Program and Course Descriptions

Students earn 4 Hamilton course credits by electing the following course for two credits:

Courses

EDU 395N: Clinical Teaching Intensive Special Needs
and two of the following six courses:

PSY 295N: Analysis of Behavior: Principles and Classroom Application

PSY 296N: Programmed Learning

PSY 327N: Behavior Assessment

PSY 328N: Research Methods and Design in Applied Behavior Analysis

PSY 331N: Advanced Learning

PSY 348N: Community-Based Treatment

PSY 396N: Systematic Inquiry in Applied Research

Course Descriptions

PSY 295N: Analysis of Behavior: Principles and Classroom Applications. Introduction to behavior modification and operant techniques, including clarification of more commonly used terms, with specific reference to application in the classroom. Overview of procedures and practices that have been successful in schools, communities and work settings. Field work required.

PSY 296N: Programmed Learning
Reviews the history and theoretical and experimental bases of programmed instruction and errorless learning. Emphasizes the detailed analysis of stimulus control—its measurement and ways to produce it.

PSY 327N: Behavior Assessment
Provides an in-depth review of observation and measurement techniques in applied behavior analysis. Introduces key elements of behavioral assessment including systematic assessment of preference, and assessment of behavior function through indirect methods, direct methods, and systematic manipulations.

PSY 328N: Research Methods and Design in Applied Behavior Analysis
Intensive study of single-subject designs in operant conditioning and applied behavior analysis research.

PSY 331N: Advanced Learning
Covers theoretical underpinnings of operant and respondent conditioning, with emphasis on relating principles of behavior to problems of reinforcement, motivation, comparative psychophysics, and physiological psychology.

PSY 348N: Community-Based Treatment
An overview of clinical and research studies related to community-based treatment, with an emphasis on the development of criteria for program evaluation. Students will participate in site visits of treatment delivery sites.

PSY 396N: Systematic Inquiry in Applied Research
Requires each student to collect a comprehensive bibliography on a significant topic in applied behavior research and to complete a thorough review via written and oral presentations. Emphasizes the integration and analysis of experimental findings and theoretical foundations of the research area, the critical evaluation of current research and the identification of potentially fruitful future work.

EDUC 395N: Clinical Teaching Intensive Special Needs
Each student is assigned full-time teaching responsibilities, under supervision, in a setting with learners with intensive special needs. Includes extensive practicum experience with a focus on teaching and case management. Papers and attendance at weekly seminars required. Evaluated Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
Earns two course credits.

Note: These courses are offered only at the New England Center for Children; not all courses are offered every semester. Students will be assigned to courses when they arrive at NECC. For Hamilton Psychology concentrators, all PSY courses count as electives for the concentration; EDU395 counts for college credit but not toward the Psychology concentration.

What They Say...

"I grew a lot more confident during my internship at NECC....I think the expectations were higher in terms of my ability to work with others both with the students and on individual tasks."

"After taking a 2nd year graduate course at NECC I found my psychology labs at Hamilton to be much easier while at the same time more enjoyable. I found myself less inhibited when it came to speaking in class as I had just spent a semester discussing my ideas with graduate students...."

Experiences