PSYC - Psychology

PSYC 1101. Introduction to General Psychology (3-0-3) Survey of contemporary psychology as a science. Topics include development, biological foundations of behavior, sensation and perception, learning, personality, abnormal behavior and therapies, and social psychology.

PSYC 3125. Abnormal Psychology (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to the explanation of abnormal behavior and intervention techniques.

PSYC 3145. Clinical Psychology (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. Introduction to the activities of the clinical psychologist, including psychodiagnosis, psychotherapy, and clinical research.

PSYC 3185. Child Development (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. Research and theories in human psychological development through infancy, childhood, and adolescence.

PSYC 3205. Pseudopsychologies and the Paranormal (3-2-4) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An objective analysis of popular psychological and paranormal phenomena to determine if they are scientifically credible. Laboratory practices will demonstrate and evaluate various claims.

PSYC 3211. Research Design and Methodology 1 (3-2-4) Prerequisites: PSYC 1101 and MATH 1127. An introduction to basic principles involved in conducting and evaluating psychological research. Laboratory will provide experience in the use of statistics in behavioral research and in the use of statistical software in computer-based data analysis.

PSYC 3212. Research Design and Methodology 2 (3-2-4) Prerequisite: PSYC 3211. A continuation of PSYC 3211, focusing upon research techniques as they are applied in specific subdisciplines of psychology. Laboratory will be used to demonstrate classic research paradigms employed in specific subdisciplines of psychology and to provide additional experience in computer-based statistical data analysis.

PSYC 3215. Tests and Measurement (3-2-4) Prerequisites: PSYC 1101 and MATH 1127. An introduction to basic theories and facts about how psychologists construct and use tests to measure behavior. Laboratory will be used to provide experience with commercially available tests commonly used to measure various characteristics such as intelligence, personality traits, etc.

PSYC 3235. Learning (3-2-4) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to learning theory and the behavioral analysis of complex behavior. Laboratory work will illustrate some of the principles and methodologies in behavioral analysis.

PSYC 3255. Social Psychology (3-2-4) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to basic theories and facts about how human behavior is affected by the real or imagined presence of others, including topics such as persuasion, attitudes and discrimination. In laboratories, demonstrations of classic social psychology studies will be provided.

PSYC 3565. Selected Topics in Psychology (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. Various topics offered to meet interests and needs of students or to emphasize a contemporary topic not otherwise included in the major curriculum. May be repeated for credit with consent of advisor if topics differ.

PSYC 4115. History and Systems (3-0-3) Prerequisites: PSYC 1101 and 12 additional hours of psychology courses. A treatment of psychology’s roots in the disciplines of philosophy and physiology and perspectives in contemporary psychology that have developed from these beginnings.

PSYC 4125. Theories of Personality (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to basic theories and facts about the nature and origins of human individual differences.

PSYC 4145. Psychology of the Workplace (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to basic theories and facts about the nature of work in modern society, the three applied areas in psychology. The course will provide students with valuable, scientifically-based insights into an activity, work, that occupies most waking hours of most human adults.

PSYC 4165. Motivation (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to basic theories and facts about the question of what energizes and gives direction to behavior including topics such as sex, achievement motivation, and addictive behaviors.

PSYC 4205. Physiological Psychology (3-2-4) Prerequisites: PSYC 1101 and BIOL 1115 and BIOL 1315. The study of the physiological substrates of behavior emphasizing the central nervous system. Topics to be covered will include sensory systems, motor systems, and the physiological basis of learning. Laboratory experiences will demonstrate principles derived from psychophysiology as well as research methods.

PSYC 4215. Comparative Behavior (3-2-4) Prerequisites: PSYC 1101 and BIOL 1115 and BIOL 1315. The scientific study of the similarities and differences in species behavior and how they occurred. The general framework of the course is that of an ecological evolutionary perspective. Laboratory experiences will demonstrate and test principles as well as illustrate methods.

PSYC 4275. Cognitive Psychology (3-2-4) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An introduction to basic theories and facts about cognition, including topics such as memory, decision-making, and problem-solving. In laboratories, demonstration of classic cognitive psychology studies will be provided.

PSYC 4285. Sensation and Perception (3-2-4) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. An analysis of sensory systems, the organization of sensory input into perceptions, and how it effects behavior. Laboratory experience will demonstrate principles of sensation and perception as well as research methods.

PSYC 4698. Internship (1-9 hours) Prerequisites: PSYC 1101, at least nine hours of upper-level psychology courses, junior or senior standing, 3.0 cumulative GPA, approval by departmental faculty. Experience in the field with an approved agency, company, or institution. (S/U grading.)

PSYC 4899. Independent Study (1-9 hours) Prerequisites: PSYC 3211 and PSYC 3212, Junior or Senior standing, 3.0 major GPA, and approval of departmental faculty. Individual research conducted under faculty supervision, requiring design, execution, and quantitative analysis of data gathered in a behavioral research project. Project culminates in a formal paper prepared according to standard APA style.

PSYC 5105. Psychology of Aging (3-0-3) Prerequisite: PSYC 1101. Overview of research methods and findings on psychological and behavioral processes during aging. Emphasis on current research on learning, memory, and cognition in aging.