Psychology Major (BS)

Psychology Department | College of Liberal Arts

Program Declaration

At time of admission to the University or by completion of an Undergraduate Program Add/Change form .

Degree Requirements

If this is the student’s only or primary major, the degree requirements below must be completed for graduation. See graduation requirements for more information.

University Requirements

College of Liberal Arts Requirements for Bachelor of Science

Major Requirements

Complete at least 65 credits from 19 courses including two introductory psychology courses, five intermediate psychology courses, one psychology statistics course, one experimental methods course, to advanced psychology courses, one psychology elective, one calculus course, two biology courses, and four science electives.

Pass/fail: No more than one psychology course taken pass/fail may be applied toward the major.
Residency: At least seven PSYCH courses for the major must be completed at UMass Boston.

Course Requirements

Introductory Psychology Courses (6 to 7 Credits)

Take two courses from the list below.

PSYCH 100 - Introductory Psychology 3 Credit(s)
or
PSYCH 101 - Introductory Psychology 4 Credit(s)
PSYCH 201 - Introduction to Behavioral Research 3 Credit(s)

Intermediate Psychology Courses (15 Credits)

Take one course from each category below.

Personality/Clinical
PSYCH 210 - Personality 3 Credit(s)
or
PSYCH 215 - Mental Health and Psychological Distress 3 Credit(s)
Social Psychology
PSYCH 230 - Social Psychology 3 Credit(s)
Developmental
PSYCH 241 - Infancy and Childhood Development 3 Credit(s)
or
PSYCH 242 - Adolescence 3 Credit(s)
Cognitive
PSYCH 250 - Learning and Memory 3 Credit(s)
or
PSYCH 255 - Perception 3 Credit(s)
Psychobiology
PSYCH 360 - Behavioral Neuroscience 3 Credit(s)

Psychology Statistics Course (3 Credits)

PSYCH 370 - Statistics 3 Credit(s)

Experimental Method Psychology Course (3 Credits)

Take one course from the list below.

PSYCH 466 - Hormones and Behavior 3 Credit(s)
PSYCH 475 - Experimental Methods: Learning and Perception 3 Credit(s)
PSYCH 476 - Experimental Methods: Physiological 3 Credit(s)
PSYCH 477 - Experimental Methods: Social 3 Credit(s)

Advanced Psychology Courses (6 Credits)

Take two psychology courses at the 300-level or higher except for PSYCH 444, 487, 488, and 489. At least one course must be at the 400-level.

One 400-level course will be used as the psychology capstone and must have a grade of C- or higher. No more than one psychology research apprenticeship may be applied toward this requirement.

Psychology Elective (3 Credits)

Take any two additional psychology courses except for first year seminar courses and PSYCH 230.

Calculus Course (3 to 4 Credits)

Take MATH 135 - Survey of Calculus or a higher level calculus course.

Introductory Biology Courses (8 Credits)

BIOL 111 - General Biology I 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 112 - General Biology II 4 Credit(s)

Science Courses (12 to 16 Credits)

Take four science courses from the list below.

BIOCHM 383 - Biochemistry I 3 Credit(s)
BIOCHM 384 - Biochemistry II 3 Credit(s)
BIOCHM 385 - Biochemistry Lab I 3 Credit(s)
BIOCHM 386 - Biochemistry Lab II 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 210 - Cell Biology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 212 - Cell Biology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 252 - Genetics 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 254 - Genetics (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 290 - Population Biology 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 306 - Marine & Coastal Ecological Research 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 313 - Developmental Biology and Embryology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 314 - Developmental Biol 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 316 - Neurobiology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 318 - Neurobiology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 319 - Endocrinology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 321 - Plant Physiology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 323 - Plant Physiology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 328 - Plant Life 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 329 - Plant Life (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 330 - Biology of Fishes 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 334 - Microbiology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 335 - Genomics: Microbes, Human Biome and Other Metagenomes 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 336L - Ecosystems Ecology 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 337 - Comparative Animal Physiology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 338 - Insect Life 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 339 - Comparative Animal Physiology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 340 - Marine Mammal Biology 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 342 - Ecology 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 348 - Animal Behavior 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 352 - Evolution 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 360 - Bioinformatics 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 370 - Molecular Biology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 372 - Molecular Biology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 378 - Introduction to Immunology 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 380 - Introduction to Immunology (Lecture) 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 395 - Biotechnology 3 Credit(s)
CHEM 115 - Chemical Principles I Lecture 3 Credit(s)
CHEM 116 - Chemical Principles II Lecture 3 Credit(s)
CHEM 251 - Organic Chemistry I Lecture 3 Credit(s)
CHEM 252 - Organic Chemistry II Lecture 3 Credit(s)
CHEM 300 through 499
CS 110 - Introduction to Computing 4 Credit(s)
CS 210 - Intermediate Computing with Data Structures 4 Credit(s)
CS 220 - Applied Discrete Mathematics 3 Credit(s)
CS 240 - Programming in C 3 Credit(s)
CS 285L - Social Issues and Ethics in Computing 3 Credit(s)
CS 310 - Advanced Data Structures and Algorithms 3 Credit(s)
CS 341 - Computer Architecture and Organization 3 Credit(s)
CS 410 - An Introduction to Software Engineering 3 Credit(s)
CS 420 - An Introduction to the Theory of Computation 3 Credit(s)
CS 430 - Database Management 3 Credit(s)
CS 436 - Database Application Development 3 Credit(s)
CS 437 - Database-Backed Web Sites & Web Services 3 Credit(s)
CS 438 - Applied Machine Learning 3 Credit(s)
CS 443 - Mobile Applications 3 Credit(s)
CS 444 - An Introduction to Operating Systems 3 Credit(s)
CS 446 - Introduction to Internetworking 3 Credit(s)
CS 449 - Introduction to Computer Security 3 Credit(s)
CS 450 - The Structure of Higher Level Languages 3 Credit(s)
CS 451 - Compilers 3 Credit(s)
CS 460 - Graphics 3 Credit(s)
CS 470 - An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 103 - Introduction to Engineering 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 104 - Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 202 - Statics (Mechanical Engineering) 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 211L - Engineering Mathematics 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 231 - Circuit Analysis I 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 232 - Circuit Analysis II 3 Credit(s)
ENGIN 241 - Digital Systems with Lab 4 Credit(s)
ENGIN 271 - Circuit Lab I 1 Credit(s)
ENGIN 272 - Circuit Lab II 1 Credit(s)
ENGIN 300 through 499
ENVSCI 120 - Introduction to Environmental Science 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 121 - Introduction to Environmental Science Lab 1 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 122 - Introduction to Environmental Policy & Management 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 210 - Earth’s Dynamic Systems 4 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 226 - Introduction to Oceanography 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 260 - Global Environmental Change 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 267L - Introduction to Coastal Biological Systems 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 270 - Cities and the Environment 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 280 - Global Society and the Environment 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 281 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems 4 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 305 - Hydrology 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 316 - Coastal and Marine Pollution 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 324 - Coastal Zone Management 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 325 - Introduction to Biological Oceanography 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 327 - Coastal Geology 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 336L - Ecosystems Ecology 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 340L - Planning and Land Use Law 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 345L - Natural Resources & Sustainable Development 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 349L - Economic Approaches to Environmental Problems 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 372 - Introduction to Remote Sensing 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 375L - Urban Planning 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 381 - GIS Applications and Spatial Databases 4 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 383 - Water Resources Management: Principles, practices, and problems. 3 Credit(s)
ENVSCI 384 - Climate and Energy: Law, Policy, and Management 3 Credit(s)
IT 110 - Information Technology Problem Solving 3 Credit(s)
IT 111L - Managerial Statistics 3 Credit(s)
IT 114L - Introduction To Java 3 Credit(s)
IT 220 - Computer Forensics I 3 Credit(s)
IT 221 - Computer Forensics II 3 Credit(s)
IT 230L - Relational Databases 3 Credit(s)
IT 240 - Web Fluency 3 Credit(s)
IT 244 - Introduction to Linux/Unix 3 Credit(s)
IT 246 - Introduction to Networks 3 Credit(s)
IT 285L - Social Issues and Ethics in Computing 3 Credit(s)
IT 341 - Introduction to System Administration 3 Credit(s)
IT 360 - Enterprise Software 3 Credit(s)
IT 370 - Introduction to Analytics 3 Credit(s)
IT 420 - Network and Mobile Forensics 3 Credit(s)
IT 421 - Digital Forensics/Malware Analysis 3 Credit(s)
IT 425L - Project Management 3 Credit(s)
IT 428L - Information System Security 3 Credit(s)
IT 442 - Windows System Administration 3 Credit(s)
IT 443 - Network Security Administration I 3 Credit(s)
IT 456 - Information Storage and Management 3 Credit(s)
IT 460 - Integration Methodologies and Tools 3 Credit(s)
IT 461L - Systems Analysis and Design 3 Credit(s)
IT 471 - Data Warehousing for Business Intelligence 3 Credit(s)
IT 472 - Data Mining for Management Applications 3 Credit(s)
IT 485 - Information Technology Capstone 3 Credit(s)
MATH 140 - Calculus I 4 Credit(s)
MATH 141 - Calculus II 4 Credit(s)
MATH 242 - Multivariable and Vector Calculus 4 Credit(s)
MATH 260 - Linear Algebra I 3 Credit(s)
MATH 300 through 499
PHYSIC 113 - Fundamentals of Physics I 4 Credit(s)
PHYSIC 114 - Fundamentals of Physics II 4 Credit(s)
PHYSIC 211 - Introduction to Contemporary Physics 3 Credit(s)
PHYSIC 214 - Thermodynamics 3 Credit(s)
PHYSIC 281 - Physical Laboratory I 3 Credit(s)
PHYSIC 300 through 499