Navigating Introductory Course Options in Psychology
First Course
PSY 101: Foundations in Psychological Science (1 unit)
- Pre-requisite: none
- Meets Group III (but does not meet the Group III Data Collection and Analysis requirement)
- Each section includes a twice weekly Lecture (T/TH) plus once weekly Concept Lab and once weekly Applied Lab
- Note: 60 spots are reserved for incoming first-year students, leaving 36 spots for continuing students with priority given to intended Psychology or Neuroscience majors
Second Course Options
Recommendations for the second course in the sequence differ for majors and non-majors.
Psychology Majors
Psychological Science Labs: PSY 200-210 (must take FOUR labs to total 1 unit)
- Pre-requisite: PSY 101 or currently enrolled in PSY 101. Meets the Group III+ Data Collection and Analysis requirement.
- Lab modules to choose from: PSY 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208
- Each lab module is offered twice in a given semester, meets once a week for 80 minutes, and is 0.25 units
- Students must sign up for either 2 (0.5 units) or 4 (1 unit) lab modules in a given semester. Students do not need to take all 4 labs in a single semester.
- If signing up for 2 lab sections: take 1 in the first quarter, take 1 in the second quarter
- If signing up for 4 lab sections: take 2 in the first quarter, take 2 in the second quarter.
Neuroscience Majors
Psychological Science Labs: PSY 200-210 (must take TWO labs to total 0.5 units)
- Pre-requisite: PSY 101 or currently enrolled in PSY 101. Meets the Group III+ Data Collection and Analysis requirement.
- Lab modules to choose from: PSY 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208
- Each lab module is offered twice in a given semester, meets once a week for 80 minutes, and is 0.25 units
- Students must sign up for 2 (each 0.25 units) lab modules in a given semester
- Take 1 in the first quarter, take 1 in the second quarter
- Students cannot sign up for 2 in the first quarter and 0 in the second quarter or vice versa.
Non-Psychology Majors
Non-PSY majors should NOT be taking four of the PSY 200 intro labs (i.e. PSY 200-210). These labs are specifically reserved for PSY majors or Neuroscience Majors.
Non-PSY majors should taken any other upper-division course in Psychology with content that matches your interests. Options are listed below, with those meeting the Group III+ Data Collection and Analysis requirement marked with asterisks.
- 200-level courses to choose from: PSY 217, 221, 223, 232
- 300-level courses to choose from: PSY 319, 322*, 323, 324*, 325*, 330, 333*, 336, 337, 342, 351, 353, 355*, 361*, 366*, 367, 373*, 381*, 393*
- Psychological Science Labs (PSY 200-210) are not recommended because you will need to take four of these to fulfill the Group III requirement when you could be taking only one of the 200 level/300 level courses listed above with some actually meeting the Group III+DCA requirement. PSY 200-210 intro labs should be specifically reserved for PSY majors/Neuro Majors.