Psychology and Neuroscience
Psychology and neuroscience are comprehensive and versatile majors, providing an educational foundation for advanced study in any field. Psychologists bring diverse and sophisticated methods to bear on understanding human behavior and the world in which we live. We offer a well-rounded education in all of the major subfields of psychology, with a wealth of opportunities for hands-on clinical and research experience, overseas study, and mentoring with professors. Undergraduate students are offered a broad range of opportunities to work closely with professors outside of the classroom, in their labs, in community agencies, and on individual honors and research projects.
Our majors have gone on to establish themselves in a range of professions. They've become scientists, physicians, lawyers, academics, clinicians, and teachers, among a host of other chosen professions. We've placed students in top jobs and graduate programs across the country.
Psychology (PSY)
An introduction to the PSY and NSC majors including the faculty and degree requirements of their major, techniques for academic success, and professional and career options. Satisfies U1000 requirements, and is required of all first-year students with a declared major in Pre-PSY or Pre-NSC.
A survey course investigating the connections among mind, brain, and behavior.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
An introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics used in behavioral science research. Emphasis is placed on techniques of data analysis through the use of computers.
Research methods used in psychology, including various research designs, appropriate statistical analyses for the research designs, and writing reports using APA style.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Instructor approval required. Application of leadership, mentoring, and pedagogical techniques, and the practice of student engagement in a classroom setting. May be repeated once for credit.
See NSC 3120 for course information.
See NSC 3123 for course information.
The major schools and current trends in psychotherapy. Discussion also includes issues involving ethical practices and empirical aspects of psychotherapy.
Students will learn about models of training in clinical psychology and the basic tools used by clinical psychologists in research, assessment/diagnosis, and treatment.
A study of individual behavior as affected by cultural and social stimuli.
A survey of personnel and organizational psychology. Topics include job satisfaction, leadership, formal organizational structures and issues relevant to the human relations field.
An introduction to the study of human memory, including both laboratory studies and clinical data. This information will be related to major contemporary theories of memory, as well as to a range of phenomena including mnemonics, eyewitness testimony, retention of course content, and supranormal memory. Demonstrations and experiments will complement lecture material.
An introduction to historical and modern views of abnormal behavior and a survey of the field of psychological disorders. For non-majors only.
The paradigms and processes involved in understanding the etiology, course, treatment, and prevention of psychological disorders. For majors only.
The study of the biopsychosocial factors leading to socioeconomic health disparities.
Introduction to the field of abnormal child and adolescent psychology, including the causes, maintenance, and treatment of children’s behavioral, social-emotional, and cognitive disorders from a developmental perspective.
A survey of the field of developmental psychology. Consideration is given to the development of human behavior from conception to death. For nonmajors only.
Social, emotional, cognitive, and psychological growth and development. For majors only.
A study of the major drugs used to modify mood and behavior examination of tolerance, dependence, addiction, and treatment. Substances studied include alcohol, anti-psychotic medications, sedatives, stimulants, analgesics, hallucinogens, and other psychoactive substances.
Introduction to the psychology of gender, with focus on interconnections of social and cultural processes with biological and psychological factors. Additional emphasis on psychological and sociological origins and implications of gender differences as well as similarities.
The psychology and neuroscience underlying healthy sleep, the effects of sleep deprivation on medical outcomes, changes in sleep across the lifespan, sleep disorders, and solutions for improving sleep.
Psychology as it relates to criminal and civil law.
Positive psychology theory, research, and interventions.
A phylogenetic comparison of animal behavior. Class and field studies stress evolution and the function of behavior. The laboratory consists of four overnight or day field trips which emphasize studies of animal populations, their relationships to local environments, habitat analysis, and ecological research methods.
A contracted number of forty, eighty, or one hundred-ten hours of volunteer work during the semester in a community agency dealing with behavioral problems for the one, two, or three semester hours credit respectively. The course may be repeated once. No change in number of credit hours permitted after contract is made.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
See NSC 4119 for course information.
See NSC 4130 for course information.
Research related to human growth and development.
See NSC 4312 for course information.
Commonly employed psychological tests and the statistical techniques used to develop and validate these tests.
See NSC 4317 for course information.
See NSC 4324 for course information.
Examines psychological theories and research related to sport and exercise behavior, providing a broad overview of the major topics in the area.
Major theories of personality.
See NSC 4330 for course information.
Psychological processes in religious experience and related phenomena with a focus on religious development through the life cycle and the major psychological interpretations.
Normal and abnormal changes in behavior that occur between early maturity and later maturity, with emphasis on changes in sensation and perception, intelligence, learning, and personality, as well as other areas of a more social psychological nature such as social roles and the impact of environmental change on older people.
An in-depth laboratory research experience in psychology as supervised by a faculty mentor.
Classic and contemporary theories and research pertaining to personal and social relationships.
The psychological aspects of film, as related to content, audience, and individual viewers. Also covers the portrayal of mental illness and mental health care professionals.
Intermediate course focusing on qualitative and quantitative integration of research.
A survey of the history of psychology stressing significant persons and theories with some emphasis on contemporary and emerging trends.
Logical nature of statistical reasoning. Sets, probability, density functions, random variables and their distributions, estimation and hypothesis testing.
Course may be repeated once with change in content.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Neuroscience (NSC)
See PSY 1101 for course information.
Laboratory experiments illustrating procedures in neuroanatomy, behavioral neuroscience, animal learning and behavior, and human sensation and perception.
An introduction to the biological bases of human and animal behavior. Emphasis is placed upon neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and behavioral methodologies which contribute to an understanding of brain-behavior relationships.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
An introduction to fundamental principles, techniques, and procedures that underlie neuroscience research.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
See PSY 3101 for course information.
Laboratory experiments illustrating methods and procedures in cognitive psychology.
Laboratory experiments illustrating methods and procedures in learning and behavior.
Laboratory experiments illustrating methods and procedures in sensation and perception.
Introduction to the structures and processes involved in human cognition, including thinking, problem solving, language, attention, and memory.
An examination of human and animal learning and behavior within a nature-nurture framework.
An introduction to the anatomical, physiological, motivational, and cognitive factors which determine conscious sensory and perceptual experience.
Explores the underlying neural circuits important for normal and abnormal emotional behavior and experience. Focus on neuroimaging studies of human disorders for which there is a critical mass of data regarding the neural underpinnings of psychopathology.
Examines neuroscience methods and research related to criminal and civil law and society at large, providing a broad overview of the major topics in the area.
An overview of the molecular and cellular processes involved in nervous system development, including neural proliferation, synaptogenesis, and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.
Laboratory experiments illustrating methods and procedures in clinical neuroscience.
Laboratory experiments illustrating methods and procedures in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Topics include the role of mind, brain, and behavior in health, disease and wellness; the history, philosophy, and current status of health care systems; physiological and behavioral analyses of stress; psychoneuroimmunology; behavioral factors in cardiovascular disease, cancer, drug abuse, and weight management.
An intensive introduction to the scientific literature in behavioral neuroscience. Students will be exposed to the contemporary literature through an examination of fundamental contributions in several areas. Preparation of a serious paper in a specific area of current research interest is required.
A survey of current neuroscientific contributions to the understanding of the etiology of various mental disorders. The course covers basic principles of neural science followed by an examination of motivation and emotions within a neuroscience framework.
A study of individual problems in perception through directed reading, independent research, and/or laboratory work.
A study of the structure and function of the human nervous system as related to behavior.
The pharmacology of major drugs that work primarily on the nervous system, with an emphasis on pharmacodynamics (receptor subtypes, locations, and functions).
An in-depth laboratory research experience in neuroscience as supervised by a faculty mentor.
May be repeated once with change of topic.
Undergraduate research undertaken with the supervision of a faculty member. May be taken for a maximum of 6 hours.