Mount St. Vincent University

School Description:

We have a strong Psychology Department here at Mount Saint Vincent University. Our department is committed to a personalized education with easy access to faculty advising,opportunities to conduct and participate in psychology research projects and individualized honours supervision.

While the department’s specialty is Developmental Psychology, the research carried out here is, in fact, quite diverse. Some of the faculty research that is presently ongoing concerns eyewitness memory for emotional scenes; gaming and gambling behaviours; development of attention across the lifespan and individuals with attention deficit disorder; the associations among maternal and paternal emotional parenting styles, children’s regulation, and aggression, anxiety, and prosocial behaviour in childhood; the associations between meteorology (i.e., weather) and children’s emotions and behaviours; and the influence of social and religious control on human rule following behaviour.

Student research is also an important part of our program. Many of our students design and conduct original studies during their undergraduate years. Project topics of late include the effect of emotion on insight; jurors’ personality and criminal convictions; lie detection through instant messaging; predicting motivations to drink alcohol, and the impact of environmental awareness on consumer decisions, just to name a few.

Undergraduate Program Description

Admission RequirementsReview sections 2.1.4 Admission Requirements and 2.1.6 Additional Admission Requirements.

Students intending to major in psychology must consult with the departmental chairperson, so that a program can be planned in consultation with an advisor. A student may obtain a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in psychology. A Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology requires a 3.0 unit arts or professional studies minor and a Bachelor of Science degree requires a 3.0 unit science minor. Majors, honours degrees, a concentration and minor in psychology are offered. Potential majors are strongly advised to take MATH 2208 and 2209 as part of their first 5.0 units of study (see MATH 2208 for prerequisites). Selected courses are available via distance learning.

Majors – Arts & Science (20.0 Units)
Combined Major (20.0 Units)
Honours Degree – Arts & Science (20.0 Units)
Concentration (4.0 Units)
Minor (3.0 Units)

Psychology Core Program

A degree with a major in psychology requires completion of the psychology core program.

Major (20.0 Units)

The degree with a major is intended for those students with a clearly focused interest who wish to gain knowledge in depth of a single discipline.

Students intending to complete the major degree must declare their intention to do so before they register for their sixth unit of coursework. Students who do not make this declaration within this time frame will not be permitted to register for further coursework.

Bachelor of Arts – Psychology

Bachelor of Science – Psychology

Major Certificate

Students who have graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University with a Bachelor of Arts (General Studies) or Bachelor of Science (General Studies) degree may apply to do a major certificate. Students must fulfill the requirements for the major degree listed above.

Combined Major (20.0 Units)The combined major degree is intended for those students who wish to gain in-depth knowledge of two disciplines. Students must declare a major or combined major before registering for their sixth unit of coursework. Students who do not make this declaration within this time frame will not be permitted to register for further coursework.

Students wishing to combine an arts major and a science major (e.g. Chemistry and English or Biology and Political Studies):
❏ must meet all of the requirements listed above
and
♦ to complete a BSc (Combined Major) primary science discipline plus secondary arts discipline
❏ must complete a minimum 12.0 units of the total 20.0 units in science disciplines
♦ to complete a BA (Combined Major) primary arts discipline plus secondary science discipline
❏ must complete a minimum 12.0 units of the total 20.0 units in arts disciplines
Honours Degree (20.0 Units)

Students wishing to do an honours degree must make written application through the departmental chairperson. Typically, application would be made after successful completion of 15 university credits. Minimum requirements for honours program application are a grade of at least B+ in PSYC 3312, a GPA of at least 3.0 in psychology courses, and the agreement of a faculty member to supervise the thesis. Admission to honours, however, is subject to department approval.

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) – Psychology

Bachelor of Science (Honours) – Psychology

Honours Certificate

Students who have graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University with a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science with a major in psychology may apply to the department chairperson to do an honours certificate. Students must fulfill the requirements for the honours degree listed above and meet the University regulations regarding honours certificates.

Concentration (4.0 Units)
To obtain a concentration in Psychology, students must fulfill the following requirements:
❏  PSYC 1110 and 1120
❏  2.0 units of PSYC at the 2000 level or above
❏  1.0 unit of PSYC at the 3000 level or above

Minor (3.0 Units)
To obtain a minor in Psychology, students must fulfill the following requirements:
❏  PSYC 1110 and 1120
❏  2.0 addtional units of PSYC at the 2000 level or above

Graduate Program Description