Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Psychology and Law

The Psychology and Law concentration trains students to take basic social, developmental, and cognitive principles and apply them to issues in the legal system. Students in this program typically have interests in such topics as the role of race/ethnicity in legal decisions, eyewitness memory, jury decision-making, police interrogations and confession, and/or forensic interviewing. Throughout their careers, students are encouraged to work independently and collaboratively with one or more faculty and with other graduate students. Students are encouraged to develop a research program in their own area of interest, and with guidance from faculty mentors, to take courses that are appropriate to one's interests. Students work with their graduate committees to identify additional coursework needed to complete their training. Mentored by a primary advisor, each student develops a program of research and is encouraged to collaborative with other faculty and students, to present research at professional conferences, and to publish in professional journals. Where appropriate to their interests, students may be encouraged to take selected law courses from UW's College of Law. PhD Requirements All graduate students in Psychology and Law are expected to do the following: take the following core courses: Research Methods, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Biological Psychology, and 2 Core Statistics courses, participate in the 1 credit Psychology/Law pro-seminar each semester, be an active member of the Psychology and Law Research Lab.