PSY - Psychology

Introduces basic elements in understanding human behavior. Emphasis on basic concepts and terminology of psychology including the biological basis of behavior, sensation, perception, history of psychology, growth and development, motivation, learning, measurement and scientific methodology, emotion, personality, abnormal behavior, and psychotherapy.

Study of child's developmental process from the prenatal stage to adulthood: physical, psychological and social changes a child goes through in order to adjust to his/her environment. Emphasis on areas of abuse and neglect and how they foster mental illness. Look at methods of changing behavior of children with problems.

Emphasizes modern psychoanalytic, behaviorist and humanistic theories of personality development. Prerequisite: PSY 12053 Principles of Psychology.

Introduces concepts and theoretical positions underlying adolescent personality traits, stages of growth development, learning development, and cultural, family and peer relationships. Develops psychological perspectives in adolescent behaviors, motives and values.

Study of biological, psychological and sociocultural influences contributing to abnormal behavior patterns. Includes history, identification, diagnosis, and treatment of various psychopathological disorders.

Study of the function of marriage and family in contemporary American society, including the why of intimate relationships, couple/parent/child adjustment, three generational relationships, and the process of break-up and remarriage. CROSS LISTED WITH HUS 30654

Confronts the subject of death from new and alternative perspectives. Explores attitudes of death and the dying process, rituals, theories, and the social organization of death in many societies to gain knowledge in understanding feelings and attitudes toward death. CROSS LISTED WITH HUS 30953. Prerequisite: PSY 12053 Principles of Psychology or SOC 10453 Introduction to Sociology.

Examines physical basis of human behavior and experience, how the brain and nervous system work, information flow, and processing at higher levels of organization. Addresses issues of intelligence, consciousness, addictions, and deviant behavior from a neurophysiological standpoint.

Examines social influences on human behavior including attitude formation and change, influence and persuasion, social attraction, theories of aggression, conformity, cultural impact, leadership styles, power and status, social roles, and environmental influences. Prerequisites: PSY 12053 Principles of Psychology.

Reviews basic research methods focusing on conceptual basis for experimentation. Includes basic design components such as control, sampling, data collection, and analysis. Prerequisites: PSY 12053 Principles of Psychology or SOC 10453 Introduction to Sociology and MAT 32044 Statistics.

Examines theory and research on issues of human growth and development.

Introduction to descriptive and inferential statistical techniques used in the social sciences. Topics include data collection procedures, measures of dispersion, correlation designs, probability, statistical inference, and analysis of variance. Crosslisted with HUS 36000.

Introduces major systems and theories of counseling and psychotherapy including dynamics that contribute to an effective therapeutic approach. Use of didactic and experiential teaching methods. 

Reviews historical antecedents of contemporary psychology, critical analysis of selected psychological theories and discussion of application of these theories in contemporary psychology. Prerequisites: PSY 12053 Principles of Psychology.

Practical experience in major area of study. Arranged individually and taken after completion of major coursework.

Practical experience in major area of study. Arranged individually and taken after completion of major coursework.

Examination of psychological experience of music and its impact. Explore music and emotions, music through the lifespan, psychology of music performance, clinical and therapeutic uses of music, and relationship between music and society.

The use of film to provide awareness of psychological issues and how these issues are portrayed within a cinematic context. Films chosen will be relevant to a wide range of issues in psychology including psychological disorders, substance abuse and family relationships and dysfunction.

Examination or project designed to assess student's achievement of goals of his/her major program. Prerequisites: Senior standing.

Capstone course that guides students in development of integrative written project that demonstrates personal achievement of learning outcomes in the psychology major. Culminates in a major theoretical paper, written in APA format, investigating and discussing a major issue or issues within the field and presented in seminar form in class.