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Psychology

The Department of Psychology offers an undergraduate major and minor as well as graduate degree programs. It also offers courses that undergraduate students in all majors may use to satisfy the General Education Program Social Sciences requirement and a First-Year Seminar designed for entering undergraduate students.

Undergraduate Programs of Study

• Major in psychology (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science)
• Minor in psychology

The major in psychology is designed to contribute to students' general liberal arts and sciences education and to provide a foundation for postbaccalaureate training in psychology and closely related disciplines as well as areas such as business, law, communication, medicine, and the allied health sciences. Students who intend to enter the job market immediately after completing an undergraduate degree should complement their psychology major with substantial preparation in another program more closely tied to the world of work (e.g., education, social work, business, journalism, nursing). Almost all vocational opportunities in psychology require advanced degrees.

The psychology major for the Bachelor of Science is intended for students who plan to pursue advanced work in psychology or in a related discipline. It requires a specific grade-point average for admission and certain courses in statistics, experimental psychology, mathematics, and natural science. The psychology major for the Bachelor of Arts has fewer specific requirements and puts less emphasis on methodology. Both programs leave time for students to supplement the psychology major with another program of study.

Students who change to a psychology major after two years of undergraduate work may find they do not have sufficient background for the B.S. program. They may wish to enrich the B.A. program with courses in experimental psychology and other advanced electives if they intend to pursue graduate work in psychology or a related field.

Students in either program begin with a general introductory course, followed by biological psychology, statistics, and methodology courses and introductory courses in several broad areas: developmental science, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology. These courses are followed by upper-level psychology course work selected by the student.

The department maintains excellent facilities to support teaching and research on human and animal behavior. All faculty members are directly engaged in research, and they bring to their undergraduate teaching the excitement that such activity generates. Many opportunities exist for interested and capable students to participate in current research projects in the department.

The department has an active undergraduate organization, the Iowa Students Psychology Association, which is open to all interested students. The group sponsors speakers, films, career days, and student symposia.

Admission to the Major

Admission to psychology major for the Bachelor of Arts is open; any University of Iowa undergraduate student may enter the B.A. program.

Admission to the major for the Bachelor of Science is selective. To be eligible for admission to the B.S. program, students must have completed 30 s.h. of college course work (excluding any credit by exam) and must have a cumulative g.p.a. of 2.67 or higher. There is no limit on the number of qualified students admitted to the B.S. program. Students who do not meet the minimum admission requirements may petition the department in writing, presenting additional evidence of their qualifications.

Entering first-year and transfer students who have completed less than 30 s.h. of course work and are interested in entering the B.S. program are admitted to the B.A. program until they satisfy the admission requirements for the B.S. program. New transfer students who meet the admission requirements for the B.S. program may choose to enter the B.S. or the B.A. program.

Any student in the B.A. program may switch to the B.S. program if he or she meets admission requirements at the time of the request. Students may switch from the B.S. to the B.A. program at any time.

Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science

The Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including 44-45 s.h. of work for the major, with a minimum of 29 s.h. in psychology courses. The major for the B.A. is designed for students who wish to gain considerable knowledge in psychology but do not necessarily plan a professional career in the discipline. It is appropriate for students preparing for careers in law, business, counseling, social work, or secondary school teaching (see "B.A. or B.S. with Teacher Licensure" below). It can be combined with a second major more easily than can the Bachelor of Science program.

The Bachelor of Science with a major in psychology requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including 53-56 s.h. of work for the major, with a minimum of 36 s.h. in psychology courses. The major for the B.S. emphasizes research methodology, so the B.S. may be the degree of choice for students who plan to do graduate work in psychology and related research fields. However, a Bachelor of Science is not required for graduate study in psychology.

Choice of a degree program should be dictated by the student's personal career goals. B.A. students interested in pursuing graduate study in psychology or other social sciences may enrich their program by taking courses in mathematics, statistics, research methods, and the natural sciences.

B.A. and B.S. students complete the same psychology core and psychology electives. The major for the B.A. also requires an additional statistics or computer science course plus a second concentration area, while the major for the B.S. also requires a pair of natural science courses, one semester of calculus, and an additional mathematics course. All students must complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program.

Transfer students must complete at least 15 s.h. of the major at The University of Iowa. 

The psychology major requires the following courses or their equivalents.

Common Requirements

Psychology Core (B.A. and B.S.)

All psychology majors (B.A. and B.S.) complete the following course work for the psychology core.

Psychology—all of these: 

Statistics—one of these (3-4 s.h.): 

Lower-Level Psychology Electives (B.A. and B.S.)

B.A. and B.S. students take three of these (9 s.h.) after completing 031:001 (PSY:1001) Elementary Psychology. 

Upper-Level Psychology Electives (B.A. and B.S.)

B.A. and B.S. students take three advanced psychology courses (total of 9 s.h.) after satisfactorily completing the psychology core and other specified prerequisites. Psychology courses [prefix 031 (PSY)] numbered 100 (3000) or above may be used to fulfill this requirement, except those in the following list.

Additional Bachelor of Arts Requirements

Cognate Requirement (B.A.)

Psychology majors earning a B.A. complete one of the following upper-level statistics or computer science courses. Students who fulfill the psychology core statistics requirement (above) with 22S:101 (STAT:3510) Biostatistics or 22S:102 (STAT:5543) Introduction to Statistical Methods must use a different course to fulfill the cognate requirement.

Statistics:

Computer science:

Second Concentration Area (B.A.)

B.A. students complete 9 s.h. of course work in a single department other than psychology. Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be taken at The University of Iowa and may not be used to fulfill General Education Program requirements. A second major or a minor may be used to fulfill the requirement.

Additional Bachelor of Science Requirements

Psychology Topics Courses (B.S.)

Psychology majors earning a B.S. take both of these. 

Natural Science Courses (B.S.)

B.S. students are required to complete one of the following pairs of specified natural science courses.

All of these combinations can be used to fulfill the General Education Program natural sciences requirement. Students should consult with their advisors concerning specific courses that satisfy these requirements.

Calculus and Additional Mathematics (B.S.)

B.S. students must complete at least one semester of calculus; in most cases, students also must have completed at least one precalculus mathematics course.

One of these:

B.S. students also complete at least one additional course in advanced mathematics, statistics, or computer science chosen from the following lists.

Mathematics:

Statistics:

Computer science:

B.A. or B.S. with Teacher Licensure

Psychology majors interested in earning licensure to teach in elementary and/or secondary schools must complete the College of Education's Teacher Education Program (TEP) in addition to the requirements for the major and all requirements for graduation. The TEP requires several College of Education courses and student teaching. Contact the Office of Education Services for details.

Students must satisfy all degree requirements and complete Teacher Education Program licensure before degree conferral.

Joint B.A./M.P.H. with Community and Behavioral Health Subtrack

Bachelor of Arts students majoring in psychology who are interested in earning a Master of Public Health degree with community and behavioral health subtrack may apply to the joint B.A./M.P.H. program offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Public Health. The program permits students to count 12 s.h. of credit toward the requirements for both degrees, enabling them to begin the study of public health before they complete the bachelor's degree. For information about the public health program, see "Community and Behavioral Health Subtrack" in the Master of Public Health Program section of the Catalog.

Four-Year Graduation Plan

The University of Iowa Four-Year Graduation Plan is being revised. The original Four-Year Graduation Plan continues to apply to students who have already signed it. Students who commit to the four-year plan beginning fall 2013 will be held to the revised requirements. For information about the plan, visit Four-Year Graduation Plan on the First-Year Experience web site.

Honors in the Major

The department offers students the opportunity to graduate with honors in the psychology major. Departmental honors students must be members of the University's honors program, which requires students to maintain a cumulative University of Iowa g.p.a. of at least 3.33; visit Honors at Iowa to learn about the University of Iowa Honors Program.

To graduate with honors in psychology, students must complete 031:190 (PSY:4090) Psychology Seminar and write an honors thesis. The thesis is based on an approved original honors research project that the student has conducted under the guidance of a faculty member. Interested students should contact the department's honors advisor.

Minor

The minor in psychology requires a minimum of 15 s.h., including 12 s.h. in psychology courses taken at The University of Iowa. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in the minor. Course work in the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass or satisfactory/fail. Before registering for a psychology course, students must satisfy the course's prerequisites.

A minor in psychology complements majors in a variety of disciplines. Department advisors can help students identify courses for the minor that are especially appropriate for their major.

National Honor Society

The department sponsors a chapter of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology and affiliate of the American Psychological Association. Students who have a g.p.a. of at least 3.00 overall and 3.10 in psychology course work and who have completed 9 s.h. of psychology may request a membership application form. Consult the department's academic coordinator for more information.

Graduate Programs of Study

• Master of Arts in psychology (with or without thesis)
• Doctor of Philosophy in psychology

Graduate study in psychology is designed for students seeking the Ph.D.; students enrolled in the doctoral program may elect to receive a Master of Arts when they have completed the M.A. requirements.

Master of Arts

The Master of Arts program in psychology requires 30 s.h. of graduate credit with thesis, and 37 s.h. of graduate credit without thesis. The department ordinarily offers the M.A. only to students enrolled in the Ph.D. program.

Thesis students must earn 24 of the required 30 s.h. at The University of Iowa. Course work for the thesis program must include a statistics course, courses outside the primary specialization area, and at least an additional 8 s.h. earned in Department of Psychology courses and seminars. Thesis students also must complete an acceptable scholarly thesis and perform successfully in an oral defense of their thesis.

Nonthesis students must earn 30 of the required 37 s.h. at The University of Iowa. Course work for the nonthesis program must include a statistics course, courses outside the primary specialization area, and at least an additional 15 s.h. earned in Department of Psychology courses and seminars. Nonthesis students also must perform successfully on an examination covering their area of specialization.

Doctor of Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy program in psychology requires a minimum of 72 s.h. of graduate credit. Students entering without previous graduate work usually require at least four years to complete the program; those entering with previous graduate training usually require three to five additional years in the department, depending on the nature of the earlier preparation.

The Ph.D. program places strong emphasis on preparation for research, teaching, and scholarly endeavor, whether in academic settings or in industrial, governmental, or medical institutions. The intent is to produce graduates who are deeply committed to the study of psychology, familiar with fundamental knowledge about psychological processes, well-trained in the methods and techniques for careful investigation of basic and applied problems, and determined to make contributions to the discipline of psychology and to society.

Graduate training is organized in six broad areas: behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, clinical psychology, cognition and perception, developmental science, health psychology, and social psychology (see "Graduate Training Areas" below). Each entering student is expected to identify one of these as his or her primary area and to follow a program that develops thorough understanding of the substantive material and methods of investigation central to that subdiscipline. While pursuing specialty training, all students must meet course requirements in statistics and research methods and in content areas other than their primary one.

The training area programs are sufficiently flexible to permit students to develop substantial competence in a second training area. Individually tailored programs are possible.

The 72 s.h. required for the Ph.D. includes at least 33 s.h. in Department of Psychology courses. All students must satisfy, through one of several options, requirements in statistics and research methods. They also must take course work outside the primary training area to develop a background in the discipline of psychology as a whole.

During each of the first two semesters, graduate students ordinarily take three courses—for example, a statistics course, a course or two in the primary training area, and/or an outside area elective. Students also begin their research under the supervision of their advisor and with the guidance of their research advisory committee.

Near the end of the fall semester of the second year, students submit a report describing their research to date. At the beginning of the following semester, they present their research at the annual graduate research symposium.

During subsequent years, students continue selected course work in their training and interest areas and continue to develop their research programs. In addition, they develop a prospectus for the dissertation research and take the comprehensive examination, which covers material in the specialty area. The final year is devoted primarily to conducting the Ph.D. study and preparing the dissertation. In the Ph.D. final examination, students present an oral defense of their dissertation and are expected to relate the dissertation work to broader issues in the discipline of psychology.

Graduate Training Areas

Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience

The program in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience focuses on the analysis of learning, memory, attention, motivation, aging, sensory processing, and sleep, in both human and nonhuman subjects, through the application of behavioral and biological principles. Special faculty strengths are in classical and operant conditioning, motivation and emotion, developmental psychobiology, neurobiology of learning, comparative psychology, cognitive neuroscience, neuropharmacology, neuroendocrinology, and neuroanatomy. Students in this program have the opportunity to learn state-of-the-art techniques in computer-controlled experimentation and electronic instrumentation as well as advanced analytic and laboratory methods in neurophysiology, nonhuman neurosurgery, histology, and assays of biochemical activity. 

Faculty members in the behavioral and cognitive neuroscience area interact extensively with colleagues from other divisions in the psychology department and from several basic science and clinical departments in the Carver College of Medicine, including anatomy, anesthesiology, pharmacology, internal medicine, pediatrics, and neurology. These collaborative activities provide excellent research and training opportunities for students interested in emerging interdisciplinary fields such as behavioral medicine.

Clinical Psychology

The clinical training program emphasizes a clinical science approach to the study of mental and physical health. It is designed for students who intend to pursue careers in clinical research and are interested primarily in developing scholarly understanding of clinical phenomena, acquiring research skills necessary for systematic investigation of such phenomena, and developing and implementing evidence-based approaches to service. Students whose primary interest is clinical practice should apply to a program with a focus on practice.

Students in the clinical program may develop special competence in areas such as aggression, marital and family dysfunction, eating disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, affective disorders, behavioral and cognitive therapies, child psychopathology, and clinical health psychology. Faculty members collaborate actively with colleagues from departments such as internal medicine, microbiology, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, otolaryngology—head and neck surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery, and from other units, such as the Center for Health Policy and Research and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Students must become familiar with clinical material and competent in the application of clinical skills in order to pursue clinical research, so the department closely integrates practicum experience in the Seashore Clinic with course work and supervised research experience. Advanced students have opportunities to gain additional practicum experience through placement in clinical facilities maintained by local, state, federal, and University agencies. Students in the clinical program who wish to have the designation "clinical psychology" on their official transcript must satisfactorily complete a one-year internship at an approved internship site before receiving a Ph.D. The internship ordinarily comes after completion of all course work and most, if not all, of the dissertation project.

The clinical training program is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (see Accreditation on the association's web site) and the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS).

Cognition and Perception

The cognition and perception training area is guided by the philosophy that understanding a specific cognitive process requires an understanding of how it interacts with other cognitive processes. The area pursues empirical rigor and theoretical development, so its research is theory driven and data tested.

Research programs of the area's laboratories overlap with each other, and most content areas are studied by multiple laboratories and with multiple methodologies. Areas of strength include categorization, computational modeling, cognitive control, language and language learning, learning and memory, visual cognition, attention, and working memory.

Students in perception and cognition take basic courses and seminars in specialty areas, but they devote most of their time to research activities. Students work closely with a faculty mentor at first and then become progressively independent as they gain knowledge and skills. The program encourages students to work with more than one faculty member, both in the program and across the department and the University. Students often combine basic work on cognition with work in areas such as neuroscience, psychiatry, marketing, law, social psychology, and human factors engineering.

Developmental Science

The developmental science program focuses on understanding the processes that underlie change as each individual follows a unique developmental pathway. Students examine influences on development ranging from the level neurons to neighborhoods, and they work to understand the step-by-step accumulation of effects across these levels and over time. Students are taught a broad range of developmental theory and acquire expertise in multiple research paradigms, such as observational research, experimentation, computational methods, and neuroimaging. They also have the opportunity to study and collaborate with faculty members whose research cuts across domains such as perception, cognition, action, social processes, and basic biological mechanisms. Faculty members collaborate with their colleagues across the University, including those in the Carver College of Medicine. These collaborations provide students with a unique breadth of training.

Students take courses in many areas of developmental science as well as in other areas of psychology. They also have research opportunities in early communication and social development, cognitive development in infancy and childhood, neuroimaging in toddlers and adults, and developmental psychobiology. The developmental research group meets regularly in conjunction with other members of the University of Iowa's DELTA Center, providing students and faculty members the opportunity to present and discuss their own research as well as to gain exposure to other developmental work being conducted in the department and at the University.

Health Psychology

The health psychology program is concerned with application of psychological theory, methods, and treatment to understanding of physical health and illness. The program's perspective is based on the biopsychosocial model, which posits that biological, psychological, and social processes are integrally and interactively involved in physical health and illness.

Graduate training in health psychology emphasizes the integration of knowledge about biological, psychological, and social factors. Students are involved in research whose content and methods reflect the biopsychosocial perspective. Training in health psychology is facilitated by the faculty's longstanding collaborations with medical practitioners and researchers at the University's Carver College of Medicine and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Availability of medical populations and state-of-the-art medical technologies afford a unique opportunity for doctoral students in health psychology.

Research areas of the health psychology program include stress and illness, psychoneuroimmunology, patient adherence, animal models of hypertension and heart failure, postpartum depression, women's health issues, and psycho-oncology.

Social Psychology

The social psychology program offers a variety of perspectives on interpersonal and intrapersonal processes. Examples of research foci of faculty and students are social cognition, social comparison, close relationships, social and emotional development, attitudes and persuasion, stereotyping and prejudice, decision making, health psychology, and individual differences.

Graduate training in the social psychology program is designed primarily to prepare students for careers in psychology research and teaching. In addition to their experiences and course work in the program and in the Department of Psychology, students can benefit from opportunities in related academic units at the University, such as the Departments of Sociology, Communication Studies, and Statistics and Actuarial Sciences and the Tippie College of Business. Such experience can broaden a student's training, research opportunities, and employment prospects.

Admission

Since the graduate program in psychology is designed primarily for students seeking the Ph.D., all applicants are considered on that basis. Occasionally, a qualified applicant who is in good standing in another UI graduate program and is interested in advanced work in psychology only through the M.A. level may be admitted to pursue a joint graduate program. Students interested in such a program should contact the department chair before filing an application.

The application deadline is December 15. For all materials to be on file by that date, applicants should take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test in October, and no later than December. The subject test in psychology is not required. Applications may be submitted any time but are considered only once each year—between December 15 and February 1—for admission the following fall. Admission decisions are based on a composite consideration of prior academic and research performance; letters of reference; scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytic writing sections of the GRE General Test; and the applicant's statement about background and purpose. Admission materials are reviewed initially by faculty members in the applicant's primary training area.

An undergraduate major in psychology—including a laboratory course in experimental psychology, a course in statistics, and additional work in the natural sciences and in mathematics—is desirable but not required. Students who have not had such a background but are strongly qualified on other grounds may be admitted. They are expected to remedy deficiencies through special course work or independent study before embarking on the regular graduate program.

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College; see the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College or the Graduate College section of the Catalog.

Financial Support

All students admitted to the Ph.D. program in psychology are guaranteed five years of financial support, as long as they make satisfactory progress and remain in good academic standing. Financial support is provided through fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and traineeships, depending on merit and availability. No separate application for financial aid is required.

Faculty

Faculty members of the Department of Psychology are nationally and internationally renowned leaders in a variety of subdisciplines. Their research is funded by numerous federal and private research grants, their findings are documented in many publications, and their accomplishments have won many awards.

Facilities

The department's facilities for graduate training and research are among the finest in the country. The Kenneth W. Spence Laboratories of Psychology, adjoining space in Seashore Hall, and the newly renovated Stuit Hall provide a variety of laboratories for human and animal studies. Facilities include animal housing areas; a histology laboratory; observation suites with remote audiovisual control and recording equipment; soundproof chambers; electrophysiological recording rooms; conditioning laboratories; the Seashore Clinic; and well-equipped electronic, mechanical, and woodworking shops. Computers are widely available. Office space for graduate students and faculty members is provided in Seashore Hall.

The research and teaching activities of the department benefit greatly from the facilities and staff of other University and local agencies, including University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the University Counseling Service, the Center for Disabilities and Development, the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Clinic, the Center for Health Policy and Research, and the School of Social Work.

Courses

Primarily for Undergraduates

The following courses are open to first-year students who have satisfactorily completed an introductory psychology course [031:001 (PSY:1001) Elementary Psychology or equivalent]: 031:002 (PSY:2701) Biological Psychology, 031:013 (PSY:2301) Introduction to Clinical Psychology, 031:014 (PSY:2401) Introduction to Developmental Science, 031:015 (PSY:2501) Introduction to Social Psychology, 031:016 (PSY:2601) Introduction to Cognitive Psychology, and 031:019 (PSY:2910) Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

For Undergraduate and Graduate Students

Before enrolling in any upper-level undergraduate courses, students must complete all specified lower-level prerequisites or obtain consent of instructor.

Primarily for Graduate Students