Mission
The mission of the psychology program is to provide students with a generalist knowledge base of the field of psychology, to understand and to apply the scientific method with the integration of Christian faith to explain human behavior; to encourage students to serve others within the context of their Christian faith and personal strengths, and to prepare students for a career in the helping professions and/or graduate studies.
Overview
In addition to the major in psychology the psychology program offers three minors: Psychology, Biopsychology, and Psychology in the Church as well as a Psychology concentration to complement a variety of majors such as Church Ministries, Business, Intercultural Studies, and other fields.
Program Objectives. Graduates of the Psychology program will:
Introduces basic procedures in the study of behavior. Topics include elementary principles of conditioning, motivation, emotion, personality, sensation, perception, abnormal behavior, psychotherapy, and social dynamics. This course is the prerequisite to advanced courses and meets the core requirement for Healthy Relationships.
Introduces social psychology. Topics include attitude formation, persuasion, propaganda, crowd and mob behaviors, fads, fashions, and interpersonal attraction, methods and examples of research, along with theories and the relation of theoretical principles and concepts to existing situations. Cross-listed with SOCI 223. Required for majors in Psychology.
Examines the full span of development from conception to early adulthood. Emphasis is on the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional growth of the child and the impact of maturation, learning, family, society, culture, identity, and sexuality of the developing child and his or her system of values.
Explores childhood development from conception to adolescence. Topics include physical, cognitive, and socio-economic development of children.
For Education Majors only.
Examines the developmental sequence between childhood and adulthood. Topics include earlier development, psychological and physiological changes of youth during these years, in-depth study of general identity development, gender-identity issues, influence of family dynamics on adolescents' behavior, and specific problems facing adolescents today.
For Education Majors only.
Explores growth and development of the human organism biologically and socially from conception to death. Topics include the interaction of bio-psychological stresses on contemporary human development. Designed for pre-nursing, psychology, and education majors.
Permission of the Program Coordinator and/ or Department Chair.
Explores the process of helping people in times of grief, death, and trauma. Students will examine the psychological, existential and cultural understandings of the grief, death and dying process and the process of trauma and trauma recovery, as well as be encouraged to explore the grieving process in the context of their own lives. A theological and psychological understanding of death will be implemented in order to inform the process of providing pastoral care and counseling for grief issues.
Explores the family as a social institution, including its functions and history, modern trends and changes, and the relation of parent and child.
Examines the core communication skills essential to helping relationships. Topics include basic listening and action-oriented skills within the context of professional values and a multi-disciplinary theory base, including issues related to working with diverse populations. Includes experiential role-playing and practice on non-verbal expression, active listening, exploration, constructive confrontation, conflict resolution, and other interviewing skills essential to a professional helper.
PSYC 333 Laboratory.
Examines the normal personality with emphasis on the psychology of adjustment and healthy personal development. Topics include recognizing and coping with stress and interpersonal psychological challenges.
9 hours of psychology.
Explores juvenile delinquency phenomena. Topics include causation, prevention, control, and treatment; juvenile justice system; and the role of the faith-based movement in prevention and treatment.
Introduces psychological research including observational, survey, correlational, and experimental methodologies. Topics include an introduction to the style guidelines of the American Psychological Association for writing, citation, and publication in the social sciences, the software package- Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, analysis of data sets.
9 hours of psychology, including BEHV 210.
PSYC 345 Laboratory.
Blends together research and insights from 3 fields: personality psychology, positive psychology, and human relations. Students will: (1) gain a deeper understanding of human behavior in general, (2) learn about their own personality by taking the Big Five assessment, (3) assess their current level of emotional intelligence through the EQ-i 2.0 assessment, and (4) learn practical actions to further develop their personal and professional relationships. This course is beneficial for students pursuing any major. Cross-listed with MGMT 349.
PSYC 138 or 112 and junior or senior standing.
Introduces information processing in the nervous system. Topics include sensation, transduction, information processing, movement, perception, consciousness, attention, language, memory, motivation, and emotion.
BIOL 101 or PSYC 112.
Discusses basic principles and skills of effective parenting. Topics include child development with references to parental responsibilities, expectations, and age-appropriate parenting methods for creating a nurturing home environment.
Examines the theories of learning as they have developed historically. Topics include how theories affect current educational psychological theory, classic studies in animal learning, memory, and information processing.
9 hrs. of psychology, including PSYC 112.
Discusses the major schools of counseling and psychotherapy. Topics include theoretical orientation to the field of psychotherapy, underlying theory and assumptions of each approach, and integration through case studies and reaction papers.
Junior or senior standing and 9 hours of psychology, including PSYC 112.
Examines the major theoretical approaches concerning group functioning and process. Topics include integration of both cognitive and experiential insights to develop skills for effective group leadership in variety of settings, examination of processes and methods of group processes and dynamics. Includes active participation with a growth-group setting.
Examines the basis for labeling people as "abnormal." Topics include theoretical approaches to psychopathology, assessment of mental disorders, current classification system of disorders with respect to symptomatology and treatment.
Explores more in-depth psychological research. Topics include more advanced research designs, development of a research project, experimental and quasi-experimental designs in psychological research and data analysis using SPSS software.
12 hrs. of psychology, including BEHV 210 and PSYC 345.
PSYC 380 Laboratory.
Introduces the major approaches, methods and findings in the field of personality. Topics include classic theories, strategies, and conclusions regarding the formation and structure of personality; present day personality conceptualizations including dispositional, biological, intrapsychic, cognitive, social, and cultural.
Senior standing.
Examines the psychological assessment techniques used in vocational, personality, and social instruments. Topics include test construction, measures of reliability and validity, assessment philosophies, and ethics of psychological testing. Students will complete a collection of tests, write reports addressing the results, and design their own tests.
9 hrs. of psychology, including BEHV 210, and junior or senior standing.
Encourages students to think psychologically about religious phenomena from the perspective of evangelical Christianity. Topics include assumptions and methods of psychological approaches to the study of religious beliefs, experiences, and behaviors; integration of psychology and theology; and a review of research findings.
Junior or senior standing and 9 hrs. of psychology.
Explores the integration of the science of psychology and Christian theology. Topics include how Christian theology integrates with psychological science, research, and practice; how psychology influences Christian theology; origins of human life; fall from grace, sin, evil, redemption, and discipleship from a psychological perspective; Biblical and psychological principles in various vocational settings; and integration of Christian faith and life.
Senior standing.
Discusses knowledge and theories about how the human brain performs various cognitive activities. Topics include attention, learning, memory, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, language learning, and social cognition.
9 hrs. of psychology including PSYC 112, 223 and 233.
Introduces classic theories of marriage and family counseling. Topics include historical development of system theories; comparison of various systems approaches to marriage and family therapy to styles of individual and group counseling.
Junior or senior standing and 9 hrs. of psychology, including PSYC 112 and 365.
Examines the psychological, social, biological, and theological aspects of human sexuality.
Available as needed.
9 hrs. of psychology and junior or senior standing.
Available as needed.
Junior or senior standing.
Provides an opportunity for honor's research in the field of psychology. Students will conduct a research project and present the results in both oral and written format. This course is recommended for students planning to attend graduate school. Topics include analysis, critique, and discussion of professional research.
BEHV 210, PSYC 345 and 380.
Provides the opportunity for students to work closely with selected professors in research and support functions to enhance their knowledge and experience in psychology as an academic profession. Topics include library research, project design, data collection, data entry, and participation in project discussions. Students may have the opportunity to participate in a state or regional psychology conference. Students must log 50 clock hours per credit hour.
Junior or senior standing and BEHV 210.
Provides advanced psychology students the opportunity to engage in special projects. Topics include clinical practice in a local mental health facility or social service agency under close professional supervision. Students spend 50 clock hours at the facility or agency for every credit hour.
Junior or senior standing.
