It is recommended that students who are considering Psychology as a major take PSY 151 and a Perspectives Course in their first year.
In order to declare a Psychology major, a student must have completed at least one Perspectives course from PSY 220-299, PSY 211 with a C or better, and must have a GPA of 2.0 or higher in all graded Psychology courses. The major in Psychology requires the completion of a minimum of 32 hours in Psychology, including coursework across 3 tiers. No more than 50 hours in Psychology may be counted toward the graduation requirement of 120 hours.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1: Foundations of Psychological Science | ||
| Students must take at least one Perspective course (PSY 220-299) in addition to PSY 151 (or AP or IB Psychology) before taking PSY 211. PSY 211 and PSY 212 must be taken at Wake Forest. | ||
| PSY 151 | Introductory Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 211 & 211L | Research Methods I and Research Methods I Lab | 4 |
| PSY 212 & 212L | Research Methods II and Research Methods II Lab | 4 |
| Tier 2: Perspectives in Psychology Science | ||
| Select at least 3 credits from each of the following Perspectives. Courses that appear in more than one group may satisfy the requirement for either perspective (the student’s choice), but not both. | ||
| Brain and Cognitive Science | 3 | |
| Biopsychology | ||
| Cognitive Psychology | ||
| Psychopharmacology | ||
| Social Affective Neuroscience | ||
| Topics in Brain and Cognitive Sciences | ||
| Brief Topics in Brain and Cognitive Sciences | ||
| The Individual in Context | 3 | |
| Personality | ||
| Developmental Psychology | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Stereotypes, Prejudice, & Discrimination | ||
| Culture and Psychology | ||
| Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships | ||
| Topics in the Individual in Context | ||
| Brief Topics in the Individual in Context | ||
| Applied Psychology and Mental Health | 3 | |
| Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships | ||
| Organizational Psychology | ||
| The Psychology of Well-Being | ||
| Stress and Coping | ||
| Abnormal Psychology | ||
| Human Sexuality | ||
| Topics in Applied Psychology and Mental Health | ||
| Brief Topics in Applied Psychology and Mental Health | ||
| Tier 3: Skill-building in Psychological Science | ||
| Students must take 3 credits in the “Seminar in Psychology" and 6 credits in the “Research in Psychology” categories. Students may opt to replace 3 of the 6 required credits from “Research in Psychology” with 3 credits from the “Experiences in Psychology” category. All coursework at Tier 3 must be taken at Wake Forest. | ||
| Seminar in Psychology | 3 | |
| Seminar in Cognitive Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Developmental Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Perception | ||
| Seminar in Physiological Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Race and Ethnicity | ||
| Seminar in Gender and Sexuality | ||
| Seminar in History and Systems of Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Animal Behavior | ||
| Seminar in Honors | ||
| Seminar in Psychology | ||
| Research in Psychology | 6 | |
| Research in Developmental Psychology | ||
| Research in Emotion | ||
| Research in Personality | ||
| Research in Social Psychology | ||
| Research in Psychological Assessment | ||
| Research in Judgment and Decision Making | ||
| Research in Learning Theory | ||
| Research in Honors: Multivariate Statistics | ||
| Research in Psychology | ||
| Experiences in Psychology | 3 | |
| Directed Study | ||
| Internship in Psychology | ||
| Directed Honors Thesis Research | ||
| Research in Neuroscience | ||
| Experiences in Psychology | ||
Courses that are taught by another department at Wake Forest and can be counted as elective credit toward the 32 hours required for the Psychology major are BEM 211, EDU 311, HES 312, and LIN 330. However, a student may not take both BEM 211 and PSY 261 for Psychology credit. If a student completes 32-34 hours in the major, a maximum of six hours of these outside-department courses or transfer credits can be counted toward the major; a maximum of three of those six hours may come from online courses. If a student completes 35 or more hours in the major, then a maximum of nine hours of these outside-department courses or transfer credits can be counted towards the major. AP or IB credit may be accepted for PSY 151, but other high school courses, dual enrollment courses, or community college courses taken after enrollment at Wake Forest are not accepted for transfer credit. The guidelines regarding credit approval for outside-department courses and transfer courses may be modified in rare and special circumstances at the discretion of the Psychology Department Chair or their designate.
Highly qualified majors are encouraged to apply for admission to the honors program. Students who wish to pursue this option should refer to the honors guidelines, available on the Department website, for an overview of requirements and procedures. Upon completion of all requirements, a recommendation of honors at graduation will be made by the department based upon the student’s overall academic record and the quality of the final project.