This course may be used to satisfy 4 semester hours of the Natural Sciences portion of General Education requirements. An examination of the ways in which behavior, feelings, and thoughts are affected by others through their physical presence and interaction with us, through the media, or through the environmental changes they make. Students study various theories of social behavior, learn about classic experiments in social psychology and their interpretations, and apply the discoveries in social psychology to human problems. This course introduces the area of human factors known as human-computer interaction design. The course uses a modification of the case method in which successful computer environments are explored by the student in hands-on exercises, and features of the environments are used to illustrate underlying psychological principles.
Primary emphasis is placed on the design of effective web sites.
Students critique web sites and other user environments and use principles from the diverse areas of design, sensation and perception, cognitive science, cognitive development, and ergonomics to recommend improvements. Neither programming or previous experience with computers nor a background in psychology is assumed, but a general familiarity with computers and their typical uses would be beneficial. Students learn computer applications for collecting, filing, retrieving, calculating and graphing data. A study of techniques available for evaluating the relative usability of various interface designs with an emphasis on assuring effective web-site design. Wherever possible, the course provides hands-on testing opportunities as the best way to learn and compare the effectiveness of these methodologies.