Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2017-2018 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Psychological Sciences


Michael Young, Head

Professors: Barnett, Brannon, Brase, Cain, Fullagar, Kirkpatrick, Loschky, Saucier, and Young; Associate Professor: Knight; Assistant Professors: Bailey, Lake, Lee, and Pickens; Research Associate Professor: Monaco; Emeriti Professors: Downey, Frieman, Harris, Kiefer, Rohles, Shanteau, and Thompson.

492 Bluemont Hall
785-532-6850
Fax: 785-532-5401
E-mail: psych@k-state.edu
www.k-state.edu/psych

The Department of Psychological Sciences at Kansas State University provides educational and research opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. At the undergraduate level, the department provides introductory service courses for a large portion of the total undergraduate student population. Our undergraduate majors typically follow one of three tracks: some students plan ultimately to attend graduate school in psychology; other students desire an undergraduate program that will lead to a job specifically in a particular area (e.g., an entry level counseling or clinical position); while other students simply want to obtain a Bachelor’s degree and enter the workforce. In each case, the curriculum in the Psychology major is purposely flexible to accommodate these paths.

The mission of the Department of Psychological Sciences is to engage in the discovery of knowledge about behavior, the biological and psychological processes that affect that behavior, and to share that knowledge and the processes for obtaining it with our students and the scholarly community. The Department integrates graduate and undergraduate education, teaching, research, and service activities to further the overall mission of the university.

Although separate aspects of the Departmental mission are outlined below, one must recognize that these goals are intricately related and overlapping. It has always been the philosophy of the Department to integrate its activities to provide students with the best possible education and training.

Undergraduate Teaching and Advising

Within the context of a broad liberal arts education in the College of Arts and Sciences, the mission of the Undergraduate Program in Psychology is to provide an educational environment in which our students can learn the basic concepts and principles of psychology and the methods of scientific inquiry into the behavior of individuals. The knowledge and skills that students obtain in our undergraduate program are useful in postgraduate education and in a wide variety of employment settings and careers.

  • We facilitate our students’ learning of the basic concepts and principles of psychology through classroom and non-classroom experiences (e.g., teaching practicums, research, internships, and field placements in various settings).
  • We facilitate our students’ learning of the methods of scientific inquiry into behavior, thought, and emotion through classes and opportunities in empirical research.
  • We facilitate our students’ abilities to evaluate claims and conclusions about psychological processes in a constructively critical manner. We want our students to become critical thinkers and consumers of information pertaining to behavior, thought, motivation, and emotion.
  • A significant portion of the Psychological Sciences Department’s teaching resources are devoted to undergraduate majors outside Psychology through numerous and popular “service courses” that we offer each semester.

Effective advising allows our undergraduate students to achieve their goals while enrolled at Kansas State University and after graduation. We facilitate our students’ success by providing information about course selection to fulfill bachelor degree requirements, about career options available after graduation, and about opportunities available (on and off campus) for enhancing their success in gaining employment or admittance into a graduate or professional program.


 

Programs

Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science

Courses

Psychology