Psychology, B.A.

Program Learning Outcomes

• Understand the major concepts, theories, and perspectives in psychology;
• Apply psychological theories, concepts, and principles to individual experience as well as to broader social issues and social systems;
• Reflect on personal experience in light of psychological knowledge;
• Recognize and understand the complexity of cultural diversity in light of psychological knowledge;
• Understand and apply basic research methods in psychology and the social sciences; and
• Demonstrate skills that promote behavioral change at the individual, organizational, and community levels.

Degree Requirements

See the “Degree Requirements ” in the University Catalog for complete details on general degree requirements.

General Education Requirements (48 units). 

See the “General Education Program ” requirements in the University Catalog for information on General Education requirements. Some major requirements may double count for GE requirements.

Major Requirements

The Psychology major consists of 40 units in the major, plus a 4-unit course in statistics. Many psychology majors take more than 40 major units, and add a second major or a minor in another discipline. Students are encouraged to work in community internships and to expand their knowledge of diversity issues with coursework within the department and the university.

In addition to statistics, no more than 11 units in the major may be lower-division psychology units. At least 29 units must be upper-division psychology (SSU courses numbered 300 or higher). All courses for the major must be taken for a grade if this is offered, and must be passed with a grade of C or better. A maximum of 8 units may be taken credit / no credit in the major—this includes internships and special studies courses. Psychology GE courses count for the major as well as for GE. (PSY 250 , PSY 302 , and PSY 325 .)

Units

Total: 44

Required Courses for the Major

PSY 250 - Introduction to Psychology , gives students a broad overview of the diverse theories and methods that psychologists use to investigate questions about human behavior and experience. An equivalent course may be taken at other colleges and universities. An AP exam score of 3 or a pass in the CLEP test of introductory psychology meets this course requirement.

MATH 165 - Elementary Applied Statistics , provides the foundation to understand how psychologists and social scientists evaluate the evidence obtained in empirical studies. An equivalent course in Math or Psychology may be taken at other colleges or universities, or ECON 217 , BUS 211 , or MATH 165X , may be used to fill the statistics requirement. Most students use this course to meet the GE Area B4 requirement.

PSY 270 - Psychology of Self-Discovery , develops skills characteristic of healthy, engaged, growth-oriented persons in areas such as mindfulness, emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationships, dreamwork, and self-reflection.

PSY 280 - Research Methods in Psychology , provides foundational knowledge and skills in psychological research methods, data collection and data interpretation. An equivalent course may be taken at other colleges and universities.

Upper-Division Breadth Areas

Students must complete one upper-division course from 4 out of 5 Breadth areas: Holistic, Clinical / Counseling, Developmental, Social / Personality, and Cognitive / Physiological. Courses marked with (Diversity) represent courses that focus on Diversity issues.

Upper-Division Additional Courses

Students must complete a total of 40 units in psychology (11 lower division and 29 upper division). After taking the required 11 lower division units AND one upper division course from 4 out of the 5 Breadth areas (15 to 16 units), students complete the remaining units (13 to 14 units) by taking ANY other upper division psychology courses. A maximum of 8 Credit/No Credit (C/NC) units may count toward the major.)

• PSY 306 - History of Modern Psychology Unit(s): 4
• PSY 311 - Psychology Dialogue Series Unit(s): 1-2
• PSY 313 - Careers in Psychology Unit(s): 2-4
• PSY 399 - Graduate Student-Instructed Course Unit(s): 1-3
• PSY 445 - Advanced Research Design and Analysis Unit(s): 4
• PSY 481 - Research Internship Unit(s): 1-8
• PSY 482 - Teaching Internship Unit(s): 1-8
• PSY 495 - Special Studies Unit(s): 1-4
• PSY 499 - Internship Unit(s): 1-4
• PSY 490 - Psychology Seminar Unit(s): 1-4

Advising

Starting Fall 2018, all psychology students have assigned academic advisors by the students’ last names, in alphabetical order. The name of the psychology student’s assigned advisor is listed under People Soft/Student Center. Students can come for drop-in advising during their assigned advisor’s office hours and attend group-advising sessions before graduation and registration deadlines. For further information, students may consult the SSU advising policy at https://www.sonoma.edu/policies/instructional-faculty-office-hours-and-availability. To make the most of their education, students are encouraged to consult the psychology department website, which has extensive career information and web links to graduate schools and programs.  Students are encouraged to do their own research on graduate programs and course prerequisites.

GE Advising:

The school of Social Science GE academic advisor provides information on GE lower-division course selection.  Check office hours for the GE advisor at: http://web.sonoma.edu/socsci/.

Freshman Advising:

During the first two years at SSU, students take the lower division major requirements: Psy 250, Psy 270, Psy 280 and lower division GE courses.  Students should meet with their assigned psychology academic advisor no later than the second semester of their sophomore year.  Please see the Psychology Department website (www.sonoma.edu/psychology) to identify the department’s academic advisors and their office hours and locations.

Transfer Advising:

Transfer students must attend summer transfer orientation, group advising, and meet with their psychology advisor during their first semester. Please note that Psy 270, Psychology of Self-Discovery is the only required class that must be taken at SSU. We strongly advise students to complete Psy 270 their first semester and no later than their junior year.

Internships

All internships are credit/ no credit. A minimum of 8 credit/ no credit units may count toward the 40 psychology-major units (psych 499).

The Psychology Department strongly recommends community internship experience, particularly for the student going on to counseling clinical/psychology master’s and doctoral degrees.

Each semester students may participate in field placements and internship work experiences in organizations and agencies. These internships involve on-the-job training by the agency as well as academic work under the supervision of the psychology Internship coordinator, Dr. Mary Schinder. This experience forms an important base for academic credit and helps students to obtain a range of learning experiences not otherwise found in the department. Students must begin the internship process the semester prior to starting their actual internship.  This includes: attending an internship informational meeting, obtaining a PSY 499 syllabus, setting up internship placement, completing an internship agreement form and providing the agency supervisor with our supervision information letter. See internships updates on our Internships webpage http://web.sonoma.edu/psychology/internships/. Students planning on graduate work in clinical or counseling psychology are encouraged to gain internship experience well before applying to graduate school.

Check the psychology department for updates on Teaching Assistantships.

Research and Teaching Internships

The Psychology Department strongly recommends research assistant for those students going on to graduate work in psychology at the master’s or doctoral levels. Many university graduate programs require students to have experience in conducting psychological research, as well as in analyzing data and writing up the results. In order to find out more about these research opportunities, students should consult with individual faculty members who are mentoring students in faculty research projects.

Some Psychology Department instructors offer teaching internships to advanced students who have taken and excelled in a course. Duties include working with the classroom instructor in class preparation and classroom tasks, and facilitating small group work. Teaching Assistants register for Psy 482, Teaching  Internship (C/NC).

Check the psychology department for updates on Teaching Assistantships.

Program Road Maps