BMC . Psychology - major, minor, concentration requirements

Major Requirements

The Psychology department offers the student a major program that allows choices of courses from among a wide variety of fields in psychology: experimental, clinical, cognitive, developmental, physiological, and social. In addition to the considerable breadth offered, the program encourages the student to focus on more specialized areas through advanced coursework, seminars, and especially through supervised research. Bryn Mawr Psychology majors find that the major program provides a strong foundation for graduate study in all areas of psychology, as well as for graduate work in medicine, social work, law, business, and education. The Psychology department also offers an interdepartmental concentration in neural and behavioral sciences available as a specialized track within the major.

While the Psychology major provides students with a solid background to prepare them for further training in graduate or professional schools, we envision our mission more broadly. Consistent with the general goals of a liberal arts college, we seek to educate our students as critical thinkers and consumers of research so that they may apply these skills in whatever post BA endeavors they pursue.

Requirements are as follows: (Effective for students graduating in 2009 or after)

Psychology 101 or 102* - Experimental Psychology 101 taught by Mr. Thomas (biological psychology & animal learning) and Ms. Rescorla (psychosocial development & abnormal psychology). Experimental Psychology 102 taught by Ms. Cassidy (cognitive and cognitive development) and Mr. McCauley (social psychology). These are laboratory courses.

*If a student chooses to take both Psychology 101 and Psychology 102, she only needs 7 courses in addition to Statistics.

Psychology 205 - Experimental Methods and Statistics (Lab)

as well as eight additional courses - 4or 5 "200" level courses such as:

Psychology 201 - Learning theory and behavior (Lab)

Psychology 203 - Educational Psychology

Psychology 206 - Developmental Psychology

Psychology 208 - Social Psychology

Psychology 209 - Abnormal Psychology

Psychology 212 - Human Cognition (Lab)

Psychology 214 - Behavior Modification (Praxis)

Psychology 218 - Behavioral Neuroscience

and 3 or 4 "300" level courses such as:

Psychology 312 - History of Modern American Psychology

Psychology 323 - Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience (Lab)

Psychology 326 - From Chanels to Behavior (Lab)

Psychology 328 - Exploring Animal Minds

Psychology 340 - Women's Mental Health

Psychology 346 - Pediatric Psychology

Psychology 351 - Developmental Psychopathology

Psychology 352 - Advanced Topics in Developmental Psychology (Lab)

Psychology 364 - Behavior Analytic Theory

Psychology 395 - Psychopharmacology

Psychology 398 - Cognitive Issues in Personality & Social Psychology

The Psychology major requires two courses with a laboratory, one at the 100 level (101 or 102) and one at the 200 or 300 level. The selection of courses to meet the major requirements is made in consultation with the student's major adviser.

Departmental honors (called Honors in Research in Psychology) are awarded on the merits of a report of research (the design and execution, and the scholarship exhibited in the writing of a paper based on the research). To be considered for Honors, students must have a G.P.A. in psychology of 3.6.

Minor Requirements

A student may minor in psychology by taking Psychology 101 and 102 and any other four courses that meet the requirements of the major.

Concentration Requirements

An interdepartmental concentration in Neural and Behavioral Sciences is available as an option to students majoring in either biology or psychology. Students electing this option must fulfill requirements of both the major and the concentration, which is administered by an interdepartmental committee. Psychology students interested in the concentration in the Neural and Behavioral Sciences should consult the catalogue description for that program.