Psychology Major

Four Introduction and Methods Courses

• PSYC 101 - General Psychology
• PSYC 105 - Statistics
• PSYC 108 - Experimental Methods in Psychology
• PSYC 109 - Qualitative Methods in Psychology

One Basic Processes Course (BP):

Courses in learning, human sexuality, health psychology, interpersonal psychology, and cognition. Choose from:

• BIOL 143 - Neuroscience
• PSYC 120 - Introduction to Cognition
• PSYC 130 - Psychology of Learning
• PSYC 138 - Health Psychology
• PSYC 143 - Human Sexuality
• PSYC 144 - Interpersonal Psychology

One Developmental/Cultural Course (DEV/CULT):

Courses in human development and cultural psychology. Choose from:

• PSYC 150 - Developmental Psychology
• PSYC 152 - Adolescent Development
• PSYC 153 - Human Development Across the Lifespan
• PSYC 156 - Cultural Psychology

One Social/Clinical Course (S/C):

Courses in social and clinical psychology. Choose from:

• PSYC 170 - Social Psychology
• PSYC 171 - Social Psychology of Intergroup Violence, Oppression, and Liberation
• PSYC 173 - Psychopathology
• PSYC 175 - Introduction to Clinical Psychology

First Seminars (PSYC 236-259)

The mid-level 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.)

Labs (PSYC 200-235)

The mid-level one-semester Lab Courses focus on doing psychological research including planning, data collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation. The laboratory requirement may also be fulfilled by taking a research course in one of the faculty labs.

Research courses (PSYC 200-235)

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 a ClarkFEST presentation and in some cases may result in co-authorship of a scholarly paper or a 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. Many of the faculty research labs require a two-semester commitment. In such cases, if taken as a full unit of credit, the first semester fulfills the mid-level research credit. The second semester may count as either an additional general unit of credit or, upon completion of an independent project, may count in fulfillment of the capstone research requirement (PSYC 292-Capstone Research), at the discretion of the faculty.

Capstone Seminars (PSYC 260-296)

Capstone Seminars are open to undergraduates (primarily juniors and seniors) and, in many cases, to graduate students, and are taught at or near the graduate level. Six to eight capstone seminars are taught each year on a rotating basis, with themes that are reflective of the broad thematic interests of the department around topics in developmental, social, and clinical psychology. These courses generally involve reading primary sources, class discussion, and writing research papers.

Capstone Research (PSYC 292)

These courses are by faculty permission only. Capstone research students should expect to write a substantial research report describing the theory, methods, statistical method, results and conclusions of the independent project they conducted. The second semester of conducting research in a faculty lab may also be counted for capstone research credit at the discretion of the faculty.

Psychology Honors (PSYC 297)

The Psychology Honors Program is a two-semester sequence whose focus is to guide honors students through the design and execution of an independent honors research project under the guidance of one or more faculty mentors. These collaborations typically occur in individual meetings, as well as group meetings as part of the faculty member’s research team. This research provides the basis for a thesis that, upon completion, is presented and defended by the student before an examining committee and the student’s project advisor.

Honors work in psychology is open to students who have demonstrated high scholastic achievement and the motivation and ability to work as scholars; students considering graduate study in psychology or another related discipline are strongly encouraged to consider applying to the program. Students interested in pursuing an Honors project should try to identify a faculty supervisor as early as the end of the sophomore year, as some faculty members may require enrollment in their research lab during junior year in order to start developing the Honors thesis. Honors applications are submitted to the Department in the spring of junior year.

Students accepted into the Honors Program should consult with their faculty mentor on a timeline for completion of the project, including applications to IRB, if needed. Honors students are encouraged to present their projects at ClarkFEST, the university’s student research festival.