Requirements & Recommendations

Prerequisites

All psychology courses numbered 300 and above have as prerequisites:
PSYCH 100 or 101 and
PSYCH 102

Many of these courses have additional prerequisites; please consult course descriptions..

The Major

A psychology major may choose to pursue either a BA or a BS degree. The BS may be appropriate for those students who wish to do some of their work in the natural sciences.

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Major requirements for the BA degree in psychology have changed for students who declare a major after September 1, 2000. The changes are meant to encourage students to develop a broad base of knowledge in all five major areas of psychology, while also specializing in one or two particular area(s). The new requirements for the major leading to the BA in psychology include:

A. Introductory courses

• Introduction to Psychology (PSYCH 101 or 100)
  
• Research Methods (PSYCH 102)

B. Intermediate courses

• One 200-level course from each of the five sub-disciplines of psychology, chosen from among the following options:
  
• Personality/Clinical: Personality (PSYCH 200) or Abnormal Psychology (PSYCH 215)
  
• Developmental: Infancy and Child Development (PSYCH 241) or Adolescence (PSYCH 242)
  
• Social: Social Psychology (PSYCH 230)
  
• Psychobiology: Behavioral Neuroscience (PSYCH 260)
  
• Cognitive: Learning and Memory (PSYCH 250) or Perception (PSYCH 255)

C. Advanced Courses

• Any three psychology courses from the 300 or 400 level sequence. (See notes below)

D. Elective Courses

• Any two courses from any level.

Psychology courses numbered 444, 487, and 489 cannot count as advanced 300/400 level courses, although they can count toward the elective course requirement. The honors sequence, 496-499, may in total be counted as one advanced course toward the major sequence. PSYCH 486 (Research Apprenticeship in Psychology) may count as an advanced course in some cases, depending on the faculty mentor's assessment of the contents of the specific apprenticeship.

Although not required for the BA degree, The Department recommends that majors take PSYCH Z270 (Statistics) as one of your elective courses. The quantitative thinking skills this course helps develop are crucial to a thorough understanding of psychology, and will help students get the most out of advanced courses. In addition, an understanding of statistics is crucial for many of the job opportunities often pursued by psychology majors, and most graduate schools in psychology require a statistics course. Note that MATH Q114 (formerly Intr-D 114) or its equivalent is a prerequisite for this course.

Students who declared the psychology major before September 1, 2000, may, if they choose, graduate by completing the old requirements, which are listed below. However, the Department encourages all students to follow the new requirements in order to acquire a more comprehensive grounding in all areas of psychology.

• Introduction to Psychology (either PSYCH 100 or 101) and either PSYCH 102 or PSYCH Z270.
  
• Two 200-level courses dealing with information processing or psychobiology (PSYCH 250, 255, 260)
  
• Two 200-level courses dealing with abnormal, personality, developmental, or social psychology (PSYCH 200, 215, 230, 241)
  
• Three upper-level (300 or 400 level) courses
  
• One elective course from any area at any level.

Bachelor of Science in Psychology

Students who wish to graduate with a BS degree, and who declare a psychology major after September 1, 1999, must meet all requirements for the bachelor of arts degree plus:

• MATH 135 (Survey of Calculus) (This requirement can be waived with an appropriate placement score.)
  
• BIOL 111-112 (General Biology I and II)
  
• Four semester-long courses designed for majors in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science or physics. Courses designed for non-science majors will not fulfill this requirement. Laboratory sections listed as "optional" are not required. Labs are only required if they are a requirement of the course. However, BIOL 207 (Anatomy and Physiology I), a course designed for nursing students, can be accepted as one of the additional four science courses, but not as a substitution for Biology 111 and 112.
  
• PSYCH Z270 (Statistics)
  
• One of the following experimental methods courses:
  
• PSYCH 439 (Experimental Methods: Social)
  
• PSYCH 442 (Field Course in Early Child Development)
  
• PSYCH 466 (Experimental Methods: Animal Behavior)
  
• PSYCH 469 (Experimental Methods: Physiological Psychology)
  
• PSYCH 475 (Experimental Methods: Learning and Perception

The following courses cannot be counted toward the BS degree:

• BIOL 101, 102, 104, 105, 107, 108, 109, 202, 203, 209
  
• CHEM 101, 102, 107, 108, 111, 200
  
• PHYSIC 107, 108, 121, 122, 123, 124, 126, 132
  
• MATH 105, 110, 120, 124, 125, 130

Students who declared a Bachelor of Science in Psychology prior to September 1, 1999 should contact the Department of Psychology.

Majors who intend to apply to graduate departments of psychology are strongly advised to take

• PSYCH 380 (History of Psychology) and
  
• one of the research practicum courses, which include
  
• PSYCH 439 (Experimental Methods: Social)
  
• PSYCH 442 (Field Course in Early Child Development)
  
• PSYCH 466 (Experimental Methods: Animal Behavior)
  
• PSYCH 469 (Experimental Methods: Physiological Psychology)
  
• PSYCH 475 (Experimental Methods: Learning and Perception)

Internship Opportunities

The department offers two internship course opportunities to qualified juniors or seniors: Psych 430 (Internship in Psychology) and Psych 442 (Field Course in Early Child Development). The former focuses on clinical settings while the latter requires research with young children in nurseries and day care centers.

The Joint Major in Psychology and Sociology

The Psychology and Sociology Departments offer a joint major emphasizing the theories, methods, and applications of social psychology, and the nature of social psychology as a subfield of both departments and a bridge between them. Students who elect this joint major complete a complementary sequence of psychology and sociology courses, and also have access to advising and counseling from both departments.

The course sequence for the joint major in psychology and sociology includes a minimum of 12 courses as follows:

• PSYCH 100 or 101 (Introductory Psychology)
  
• SOCIOL 101 (Introduction to Sociology)
  
• PSYCH 230 (Social Psychology) or Sociology 281 (Society and the Individual)
  
• SOCIOL 341 (Sociological Theory)
  
• SOCIOL 351 (Research Methods)
  
• PSYCH 102 or Psychology Z270 or SOCIOL 350 (Statistics)

One course from the following Psychology "A" list:

• PSYCH 250 (Learning and Memory)
  
• PSYCH 255 (Perception)
  
• PSYCH 260 (Behavioral Neuroscience)

One course from the following Psychology "B" list:

• PSYCH 200 (Personality)
  
• PSYCH 215 (Abnormal Psychology)
  
• PSYCH 241 (Infancy and Child Development)
  
• Two from the directed list of psychology courses:
  
• PSYCH 315 (Psychological Trauma)
  
• PSYCH 333 (Group Dynamics)
  
• PSYCH 334 (Social Perception)
  
• PSYCH 335 (Social Attitudes and Public Opinion)
  
• PSYCH 336 (Culture, Values, Religiosity and Chronic Mental Illness
  
• PSYCH 338 (Community Psychology)
  
• PSYCH 339 (The Psychology of Law)
  
• PSYCH 341 (Family and Child Development)
  
• PSYCH 430 (Internship in Psychology)
  
• PSYCH 439 (Experimental Methods: Social)

Two from the directed list of psychology courses:

• PSYCH 315 (Pschological Trauma)
• PSYCH 333 (Group Dynamics)
• PSYCH 334 (Social Perception)
• PSYCH 335 (Social Attitudes and Public Opinion)
• PSYCH 336 (Culture, Values, Religiosity and Chronic Mental Illness)
• PSYCH 338 (Community Psychology)
• PSYCH 339 (The Psychology of Law)
• PSYCH 341 (Family and Child Development)
• PSYCH 430 (Internship in Psychology)
• PSYCH 439 (Experimental Methods: Social)

Two from the directed list of sociology courses:

• SOCIOL 300 (Communication and Opinion)
  
• SOCIOL 310 (Socialization)
  
• SOCIOL 316 (Family Violence in America)
  
• SOCIOL 342 (Aging and Society)
  
• SOCIOL 362 (Juvenile Delinquency)
  
• SOCIOL 382 (Sociology of Gender)
  
• SOCIOL 384 (Medical Sociology)
  
• SOCIOL 386 (Sociology of Mental Health and Illness)
  
• SOCIOL 460 (Internship in Urban Social Service)

Note: Either PSYCH 430 or SOCIOL 460, but not both, may be applied to the joint major.

Students are required to declare the joint major in psychology and sociology no later than the start of their junior year. Waiving or modifying any joint major requirement must be approved by both departments. Joint majors are assigned a faculty advisor from each department, and they are urged to make contact with their advisors as soon as possible.