# Psychology (A.A. Degree)

Santa Ana College · 2026-2027 Catalog · Department: Psychology

Source: https://sac.curriqunet.com/catalog/iq/34297/34898/36150/34948/35854

Program Code: SAC.PSYC.AA

Program Control Number: 04247

The associate degree in psychology prepares students to move into a curriculum at a four-year institution leading to a baccalaureate degree for specialization in any of more than twenty branches of psychology including child, clinical, personal, vocational and marriage counseling, industrial, mental health, and college teaching.  Completion of the two-year program is appropriate for students whose career plans include helping people, e.g., teaching, social welfare, probation, criminology, nursing, law, or personnel work.  Consult a counselor for information about course requirements for specific universities.

**Learning Outcome(s):**

1.  Demonstrate familiarity with the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, research methods, core empirical findings, career pathways, and historic trends in psychology.
2.  Understand the impact of diversity on psychological research, theory and application, including (but not limited to): age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, socio-economic status, disability, and sexual orientation.
3.  Have an understanding of the relationship between biology and psychological processes as it relates to typical, atypical, and psychopathological behavior and mental processes.
4.  Be able to think critically and objectively, problem-solve, and employ the scientific method of inquiry to address psychological questions.
5.  Be able to conduct academic research, understand the logic of statistical methods, and determine the validity and relevance of the research literature.
6.  Be able to conduct descriptive and inferential statistics on data sets, understand the logic of hypothesis testing and apply this logic to the evaluation and interpretation of research data and findings.
7.  Have an understanding of the logic of hypothesis testing and apply this logic to the evaluation and interpretation of research data and findings.
8.  Be able adequately distinguishing between primary and secondary sources and communicate in writing using the standards and conventions of the American Psychological Association.

| Course | Title | Units |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Course** | | 10 |
| PSYC C1000 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| or PSYC C1000H | Introduction to Psychology - Honors | 3 |
| PSYC 210 | Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences | 4 |
| or STAT C1000 | Introduction to Statistics | 4 |
| or STAT C1000H | Introduction to Statistics - Honors | 4 |
| PSYC 219 | Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology | 3 |
| **Two courses from the following psychology electives:** | | 6 |
| PSYC 140 | Introduction to Psychology of Adulthood and Aging | 3 |
| PSYC 157 | Introduction to Child Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 170 | Multicultural Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 180 | Introduction to Lifespan Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 200 | Introduction to Biological Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 230 | Psychology of Adjustment | 3 |
| PSYC 240 | Introduction to Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 250 | Introduction to Abnormal Psychology | 3 |
| **One additional elective from the psychology courses above or from the following:** | | 3 |
| ANTH 100 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| or ANTH 100H | Honors Introduction to Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 101 | Introduction to Biological Anthropology | 3 |
| BIOL 109 | Fundamentals of Biology | 3 |
| or BIOL 109H | Honors Fundamentals of Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 149 | Human Anatomy and Physiology | 4 |
| CHEM 109 | Chemistry in the Community | 4 |
| CHEM 119 | Fundamentals - General and Organic | 5 |
| CMPR 100 | The Computer and Society | 3 |
| IDS 155 | Human Sexuality | 3 |
| KNPR 125 | Sport Psychology | 3 |
| PHIL 110 | Critical Thinking | 4 |
| or PHIL 110H | Honors Critical Thinking | 4 |
| PHIL 111 | Introductory Logic | 4 |
| SOC 100 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| or SOC 100H | Honors Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| **Total** | | **19** |