This course explores in detail the aims, techniques, and ethics of
research in psychology. Methods of data collection include
observational methods, survey research, true experimental designs and
quasi-experimental designs. Students keep an intellectual journal,
prepare a field study, a group survey project, and a final grant
package. This course is part of the required core for the MA degree in
Psychology.
Health Psychology, an emerging specialty field, has been defined as
the aggregate of the knowledge base of psychology applied to health and
illness (Matarazzo, 1984). This course examines how biological,
psychological, and social factors interact to influence individual
behavior related to promoting health, preventing illness, and coping
with illness. Students keep an intellectual/health journal. This is a
writing-intensive course.
This course is an introduction to the scientific study of perception
from a physiological approach. Problems in human perception have a long
history in the development of psychology as an independent science.
Topics include both traditional and so-called non-traditional areas in
perception and psychology of consciousness.