Course Listings — Spring 2006

PSYC 100: Understanding Psychology
4 semester hours
Bonfiglio, Diane, Zembar, Mary Jo

An introductory-level survey course in psychology with a focus on how psychology can be applied to other fields of study and life in general; intended for students who do not plan to major or minor in psychology. Covers topics in biological foundations of behavior, learning and memory, developmental psychology, motivation and emotion, abnormal psychology and psychotherapy, personality, and social psychology.

PSYC 107 Statistics
4 semester hours
Brookings, Jeffrey

Prerequisites: To register for Psychology 107, a student must have a 23 or higher Mathematics Placement Level. Contact the Math Workshop for details regarding this prerequisite.
A student may not receive credit for more than one statistics course.
This is a course in applied statistics. Its emphasis is on the mechanics of summarizing and analyzing data, with examples from the behavioral sciences. The purpose of the course is to prepare students for other courses in Psychology and related disciplines and to help them conduct and interpret statistical analyses.

PSYC 110: Proseminar I: Physiological
2 semester hours
Wilson, Josephine

This course is an introduction to the study of the biological bases of behavior, including the structure and function of neurons, brain organization, and sensation and perception. Required texts include a basic psychology textbook and O. Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat. Grade in course is based on three exams in multiple choice and essay format. In addition, students are required either to participate in a limited number of research studies or to write a research paper.

PSYC 140: Proseminar V: Differential
2 semester hours
Brookings, Jeffrey

An introduction to psychological tests and their application, emphasizing ability measurement, and a survey of the structure and dynamics of personality. In addition, students are required either to participate in a limited number of research studies or to write a research paper. There are three exams and two brief written projects.

PSYC 150: Proseminar V: Abnormal
2 semester hours
Little, Stephanie

This course is an introduction to the realm of psychology that focuses on identifying and treating psychological disorders. The course applies different theoretical views to the causes of and treatments for mental illness. In addition, basic emotions and motivations will be covered.

PSYC 160: Proseminar VI: Social
2 semester hours
Brown, Clifford

This course is an introduction to social psychology, the scientific study of how others influence our beliefs, emotions, and behavior. Topics include conformity, persuasion, social cognition, attribution, attitudes, prejudice, aggression, and nonverbal communication. Three tests assess performance. In addition, students are required either to participate in a limited number of research studies or to write a research paper.

PSYC 207: Experimental Design
5 semester hours
Anes, Michael

Prerequisite: Psychology 107 or another statistics course.
This laboratory course offers a systematic introduction to relevant aspects of the scientific enterprise, namely the design and analysis of experiments. The focus of the course is on the design of experiments in an analyzable manner, and on their subsequent statistical analysis. In the laboratory, participants will perform statistical analysis by calculator and computer. Course performance evaluation is based on lab projects, tests, and class participation. Considerable discussion is devoted to the nature and limitation of scientific models and scientific knowledge. Text: Elmes, Kantowitz, & Roediger, Research Methods in Psychology. 8th edition, St. Paul, MN: West Pub. Co.

PSYC 231: Child Development
4 semester hours
Zembar, Mary Jo

Prerequisite: Psychology 130.
The developmental study of children from prenatal development to preadolescence, with emphasis on motor, cognitive, language, social and personality development. Monthly observations of infants and children help students apply theoretical developmental models and research findings. Final grade is based on essay exams and observation projects.

PSYC 241: Psychology of Personality
4 semester hours
Bonfiglio, Diane

Prerequisite: Psychology 140
Personality psychology is the scientific study of the person. Personality psychologists seek to understand the ways in which every individual is “like . . . all other persons, like some other persons, and like no other person.” In this course, the scientific study of persons will be considered from several distinct perspectives including the psychoanalytic perspective, the humanistic perspective, the social cognitive perspective, and the trait perspective. Evaluation of students’ performance will be achieved by means of three exams and four homework assignments.

PSYC 321: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
5 semester hours
Anes, Michael

Prerequisites: Psychology 120 and Psychology 207
This is a course in which we study major operations of the human mind; perceiving, remembering, acting, and thinking. Specific areas of coverage include attention, visual search and object recognition, visual memory, general memory mechanisms (working and long-term), language, imagery, reasoning, and judgment. We will discuss learning and memory in other species as well, and attempt to draw parallels that inform our understanding of human cognition.
Specific proposals about how the mind accomplishes particular tasks (models) have been advanced in the short, 50-year history of modern cognitive psychology. We will see how these models have been tested, in part by participating in replications of classic cognitive psychology experiments. Data, including the data we generate ourselves, will be discussed in detail. We will write APA-style papers describing the nature of these tasks, the methods used, and the results obtained in the tasks. Finally, we will plan and execute group experiments.


PSYC 361: Experimental Social Psychology
5 semester hours
Brown, Clifford

Prerequisites: Psychology 107, Psychology 160, and Psychology 207.
This writing intensive course in experimental social psychology provides students with a scientifically based understanding of human social behavior. Topics include social perception, attitudes, conformity, group processes, aggression, and prejudice. The course emphasizes the experimental method and the particular challenges of applying it to study people in a social context. Given the complexity of social behavior, social psychology relies heavily on experiments that employ factorial designs which allow investigators to examine the independent and combined effect of several factors (variables) simultaneously. This course will include more than 30 hours of laboratory experience.

PSYC 390: Junior Seminar
No Credit
Wilson, Josephine

This seminar meets one hour per week and is designed to help students understand their various options as psychology majors. This includes topics such as senior research projects and internships, senior comprehensive and GRE exams, possible career paths, graduate school applications, and graduate school and job interviews. This class may include guest speakers and field trips based on students’ interests. Psychology majors are required to take this no-credit seminar for one semester during their junior year.

PSYC 400: Research Seminar: Self-Regulation
4 semester hours
Brookings, Jeffrey

Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor
In this course, students will design and complete one or more research studies on self-regulation of behavior. Students will participate in designing the studies, collecting, and analyzing the data, writing up the results, and submitting them from presentations at a professional conference. Preparation for the research will involve reading and discussing published studies on self-regulation, and becoming proficient with relevant research methodologies and instruments. Course grades are based on class participation and contributions to the project(s).

PSYC 400: Research Seminar: Stress & Health
4 semester hours
Bonfiglio, Diane

Prerequisite: Psyc. 107 or another statistics course, permission of the Instructor
This is an advanced research course whose aim is to enhance students’ skills in research processes including review of published literature, study design, data collection, data analysis, and writing/data dissemination. Students will review the literature on a topic related to the effects of stress on the cardiovascular system, then will work with the instructor to complete an original research project in that area. Evaluation of students’ performance will be based on class contribution and write-up of the project.