General Psychology, M.A.

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Required credits (33)

General Psychology is a 33-credit-hour program that provides

a strong foundation for students who intend to continue their graduate work in any area of psychology,
solid training for students who wish to obtain a master’s degree and apply their acquired skills and knowledge in various work settings, and
an opportunity for non-psychologist professionals who wish to become more knowledgeable about the application of psychology to their professional interests.

The program is designed to provide well-rounded master’s-level training. It accomplishes this with a core of five courses providing a strong foundation in the methods and content of psychology.

In addition to these core courses, the program allows students to develop their training in one or more subspecialties that they might envision as a professional goal. It accomplishes this by providing the opportunity to take four additional courses from the field of psychology that best match individual educational and professional interests. Some students have taken this opportunity to “test the waters” of many different subspecialties, while others have chosen to specialize in one or more specific areas, such as biopsychology, industrial-organizational psychology, health psychology, and quantitative methods. The program believes this combination of a strong foundation and flexible electives best prepares students to continue on for doctoral work in any specialty area of psychology.

Finally, students in the General Psychology program may choose between the thesis track option and the applied track option. The thesis track involves conducting an independent research project and should be seriously considered by students who intend to pursue doctoral work. The applied track involves supervised practical experience in an organization or agency and should be considered by those students who wish to incorporate more practical experience in their program.

Degree Requirements

All students must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 33 credits with a grade point average of at least 3.0 in the course requirements below, and should have no more than two grades below B–. A student who has more than two grades below B– will be dismissed from the program.

Core Courses

(five required/15 credits)

PSY 510 - Experimental Design 3 credit(s)
PSY 581 - Advanced Research Methods 3 credit(s)

And three additional courses from these four choices:

PSY 520 - Learning: Principles, Theories, and Applications 3 credit(s)
PSY 521 - Physiological Psychology 3 credit(s)
PSY 552 - Social Psychology 3 credit(s)
PSY 560 - Life-Span Development 3 credit(s)

Electives

(four required/12 credits)

Thesis or Practica

(two required/6 credits)

PSY 685 - Thesis 3 credit(s) AND
PSY 686 - Thesis 3 credit(s)
OR
PSY 657 - Practicum, Applied Psychology 3 credit(s) AND
PSY 658 - Practicum, Applied Psychology 3 credit(s)

Transfer Credit

With the approval of the program director, students may transfer up to 6 credits of course work that are applicable to the program requirements.