Welcome to MSUM Psychology Dr. Christine Malone Psychology Department Professor and Chairperson What Is Psychology? Psychology Psyche: Mind Logos: Knowledge or study Definition: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes Behavior: Overt; i.e., can be directly observed (crying) Mental Processes: Covert; i.e., cannot be directly
observed (remembering); private, internal Empirical Evidence: Information gathered from direct observation Psychologists Applied (Clinician) Basic (Experimental Psychologists)
Many Specialty Areas Clinical Psychologists Counseling Psychologists Developmental Learning Personality Social Cognitive
What Might a Psychologist Research? Development: Course of human growth and development Learning: How and why it occurs in humans and animals Personality: Traits, motivations, and individual differences Sensation and Perception: How we come to know the world through our five senses**Preview today Psychologists Observe & Measure Behavior Why use the scientific method?
Non-Scientific (everyday) Scientific General Approach intuitive empirical Observation
casual, uncontrolled systematic, controlled Reporting biased, subjective unbiased, objective Concepts
ambiguous, surplus meaning clear definitions, operational specificity Instruments inaccurate, imprecise accurate, precise
Measurement not valid or reliable valid and reliable Hypotheses untestable, impossible to disprove testable (must be!)
Attitude uncritical, accepting critical, skeptical Visual Perception How do we organize sensations into meaningful perceptions? You experience perceptual constructionsmental representations of external eventsthat are actively created by your brain Does your brain ever misconstruct (and thus misperceive) external
stimuli? Mystical illusion? Explain this or simply a property of your visual system? The Feature-Detector Approach The waterfall illusion experienced by humans is evidence that humans do indeed have feature detectors. In this illusion, a person first stares at a waterfall for one
minute or more. If the person then looks at cliffs immediately after staring at the waterfall, the cliffs will appear to flow upward. This suggests that the cells that detect downward motion have become fatigued from the act of staring at the waterfall. Another motion aftereffect Imposing Meaning Imposing Meaning--Gestalt Psychology Gestalt psychology focuses on the human ability to perceive overall patterns.
The word Gestalt has no true English equivalent, but is close to synonymous with pattern or configuration. According to Gestalt psychologists, visual perception is an active creation, not merely the adding up of lines and movement. Please shout out the answers. Poke Coke Folk Psychology majors learn:
Cool, interesting content knowledge about psychology How people think, feel, learn, perceive How to problem solve and think critically How to work with and interpret data How to communicate effectively (orally and in writing) How to work with others Psychology Major Requirements for B.A. in Psychology (40 credits) Core Requirements (22 credits) ___ PSY 113 General Psychology (3) ___ PSY 202 Developmental Psychology (3)
___ *PSY 230/230L Stats for the Behavioral Sciences (4) ___ PSY 261 Personality (3) ___ *PSY 330 Experimental Methods (3) (Preq 230 & 230L) ___ PSY 463 Abnormal Psychology (3) (Preq 261) ___ *PSY 492 Seminar in Psychology (3) (Preq 330) *PSY 230 & 230L, 330, and 492 need to be taken in sequence during 3 separate semesters. Electives (18 credits) Students must take at least 18 elective credits in Psychology, 9 credits of which must be at the 300 level or above ___ ____________________________________________ ___ ____________________________________________
___ ____________________________________________ ___ ____________________________________________ ___ ____________________________________________ ___ ____________________________________________ Undergraduate Psychology Course List PSY 113 General Psychology (3) LASC [5] PSY 202 Developmental Psychology (3) PSY 220 Social Behavior (3) LASC [5] PSY 230 Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (4) with lab PSY 261 Personality (3) PSY 265 Health Psychology (3) PSY 275 Behavior Modification (3)
PSY 290 Topics in Psychology (1-3) PSY 293 Field Work in Psychology (1-2) PSY 294 Directed Research (1-3) PSY 310 Psychology of Women (3) PSY 317 Alcoholism & Drug Abuse (3) PSY 320 Social Psychology (3) PSY 323 Industrial/Organizational Psychology (3) PSY 324 Environmental Psychology (3) LASC [10] PSY 330 Experimental Methods (3) [W] PSY 342 Learning and Memory (3) PSY 345 Physiological Psychology (3)
PSY 348 Cognition and Perception (3) PSY 390 Topics in Psychology (3) PSY 402 Child/Adolescent Psychology (3) PSY 403 Adulthood and Aging (3) PSY 417 Child Psychopathology (3) PSY 430 Advanced Experimental Psychology (3) [W] PSY 455 Psychology of the Arts (3) PSY 463 Abnormal Psychology (3) PSY 465 Clinical Psychology (3) PSY 469 Internship (1-12) PSY 470 History and Systems of Psychology (3) PSY 492 Seminar in Psychology (3)
PSY 490 Topics in Psychology (1-3) PSY 494 Undergraduate Research (1-3) LASC - Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum [W] Writing Intensive Whats special about MSUM Psychology? Student-centered, focused on teaching and learning Relatively small class sizes Many faculty-mentored research and presentation opportunities Learning community Active psychology club
One-on-one course and career advising Internship possibilities What do our students do upon graduation? 30% go directly to graduate school Find or continue employment in human services CCRI, Access of Red River Valley, Luther Hall, Fraser, Fargo Youth Commission, etc. Human resources Research/analyst positions Employment agency
Group homes/day programs/day care centers Nonprofit agencies (e.g., American Cancer Society) Questio ns? Thank you for visiting MSUM Psychology!
