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At its meeting on December 9, 1969, the Senate 

Committee on Graduate Studies approved the revised 

Psychology program, as attached, and recommends 

Senate's approval. 

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Enc: 

fiNE: 

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Hr. ii. Evan!-,, Registrar 

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D. 11. Sullivan, Dean 

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............. .1cuL'ivc'CorunittcC. ..................................

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From................................... ..................... 

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enate CorunitLee on Graduate Studies 

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Faculty of Arts 

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New Course 

and

revised programs 

? September 12, 1969 

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Date..

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The Faculty

of hrts' by 'referendum bl'1ot approved recommendations 

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by the

Faculty Graduate Studies Committee. They, are: 

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New course in Geography. 

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Geography 800-3 ? 

(attached) 

Revised Geography program. M.A. and Ph.D. 

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Revised Psychology.program. 

M.A.-and

Ph.D. ?

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CALENDAR ENTRY 

GRADUATE PROGRAM 

Department of Psychology 

The Psychology Department offers graduate work leading to an M.A. degree 

in general experimental psychology, and to a Ph.D. degree with 

specialization in most areas, with emphasis on experimental-theoretical 

formulations and on quantification. Research in applied settings is 

encouraged when the emphasis is on establishing generality of theory and 

method and not on training in specialized techniques. 

Applications 

Students interested in applying for graduate work in psychology should 

submit a completed application form and transcripts, and should have the 

results of the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test and Advanced 

Test in Psychology forwarded to the Psychology Department. Students 

seeking admission for the Fall Semester should submit all supporting 

documentation by the preceding March 1. Students seeking admission for 

the Spring Semester or for the Summer Semester should submit all support- 

ing'documeritation by October 1 or February 1, respectively. Only under 

exceptional circumstances will applications submitted after these dead-- 

lines be considered. 

Supervisor 

For each incoming student the department appoints a faculty member in 

the student's area of interest to act as initial supervisor until the 

student chooses his M.A. or Ph.D. Committee. The final choice of 

committee members will be the student 

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s. The department reserves the 

right to admit only those students for whom research space and an 

appropriate faculty supervisor are available. 

Satisfactor y 

Performance 

The progress of each candidate will be assessed periodically oy the 

departs ent. A. course grade of less than B. is not considered satis- 

factory at the graduate level. Any student who performs unsatisfactorily 

in 2 or more courses may be dropped from the program. 

M.A. PROGRAM 

Admission 

The minimum requirement for clear admission to graduate work is a 

bachelor's degree or its equivalent. The applicant should have at 

least a high second class (B+) standing with second class (B) work in 

24 semester hours of psychology, which must include 6 hours of 

. experimental psychology with laboratory work and a course in statistics. 

Up to 6 hours of related courses deemed acceptable by the department may 

be counted toward the 24 hour psychology requirement. 

Students who have demonstrated ability in psychology or in other fields 

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but who do not meet the requirements for regular admission may be 

granted admission as "unclassified" students and must take appropriate 

undergraduate courses, performing at a level specified as acceptable 

by the department. 

M.A. Committee 

Ordinarily, by the end of his first semester in residence the student 

will choose his M.A. Committee. This committee will consist of at 

least two faculty members from the Psychology Department, one of whom 

will be the committee chairman, and any other faculty outside of the 

department who are considered necessary by the student and his chairman. 

The function of the M.A. Committee is to advise the student in planning 

his course program and to supervise his M.A. thesis. 

Degree Requirements 

Residence: The minimum requirement is 3 semesters in residence. 

Students who have teaching or research assistantships typically 

will be in residence for 4 semesters. 

Required Courses: The minimum requirement is satisfactory perform- 

ance in 21 credit hours of graduate courses, which must include 3 

Proseminars, 2 Research Design Courses, and 2 electives. All 

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course requirements must be completed within 5 semesters of entrance 

into the graduate program. 

Proseminars 

Proseminars are advanced and intensive surveys of areas in psychology. 

Emphasis is placed on important basic issues in the area, rather than 

on a specialized topic. Of the 3 required Proseminars, one must be 

chosen from Group A, and another from Group B. The third required 

Proseminar may be selected from any group. 

Group A. 

720-3 Learning 

730-3 Perception 

740-4 Motivation 

Group B. 

750-3 Developmental Psychology 

760-3 Social Psychology 

770-3 Personality 

Group C. 

705-3 History and Systems 

715-3 Measurement 

780-3 Physiological Psy- 

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chology 

Other Proseminars may be offered, depending on specific interests of 

graduate students and faculty. 

Electives 

Electives may be chosen in consultation with the M.A. Committee from 

the following: Proseminars, Seminars and Directed Studies. 

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MA Thc-Lc

The M.A. Thesis accounts for 9 of the 30 credit hours required for 

an M.A. degree. Before the student starts his thesis research, he 

must present a thesis proposal to his committee for approval. 

The oral defense of the thesis will focus upon the problems, methods, 

and results of the research and the relation of its findings to 

major trends and current theoretical problems in psychology. If 

failed, the oral may be retaken once. It will normally be completed 

satisfactorily within 3 calendar years after admission to full 

graduate status. The thesis examining'committee will consist of the 

student's M.A. Committee, with an additional faculty member to be 

added from outside the department. 

Ph.D. Program 

Admission Requirements 

The minimum requirement for admission to the Ph.D. Program is the 

successful completion of a Simon Fraser University M.A. degree in 

psychology, or its equivalent. 

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Ph.D. Committee 

By the end of the first semester of residence, the student will choose 

a faculty member in the Psychology Department as the chairman of his 

Ph.D. Committee. Not later than one semester after having completed 

his course requirements, the candidate, in consultation with his 

chairman, will select 2 or more additional committee members, at 

least 2 of whom must be members of the Psychology Department. At 

least one member of the committee must be able to act as advisor with 

respect to the measurement and design aspects of the thesis research. 

The proposed committee will be subject to approval by the department 

on recommendation of the Graduate Studies Committee. 

Degree Requirements 

Residence: A candidate must be in residence at least 6 semesters 

after admission to the Ph.D. program, but with the department's 

approval part of the time may be spent off campus. 

Required Courses: The student will participate in a program of 

study decided upon in consultation with his initial advisor and 

subsequently with his Ph.D. Committee. This program must include 

at least 2 Proseminars, which are to be taken before the end of 

his first 3 semesters in residence as a Ph.D. candidate in the 

department. These 2 Proseminars may be chosen from any of those 

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offered by the department. 

A Ph.D. candidate obtaining his M.A. degree in the Psychology 

Department of Simon Fraser University may have satisfied part or 

all of this Proseminar requirement by having completed 1 or 2 

Proseminars in addition to the 3 required for the M.A. degree. 

Graduate Courses 

705-3     

Proseminar 

715-3     

Proseminar 

720-3     

Proseminar 

730-3     

Proseminar 

740-3     

Proseminar 

750-3     

Proseminar 

760-3     

Proseminar 

770-3     

Proseminar 

780-3     

Proseminar 

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In this case, the Ph.D. course requirement may be met by sub- 

stituting a Seminar for each additional Proseminar. 

Ph.D. Qualifying Examination 

A committee consisting of the candidate's Ph.D. Committee and faculty 

members in areas related to the candidate's major interests will set 

a written Ph.D. Qualifying Examination appropriate to the candidate's 

particular program. This examination should be taken as soon as 

possible after completion of course requirements. It may be retaken 

once, and must be passed no less than 2 semesters before the submission 

of the Ph.D. thesis. 

Ph.D. Thesis 

Before starting his thesis research, the candidate will present for 

comment a formal thesis proposal. This presentation will be at a 

meeting open to all members of the Psychology Faculty. 

The completed thesis will be judged by the candidate's Ph.D. Committee 

and by one examiner from outside the university. The thesis will be 

defended in oral examination. Candidates who fail the thesis defense 

will be permitted to retake the examination once only. 

in History and Systems 

in Measurement 

in Learning 

in Perception 

in Motivation 

in Developmental Psychology 

in Social Psychology 

in Personality 

in Physiological Psychology 

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810-3 

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Research Design I: Experiments 

Reviews the basic logic of controlled experimentation, and focuses an 

analysis of variance designs commonly used in psychological research. 

Particular emphasis is given to the relative merits of the several 

designs when there are multiple research questions to be answered. 

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811-3 ? 

Research Design II: Research Studies 

Focuses on multivariate regression and correlation models. Deals with 

ways of answering questions when direct experimental manipulation is 

not feasible, and demonstrates the utility of the principles involved 

for solving problems other than those for which they were first proposed. 

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805-3     

Seminar* 

in History 

815-3     

Seminar 

in Measurement 

820-3     

Seminar in Learning 

825-3     

Seminar in Cognitive Processes 

830-3     

Seminar in Perception 

835-3     

Seminar 

in

Sensation 

840-3     

Seminar in Motivation-Emotion 

850-3     

Seminar 

in

Developmental 

Psychology

860-3     

Seminar 

in

Social 

Psychology

865-3     

Seminar in 

Psycholinguistics 

870-3     

Seminar in Personality 

880-3     

Seminar in Physiological Psychology 

885-3     

Seminar in Comparative Psychology 

897-3     

Directed Studies* 

898

M.A. Thesis 

899

Ph.D. Dissertation 

* Since both Seminars and Directed Studies will cover specific topics 

within a general area, the student may register for each more than 

once. For example, 830-3 may appear twice on a transcript: once as 

830-3 Perception: Depth and Distance; and again as 830-3 Perception: 

Form Discrimination. 

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Justification of Calendar Revisions for Psychology Department 

A copy of a proposed revision of the calendar entry for Psychology 

is attached. The revisions represent minor changes in terms of 

distribution of faculty and student time and effort, but there are 

several such minor changes. For this reason, the justification deals 

with the new entry section by section, pointing Out and explaining all 

deviations front the present (1969) calendar entry. Headings refer to 

the revised entry. 

Introductory statement - This section is essentially unchanged. 

"Applications" - Deadlines for the submission of applications have 

been added, in order to facilitate long-range planning of 

graduate enrollment. 

"Advisor" - This is a new section, giving an explicit statement of the 

procedures that the department has been using to ensure that no 

student will be accepted and then find himself without appropriate 

advisors, space or equipment to pursue the lines of research he 

wishes to undertake. 

"Satisfactory performance" - This new section presents to the student 

the department's interpretation that a "Pass" grade in graduate 

courses is not considered a satisfactory performance. 

"M.A. Program - Admission" - The first paragraph under "Admission" has 

been revised to specify a limit on the number of courses outside 

psychology that may be counted toward the 24 hour. psychology 

requirement. The names of the exact laboratory courses that must 

be included in undergraduate work are no longer specified, because 

different universities use different course titles - e.g. 

"Experimental Psychology" instead of separate courses in the areas 

of learning, motivation, and perception. 

The second paragraph under "Admission" is broader than that of 

the 1969 calendar entry. As each exceptional case must be handled 

individually, the attempt to specify rules covering in advance 

various possible exceptions has been abandoned. The revised 

paragraph simply indicates to the applicant the possibility of 

Contingent Admission. 

"M.A. Committee" - This is a new section, making explicit the procedure 

by which the student chooses his Committee. The 1969 calendar 

entry refers to the student's "advisors" but does not point out 

his own role in choosing them. 

"Degree Requirements" 

The first subsection ("Residence") is unchanged. 

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The remainder of this section ("Required Courses") is a revision 

of the sections on "Degree Requirements" and "Examinations" in 

the 1969 calendar entry. The revision is a rearrangement of the 

work required in the present Contemporary Problems courses 

(Psychology 800 and 801) and Preliminary Examinations. Instead 

of taking two 5-credit Contemporary Problems courses and Pre- 

liminary Examinations in 5 areas of psychology, the M.A. student 

operating under the proposed revision selects 3 areas to be 

covered intensively by 3-credit proseminars and by course examina- 

tions in the proseminars. If he remains at Simon Fraser University 

for his Ph.D., he will later take 2 more proseminars, and thereby 

demonstrate competence in a total of 5 areas of psychology. 

There are several purposes accomplished by this arrangement: 

a) Lengthening the period of time within which the student can 

study his 5 areas produces the possibility of his attaining 

a greater depth of knowledge within each area. With the great 

expansion of information within psychology, it has proved 

impossible to provide more than a very sketchy presentation 

of each of the 3 to 6 areas covered in one Contemporary 

Problems course. 

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b) The correspondence between the content of the Contemporary 

Problems courses and the knowledge required by the Preliminary 

Examinations has been small. It had been assumed that the 

undergraduates entering the M.A. program would be capable of 

studying independently for the Examinations. In fact, however, 

most students have had to take examination sections several 

times in order to pass the 

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and the only way the system of 

Preliminary Examinations can work well is through the faculty's 

spending an unjustifiably large amount of time in individual 

tutoring. The revision proposes that students be examined in 

the proseminars on material covered during the course of the 

proseminars. 

c)

At the same time, provision has been made for the inclusion of 

as much independent work as the student shows himself able to 

handle. In addition to 3 proseminars, the M.A. student will 

take more proseminars, seminars or individual Directed Studies. 

Thus, while a minimum number of structured courses is required, 

the remainder of a student's program can be suited individually 

to his own develpping ability to undertake independent work. 

d)

The student is given increased choice of content areas. The 

1969 calendar entry requires 3 areas in common of all students 

(learning, perception and motivation) . Deletion of this 

requirement allows the student a freer choice of areas of 

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concentration, while continuing to ensure, through Group require- 

ments, that sufficient breadth is obtained. 

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All of these purposes can be accomplished without necessitating 

any increase in the teaching budget. As each of the Contemporary 

Problems courses has coered several areas, the department has 

been forced in the past to assign two professors to one 5-credit 

course. In contrast, each 3-credit proserninar requires only one 

instructor, as it deals intensively with a single content area. 

The schedule of presenting Seminars and Research Design courses 

is not changed, and it is the opinion of the faculty that time 

devoted to supervising students in individual Directed Studies 

actually will be less than the time demanded by the informal 

instruction involved in helping students to prepare for 5 sections 

of the Preliminary Examinations. 

"M.A. Thesis" - This section contains the following minor changes and 

additions: 

a)

change of credit hours for the N.A. thesis from 10 credits 

to 9 

b)

addition of a thesis proposal presentation, a custom already 

followed in the department 

c)

addition of a statement allowing a student to retake a failed 

thesis oral examination 

d)

specific inclusion of the university regulation that the M.A. 

examining committee must include one faculty member from out- 

side the department. 

"Ph.D. Program - Admission Requirements" - This section has been changed 

to require successful completion of the equivalent of "a Simon 

Fraser University M.A. degree in Psychology" rather than simply 

"an M.A. degree in Psychology". The revision is intended to 

indicate the right and the obligation o 

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f the department at the 

time of admission to state any deficiencies noted in a student's 

background, and to specify how they must be removed. This statement 

subsumes the 1969 statement requiring a Master's level course in 

Research Design. 

"Ph.D._Committee" - This section is a revision of the 1969 paragraph 

subtitled "Major and minor subjects", which instructs the student 

to select his Ph.D. Committee members to represent one major and 

two minor areas of interest. The revised entry rejects the 

concept of the student's choice being tied necessarily to 

traditional "areas of psychology", and implicitly acknowledges 

that some of the advances in psychology in the future will be 

made on the borderlines of the present traditional areas or in 

areas that are now not considered major areas in their own right. 

In the revision, the student and his committee, subject to 

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approval by the department, delimit those subareas that will 

constitute the student's particular field of competence. Some 

students may still choose "one major and two minors", but others 

may choose subareas of the traditional areas and combine them in 

in a particular way that would not be possible under the 1969 

calendar requirement. 

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De

gree Requirements - Residence" - This section has been changed 

to a statement of the university regulation. 

"Required Courses" - The 1969 calendar entry does not set any formal 

course requirements for the Ph.D., although it suggests that 

Ph.D. candidates participate in seminars, directed studies, and 

colloquia. The revised entry requires Ph.D. students to take 2 

courses, usually proseminars. In the case of students who have 

obtained their M.A. 's from Simon Fraser University, requiring 2 

proseminars in addition to the 3 required for the M.A. ensures 

that students will have reached a certain level of competence 

in 5 areas, as is assured in the 1969 entry by requiring 5 

sections of Preliminary Examinations. In the case of students 

with M.A. 's from other universities, requiring 2 proseminars 

within the first 3 semesters of residence is intended to provide 

a rapid initial evaluation of the student's ability, and to 

create interchange of ideas among students from diverse back- 

grounds. 

"Ph.D. Qualifying Examination" - All revisions of this section reflect 

the change from the requirement of "one major and two minors" to 

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a more individualized domain of competence for each student as? 

discussed above under "Ph.D. Committee". 

"Ph.D. Thesis" - This section is a combination and revision of the 

1969 entry sections "Dissertation" and "Dissertation defense". 

The provision for an open meeting at which the Ph.D. candidate 

presents a formal thesis proposal is included to give the student 

practice in discussing his proposed research, and to encourage 

faculty members who are not on his committee to discuss the 

student's research problem and design with him. Other additions 

in this section are a statement of the university's requirement 

of an external examiner, and a statement that the thesis defense 

examination may be retaken once. 

"Graduate Courses" - Psychology 800 (Contemporary Problems I) and 

Psychology 801 (Contemporary Problems II) have been deleted, as 

their contents have been reorganized into proseminars. The 

Registrar's office has approved the use of the 700 series of 

course numbers for proseminars. Psychology 897-3 (Directed 

Studies) has been added. 

Deletions from the 1969 program - In addition to deletions noted above, 

the revised entry does not include Placement Examinations for 

entering M.A. candidates or Assessment Examinations for entering 

Ph.D. candidates. These examinations were intended only to be 

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diagnostic. Revision of course requirements to include proseminars 

with examinations provides a more satisfactory way of assessing the 

student early in his program and removes the annoyance or anxiety 

occasioned by the requirement that entering students take diagnostic 

examinations during their first week on campus. 