Psychology Honors Program

Qualified psychology majors who wish to pursue a career in research are encouraged to consider the department’s Honors Program which leads to a B.A. with honors in psychology. The program’s purpose is to provide an intensive, supervised research. Completion of the Honors Program also satisfies the SAGES capstone graduation requirement. The program consists of PSCL 375: Research Design and Analysis and PSCL395: Psychology Capstone and Honors Program and begins in the junior year, when students receive instruction in research design and methodology through completion of PSCL375. This course provides the foundation needed for PSCL395 which is taken in the senior year where they work under close supervision with a department faculty member. Before the end of the senior year, the research project is designed, executed, written in scholarly form, and presented in a public setting. Psychology majors who successfully complete PSCL395 with a minimum of a 3.25 GPA in psychology coursework and at least a 3.0 overall GPA will graduate with honors in psychology. The Honors Program requires significant time and commitment. Only those students majoring in psychology with a serious interest in the behavioral sciences should consider completing the Honors Program. An important part of the Honors Program is the selection of a faculty advisor. A student should select a faculty advisor with interests as close as possible to the area the student intends to study. Contact the faculty member as early as possible (junior year is recommended) to inquire about the possibility of registering for PSCL395 with them. Each section of PSCL395 is assigned to a specific faculty member and registration is by permit only.

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Integrated Graduate Studies Program

The Integrated Graduate Studies (IGS) program enables qualified undergraduates to complete the academic work for both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master of Arts degree within four years. This program may be of particular interest to undergraduates who may benefit from having an advanced degree in psychology but do not envision going to a traditional MA or PhD program in psychology (perhaps students interested in becoming consultants, lawyers, etc.). In addition, the IGS program may also interest students who wish to enhance their competitiveness for admission to programs offering degrees beyond the BA (e.g., clinical psychology, experimental psychology, medical school, etc.). Students seeking to obtain a PhD in either clinical or experimental psychology should know that most (if not all) PhD programs will allow no more than 6 credits to transfer to their PhD program, even if the IGS is successfully completed at CWRU. The thesis, too, may need to be performed again at a new academic institution. Students accepted into the program must complete at least 30 credit hours of graduate course work  and maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in those courses during their senior year (including 6 credit hours of a thesis or comprehensive exam) in order to attain a Master of Arts in General Psychology degree. The 30 credit hours of graduate course work can be completed with the courses below (each course is 3 credit hours):

PSCL 402 – Cognition and Information Processing

PSCL 403 – Physiological Foundations of Behavior
PSCL 404 – Learning Theory
PSCL 405 – Personality Theory
PSCL 407 – Research Design and Quantitative Analysis
PSCL 408 – Research Design and Quantitative Analysis II
PSCL 409 – Advanced Social Psychology
PSCL 410 – Developmental Psychology
PSCL 412 – Measurement of Behavior
PSCL 418 – History and Systems
PSCL 444 – Developmental Psychopathology
PSCL 453 – Seminars in Psychology
PSCL 469 – Psychology of Aging
PSCL 497 – Graduate Independent Study
PSCL 524 – Advanced Psychopathology

Students must also take 6 credit hours of:
PSCL 651 – Thesis M.A.

Master’s requirements described are currently awaiting approval and are in effect for students entering in Fall 2018 and later.

The minimum standards for acceptance are: An overall GPA of 3.2, completion of the Arts and Sciences General Education or SAGES Requirements, two semesters of physical education, 90 semester hours of undergraduate credit of which the last 60 hours must have been in residence at CWRU, and completion of the psychology major requirements with at least a 3.2 grade point average. Nine credit hours of 400-level courses or above that are taken as part of the IGS program may also count towards a student’s undergraduate degree. Students should meet with their major advisor and with Dean Claudia Anderson in the Office of Undergraduate Studies during the fall semester of their junior year to receive pre-approval for eligibility for the IGS program. Eligible students must complete the application for the Developmental, Cognitive, and Affective Sciences Program by the December 1 deadline. IGS students are not required to submit GRE scores. Participation in the IGS program does not preclude involvement in the department’s Honors Program. For more information, consult the university’s General Bulletin or contact Dr. Robert Greene