The PhD in Psychology is a research-intensive program, and most students pursue training in one of our department's four main areas of research: behavioural neuroscience, clinical and health research, cognitive science and human development and developmental processes. Students choose from one of two program options. The Research Option is suitable for those who wish to pursue careers in research, industry, or academia. The Research and Clinical Training Option also provides professional training in the provision of psychological services, and can lead to careers in research, industry, academia, hospital and health care domains, as well as positions involved in public policy. The Research and Clinical Training Option is fully accredited by the Ordre des Psychologues du Quebec, as well as the Canadian Psychological Association. Our department trains the next generation of researchers in world-class laboratories.
The study of normal and atypical patterns of human development across the lifespan.
Research on the origins, nature, determinants, and interaction of cognitive, emotional, perceptual and motor abilities, personality characteristics, social skills. Research programs on childhood and adolescence include: language acquisition and bilingualism, socio-emotional and cognitive processes in normal and high risk infants and young children, family and peer relations, sex differences and sex-role socialization, and predictors of adjustment, in particular across developmental transitions. Research programs on aging examine adaptation to age-related changes and transition, lifestyle factors that maintain competence in elderly women and men, and changes and continuity in cognitive abilities, language, social functioning, subjective well being, and personality.