General Standards of Education and
Training
CURRICULUM STANDARDS FOR APPLIED MASTER'S PROGRAMS
Applied master's degree programs in psychology should meet
the following minimum standards:
I. The program should be identifiable as a psychology
program. This is to be defined primarily in terms of the disciplinary
affiliations of those who teach in and administer the program.
II. The program must have a mission statement which guides
the structure and content of the curriculum. The mission statement should
reflect a commitment to the campp model of practitioners who bring
scholarship and reflection to their work, and an understanding of
diversity in clientele, methodology and application.
III. The program and its curriculum should have a coherent
organization and structure that reflects its mission statement.
IV. The program should be the equivalent of two academic
years of full time study. This would normally include 40-50 semester
hours, or the equivalent, of program requirements.
V. The program must include evidence of competence in the
following areas:
A. A base of general/theoretical psychology to include the
following:
1) Biological bases of behavior to the degree that it is
appropriate for the subdiscipline.
2) Acquired or learned bases of behavior
3) Social/cultural/systemic bases of behavior
4) Individual or unique bases of behavior
B. Understanding of methodology used to investigate
questions and acquire knowledge in the discipline. This could include
study in research design and/or methodology, statistics or critical
thinking and scientific inquiry. At a minimum, there should be one course
in research methods and/or statistics as applied to psychological
questions.
C. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
1) Coursework in the theory, history, and applications of
psychological principles and theories appropriate to the subdiscipline.
2) Significant supervised experience appropriate to the
discipline
3) Ethical and professional standards
4) Sensitivity to social and cultural diversity, resulting
in appropriate assessment and intervention strategies and other
professional behaviors
5) Teaching of assessment relevant to goals of the
training program (e.g., interviewing techniques, program evaluation)
VI. Entrance requirements for the applied master s program
in psychology should reflect the responsibility that the program has to
the public. Efforts should be made to ensure that students have the
intellectual and personal capabilities required to perform as competent
professionals in the subdiscipline.
VII. Students will demonstrate competence and professional
behavior consistent with each programs mission statement and goals prior
to the Completion of the program.
VIII. The program will have a sufficient number of
appropriately trained faculty to accommodate the labor-intensive nature of
teaching the Skills of applied psychology.
