Psychology Major
Major Requirements
The major consists of 11 courses.
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| PSYC 101 | Principles of Psychology |
| PSYC 218 | Statistics |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Research Methods | |
| Community-Based Research Methods | |
| Foundation | |
| Cognition or Biology | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Introduction to Neuroscience | |
| Introduction to Neuroscience | |
| Medical Psychology | |
| Cognitive Psychology | |
| Social Behavior, Personality, Mental Health, or Development | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Social Psychology | |
| Psychology of Personality | |
| Psychopathology | |
| Developmental Psychology | |
| Social Psychology | |
| Additional Elective Foundations Course | |
| Complete at least 1 course listed in the Foundation courses above, or any other 200-level course, or a Short Term course numbered S29 or lower, listed in Psychology, or cross-listed with Psychology. | |
| Upper-Level Courses | |
| Complete at least four 300-level (or above) course listed in Psychology, or cross-listed with Psychology. One of these upper-level courses can be a Short Term course numbered S30 or higher (if a Short Term course is not also counted as an Elective Foundations course). 1 | |
| Additional Requirements | |
| Psychology: Biological - Complete at least one course related to the brain, designated with the (Psychology: Biological) attribute. | |
| Capstone | |
| Complete at least one course from the following: | |
| Senior Thesis/Empirical Research | |
| Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research | |
| Senior Thesis/Theoretical Review and Integration | |
| Empirical Research Thesis Seminar | |
| Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research Seminar | |
| Senior Thesis/Empirical Research | |
| Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research | |
| Senior Thesis/Theoretical Review and Integration | |
| Empirical Research Thesis Seminar | |
| Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research Seminar | |
- 1
This may not include PSYC 360 Independent Study, PSYC S50 Independent Study, or PSYC S51 Short Term Innovative Pedagogy. At least three of these courses must be taken at Bates. One of the four upper-level courses must have content related to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, designated with the (Psychology: IDEA) attribute.
It is recommended that students take no more than 12 courses in the major, including thesis.
Senior Project Description
A thesis may be completed during the fall and/or winter semester of the senior year. Topics for thesis must be approved by the department.
For fall semester and two-semester thesis, students register for one of the following thesis options: PSYC 457A Senior Thesis/Empirical Research, PSYC 457B Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research, PSYC 457C Senior Thesis/Theoretical Review and Integration, or PSYC 457D Empirical Research Thesis Seminar, PSYC 457E Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research Seminar.
For winter semester theses, students register for one of the following thesis options: PSYC 458A Senior Thesis/Empirical Research, PSYC 458B Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research, PSYC 458C Senior Thesis/Theoretical Review and Integration, or PSYC 458D Empirical Research Thesis Seminar, PSYC 458E Senior Thesis/Community-Based Research Seminar.
With the exception of two-semester honors theses, students are generally assigned to complete the thesis in a seminar, and the instructor serves as thesis advisor.
Two-semester thesis proposals must be submitted by 4:00 pm on Thursday of the second full week of classes in the fall semester. Thesis seminar instructors set the proposal deadline for their thesis students.
Guidelines for proposals (and a listing of important dates) are on the department's website (bates.edu/psychology/thesis/thesis-planning/senior-thesis-proposal-guidelines/).
All seniors must present their thesis work at the end of the semester. Presentations take the form of a ten- to fifteen-minute talk or a poster that describes the project. Students finishing their thesis in the fall present at a departmental poster session. Students finishing in the winter are required to present at the College’s annual Mount David Summit.
Courses Taken Outside of Bates
Psychology majors may transfer up to two credits taken elsewhere toward the major, provided the courses are preapproved by the department chair. Students should submit to the chair a course description and syllabus for each transfer course. A student may not get credit for a course at Bates if they have credit for a course with substantially the same content taken elsewhere, even if the courses could fulfill different major requirements. For example, a student could not get credit for PSYC 303 Health Psychology at Bates if they had already received credit for a health psychology course taken elsewhere, even if that course transferred as a foundation course. A student may transfer credit for Principles of Psychology (PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology) taken elsewhere as long as the course is taken before the student declares psychology as a major at Bates.
Students may earn credit for PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology by
- earning a four or five on the Advanced Placement examination or
- earning a transferable grade for the equivalent course at another institution of higher education.
There is no option to test out of PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology and receive credit for the course. Earning credit for PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology enables students to take courses for which PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology is a prerequisite. Earning credit for PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology reduces by one the number of courses required to fulfill the major. With the chair's approval, one of the two courses may be a statistics or methodology course that may be used in lieu of Statistics (PSYC 218 Statistics), Research Methods (PSYC 261 Research Methods), or Community-Based Research Methods (PSYC 262 Community-Based Research Methods), but students are strongly encouraged to take their statistics and methodology courses at Bates. Students considering off-campus study should keep in mind several considerations. Either PSYC 261 Research Methods or PSYC 262 Community-Based Research Methods must be completed before the end of the junior year, and PSYC 218 Statistics is a prerequisite for either course. Moreover, the department not only encourages students to take their statistics and methods courses at Bates, but also cautions students that it is extremely rare to find a non-Bates statistics or methods course that is sufficiently comparable to qualify for major credit. These considerations have significant implications for students who do not complete Statistics by the end of their sophomore year. Students considering a major in psychology should be aware that if they are unable to complete Statistics by the end of the sophomore year—even if that inability is a product of being randomized out of the course during preregistration—then they will likely have to stay at Bates both semesters of the junior year in order to keep psychology viable as a major option. If courses are transferred from somewhere else, then the total number of course credits required to complete the major decreases accordingly. Subject to the approval of the department chair, transfer students may receive credit for up to five courses toward the major taken prior to their arrival at Bates, and must take at least six courses that are listed in psychology or cross-listed with psychology on the Bates campus. The six courses must include one upper-level course and the capstone course.
Pass/Fail
Pass/Fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major.
Declaration Restrictions
Students who have declared the Psychology major may not declare the following:
- Neuroscience major
Other Considerations
Students may count one Short Term course toward the major. Any Short Term course number as S29 or lower may be counted as a student’s third foundations course (i.e., the elective foundations course). Alternatively, any Short Term course number as S30 or higher may be counted as one - but only one - of a student’s four required 300-level courses in the major. Given the departmental faculty’s belief that the Biological (B) and the IDEA requirements each require more sustained engagement than can be achieved in a window of time as short as Short Term, Short Term courses may not count towards the Biological (B) and IDEA requirements.
At the end of each academic year, the department invites a limited number of juniors to submit honors thesis proposals, due in the fall semester of their senior year. Honors invitations are based on demonstrated excellence in the courses completed for the major through the end of the junior year. If invited for honors, students must elect a two-semester thesis. At the end of the first semester of thesis work, the department formally nominates students to the honors program. Students who are nominated must show a high degree of initiative and progress by the end of the fall semester. In addition, the faculty thesis advisor must assure the department that the student's work is of honors caliber and is progressing satisfactorily before the department nominates the student to the honors program. Embracing the notion of intellectual breadth in a liberal arts context, the department strongly encourages psychology majors to select General Education concentrations (GECs) with little to no overlap with their psychology coursework. Academic advisors work with students to ensure that any declared GECs serve as areas of critical inquiry that complement the psychology major rather than duplicate it.