Programs

Psychology

Saint John campus

  • Degrees Offered: MA (UNB Saint John) and PhD (jointly with UNB Fredericton) in Experimental Psychology
  • MAPRE (Master's of Applied Psychology, Research, and Evaluation)
  • Application Deadline: Dec. 15 for the MA program and Dec. 1 for the PhD program, April 15 for MAPRE
  • Study Options: Thesis (MA), Course-based (MAPRE)
  • Duration: One year (MAPRE), Two years (MA), Four years (PhD)
  • Entry Terms: Fall 

You've made up your mind to pursue a career in psychology. UNB Saint John’s psychology graduate program can teach you the advanced research and statistical skills to succeed. Our program combines coursework, independent research, and collaborations with supervisors to give students a well-rounded understanding of experimental psychology.

Our students gain applied knowledge and employ experimental methods, ultimately leading to a thesis in the student’s preferred psychological research area. We actively participate in the PhD clinical psychology program offered by UNB Fredericton. Our graduates have been successful in developing diverse career paths in hospitals, government agencies, non-profit and community outreach organizations, as well as research centres and universities.

NEW! Course-based Master’s of Applied Psychology, Research and Evaluation. Program evaluation is the use of basic research principles to address real-world questions in a variety of applied settings. The program is designed for applicants from all disciplines that who want to learn about quantitative and qualitative research designs and statistical analyses; conducting a program evaluation; research ethics; and applying knowledge in a real-world setting. All students will have the opportunity to complete a summer practicum with a partner organization. Courses available will be in program evaluation, intermediate statistics, principles of science, psychological testing, advanced statistics, and several electives.

Research areas

  • Forensic, Correctional and Police Psychology
  • Peer Relationships and Social Skills
  • Measurement and Scale Development
  • Bio-Psychology and Psychopharmacology
  • Addictions
  • Attachment, Loneliness and Well-Being
  • Neuroscience
  • Perception and Cognition
  • Health Research
  • Personality

Current faculty research

  • Lisa Best: Perception, diagrammatic reasoning, history of graph use in psychology, addictive behaviours, personality, subjective well-being.
  • Lilly Both: Peer relationships and social skills across the lifespan, social problem solving, incubation and problem solving, life satisfaction, personality correlates.
  • Caroline Brunelle: Biological and personality risk factors in addiction, comorbidity of substance use disorders with other mental disorders, harm reduction, offender populations.
  • Mary Ann Campbell: Clinical forensic, correctional, and police psychology, psychopathy, risk assessment, adult and adolescent offenders, mentally ill offenders, sexual deviancy, credibility assessment, program evaluation.
  • Enrico DiTommaso: Attachment, loneliness and interpersonal functioning, social adjustment, well-being, scale development, measurement, survey methodology
  • Vanessa Morris: Neuroimagine, neurocognitive assessment, addictive disorders, substance use, mental health.
  • Sean Roach: Behavioural neuroscience, animal behaviour, vocal communication, song birds, auditory perception, contagious behaviour.
  • David Speed: Atheism and health; secularism and wellness; using big data; program evaluation; applied research.
  • Jonathan Wilbiks: Multisensory processing, audiovisual integration, psychology of music, music perception, visual perception, auditory perception.
  • Jen Woodland: Multisensory perception, digital health, user experience (UX) and usability of digital health tools, treatment adherence.

Application requirements

  1. Applicants to MA: Must hold an undergraduate honours degree in psychology with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.7 (or A-). A research-based thesis is required.
  2. Applicants to MAPRE: Must hold an undergraduate degree from any discipline with an overall GPA of 3.7 (or A-) in the last two years of full time study. Incoming students must have completed three credit hours of statistics (or data analytics) with a minimum of a 3.3 GPA (or B+).
  3. All applicants must submit a complete application.
  4. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit language scores that meet or exceed:
    • International English language testing system (IELTS) = band 7
    • Paper-based TOEFL = 600
    • Internet-based TOEFL = 250
    • TWE = 5.5

Contact us

For more information on our program, contact Dr. Jonathan Wilbiks, Director of Graduate Studies, or Laura Devlin, Program Administrative Assistant.

Office: Hazen Hall, Rm. 15

Phone: 1-506-648-5640

Related: Psychology Department