Program Overview

Overview of the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, offered by the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, provides a modern curriculum covering a breadth of content, ranging from biological bases of cognition and behavior to sociocultural influences on human interactions and psychological disorders. The curriculum is designed to develop students' critical thinking skills through emphasis on the scientific basis of psychology and through courses in statistics and research methodology.

Program Details

• The program emphasizes the integration and synthesis of information across courses and activities through the step-wise progression of the curriculum from introductory, foundational, and advanced classes up to the final capstone course taken in the senior year.
• Students are strongly encouraged to develop applied skills through rigorous and highly focused experiential learning in research laboratories and community-based internships.
• The curriculum is designed to be sufficiently flexible to satisfy the diversity of needs among undergraduates.
• An individually tailored curriculum may be selected for the purpose of preparing students for employment or further study in psychology, neuroscience, medicine, law, business, or other fields.

Learning Goals

• At the introductory level, goals include familiarity with the scientific grounding of the discipline, basic statistics, and scientific methods, as well as information on how to prepare for a career in psychology or a related discipline.
• At the Foundation level, students develop deeper knowledge of the fascinating content areas in the discipline, broadly organized into two groups: Developmental/Clinical/Social (DCS) and Brain and Cognitive Sciences (BCS).
• At the Advanced level, students continue to develop critical thinking skills, examining conflicting claims, analyzing data, organizing research papers, and becoming more proficient with the scientific process in a writing-intensive course.

Campus Locations and Program Code

• Campus Locations: Main, Japan
• Program Code: LA-PSY-BA

Internships and Research Opportunities

• Psychology students have the opportunity to gain real-world experiences and course credit through Internship and Practicum classes.
• For students interested in research opportunities, many of the Temple Psychology faculty have active research laboratories on a wide range of research topics.

Accelerated +1 BA/MS Program

• The accelerated +1 Bachelor of Arts in Psychology / Master of Science in Psychological Research offers outstanding Temple University psychology majors the opportunity to earn both the BA in Psychology and the MS in Psychological Research in just 5 years.
• Admission to the program is highly selective, requiring a minimum 3.5 GPA overall and in Psychology, and a faculty sponsor who has agreed to mentor the student's master's project research.

Careers

• An undergraduate degree in psychology affords many opportunities for careers and further study at the graduate level because the knowledge and skills learned through the major are important to many disciplines.
• Psychology majors are often employed in management positions, education, healthcare, research, real estate, sales, marketing, social services, and labor relations.

Curricular Overlap Policies

• There are several related majors and minors offered by the Psychology and Neuroscience department.
• Students majoring in Psychology may take a minor in Cognitive Neuroscience, a second major in Neuroscience: Systems, Behavior and Plasticity, or a minor in Neuroscience Research, with specific rules governing double-counting of courses.

The Psychology Honors Program

• The Psychology Honors Program is designed to provide each student with an individualized experience that will prepare them for psychological research in the future.
• The program is a two-year study that begins with critical thinking, writing, and the study of methodology, culminating in the production of a senior thesis and presentation at a student poster session.

Advising Resources

• The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience has its own academic advisor for undergraduate students.
• Psychology majors are encouraged to contact the department advisor with questions about the curriculum and graduation requirements.

Degree Requirements

University Requirements

• MATH 0701 (4 s.h.) and/or ENG 0701 (4 s.h.), if required by placement testing.
• All Temple students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses as part of the major.
• Students must complete requirements of the General Education (GenEd) Program.

College of Liberal Arts Requirements

• Completion of a minimum of 123 credits.
• 90 credits in CLA/CST courses, with 45 credits at the upper level.
• A minimum GPA of 2.0, cumulatively, in CLA/CST coursework, and in the major.
• Only courses in which a student receives a grade of at least C- can satisfy GenEd, major, minor, or CLA Foreign Language and Global Studies requirements.

Major Requirements

• Minimum 44 credits; 40 credits in Psychology plus 4 credits in a designated science area.
• Specific course requirements include introductory courses, a psychology science requirement, foundation courses in Developmental/Clinical/Social and Brain and Cognitive Sciences areas, a required methods course, advanced courses, and a capstone course.

Suggested Academic Plan

• A suggested four-year plan is provided, outlining the recommended sequence of courses for each semester to ensure timely completion of the degree.

Accelerated Programs

• Students may opt to pursue an accelerated +1 program, enabling them to complete both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in less time than the traditional route.
• The Psychological Research MS is an example of an accelerated program that may be of interest to Psychology BA students.