Psychology Department

Learning Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of the Psychology major, a student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate broad expertise in their subject area and a working knowledge of appropriate terminology
  • Complete a significant research project under the mentorship of an adviser 
  • Search, identify, analyze, critique, and evaluate existing scholarship 
  • Extend existing scholarship in innovative and integrative ways
  • Understand the broader context, applications, and implications of their research and connect their work to other fields within Psychology and related disciplines.
  • Develop cogent and testable hypotheses, and design and critique experiments
  • Conduct appropriate data analysis
  • Prepare and obtain approval to carry out research with human subjects and/or other vertebrate animals in ethically-appropriate ways
  • Respond appropriately to feedback and critically evaluate their own work 
  • Write in a clear and concise scientific style, with a logical structure and a format and style appropriate to the field
  • Present, discuss, and defend their work orally
  • Communicate findings from existing scholarship and their own work to non-experts 

The primary assessment tool for learning in the major at Reed and the level of student achievement in these areas is the senior thesis; the secondary assessment tool is the junior qualifying examination. For more information on the thesis and on the junior qual.