Columbia College Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Psychology is the science that endeavors to achieve the goals of observation, description, understanding, prediction, and control of behavior and psychological processes. Topical areas of inquiry include human development, personality theory, neuroscience, learning, memory and cognition, emotion, sensation and perception, interpersonal relationships, personal adjustment, abnormal behavior, and psychotherapy. Theoretical perspectives most emphasized over the course of studies include Neuroscience, cognitive science, behavioral and social learning theories, humanist-existential, poststructural and psychodynamic theories.

Because scientific knowledge of behavior and psychological processes are important to all fields of study, persons majoring in areas other than psychology should enroll in selected courses of interest. An applied program is designed to prepare those who plan to seek employment in community agencies in either the private or public sector immediately following graduation with a bachelor's degree. The academic studies program prepares students to pursue studies in psychology at the graduate school level in either practical (i.e., clinical, school, counseling) or experimental (i.e., neuroscience, developmental, social, cognitive) specializations. Psychology majors are expected to understand scientific methods, conduct research, write scholarly research reports in APA style, and present their research findings to peers.