American University of Central Asia - AUCA - Courses


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PSY 105.1 Intro to Psychology

In the Intro to Psychology course, you will acquire some basic knowledge of this broad discipline. You will also learn some necessary principles about psychological research design and psychological experiments. The basic points of classical and operant conditioning will be also interesting for future professionals.   You will be exposed to a variety of topics starting from the main psychological paradigms. And, of course, this course will provide a background for more advanced courses in the Psychology Department.


PSY 127 Anatomy and Physiology of Central Nervous System and Complex Nervous Activity

The present program includes modern scientific achievements of the analysis of activity, including the physiological and functional systems of an organism, unites analytical and synthetic physiology. It consists of three basic parts: the general, individual physiology, and physiological bases for the behavior of a person.


PSY - 354  Study skills 

This course is designed in order to assist students (taking Introduction to Psychology) to learn, understand, and reinforce concepts and/or assignments presented in the general curriculum. Students will have an opportunity to develop and strengthen useful study habits through various instructional methods and strategies. We will learn why some learning methods are effective and some of them are not and discuss how learning processes work from a psychological perspective and how brain influences on our ability to learn.


PSY - 290.1 History and Methodology of Psychology

In a sequenced order, the main problems of psychological science are presented as interrelated and having deep historical roots. The purpose of the course is to provide an idea of psychology’s development from ancient times to the second part of the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the development of psychology in the U.S.A. Students must have an exact idea of what concepts of behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, cultural and historical psychology, and cognitive psychology mean to a contemporary psychologist.


PSY 238.1  Developmental Psychology

The developmental psychology course provides an introduction to the milestones of human development from conception to death. It addresses the issues of physical, cognitive, and social growth of people with special attention to the various cultural contexts of development and the rich diversity of individuals. I hope that this course will help you to understand better human psychology at different ages, factors that influence our development, and that you will be able to apply concepts and information you receive here not only in other courses, your professional careers but also in your personal life.


PSY - 276  Research Methods in Social Sciences: Quantitative Research

This course was designed to introduce you to the diverse field of Research Methods in Psychology. One goal of the course is to provide students with knowledge about methods and concepts of research methods, including theories, the formulation of hypotheses, operational definitions, variables, and measurement scales. In addition, we will focus on different experimental and non-experimental research methods. Students will learn how to plan, conduct, and analyze their own research.


PSY -     Research Methods II: Qualitative


PSY 211.1  Social Psychology

The main goal of the course is to provide students with knowledge of the way people perceive, influence, and relate to each other. Students gain an understanding of a number of different theories that explain the basis of human social behavior. Students also develop their critical and analytical skills through discussions and writing academic and creative papers.


PSY 334.1 Psychology of Personality

This course is an introduction to basic psychological approaches to understanding the human personality. The course will survey classical comprehensive theories and relatively recent concepts and research on personality. The course is a platform for further study in clinical and counseling psychology, and other advanced courses within the field of mental health issues.


PSY -  357   Applied Social Statistics and SPSS

This course covers the basic principles of collecting, organizing, and analyzing psychological data. These include basic descriptive (e.g., means, standard deviations) and inferential statistics (t-tests, correlation, regression, ANOVA). This class aims to provide you students with the basic statistical concepts and necessary skills needed for laboratory research, survey work and to provide adequate quantitative background for understanding psychological literature. The special emphasis of the course will be on the use of a statistical software package SPSS.


PSY 353 Neurophysiology

The primary objective of this course is to introduce undergraduate students to the field of neuropsychology and neurophysiology by introducing the complicated mechanisms of interactions between the Central Nervous System, autonomous nervous system, hormones, stress responses, and human behavior. The main textbook, which is composed of the lectures Robert Sapolsky, is written easily, full of jokes and vivid examples. This will help students to understand complicated, but necessary for future psychologist topics. The neuropsychological part of the course consists of testing procedures, which will be taught through a “hands-on” approach in which students will develop skills through direct practice with classmates. Ethical considerations in the field will be integrated throughout the course.


PSY 391.1 Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal Psychology is the field of applied psychology that makes a subject for scientific study the psychology of abnormal, maladjusted emotionally disturbed behavior. This course introduces models of mental abnormality as well as to the description of major mental disorders. The format of the course is based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th Edition). Students learn to define and evaluate criteria for abnormal behavior and specific psychological disorders; to recognize or identify common psychological disorders; to outline basic principles of treatments for specific psychological disorders; and to be oriented in International Diagnostic Classification Systems, in particular, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-TR).


PSY 337.1 Psychological Tests

This course is designed to provide you with exposure to the process of test development and analysis. Because psychological testing is used in virtually all aspects of psychological research and practice, the scope and workload of the course are substantial.


PSY 310.1 Psychophysiology and Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology studies a variety of topics dealing with human cognition. What is perception, what is thought and how is that people are able to think and memorize something, what attracts and grabs our attention, do animals have their own language and consciousness… those and many other questions will be in the focus of our interest during our course activities.  You will also learn how our cognition relates to brain structures and will be intrigued by the split-brain phenomenon. Our course is not going to be extremely easy to deal with, but we really hope the process not to be only challenging, but also supportive.   


PSY 383.1 Introduction to Counseling

Counseling belongs to the field of applied professional Psychology. It refers to the sphere of mental health professions. Counseling is a type of helping professions aimed at personal well-being enhancement. This course will impart approaches to counseling and therapy as well as basic skills. It is to develop students’ ability to understand counseling and psychotherapy approaches, models techniques, and processes.


PSY 386.1 Psychogenetics

The goal of the course is to explore how genetic differences between individuals lead to behavioral differences between individuals.


PSY 411.1 & 412.1 Senior Thesis Seminar

Senior Thesis Seminar implies the participation of fourth-year students in the classes. It promotes goal-oriented work on the senior thesis and its timely completion; understanding of the methodological principles of the modern psychology and their actual realization in the practice of the scientific research; reconstruction of the knowledge, which barriers the foremost meaning for project realization and future professional choice of the student; and effective work on fundamental and modern literature required for the project’s completion.



American University of Central Asia
7/6 Aaly Tokombaev Street
Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 720060

Tel.: +996 (312) 915000 + Еxt.
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