Psychological Statistics
and Experimental Design (a 1 credit lab course)
Six advanced (200
or 300 level) courses drawn across 3 different divisions
of Psychology (Cognitive, Biological, Complex Human
Behavior)
Two of the advanced
courses must be taken with their associated half-credit
lab courses (offered concurrently)
Two semesters of
senior research-- the Fall semester senior thesis course
has a seminar component
Details of the major:
The Psychology major contains a breadth requirement,
a general research requirement, a discipline-specific research
requirement, and a senior project, as described below:
Breadth requirement: Because Psychology is a broad
discipline, the major requires that you become exposed to
the variety of perspectives that comprise modern psychological
inquiry. All students take our introductory course, Foundations of Psychology.
Students take 6 advanced courses, at least one
from each of the following three areas (the remaining
courses may be from any area):
Biological (e.g., Biological Psychology;
Biopsychology of Emotions and Personality, Primate Origins
of Society, etc.)
Cognitive (e.g., Memory and Cognition, Psychology
of Language, etc.)
Complex Human Behavior (e.g., Social Psychology,
Biopsychology of Emotions and
Personality [note that this course can be either Biological
or CHB], etc.)
All advanced courses offered in Bryn Mawr's
Psychology Department satisfy the advanced course requirement;
however, not all of them fit into the above designated areas. See
the course catalog for a breakdown of BMC courses by area.
Research requirement: The research requirement
of the major has two primary goals. One goal is to train students
to think scientifically about psychological questions and
to understand the general empirical approach to the discipline. The
other goal is for you to understand the nuts and bolts of
how psychologists in specific areas of psychology address
particular questions about behavior. Thus, you will obtain
hands-on training in conducting original research in Psychology.
General Research Training: Students
take one semester of Psychological Statistics and Experimental
Design, a course that has a lab component (Psychology 200). In
this course, students will learn the principles of statistics
coupled with the principles of experimental design.
In lab sessions, students put the statistical techniques
that they learn during lectures into practice by designing
and carrying out several different kinds of data collection
and analyses during the semester. This course is equivalent
to Psychology 205 at Bryn Mawr; either Psych 200 or BMC
Psych 205 will be offered in each semester. Either of these
courses is a prerequisite for the following lab course requirement:
Discipline-Specific Research Training:
Lab courses: Of the 6 advanced courses
taken toward the major, two must be taken with the ½
credit lab courses associated with them. Since Psychology
200 is a prerequisite for these lab courses, students
will not need to be taught how to design studies in these
courses and can instead focus on discipline-specific lab
work. For example, Psychology 224 (Social Psychology)
is often taught with a half-credit lab course associated
with it, Psychology 324 (Laboratory in Social Psychology). Students
enrolling in this course will have taken Psychology 200
previously, so they can begin their lab work in this course
without having to re-learn the basics of doing research. Specific
research techniques that they will need to learn to do
research in this area will be taught in Psych 324 itself. Students
can still take Psychology 224 without the lab if they
wish, but majors will need to take 2 courses with their
associated labs to complete the major.
Senior Research: By the time Psych
majors reach the senior year, they will have completed
Psych 200 and preferably both of their lab course requirements.
Therefore, students are well prepared to carry out their
senior research requirement, a year-long original empirical
project. Students are involved in all phases of the research
process, from formulating the questions, the study's design
and the manipulations or measures, collecting, analyzing,
and interpreting the data, and presenting the research
both orally and in writing.
Five courses beyond the introductory level, with at least
one drawn from two of the following areas: biological psychology,
cognitive psychology, complex human behavior (personality
and social psychology).
Over the past several decades, the interdisciplinary
field of neuroscience has emerged at the interface of psychology
and biology. Broadly speaking, neuroscience encompasses the
study of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system
and its control of sensation, movement, thought, emotion and
behavior in a variety of species. The Neural and Behavioral
Sciences (NBS) concentration is intended for students who
wish to focus their studies in the area of neuroscience. The
concentration is open to students majoring in biology or psychology
at either Haverford or Bryn Mawr. Students who choose the
concentration must fulfill all requirements for the major
department (biology or psychology) as well as taking additional
courses with a neuroscience focus in biology and psychology.
For the past decade, the college's Concentration
in Education has been a popular adjunct to the major program.
Psychology is now one of the largest majors among Education
concentrators, and a large proportion of our students in psychology
use an education course as one of their four optional courses.
Some of our students obtain advanced degrees in educational
psychology or in school psychology, and others teach for a
time after completing their Haverford degree.
The bi-college concentration in feminist and
gender studies involves the interdisciplinary study of women
and gender. Students choose five courses from an approved
list of departmental courses and enroll in a junior level
seminar, General Programs 290, Interdisciplinary Perspectives
on Gender. Psychology majors who choose this concentration
use courses in personality, adolescence and the psychology
of women to fulfill the requirements.
