Most colleges require psychology majors to take introduction to psychology courses-as prerequisites to upper-level courses-that give the student an overview of the psychology field. These classes usually make up a series of two to three courses. The courses provide a foundational understanding of psychology, giving students an overview of general theories, history, and sub-fields within psychology. Other specific topics covered may include the brain and behavior, overviews of motivation, learning, human development and abnormal psychology.
Psychology "core" courses make up the primary course sequences required of a psychology major. These classes teach the student in-depth about a particular topic. A student chooses which core courses he wants to have as part of his major. Psychology courses sequences include those that concentrate on the relationship between the brain and behaviors and those that concentrate more on the human person. Brain-behavior courses include cognition and learning, perception and behavioral neuroscience. Courses that concentrate on the human person include lifespan development, abnormal psychology, personality psychology and social psychology.
A psychology major takes courses in psychology research methods and statistics. Statistics classes give students an understanding of how research in psychology can take place, and psychology research method courses help students learn the specific application of statistics to the psychology field. In these courses, students often participate in both a lecture portion and lab portion, with the lab portion giving students a chance to work on research projects and practice statistics. Students learn how to design and carry out experiments. A student also learns how to interpret experimental results and formulate the results into an APA-style-formatted research paper.
Most colleges have some type of "capstone" course or project requirement for psychology majors who are in their fourth year of study. The capstone courses are usually designed to be a smaller-scale version of a graduate thesis. These courses concentrate on a specific, advanced topic in psychology which often extends from one of the "core" psychology courses. Examples of capstones from which students can choose vary by university, but may include advanced topics in abnormal psychology, behavioral neuroscience or even social psychology. During these courses, students often are required to actively discuss research articles from psychology journals and research and write a lengthy term paper on a topic related to the course.