College of the Pacific

Courses

Core Courses taken by all Graduate Students

Required Courses:

PSYC 207. Psychology of Learning (4)
An overview of the scientific investigation of learning and behavior. Both experimental and related theoretical developments are considered, as well as applications of the basic principles of learning to issues of social significance.

PSYC 251. Behavioral Treatments and Applications (4)
An overview of behavior therapy, behavior modification and cognitive social learning techniques for behavioral change and assessment. Interviewing skills, rapport building and ethical legal factors related to behavioral intervention are covered, as are current empirically validated treatments for various clinical disorders. Students also develop their practicum plans to be implemented in Psyc 253 (Fall of the second year of the program).

PSYC 253. Supervising & Teaching Behavior Change (2)
Introduces graduate students to the role of practicum supervisor and instructor. Under the supervision of the PSYC53 course instructor, students develop, sustain, and evaluate their own interventions at pre-approved externship sites. Students conduct bi-weekly discussion groups providing undergraduate students enrolled in PSYC53 with additional resources for the course. Students meet weekly with the instructor to discuss practicum concerns and teaching responsibilities. Students gain practical experience carrying out independent research projects, which are often presented at research conferences, as well as teaching experience. All responsibilities are carried out under the supervision of the PSYC53 instructor.

PSYCH 283. Research Design (4)
Design and analysis of research using single subjects and groups. In this course, students will develop their thesis idea and initial proposal draft.

PSYC 299. Thesis (2 or 4)

Sampling of Electives:

PSYCH 255. Couples and Family Therapy (4)
An introduction to marital and family therapy, theory and practice. Cognitive behaviorism is used as the foundation, and students also learn a broad systems perspective. Students are familiarized with the predominant family therapy styles in current use, as well as numerous family therapy strategies.

PSYCH 256. Behavioral Medicine/Health Psychology (4)
A survey class on the overlapping fields of behavioral medicine and health psychology. Covers current applications of cognitive-behavioral treatments for a number of chronic diseases, among them chronic pain, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, AIDS, and obesity. Includes discussion of changing disease patterns, psycho-neuro-immunology, the stress-illness connection, the disease-prone personality, medical compliance, disease schemas, and the role of the doctor-patient relationship in achieving desired medical outcomes.

PSYCH 258. Behavioral Assessment (4)
An overview of behavioral assessment techniques. Specific topics to be covered include data collection, inter-observer agreement, social validity, treatment integrity, descriptive assessment, functional analysis, stimulus preference assessment, indirect assessment techniques, and psychometric assessment procedures.

PSYC 291. Independent Graduate Study (2-4)
Independent Study

PSYC 293. Special Topics (1-4)
(e.g., Controversial Treatments in Applied Settings, Radical Behaviorism, Verbal Behavior, Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychological Assessment)

At times, students have worked with the Graduate Academic Adviser and taken coursework outside the department in order to strengthen their knowledge base in a particular area (e.g., biology, writing, statistics, education), and we support such individualized programs of study.