The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Hons) is a four-year honours programme for undergraduates interested in a major in Psychology at NTU. This rigorous training in Psychology is conducted in conjunction with a series of broadening courses in other social sciences, the humanities, and business. The BA (Hons) in Psychology at NTU is designed with both depth and breath to facilitate the student's development into an intelligent global citizen.
1. The Curriculum
To graduate with a BA (Hons) in Psychology, students must complete 2 categories of requirements, totalling at least 146 Academic Units (AUs):
- General Education Requirement (GER) (60 AUs)
- Major Requirements (86 AUs)
For those admitted since AY0708, student must complete a minimum of 35 AUs in order to be promoted to the next Year of studies. Please consult the following for more information:
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/Services/Academic/undergraduates/Pages/
classificationofstudentsay2007-08.aspx
(a) General Education Requirement (GER) (60 AUs)
The GER consists of 3 sub-areas:
(i) GER – Core (6 AUs)
- HW101 The Craft of Writing (3 AUs)
- HW111 Mastering Communication (3 AUs)
(ii) GER – Prescribed Electives (PEs) (15 AUs)
- Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) (3 AUs)
- Business & Management (BM) (3 AUs)
- Science, Technology and Society (STS) (9 AUs)
(iii) GER – Unrestricted Electives (UEs) (39AUs)
There is no restriction on the selection of courses to make up unrestricted electives. Students can choose any course offered by any School so long as the pre-requisite is satisfied.
Students are also encouraged to take up a Minor in another discipline – which they can use to fulfil the requirements for Unrestricted Electives.
(b) Major Requirements (86 AUs)
The Major Requirements for a Psychology Major are:
- Psychology Core (34 AUs)
- Psychology Electives (44 AUs)
- Graduation Project (8 AUs)
2. Requirements of Psychology Major
Each course (unless stated otherwise) is equivalent to 4 AUs.
(a) Psychology Core - compulsory courses (34 AUs)
HP101 Introduction to Psychology (3 AUs)
HP102 Fundamentals of Social Science Research (3 AUs)
HP200 Research Design and Data Analysis in Psychology
HP201 Biological Psychology
HP202 Developmental Psychology
HP203 Social Psychology
HP204 Personality and Individual Differences
HP206 Cognitive Psychology
HP207 Abnormal Psychology
Level -1XX courses must be completed in the first year. Students are strongly advised to complete all the Psychology core courses by the end of their second year.
HP200 will be taken in sequence with HP102. Year One students will take HP200 in Semester 2 only after passing HP102 in Semester 1.
(b) Psychology Electives (44 AUs)
Students must choose 11 courses from the following Level 3XX to 4XX courses. All Level 3XX to 4XX courses are 4 AUs:
Level 300
Other level 300 psychology courses not listed below can also be used to fulfill the Psychology Elective requirement.
HP 305 Applied Statistical Methods for Psychological Research (previously coded as HP303)
HP 307 Psychological Adjustment and Mental Health
HP 308 Psychology in the Workplace (previously coded as HP306)
HP 309 Cultural Psychology
HP 310 Positive Psychology
HP 311 Evolutionary Psychology
HP 320 Learning and Behavioral Analysis (previously coded as HP 304)
HP 324 Human Motivation
HP 326 Cognitive Development
HP 328 Psychological Testing (previously coded as HP322)
HP 329 Psychology in the Asian Context (previously coded as HP301)
HP 330 Community Psychology (previously coded as HP 311)
HP 338 Psychology and Health (previously coded as HP305)
HP 339 Multiculturalism, Multilingualism and Psychology (previously coded as HP302)
HP 349 Psychology and Language (previously coded as HP 308)
HP 312X Selected topics in Basic Psychological Sciences*
HP 313X Selected topics in Social and Personality Psychology*
HP 314X Selected topics in Applied Psychological Sciences*
The suffix X means that students can take the course more than once, provided that the suffix for the same course code is different (denoted A, B, C… for different content)
Level 400
The level 400 courses are advanced courses to prepare students for the profession of psychology. There are two professional tracts for psychologists:
- Academic/research tract
- Applied-practitioner tract
Therefore, the advanced courses are divided into two groups:
- The laboratory courses provide exposure for students to conduct scientific research in the basic areas of psychology.
- The introductory professional courses introduce students to the practice of psychology in different settings.
Psychological Laboratories (Choose at least 1)
HP 401 Laboratory in Biological Psychology
HP 402 Laboratory in Developmental Psychology
HP 403 Laboratory in Social Psychology
HP 404 Laboratory in Personality and Individual Differences
HP 405 Laboratory in Cultural Psychology
HP 406 Laboratory in Cognitive Psychology
HP 407 Laboratory in Abnormal Psychology
HP 408 Laboratory in Psychology and Language
HP 409 Laboratory in Selected Topic
Courses on Professional Psychology
HP 410 Counselling and Guidance Psychology
HP 411 Clinical Psychology
HP 412 Psychological Assessment
HP 413 Applied Quantitative Methods
HP 414 Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Seminar
Students please note that HP 415X is a graduate-level course that is cross-listed with a different course code.
HP 429X Seminar in Selected Topics
Undergraduates in their fourth year are encouraged to take a seminar course. Seminar in Selected Topics is also offered at the graduate level. Thus students at the undergraduate level need to seek approval from the instructor to read the course. It is coded with different suffix to reflect the different special topics offered by faculty members. Students may take more than one HP429X per semester.
(c) Graduation Project (8 AUs)
The objective of the Graduation Project in Psychology is to provide training for independent research work. With the guidance of a supervisor, each student will learn to identify a research question, formulate empirically testable hypotheses, collect data, conduct data analysis and write up the research report.
Note:
- The Division recommends students to take an average of 3 psychology courses every semester (except for the first semester of Year 1);
- We strongly encourage students to complete their Core Courses (200-level courses) first before attempting the prescribed electives (300- and 400-level courses);
- Students are strongly encouraged to read the Core Courses as soon as they are offered. Please do not delay in the reading of Core Courses because these Core Courses may be the pre-requisite for some courses offered in future semesters. A failure to clear the Core Courses as early as possible will impose restrictions in the choice of courses in future semesters.
- We strongly encourage students to start reading Lab Courses in the first semester of Year 3 and Professional Courses in the second semester of Year 3. Students in Years 3 and 4 have priority in registering for the Lab and Professional Courses. Students in Years 1 and 2 can only register for these courses with the approval from the course instructors.
3. Duration of Study
The curriculum is designed as a four-year programme. However, students can complete the degree in a shorter period by taking more courses during the semester.