Psychology Programs
Psychology (BA) or Psychology (BSc) - How are they different?
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree will be of particular relevance to students who are interested in the social, personality or developmental characteristics of human behaviour.
Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology program will receive a core first year of social science and humanities courses, including sociology, writing for the social sciences, political science, criminology, and introductory psychology. Additionally, students in the Bachelor of Arts program are also required to complete a number of Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (FSSH) electives as part of their degree requirements.
The Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree will be particularly relevant for students interested in studying the cognitive and biological underpinnings of human behaviour.
Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Psychology program will receive a core first year of natural science courses, including biology, chemistry, physics, math and introductory psychology. Additionally, students in the Bachelor of Science program are also required to complete a number of Faculty of Science electives as part of their degree requirements.
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology
Students in the Bachelor of Arts degree may look at the following questions:
- Do groups of people make better decisions than individuals?
- Can we empathize equally with people from different cultural backgrounds?
- How does power affect the process of decision making?
- What role does attachment play in development?
The knowledge gained from the Bachelor of Arts degree will put students in strong positions for additional education or direct-to-work opportunities in areas such as business, community development, advocacy, social work, public policy, security, and marketing.
Degree Structure
Students will require 120 credits to complete the Bachelor of Arts degree, including the following course components:
Core First Year Courses
Students in the BA stream will obtain a broad-based education with introductory courses in psychology, sociology, criminal justice, political science, communication and digital media studies and writing. All of these courses already exist in the Academic Calendar and will provide a firm broad background in core areas of social science.
Year Two: Core Psychology Courses
Year two will represent a common year for students in both BA/BSc degrees, during which core courses will focus on educating students in each of the major psychological sub-disciplines, including social psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, cognitive psychology and neuroscience. These courses serve to provide students with a strong foundation in the major psychological sub-disciplines, and prepare students for their advanced/elective course preferences in third and fourth year. Each of these courses are taken by existing Forensic Psychology students, as they are necessary foundational courses in Psychology, and already exist in the Academic Calendar. In addition, students will be required to take courses in research methods and quantitative data analysis. Both of these courses are also already taken by Forensic Psychology and other FSSH students, and thus exist in the Academic Calendar.
Biological Science Courses
As the scientific study of human behaviour, Psychology students require a solid education in both behavioural and biological phenomena. Indeed, a great deal of Psychology focuses on the biological basis of behaviour, cognition, and affect. Accordingly, students achieving BA degrees will be required to take the Essentials in Biology course, offered by the Faculty of Science, in the first year of the degree, and the mandatory FSSH Brain and Behaviour course in the second year of the degree. These courses are already administered through their respective faculties and included as mandatory components for students in the Forensic Psych program. Additional elective courses will be available to students in the 3rd and 4th years of the program, with which they may take other biologically-oriented courses should they so choose (e.g. Psychobiology of sex; Social/Affective Neuroscience; Neuropharmacology).
Elective Courses
Ample room has been provided in year 3 and 4 curriculum for elective courses, to ensure that students have flexibility to choose courses of interest, to build unique skill-sets, and to facilitate student’s completion of minors in related disciplines, should they wish to do so. We classify these electives as Psychology electives, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities electives (FSSH electives), and General electives (i.e. university-wide).
- Psychology electives: To ensure that BA degree students receive in-depth knowledge in Psychology, they will be required to select at least five senior-level Psychology courses (course code 3XXX or higher) from the available electives. Students who do not wish to complete the Honours Thesis may instead substitute two additional Psychology electives, for a total of seven overall.
- FSSH electives: To motivate educational breadth, and conceptual connections between Social Science disciplines, students will be required to select at least two non-Psychology FSSH electives from the available course listings.
- General electives: General electives can include any course within the university Academic Calendar and are intended to allow students flexibility in designing their curriculum to best suit their individual interests and career goals.
Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Psychology
Students in the Bachelor of Science degree may look at the following questions:
- Does the chronic use of drugs lead to permanent changes in the brain?
- How do modern pharmaceuticals help treat the symptoms of anxiety and depression?
- How do traumatic events influence a child’s development?
- What are the different neuroimaging techniques? How do we determine which is most appropriate to use?
The knowledge you gain from the program will put you in strong positions for additional education or direct-to-work opportunities in such areas as medicine, health care, social services, law and justice, mental health and graduate programs in neuroscience.
Degree Structure
Students will require 120 credits to complete the Bachelor of Science degree, including the following course components:
Core First Year Courses
Students in the BSc stream will obtain a broad-based education in Natural Sciences, including introductory courses in psychology, biology, chemistry, physics, math and computer science. Students will also be required to take Introduction to Sociology, as this is a prerequisite for many upper year FSSH-electives. All of these courses already exist in the Academic Calendar and will provide a firm broad background in core scientific areas.
Year Two: Core Psychology Courses
Year two will represent a common year for students in both BA/BSc degrees, during which core courses will focus on educating students in each of the major psychological sub-disciplines, including social psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, cognitive psychology and neuroscience. These courses serve to provide students with a strong foundation in the major psychological sub-disciplines, and prepare students for their advanced/elective course preferences in third and fourth year. Each of these courses are taken by existing Forensic Psychology students, as they are necessary foundational courses in Psychology, and already exist in the Academic Calendar. In addition, students will be required to take courses in research methods and quantitative analysis. Both of these courses are also already taken by Forensic Psychology and other FSSH students, and thus exist in the Academic Calendar.
Biological Science Courses
Students achieving BSc degrees will be required to take a more substantive array of biology-based courses. Students will take Biology I and Biology II in the first year of the program, run through the Faculty of Science, as well as the mandatory FSSH Brain and Behaviour course in the second year of the program. In addition, they will be required to take two further Faculty of Science electives in year 3 of the program, to ensure continued depth of knowledge across natural science disciplines. This will provide students with the prerequisites necessary to take additional upper year electives in the biological and health sciences, and will put students in a strong position for educational and career opportunities that require a fundamental background in the biological sciences.
Elective Courses
Ample room has been provided in year 3 and 4 curriculum for elective courses, to ensure that students have flexibility to choose courses of interest, to build unique skill-sets, and to facilitate student’s completion of minors in related disciplines, should they wish to do so. We classify these electives as Psychology electives, Faculty of Science electives, and General electives (i.e. university-wide).
- Psychology electives: To ensure that BSc degree students receive in-depth knowledge in Psychology, they will be required to select at least five senior-level Psychology courses (course code 3XXX or higher) from the available electives. Students who do not wish to complete the Honours Thesis may instead substitute two additional Psychology electives, for a total of seven overall.
- Science electives: To motivate educational breadth, and conceptual connections between Science disciplines, students will be required to select at least two non-Psychology Science electives from the available course listings.
- General electives: General electives can include any course within the university Academic Calendar and are intended to allow students flexibility in designing their curriculum to best suit their individual interests and career goals.