PSY 002: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
(Syllabus)

Course Description and Objectives. This general survey course is about psychology as a science. There are many new concepts which you will just have to know and two general classes of test questions: 1) knowledge questions - what you know about the concept itself, and 2) conceptual questions - knowing how to apply the information to specific and general situations. The conceptual questions are usually harder ones.

PSY 204: CONDITIONING & LEARNING
(Syllabus)

Course Description. Psy 204: Introduction to Learning (GS) is "a general survey of the learning area, including animal and human experiments, with the applicability of learning principles being discussed". The prerequisite course is Psy 002.This is a three-credit psychology course designed to fulfill a General Studies requirement in the area of the social and behavioral sciences. Learning is one of the historically traditional and basic areas of psychology. It is something that all animals with a developed brain can do. Plants can't, bacteria can't, viruses can't, and low-level parasitic worms can't! It allows us to modify our behavior and better adapt under changing conditions for purposes of survival.

Much of the research discussed will be from the classical and fascinating animal studies that span the history of psychology. It will include ethology and animal behavior, keeping in mind that the primary focus of this course is on understanding human learning and conditioning. Later on it will get into discussions of developmental and social-cognitive issues. It will also include applications for training your pets, raising children, and behavior therapy. For anyone interested in a more complete understanding of human behavior, from basic experimental research to educational and clinical applications, this course is will give a basic understanding.

PSY 243: PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT AND WELL-BEING
(Syllabus)

Course Description. This is a three-credit introductory course in health psychology that emphasizes personal choices and responsibility in protecting and preserving your total health. It integrates information from biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and religion. Also, information will be drawn from other areas of human understanding, such as personal experiences, the humanities, and the arts. For psychology majors it counts towards the Abnormal/ Clinical/Personality group.

Course Objectives. This course can be an introductory level for many of the topics in psychology, but also can be a capstone course for senior psychology majors. Course material will include theories, scientific studies, survey information, and personally relevant examples and experiences. The material is to provide a very personal understanding of what current psychology considers as important factors in effective coping, adjustment, and assertive behavior when changes in our life occur. The topics are broad, touching upon most of the important aspects of our human existence. This course is one that is personal-growth oriented, designed to help you understand yourself and your relationships for more effective living and loving. This course can help you work on your own challenges in living -- all within a 15 week semester!

PSY 401: ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(Syllabus)

Prerequisite. Psy 201W

Course Description. This advanced methods course focuses on the logic and practice of research in a selected content area of psychology. In this case, the focus is on the rhythmic aspects of behavior resulting from the systematically cycling underlying physiological processes. Students will be introduced to the areas of chronbiology and chronopsychology, areas of neuroscience that study the multiple time dimensions of processes that under all behavior, from daily sleep/wake and cognitive performance to the yearly cyclicity of migration in animals and SAD (seasonal affective disorder syndrome in humans. Methods for gathering rhythmic data, both in the laboratory and under free-ranging conditions will be covered, as well as relatively unique analytic methods for determining the dynamic parameters of rhythmic performance.

PSY402: SENSATION AND PERCEPTION
(Syllabus)

Prerequisites. Psy 202 for psychology major undergraduates; for psychology graduates and non-psychology undergraduates, a background course in physiology or by permission of instructor. For all students, an appreciation of the philosophical issue of knowing, and a basic understanding of the role of physics is very helpful.

Course Description. This course broadly looks at the processes of sensation and perception, including the philosophic issues of knowing, the psychophysical methods of data gathering, stimulus-energy characteristics, physiologic receptor variables, brain-area organization of incoming sensations, states-of-consciousness, and cognitive perceiver variables.

Course Objectives. The main purpose of this course is to integrate an understanding of sensory functions and limits with perceptual (e.g., cognitive) processes. The study approach taken is from you the perceiver's perspective (some call this a Gibsonian ethological perspective), as the one who interacts with, and operates upon, the environment within which you react and respond appropriately in order to survive.

PSY 404: CONDITIONING & LEARNING
(Syllabus)

Prerequisites. PSY 002 for Psychology majors; Psy 204 recommended; for other majors, knowledge of basic principles of learning.

Course Description. "PSY 404 (3:3:0) An examination of basic learning processes that have been determined within the context of classical, instrumental, and operant learning situations." For anyone interested in a more complete understanding of human learning, from basic experimental research to educational and clinical applications, this course is essential.

Course Objectives. This is a three-credit psychology course designed mainly for students interested in graduate study in psychology, as well as to fulfill the undergraduate General Studies depth requirement in the area of the social and behavioral sciences. Learning is one of the historically traditional and basic areas of psychology. It is something that all animals with a brain can do; plants can't! It allows us to modify our behavior and adapt to survive under changing conditions. Given the increased emphasis these days on the neurobiological basis of behavior, this course will emphasis the psychobiological aspects that build on the neurobiology. Much of the research discussed will be from the classical and fascinating animal studies that span the history of psychology. Examples will come from animal ethology and human development and social-cognition. Included will be applications for teaching and learning, child raising, and behavior therapy.

PSY 597: GRADUATE SEMINAR on the RHYTHMS of BEHAVIOR
(Syllabus)

Prerequisites. Graduate standing or permission of the Instructor.

Course objectives. The two purposes of this three credit graduate course are to introduce you to the general topic of rhythmic aspects of behavior and biological processes, and to allow you to become an expert on at least one single topic of your choosing. Since this course does not require specific background courses, it assumes no other knowledge than general information in biology, mathematics, physics, psychology, and statistics.

All life is affected by biological rhythms. This seminar examines some of the underlying “error” variance in most human behavioral studies as a result of not accounting for these rhythms. An overview of the physiological etiology of biological rhythms will be presented, followed by a study of the effects of these rhythms on behavior. A neuroscience approach will overview these rhythms from their genetic bases, through neuroanatomically located “clocks” or timing oscillators, to physiological system cycles that cause the behavioral rhythms. From there, circadian rhythms in cognitive and behavioral performances will be emphasized. The effects of individual differences in the circadian cycle of sleep and wake timing on cognition and performance, called morningness/eveningness preference, will be examined. Included in this course will be experimental data-gathering and special analytic procedures for measuring behaviors that vary with the daily circadian rhythm. Depending on student interest, applied topics may include (but are not limited to) those involving daily social scheduling of work and school, shiftwork, sleep-deprivation effects, vehicle-driving errors and accidents, rhythmic aspects of certain behavioral disorders, and rhythmicity in health and medicine.