Psychology, BA/BS

The psychology program provides great flexibility, allowing you to create a program based on your personal interests and career goals. You’ll complete at least 38 credits in psychology, choosing most of your courses from select groups and electives. Depending on which courses you choose, you may study the brain and behavior, experimental psychology, animal behavior, cognitive neuroscience, child psychopathology, personality theory, the psychology of child development, social psychology, the psychology of prejudice, media psychology, psychology in the workplace, the psychology of language, and applied cognitive psychology, among many other subjects.

Every psychology student will have opportunities to learn through practical application. Juniors and seniors can get practical experience with a psychology internship, where they work under supervision in a setting relevant to psychology for six or 12 hours per week.

More hands-on experiences are available in our internship, research, and study abroad programs. Check out the pages for these programs, and talk to your professors to learn more.

Program Goals & Skills:

1. Knowledge Base of Psychology: Demonstrate a familiarity with the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology.
    
2. Research Methods in Psychology: Understand and apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation; be capable of navigating various technologies for obtaining information, conducting literature reviews, collecting data, and analyzing data.
    
3. Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology: Respect and use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.
    
4. Application of Psychology: Understand and apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues; be capable of applying psychological principles and knowledge for the purpose of self‐ improvement and self‐development.
    
5. Values in Psychology: Demonstrate ability to weigh evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and reflect other values that are the underpinnings of psychology as a discipline.
    
6. Communication Skills: Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively in a variety of formats.
    
7. Diversity Awareness: Recognize, understand, and respect the complexity of socio-cultural and international diversity; demonstrate awareness for how issues related to culture, race, gender, class, economic status, religion, and political beliefs interact and relate to psychology.
    
8. Career Planning and Development: Emerge from the major with realistic ideas about how to implement their psychological knowledge, skills, and values in occupational pursuits in a variety of settings.
    
9. General Education ‐ Collaboration and Teamwork
    
10. General Education ‐ Citizenship

A minor or integrative studies concentration consists of Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 101) and 12 credits of upper-level (numbered 300 or above) psychology courses. Students majoring in a wide range of subjects may find a psychology minor is a valuable addition to their major.

Minors are not automatically granted. Once you finish the required courses, you must declare the minor on a form that you submit to the CASL Advising and Academic Success office.

Psychology offers an honors program which provides special opportunities for gifted students, including a special seminar and research in collaboration with faculty members. Students are accepted for the honors program at the midpoint of their junior year.

Requirements for entrance are:

• GPA of 3.4 or higher
• Informal evidence of being a superior student, such as motivation and ability to work independently

Requirements for graduation with honors in psychology are successful completion of:

• Psych 481: Computers in Psychology (typically taken in the fall semester of the senior year)
• Psych 498: Psychology Honors Seminar (typically taken in the winter semester of the junior year)
• Psych 499: Psychology Honors Research (typically taken during the senior year)
• Statistics and a Methods course should be completed by the end of the junior year

Psychology Honors Program Application