A.S. in Psychology

Examination of the major themes in the study and practice of psychology, such as human nature, motivation, change and development, and spiritual struggles, as well as applied psychological knowledge for everyday life.

The historical and contemporary philosophical foundations of psychology with an emphasis on the interface between Christian theology and psychology. The relationship between Christian theology and secular philosophies commonly discussed in the field. Prerequisite: PSYC 102.

Examination of the major theoretical perspectives related to physical, cognitive, language, emotional, spiritual, and social development in people over the life span.

Examines the major schools within personality theory with a focus on contributions and usefulness in understanding human behavior, the principal theorists from each school, the limitations of each theory, and comparisons between theoretical perspectives.

Considers the systematic process by which to conduct research as well as the various research methods that can be used to acquire and advance knowledge. Introduction to methodological concepts used in the study of society, to the formal steps of the scientific method, to various research processes, to quantitative and qualitative methods of investigation, and to the communication of research results via research reports. Prerequisite: MATH 201.

Study of marriage and family from various perspectives, including the theories of and methods used to research marriage and the family, the diversity of families, contemporary gender roles, love and commitment, systems, communication and conflict resolution, sexual relationships and problems, pregnancy, childbirth, parenthood, care-giving and spiritual concerns.

Survey of various categories of abnormal or deviant behavior such as developmental, personality, mood, psychophysiological, psychotic, anxiety, somatoform, chemical dependency, and dissociative disorders. Prerequisite: PSYC 102 or equivalent.

Study of recent research and theory in cognitive processes concerning the representation, storage, retrieval, forgetting, conditioning, learning, concept formation, problem solving, and memory.