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OVERVIEW OF THE PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR

The St. Olaf Department of Psychology, in accord with the American Psychological Association’s curricular guidelines, encourages students to experience the breadth of the discipline, learning about both natural science and social science aspects of psychology. The Department’s faculty reflects this breadth; faculty areas include clinical, cognitive, cultural, developmental, neuroscience, personality, and social psychology.  At the same time, our major provides flexibility so that students can pursue their interests in more depth and craft a major to fit their specific goals. Students often do research with faculty, and many complete internships.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MAJOR

Psychology majors are required to take a minimum of 11.00 courses to complete the major. The major consists of 10.00 courses in the Department of Psychology and 1.00 course in statistics.
The requirements fall into five categories: foundation courses in the major, content core courses, Level III capstone courses, an elective course in the department, and a general education requirement for the major.

1. Foundation Courses in the Major:  Each of the following three foundation courses is required:
      Psychology 125, Principles of Psychology
      Psychology 130, History and Methods of Psychology
      Psychology 230, Research Methods in Psychology

2. Content Core of the Major:  To help ensure breadth of knowledge within psychology, four additional 200-level courses are required. Students choose two from the Natural Science Core and two from the Social Science Core:

            Two courses from the Psychology Natural Science Content Core:
            Psychology 235, Sensation and Perception
            Psychology 236, Conditioning and Learning
            Psychology 237, Cognition, Learning and Memory
            Psychology 238, Biopsychology

            Two courses from the Psychology Social Science Content Core:
            Psychology 241, Developmental Psychology
            Psychology 244, Personality Psychology
            Psychology 247, Psychopathology
            Psychology 249, Social Psychology

3. Level III Capstone Courses:  Students must take two Level III courses. Psychology 394, Internship, does NOT count toward the Level III requirement, and only one Psychology 396 or 398 may fulfill the Level III requirement.

4. General Education Requirement for the Major:  Students are required to take an introductory course in statistics that emphasizes descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing: e.g., Statistics 110, 212, or 263.

5. Elective Psychology Course:  Students are required to take at least one additional psychology course.

CLICK HERE for the Psychology Major Worksheet that lists the above requirements in an easy-to-follow format.

NOTE: Students who entered St. Olaf before Fall 2009 can choose to complete the psychology major described above, or they can choose to complete the “old” major requirements.  Click here to view the requirements for the old major.

WHY MAJOR IN PSYCHOLOGY?

Psychology is a fascinating field and is applicable to nearly everything!  Our graduates go on into a wide range of areas including psychology graduate school, business, law, medicine, and human service careers.

If you are unsure whether Psychology is the major for you, talk with Psychology professors and other students, or click here to check out why several St. Olaf students chose psychology as their major.  
You also might find it helpful to read about majoring in psychology and about careers in psychology. In the Psychology Office (Regents 236) we have books available for you to check out about these topics, including: