discussion of the study hypotheses and the data analyses that will be used.

Timeline: The student’s master’s thesis proposal is expected to be submitted to the committee by the beginning of the second year. It is expected that the Master’s thesis will be completed before the start of the student’s third calendar year in the Program (i.e., end of the summer semester of the student’s second year).

Committee: The Master’s Examination Committee comprises three faculty members. At least two of the three, including the student’s advisor, who acts as the chairperson, must hold graduate faculty rank in Psychology. At least one must be a member of the IDD Program Faculty. One committee member does not have to be from the Department of Psychology, but must hold graduate faculty rank (“M” or “P” status). Students are expected to turn in a complete draft of their thesis to committee members at least 2 weeks before the examination.

Defense: A two-hour Master’s thesis defense will be held, during which the student will present a twenty minute summary of their thesis, followed by questions from committee members. Students are strongly encouraged to publish their research findings. Semester-specific deadlines for completion of the defense and submission of the final document can be found here.

Application to Graduate: A student must submit an application to graduate no later than the third Friday of the semester (or third Friday of summer term) in which graduation is expected. Students must submit an application to graduate when they complete their master’s, even though they intend to continue to the PhD. Applications must be submitted through GRADFORMS. The application is valid only for the term submitted; if the student decides to delay graduation, they must submit a new application to graduate in the appropriate semester. If a student is unsure whether they will complete their thesis during the term, they should submit an application to graduate; the application can be canceled without penalty if the student later decides not to graduate in that semester. Additional information about submitting your application to graduate can be found here.

Submission of Thesis Document: Following the defense, students must submit their final approved thesis document to the graduate school by 8:00am on the day of the deadline listed by the graduate school for that semester. Details about how to prepare and submit the thesis document can be found here. Templates and instructions for document preparation can be found here.

Original Data Collection: Students are required to collect data for at least one research project (either the Master’s thesis or the Dissertation).

Students Entering the IDD psychology program with a Completed Master’s Degree: A student who enters the Program with an empirically-based Master’s thesis completed in a Master’s degree program in psychology or a closely-related discipline can ask for exemption for conducting a thesis at Ohio State. An IDD psychology faculty subcommittee will review the student’s thesis to determine whether the research project is commensurate with theses conducted in our program. Typically, the student will be required to form a master’s committee and complete a defense of the previously completed thesis. A non-empirical Master’s thesis does not exempt a student from the obligation to conduct an empirical thesis at OSU. Entering the program with a master’s degree may or may not speed a student’s total time to degree completion, given other program requirements (i.e., coursework, practicum, internship).

Candidacy Exam

Description of the Exam: Students have two options for completion of the candidacy exam: a review paper option or an exam option. The review paper option involves the student preparing two comprehensive reviews that integrate a relevant area of the literature. The exam option consists of written answers to eight questions, which are based on a comprehensive program-wide reading list developed by the IDD faculty. Regardless of the option chosen, the written exam is followed by a two-hour oral examination that may include the materials from the written portion, as well and questions in other substantive areas within psychology (see IDD psychology program Candidacy Reading List). The IDD Program Handbook contains more information about expectations for the candidacy exam.

Timeline: Students are expected to complete their candidacy exam by the end of their third year in the program.

Committee: The Candidacy Examination Committee comprises at least four faculty members, including the student’s advisor. At least two must hold at least “P” status in the Department of Psychology and at least two members must be from the IDD area.

The student’s candidacy examination is graded on a pass/fail basis, and the candidacy committee also makes a formal recommendation regarding the student’s admission to continue to the PhD degree.

Dissertation

Description of the Dissertation: Students are required to complete a dissertation on a topic generally related to applied psychological issues in IDD. The research proposal must be formally approved by the student’s dissertation committee before data collection can begin. Following approval of the proposal, students collect data and complete their dissertation document, which they present and defend in front of their committee.

Timeline: Students are expected to complete their dissertation within two years of passing their candidacy examinations. Per graduate school rules, students must complete their dissertation within 5 years of passing the candidacy exam, or their doctoral candidacy will be cancelled Learn more here.

Committee: The Dissertation Committee is composed of the student’s advisor, who must be a Status P faculty member, and at least two other Graduate Faculty members who must have graduate faculty rank (either Status P or M). A minimum of three members of this committee must be from the Department of Psychology.

Defense: The dissertation defense involves (1) approval of the written document by the committee, and (2) an oral defense of the document, which typically lasts approximately 2 hours (a 20-minute presentation followed by question-and-answer period). Students are strongly encouraged to publish their research findings. Semester-specific deadlines for completion of the defense and submission of the final document can be found here. A format check of the written document is required and must be completed at least two weeks prior to the oral defense. Learn more here.

Application to Graduate: A student must submit an application to graduate no later than the third Friday of the semester (or third Friday of summer term) in which graduation is expected. Students must submit an application to graduate when they complete their master’s, even though they intend to continue to the PhD. Applications must be submitted through GRADFORMS. The application if valid only for the term submitted; if the student decides to delay graduation, they must submit a new application to graduate in the appropriate semester. If a student is unsure whether they will complete their thesis during the term, they should submit an application to graduate; the application can be canceled without penalty if the student later decides not to graduate in that semester. Additional information about submitting your application to graduate can be found here.

Submission of Dissertation Document: Following the defense, students must submit their final approved dissertation document to the graduate school by 8:00am on the day of the deadline listed by the graduate school for that semester. Details about how to prepare and submit the document can be found here. Templates and instructions for document preparation can be found here.

Original Data Collection: Students are required to collect data for at least one research project (either the Master’s thesis or the Dissertation).