Psychology

Faculty

Deborah Harris O’Brien, Associate Professor of Psychology  (Program Chair)
Stacey Baugh, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Christopher Bishop, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Carlota Ocampo, Associate Professor of Psychology
Debbie Van Camp, Assistant Professor of Psychology

Description

The study of psychology emphasizes the behavior and experience of the individual. Psychology investigates the effects on the individual of other individuals, groups, the environment, and the world of sensation and perception. This investigation can be undertaken from a number of different perspectives: physiological, sociocultural, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and psychoanalytic. Psychology thus interfaces with fields such as sociology, economics, political science, education, biology, and philosophy. In summary, psychology contributes to an understanding of how people behave, think, interact, and make sense of the world around them.

The goals of the Psychology Program are to prepare students to continue on to graduate training in psychology or related fields (such as counseling or social work); to enable students to apply psychological theory and research to everyday experience; and to provide students with the skills to devise, execute, analyze, and write reports of psychological studies. In accordance with the overall goals of Trinity, the Psychology Program strives to heighten student awareness of the diversity of human behavior and experience, notably with respect to gender, ethnicity, and age, as well as to teach and instill an ethical approach to the study of human behavior and cognition.

Psychology supports a major and a minor in the College of Arts and Sciences.  Psychology also supports the human relations major in both the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Professional Studies.

Major Requirements

In addition to completing a set of required courses (30 credits), all psychology majors are required to complete one of four course clusters (15 credits): general, developmental, forensic, or social psychology. Each cluster is designed to give the student a degree of expertise within a given area of psychology.

All psychology majors must take the following courses:

Required Courses (30 credits)

ALL of the following courses:

PSYC 101 Introductory Psychology
PSYC 301 Experimental Psychology: Research Methods
PSYC 311 Experimental Social Psychology
PSYC 490 Practicum
PSYC 499 Senior Seminar in Psychology

BOTH of the following statistics courses:

MATH 110 Introduction to Statistics
MATH 210 Statistical Inference

ONE ethics course, such as:

PHIL 241 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics
PHIL 245 Ethics I
PHIL 251 Bioethics
PHIL 341 Moral Psychology

ONE biology course chosen from among:

BIOL 101 Introduction to Biology
BIOL 111 General Biology I
BIOL 112 General Biology II

Additional courses in mathematics and natural sciences are highly recommended.

General Psychology Cluster (15 credits)

THREE of the following courses:

PSYC 211 Social Psychology
PSYC 221 Psychopathology
PSYC 231 Child Psychology
PSYC 241 Physiological Psychology
PSYC 251 Learning

TWO additional psychology electives (6 credits minimum)

Developmental Psychology Cluster (15 credits)

ONE required course in child psychology:

PSYC 231 Child Psychology

THREE of the following courses:

PSYC 261 Psychology of Gender Roles
PSYC 233 Psychology of Adolescence
PSYC 235 Psychology of Aging
PSYC 325 Behavior Disorders in Children

ONE additional psychology elective (3 credits minimum)

Social Psychology Cluster (15 credits)

ONE required course in social psychology:

PSYC 211 Social Psychology

ONE course chosen from between:

PSYC 221 Psychopathology
PSYC 231 Child Psychology

TWO of the following courses:

PSYC 261 Psychology of Gender Roles
PSYC 313 Attribution Theory and Decision Making
PSYC 315 Psychology of Group Behavior
PSYC 317 Psychology of Aggression and Violence
PSYC 319 Psychology of Irrational Thinking

ONE additional psychology elective (3 credits minimum)

Forensic Psychology Cluster (15 credits)

THREE required courses:

PSYC 211 Social Psychology
PSYC 221 Psychopathology
PSYC 323 Forensic Psychology

TWO of the following courses:

PSYC 317 Psychology of Aggression and Violence
PSYC 343 Drugs and Human Behavior
PSYC 325 Behavior Disorders in Children
SOCY 205 Criminology: An Introduction

Minor Requirements

Psychology minors are advised to pursue a pattern of courses similar to the major described above. Eighteen credits are required for the minor; additionally students must obtain permission of the Program Chair to minor in psychology.

Minor in Forensic Psychology (18 credits)

Introductory Psychology is a prerequisite for more advanced courses in Forensic Psychology.  Additionally, those desiring to minor in forensic psychology must take the following courses:

PSYC 211 Social Psychology
PSYC 221 Psychopathology
PSYC 323 Forensic Psychology
SOCY 205 Criminology: An Introduction

Students must choose ONE additional course from the following:

PSYC 317 Psychology of Aggression and Violence
PSYC 325 Behavior Disorders in Children
PSYC 343 Drugs and Human Behavior

Program Policies

Advanced Placement:
Credit is granted for a 4 or 5 on the AP examination. These credits may count toward the major and may be accepted as FLC credits upon consultation with psychology faculty members.

CLEP Policy:
CLEP examination scores will not be accepted as qualifying for psychology credits or requirements.

Grades in Major Courses:
A minimum of a “C”(2.0) average must be earned in the required courses for the major. A grade of C- may be counted toward fulfilling the requirements, at the discretion of the program faculty, if the overall average in the required courses is at least a 2.0. This policy applies to the required Psychology classes, including the co-requisites in Mathematics (MATH 110 Introduction to Statistics, MATH 210 Statistical Inference), but not in Biology and Philosophy.

Pass/No Pass:
No major courses may be taken on a pass/no pass basis. MATH 110 Introduction to Statistics and MATH 210 Statistical Inference may not be taken on a pass/no pass basis. However, required related courses (Biology and Philosophy) may be taken pass/no pass.

Senior Assessment:
All students are required to take PSYC 499 Senior Seminar in Psychology, which prepares students for the Senior Assessment. Students receive eight comprehensive questions by the end of the fall semester in which PSYC 499 Senior Seminar in Psychology is taken. Two of these questions are chosen for the assessment, which occurs early in the spring semester. Two three-hour sessions are used to develop and present analyses of two selected questions, one question per session.

TELL Policy:
Psychology faculty review TELL portfolios and will accept up to nine credits toward the major.

Transfer Credits:
The following courses must be taken at Trinity:

  • One of the three Experimental Psychology courses
    • PSYC 301 Experimental Psychology: Research Methods
    • PSYC 311 Experimental Social Psychology
    • PSYC 331 Experimental Developmental Psychology
  • PSYC 499 Senior Seminar in Psychology
  • At least three psychology electives

All other psychology courses, as well as the Biology and Philosophy requirements, may be accepted as transfer courses toward the psychology major.

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