对申研不了解,对一般开在School of Education下的counseling/school/educational psychology也不了解,只对开在College of Arts and Sciences下的Department of Psychology里的PhD program有所了解。这类phd program的确挺喜欢多样化背景的人,但是本科阶段最好/必须修过心理学入门、心理学统计和心理学研究方法三门课。所以本科不是心理学专业的只要修过这三门课都可以申请。其他专业的话,一般还是喜欢招收和心理学有些相关的专业,比如生物、语言学、计算机科学、统计等。现在的心理学研究更加偏向于quantitative,有些方向还需要programming,所以理科背景比文科背景在申请时可能更有优势些。
再来说下心理学。在美国对心理学简单的定义是the scientific study of behavior and mental processes。首先要特别强调的是心理学是scientific study,所以在美国心理学是experiment-based,或者正在trying to be experiment-based,通过实验等手段得到大量数据然后分析数据从而验证各种hypothesis。然后心理学的研究对象是behavior & mental processes。这两个研究对象真是包罗万象。有人会研究暴力行为,有人会研究生殖,有人研究小孩推理能力,还有人研究记忆、语言、知觉等。除了研究individual,还研究group;除了研究human,还研究animal。如果认为心理学只是研究心理疾病那就太narrow了。目前心理学主要有以下几大分支:临床/变态/健康心理学,社会/性格/发展心理学,认知心理学,神经科学,其他的还有教育心理学、工业组织心理学、进化心理学等,这些分支下有各种各样数也数不完的topic,这些分支之间又有着千丝万缕的联系。所以现在的心理学领域说好听点是百花齐放,说难听点是乱七八糟。当然心理学作为独立学科才100多年,还年轻的很,所以还在成长,说不定以后就不这么乱了,也说不定一些分支会独立出去,比如cognitive psychology可能会变成Cognitive Science独立出来(已经有学校这样做了,比如罗彻斯特大学),neuroscience也可能会脱离心理学、生物学自立门户(我们学校心理学系一个教授就从不承认自己是psychologist,强调自己是neuroscientist)。。。
跨专业申请是可以的。以下是我们学校对于跨专业申请的官方说明,其他学校应该也都差不太多:
Q: I didn't major in psychology as an undergraduate. May I still apply to your Ph.D. program?
A: Yes. However, the admissions committee will expect that you have had an introductory course in psychology, a course in statistics, and a course in research methods (or similar courses). And you should have had enough experiences in psychology (courses, research experience, fieldwork) to be sure that being a psychologist is what you really want to do.
对于缺乏心理学基础课和研究经历的,有些学校也提供MA Program in (General) Psychology,MA program会相对好申些。当然,the MA degree in General Psychology does not provide training for specific careers. In order to work as a professional psychologist, it is necessary to earn a Ph.D. (a doctorate). 不过,MA program也有它的好处:
First, some students know they want to earn a Ph.D. in psychology, but they are uncertain about the area of psychology to specialize or focus in. By enrolling in the M.A. program, they can take advanced courses in several subfields of psychology, learn more about psychology and focus their interests, and then apply for a doctoral program that meets their career objectives. Second, some students find that they need to strengthen their credentials before they can be competitive for a Ph.D. program. By enrolling in the M.A. program, they can show their ability to earn good grades in graduate-level courses and can gain research experience that can strengthen their applications to doctoral programs. Third, some students may be interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in Psychology, but they did not take many psychology courses as an undergraduate. The General MA degree allows them to accumulate the necessary background to qualify for application to doctoral programs.
以上都摘自我们学校的网站,希望对你有帮助。
还有,以上这些不一定适用于School of Education里的Counseling/School/Educational Psychology,但基本适用于Department of Psychology里的Clinical PSY, Cognitive PSY, Developmental PSY, Social PSY, Behavioral Neuroscience等program。