The Psychology major emphasizes broadly applicable skills such as critical thinking, quantitative ability and writing with a curriculum is grounded in the American Psychological Association’s guidelines. Students emerge from the program well-prepared for graduate study in psychology and related fields.

The major offers three optional concentrations:

Clinical/Counseling: a concentration designed for students with a particular interest in careers in clinical/counseling psychology and other areas of mental health and human services

Behavioral Neuroscience: a concentration focused on the biological determinants of human behavior, and designed for students with a particular interest in the complex interactions between the brain and the environment and their impact on behavior.

Forensic Psychology: a concentration is designed for students with a particular interest in the interaction of psychology and the law. Forensic Psychology is a broad field – practitioners work in areas such as crime trends, criminal profiling, mental health treatment for offenders and substance abusers, jury selection, impact of divorce, custody, and more.

Psychology Students majoring in Psychology are required to complete a minor(20 credits).  Additionally, the Psychology major requires a completion of two semesters of the same foreign language.

Students must earn a C- or better in each of the following courses: PY101, PY201, PY202, PY406 and PY407.

With the completion of this degree program students will:

• Demonstrate familiarity with the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology.
• Understand and apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
• Respect and use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.
• Understand and apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues.
• Be able to weigh evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and reflect other values that are the underpinnings of psychology as a discipline
• Demonstrate effective use of written and oral communication skills