Psychology Major
The psychology major at Cedar Crest College is designed to provide essential knowledge and skills related to the scientific study of human and animal behavior, thoughts, and emotions. In keeping with Cedar Crest’s liberal arts tradition, the psychology major emphasizes:
- Developing critical thinking ability
- Enhancing communication skills
- Improving awareness of ethical and global issues
- Developing students' personal value systems
What Makes Our Curriculum Special
Here, you will receive high-quality instruction in all of the essential areas of psychology, but what sets our program apart is that you will also experience a wide range of subfields, providing you with a complete and well-rounded background in the field of psychology.
Our goal is for our students to graduate with the knowledge and experiences necessary to make educated and informed decisions about their future career and educational goals.
As an undergraduate psychology major at Cedar Crest, you will:
- Work one-on-one with our experienced faculty members, each specializing in a different area within psychology
- Learn foundational theories and methodology of the field, including the value of experiments, observations and surveys
- Receive professional feedback from faculty, enabling you to perform at the highest level
- Participate in a number of independent and group research projects
- Have the opportunity to receive research training in state-of-the-art laboratories
- Have the opportunity to present your research findings to large audiences at local and regional conferences held each year
- Develop a variety of complementary skills in areas such as oral and written communication, critical thinking, and leadership through class presentations and research projects
- Be encouraged to integrate psychology with other disciplines by adding another major, minor or concentration (Common areas include education, criminal justice, communication, business, pre-medicine, pre-law, dance and art.)
Click on the box below to learn about the program and course requirements related to this major.
Program Requirements
Psychology Major Advising Sheet (PDF)
NOTE: You can print out a copy of this sheet to fill out by hand, or save it to your computer and fill out electronically!
Total number of credits required by program
A minimum of 40 psychology credits is required for a major in psychology. A minimum of 18 psychology credits for the major must be taken at Cedar Crest College. At least 18 psychology credits are required for a minor in psychology, 9 of which must be completed at Cedar Crest College.
Any student desiring to declare psychology as a major or a minor must have a cumulative grade point average at the college of at least 2.00.
- PSY 100 is a prerequisite to all other psychology courses.
- PSY 100/200 level courses are for 1st/2nd Year Students
- PSY 300 level courses are for 3rd/4th Year Students
- Double majors who are exempt from taking PSY 211 and PSY 212 due to completing accepted research methods and statistics courses in their second major must meet the minimum credit requirement in psychology by substituting electives. The minimum number of credits in psychology in order to be awarded the major is 39.
Course Requirements
A grade of C or better must be obtained in each course to satisfy requirements for the psychology major; this includes all liberal arts requirements.
- PSY 100: General Psychology, 3 credits
- SPS170/171: Understanding APA Editorial Style, 1 credit
- PSY 211: Experimental Methods, 4 credits
- PSY 212: Statistical Methods, 4 credits
- PSY 229: Introduction to Biological Psychology, 3 credits OR NEU 200: Introduction to Neuroscience, 3 credits
- PSY 250: Life-Span Development, 3 credits
- PSY 309: Abnormal Psychology, 3 credits OR PSY 351: Theories of Personality, 3 credits
- PSY 317: Learning, 4 credits OR PSY 336 Cognitive Processes, 4 credits
- 15 additional psychology elective credits
