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The Psychology Major
Some students begin their course work in psychology with very definite ideas about a future career.
Other students know only that they are attracted to the field.
In both cases, we suggest that you wait until you have taken a few courses before you become committed to the idea of a particular career.
You might start out thinking that you want to be a clinical psychologist and later realize that you are more interested in research on basic cognition (or you might make the opposite change).
Also, you will find that the department does not offer or even value specialized courses.
An undergraduate major should give you a solid foundation across the areas of the discipline, because you need such a foundation to do well in future work, regardless of the direction you take.
Beyond valuing this broad background, our department stresses the importance of methodological training.
Our sequence of courses in statistics, methods, and supervised research is intended to train students to think critically about psychological phenomena and to make them aware of the intellectual values of the discipline.
These aims are important, regardless of the direction you take after leaving Trinity.
Requirements [for students graduating under the 2003 Bulletin or earlier]
- The Common Curriculum
- PSYC 1300: Principles of Psychology
- PSYC 2336: Physiological Psychology
- A minimum of 9 hours of upper-division Group-A courses.
At least two Group-A courses must be chosen from Sensation and Perception (3330), Memory and Cognition (3331), and Theories of Learning (3337)
- A minimum of 9 hours of upper-division Group-B courses.
At least two Group-B courses must be chosen from Psychopathology (3340), Social Psychology (2341), and Theories of Personality (3342)
- The 18 hours of upper-division courses must also include a course in psychological development, either Cognitive Development (3335) or Social Development (3343)
- 11 hours of research methods: 2422, 2424, and 2368 (thesis courses may replace 2368)
- Electives sufficient to total 124 semester hours
Requirements [for students graduating under the 2004 Bulletin or later]
Suggestions
The department makes the following suggestions or recommendations for your course of study.
However, they are quite general, and you should feel free to consult a faculty member about your individual needs.
First Two Years:
- As soon as possible, take the introductory course (PSYC 1300).
- As soon as possible, but after taking PSYC 1300, take Statistics and Methods I & II.
Timing is particularly important if you plan to study abroad during your junior year.
Also, 2401 is a prerequisite for several upper-division courses.
- Declare Psychology as a major after (or during) your enrollment in PSYC 2401.
And meet with your advisor immediately to review your selection of past and future courses.
(If you have not declared a major but are seriously considering it, ask a member of the department to serve as your informal advisor in this regard.)
The two of you should discuss the possible directions you may take the major; your advisor will suggest companion courses from other disciplines.
For example, biology courses are helpful for students interested in almost all areas of psychology, particularly neuroscience and clinical psychology.
Students interested in human services should take courses in sociology.
- If you think you are interested in going to graduate school in psychology, get involved in research early.
Take Supervised Research as early as spring semester, sophomore year, if enrollment is available.
- Begin to consider summer research opportunities following your sophomore or junior year (and see that section toward the end of the handbook).
Last Two Years:
For those who are interested in human services (regardless of whether you plan graduate training):
Early on, you should begin to find out whether you like the everyday work of helping people.
Look for summer employment or volunteer opportunities in settings like children's camps, crisis centers, day-treatment centers.
Enroll in the practicum course.
For those considering applications to graduate programs in psychology or related fields:
- Do more than just the required 3 hours of supervised research.
Again, consider summer research programs at other institutions.
At Trinity, you can take Supervised Research more than once and receive credit each time, or you can do research for a thesis (see p. 12).
When you enroll in these courses, show good initiative.
You want to form the right kinds of habits that will carry over into your graduate work.
- Discuss with your supervising faculty member the possibility of presenting the research at a regional or student conference.
Such presentations also build good habits and show the kind of initiative and experience that graduate programs value.
A number of students have appeared as co-authors on conference papers presented by faculty members, and frequently the students themselves present the paper or poster.
Check out the department bulletin boards that shows examples of past student presentations.
Here are some examples of actual student presentations:
Chang, M., Pollard, M., Gordon, S., & Wallace, H. M. (2004, April). Hindsight bias: Effects of present knowledge source.
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, TX.
Fesperman, T. H., & Becker, C. B. (2003, November). Predictive and concurrent validity of self-report measures with BAT avoidance and anxiety in an analogue phobia study.
Poster presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Boston.
Hertel, P. T., & Calcaterra, G. (2003, November).
Depressive Deficits in Forgetting: Help from Something New to Remember.
Paper presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Vancouver, BC.
Meyer, G. E., Gerondale, T., & Kiriazes, C. (2003, November).
Gun Type Risk and Gender in Battered Spouse and Police Shooting Scenarios.
Paper presented at the meeting of the American Society for Criminology, Denver, Colorado.
Pai, A., & Childers, J. B. (2003, May).
Children use word type to direct their attention to specific properties of objects.
Poster presented at the 15th annual conference of the American Psychological Society, Atlanta, GA.
- You should be narrowing down the area of psychology that most interests you and continue take the classes in other departments that complement it (e.g., classes in marketing, management, computer science, biology, chemistry, or sociology).
- Begin to consider the type of graduate or professional training you plan to seek, and become aware of the availability of financial support, degree of competition for admission, and time requirements that characterizes each type.
Ph.D. programs in Psychology and related fields (neuroscience or cognitive science) offer financial support to the applicants they want to admit.
They provide stipends for roughly 20 hours per week of work as a teaching or research assistant.
Often the stipend just barely covers expenses, so you may want to take out a loan.
Most schools provide support for all or part of tuition (either directly or indirectly).
Strong competition for admission characterizes most Ph.D. programs, especially programs in clinical psychology (due to the popularity of the field and the small number of "slots").
The time commitment varies from 4 to 6 years (but the time passes quickly!).
Psy.D. programs, most Masters programs, law schools, and medical schools, do not offer stipends.
Their degree of selectivity varies with the reputation of the program.
Psy.D. programs are generally 4-6 years long.
Masters programs are generally 2 years long.
Financial support can sometimes be obtained from government agencies and foundations.
The military has training funds for psychologists that are very lucrative, but require some service after receiving your degree.
And for students with top-notch credentials, the National Science Foundation offers 3-year grants.
(Nation-wide, two of the 49 grants in psychology in 1997 were given to Trinity graduates.
Two additional graduates have earned them more recently.)
- Think seriously about whether you want to begin professional training immediately following graduation from Trinity or whether you might want to work for a year or two before going on.
If you feel "burned out" or otherwise unmotivated, we suggest that you not apply for immediate admission.
If you don't have time for handling well all the details of the application process, including preparation for the GRE, by all means wait a year.
Finally, if you have interests in clinical training programs, a year or two in a research position might help your application.
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