Program Learning Outcomes: Psychology

Upon the successful completion of the Psychology major, students will be able to:
 

• Demonstrate broad expertise in their subject area and a working knowledge of appropriate terminology

• Complete a significant research project under the mentorship of an adviser 

• Identify, analyze, critique, and evaluate existing scholarship 

• Extend existing scholarship in innovative and integrative ways

• Understand the broader context, applications, and implications of their research, and connect their work to other fields within Psychology and related disciplines.

• Develop cogent and testable hypotheses, and design and critique experiments

• Conduct appropriate data analysis

• Prepare and obtain approval to carry out research with human subjects and/or other vertebrate animals in ethically-appropriate ways

• Respond appropriately to feedback and critically evaluate their own work 

• Write in a clear and concise scientific style, with a logical structure and a format and style appropriate to the field

• Present, discuss, and defend their work orally

• Communicate findings from existing scholarship and their own work to non-experts
   

The primary assessment tool for learning in the major at Reed and the level of student achievement in these areas is the senior thesis. The secondary assessment tool is the junior qualifying examination. For more information, see the Psychology thesis and junior qual pages.