Below are some frequently asked questions about our program:
What is the research focus of the program?
Developmental Psychology at Waterloo covers a broad range of topics, shaped by the research interests of the faculty. For more information, visit our faculty web pages:
Stephanie Denison: Infant and early childhood cognitive development, focusing on probabilistic inference, physical reasoning and infant social cognition. Lab: Developmental Learning Lab
Ori Friedman: Children’s and adults’ reasoning about ownership; pretend play; theory of mind. Lab: UWaterloo Child Cognition Lab
Heather Henderson: Lab: Social Development Lab
Daniela O’Neill: Early language development, with a focus on pragmatics, narrative and assessment (the Language Use Inventory, LUI). Lab: UWaterloo Centre for Child Studies
Katherine White: Early language development, with a focus on infant speech perception and word acquisition. Lab: Lab for Infant Development and Language
In addition, there are faculty in other groups with developmental research programs and interests (Itier, McCauley, Nilsen).
How is your program organized?
Our program is a research-focused program and students begin research as soon as they arrive on campus. We offer two graduate degree programs. Candidates may apply to and be admitted directly into our PhD program. These candidates do not receive an MA on their way to completing the PhD. We also have a 1-year MASc program in Developmental Communication Science for students who either wish to receive additional training on their way to non-academic or professional career paths (such as speech pathology), or for students who wish to pursue a PhD but desire additional training first. Students who complete the MASc may subsequently apply to the PhD program.
How long does it take to complete a PhD?
Our PhD program typically takes five years to complete. Our MASc program is an intensive one-year program.
How does your funding work?
See Funding and Awards for future students for details.