COURSES OF STUDY
201
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2014-2015
PY 217 Drugs, Brain, and Behavior (1)
A study of licit and illicit drugs (focusing on drugs of abuse) examining
their effects on the brain and on behavior. Topics may also include
addiction and treatment, history of drug use, and the influence of drugs
on the unborn child, the individual, and on society.
PY 250 Why People Believe “Weird” Things (1)
A focus on heuristics and biases in thinking and how these phenomena
can distort and deceive. Various pseudoscientific phenomena (e.g.,
psychics, astrology, ESP), common misconceptions of human
behavior, and controversial practices within psychology (e.g., use of
the Rorschach, fringe therapies) will serve as illustrative concepts. An
emphasis is placed on how major characteristics of scientific thinking
and skepticism can be used to assess extraordinary and ordinary claims.
How people tend to arrive at and maintain a variety of beliefs and
how individuals can weigh evidence regarding beliefs is considered.
Prerequisite: PY 101.
PY 293, 393, 493 Independent Study in Psychology (½ or 1)
Directed study for advanced students in the major. Specific guidelines
concerning independent study projects appear in the Individualized
Study section of this catalog.
PY 298, 398, 498 Teaching Experience in Psychology (½ or 1)
A teaching experience course. Specific guidelines concerning teaching
experiences appear in the Individualized Study section of this catalog.
(“S/U” only.)
PY 300 Media and Society (1)
An exploration of the interactive relationship between media and
society from political, psychological, economic, and sociological
perspectives. This course will focus on how media sources such as
television, film, and the Internet, influence society at group and
individual levels and how society, in turn, influences the creation and
production of media. (Also listed as MFS 300, PS 300, SO 300; may be
taken only once.)
PY 303 Social Psychology (1)
The study of the social phenomena that affect the behavior of
individuals, including social perception, social cognition, and social
influence. Topics may include stereotypes and prejudice, self-perception,
impression formation, persuasion and conformity, attitudes, group
processes, aggression, prosocial behavior, and attraction. (Also listed as
SO 303, this course may be counted for credit in either psychology or
sociology.) Prerequisite: PY 101, SO 101, or SO 102.
