Psychology
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
101 Introduction to Psychology as a Natural Science
(4 s.h.) A course with a required laboratory applied component emphasizing the experimental method as a procedure for discovering the principles of behavior and mental processes. Subject areas include psychobiology, sensation and perception, consciousness, learning and memory, motivation, emotion, and stress. Weekly labs enable students to explore a wide variety of psychological phenomena by replicating classic experiments and collecting and analyzing behavioral data.
111 Introduction to Psychology as a Social Science
(3 s.h.) This course is designed to introduce students to the study of psychology as a social science. Content areas: the major theoretical approaches to the study of psychology, developmental processes, stress, intelligence and its assessment, personality and its assessment, abnormal psychology, therapy, and social influences on behavior.
150 Survival Skills for the Psychology Major
(1 s.h.) Required for declared psychology majors. The course fosters an understanding of the career field and the acquisition of the basic learning and professional skills necessary to succeed in the field. Topics include vocational assessment, tools for academic success, writing a literature review and an empirical paper, occupational choices, and preparing for and applying to graduate school.
203 Abnormal Psychology
(3 s.h.) A study of the major forms of abnormal behavior focusing on adult psychopathology. Topics include the definition and history of abnormal behavior, research methods, current theoretical perspectives classification, symptomatology and treatment of mental disorders, psychological health. Of special interest to prospective human service workers, including social workers, counselors, and teachers. *Prerequisite: PSYC 101 or PSYC 111.
205 Techniques of Counseling and Psychotherapy
(3 s.h.) An overview of current approaches to counseling and psychotherapy including psychodynamic, phenomenological, behavioral, cognitive, and feminist orientations, and family therapy and therapy with children. Ethical and multicultural issues pertaining to therapy are also considered. Of special interest to prospective human service workers, including mental health workers, social workers, teachers, and personnel workers. *Prerequisite: PSYC 101 or PSYC 111.
210 Child Psychology
(3 s.h.) Examines cognitive, socio-emotional, language, and gender development from infancy through late childhood from different theoretical perspectives. Environmental and biological influences on children’s behavior are considered. Implications for parents, teachers, and others who work with children are discussed.
211 Adolescent Psychology
(3 s.h.) This course focuses on the neurological, socio-emotional, cognitive, and transitional aspects of adolescent development. Topics include identity formation; sexuality; work and leisure; and family, peer, and school influences on development. Students learn how culture, generation, gender roles, and other psychological factors affect adolescent behavior.
212 Fundamentals of Human Memory and Cognition
(3 s.h.) This course provides an introduction to the operations of the human mind. Students will learn about how we take in information from our environment and make sense of it, how we store and retrieve information in memory, how we manipulate information and knowledge for problem-solving and communication, the nature of consciousness, and other topics.
213 Applied Behavior Analysis
(3 s.h.) Procedures for treating a variety of problems, ranging from personal behavior problems to abnormal behavior will be considered. Students will learn to design, conduct, and evaluate programs for behavior change for themselves and others. Considers procedures for establishing desirable behaviors and eliminating or reducing undesirable behaviors, maladaptive anxiety, and other unwanted emotions.
214 Psychology of Women
(3 s.h.) This course takes a psychosocial developmental feminist approach to understanding psychological and social phenomena that pertain to women. We will examine theoretical perspectives on women’s psychology; cultural and societal images of women; women in adolescence, young adulthood, midlife, and late adulthood; and issues of relationships, lifestyles, sexuality, parenting, family, and work. Includes opportunity for community activism that benefits girls and women.
218 Psychology of Relationships
(3 s.h.) This course discusses and evaluates recent data, emphasizing heterosexual relationships, but including data on other intrapersonal and family relationships. It focuses on how relationships have evolved and the adaptive significance of the roles of the individuals within them. Examines the psychological principles that result in different behavioral strategies in response to changing societal demands, and addresses principles that underlie adaptive, destructive, and abnormal behaviors within relationships. Alternate years.
220 Experimental Psychology
(4 s.h.) Lecture/laboratory course focuses on why and how experiments are conducted in psychology. Students learn how to critically evaluate published psychological research, design and conduct experiments, use computers for statistical analysis of results. Uses significant research to investigate variables, methods, problems peculiar to psychological research. In lab students participate in data collection, design and conduct experiments, analyze results with computer-generated statistics. *Prerequisite: PSYC 101.
231 Psychology of Personality
(3 s.h.) This course introduces each of the major theories of personality: psychoanalytic, phenomenological, biological, behavioral, social learning, humanistic, existential, and positive. Each is critically examined with respect to its ability to explain human nature and generate strategies for assessing and modifying personality. Considers findings relating to conflict, stress, aggression, self-concept, and multicultural influences on personality. *Prerequisite: PSYC 101 or PSYC 111.
232 Educational Psychology
(3 s.h.) The application of psychological principles and theories to educational settings, including elementary, middle, and secondary schools, colleges, and other institutions (e.g., businesses and industries) in which education or training is a goal. Students will learn how to write educational objectives, analyze learning tasks, devise instructional strategies for accomplishing educational objectives, and evaluate the outcomes of such strategies.
241 Sensation and Perception
(3 s.h.) Introduces principles of sensation and their involvement in our perception of the world. Examines all sensory systems as to how they translate physical stimuli into information useful for processing by the brain. Investigates roles of experience, context, attribution, and other perceptual variables in the interpretation of these stimuli. Personally conducted and computer generated demonstrations involving sensation and perception phenomena allow students to experience principles firsthand. *Prerequisite: PSYC 101, BIOL 111 or BIOL 151, or permission of Instructor.
245 Industrial/Organizational Psychology
(3 s.h.) Students survey topics related to industrial and organizational psychology, including motivation, job satisfaction and values, groups in organizations, decision-making, leadership, job analysis and evaluation, and models and methods of employee selection. The requirements cover theory and conceptual information as well as practical applications. Alternate years.
248 Forensic Psychology
(3 s.h.) Application of psychological principles and research to legal issues. This course addresses police training in interrogation, profile generation, and how to deal with special victims. Trial issues such as pre-trial publicity effects, jury composition, and assisting lawyers with their presentation and cross-examination techniques are addressed. Special attention to how the legal system influences and is influenced by race, ethnic, religious, and cultural differences. Alternate years.
250 Behavioral Statistics
(3 s.h.) Required of all psychology majors. Overview of the basic concepts and principles of parametric and non-parametric statistics and how they are used in the behavioral sciences. Students learn to conduct statistical tests on data sets and to thoughtfully critique the conclusions of others. Topics include descriptive and inferential statistics, probability, correlation, linear regression, the z-test, the t-test, analysis of variance, and chi-square. Strongly recommended background: PYC 220. *Prerequisite: MATH 150 or equivalent.
287 Internship: Career Exploration in Psychology
(1–3 s.h.) This course provides the opportunity to observe and participate with professionals performing psychology-related jobs in widely varied employment settings. Students must apply for an internship to a member of the psychology faculty who will serve as the supervisor. The two negotiate the terms of the internship with the on-site supervisor.
302 Psychological Testing
(3 s.h.) An examination of the basic principles of psychological assessment and a critical survey of the instruments used in schools, clinics, and hospitals, including intelligence, aptitude, achievement, vocational interest, and personality tests. Practice is given in administering, scoring, and interpreting representative tests. *Prerequisite: PSYC 220 or PSYC 250. Alternate years.
305 Physiological Psychology
(3 s.h.) Current concepts regarding the relationship between brain function and behavior. Includes the gross anatomical characteristics of the nervous system, functional characteristics of neurons, research techniques used in neurophysiology, and the functional role of the nervous system with respect to arousal, pain, sensory processes, sleep, sexual behavior, brain disorders, emotion, learning, and motivation. Cross listed as BIOL 305. *Prerequisites: PSYC 101 and three semester hours in biology or permission of the instructor. Alternate years.
306 Human Morality: Nature and Nurture
(3 s.h.) This Honors colloquium focuses on the cross-disciplinary debate about the implications of research in evolutionary psychology, neuroscience and social sciences for our understanding of human morality. Students will move beyond the classic nature vs. nurture debates to understand newly merging models of the complex interaction between evolutionary accounts of human morality and diverse perspectives in ethical theory. Cross listed as PHIL 306. Alternate years.
307 Drugs and Behavior
(3 s.h.) Examines drugs and their effects on human and animal behavior, with particular emphasis on the neural mechanisms underlying drug actions. Topics include the current clinical uses of drugs, drug abuse, addiction, and the effects of drugs on motivation, memory, and learning. Drugs studied include alcohol, antidepressants, antipsychotics, barbiturates, hallucinogens, narcotics, sedatives, and stimulants. *Prerequisite: PSYC 101, BIOL 111 or 151 or permission of Instructor. Alternate years.
310 Psychology of Learning and Behavior
(3 s.h.) A study of the basic processes of classical, operant, and vicarious conditioning as they relate to animal and human behavior. Attention is also given to biological constraints on learning. Relevance of the concepts and principles of learning and behavior for understanding human behavior is emphasized throughout. *Prerequisite: junior or senior standing.
311 Psychology of Adult Development
(3 s.h.) This course is an advanced developmental psychology seminar, focusing on psychosocial, cognitive, and physiological development and issues of young adulthood, midlife, and late adulthood, with an emphasis on women. Students will critique traditional theories and perspectives on adulthood and apply contemporary feminist theory and research. Topics include research methodology; work and retirement; intimate relationships, family, friendships, and caregiving; physical changes and sexuality; cognitive functioning and intelligence; identity, generativity, and integrity. *Prerequisite: PSYC 210 or PSYC 211.
360 History and Systems of Psychology
(3 s.h.) This course for senior psychology majors examines the historical antecedents of contemporary psychology and the major systems of psychology from 1850 to the present. Emphasis is placed on the historical development leading to currently held positions on topic areas including development, learning, motivation, sensation, perception, and cognition. An oral presentation is videotaped and critiqued for presentation skills.
387 Internship: Professional Experience in Psychology
(2-3 s.h.) Culminates a student’s preparation for entry level employment in a psychology-related career by providing practical experience working with professionals in a chosen career specialty. Students work closely with a faculty member and negotiate the terms of the internship with the on-site supervisor. Credit is awarded on the basis of three semester hours per 150 hours of observation. Must be taken P/NC.
401 Senior Thesis
(3 s.h.) In the senior thesis students integrate their learning in the major by conducting a large-scale exercise under the mentorship of a psychology faculty member: either a data collection project or a comprehensive literature search of primary sources on a contemporary topic in psychology with a written critical analysis of the data. All students make a formal oral presentation of their results and present a final written thesis. Students who do not have a B average in Psych 220 and 250 must take the critical analysis option. *Prerequisites: PSYC 220 and PSYC 250.
Note: Directed inquiries for courses not regularly taught and teaching assistantships in psychology can be arranged on an individual basis.
