SOME OUTCOMES AND LESSONS FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL EVALUATION OF PSYCHOLOGY UNDERGRADUATES

A cross-sectional evaluation of psychology majors (n = 71) revealed si gnificant gains in psychological knowledge, as measured by the Major F ield Achievement Test in Psychology, from freshman to senior years, wi th the mean score of graduating seniors at the 70th percentile. The So cial Psychology subtest scores were higher than the scores on the Expe rimental Psychology subtest at the end of the sophomore year, but the average Experimental subtest score was equivalent by the senior year. In addition, psychology and management freshmen had similar causal rea soning scores, as measured by the Reasoning about Everyday Events Test , but sophomore and senior psychology majors scored significantly high er than their management counterparts. We discuss four lasting lessons from our evaluation experience that may benefit other faculty.