Psychology

Degree Audit – BS in Psychology – Fall 2010

As I near the completion of my undergraduate career and must fill out my final Academic Progress Report I have decided to utilize the degree audit features in Banner and work with it and other documentation to create a detailed picture of where all of my credits have come from for the degree. I have accumulated almost 180 credit hours at this point and not all are used in this degree, but quite a few do manage to find a home somewhere or other in the program of study. Spaces where there were multiple courses that could be assigned I entered the course that was selected by Banner to fill the position. I must say, I am a little sad filling out the form that goes with this audit for my last advising session as an undergraduate. Its almost like leaving high school all over again, once the degree is issued none of these courses will matter by themselves, they loose their identity and just become part of the degree. For this particular list of courses I looked back in my records in GITI and pulled semesters that classes were taken (since FSU doesn’t keep that info when transferring) and found myself reflecting on my experiences in the courses, especially those that I took in person, although there were some memorable online courses as well (primarily in the summer of 2004). The end is near. 

 

University College Requirements

UNIV 110 – University Studies (2):

Waived for students entering with 30+ Credit Hours

PHIL 110 – Critical Thinking (3):

Waived for students Entering with 60+ Credit Hours

ENGL 110 – English Composition I (3):

Creative Writing 1 – CPCC – Summer 2007

ENGL 120 – English Composition II (3):

Writing in Academic Communication – UNCC – Fall 2004

SPEE 200 – Introduction to Communication (3):

Interpersonal Communication – Gaston – Spring 2004

MATH 123 – College Algebra (3):

College Algebra – Gaston – Spring 2008

Math Elective (3-4):

Discreet Structures – UNCC – Fall 2005

Natural Sciences (8):

Descriptive Astronomy – Gaston – Spring 2008
General Physics I – UNCC – Fall 2004

History and Social Sciences (3):

General Anthropology – CPCC – Summer 2004

Humanities and Fine Arts (3):

Art Appreciation – CPCC – Summer 2004

Restricted Electives (9):

Art History II – Gaston – Fall 2008
Introduction to Microeconomics – UNCC – Spring 2005
Introduction to Literature – Gaston – Fall 2008

Physical Education (2):

Personal Health & Wellness – CPCC – Summer 2008

 

Psychology Major Requirements

PSYC 210 – General Psychology (3):

General Psychology – Gaston – Fall 2003

PSYC 233 – Statistics for Psychology (4):

FSU – Summer 2009

PSYC 320 – Theories of Learning (3):

FSU – Spring 2010

PSYC 331 – Developmental Psychology (3):

FSU – Spring 2010

PSYC 352 – Research Methodology (4):

FSU – Spring 2010

PSYC 360 – Social Psychology (3):

Social Psychology – Gaston – Fall 2003

PSYC 370 – Introduction to Biopsychology (3):

FSU – Summer 2010

PSYC 400 – History and Systems of Psychology (3):

FSU – In Progress

PSYC 422 – Abnormal Psychology (3):

Abnormal Psychology – UNCC – Fall 2004

Elective Group 1 [310, 342, 381] (3):

Theories of Personality (PSYC 310) – FSU – Spring 2009

Elective Group 2 [343, 430] (3):

Sex and Gender (PSYC 430) – FSU – Summer 2010

Elective Group 3 [420, 421] (3):

Sensation & Perception (PSYC 420) – FSU – Spring 2010

Computer Competency (3):

Introduction to Business Computing – UNCC – Spring 2005

Psychology Electives [PSYC 300+] (9):

Behavior Modification (PSYC 380) – FSU – Summer 2010
Child Psychopathology (PSYC 381) – FSU – In Progress
Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 421) – FSU – Spring 2009

 

Sociology Minor

SOCI 210 – Introduction to Sociology (3):

Introduction to Sociology – Gaston – In Progress

SOCI 340 – Crime & Delinquency (3):

Not Yet Started

SOCI 350 – History of Sociological Thought (3):

Not Yet Started

SOCI 412 – Race and Ethnic Relations (3):

Not Yet Started

Sociology Electives (6):

Sociology of the Family – CPCC – Summer 2004
Introduction to SPSS  (SOCI 333) – FSU – Not Yet Started

University Free Electives

University Free Electives (9):

Principles of Accounting I – UNCC – Spring 2005
Drawing I – Gaston – Fall 2007
Drawing II – Gaston – Spring 2008

Research Topics

Once again I have a class with Dr. Hogan and we start off day one with selecting our topics. This is for Theories of Learning.

Which topic would you pick?

Topic 1: The cerebral cortex and memory
Topic 2: Habituation
Topic 3
: The orienting response
Topic 4:
Classical conditioning and conditioned emotional responses
Topic 5
: Classical conditioning and spontaneous recovery
Topic 6:
Backward conditioning in classical conditioning
Topic 7:
Systematic desensitization of phobias
Topic 8:
Aversive conditioning of alcoholism
Topic 9
: Aversive conditioning of smoking
Topic 10
: Aversive conditioning of drug abuse
Topic 11
: Classical conditioning of bedwetting
Topic 12
: Operant conditioning and superstitious behavior
Topic 13
: Operant conditioning and shaping classroom behavior
Topic 14
: Operant conditioningand toilet training
Topic 15
: Operant conditioning and teaching language to autistic children
Topic 16
: Token economies in inpatient mental health facilities
Topic 17
: Token economies in classrooms
Topic 18
: Learned helplessness
Topic 19
: Biofeedback and pain control
Topic 20
: Behavior modification and insomnia
Topic 21
: Chunking
Topic 22
: Teaching language to animals
Topic 23:
Imitation of Achievement Motivation
Topic 24:
Imitation of aggression
Topic 25:
Television violence and aggressive behavior
Topic 26:
Violent video games and aggressive behavior
Topic 27: Behavior modification of self-control
Topic 28:
Observational learning of motor skills
Topic 29:
Knowledge of Performance in motor skills training
Topic 30:
Choice behavior

Biopsychology Off To An Interesting Start

My correct Biopsychology textbook arrived today, via US Mail, so I got started on the course. The first quiz, due on Tuesday, has been finished, so now I can relax and work on getting ahead in the course. The instructor who wrote the course is not the same as the instructor who is teaching the course, although, we have him for a little while with him until the new instructor is finished with his Blackboard training.

One of the cool things about Dr. Van is he does not stay strictly with the “normal” course material, as can be seen in his choice of video for the brain anatomy overview he selected for our second set of lectures:

PSYC 310 “Group” Project

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Just for fun, I am making my project on Dr. George Kelly available here.

My Desired Course Plan

For once… I have a plan.

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but obviously, my plan is contingent on a few things, such as my department not fucking me over and my new advisor being of a higher caliber than his predecessor (shouldn’t be too hard).

Also, chances are, in reality, because I want to actually have some fun during the summer, I will likely place PSYC 342 (an elective) on Spring 2010.

Self-Analysis Graded

The grade on my self-analysis paper came back this morning. I received 49 out of a possible 50 points. The primary comment that the instructor left was “Your paper was a pleasure to read”. My thought there when I read that was, “really? I guess I should read it some time”. I do not believe I have ever read a paper that I have written before turning it in, and I certainly have not let anyone else read them (not that anyone would volunteer to). I tend to be over-analytical of my own papers, therefore I do not read them before they are graded. Know how annoying it is to read something you have just turned in and then start thinking how much you hate a paragraph? Instructors do seem to like my writing, but I can not figure out why. Other comments on the paper included “very well organized. It flowed very well.” My internal response involves how weird I write things and the schizophrenic way that I jump between topics in my papers.

The one point off on the paper: “you cited your references inconsistently: some had caps, some didn’t.” Oops, that’s the way the journals listed them in EbscoHost.

I guess I did not do bad on my first APA paper in a very long time.

My Personality

http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/results/?oR=0.8&cR=0.639&eR=0.406&aR=0.639&nR=0.688&y=1980&g=m

 

I am still trying to digest this and determine what I think about it. I had to take this for an assignment in my Theories of Personality course. I would be very interested in how my friends do at this.

The Joy of Psychology

This evening while preparing for a quiz in Theories of Personality I discovered (or brought to consciousness, depending upon if you are a Freudian or not) that I really like Psychology because it is a very modern thing. People who wrote the theories I am learning about are still alive (most of them) and the theories are still being tested and expanded. In completing a degree in mathematics, a person might only get to the things that were discovered up until around the 1500s or so, and for the average student, about 300AD is the newest material you will find in your curriculum. The theories of personality I am learning are new, some as recent as 2005, since I graduated from high school (and since I took my first psychology course). Even computer science doesn’t really see material that new. A new language sometimes, but the concepts are all fairly old. Graduate students get to learn the absolute newest, but undergrads are seldom that fortunate. There are worse topics for that I suppose, such as Art, where learning old stuff first and then new stuff later is encouraged and is the standard operating condition (you must learn how it was done the old way before you can learn the new way), and well… History.. they play a different game altogether.

Aside from the more modern material, it is also kind of fun to explore something that is so versatile. Psychology spans the area of artificial intelligence, art development and so many other areas, especially as an extension of Cognitive Psychology. Cognitive psych proves that psychology is bridging between social science and actual science. As knowledge progresses, the bridge between social science and pure science will become wider.

The biggest disadvantage to psychology is that there is very little history. In art you can call back to what has been done before and put it into cultural context and determine how we got from there to here, but in psychology, that just is not very easy, brains only last as long as people and once they are gone, so is the record of what was. All that remains is filtered notes and of course a few social relics (music for example).

Picking a Theory

I have finally selected a theory to use in my self-analysis paper for my Theories of Personality course. I have decided to go with Erik Erikson’s “Crisis” theory. The theory has phases that related to Freud’s psychosexual phases, but are more psychosocial phases. The phases are dependant upon a “central crisis” that must be completed, either by passing it (resolving it successfully) or failing it (resolving it negatively). I can draw some similarities between Erickson and Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”, so I may end up using both of them. I like a lot of the aspects of Erikson’s theory, including that after a phase crisis has been failed, it is possible to have other experiences that reverse the outcome of the crisis. I feel that Erikson is a match for me because I can clearly identify phases I have passed and failed and things seem to line up with me pretty well.

I still do not like the idea of self-analysis, but I suppose Freud did it, therefore, its good for all of us.