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Behavioral Science with tracks in Psychology and Neuroscience

The new field of behavioral science seeks to understand how humans think and act within their environments and how policies can shape that behavior. For example, research showing the power of default options on decision making has led to the introduction of “opt-out” policies for decisions like becoming an organ donor or contributing to one’s retirement account, leading to marked increases in participation (e.g., millions of newly eligible organ donors). Across many institutions – governmental, educational, and corporate – effective interventions rely on an understanding of human behavior. Behavioral science has been commonly applied to problems in marketing, health science, financial investing, charitable giving, human factors and environmental design, and education.


The twin goals of behavioral science – understanding mechanisms of individual behavior and developing policies that shape that behavior – require students to develop a knowledge base drawn from several disciplines. Empirical behavioral science research draws upon the methods of psychology (and, more recently, neuroscience) to create well-designed experiments and measures. Computational modeling and statistics have become increasingly important for isolating the variables that shape behavior, especially when examining the consequences of large-scale interventions. Applications to policy often require disciplinary knowledge in behavioral economics, political psychology, marketing, or another field. And, consideration of the implications of new policies benefits from expertise in philosophy and ethics. In summary, an integrated course of study in behavioral science will combine disciplinary knowledge with the abilities to evaluate experimental designs, to draw conclusions from experimental data, and to link concepts across levels of analysis from individual behavior to societal policies.


Behavioral science will provide a distinct program of study for DKU undergraduates – one that integrates research approaches and theories currently spread across the social sciences (and some of the natural sciences). Because the most common empirical approaches in sociology, economics, and political science all involve analysis of population-level data (e.g., large panel surveys, census records), students in those majors typically gain expertise working with and evaluating datasets collected by others. Behavioral science provides a complementary approach that develops expertise in experimental methods.


To identify the difference between these approaches, consider a student interested in how demography predicts voting behavior. Through a traditional social science major – say, political science or sociology – that student could learn to analyze census data, voting records, and economic variables to create models at the societal level. Or, by choosing to major in Behavioral Science, that same student could conduct laboratory experiments that test predictions about group identity and political affiliation – and then use their findings to design field experiments that manipulate self-identity and measure real-world political preferences. This latter skillset has become increasingly valued by policymakers, who use the methods of behavioral science to guide their social interventions.


Through its interdisciplinary component, students will gain core skills that have broad relevance for modern societal challenges, while retaining a grounding in a traditional academic discipline like psychology or neuroscience. Moreover, it could be readily integrated with other social science disciplines (e.g., economics, political science, sociology) based on student demand. Because of its focus on how an individual interacts with their environment, it will attract interest from students who think globally or cross-culturally. For example, encouraging pro-environmental behaviors may require somewhat different policies in the US, China, or another country, depending on cultural and economic factors. Students exploring a behavioral science major at DKU will not only receive a broad-based liberal arts education, but also gain highly marketable skills in experimental design, data analysis, and implementing research into policy.

 

Major Requirements

(Not every course listed is offered every term, and the course list will be updated periodically. Please refer to the online Course Catalog for Courses offered in 2023-2024.)

Behavioral Science / Psychology

Divisional Foundation Courses

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

BIOL 110

Integrated Science – Biology

4

SOSC 101

Foundational Questions in Social Science

4

STATS 101*

Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods

4

And choose one from the following two courses

MATH 101

Introductory Calculus

4

MATH 105

Calculus

4

* Students who are more interested in computational modeling can complete MATH 205 or MATH 206 as a substitute for STATS 101.

Interdisciplinary Courses

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

BEHAVSCI 101

Introduction to Behavioral Science

4

BEHAVSCI 102

Mechanisms of Human Behavior

4

BEHAVSCI 201

Individuals and Their Decisions

4

BEHAVSCI 202

Institutions, Groups, and Society

4

BEHAVSCI 401

Moving Beyond Nudges

4

 

Disciplinary Courses

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

PSYCH 101

Introductory Psychology

4

BEHAVSCI 402

Judgement and Decision Making

4

And choose three courses total from Course Clusters I and II, with at least one course from each cluster

Course Cluster I

PSYCH 202[1]

Cognitive Psychology

4

PSYCH 203[2]

Developmental Psychology

4

PSYCH 204[3]

Social Psychology

4

Course  Cluster II

NEUROSCI 102

Biological Basis of Behavior

4

PSYCH 205[4]

Abnormal Psychology

4

NEUROSCI 212

Cognitive Neuroscience

4

Electives

Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year.  (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

Applied Behavioral Science Electives

SOSC 204

Business Ethics 

4

ECON 309

Behavioral Finance

4

ECON 333/      SOSC 333

Social and Economic Networks

4

PUBPOL 303

Policy Choice as Value Conflict

4

ETHLDR 303/ BEHAVSCI 303

Organizational Behavior

4

ETHLDR 301

Ethics of Nudging

4

Psychology Electives

POLSCI 313 /PSYCH 313

Political Psychology

4

PSYCH 110

Mindfulness, Stress, and Health: Eastern and Western Perspectives

4

PSYCH 405

Conceptual Issues & Critical Debates in Psychology

4

BEHAVSCI 203

Comparative Analysis of Behavior

4

POLSCI 317/ SOSC 317

Politics of Organization

4

Neuroscience Electives

NEUROSCI 202

Medical Neuroscience

4

NEUROSCI 402

Cognitive Neuroscience, the Brain and Society

4

Methodology Electives

GLHLTH 301

Global Health Research Methods

4

PSYCH 304

Quantitative Research Methods and Statistics for Psychological Science

4

BEHAVSCI 204

Experimental Philosophy

4

INTGSCI 205

Integrated Science – Research Methods and Science Communication

4

 

Behavioral Science / Neuroscience

Divisional Foundation Courses

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

BIOL 110

Integrated Science – Biology

4

SOSC 101

Foundational Questions in Social Science

4

STATS 101*

Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods

4

And choose one from the following two courses

MATH 101

Introductory Calculus

4

MATH 105

Calculus

4

* Students who are more interested in computational modeling can choose MATH 205 or MATH 206 as a substitute for STATS 101.

Interdisciplinary Courses

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

BEHAVSCI 101

Introduction to Behavioral Science

4

BEHAVSCI 102

Mechanisms of Human Behavior

4

BEHAVSCI 201

Individuals and Their Decisions

4

BEHAVSCI 202

Institutions, Groups, and Society

4

BEHAVSCI 401

Moving Beyond Nudges

4

 

Disciplinary Courses

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

NEUROSCI 102

Biological Basis of Behavior

4

BEHAVSCI 205

Systems and Circuits

4

NEUROSCI 212

Cognitive Neuroscience

4

NEUROSCI 301

Research Methods in Neuroscience

4

BEHAVSCI 301

Computational Neuroscience

4

Electives

Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year.  (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)

Course Code

Course Name

Course Credit

Applied Behavioral Science Electives

SOSC 204

Business Ethics 

4

ECON 309

Behavioral Finance

4

ECON 333/      SOSC 333

Social and Economic Networks

4

PUBPOL 303

Policy Choice as Value Conflict

4

ETHLDR 303/ BEHAVSCI 303

Organizational Behavior

4

ETHLDR 301

Ethics of Nudging

4

Psychology Electives

POLSCI 313 /PSYCH 313

Political Psychology

4

PSYCH 110

Mindfulness, Stress, and Health: Eastern and Western Perspectives

4

PSYCH 405

Conceptual Issues & Critical Debates in Psychology

4

BEHAVSCI 203

Comparative Analysis of Behavior

2

Neuroscience Electives

NEUROSCI 202

Medical Neuroscience

4

NEUROSCI 402

Cognitive Neuroscience, the Brain and Society

4

Methodology Electives

GLHLTH 301

Global Health Research Methods

4

PSYCH 304

Quantitative Research Methods and Statistics for Psychological Science

4

BEHAVSCI 204

Experimental Philosophy

4

INTGSCI 205

Integrated Science – Research Methods and Science Communication

4

[1] This course was numbered PSYCH 102 prior to fall term 2022.

[2] This course was numbered PSYCH 103 prior to fall term 2022.

[3] This course was numbered PSYCH 104 prior to fall term 2022.

[4] This course was numbered PSYCH 105 prior to fall term 2022.