Introduction to Psychology
The goal of our Psychology major is to provide an insight into the human mind as well as to prep students for coursework they may see in undergraduate Psychology courses. This is a great introduction to the undergraduate degree offered by the College in Psychology.
Many students are fascinated by psychology courses and often take introductory classes during their university freshman and sophomore years. This will be a comprehensive overview of psychology including the history of the field, an overview of the different approaches to human behavior, and an exploration of current research. We will focus on the classic theories that have changed our understanding of human nature.
Coursework will include the Human Brain, Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Cognition, Developmental Psychology, and Learning.
One of the most anticipated sections will start with the question: “What does abnormal really mean?” We will discuss various mental conditions, including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive-disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, and other disorders. We will look at closely at various ways in which humans learn and acquire behaviors such as classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. We will touch upon the works of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson when we discuss Developmental Psychology. Furthermore, we will learn about Lawrence Kohlberg’s philosophy of moral development. We will explore the theories of Sigmund Freud and Ivan Pavlov, innovators in the field of Psychology. Another area of study always proves to be fun and illuminating is our social psychology section. We will conduct experiments, using the campus population to compile our data. We will create social experiments, make predictions about how people will react, run and observe the experimental situations in real-time, and lastly, gather and analyze the data. The possibilities to observe human behavior in action are endless!