Graduate Program Area Description

Clinical Psychology Program

The Clinical Psychology Program prides itself in guiding clinicians-in-training towards delivering competent and compassionate clinical care that reflects a commitment to the scientist-practitioner-advocate model. The program offers a wide range of opportunities for students to learn how to think rigorously and creatively about clinical research and practice, and then to apply classroom learning to mental health and wellbeing concerns in various real world helping contexts.

The coursework is designed to provide students with a comprehensive and contemporary understanding of clinical assessment and psychotherapy, issues and discourses in mental health and wellbeing, and challenges in doing clinical work both in the clinic as well as in non-clinical settings. Through the Clinical Psych research laboratory, students are exposed to scientific inquiry and learn research skills as they assist in the clinical faculty’s research projects. And through the program’s management of the University’s psychosocial services, UPD PsycServ, its students have a myriad of opportunities for hands-on learning of clinical competencies. Throughout, students are guided to think reflexively and engage with others on social issues relevant to the wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities.

Graduates of the program can expect to be qualified to do any of the following: join a full scale (out- or in-patient) clinic or mental health center, establish multi-faceted practice, work with government and non-government sectors to develop and implement mental health and psychosocial support programs and interventions that are grounded on core clinical competencies, and conduct academic or practical research on mental health and other related fields.

The program welcomes applications for admission from those who have the following: serious commitment to clinical practice, clinical research, and public service; verbal and written proficiency in English and Filipino; solid interpersonal skills; and a willingness to self-reflect.

Developmental Psychology Program

The Developmental Psychology Program is best suited for students interested in questions concerning change across the human lifespan, which covers biological, cognitive, socio-emotional, and moral development. It aims to produce graduate students who contribute to generating and applying empirically-grounded, socially-responsive, and culturally relevant psychological knowledge on these processes. Through in-class learning and the Human Development Laboratory (HDL), Dev Psych students are trained in various methodologies (including quantitative and qualitative approaches) and core research skills necessary to produce such knowledge. Aside from rigorous research training, an important component of the training students receive is service learning, where knowledge and skills developed in class or lab are tested, applied, and further developed through community service. This way, training in Dev Psych is extended from the academe into the very contexts in which knowledge on developmental processes can have huge impact.

Graduates of the program can expect to be fully prepared to undertake both academic and practical research and to find meaningful work in diverse settings both in the government and non-government sectors.

The program prioritizes for admission those who have clear interest in developmental psychology, commitment to service, verbal and written proficiency in Filipino and English, and sufficient basic background in research methods.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program

The MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology program provides a competitive edge to its students by combining theory, research, and practice in an integrated curriculum—involving coursework, supervised practicum and thesis—designed to produce I/O practitioners who value both scholarship and strategy.

Leveraging action learning, students are trained to develop critical thinking skills and a strategic orientation through core courses on research methods and statistics as well as specialized courses in industrial and organizational areas, such as: human resource management, recruitment and selection, compensation, group dynamics, and organizational assessment and development. The supervised practicum and thesis are golden opportunities for students to experience how integrating theory, research, and practice can help organizations find solutions to their real problems and become healthy environments for their human resources.

The program welcomes applications from I/O practitioners who wish to incorporate sound scholarship into how they do their work. It prioritizes for admission those who are committed to I/O work, have an interest in research, have verbal and written proficiency in both English and Filipino, have basic interpersonal skills, and are willing to reflect on their and their organization’s experiences.

Personality and Individual Differences Program

The Personality and Individual Differences (PAID) Program is committed to expanding the knowledge base of individual differences and personality processes research. This commitment is pursued through faculty-supervised research conducted as part of graduate coursework, as well as through programs and projects carried out by the Personality Research Laboratory (PRL). The area has a strong quantitative orientation, but recognizes the importance of qualitative methods in a comprehensive approach to its topics of inquiry. Current research by area faculty and graduate students cover a wide range that includes personality correlates of creativity, identity and its facets, experience sampling methodology, personality and cognitive correlates of diskarte, and career decisions related to goals and traits. Research on the Masaklaw na Panukat ng Loob (Mapa ng Loob), an inventory that measures the Big Five using Filipino trait constructs developed by the PRL, continues on the instrument's experimental Social Desirability Scale, classical and IRT-approaches to protocol quality indices development, and psychometric properties of the instrument's derived forms (i.e., the English version, and the short forms in Filipino and English).

Coursework centers on advanced theories of personality, motivation, and personality traits, but allows for a broad exploration of the area through supervised independent study courses, as well as courses in related areas of psychology, and related fields such as statistics, biology, education, and medicine. The program also allows space for students to apply knowledge about personality and individual differences to practical real world problems through coursework and supervised internships, and culminates in thesis or dissertation work that reflects a meaningful contribution to the area.

Applications for admission to the program are welcome from those who have a clear and genuine interest in research and applied work in personality, verbal and written proficiency in both Filipino and English, and sufficient competence or potential in both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis.

Please contact the coordinator of the PaID program (upirlab.upd@up.edu.ph) to consult about your graduate study plans before you submit your application.

Philippine Psychology (Sikolohiyang Pilipino) Program

The Philippine Psychology (Sikolohiyang Pilipino) program is a concentration that is distinct from any graduate psychology program offered in other institutions. This specialization cultivates an indigenous approach to psychology that values Philippine history, culture, and societal contexts. Students acquire a solid grounding in Philippine indigenous psychology —its concepts and theories, methodology, and their applications. The coursework and dissertation are designed, on the one hand, to help students gain a nuanced appreciation of the place of psychology in Philippine culture, and on the other hand, to meaningfully situate Sikolohiyang Pilipino in the wider network of knowledge and meanings in psychology. Students have various opportunities to use SP knowledge and research tools in understanding and addressing problems that reflect current Philippine social realities.

Graduates of the program are equipped for work that requires conceptual and research skills and a practical appreciation of Philippine psychology. This kind of training is expected to open doors to academic, research, and professional roles nationally and internationally.

The program prioritizes admission for those who have the following: clear and genuine interest in Sikolohiyang Pilipino, commitment to public service, basic background in research methods, and verbal and written proficiency in Filipino and English.

Social Psychology Program

Committed to the Department of Psychology’s scientist-practitioner-advocate model, the Social Psychology Program values contextualizing knowledge within our cultural realities and addressing some of our current societal concerns. It provides in-depth training on key concepts, theories, and methods in social psychology as well as opportunities to apply these to real world problems and in various settings such as industries, organizations, and government. This kind of training prepares students for a career in academia and research in non-academic settings.

The program is currently home to the Social and Political Psychology Research Lab (SPPRL) where social psychology faculty collaborate with their students to conduct research on a wide array of interests such as cultural and indigenous concepts related to psychology, poverty research and advocacy, self and identity, citizenship training and behaviors, and health-seeking behaviors among others. This hub of activity is designed to provide space, opportunity, and support for cutting-edge and relevant research in social psychology. While graduate students are strongly encouraged to do research that falls within these areas, there remain many opportunities to work with faculty members and students in other areas of specialization relevant to a specific research problem.

Students who wish to specialize in social psychology should be clear about their study objectives, possess basic competencies in research, have clear and genuine interest in the field, and be able to clearly communicate and express themselves in both English and Filipino.

What Every Graduate Student Should Know

Prerequisite Courses

Purpose

The goal of prerequisite courses is to ensure that the student has the basic research knowledge and competence, which will serve as the foundation for the more advanced knowledge and skills that will be introduced in the core requirements.

Definition

Graduate students who did not obtain their undergraduate or master’s degree from the U.P. Department of Psychology, may be required to take some prerequiste courses. These courses are not counted as part of the courses leading towards the Ph.D./M.A. degree; instead, they are courses that need to be passed before some of the required core and area courses could be taken.

The student also has the option of taking validation exams for these prerequisite courses, instead of enrolling in them.

Concept and Methods Core Courses

Purpose

The goals of requiring a set of core courses are (1) to equip the student with a wide range of research tools that will allow him or her to engage in research on any problem in psychology that he or she may choose, and (2) to provide the student with a historical perspective on the nature of the theoretical and methodological approaches that psychologists currently use.

Description

The set of core requirements is composed of four courses: Psych 206, Psych 203, Psych 204, and Psych 205 (see section on course descriptions). These courses cover the advanced conceptual and methodological knowledge that are fundamental to any form of advanced thinking and research on a wide range of psychological problems. All graduate students are required to pass all these courses. Students are encouraged to take the core courses as early in their program as possible.

Grade requirement

Students in the Ph.D. program should pass each of the four core courses and maintain a general weighted average of 1.75 or better. Students in the M.A. program should pass each of the four core courses and maintain a general weighted average of 2.0 or better.

Area-of-Specialization Requirements (for Ph.D.)

Purpose

The goal of this requirement is to provide the student the opportunity to develop knowledge in specific areas of study in psychology more intensively. Through this requirement, the student should become well versed with the problems of their area of specialization as well as become familiar with the theories and methodological approaches that can be used to address these problems.

Description

The area-of-specialization requirements consist of (1) core area courses, and (2) related area courses. The core courses are the advanced content courses and method courses for specific sub-areas within each area of specialization. The student needs to complete 24 units of such courses. The related area courses are seminars and special topics courses within the area of specialization. The student needs to pass at least 6 units of these courses. Together, these requirements are intended to provide the minimum specialization training for the Ph.D. student.

Grade Requirement

Students in the Ph.D. program should pass all area-of-specialization courses and maintain a general weighted average of 1.75 or better.

Minor Area Requirements (for Ph.D.)

Purpose

The goal of this requirement is to provide the student the opportunity to develop knowledge in a secondary area of specialization (preferably in a related or complementary area to the major area of specialization).

Description

The minor area requirements consist of 12 units of non-introductory courses in any of the sub-area of study other than the actual area of specialization.

Grade Requirement

Students in the Ph.D. program should pass all minor area courses and maintain a general weighted average of 1.75 or better.

Other Policies

Program Advising

Each student will be assigned to a program adviser. If the student declares an area of concentration; the program adviser shall come from the same area, whenever possible. The program adviser shall make the students aware of the options available to them in the graduate program and answer all the questions the student may have about the program. The program adviser shall also assist the students in making decisions relevant to their graduate studies (including enrollment, choice of panel members, etc.). The program adviser shall also help the students work out a study program and monitor the students’ progress in the study program. Finally, the program adviser shall identify and respond to problems that students may have in the program.

Updating Student Records

At the beginning of each semester, before registration, the student should update her records in the Department of Psychology office. The students should indicate all the courses that were completed in the previous semester, and update all other relevant information such as address and place of employment. Keeping these records current will help the graduate faculty in its efforts of monitoring the student’s progress in the program.

Enlistment for Courses

The student obtains all registration materials from the Graduate Office of the College. The student brings these materials as well as her updated records to her program adviser. The program advisor will then work with the student in deciding the student’s course work or other activities for the semester. The student then proceeds to the Psychology Department Office to enlist for the advised courses. If the student is required to seek the consent of the instructor before enlisting in a course, she should provide proof of this consent.

Dropping a Course

A student who stops attending classes shall apply to drop the course at the Graduate Office of the college. The last day of dropping for a semester is posted in this office. The student shall pay a dropping fee. After payment, the student should provide the course instructor with the dropping permit, or the teacher may give the student a failing grade.

Failure to Complete a Course

A student who fails to submit all course requirements shall be given a mark of "INC" if the student’s class standing is passing, and "5" if failing. The "INC" may be replaced by a grade upon completion of the course requirements within the allowed period of one year. No student is allowed to complete any course beyond the prescribed period. The student may re-enroll in the course in order to obtain a grade for that particular subject. Otherwise, the "INC" mark shall remain in the record of the student.

Leave of Absence

A student who plans to go on official leave from the program shall first consult with the program adviser before proceeding to the Graduate Office of the college to process the necessary papers. The student will need to pay a fee to file for official leave. A student who leaves the program without an official permit from the Dean shall be considered "AWOL" and shall have to pay a reinstatement fee upon return if the department recommends readmission.

Honorable Dismissal

A student who decided not to complete the graduate program and leave the program permanently should follow the same procedures for temporary leave. However, the student also needs to be cleared by appropriate offices and shall be granted "honorable dismissal".

Disqualification from the Program

A student may be disqualified from the program on the following grounds: (1) failure to maintain the minimum weighted grade requirement; (2) second failure in the comprehensive examinations; or (3) second failure in the oral examination of the dissertation.

Maximum Residence Requirements

A doctoral student who does not have a Master's degree in psychology shall have eight years to finish the program starting with the first enrollment and including all leaves, official or not. On the other hand, a doctoral student who has a Master’s degree shall have six years.

In certain cases, and only upon recommendation of the graduate faculty, a student may be given one to five years extension to complete the degree course. This extension shall be granted on a yearly basis, and justification needs to be provided for each year of extension. In case the student extends beyond the maximum residency requirement (MRR), he/she shall take one three-unit course for every two years or fraction thereof of the extension granted. These penalty units should be taken during the extension period. To request for extension beyond the MRR, the student shall write the Dean, thru channels. The letter should be accompanied with an endorsement from the program adviser and/or dissertation adviser.

Students who are unable to finish the degree course within the maximum time prescribed (including extensions) shall not be allowed to continue in the program.

Application for Graduation

A student who intends to graduate shall present an application for graduation to the college. This should be done in the semester before graduation and before the deadline set by the Registrar’s office. A student should be in residency for at least one year prior to graduation. The student shall be recommended for graduation by the department, the College faculty, and the University Council. The recommendation shall then be forwarded to the Board Regents for approval, after which the student shall be considered to have graduated.