Program Requirements: Psychology

The seven introductory courses provide a foundation in the content and method of psychology and should normally be completed by the end of the sophomore year. The introductory courses include PSYC101 General Psychology, three methods courses, PSYC105 Statistics, PSYC108 Experimental Methods, and PSYC109 Qualitative Methods, and at least one course from each of three broad content areas of psychology. These are:

Basic Processes (BP): Courses in evolutionary psychology, physiological psychology, learning, sensation and perception, and cognition. Choose from:

BIOL140 Biology of the Brain
BIOL141 Brain and Behavior
PSYC120 Human Cognition
PSYC130 Psychology of Learning
PSYC142 Sensation and Perception
PSYC145 Psychophysiology

Development (DEV): Courses in historical, cultural and human developmental psychology. Choose from:

PSYC150 Developmental Psychology
PSYC151 Psychology of Aging
PSYC152 Adolescent Development
PSYC156 Cultural Psychology
PSYC157 Cultural Psychology of Urban Living
PSYC158 Discourse, Subjectivity and Self

Social/Personality (S/P): Courses in social, clinical, personality and abnormal psychology. Choose from:

PSYC170 Social Psychology
PSYC172 Psychology of Personality
PSYC173 Introduction to Abnormal Psychology
PSYC175 Introduction to Clinical Psychology
PSTD176 Introduction to Peace Studies and the Psychology of Peace

Declaring a Psychology Major and Related Field
A student nearing the end of his or her sequence of introductory courses should come to the department office to declare a major and be assigned a psychology adviser. This formality will normally occur by the spring of a student’s sophomore year. When declaring a major, a student must also choose a related field. The related field requirement reflects the conviction of the faculty that all academic areas are usefully related to psychology and that understanding the relation between psychology and another discipline requires knowing that other discipline in considerable depth. A related field is generally a recognized six-course concentration or minor. Alternatively, a student may adopt as a related field any pattern of six courses that his or her psychology adviser has approved as providing depth of knowledge in a discipline related to psychology.

Mid-Level Courses
In addition to the above seven introductory courses, majors must take two mid-level courses that provide experience with the two fundamental activities of academic psychology, the analysis and interpretation of psychological literatures and the conduct of psychological investigations. Students complete at least one each of the following types of mid-level courses by the end of the junior year.

First Seminars focus on the attentive analysis of psychological texts, the articulation of opinions concerning psychological issues, and the use of library and reference skills in psychological writing. (Permission to take a capstone seminar as a first seminar will not ordinarily be given and must, in any case, be obtained in writing in advance from the faculty member involved.) Choose one from numbers PSYC237-259.

Laboratories focus on doing psychological research including planning, data collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation. (Choose from numbers PSYC200-214.) The laboratory requirement may be fulfilled by taking a research course.

Research courses are opportunities to participate in faculty and/or graduate-student research projects, in all stages of the research process from conceptualization to presentation. The work normally terminates in an Academic Spree Day presentation and/or co-authorship of a scholarly paper or conference presentation. Students desiring to join a research course should make arrangements with a faculty sponsor well in advance. In approaching faculty members to make these arrangements, students should bear in mind that research courses are taken on as an addition to a faculty member’s normal teaching load and space is limited. Choose from numbers PSYC215-235. In rare instances, this requirement may be met by research experience done for credit in another department. In such cases, PSYC101, 105, 108, and 109 must have been completed, and the proposed project approved before course registration and after course completion.

Capstone Courses
Capstone courses provide an opportunity for students to participate more intensively in the analysis of a psychological literature or the pursuit of empirical research in psychology. Thus, the capstone requirement may be fulfilled by taking one of two kinds of courses.

Capstone seminars are open to undergraduates and are taught at or near the graduate level. Choose from numbers PSYC260-299.

Capstone Research: Students fulfilling the capstone requirement with a research course should notify the faculty member when they seek permission for the course. Capstone research students should expect to write a substantial research report describing the theory, methods, statistical method, results and conclusions of the project they conducted.