PSYCHOLOGY COURSES

PSY 111. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

General psychology surveys central topics in the field, including research methodology, learning and memory processes, social psychology, psychological disorders and personality. Offered fall and spring

PSY 201. RESEARCH METHODS AND STATISTICS IN PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

Students learn how to design, review and analyze psychological research. The course focuses on developing research questions, answering them using research designs and complementary data analysis techniques, and the basics of writing research reports. Prerequisites: PSY 111; MTH 112; psychology major status. Offered fall and spring.

PSY 212. LEARNING AND MEMORY  4 sh

This course addresses models of knowledge acquisition (including classical and operant conditioning and cognitive processes), encoding and storage of information, memory retrieval and forgetting. Prerequisite: PSY 111. Offered fall or spring.

PSY 215. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS  4 sh

The purpose of this course is to investigate personal relationships from various viewpoints of psychology (e.g., social, cognitive and biopsychological). Interactions with family members and friends will be discussed, but the emphasis will be placed on the initiation, maintenance and termination of romantic relationships.

PSY 221. BIOLOGICAL BASES OF BEHAVIOR  4 sh

This course explores the biological foundations of such psychological processes as learning and memory, movement, sleep and emotions, as well as such abnormal conditions as schizophrenia and depression. Prerequisite: PSY 111. Offered fall or spring.

PSY 225. MENTAL ILLNESS AND FILM  4 sh

Hollywood depictions of mental illness have contributed significantly to the ideas and images many individuals hold about mental illness. Students will look at some of the major types of mental illnesses (e.g., depression, sexual disorders, schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder) and examine how they have been portrayed, for better and worse, in popular films.

PSY 233. LIFESPAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT  4 sh

An exploration of human development across the entire lifespan includes consideration of cognitive, social and emotional development as a complex interaction between individuals and their social and cultural environments. Prerequisite: PSY 111. Offered fall or spring.

PSY 301. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH  4 sh

Students become familiar with the major theoretical and empirical foundations of one topic area of psychology (e.g., interpersonal attraction, memory processes, cognitive development, health psychology, organizational performance). Working in research teams under faculty direction, students devise, implement and report an original empirical investigation of a question related to the selected area of concern. Prerequisites: PSY 201; psychology major status. Offered fall and spring.

PSY 312. COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

Cognitive psychology studies how humans represent and process information about the environment in their role as thinkers, planners, language users and problem solvers. Prerequisites: PSY 111, 201. Offered fall or spring.

PSY 315. PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX AND GENDER  4 sh

This course focuses on the psychology of sex and gender from a feminist perspective and is organized around four themes: gender as a social construction, the importance of language and the power to name, class and cultural diversity, and knowledge as a source of social change.

PSY 321. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

Students gain an overview of research and theory in educational psychology and explore their applications in teaching and learning. Prerequisite: PSY 111 or EDU 211. Offered fall and spring.

PSY 323. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

Topics in social psychology explore how people think about, influence and relate to one another including affiliation, aggression, altruism, attitude formation and change, attribution, compliance, conformity and persuasion. Prerequisites: PSY 111, 201. Offered fall or spring.

PSY 331. PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING  4 sh

This course addresses issues connected with measuring psychological constructs such as intelligence, personality and vocational interest. Among these are the variety of techniques for assessing people’s characteristics, attitudes and performance in reliable and valid ways and how this information gets used in making decisions about people’s lives. In addition to basic assessment principles, first-hand experience with several psychological tests will be provided. Prerequisites: PSY 111, and one of the following: PSY 201, ECO 202, MTH 112, MTH 210, HUS 285, POL 220, SOC 216.

PSY 332. PSYCHOLOGY OF EXCEPTIONALITY  4 sh

Students learn the measures and procedures used to evaluate exceptional children and techniques for educational intervention and remediation as they study the origins, symptoms and characteristics of exceptional children. Study covers those children who are emotionally, physically or mentally disabled, as well as those who are gifted and talented. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 333. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR  4 sh

In this overview of major psychological disturbances (anxiety, mood, personality, sexual and schizophrenic disorders), students examine the role of different theories, diagnostic tests and procedures in understanding illness and learn the basics of therapeutic interventions. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 343. PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES  4 sh

This course covers major modern perspectives in personality psychology including dispositional, biological, psychodynamic, self and social-cognitive theories. Students are also introduced to issues and techniques of personality testing and assessment. Prerequisites: PSY 111, 201. Offered fall or spring.

PSY 355. HUMAN PERCEPTION  4 sh

Study in human perception includes research and theory on the structural and functional characteristics of various perceptual systems, on perceptual phenomena such as depth and color perception and on other related topics. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 356. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

This course focuses upon the role of psychology in a variety of medical issues: health-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors, stress and illness, patient-practitioner relationships, pain and other chronic conditions. The growing field of health psychology is explored as both an area of research and a clinical profession. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 357. CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR  4 sh

This course focuses primarily on the causes of crime, the criminal mind and the resulting social and personal costs of crime. Also addressed are various aspects of the criminal justice system, including the relevance of psychology to courtroom proceedings. Although many types of crime are explored, emphasis is placed on violent crime.

PSY 361. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR  4 sh

An investigation of animal behavior takes into account physiology, development, evolution and adaptation. Studies emphasize specialized structures and abilities which may or may not be present in humans and which confer selective advantages upon their possessors. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 363. INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

Psychological applications in the workplace are the focus of this course. Topics include personnel selection, leadership and motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 366. PSYCHOLOGY IN CULTURAL CONTEXT   4 sh

Issues in the related fields of cultural and cross-cultural psychology are considered in depth as students investigate basic psychological processes (e.g., motivation, cognition and emotion) in the context of how cultural world views and implicit value assumptions influence the development and functioning of human behavior and social interaction. Prerequisite: PSY 111.

PSY 371. SPECIAL TOPICS IN PSYCHOLOGY  4 sh

PSY 461. SENIOR SEMINAR  4 sh

In this capstone course, students will read primary sources (i.e., original articles) and identify and critically evaluate theoretical issues and empirical findings in the field. With faculty supervision, students will develop and present (in both written and oral formats) a thesis-level integrative literature review manuscript. Prerequisites: PSY 301 and senior status in the major. Offered fall and spring.

PSY 481. INTERNSHIP IN PSYCHOLOGY  1-4 sh

Upper-level majors apply psychological theories and techniques to actual experiences in the field. Maximum four semester hours toward major. Prerequisite: majors with faculty approval.

PSY 491. INDEPENDENT STUDY  1-4 sh

Prerequisites: junior/senior status and permission of the instructor.

PSY 499. RESEARCH  1-4 sh

In collaboration with a psychology faculty member, students undertake an empirical or theoretical study of a topic in psychology. Research projects may include a review of the relevant research literature, data collection and analysis, and a presentation or report when the study is completed. Prerequisites: PSY 111, 201 and permission of instructor. A completed research proposal form completed by the student in conjunction with the faculty member is required for registration. Students may register for one to four hours of credit per semester and may register for more than one semester of research for a total of eight hours of research credit toward the major. Offered fall, winter and spring.