Psychology

Bachelor of Arts

In this course you will learn how young children learn to think, starting in infancy and extending into early and middle childhood, along with theories and experimental methods used to study cognitive development. For example, you will learn about the negative effects of early media exposure, how children learn to take another person's perspective, that infants and toddlers understand much more than they can say, about the development of self-control, the reliability of children's eyewitness testimony, surprising ideas children have about the size of themselves and their toys, how well we can predict children's school performance from tests of basic cognitive processes, how children "learn" to learn, and the effect of culture on the developing mind.

Social Psychology offers a broad introduction to the major theories and research findings in the field. Specific topics covered in the class include: the self, social cognition, attitudes, interpersonal relations, group processes, prejudice, and aggression.

In this course, students will examine conceptions of healthy aging within the United States and cross-culturally. Students will explore how social factors like changing relationships and changing self-concept contribute to aspects of aging. Learning about culturally-specific theories of aging, students will consider how cultural norms and expectations influence perceptions of healthy aging. By the end of the class, students should be left with an impression of what constitutes "healthy aging" in the United States and elsewhere. Furthermore, students will learn active strategies that can be employed to help contribute to a successful aging process embedded within the larger sociocultural context.

Overview of psychological theories of leadership. Reviews leadership as a process, analysis of leader and followers' behaviors, and situational characteristics. Analysis of historical and modern case studies will be used to apply theoretical concepts. Additionally, students will be able to apply what they learned to their everyday lives.

The major goal of this course is to provide a broad overview of the field of forensics and the numerous ways that psychology interacts with the law. The discipline of forensic psychology has become extremely popular for students over the past two decades, in part because of numerous TV programs addressing the topic such as: Law & Order, CSI, Criminal Minds, to name a few. Forensic psychology courses are being taught in numerous universities and there are now over 20 graduate programs in the United States offering doctorates in either forensic psychology or psychology and law. A good understanding of forensic psychology will benefit students entering into a number of professions including: corrections, child protective services, probation, mental health, forensic sciences, the law, etc.