Psychology
Faculty: Professors Tietz and Gilchrist (coordinator) and Assistant Professor Levine.
Psychology is the scientific inquiry into the nature of the mind and behavior. Because psychology encompasses both social and life sciences, students in the major will find that the study of psychology enhances one’s understanding of a variety of subjects. Courses in psychology are designed to serve a number of purposes: to enable better understanding of the self and other people; to engage in critical thinking through use of the scientific method; and to use the principles learned in psychology courses to enhance personal growth, professional development, and to aid one’s greater community.
Degrees and Minors
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Psychology -
Psychology Minor
Courses
PSY/SOC 232: Social Psychology
Credits 4Social psychology examines how external forces shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Topics include social cognition; prejudice; human aggression; conformity; liking, loving, and interpersonal sensitivity; and mass communication, propaganda, and persuasion.
PSY/WGS 321: Human Sexuality
Credits 4Critical examination of the multiple aspects of human sexuality across historical, social, and cultural contexts. Topics such as anatomy, sexual responding, contraception, sexual behavior, STIs, gender, sexual development, sexual orientation, and sexual aggression will be examined in readings and discussion.
PSY/WGS 331: Psychology of Women and Gender
Credits 4Critical examination of psychological theories and research on gender. Topics such as gender roles, development of gender identity differences and similarities between the sexes, relationships, mental health, mothering, violence against women, and sexuality will be examined across multiple historical, social, and cultural contexts, with particular emphasis on women and feminist perspectives.
PSY/WGS 450: Psychology of Sport & Phys Activity
Credits 4This course examines current psychological approaches to sport and exercise behavior. Topics include leadership, communication, teamwork, motivation, cognitive/emotional influences on performance, mental health, career transition, and fan behavior. Particular attention is paid to issues of power, intersectionality, minoritized populations, and justice as they pertain to sport.
PSY 101: General Psychology
Credits 4Introduces scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Overview of areas of neuropsychology, growth and development, perceptual processes, learning and thinking, motivation and emotion, intelligence and personality, social psychology and mental disorders.
PSY 235: Biopsychology
Credits 4Survey of topics from the perspective of biopsychology, including behavior genetics, neuroanatomy, sensation/perception, learning and memory, drives, emotion, language, and abnormal behavior.
PSY 240: Cognitive Psychology
Credits 4An introduction to the concepts in cognitive psychology including theories and applications of memory systems, pattern recognition, attention, decision-making, problem solving, language and text comprehension, reasoning, and neurocognition.
PSY 245: Psychology of Personality
Credits 4Foundational issues in personality psychology, including the personality construct, levels of analysis in personality psychology, and major theories of personality, including biological, psychodynamic, dispositional, cognitive, affective, and social/cultural approaches.
PSY 248: Sensation & Perception
Credits 4This course focuses on how humans sense and perceive stimuli in the external environment through use of the senses. In addition to discussing different sensory systems (e.g., visual, auditory) and how they influence both the brain and behavior, the course will also cover historic and contemporary research in the field. Through lecture and hands-on demonstration, students will learn about topics such as: color and depth perception, how 3-D movies work, balance, and the link between scent and memory.
PSY 250: Positive Psychology
Credits 2This course takes an empirical and experiential approach to helping individuals understand and use course content to enhance their lives. Topics covered include happiness and well-being, positive emotions and thinking, character strengths and virtues, motivation and self-control, resilience and posttraumatic growth, and healthy relationships and institutions.
PSY 307: Lifespan Psychology
Credits 4Scientific study of psychological development from conception through death and dying. Examines theory and research relating to biological, cognitive, and social change. May not be taken for credit if credit has been received for PSY 308/Psychology of Child & Adolescent Development.
PSY 308: Psychology of Child/Adolescent Development
Credits 4Scientific study of psychological development from conception through adolescence. Examination of theory and research relating to biological, cognitive, and social change. May not be taken for credit if credit has been received for PSY 307/Lifespan Development.
PSY 310: Research Methods in Psychology I
Credits 4In this course students will learn about different research methods by designing and implementing their own research projects. Students will learn how to select an appropriate research design, to engage in ethical practice as they propose research and collect data, and will learn how to survey relevant background information and engage in scientific writing. In this way, they learn how and why various research methods can be applied to evaluate hypothetical answers to various research questions.
PSY 311: Research Methods in Psychology II
Credits 4In this course students will explore research methods through data collection and measurement of relevant variables through their class research projects. Statistical techniques discussed in the class will include descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, correlation, and analysis of variance. In addition to engaging in data collection and data analysis, students will continue to learn how to report statistical findings and draw appropriate conclusions in a scientific research paper.
PSY 315: Health Psychology
Credits 4This course will cover the different biological, psychological, and social factors that relate to human health. Students will also learn about the different techniques that can be used to develop new health habits or change health behaviors. Topics will include stress and coping, eating, exercise, drug use, sleep, and illness.
PSY 335: Drugs and Behavior
Credits 4This course will examine how various types of psychoactive drugs affect psychological processes as well as behavior. Students will also learn about different neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers of the brain whose effects are modified by use of drugs. Course topics will include: factors that affect drug action, classes of psychoactive drugs, mechanisms underlying drug abuse and addiction, and use of psychoactive drugs for therapeutic treatments for disorders and diseases (e.g., Depression, Schizophrenia, Parkinson’s).
PSY 345: Industrial Org Psych
Credits 4This course is designed to examine the psychology of the workplace from the standpoint of a behavioral scientist. A majority of the course will be devoted to topics related to research methods and proper assessment of both employees and of jobs. This includes discussions related to hiring methods, performance appraisals, best practices for job training, and other similar topics. The latter portion of the course will discuss issues related to individuals and groups within the work setting. During this section of the course, students will learn about such topics as leadership, occupational safety, and employee productivity.
PSY 350: Psychopathology
Credits 4This course focuses on casual factors, symptoms, and treatment of psychological disorders (i.e., psychopathology), such as mood disorders (e.g., depression), anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders will be discussed. Theoretical models of psychopathology will also be covered as well as diagnostic, assessment, and classification issues.
PSY 420: Counseling/Clinical Psychology
Credits 4Introduction to the fields of clinical and counseling psychology; includes historical backgrounds of these fields, educational requirements for professionals, use of assessment techniques and professional issues, major theories of psychotherapy.
PSY 440: Learning and Conditioning
Credits 4Students will discover how behaviors are acquired or changed through different principles of learning and conditioning. Lectures will include such topics as habituation, sensitization, imprinting, classical and operant conditioning, and observational learning.
PSY 455: Brain Imaging Techniques
Credits 4This course will cover different methodologies to study activity in the brain. These techniques will include EEG, fMRI, PET scans, and other methods. In addition to learning about these techniques, students will also learn about appropriate research designs and data analyses for these methods.
PSY 490: Psychology Senior Capstone
Credits 4Students will collectively engage in an exploration of how the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major can help them to better understand and to address social issues. Students also will individually create a portfolio of documents they can use to apply for jobs and/or graduate school.