Dec 21, 2024

2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]

Psychology (B.A.)

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

Program: B.A.
Department of Psychology
College of Science

Neff Hall 388 ~ 260-481-6403

Courses in psychology provide an understanding of human behavior and mental processes from a scientific perspective. The Psychology B.A. prepares students for careers that involve knowledge of behavior along with skills in data analysis and research. It is well-suited for students who are also interested in the other social sciences and humanities, and who intend to work in social services, mental health agencies, or business-related areas such as human resources. There are many opportunities for students to become involved in research in our extensive laboratory facilities and in field experiences in the community.

For details on pursuing a secondary education second degree (BSEd) to teach Psychology in middle school/high school, click on the links to theSecondary Education - Second Degree Program and the School of Education page in this catalog. Note: The BSEd as a second degree in these programs cannot be earned without completion of the bachelor’s degree in the content area from the College of Science. See Program Requirements below for a link to the Secondary Education - Second Degree 4-Year Plan.

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this degree, students will be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:

Know the major theoretical approaches, findings, and historical trends in psychology
Understand the major research methods in psychology, including design, data analysis, and interpretation
Think critically and use the scientific approach to understand behavior
Understand the values that are the underpinnings of psychology as a science (e.g., value of empirical evidence, tolerance for ambiguity, ethics in research, teaching, and practice)
Apply concepts, information, and skills learned in psychology courses to their lives and work
Effectively locate and evaluate sources of information
Express themselves effectively in the discourse of the discipline
Understand people from a diverse range of backgrounds and varying demographic characteristics such as age, race, disability, sexual orientation, class, ethnicity, religion, and cognitive abilities
Make decisions about future employment or graduate education

Program Delivery:

This program is available on-campus.

Declaring this Major:

Declare this major within the Department of Psychology .

General Requirements:

Program Requirements:

Psychology (B.A.) 4-Year Plan :

A grade of C- or higher in all courses required for the major that are not supporting courses.
A grade of D- or higher for all courses taken as supporting courses for the major.
No credits can share between the Human Diversity & International Relations requirements and any of the following: General Education, PSY major requirements, Distribution Requirements, Western Culture Studies.
Either PSY 23500 or PSY 36900 may be taken, not both (overlapping content courses).
Either PSY 26700 or PSY 36900 may be taken, not both (overlapping content courses).
Only one of the following can count for PSY Distribution: PSY 23500, PSY 26700, or PSY 36900. If PSY 23500 or PSY 26700 is used in PSY Distribution, the other may be used in PSY Electives 2000+.
For courses that may be repeated for credit (e.g., PSY 49600), 3 credits may count in the major and additional credits may count toward the overall degree credit total.
PSY 39200 with substantially different content may count more than once in the major, as approved by the department chair. Only 3 credits of Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship will count in the major.
PSY capstone courses not used to satisfy the PSY capstone requirement may be used to satisfy the PSY electives requirement. This also applies to new PSY courses approved and added to the curriculum as PSY capstone courses in future catalogs.

Psychology (B.A.) with Secondary Education 4-Year Plan :

To earn the B.A. with a major in psychology, you must fulfill the following requirements in addition to the General Requirements noted above:

General Education Requirements: Credits 33

Click on the General Education Requirements link above for details.
A grade of C- or higher is required for each course used to satisfy the Purdue Fort Wayne General Education Requirements.

Psychology B.A. Supporting Courses

Choose 3 credits in each of the following areas:

English Writing and Speaking: Credits 6

Both courses require a grade of C- or better

Western Culture Studies: Credits 3

Choose one of the following courses:

AD 11100 - History Of Art I: Prehistoric To Medieval Cr. 3.
AD 11201 - History Of Art II: Renaissance To Contemporary Cr. 3.
CLCS 20500 - Classical Mythology Cr. 3.
CLCS 40500 - Comparative Mythology Cr. 3-4.
COM 31200 - Rhetoric In The Western World Cr. 3.
ENGL 10101 - Ancient And Medieval World Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 10201 - Modern World Literature Cr. 3.
HIST 11300 - Western Civilization To 1500 Cr. 3.
HIST 11400 - Western Civilization Since 1500 Cr. 3.
HIST 38601 - Greek History Cr. 3.
HIST 38801 - Roman History Cr. 3.
PHIL 11000 - The Big Questions: Introduction To Philosophy Cr. 3.
PHIL 24000 - Social And Political Philosophy Cr. 3.
PHIL 30100 - History Of Ancient Philosophy Cr. 3.
POL 10500 - Introduction To Political Theory Cr. 3.
POL 38100 - Classical Political Thought Cr. 3.
POL 38200 - Modern Political Thought Cr. 3.
REL 11200 - Religion And Culture Cr. 3.
REL 23100 - Religions Of The West Cr. 3.
REL 30000 - Religions Of The Ancient World Cr. 3.

Math Requirement: Credits 0-3

Check with advisor for course that can also apply toward General Education requirement.

Choose one course from the following list (or test out):

MA 14000 - Practical Quantitative Reasoning Cr. 3.
MA 15300 - College Algebra Cr. 3.
MA 16500 - Analytic Geometry And Calculus I Cr. 4.
MA 22700 - Calculus For Technology I Cr. 4.
MA 22900 - Calculus For The Managerial, Social, And Biological Sciences I Cr. 3.
STAT 12500 - Communicating With Statistics Cr. 3.
OR
MA 15400 - Trigonometry Cr. 3. or higher Math course
STAT 24000 - Statistical Methods For Biology Cr. 3. or higher STAT course

Distribution Requirements

Distribution requirements must be in addition to General Education requirements (with the exception of the Science Lab). Minimum 9 credits required.

Science & Mathematics: Credits 3

Choose one course from the following disciplines:
- At least one course must have a lab. See the Science lab list below for courses that contain a lab or are a stand-alone lab course.

Agriculture (only FNR 10300)
Anthropology (only ANTH 20001)
Astronomy
Biology (excluding BIOL 10500)
Chemistry
Earth, Atmospheric, & Planetary Sciences
Entomology
Geography (only physical geography)
Mathematics (excluding MA 10100, 10200, 10300, 10900, 11100/11101, 11300, 12401)

Science Lab

Choose one course from the following list: Contact your advisor for assistance if you have questions.

BIOL 10001 - Introduction To The Biological World Laboratory Cr. 1.
BIOL 11700 - Principles Of Ecology And Evolution Cr. 4.
BIOL 11900 - Principles Of Structure And Function Cr. 4.
BIOL 20300 - Human Anatomy And Physiology Cr. 4.
BIOL 20400 - Human Anatomy And Physiology Cr. 4.
BIOL 40600 - Human Anatomy Cr. 4.
BIOL 40900 - Human Physiology Cr. 4.
CHM 11100 - General Chemistry Cr. 3.
CHM 12000 - Chemistry And Art Cr. 3.
CHM 11500 - General Chemistry Cr. 4.
CHM 11600 - General Chemistry Cr. 4.
CHM 25400 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory Cr. 1.
CHM 25800 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory Cr. 1.
CHM 26500 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory I Cr. 2.
CHM 26600 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory II Cr. 2.
EAPS 10002 - General Geology Laboratory Cr. 1-2.
EAPS 10401 - Earth Science: Evolution Of The Earth Cr. 3.
PHYS 12700 - Physics For Computer Graphics And Animation I Cr. 3.
PHYS 13100 - Concepts In Physics I Cr. 3.
PHYS 13101 - Concepts In Physics I Laboratory Cr. 1.
PHYS 15200 - Mechanics Cr. 5.
PHYS 21800 - General Physics Cr. 4.
PHYS 21900 - General Physics II Cr. 4.
PHYS 22000 - General Physics Cr. 4.
PHYS 22100 - General Physics Cr. 4.
PHYS 25100 - Heat, Electricity, And Optics Cr. 5.

Social & Behavioral Sciences: Credits 3

Choose one course from the following disciplines:

Anthropology (excluding ANTH 20001)
Communication (excluding COM 11400, 21000, 23800, 31200, 31600, 32700, 35300, 44300, 46300)
Communication Sciences & Disorders (excluding CSD 18100, 18200, 28300, 28400)
Economics (excluding ECON 27000)
English (only ENGL 20501, 20600)
Geography (only human, cultural, or social geography)
Gerontology (only GERN 23100)
International Studies (only INTL 20000)
Journalism (only COM 30001, 30002)
Linguistics
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Political Science (excluding POL 39500)
Sociology (excluding SOC 35100)
Spanish (only SPAN 42500, 42601, 42800)
Women’s Studies (only WOST 21000, 24000)

Humanities: Credits 3

Choose one course from the following disciplines:

Arabic
Architectural Engineering Technology (only ARET 21000, 31000)
Chinese
Classical Studies
Communication (only COM 21000, 21500, 23800, 31200, 31600, 35300, 43600, 47100)
Comparative Literature
East Asian Language and Culture
English (Excluding 12900, 13100, 20501, 20600, 23202, 23301, 23401, 33101, 36402, 39800, 42101, 42202, 46001)
Film Studies
Fine Arts (excluding studio courses)
Folklore
French
German
History
International Language and Culture Studies (excluding ILCS 30000)
International Studies (excluding INTL 20000)
Japanese
Journalism (excluding COM 30001, 30002)
Latin American Studies
Medieval Studies
Music (excluding performance/skills courses)
Near East Language and Culture
Peace and Conflict Studies (only PACS 20000)
Philosophy
Religious Studies
Spanish (excluding SPAN 42500, 42601, 42800)
Theatre (excluding performance/production courses)
Women’s Studies (excluding WOST 21000, 24000)

Human Diversity and International Relations: Credits 12

Courses must be in addition to courses used to meet General Education and PSY major requirements.

Choose 12 credits from the following list of courses:

Any course in Anthropology (ANTH)
Any course in French (FR)
Any course in German (GER)
Any course in Spanish (SPAN)
Any course in East Asian Language & Culture (EALC)
Any course in Near East Language & Culture (NELC)
Any course in International Culture & Language Studies (ILCS)
Any course in Women’s Studies (WOST)
CLCS 10000 - Elementary Latin I Cr. 4.
CLCS 15000 - Elementary Latin II Cr. 4.
CLCS 20000 - Second-Year Latin I Cr. 3.
CLCS 25000 - Second Year Latin II Cr. 3.
COM 30300 - Intercultural Communication Cr. 3.
COM 41000 - Gender Roles And Communication Cr. 3.
COM 42200 - Women, Men, And Media Cr. 3.
COM 52700 - Introduction To Cultural Studies Cr. 3.
CSD 18100 - First Course In American Sign Language Cr. 3.
CSD 18200 - Second Course In American Sign Language Cr. 3.
CSD 28300 - Intermediate American Sign Language III Cr. 3.
CSD 28400 - Intermediate American Sign Language IV Cr. 3.
ECON 43000 - Introduction To International Economics Cr. 3.
ECON 47700 - Korean Economy And Culture Cr. 3.
ENGL 10700 - Masterpieces Of Asia Cr. 3.
ENGL 30401 - Contemporary African American Poetry Forms Cr. 3.
ENGL 46401 - Native American Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 47800 - Studies In Women And Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 47901 - American Ethnic And Minority Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 48801 - Studies In Irish Literature And Culture Cr. 3.
FOLK 11100 - World Music And Culture Cr. 3.
FOLK 30500 - Asian Folklore Cr. 3.
FOLK 35200 - Native American Folklore Cr. 3.
HIST 31101 - Survey Of American Indians II Cr. 3.
HIST 31102 - Holocaust And Modern Genocides Cr. 3.
HIST 32701 - Modern France And The French Empire Cr. 3.
HIST 34201 - Latin America: Evolution And Revolution Cr. 3.
HIST 34601 - Modern Mexico Cr. 3.
HIST 37802 - Germany, 1871 To The Present Cr. 3.
HIST 42601 - History Of Balkans: 1914-Present Cr. 3.
HIST 42800 - Eastern Europe: 1914 - Present Cr. 3.
HIST 44700 - United States - Latin American Relations Cr. 3.
INTL 15500 - Introduction To Language And Culture In Near Eastern Studies And East Asian Studies Cr. 3.
INTL 20000 - Introduction to International Studies Cr. 3.
INTL 20800 - International Cinema Cr. 3.
LGBT 20000 - Introduction To Scholarship On Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Issues Cr. 3.
MUSC 10500 - Soundscapes: Musical Traditions Of The World Cr. 3.
NUTR 20400 - Food, History & Culture Cr. 3.
OLS 45400 - Gender And Diversity In Management Cr. 3.
PHIL 30500 - Philosophical Theories Of Feminism Cr. 3.
PHIL 32800 - Ethics And Animals Cr. 3.
PHIL 33300 - Ethics And Diversity In Science Cr. 3.
POL 10900 - Introduction To International Relations Cr. 3.
POL 32400 - Gender And Politics Cr. 3.
POL 32800 - Women And The Law Cr. 3.
POL 35501 - Ethnic Conflict And Nationalism Cr. 3.
POL 37500 - War And International Conflict Cr. 3.
POL 37600 - International Political Economy Cr. 3.
REL 11200 - Religion And Culture Cr. 3.
REL 23000 - Religions Of The East Cr. 3.
REL 30100 - Islam Cr. 3.
REL 30600 - Hinduism Cr. 3.
REL 30700 - Buddhism Cr. 3.
REL 31100 - African Traditional Philosophy And Religion Cr. 3.
REL 32100 - Religion And The Civil Rights Movement Cr. 3.
REL 37500 - Islamic Thought Cr. 3.
REL 37800 - The Qur’an In Muslim Life Cr. 3.
SOC 21001 - Modern Japanese Society Cr. 3.
SOC 21201 - Race, Religion, And Social Cohesion Cr. 3.
SOC 30000 - Race And Ethnic Relations Cr. 3.
SOC 41300 - Gender Inequality Cr. 3.

Psychology Major Courses Required: Credits 21

Psychology Distribution Requirements: Credits 9

Choose three courses from the list below. Note: Only one of the following courses can count in this requirement: PSY 23500, PSY 26700, or PSY 36900.

PSY 23500 - Child Psychology Cr. 3.
Credit not given for both PSY 23500 and PSY 36900
PSY 24000 - Introduction To Social Psychology Cr. 3.
PSY 26700 - Psychology Of Aging Cr. 3.
Credit not given for both PSY 26700 and PSY 36900
PSY 35000 - Abnormal Psychology Cr. 3.
PSY 36900 - Development Across The Lifespan Cr. 3.
Credit not given for both PSY 23500 and PSY 36900
Credit not given for both PSY 26700 and PSY 36900
PSY 42000 - Introduction To Personality Theory Cr. 3.

Psychology Elective Courses 2000+ Level: Credits 12

In the case of courses which can be repeated for credit (e.g., PSY 39200), more than one section of the same course number must have substantially different content, as approved by the department chair, if both are to be used toward meeting this requirement. At least three credits must be taken at Purdue Fort Wayne.

Psychology Capstone Requirement: Credits 3

The capstone course is a culminating experience in the senior year in which the student develops a major project (literature review, research proposal, empirical study, or service learning project) that demonstrates characteristics of critical thinking, including the ability to identify a problem, evaluate evidence, and use information to analyze existing conclusions, draw new conclusions, or contribute to real-world applications or understanding of larger issues. In the event that a unique project may warrant, the Honors Thesis in Psychology (PSY 49900) may be an alternate choice. Contact an advisor or the department to determine feasibility.

Prerequisites:
1. Senior standing (90 credits) or completion of 33 credits in psychology
2. Successful completion of PSY 20300 with a grade of C- or better

Choose one of the following:

Supplemental Requirements:

Completion of the FOCUS career guidance tool and a Career Development Center session to review the results (during PSY 14000)
Completion of a Career Development Center session to review resume or curriculum vitae (during junior year)
Completion of a Career Development Center session focused on cover letter review, personal statement review, or mock interview (during senior year)
Successful completion of the Exit Exam in Psychology

General Electives

Sufficient additional credits to bring the total to 120

Total Credits: 120

Student Responsibility

You are responsible for ensuring that you satisfy all graduation requirements specified for each selected program. Thus, it is essential that you develop a thorough understanding of the required courses, academic policies, and procedures governing your academic career. If you cannot complete all program requirements by your stated graduation date but fail to remove those from your plan of study, the Registrar’s Office in consultation with your academic advisor will remove unmet pursuits from your plan of study. Changing curricular records during the graduation term of application may affect state or federal financial aid awards. All requests for exceptions to specific requirements must be made in writing and may be granted only by written approval from the appropriate chair or dean.

Additional Course Use:

Courses listed below may also be considered in meeting specific degree requirements:

PSY 20100 required; CRIM 30000, ECON 27000, POL 39500, SOC 35100, STAT 24000, STAT 30100, STAT 51100 accepted