Psychology 131 Course Offerings

Course Information

• Department: Psychology
• Prepared By: Psychology Department
• Prepared Date: Fall 2015
• Course Title: Introduction to Psychology (Personality, Abnormal, Therapy, Social)
• Course Code: PSY 131
• Credits: 3
• Contact Hours: 45

Catalog Description

This course is designed to present basic concepts in the scientific study of interpersonal behavior. Topics covered include methods of psychological research, psychology as a profession, human development, intelligence, theories of personality, mental health/abnormality/stress, psychological assessment of emotional/behavioral disorders, psycho-therapy, and social psychology. Psychological theories, uses of psychology (individual and general), and careers in psychology will be discussed.

• Prerequisites: None Prerequisites
• Required For:
• Elective For: All curricula with a social science elective
• Texts Currently in Use: Modules for Active Learning, Custom 13th Edition, Dennis Coon/John O Mitterer; Cengage Learning. ISBN# 9781305385504

Course Outline

UNIT I   Introduction to Psychology

• History of Psychology
• Psychologists and other Mental Health Professionals
• Research Methodology in Psychology
• (observation, correlational studies, experimental method, the clinical case study, longitudinal and cross-sectional studies; placebo effect, ethicalissues in research)

UNIT II   Developmental Psychology

• Behavioral genetics, nature vs. nurture
• Pre-natal development and environmental influences
• Birth process
• Characteristics of the neonate
• Infant and child development: social, language, cognitive, moral
• Life-Span Development
• Psychosocial stages of development (Erikson)
• Cognitive stages of development (Piaget)
• Typical childhood problems
• Childhood disorders
• Parenting styles
• Dysfunctional families, child abuse
• Adolescence and puberty
• Adulthood and aging
• Death and dying; bereavement and grief

UNIT III   Intelligence

• Defining intelligence; the IQ controversy
• Assessment and psychometric testing
• Cognition, problem solving and creativity
• Mental retardation

UNIT IV   Personality

• Defining personality
• Traits, types, theories
• Structure of personality: id, ego, superego
• Psychosexual stages of development (Freud)
• Humanistic theory: Maslow, Rogers
• Assessment: interviews, questionnaires
• Inventories and projective techniques

UNIT V   Abnormal Psychology

• Historical background: from superstition to science
• Definition of abnormality; concepts of normality
• Psychiatric labeling, self-fulfilling prophecy
• Mental health professionals
• Models of psychopathology
• Assessment and classification (DSM IV)
• Mental disorders: anxiety, depression, substance-abuse, psychosis
• (schizophrenia), paraphilias, dementia, dissociation
• Etiology, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness
• Institutionalization; legal issues
• Community mental health programs; self-help groups 
• Psychotherapy
• Types of therapy: individual, group, family, marital
• Psychoanalysis; concept of the unconscious mind
• Humanistic therapy; client-centered therapy
• Behavior therapy: desensitization, reinforcement
• Cognitive therapy
• Psychopharmacological therapy, ECT, psychosurgery

UNIT VI   Social Psychology

• Definition and concepts of social psychology
• Relation to psychology and sociology
• Social roles and expectations
• Personal space and boundaries
• Attitudes, persuasion, stereotypes, prejudice
• Brainwashing and cults
• Interpersonal attraction
• Cognitive dissonance theory
• Process of social influence: compliance, conformity, ower, obedience,
• helping behavior
• Social cognition, comparison and perception
• Theories of aggression
• Attribution theory