Psychological Science Major

For more information about the department, honors/high honors, transfer credit, etc., visit the Psychological and Brain Sciences page.

Major Requirement

The program (at least nine courses) required of majors is as follows (no more than two 300-level courses per term can be counted towards the major):

Required Courses

PSYC 150 - Introduction to Psychological Science (which must be passed with a grade of C– or better, should be taken by the end of the sophomore year.)
PSYC 200 - Research Methods in Psychological Science (which must be passed with a grade of C– or better, should be completed by the end of the sophomore year.)
PSYC 275 - Biological Psychology (should be completed by the end of the junior year.)
PSYC 309 - Quantitative Methods in Behavioral Research (should ideally be taken by the end of the junior year.)
PSYC 498 - Senior Research

Four Additional Courses

These courses must be selected from the following areas:
- Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 250–259, PSYC 350–359)
- Developmental/Social/Personality/Clinical Psychology (PSYC 260–269, PSYC 340–349, PSYC 360–PSYC 369)
- Neuroscience (PSYC 370–PSYC 379, PSYC 380–PSYC 389)
At least one of the courses must be taken at the 200 level, and at least two of the courses must be taken at the 300 level.
Students must take at least one course in the area of Cognitive and at least one course in the area of Developmental/Social/Personality/Clinical.
Note that PSYC 291 , PSYC 391 , PSYC 491 , and PSYC 499 do not count as one of these four additional courses.

Senior Thesis

PSYC 498 - Senior Research must be taken in the fall or spring term of the senior year. During the spring term of the junior year, students identify several areas of interest for their senior-year research experience. Students are then assigned to faculty research supervisors and assigned to the fall or spring semester sections based upon students’ interests and the availability of resources. Most students will take PSYC 498 ; on the rare occasions when PSYC 450 or PSYC 460 is offered students may substitute that seminar for PSYC 498. Students planning honors research are required to enroll in

PSYC 498

in the fall of the senior year, followed by PSYC 499 in the spring of the senior year. On occasion, students who are not pursuing honors or high honors may complete two semesters of senior research by taking PSYC 498 in the fall and PSYC 491 in the spring.

GPA Requirement

An overall GPA of at least 2.00 is required in all courses counting toward the psychological science major. A passing grade must be received for a course to satisfy a major requirement.