An introduction of major principles of psychology and scientific modes of thought about behavior, thought, and emotions.

Learning Outcomes:

At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to answer the following questions:

• What are the differences between descriptive, correlational, and experimental study designs?
• How does physiology influence our subjective psychology?
• How are environmental stimuli transformed into one’s experience of the world?
• What are levels of consciousness, and how do they influence experience?
• How do humans and animals learn?  Are these processes similar?
• What happens to information as it is being learned, and how does our memory work? Is it generally accurate or prone to error?
• What influences our motivation? How can we influence others’ motivation?
• How is human development influenced by genetics, motivation, and the environment?
• How do forces from our environment interact with internal forces to produce behavior? Is there such a thing as “free will?”
• Is stress healthy or unhealthy? What might moderate the influence of stress on health?
• What is psychopathology?  What are the diagnostics for specific psychopathologies?

Course Project:

Experiment Replication Project. Student groups select from several options and then carry out the conceptual replication of a psychology experiment. This includes reviewing literature, creating the experiment in Qualtrics (social research software), collecting authentic data, data cleaning, analysis, & interpretation, crafting conclusions based on the observed evidence, and reporting results in an APA-style research paper and research poster.