Major in Psychology

To major in psychology, you must complete a minimum of 36 credits of psychology courses, at least half of which (18 credits) must be taken at SUNY Brockport. Courses graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory may not be counted toward your major. You may take more than the minimum (and most students do so), but not more than 54 credits in psychology will count toward a degree. The major consists of three parts: a required core, one course from each of four content areas, and five electives to be selected in consultation with your advisor.

Part 1: Required Core. To ensure a common foundation, all majors must take a general psychology course (either PSH 110 or 112), Introductory Statistics (PSH 202), and Research Methods in Psychology (PSH 301), for which PSH 202 is a prerequisite. It is highly recommended that you complete the core courses as early as possible.

Important Note: It is possible (with permission) to use another statistics course (even one that is offered by another department -- see the undergraduate catalog for some acceptable substitutes) to satisfy the statistics requirement in psychology. However, you still must earn a total of 36 credits in psychology courses for a major. Thus, if you elect to use a non-psychology statistics course to satisfy the statistics requirement, you will need to take an additional three psychology credits to satisfy the 36-credit requirement. Discuss this issue with your advisor, and be sure you understand it.

Part 2: Content Areas. To ensure that you acquire reasonable breadth in your knowledge of psychology, you will be required to take at least one course in each of the four content areas specified below. Only those courses listed below can be used to meet this 12-credit breadth requirement. You may, of course, take more than one course from each area, but you must take at least one.

Group I

• PSH 341 Biopsychology
• PSH 342 Animal Behavior
• PSH 352 Sensation/Perception

Group II

• PSH 331 Personality
• PSH 332 Social Psychology
• PSH 384 Child Psychology

Group III

• PSH 334 Abnormal Psychology
• PSH 336 Clinical Psychology
• PSH 397 Health Psychology

Group IV

• PSH 322 Conditioning and Learning
• PSH 325 Motivation
• PSH 351 Cognitive Processes

Part 3: Electives. You will select at least five additional psychology courses with the approval of your faculty advisor. To make normal progress in the major, you should make every effort to complete some of the content area courses, as well as the general psychology course (PSH 110 or 112) and PSH 202 (and PSH 301 if possible), before entering your junior year. If you are a transfer student, or if you are changing to psychology from another major, you should see a psychology faculty advisor as soon as possible.

Minor in Psychology

A minor in psychology consists of 18 credits, nine of which must be upper-division (that is, they must come from courses whose numbers are 300 or above). There are three specifically required courses: a general psychology course (PSH 110 or 112), Introductory Statistics (PSH 202), and Research Methods in Psychology (PSH 301). The remaining nine credits (three courses) are to be selected from the Department of Psychology course offerings with advisement. Courses graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory may not be counted toward the minor. At least half of the minor credits (nine) must be taken at SUNY Brockport.

Important Note: As with the major, you may (with permission) substitute a non-psychology statistics course for the statistics requirement. However, if you do this you still must earn a total of 18 credits in psychology courses for a minor.

Undergraduate Psychology Courses

A list of all undergraduate psychology courses can be found in the undergraduate catalog. You must maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average in all the psychology courses you take at SUNY Brockport to complete a major or minor in psychology. Courses for which you do not receive a letter grade (i.e., those graded as satisfactory or unsatisfactory) will not count toward the 36-credit minimum in psychology needed for the major, nor toward the 18-credit minimum in psychology needed for the minor. Such courses are indicated in the catalog.

Important Additional Information

1. If you are majoring in psychology, be sure to see your advisor at least once a semester. There are several reasons for this:

• You will not be able to take advantage of the "major registration" period if you do not see your advisor. This is the brief period of time each semester when psychology majors have an opportunity to register for psychology courses before non-majors are permitted to do so. It is important to take advantage of this period, as it may be the only way you can get into the courses you need for your major.
• Your advisor is the person best equipped to answer questions about your academic progress. Furthermore, he/she can keep you informed about last-minute changes in requirements, new opportunities, discrepancies in your records (yes, sometimes mistakes are made), etc.
• Your advisor has a lot of information and experience that can help you make career plans, as well as design your entire undergraduate program in a way that will facilitate your long-term success in achieving those plans.
• If you think you might be interested in going to graduate school, it is especially important that you inform your advisor of this at the earliest opportunity. There are many things you can do while still an undergraduate, even as early as your freshman or sophomore year, that will increase your chances of being accepted by a graduate school. Your senior year is definitely not the first time you should start thinking about graduate training.

2. Things change. Requirements change, course schedules change, opportunities for additional training and scholarships become available, workshops, employment and graduate school fairs, etc., are offered, and so on. Many of these changes and offerings are advertised and/or described in brochures and on bulletin boards in and around the Psychology Department offices in Holmes Hall. Check these materials frequently. Once a week is not too often to do this. Do not depend on their being announced in classes -- this may or may not happen.

3. You must take responsibility for your own education. Your advisor will be very helpful, but he/she is not going to follow you around like an indulgent mother. Some opportunities will not be available to you unless you go out and look for them. If you want to do research in a certain faculty member's laboratory, do not wait to be asked -- ask the faculty member. If you think you might want to gain some research experience or some teaching experience, find out what is available. Talk to faculty and to other students; make inquiries. If you want to do practical work in the community or in a clinical environment, do some digging. Find out what other students have done, find out which faculty are especially available to help with such experiences, look around the community to discover what is available.

4. Take the same active approach to your course work. Keep informed at all times regarding course requirements, keep up to date with all your reading, develop first-rate college-level study skills, ask questions, and never hesitate to discuss any problems you are having in a course with the instructor as soon as possible.

5. Take advantage of opportunities to enhance your experience in psychology that may not be part of formal course work. Join the Psychology Club (it maintains a bulletin board across from 133 Holmes Hall). Look into Psi Chi, the honorary fraternity for psychology students, and make qualification for membership one of your goals as a psychology major. Find out about Scholars Day and plan to participate in this important event. Make an effort to associate with other psychology students and exchange information and experience.