Shane Pitts

Associate Professor of Psychology

Office:

SSC 021

Contact Information:

Box 549022
Birmingham-Southern College
900 Arkadelphia Rd
Birmingham, AL 35254
Office Phone: (205) 226-7747
Office Fax: (205) 226-4847
E-mail: spitts@bsc.edu

Personal Web Page

Brief Career Background:

N/S.

Educational Background:

Ph.D., M.A.; Cognitive Psychology, The University of Alabama

Areas of Academic Interest:

Cognitive Psychology: Implicit Memory
Memory Distortions
Attention Social Cognition: Stereotyping & Prejudice
Heuristics

Courses Taught:

PY 101 Introduction to Psychology (1)
An introduction to the research, theory, and methods of psychological science.

PY 303 Social Psychology (1)
The study of the social phenomena that affect the behavior of individuals, including social perception, social cognition, and social influence. Topics may include stereotypes and prejudice, self-perception, impression formation, persuasion and conformity, attitudes, group processes, aggression, prosocial behavior, and attraction. (Also listed as SO 303, this course may be counted for credit in either psychology or sociology.) Prerequisite: PY 101 or SO 101.

PY 304 Research Methods for Psychology (1)
An in-depth study of experimental design techniques, psychological research methodology, and research report writing in APA style. This course has a laboratory component in which students will conduct experiments, including researching a topic with primary sources, collecting data, analyzing results, and writing the study in APA style. Prerequisite: PY 101, PY 204 the previous semester, or consent.

PY 407 Cognitive Psychology (1)
The study of processes involved in such complex human behaviors as memory, attention, perception, language, decision making, and problem solving with an emphasis on classic and current theories and research. This course has a laboratory component. Prerequisites: PY 101 and junior or senior standing, or consent.

PY 417 Senior Seminar: Research in Psychology (1)
Involvement of the student (alone or with other students) in the development and execution of a research project. Topics of research vary according to the interests of the student and the professor. The project typically requires the student to write a research report in APA style. Prerequisites: PY 101, 204, 304, and consent.