Program Overview

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Psychology, BA

Admission to the Psychology Major

First-Time Freshman

• Subject Requirements: Admissions at Sonoma State University

Transfer Students

• Impacted Major Criteria for Transfer Students:
  • Completion of 60 CSU transferable units
  • 30 units must be General Education units
  • GE Areas A1 (Speech), A2 (English Composition), A3 (Critical Thinking) & B4 (general education math) must be completed with a C- or better
  • Cumulative CSU transferable GPA of 2.0 unless otherwise noted below
• BA in Psychology:
  • Overall cumulative CSU transferable GPA: 2.50
  • Introduction to Psychology (PSY 250) Recommended: C
  • Research Methods (PSY 280) Recommended: C
  • Statistics (MATH 165) Recommended: C
  • Applicants will be ranked according to incoming GPA
  • Subject to department review

Advising

• Upper-division psychology students are assigned faculty academic advisors by the students’ last names
• Lower-division psychology students are assigned to a professional staff advisor
• Each psychology student’s assigned advisor(s) are listed in their online Student Center information
• Students can access advising by appointment or on a space available basis during their assigned advisor’s office hours
• Advising is especially important before graduation and registration deadlines
• To make the most of their education, students are encouraged to consult the psychology department website, which has extensive career information and links to graduate schools and programs
• Students are encouraged to do their own research on graduate opportunities and prerequisites

Internships

• All internships (PSY 499) are Credit/No Credit
• A minimum of 8 Credit/No Credit units may count toward the 40 psychology-major units
• The Psychology Department strongly recommends community internship experience, particularly for the student going on to counseling clinical/psychology master’s and doctoral degrees
• Each semester students may participate in field placements and internship work experiences in organizations and agencies
• These internships involve on-the-job training by the agency as well as academic work under the supervision of the psychology Internship coordinator
• This experience forms an important base for academic credit and helps students to obtain a range of learning experiences not otherwise found in the department
• Students must begin the internship process the semester prior to starting their actual internship
• This includes:
  • Attending an internship informational meeting
  • Obtaining a PSY 499 syllabus
  • Setting up internship placement
  • Completing an internship agreement form
  • Providing the agency supervisor with our supervision information letter
• See internships updates on the department website
• Students planning on graduate work in clinical or counseling psychology are encouraged to gain internship experience well before applying to graduate school

Research and Teaching Internships

• The Psychology Department strongly recommends research assistant work for those students planning to go on to graduate work in psychology at the master’s or doctoral levels
• Many university graduate programs require students to have experience in conducting psychological research, as well as in analyzing data and writing up the results
• In order to find out more about these research opportunities, students should consult with individual faculty members who are mentoring students in faculty research projects
• Some Psychology Department instructors offer teaching internships to advanced students who have taken and excelled in a course
• Duties include working with the classroom instructor in class preparation and classroom tasks, and facilitating small group work
• Teaching Assistants register for PSY 482, Teaching Internship (C/NC)

Program Learning Outcomes

• The Psychology Department curriculum is arranged to develop the following skills in each student by graduation
• The courses are designed to enable each student to:
  • Describe key concepts, principles and overarching themes in psychology and apply to relevant contexts (i.e. ethical, clinical, personal, career, scientific, sociocultural)
  • Interpret and design basic psychological research
  • Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological phenomena
  • Demonstrate skills that promote behavioral change at the individual, organizational, and community levels
  • Identify the Big 8 diversity groups, and analyze their effects on interpersonal and intergroup dynamics
  • Recognize and respond to instances of explicit and subtle bias and discrimination in personal and professional contexts
  • Demonstrate insight into inner experiences using psychological concepts and practices

Degree Requirements

• See the “Degree Requirements” in the University Catalog for complete details on general degree requirements

General Education Requirements (48 units)

• See the “General Education” requirements in the University Catalog for information on General Education requirements
• Some major requirements may double count for GE requirements

Major Requirements

• The Psychology major consists of 40 units in the major, plus a 3-4-unit course in statistics
• Many psychology majors take more than 40 major units and/or add a second major or a minor in another discipline
• Students are encouraged to work in community internships and to expand their knowledge of diversity issues with coursework within the department and the university
• In addition to statistics, no more than 11 units in the major may be lower-division psychology units
• At least 29 units must be upper-division psychology courses (SSU courses numbered 300 or higher)
• All courses for the major must be taken for a grade if this is offered, and must be passed with a grade of C or better
• A maximum of 8 units may be taken Credit/No Credit in the major—this includes internships and special studies courses
• Psychology GE courses (PSY 250 and PSY 325) count for the major as well as for GE

Lower Division Courses

• PSY 250 - Introduction to Psychology (3 units) (or equivalent)
• MATH 165 - Elementary Applied Statistics (4 units) (or equivalent)
• PSY 270 - Psychology of Self-Discovery (4 units)
• PSY 280 - Research Methods in Psychology (4 units) (or equivalent)

Upper-Division Breadth Areas

• Students must complete one upper-division course from 4 out of 5 Breadth areas: Holistic, Clinical/Counseling, Developmental, Social/Personality, and Cognitive/Physiological

Holistic

• PSY 307 - Humanistic, Existential, and Transpersonal Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 322 - Myth, Dream, and Symbol (3-4 units)
• PSY 342 - Psychology of Meditation (4 units)
• PSY 358 - Health Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 360 - Peak Performance Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 390HOL - Topics in Psychology: Holistic (3-4 units)
• PSY 466 - Jungian Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 470 - Psychology of Film (4 units)
• PSY 471 - Psychology of Religion (4 units)
• PSY 485 - Ecopsychology (4 units)
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar (1-4 units)
• PSY 490HOL - Psychology Seminar: Holistic (3-4 units)

Clinical / Counseling

• PSY 390CC - Topics in Psychology: Clinical/Counseling (3-4 units)
• PSY 411 - Child Psychopathology (4 units)
• PSY 425 - Psychopathology (4 units)
• PSY 428 - Introduction to Counseling (4 units)
• PSY 430 - Depth Oriented Psychotherapies (4 units)
• PSY 431 - Introduction To Art Therapy (4 units)
• PSY 432 - Counseling the Culturally Diverse (4 units)
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar (1-4 units)
• PSY 490CC - Psychology Seminar: Clinical/Counseling (3-4 units)

Developmental

• PSY 302 - Life Span Development (4 units)
• PSY 390DEV - Topics in Psychology: Developmental (3-4 units)
• PSY 408 - Transitions in Adult Development (4 units)
• PSY 409 - Social and Emotional Development (4 units)
• PSY 410 - Child Development (4 units)
• PSY 412 - Adolescent Psychology (3-4 units)
• PSY 413 - Adolescent Development through Film (4 units)
• PSY 414 - Infant Development (4 units)
• PSY 418 - Psychology of Family (4 units)
• PSY 448 - Cognitive Development (4 units)
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar (1-4 units)
• PSY 490DEV - Psychology Seminar: Developmental (3-4 units)

Social / Personality

• PSY 325 - Social Psychology (3 units)
• PSY 327 - Psychology in Organizations (4 units)
• PSY 328 - Multicultural Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 390SP - Topics in Psychology: Social/Personality (3-4 units)
• PSY 405 - The Psychology of Gender (4 units)
• PSY 438 - Psychological Aspects of Disability (3-4 units)
• PSY 461 - Personality (4 units)
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar (1-4 units)
• PSY 490SP - Psychology Seminar: Social/Personality (3-4 units)

Cognitive / Physiological

• PSY 362 - Human Sexuality (4 units)
• PSY 390CP - Topics in Psychology: Cognitive/Physiological (3-4 units)
• PSY 415 - Sensation & Perception (4 units)
• PSY 446 - Cognitive Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 447 - Learning and Behavior (3-4 units)
• PSY 450 - Physiological Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar (1-4 units)
• PSY 490CP - Psychology Seminar: Cognitive/Physiological (3-4 units)

Upper-Division Additional Courses

• Students must complete a total of 40 units in psychology (11 lower-division and 29 upper-division)
• After taking the required 11 lower division units AND one upper-division course from 4 out of the 5 Breadth Areas (12 to 16 units), students complete the remaining units (13 to 17 units) by taking ANY other upper-division psychology courses
• A maximum of 8 Credit/No Credit (C/NC) units may count toward the major
• PSY 306 - History of Modern Psychology (4 units)
• PSY 311 - Psychology Dialogue Series (1-2 units)
• PSY 313 - Careers in Psychology (2-4 units)
• PSY 390 - Topics in Psychology (1-4 units)
• PSY 481 - Research Internship (1-8 units)
• PSY 482 - Teaching Internship (1-8 units)
• PSY 495 - Special Studies (1-4 units)
• PSY 499 - Internship (1-4 units)
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar (1-4 units)

Units

• Total units in GE: 48
• Total Major units: 44
• Total units in university electives: 28
• Total units required for graduation: 120

Program Road Maps

• Psychology, BA, Sample Four-Year Plan
• Psychology, BA, Sample Two-Year Plan