printer-friendly

Psychology

Bethel College’s psychology program provides a broad foundation in the major areas of the discipline. Courses emphasize fundamental findings, theory and research methods but examine applications as well. You may select from advanced courses that cover areas such as personality, neuropsychology, abnormal psychology, learning and memory, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, social cognition and counseling.

As a student in psychology, you will benefit by having a sufficiently broad background to give you alternatives in many career areas. You will also develop versatile skills and knowledge that are useful in almost any area you choose to pursue. The college’s liberal arts emphasis ensures that you develop independence, critical and analytical thinking skills, the ability to write clearly and persuasively and speak with clarity and confidence and an understanding of the professions in a broad ethical and moral framework.

You will benefit from these advantages by developing research, analytical, computing, social and statistical skills that are useful in jobs and graduate study. In lab assignments and further research, you will have the opportunity to work with student colleagues but also with various participant populations – psychiatric patients, preschool children, retirement village residents, and so on.

A few things that distinguish Bethel’s psychology department from those of other schools of similar size include:

• Ongoing research projects involving lower-level and upper-level students, including areas such as development of theory of mind in children, emotional responses to music, schizophrenia and mind and brain event-related potentials
• Laboratory components for all upper-level courses
• National Science Foundation grant support almost continuously since 1990
• Clinical and Counseling Certificate that can be added to the major
• Neuroscience Certificate that can be added to the major