PSYC

This course explores how children learn language with seeming ease by examining classic and contemporary theories of language acquisition. The focus is on all areas of language (phonology, semantics, syntax, morphology, and pragmatics) and their typical developmental sequence. Special topics, such as language development disorders, critical/sensitive period hypothesis, bilingualism, bidialectalism, pidgins and creoles, and animal communication systems are covered. When possible, language data from languages other than English are presented.

This course is concerned with how humans learn, think, reason, and solve problems. It addresses the ways in which humans input, encode, transform, store, retrieve, and output information. The course presents major concepts, methods, research findings, and controversies concerning human cognition and examines application of cognition to topics such as eyewitness testimony, autobiographical memory, childhood amnesia, and expertise.

This course focuses on the biological causes and effects of psychological phenomena such as memory, emotion, attention, motor control, and perception. Students address these topics with an array of physiological methodologies such as measures of brain activity (e.g., EEG), muscle activity (e.g., EMG), heart rate, stress response (e.g., skin conductance), and eye tracking. Students learn the application of these methods including their strengths and weaknesses, as well as how to link psychological theories to physiological functions.

This course considers the phenomena and methods of sensation, perception, and action in biological organisms. It focuses primarily on vision and audition, but with an emphasis on the general principles of how various forms of physical energy in the world are transduced and transformed to yield useful representations and purposeful behavior. Students wishing to facilitate a deeper understanding of the material may want to take PSYC 251, MATH 121, or PHYS 111/112 (or 121/122) prior to taking this course. Laboratory work is required.

This course considers the contributions of the nervous system to the understanding of the behavior of humans and other animals. To this end, the course surveys the basic structure and function of the nervous system, the principle methods for its study, and how knowledge of it informs an understanding of such phenomena as sensation and perception, movement, sleep, emotion, learning and memory, language, and abnormal behavior.

Beginning with a brief study of the anatomy and physiology of the sexual and reproductive systems, the course progresses to the consideration of cultural heritages, including cross-cultural and sub-cultural variations. Consideration is given to the evolution of attitudes and behaviors across the life span, including the psychological foundations of the dysfunctions.

The major focus of this course is aberrant human behavior and the scientific basis for understanding its causes. Students learn the major approaches utilized today in diagnosis and treatment of these disorders including biological, psychoanalytic, cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, and community-systems models.

This course is an introduction to psychological testing and measurement. Students address the topics of test development, validation, and administration; survey commonly-used psychological measures; and discuss ethical, legal, social, and emotional impacts of decisions based on measures. In computer-based laboratories, students analyze test data with frequently-used statistical tests and procedures.

Social Psychology is a field that uses empirical methods, primarily experiments, to study the social nature of our behaviors, attitudes, perceptions, and emotions. This course is a survey of theory and research literature pertaining to the prediction of human behavior in social settings. Topics covered include research methodology, social perception, attitudes and attitude change, prejudice, aggression, attraction, helping, conformity, group behavior, and the application of findings to current social problems.

Psychology is the study of human and non-human animal thought and behavior and is applied within a variety of professions including business, education, law, physical and occupational therapy, medicine, and clinical practice.