ADVANCED PLACEMENT IN PSYCHOLOGY AND STATISTICS

Entering students who have taken the Advanced Placement Exam in Psychology may be eligible for advanced standing in the psychology major. Students who have received a 5 on the psychology AP exam will receive credit for the Introduction to Psychology course and can complete the major with the eight other required courses or three other required courses for the minor. Students who receive a 4 on the AP exam are exempt from taking the Introduction to Psychology course but must substitute another psychology course to fulfill the requirements of the major or minor.

Entering students who have taken the Advanced Placement Exam in Statistics may also be eligible for a modification of the standard psychology major. Students who have received a 5 on the statistics AP exam will receive credit for the Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Science course. Students who receive a 4 on the statistics AP exam are exempt from taking the Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Science course but must substitute another psychology course to fulfill the requirements of the major.

In addition, selected courses in other departments can be counted toward the major or minor. A list is available from the Department of Psychology’s Office of Academic Affairs.

MAJOR

Nine 4-point courses constitute the requirements for the major. The courses are Introduction to Psychology, V89.0001; Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Sciences, V89.0009; two courses from Core A (psychology as a natural science); two courses from Core B (psychology as a social science); one laboratory course from Core C; and two advanced electives. In order to declare a major or minor in psychology, a grade of C or better must be earned in Introductory Psychology, V89.0001. Credit toward the major is not given for courses in the major completed with a grade of less than C.

The curriculum involves a variety of possible sequences of courses that proceed from introductory to advanced. It is best that Introduction to Psychology be taken first, preferably in the freshman year. Statistics should be taken next as it lays the methodological groundwork for the research to be discussed in the core courses. Statistics must be among the first four psychology courses taken. Core A and B courses of greatest interest to the student should be taken early as preparation for the relevant Core C laboratory course and advanced electives that follow. For instance, if a student expects to do graduate work in the area of perception, then the Core A course Perception should be taken in the sophomore year, so that Laboratory in Perception and Advanced Seminar in Perception can be taken later.

In general, it is advisable that students complete their Core C laboratory course requirement before taking advanced courses, preferably by the spring of the junior year.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Students interested in graduate training in psychology should become involved in research. Research Methods and Experience, V89.0999, offers students the opportunity to participate in faculty research, providing students with a supervised research experience as well as training in research presentation and criticism. This course is of great assistance to students in deciding about career directions and, because of the direct contact with faculty involved, can result in a letter of recommendation that graduate schools are likely to take very seriously.

Students who are particularly interested in graduate work in clinical psychology are encouraged to include Personality, V89.0030; Laboratory in Clinical Research, V89.0043; and Abnormal Psychology, V89.0051 (formerly V89.0035), among their selections. Developmental Psychology, V89.0034, is also an appropriate choice. The department provides special advisement for students interested in graduate work in clinical areas of psychology and related fields. Contact the undergraduate program office for details.

 If the student plans to pursue a research career (particularly in Core A areas), in addition to the relevant courses in the major, courses in mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, and computer science will be most useful. If a career in business-organizational psychology is the goal, then in addition to Social Psychology (V89.0032), Industrial and Organizational Psychology (V89.0062), and Laboratory in Organizational Psychology (V89.0038), courses in economics, sociology, and mathematics will be most useful.

MINOR

Four 4-point courses including Introduction to Psychology constitute the requirements for the minor. The courses are Introduction to Psychology,V89.0001; one course from Core A; one course from Core B; and one advanced elective. In order to declare a minor in psychology, students must have earned a grade of C or better in Introduction to Psychology, V89.0001. Credit toward the minor is not given for courses completed with a grade of less than C.

SPECIAL MAJOR: LANGUAGE AND MIND

This major, intended as an introduction to cognitive science, is administered by the Departments of Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology. Eleven courses are required (four in linguistics, one in philosophy, five in psychology, and one additional course), to be constituted as follows.

The linguistics component consists of Grammatical Analysis, V61.0013; Language and Mind, V61.0028; and two more courses chosen from Form, Meaning, and the Mind, V61.0031; Propositional Attitudes, V61.0035; Computational Principles of Sentence Construction, V61.0024; Phonological Analysis, V61.0012; Introduction to Semantics, V61.0004; Psycholinguistics, V61.0005; and Linguistics as Cognitive Science, V61.0048.

The philosophy component consists of one course, chosen from Minds and Machines, V83.0015; Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and Logic, V83.0070.

The required psychology component consists of four courses: Introduction to Psychology, V89.0001; Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral Sciences, V89.0009; Cognition, V89.0029; and either The Psychology of Language, V89.0056 or Neural Bases of Language, V89.0300; and in addition, one course, chosen from Seminar in Thinking, V89.0026; Language Acquisition and Cognitive Development, V89.0300; Laboratory in Human Cognition, V89.0028; and either The Psychology of Language, V89.0056 (if V89.0300 was taken as a required course) or Neural Bases of Language, V89.0300 (if V89.0056 was taken as a required course).

The eleventh course will be one of the above-listed courses that has not already been chosen to satisfy the departmental components.

For more information, contact Professor McElree.

HONORS PROGRAM

The aim of the honors program is to provide students with a strong record in the major an opportunity to engage in closely supervised but independent research and scholarship.

This program both prepares students for graduate-level work in psychology or related professional fields such as business, law, or medicine and provides them with experiences and skills that may be helpful in reaching their career objectives. Students must apply for admission to the honors program in the sophomore or junior year, with occasional exceptions for late transfer students. Admission is based on grades and the ability to benefit from a program that emphasizes seminars in current research issues and independent work. Honors students take the Honors Seminar sequence in either their junior or senior year: Honors Seminar I in the fall, and Honors Seminar II in the spring. An honors research thesis, usually based on an expansion of a research project and serving as evidence of individual thought and creativity, is submitted for faculty approval near the end of the junior or senior year. Details and application forms (the deadline is normally April 15) are available from the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Science, New York University, 6 Washington Place, Room 158, New York, NY 10003-6634. For Latin honors requirements, please see under Honors and Awards.