Psychology (PSYC)

Students will: 1) introduce an overview of concepts in psychology; 2) develop professional direction for academic career at IIT; 3) demonstrate psychology information literacy; 4) demonstrate effective communication using a variety of formats; and 5) demonstrate professional competence both within and outside of IIT.

This course provides a foundation for students who are pursuing a certificate as a Recovery Support Specialist. This course will cover philosophies of recovery and empowerment, listening skills, service planning, advocacy and mentorship in recovery support.

This course provides an overview of historical, philosophical, ethical, and legal issues in recovery support, with a focus on application of ethical decision-making. Students will learn professional roles, functions, and responsibilities as well as multicultural competence.

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with evidence-based practice (EBP) in the fields of mental health and substance use disorder treatment, including motivational interviewing, integrated care, trauma-informed recovery, crisis planning and response, independent living, and supported employment.

This course explores special topics relevant to those working in mental health and substance use disorder, including knowledge and skills in facilitating peer groups, understand unique needs of special populations (veterans, returning citizens, older adults, families, children, teenagers, and emerging adults), and special topics including spirituality, sexuality, and telehealth.

This course is a supervised experience in recovery support, which is intended to to demonstrate (a) integration of previously acquired knowledge, (b) effective and culturally sensitive service delivery methods, and (c) personal growth as a recovery support specialist. Students complete a minimum of 300 clock hour of direct contact at a community internship site in additional to weekly individual and group supervision.

The objectives of this course are to develop skills in using statistical data analysis commonly used in the behavioral sciences (e.g. descriptive statistics, ANOVA, regression, correlation, and meta-analysis). At the end of the course students should be able to comprehend statistical research findings, run basic statistical analysis, as well as make inferences from the results.

Introduction to experimental, survey, and field study methodology, including: ethics; research design; collection, preparation, analysis of data; and writing research reports.

Psychologists use the scientific method to understand the behavior and mental processes of individuals. Their investigations into understanding the behavior of individuals span multiple areas including perception, learning, cognition, language, development, motivation, personality, psychological disorders, social, health, and industrial/organization. In addition to the variety of fields, psychology examines behavior at multiple levels such as biological, behavioral, and cultural. This course will: 1) introduce the field of psychological science; 2) explore the research methods psychologists use to answer questions; 3) use research and theory to introduce psychological processes in multiple fields; and 4) to apply psychological theories to mass media.

Didactic and applied approach to professional skill development in the areas of oral communication, conflict management and interpersonal dimensions of the work setting.

A survey of historical and contemporary theories, concepts and complexities associated with leadership. Emphasis will be placed on application of theories to practical experiences of leadership.

Survey of practical applications of psychology to problems of business and industry: work attitudes and behavior; employee selection; morale; safety; turnover; absenteeism; and training.

Overview of various cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders, focusing on diagnostic criteria, causal factors, and treatment, and emphasizing scientific, research-oriented perspectives.

Description and analysis of behavior and experience as determined by social conditions. Includes social issues, human relations, prejudice, and leadership.

This course will provide a broad overview of major theories of human motivation, both historical and contemporary. After learning about these theories, students will explore how researchers have applied these principles in health care, sports, management, education, and virtual/gaming environments.

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to apply correlation and regression analysis to the study of human behavior. Emphasis will be placed on practical issues associated with these statistical techniques and significant attention will be paid to running analyses and reporting results.

Health psychology applies psychological principles to health promotion and the prevention and treatment of illness. The goal of this course is to provide a thorough understanding of the key concepts and theories important to health psychologists and the skills to think analytically and critically about health issues. The course will cover a broad range of topics including stress, coping, and behaviors that promote health and prevent illness. The course will also cover specific health problems such as HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, eating disorders, and substance abuse and critically examine the underlying biological, psychological, and social factors influencing the onset, course, and outcomes of these diseases.

This course provides a broad overview of psychological science on gender issues, addressing such topics as gender stereotypes, early gender socialization, gender nonconformity, love and romance, sexuality, work and leadership, and violence. The course will also explore ways that gender intersects with race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, and other social categories.

Sexuality is a topic that intimately impacts our lives, but it is an aspect of health that is often ignored and misunderstood. This course on human sexuality aims to educate students about issues in sexual health and sexual diversity such as: a) sexual desire and responses, b) sex therapy c) sexual and gender identity development across the lifespan, d) LGBT health, e) reproductive health and reproductive rights, f) contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and g) healthy sexual communication. Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to reflect on personally held beliefs about sex, and perhaps challenge some of these beliefs based on what they learn.

People differ in the identities they hold across dimensions like race, religion, gender, sexuality, age, ability and socioeconomic status. These identities can be stigmatized within the larger group and have profound effects on people. In this course, we will consider the function and costs of prejudice and stigma for members of both stigmatized and majority (nonstigmatized) groups as well as review research aimed at reducing prejudice and stigma. This course aims to give students the skills necessary to critically understand contemporary instances of prejudice and stigmatization from a social psychological perspective. Another course objective is for students to draw parallels across stigma and prejudice processes while also understanding nuances for each group. A final objective is to give students the opportunity to reflect on personally held beliefs about diverse groups.

This course will provide an overview of prominent approaches to personality psychology.

This course is designed to familiarize you with a wide range of topics in cross-cultural psychology. The ability to understand the influence of culture is essential for success in an increasingly diverse and global society. This course will expose you to a variety of topics such as cross-cultural communication, diversity in the workplace, personality and national traits and happiness across cultures. The aim is to provide a framework for appreciating the cultural context of psychological phenomenon in order to facilitate better navigation of diverse societies and workplaces.

This course will provide an overview of psychological testing and assessment and psychotherapy and professional activities of clinical psychologists. This course will provide an in-depth examination of the concepts and methods of clinical psychology, document the many activities of clinical psychologists, and highlight the trends in the filed that are likely to shape the field in upcoming years. Students will gain an increased understanding of the psychological services and information about clinical psychology as a future career goal.

Students in this course will learn the importance of human-computer interaction design and the effectiveness of user-centered design. The course will cover a survey of methods frequently used by the HCI profession, such as usability testing and prototyping, as well as general design principles and how to use design guidelines. A particular emphasis will be placed on usability for Web site engineering, and students will apply knowledge from the field in the design and construction of user-centered Web sites. (Co-listed as ITMD362)

In this course, students will explore the major psychological theories related to sport and exercise behavior. The course is designed to introduce students to the field of sport and exercise psychology through a combination of classroom discussion and exercise application. This course will provide students with a broad overview of major topics including: the history of sports and exercise psychology; foundations of personality, self-concept, self-esteem, motivation, and other psychological characteristics related to participation and performance in sports; coaching and leadership in sports; gender and cultural issues; team dynamics; performance enhancement strategies; and sports as recreation.

This course is designed to familiarize you with a wide range of topics in occupational health psychology (OHP). Understanding the relationship between work and health is vital in the face of increasingly demanding and complex work. This course will expose you to topics that examine how work affects our health and vice versa. These include work organizational factors (organizational justice, dark workplace behaviors such as incivility, shift-work, work-family interface) and their impact on employee health and well-being (stress, emotions, job-burnout, recovery experiences).

An investigation into a topic of current interest in psychology. The specific topic will be announced by the instructor when the course is scheduled.

An investigation into a topic of current interest in psychology. The specific topic will be announced by the instructor when the course is scheduled.

This course is designed to introduce you to psychological testing and assessment. After completing this course, you will be familiar with the test development process, testing techniques, and different types of tests. Further, you will learn about the use of tests in educational, organizational, and clinical/counseling settings. In this course, you will learn the underlying principles of psychological testing and measurement including test construction and scale development.

Historical, philosophical, ethical, and legal bases of rehabilitation and mental health counseling. Includes a study of professional roles, functions, and responsibilities as well as service delivery systems and practices such as vocational, independent living, and public and private rehabilitation and mental health counseling.

Survey of human organ systems, medical terminology, unique characteristics of disabling conditions, including severe disabilities. Vocational consequences, environmental impact and implications for the rehabilitation process. One of a two course sequence.

Review of diversity issues in rehabilitation and mental health counseling including culture, disability, gender, aging, socio-economic status, and spirituality and religion. Includes theories of multicultural counseling and the counselor's role in the promotion of self-awareness and social justice; a study of individual and family adaptation and coping processes following disability; psychological and sociological consequences of disability; attitudes toward persons with disabilities; and the impact of social and environmental barriers.

An introduction to the biological bases of behavior with an emphasis on neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of sensory and central nervous systems.

Learning plays an important role in psychology and the general processes and mechanisms that underscore learning are utilized in a number of fields including neuroscience, clinical science, education, and cognitive science. We will examine several theoretical perspectives on learning including, but not limited to, functionalistic, associationistic, cognitive, social, and neurophysiological. We will also examine how factors such as motivation, artificial intelligence, technology, disability, and intelligence play a role in learning.

The goal of this course is to understand how the mind works. Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field that draws on experimental psychology, computer science, linguistics, animal behavior, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, among others.

Developmental psychologists examine behavioral and biological changes as they occur over the entire lifespan. Their investigations into mechanisms of developmental change span biological, behavioral, and cultural levels of organization. Students will be able (1) to identify the major milestones of development in various domains (e.g. perceptual, motor, cognitive, social) and (2) use research and theory to understand the mechanisms by which developmental change occurs.

Explores processes and changes in cognitive, social, physical and emotional functioning across adult life. Requires 9 hours of psychology.

Seminar and supervised fieldwork experience in a rehabilitation setting with disabled individuals. Emphasizes service delivery, interviewing techniques, and caseload management.

The goal of this course is to provide the learner with a systems perspective to training in organizations. Through readings, discussions, in class exercises and project work students will learn to identify organizational issues that can be solved using a training intervention and develop appropriate training. The focus of the course will primarily be on knowledge application. Students will learn about the various steps involved in designing a training program including needs assessment, influence of learner characteristics, transfer of training and training evaluation. Through project work students will gain skills in implementing these steps.

Theory of human physical and psychological abilities as they relate to design of transportation, housing, workplace, defense and recreational systems. Topics include theories relating to psychophysiology, anthropometry, communications, man-machine interactions, training, maintainability, safety, and engineering evaluation.

This course focuses on the major disorders that are evident in infancy, childhood, and adolescence. A developmental psychopathology approach will be used in which major influences on both normal and abnormal child development will be examined. Students will be exposed to the contextual and socioemotional factors that impact children's development, followed by an in-depth discussion of the various disorders.

Behavioral Design examines the interaction of technology with the logically flawed human world. The class will explore why big budget technology solutions, which execute perfectly in development, often fail when put in front of consumers. BJ Fogg said: “The best design solutions today change human behavior”. By understanding User Experience as a measurable set of behaviors, we can apply behavioral sciences like psychology and behavioral economics to the development of technologies. This behavioral perspective helps decrease the probability that the technology solutions you develop do not get lost in the logically inconsistent marketplace that is the human consumer. You’ll learn why consumer testing should be conducted early, often, and at every stage of development (even before any code is written). A process you’ll learn to love called lean testing.

Students will learn about theories of behavior and apply scientific principles used to promote behavior change. Major topics will include stages of change, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral techniques, and contingency management (reward and punishment). Emphasis will be given to altering pathological behaviors and to promoting healthy lifestyle changes in the context of one on one or small group settings.

The course will review a system's model of groups and will discuss developmental stages of groups as they relate to communication behaviors. It will also review various approaches to leadership including individual, contingency, and relationship. The course engages students in various activities to help them become aware of themselves as team members and team leaders.

An introduction to applied research in psychology. Includes a didactic review of basic and current issues in psychological research as well as an experiential component. Students actively participate in ongoing faculty research programs and are exposed to all areas of research.

An introduction to applied research in psychology. Includes a didactic review of basic and current issues in psychological research as well as an experiential component. Students actively participate in ongoing faculty research programs and are exposed to all areas of research.

The Psychology Capstone Project is an independent study that consists of a formal project and may include a research component, a literature review component as well as a data analysis component or may include an internship or fellowship experience as discussed by you and your project advisor. The project should incorporate and expand upon the depth of knowledge gained from previous years of study and include predetermined deliverables which may include a final thesis or poster. The project should focus on an area of psychology that is of interest to you as a means to expand your knowledge on the subject and to solidify your future goals.

Continuation of the Psychology Capstone Project. This is an independent study that consists of a formal project and may include a research component, a literature review component as well as a data analysis component or may include an internship or fellowship experience as discussed by you and your project advisor. The project should incorporate and expand upon the depth of knowledge gained from previous years of study and include predetermined deliverables which may include a final thesis or poster. The project should focus on an area of psychology that is of interest to you as a means to expand your knowledge on the subject and to solidify your future goals.

A synthesis of issues and areas in psychology. Requires 21 credit hours in psychology.

Seminar integrating seminal and cutting edge psychological writings both empirical and conceptual to address key issues in contemporary psychology. Requires 24 credits in psychology.

Reports and discussion of current problems and issues in psychology.

Independent study involving compilation and analysis of data bearing on a significant problem. **Instructor permission required.** One credit is earned for approximately 3 hours per week of effort.

Advanced research for BSMP students.