Psychology, B.A

Through engaging, project-based learning; small classes with extensive individual guidance from faculty; distinctive research opportunities; and a comprehensive curriculum that examines the five subfields of psychology; the program offers ideal preparation for graduate school or to launch your career with a broad and deep understanding of human behavior.

Educational Objectives

Our project-based learning approach will provide you with a range of opportunities to apply what you’ve learned to real-world problems and issues, positioning you to develop essential, practical skill sets.

Our small class sizes and personalized instruction create a collaborative learning environment where you’ll be supported and develop meaningful relationships with faculty and fellow students.

Our focus on independent and collaborative research will open the doors to hands-on learning opportunities not typically found at the undergraduate level, enabling you to work alongside faculty and even present research findings at professional conferences.

Our integration of the five subfields of psychology, including biological psychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and social psychology, will add breadth and depth to your understanding of human behavior.

Complete all of the following lower-division core courses. (must be completed before moving on to upper-division courses)

• STAT 100 - Introduction to Statistics Units: 3
• PSY 100 - Introduction to Psychology Units: 3
• PSY 200 - Introduction to Research Methods Units: 3
• PSY 200L - Intro Methods Lab Units: 1

Complete one of the following course combinations:

• PSY 301 - Advanced Psychological Statistics Units: 3 and
• PSY 301L - Advanced Psychological Statistics Lab Units: 1

• PSY 305 - Psychometrics Units: 3 and
• PSY 305L - Psychometrics Lab Units: 1

Complete all of the following courses:

• PSY 300 - Career Preparation for Psychology Majors Units: 3
• PSY 302 - Advanced Research Methods Units: 3 (GWAR)
• PSY 302L - Advanced Research Methods Lab Units: 1
• PSY 400 - Psychology Capstone Units: 3

Complete one course/course combination in each of the following five areas:

Area 1: Biological Psychology

• PSY 310 - Biological Psychology Units: 3 and

• PSY 310L - Biological Psychology Lab Units: 1

• PSY 315 - Psychopharmacology Units: 3

Area 2: Clinical Psychology

• PSY 320 - Psychopathology Units: 3 and

• PSY 320L - Psychopathology Lab Units: 1

• PSY 321 - Clinical and Counseling Psychology Units: 3 and
• PSY 321L - Clinical and Counseling Psychology Lab Units: 1

• PSY 329 - Health Psychology Units: 3 and
• PSY 329L - Health Psychology Lab Units: 1

Area 3: Cognitive Psychology

• PSY 330 - Cognitive Psychology Units: 3 and

• PSY 330L - Cognitive Psychology Lab Units: 1

• PSY 331 - Human Memory Units: 3 and
• PSY 331L - Human Memory Lab Units: 1

• PSY 333 - Cognitive Neuroscience Units: 3 and
• PSY 333L - Cognitive Neuroscience Lab Units: 1

• PSY 334 - Sensation & Perception Units: 3 and
• PSY 334L - Sensation & Perception Lab Units: 1

• PSY 335 - Bilingual Cognition Units: 4

Area 4: Developmental Psychology

Please note: Some HDFS course options have additional pre-requisites

• PSY 340 - Developmental Psychology Units: 3 and
• PSY 340L - Developmental Psychology Lab Units: 1

• PSY 346 - Cognitive Development Units: 3
• PSY 347 - Social & Emotional Development Units: 3
• PSY 348 - How to Love Units: 4
• HDFS 341 - Family Violence: Identification, Prevention, and Intervention Units: 3
• HDFS 350 - Lifespan Development: Transition and Change Units: 3
• HDFS 353 - Cross-Cultural Human Development Units: 3
• HDFS 356 - Infancy and Early Childhood Units: 3
• HDFS 360 - Child Development Units: 3

Area 5: Social Psychology

• PSY 350 - Social Psychology Units: 3 and

• PSY 350L - Social Psychology Lab Units: 1

• PSY 352 - Theories of Personality Units: 3
• PSY 353 - Social Psychology of Gender Units: 3
• PSY 355 - Social Psychology and Social Justice Units: 4
• PSY 357 - Psychology of Liberation and Healing Units: 3

The program is highly focused on social inequality and injustice, and our students regularly engage in service-learning opportunities to deepen their understanding of social, cultural, and civic aspects related to personal and professional identities.

Some of our service activities include refurbishing computers and making them available for low-income families for almost no cost, teaching community members how to use software to bridge the digital divide for underprivileged communities, creating digital marketing and ecommerce sites for small businesses and local farmers, and helping local schools secure and stabilize their computing networks.