Courses

Thirty-four units of course credit are required for the MHB^® degree.  These units are taken from an inventory of courses that are specified as acceptable.  The courses that will be required for a given individual depend upon that person's academic background, work experience, and career goals.  The specific courses will follow general guidelines provided by the MHB Oversight Committee, and will be specified before the student agrees to enroll in the program.  The required courses for a given student may be modified as new program options are developed if jointly agreed to by the Director and the student.

Course loads can vary substantially.  A common load for a full-time student would be 12-14 units in the fall, 12-16 units in the spring, and 4-8 units of internship together with PSYC 592 MHB Treatise (2 units) the following summer to complete requirements for the MHB degree.  Part-time students will generally take one or two courses per semester, and must complete the program within five years.

For a given semester the content of the course, required readings, and grading protocols will depend on who is serving as the instructor.  For courses where this is known with fair certainty, a link to the syllabus is provided with the course description. 

Courses that can be applied toward the MHB degree are listed below.  Other courses may be acceptable upon approval of the Director.  The following courses are listed in the order that reflects the degree to which they will be required, are recommended, or are allowed as an option.

The scheduling of all courses, reading assignments, and grading can vary from semester to semester.  The available syllabi serve only as an example, and may be modified at any time by the course instructors.

Required of all Students:

592:  MHB Treatise (2 units).  The treatise should elaborate on the application of psychological and social principles in relation to commercial or public sector work.  The treatise can be completed at any time, but normally is done as a final project paper after other course requirements have been satisfied or are mostly satisfied.  Example Syllabus: DOC - PDF

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Required of all students with less than two years of full-time work experience.  [These requirements can be waived by petition to the MHB Oversight Committee.]: 

550a and 550b: Proseminar in Human Behavior (4 units each).  Surveys the range of career options, develop presentation skills, and serve as forums for discussion of individual and group projects. Example Syllabus FALL: DOC - PDF

591:  MHB Internship (2-8 units).  These units provide for one or more internships, served primarily in a non-university setting, designed to emphasize the practical application of psychological and social principles. The number of units taken in a given semester will depend in part on what options are available from an internship sponsor.  The unit load generally reflects the number of hours of work in a job setting – see the syllabus for greater detail. Students who are subject to this requirement will generally be expected to complete an aggregate of 8 units of internship.  Example Syllabi: DOC - PDF

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Highly recommended for all students:  

505: Research Methods in Applied Social Psychology (4 units).  Various research techniques that are useful in a variety of different real world settings, such as business, governmental agencies and charities. Open only to MHB and Psychology doctoral students. Example Syllabus

513: Attitudes and Social Influence (4 units).  Explores theories of attitudes, attitude change, and social persuasion in the context of their application to consumer behavior. Example Syllabus

517:  Group Dynamics and Leadership (4 units).  An interactive exploration of group dynamics and leadership with implications for effective decision-making tactics and the development of new skills through demonstration and practice.  Example Syllabus

552:  Principles of Consumer Psychology (4 units).  Examination of the attitudes and decisions of consumers, and how to effectively reach consumers by using persuasion and proper positioning in the marketplace.  Example Syllabus

554:  Organizational Behavior (4 units).  Examination of people's behavior in organizational contexts.  Employee motivation, job satisfaction, work-family balance, stress, creativity, diversity, organizational culture and change, and global contexts.  Example Syllabus

556:   Psychology of Interactive Media (4 units).  Examination of the diverse methods of communicating with a target audience with a special emphasis on the newest computer-based tools for providing information and influence.  Example Syllabus.  [Please note - this course has yet to be offered by the program, and will not be offered until a suitable instructor can be found.]

616: Research Techniques in Non-Experimental Social Science (4 units).  Provides a survey of a number of different issues and techniques in psychological research.  Example Syllabus

622: Decision Analysis and Behavioral Decision Theory (4 units).  Investigates normative, descriptive, and prescriptive models of judgment and decision-making.  Example Syllabus

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Requires permission of MHB Director and the instructor for the course:

504:  Research Design (4 units).  Intensive review of research methods in the behavioral sciences.  Problem analysis, formulation of research propositions, and procedures for research inference.

590: Directed Research (1-12 units).  To be credited toward the MHB degree, this research must have an applied focus.

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Additional acceptable courses:

No more than two 400 level courses can be applied toward the MHB^® degree.

415 L: Psychological Measurement (4 units).  Classical and modern approaches to psychological measurement; scaling, test construction; true score reliability model; generalizability theory; validity; decision theoretic selection; item analysis; item response theory.  Example Syllabus 

421L: Applied Multivariate Statistical Methods (4 units).  Multivariate analysis emphasizing model estimation and testing; topics vary, e.g., multiple regression, logistic regression, factor analysis, multilevel linear modeling, structural equation modeling, multiway frequency analysis.  Example Syllabus

422: Human Judgment and Decision Making (4 units).  Descriptive and normative models of decision making; topics include probability judgments, inference, correlation, emotion, mental accounting, decision analysis, lens model, equity, social dilemmas, time, risk.  Example Syllabus 

451: Formation and Change of Attitudes (4 units).  Effects of socialization, personal influence, propaganda, and social structure on private attitudes and public opinion.  Example Syllabus

453: Intergroup Relations (4 units).  Examination of the nature of relations between human groups and the psychological mechanisms relating to intergroup conflict, war, genocide, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination.

454: Social Cognition (4 units).  Theory and research on cognitive processes in social behavior, to include social influence, cognition and emotion, the Self, social categorization, person memory, and attribution processes.  Example Syllabus

457:  Applied Social Psychology (4 units).  Practical applications of theories and research in social psychology.