Purpose

The comprehensive exam has two purposes. First, the exam allows the student to demonstrate knowledge about the field of developmental psychology. The exam contains material about broad developmental issues, theory, and methods, as well as material in greater specificity about the student’s area of expertise. Second, the exam allows the faculty the opportunity to assess the student’s academic progress, to suggest areas that may need improvement, and to propose ways that the student might accomplish these goals. Both of these goals are designed to help the student prepare for a career in developmental psychology.

Examination Committee

In preparation for the exam, the student and his or her advisor assemble an examining committee. The committee is chaired by the student’s advisor and includes 3 additional faculty members to be chosen for their expertise in the areas relevant to the exam. In addition to the advisor, at least one additional committee member must be from the Developmental Area within Psychology. One committee member may be (but is not required to be) from outside of the Psychology department.

The written exam is based on a reading list that is created by the student and advisor. The Developmental Area faculty will provide a list of core readings that will be included in all reading lists; this list will be updated as needed. A list of major themes and issues central to developmental science is included with the core reading list, which students should be prepared to discuss.  It is expected that the student will add 5-10 readings that illustrate the key theories and issues more closely related to his/her area of specialization. Once created, the student’s reading list is submitted to the committee for approval. The committee may suggest additions or deletions from the list. Once the reading list is finalized, the advisor solicits the committee members for exam questions, or may choose to write them all. The committee members are then responsible for preparing/approving the written examination (as requested), grading the student’s responses, and conducting and evaluating the final oral defense. 

Timeline

Students are expected to complete the comprehensive examination during their third or at the latest fourth year in the program. It is recommended that the committee be assembled and the reading list prepared no less than 3 months prior to the examination. The dates for all three exam sections should be set at the same time.

Format

The student is required to exhibit substantial knowledge in three areas:

1. Substantial knowledge of core developmental theories and issues.

  • It is essential that students demonstrate understanding of the major theories (e.g., those of Piaget and Bowlby) and conceptual issues of developmental science. The goal of this section of the exam is that the student should demonstrate breadth outside of his/her area of specialization. The student will be asked to demonstrate ways in which key principles of development are manifest across multiple domains.
  • This knowledge will be demonstrated during a written exam that is to take place from 10am-12pm, and again from 1-3pm, with a one-hour lunch break. The student is presented with 2 questions during each session, and chooses one of these to answer. The exam is taken in a quiet room in the Psychology Bldg, in isolation, with no open references (i.e., on a computer with no external connection). The student does not receive the questions ahead of time. The student will spend approximately two hours responding to each question. The responses should be thorough and scholarly -- the beginning of a sophisticated intellectual conversation with the committee. At the end of each session the student submits the responses to the advisor, and the advisor distributes the responses to the other committee members. Students will be asked to sign an honor pledge indicating that they have responded to the questions without external assistance.

2. Substantial knowledge of research methodology. 

  • This requirement is designed so that the student can demonstrate mastery of ways of thinking about developmental research methods focused on their area of specialization. The student must demonstrate considerations related to selection of research methods appropriate to a particular important question. For instance, in a given research area, there may be a variety of ways to tap a particular construct. The student will be asked the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as what factors should be considered when making a selection. 
  • This knowledge will be demonstrated during a 2-hour exam, following the procedure described above. The exam must take place within one week of the exam described above. As in the case of part 1, at the end of the session the student submits the response to the advisor, and the advisor distributes the responses to the other committee members.

3. Substantial knowledge in student's principal area.

    • This requirement is designed so that the student can demonstrate in-depth mastery of the student’s area of specialization. The student, in consultant with his/her advisor, will have identified the area of specialization and added readings to the reading list that reflect this choice.
    • This knowledge will be demonstrated during a 12-hour period. Unlike the exams described above, this will be an open book exam that can be completed wherever the student chooses. The exam will start at 9am and end at 9pm.  There will be one question, with multiple parts. The question will be created by the advisor, and approved by the committee.  Although the student is free to use any readings, he/she should write the exam independently, without consultation with other individuals. The exam must take place within one week of exam 2. The student and advisor will agree on the means of transmission of the question and response. As in the case of exams 1 and 2, at the end of the session the student submits the response to the advisor, and the advisor distributes the responses to the other committee members.
    • It is expected that this part of the exam will cover material with which the student is already quite familiar because it has been the area of specialization for two to three years; as such there should be no need for extensive additional study. The 12-hour time period is intended to give the student sufficient time to organize material with which he/she is already familiar.
    In all cases, the student should use Times New Roman 12-point font and follow APA Style for margins and formatting. 

    Oral Defense and Advancement to Candidacy

    Following submission of the written exams, the committee members evaluate whether these materials demonstrate a level of proficiency sufficient to continue to the oral defense. If they do not, then the student is considered to have failed the exam.

    If these materials are considered to demonstrate sufficient proficiency, then approximately two weeks following completion of the written exam (parts 1, 2, and 3), the student and committee meet for an oral defense of the responses on the written exams. This defense generally lasts approximately two hours, but can last longer at the discretion of the committee. The goal of the oral defense is to allow students to further show their fluency with the material and to engage in a scholarly discourse — a core component of participation in the academic community.  Students will also have time to clarify their written answers, and add any information they realize they omitted. Based on the written materials and the oral defense, the committee will either (a) pass the student, (b) fail the student, or  (c) if specific and limited areas of the exam do not demonstrate proficiency, ask the student to rewrite these sections within two weeks. If the student is asked to re-write part of the exam, the committee has the option of noting that the student has passed the exam pending successful completion of the revision.

    If no rewriting is required, the student will receive written notification within one week of the outcome of the exam. If the student is asked to rewrite a section of the exam, the procedure is as follows: 

    • The student is given the question(s) to be rewritten, and is asked to write a response of approximately eight pages per question. The student may be asked to rewrite a portion of a question, for which a page-length requirement would be provided.
    • The student is asked to complete the response independently (i.e., without consultation with others), yet is free to use whatever readings he/she would like.
    • The student distributes the revised response to each committee member within 2-weeks of the date of the oral exam.
    • Each committee member will read the response, and members will confer; the student will receive written notification of outcome within two weeks of submitting the rewritten sections.

    If the student has considerable difficulty with this scheduling format, he/she can, with the advisor’s consent, petition the committee for a variation in the scheduling. This request must be made in writing and approved, in writing, by all committee members. 

    When the student passes the comprehensive exam, he or she will advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. If the student fails the comprehensive exam, he or she will have 6 months to retake the exam. Failure of a second exam will result is dismissal from the program.