BA in Psychology

Program Learning Outcomes for BA in Psychology Students graduating from this program will: Develop a broad knowledge base in psychology and its content domains. They will be able to describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in psychology. Understand research methods, and develop and apply research skills. They will be able to explain different research methods used by psychologists and design and conduct scientific studies to address psychological questions using appropriate research methods. Students will follow the APA Ethics Code in the treatment of human and nonhuman participants in the design, data collection, interpretation, and reporting of psychological research. Students will be able to generalize research conclusions appropriately based on the parameters of particular research methods. Use critical thinking in psychological science. They will use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena and evaluate the appropriateness of conclusions derived from psychological research. Understand the applications of psychology. They will describe major areas (e.g., clinical, cognitive, counseling, human factors, industrial/organizational, school) and emerging applied areas (e.g., health, forensics, media) of psychology. They will identify appropriate applications of psychology in solving problems, such as: the pursuit and effect of healthy lifestyles; the origin and treatment of abnormal behavior; psychological tests and measurement; psychology-based interventions in areas such as clinical, cognitive, counseling, educational, human factors, and industrial/organizational psychology; and the resolution of interpersonal and intercultural conflicts. Students will articulate how psychological principles can be used to explain social issues and inform public policy. Students will apply psychological concepts, theories, and research findings as these relate to everyday life. Degree Requirements for BA in Psychology For general university requirements, see Graduation Requirements. Students majoring in psychology must complete 47 semester hours in departmental courses. All majors must take the following courses: CORE COURSES (17 credit hours) PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology PSYC 202 Introduction to Social Psychology PSYC 203 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology PSYC 339 Statistical Methods - Psychology PSYC 340 Research Methods - Psychology SELECTED SUBSTANCE COURSES (30 credit hours) In addition to the 17 hours of core courses, majors must take an additional 30 hours of other courses that are to be selected from the psychology curriculum. Students may take up to 12 credit hours of PSYC 485/488 (Supervised Research/Reading) toward the major, but only 3 of the 12 hours may be from PSYC 488. No substitutions or transfer credits are allowed for PSYC 339 or 340. Once enrolled at Rice, students must obtain approval from the psychology department to transfer courses taken at another college or university. Students are strongly encouraged to take all of their core courses before taking the upper level courses that comprise their 30 hours of substance courses. Students should take PSYC 339 and PSYC 340 preferably by the end of their sophomore year.