What is Psychology?

The discipline of Psychology encompasses a large and diverse area of study that is empirical, theoretical, and practical. As the science concerned with the understanding of behavior and the mind, psychology includes such areas as the biological bases of behavior; brain-behavior interactions; cognitive neuroscience; learning, memory, cognition, motivation, emotion, sensation and perception; the study of social interactions, persuasion, and attitudes; aging and development; personality; clinical, abnormal, and health psychology; and leisure and work experiences. A common aspect of all the sub-disciplines is the emphasis on research and the development and expansion of knowledge concerning behavior and the mind.

Why Study Psychology?

Issues to be Understood and the Tools for Their Understanding
Behavior is ubiquitous—one might say we are what we do. As the science of behavior, then, psychology’s goal is to understand the experiential, social, biological, cognitive, and developmental factors of behavior to know why we do what we do, what influences our actions and thoughts, and how to modify our behavior. Psychology is a multi-purpose discipline that has relevance for those considering careers in law, medicine, health professions, education, and business. It provides the tools needed to evaluate information critically, consider alternative hypotheses, derive the information that will be needed to distinguish among alternative possibilities, and write proficiently. Psychology provides the content and tools necessary for understanding ourselves and those who are different from us. 

Psychology and Your Career

Directly Related and Other, Service-Related Careers
Students planning to pursue careers in the field will undertake graduate study in order to obtain an advanced degree (i.e., M.A., Ph.D. or PsyD.). They may take positions as teachers and researchers with universities or government, private, and corporate institutions. Others pursue careers in private practice or in hospitals.

For those not pursuing graduate degrees in psychology, many go on for advanced training in closely related areas such as social work and all health-related fields, including medicine, physical/occupational/recreational therapy, and nursing.  Others pursue graduate study in related areas, such as the neurosciences.

Professional Careers
Psychological study has obvious relevance for the vast array of careers involving interaction with people. You may work with organizations such as philanthropic groups, hospitals, or businesses, or pursue the field of education. Many preprofessional students major in psychology as a foundation for graduate school in business administration (e.g., M.B.A.) or for the study of law, or medicine.

Psychology at Washington University

Teachers, Researchers, and Professionals
Our Psychology faculty members are active teachers, researchers, and professionals. They are committed to the education and development of their students as exemplified by many having won teaching and mentoring awards from the University. Our faculty members are actively engaged in research that spans a range of interests, involving human and non-human animals; children, young adults, older adults; and normal and special populations.

The faculty includes leaders in the field who have won numerous awards and recognition for their research and who serve on:

• review committees for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health
• editorial boards of major journals
• boards or executive committees of scientific societies such as the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
• boards of local and national professional organizations and governmental agencies

The Major
The major in Psychology requires a minimum of 28 units, at least 22 of which must be at the advanced level. Included in the requirements are the following:

• Introduction to Psychology
• Psychological Statistics
• Experimental Psychology laboratory course
• At least one class chosen from each of three distribution areas:
• Behavior, Brain, & Cognition
• Personality/Abnormal
• Social/Developmental

To Begin With…

• The department offers a special one-unit freshman seminar (Psych 102) as a companion to the Introduction to Psychology course, and
• a one-unit research seminar (Psych 109) at which different faculty members discuss their research and in which information about courses and opportunities in the department are provided.
• Mind-Brain-Behavior:  The Psychology Department is an integral component of the Mind-Brain-Behavior program, a two-year sequence of classes and research.  The first semester is taught by a team of psychologists, including a cognitive psychologist and a neuroscientist.  The second semester is taught by a member of the Philosophy Department.  Year 2 is coordinated by a member of the Psychology faculty, during which the student is involved in a research project.

Supplemental Concentrations
Psychology majors also have the option of pursuing a Supplemental Concentration that allows them to engage more intensively with a specific area within the discipline. Concentrations entail 9 units of coursework over and above the minimum major requirements and include an advanced 400-level class and one semester of research in an appropriate, approved lab or a relevant internship or practicum.  Among the Supplemental Concentrations are: Cognition in Children; Cognitive Neuroscience; Reading, Language, & Language Acquisition; Lifespan Development; Experimental Psychopathology; and Personality and Individual Differences.

Independent Research Opportunities
Because of the importance of research in advancing psychological knowledge, there are numerous and varied opportunities for you to become involved in psychological research conducted within the Department of Psychology and affiliated programs. The research opportunities permit you to become deeply involved in on-going psychological research.

The undergraduate research experience exposes you to various aspects of empirical research and the functions of a psychology laboratory, provides you with the opportunity to practice and refine research skills, gives you a deeper and fuller understanding of a particular topic or field of psychological inquiry, and trains you to be prepared for and effective in pursuing graduate study and contributing to the scientific discipline.

Honors Program
The Honors Program in Psychology is a two-semester program undertaken during your senior year that provides those students who have achieved a superior academic record with an opportunity to conduct and complete a comprehensive empirical investigation under the direction of a faculty member. You will participate in all aspects of the planned investigation, including developing the research question, designing the appropriate methodology, collecting and analyzing data, and completing the written thesis.

The thesis provides a comprehensive report of your Honors project including a critical review of the literature, a description of methods and results, and a discussion of the theoretical importance of the findings. In addition, you will present your findings at the Honors Poster Symposium.

Internships
Internships are designed to provide you with the opportunity to apply psychological principles in nonacademic settings, such as social service agencies, business, and industry. Students pursue an internship for several reasons, including the rewards of helping others, development of preprofessional skills, and exploration of career interests and goals. The Psychology Department maintains an updated list of approved internship sites from which you may choose. Opportunities exist in agencies that provide criminal and offender services, supportive treatment for individuals with mental illness, services to the elderly and chronically ill, support for abused children, services to developmentally disabled adults and children, and emergency services.

Practicum
The Practicum in Applied Behavior Analysis offers an opportunity for you to be trained in applied-behavior-analytic techniques and to work with a child with autism/pervasive developmental disorder. The practicum may be of benefit if you are considering a career in an applied setting or in any number of health-related areas. It may be valuable for those considering graduate training in clinical psychology, social work, speech, occupational or physical therapy, or a career in education. A special reason to pursue the practicum is the satisfaction you gain from helping a family and bettering the life of a child. In addition, the knowledge and skills learned should serve you well. You will see how principles of learning derived from laboratory research are applied, and you will learn valuable teaching and therapeutic techniques.

Study Abroad
As a Psychology major, you have the opportunity to study for a semester in your junior year at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia; the University of Haifa in Israel; or Exeter University or the University of Sussex in England. In the psychology study abroad program, you will enroll in select psychology classes as well as a course directly related to the country in which you are studying, undertake a research mentorship, and be part of a special seminar.

Psi Chi
Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purpose of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining scholarship in and advancing the science of psychology. Membership is open to undergraduates who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who meet the minimum qualifications.

Awards and Recognition
The Psychology Department sponsors two awards to undergraduates in recognition of outstanding scholarly and scientific research achievement, each of which carries a cash prize:

• Hyman Meltzer Memorial Award — recognizes an undergraduate Psychology major who has demonstrated a significant commitment to serving others.
• John A. Stern/Hoopes Undergraduate Research Award — recognizes an undergraduate psychology major who has compiled an outstanding record of achievement in research.

Each year, the department conducts the UR-PSYmposium, the Undergraduate Research Symposium in Psychology, at which selected undergraduates are recognized for their research and at which they present their work at a formal research colloquium.

The Minor
You may want to pursue a minor in Psychology in addition to another area of study. The minor in Psychology requires 15 units of graded course work, including the 3-unit Introduction to Psychology class. The 12 units in addition to the introductory class must be at the advanced level.

For additional information, contact:
Ms. Sharon Corcoran, Undergraduate Coordinator
Department of Psychology
Washington University
Campus Box 1125
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
Phone: (314) 935-5169
Fax: (314) 935-7588
Email: sharoncorcoran@wustl.edu
Website: http://psychweb.wustl.edu