Psychological & Brain Sciences Minor

Program Requirements

  • Total Units Required: 15 units
  • Grade Requirement: For a course to count toward the major, a grade of C- or better must be achieved.

For those students who have a broad or general interest in Psychological & Brain Sciences (P&BS), we recommend taking several courses from the five core areas of psychology: Social/Personality; Mental Health/Affective; Biological/Neurological Bases of Behavior; Behavior and Cognition; and Lifespan Development.

For those students who want to focus in a more specific area, courses can reflect the area of interest. For example, a student interested in the helping professions or counseling may wish to select from such courses as PSYCH 3530 Psychology of Personality, PSYCH 3540 Psychopathology and Mental Health, PSYCH 3610 Psychology of Learning, and PSYCH 3210 Developmental Psychology. A student wishing to focus on experimental psychology/neuroscientific bases of behavior may select from such courses as PSYCH 3401 Introduction to Biological Psychology, PSYCH 3610 Psychology of Learning, PSYCH 3300 Sensation and Perception, PSYCH 3600 Cognitive Psychology, and PSYCH 3604 Cognitive Neuroscience and may also consider doing independent study (PSYCH 3999).

Required Course

PSYCH 1000Introduction to Psychology3

Elective Courses

Four additional courses (i.e., a minimum of 12 units of additional course work) in P&BS, all of which must be at the 3000 level or above. An additional elective course will be required to make up for the PSYCH 1000 exemption.

Additional Information

Students may receive exemption from the PSYCH 1000 Introduction to Psychology requirement only if they have an AP psychology score of 5, an IB score of 6 or 7, or a British A-Level grade of A. For exemption, no credit will be given; therefore, five applicable courses must be completed.

No more than 3 units of an approved psychology course from other departments (i.e., EDUC 3040 Educational Psychology, MUSIC 3300 Music Cognition, BIOL 3411 Principles of the Nervous System), an approved psychology course taken in the School of Continuing & Professional Studies, an approved psychology course taken at another institution (including transfer from a study abroad program), or an independent study-type course (e.g., PSYCH 3999) may count toward the minor.

Transfer Credit

If accepted by the College of Arts & Sciences, transfer credits will be evaluated by the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the P&BS department for their applicability toward the minor in P&BS. Transfer students must complete at least 9 advanced units of home-based P&BS courses at Washington University.

Contact Info

Contact:Shelley Kohlman
Phone:314-935-5169
Email:skohlman@wustl.edu
Website:https://psych.wustl.edu/undergraduate-program