Psychology

For most first-year students, PSYC 100/101: Introductory Psychology will be the psychology course of choice because it is the prerequisite for all other psychology offerings.

You may choose to take PSYC 101: Introductory Psychology (NSC-L), which has a laboratory component, or PSYC 100: Introductory Psychology (NSC) which does not. When you view the fall course schedule, you will notice that each professor has a 100 section and a 101 section, both of which are taught at the same time and place because the lecture portion of the course is the same for both sections. Those who are registered for PSYC 101 will register separately for one of the eight laboratory sections.

Course this fall appropriate for first-year students, subject to the availability of seats, are:

• PSYC 100: Introductory Psychology (NSC)
• PSYC 101: Introductory Psychology with Lab (NSC-L)

Which Introductory Psychology course should you take? St. Lawrence’s distribution requirements include two natural science courses, one of which must be taken with a laboratory. PSYC 101 fulfills the requirement of a natural science course with a laboratory (NSC-L). However, PSYC 100 can serve as the second natural science (NSC) course for those who will fulfill their natural science with laboratory (NSC-L) requirement in another discipline.

PSYC 100 and PSYC 101 are treated equivalently if you eventually wish to major or minor in psychology or to use the course as a prerequisite for an upper-level psychology course.

If you scored a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement exam in Psychology, you may earn credit for PSYC 100. You may also earn credit for PSYC 100 by taking a college course in high school. If you have earned credit for PSYC 100, you may register for one of our 200-level psychology offerings in your first semester. However, first-year students who plan to do this are urged to contact the department chairperson.

MATH 113: Applied Statistics (MFL) is required for the major in psychology. We strongly encourage students to take this course prior to the required research methods course in psychology (PSYC 205), which most students take in their sophomore year. Therefore, MATH 113 is a good choice for a first-year student who is considering psychology as a major.

The biology and psychology departments jointly offer a neuroscience major. If you have an interest in this program, you should take the BIOL 101 - 102 and CHEM 103 - 104 (or CHEM 105) sequence during your first year, and plan to take PSYC 100 or PSYC 101 at some point during your first year.