Psychology

The Psychology Department at Douglas College is one of the largest academic departments in the College. We offer both university transfer courses in first and second-year Psychology as well as a full Bachelor of Arts Degree program in partnership with Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

Did you ever wonder where your dreams come from and what they mean? What triggers your bad and good moods? What exactly the term "mental illness" means? What intelligence is? Whether we use all our brain or only 10 percent, as some claim? How humans are alike and how we differ? If we are shaped more by our genetic inheritance or by the environment we grow up in? How we select our mates?

Then you'll be interested to know that it's the scientific discipline of Psychology that investigates and attempts to answer these types of questions.

Contemporary psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Behavior is anything an organism does that can be observed and recorded. Mental processes are internal, subjective experiences, and include sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and feelings. The mental processes are inferred from observable behavior.

Psychological science is a fascinating and useful discipline that has relevance for all students regardless of their chosen field of study.