As a major within the psychology department, brain and behavioral sciences offers a broad-based overview of many sub-fields. The major dedicates some of the student’s free electives to additional science-related courses. Courses focus on: clinical psychology (mental illness and behavioral problems); cognitive psychology (thinking and reasoning); developmental psychology (human growth and aging); industrial/organizational psychology (how people work together); learning, memory, and motivation; psychobiology (biological bases of behavior); statistics and mathematical models of behavior; thoughts and behavior in social situations.
Students begin in pre-psychological sciences and after successfully completing three required pre-psychological sciences courses, with a GPA of 2.5 or higher, may proceed to the upper-level psychological sciences/brain behavioral sciences courses.
Points of Pride
- The Purdue Department of Psychological Sciences was placed among the top 25 percent of psychology departments in the nation’s major colleges and universities by the National Research Council.
- Students can take advantage of an undergraduate internship program.
- Students can enroll in a course enabling them to become involved in psychological research on a wide range of topics.
- The Honors Program in Psychological Sciences, developed by Professor James Nairne, emphasizes independent study research opportunities for the department’s strongest students.
- Purdue has a Psychology Club and Psi Chi chapter (the National Honor Society in Psychology).
- The psychology department hosts an annual undergraduate research conference.
*Select psychological sciences (pre) on the undergraduate admission application.