Courses of Study 2023-2024 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Psychology
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In the College of Arts and Sciences .
Course Offerings
The major areas of psychology represented in the department are perception and cognition, development, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, and social and personality psychology. These areas are very broadly defined, and the courses are quite diverse, perception and cognition includes courses on cognition, perception, memory, and psycholinguistics; development includes courses on development and developmental processes across the lifespan; cognitive and behavioral neuroscience includes course on animal learning, neuropsychology, interactions between hormones, other biochemical processes, and behavior, and social and personality psychology is represented by courses in social psychology, personality, motivation, social neuroscience, social cognition, social development, moral psychology, and judgment and decision making, as well as courses in clinical fieldwork and psychopathology. In addition to the major areas mentioning above, the department emphasizes the statistical and logical analysis of data and researchable problems.
Website: psychology.cornell.edu
Faculty
M. Christiansen, T. Cleland, T. J. DeVoogd, S. Edelman, D. J. Field, T. D. Gilovich, M. Goldstein, A. Krosch, L. Niemi, A. Ophir, G. Pennycook, D. A. Pizarro, H. Segal, D. Smith, K. Swallow, F. Thoemmes, K. Tschida, V. Zayas
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The Major:
Admission to the major is usually granted to any student in good standing in the College of Arts and Sciences who has passed three or more psychology courses with grades of C+ or better. Provisional admission requires two such courses. To apply to the major and be assigned an advisor, a major application form may be obtained from the Psychology Department website and should be completed and e-mailed to Lisa Proper, lap5@cornell.edu.
Note: In addition to the major requirements outlined below, all students must meet the college graduation requirements .
Requirements for the major are:
- Completing a total of 40 credits in psychology (including prerequisites), from which students majoring in psychology are expected to choose, in consultation with their advisors, a range of courses that covers the basic processes in psychology. Students must earn a grade of C– or better in each course. Courses, except PSYCH 4700 and PSYCH 4710 , must be taken for a letter grade. First-Year Writing Seminars (FWS) or AP courses cannot be counted towards the credit requirements.
- Demonstration of proficiency in statistics before the beginning of the senior year. (See the section below on the statistics requirement .)
- Demonstration of proficiency in research methods or scientific literacy before the beginning of the senior year by passing any of the following courses with a C- or better. (See the section below on the research methods/scientific literacy requirement.)
- Achieving breadth by completing at least one course in three of the following areas of psychology. (See the section below on introductory courses that require few to no prerequisites.)
- Perception and Cognition
- Development
- Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience
- Social and Personality Psychology
5. To ensure depth, students are required to take at least one course from the 3000 level and one course from the 4000 level.
6. Students are encouraged to take Independent Study or field work ( PSYCH 4700 - Undergraduate Research in Psychology and PSYCH 4710 - Advanced Undergraduate Research in Psychology ; research conducted under the supervision of a professor). Up to 12 credits may be counted towards the major. PSYCH 4700 and PSYCH 4710 may be taken S/U.
The following course classifications are intended to help students and their advisors identify introductory courses that require few to no prerequisites:
Perception and Cognition:
Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience:
Social and Personality Psychology:
Note:
With the permission of the advisor, courses in other departments or at other universities (such as through Cornell Abroad) may be accepted toward the major requirements. If the latter, be prepared to produce a syllabus.
Statistics requirement:
Proficiency in statistics can be demonstrated in any one of the several ways listed below.
- Passing PSYCH 2500 .
- Passing an approved course or course sequence in statistics in some other department at Cornell.
- Passing a course or course sequence in statistics at some other college, university, or college-level summer school. The course or sequence must be equivalent to at least 6 semester credits. The description of the course from the college catalog and the title and author of the textbook used must be submitted to Professor Cleland for approval.
- Passing an exemption examination. This examination can be given at virtually any time during the academic year if the student gives notice at least one week before. Students who have completed a theoretical statistics course in a department of mathematics or engineering and who wish to demonstrate competence in applied statistics usually find this option the easiest. Students planning this option should discuss it in advance with Professor Cleland.
Research methods/scientific literacy requirement:
Proficiency in research methods/scientific literacy can be demonstrated by passing (C- or better) in any one of the following courses:
Undergraduate honors program:
The honors program is designed for exceptional students who wish to pursue an intensive and independent psychological research.
The honors program offers students the closest contact and consultation with faculty they will likely experience while at Cornell. Successful participation serves as evidence of the two most important skills required of an academic psychologist: the capacity to integrate theoretical and factual material, and to devise and execute a creative empirical research project. Qualified majors who are planning graduate work in any academic field should consider applying.
The research project is conducted under the close mentorship of a faculty member. Honors students will conduct an empirical study, analyze the data, and interpret the results. Students will produce a professional research report and present their project at an honors poster symposium and an oral defense. Conducting honors research and completing a thesis requires both time and effort. Students should expect to return to campus as early as possible after winter break and remain on campus through spring semester. Students who successfully complete the honors program will graduate with an honors distinction, which will be noted on their diploma. The T. A. Ryan Award is a cash prize given to the student who conducts the best honors project each year.
To join the honors program, students must apply at the beginning of their senior year. Qualified students will have a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the major, a letter of support from a faculty member who has agreed to mentor the project, and a viable research question. Students accepted into the honors program will register for 3 or 4 credits of PSYCH 4710 - Advanced Undergraduate Research in Psychology in both fall and spring semesters. Students with questions regarding the choice of mentors, appropriateness of project, or other program related questions should contact the honors program director(s). Psychology Minor
Students pursuing a Psychology Minor gain an understanding of a range of basic processes in Psychological Science that enable people, animals, as well as machines and forms of artificial intelligence, to make sense of, navigate, and respond to their social and physical environments.
Students in colleges other than the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible to minor in psychology. Admission to the psychology minor is usually granted to any undergraduate who is in good standing and who has passed three or more psychology courses with grades of C+ or better. Provisional admission requires two such courses. Given the high overlap in content, students majoring in either Psychology or in Human Development, or minoring in Human Development, cannot pursue a Psychology Minor.
To apply to the minor and receive an advisor, students should submit a psychology minor application form, which should be completed and e-mailed to Lisa Proper. Successful completion of the minor will be noted on a student’s official transcript.
Requirements to fulfill the minor are:
- Completing a total of 18 credits in psychology. Students must earn a grade of C- or better in each course. Courses except for PSYCH 4700 and PSYCH 4710 must be taken for a letter grade. First-year Writing Seminars (FWS) or AP courses cannot be counted towards the credit requirements.
- Students are encouraged to take independent study or fieldwork (PSYCH 4700 and PSYCH 4710 , research conducted under the supervision of a professor). Up to 6 of these credits may be counted towards the minor. PSYCH 4700 and PSYCH 4710 may be taken S/U.
- Students are encouraged to gain breadth by completing at least one course from three of the following four areas of psychology:
- Perception and Cognition
- Development
- Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience
- Social and Personality Psychology
Cognitive Science Minor
Psychology majors who wish to specialize in understanding the mind, especially action, perception, language, and development, by drawing from psychology, philosophy, linguistics and computer science can elect to puruse a Cognitive Science Minor . Students interested in the Cognitive Science Minor should follow the guidelines of the Cognitive Science Program. Contact Julie Simmons-Lynch, 255-6431 or jes257@cornell.edu.
Moral Psychology Minor
A minor in moral psychology draws students from a variety of majors and provides them with guidance in creating a stimulating academic plan. Moral psychology coursework can be chosen from across disciplines, including philosophy, law, psychology, economics, sociology, along with experiential learning opportunities with community partners to bring the coursework to life. Students will finish the minor prepared to lead the future development of scientifically informed solutions for today’s ethical challenges. The minor is available throughout the university to all undergraduate students.
To apply to the minor, students must submit a minor application form ideally by the beginning of the second semester of their junior year.
Requirements to fulfill the minor are:
- One core course:
- One community engaged course:
- Three additional courses (at least two at the 3 - 4000-level) from the Approved Course List. Courses are to be chosen by student and advisor to provide a coherent program. The following courses provide an example of the kinds of courses that count toward the minor:
Note: For the 2023–2024 academic year, juniors and seniors may “double count” up to two courses they have taken for their major toward the moral psychology minor. In addition it is suggested, but not required, that all students attend at least two moral psychology events within each academic year.
Submit the Moral Psychology minor certification form.
Students are expected to keep track of the courses they have taken toward the minor. When the minimum of 15 credits has been achieved, the Moral Psychology certification form must be submitted to the program manager, Julie Simmons-Lynch (jes257@cornell.edu) for verification. This form is required in order to have the minor designation added to your final transcript.
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