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INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAJOR
Students should be aware that psychology courses are offered in several different departments and programs. Students interested in general psychology including the areas of development, clinical, perception, learning, memory, cognitive processes and neuroscience are advised to consult the course listings for the B.A. in Psychology . The courses in this major are designed to provide students with a strong foundation in general psychology.
NOTE: Students may complete either the B.A. in Psychology, the B.S. in Psychology, or B.S. in Cognitive Sciences. You may not double major within the majors offered by the department. The B.A. in Psychology will be sunset at the end of the 2023-24AY. If you are interested in majoring in psychology, please refer to the B.S. in Psychology or the B.A. in Psychological Science (offerered in the School of Social Ecology) requirements.
REQUIRED COURSEWORK
The Departmental Requirements for the Major are listed below.
If you are following the previously approved major requirements, please refer to your
catalogue year at: http://catalogue.uci.edu/previouseditions/
All students must meet the University Requirements.
All students must meet the School Requirements.
School requirements must be met and must include courses as specified below:
A. Complete the following:
| PSYCH 9A-9B-9C | Psych Fundamentals |
B. Two (2) introductory courses (8 units) in the social sciences selected from:
| ANTHRO 2A | Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology |
| ANTHRO 2B | Introduction to Biological Anthropology |
| ANTHRO 2D | Introduction to Language and Culture |
| ECON 1 | Introduction to Economics |
| LSCI 3 | Introduction to Linguistics |
| POL SCI 11C | Introduction to Political Science: Micropolitics |
| SOC SCI 5A | Introduction to Human Geography |
| SOCIOL 1 | Introduction to Sociology |
| SOCIOL 2 | Globalization |
| SOCIOL 3 | Social Problems |
or one or two quarters of the following when topic is not psychology:
| SOC SCI H1E- H1F- H1G | Honors: Critical Issues on the Social Sciences and Honors: Critical Issues on the Social Sciences and Honors: Critical Issues on the Social Sciences |
C. A one-quarter course and laboratory in experimental psychology or research methods
selected from the following: NOTE: As of Fall 2021, this requirement has been waived
for all BA PSYCH majors. The waiver means that students must replace this requirement
by taking any upper-division psychology (or PSCI) course that is not being used to
fulfill another requirement for the major.
| PSYCH 112A- 112LA | Experimental Psychology (including Lab) |
| PSYCH 112M- 112LM | Research Methods in Psychology (including Lab) |
| PSYCH 112R- 112LR | Cognitive Robotics (including Lab) |
D. Select four upper-division Psychology core courses (16 units). These courses are
designated with an ending number "0" and include the following:
| PSYCH 120A | Abnormal Psychology |
| PSYCH 120D | Developmental Psychology |
| PSYCH 120H | History of Psychology |
| PSYCH 120P | Personality Theories |
| PSYCH 130A | Perception and Sensory Processes |
| PSYCH 140C | Cognitive Science |
| PSYCH 140L | Principles of Learning Theory |
| PSYCH 140M | Human Memory |
| PSYCH 150 | Psychology of Language |
| PSYCH 160A | Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience |
| PSYCH 160D | Brain Disorders and Behavior |
E. Select seven additional courses (four or more units each) with emphasis in psychology,
distributed as follows:
- No more than one of the seven may be lower-division. PSYCH 7A may not be used to fulfill
this requirement.
- Three of the upper-division courses used to satisfy requirements D and E must be taken
from one of the following modules: Psychology 110–119 (Research Methodologies), 120–129
(General Psychology), 130–139 (Perception and Sensory Processes), 140–149 and 150–159
(Learning and Cognition and Language Sciences combined), 160–169 (Cognitive Neuroscience),
and 170–179 (Interdisciplinary Studies).
- Certain courses offered in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Social
Ecology may be used in partial satisfaction of this requirement. A total of three
of these courses (12 units) may be used in this way with a maximum of two from either
of these Schools.
Psychological Science (formerly Psychology and Social Behavior) courses that do not overlap with Psychology courses may be used along with PSCI 193E (same as CRM/LAW C105) and BIO SCI D137, BIO SCI E174, BIO SCI N110, and BIO SCI N159.
- No more than three of the courses (each of four or more units) may be numbered 190–199.
NOTE: Psychology majors are strongly encouraged to take BIO SCI 1A and BIO SCI 35 toward
satisfaction of the science and technology portion of the general education requirement
(category II).
HONORS PROGRAM IN PSYCHOLOGY
The Honors Program in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences is an advanced educational and research program for outstanding undergraduate students in these two majors.
The program emphasizes advanced competence in scientific research, and allows participants the opportunity to pursue advanced work in independent research, in addition to earning honors upon graduation. While the program is designed for students who are interested in pursuing graduate study or seeking challenging research experiences as a capstone to their undergraduate experience, all Psychology and Cognitive Sciences majors who meet the minimum eligibility requirements are welcome to apply.
For more information about the Honors Program, please visit here.
CHANGE OF MAJOR REQUIREMENTS
The BA Psychology major is being discontinued as of Spring 2024, so no change of major requests will be accepted to this major as of Fall 2022.
For a listing of change of major requirements for all majors at UCI, please visit here.
QUESTIONS
For academic advising (e.g., coursework required, change of major requirements), contact the School of Social Sciences' Undergraduate Student Affairs Office at: socsci@uci.edu or (949) 824-6803.
Program Learning Outcomes - B.A. in Psychology
Acquire a broad, multidisciplinary knowledge of psychology
- Describe important questions, results, and theories in each of the following areas: consciousness, development, emotions and motivation, intelligence, language, learning, memory, perception, personality, psychopathology and its treatment, sensation, social cognition and thinking.
- Discuss relations between theories from the areas listed above.
- Summarize examples of how cognition, perception, memory, personality, psychopathology and other aspects of mental function relate to activity in the brain, the rest of the nervous system, and the endocrine system.
Acquire in-depth understanding in four areas of psychology
- In each of four areas or more intensive study, use theories in those areas to predict, evaluate, or interpret behavior in circumstances such as those they might encounter in their work or daily life.
Interpret and evaluate research results
- Evaluate critically and apply to their life and work scientifically-based information available in the media as well as research journals in psychological science.
- Explain how research method and design choices constrain the possible inferences from data.
Appreciate individual differences
- Explain how individual differences in cognitive and perceptual skills, values, and emotions may reflect an individual’s experience and genetics.
- Describe the general tendencies for cognitive and perceptual skills, values, and emotions to change as people mature and then age.
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