Psychology Undergraduate Certificate Outline

An introduction to the study of psychology, including psychological research, biology and behavior, and the relationships between the environment and behavior. Also covers neurons, hormones, and the brain, body rhythms and mental states, sensation and perception, learning and conditioning, and behavior in social and cultural contexts.

A continuation of Introduction to Psychology I, this course explores thinking and feeling, the developing person, and health and disorders. Also covers emotion, motivation, theories of personality, development over the life span, and approaches to treatment and therapy.

An in-depth look at physical, cognitive and psychosocial development from birth through middle childhood.

A continuation of Human Growth and Development I, this course covers physical, cognitive and psychosocial development from adolescence through late adulthood and death.

Overview of social problems with emphasis on sexual variance, alcohol and drugs, crime and delinquency, violence, poverty, family problems, physical and mental illness, war, population, aging, urban problems, and environmental destruction.

Introduction to the behavior of individuals as members of the larger society, with emphasis on beliefs, judgments, attitudes, conformity, persuasion, group influence, prejudice, aggression, intimacy, altruism, conflict, peacemaking, and practical applications.

Introduction to abnormal behavior with particular emphasis on classification, treatment, and assessment of various disorders, including anxiety disorders, sexual disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, substance related disorders, eating disorders, and impulse control disorders.

Factors shaping personality, including the biological (genes and evolution), the intrapsychic (factors within the mind that influence behavior, thoughts, and feelings), the dispositional (aspects of personality that are stable over time and relatively consistent in a variety of situations), the cognitive and experiential (perceptions, thoughts, feelings, desires, beliefs, and other conscious experiences), the social and cultural (social institutions, social roles and expectations, and relationships with other people), and adjustments to events in day-to-day life.