Psychology (BSc)

General Information

An education in Psychology will provide students with knowledge and skills with direct relevance to a diverse array of real-world careers. Students not only gain a foundational education in psychological principles, but also develop critical thinking, reasoning, and communication skills, formalized training in research methods and statistics, and an appreciation for the ethical and judicial treatment of persons. In total, these skills will put our graduates in a competitive space for additional educational and direct-to-work opportunities.

The program will be of particular relevance to students who are interested in the cognitive and biological underpinnings of human behaviour. These students will have the opportunity to obtain a specialization within one of three subject areas: Affective Science and Mental Health, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, and Developmental Psychological Science. In addition to Psychology and Sociology, students will take a variety of natural science courses in the first year. The second year will focus primarily on foundational Psychology courses. In the third and fourth years, students will develop unique knowledge bases and skills through carefully selected coursework in Psychology and related disciplines, electives in the Faculty of Science, and applied learning experiences.  

Admissions requirements

Admission is competitive. The specific average or standing required for admission varies from year to year. Students are selected by taking into consideration a wide range of criteria including school marks, distribution of subjects taken, and performance in subjects relevant to the academic degree. Possession of the minimum requirements does not guarantee acceptance. Preference will be given to applicants with the best qualifications.

Current Ontario secondary school students must complete the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) with six 4U or 4M credits including English (ENG4U), Advanced Functions (MHF4U), and two of Biology (SBI4U), Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U), Chemistry (SCH4U) or Physics (SPH4U).  All other applicants should refer to Admissions  for the requirements for their specific category of admission.

Degree requirements

To be eligible for the Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Psychology, students must successfully complete 120 credit hours. Although reasonable efforts will be made to provide the courses in the indicated semesters in the following degree maps, course requirements and term offerings may change. Each year prior to course registration the order and timing of course offerings will be released by the faculty and communicated to students.

Year 1 [30 credit hours]

• BIOL 1010U – Biology I: Molecular and Cellular Systems
• BIOL 1020U – Biology II: Diversity of Life and Principles of Ecology
• CHEM 1010U – Chemistry I
• CHEM 1020U – Chemistry II
• PHY 1030U – Introductory Physics
• PHY 1040U – Physics for Biosciences
• MATH 1015U – Mathematics for Bioscience
• PSYC 1000U – Introductory Psychology
• SOCI 1000U – Introductory Sociology
• One general elective***

Year 2 [30 credit hours]

• Two general electives***
• PSYC 2010U – Developmental Psychology
• PSYC 2020U – Social Psychology
• PSYC 2030U – Psychopathology
• PSYC 2050U – Brain and Behaviour
• PSYC 2060U – Cognitive Psychology
• PSYC 2900U – Research Methods in Psychology
• PSYC 2910U – Data Analysis in Psychology
• PSYC 3060U – Personality Psychology

Year 3 [30 credit hours]

• PSYC 3910U – Advanced Data Analysis in Psychology
• Four Psychology electives*
• Two Science electives**
• Three general electives***

Year 4 [30 credit hours]

• One of:

• PSYC 4110U – Honours Thesis in Psychology I or
• Psychology elective*

•  

  One of:

• PSYC 4120U – Honours Thesis in Psychology II or
• Psychology elective*

•  

  One of:

• SSCI 4098U – Practicum or
• SSCI 4103U – Internship  or
• Psychology elective*
• Three Psychology electives***
• Four general electives***

Psychology electives*

Any non‐required course with a PSYC 3XXX or 4XXX designation can count towards students’ necessary Psychology electives.

Science electives**

Any non‐required course run within the Faculty of Science that does not have a PSYC designation can count towards students’ necessary Science electives.

General electives***

Any non‐required course in any faculty can count towards students’ necessary general electives. 

Specializations

Students will have the opportunity to obtain additional specializations within one of three subject areas: Affective Science and Mental Health, Cognitive and Brain Sciences, and Developmental Psychological Science. To achieve a specialization, students will be required to take a minimum of five course credits, as described in more detail below.

Specialization in Affective Science and Mental Health

The specialization in Affective Science and Mental Health requires that students complete five courses from the following lists, of which at least three of those courses must come from list A.

•  

  List A

• PSYC 3065U – Emotion
• PSYC 3070U – Stress and Coping
• PSYC 3090U – Social Affective Neuroscience
• PSYC 3085U – Drugs and Behaviour
• PSYC 3330U – Developmental Psychopathology
• PSYC 3620U – Motivation and Emotion

•  

  List B

• FPSY 3055U – Treatment in Forensic Settings
• FPSY 4820U – Selected Topics in Antisociality
• HLSC 1811U – Social Determinants of Health
• HLSC 3463U – Human Genetics in Society
• HLSC 4808U – Exploring Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
• HLSC 4821U – Exploring the Mind Body Connection: Wellness Promotion Strategies for Life
• BIOL 3060U – Fundamentals of Neuroscience
• BIOL 4820U – Neuropharmacology

•  

• Please note: PSYC 3900U – Special Topics in Psychology I  and PSYC 4900U – Special Topics in Psychology II  may count towards the specialization, as determined appropriate on a course-by-course basis by the Psychology faculty. Please see Academic Advising for approval.

Specialization in Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Students who complete a specialization in Cognitive and Brain Sciences will receive targeted education pertaining to neural mechanisms and the cognitive processes that these mechanisms engender. Topics may include neural communication, neural function and dysfunction, neural systems, research methods in neuroscience, thinking, reasoning, attention and decision making.  

The specialization in Cognitive and Brain Sciences requires that students complete five courses from the following lists, of which at least three must come from List A, and at least one must come from List B.

• 
  List A

• PSYC 3090U – Social Affective Neuroscience
• PSYC 3510U – Research Methods in Neuroscience
• PSYC 3520U – Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
• PSYC 3530U – Developmental Neuroscience
• BIOL 3060U – Fundamentals of Neuroscience
• NSCI 4999U – Advanced Topics in Integrative Neuroscience

• 
  List B

• PSYC 3075U – Biopsychology of Sex
• PSYC 3085U – Drugs and Behaviour
• PSYC 3610U – Thinking and Decision Making
• PSYC 3630U – Sleep and Consciousness
• PSYC 4210U – Social Cognition
• BIOL 4820U – Neuropharmacology

Specialization in Developmental Psychological Science

The specialization in Developmental Psychological Science requires that students complete five courses from the following lists, of which at least three of those courses must come from list A.

• 
  List A

• PSYC 3035U – Adolescence
• PSYC 3045U – Child Maltreatment
• PSYC 3075U – Biopsychology of Sex
• PSYC 3330U – Developmental Psychopathology
• PSYC 3530U – Developmental Neuroscience

• 
  List B

• HLSC 2810U – Child and Adolescent Health
• HLSC 4807U – Perspectives in Aging
• HLSC 4808U – Exploring Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
• FPSY 3039U – Children, Psychology and the Law
• EDST 2410U – Foundations of Adult Learning
• EDST 3160U – Developing Literacy
• EDST 4150U – Holistic Learning in Early Childhood Education

•  

  Please note: PSYC 3900U – Special Topics in Psychology I  and PSYC 4900U – Special Topics in Psychology II  may count towards the specialization, as determined appropriate on a course-by-course basis by the Psychology faculty. Please see Academic Advising for approval.

Practicum

A limited number of fourth-year students are granted an opportunity to participate in a learning experience with a community organization. The Practicum course consists of 100 hours of fieldwork, in-class seminars, a set of academic assignments and a major research paper and poster. As part of the pre-practicum process, students will be required to acquire a Vulnerable Sector check. For additional information, please refer to the course description for SSCI 4098U .

Internship

This program offers students who have successfully completed three years of study with a cumulative 3.0 GPA (B average on a 4.3 scale) an opportunity to engage in a work-integrated learning partnership with organizations locally and globally. The internship program not only gives students an opportunity to apply classroom concepts to the challenges of organizational life, but also helps them to gain valuable and relevant work experience to promote networking and life-long career success.

The internship program placement equates to a minimum of 280 hours of paid or unpaid field experience. The intern’s wages, where applicable, are paid by the sponsoring organization over a contracted period. The Faculty of Social Science and Humanities may provide links to various internship placement opportunities or a student may secure an internship opportunity that meets the criteria as prescribed by that faculty. Successful work placement completion and both a verbal and written final project will result in the intern receiving a mark and three credits toward the Honours Bachelor of Science degree requirements.

Admission to the internship program is competitive. While students are participating in an internship program, they may enrol in up to two additional courses (6 credits) per semester. These courses must not interfere with the internship schedule outlined by the employer. For additional information, please refer to the course description for SSCI 4103U .

Program learning outcomes

The following outcomes outline the knowledge and skills students will have achieved upon completion of the program.