As the course title indicates, this is a general introduction to the entire field of psychology. There are many subfields within psychology (e.g., clinical, social, physiological, developmental, cognitive, experimental), and this course is designed to expose the student to each of them. Given the breadth of the field of psychology, it is impossible to cover any one subfield in extensive detail. But that's not the purpose of the course. The purpose of PSY101 is to introduce the student to these areas. The student may take subsequent courses in each of the subfields which describe them in much more detail.

PSY230--Social Psychology

Social psychology is the study of how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are affected by other people. Social psychologists study anything that involves two or more people interacting with each other (e.g., conformity, aggression, friendships, impression formation, love, obedience to authority figures, helping behavior).

PSY302--Behavioral Statistics

This course will provide the student with an understanding of basic behavioral statistics and the ability to report them in written and oral formats.  Topics will include descriptive statistics, basic research design, and inferential statistics.

PSY325--Tests and Measurement

In this course, we discuss issues related to psychological assessment. All of the knowledge that we have acquired in psychology has relied on psychological assessment in some form. Examples here include personality questionnaires, intelligence tests, projective tests (e.g., the Rorschach Inkblot Test), surveys, and physiological measures. Students in this course will learn about specific measures (e.g., the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the Thematic Apperception Test, etc.) as well as issues related to all assessment techniques (e.g., reliability and validity). There is a lab component to this course, in which students get hands-on experience with these specific measures and general issues.

PSY430--Group Dynamics

A senior seminar in group dynamics.  Topics include group formation and structure, cohesiveness, influence, power, group task performance, group decision making, leadership, crowd behavior, and intra- and intergroup conflict.