Masters Degree in

Animal Psychology

Online Degree Program

Our online distance education program offers students the opportunity to study a comprehensive curriculum in the Animal Psychology degree program. This program is applied behavior analytic in theoretical orientation. This personal development program will be of interest to anyone interested in learning about the behavior of animals, particularly non-human animals. Whether you work professionally in a related field, want to, or have no plans to, you will develop your knowledge in a wide variety of areas related to explaining, assessing and changing behavior scientifically. This field is not limited to companion animals such as dogs, cats or parrots but this will likely be a emphasis of many courses and the practical application of the information since the behavior of these animals is usually something we want to understand, assess and change.

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior. This program will include an in-depth overview of the behavior of animals (primarily but not limited to nonhuman animals). It will introduce the study of behavior from an applied behavior analysis perspective. It will also include coverage of basic science, research methods, critical thinking and ethics. Note that the student will be exposed to a course on the ethics of animal use; while the welfare position is common in society these days and assumed in most of the programs texts, this is not the only position and the student will be exposed to the rights position in order that they may have both sides of the argument and make up their own mind on the matter of using animals.

This program will be of interest to anyone fascinated by animals and how they behave. It focuses on the natural science of behavior. My hope in formulating this personal development program with an applied behavior analytic orientation is that students will come to have an appreciation for the natural science of behavior (as opposed to the softer sciences in psychology). Behavior analysis is a powerful means of explaining, assessing and changing behavior.

Students begin with the study of critical thinking and principles of learning. These are foundational courses. The following courses allow the student to learn about how to assess problem behaviors in animals, how to construct and implement a behavior change program, carry out behavioral research and explore theories of ethics and professional morality.  

The prerequisites for this program are: an earned bachelor degree in psychology, counseling, behavior analysis, ethology, zoology, or a related field. 

The online curriculum offers an innovative approach to higher education. Enrollment is open and students may begin the program at any time. All courses are provided in online classrooms, with on-to-one faculty mentoring. Students also have free access to our comprehensive Study Tactics and Resources Center, with links to subject related websites, online libraries, articles and research assistance. Our online Animal Psychology degree curriculum includes:

TOTAL: 54 to 58 Semester Hours

Courses in this curriculum are to be taken in sequence as above.

TUITION: $500.00 per course. Students may register and pay for one course at a time.

* Note: cost of tuition does not include cost of text books.

** There is also a one time $50.00 admission processing fee.

*** PSY 695 - Supervised Field Placement is an optional course students that need supervised field work for their license.

Course Completion Times: Students are permitted 15 weeks to complete an online course. This may be extended with the permission of the instructor.

TRANSFER CREDITS: For detailed information please CLICK HERE

ˆ Back To Top ˆ