This course discusses the application of psychological theory and research to sports and recreation. Topics will include motivation, competition and cooperation, arousal, stress and anxiety, group and team dynamics, group cohesion, intrinsic motivation, leadership, imagery, concentration, athletic injuries and psychology, burnout and overtraining, children and sport psychology, and aggression in sports. Prerequisite: 171.
Considering the increasing diversity of the United States and a more interconnected world, this course has two aims. First, this course provides students with an understanding of why fostering belonging is necessary to create healthy and thriving diverse communities. Second, this course provides students with an understanding of how to create communities of belonging. Through a multidisciplinary lens, we will explore and discuss when, why, and how race was invented.
Psychological Testing explores the history, theory, and methods of measuring human behavior. Students will receive exposure to a variety of representative tests of intelligence, personality, neuropsychological functioning, and more. Strongly recommended for students interested in counseling, clinical, and industrial organization psychology. Prerequisite: 171. Restricted to students with junior standing or higher.
Although psychology historically focused on negative aspects of life (psychopathology, retardation and aggression), Positive Psychology focuses on the more positive (mental health, creativity and pro-social behavior). Topics in this course will also include happiness, humor, human strengths, flow, peace, resilience, optimism, empathy and altruism, love and companionship, and relaxation and mindfulness. Emphasis will be on both scientific findings and the application of those findings in ones personal life. The course will include a significant self-change project.
An overview of various family forms, the family life cycle, and healthy family functioning will be provided, followed by a review of the major theories of systemic family therapy. Basic family therapy process and outcome research will be reviewed. The code of ethics will be applied to clinical ethical dilemmas. A role play format will be used to practice basic therapy counseling skills. Restricted to students with junior standing or higher.
This course provides an overview of the major theories in the field of counseling and the historical perspectives and philosophies upon which they are based. This includes supervised laboratory experience with role-playing practice to understand the client and counselor roles in treatment strategies and techniques used in psychotherapy. Prerequisites: 270 or concurrent.
Students in this course will develop a theoretical foundation and effective counseling skills for work in the specialized field of substance abuse disorders. Topics to be covered will include philosophies, practices, policies, and outcomes of the most generally accepted and scientifically supported models of treatment, recovery, relapse prevention, and continuing care for addiction and other substance-related problems. Prerequisites: 205, 270.
Students learn how contemporary psychologists use the scientific method to study mental processes (that is, the "mind"), with an emphasis on major constructs: perception, attention, memory, language, and reasoning. Regular activities include hands-on experiments to collect data, followed by basic data analysis, visualization, and interpretation. Students will also critically evaluate several cognitive psychology journal articles. Prerequisite: 171. Restricted to students with junior standing or higher.
Three hours of lecture per week. This course surveys the biological foundations of behavior (actions, thoughts, and emotions) with an emphasis on central nervous system structure and function. Lecture topics include learning and memory, emotion, cognition, psychological disorders, and more. Prerequisite: three credits of PSYC. (Equivalent to NEUR 261.)
The essence of this course is communication micro-skills, such as: attending, questioning, reflecting content and feelings, confronting, self-disclosing, interpreting, information giving, and enlisting cooperation and action. It is taught through a counseling psychology lens and provides opportunity to develop and practice skills. In addition, the techniques transcend disciplines and are valuable for a variety of interpersonal relationships. OC