Department of Psychology

Chairperson: Professor Foos; Professors: Calhoun, Cann, Goolkasian, Grimsley, Maisto, Selby, Simono, Terry, Toner, Windholz; Professor Emeritus: Diamant; Lamal; Associate Professors: Buch, Cook, Fernald, Gilmore, Harver, Kaplan, Lee, Long, Siegfried, Sohn, Stanley-Hagan Tedeschi, Van Wallendael; Assistant Professors: Gaultney, McAnulty

Psychology is the study of behavior. Psychologists are interested in discovering new knowledge about human and animal behavior and in applying that knowledge. Some of the questions psychology considers are:

Psychology is a young and a dynamic science and profession. Most of what we know has been learned in this century. Much is left to be learned by the psychologists of the future.

The Psychology Department offers an undergraduate major and a minor in psychology, and a Master of Arts degree. The primary objective of the undergraduate program is to provide a solid background in the fundamentals of psychology as a science. Graduates of the program should be prepared for a variety of careers or for graduate study.

Although many careers in psychology require an advanced degree, opportunities for individuals with a bachelor's degree in psychology include serving as a teacher or psychological assistant in social service agencies, mental health centers, child care centers, centers for the retarded or the emotionally disturbed, and juvenile delinquent or predelinquent homes. Students whose interests are more laboratory- oriented might become laboratory technicians or research assistants. Also, psychology majors find their skills useful in various areas of business, such as management, advertising, personnel, public relations and sales.

Graduate school is a possibility after the student completes the B.A. or the B.S. degree. For a psychologist with a master's degree or doctorate, the career opportunities grow. (See The Graduate School section in this Catalog for information on the M.A. program.) In addition, many psychology graduates broaden their skills by attending graduate schools in the areas of business, counseling, criminal justice, education and law.

BACHELOR OF ARTS

A major in Psychology leading to the B.A. degree consists of 29 hours of psychology. These hours must include General Psychology (1101 and 1101L), Research Methodology (2102), History and Systems (3103), a senior seminar (3612, 3613, 3619, 3625, 3630, 3650, 3655, or 3670) and two courses from each of the following lists:

Experimental Options

Developmental/Social/Applied Options
The additional courses necessary to fulfill the 29-hour requirement of the major should be selected to aid the student in the attainment of personal goals. However, the student cannot include more than three hours credit in PSYC 3405 and three hours credit in PSYC 3806 in the 29-hour requirement of the major, nor will the student be allowed to take more than eight hours in PSYC 3405 or PSYC 3806.

Other specific course requirements for majors are STAT 1222 (Elements of Statistics) and six hours of coursework approved for Goal VI (Understanding the Individual, Society, and Culture) exclusive of psychology courses. All majors must satisfy the University general education requirements or specific requirements for the B.A. degree. For more information on requirements, see General Education Requirements for all Baccalaureate Degrees.

Related Work. Students who major in Psychology are expected to be exposed to a depth of knowledge in at least one domain outside of Psychology through their completion of the Related Work requirement. Related Work should be considered in terms of the fulfillment of individual educational and vocational aspirations. Completion of a minor or a second major is the recommended way to satisfy this requirement. The student may also satisfy the Related Work requirement by completing at least 15 semester hours of courses from any one department outside of the Department of Psychology. Students who receive teacher certification may use 15 semester hours of courses in the formal education sequences as Related Work. A GPA of 2.0 must be achieved for the set of courses used as Related Work. Courses used to fulfill this requirement cannot be used to satisfy other departmental or general university requirements with the exception of Writing Intensive (within Goal I) and Values (Goal III).

Course Sequences Within the Major. The Psychology Department offers course sequences designed to provide a more in-depth exposure to certain areas of psychology. Sequences are currently available in Behavior Modification, Child Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Industrial Psychology and Psycho-metrics. Detailed information about these sequences is contained in the Psychology Department Student Handbook which is available in the Psychology Office.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology requires 120 semester hours as follows: Major Requirements: 38 hours 
Core:  14 hours
PSYC 1101   General Psychology (with lab) (4)
PSYC 2102.  Research Methodology (4)
PSYC 3103.  History and Systems of Psychology (3)
PSYC 36XX.  Senior Seminar (3)
Developmental/Assessment Psychology: 6 hours Two of the following courses, including at least one at the 3000- level or higher: 
PSYC 2109.  Educational Psychology (3)
PSYC 2120.  Child Psychology (3)
PSYC 2121.  Adolescent Psychology (3)
PSYC 3122.  Cognitive & Language Development (3)
PSYC 3123.  Social and Personality Development (3)
PSYC 2124.  Adult Development & Aging (3)
PSYC 3140.  Psychological Assessment (3)
PSYC 4140.  Tests & Measurements (3)
PSYC 5152.  Exceptional Children (3)
PSYC 5153.  Mental Retardation (3)
Clinical/Industrial Psychology: 6 hours Two of the following courses, including at least one at the 3000- level or higher: 
PSYC 2150.  Adjustment (3)
PSYC 2171.  Industrial/Organizational (3)
PSYC 3135.  Personality (3)
PSYC 3150.  Clinical Processes. (3)
PSYC 3151.  Abnormal Psychology (3)
PSYC 3152.  Child Psychopathology (3)
PSYC 3155.  Community Psychology (3)
PSYC 3172.  Personnel Psychology (3)
PSYC 3173.  Training Programs (3)
General/Experimental Psychology: 6 hours Two of the following courses, including at least one at the 300- level or higher: 
PSYC 2112.  Behavior Modification (3)
PSYC 3110.  Comparative Psychology (3)
PSYC 3111.  Learning (3)
PSYC 3112.  Behavior Control (3)
PSYC 3113.  Physiological Psychology (3)
PSYC 3114.  Motivation (3)
PSYC 3115.  Sensation & Perception (3)
PSYC 3116.  Cognitive Psychology (3)
PSYC 3117.  Hereditary Behavior (3)
PSYC 3130.  Social Psychology (3)
Psychology Elective: 3 hours

STAT 1222. Elements of Statistics I (SBS) (3)

Reasoning and Natural Science Requirements: 18-23 hours 

1.  Reasoning and Natural Science (21 hours)

Two courses selected from: (6 hours)
PHIL 1105.  Critical Thinking
PHIL 2105.  Deductive Logic
PHIL 3135.  Advanced Logic
PHYS 1101.  Introductory Physics
Any CSCI
Any MATH above 1105
Any OPRS
Any STAT above 1222

One of the following biology sequences with labs: 
(8 hours)

BIOL 1110/1110L-1115/1115L. Principles of Biology
BIOL 1273/1273L-1274/1274L. Human Anatomy and
  Physiology
BIOL 1222/1222L-1233/1233L. Plant Biology/Animal
  Biology

One CHEM course with lab (4 hours)
One additional course in either BIOL or CHEM (3 hours)

  OR

2.  Completion of one of the following minors:
    Biology (18 hours)
    Chemistry (23 hours)
    Computer Science (18 hours)
    Mathematics (20 hours)
General Education Requirements: 26-32 hours Students will complete an additional 26-32 hours to satisfy the Goals of UNC Charlotte Education not met by requirements for the major or the Reasoning and Natural Science Requirement.

Unrestricted Electives: 27-38 hours

PSYCHOLOGY MINOR

A minor in psychology consists of 19 semester hours of psychology to include PSYC 1101, 1101L and a minimum of one course from both the experimental options group and the developmental/social/applied group. A minimum of six hours of coursework at the 3000 level or above is required. No more than three semester hours of PSYC 3806 may be counted toward the minor and PSYC 3405 may not be used for the minor.

Consult the Department of Psychology for a Suggested Schedule to complete the B.A. or B.S. degree with a Major in Psychology.

[COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES]