Psychology, Minor

Location(s): On Campus

Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. Psychology focuses both on explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior, and also on understanding inner experience and consciousness, including emotion, thoughts, memories, self-awareness, and perceptions. In addition, psychology considers the impact of social and cultural context on behavior and experience. Psychology has its origins in multiple disciplines such as philosophy and biology and in many countries, including Germany, England, and Austria. It has flourished in the United States, and both professional and research organizations have had dramatic increases in membership. The psychology program at Wesleyan emphasizes intensive training in psychological research that will prepare students for graduate study. Students who plan on entering the workforce after graduation will also benefit from an understanding of the role of research in their field.

Minor Requirements: Psychology.

A minor in psychology requires 21-22 hours in psychology.

Required are

PSY 101: General Psychology Credit: 3
PSY 203: Social Psychology Credit: 3
PSY 207: Principles of Neuroscience Credit: 4
PSY 240: Developmental Psychology Credit: 3
PSY 310: Cognitive Psychology Credit: 3
PSY 325: Psychological Disorders Credit: 3 and one additional psychology course (3-4 hours) at or above the 200 level.

Resources for Non-Majors.

The department has many resources for the non-major. The introductory course (PSY 101 ) provides a broad overview to the discipline and would be useful to all other majors on campus. In addition, it fulfills one of the social science divisional requirements for general education. Students interested in exploring the field of human services may enroll in Introduction to Human Services (PSY 106 ), which fulfills the speaking competency requirement for general education under the social sciences column. The Psychology of Gender (PSY 301 ) fulfills the synthesizing requirement for general education. Many students in other disciplines, especially in business, education, and communications, find that Statistical Methods (PSY 220 ) is an invaluable tool, and it fulfills the quantitative reasoning requirement for general education. Nursing students and other non-majors find Developmental Psychology (PSY 240 ) useful and interesting. Some of our courses also appeal to non-majors in terms of practical applications; examples include testing and therapy, abnormal psychology, and forensic psychology.