It is recommended that students who are considering Psychology as a major take PSY 151 in their first year.
In order to declare a Psychology major, a student must have completed at least one Psychology course for a grade at Wake Forest (excluding PSY 100), 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 at least 13.5 hours of electives, as well as the following required courses (with the exception of PSY 151, these required courses must be taken at Wake Forest):
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PSY 151 | Introductory Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 311 | Research Methods I | 4 |
| PSY 312 | Research Methods II | 4 |
| PSY 392 | Contemporary Issues in Psychology | 1.5 |
| Select at least one course from each of the following groups: | ||
Students must take at least one Psychology course in addition to PSY 151 (or AP or IB Psychology) before taking PSY 311. No more than 3 hours of Directed Study (PSY 280) may be counted toward the 32 hours required for the major, and a maximum of 5 hours of PSY 280 may be counted toward the graduation requirement of 120 hours. A maximum of 3 hours of internship credit can be taken. No more than 50 hours in Psychology may be counted toward the graduation requirement of 120 hours.
Courses that are taught by another department at Wake Forest and can be counted toward the 32 hours required for the major are BEM 211, EDU 311, HES 312, and LIN 330. However, a student may not take both BEM 211 and PSY 268 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.
Group A
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PSY 320 | Physiological Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 326 | Learning Theory and Research | 3 |
| PSY 329 | Perception | 3 |
| PSY 331 | Research in Cognitive Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 333 | Motivation of Behavior | 3 |
| PSY 338 | Emotion | 3 |
Group B
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| PSY 341 | Research in Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 351 | Personality Research | 3 |
| PSY 355 | Research in Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 362 | Psychological Testing | 3 |
| PSY 374 | Research in Judgment and Decision Making | 3 |
Highly qualified majors are invited by the department to participate in the honors program in psychology. Students must take PSY 311 no later than fall of the junior year in order to be considered for the honors program. To be graduated with the designation “Honors in Psychology,” the student must:
- complete satisfactorily a special sequence of courses (PSY 381, PSY 383)
- pass an oral or written examination
- earn an overall GPA of 3.2 with an average of 3.5 on work in psychology
In addition, the honors student normally has a non-credit research apprenticeship with a faculty member. For more detailed information, members of the departmental faculty should be consulted. (Students satisfactorily completing PSY 383 are not required to complete PSY 392.)