Major Requirements for the B.S. Degree in Psychology

Effective Fall 2007

The major requirements for the B. S. degree in Psychology include 12 courses in the major, distributed as listed below, and 7 courses outside the major, selected from courses for majors in natural science and mathematics. This handout reflects course number changes that went into effect in Fall, 2007. Please refer to course name to see where courses taken before Fall 2007 will fit in your plan of study. The courses have not changed and fill the same requirements as previously. (Please contact your advisor if you declared your major before September 1, 2000 and want to use old requirements.)

Introductory Courses

1. Introduction to Psychology (Psych 101 or 100)

2. Introduction to Behavioral Research (Psych 201)

3. Psychological Statistics (Psych Z270)

Intermediate Courses (Core Requirements)

One intermediate level course from each of the five sub-disciplines of Psychology, chosen from among the following options. These courses provide the required core of the major and serve as prerequisites to more specialized courses. (Note that all course numbers in this category have been changed from 200- to 300-level, but the courses and requirements in this category have not changed.)

4. Personality/Clinical: Personality (Psych 300) or Abnormal Psychology (Psych 315)

5. Developmental: Infancy and Childhood Development (Psych 341) or Adolescence (Psych 342)

6. Social Psychology (Psych 330)

7. Behavioral Neuroscience (Psych 360)

8. Cognitive: Learning and Memory (Psych 350) or Perception (Psych 355)

Advanced Courses (Capstone Requirement)

9. One advanced Experimental Methods course (Psych 475-479).

10. An advanced course at the 400 level.

Students who declared the major on or after September 1, 2003 will need to meet the capstone requirement. Capstone criteria include a grade of C- or better in a 400-level course taken in residence after completing at least 3 of the 5 intermediate core requirements. (Note that many courses in this category have been renumbered. A course that now has a number in the 400s will count here even if it had a different number when you took it. Please see your advisor if you declared the major before September 1, 2003 and have questions about your advanced course requirement.)

Elective Courses

11. Advanced elective. Any course numbered 300 or higher, with the exception of courses listed in the intermediate core requirement category.

12. Any course from any level.

Requirements outside the Psychology Department

13) Mathematics 135, Survey of Calculus or a higher level course in calculus (this requirement can be waived with an appropriate placement score)

14, 15) Biology 111 and Biology 112

16-19) Four semester-long courses designed for majors from the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, or Physics or the course Biology 207, Anatomy and Physiology I.

Further restrictions and clarifications:

• Eight of the 12 Psychology courses must be taken in residence at UMass Boston.
• Only one of the following courses can be counted as an advanced requirement or advanced elective: Psych 486, 488, 489, 496-499.
• Only one of the 12 Psychology courses counted toward the major may be taken pass/fail.
• Six credit internship courses (Psych 430, 479) count as one course.
• Courses from Science and Mathematics departments designed for nonmajors do not count toward the B.S. in Psychology major.
• Laboratory sections for courses outside the Psychology Department that are listed as “optional” are not required; labs are only required if they are a requirement of the course.
• The capstone requirement can be met by the required advanced Experimental Methods course, provided the C- grade criterion is met.