Psychology Major Requirements

**A PDF Checklist of the psychology major's requirements is located at bottom of this page.**

Major Program. 

The Psychology major is designed to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the content of the discipline and the skills required to work within it.  Psychology majors are required to elect nine full courses, including Psychology 100 (Introduction), Psychology 122 (Statistics), and either Psychology 200 (Research Methods) or a lab class in psychology (as described below). None of these nine courses may be taken Pass/Fail. Psychology majors must complete Psychology 100 by the end of the sophomore year. For the class of 2024,  students may place out of Psychology 100 if they scored a 4 or 5 on the Psychology Advanced Placement exam, 5 or better on the Psychology International Baccalaureate exam, or completed an introductory psychology course at another college or university. Starting with students in the class of 2025, students may not  place out of taking Psych 100 by taking AP Psych. 

Psychology majors must also complete Psychology 122 (or place out of this class by completing STAT 111, 135 or 136, ECON 360, or a statistics course at another college or university) by the end of the sophomore year, and must complete Psychology 200 or a lab class in psychology by the end of junior year.  

To provide skills for understanding and conducting research in psychology, students must complete either a research methods class (PSYC 200) or a lab class in psychology. Lab course options include:

PSYC 204: Emotion, PSYC 205: Sex Differences in Psychology, PSYC 206: Psychology of Play, PSYC 208: Creativity

To provide a thorough understanding of fundamental areas within psychology, students must choose at least one intermediate course from each of the three areas below:

Area 1:  Cognitive Neuroscience (PSYC 211), Behavioral Neuroscience (PSYC 212), Neuroscience: Systems and Behavior (PSYC 213) Area 2:  Developmental Psychology (PSYC 227), Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 233),  Area 3:  Social Psychology (PSYC 220), Personality (PSYC 221), Clinical Psychology (PSYC 228)

To provide vertical depth in the major, students must also choose one seminar from at least TWO of the following six areas. The thesis counts toward the seminar requirement in the area of the thesis, such that students who write a thesis need to only take one seminar in a different area than their thesis.

Area 1:  Biological: Appetite (PSYC 317), Psychopharmacology (PSYC 325), Neurophysiology of Motivation (PSYC 356), Consciousness (PSYC 361), Human Neuroscience (PSYC 367) Area 2:  Clinical: Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology (PSYC 364), Psychotherapy: Theory and Practice (PSYC 369) Area 3:  Cognitive: Music Cognition (PSYC 366), Autobiographical Memory (PSYC 368) Area 4:  Personality: Personality and Political Leadership (PSYC 338), Understanding Individuals (PSYC 353) Area 5:  Social: Psychology of Diversity (PSYC 321), Stereotypes & Prejudice (PSYC 337), Close Relationships (PSYC 354), Psychology and the Law (PSYC 363) Area 6: Developmental: Risk and Resilience (PSYC 323), Development of Nonverbal Communication (PSYC 362)

Students may complete the required number of courses by taking additional distribution courses, lab classes, seminars, and/or by taking any of the following electives: Intergroup Dialogue on Race (PSYC 224), Sport Psychology (PSYC 235), Health Psychology (PSYC 247),  Social Norms, Social Change (COLQ 338). Special Topics classes (PSYC 490) and thesis work (PSYC 498/499D) also count as elective courses toward the major. Students who write a thesis get three-course credits. 

Departmental Honors Research.  A limited number of majors will engage in honors research under the direction of a faculty member during their senior year.  Honors research involves credit for three courses (usually one-course credit during the fall and two credits during the spring semester) and culminates in a thesis. These three courses count towards the nine classes required for the major. The thesis usually involves both a review of the previous literature pertinent to the selected area of inquiry and a report of the methods and results of a study designed and conducted by the student.  Any student interested in pursuing honors research in psychology should discuss possible topics with the appropriate faculty before preregistration in the second semester of the junior year.