PSY 101, 102 Elementary Psychology
A study of the basic concepts in the scientific study of behavior.The first
term emphasizes the scientific method, physiology, sensation, perception,
and learning.The second term considers such topics as intelligence, personality,
behavior disorders, therapy, and social psychology.
Prerequisite: PSY 101 is a prerequisite to PSY 102
PSY 215 Experimental Psychology
An introduction to the empirical methods employed in the scientific study
of behavior. The student will gain experience in collecting psychological
data and reporting of procedures and results. Problems involved in experimental
design and applied statistics will also be discussed. Three hours lecture-recitation,
three hours lab.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102, and MTH 225 (May be taken concurrently)
PSY 225 Social Psychology
An examination of the ways in which other individuals, singularly or in
groups, influence an individual's behavior, attitudes, and beliefs. Such
topics as conformity, altruism, aggression, obedience, attitude change,
person perception, affiliation, and group dynamics will be covered.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 235 Theories of Personality
Theories of the development, structure, and function
of personality, together with relevant experimental evidence, will be examined
in the interest of evaluating their adequacy.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 245 Abnormal Psychology
A study of the principal forms of mental disorder, with emphasis upon their
causes, symptoms, course, and therapy.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 265 Developmental Psychology
This course will cover children's behavior and development including infancy,
attachment, motivation, perception, cognitive processes, intelligence, language,
and effects of early experience on subsequent behavior. Empirical research
on effects of environmental and genetic factors is emphasized. Some consideration
will be given to the problem of describing the nature of developmental change.
Major theories are considered as organizers of factual information and as
sources of testable hypotheses.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 275 Cognitive Psychology
This course is an introduction to cognitive psychology. Topics include:
how people perceive and attend to visual and auditory information; a detailed
understanding of the process of memory; basic processes of reading and language;
problem solving and decision making; and artificial intelligence. Students
will take an experimental approach to the study of cognition, which will
include reading primary source articles and participation in a set of laboratory
studies that replicate many of the classic studies in cognitive psychology.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 285 Physiological Psychology
This course provides information on how physiological processes control
behavior. Basic neuroanatomical and neurophysiological processes will be
used to explain the following human and animal behaviors: sensation, movement,
sex, thirst, hunger, emotion, aggression, learning, memory, and mental disorders.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 295 Industrial/Organizational Psychology (formerly PSY
323)
An examination of psychological principles as they apply to the industrial
and business enterprise. Such areas as selection and placement, leadership,
satisfaction, morale, training, small group interaction, and labor-management
relations will be considered.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 303 Organizational Behavior Management
This course is an in-depth examination of the application of behavior analysis
to industrial and business settings. It begins with a thorough review of
the basic concepts of behavior analysis, but emphasizes the application
of these techniques. Several actual cases of managerial problems in business
and industry will be examined carefully, along with their solutions. Since
students will be expected to develop their own intervention plans to address
actual management challenges, this course is especially valuable to those
individuals planning careers in applied psychology, business, or industry.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 311 History and Systems in Psychology
A course examining the influence of philosophical antecedents, early scientific
contributors, and major learning theorists to the development of psychology.Theories
and systems will be critically evaluated in terms of contributions and how
adequately they explain and predict behavior.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 321 Psychology and the Environment
Students will focus on the relationship of our behavior and experiences
with the natural and man-made environments.The course will be divided into
three major sections. Section I will be introductory and will examine what
environmental psychology is and how it studies its questions of interest.
Section II will examine the natural environment and topics like noise, temperature,
and natural disasters. Section III will examine the man-made environment
and topics like crowding, cities, work and leisure, and personal space.
(Counts as a course for the Environmental Studies Program)
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 324 The Psychology of Communicating
With consideration of the communication source,
message characteristics, and channels of communication as a foundation,
students will analyze a variety of communication situations and attempt
to learn what contributes to their success or failure.Topics will include
persuasion, influence, nonverbal communication, and mass media with particular
emphasis on advertising and interviewing.The course will examine how psychological
factors play a role in each.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 326 Psychology and the Law
This course will focus on applications of personality, social, cognitive,
and clinical psychology to the courtroom.The legal system's informal theories
about human behavior will be compared to what we know about the psychology
of human behavior. A number of topics will be explored in depth, including
scientific jury selection, the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, and the
role of psychologists as expert witnesses.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 330 Principles of Psychological Assessment
This course is an examination of the use of tests within psychological work
and research.The psychometric issues of tests and of test construction will
be examined. Also examined will be the current varieties of psychological
tests in use including intellectual, ability, personality, clinical, projective,
neuropsychological, interest, and occupational tests.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 347 Special Topics in Psychology
A seminar emphasizing contemporary theories and issues in psychology and
related areas.
Prerequisite: PSY 101 and PSY 102
PSY 370 Sensation and Perception
This course is an introduction to the five basic senses-touch, smell, taste,
hearing, and vision. The first half of the semester will be devoted to discussing
the basic aspects of vision, including the biology of the visual system,
color perception, identification of objects, depth perception, and visual
illusions.The second half of the semester will be devoted to hearing, touch,
smell, and taste.The course will take a functional approach to the senses,
describing not only how the senses work, but what the senses are used for,
and how impairments in the senses can have a profound influence on everyday
life.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 380 Drugs and Behavior
This course studies the effects of psychoactive drugs on behavior.The topics
to be covered include the physiological basis of drug effects; drug pharmacology;
the behavioral effects of the most-often used prescription and nonprescription
drugs (including alcohol); and the psychological, social and legal consequences
of drug use.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 392 Psychology of Management
An extension of industrial psychology which focuses upon the problems of
management in industry. Supervisor-subordinate relations; management selection,
placement, and training; decision making; and special problems that managers
are likely to encounter will be stressed.
Prerequisites: PSY 101 and 102
PSY 405 Advanced Laboratory in Learning
A course which extends the principles of learning to complex human behavior.Topics
include verbal behavior, psycholinguistics, transfer of learning, memory,
cognition, and problem solving. Laboratory exercises with humans illustrate
the topics. Three hours lecture-recitation, three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 406 Advanced Laboratory in Perception and Cognition
This advanced laboratory course will introduce techniques necessary to perform
experiments in perception, memory, and reasoning. At the end of the course,
students will design and perform their own experiment using the techniques
learned in the course.The lecture portion of the course will be organized
around three main topics: sensory information processing, memory, and thought
processes. Three hours lecture-recitation, three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 425 Advanced Laboratory in Social Psychology
This advanced laboratory course is designed to explore the methods of investigation
used in social psychology, the study of how people think about, influence,
and relate to one another. These methods will be explored first hand through
a series of student-designed research projects as well as through class
lectures/discussions and assigned readings of primary research articles
and other sources. Three hours lecture-recitation, three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 427 Advanced Laboratory in Social Cognition
This is an advanced laboratory course designed
to introduce research methods used in social cognition—the interface between
social psychology and cognitive psychology. These scientific methods will be
explored first-hand through student-designed research projects. Selected topics
in social cognition will be explored in depth. Three hours lecture-recitation,
three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 430 Seminar in Psychotherapy and Counseling
This course provides a systematic and critical examination of major traditional,
as well as current, theories and techniques of psychotherapy and counseling.
Emphasis will be on the examination of the theoretical bases of psycho-therapy
and counseling systems and techniques, and on the application of such theoretical
principles in the remediation of psychological disturbances.
Prerequisite: PSY 235
PSY 465 Advanced Laboratory in Developmental Psychology
Examines the application of the scientific
method to the study of developmental phenomena in the field of psychology, with
an emphasis on the social and cognitive domains. Includes a semester-long
research project. Three hours lecture-recitation, three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 475 Advanced Laboratory in Sensation and Perception
This advanced laboratory course is designed to examine the methods of research
used in sensation and perception, specifically in the area of reading, including
the study of eye movements in reading.The course will include the analysis
and presentation of material from primary source readings (journal articles
and/or book chapters) related to the sensory and perceptual processes involved
in reading.The course will culminate in student research projects, which
will include research design, execution of the study, analysis of data,
and presentation of the results in a written research report and participation
in a class poster session. Three hours lecture-recitation, three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 485 Advanced Laboratory in Behavioral Neuroscience
This upper-level laboratory course examines basic neuroanatomical and neurophysiological
processes used to explain behavior. Research methodology and instrumentation
will be the major features of laboratory exercises. Three hours lecture-recitation,
three hours lab.
Prerequisite: PSY 215
PSY 499 Psychology Practicum
Supervised field experience in some approved area of human behavior.Areas
may include institutional work, school psychology, special education, etc.
Prerequisite: Selection and screening by department
PSY 500, 501
Independent Study