B.A. Degree in Psychology

Psychology is the scientific discipline that studies human behavior and mental processes: how human beings develop, learn, think, and feel. Psychologists study the relative influences of heredity (qualities people inherit from their biological parents) and experience (what happens to people during their lifetime). Many areas of psychology require substantial funding for research success. Psychological studies are carried out in a wide variety of environments, including the laboratory, home, school, workplace, jury room, hospital and hospice. Faculty of the Department of Psychology at SDSU actively involves students in their research and focus on a number of areas of psychology including: the effects of prenatal environments, including the influence of hormones and drugs used by expectant mothers on brain development and later functioning; the normal processes of learning, memory, and cognition (knowing and perceiving); the effects of childhood experience on social-emotional and cognitive development; the functioning of adults and the elderly in response to biological and environmental challenges; the effectiveness of programs for enhancing physical and mental well-being of people; personnel selection and performance in industrial and business settings; ways of eliminating or controlling maladaptive behaviors. Career Opportunities: While a Ph.D. in psychology is required for teaching at the university level and for licensing as a psychologist, a variety of opportunities are open to students who hold the Bachelor's or Master's degrees in psychology. Among career and job opportunities for students with a B.A. degree in psychology are: Business, such as management, public relations, personnel and staff training; Agencies responsible for mental health service delivery in clinics, hospitals and special schools; Teaching in childcare facilities, preschools, elementary and secondary schools; Research, administering psychological tests, conducting surveys, program evaluations and basic study; and Graduate programs leading to the M.A. degree in psychology and related areas, such as Clinical Social Work; School Psychology; Marriage, Family and Child Counseling; and Industrial/Organizational (business) Psychology.