Graduate Student Guide

Here's something interesting my undergraduate adviser has sent out to his mailing list-- a Graduate Student Guide written by another professor in the department. I am happy to say I have followed most of the points for years 1 and 2, so I guess I'm on the right track! Guess my adviser knew what he was talking about when he said I needed to learn MATLAB ;)

The Apprenticeship

Expectations for your First year…
Ø A reasonable workload for a first year graduate student is 60 hours a week spent on psychology in one way or another—courses, assistantship duties, research, reading, and thinking. You have transitioned from being an undergraduate to being an apprentice, from a consumer to a producer, from an amateur to a professional. If you do not feel comfortable with these constraints, if you thought I was joking when I said 60, if you still feel like an undergraduate, if you do not feel comfortable selling your soul to the company store, it is something best resolved early. If you want to excel, you might think of 60 hours as a minimum. Immerse yourself. Your first year in graduate school may (and probably should) be one of the hardest-working years in your career! Right now, you know the least and have the most to learn, and learning is hardest when you know theleast. The harder you work in your first year, the easier and more enjoyable each next year of your career will be. An important side note – do NOT make decisions about how much you should work based on how much the other students around you are working. Most students will not work as much as you should if you really want to be successful. Finally, remember that you’re not working this hard for me, you’re working this hard for you. Here’s a parable to think about:

The master Soyen Shaku passed from this world when he was sixty-one years of age. Fulfilling his life’s work, he left a great teaching, far richer than that of most Zen masters. His pupils used to sleep in the daytime during midsummer, and while he overlooked this he himself never wasted a minute.

When he was but twelve years old he was already studying Tendai philosophical speculation. One summer day the air had been so sultry that little Soyen stretched his legs and went to sleep while his teacher was away.

Three hours passed when, suddenly waking, he heard his master enter, but it was too late. There he lay, sprawled across the doorway.

“I beg your pardon, I beg your pardon,” his teacher whispered, stepping carefully over Soyen’s body as if it were that of some distinguished guest. After this, Soyen never slept again in the afternoon.

Ø One of the most important things you should be doing every week is reading, reading, reading! Read voraciously, you have a lot to learn. You will not become an expert if you just read what I tell you to read. I am going to recommend readings to you, but this is not enough. Although you should seek my advice regularly, you must take responsibility for guiding your reading.[1] Reading is the single best source for research ideas, and I do believe that good reading will eventually help good writing. I would suggest your reading be mostly systematic (learning a literature rather than piecemeal reading in many different unrelated literatures) but with some sampling (if a topic or reference in one paper sounds interesting, follow that lead). I will expect regular progress reports on what you’ve been reading. I also expect you to remind me to talk to you about how to organize your literature and about notetaking.

Ø With respect to becoming an independent researcher: You will start on “my” projects and will transition to working on “your” projects (no later than fourth year). If you start having ideas of your own sooner, great – we’ll talk about them and make decisions about whether they are do-able and whether they should be done (some ideas that are do-able are not worth doing—as you become more expert in the field, you’ll get better at distinguishing between those that are worth doing and those that aren’t).

Ø I expect you to show a command over the introductory material of your classes. In this regard, I expect no failures (i.e., C) and for you to excel (i.e., A) in at least one area. It is particularly important that you get as much out of your statistics courses as possible – take them very seriously! These are tools that you will carry in your toolbox for the rest of your career.

Ø Another important tool that you might neglect adding to your toolbox but should not: If you are not already a proficient programmer, you should be thinking seriously about beginning to correctthis deficiency no later than the summer of your first year. The sooner you can program your own projects, the happier you’ll be. I can give you a crash course to get you started, and other graduate students who already know how to program are usually also very willing to help.

Ø I expect you to develop the managerial skills and professional commitment to warrant solid comments from the supervisor of your teaching or research assistantship.

Ø I expect you to begin conducting research in your first semester and to continue this practice over the semesters, increasing it over the years. Typically, early research ideas will be mine, later ones—ours, final ones—yours.

Ø I expect you to complete a project with me by the end of the Spring term to a point where we could send the work out for review if appropriate.

Ø I expect you to be visible in the department by beginning to develop the habit of attending Department functions, workshops, and colloquia. Cognitive students should attend every function of the cognitive program, virtually all functions of the experimental program, and most functions outside your program. You should be especially cognizant of lectures presented by visiting scholars in any area where your attendance will reflect on the department, the program, and the lab. Attending talks outside of your interest area is a great way of gaining some perspective on the field and might be useful in the future when talking to other psychologists at work or conventions. So, if there is a talk on “Forbidden Adolescent Sexual Practices,” even if you have no interest in the topic you should go.

Ø I expect you to be visible in the lab, to be active in its administration and functioning, and to be available to help senior personnel, the undergraduates, and your peers.

Ø You should try to attend a professional conference this year (visible in the profession) if only as an observer. The funds required can often be nontrivial, but keep in mind that you can sharelodging with other graduate student, and such experience is as much an investment in your future as is a class.

Expectations for your Second Year…
Ø You must take the lead on at least one research project and carry the project through to the manuscript stage, ideally for submission to a journal, by the end of summer. This normally will be your Masters project. But don’t worry, I’ll be here to help you and provide support all the way, especially if you seek it out when you are struggling.

Ø You should still be reading voraciously. Most ideas for new research (e.g., an idea for your Masters) come from reading existing research.

Ø You will begin mentoring any 1st year graduate students admitted into the lab.

Ø You will assume laboratory management responsibilities relinquished by senior graduate students who have left to form their own “dissertation lab” (see Year 4).

Ø You should present at a conference (either a national or well-respected regional).

Ø By the end of the second year, the cognitive area will make the decision whether to continue you to the Ph.D. or to terminate your training at the Masters level. It is unfair to have a student of questionable ability struggle to meet the minimum demands of a profession and never show bursts of achievement that suggests he or she could be a successful doctoral level professional.

Expectations for your Third Year…
Ø You will become an expert in a broad subarea of cognitive psychology. This does not mean an expert at some student level of understanding, but an expert at a professional level. This includes but is not limited to mastery of the theories, methods, data, arguments, assumptions, and perspectives ofthat area. It also includes an understanding of how that subarea fits into its parent area of cognitive psychology.

Ø You will take your qualifying examinations, much of which is the expertise you develop in Point 1. This should be completed before the beginning of your fourth year.

Ø You should be involved in at least two lines of research and serving as primary manager of at least one of these.

Ø You will present at a national conference.

Ø You will become much more heavily involved in writing manuscripts for eventual publication. If you are to be the senior author, we will outline the manuscript together but you will then complete first drafts with minimal assistance until revision. If you are not to be senior author, you will nevertheless take some responsibility for writing at the draft and revisionstage.

Ø You will begin to take a leadership role both within the lab and amongstyour peers. Leadership skills are important to the future doctoral level professional.

Expectations for your Final Years…
Ø Your final years will be spent developing and managing your own laboratory. For your projects, I will serve as a consultant and coauthor. You will begin to recruit your own undergraduate RAs (under my course number), establish your own lab meetings, and conduct your own projects. One of which will be, of course, your dissertation.

Ø You should be writing manuscripts for publication, and presenting at conferences.

Ø You will complete a proposal and oral defense of your dissertation, which will be an original contribution to the literature.


[1] You should do three things: figure out what literature(s) you want to master (usually, the ones you are most interested in), gather the literature, and then read and take notes on the literature. How to know what you’re interested in? This may take a year or two (and will continue to change over the entire course of your career). Keep a keen eye for things that spark your curiosity. Also note that the more you know about something, the more interesting it becomes, so don’t give up on something right away.