Psychology
Degrees ...BA, MA, PhD
Psychology is a biopsychosocial science that studies behavior from both biological and social perspectives. The major and elective requirements are designed to achieve a broad understanding of the contents, concepts, and research methods of contemporary psychology in the context of a quality liberal arts education. Note that no terminal master's degree is offered except for the concurrent BA/MA program in cognitive psychology.
Students contemplating postgraduate education, either in professional or in graduate school, are encouraged to participate in the departmental honors program, which provides special opportunities for individualized attention.
CU-Boulder Department of Psychology has been ranked by the National Academy of Sciences as one of the best in the country with respect to the quality of the faculty and their scholarly productivity. Moreover, the department offers undergraduates a wide range of opportunities for involvement in research.
The undergraduate degree in psychology emphasizes knowledge and awareness of:
- the social and biological background of human nature;
- the research bases necessary for understanding and predicting behavioral outcomes;
- descriptive and inferential statistics, including measures of central tendency, variance, and correlation;
- psychology as a laboratory science and of the interplay between theory and research;
- possible practical applications of research knowledge;
- the influences of interactions between attributes of the social situation and psychological attributes of a person in generating human behavior and subjective experience;
- the development and amelioration of abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behavior;
- the mechanics of heredity, neural transmission, plasticity, development, and aging;
- a reasonable integrated historical overview of modern psychology, including the major subdivisions of the discipline and their interrelations;
- major ideas and scholars in the discipline subfields and the relationship of ideas from one area to another; and
- the ethical issues germane to research investigation raised by the applications and practice of psychology as a profession.
In addition, students completing the degree in psychology are expected to acquire the ability and skills to:
- evaluate critically research designs, results, and interpretations;
- design and carry out research on their own;
- know when to use basic statistical tests, to formulate hypotheses, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions, and clearly communicate research findings;
- assess the characteristics of social situations and measure the psychological attributes of individuals;
- use the primary literature of biological and developmental psychology to prepare a clear written summary of a research topic; and
- place current psychological concerns into an appropriate overarching conceptual framework that encompasses the entire field.
Bachelor's Degree Program +
Students must complete the general requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences and the required courses listed below. These requirements apply to all psychology majors who declare their major after May 16, 1998. Those majors who declared before that date have the option of completing their major under either the old rules or the new rules.
| Required Courses | Semester Hours |
| In order to graduate with a degree in psychology, the department requires that students fulfill the following course requirements with a grade of C- or better. Additional explanatory notes are available in the department advising office, Muenzinger D243. | |
| The department recommends taking PSYC 1001, 2012 , 2145, and 2606 by the end of the sophomore year, and 3101 by the end of the junior year. | |
| PSYC 1001 General Psychology | 4 |
| PSYC 2012 Biological Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 2145 Cognition and Perception | 3 |
| PSYC 2606 Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 3101 Statistics and Research Methods in Psychology | 4 |
| One of the following: | |
| PSYC 3102 Behavioral Genetics | 3 |
| PSYC 3313 Psychopathology | 4 |
| At least one course from the following upper division laboratory and methods courses: | |
| PSYC 4052 Behavioral Neuroscience, PSYC 4136 Human Judgment and Decision-Making Lab, PSYC 4145 Cognitive Psychology, 4155 Cognitive Neuroscience/Neuropsychology, PSYC 4165 Psychology of Perception, PSYC 4175 Computational Cognitive Neuroscience,PSYC 4205 Psychology of Learning, PSYC 4376 Research Methods in Social Psychology, or 4443 Research Methods in Clinical Psychology | 4 |
| Additional electives to bring total hours in psychology to at least 31, but not more than 45, of which at least 18 must be upper division. (Students are encouraged to use independent study to gain field or laboratory experience. However, independent study hours are pass/fail credit only and cannot be used toward the 31 hours required for graduation.) | |
| In addition to the course requirements listed above, and the minimum of 31 hours in psychology, the student is required to pass one of the following natural science sequences with a grade of C- or better: | |
| CHEM 1011 and 1031 Environmental Chemistry 1 and 2 | |
| CHEM 1051 and 1071 Introduction to Chemistry and Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry | |
| CHEM 1111 and 1071 General Chemistry 1 and Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry | |
| CHEM 1111 and 1131 General Chemistry 1 and 2 | |
| EBIO 1210 and 1220 General Biology 1 and 2 (formerly EPOB 1210 and 1220) | |
| MATH 1300 and 2300 Analytical Geometry and Calculus 1 and 2 | |
| MCDB 1150 and 2150 Introduction to MCD Biology 1 and Principles of Genetics | |
| MCDB 1150 and EBIO 1220 Introduction to MCD Biology 1 and General Biology 2 | |
| PHYS 1110 and 1120 General Physics 1 and 2 (science and engineering majors only) | |
| PHYS 2010 and 2020 General Physics 1 and 2 | |
Note: Transfer students must complete a minimum of 12 upper-division hours of psychology course work on the Boulder campus with a C- or better. Of those 12 hours, onelaboratory and methods course and either PSYC 3102 or PSYC 3313 must be included.
Graduating in Four Years +
Consult the Four-Year Guarantee Requirements for information on eligibility. The concept of "adequate progress" as it is used here only refers to maintaining eligibility for the four-year guarantee; it is not a requirement for the major. To maintain adequate progress in psychology, students should meet the following requirements:
| Declare the major by the beginning of the second semester. | |
| Complete PSYC 1001, 2012, 2145, 2606, and the natural science sequence during the first two years of study. | |
| Complete PSYC 3313 or 3102, the laboratory and methods course, and at least two upper-division PSYC electives during the junior (3rd) year. (If students are unable to enroll in these courses due to oversubscription during the junior year, they will have top enrollment priority the senior year.) | |
| Complete remaining elective requirements during the senior year. |
Concurrent BA/MA Program with Specialization in Cognitive Psychology +
A concurrent BA/MA in psychology, with specialization in cognitive psychology, is offered. Both the BA and MA degree must be completed within a five-year period. In recent years, both basic and applied research in cognitive psychology have come to rely increasingly on related findings, theories, and methods in other cognitive science disciplines, including philosophy, computer science, and linguistics.
The purpose of this degree program is to provide training that prepares students either for continuing doctoral study in cognitive psychology or for technical careers involving cognitive psychology in government and industry. Students complete the requirements for an undergraduate major in psychology, an interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate in cognitive science, and a master's degree in the cognitive psychology graduate training program. Because of the demanding nature of this program, only highly qualified students are admitted.
Graduate Degree Programs +
PhD Programs +
Students are admitted for graduate studies leading to the PhD in one of five fields: behavioral genetics, behavioral neuroscience (including learning and motivation), clinical, cognitive, and social psychology. Note that no terminal master's degree program is offered. The behavioral genetics program focuses on the study of genetic contributions to individual differences in behavior. The fundamental tenet of the behavioral neuroscience program is that a complete understanding of behavior entails unraveling mechanisms and principles at any and all levels of organization (i.e., behavior, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurochemistry). The major training goals of the clinical psychology program follow the Boulder model in that the preparation of scientist-practitioner is stressed. The cognitive psychology program includes course work and research in the following areas of cognition: problem solving, thinking, human learning and memory, judgment and decision making, language, artificial intelligence, reading, attention and performance, perception, and information processing. The program in social psychology trains students to conduct research, either applied or basic, in the fields of social cognition, self-concept development, close relationships, and health. Additional courses in the department offer graduate training in the knowledge, theory, and research methodology relating to cultural influences on behavior.
Requirements for the PhD Degree +
All students are admitted with the expectation that they will work toward the PhD degree. Many students receive a master of arts degree in the course of working toward the PhD. Students who receive the PhD degree must demonstrate that they are proficient in some broad subject of learning and that they can critically evaluate work in this field; furthermore, they must show the ability to work independently in their chosen field and must make an original contribution of significance to the advancement of knowledge.
In the first year of graduate study, all psychology graduate students enroll in a two-semester graduate statistical sequence. There is a first-year research requirement that starts the student on an active program of research. The student also must enroll in a sequence of courses designed to give exposure to various research topics and methods.
Before admission to candidacy for the PhD degree, the student must pass a comprehensive examination in the field of concentration and related fields. This examination tests the student mastery of a broad field of knowledge, not merely the formal course work completed.
A variety of advanced research seminars are taught on a regular basis. Students are required to be enrolled in at least one substantive course in the department each semester until the comprehensive examinations have been successfully completed. Upon completing the comprehensives, students engage in the dissertation research, culminating in a public oral defense.
