Psychology

Prepare for Success

If you have a desire to help people and you have an open mind about how individuals and groups interact and operate, a degree in psychology may be for you.

Your First Year

During your first year in the program, you’ll begin building your foundation in psychology as well as taking general university requirements. A sample of first- and second-year psychology classes include:

• Psyc 101 – Introduction to Psychology: This class introduces you to fundamental psychology topics, such as sensation and perception, learning and thinking, motivation, personality and adjustment, social processes and psychological testing.

• Psyc 218 – Introduction to Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Here you’ll focus on logic and methods of empirical research in behavioral sciences, and the design, execution, and reporting of psychological experimentation and research.

• Psyc 310 – Psychology of Personality: You’ll explore theories of personality, basic concepts, techniques of measurement, and experimental methods.

View a detailed list of psychology courses.  

Courses toward a bachelor's degree in psychology are also offered online and at the University of Idaho Coeur d'Alene campus.

What You Can Do

An undergraduate degree in psychology opens doors to a variety of career opportunities, both in psychology and in other fields. Just some of the careers include:

• Counselor’s assistant
• Social worker
• Administrative manager
• Program and project manager
• Human resource manager
• Sales associate
  

It’s important to note that an advanced degree is required for many careers in psychology. The University of Idaho offers two master’s degree programs:

• Industrial / Organizational – Here you’ll explore and develop practical solutions to improve personnel selection, training, work motivation and individual and team performance, performance appraisal, leadership and job attitudes. 
• Human Factors – Here you’ll explore how humans interact with their environment, including products, computers and technology. Areas of study include Human-Computer Interaction and Ergonomics and Biomechanics. In this program you will explore user models, technology design and display usability, and software development. As you can imagine, graduates with this type of advanced degree are in high demand by technology companies, such as Apple, Nintendo, Motorola and Microsoft.

Opportunities

There’s no doubt that graduates with a psychology degree are in high demand. You can find them working in diverse positions at laboratories, hospitals, courtrooms, schools and universities, community health centers, and prisons. Many of our students also find jobs in administrative support, public affairs, education, business, sales, service industries, health, biological sciences, and computer programming.

Current Research

Faculty members in the Department of Psychology and Communication Studies are actively engaged in leading psychology research. Recent research projects include:

• Dr. Traci Craig is working on a series of group decision-making studies as well as on sexual harassment, stereotyping and relationship cognition. These studies examine how groups make decisions using computer-mediated communication, such as instant messaging, e-mail, and videoconferencing.
• Dr. Annette Folwell's research program involves studying family communication with an emphasis on grandparent, grandchild, and sibling relationships. 

Hands-On Experience

As a psychology major at the University of Idaho, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a variety of research projects happening on campus. In addition, if you are interested in learning about proper research methods and guidelines for managing your own research projects, you will also have the opportunity to contribute to faculty and graduate student research projects. Generally, you’ll contribute to these projects by conducting experiments, performing data entry and analysis, and writing.

You can also work with your adviser to pursue other hands-on learning opportunities, such as an internship and instructional or directed study.

Facilities

The psychology program manages a number of laboratories, many of which contain state-of-the-art technology, including cockpit and driving simulators, eye movement monitors and virtual reality simulators. These are used to study human-computer interaction and topics such as neuronergonomics. This field combines neuroscience (the study of brain function) and human factors (the study of how to match technology with the capabilities and limitations of humans) so that people can work more effectively and safely. Faculty and students use these labs and equipment to explore perceptual systems, technology interfaces and design, and to perform perceptual experiments.