Psychology Courses

Semester specific course descriptions

100. Introductory Psychology.
(101 with laboratory)
This course surveys the scientific study of behavior and mental processes as natural phenomena. Basic psychological areas such as biopsychology, perception, learning, memory, motivation and emotion are typically addressed. Broader, integrated topics such as development, personality, and social and abnormal psychology are also explored. Students who enroll in the laboratory section (101) gain additional focus on how psychologists formulate research questions, gather data and interpret findings based on the major conceptual approaches in the field of psychology. Psychology 100 or 101 is a prerequisite for all other courses, and is also required for the neuroscience major.

205. Research Methods in Psychology.
This course presents students with various techniques for applying the scientific method to behavioral research. It also emphasizes effective communication through scientific writing. Students learn about observational, correlational and experimental research designs. They have the opportunity to apply these designs in the laboratory while investigating relevant psychological phenomena. Appropriate statistical procedures and computer software are used to analyze the data from these labs. For this reason it is required that prior to or concurrent with 205 the student take a course in statistics (Mathematics 113). The course counts toward the minor in statistics and the neuroscience major (behavioral track). Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101. Also offered through Statistics.

207. Developmental Psychology.
This course is intended to describe and explain the changes in behavior that occur with the passage of time from conception until death. While emphasis is placed on the early years of most rapid change, appropriate topics are covered throughout the life span. As the mature individual is a product not only of his or her own life history, but also of the history of our species, there is some discussion of evolutionary theory and developmental data gathered on other species. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

215. Cultural Psychology.
The goal of this course is to examine the influence of culture and social structure on human cognition, emotion, motivation, moral reasoning, social development and social behavior. Students are encouraged to think of cultural meaning systems and practices that are essential to understanding mental processes, as well as how these mental processes in turn constrain, reproduce and transform the cultural system. Emphasis is on studies in non-Western societies and with different ethnic groups in the United States. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225. Seminars for Non-Majors.
These seminars are offered occasionally in specific areas of psychology at an intermediate level between Psychology 100/101 and advanced-level courses. Topics and format vary depending upon the instructor. Consult the Class Schedule for descriptions of courses currently offered. First enrollment priority is given to first-year students and sophomores. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

232. Laboratory Animals: Ethics, Care and Techniques.
This 0.5 unit course introduces students to the techniques, use and care of laboratory animals. Students gain knowledge and hands-on experience in the areas of anesthetics/analgesics, surgical techniques and proper animal handling and husbandry. In addition, topics covering the ethical use of animals in research, appropriate and humane care, and the functions of regulatory agencies are covered. Concurrently, students explore the relationships between humans and animals used in teaching and research. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101 or Biology 101 or permission of instructor.

238. Psychology and Law.
This course explores the contributions psychological science can make and has made to legal policy and the legal system through examination of several topics within the field of psychology and law. Topics include expert testimony in the courtroom, eye-wit-ness identification, child witnesses, the insanity defense, jury behavior and capital punishment. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

248. Special Topics in Psychology.
These courses cover special topics not regularly offered in the curriculum. The courses are designed for first-year students and sophomores and are taught in a regular class format. Refer to the Class Schedule for course descriptions. First enrollment priority is given to first-year students and sophomores. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

253. Personality.
Personality theories provide a framework with which to understand a person’s development, motivation and behavior. This course examines traditional and contemporary theories of personality, focusing on representative theorists from the psychoanalytic, trait, behavioral, cognitive and phenomenological approaches. Evaluation of theories on logical and empirical grounds is discussed. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

255. Sport Psychology.
This course is designed to develop an understanding of human behavior and mental processes in sport and exercise settings. Topics examined include (a) psychosocial aspects (e.g., motivation, psychological responses to injury, aggression) involved in the sport training process and competition among adults, youth and children at all skill levels; (b) psychological skills training for athletic performance (e.g., relaxation, self-talk); (c) social influences (e.g., leadership, cohesion); and (d) major exercise psychology concepts and issues (e.g., exercise adherence, motives for participation, and exercise and psychological well-being). Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

313. Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
A course designed to acquaint the student with major applications of psychological findings and techniques to problems of management and industry. The course includes human factors engineering, personnel procedures and organizational behavior. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

317. Abnormal Behavior.
This course is designed to study the major behavioral disorders, personality disturbances and mental illnesses. Included are consideration of the mentally ill throughout history and current methods of diagnosis, treatment and research. Actual case reports are reviewed. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

318. Environmental Psychology.
This lecture-laboratory course studies the relationships between humans and physical environments — both natural and built. Topics include environmental assessment, attitudes and behavior toward the environment and the psychological effects of such environmental factors as crowding, architectural design, extreme environments, pollution and natural disasters. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205. Also offered as Environmental Studies 318 and through Outdoor Studies.

325. Social Psychology.
This lecture-laboratory course introduces the theory and research that relates the behavior of individual humans to factors in the social environment. Topics, chosen to represent the scope of social psychology, include attitude formation and change, conformity, affiliation and attraction, altruism, aggression, prejudice and group dynamics. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205.

326. Hormones and Behavior.
This lecture-laboratory course provides an introduction to the field of behavioral endocrinology. Current knowledge derived from human and animal research concerning the effects of hormones on behavior is reviewed. Topics include the influence of hormones on reproductive behavior, parental behavior, aggression, sexual orientation, moods and emotions, psychiatric disorders and perceptual and cognitive abilities. Environmental and experiential influences on endocrine function are also examined. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205. Counts toward the neuroscience major (behavioral track).

327. Sensation and Perception.
This is a lecture-laboratory course that examines from multiple perspectives the ways in which humans and lower animals perceive and react to the world around them. All of the major senses are covered with particular emphasis on vision and hearing. Some of the topics explored include perceptual development, color perception, visual illusions, taste and smell perception, brain disorders and perception, perception of music, psychophysics, visual and hearing impairment, and pain perception. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205. Counts toward the neuroscience major (behavioral track).

331. Physiological Psychology.
This lecture-laboratory course is designed to show how neural structure and activity is related to behavior. The course follows an evolutionary approach and covers a variety of species, including humans. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205. Counts toward the neuroscience major (behavioral track).

348. Special Topics.
These courses cover special topics not regularly offered in the curriculum. The courses are designed for juniors and seniors and are taught in a regular class format, possibly with laboratory. Refer to the Class Schedule for course description. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101.

401. Fundamentals of Learning.
A lecture-laboratory course dealing with the concepts involved in learning as derived from experimentation with both human and nonhuman subjects. Topics include the laws of classical and operant conditioning, biofeedback, token economies, observational learning, learned helplessness, biological constraints on learning, behavior modification techniques and ethics of behavioral control. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205. Counts toward the neuroscience major (behavioral track).

402. Memory and Cognition.
This lecture-laboratory course offers a fairly comprehensive study of human cognition. In addition to extensive coverage of human memory, the course includes an analysis of such major areas as object perception, attention, semantic organization, language processing, problem-solving and metacognition. Where possible, evidence that sheds light on the neural correlates of cognition – drawn mainly from the related disciplines of neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience – will be considered. An introduction to leading theories and empirical findings is also provided, and the importance of previous knowledge and contextual factors emphasized. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205.

413. Community Psychology.
This seminar-internship course has two objectives: to provide an introduction to some of the basic issues, concepts and methods in community psychology and offer experiential learning through an individual internship placement in a community setting (eight hours per week). Topics considered include the ecological perspective, stress and coping, and prevention and evaluation research. Much of class time is also devoted to furthering the learning occurring within the internship placements. Possible internships include Headstart, working with foster children, nursing homes, crisis intervention centers and mental health-related hospital units; a small number of students may participate in a community research project as their internship. Students are required to meet with the professor prior to registering and generally must have internships secured by the end of the previous semester. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101, Psychology 205 and permission of instructor.

432. Animal Behavior.
This lecture-laboratory course examines various forms of behavior as they appear throughout the phylogenetic scale. The roles of evolution, genetics and the neural system in the control of diverse behaviors from feeding to territoriality and human aggression are considered. Prerequisite: Psychology 100 or 101; if taken for laboratory credit, Psychology 205. Counts toward the neuroscience major (behavioral track).

442. Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities.
An examination of the area of developmental disabilities (mental retardation, autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy) with primary emphasis on mental retardation. Among the topics considered are the influence of biological and psychological factors in producing disabilities, cognitive and personality characteristics associated with the different levels retardation, assessment of intelligence and adaptive behavior, and societal intervention through community services, educational placement and treatment programs. On-site visits to residential facilities are generally scheduled. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101 and Psychology 207.

443. Introduction to Clinical Psychology.
This course provides an examination of the field of contemporary clinical psychology. The course focuses on the problems and procedures related to psychological diagnosis, the problem of “labeling” in particular; various therapeutic methods and systems; and assessments of the different systems that are or have been used in other cultures and during other eras. This course will also be available with the possibility of an internship, which would involve regular visits to a regional site that utilizes clinical psychologists or some aspect of clinical psychology to help people address mental health and how it may be contributing to their life situations. Permission of instructor is required to enroll in internship. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101 and Psychology 317.

455. Comprehensive Overview.
This seminar, designed for senior psychology majors, attempts to enhance the student’s knowledge of concepts and facts from a broad range of subfields in psychology and to aid the student in discovering how the various areas, findings and courses can be integrated. To facilitate this integration, each faculty member in the psychology department visits the class to discuss his or her special area of expertise and to relate it to the general field of psychology. Students read appropriate sections of an advanced-level, comprehensive, introductory text as well as outside readings suggested by the course instructor and/or the visiting professors. Prerequisite: senior major in psychology.

468, 469. SYE: Independent Research.
An opportunity for seniors to engage in empirical research. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101, Psychology 205, senior status and permission of instructor.

471, 472. Independent Study in Psychology.
This course offers students the opportunity to engage in in-depth documentary investigation of a particular topic in psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101 and permission of instructor.

480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485. Seminars in Psychology.
These seminars involve group study and investigation of psychological topics not regularly offered in the curriculum. Refer to the Class Schedule for descriptions of offerings. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101 and permission of instructor.

496, 497. Independent Research in Psychology.
This course offers students the opportunity to engage in empirical and/or experimental research in psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101, Psychology 205 and permission of instructor.

489, 490. SYE: Independent Study.
This course offers senior students the opportunity to synthesize, integrate and expand their knowledge in the field of psychology by engaging in detailed documentary investigation of a particular topic in psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101, Psychology 205 and permission of instructor.

498, 499. SYE: Senior Project.
In this two-semester capstone course, students will integrate acquired research skills and/or subject knowledge. Requirements include presentation of high-quality preliminary and final colloquia on the project and/or presentation at the annual Festival of Science, attendance at colloquia of others doing senior projects and a final written paper. This paper is to be bound and filed with the department, the project supervisor and the library. A final grade of at least 3.5 in 499 and an overall GPA of 3.5 or above are required to receive honors in psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology 100 or 101, Psychology 205 and permission of instructor.