46: The New Psychology Requirements

46: The New Psychology Requirements

Posted on October 28, 2024.

To go into effect in Spring of 2025 for students graduating during or after the Spring of 2026.

Link to the Dean of the College’s page for Psychology in the Course Bulletin. (Please note that as of this post, this information is incorrect and we are trying to change it, but it might be changed until March, 2025)

Concentration Advisors to speak with: Prof. Andrea Megela Simmons, Prof. Leslie Welch, Prof. Dave Sobel

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Fundamental to the study of psychology is analytic methods and critical thinking about the relation between theory and evidence. Studying psychology allows students to understand human and animal behavior, cognitive, perceptual, and developmental processes, motivation, identity, and the relations between well-being and society. Studying psychology also allows students insight into clinical applications of psychological science.

Students in the concentration are required to take courses in quantitative methods and experimental design, become familiar with a set of foundational topics in the psychological sciences, and participate in seminars and laboratory courses on specialized topics and state-of-the-art experimental techniques.

The concentration in psychology can prepare students for careers in research, teaching, clinical practice, business, law, marketing, and education, among many other professions. The general goal of the psychology concentration requirements is to provide students with a broad exposure to the different areas within psychological science, while also allowing students to explore some of those areas deeply. Students are recommended to complete their Classes in Analysis and have taken at least one foundation and/or one elective by the end of Semester 5.

The major changes to the requirements of the psychology concentrations are as follows:

1)    CPSY0010 is no longer a required class. It is now part of the foundation courses (you have to take 5 of them). We do encourage all first and second-year students to take CPSY0010, especially if they have not had an AP or IB Psychology course before coming to Brown. We also encourage all students to take it as it is a good course and one of the few WRIT courses among the foundations.

2)    The foundation courses are now more flexible in terms of requirements. Students must now take five courses from a larger set of foundations (with some restrictions to ensure breadth of study). 

3)    We have introduced some new foundational courses. One of them is Introduction to Clinical Psychology (CPSY 0702). Others are going to following in the 2026-27 AY. and we'll update the list as they get proposed.

4)    CPSY 0900 and CPSY 1900/1901 are the required analysis course. Some statistics courses in other departments can be used in lieu of 0900, but not many. Some courses in the department (lab courses) can be used in lieu of 1900/01, but we want this to be rare, and we want labs to be used for capstones (i.e., taken in addition to 1900/01). We really want you to take CPSY 0900 and CPSY1900, but we recognize that there are some alternatives. 

5)    The Sc.B. requirement is now more inclusive to courses from other departments as well as requires advanced coursework in CPSY, but no longer requires an additional laboratory class in the department. The coursework for the Sc.B. is also a little more rigorous.

Requirements for the AB in Psychology

Classes in Analysis (2). These courses provide the core knowledge of experimental design and statistical analysis necessary to interpret research findings and think critically about the relation between theories and evidence.   

         CPSY 0900 (Statistical Thinking)

         CPSY 1900 or CPSY 1901 (Research Methods)

A lot of students ask whether other statistics courses can be taken instead of CPSY 0900. Here's my short answer - we really want you to take 900, and not another course. 900 prepares you for research and analysis in the department; other courses do not. HOWEVER, we recognize that some courses teach the same material (although many do not or do not with the same depth). Courses that do teach this material at an appropriate (or even at a deeper) level can be used in lieu of 900.  Talk with your concentration advisor about such courses particularly if there is a legitimate reason why you cannot take 900. 

Some specialized laboratory courses might be used in place of the 1900/1901 requirement. However, computational courses such as CPSY1291 or CPSY1492 will not be accepted for this requirement. These courses, however, can be used as a capstone course (See below)

We strongly recommend taking CPSY0900 in the sophomore year and CPSY1900 by the end of the junior year,

Foundations (5). Students who study psychology can have diverse knowledge bases. There is no single course that is necessary for understanding all of psychological science. We believe that the best approach is to give students the option of taking a set of courses that provides them with a breadth of methodologies, theories, and structures in order to get a holistic understanding of the discipline. To satisfy this foundational criterion, students must take 5 courses among the following. Where there is overlap in topic/methods/principles among courses, we impose limitations to ensure breadth in each student’s curriculum:

Take 5 of the following options:

CPSY 0010 (Mind, Brain, and Behavior)

CPSY 0100 (Learning and Conditioning)

CPSY 0110 (Animal Behavior)

One of CPSY 0200 (Human Cognition: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology) or 

CPSY 0220 (Making Decisions) 

One of CPSY 0400 (Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience) or CPSY 0450 (Brain Damage and the Mind)

CPSY 0500 (Perception and the Mind)

One of CPSY 0610 (Children’s Thinking: Introduction to Cognitive Development) or CPSY 0620 (Introduction to Social and Moral Development)

One of CPSY 0700 (Social Psychology) or CPSY 0710 (The Psychology of Happiness) or CPSY 0720 (Coming Soon)

CPSY 0702 (Introduction to Clinical Psychology)

CPSY 0800 (Language and the Mind)

Please note that we strongly recommend that all first and second-year students take CPSY 0010 as a gateway into the concentration, particularly if they have not taken an AP or IB course in psychology. But this is not a required course and none of the courses on this list have any prerequisites. Note also that AP or IB credit cannot be used in lieu of any of these foundation classes.

In places where we prevent students from taking two similar foundational classes, students can take the second as an elective and we encourage that in the case of deepening a student's knowledge base. Students, for example, interested in cognitive psychology can take CPSY0200 as a foundational class and CPSY0220 as an elective if they choose.

Electives (4): The electives are designed to provide students with depth in a particular area of study within psychological sciences. Students are required to take four courses that are thematically related to a programmatic area of study within the psychological sciences. At least two of these elective courses must be at the 1000-level in the CLPS Department. No more than two of these elective courses can be from outside of the CLPS Department. With the exception of NEUR0010, all courses outside the CLPS Department must be numbered between 100-1999. At most one 1970/1980 course can be counted as an elective (Students doing an honors thesis can use the second required 1980 course as their capstone requirement). Students are strongly encouraged to speak with a concentration advisor to get approval for their list of elective courses.

Capstone (1): The purpose of the capstone in Psychology is to take the material students are exposed to in their foundational courses and integrate them with the methodological savvy acquired from the analysis courses. Students should engage in this capstone experience in one of the following ways:

  A) By participating in the honors program in the senior year, which involves conducting independent research supervised by a faculty member of the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences or by an approved trainer from another department at Brown University. Please contact the honors advisor for a list of approved trainers or for faculty from other departments to apply for approved trainer status.

B) By successfully completing one-semester of CPSY 1970 (Directed Readings) or CPSY 1980 (Directed Research) during the senior year under the supervision of a member of the Cognitive and Psychological Sciences department or an approved trainer from another department at Brown University. 

C) By the successful completion of a laboratory course in the Cognitive and Psychological Sciences Department in the senior year. This course must be chosen in consultation with the student’s concentration advisor. Laboratory courses integrate material taught in the department with research methodology to enable students to produce cutting-edge novel research. All laboratory courses are at the 1000-level and have a 9 in the tenth position (e.g., 1_9_) and are listed on the department website. Please note that Research Methods (CPSY 1900/1901) cannot be used to fulfill this requirement. Laboratory courses in other departments also cannot be used to fulfill this requirement.

D) By the successful completion of a seminar-style course taught in the Cognitive and Psychological Sciences Department (or cross-listed with our department) relevant to the student’s foundational and elective focus of study. This course must be taken in the senior year. Such a course should be selected in consultation with the student’s concentration advisor. Seminar-style courses are advanced classes that build on material students are exposed to in their foundational and methods classes. Examples include, but are not limited to, “topics” classes taught in the Cognitive and Psychological Sciences department, which are at the 1000-level, end in the numbers ‘80’ and a letter (e.g., 1_80X). Many other seminar-style classes at the 1000 level will also be appropriate. 

ScB Requirements in Psychology

To satisfy an ScB. in the Psychology concentration, a student must satisfy all the AB requirements as well as take five (5) additional classes in STEM fields related to the concentration. The goal of this requirement is to provide students with a broader background in both the study of psychology and STEM fields in general. At least two (2) of those five classes must be in the CPSY Department. These two courses must be at the 1000-level. We strongly recommend that one of these courses be a laboratory course (Described above).

The other three classes can be from the following departments: APMA, BIOL, CSCI, CHEM, CPSY, MATH, NEUR, or PHYS. Courses from other STEM fields might be eligible with permission of the concentration advisor, but such courses must be related to a student’s other courses, such as their electives. Courses from CPSY must be at the 1000-level to be considered for the Sc.B. All courses must also be acceptable for the requirements of a concentration administered by that department. For example, if a PHYS course is used to satisfy one of these requirements, it must be acceptable for a concentration in the PHYS department.