Psychology
The Psychology program exists as an integral part of the liberal arts offerings to permit the student to study psychology as a biosocial science. The program is designed to provide the student with insights about the individual and his or her world. It is primarily concerned with analysis of the relationships between scientific theory and basic research in discovering, understanding, and integrating the fundamental laws of behavior and the theories of personality dynamism. Major theories, methodological approaches, and applications of psychological knowledge are stressed in the areas of sensation and perception, learning and cognitive processes, development, motivation and emotion, personality, social psychology, intelligence, and abnormal psychology. The program is designed to provide:
- a solid preparation to those students who intend to pursue graduate studies in the fields of psychology, social work, education, guidance and counseling;
- basic skills and knowledge to those students who may find themselves at the completion of their bachelor's degree working in any of the various human services and human relations areas, such as mental health, education, personnel, government, and law.
In order to do this, the program provides a basic grounding in the general psychological principles; a solid core of methodological courses and research experience; basic courses in the areas of psychology related to interpersonal skills and relationships; courses which bridge the gap between theory and the applied settings in which the student may be required to apply such knowledge in the future; supervised internship and practicum experiences which provide a review of the field of psychology under supervision, an advanced learning experience, and an opportunity to learn to articulate one's knowledge.
