Psychology

This course is an introduction to psychology as the science of human behavior. Major topics include scientific method, history of psychology, learning, motivation, emotion, social psychology, and perception.
Prerequisites: Placement in English 101 English Composition I or higher, or departmental approval

This course will provide a systematic study of the causes, symptoms, prognosis, and treatment of various psychological disorders. Attention is given to the methods used to diagnose disorders and the standard classification system that is used. Emphasis is on how disorders deviate from what characterizes normal behavioral development. A multipath perspective that considers biological/genetic, psychological, social, and multicultural factors is used to analyze the causes, course, and treatment of psychological disorders.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

An introduction to the field of child psychology with emphasis on the influence of society and culture in normal development will be given. This course stresses the role of family, heredity, environment, and development of cognitive functioning. Salient research will be summarized and presented.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

A critical and educational review of research and theories pertaining to the emotional, intellectual, physical, and social development of adolescents is given in this course. Emphasis is placed on the role of peers, family, and experiences in the formation of personalities and the intelligence and emotional behavior of the adolescent. The course is recommended for Secondary Education majors.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

This course includes an exploration of the physiological and psychological development of the human organism throughout the life span, including childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and death. Emphasis is placed on identifying factors that are most influential in changes that occur during each of our life stages as well as some of the problems associated with such changes.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

This course is designed to teach students about the psychology of learning. It covers Pavlovian conditioning, operant conditioning, learning in humans and nonhuman animals, and other techniques in learning and their applications in various research and real-world settings. Computer applications are integrated into the design of this course, and software designed to teach different methods of learning are employed.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

This course is an introduction to biopsychology, which is the study of the function of the brain. Major topics include structures of the brain, neuronal structure and function, sensory systems and their impact on the brain, and how emotion, thought, learning, memory, and sleep and alertness cycles occur in the brain.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

This course includes an exploration of the major theoretical, application, research, and assessment issues in the study of personality. Emphasis is placed on identifying those aspects of personality and the different ways these theories explain them. This course also explores the most commonly used personality assessment tools and cultural influences.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

This course studies the analysis of the individual's behavior in social contexts. Topics include the historical background of social psychology, methods of social psychology, acquiring motives and attitudes, social factors in perception, human personality, groups, leadership, and social movements.
Prerequisite: PSYC 101 General Psychology or departmental approval.

This course is an introduction to univariate statistics used in psychology and the social sciences. Topics include: the description and visual representation of data, concepts in elementary probability, applications of descriptive statistics (e.g., frequency distributions and measures of central tendency and dispersion) and inferential statistics (including hypothesis testing, type I and II errors, t-statistic, chi-square, analysis of variance, correlation and linear regression) using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for data analyses and interpretation. Emphasis is primarily in the context of psychological and social sciences research. Three lecture and one laboratory hours per week. Note: This course does not meet the general education requirements in mathematics.
Prerequisites: MATH 061 Integrated Support for Non-Algebra Pathway and PSYC 101 General Psychology; waiver by placement testing results; or departmental approval.

This course involves independent work on a selected topic under the direction of members of the Psychology faculty. Limited to two courses per student.
Prerequisite: approval of the Department Chair and Division Dean.