Skip To Content

Psychology
Students with Professor

CONTACT:

School of Adult and Graduate Education
610-740-3770
sage@cedarcrest.edu

Traditional Admissions
800-360-1222
610-740-3780
admissions@cedarcrest.edu

James Scepansky, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair, Psychology
jascepan@cedarcrest.edu
610-606-4666 ext. 3424

Psychology Major

The psychology major at Cedar Crest College is designed to provide essential knowledge and skills related to the scientific study of human and animal behavior, thoughts, and emotions. In keeping with Cedar Crest’s liberal arts tradition, the psychology major emphasizes the enhancement of student’s communication skills, improving student’s awareness of ethical and global issues, and helping students further develop their personal value systems. In addition, the Psychology Departmenthas endorsed the following four Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), which are assessed in all core courses required of Psychology majors:

  1. Knowledge Base of Psychology: Students demonstrate familiarity with the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology.
  2. Research Methods in Psychology: Students describe and apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data, analysis and interpretation.
  3. Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology: Students use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.
  4. Application of Psychology: Students apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues.

What Makes Our Curriculum Special

Here, you will receive high-quality instruction in all of the essential areas of psychology, but what sets our program apart is that you will also experience a wide range of subfields, providing you with a complete and well-rounded background in the field of psychology.
Our goal is for our students to graduate with the knowledge and experiences necessary to make educated and informed decisions about their future career and educational goals.
As an undergraduate psychology major at Cedar Crest, you will:

  • Work one-on-one with our experienced faculty members, each specializing in a different area within psychology
  • Learn foundational theories and methodology of the field, including how to conduct experiments, carry out observational research,  and construct an appropriate survey instrument
  • Receive professional feedback from faculty, enabling you to perform at the highest level
  • Participate in a number of individual and group research projects
  • Have the opportunity to receive research training in our accessible laboratories
  • Have the opportunity to present your research findings to large audiences at local and regional conferences held each year
  • Develop a variety of complementary skills in areas such as oral and written communication, critical thinking, and leadership through class presentations and research projects
  • Be encouraged to integrate psychology with other disciplines by adding another major, minor or concentration (Common areas include education, criminal justice, exercise science, business, pre-medicine, pre-law, dance, and art.), or by continuing your education pursuing a graduate degree in Occupational Therapy, Crime Science, or Business Administration, all of which are available at Cedar Crest College.

Program Requirements

To apply transfer credits toward the completion of minor requirements, students must have earned a grade of “C” or better in each course to be transferred. Courses completed more than ten years ago will not be accepted for purposes of completing the requirements of the minor.

Required Courses: 49 credits

  • PSY 100 Introduction to Psychology
  • PSY 170 Understanding and Using APA Editorial Style (Taken concurrently with PSY 211)
  • THS 105 Public Speaking OR COM 100 Introduction to Communication
  • 3 additional credits of SCI beyond what is required in the LAC
  • PSY 210 Lifespan Development
  • PSY 211 Research Methods
  • PSY 212 Statistical Methods
  • PSY 215 Biological Psychology
  • PSY 309 Psychopathology (formerly “Abnormal Psychology”) OR PSY 351 Theories of Personality
    PSY 317 Learning OR PSY 336 Cognitive Psychology
  • PSY 363 Psychology Capstone
  • 15 Additional Credits in Psychology Elective Courses

NOTE: Physical copies of the most up-to-date advising sheets for each of our degree offerings (major and minors) are available in the hanging baskets in the Psychology Department hallway. For a digital copy of an advising sheet, please contact your academic advisor.