Psychology

Learning Objectives

With a broad-base of knowledge regarding behavior and mental processes, a major in psychology at the University of Mount Union will prepare you for advanced study in graduate and professional schools in several different areas including:

• Developmental, Social, and Personality psychology
• Neuroscience, Cognitive and Behavioral psychology
• Applied psychology

With a combination of classroom theory and practical experience, students will be prepared for a rewarding future in whatever field you choose. The major does focus on preparing students for the research work in graduate and professional schools along with the practical experience for immediate employment in the social sciences fields.

DEPARTMENTAL MISSION

The mission of the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development is to develop and maintain an academic curriculum and co-curricular activities that help students acquire a broad base of knowledge in the field, acquire the intellectual and communication skills necessary to participate in these fields as scientists and practitioners, and develop characteristics that encourage personal fulfillment, meaningful work and responsible citizenship.

DEPARTMENTAL GOALS

Knowledge Base

• The Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development provides courses, programs, and experiences that foster the acquisition of fundamental knowledge and comprehension of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and empirical findings to discuss how psychological principles apply to behavioral problems. Students completing foundation courses should demonstrate breadth of their knowledge and application of psychological ideas to simple problems; students completing a baccalaureate degree should show depth in their knowledge and application of psychological concepts and frameworks to problems of greater complexity.

Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking

• The Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development provides courses, programs, and experiences that enable students to develop the skills in this domain that involve the development of scientific reasoning and problem solving, including effective research methods. Students completing foundation-level courses should learn basic skills and concepts in interpreting behavior, studying research, and applying research design principles to drawing conclusions about psychological phenomena; students completing a baccalaureate degree should focus on theory use as well as designing and executing research plans.

Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World

• The Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development provides courses, programs, and experiences that enable students to develop the skills in this domain including the development of ethically and socially responsible behaviors for professional and personal settings in a landscape that involves increasing diversity. Students completing foundation-level courses should become familiar with the formal regulations that govern professional ethics in psychology and begin to embrace the values that will contribute to positive outcomes in work settings and in building a society responsive to multicultural and global concerns. Students completing a baccalaureate degree should have more direct opportunities to demonstrate adherence to professional values that will help them optimize their contributions and work effectively, even with those who do not share their heritage and traditions. This learning goal also promotes the adoption of personal and professional values that can strengthen community relationships and contributions.

Communication

• The Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development provides courses, programs, and experiences that foster the acquisition of competence in writing and in oral and interpersonal communication skills. Students completing foundation-level courses should write a cogent scientific argument, present information using a scientific approach, engage in discussion of psychological concepts, explain the ideas of others, and express their own ideas with clarity. Students completing a baccalaureate degree should produce a research study or other psychological project, explain scientific results, and present information to a professional audience. They should also develop flexible interpersonal approaches that optimize information exchange and relationship development.

Professional Development

• The Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development provides courses, programs, and experiences that emphasize an application of psychology-specific content and skills, effective self-reflection, project-management skills, teamwork skills, and career preparation. Foundation-level outcomes concentrate on the development of work habits and ethics to succeed in academic settings. The skills in this goal at the baccalaureate level refer to abilities that sharpen student readiness for postbaccalaureate employment, graduate school, or professional school. These skills can be developed and refined both in traditional academic settings and in extracurricular involvement. In addition, career professionals can be enlisted to support occupational planning and pursuit.

Curriculum

As a psychology major at the University of Mount Union, you’ll explore the human mind and behavior through study in the foundations of psychological sciences, developmental psychology, social psychology and biological psychology. Psychology degree students will be exposed to a rigorous curriculum that provides students the opportunity to conduct academic research and choose between an abundance of unique, hands-on courses such as Abnormal Psychology, Movies and Madness and Origins of Psychology. Mount Union psychology majors are also required to successfully complete a capstone (4 credit hours) in either an internship or historical research setting.

Experiential Learning

Students who choose to major in psychology at the University of Mount Union have ample opportunities to get involved outside of the classroom. By getting involved in these extracurricular opportunities and student organizations, you can strengthen your skills in psychology and get valuable hands-on experience, both of which are critical to finding a job after graduation.

RESEARCH

Conducting psychological, neuroscience, and human development research provides students with an opportunity to explore a new area of study, contribute new findings to the field and/or expand upon current discoveries. Students pursuing a psychology degree or a psychology minor have the following research opportunities available at Mount Union:

• Research-based sophomore and junior courses
• Undergraduate research laboratory work under the guidance of a faculty member
• Individual honors projects
• A collaborative senior research project

Students in our department have worked in the canine cognition lab, humor lab, and psychophysiological and neuropsychology laboratory. Students have taken part in conference presentations at the annual conferences of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Eastern Psychological Association, International Neuropsychological Society, and Association for Psychological Science. A sample of journals that student authors have published in along with a faculty mentor include: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Perceptual and Motor Skills, and Laterality.

Within the senior research course, psychology majors who pursue research opportunities will be able to analyze and investigate areas in which they are most interested. Throughout the structured research process, students will critically evaluate psychological research by conducting a literature review, developing a research proposal, designing and conducting psychological research, analyzing statistical data and communicating findings effectively with the scientific community and the general public. Exemplary research projects and results will be presented at Mount Union’s annual SCHOLAR Day.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS 

Psychology Club is a student-led organization on campus, is a fun and interesting way for students and faculty to interact outside of the classroom. By getting involved in the Psychology Club, you’ll have the opportunity to hear presentations from professionals in the field, discuss graduate school and jobs as well as attend social activities. The club also sponsors informational trips to local facilities and service agencies. It is open to all students regardless of major and its purpose is to encourage and promote the study of psychological science while stimulating interest in professional aspects of the field.

Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, was founded in 1929 with the mission to “encourage, stimulate and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology.”

DOG TRAINING

In PSY 245 Learning and Conditioning, students learn about how animals and humans learn to predict and change events in their environment. Animals predict events through associative learning and change environmental conditions by acting on the environment. In this clip students are training dogs through classical conditioning to predict that the sound of a click predicts a food reward. In this simple training procedure, the student clicks once and provides the dog with a treat. This process is repeated 100 times with test trials spaced throughout the training. In a test trial, just the click is presented and the dog's behavior is observed. Over the 100 training trials, the dog's behavior changes from not paying attention to the click to getting really excited, and sometimes frustrated, when the click happens but no food is delivered. Once the dog understands that the click predicts food reward, students can use the click to reward a dog's behavior and shape new behaviors in a relatively short period of time. Dogs then learn to "make the click happen" through thier behavior, thus changing their environmental conditions. 

Careers and Internships

CAREERS

What can you do with a psychology major? Teaching and/or research are common psychology careers as are clinical and counseling psychology with positions requiring professional preparation at most colleges and universities. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the demand for psychology careers will grow over the next decade because of an increased need for psychological services in schools, hospitals, social service agencies, mental health centers, substance abuse treatment clinics, consulting firms and private companies.

INTERNSHIPS 

Psychology Internships provide students seeking a psychology degree with the chance to go out into the workforce and gain practical experience, which is critical to finding a job after graduation. These experiences provide an opportunity to gain practical knowledge in certain areas of concentration while allowing students to apply textbook information into the work place.

While attending the University of Mount Union, students must fulfill a capstone requirement by completing 4-16 credit hours in an internship or research setting. 

Students who choose the internship route will have the opportunity to complete their capstone requirements with the following types of organizations:

• Group homes
• Child and adolescent service centers
• Drug abuse counseling agencies
• Crisis intervention agencies
• Counseling services in the schools
• Probation offices
• Mental retardation agencies
• Mental health facilities
• Other social service organizations