Behavioral Sciences

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BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES(Beh Sci)
Offered by the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership.

Beh Sci 110. Introduction to Behavioral Sciences. This course provides an introduction to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes across diverse levels of analyses. Covers psychological principles that can be applied in and out of the military. Critical thinking, leadership, and respect for human dignity will be emphasized through the study of subjects such as perception, cognition, learning, memory, social interactions, mental health issues, and the biological basis of behavior. In addition, students will be exposed to subjects closely related to psychology such as sociology, cultural anthropology, leadership, and human factors engineering.

Beh Sci 231. Basic Research Methods and Statistical Tools. Intoduces the integrated approach to statistics and empirical research. Topics include basic research design, APA statistical reporting, SPSS data analysis, descriptive measures, inferential statistics, and hypothesis testing.

Beh Sci 310. Foundations for Leadership Development. This course explores leadership development as a scientific study. Specifically, the course examines principles that will set students on a lifelong path of becoming a leader of character who treats others with respect and dignity. The academic study of leadership development will be combined with experiential exercises, case studies, and student projects designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of leadership styles and behaviors.

Beh Sci 320. Lifespan Development. This course examines how people develop physically, psychologically, socially and cognitively from birth to death. It explores changes that are universal and changes that are unique to specific individuals. Developmental theories explaining these changes are presented. The course also focuses on the social context of development: “What is the impact of income, education, ethnicity, race, sex, culture and historical time period on developmental outcomes?”

Beh Sci 330. Abnormal Psychology. This course examines the development, nature and treatment of psychological disorders within a biopsychosocial context. Special consideration is given toward leadership and military applications.

Beh Sci 332. Advanced Research Methods and Statistical Tools. Continues the integrated approach to statistical and experimental psychology, extending cadet experience into practical experimental designs: Methodological procedures are learned and applied in psychology and human factors experiments.

Beh Sci 335. Learning and Memory. How does experience affect performance? This is the central question that has confronted learning theorists for several millennia; it is a question which has dominated psychology for most of its first century. This course will examine learning and memory from a variety of historical theoretical perspectives. Cadets will test learning and memory notions in the laboratory using rats and report their experimental findings.

Beh Sci 340. Marriage and Family. This course examines courtship, marriage and family in a diverse American culture. Emphasis is placed on the strains inherent in the dynamic interaction of gender, work and family roles with special attention paid to the situation of military families and possible impacts on mission. This course uses lecture/discussion, films, student reports and visiting experts. Practically, this course is an important step in preparing the graduates for their own marriages as well as providing some understanding of the effect of family factors on the productivity of military members.

Beh Sci 350. Social Change: Cultural Anthropology and Sociology Perspectives. Introduces anthropological methods and examines a major question addressed by sociology, “How is human organization achieved, maintained, disrupted, or changed?” This course specifically addresses social construction of identity and reality, social control, social agency, structure, and conflict. Accordingly, this course looks at human development from past and present to understand the practices of diverse groups of people and the theories used to explain the maintenance and change of such practices. This comparative theoretical approach emphasizes the interdependence of physical environment, social environment, and intentional efforts toward social change.

Beh Sci 352. Social Psychology. This course provides an introduction to social psychology and behavior sciences. Social psychologists seek to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior in social situations. In other words, social psychology explains how the average person reacts to various social pressures. Topics covered include social perception, attitudes, prejudice and discrimination, interpersonal attraction, social influence, prosocial behavior, aggression, groups and personality. From a practical standpoint, this course explains how and why people react to the world and other people as they do. Leadership implications are discussed.

Beh Sci 355. Biopsychology. Examines the biological and neurophysiological foundations of human and animal behavior. Emphasis is on central nervous system mechanisms which mediate processes such as learning and memory, language, intelligence, sleep and arousal, reward and punishment, and human mental disorders. Special consideration is given to sensation and perception and topics which impact human factors design concerns.

Beh Sci 360. Sociology. Sociology is the systematic study of human social behavior and groups. Racism, sexism, social stratification, bureaucracy, religion, education and socialization are but a few of the topics covered. Classroom discussions and interaction with others are stressed throughout the course. Practically, this course teaches cadets how to examine what is “really” going on around them.

Beh Sci 370. Cognitive Psychology. This course familiarizes students with the cognitive approach to understanding human behavior which argues that human behavior can best be understood and predicted through a scientific understanding of mental activity. Topics include: perception, attention, memory, decision making, consciousness, and other processes related to thinking.

Beh Sci 371. Aviation Psychology. This course provides the student with an historical overview of aerospace human factors, especially with regard to aircrew and maintainer performance in the unique flight environment. Cockpit and maintainability issues are discussed, tracing their evolution from the earliest Wright Flyer military aircraft through today’s highly automated weapon systems. Human capabilities and limitations affecting performance in the context of aviation human-system integration and system design will be reviewed. Human factors involvement in aviation safety, particularly air and space mishap investigation, and the various means of aiding in mishap prevention are covered in detail.

Beh Sci 373. Introduction to Human Factors. This course examines the process, principles and guidelines of human factors as they impact the design of systems used by people and provides an introduction to the human factors and systems designs option. Emphasizes the interaction between human capabilities and limitations, the task and the environment, as they relate to performance.

Beh Sci 375. Human Factors in Systems Failure. This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the criticality of human factors consideration in the design of systems. It will include examination of historical case studies of complex systems failures due to human error and human factors engineering design shortcomings. Case studies include civil and military systems failures. Focus is on the human factors causes cited in systems failures, analysis of human factors theory and systems theory applying to the cited causes, and student designed systemic corrections directed toward the mitigation of error and the prevention of similar failures in subsequent system designs.

Beh Sci 377. Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Using concepts from several disciplines of Psychology this course provides a systematic study of job related behavior and an overview of the behavior of individuals at work by exploring work behaviors and related variables as part of a complex open system. Topics in personnel (Industrial) psychology include analyzing jobs, matching individuals to jobs via selection or socialization, and training and performance evaluation. The second half of the course concentrates on the social context of work, and investigated motivation, job satisfaction, leadership, organization theory, personality, stress, and absenteeism and turnover.

Beh Sci 380. Theories of Personality. Examines major psychological theories of personality including analytic, cognitive, humanistic and learning approaches. Examines theoretical concepts to understand individual personality development, relevant current and historic issues, and application to military leadership.

Beh Sci 390. Sensation and Perception. This course will provide an introduction to the way the outside world is perceived through our senses and how our brain makes sense of all the sensory inputs. How our body experiences the world and what we perceive of the world are two interrelated, but different entities. This is an important topic for Air Force officers, because our perceptions do not always accurately represent the outside world. For example, pilots with inaccurate perceptions of their aircraft attitude (e.g. spatial disorientation) could lead to loss of control of their aircraft. Through lectures, labs, demonstrations and discussions, this course will introduce the basic anatomy of the sensory systems, as well as how these structures are used to “make sense” out of what we are experiencing so that we can do such things as understand speech, perceive color, see motion and depth, and recognize faces.

Beh Sci 410. Advanced Topics in Leadership. Capstone seminar course in Leadership and Organizations option. This advanced course explores the current trends and theories in leadership and leadership development from a scientific perspective, centering on the concepts of transformational leadership, values-based leadership, servant leadership, and emotional intelligence, among others. Case studies, facilitated and student-led round-table discussions, projects and experiential exercises will allow the students to gain an in depth understanding of leadership and its application across a variety of situations and contexts.

Beh Sci 430. Tests and Measurement. This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the field of testing and measurement. The terminology, procedures and basic psychometric properties inherent in assessment procedures will be discussed. Various types of assessment instruments will be introduced. A focus will be placed on understanding individual and organizational assessment through an overview of measurement principles, the assessment process, test construction and development, and the use of evaluation results. This course will present students the opportunity to learn and apply rest construction through the development of assessment instruments. As this is an overview course, students will not gain proficiency in administering clinical assessment instruments.

Beh Sci 460. Advanced Topics in Sociology and Anthropology. An advanced course designed to explore specialized topics in sociology and anthropology on a rotational basis with the intent of creating a deeper and more robust understanding of the specific discipline. Particular course content and emphasis varies from year to year based on new and emerging research in the selected field of study. This course is designed primarily for the advanced student and will be conducted in a seminar/discussion model.

Beh Sci 470. Advanced Topics in Cognitive and Bio-Psychology. An advanced course designed to explore specialized topics in cognitive and bio-psychology on a rotational basis with the intent of creating a deeper and more robust understanding of the specific discipline. Particular course content and emphasis varies from year to year based on new and emerging research in the selected field of study. This course is designed primarily for the advanced student and will be conducted in a seminar/discussion model.

Beh Sci 471. Engineering Psychology. This advanced course examines cognitive and human performance theories and their applications to human-machine integration in systems design. Special attention is given to the way humans perceive, understand, and respond to information. Application of course content will include the development of an experimental setting to test an applied research question.

Beh Sci 472. Human Computer Interaction. Survey of human-computer interaction concepts, theory and practice. An interdisciplinary approach is implemented with emphasis on usability methods and the user interaction development process. This course covers iterative development of user interaction design, including user requirements gathering, task analysis, design prototyping, and evaluation. Emphasis is given to communications between users and system developers. Iterative hands-on development activities are practiced in the context of several team projects.

Beh Sci 473. Human Factors in Systems Design. This capstone course emphasizes the role and responsibilities of the human factors engineer in the design and evaluation of systems. The course uses a combination of group, individual and in-class design projects to explore the system design process. Particular attention is given to human characteristics and their effects on system performance.

Beh Sci 480. Advanced Topics in Personality and Social Psychology. An advanced course designed to explore specialized topics in personality and social psychology on a rotational basis with the intent of creating a deeper and more robust understanding of the specific discipline. Particular course content and emphasis varies from year to year based on new and emerging research in the selected field of study. This course is designed primarily for the advanced student and will be conducted in a seminar/discussion model.

Beh Sci 490. Counseling Theory and Skills for Leaders. Integrates material learned in other behavioral sciences courses and covers relevant counseling theories and models. The course also emphasizes techniques relevant to military leadership counseling applications, such as: crisis intervention skills, solution-focused treatment, combat stress approaches, and critical incident stress debriefing methods.

Beh Sci 495. Special Topics. Selected topics in the behavioral sciences.

Beh Sci 499. Independent Study. Research or practicum in a specific area of behavioral science. Conducted on a tutorial basis.