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Concentrations: General Psychology

Eleven courses are needed. They are distributed as follows:

1. Mandatory (1):
   • Psychology 1 - Introduction to Psychology
2. One (2) 10-Level Course from among:
   • Psychology 11 - Developmental Psychology
   • Psychology 12 - Abnormal Psychology
   • Psychology 13 - Social Psychology
   • Psychology 14 - Psychology of Adolescence
   • Psychology 15 - Theories of Personality
   • Psychology 17 - Industrial and Organizational Psychology
   • Psychology 18 - Thinking
3. One (3) 20-Level course from among:
   • Psychology 25 - Physiological Psychology
   • Psychology 26 - Animal Learning and Cognition
   • Psychology 27 - Perception
   • Psychology 28 - Cognitive Psychology
   • Psychology 29 - Human Neuropsychology
4. Mandatory Labs (4 & 5):
   • Psychology 31 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
   • Psychology 32 - Experimental Psychology
5. One (6) Advanced Laboratory Course From among:
   Note all laboratory courses have specific prerequisites.
   • Psychology 36 - Experimental Social Psychology
   • Psychology 37 - Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
   • Psychology 38 - Research Methods in Clinical Psychology
   • Psychology 40 - Laboratory in Physiological Psychology
   • Psychology 41 - Perception/Cognition Laboratory
   • Psychology 45 - Laboratory in Functional Neuroimaging
   • Psychology 46 - Animal Learning Laboratory
   • Psychology 48 - Research Methods in Psychopharmacology
   • Psychology 49 - Laboratory in Psychophysiology
6. Two (7&8) Other Advanced Psychology Courses numbered above 100
7. One (9) Other Course Offered By The Psychology Department
8. Two (10 &11) Approved Advanced Courses in Related Fields (view current list)
   Courses taken to fulfill the major requirements (including Related Field) normally may not be taken pass-fail.

No more than two independent study type courses (Psychology 91 and 92, 97 and 99, 191 and 192, 197 and 198, 199; note that 181 and 182 are not independent study courses) may be counted toward the major. Only one of the two courses used to fulfill the 100-level requirement may be an independent study course. Biopsychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive & Brain Science, and Engineering Psychology majors may not double major in General Psychology.

Students who score 4 or 5 on the AP test in psychology place into two-digit psychology courses and should not take Psychology 1. A score of 5 completely substitutes for Psychology 1 within the major, meaning that students need only 10 courses to complete the major. Students with an AP score of 4 need to take an additional psychology course for the major in lieu of Psychology 1. Successful completion of Child Development 1 is treated in the same manner: students may substitute CD 1 as PSY 1 for prerequisite purposes, but they must take an additional psychology course in order to reach the 11 courses required for the major.

Double majors in Psychology and Mathematics can take Math 162 (Statistics) instead of Psychology 31. The Department does not accept the Statistics AP as a substitute for Psychology 31. Students who are double majoring in Psychology and Economics use Econ 13 (Economics Statistics) as a substitute for Psychology 31; these students should bear should bear in mind that their stats course likely did not cover analysis of variance (ANOVA), a technique with which they will need to familiarize themselves before taking PSY 32 and the advanced lab. Biopsychology majors may use either BIO 132 or PSY 31 to fulfill their statistics requirement.

Students completing a Senior Honors Thesis may substitute it for the advanced lab course. A thesis completed in a different department may not be used in this manner. Note that using the thesis to fulfill the advanced lab precludes a student from using it as a 100-level requirement. Also, the rule regarding no more than two independent study courses used towards the major still applies (though PSY 199 is a two-credit course, it only counts as one independent study course towards the major since it only fulfills one major requirement). In other words, students who use an honors thesis to fulfill the advanced lab may use PSY 191/192 as one of their 100-level courses or PSY 91/92 as their elective course, but not both. Thesis students should keep in mind that a subsequent decision to drop the thesis or to convert it to a non-PSY 199 independent study will leave them one course short of their major requirements. To be safe, students may wish to take an advanced lab in addition to their thesis; students are also encouraged to have an open conversation with their thesis advisor regarding their thesis progress before spring course registration.

Psychology majors can select either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. In recommending students for honors and awards, in addition to the general college requirements, the Psychology Department gives special attention to research experience. To graduate summa cum laude, the department requires that a student conduct independent research supervised or approved by a faculty member in the department.