Courses
At every level, the Department of Psychology’s faculty work to ensure that Richmond students receive the finest education they know how to provide. Professors agree that a strong psychology education includes mentorship opportunities, strong academic advising and advanced coursework, research experiences and other experiential learning opportunities.
In the classroom, professors recommend students begin with the Introduction to Psychology course. Careful planning and personal reflection should dictate how you build the rest of your academic course load. Learning doesn’t just happen in one field of study, at the expense of all others. Students grow by exploring all of the areas of specialization within psychology. At the undergraduate level, a breadth of study that gives students the tools they will need to acquire more tools is more important than conquering one discipline in its entirety. Students gain empirical experience as they take 300-level laboratory classes, and independent research with faculty members prepares them for psychology work at the graduate level.
Professors emphasize the distinction between clinical and cognitive psychology to students, both in their coursework and as they plan for careers, but remind them that there is no need to definitively choose one specialty over another as an undergraduate student. Cognitive psychology studies the underlying processes of human performance, including sensory processes, human learning, memory, information processing, problem solving and human factors. Clinical psychology includes a variety of interrelated concentrations such as child psychology or community psychology, all of which relate to the assessment and treatment of mental illnesses and disorders. At the undergraduate level, there is no reason for students to choose between the two fields; instead, they should enjoy the opportunity to take courses in both disciplines.