Psychology Courses

Psychology (PSY)

101 Introduction to Psychology (3 hours)
Introduction to psychology as a behavioral science, including historical background, human development (genetic and physical) from birth through death, the senses and perception, intelligence and creativity, and the principles of conditioning, learning, memory, and forgetting. Offered Fall, Spring

190, 290, 390 Special Topics (3 hours)
Topics will vary. Prerequisite: None, unless listed in the schedule of courses.

201 Introduction to Professional Practices (3 hours)
Majors in human services and psychology learn the career opportunities, problems, methods, and thinking styles of professionals in their fields. Students participate in classroom debates on topics of current concern in modern psychology and human services, practice the writing style of the American Psychological Association, and acquire effective methods for developing a professional resume. Guest speakers, field trips, and other out-of-class experiences expand students' understanding of the diversity and challenges of modern behavioral science and practice.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Fall

263 Theories of Personality (3 hours)
An overview of historical and current theories regarding personality formation and development, and methods of measuring personality characteristics. Psychodynamic, humanistic, behaviorist, trait, and cognitive approaches are discussed.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Fall even numbered years

265 Lifespan Development (3 hours)
This course takes a life span approach in studying human development from conception through death. Students will examine the major theories and scientific research findings on our physical, cognitive, social, and personality development.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Spring even numbered years

302 History & Systems of Psychology (3 hours)
The long past and short history of the formal discipline of psychology are presented in a combined lecture/seminar format. Of primary emphasis are the philosophical foundations of modern psychological concepts and the personal lives and times of those who founded the field. Students engage in classroom debates, find and present in class biographical information pertaining to historical figures in psychology, and complete a project with a historical theme.
Prerequisite: PSY101, SAS201 Offered Spring

320 Motivational Psychology (3 hours)
Course is an exploration from the perspective of scientific psychology of historical and current conceptions of motivation, the force that determines activity preference, selection, and persistence. This course provides both a broad overview of motivational theories and practical applications of these theories to real-world problems.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered as needed

325 Introduction to Industrial/Organizational Psychology (3 hours)
This course is an overview of the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. It includes such areas as a history of I/O, methodology, job design and analysis, psychological testing, employee recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, motivation, satisfaction, emotions, personnel and organizational development, multiculturalism and diversity, leadership, group dynamics, health and safety, stress and conflict management, ergonomics, and consumer psychology.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered as needed

333 Experimental Psychology (3 hours)
Intensive instruction and hands-on experience in the designing, conducting, interpreting and reporting of psychological experiments. Ethical considerations, measurement and sampling issues, and various categories of experimentation are discussed.
Prerequisite: PSY101, SCS300 Offered Spring

360 Introduction to Counseling (3 hours)
Provides a theoretical survey of the field of counseling. Major emphasis is on such topics as ethical considerations, the intake interview, counselor roles and client roles, goals of counseling, referrals and liaisons in the community, vocational counseling, tests and instruments used in the counseling process and research on the counseling process.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Spring

362 Abnormal Behavior (3 hours)
This course focuses on description, identification, and practical management of behaviors stemming from physiological, psychological and environmental causes.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Fall

363 Cognitive Psychology (3 hours)
An overview of the issues, concepts, and current research evidence regarding the mechanisms, processes and content of thought. Attention and perception, memory, language, and problem solving are discussed.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Fall odd numbered years

364 Evolutionary Psychology (3 hours)
Students examine current evidence regarding the origins of human thought and behavior from the perspective that many aspects of "human nature" can be understood usefully as sets of processes that were designed by natural selection to solve adaptive problems faced by our evolutionary ancestors. Among the issues to be addressed are human survival, sex, and mating strategies, conflict between the sexes, and the emergence of moral codes.
Prerequisite: PSY101 or SOC101 Offered Spring even numbered years

365 Drugs and Society (3 hours)
Considers various types of drugs, dynamics of use, abuse, addiction, and recovery; social, legal, economic, and psychological impact on structure and function of society; current trends; diagnosis and treatment; prevention strategies.
Prerequisites: PSY101, PSY362 Offered Spring odd numbered years

369 Human Sexuality (3 hours)
Examines physiology of human sexuality as well as psychosocial aspects of the field. Considers sexual orientation, sexual dysfunction and paraphilia, sex therapy, theories of attraction, and current research.
Prerequisite: PSY101 Offered Fall even numbered years

401 Biological Foundations of Behavior (3 hours)
This course is an introduction to behavioral neuroscience, a branch of psychology that concerns itself with relationships between the brain, nervous system and behavior. Topics include the structure and functioning of individual nerve cells; the structure and functioning of brain components; brain/nervous system control of relatively simple behavior such as movement, sensation, perception, and motivated behaviors; physiological regulation of sleep and memory; and, biologically based clinical syndromes such as mood disorders, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease.
Prerequisites: PSY 101, NAT 275 Offered Spring even numbered years

440 Comparative Psychotherapies and Therapeutic Techniques (3 hours)
An in-depth exploration of the major, extant psychotherapeutic theories and experiential exposure to those techniques appropriate for use by an entry level counselor; emphasis will be on behavioral, cognitive and humanistic approaches.
Prerequisite: PSY360 Offered Spring

445 Psychometrics (3 hours)
A survey of issues and concepts involved in the measurement of psychological characteristics such as knowledge, personality, intelligence, creativity, psychopathology, etc., including demonstrations of some commonly employed psychological tests.
Prerequisite: PSY101, SCS300 Offered Fall even numbered years

485 Death and Dying (3 hours)
This interdisciplinary course examines the reality of death and dying as it affects the helping professional, the terminal person, and the survivors. Incorporates the work of relevant sociological, philosophical, and religious viewpoints from a multicultural perspective.
Prerequisites: PSY101, SOC101 Offered Fall odd numbered years