Undergraduate Program in Psychology

Our department offers a bachelor's degree with flexible requirements that allow you to develop a course of study that reflects your interests and abilities. Our graduates are well prepared to enter the workforce in a variety of careers or pursue advanced studies.

The program provides students with a solid experimental background – an essential foundation for further postgraduate study and training in all areas of psychology and related fields. Our undergraduate students have the opportunity to become involved in ongoing research with faculty and are strongly encouraged to do so.

We also offer an undergraduate psychology major track in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) that prepares students interested in children's services for graduate school and careers in human services, specifically clinical psychology, education and speech, research and public policy.

Declaring psychology as your major

If you're interested in declaring a major in psychology (or psychology: ABA), we encourage you to do so by the end of your sophomore year. Transfer students intending to major in psychology should contact the Psychology Department's academic advisor at 607-777-4100 when you arrive on campus, or if possible, before your arrival.

To become a psychology major (or psychology: ABA major), you must meet with the Psychology Department's academic adviser (Advising Office, S4-230A). At this meeting, you will:

complete a Psychology Major Requirements checklist
complete a Declaration of Major form

Information on graduate training and careers

For information about careers, research, etc., you are encouraged to see the academic adviser and attend the Psi Chi International Honor Society events held each year such as the Research Fair and Clinical Psych Night.
To download Powerpoint slides from Dr. Lisman's Fall, 2011 presentation on Graduate School in Clinical Psychology click here.
For information on the Binghamton chapter of Psi Chi, e-mail Arielle Kahn at akahn1@binghamton.edu.

Undergraduate degree requirements

The BA in Psychology requires 58 hours, composed of 14 or 15 four-credit lecture or seminar courses (depending on options) plus one two-credit laboratory course.

all courses must have a grade of C- or better
psychology courses may only be repeated one time
pass/fail grading is not encouraged
only one course from science and math electives for the major may be taken pass/fail
if necessary, students may take four credits from PSYC 392 / 397 / 490 / 492 / 493 / 494 / 499 pass/fail; no other psychology courses for the major can be taken pass/fail

Three core courses (12 credits -- all three are required):

PSYC 111 - General Psychology
PSYC 243 - Statistical Analysis and Design (Prerequisite: PSYC 111)
PSYC 344 - Research Methods in Psychology (Prerequisite: PSYC 243)

Three experimental courses from this list (12 credits):
(prerequisite or corequisite: PSYC 243)

PSYC 351 - Perception
PSYC 356 - Learning
PSYC 358 - Cognition
PSYC 360 - Psychotherapy:Models and Methods (prerequisite: PSYC 223)
PSYC 362 - Physiological Psychology
PSYC 385 - Psychological Tests

One corresponding laboratory course from this list (2 credits):
(prerequisite: PSYC 344; pre/corequisite:corresponding experimental course)

PSYC 352 - Laboratory in Perception
PSYC 357 - Laboratory in Learning
PSYC 359 - Laboratory in Cognition
PSYC 386 - Laboratory in Psychological Tests

400-level courses (8 or 12 credits; see below):

There are two options to fulfill this requirement.

Option 1: These courses must be taken from two different faculty members and can include PSYC 406/465/470/473/475/476/477.
Option 2: Two courses (8 credits) of independent research (PSYC 392/397/490/492/493/494/499) may substitute for one of the 400-level courses. These two independent research courses may be taken with the same faculty member.

Six courses in science and mathematics electives (24 credits):

Only two of these courses can be in psychology. PSYC 391 does not count. Only four credits of independent research (PSYC 392/397/490/492/493/494/499) may be used as an elective.

Science and mathematics courses outside of psychology must meet the all-college science requirements and cannot include independent study, supervised teaching or internships. At least two courses (8 credits) of the science and math electives outside psychology must be taken from the same department.

Math 147, 107 and 108 do not count toward science and math electives.

For more information

Read through the advising resources available on this site and if you still have questions on requirements, DARS, courses, etc., we encourage you to see the academic adviser or one of the peer advisers.