Psychology BA

About this programme

Psychology as a scientific discipline aims to describe, understand, and predict the behavior of living organisms. In doing so, psychology embraces the many factors that influence behavior — from sensory experience to complex cognition, from the role of genetics to that of social and cultural environments, from the processes that explain behavior in early childhood to those that operate in older ages, and from normal development to pathological conditions. The Psychology Department at UC Berkeley reflects the diversity of our discipline's mission covering six key areas of research: Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience; Clinical Science; Cognition; Cognitive Neuroscience; Developmental, and Social-Personality Psychology. Despite the existence of these specialization areas, the program learning goals focus on fostering methodological, statistical, and critical thinking skills that are not tied to any one particular content area in psychology but are relevant for all of them. The major serves three purposes: For the liberal arts student, the study of psychology provides an avenue for increased self-understanding and insight into the behavior of others. The objective study of behavior is one of the major themes of intellectual history in the last hundred-plus years. For students preparing for training in such professions as medicine, law, education and business, psychology provides important basic knowledge and principles. For students who plan on pursuing graduate work in psychology, the undergraduate major seeks to establish a sound foundation of research principles and knowledge of a variety of content areas Declaring the Major Major declaration requirements may differ by cohort and are based on a student’s admission status.