Courses
St. Augustine College offers the following Psychology courses. Students enrolled in these courses may find this guide of particular use:
PSY 101 General Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course is a general introduction to the study of psychology as a science. Areas of study include a historical survey of psychology, the study of the sensory and perceptual processes such as learning, thinking, remembering, emotional behavior, motivation, and mechanism of adjustment. IAI Course Number: S6 900 IAI Major - Course Number: SPE 912
PSY 201 Writing for Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course is required of psychology majors and recommended for all students who want to master the APA writing style. This course is an introduction to the effective use and application of APA style writing. Prerequisites: PSY 101 and ENG 162
PSY 202 Human Growth and Development (4) (4, 0) This course provides students with basic theories and principles of development, prenatal through adolescence, with emphasis on the young child. It includes an in-depth study of physical, cognitive, psychosocial, language, and aesthetic development. The course examines theories of Piaget, Erickson, Freud, Vygotsky, Skinner, and others. It explores child development in the context of gender, family, culture, and society. Prerequisites: PSY 101, ENG 162, BIO 102 or BIO 108 IAI Course Number: S6 904 IAI Major – Course Number: EED 902/PSY 901/SPE 913
PSY 210 Child Growth and Development (4) (4, 0) This course provides a “critical thinking” approach into basic theories, concepts and principles of Child Development from conception through adolescence. Students will study the physical, neurological, cognitive, psychosocial, moral, language, and aesthetic development of children and the interactive nature of these areas. They will examine developmental theories, emphasizing Piaget, Erikson, Freud, Vygotsky and others. Since human development can be greatly influenced by culture, cross-cultural comparisons and observations will be made throughout the course. Students will be performing observational tasks in order to assist learning gains. Prerequisites: PSY 101, ENG 162, BIO 102 or BIO 108 IAI Course Number: S6 903 (Equivalent to PSY 202, IAI Course Number: ECE 912) IAI Course Number: ECE 912
PSY 216 Positive Psychology (4) (4, 0) The purpose of this course is to examine the fundamentals of positive psychology. The course begins with an exploration of the history of positive psychology and its basic tenants. We then explore a wide range of topics that relate to happiness and well-being, including positive relationships, positive thinking, life meaning, religion/spirituality, gratitude, altruism, career development, and character strengths. (Elective, offered on demand.) Prerequisite: PSY 101, PSY 201, ENG 162
PSY 220 Adult Development and Aging (4) (4, 0) This course emphasizes an understanding of the important methods, terms, theories, and findings pertaining to the psychology of adulthood and aging. Students will review the major theories of adult development from early adulthood through seniors with emphasis on culture, cohorts, challenges and identity formation. The course will cover memory, basic and complex cognition and disorders. Prerequisites: PSY 101, PSY 201, ENG 162, BIO 102 or BIO 108 Co-requisite: PSY 202 or 210
PSY 234 Abnormal Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course considers the major diagnostic, etiologic, prevention, and treatment issues for a variety of categories of abnormal behavior and psychological disorders. Students will be provided with basic information and knowledge on how mental professionals define (diagnose & assess), explain (etiology), and treat mental disorders from children to the elderly. Biological, psychosocial, and sociocultural origins of abnormal behavior will be examined, and the role of research methods will be emphasized. Prerequisites: ENG 162, BIO 102 or BIO 108, PSY 101, PSY 201, PSY 202 or PSY 210. IAI Major - Course Number: PSY 905 106
PSY 238 Social Psychology (4) (4, 0) A systematic study of theory and research of social factors in individual and group behavior. Includes social perception, culture, prejudice and discrimination, moderation and learning, attitudes, norms of influence processes, leadership, group dynamics and research methods, emphasizing their effects on the individual, families, groups and communities. Prerequisites: ENG 162, PSY 101, PSY 201 IAI Course Number: S8 900
PSY 270 Theories of Personality (4) (4, 0) This course introduces and integrates theory and empirical research regarding both normal and abnormal personality development and maintenance in a cultural context. Research methods and personality assessment regarding psychoanalytic, neopsychoanalytic, trait, humanistic, cognitive, and behavioral/social learning theories will be reviewed. Prerequisite: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 300 Cross-cultural Factors in Mental Health (4) (4, 0) This course includes ethnic and cultural considerations in mental health, the impact of cultural differences in the integration of community, the identification of specific cultural beliefs and their impact on mental health and identity development. Prerequisite: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 300 Cross-cultural Factors in Mental Health (4) (4, 0) This course includes ethnic and cultural considerations in mental health, the impact of cultural differences in the integration of community, the identification of specific cultural beliefs and their impact on mental health and identity development. Prerequisite: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 310 Tests and Measurements (4) (4, 0) A study of the principles of psychological testing, including norms and units of measure, elementary statistical concepts, reliability and validity. In addition, some attention is devoted to the major types of available tests, such as general intellectual development, tests of separate abilities, achievement tests, measurements of personality and interest inventories. Prerequisites: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 320 Behavioral Statistics (4) (4, 0) Students will gain an appreciation and understanding of common quantitative analysis tools and techniques used in the behavioral sciences. Through reading and analysis of research publications, students will review commonly accepted statistical measure and their application to research. Prerequisites: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 325 Neuro-Cognitive Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course introduces important philosophical questions about the mind, specifically those that are intimately connected with contemporary psychology and neuroscience. Students are expected to understand complex and often highly abstract concepts involving the nature of sensory and perceptual processing. Students will study how all the senses—hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling—gather information from our environment, convert it into a signal and send data to the brain via the central nervous system. Prerequisites: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 330 Forensic Psychology (4) (4, 0) The major goal of this course is to provide a broad overview of the field of forensic psychology and the numerous ways that psychology interacts with the law. Forensic psychology addresses the application of psychological research, methods, and expertise to issues that come before the legal system. Some topics include insanity, competency, jury selection, expert-testimony, decision making, child custody, dangerousness, and interrogations. (Elective offered on demand.) Prerequisite: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses and PSY 201.
PSY 340 Counseling Psychology (4) (4, 0) Counseling Psychology is a specialty within professional psychology that maintains a focus on facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan. It privileges the use of scientific inquiries to best: (1) understand and support people through periods of psychological, social, and emotional distress that typically arise over the lifespan; (2) prevent abnormal psychological, social, and emotional functioning over the lifespan; and (3) promote optimal psychological, social, and emotional functioning over the lifespan. Counseling psychological preventions, interventions, and postventions are grounded in evidence-based, strengths-focused, culturally sensitive, socially just practices. (Elective offered on demand.) Prerequisites: AA degree, or 12 required general education courses and PSY 201
PSY 342 Community Psychology (4) (4, 0) This class will provide students with an introduction to the field of community psychology. This area of psychology is concerned with the scientific study of social problems and their solutions. Goals for this class are to help students understand community-based research and to encourage them to think about how research findings can be used to address social problems. Elective offered on demand.) Prerequisite: AA degree or 12 required general education courses and PSY 201
PSY 343 Multicultural Family and Couples Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course introduces students to family systems theory and its application. Basic assumptions, major issues, primary theorists, and techniques of major theoretical models of family and couples’ therapy will be covered. Students will learn preventative and therapeutic approaches to treating specific problems that impede family functioning. Specific attention will be given to issues of diversity and multicultural responsiveness in family and couples therapy. Prerequisites: PSY 101; 20: AA degree or 12 required general education courses
PSY 356 Gender and Society (4) (4, 0) This course will conceptualize gender as socially constructed and then examine the various ways in which notions of femininity and masculinity are reconstructed within our institutions and cultural productions. We will study the ways gender inequality is reproduced at the structural level of society and impacts a person’s life and life chances within the institutions of the workplace, family, media, health care, and religion. Likewise, it will examine the social and political relationship between gender and sexuality, body image, beauty ideals, and violence. It will also examine gender through the ways in which it “intersects” or comes into play with other socially constructed differences, including race, class, and sexuality. (Elective offered on demand.) Prerequisite: AA degree or 12 required general education courses and PSY 201
PSY 401 Research and Methods in Psychology (4) (4, 0) Psychology is a science. Science requires specific methods that test, confirm, or disconfirm hypotheses that lend supporting evidence or no evidence to a theory. Therefore, the course you are about to take is one of the most important courses you will take in psychology. Without rigorous, systematic research methods, much of theoretical and practical knowledge we have about perception, cognition, attitudes, learning, human development, stereotypes, and many other areas in psychology would not exist. Although this course is not content specific, the knowledge and content of the course can be applied to any content specific course in psychology and neuroscience. You will learn about the philosophy of science, the various types of methods psychologists use, learn how to and actually conduct an experiment, and write a paper adhering to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Prerequisites: AA degree or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234
PSY 420 Industrial/Organizational Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course covers practical applications of psychology to problems of business and industry: work attitudes and behaviors, employee selectin, morale, safety, turnover, absenteeism, and training. It also examines psychological research and theory that relates to the following topics: personnel evaluation, personnel selection, personality and interest factors, equal employment opportunity, personnel training and work motivation, human factors in job design, and leadership. Prerequisite: AA degree or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201.
PSY 440 Health Psychology (4) (4, 0) This course introduces the study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. Students will learn how biological, social and psychological factors influence health and illness. Students will study the influence of diversity in health psychology, including international health research, the impact of issues such as ethnicity, culture, age, and gender on health and research, and explore the increasing variety of approaches to healthcare. The goal of the course is for students to understand and apply health education, information, prevention, and control in ways that will alleviate individuals’ physical symptoms and assist in improving their lives. Prerequisites: AA degree or 12 required general education courses, and PSY 201. PSY 220, and PSY 234 108
PSY 450 Senior Seminar (4) (4, 0) This is a capstone course that explores both contemporary issues in Psychology and events of historical importance to the discipline. Course content will include professional ethics, recent career trends, cross-cultural competency and other selected topics dictated by current events in the field. Students will integrate knowledge acquired in previous courses into critical analyses of research, theories and principles that have influenced past and contemporary thought in psychological science. This is a capstone course to be taken after all other Psychology courses have been satisfactorily completed. Students must have submitted a graduation application and have been cleared by the department prior to registering for this course. 200 hours of supervised, nonclinical field internship in an agency approved by the program director or field internship director. Prerequisite: Program approval. Student must have completed all major general education courses, required psychology courses, and 16 electives credit hours to register for this course. Students must pass this course with an “A” or “B” grade to graduate. (Exception: may have 12 elective credit hours left after this course)