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INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAJOR
The B.S. in Psychology emphasizes the study of the mind and brain grounded in knowledge of physical and biological sciences. Students in the major are able to choose courses from areas including: (a) Cognitive Psychology – Perception, Memory, Decision Making, Learning, and Consciousness, (b) Language and Developmental Psychology, (c) Clinical Psychology, and (d) Cognitive Neuroscience.
Students interested in other areas of psychology are advised to consult the course listings in the School of Social Ecology and the School of Biological Sciences sections of the UCI Catalogue.
NOTE: Students may complete either the B.S. in Psychology or the B.S. in Cognitive Sciences. You may not double major within the majors offered by the department. For students who double major in the B.S. in Psychology and the B.S. in Biological Sciences, no more than three courses may overlap.
REQUIRED COURSEWORK
The current degree requirements can be found in the UCI Catalogue. For prior catalogue years, please refer to this link: https://catalogue.uci.edu/previouseditions/
All students must meet the University Requirements.
All students must meet the School Requirements.
School requirements must be met and must include courses as specified below:
A. Complete the following:
| PSYCH 10A-10B-10C | Exploratory Data Analysis and Probability and Inference and Statistical Models |
| PSYCH 9A-9B-9C | Psychology Fundamentals and Psychology Fundamentals and Psychology Fundamentals |
B. Complete six courses across three disciplines:
Background Science
| BIO SCI 35 | The Brain and Behavior |
| BIO SCI 36 | Drugs and the Brain |
| BIO SCI 37 | Brain Dysfunction and Repair |
| BIO SCI 38 | Mind, Memory, Amnesia, and the Brain |
| BIO SCI 41 | Aspects of Mood Disorder |
| BIO SCI 47 | Stress |
| BIO SCI 75 | Human Development: Conception to Birth |
| BIO SCI 93 | From DNA to Organisms |
| BIO SCI 94 | From Organisms to Ecosystems |
| CHEM 1A | General Chemistry |
| CHEM 1B | General Chemistry |
| CHEM 1C-1LC | General Chemistry and General Chemistry Laboratory |
| CHEM 51A | Organic Chemistry |
| CHEM 51B-51LB | Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory |
| CHEM 51C-51LC | Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory |
| COGS 14M | MATLAB Programming |
| COGS 14P | Scientific Python for Research |
| COGS 60N | Neurobiology of Cognition |
| COGS 108 | Neural Analytics |
| LPS 30 | Introduction to Symbolic Logic |
| LPS 31 | Introduction to Inductive Logic |
| LPS 40 | The Nature of Scientific Inquiry |
| LPS 60 | The Making of Modern Science |
| MATH 2A-2B | Single-Variable Calculus and Single-Variable Calculus |
| MATH 5A-5B | Calculus for Life Sciences and Calculus for Life Sciences |
| MATH 3A | Introduction to Linear Algebra |
| MATH 3D | Elementary Differential Equations |
| PHYSICS 3A | Basic Physics I |
| PHYSCIS 3B-3LB | Basic Physics II and Basic Physics Laboratory |
| PHYSICS 3C-3LC | Basic Physics II and Basic Physics Laboratory |
| PHYSICS 7C-7LC | Classical Physics and Classical Physics Laboratory |
| PHYSICS 7D-7LD | Classical Physics and Classical Physics Laboratory |
| PHYSICS 7E | Classical Physics |
| PHYSICS 15 | Physics of Music |
| STATS 110 | Statistical Methods for Data Analysis I |
| STATS 111 | Statistical Methods for Data Analysis II |
| STATS 112 | Statistical Methods for Data Analysis III |
C. Select four from the following:
Psychology Core Courses
| PSYCH 120A | Abnormal Psychology |
| PSYCH 120D | Developmental Psychology |
| PSYCH 120H | History of Psychology |
| PSYCH 120P | Personality Theories |
| PSYCH 130A | Perception and Sensory Processes |
| PSYCH 140C | Cognitive Science |
| PSYCH 140J | Judgment and Decision Making |
| PSYCH 140L | Learning and Decision Making |
| PSYCH 140M | Human Memory |
| PSYCH 150 | Psychology of Language |
| PSYCH 160A | Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience |
| PSYCH 160D | Brain Disorders and Behavior |
D. Select three courses from the following modules:1
Psychology Module Courses
| PSYCH 120 to PSYCH 129 (General) |
| PSYCH 130 to PSYCH 139 (Perception and Sensory Processes) |
| PSYCH 140 to PSYCH 149 (Cognition and Learning) |
| PSYCH 150 to PSYCH 159 (Language) |
| PSYCH 160 to PSYCH 169 (Cognitive Neuroscience) |
E. Select three of the following:
Research Methods
| PSYCH 112A and 112LA |
Experimental Psychology and Experimental Psych Lab |
| PSYCH 112BW and 112LB |
Advanced Experimental Psycholgy and Adv Exper Psych Lab |
|
PSYCH 112C |
Research in Experimental Psychology and Res Exper Psych Lab |
| PSYCH 112M and 112LM |
Research Methods in Psychology and Research Methods Lab |
| PSYCH 112N and 112LN |
Introduction to fMRI Research |
| COGS 112P and 112LP |
Research in Perception and Psychophysics and Perception Lab |
| COGS 112R and 112LR |
Cognitive Robotics and Robotics Lab |
F. Select four courses (four or more units each) with emphasis in psychology, distributed
as follows:
- No more than one may be lower-division. PSYC 7A may not be used to fulfill this requirement.
- No more than one of the courses may be numbered 190-199.
- If accepted into the Honors Program, only one course is needed to fulfill this requirement.
1Psychology core courses may be used to fulfill this requirement, but cannot count for both requirements.
HONORS PROGRAM IN PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES
The Honors Program in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences is an advanced educational and research program for outstanding undergraduate students in these majors.
The program emphasizes advanced competence in scientific research, and allows participants
the opportunity to pursue advanced work in independent research, in addition to earning
honors upon graduation.
The program is designed for students who are interested in pursuing graduate study
or seeking challenging research experiences as a capstone to their undergraduate experience.
All Cognitive Sciences and Psychology majors who meet the minimum eligibility requirements
are welcome to apply.
For more information about the Honors Program, please visit here.
CHANGE OF MAJOR REQUIREMENTS
In order to change your major to the B.S. in Psychology, you must meet the following requirements:
| Requirements | Description |
| Cumulative UC GPA | 2.7 GPA 2.0 GPA for the quarter prior to changing major |
| Course grades | Completion of PSYC 9A, PSYC 9C, and three lower-division science courses (from Requirement B) with a GPA of at least 3.0 for those five courses. |
For a listing of change of major requirements for all majors at UCI, please visit here.
QUESTIONS
For academic advising (e.g., coursework required, change of major requirements), contact
the School of Social Sciences' Undergraduate Student Affairs Office. During the academic
year, they offer academic advising through
in-person walk-ins, Zoom drop-ins, and scheduled appointments. To determine which
form of advising is best suited for your needs, please visit their website at: https://www.undergrad.socsci.uci.edu/ssusa/advising.php.
- For quick, general questions, feel free to email the Peer Academic Advisors (PAAs) at: socsciPAA@uci.edu.
- For questions that require an academic advisor, email: socsci@uci.edu.
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