300

Structure and function of the nervous system, with implications for both normal and abnormal development and behavior. How the function of the brain is related to behavior.

In this course we will examine the evolutionary basis of human behavior and cognition. The ways in which natural and sexual selection have shaped human nature will be explored. Selected topics include evolutionary explanations of human mating systems, jealousy, interpersonal and sexual attraction, warfare, and cognition. A special emphasis will be placed on exploring the evolutionary basis of male-female differences.

The course introduces students to the history, methods, and findings in the areas of habituation, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, declarative memory and procedural learning. We will discuss the neural basis of these changes and learn the anatomical circuits involved. Finally, we will also discuss how these processes influence pathological behavior as well as how they alter our daily lives.

Examines the higher mental processes of attention, learning, memory, language, concept formation, problem solving, and reasoning. Students will participate in simulations of classic experiments in cognitive psychology.

In this course we will discuss how external stimuli are detected and perceived by the nervous system. We will study the anatomy, physiology and circuitry that mediate vision, audition, touch, taste and olfaction.

Psychological behavior of an individual as a member of a group; the influence of culture and society on attitudes, personality, and behavior; the dynamics of group interaction.

This course will engage psychological and sociological perspectives toward understanding sports and physical activity as both personal engagements and social phenomena. Topics will include sport-based youth development, mental health and physical activity, performance enhancement, and sport and social issues.

This course will provide students with varying perspectives on human sexuality.  Through film, reading class discussion, and guest lectures, student will explore sexuality from historical, biological, psychological, developmental, sociological, and cultural contexts.  Attention will be given to how different perspectives on sexuality may affect individuals and the larger society.

Examines psychosocial aspects of human development from birth through death. Focuses on major psychological, social, and cognitive topics as relevant to the stages of the life span.

Focuses on issues related to moral development. Using the writing of various psychologists, novelists, and philosophers, this course will address such issues as moral reasoning, meaning, and purpose.

Examines diverse perspectives on human personality. The focus is on asking what we know when we know a person. This involves analyzing basic assumptions, postulates, and research related to major personality theories including: trait, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cultural, biological, and cognitive.

This course will examine the social self; competing needs for uniqueness and similarity; the meaning of self-identity and self-concept; individual coping strategies; attributional analyses; social influence and defining gender.

Examination of problem behavior, its causes, its treatment, and its social and legal ramifications. Emphasis is given to personal and societal understanding of abnormality as well as to psychological and medical considerations.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the symptoms, causes, and treatments of psychological disorders in children. This includes particular focus on developmental factors that influence the onset, course, and treatments of psychological problems in young people, and the cultural, social, psychological, emotional, and biological factors that influence our understanding of mental illness in children.

Credit arranged.

This course is a survey of specialty areas within contemporary psychological sciences. Different topics and areas will be featured in different semesters.