Navigating Introductory Course Options in Psychology
First Course
PSY 101 (Foundations in Psychological Science), 1 unit: Fall only
- No prerequisites
- Meets Group 3 (but not Group 3+ Data Collection & Analysis requirement)
- Each section includes twice-weekly Lectures (T/Th), plus a once-weekly Concept Lab and a once-weekly Applied Lab
- PSY 101 is available to all Reed students! We have 128 seats in Fall 2025. Some seats are reserved for intended psychology and neuroscience majors, but there are plenty of seats available for non-majors.
Second Course Options
Recommendations for the second course in the sequence differ for majors and non-majors:
Psychology & Neuroscience Majors
PSY 20X (Intro Methods Labs), each 0.25 units; Fall & Spring
- Prerequisite/corequisite: PSY 101
- Meets Group 3+ Data Collection & Analysis (DCA) requirement
- Each lab meets once weekly (80 min) for half the semester (either 1st or 2nd quarter)
- Seats are reserved for psychology and neuroscience majors only
- Majors are encouraged to take all 4 required labs (PSY major) or 2 required labs (NEUR major) in their first year, or in their second year at the latest
- Fall 2025 labs: 201 (Brain & Behavior), 202 (Cognitive Neuroscience), 209 (Decision Science)
- Spring 2026 labs: 200 (Health), 204 (Educational), 207 (Social), 208 (Cognitive)
- Students can take any number of labs each quarter, e.g.: 2 in Q1, 2 in Q2; 1 in Q1, 3 in Q2
- Labs that may be of particular interest to neuroscience majors are italicized above.
Non-Majors
PSY 2XX Content-Area Topics Courses, each 1 unit; Fall & Spring
- No prerequisites
- Meets Group 3 (but not Group 3+ DCA requirement)
- Most seats in these courses are open to non-majors.
- Fall 2025 topics courses:
- PSY 225 (Psychology of Stress & Resilience)
- PSY 232 (Socialization of the Child)
- PSY 234 (Diversity & Human Development)—section newly added!
- Spring 2026 topics courses:
- PSY 218 (Neuroscience & Ethics)
- PSY 220 (Disinformation & Propaganda)
- PSY 227 (Science Communication)
- PSY 234 (Diversity & Human Development)
- PSY 242 (Human Sexuality)
- To meet Group 3+ (DCA): We encourage non-majors to take PSY 3XX non-core courses with a lab component (prerequisite: PSY 101); see options below. Non-majors can join the waitlist and are likely to be admitted if they contact the instructor.
- Fall 2025: PSY 334 (Cognitive Neuroscience), 363 (Human Development in Adolescence)
- Spring 2026: PSY 326 (Altruism & Self-Interest)
- Non-majors can also fulfill the Group 3+ requirement by taking another course in the natural sciences.