Psychology Minor

The Psychology Minor is designed to address the following standards established by the American Psychological Association for an undergraduate education in psychology:

1. Knowledge Base in Psychology: Students should demonstrate fundamental knowledge and comprehension of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and empirical findings to discuss how psychological principles apply to behavioral problems.
2. Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking: The skills in this domain involve the development of scientific reasoning and problem solving, including effective research methods.
3. Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World: The skills in this domain involve the development of ethically and socially responsible behaviors for professional and personal settings in a landscape that involves increasing diversity.

• Fully equipped psychological research labs (most located in Park Hall and Hochstetter Hall) allow faculty and students to conduct a wide variety of experiments utilizing cognitive, affective, behavioral, neurological and psychophysiological measurements.
• Shared research space is available for research using specialized measures such as electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), and eye-movements.
• Research facilities downtown include the Clinical and Research for Institute on Addictions, and the Center for Translational Research, which has facilities for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
• Conference rooms in Park Hall are used for small group meetings and seminars.
• A computer lab on the 4th floor of Park Hall offers specialized statistical software.
• The James R. Sawusch PhD Psychology Undergraduate Resource Center, in Park Hall 282, is a meeting place and general study area for all students in psychology.

• The department has 25 tenure-track/tenured and 4 full-time teaching faculty members, all of whom teach undergraduate psychology courses
• Faculty specializations include the study of:
• clinical disorders (e.g., depression, addiction)
• developmental challenges (e.g., bullying, social withdrawal)
• the self-concept and self-esteem
• the formation and maintenance of close relationships
• responses to stressful situations and resilience
• infant language acquisition
• auditory perception in humans and non-human animals
• neural systems for learning and motivation
• ingestive behaviors, taste, and feeding

• Faculty conduct research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Faculty members serve as editors for leading journals and as officers in professional organizations
• Core faculty teach the majority of undergraduate courses. Approximately one-third of undergraduate courses are taught by highly qualified adjunct faculty or graduate instructors

A Psychology Minor enhances career choices in many other fields (e.g., biological sciences, biomedical sciences, business administration, computer science, engineering, exercise science, nursing), but is not the best track to a career in the psychological sciences or graduate studies in psychology. Students who wish to pursue those options should consider the Psychology BA or Psychology BS degree.