Home 2016-2017 Undergraduate College Catalog Undergraduate Programs of Study(Majors, Minors & Requirements) Psychology

Psychology

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Undergraduate Programs of Study(Majors, Minors & Requirements)

In this section

Psychology Major Requirements

Psychology Minor Requirements

Psychology Advising

Psychology Departmental Honors and Distinction

Psychology Departmental Web Page on the World Wide Web

Introduction

Psychology is the science of human behavior-- including actions, thoughts, and emotions. The science of psychology focuses on learning how to frame useful questions regarding human behavior, how do find information and perform research that answers these questions, and how to understand the meaning of research results. Applied psychology uses the methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience.

Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Optional Minors

Students can minor in Psychology

Career Ideas

Applied Behavioral (ABA) Therapist, Biopsychologist, Business, Career Counselor, Child & Family Counselor, Clinical Psychologist, College Psychology Professor, Developmental Psychologist, Early Childhood School Teacher, Elementary School Teacher, Employee Benefits Analyst, Forensic Psychologist , Guidance Counselor, Health Psychologist, Human Resources, Market Research Analyst, Neuropsychologist, Occupational Therapist, Recreational Therapist, Research Psychologist, Social Psychologist, Social Worker, Special Education teacher, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Program Administrators

P. Susan Gerrity Program Chair, Sue.Gerrity@mville.edu

Faculty and Staff

PROGRAM CHAIR

P. Susan Gerrity

FULL-TIME FACULTY and Faculty Interests

Katherine Bao - Social/Personality Psychology--increasing happiness, sustaining happiness, adaptation to positive life events, romantic relationships, and human-animal relationships

Alison S. Carson - Cultural psychology--acculturation processes, culture change and identity, and qualitative research methods.

P. Susan Gerrity - Developmental psychology-- positive development, environmental influences on development, attachment/temperament/emotion relationships, self-perceptions and beliefs about self and others

Julie Higgins - Cognitive Psychology--memory, how interference influences memory processes, cognitive aging, cognitive neuroscience, and source memory

Anthony C. Santucci - Biopsychology-- biological bases of mental illnesses, neuroscience, physiological measures, effects of emotions, head trauma, and psychopharmacology

George Schreer - Social psychology--social norming and persuasion, implicit prejudice, anthropomorphism, and human-animal relationships.

FACULTY EMERITUS

Everett Delahanty

Overview

The psychology major at Manhattanville College provides strong academic preparation for graduate training and for careers through the diverse expertise of the faculty in areas including abnormal, biological, clinical, cognitive, cultural, developmental, personality, social, and sport psychology. Students explore the study of behavior from both the empirical and the theoretical perspectives. Students also become familiar with statistical procedures and develop skills in research design. Students are encouraged to participate in faculty member’s research programs and in the research projects of other students. In addition to classroom work, internships and research placements are available.

Psychology Major Requirements

A minimum of 13 courses are required for the major.


I. Three Required Core Courses
PSY 1004: Fundamentals of Psychology PSY 2012: Statistics for the Social Sciences (Prerequisite: PSY.1004 Fund of PSY) PSY 2040: Research Methods in Psychology (Prerequisite: PSY.2012: Statistics for the Social Sciences)
II. Five Content Breadth Courses (Pick one from each area)
Breadth Area	OFFERED FALL		OFFERED SPRING
Biological	PSY 2004: Physiological Bases of Behavior or PSY 2008: Sensation and Perception	or	PSY 2004: Physiological Bases of Behavior or PSY 2008: Sensation and Perception
Cultural	PSY 2042: Psychology and Culture	or	PSY 2046: Psychology of Identity
Developmental	PSY 2001: Devel. Psych.-Childhood	or	PSY 2001: Devel. Psych.-Childhood
Personality/Clinical	PSY 2036: Personality Psychology	or	PSY 2011: Abnormal Psychology
Social	PSY 2009: Social Psychology		PSY 2009: Social Psychology
III. One Capstone Course
A capstone course is a 3000 or 4000-level course taken in the junior or senior year.
IV. Four Elective Courses (at least one at the 3000-level or above)

The recommended course sequence for the major is:

Freshman Year: PSY 1004: Fundamentals of Psychology, and one of the five content breadth courses

Sophomore Year: PSY 2012: Statistics, and four remaining content breadth courses

Junior Year: PSY 2040: Research Methods in Psychology, and two or three (of the four) electives

Senior Year: Capstone and remaining elective courses

Psychology Minor Requirements

Five courses are required for the minor in Psychology. PSY 1004: Fundamentals of Psychology and a minimum of four additional courses are required. Students are encouraged to take electives from different content breadth areas in order to be broadly educated in the field of psychology.

Important Considerations for the Psychology Major and Minor

A minimum grade of C - is required in order to use a psychology course for the major or minor.

Psychology Advising

Students planning to major in Psychology should declare a psychology major as soon as possible. Students are advised not to wait until the end of the sophomore year because some courses are reserved for major and minors, and many opportunities needed for graduate school begin earlier than the junior year. (See Academic Advising web page “Forms” to obtain an “Undergraduate Declaration/Change of Program, Minor or Change of Advisor Form.”)

Psychology Departmental Honors and Distinction

The minimum criteria for Departmental Honors eligibility are:
"B+" or higher in all psychology courses and
"A-" or above in at least one 3000-level course or in 4020, 4025, or 4030 taken in the junior or senior year

Following the completion of these minimum requirements, Departmental Honors are awarded based on the full Psychology Department faculty’s evaluation of the intellectual quality of a student’s entire psychology program.

Departmental Distinction is awarded to graduating psychology majors who, although not meeting the requirements for Departmental Honors, have demonstrated outstanding performance in the classroom, in the laboratory, or in the field, or who have exhibited dramatic intellectual growth and development of scholarly sophistication during their time at Manhattanville. Distinction is awarded based on the recommendation of the full psychology department faculty.

The Psychology Department also awards the Everett J. Delahanty Jr. Prize in Psychology. This prize is awarded to the senior psychology major who has achieved the highest cumulative psychology GPA, and, because the award is intended to recognize students who undertake challenging coursework, it is awarded to students who also included at least four courses at the 3000-level or higher. In addition to these criteria, awarding of this prize requires that the full Psychology Department’s faculty judge that the intellectual quality of a student’s entire psychology program and performance is superior. The full-time faculty of the Psychology Department serves as the Prize Committee and the Prize Committee is responsible for determining the recipient of this prize. The Committee is not bound to make an award each year. The Committee can make more than one award if more than one student is deemed to qualify for this special prize.

Psychology Departmental Web Page on the World Wide Web

Additional information about the department including faculty research interests and course syllabi can be found on the department's Web page located at

http://www.mville.edu/programs/psychology