2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog | 20253
Psychology
Programs
- Psychology, B.A. major
- Psychology, B.S. major
-
Social Studies, B.A.
major
Psychology Emphasis - Psychology minor
Psychology, B.A. major
The Psychology major at BSU provides students with unique opportunities to prepare for work in applied psychology and the human services at the Bachelor’s level. The major also offers unique opportunities for students to prepare for graduate programs leading to Master’s and Doctoral degrees in various fields of psychological practice and science. Many students choose the major to complete a general liberal arts degree or to prepare for work in fields other than psychology.
Required Credits: 48
Required GPA: 2.25
I REQUIRED COURSES
Complete the following courses:
- PSY 1100 Introductory Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 3401 Basic Statistics for Research (4 credits)
- PSY 3402 Research Methods (4 credits)
- PSY 4588 Multicultural Psychology (4 credits)
II REQUIRED ELECTIVES
Students should select 24 credits of elective courses in the following categories that best match their interests and career goals, in consultation with their advisor.
Group 1: Sociocultural Electives
Select two courses from the following list.
- PSY 2200 Human Sexuality (4 credits)
- PSY 2490 Disability and Ableism (4 credits)
- PSY 3210 Death and Culture (4 credits)
- PSY 3367 Social Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 3456 Community Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 4340 Humans and Other Animals (4 credits)
- PSY 4242 Psychology of Women and Gender (4 credits)
- PSY 4243 Queer Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 4490 Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination (4 credits)
Group 2: Helping Professions Electives
Select one course from the following list:
- PSY 2217 Psychopathology and Wellness (4 credits)
- PSY 3332 Multicultural Counseling Skills (4 credits)
- PSY 3337 Group Processes (4 credits)
- PSY 4328 Behavioral and Cognitive Intervention (4 credits)
- PSY 4467 Personality Theories (4 credits)
Group 3: Applied Electives
Select one course from the following list:
- PSY 3388 Health Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 3688 American Indian Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 3636 Positive Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 4325 Forensic Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 4347 Psychological Measurement (4 credits)
- PSY 4357 Industrial and Organizational Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 4567 Sexual Violence Prevention (4 credits)
Group 4: Developmental Electives
Select one course from the following list:
- PSY 3237 Lifespan Development (4 credits)
- PSY 3500 Psychology of Aging (4 credits)
- PSY 4247 Adolescent Development (4 credits)
Group 5: Cognitive Electives
Select one course from the following list:
- PSY 2227 Learning and Cognition (4 credits)
- PSY 3437 Cognitive Psychology (4 credits)
- PSY 4450 Behavioral Neuroscience (4 credits)
- PSY 4459 Sensation and Perception (4 credits)
Group 6: General Electives
Select a minimum of 8 additional credits of psychology
courses.
At least 8 credits of elective courses must be at the
4000 level. These credits may include a maximum of 4
credits from Research Lab (PSY 4447). Credits from
Careers in Psychology (PSY 4870), Internship in
Psychology (PSY 4970), Independent Study (PSY 4910)
or Teaching Associate (PSY 4917) may not be included.
Program Learning Outcomes | Psychology, B.A.
1. Knowledge Base in Psychology: Psychology majors will:
1.1. describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology
1.2. develop a working knowledge of psychology's content domains
1.3 Describe applications of psychology.
2. Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking: Psychology majors will:
2.1 Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena.
2.2. Demonstrate psychology information literacy.
2.3 Engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem-solving.
2.4 Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research.
2.5. Incorporate socio-cultural factors in scientific inquiry.
3. Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World: Psychology majors will:
3.1 Apply ethical standards to evaluation psychological science and practice.
3.2 Build and enhance interpersonal relationships
3.3 Adopt values that build community at local, national, and global levels.
4. Communication: Psychology majors will:
4.1 Demonstrate effective writing for different purposes
4.2 Exhibit effective presentation skills for different purposes
4.3 Interact effectively with others.
5. Professional Development: Psychology majors will:
5.1 Apply psychological content and skills to career goals.
5.2 Exhibit self-efficacy and self-regulation
5.3 Refine project-management skills.
5.4 Enhance teamwork capacity
5.5. Develop meaningful professional direction for life after graduation.
6. Knowledge of Social Psychology: Psychology majors will demonstrate basic knowledge of the theories, research and applications in the area of social psychology.
7. Professional Ethics: Students will demonstrate the ability to understand and apply ethical principles critical to professional work in the human services.
8. Research Ethics: Students will demonstrate understanding and the ability to apply the ethical principles pertaining to human subject research described in the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (APA 2010).
9. Writing in the Major: Students will write papers that clearly express substantive, well supported ideas, that are clearly organized, free from grammar, punctuation and spelling errors, and that conform to APA style and other format requirements that may apply.
10. Sociocultural Diversity Awareness and Appreciation: Students will recognize, understand, and appreciate the complexity of sociocultural diversity on human thought, behavior and affect.
11. Readiness for Careers in the Human Services: Students will demonstrate professional conduct and the appropriate and effective use of supervision in human service settings.
12. DEI+ Course Survey: To assess the ways in which diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism (DEIA+) is addressed at a programmatic level, we gathered data on if and how DEIA+ content was covered in each course offered in the curriculum during the academic year. We developed a survey that faculty completed for each of their courses. Findings are summarized.
13. Department Climate: To understand the experience in the psychology department, we administered the Psychology Department Climate Survey to students in psychology classes during the 2021-2022 academic year. The survey was administered previously in Spring 2019. Findings are summarized and compared between the two administrations.